Frostgrave (1st) Solo Battle Report: Alchemical Monstrosity

What is so fitting for the 4000th!!!!! post on this little corner of the internet, then the core business so to say of my blog, and why I started it back in 2012: a battle report of the wargames I play! 

So the second edition of Frostgrave has hit the shelves, meaning I will FINALLY start playing this gane of duelling wizards... with first edition.

Covid being the main reason I kept of buying many new rules, as the clublife is down, so when osprey offered the set back in april for free, I downloaded it and today I finally get round to give it a go.

I opted to start out with the Dark Alchemy solo campaign for this, and will field my own printed warband of heroes for this dash to freedom.  Taking place in a more thawned out area of Fellstad (you know, scenery, basing, etc), I imagine the heroes aren`t trying to get outside a big laboratory, but instead running to the safety of some safer areas as the monster persues them.  To that end, instead of doors I`ve placed braziers on the table instead to indicate "the way".

Taking into account the wizard and his band are as fresh into the city as it could be, I am going to opt for the running game indeed instead of trying to actually slay the big beast...

The monstrosity is a DnD fiend print, as are the rats that might appear during the game.

The band to take on the beast are my wizard, Lashat tell'Aranas, a member of the Illusionist school of magic, and joined by three members of his newly found warband: an Archer, an Infantryman and a Thug.

The table was set up, the objectives placed, and the beast lurked in the shadows to hunt the adventurers...

The first turn wasn'th that exciting, as the party split up to try out both braziers and see which one let to freedom.  The beast started hunting the henchmen on the left flank though...

In the second turn, Giant Rats appeared as the monstrosity charged the Thug, and swiftly dispatches him.  

In the meantime, my Illusionist picked up some dragon eggs, while the Archer grabbed a small treasure chest.  The rats in the meantime scurried towards the Infantryman.

More rats appear at the beginning of the third turn, as the monstrosity pounces on the Archer.  Unable to wound him, the archer looses a panicked shot that flies high over, before legging it from the monster.  The Infantryman gets charged by the Giant Rats, but dispatches of them with his double handed hammer.

In the meantime, the Illusionist reaches the brazier, and prepares to check it out next turn...

It proves to be the wrong one though, so the warband has to move all the way to the other side now to make good on their escape.  The Archer almost reaches it, with the big beast hot on his heels.  In the meantime, the Infantryman is charged by the other rats... and taken out by the vicious critters!

 In order to get some protection from the approaching rats, the Illusionist casts Monstrous Form.  This will prove handy because when the rats later on in the turn charge him, they fail their courage and scuttle away again.  The archer let loose another awefully wide shot at the beast before legging it off the board and to safety.

In the sixth turn, the Illusionist teleports himself right next to the exit, if he can snatch Initiative in the next turn, he is home safe!

But alas, Frostgrave does not grant success that easily, as the dice comes up as a 1, allowing the beast to charge the spellcaster.  But in a feat of desperation, the Illusionist actually manages to push the beast back and legs it off to safety!

In the post game sequence, the Illusionist, having obtained 155 XP in this scenario, gains a level and improves the casting value of his Teleport spell.

Both his fallen henchmen, rolling 10 and 12 respectively, make a good recovery as well, so no losses in the battle!

The treasure tokens yielded 10 GC and a Scroll of Combat Awareness, while a Grimoire of Blinding Light was found for the Illusionist to learn after the next game.

Finally, the band having now arrived in the city of Frostgrave, decided to settle down in an old Library as Base Camp, and start their explorations from there on!

And so the plunge into Frostgrave has been taken, and it is a fun game.  Like Rangers, it lends itself to good narrative gaming, something impotant for me these days as that ups the joy of solo gaming!

Now to prepare the models for the second scenario of Dark Alchemy!