I saw a post somewhere recently that said that Frostgrave
had ‘…a large buy-in.’ I must admit, I don’t understand that mentality. Apart
from the rulebook, which is downright inexpensive compared to its competitors,
the only major things you need to play Frostgrave are some miniatures and
terrain. If you own any fantasy miniatures, you probably have all of the
miniatures you need. If not, a single box of Frostgrave plastics can provide
everything you need for two players to get started. I suppose, the major mental
stumbling block for most people is the terrain, but it really shouldn’t be.
It is true, that compared to most miniature wargames,
Frostgrave is best with a very crowded table. It really is ‘the more the
merrier’, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. Case-in-point. Here is
my new terrain piece that I hope to take with me on the Frostgrave Tour. It is
some discarded Christmas packaging that I spray-painted grey. Since I already
owned the paint, it cost me literally nothing.
Just like that, I have a centre-piece model that covers
more than a square foot-and-a-half of table space. I mean, it really looks like
some super-crowded bit of city, and features all kinds of great positions to
hide, or shoot from. All of the level areas are nice and flat and have plenty
of room to stand a miniature.
But Wait! It gets even better. I can simply flip the
whole thing over, and now I’ve got the interior of some strange building or
temple complex. It’s like getting two great terrain pieces for the price (free)
of one!
Okay, this piece isn’t quite a full Frostgrave table by
itself, but it’s a real good start. I’m sure if I had tried, I could have
easily filled a whole table with just items that were discarded on Christmas
day…
As an added bonus, the piece is generic enough that it
can serve equally well for science-fiction games as for fantasy ones.
Don’t ever let terrain stop you from playing wargames.
Sure, we may all dream of gorgeous tables with bespoke, highly-detailed,
hand-painted terrain, but the truth is, you can have just as much fun with
terrain made from trash.
Official Stargrave terrain!? 🤣
ReplyDeleteLimited-edition. Better pre-order now!
DeleteIt's one of the things that concerns me with the hobby. Everyone feels their painting and terrain needs to be the equal of what they see in rulebook dioramas and each of their models need to stand up to the centerpieces photographed for websites.
ReplyDeleteThere is no one with a platform showcasing games with terrain like you just showed, or poorly (or unpainted!) miniatures. I love the look of a good table and painted minis, but our standard for "acceptable" terrain is making even the most accessible games, like Frostgrave, dauntingly unreachable to new players.
Well said Lord Frederick!
DeleteLord Frederick...you nailed it! The game is awesome by itself. Highly detailed, immersive terrain is a wonderful addition but completely not necessary. Thankfully, the people who introduced me to miniature gaming introduced me to Frostgrave AND felt completely OK playing with makeshift terrain and unpainted minis so I learned well. We all have a BLAST playing this way!
DeleteWhen we play-tested my friend and I used 2D dungeon tiles.
ReplyDeleteYou can just use whatever maps you have from the boardgames in your collection.
What happened to the imagination we had as children? I had so much fun with a cardboard box big enough to sit in... I've used all kinds of things to represent terrain. Sticks and rocks from the yard and toilet paper tubes for columns. Wooden blocks are great, too.
ReplyDeleteNice, proves the point very effectively! I think Frostgrave is probably one of the lowest 'buy in' for a miniature game.
ReplyDeleteWell said sir.
ReplyDeleteThat's one simple yet effective piece of terrain.
I'm going to be the contrarian here - I certainly get your point, that terrain can be hand built from card, packaging and so on. That's certainly true, and the best terrain is hand made IMO (I loathe the artificiality of the look of MDF terrain). However, wargaming is a visual hobby, and if you're not putting just as mush effort into your terrain as your figures you're selling yourself short. Crappy terrain just looks, well, crappy.
ReplyDeletePeople use the excuse of "it's my hobby, I'm happy just to use a bit of green cotton sheet and some felt shapes, therefore it's just as valid as your nice mat and carefully modelled trees" as an excuse for laziness. If you motivate yourself to make a little bit of effort nice terrain can be made for almost no money and surprisingly little time - not only is your own enjoyment increased but so is the enjoyment of your opponent. People forget that in playing a game you're implicitly accepting some responsibility for the fun had by the person you're playing with - do them a kindness, build terrain!
Now, don't even get me started on unpainted figures.... ;-)
This is the part where we start insulting each other's parentage, virility, and mental health, right? :D
DeleteEach their own. Great terrain and miniatures is as important as consensus on the rules of a game. As long as the players involved share a comparable standard everyone is happy. I like sweet terrain. I don't play with unpainted minis. That's just me. As long as I'm not involved in the game it's not my business whether people are using commission level painted figures or paper chits. I struggle with the notion of other people's hobby dictating mine. Paint your figures or don't but unless some goes out of their way to tell you how ghetto your stuff looks you shouldn't be concerned about accessibility or hobby elitism.
DeleteI also saw one in the same vein, possibly the same one. But we all want nice terrain pieces like Guerrilla Miniature Games and the Frostgrave supplement books. It's a trade off between nice and cost. Cost usually wins. We buy what we can afford
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree that, in general, you get as much out of something as you put into it. But my point is about starting out - you shouldn't let the large 'terrain demand' deter you from playing. If you waited until you had a full table of wonderful terrain, you might never get around to playing! I made this piece, specificially for the Frostgrave tour, where terrain will probably be limited. This piece allowed me to make a BIG piece in very limited time, that I think will travel okay. Truth be told, I don't think it looks crappy, I actually think it looks really cool and interesting and look forward to playing with it.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks pretty good for what it is, and it's certainly quick and effective for large terrain. I think a few quick details like some snow flocking in the recesses or some struggling vegetation would go a long way towards breaking up that solid visual mass.
ReplyDeleteA tablefull of manufactured: £100+*.
ReplyDeleteImagination: Priceless.
*Although you can get a tableful of really cool terrain from TTCombat for £70.
You certainly can, although there is a significant 'time cost' that comes with MDF terrain!
DeleteI approach every rule set for a game the same way. I use soda/beer cans, pasta boxes, Amazon boxes, packing foam or whatever for terrain on a neoprene mat.
ReplyDeleteI use whatever miniatures I have including simple green army men in the past.
Then I play the game, if my brother and I like the game, then we get the most appropriate miniatures over time. Then we build/buy or nowadays 3D print the terrain. All of this takes times and often months.
From the first Frostgrave Core Rule Book to the first time we had anything nice it was probably a span of a year. We still do not even have 1/2 of the Bestiary so we proxy with standees or whatever we have around.
We build everything over time because nobody (okay some do) has the money to get everything all in one shot or paint and base everything overnight. Part of the fun for me and brother is watch the game evolve and so that is what we do.
If people cannot play without the proper terrain, they are just looking for an excuse. I love nice terrain, but it takes time for me to build. And if I am building I am not playing, so happy to wait and get it over time while in the meantime we are able to play/. Right now we are waiting for pizza to be delivered so we can go another round with Frostgrave Perilous Dark. Oh, maybe we should keep the pizza box so we can fashion terrain for our next game.
Not having terrain or miniatures has never stopped me. Then again, this is from someone who played Battletech and Car Wars using cardboard chits, standees and markers on poster paper terrain using egg cartons for terrain.