Frostgrave - Best Miniatures Game of 2015!

Okay, I admit it. I am still basking in the glow a bit...

For those that didn't hear the news, Frostgrave was named 'The Best Miniatures Game of 2015' in the Beasts of War awards. The awards were decided by a public vote which makes the win so much better! Frostgrave was up against some real top-notch competition, and I don't think I was the only one a little shocked when the winner was announced! 

Frostgrave was also nominated in several other categories including Best Artwork (Go Dmitry!), Best Model Kit (for the Cultist Kit), and Best Expansion (for Thaw of the Lich Lord). So, really amazing results all around.

Wargaming isn't an industry that has very many awards (the Origins Awards being the only other that springs to mind), so to receive this kind of recognition is really wonderful

Thanks to everyone who voted for Frostgrave. 

For those who want to watch the complete awards show, you can view it here:

Frostgrave: Dark Alchemy Playtest

For all of the talk about gnolls and wooly rhinos, the next Frostgrave supplement to be released will actually be a little ebook called Dark Alchemy.  I just submitted the final manuscript to the editor a couple of days ago. When I started work on Dark Alchemy, I thought it was mainly going to be an expansion about potions, and that still forms about half of the book. However, the other half, and the part I enjoyed writing more, was the Dark Alchemy campaign. This is a set of three, closely linked adventures - but with a twist. You see, this campaign is designed to played either solo, or by two players working together. It's been a real challenge, and I had to do a lot more playtesting on these scenarios than I normally do. Hopefully, in the end, I've got the balance right.

I thought some might enjoy a few photos from my a couple of my personal playtest games.

The Frostgrave Auction

I just received a copy of the latest issue of Wargames: Soldier & Strategy (Issue 83) which contains my short article 'The Frostgrave Auction'. The article is basically about running an 'in campaign' auction for some rare magical items that were found in the Frozen City.  The article includes five such items, but this was cut down from the original seven for space reasons.  For those completists out there, I'm happy to present the other two here!

Sword of Wounding and Healing (Reserve Price 400gc)

The origins of our next item remain obscure. Probably it was a gift to a trust lieutenant, or perhaps part of a payment to a mercenary for services rendered. The blade itself is magical and designed to burn inside any wound inflicted, a nasty piece of work. It also contains one other surprise. The hilt of the weapon contains a small hollow chamber sealed with a thick ornament of cut glass in the pommel. The chamber acts as a vial, holding a tiny amount of healing potion, just enough, perhaps, to keep one alive. Perhaps the language of the inscription on the blade will one day be understood, and the history of the item will become clear. Until then, it must remain a mystery. The bidding starts at 350gc...

This magical hand weapon has a +1 damage modifier. In addition, the bearer of the blade can spend one action to drink the potion contained in the pommel. This hidden chamber holds just enough healing potion to heal 2 points of damage. Between games, this potion store can be replenished by sacrificing another Healing Potion owned by the wizard. This replenishment uses up the whole of the Healing Potion.

Magic Beans (Reserve Price 150gc)

Now this is a delightful little item. Don’t snicker, for these beans will sprout even in the frozen ground of Frostgrave. In fact, they grow so quickly, that you can literally ride the shoot up! How often have you needed to get up a ruin quickly? Well, this humble little bag of beans is your answer! Shall we start the bidding at 100gc…

This small pouch of magic beans can be used three times before it is exhausted. To use the beans, the bearer spends an action. The figure may then immediately make a move any distance it wishes upward and then 1” in any direction as a free action. The magic beans may not be used by a figure In Combat. 

The Frozen Ruins of Frostgrave

So, here it is, the first illustration of The Frozen City! Okay, in truth that is just one little piece of the city, but still, it is the first time that any part of Frostgrave has been shown at a distance. Anyway, here is the cover for the next print supplement: Forgotten Pacts. I'll be talking more about it in the future, but I have a few other things to cover first...

[Edit: Of course this isn't the 'next' print supplement. That's Into the Breeding Pits out in July. This one is out in November. I guess my head is always in the future at the moment.]

Frostgrave Gnolls

Timed with the release of the next Frostgrave supplement, Into the Breeding Pits, in July, these guys:

Work In Progress: Knight of Minas Tirith II

First off, thanks to everyone who commented on my Knight of Minas Tirith post, it helped motivate me to get working on another one! I need to make one correction to that post. I missed one of the biggest differences between the old metal box set and the new plastic one. The old box only came with 5 knights, while the new one comes with 6! This means I actually have two less than I thought I did, but maybe that’s for the best!

One issue I have encountered when working on this project concerns the horses. In the early days of The Lord of the Rings miniatures game, GW only produced two different plastic horses. While that’s a bit disappointing, it’s not a huge deal. A bigger problem is that one of those horses only has one point of contact between the horse and its base – basically the whole miniature is balanced on one back hoof. That’s fine as long as your rider is also plastic and weights basically nothing, but as soon as you put a metal miniature in the saddle, it begins to droop.  Droopy knights are something I just can’t take.

So, I did a little searching and made a delightful discovery. Warlord Games produce a set of plastic horses for their Pike andShotte line that are nearly the same size and have nearly the same saddlery as the GW Minas Tirith ones. The only thing missing is the leather cover for the horse's head, but I can live without that. Even better, these horses can be bought in sprues of 4 for £4. I picked up a few sprues, and I think you’ll agree from the photo that they are good match for the knights. They are actually just slightly bigger than the GW horses, which I believe actually makes for a better match with the knights. The downside to these horses is that they come on integral bases, so some work is required to cut them off of those bases and attach them to GW bases.

As I mentioned in the last post, I’m no fan of white metal spears and like to replace them with steel ones. These can be purchased from a lot of companies – usually they are sold as pikes. In fact, you can see some in the link to Warlord Games given above. They need to be cut down to size, which requires some serious clippers to cut through the steel, but isn’t too much of a challenge. It might also be advisable to cut or file down the top, as the ones I’ve got are quite sharp and easily capable of spearing a wayward hand or finger.

While getting this figure ready it occurred to me that I had really made life hard for myself with my last knight. For that guy, I took his original hand, cut off the spear, drilled through the hand and put in the steel spear. It never occurred to me that at 28mm most hands look more or less the same, especially if you are going to paint it as a glove, and there was really no need to drill through a metal hand when I have plenty of much easier plastic ones lying around. So this guy got a plastic hand. With a hand drill it only takes seconds to put a hole through the hand and glue the spear in place. Slightly more challenging is attaching the hand to the arm. I drilled more holes in the hand and the wrist and inserted a bit of the steel pike I had clipped off to get the length down. I once again got a little cavalier with the glue – I really need to get a better dispenser – so he once again has a ‘thick’ glove hand.

Still, all and all, I’m really happy with how the figure is going so far!

Sellsword

Frostgrave: Sellsword is now available to purchase either from Osprey or from RPG Now. It doesn't appear to be on Amazon yet, but hopefully coming soon.

If you pick up a copy, let me know what you think!

Sellsword Contains:

Rules for Captains (Soldiers who gain experience)
3 Scenarios