A couple of weeks ago, when "self isolation" was on the horizon, I decided that I'd take the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss was about with Frostgrave.
I'd initially dismissed it as 'the latest fad' and pretty much ignored it to make sure I didn't get sucked in by all of the hype and eye candy which surrounded its arrival on the scene. My interest was piqued though when the solo rules "Perilous Dark" were announced and I decided to take a closer look at the game.
I'm glad that I did, because I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw, and especially pleased to find that the core rulebook and the new title were available on ebay for just over nine quid each including p&p - and not only that, there was also
other previously published solo material available on the interweb.
Needless to say, I placed my orders and added this game to my stash of "lockdown loot"!
"Dark Alchemy" is designed to be an introductory solo campaign for the Frostgrave system and I'm going to shoe-horn this into my Dark Conspiracy campaign
and use it as a motivational tool to maintain the 'push' to get things painted during this enforced 'down time' (but I've cheated a bit for this first game as you'll see later below!).
The opening scenario requires a reduced strength warband (they're separated from their companions and must try to meet up), an "alchemical monstrosity" and a number of giant rats, and is played on a 2ft square board........ and the time starts - - Now!
Yep, this is a "speed build" project, so here comes the first short cut (or 'cheat' if you prefer). Stevie most generously sent me a huge box, brimming with Mage Knight miniatures just before Christmas.
Last night I had a quick look through the box (no mean feat considering how easy it is to get distracted by all the cool stuff in there!) and selected some suitable characters for the warband, these just needed rebasing and an Army Painter soft tone wash.
Wizard and her Apprentice
Sergeant
left to right Archer, Thief, soldiers
and a possible candidate for the "Monstrosity".
While I was at it, I also had a rummage through my box of MTG: Arena of the Planeswalkers minis and found three proxies for the giant rats which needed painting from scratch (Boo!) To save time I just primed them black, dry brushed the carapace dark grey, dry brushed the belly and tail segments dark blue and finally painted the tentacles pink before applying a purple ink wash .
At this point I had second thoughts and decided that one of these models would do as the Alchemical Monstrosity (some sort of insect that had been exposed to spilled potions and ingredients!), so the 'tree creature' has been set aside. The giant rats will now be replaced by rat swarms, and though I have several of these already painted, I painted up three more and further reduced the mountain of shame! (If you can call it "painting" - Black primer and a brown drybrush was all these critters got!)
The photo's above were taken on part of my new modular dungeon, and I was hoping to get it finished as part of this project. Sadly this was not to be since there's not enough tiles to give me a
complete 2ft square "room".
Time to dig out the 2ft square piece of mdf and free sample of embossed wallpaper kindly supplied by B&Q some time ago
I'll be covering the other side with another embossed wallpaper sample that has more of a 'cobbled' look to it. This should correct any bowing of the mdf and give me a double sided board.
But that's for later - back to now, and the tiled side is ready for (cheap) paint.
And that's where I'll have to leave it for today - but having said that,
IF I was using icy, snow covered bases for the minis, I reckon the board could have been called "done"!
Many thanks for visiting, it's been nice to have your company during these anti-social times. Your comments and/or questions are most welcome and I hope you call again soon.
Stay safe and stay positive - let's get through this TOGETHER!
