It’s been a mad week at work this week so I wasn’t really feeling in the mood when gaming night came around. The plan had been to finish off the MERCS game and then have our first game of Frostgrave. So the first part of the plan went well. Al had been reading up on the ‘Breach and Clear’ rules so we got straight into that and completed it with style. Maybe a bit too much style because at the end of the turn the security rating had gone up to level two which meant we couldn’t complete the mission so it was game over. I think we need to get a few more games in before I make a judgement on the game but it looks like there is a lot of playability in it. The only problem I have is getting over the bad taste that the Kickstarter has left.
So with MERCS completed it was on to Frostgrave. First things first though and that was to lay down the 500 points we had painted as part of the Special Brew challenge. No forfeits this month with both myself and Al completing everything on time and there are some pictures later in the post. Beyond painting up the minis though I hadn’t done any prep for the game. So we spent some time pointing up the models we had, looking at the different wizard types and what spells were available to them. And to be honest by the time we had done this I just couldn’t be bothered with a game. We then decided on a plan, there’s no game next week so we both have two weeks to read up on the rules, write up a proper war band and turn up for the next game with everything ready to go.
Now part of the reason I wasn’t really feeling up to a game was to do with the miniatures which leads me nicely on to a bit of a waffle. When we set the challenge I had no minis lying around that I could use so I have had to start from scratch on this project. Wanting to keep things a bit simple I decided to go with official Frostgrave minis, so I ordered a mage, apprentice and a box of men. I made my first mistake here when I actually ordered the cultists by mistake. One think I would like to make clear here is that there is nothing at all wrong with these miniatures, in fact for the price they are actually really nice. It was just that they didn’t inspire or enthuse me. I got them finished in time and you can see the result here.
Now Al on the other hand took the route of building up a bespoke crew, picking minis from lots of different sources to build up something a bit special. He let me steal them to take some pictures so that you can have a look.
For me the hobby is mainly about building and painting minis that I like rather than painting something up because it is really good in game. I would much rather have and ‘army’ that I like the look of than one that ticks all the box’s as a competitive force. That’s not saying there is anything wrong with that approach, it’s just not mine. When I took on this Frostgrave challenge I lost track of that, mainly in the challenge to things painted to a deadline. But the result is I now have a warband that I like but I don’t really have a ‘bond’ with it. I think my plan will be to paint up a new warband but this time just picking specific minis to make my own but I’m not going to rush it. I can get games in with the warband I have and once my new warband is finished the one I have now can be used by anyone who wants to give the game a go. So I’m now on the lookout for minis that I think will work nicely in my own warband.
I’ve not got anything to actually paint for this months ‘special brew’ challenge because Pete has picked Guildball with the challenge being to paint up a team. I already have five fully painted teams and the aim of the challenge is to get things ready for a game so I’ve been given a pass this month. I’ve still got some plans with the aim being to paint up a few more of my Joker crew for Batman and to get some more Wild West Exodus painted up ahead of Adepticon at the end of the month.
So that’s it for this week. Hope you have a good weekend, happy gaming and with a bit of luck I’ll catch you all again next week.
