Frostgrave 2e: Stat Sheets

I have been neglecting the hobby a little bit over the last few weeks due to the newly enforced lockdown dragging my attention elsewhere. However, in dribs and drabs, I have put together some very basic Frostgrave Wizard Character Sheets in Excel.

I have listed each of the wizard and soldier classes from the Second Edition rulebook (I will sort out those featured in the supplements too soon) and messed around until I could get the wizard and apprentice, the spells, and the hired soldiers onto 3 sheets. I will use this spreadsheet as a template going forward so that I can copy/paste the basic outlines for each soldier etc. into a separate spreadsheet for each new warband I create. So, when they are printed out, I will have a visual representation of the miniature used for that particular wizard/soldier as well as a handy easy reference list of their stats.

Anyway, here is an example for one of the soldiers that I knocked up this afternoon just to see what the individual entries would look like. It is for a barbarian soldier called Rollo - who I may or may not use in forthcoming games...

My initial warband will be used for rules testing, but then I will create a brand new one for actually gaming with - I have had some daft ideas on what I want to do here (see below). As I do not have access to any fellow gamers at the moment, my initial games, at least, will be solo affairs.

The daft idea is for my first warband to have a down on his/her luck 1st level wizard and their apprentice travelling to the environs of Felstad to put together an adventuring party to retrieve some of the fabled treasures of the frozen city. They will have stopped at an inn close by the city (which will become their base of operations) and just advertised the fact that they will be paying a visit into the city and would anyone care to join them for a cut of the loot.

In game terms, this is basically a wizard/apprentice and any free hires they can get - i.e. just thugs and thieves. The wizard currently has zero cash, so cannot hire on better soldiers at the moment, but as time goes by and treasures are amassed then, hopefully, this situation will change. Each wizard will have just very basic equipment to begin with - one weapon each, and I will be rolling randomly for the magic school and on the spells known tables to make it more fun and force me to have to think on my feet with what spells I can utilise in any given situation.

My thoughts are that the main scenario treasure objectives are those that the wizard thinks are worth having - he will have those for himself. However, in an abstract way, there are many other treasures in Felstad that are not so fabulous (piles of silver and copper coins, cheap jewellery, slightly more ornate weapons than those the warband already have (although these have no effect on combat skills), dinner ware and other trinkets), and it will be assumed that the soldiers pick these up for themselves on the way to and from the scenario site, and thus are rewarded for their efforts in this way.

Hopefully, the next week or two will allow me to create my first warband and sort out what scenery I have left and what I can make for no cost from kitchen waste (yoghurt pots, snack tubes and the like).

Frostgrave 2e: My First Warband - Preparation

Even though I bought all of the original wizards and companions with the first Nickstarter, I did not get the opportunity to paint any of them. I will try to remedy that fairly soon though, when I am able to get to my paints and figures after the recent house move.

That said, I do have plenty of adventuring types in my collection of miniatures that I painted several years ago, and detailed elsewhere on this blog, to be getting on with. I will take a look at the types of soldiers available in Frostgrave and match my old miniatures to them; I have plenty of wizardly types, clerics (not sure if they can possibly be used as soldiers of some type?), thieves, fighters and barbarians, as well as loads of historicals that could double-up as fantasy soldiers.

Some wizards for me to choose from...

These are re-used images of the wizards I painted way back. Luckily, I have two or three painted in each colour scheme; perfect for a Frostgrave wizard and his/her apprentice.

I also have penty of soldiers to choose from...

And some thieves...

And barbarians...

Looking at the paint-jobs, they are not that great. I was pleased with them at the time but now I am looking at them several years later...hmmm. I won't repaint them as they are usable, but going forward I hope to make a better hash of the paint jobs on my "official" Frostgrave miniatures.

I also have plenty of Roman and Norman troops to use as cannon fodder soldiers, so these might put in an appearance, as well as a variety of peasants with farm implements - this might make for an interesting skance. I am very tempted to try several different ways of representing warbands on the tabletop; the traditional mix-up of fanatsy tropes, a couple of wizards and their hired men-at-arms (all in the same livery), or a couple of wizards and their peasant followers out to seek their fortune/vengeance on the ill that came from Felstad.

Over the last few days I have been putting together an Excel version of the Wizard Sheet. I have amended it a little to allow automatic calculations of some fields (just basic Sum calculations etc.) in order that I can get a new warband set up and statted more quickly, so it can be printed out and I don't have to rely on my awful handwriting. I am hoping to get my first warband statted up by tomorrow. Hopefully I can blog my wizard sheet and the figures I will use to represent them, then prep for a scenario to try to play over the weekend. It will have to be a solo affair, but it should allow me to learn the ropes of the rules system.

Unfortunately, I do not have any great stock of scenery at the moment. Several years ago, my cat decided he would use my paints and scenery boxes as his litter trays and basically destroyed the majority of it. I have a few items left but I have decided to try to make some of my own going forwards. As mentioned whilst I was summarising the Battle Games in Middle-earth magazines, there are tutorials on how to make scenery for Gondor, Rohan etc. I will put some of this to the test over the following few months and make some ruins. I will use anything else I can get hold of in the meantime; cardboard boxes, toilet rolls, yoghurt pots etc. just so I can at least get started and get a feel for playing the game.