Because I thought they fit the bill pretty well for tough barbarian women from the north.
Maybe they're redoing their Forest Goblins as Snow Goblins? Has anyone ever bothered making winter themed Goblinoids?
Your reaction was my reaction.. like I said it was cryptic. I was going to use the ones I pledged for in Mordheim and D&D anyway sooo.. whatever..
Has anyone played through the material from the Gnickstarter? All this talk about FG has me jonesing but until after the move I have to live vicariously.. Looking for reviews etc.
I keep hoping the guys that do Battle Systems will get really heavily into FG and do a set based on some of the scenarios.
Because I thought they fit the bill pretty well for tough barbarian women from the north.
Maybe they're redoing their Forest Goblins as Snow Goblins? Has anyone ever bothered making winter themed Goblinoids?
Your reaction was my reaction.. like I said it was cryptic. I was going to use the ones I pledged for in Mordheim and D&D anyway sooo.. whatever..
Has anyone played through the material from the Gnickstarter? All this talk about FG has me jonesing but until after the move I have to live vicariously.. Looking for reviews etc.
I keep hoping the guys that do Battle Systems will get really heavily into FG and do a set based on some of the scenarios.
My group and I have played through everything to date, and it's been a lot of fun. Certainly memorable!
Just a quick update. I reached out to Brigade, and while that new soldiers bundle isn't listed on the site yet, they will be carrying it, and offered to add it to my pre-order.
Which I absolutely will do, because that whole bundle oozes Diablo 3 character classes. :-p
MLaw wrote: Thanks guys (for the awesome video and feedback).
I'm wondering about the Asian themed stuff in that bundle. Is that a sign of things to come?
Well, it wasn't conceived of that way, but I wonder what people will say in retrospect...
I also kind of took it as a Diablo 3 tribute, but that's just me. Monk and Demon Hunter look eerily like armor sets I wore on those characters at points in the game.
But I SO want to see Monk rules. Its always been one of my favorite class types in games.
Now, if they'd do similar sprues for modern and 1920's era weaponry, hoods, and cowls! Then we'd be closer to the all-purpose cultist kit I've always wanted!
Now, if they'd do similar sprues for modern and 1920's era weaponry, hoods, and cowls! Then we'd be closer to the all-purpose cultist kit I've always wanted!
I wonder if this is in anticipation of Rogue Stars or whatever it's called.. I have heard it's similar in feel to Frostgrave.. though I don't know how similar we're talking.
From the North Star email news letter:
Rogue Stars is a character-based science fiction skirmish wargame, where players command crews of bounty hunters, space pirates, merchants, prospectors, smugglers, mercenary outfits, planetary police and other such shady factions from the fringes of galactic civilisation.
Crews can vary in size, typically from four to six, and the character and crew creation systems allow for practically any concept to be built. Detailed environmental rules that include options for flora, fauna, gravity, dangerous terrain and atmosphere, and scenario design rules that ensure that missions are varied and demand adaptation and cunning.
THE NICKSTARTER FOR ROGUE STARS
STARTS ON STARTS TUESDAY 1st November
Is it too much to hope that this Nickstarter/game in general will have a Generic Sci-fi Space Dudes kit a-la the Frostgrave sets? Because that's something that is desperately needed and could be so cool.
I paused the video to read all the rules close ups. It seems to build on the core of Frostgrave, but with a much more dynamic activation system.
Roll up to 3 D20, for every success you get an action with that model. For every failure, the opponent gets to attempt a reaction with that D20 that occurs before your action.
Every successful action you add a stress marker, making it harder to accomplish additional actions with the same model, and easier or your opponent to steal the initiative.
Your turn ends when the opponent steals the initiative, which is one of the reactions they can attempt.
It's simple, but makes for an incredibly dynamic and different flow of game play.
adamsouza wrote: I paused the video to read all the rules close ups. It seems to build on the core of Frostgrave, but with a much more dynamic activation system.
Roll up to 3 D20, for every success you get an action with that model. For every failure, the opponent gets to attempt a reaction with that D20 that occurs before your action.
Every successful action you add a stress marker, making it harder to accomplish additional actions with the same model, and easier or your opponent to steal the initiative.
Your turn ends when the opponent steals the initiative, which is one of the reactions they can attempt.
It's simple, but makes for an incredibly dynamic and different flow of game play.
I'm sold, count me in for the Nickstarter.
Its familiar because, if I am correct, its co-authored by Andrea Sfigoli of Song of Blade and Heroes fame. He's been pimping the game hard on FB for months now, so I suspect its rules are a sexy little marriage between ASoBH, and Frost Grave. ;-)
Also, according to Andrea, its campaign rules are very, very light, so just to keep expectations in check, he comparatively said it has much less campaign progression that Frostgrave does.
Of course those rules are awesome- they're made by Ganesha Game's Andrea Sfiligoi, of Song of Blades & Heroes fame!
Didn't know this was going to be a Nickstarter as well. Huh.
If there's plastic generic scifi guys on hand, I guess I'll finally be nickstarting something!
On the other hand, November is going to be an AWFULLY crowded month in terms of tabletop stuff looking for $$$. Mythic Battles, Kingdom Death, Forbidden Fortress, a billion and a half other kickstarters wrapping up... not to mention any stuff showing up at retail.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: IIRC they ruled out plastics, something about the game not lending itself to generic characters.
Which is pretty hilarious if you consider one of the first things they do for it is take a plastic Frostgrave kit and slap some generic weapons on that..
Mymearan wrote: Andrea is doing Rogue Stars? Oh man I really need those rules now. Love ASOBAH.
Yep. It has nothing to do with Frostgrave outside of a couple inspirations Andrea cites about D20 systems, etc... Its also REALLY low model count and more about almost RPG style designing 5-6 really unique crew-members.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and what do people think should we make this more the North Star news thread to include Rogue Stars etc, or start a new thread for RS and keep this to Frost Grave?
I think FG has enough, regular new releases that it would be worthwhile having a NS or RS thread that's separate, but we could ask Joe -- he does post here occasionally.
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: Hmm I wonder how well the heads and arms from the GW genestealer cults would work on those bodies.....
I dont have any of the stealer cult models (yet...), but I've used similar sized GW bits with frostgrave plastic mini's, and they look ok to my eye - skitarii and Empire parts here for example:
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: Hmm I wonder how well the heads and arms from the GW genestealer cults would work on those bodies.....
I dont have any of the stealer cult models (yet...), but I've used similar sized GW bits with frostgrave plastic mini's, and they look ok to my eye - skitarii and Empire parts here for example:
They look a bit gorilla-ish to me. Not terribly so but enough that it would bug me.
The Acolyte arms would probably look good, but the Neophyte ones would probably look a little off. Of course they are filthy Xenos anyways so slightly bigger arms may not be that bad.
Those weapon sprues have got my attention. Has anyone got a picture of Frostgrave cultists and Cawdor figures side-by side? I just finished up a big Cawdor gang,..
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/651712.page#8863636 ...but I'd be tempted to add a few CC troopers. CC troopers are almost non-existent in the Cawdor figure range.
I may buy a pack of the weapons anyway just to have on hand for conversion. A really great sprue of parts. Especially the smaller sized chainsword. Full size 40k chainswords look kind of silly and I recently used up the last small chainsword I had from my stock of vintage warzone weapons.
The long awaited The Frostgrave Folio, combining all the ebooks, that Joe promised us in would be released in 2017, is available for pre-order on Amazon with an expected March 2017 street date.
The long awaited The Frostgrave Folio, combining all the ebooks, that Joe promised us in would be released in 2017, is available for pre-order on Amazon with an expected March 2017 street date.
Wow, that's one of the longest book pre-orders I can think of.. it's tempting though to avoid the risk of forgetting about it...
Something worth noting is that Osprey and Amazon's relationship is terrific, and to date, when Amazon has put up a date for a Frostgrave book, even months in advance, that HAS been the release date.
I had Forgotten Pacts pre-ordered with them since... oh, July, and they knew the date then, and had the correct cover-arts months before it was shown elsewhere.
@Panic - It doesn't say so per se, but North Star always sells physical product, and all the Osprey Wargames 'blue book' series (e.g. Lion Rampant, Ronin, IHMN etc) have an RRP of 11.99, so with the early bird nickstarter discount it's right.
Basically it’s just the book this time. But the more copies that we sell, the more freebies you all get.We're also offering you some early release figures, special offers and unique models that you can add to your Nickstarter book order. They are out of the way hidden on the website.
Beastcrafter Wizard:
Beastcrafter Apprentice:
Failing Witch
Chilopendra
Folio Goals:
ACHIEVED - The first Folio Goal is a free Frostgrave plastic Barbarian Frame. All Frostgrave Folio Nickstarters will receive this frame when we’ve flogged 100 copies!
Spoiler:
ACHIEVED - The second Folio Goal is a free Frostgrave metal Head & Mace set. To use with your plastic Barbarians.
LOCKED - The third Folio Goal is a free new Sigilist Wizard. By Mark Copplestone. All Frostgrave Folio Nickstarters will receive this set when we’ve sold 400 copies!
All three Folio Goals have been reached, so backers will be getting the free barbarian sprue, Barbarian leader parts, and alternate Sigilist. (Which is the item I really wanted: the barb stuff is useful but not a must have for me.)
This was posted on Northstars Facebook the other day
"Looks like the #Frostgrave Folio is going to get here nice and early in March, I think we'll be able to ship pretty swiftly after the drawbridge is pulled up on the Nickstarter. The Nickstarter ends on the 1st of March. It'll be sharp on the 1st of March, ie first thing in the morning GMT so please don't leave it till then, I recommend you order 27th Feb at the latest."
So we'll probably see our goodies in March depending on the post service!
I don't remember much from the one I did other than the items arrived much faster than I anticipated. It's part of why I was hesitant since I'm moving over the window they're likely shipping in. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, especially if you're expecting kickstarter-eque wait periods.
Finally put in my order, plus the new Deep One beastcrafters and the alt Cultist captain. I keep telling myself that after I finish grad school I'll finally have time to sit down and work on this Frostgrave pile I've amassed.
The nice thing about the Nickstarter is that it is not crowd-funding, it's just a pre-order campaign. The books are already printed. The figures are sculpted. There are occasional delays gathering everything together or casting up as many figures as are needed, but in the main you get your stuff quick!
Agreed. Also, while I've plenty of figures from my RPG days, they were selected for "star power": that is if player character or villain, they need to impress. Did not buy many (if any) "ordinary" figures. So having a matching apprentice who is less flash than their master is useful.
porkuslime wrote: Great! Love to get both the wizard and apprentice in sets!
Mine arrived yesterday, book was thinner than I expected (but I don't really know what it is I just thought it was some kind of compendium), plenty of packing peanuts for the cat to kill and try to eat and need rescuing from, all good really for a tenner or whatever it was
Mine arrived today. I was impressed by the barbarian sprue-- I haven't even opened the box I got with the previous Nickstarter, so these really floored me. I really like the sigilists, the apprentice in particular. It looks like I'll have some fine hobbying for spring break.
I sincerely hope they will have some type of Asian themed expansion for the pirate one.. because JoshinJapan's post made me want pirates vs ninjas to be a thing
I haven't handled them before, but they look comparable to stuff from copplestone, in which case they are a lot more bulky- like a more properly proprotioned but equally bulky GW human
LotR minis tend toward true 28 while NorthStar's FG plastics are closer to GW heroic although not quite that inhumanly proportioned. Don't have either a Dunlending or a FG barbarian handy but this pic should give you an idea. L to R: IG Nobody, FG Gnoll, Clansman of Lamedon, FG soldier.
Nope, they are true 28's. It'ss just that WHFB/40k has moved towards heroic 32mm. Frostgrave are of the Adams/Morrison/Copplestone/Hicks/Ansell/etc "Foundry" style, heroic 28mm
Nope, they are true 28's. It'ss just that WHFB/40k has moved towards heroic 32mm. Frostgrave are of the Adams/Morrison/Copplestone/Hicks/Ansell/etc "Foundry" style, heroic 28mm
Really there is variation within the GWLotR range itself. The original plastics (up to the first batch or RotK) were 25s. The metals were 28s with some odd exceptions (metal gondor Rangers were a bit over sized).
I like the model but I'm not a fan of the weapon, that mace looks like a grapnel and doesn't seem to have the reach to make it effective from the back of a wooly rhino. Easily fixed with a swap out to a spear so I'm still likely to buy the model when it's released.
I have a lot of Frostgrave and LOTR minis, and, in general, they work very well together. The Frostgrave ones are a little shorter than most of the LOTR metals, but this is compensated for by the base. They are just slightly bigger proportioned, though in truth, the difference is not great.
Here's a comparison shot I took awhile back. It shows the Frostgrave soldiers, but they are nearly the same size as the barbarians.
Ordering this item enters you into the Frostgrave: Ulterior Motives Nickstarter. Officially released Early June!
The Frozen City harbours many secrets, and not all of them are ancient. While most adventurers who brave the dangers seek wealth and lost magic, some journey into Frostgrave for more personal reasons…
This expansion for Frostgrave consists of 40 Ulterior Motive cards, which add variety, depth, and new tactical challenges to wargames in the Frozen City. Each card presents the player with a specific task to accomplish and offers rewards if they succeed. Some of these missions must be revealed to all of the players, others must be kept secret. Will your wizard seek to slay a great demon? Rescue a desperate captive? Bring retribution to an enemy? All wizards seek power, but what are their ulterior motives?
42 oversized cards (40 Ulterior Motive cards, 2 cards of rules)
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I feel like they are releasing expansions at a dizzying rate. Am I the only one?
Also, my FLGSs tell me that there are supply issues keeping them from stocking the Frostgrave plastics.
Yeah.. FG is starting to feel a bit like TSR with all the nickel and dime content. I can't say I blame the guy.. I mean.. does anyone ever plan on creating a game for Osprey and just knocking it out of the park? I'd probably be milking it for all it's worth in his place. There's also something to be said for his ability to keep churning stuff out.. I haven't ran through all the books I have yet but from what I have seen it doesn't seem like it gets stale.
There are definitely supply issues for getting the plastics at retail around here. I have asked countless times at the local stores, and they aren't able to even get any.
Something to do with the distributor. I blame Alliance.
Fun fact- Warlord tends to carry their plastic range. Warlord also likes to offer pretty sweet discounts now and then (like their recent 15 dollar off orders deal). You can score some cheap plastics that way!
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I feel like they are releasing expansions at a dizzying rate. Am I the only one?
If they were $50 books I would be balking at it, but at the price point that they are I feel it is more like buying an expensive magazine every 3-6 months which is an easy purchasing decision (even though I am yet to play the game).
In saying that though the cards are more expensive than the expansion books and the same price point as the rulebook so it does seem a little high for me.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I feel like they are releasing expansions at a dizzying rate. Am I the only one?
Nope. I think I'm most interested in solo, the motive cards (shades of Warhammer Quest!), and whatever dungeoncrawl rules they have, but I haven't even looked at the main book!
Cardinal Xaphan wrote: Does anybody know the scale of these Frostgrave Barbarians compared to LotR minis? They could make a decent stand-in for Dunlendings.
Think of the old scale discussion from back in the day- brought up again. ( Except this time, Ral partha is replaced by GW.)
The Frostgrave figures are smaller then a GW Fastasy figure, but larger then a GW Lord of the Rings one by slightly lesss then a head. If you mount the figures on bases, either square or round, you won't see much of a difference.
Frostgrave figures have an old school figure feel in that their "Bases" are crafted into the figure themselves, in the same way as old school reaper does them.
(I mount my figures on either square or round bases to try to relate them all.)
As to the Ships-
I saw a few on YouTube, but the easiest ones I have are stacked styro cut in the shape of a ship. You can go as crazy as you want, or just do the styro ship decks themselves.
I was lucky enough to get in a KS for a guy that made some 1812 ships, and picked up a couple that are precut styro.
Second idea is printed ship deck maps with the squares, or get your old 7th Sea maps out, or print them off of the site.
Kinda surprised that Amera Plastic isn't vacu-forming ships.. Seems like a missed opportunity. I like the plastics. They definitely have a Mordheim vibe going on. Kobblestone.ca has a ship that's affordable (and some nice terrain too) but I've not ordered from them yet.
I don't really like them, there isn't much about them that says "pirate". I would prefer more baggy clothes, open shirts, bare feet, etc. I also hate how that stupid anachronistic hat showed up again on the guy on the guy on the left.
The key to remember with the Frostgrave plastics is they are ALL COMPATIBLE WITH EACH OTHER.
The gnoll arms for example, aren't particularly hairy or animal- like. They just look a little wild and in tatters. They work perfect on the barbarians or the hobo soldiers. And vice versa.
I've also had success slapping militia parts on them, and Fireforge, and Gripping Beast, a bit of Perry...
These dirty plastic scalawags should be just as compatible as the rest of the Nothstar plastics.
The only real downside to the whole lot is how small they are. They are basically as tall as lotr minis, but chunkier. I would have bought many more boxes of Frostgrave plastics if they were about 5-10mm taller. I like my barbarians big and beefy, but the Frostgrave ones look like just about any GW fantasy miniature will tower over them.
Even though I have several good groups of historical scale minis painted up for skirmish games (Fireforge, Gripping Beast, etc.) when I offer people choices of which painted miniatures they want for their warbands, everybody chooses the bigger fantasy miniatures. Everytime.
Was out boating with BadSquiddo Annie in the Stockholm Archipelago recently and she suggested that I should do Frostgrave Scandi Archipelago instead... and the thought kind of stuck... damn!
As far as I know, they havn't said much about that yet. I would assume though that as lots of the previews have shown jungle fights with tribes of natives that it will be land based to start with. Given the rate at which they churn out expansions I wouldn't put boarding actions beyond the realms of possibility
Hey guys, I'm just starting to talk about Ghost Archipelago on my blog - and showing off a few of the minis (someone feel free to post the photos here, I haven't got the nack).
endtransmission wrote: There is a different group shot that show more of the bodies and parts
I quite like these. I've got plenty of human rabble waiting for paint so I probably won't get any but it's a solid set and even better when the cross-compatibility with other sets is taken into consideration.
As for the scale issue, thank heavens they aren't GW Fantasy scale. They're clearly designed to mesh with the thousands of other 28mm non-gw fantasy figs out there in size and style. If folks want GW-proxies there are alot of other companies that do that. My hope is that folks who buy Frostgrave figs will take some time to discover the wealth of similar figs that are available and quite affordable.
Just for convenience, here's the comparison pic that was linked earlier.
left to right:
Perry's Sudanese, Gripping Beast Dark Age Warrior, Frostgrave Soldier, GW Lord of the Rings, Frostgrave Soldier, Fireforge plastic, Frostgrave metal thief.
Taken from. http://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.de/
They're compatible with the pre-7th overscaling of Warhammer. The 5th/6th Empire soldiers work perfectly with the Frostgrave minis - and, as previously mentioned, this makes them compatible size-wise with all the plastics from Gripping Beast and Fireforge, as well as the later LOTR plastics (fit perfectly with plastic Rangers, plastic Easterlings, plastic Corsairs, plastic Morannon Orcs, etc)
judgedoug wrote: They're compatible with the pre-7th overscaling of Warhammer. The 5th/6th Empire soldiers work perfectly with the Frostgrave minis - and, as previously mentioned, this makes them compatible size-wise with all the plastics from Gripping Beast and Fireforge, as well as the later LOTR plastics (fit perfectly with plastic Rangers, plastic Easterlings, plastic Corsairs, plastic Morannon Orcs, etc)
Yep, this also makes them fairly compatible with the older lines from companies like Grenadier (now from EM4, Merliton and Forlorn Hope) and Harlequin (Now sold by Black Tree) that were deliberately made to be compatible with the style and size of those early'ish WHFB figs.
They can't be in scale with both old hammer and LOTR minis. LOTR minis were properly proportioned while the old hammer minis were heroic. Frostgrave minis are stubby and heroic, and from my experience even shorter than the old Empire Militia. They work with Gripping Beast and Fireforge, but Perry and LOTR minis will look odd and spindly next to them. I wouldn't mix parts across those lines for fear of the Brundlepod effect.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: They can't be in scale with both old hammer and LOTR minis. LOTR minis were properly proportioned while the old hammer minis were heroic. Frostgrave minis are stubby and heroic, and from my experience even shorter than the old Empire Militia. They work with Gripping Beast and Fireforge, but Perry and LOTR minis will look odd and spindly next to them. I wouldn't mix parts across those lines for fear of the Brundlepod effect.
That's a fair statement.
Now that I take a clsoer look it seems that much of the current crop of true-scale-ish historicals will be spindlier than the Frostgrave stuff and probably not parts-compatible. Still, the height is close enough and as long as you weren't mixing within a unit it wouldn't be too bad. Really though, If I were buying frostgrave plastics it'd be older fantasy metals, and not newer plastic historicals, that I'd be looking to for compatibility.
Heck, if you wait for a sale (which somes fairly often) you can often get Harlequin Fantasy stuff from BTD for around $1.25 each!
They're definitely pretty parts-compatible with Fireforge Russians. I would say the latter are *slightly* slimmer in general, but not to the extent that parts look off. Perry historicals tend to me much slimmer, so you have to be a lot more careful there.
For those who are interested in black powder weapons in either Frostgrave or Ghost Archipelago, I wrote optional rules for them in Spellcaster Magazine.
Gallahad wrote: I don't really like them, there isn't much about them that says "pirate". I would prefer more baggy clothes, open shirts, bare feet, etc. I also hate how that stupid anachronistic hat showed up again on the guy on the guy on the left.
I'm a bit disappointed myself. Some of the Ghost Archipelago artwork from the books shows some really exciting looking exotic pirates. These figures are really kind of "blah". I think the previous Frostgrave figures did a much better job of capturing the respective game artwork than these do. :(
Gallahad wrote: I don't really like them, there isn't much about them that says "pirate". I would prefer more baggy clothes, open shirts, bare feet, etc. I also hate how that stupid anachronistic hat showed up again on the guy on the guy on the left.
I'm a bit disappointed myself. Some of the Ghost Archipelago artwork from the books shows some really exciting looking exotic pirates. These figures are really kind of "blah". I think the previous Frostgrave figures did a much better job of capturing the respective game artwork than these do. :(
I know, the box look like generic rabble from an early renaissance game. Hardly an earring or ounce of bravado to be seen. They look a bit like the sailor crew for a musical.
I remain excited for the book, but so far the plastics are real snoozers.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: They can't be in scale with both old hammer and LOTR minis. LOTR minis were properly proportioned while the old hammer minis were heroic.
"as well as the later LOTR plastics (fit perfectly with plastic Rangers, plastic Easterlings, plastic Corsairs, plastic Morannon Orcs, etc)"
SBG is not very consistent, scale-wise. 2001-2007 era is smaller than 2008-2013 era. The men of Dale could eat the men of Numenor for a mid morning snack.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: They can't be in scale with both old hammer and LOTR minis. LOTR minis were properly proportioned while the old hammer minis were heroic.
"as well as the later LOTR plastics (fit perfectly with plastic Rangers, plastic Easterlings, plastic Corsairs, plastic Morannon Orcs, etc)"
SBG is not very consistent, scale-wise. 2001-2007 era is smaller than 2008-2013 era. The men of Dale could eat the men of Numenor for a mid morning snack.
*adjusts glasses*. Well, I stopped buying LOTR minis before it was cool.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: They can't be in scale with both old hammer and LOTR minis. LOTR minis were properly proportioned while the old hammer minis were heroic.
"as well as the later LOTR plastics (fit perfectly with plastic Rangers, plastic Easterlings, plastic Corsairs, plastic Morannon Orcs, etc)"
SBG is not very consistent, scale-wise. 2001-2007 era is smaller than 2008-2013 era. The men of Dale could eat the men of Numenor for a mid morning snack.
*adjusts glasses*. Well, I stopped buying LOTR minis before it was cool.
Haha. Well for example my go-to Frostgrave warband are my Corsairs of Umbar.
endtransmission wrote: There is a different group shot that show more of the bodies and parts
I like the look of this group better than the first one, more pirate less hobo. Except for that hat. I am never using that head when I put my crew together, not without serious headwear conversion!
Ehhhhh.... these minis look okay but they are not really living up to my expectations from the game artwork that was shown earlier. They just don't look all that... piratical.
It's not a 'pirate' game. It's a fantasy game that shares a lot of setting with pirates. The first figure is a shadow-warrior type Heritor, and the other is an Earth Warden (an Earth based spellcaster). Some of the straight warrior types look more piratical.
Has their been a Nickstarter for this one yet? I only ask because Ash from GMG already has batreps with the finished book, which makes me think the release is very, very soon?
Nickstarter in September for release in October. There are definitely review copies of the book around, but these may well be printers proofs or something.
If someone could post when this is up in the US that would be much appreciated. Despite doing it three times now, I always forget the name of the site that handles this for us.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: If someone could post when this is up in the US that would be much appreciated. Despite doing it three times now, I always forget the name of the site that handles this for us.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: If someone could post when this is up in the US that would be much appreciated. Despite doing it three times now, I always forget the name of the site that handles this for us.
Isn't it Brigade Games?
Thank you. It is. :-p I'm just having an early senior moment.
Brigade's pre-order is now also live. $81 for the whole deal for me (the book, the card/token pack, a box of 20 crewmen and a Heritor + Warden of your choice.... plus free objective tokens and any other promos that unlock), is a terrific deal. A couple extra Heritor/Warden models for a friend, and two folks have enough game to keep 'em busy and having fun all Winter long.
To answer a few questions as best as I can. The figures are, on average, on the smaller side of 28mm. More comparable to most historical companies such as Gripping Beasts plastics.
The Accessory Pack includes cards for all of the Heritor Abilities and Ward Spells, plus as special 'Blood Burn Die' which is really used as marker, not a die, but looks cool.
joe5mc wrote: To answer a few questions as best as I can. The figures are, on average, on the smaller side of 28mm. More comparable to most historical companies such as Gripping Beasts plastics.
The Accessory Pack includes cards for all of the Heritor Abilities and Ward Spells, plus as special 'Blood Burn Die' which is really used as marker, not a die, but looks cool.
That's true height-wise as IIRC, they are spot-on for 28mm from sole to eye. However, they've got the chunkier proportions of 90's GW stuff. That sets them apart a bit from most current historicals but it does make them fit a bit better with many other classic metal fantasy lines and makes them a bit sturdier.
Here's a comparison shot I found, note how much bigger the legs and hands of the frostrgave figs are. From left to right:
Perry's Sudanese, Gripping Beast Dark Age Warrior, Frostgrave Soldier, GW Lord of the Rings, Frostgrave Soldier, Fireforge plastic, Frostgrave metal thief
Courtesy of TheRennaisanceTroll.
So, what are people's thoughts on Ghost Archipelago, or does it need a new thread?
My Nickstarter bundle from Bad Squiddo arrived last week. I've only really looked at the rules so far (plastic pirates are on the big "to be made someday" pile of shame), but I've given them a thorough read-through. No plays of the game yet.
This looks very much like Frostgrave 2.0, and that is a Good Thing overall. The game is going to play very much like original FG, but this time, your warband can be led by Conan, or Jack Sparrow, or more-or-less whichever fantasy hero you like, rather than having to be a wizard: you have base stats for your leader ("Heritor") but then add pretty much whatever wargear you like, and five special abilities. BUT! You get a wizard in your warband too, with similar kinds of capabilities to the one from FG, or at least to their apprentice.
There are slightly different overall campaign goals (find the magic pool of power, rather than become an all-powerful wizard), boat and swimming rules to reflect the island environs, and a load of new monsters and magic items. You could use most of this with regular FG if you wanted, but GE is probably a better game overall because there are slight balance tweaks, notably in the stats of the henchmen you can hire (Treasure Hunter is no longer the best pick...).
It does have the mildly annoying issue that it sidelines the Will stat *even more* than original FG did. In regular FG you can largely ignore Will because it's almost always more efficient to just nick the treasure, or failing that, stick your enemy full of crossbow bolts and fry them with fireballs, than it is to mind control them or something. But, there was at least some balance in original FG, in that if your enemy *did* ignore Will you could just load up on mind control stuff and probably win.
Ghost Archipelago has Will, still, as a stat for all your minions, and in theory you can resist some spells by making a Will roll. Only... there are only 30 spells in this game, unlike the 100+ in FG. And only one of those 30 allows a Will roll to resist. So, touches like making most of the potions/drugs in the Treasure section give you a Will penalty to reflect your addled state... don't really add anything other than unnecessary bookkeeping. As does the Will stat in general, really. This is a minor irritation though, and the game still looks fab overall. For me it's more of an editing / game development issue than a design one, but it's a shame it wasn't caught at that stage, or at the playtesting stage.
Galas wrote: Half the GW-Crew is there. Impresive. Frostgrave always had fame of being "clean" and "balanced". Lets see how this one ends
Clean? Absolutely! Balanced...? Nooooo. I love Frostgrave passionately, but it is not to be played competitively and with "balance". A player intending to break it can power-game absurdly easily. Its just not meant to be that sort of game.
Yeah. I picked Elementalist for our first campaign since it seemed like a cool Last Airbender kind of concept. Turns out they are markedly better than other wizard schools. Kinda easy to break the game but still one of our favorites.
I’m glad this kit is coming out and it looks nice but I wish the clothing had less fur trim. I think the male Frostgrave soldier kit does a nice job of being climate neutral enough that different color palettes can make them look like normal soldiers or rangers instead of specifically winter dressed troops.
I guess it's more about the fur trim on the bodies and arms, but since I painstakingly ADDED fur trim to all the models in my warband, I'm not unhappy at the idea of reinforcements for the Sisterhood of the Wolf that I can just make and be done with
I think they are also doing Female models of the specialists too. You know female barbarians, treasure hunters, etc. I might be getting my wife some of these for a 2019 of Frostgrave in my household.
It looks like getting a box of the Oathmark Human soldiers and the Frost Grave Female soldiers should mix well together and let you do a full set off all the same weapons for both.... though not enough shields if you want all shield guys.
Gallahad wrote: Nevermind. It looks like they are taller than the Oathmark humans.
If your going by my picture, don't. I just took the two sprue photos... and photoshopped them together. The Female one was a bigger shot, so I shrank it down to fit... I don't think they are accurate next to each other. It looks like the female sprue is a smaller sprue, so they are definitely not to scale in the photo.
What's New For 2019?
2019 is going to be packed with new games and figures releases. The best place to keep up to date with everything is here at the North Star newsletter of course, but let's have a look at some of the forth coming products.
I'm onboard for the wizards. As with the female warriors, their short stature relative to most minis won't be as much of a problem, and the kit should be really fun.
But yes, a dedicated plastic sprue packed full of sci-fi gubbins would be fantastic
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, another Frostgrave thing coming up is a Geek Nation tour of Tallinn in Estonia with Joseph A. McCullough himself. The city that inspired Felstad.
lord_blackfang wrote: It's so cool that a small company can put out plastic kits on a steady schedule.
Looking forward to wizards especially as they probably won't follow the same repeating sprue layout formula as all the others.
Really wish the sculpts weren't midgets. I would have multiples of each kit if they looked normal next to WHFB stuff.
Ugh, you're not alone. Why did they opt for such tiny figures... They make lovely, tall-ish halflings, though!
I will never ever understand their choices about scale. On the other hand, they seem to be doing quite well with their small humans, so what do I know?
lord_blackfang wrote: It's so cool that a small company can put out plastic kits on a steady schedule.
Looking forward to wizards especially as they probably won't follow the same repeating sprue layout formula as all the others.
Really wish the sculpts weren't midgets. I would have multiples of each kit if they looked normal next to WHFB stuff.
Ugh, you're not alone. Why did they opt for such tiny figures... They make lovely, tall-ish halflings, though!
I will never ever understand their choices about scale. On the other hand, they seem to be doing quite well with their small humans, so what do I know?
I'm assuming they are in 'scale' with most historical plastics/ GWLOTR? I know of several that have been using them with such to kit bash Game of Thrones and the like.
The Frostgrave soldiers and metal wizards I have seem the right size to match most of the fantasy figures I have.
I agree they don't match GW's current action figure size, but that's a GW problem, not a Frostgrave one.
Yeah, they match nicely with a number of historical figures.
Of course, personally, I reckon that people are pretty varied in size. If my some of my models suggest that people of one group are consistently a foot shorter than some other group, that's okay as far as I'm concerned.
I really like having such a broad selection of fantasy plastics in non-heroic scale. After painting a bunch of historicals and LOTR stuff, I've found I just can't go back to bobbleheads with elephantiasis of the hands. It just looks off to me, now.
kestral wrote: Great stuff - need to find a reason to play some Frostgrave, or use the figures in some way.
I recently acquired a game called "Rangers of Shadow Deep". It's a narrative driven solo or cooperative tabletop wargame. It's low model count and created by the person who designed Frostgrave. Just read through and I can't wait to play it. I'm just starting building some of the female soldiers.
judgedoug wrote: Frostgrave plastics are your bog standard heroic 30mm - they fit right in with oldhammer and middlehammer models.
They do not match LOTR which are truescale 28mm.
GW proprietary IP's went scale-free about a decade ago; their current humans (Darkoath and Bloodreavers) are roughly 38mm scale (or O scale, 1/43)
None of this is right really, save the LotR thing.
Firstly, Frostgrave stuff is still smaller than most middlehammer stuff, especially the plastics, don't let that integral base fool you. Secondly, GW's stuff is not "scale free", it's a new scale - their "basic" humans have all fallen into the same ~32mm tall range since the Chaos Cultists from Dark Vengeance, the Darkoath and Bloodreavers are not a different scale, they're just meant to be bigger people, in the same way that the new Goliath and Delaque are meant to be bigger people not a different scale to the other gangs.
I get that people want folk to support smaller companies, that's a laudable goal, but you're not going to do it by telling people who care about scale that their products are scaled a certain way when they're not.
Aesthete wrote: Yeah, they match nicely with a number of historical figures.
Of course, personally, I reckon that people are pretty varied in size. If my some of my models suggest that people of one group are consistently a foot shorter than some other group, that's okay as far as I'm concerned.
Yea, the Frostgrave stuff feels like 25mm (or "truescale", aka tinyscale), though I've not put them up side by side since I don't have any LOTR, it seems like they'd look fine alongside LOTR figures from what I remember of those.
pancakeonions wrote: Yea, the Frostgrave stuff feels like 25mm (or "truescale", aka tinyscale), though I've not put them up side by side since I don't have any LOTR, it seems like they'd look fine alongside LOTR figures from what I remember of those.
Anyone have any photos, or mind taking one?
The Frostgrave are definitely Heroic Scale, but the are between 25 and 27mm heroic scale. Current Stormcast are 35mm Heroic scale.
Fenrir Kitsune wrote: These models scale well with plastic manufacturers other than GW, which they don’t scale with. Are GW models out of scale with everyone else?
No, it’s the children that are wrong.
Only with certain manufacturers of historical minis. They don't match with the Perry minis nor with any fantasy plastics I can think of, excluding Northstar's line and maybe Ring of Rule.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Maybe the old starter set minis, but the barefoot State Troops look less squat.
They don't scale well with any plastics except maybe the Bretonnian Men at Arms. If you're talking *really* oldschool all-metal infantry, yeah maybe they're a match. Not all metal models though, pretty much anything from late 5th/Mordheim onwards is in the 30-32mm range(height).
We don't do this very often, but during the Nickstarter you'll be able to buy individual frames of the plastic Crewmen and Snake-men. They won't be restricted to Nickstarter participants only, but they'll only be for sale in the Nickstarter period.
Perilous Dark incorporates a lot of the lessons I learned creating Rangers of Shadow Deep. It doesn't introduce any new game mechanic, but does offer a lot of suggestions/examples of scenario mechanics and how they can be used in solo and cooperative games - and has a load of scenarios.
Very cool news. I mainly play against a friendly gaming buddy and our missions tend to almost be avoidance matches in many instances. Our soldiers engage from time to time but we don't play too cutthroat. It will be good to try some cooperative games, I think.
"Then in October, comes something rather different – Frostgrave: Perilous Dark. I am just putting the finishing touches on the manuscript for this one, which is taking a little longer than I expected as it is the longest supplement I have ever written. This supplement focuses on playing Frostgrave solo or cooperatively. It is part ‘how-to guide’, giving lots of suggestions, ideas, and techniques for designing your own scenarios, and part campaign, featuring 10 loosely-connected scenarios. And yes, this book includes guidelines for playing the game in a randomly generated dungeon."
That'll make the BGG'ers happy!
Don't put too many unusual monsters in it, and add rules so we can make our own. Looking forward to the dungeoncrawler!
It's very much inline with typical FG plastic kits - which are nice, but nothing that's going to blow your mind. Definitely a bit on the very safe side of things. Still, this'll sell in heaps for RPG gamers who want to customize something up like that.
While I don’t need 20 wizards 1 box is a must for all the gubbins and conversion potential. I was just looking for some scrolls the other day and bonus points for the Fez head.
DaveC wrote: While I don’t need 20 wizards 1 box is a must for all the gubbins and conversion potential. I was just looking for some scrolls the other day and bonus points for the Fez head.
I think it is 2 sprues in the box for £15. Can't remember where I read that though.
DaveC wrote: While I don’t need 20 wizards 1 box is a must for all the gubbins and conversion potential. I was just looking for some scrolls the other day and bonus points for the Fez head.
I think it is 2 sprues in the box for £15. Can't remember where I read that though.
Ah 8 it is for £15 (I should have opened the link ) it makes sense I guess less gubbins though
I really love that all frostgrave (and oathmark) sprues are compatibile with each other. Between cultists, barbarians, soldiers 1 and 2, and this, you can have ton of fun.
I'm a big fan of all the FG plastics to date-- the market is full of Level 20+ heroes, what I need (OK, want) are models to represent low-level characters and/or NPCs. Also, the 5th head from the left in the second row-- with the hood that covers the eyes-- easily justifies the box for me.
Those look nice. It'll be cool to see what the community comes up with, especially with bits from the tribesman and gnolls added to the wizards. It ought to make some interesting shamans and beast masters!
The more Frostgrave kits I build, the more I pine for Northstar coming around and doing some sort of fantasy samurai type soldiers. While they'd be smaller than I'd like, literally nobody these days does any sort of Asian fantasy troops!
Kubik wrote: I really love that all frostgrave (and oathmark) sprues are compatibile with each other. Between cultists, barbarians, soldiers 1 and 2, and this, you can have ton of fun.
The Oathmark sprues are compatible? For some reason, I was under the impression that they were slightly smaller...
Yes, I agree. The figures in my existing fantasy collection are mostly "stars" since I bought them either as characters for WHFB, or as my PCs when roleplaying. As such, they are meant to look like the lead. However, for apprentices and the rest of the supporting cast, they shouldn't look so flash, or outshine the star. That's what the Frostgrave plastic kits are for IMO. The kits let you make the supporting actors and the bit players of your wizard's story. Of course, since plastics are easy to convert, you can make a star with some kit-bashing.
JoshInJapan wrote: I'm a big fan of all the FG plastics to date-- the market is full of Level 20+ heroes, what I need (OK, want) are models to represent low-level characters and/or NPCs. Also, the 5th head from the left in the second row-- with the hood that covers the eyes-- easily justifies the box for me.
That is a wonderful kit and releasing next month! Gonna have to set aside some pennies as it will be perfect for replacing all the heroquest wizards I have lost over the years.
) it makes sense I guess less gubbins though 