Frostgrave for a newbie

Under the Covid lockdowns, my intrepid gaming parter has long restricted us to Chess, Monopoly, Cluedo, Dobble, Connect 4, Risk and occasionally simply cards (Pontoon, Texas Holdem, snap...).

This probably warrants a separate post, but Dungeons and Dragons: Adventure Begins proved to be a really effective gateway into wargaming, and lead directly to Frostgrave.

Adventure Begins is aimed at kids, and will undoubtably prove boring for any experienced gamer. But to a first timer, the concept of a D20 and attacking/defending, using spells etc. is completely new. It wore thin after 4 games, as expected, but it did the trick of planting the seed and instilled a desire for more.

Enter Frostgrave, second edition.

I've done ruins to death and decided to switch it up and make some intact fantasy buildings. This little set up was perfect as an intro table, immersive and iconic enough to set the scene but not too much so as to intimidate.

As you can see it was day time when we started (early afternoon), the later image of the final game has us in the dark - roughly 4 hrs of gameplay, across 4 short games. 

To get us going I created a small double sided A5 booklet each, with wizard and warband stats on the inside, and outside the reference sheets and abridged rules (mostly notes and prompts). 

Game 1

Slightly a write off - introducing all the phases, multiple miniatures, shooting, fighting and spellcasting at once was way too much for a first timer. The monster phase wasn't even on the agenda.

Game 2

Scaled back, we had 3 miniatures a side, no spellcasters, and it was simply a 'boxing match'. Instead of the phases we just took turns alternating our miniatures, moving, shooting and fighting.

(We played game 2 twice)

Game 3

Were getting the hang of it now, this game we each had a wizard, apprentice and 2 soldiers. In this game spellcasting and the correct turn phases were introduced.

Game 4

Treasure is introduced for the first time and we have a full* game, still minus the monster phase.

*some rules were omitted, like weapons and shooting modifiers.

Warbands were only 6 strong (4 soldiers) and spells were limited to 4 each.  It's been about 20 years since I introduced a novice to the concept of gaming but the day was relatively successful.

Post game 4 I sat with the rulebook and did the hypothetical campaign consequences: treasure tables, wounded tables, experience etc. and it all went to plan - follow gaming is a go. The next few games will be more of the same, only larger warbands, use of the monster phase, then graduation to playing through scenarios. By that time warband and spell selection will be an individual affair instead of me picking some basic and easy configurations.

A few techniques during the intro gaming came into play, which improved the fun and learning element:

• Re-roll 1s and 2s, it's no fun failing
• Bend and omit the rules in the interests of fun, i.e. ignore shooting and weapon modifiers in an effort to speed up the game flow
• Introduce rules slowly across a number of games
• Use amusing memorable incidents as a teaching/memory aid i.e. the opponents apprentice moved and then attempted to cast a projectile bolt style spell. Unfortunately line of sight wasn't factored in and a friendly Treasure Hunter was directly in the way. That friendly Treasure Hunter was made to take the full brunt of the spell and was completely wiped out. The concept of line of sight is now well embedded.

Post game my girlfriend suddenly had a look of realisation when I discussed experience. It all made sense now. She was under the impression she had to fill out her experience of the game in the warband box roster. 

Good, bad, fun, areas for improvement etc.... 

Clearly we've both spent too long in the corporate world on training and awareness seminars, and not enough time in the world of tabletop gaming.

The sign of a good game that sucks you in for a few hours of fun - a messy playing area covered in dice, pencils, rulers and miniatures scattered everywhere. And small glasses of wine.

Frostgrave second edition is a vastly superior product and experience to the first one and I can't recommend it enough.