Frostgrave (almost-)all female Warband

A new warband has been sighted in the frozen city (possibly more frozen now). Aka. I finally got to paint the new Female Soldiers fron North Star. Delightful plastic kit (I might have put together a few more than strictly needed), wonderful metal specialists, and all around very nice.

First up, let me show you the metal models. All of them look incredible, and was a joy to paint with very little flashing. From left to right, we have a Templar, Knight, Barbarian, Thief, Tracker, War Hound, Markswoman and a grandmotherly Apothecary.

These four, the Templar, Knight, Barbarian and Tracker, were probably the funnest models to paint, all told. I might have to get several of these...

Now, moving on to the plastics (including a few male soldiers I had lying around)

First up, the ones with only a single hand weapon (no, the torch doesn't count... I think). To the left is a second Thief, while the spearwoman to the right could also be used as a counts-as two-handed weapon-armed model.

When you're like me, Treasure Hunters are a must. The one to the left have arms from the male soldiers kit, while the one to the right is all female. The two kits fit together even better than one would expect (and I expected them to fit together very well...). Only the fur trimming of the coat is missing.

Ranged support is also a must. Two Archers (one of them with a bronze sword strapped to the backpack, meaning she can be used as a Ranger) and a Crossbowwoman.

Three soldiers who have also aquired shields, allowing them to be used as (Wo)men-at-arms to Knights to Captains. Once again, a male soldier has snuck in.

Finally, we have the soldiers armed with two-handed weapons. Infantrymen, Barbarians, Templars... they have many names and many uses, although some are more suited for specific classes, perhaps. The fellow with the naked, muscular arms ( the third male soldier that snuck in) fits best as a Barbarian, while the lady with the big sword would make an excellent Templar, as would the halberdier in the middle. Either of them could also work very well as a Captain.

All the shields (both held, and hung over the shoulder as a nice extra thing for variety) have been painted by me, mostly in various frosty themes.

Of course, a new warband demans (at least) a new wizard and apprentice. And North Star do have these extraordinarily cute lasses...

Aside from the capes, I intentionally tried to paint them close enough to a certain movie, as a challenge to myself.

Of course, some treasures are also needed. That head in the middle, is the current seat for a very valuable bird... how is it green, in the Frozen City, you ask? Because magic, that's why. The other two are what you can find lying around in the rubble and snow, a treasure chest and a pile of heavily corroded copper coins (and an equally heavily corroded bronze sword... might be magic, though).

All in all, a nice little warband. I don't think I'll need to expand it ever, and that is if we play Frostgrave again at the club (it has somewhat fallen to Ghost Archipelago).

/Fool Out, and let it go...

Blood & Plunder - Surprise extra Demo day.

So. After Easter and my last post, I thought it would be calm with demoing Blood & Plunder for some time... I was wrong, and last wednesday, I ran an impromptu demo day. Got in two demo games, and a third personal one against a friend (not quite counting that as a demo, since he's supposed to know the rules by now). Still, that's a solid 4-5 hours of demoing, discussing lists, the history around it, good and bad ideas, and so on.

For some fun and variety, I brought along a variety of forces, one for each one of the major powers (a mix between privateers and militias).

First battle, English Buccaneers against French Caribbean Militia. Both players were completely new to the game, but got advice from some more experienced players (although in one case, "more experienced" in the sence that any positive number is greater than 0).

For ease of use, we ran the buildings as impassable, but the tunnel out front as providing cover, as well as the entire area inside the various barrels and boxes as providing cover (and being Rough).

The Freebooters found a nice hidey-hole while exchanging fire with the Boucaniers, at least initially.

Meanwhile, on the flank, there were some skirmishing around the field, but surprisingly few casualties.

And it all ended with a massive brawl in the middle. Annoying when it happens "all the time", but for demos and peoples first time, it's quite acceptable, especially when the road to get there is a teaching experience. In the end, the english stood victorious, and everyone had fun.

 Next up, once again English Buccaneers against some quickly repurposed (and unpainted...) Pike & Shotte Swedes, as Swedish Militia. Since none of us had any great ideas how this would work, it was quite interresting.

We got quite close to "standard" deployment, with two firing lines opposing each other (and mostly not seen thanks to terrain, with the important exception of the swedish Medium Cannon.

The cannon caused significant casualties, as well as being a psychological threat by being so far away and yet able to hit things so easily (I won't run a cannon in demo games again, unless it's naval combat, nor will I allow it to be used if someone brings one). In the end, though, the english Freebooters managed to work themselves close, and after charging the pikemen (dangerous, but it worked out), they also managed to charge the cannon, kill all it's crew, and then turn their guns on the swedish Militia. Thus, they managed to win the day, barely. Sometimes, it's good to be generalists.

Swedes should not be underestimated, for all that they die like flies to shooting. And cannons are nasty, until they suddenly aren't (usualy because their crew gets acute iron poisoning).

But still, another nice and fun game, unpainted minis aside. And I know for certain that the English player have already ordered rulebook and a starter set.

/Fool Out