Gnomes away from home: adventures in Frostgrave

Dear Mami,

I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been a bit of a trek getting here, and I’m not entirely sure it’s quite all Grandgnome Grabdistuff said it would be. I’m wondering if we took a wrong turn somewhere and he doesn’t want to admit it, you know how he can be. It’s a lot colder than I was expecting, you were right I should have packed the jerkin with the furry lining.

It’s also a bit weirder than I was expecting. I mean we’ve all heard stories of Grabdistuff’s journeys before, and I know everyone in the village says he wears his pointy hat the wrong way up, so to speak, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s a bit more substance to them than a pint of mushroom cider and that funny smelling tobacco. I mean, it turns out that he is best friends with a talking squirrel and does literally ride around on a talking toadstool…

…and then there’s the bears. Up here the bears are a bit different. Last Thursday Grabdistuff introduced me to Theodore Phuqspin, the newest addition to our party. Apparently, he’s a very experienced treasure hunter. You wouldn’t think it to look at him though as he looks suspiciously like a teddy bear, although he says things sometimes that you would hope no teddy bear would actually say, especially if there are children around… the big bears up here also have their own way of doing things. Not only do they do the thing Papi says they do in the woods everywhere but the woods, but they also carry massive swords and axes, and if there is something I am now more certain of than anything else in my life, it is that an angry bear should not have access to an axe…

Write soon

Brergle, the enchanter’s apprentice (now starting to believe Grabdistuff is actually an enchanter)

I really enjoy a game of Frostgrave, but haven’t had time to play it regularly over the past year. When I do, I invariably lose my warband roster after a couple of games and so I never seem to see my warbands grow. I’m hoping this year will be different.

I’ve decided to run an enchanter’s warband. Partly because over the years I’ve become particularly fond of telekinesis as a spell and partly because I want to use my Northumbrian Tin Soldier Gnomes in my warband, and nothing (in my mind) screams enchanter more than a beardy chap in a red hat sat on a massive mushroom.

The starting warband consists of:

Grandgnome Grabdistuff – Teleknesis, Enchant armour, Strength, Transpose, Steal health, Push, Elemental bolt, Familiar

Apprentice Brergle

Theodore Phuqspin – Treasure Hunter

Indiana Gnomes – Treasure Hunter

Wilma Tell – Crossbow Gnome

Sir Broderick the Badger Slayer – Knight

The Rabble – three thugs and a thief

We decided to play The Summoning Bell scenario from the core rule book. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s possibly not the best scenario for starter warbands as it requires a random monster to be generated for each table corner from the start of the game. As luck would have it (for my opponent) I started the game with a bear on either side of my gnomes, whilst my opponent (a necromancer) started with some skeletons and a wraith at his end of the table. Within a couple of turns the restless spirits were in his control and heading towards me.

I on the other hand had to spend my first couple of turns dealing with angry bears, which meant splitting my warband into a group that would push forward to grab treasure and a group that would try and stop Grabdistuff getting eaten. With a combination of gnomish steal and cunning one bear was dispatched and the second sent off on a wild goose chase which ended up with the creature being frozen by the wraith.

The point of the scenario was to stop a bell tolling in a tower at the centre of the table and steal the treasure beneath it. The bears meant I didn’t have an opportunity to get to the tower first. So, I focused on securing two other treasure chests and seeing what I could do to scupper the necromancer’s attempts at stopping the bell.

The necromancer spent a fair few turns casting fleet of foot on his retainers, which helped them scale the tower and silence the bell rapidly. Now I needed a plan. An opportunity soon presented itself as a carefully aimed crossbow bolt badly wounded the thief who had silenced the bell and was escaping with the loot. One of my thugs had found themselves near the stairs into the tower and made their way to the level where the injured thief struggled with his extra load. Unfortunately for my thug though, just as she saw the thief the necromancer’s own dark hearted knight attacked her from behind, allowing the thief an opportunity to escape.

I had hoped that Sir Broderick and one of the thugs, with a bit of support from Grabdistuff might be in with a chance of intercepting the thief. Especially since the necromancer and his apprentice had already excited the field with another two chests so there weren’t as many bone darts to be thrown. However, just as the brave gnomes made their way towards the bottom of the tower the wraith loomed around a corner. With no magical weapons to injure it Grabdistuff decided that discretion was the better part of valour and signalled the tactical retreat.

Whilst only two treasures were recovered there was some pretty decent loot to be had. Grabdistuff now has some Gloves of Casting, a bit of extra gold and a Grimoire containing the Write Scroll spell. Sadly, Theodore had the stuffing knocked out of him as he tried to approach the tower and will have to miss the next game, although Grabdistuff and his gnomes are hauled up at a local alehouse so are currently trying to recruit a reliable thief to cover for him.

So, until next time, keep warm and beware the bears that bear arms.

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