Sorry for the long delay in getting something out, the last few months have been really rough. I hope you enjoy this one!
Welcome back to the Getting Started series, where I try to help you with the basics of picking up a new game, product, or hobby!
Today, we’re going back to a game I talked about a while ago and have been working on for the last few months, FrostGrave: Ghost Archipelago – Less Wizards, More Dinosaurs! Okay, that’s not the official tagline but it should be…
Step One: Buy The Books!
Okay, yeah, I always say this. And you should now why. Because, if you don’t give money to this in the Capitalist hellscape we now live in, you don’t get more things. Plus, the book is really nice to have. As is the little set of cards and blood die.
Step Two: Build Your Crew
When it comes to building your crew, you have to start with your Heritor. Think of your Heritor like a hero of old, with mystical powers that come with a cost, but they aren’t really mages. As such, you can make them heavily armored juggernauts, able to take and dish out damage, or you can make them subtle thieves with the ability to slip out of sight and pass through walls, or you can give them a bunch of random powers, if you like a challenge. Your Heritor is going to be the centerpiece of your crew, so spend your time figuring out what kind of equipment and powers work best for what you want to do. Don’t forget that Heritor’s (and Wardens) can carry bows and crossbows, which can help bring some ranged firepower to bear. Speaking of Wardens, that’s the next crew member you want to come up with. There’s five different types of Wardens and each has a very different focus but there’s no duds in the bunch. However, there’s one very important spell you probably want to take: Water Of Life. Since you can take one spell from any group, I suggest making this your one spell. Because you can heal your Heritor! Kind of important, with the Blood Burn and all. Now, it’s time for your crewmen. You can take up to four specialists and these are really going to focus your crew as a whole. If you’ve given your Heritor and Warden bows or crossbows, you might want to get some crewmen with with those weapons, since you can do Group Activations, it’s important to get them in there, if that’s what you’re going for. That also applies to the basic crewmen, but will get to those folks later. The Specialists are going to help you get your crew where you want them to be. For example, you can pick up some Freebooters, with heavy armor, shields, and hand weapons to bring the fight to other crews. You can get some Pearl Divers, who are Amphibious, allowing them to move through water without an issue, which is important in the Archipelago. If you’re going to deal with a lot of creatures, a Hunter can take them out a bit better than others. Let’s move on to the basic crewmen. You can take as many as you need to get up to the maximum crew (that’s 10, by the way) and they are useful, and free. Which ones you pick can be important, as you’re going to need them to get those treasure tokens and protect your Heritors and Wardens. While they’re not the strongest, they’re not most heavily armed or armored, but they are useful, so always take the maximum.
Step Three: Buy Your Crew And Other Things
Normally, I’d give you a list of companies to get stuff from but I’m not going to do that this time. In addition to Reaper, Ral Partha/Ironwind, and other companies you’ve probably used in the past for your gaming minis, North Star makes official minis for the game. My point here isn’t to send you out to buy a whole new set of things, unless you really want to. I do thing that having a theme for your crew is really nice for the table but not required, as a crew of misfits can be cool, too. What you want to do, after you’ve figured out what you need for your crew, is what you’re going to do about the creatures you need. There’ a few you’re probably not going to have in your collection, like sharks and such. My tip to you is that, if you’re going to buy a new crew, try to pick up the most common creatures that the crew is going to run across. The raptors, the natives, etc. Keep those in mind, just so things don’t get frustrating. Another thing is that each crew is going to need up to three boats that need to fit at least four minis, and up to six minis. Those aren’t easy to find but you can probably make some. There’s also the matter of terrain, as this game takes place in a place with a lot of water, and some spells require large pools of water. So, you might want to find or build some of these as well.
Step Four: Get Some Games In
This is kind of important before you start a campaign. All of the various Grave games are built around campaigns and Ghost Archipelago is no exception. However, given how flexible things are with making Heritors, Wardens, and Crews, you probably want to play more than few games before starting a campaign. Once you get a chance to see how your powers work, you might want to change them. You might find that all the ranged weapons aren’t as powerful as you thought they would be because of terrain and powers or spells. Or maybe you want to pick up different specialists and shift the focus of the crew. You can only find that out by playing.
And that’s about it. This game is fun and really different than the other Grave games, as it is a good halfway point between FrostGrave and StarGrave in terms of tone and rules. I also rather like the setting, of this lost land of jungles and monsters, with plenty of room to make your crew look the way you want to.
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