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Frostgrave really boosted the amount of crafting that I was doing. Lots of broken walls and statues. I still use that scatter in my D&D game. PLUS, the creator is suuuuuuuper available and active on its FB group.
Hello. Not speaking English, I use google tratuction so I apologize in advance if the text is sometimes difficult to understand. First of all thank you for all the time and energy you put into this channel. I discovered it by chance a few weeks ago and I was immediately hooked. So I'm going back to all your videos from the beginning. I who had never done that, I'm already at a dozen craft. In fact, the construction of tiles and scenery is really something very addictive^^. Having bought Frostgrave for Christmas, I can't wait to see what you're going to offer us as decorations. Thanks again for everything.
Yeah. RoSD is great. "Rangers" refers more to the organization they belong to. So you can build your 'ranger' to fit almost any trope from spell slinger to armored tank.
A few years ago my group started Frostgrave. I hot glued random cardboard pieces at right angles and tent folded strips of paper with the unit name on it. 20 minutes later we we're playing. Now we use Legos.
Bought the rulebook on a whim and the fact that it is a “use the models you’ve got” rather than REQUIRING the players to buy all of the supplies to even play your first game. Quite excited to finally throw some dice with my buds and check this one out!
Yay, Frostgrave! Looking forward to your builds. I recommend picking up the Maze of Malcor book and using the new experience rules. They were crafted by the designer after a couple of years of feedback from players, and put less emphasis on killing enemy wizards as well as reduce the snowball effect that can happen in a longer campaign.
I got myself a copy! Here in the north of Germany it is quite popular. If you liked frostgrave you maybe should give mordheim a try. It is a gw game but is not supported anymore but you can get some really good miniatures from other companys or use your own. Rules are in the web for free. In the game you get to build not only your own wizard you build a complete warband. I liked it because it quite feels more like an pen and paper game then every other tabletop game Maybe give it a try?
Just picked up some oathmark dwarves to build a warband for this yesterday! Its slowly building a following in Australia and I'm hoping to get my group onto it asap
I really like Frostgrave... I'm checking out Rangers of Shadow Deep which was written by the same guy and uses the same system. But it's solo or co-op!
Frostgrave and this style is great. The jungle version of this (ghost archipelago )is also amazing. If you’re looking for a post apocalypse game like this. This is not a test is a great option. If you want zombies, last days. You want frostgrave with 40k , scrappers. All those games let you use your own minis and I really love that. If you want a twist on this. Try kobolds and cobblestones, it use a deck of cards and a poker mechanic in basically waterdeep. The gang leader dies but has hit his treasure all over the city and you create a gang to go find it. I really like that one as well
Love frostgrave , way easier to get started and play than other table top fantasy. Long term the game is still great with additional books adding to content spells and rules options. Smaller table size, small armies, faster games. Awesome!
I played 1E once with some friends and we all enjoyed it. I've got a new band of heroes now and we are going to try out 2E next week and I am totally pumped!!! Like yourself, I hope to use Frostgrave to fill in the "in between" times when folks can't all commit to a D&D game. I've gone so far as to write Frostgrave into the lore of my homebrew D&D world.
I started watching Black magic craft specifically to make terrain for Frostgrave. One suggestion I can give is pick up 'The Frostgrave Folio' early on in your campaign. I say this because it has rules for a captain which is a third class type and more permanent member that can increase in stats aside from the wizard and apprentice.
Your a few books behind. Frostgrave has been out for a bit and it just keeps getting better. Being able to use your own minis and learning curb is the best. Only problem is the loyalists to D&D and other war games, do not like competition have done a lot to shut it down and yet they are still publishing more campaigns. Keep playing and enjoy it all.
Every other Sunday, I play D&D with a regular group. It has changed players over the years, and I think its for the better. Sometimes new blood invigorates older players. Also I haven't played Frostgrave, I almost Kickstarted it awhile back. However, I do play Warhammer Age of Sigmar... Since you mentioned kill team I will tell you it looks like were getting a Fantasy version of Kill Team soon. The benefit to having a group of friends that play Age of Sigmar is the incredible amount and high quality of fantasy miniatures perfect for D&D. We add those to an already large list of D&D and other miniatures and terrain and we have pretty high quality games. 3d Printer and crafting our own terrain out of materials like you do in your vids. Looking forward to more content like this.
The game is a breeze to houserule. My own houserule is to have a bonus treasure in the center of the board so players don't just take the easiest treasures and run.
+black magic craft. You asked for advice and questioned how the game is long term. The base game has replayability by changing wizard type. More importantly there's additional campaigns and supplements to offer totally different stuff. There's a deck of cards that adds personal/secret objectives that provide a whole new take on play - still based on treasure hunting but ADDS a twist for you (and your opponent, who's objective you don't know).
I even started using the Frostgrave system to make gameplay less rules-heavy for starting players in d&d and other rpgs. Works really good. Great review man, glad you found a game for in between sessions, such an awesome game.
About to host a 9 week Frostgrave campaign at my local game store! Made battle report sheets and everything for it! Love this system, and I play Rangers of Shadow Deep every Tuesday!
So glad you've discovered and enjoyed Frostgrave. It's easily my favorite skirmish game. The Expansion books add more fun (new roles, new rules, new magic items, etc) and as your wizard grows in power, the game gets crazy fun.
Frostgrave is an awesome game. I've been playing it since it was released. Check out Rangers of Shadow Deep. Also the monsters in Frostgrave have the same stats as the monsters in Rangers of Shadow Deep.
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial actually, in all seriousness, you need to organise games at a retirement village. Plenty of intelligent people with tonnes of free time who don't travel far.
The expansions are also really great. They add new minions and different play styles. 'Thaw of the Lich Lord' is a bit more story and coop focused. 'Into the breeding pits' gives a dungeon crawl setting. All in all the expansions focus a lot on boosting the non-player faction and pushing the players more to decide whether to work together or against each other. Of course this means they are a lot more specific on the miniatures used for the monsters, which still are very generic. Cultists for the Lich Lord, Gnolls for the Breeding pits and so on. With the official Frostgrave infantry boxes this isn't such a problem as they are awesome and offer a bang for the buck. I'm really glad to see you enjoy Frostgrave! :D Only tip I have is not to use the optional Criticals rule in the beginning.
My local meta had a campaign going on for a while but our game died out after one player took a huge lead on everyone else. Once he won about 3 games, he had racked up more XP than anyone else and used the treasure to hire elite minions. The XP went to getting more powerful spells and ranking up his Fight stat. Having a wizard with a really high fight stat makes them extremely difficult to hit with any sort of mundane attack. After only 3 weeks of games, he was level 17 and his closest rival was only level 10. We simply didn't stand a chance of beating him either on combat or scenario due to him using teleportation spells to close the gap if we tried to concentrate on objectives. This seems to happen with any sort of game I've seen that has character growth. The game itself is very fun though. Magic and terrain rules make it something that can result in a lot of fun and crazy interactions.
Excellent video and Frostgrave is an amazing game. I would recommend going online and downloading the spell cards for reference during the game. You should also try Gaslands for a similar fun experience.
I love Frostgrave. I have all of the books and supplements for Frostgrave, Frostgrave: Ghost Achipelago, and Rangers of Shadowdeep. The creator of these games, Joseph McCullough, is a great guy and is very engaged with the gaming community. Frostgrave is the game that got me into building terrain. I love that I have another use for all of those darn board game miniatures that I've painted over the years. Although not necessary to play, their plastic and metal models are quite good. Amazon and other distributors carry the books and some of the figures and accessories. For Europe, northstarfigures carries everything that exists for the game. For folks in USA, Brigadegames is the North American distributor for northstar. One thing about Frostgrave that we did have to houserule a bit is that you get a lot of XP quickly for killing off the opponent's wizard, apprentice, or crew. This means that wizards with offensive spells can wrack up XP faster than those that are more defensive or treasure focused. Great game though and there's a lot of content out there to explore.
If you like the mechanics of Frostgrave, here's another endorsement for Rangers of Shadowdeep. You can use the same minis and terrain for both, but it opens you up to solo and co-op play. Joseph McCullough wrote both games. So cool to see you dabble in wargames and give an honest assessment. Thanks!!
With all of the campaign books there is a lot of additional "official" scenarios. We almost always play with 4 warbands, as we play as a family pretty much. We have also came up with our own scenarios.
This game makes me think of Ars Magica RPG, its has you playing a wizard with a companion and a clutch of serfs (called Grogs) so each player would contribute several personalities to the Covenant, the home of the wizards. If this system was around back when I was playing it, I would have used it for sure. Might even revisit it again after all these years. Thanks BMC.
Frostgrave is great! One of my D&D groups plays this as well. It was so easy to learn and the game flowed smoothly. It’s also a low investment game in both time and money. Agreed on all of your points. This was great to see!
I'll have to check it out! Our schedule conflict game has been Mutants and Masterminds. It's a Superhero RPG kind if dnd ish but it's set up not to directly continuous from the session before, in fact each session is supposed to play out like an issue of a comic book. It makes character drop in/drop out super easy and you just play with whoever could make it Frost grave sounds fun and it's always good to keep options open!
Sold! I have the same problem in my group. Too many grownups with things to do. Once a month meeting and we were already looking at Frost Grave. Thanks for the review!!!
This sounds so cool man. Gonna pick up a copy and suggest this to my friends. We run into a similar problem were we are not able to play and some players have different taste in a fantasy TTRPG (ie lore and story vs. action and loot gameplay). I also really like that this will allow/inspire you to build more dope projects. Looking forward to more great vids.
Osprey just gave away a pdf of the core and one of the expansions(Dark Alchemy) for free yesterday. I'm glad to hear you like it! I'm excited to get into it.
My copy arrived in the mail last week. I have read the rules a few times and l think it will be fun. I am now building some winter terrain. I picked up 40 of the bottle brush pine trees you did a video on. It would be good it if you did a winter version. I am not sure to do two layers of flocking on woodland green and another of snow. Or just go strait snow.
I might actually do winter versions of those trees. I bought an extra bag just incase I wanted to do that. I will likely take them through the same stages as the other ones, getting the green looking good, then add snow on top of that and to the base. I think this will make the best look.
Kings of War: Vanguard is a great game in a similar vein. They have free rules on the mantic site and you can use whatever models you want. I would love to see you review it!
The terrain opportunities are endless in Frostgrave. Different levels above ground and subt. Your channel has nailed this game and if you put together some terrain in multiple levels with walk-ways the game will really pop. Don't forget to mention the additional supplements which give you many scenarios based around a single final objective over the number of games. When this game was released I immediately thought of it as an AD&D style encounter game. There is also Ghost Archipelago which is Frostgrave in a different environment. Others have mentioned 'Rangers' by the same author and it seems to me that this style of game will get even stronger as long as it is supported.
As a experienced Frostgrave player I am really happy seeing you exploring Felstadt - really looking forward to all your Frostgrave related projects. If you want a more narrative driven campaign, you should definitely try out the first expansion: Thaw of the Lich Lord. ;-)
i played this a fair bit some years ago. in the campaigns i was well ahead of my opponent in capturing treasures/objectives, my group was built to do this (aim of the game). my opponents group was built to kill, he kept killing more of my group each encounter. So as i was technically winning the campaign i was constantly spending resources to replace lost characters and my group got weaker as my opponent got stronger. To us it seemed broken and the more we played the more this seemed the case, seeing as the game's purpose is getting treasures.
Love some Frostgrave. it was the focus of my hobby time for a good while. I now have a mini for every single monster and all of the terrain and tokens needed for any particular scenario from the Frozen City books (including enough lasercut dungeon walls, doors, and furnishings for a full 3x3 table). First piece of advice: If you want to expand and improve your games, the first things to pick up are "Into the Breeding Pits" (for dungeon crawling rules, including things like traps and secret passages that can be added to any Frostgrave game) and the "Frostgrave Folio" (mostly for Dark Alchemy and Sellsword, but it's all pretty good). Second piece of advice: Don't get too hung up on minis for some of the more obscure critters from the Bestiaries. While I've found Bones has an option for most everything I didn't already have for RPGs and Dungeon Saga, I did have to go with proxies for lack of a good option...or just because I had another mini I REALLY wanted to use. In my games, there are no giant centipedes, but there are scorpions. "White Gorillas" are actually a furry beast with 4 arms. And lastly, if you like Frostgrave, you should definitely take a look at Rangers of Shadow Deep. It uses pretty much the same system, with the addition of skills, abilities in place of spells, and more flexibility in selecting a warband for missions. There are a ton of customization options, and the setting is very archtypical fantasy. The biggest difference is that the game is designed to be played either solo or cooperative. Rather than you vs. the opponent vs. the monsters, it's you and up to 3 other Rangers (and henchmen) against the monsters.
Happy to hear you enjoyed Kill Team, it is the only 40k related game I play semi-regularly, and it seems to be an all round favourite for those that like the tactical side of the tabletop. Frostgrave is ace! Plus, it gave us the very first poseable plastic gnoll kit, and what a little jewel that is! XD
So happy to see this review and to see that you have the beginnings of the FGV bug. I have found it and Gaslands deeply addictive. I love FGV for all of the reasons you give. I am always drawn to games that you have to finish yourself so I love that the rules and world are fairly simple and that you have to build your warband and create lots of terrain. Both FGV and Gaslands are like this. There is actually tons of depth to the game, with the campaign system, the numerous supplements, the Ulterior Motive cards (awesome), and the North Star minis. I just got a review copy of The Wizards' Conclave, which is a collection of solo, regular, and coop scenarios for FGV written by some big names in gaming: Ash Barker, Alessio Cavatore, Andy Chambers, Gav Thorpe, Sean Sutter, and more. And even though the game is mini agnostic, the North Star minis are some of my fave mini kits ever. The multi-part kits (Soldiers, Cultists, Barbarians, Wizards, etc) are so great. 20 models per box, great sculpts, and endless design options. I can't stop making minis for this game with these kits.
I actually ordered the cultists box. Will be using that with some Reaper Dark Haven minis for Wiz/Aprentice. Went necromancer......because.......aesthetics😂
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial The Cultist box is very cool. Has a number of skeleton or zombie-skels you can make along with regular cultists. I'm excited about the new Soldiers II (all female) and the Wizards box. I have several Sigilist wizards that I play (built on the Reaper Elf Warlock and Reaper Zayafid Pathfinder). My son plays a Necromancer (Dark Heaven Wizard Quillscratch). My sigilist apprentice is the one from the FGV Sigilist blister from North Star.
I also heard (and it lures me even more to Frostgrave) that this game is very friendly to backstory modification. The lore is supposed to be only "foundation" - if someone isnt for example too much into this fantasy style, there is no problem to modify it. You can have LOTRgrave, HPgrave, Conangrave, or even likes of StarWarsGrave. If this is true, than it takes my favourite "Your dudes!" rule to the whole new level
Honestly scheduling games became so impossible I stopped running games for most of my old group. Thankfully, my fiancé loves roleplaying so her and I pretty much play together. Which has become my most enriching gaming experience because she loves in-depth games and characters so I've really been able to run some really story rich and character rich games like I always wanted to, but never had the time for.
Its a great game, glad you are enjoying it. We found it can get a bit wonky if one wizard gets much more powerful than the others, but if you have multi-player games the rest tend to gang up, balancing the game. Multiplayer is fun too, but seems to run slower.
I love Frostgrave. I also enjoy playing through the D&D board games occasionally. The legend of Drizzt, Castle Ravenloft, and a couple others. You also get about 40+ minis to paint with each game. The Legend of Drizzt actually comes with all the heroes as minis from the R.A. Salvatore books, Drizzt, Wulfgar, Regis, Cattie Bree, and Bruenor. I say I enjoy playing through the games occasionally, and I of course do, but I purchased them for the minis.
I recently got the book after watching many videos of people playing frostgrave. Now just to find time and people who can play. I have plenty of minis and terrain!
If you liked your first few games, just wait until you get some levels on your wizard. The game really opens up when you have more spell options, and a few core spells you have upgraded so you are fairly certain you can get them off. In my oppinion the telekinesis spell is a bit strong because getting the treasures matter so much more than anything else (besides not getting your wizard KOd)
So glad that you enjoyed the game. It really is a fine and fun system to play through. Its been suffering a little bit as of late in my area, but at least it still has an active player base across the world. One of the cooler subjects about the game is also the plastic figures that have come out with the game and how easy they can be applied to other systems. Take the basic soldier box, you can make most fighter/paladin/rouge options for dnd settings. Also the figures are the same scale as warhammer fantasy. I've made medieval guardsmen and female guardsmen with the various plastic sets. Its also a fun world to apply to fantasy settings with hooks and adventures to use in RPGs. 'A city of in the frozen north has been found and wizards are hiring mercenaries' or 'a long lost archipelago has appeared, filled with untold treasures and dangers'. Really it is a fun game to use for campaigns and one offs with the system.
Been looking recently at Mordheim and kept hearing about this game. Nice to see this vid up on BMC & definitely need to look more into this game. Always glad to see games like Necromunda where there's lots of random things like the environment, campaigns & a game that's boring if up just line up to fight (have to go after objectives).
I really want to play Frostgrave, I think the setting and mechanics look like a lot of fun. There are some really interesting looking supplements too. The thing I want to do more is just spend time making a personalised warband for fun. I've had the core book for quite a while but haven't been able to drum up much enthusiasm among my friends to give it a go. But... a lot of them are now becoming quite disillusioned with Games Workshop games and trying to keep their armies updated and current... So who knows, I might be able to convince them yet.
Also, there is another game in the "Frostgrave" series. Called Ghost Archepeligo (wrong spelling I know). The scenarios cross right over as do the monsters.
I am suprised I never saw this video before. The whole reason I watch your videos is for Frostgrave/Rangers of Shadowdeep. Well, some of it I use for other games, but mainly those two.
Thanks for sharing this with us man. Very good advise. Not sure if I’ll get a chance to run/play it.... but I really appreciate your honest and down right helpful opinion! Top notch content Jeremy.
Love Frostgrave. If you focus on scenario centered games you will never run out of fun. Also fun with four players or three with a third controlling the denizens. I highly reccomend the ulterior motives expansion.
While I do like frostgrave, I can't recommend Song of Blades and Heroes enough. Its another use your own minis game, but it's not limited to wizards, and the stats for your party is made from the ground up rather than from template. Its simple and exciting. Check that one out.
As already said... Rangers of Shadow Deep is probably the best game I've played in years, a D&D/War Game crossover that truly deserves the hype. Seriously, get it and try it, you'll probably never play another game again!
Uuuuu, you´re gonna love Rangers of Shadow deep then! It´s McCulloughs newest game and it has a lot of similiarities with Frostgrave, but it is set in a depp haunted forest rather than a frozen city. It plays really fast and easy, the warbands are smaller, and I find it has an even more pronaunced RPG feel to it.
If you find that the d20 system feels to swingy, we house rule a 2d10 replacement to help normalise the result curve. That way crits feel really special and not too common. Also, frostgrave minis are brilliant in general - frequently take to kit bashing them and making minis for all sorts (obviously including D&D characters).
I'll tell you what the future will be like. As your wizard gains experience, the levels will go up, making the game deeper and more strategic. like that, but, it will also make the loss of a mage or apprentice that much more painful. incredible game. you have an idea perfectly, the spirit of the hobby is in this game.
Awesome game! Also worth mentioning, there are other campaign books, with more scenarios to play; so the game doesn’t feel stale playing the same ones all the time.
Looking forward to trying out frostgrave, and am also working on some gaslands cars, as well... I am probably going to try out a few different designs before locking anything down, and actually painting or detailing any matchbox or hotwheels cars... Am planning on using some blue poster tack to mount misc weapons temporarily, and see what feels best. Also plan on trying to expand our dnd group into an alternative games day on a second or third weekend of the month, so it doesn't feel so long between dnd games on first Saturday... We shall see
I love Frostgrave. We always start with random spells, and sometimes random schools. The game of magic is never fair, so why try to pretend. A spell that is totally needed and powerful in one scenario is all but worthless in another. Also, get Ulterior Motives and build the pieces needed for it if you don't already have them. KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU GET WITH EACH LEVEL. Sorry to shout, but as an RPG guy I love being able to go back and see what I got or improved at each level. I keep a log for each wizard of major events and his leveling. I also keep a set of cards printed or official for each wizard in their own sleeves with the spell costs written in pencil. (Although the card sleeve/pen thing should work). Remember to play your character for maximum fun... no necromancer is going to worry about the life of thug if there is a magic tome around. We also only use magic we find and a randomized store, although in a campaign anything you sell becomes available to buy for other players.
Frostgrave is my second favorite game, right after Warhammer Age of Sigmar. There are a lot of supplements for Frostgrave and some cool cards both for the spells and to add variety to the scenarios once you've played through them a few times. Can't wait to see what you think about Kill Team I'm getting ready to play that too.
Playing a campaign usually end in a snowballeffect, where one player runs over the other. So having several players are good. And everyone should have the same mindset when going in. It's easy to min-max and do that sort of really powerful thing. And that can be fun, but if the other players want to play for narrative and fluff that can be frustrating for all parties.
Love frostgrave. Recently started playing Rangers of Shadow deep. Heavier emphasis on skills and abilities than frostgrave and rangers of shadowdeep is solo or cooperative play. Love you channel and have used your ideas. Than you for what you do
I played at my local game shop on a whim, jumped in, used someone elses warband , had a blast! I bought the book two days later hoping that i could get my rpg crew to play as i have had 0 luck getting them to play anything other than an rpg in a very long time. I havent played since. Everyone has the minis to make a warband, terrain and buildings are a littel scarce but i watch a BA TH-cam channel and im picking up tricks to remedy that. They just wont try something new.
![Stargrave! - I Like You - [Frostgrave in Space]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aU9OaJSr1BQ/mqdefault.jpg)
ROLL CALL! WHO PLAYS FROSTGRAVE? WHO WANTS TO START?
GRAB A COPY OF THE RULE BOOK
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I wish I would have waited one day to use your link!!
Can you make an iron Gollum
Simon Diedrich - No. But maybe an iron Smeagol.
I play rangers of shadow deep (same author) and it’s fantastic!
I'm going to start, sir! In fact, I'm dropping a super-expensive KS pledge because of this video! Thanks, J!
Frostgrave really boosted the amount of crafting that I was doing. Lots of broken walls and statues. I still use that scatter in my D&D game. PLUS, the creator is suuuuuuuper available and active on its FB group.
Hello. Not speaking English, I use google tratuction so I apologize in advance if the text is sometimes difficult to understand. First of all thank you for all the time and energy you put into this channel. I discovered it by chance a few weeks ago and I was immediately hooked. So I'm going back to all your videos from the beginning. I who had never done that, I'm already at a dozen craft. In fact, the construction of tiles and scenery is really something very addictive^^. Having bought Frostgrave for Christmas, I can't wait to see what you're going to offer us as decorations. Thanks again for everything.
Rangers of Shadow Deep is his new release. Its a co-op and allows for solo play. Big Win all around
TheJankmaster I really want to try that game. I like the idea of it being co-op.
Yeah. RoSD is great. "Rangers" refers more to the organization they belong to. So you can build your 'ranger' to fit almost any trope from spell slinger to armored tank.
@TheJankmaster
Is RoSD only available on Kindle? I'm not seeing a hard cover on Amazon...
I LOVE Rangers. I’ve been playing with my kids, and it got me into making terrain!
A few years ago my group started Frostgrave. I hot glued random cardboard pieces at right angles and tent folded strips of paper with the unit name on it. 20 minutes later we we're playing. Now we use Legos.
If you like Frostgrave you are going to love Rangers of Shadowdeep.
This. This. THIS.
Rangers is also just incredible and Joe is killing it with the works he's putting into it.
Yup, just got rangers and I’m working on building up my creature store so I can play proper!
Yeah rangers is the game I've played most since getting it,
Rangers is an awesome game. I'm currently working on my minis and terrain to start the campaign.
I would love to see him do an RoSD scenery build series.
Bought the rulebook on a whim and the fact that it is a “use the models you’ve got” rather than REQUIRING the players to buy all of the supplies to even play your first game. Quite excited to finally throw some dice with my buds and check this one out!
Just grabbed a copy of the core rules via your link. Love the channel. This gives me an excuss to make more terrain. Keep up the good work.
Great game , it's expansions are also great
Yay, Frostgrave! Looking forward to your builds.
I recommend picking up the Maze of Malcor book and using the new experience rules. They were crafted by the designer after a couple of years of feedback from players, and put less emphasis on killing enemy wizards as well as reduce the snowball effect that can happen in a longer campaign.
I got myself a copy!
Here in the north of Germany it is quite popular.
If you liked frostgrave you maybe should give mordheim a try.
It is a gw game but is not supported anymore but you can get some really good miniatures from other companys or use your own.
Rules are in the web for free.
In the game you get to build not only your own wizard you build a complete warband.
I liked it because it quite feels more like an pen and paper game then every other tabletop game
Maybe give it a try?
Just picked up some oathmark dwarves to build a warband for this yesterday! Its slowly building a following in Australia and I'm hoping to get my group onto it asap
I really like Frostgrave... I'm checking out Rangers of Shadow Deep which was written by the same guy and uses the same system. But it's solo or co-op!
Frostgrave and this style is great. The jungle version of this (ghost archipelago )is also amazing. If you’re looking for a post apocalypse game like this. This is not a test is a great option. If you want zombies, last days. You want frostgrave with 40k , scrappers. All those games let you use your own minis and I really love that. If you want a twist on this. Try kobolds and cobblestones, it use a deck of cards and a poker mechanic in basically waterdeep. The gang leader dies but has hit his treasure all over the city and you create a gang to go find it. I really like that one as well
Sold! Just got a copy, the spellcards, and the folio
Love frostgrave , way easier to get started and play than other table top fantasy. Long term the game is still great with additional books adding to content spells and rules options.
Smaller table size, small armies, faster games.
Awesome!
I played 1E once with some friends and we all enjoyed it. I've got a new band of heroes now and we are going to try out 2E next week and I am totally pumped!!! Like yourself, I hope to use Frostgrave to fill in the "in between" times when folks can't all commit to a D&D game. I've gone so far as to write Frostgrave into the lore of my homebrew D&D world.
En España hay una gran comunidad que jugamos a este maravilloso wargame.
@factoria tabletop Desde Japón? 😱
@factoria tabletop Jajaja gracias por los piropos pero ya te digo que famoso poco jajaja
Es similar a Mordheim? Mejor, peor,mas sencillo? Me gustaria saber alguna opinio comparando :)
I started watching Black magic craft specifically to make terrain for Frostgrave. One suggestion I can give is pick up 'The Frostgrave Folio' early on in your campaign. I say this because it has rules for a captain which is a third class type and more permanent member that can increase in stats aside from the wizard and apprentice.
Just ordered it last night. Still can’t believe the low pricing on the FG books.
Your a few books behind. Frostgrave has been out for a bit and it just keeps getting better. Being able to use your own minis and learning curb is the best. Only problem is the loyalists to D&D and other war games, do not like competition have done a lot to shut it down and yet they are still publishing more campaigns. Keep playing and enjoy it all.
Every other Sunday, I play D&D with a regular group. It has changed players over the years, and I think its for the better. Sometimes new blood invigorates older players. Also I haven't played Frostgrave, I almost Kickstarted it awhile back. However, I do play Warhammer Age of Sigmar... Since you mentioned kill team I will tell you it looks like were getting a Fantasy version of Kill Team soon. The benefit to having a group of friends that play Age of Sigmar is the incredible amount and high quality of fantasy miniatures perfect for D&D. We add those to an already large list of D&D and other miniatures and terrain and we have pretty high quality games. 3d Printer and crafting our own terrain out of materials like you do in your vids. Looking forward to more content like this.
You had me at "You can build more complex terrain that you couldn't normally justify". I'm sold!
The game is a breeze to houserule.
My own houserule is to have a bonus treasure in the center of the board so players don't just take the easiest treasures and run.
Something he fixed in GA.
No freaking way. I just bought this on amazon yesterday!!!! DM Jim is so into it I had to buy it!! Man I love your channel. Same wave lengths man. 🍻🍻🍻
+black magic craft. You asked for advice and questioned how the game is long term. The base game has replayability by changing wizard type. More importantly there's additional campaigns and supplements to offer totally different stuff. There's a deck of cards that adds personal/secret objectives that provide a whole new take on play - still based on treasure hunting but ADDS a twist for you (and your opponent, who's objective you don't know).
I even started using the Frostgrave system to make gameplay less rules-heavy for starting players in d&d and other rpgs. Works really good. Great review man, glad you found a game for in between sessions, such an awesome game.
About to host a 9 week Frostgrave campaign at my local game store! Made battle report sheets and everything for it! Love this system, and I play Rangers of Shadow Deep every Tuesday!
So glad you've discovered and enjoyed Frostgrave. It's easily my favorite skirmish game. The Expansion books add more fun (new roles, new rules, new magic items, etc) and as your wizard grows in power, the game gets crazy fun.
I have the rules in PDF, have not played yet but I agree wholeheartedly that a game without an accompanying hobby cone to drive sales is AWESOME.
Frostgrave is an awesome game. I've been playing it since it was released. Check out Rangers of Shadow Deep. Also the monsters in Frostgrave have the same stats as the monsters in Rangers of Shadow Deep.
Scheduling with my multiple personalities is a breeze... a cold breeze...
I need more unemployed and unmarried friends.
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial actually, in all seriousness, you need to organise games at a retirement village. Plenty of intelligent people with tonnes of free time who don't travel far.
We're all jealous because the voices talk to you.
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial turns out that demo graphic isn't super fun to hang out with
@@TheDungineer But ladies named Ethyl and Myrtle make the best cookies.
The expansions are also really great. They add new minions and different play styles.
'Thaw of the Lich Lord' is a bit more story and coop focused.
'Into the breeding pits' gives a dungeon crawl setting.
All in all the expansions focus a lot on boosting the non-player faction and pushing the players more to decide whether to work together or against each other.
Of course this means they are a lot more specific on the miniatures used for the monsters, which still are very generic. Cultists for the Lich Lord, Gnolls for the Breeding pits and so on.
With the official Frostgrave infantry boxes this isn't such a problem as they are awesome and offer a bang for the buck.
I'm really glad to see you enjoy Frostgrave! :D
Only tip I have is not to use the optional Criticals rule in the beginning.
My local meta had a campaign going on for a while but our game died out after one player took a huge lead on everyone else. Once he won about 3 games, he had racked up more XP than anyone else and used the treasure to hire elite minions. The XP went to getting more powerful spells and ranking up his Fight stat. Having a wizard with a really high fight stat makes them extremely difficult to hit with any sort of mundane attack. After only 3 weeks of games, he was level 17 and his closest rival was only level 10. We simply didn't stand a chance of beating him either on combat or scenario due to him using teleportation spells to close the gap if we tried to concentrate on objectives. This seems to happen with any sort of game I've seen that has character growth.
The game itself is very fun though. Magic and terrain rules make it something that can result in a lot of fun and crazy interactions.
Excellent video and Frostgrave is an amazing game. I would recommend going online and downloading the spell cards for reference during the game. You should also try Gaslands for a similar fun experience.
Yea, I printed out all the cards and put them in sleeves.
I love Frostgrave. I have all of the books and supplements for Frostgrave, Frostgrave: Ghost Achipelago, and Rangers of Shadowdeep. The creator of these games, Joseph McCullough, is a great guy and is very engaged with the gaming community. Frostgrave is the game that got me into building terrain. I love that I have another use for all of those darn board game miniatures that I've painted over the years. Although not necessary to play, their plastic and metal models are quite good. Amazon and other distributors carry the books and some of the figures and accessories. For Europe, northstarfigures carries everything that exists for the game. For folks in USA, Brigadegames is the North American distributor for northstar. One thing about Frostgrave that we did have to houserule a bit is that you get a lot of XP quickly for killing off the opponent's wizard, apprentice, or crew. This means that wizards with offensive spells can wrack up XP faster than those that are more defensive or treasure focused. Great game though and there's a lot of content out there to explore.
If you like the mechanics of Frostgrave, here's another endorsement for Rangers of Shadowdeep. You can use the same minis and terrain for both, but it opens you up to solo and co-op play. Joseph McCullough wrote both games. So cool to see you dabble in wargames and give an honest assessment. Thanks!!
With all of the campaign books there is a lot of additional "official" scenarios. We almost always play with 4 warbands, as we play as a family pretty much. We have also came up with our own scenarios.
This game makes me think of Ars Magica RPG, its has you playing a wizard with a companion and a clutch of serfs (called Grogs) so each player would contribute several personalities to the Covenant, the home of the wizards. If this system was around back when I was playing it, I would have used it for sure. Might even revisit it again after all these years. Thanks BMC.
Frostgrave is great! One of my D&D groups plays this as well. It was so easy to learn and the game flowed smoothly. It’s also a low investment game in both time and money. Agreed on all of your points. This was great to see!
I'll have to check it out! Our schedule conflict game has been Mutants and Masterminds. It's a Superhero RPG kind if dnd ish but it's set up not to directly continuous from the session before, in fact each session is supposed to play out like an issue of a comic book. It makes character drop in/drop out super easy and you just play with whoever could make it
Frost grave sounds fun and it's always good to keep options open!
Sold! I have the same problem in my group. Too many grownups with things to do. Once a month meeting and we were already looking at Frost Grave. Thanks for the review!!!
I have loved this game since the first time I opened the book a few years ago!
This sounds so cool man. Gonna pick up a copy and suggest this to my friends. We run into a similar problem were we are not able to play and some players have different taste in a fantasy TTRPG (ie lore and story vs. action and loot gameplay). I also really like that this will allow/inspire you to build more dope projects. Looking forward to more great vids.
This video helped me discover what is now my favorite game. Thanks a million Jeremy!
Osprey just gave away a pdf of the core and one of the expansions(Dark Alchemy) for free yesterday. I'm glad to hear you like it! I'm excited to get into it.
I am just getting into this game with my kids too. We haven't built our first warbands yet, but it looks awesome to me so far.
I've been building minis for this game myself, I'm so happy that you're getting it to it!
My copy arrived in the mail last week. I have read the rules a few times and l think it will be fun. I am now building some winter terrain. I picked up 40 of the bottle brush pine trees you did a video on. It would be good it if you did a winter version. I am not sure to do two layers of flocking on woodland green and another of snow. Or just go strait snow.
I might actually do winter versions of those trees. I bought an extra bag just incase I wanted to do that. I will likely take them through the same stages as the other ones, getting the green looking good, then add snow on top of that and to the base. I think this will make the best look.
Kings of War: Vanguard is a great game in a similar vein. They have free rules on the mantic site and you can use whatever models you want. I would love to see you review it!
Oh man, you'd love Rangers of Shadow Deep.
Why? Just because it is an awesome solo/co-op RPG light game that... never mind, yeah, he would probably like it.
Warriors of WaterDeep? xD
Price is up to 23$ US on Amazon right now. Definitely going to check it out. So Josh, this was a year ago. You still playing and enjoying the game?
Thanks for doing a review, your enthusiasm and the price won me over... *clicks place order... Order complete.
The terrain opportunities are endless in Frostgrave. Different levels above ground and subt. Your channel has nailed this game and if you put together some terrain in multiple levels with walk-ways the game will really pop. Don't forget to mention the additional supplements which give you many scenarios based around a single final objective over the number of games. When this game was released I immediately thought of it as an AD&D style encounter game. There is also Ghost Archipelago which is Frostgrave in a different environment. Others have mentioned 'Rangers' by the same author and it seems to me that this style of game will get even stronger as long as it is supported.
As a experienced Frostgrave player I am really happy seeing you exploring Felstadt - really looking forward to all your Frostgrave related projects. If you want a more narrative driven campaign, you should definitely try out the first expansion: Thaw of the Lich Lord. ;-)
i played this a fair bit some years ago. in the campaigns i was well ahead of my opponent in capturing treasures/objectives, my group was built to do this (aim of the game). my opponents group was built to kill, he kept killing more of my group each encounter.
So as i was technically winning the campaign i was constantly spending resources to replace lost characters and my group got weaker as my opponent got stronger.
To us it seemed broken and the more we played the more this seemed the case, seeing as the game's purpose is getting treasures.
Love some Frostgrave. it was the focus of my hobby time for a good while. I now have a mini for every single monster and all of the terrain and tokens needed for any particular scenario from the Frozen City books (including enough lasercut dungeon walls, doors, and furnishings for a full 3x3 table).
First piece of advice: If you want to expand and improve your games, the first things to pick up are "Into the Breeding Pits" (for dungeon crawling rules, including things like traps and secret passages that can be added to any Frostgrave game) and the "Frostgrave Folio" (mostly for Dark Alchemy and Sellsword, but it's all pretty good).
Second piece of advice: Don't get too hung up on minis for some of the more obscure critters from the Bestiaries. While I've found Bones has an option for most everything I didn't already have for RPGs and Dungeon Saga, I did have to go with proxies for lack of a good option...or just because I had another mini I REALLY wanted to use. In my games, there are no giant centipedes, but there are scorpions. "White Gorillas" are actually a furry beast with 4 arms.
And lastly, if you like Frostgrave, you should definitely take a look at Rangers of Shadow Deep. It uses pretty much the same system, with the addition of skills, abilities in place of spells, and more flexibility in selecting a warband for missions. There are a ton of customization options, and the setting is very archtypical fantasy. The biggest difference is that the game is designed to be played either solo or cooperative. Rather than you vs. the opponent vs. the monsters, it's you and up to 3 other Rangers (and henchmen) against the monsters.
Happy to hear you enjoyed Kill Team, it is the only 40k related game I play semi-regularly, and it seems to be an all round favourite for those that like the tactical side of the tabletop. Frostgrave is ace! Plus, it gave us the very first poseable plastic gnoll kit, and what a little jewel that is! XD
So happy to see this review and to see that you have the beginnings of the FGV bug. I have found it and Gaslands deeply addictive. I love FGV for all of the reasons you give. I am always drawn to games that you have to finish yourself so I love that the rules and world are fairly simple and that you have to build your warband and create lots of terrain. Both FGV and Gaslands are like this.
There is actually tons of depth to the game, with the campaign system, the numerous supplements, the Ulterior Motive cards (awesome), and the North Star minis. I just got a review copy of The Wizards' Conclave, which is a collection of solo, regular, and coop scenarios for FGV written by some big names in gaming: Ash Barker, Alessio Cavatore, Andy Chambers, Gav Thorpe, Sean Sutter, and more.
And even though the game is mini agnostic, the North Star minis are some of my fave mini kits ever. The multi-part kits (Soldiers, Cultists, Barbarians, Wizards, etc) are so great. 20 models per box, great sculpts, and endless design options. I can't stop making minis for this game with these kits.
I actually ordered the cultists box. Will be using that with some Reaper Dark Haven minis for Wiz/Aprentice. Went necromancer......because.......aesthetics😂
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial The Cultist box is very cool. Has a number of skeleton or zombie-skels you can make along with regular cultists. I'm excited about the new Soldiers II (all female) and the Wizards box. I have several Sigilist wizards that I play (built on the Reaper Elf Warlock and Reaper Zayafid Pathfinder). My son plays a Necromancer (Dark Heaven Wizard Quillscratch). My sigilist apprentice is the one from the FGV Sigilist blister from North Star.
Man, i love Frost Grave!
So excited to see what new terrain project ideas this will spark here!
I also heard (and it lures me even more to Frostgrave) that this game is very friendly to backstory modification. The lore is supposed to be only "foundation" - if someone isnt for example too much into this fantasy style, there is no problem to modify it. You can have LOTRgrave, HPgrave, Conangrave, or even likes of StarWarsGrave. If this is true, than it takes my favourite "Your dudes!" rule to the whole new level
This is the highlight reel for Frostgrave... The universal mini use was what pulled me in as well...
Honestly scheduling games became so impossible I stopped running games for most of my old group. Thankfully, my fiancé loves roleplaying so her and I pretty much play together. Which has become my most enriching gaming experience because she loves in-depth games and characters so I've really been able to run some really story rich and character rich games like I always wanted to, but never had the time for.
Glad to see you picking up Frostgrave. It's a great mini game. Especially for people who love D&D.
The primary reason I found your channel is that I needed Frostgrave terrian. Welcome to the wonderful world of war gaming! 😁👍
I've just started Frostgrave with my daughter and friends, and it's AWESOME!
cold season is here. Me and the guys are getting back into frostgrave.
Its a great game, glad you are enjoying it. We found it can get a bit wonky if one wizard gets much more powerful than the others, but if you have multi-player games the rest tend to gang up, balancing the game.
Multiplayer is fun too, but seems to run slower.
I love Frostgrave. I also enjoy playing through the D&D board games occasionally. The legend of Drizzt, Castle Ravenloft, and a couple others. You also get about 40+ minis to paint with each game. The Legend of Drizzt actually comes with all the heroes as minis from the R.A. Salvatore books, Drizzt, Wulfgar, Regis, Cattie Bree, and Bruenor. I say I enjoy playing through the games occasionally, and I of course do, but I purchased them for the minis.
Osprey makes many many skirmish mini games on the cheap. Try Draculas America, and then show us your vision of a Wild West build/town.
Dude, you are great at explaining stuff. Do a how to play Frostgrave please! :)
Yeah! Step by step how to with real gameplay!
there is this channel called "watch it played", it's got a nice little series of 4 videos with all the explaining for the setup/gameplay
I recently got the book after watching many videos of people playing frostgrave. Now just to find time and people who can play. I have plenty of minis and terrain!
If you liked your first few games, just wait until you get some levels on your wizard. The game really opens up when you have more spell options, and a few core spells you have upgraded so you are fairly certain you can get them off. In my oppinion the telekinesis spell is a bit strong because getting the treasures matter so much more than anything else (besides not getting your wizard KOd)
So glad that you enjoyed the game. It really is a fine and fun system to play through. Its been suffering a little bit as of late in my area, but at least it still has an active player base across the world. One of the cooler subjects about the game is also the plastic figures that have come out with the game and how easy they can be applied to other systems. Take the basic soldier box, you can make most fighter/paladin/rouge options for dnd settings. Also the figures are the same scale as warhammer fantasy. I've made medieval guardsmen and female guardsmen with the various plastic sets.
Its also a fun world to apply to fantasy settings with hooks and adventures to use in RPGs. 'A city of in the frozen north has been found and wizards are hiring mercenaries' or 'a long lost archipelago has appeared, filled with untold treasures and dangers'. Really it is a fun game to use for campaigns and one offs with the system.
Been looking recently at Mordheim and kept hearing about this game. Nice to see this vid up on BMC & definitely need to look more into this game. Always glad to see games like Necromunda where there's lots of random things like the environment, campaigns & a game that's boring if up just line up to fight (have to go after objectives).
I really want to play Frostgrave, I think the setting and mechanics look like a lot of fun. There are some really interesting looking supplements too. The thing I want to do more is just spend time making a personalised warband for fun.
I've had the core book for quite a while but haven't been able to drum up much enthusiasm among my friends to give it a go. But... a lot of them are now becoming quite disillusioned with Games Workshop games and trying to keep their armies updated and current... So who knows, I might be able to convince them yet.
Also, there is another game in the "Frostgrave" series. Called Ghost Archepeligo (wrong spelling I know). The scenarios cross right over as do the monsters.
I actuallly started watching your channel, because we are starting a Frostgrave-campaingn right now and that got me motivated for tzhe hobby^^
going to be stopping by my local game store tomorrow. Will have to keep an eye out to see if they have this :)
I am suprised I never saw this video before. The whole reason I watch your videos is for Frostgrave/Rangers of Shadowdeep. Well, some of it I use for other games, but mainly those two.
Thanks for sharing this with us man. Very good advise. Not sure if I’ll get a chance to run/play it.... but I really appreciate your honest and down right helpful opinion! Top notch content Jeremy.
Love Frostgrave. If you focus on scenario centered games you will never run out of fun. Also fun with four players or three with a third controlling the denizens. I highly reccomend the ulterior motives expansion.
You did it!!!! I follow you since I want to play Frostgrave. I'll definitly share this video in French FB frostgrave community
While I do like frostgrave, I can't recommend Song of Blades and Heroes enough. Its another use your own minis game, but it's not limited to wizards, and the stats for your party is made from the ground up rather than from template. Its simple and exciting. Check that one out.
As already said...
Rangers of Shadow Deep is probably the best game I've played in years, a D&D/War Game crossover that truly deserves the hype.
Seriously, get it and try it, you'll probably never play another game again!
Uuuuu, you´re gonna love Rangers of Shadow deep then! It´s McCulloughs newest game and it has a lot of similiarities with Frostgrave, but it is set in a depp haunted forest rather than a frozen city. It plays really fast and easy, the warbands are smaller, and I find it has an even more pronaunced RPG feel to it.
If you find that the d20 system feels to swingy, we house rule a 2d10 replacement to help normalise the result curve. That way crits feel really special and not too common.
Also, frostgrave minis are brilliant in general - frequently take to kit bashing them and making minis for all sorts (obviously including D&D characters).
I have just bought the main book and the solo supplement. I'm looking forward to my first game soon.
I'll tell you what the future will be like. As your wizard gains experience, the levels will go up, making the game deeper and more strategic. like that, but, it will also make the loss of a mage or apprentice that much more painful. incredible game. you have an idea perfectly, the spirit of the hobby is in this game.
Awesome game! Also worth mentioning, there are other campaign books, with more scenarios to play; so the game doesn’t feel stale playing the same ones all the time.
I've played Frostgrave several times, and this review made me not only want to play again...it made me want to BUY it again...
Looking forward to trying out frostgrave, and am also working on some gaslands cars, as well... I am probably going to try out a few different designs before locking anything down, and actually painting or detailing any matchbox or hotwheels cars... Am planning on using some blue poster tack to mount misc weapons temporarily, and see what feels best. Also plan on trying to expand our dnd group into an alternative games day on a second or third weekend of the month, so it doesn't feel so long between dnd games on first Saturday... We shall see
I love Frostgrave. We always start with random spells, and sometimes random schools. The game of magic is never fair, so why try to pretend. A spell that is totally needed and powerful in one scenario is all but worthless in another. Also, get Ulterior Motives and build the pieces needed for it if you don't already have them. KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU GET WITH EACH LEVEL. Sorry to shout, but as an RPG guy I love being able to go back and see what I got or improved at each level. I keep a log for each wizard of major events and his leveling. I also keep a set of cards printed or official for each wizard in their own sleeves with the spell costs written in pencil. (Although the card sleeve/pen thing should work). Remember to play your character for maximum fun... no necromancer is going to worry about the life of thug if there is a magic tome around. We also only use magic we find and a randomized store, although in a campaign anything you sell becomes available to buy for other players.
You'll really gonna love the Frostgrave infantry boxes :D
Thanks so much for the content. It has help rekindle my love for this game. Also solo rules coming out this year sounds pretty good too!
This is pretty much the only game I play anymore. System is great, super easy to learn! Always play campaign style, not one-offs
Frostgrave is my second favorite game, right after Warhammer Age of Sigmar. There are a lot of supplements for Frostgrave and some cool cards both for the spells and to add variety to the scenarios once you've played through them a few times. Can't wait to see what you think about Kill Team I'm getting ready to play that too.
Playing a campaign usually end in a snowballeffect, where one player runs over the other. So having several players are good. And everyone should have the same mindset when going in. It's easy to min-max and do that sort of really powerful thing. And that can be fun, but if the other players want to play for narrative and fluff that can be frustrating for all parties.
I guess, like in any game.
Thank you for this review. I wondered what Frostgrave was. As I want to move away from complicated and scheduling problems, I'll look into this.
Picked up a copy today. Glad to help out, even if its only a little! Great review. Thanks brotha!
Love frostgrave. Recently started playing Rangers of Shadow deep. Heavier emphasis on skills and abilities than frostgrave and rangers of shadowdeep is solo or cooperative play. Love you channel and have used your ideas. Than you for what you do
I played at my local game shop on a whim, jumped in, used someone elses warband , had a blast! I bought the book two days later hoping that i could get my rpg crew to play as i have had 0 luck getting them to play anything other than an rpg in a very long time. I havent played since. Everyone has the minis to make a warband, terrain and buildings are a littel scarce but i watch a BA TH-cam channel and im picking up tricks to remedy that. They just wont try something new.