So as mentioned in my earlier blog, today I went over to Andrews place for a game of Frostgrave - sometimes I worry a bit about my gaming, the last three or four games I have had are either pseudo board games, ACTUAL board games, or now Fantasy! Still, playing at Andrew's always involves beautiful scenery at the very least, so that should mean some nice pictures, regardless of the type of game, or the result!

For those who are not aware, Frostgrave is a game where each player has a band of up to 10 figures max, always led by a "wizard" of some type, plus an apprentice and then various human warriors - Paladins, Knights, men at arms, crossbowmen, archers etc The wizards come in various "types" such as enchanter, elementalist, witch, etc.. Below are two pics of my ten "person" war band. The lady in green is my "enchantress", the one in red with the book of spells, scratching her head, is of course, the apprentice. In addition I have, a knight (in armour, wielding two handed sword) two archers, a barbarian and two thieves. For this game, I also spent some money and employed a marks "man" (specialist archer) and a toughened infantry man with a magic two handed axe - more about him later. (Yes, HE was a MAN!)

                                     

My barbarian taunting the other war band prior to the game commencing - maybe not such a good idea

The enchantress and her apprentice getting in some last minute "spelling" practice!

This is the motley crew who were opposed to my war band

Aerial view of the centre of the table - top centre is a crypt from which we had to remove treasure and which might generate armed skeletons each time some treasure was removed. At the commencement of the game, two skeletons were on guard. Below this, the red area was an impassable pit of fire.

Julian won the first three or four initiatives and moved first each time - here his war band enters the gaming area on the first turn

My enchantress was able to use here telekinesis power to levitate one of the piles of treasure away from the crypt and towards her band of followers. Next turn, my apprentice did the same trick, and Julian's wizard did likewise. The figure in the middle is the sole representative of the male gender - he was supposed to be a rough, tough mercenary armed with a super dooper magic weapon, but the first skeleton that engaged him rolled 20 on a 20 sided dice and he disappeared for good - secretly, the girls were all quite pleased, they had never wanted a smelly man to join them in the first place!

As a result of the treasures reaching our bands and being physically picked up for the first time, Andrew, as umpire, rolled for skeletons and monsters. A rabid wolf/dog cross appeared behind Julian and bounded full pelt up behind his crossbowman

The crossbowman turned to face the beast and engaged it in combat - Julian's apprentice attempted to assist by casting an elemental bolt spell, but failed and just gave himself a migraine! In the end, the crossbowman easily defeated the hound of hell.

Meanwhile, my knight was engaged by two skeletons simultaneously and pushed back right to the edge of the pit of fire.......and Julian's bloody wizard reversed my apprentices spell and pinched my second lot of treasure, moving it back towards HIS war band!

Another skeleton advanced on my apprentice, but she was nobly defended by my markswoman, who dispatched the bag of bones with one well aimed shot

Having got rid of the dog, Julian's crossbowman next eliminated a goblin at extreme range. His other archers and crossbowman were equally effective, one seriously wounded one of my thieves who was carrying off a pile of treasure, and the other was peppering my enchantress with arrows, eventually causing her to withdraw from the field entirely

My barbarian leaped the corner of the pit of fire and rushed to help the knight with the two skeletons - a success at last as she smashed her opponent into a pile of dust

My second thief managed to get away with one lot of treasure but the first thief who was originally carrying it was crawling on her hands and knees, trailing blood from the crossbow bolt Julian had chivalrously fired into her back

Julian's thief exiting the board with the first of two lots of treasure he got away.

A view from Julian's side of the table showing his apprentice and accompanying figures

One of my archers took up this vantage point but had no real impact on the fight

My apprentice still looks confused as the game comes to an end - I lost two figures including my enchantress and got one lot of treasure - Julian had no casualties and got away with two lots of treasure, so no doubt about the winner.

The treasure I was able to get away with - it amounted to 50 gold coins - Julian gained 170!

My markswoman and another archer departing the table, they live to fight another day - which is more than can be said for their boyfriend who, in post game dice rolling, was confirmed as stone dead - at least my enchantress survived and will be able to return to the fray next time!

All good fun and a much better way to spend a Sunday than visiting Sylvia Park Mall - which is what the rest of the family were up to today - thank goodness for a forecast of torrential rain all weekend!