The Skirmish of Ostrad Street

The Padawan and I got another game of Frostgrave done over the weekend. We split it into two sessions as we were both busy on other projects and we were having trouble bringing the fight to a conclusion. In the end, we opted for a drastic temporary rule change to 'speed things up' but this proved disastrous for one of us (guess who?)

The Setup

Once again we set up a simple tester game with a table full of terrain and two evenly matched warbands starting on either side of the table. The objective was just to get the rules settled in our heads and have some fun. I think we achieved both, but it was a tough slog! 

Order of Battle

Dark Elf Warband

  Wizard - 1st level Necomancer

  Apprentice 

  4 Infantrymen

  2 crossbowmen

Adventurer Warband

  Wizard - 1st level Soothsayer

  Apprentice

  4 Infantrymen

  2 Archers

The Action

The Layout was simple but afforded a lot of cover and positions to attack from. 

My Wizard and four of his crew used a house as a strong point. My archers for a good firing position on the walls and then didn't hit a thing (with their arrows) during the whole game! The enemy Wizard used Teleport in a daring rush on our positions...

...and started firing spells through the window. Cheeky!

Meanwhile, some of the Drow Infantry advanced rapidly down Ostrad Street. 

To keep the Wizard busy, I decided to attack with one of my infantrymen. I was hoping to strike a knockout blow and win the game quickly...but it wasn't to be. 

More infantry pile into the fight and my Wizard tries to get into a position to support his men. 

More Drow infantry moves up. 

Our remaining infantry and the Apprentices have gathered on the other side of the street and are fighting it out there.  

Despite ganging up on the Drow I just can't seem to land a blow that deals significant damage. 

The fight with our Wizards and their soldiers is turning into a bit of a stalemate. 

My Apprentice casts Forget Spell on the Drow Apprentice, stopping her from casting her favourite spell, Strike Dead. 

My Archer has a great position but can't hit a thing! Mind you, being behind cover also makes him a hard target and the Drow Crossbowmen are getting nowhere. 

The Padawan sends in one of her infantrymen to deal with my archers, but he has to climb the ladder first!  

The Drow climbs the ladder but is quickly knocked off and ends up prone on the ground. 

My Wizard and then the archers decide to attack the guy on the ground hoping for a quick kill and a tactical advantage...but it wasn't to be. 

My Wizard foregoes a spell to kick the Drow in the head!

The other side of Ostrad street and my Apprentice uses Invisibility to get behind a drow infantryman. All my men have had their fight stat and armour increased by spells and with the Apprentice also joining the fray I hope to get enough of an advantage to finish this infantryman before his mate joins the fight. 

Inside the house, my Wizard and the two arches have ended up being locked in melee against the Drow. This isn't going the way I thought it would and the game has descended into turn after turn of inconclusive melee. In the end, we agree that for one turn only we won't count armour when calculating damage. Its a gamble, but we need to draw this game to a close...

It was a gamble I should never have made!!! My Apprentice is killed along with one of his men. 

And on the other side of the street, I lose two more infantry... I can't win now and I concede defeat. 

Analysis

We must have been doing something wrong with the rules because we had about 8 turns of melee where basically nothing happened. In the end, our desperate decision to force a conclusion backfired on me and I lost conclusively. The Padawan played well and kept me on my toes. More importantly this is her second win with the game genre she chose to play, so hopefully she's feeling inspired!

I'm already working on our next game, but it's my turn now and I need something a little historical!