Sources Say - Ghost Archipelago: Gods of Fire

Name: Ghost Archipelago – Gods of Fire

Produced By: Osprey Games
System: Ghost Archipelago
Genre(s): Fantasy, Pirates, Tribal elements, Greek myth

Welcome back to another Sources Say and another one about a Ghost Archipelago supplement. This time, I’m reviewing Gods of Fire, the second expansion for the game and with a focus on Tribals. In the core book, tribals are one of the many enemies a Heritor and their crew might face in the Archipelago, and it’s neat to see them explored.

The first chapter is a forward from the creator, talking about what the book contains, which is pretty standard for these books. As we’re going to review these chapters, that’s all I’m going to say about this part.

 The second chapter is all about those Tribals. This chapter delves into the tribes and how isolated they can be. There’s also some new rules for them, allowing players to make their own tribes, with a series of beneficial traits and negative traits. Tribes can only have two benefits, but as many negatives as a player wants. Once these are settled, there’s rules for using Tribals as enemies run by a GM, with a host of new Tribal members to use, as well as rules for building “crews” of them. With that done, there’s some sample tribes you can use, if you so choose. I really like these additions, as I’ve started using goblins as my Tribals, because I have a fair amount of them. I tried using them as Dricheans but that was a little too confusing for my friend Jay, but I really do think they’ll work better for Tribals. And since one of the traits Tribes can get is Pygmie, it’s perfect for them. Better yet, it’s a negative trait, which means I can give them two beneficial ones in exchange for it.

Moving on to the third chapter, the one with the new Specialist Crewmen. The first one is a “Bowman” which a bit of a joke as it’s about bows, not bows. I mean, a ship’s bow, not a bow for shooting. But, at the same time, it’s also about bows you shoot with. In a later chapter, they introduce a swivelbow you can put on small boats and this crewman is an expert at using them. That was far too many words for that weak of a pun. The next crewman is something of a bow (as in the one with arrows) sniper, getting a special ability to aim before shooting. Following this, we have a “swordmater” but they’re really a duelist. Perfect for crews that a light on crew but also if you have a model with a rapier. Now, we have the first new Tribal crewmen, the Totem Warrior. They can make a Will roll to gain a bonus of their choice for the rest of the game. The next Tribal crewman we have is the Tribal Darter, who uses a blowgun. While an interesting idea, I don’t know how useful they would be, given the poor damage modifier and range on a blowgun, even if it is poisoned, especially as one of the most expensive crewmen so far. After that, we have the Tribal Guide, who gives you the chance to move them and another model after deployment but before rolling initiative. The last crewman we get is the Vanguard, and one of the more interesting crew options. They’re 75gc, wear heavy armor and carry a shield, and use a hand weapon and throwing spear (I’ll talk about that when we get to the chapter). They could be a good alternative for Freebooters and Men-At-Arms, being priced between them, but with heavy armor, but their stats are divided between ranged and melee. It’s a tough call to make, as the spear isn’t as useful as a bow, much less a crossbow, but that 75gc cost is very tempting. I might try them out as see how they do.

 The fourth chapter is the new weapons, all two of them. I don’t know why this is a separate chapter, as this could have easily been added to the end of the last one. The two weapons are both ranged and you can’t take them as normal equipment. Again, why is this its own chapter? The blowgun, as I mentioned, is poisoned but has a -4 damage modifier and a shorter range than a bow. With that low of a chance of being able to poison a model besides a standard crewmen, I don’t think the model that carries it (see above) is really worth it. The other weapon we get is the Throwing Spear, which is a slightly better Throwing Knife, but is one time use. If it wasn’t unavailable for my Heritor, I would totally use it in place of Throwing Knives, or even bows, even if it’s one time use. I suppose I’ll have to start making that exception…

Moving on to the fifth chapter, we have new rules for small boats. Not going to lie, this is half the reason why I picked up this book. These rules include rules for capsizing your boats. I like how it’s realistic but I don’t feel the need to use it. Then again, if I get in some more games with small boats, maybe I’ll want to use them. Speaking of things I want to use, this chapter also gives us the option of canoes. They’re not as big as small boats, but that kind of works, given how you’re probably not going to fill up your boats anyway. I think the idea of the canoes is great and wish they had been in the original book. The final thing is the Swivelbow weapon. It’s 200 gc PER BOAT and are overpowered crossbows. I don’t know if I’d ever use them, as they also impose a penalty to hit, even if they do a lot of damage. Then again, there is the Kraken to think about… Of course, they work better if you have Bowmen, but that’s another 50gc per guy, and those are Specialist Crewmen.

The sixth chapter is the first of a few campaigns in the book. This first campaign is three scenarios, but they’re different than you’d expect. Before you start the campaign, you have to figure out who is going to control a force of Tribals. That’s because one player will be playing the Tribals for two of the three scenarios, while the other player gets beaten to hell and back. What happens is that the player who plays the Tribals gets to make a pretty beefy force, while the other player plays their normal crew, but doesn’t get to heal between scenarios. Then, in the third scenario, the other player’s regular crew pops up, fresh and ready. So, yeah. All in all, it sounds like a neat little campaign, especially since it ends with a flooding temple and a bunch of aquatic monsters that get unleashed. I think it might work better if you did it co-op, with two crews fighting the Tribals, and then taking on a fresh Heritor crew in the end. However, I could see it being run as is, if one player has a much higher level than the other, with the higher level one being the one suffers through the first two scenarios.

Moving on the seventh chapter, we have another campaign, but it’s only two scenarios this time around. Instead of fighting against Tribals, you get to have some join your force, and you’re fighting cathaka this time around. Those are buzzard-men, just so you know. The first scenario is going up a rocky road to the gate leading to the city they’re taken over, with the second one being a fight on the tops of the buildings of the city. It’s a short one, and sounds really dangerous in the second one, but also seems like it might be fun.

 The eight chapter is another campaign, but this time it’s four scenarios long, and two of them should be played twice. This one involves a volcanic island and a not quite Crystal Pool. The scenarios have players trading off between playing their regular crews and playing the Tribal forces, and one of them lets the Tribal player take a cyclops! Of the three campaigns in this book, I think this one is the best. I wish they hadn’t made the other scenarios in the book so set and just made it easier to play them as normal scenarios, and then had this campaign as the only one. Anyway.

Chapter nine is the mandatory treasure chapter, with all the cool new toys you MIGHT get to play with, assuming you roll well. There’s some really good stuff in this one, with a regenerating ring, a golden skull that gives you a chance to take over the undead, and some weapons that give you a boost to your swimming rolls. The items they have in here aren’t really specific to the book or seem to be unbalanced. For the most part, they’re nice little bonuses to have, if your Warden has the right spells, and some things that can help in the right situation.

The final and tenth chapter is the bestiary. We finally get giant rats in the Archipelago, took long enough. There’s a little bit for every monster type, including some new dinosaurs, as well as some new intelligent races, like the cyclops and buzzard men I mentioned earlier. If you were paying attention, you might have noticed that I mention a kraken. Yeah. That’s here too and it is wild. I’m actually surprised that there wasn’t a scenario that involved it. Anyway. The kraken has several limbs that act independently, and can even move on land to represent their reach, and then you get the head that pops up. This thing should be the only creature you face in a scenario, it’s that intense. In fact, I might even make up a scenario myself. Who wants calamari?

If you’ve been playing Ghost Archipelago already, this book would be good to add to your collection, as it really expands how Tribals work, gives you some neat treasure, and has some interesting monsters to fight. It’s worth it.

Sources Say: Ghost Archipelago - The Lost Colossus

Name: Ghost Archipelago - Lost Colossus

Produced By: Osprey Publishing
System: Ghost Archipelago
Genre(s): Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Pirates

Here we are, the first supplement for Ghost Archipelago. This one has a few things going on that makes it a solid choice if you’re going to play Ghost Archipelago. Let’s get started.

The book begins with an introduction from Joseph A. McCullough, talking about Ghost Archipelago, the campaign, and so on. It’s a fun little read but not really important for this review.

 The next chapter jumps right into the campaign. The campaign is about trying to locate the pieces of a giant statue that once pointed to the Crystal Pool. But, things happen, and the colossus was shattered and spread around the islands. Now, if you can find the pieces, you’ll get a head start on finding the location of the Pool. An interesting part of the campaign is letting one player get “advantage” during the games. Thankfully, it doesn’t unbalance things, just lets them pick which scenario is played next. I think that’s probably the best way to give a successful player a reward, without causing them to overwhelm the other players. The scenarios are going to require a lot of unique pieces of terrain and some new monsters. However, in the introduction, the author does point out that you can use proxies or terrain that’s close enough, because he knows that you’re probably not going to have all this just sitting around. To give you a brief list, you’ll need a 10 by 10 inch building, with a small 10 by 10 side board, to represent the base of the statue, and a few Snake-Men, for the first scenario. The second scenario requires a precipice (a cliff, they mean a cliff) and some new monster, glider snakes. I think this one is kind of neat, as you have to climb up some old rope ladders or scale the cliff. The third scenario is about getting on to a bridge that’s made from one of the legs of the colossus, crossing a river with a few fishes inside. This one also lets you take a small boat, which I am always a fan of. The fourth scenario is set up around a plateau, with a lot of treasure and some new monsters on top of it. The fifth scenario is about the other leg of the colossus and it’s a fun one. Why? Because there’s some Snake-Men that are trying to knock it loose and make it start rolling to crush the crews! I suggest queuing up Yakki Sax. For the sixth scenario, you have a monolith with the eye of Colossus, protected by the Ancient Guardian. This Ancient Guardian is a unique demon with a big sword and a bad attitude. There’s also a bunch of old traps that will be triggered when you roll low on initiative. Moving on to the seventh scenario, you’re trying to read stuff on the toes of the Colossus and get to deal with some Snake-Men ambushes. When it comes to the eight scenario, it’s now the arm and hand of the Colossus, and you get to fight a giant scorpion and some aggressive plants. Scenario nine is one of my favorites, because it’s about killing the Dragon Bull (one of the new monsters, we’ll get into it) that’s made its lair under the face of the Colossus. The final scenario is about the heart of the Colossus being protected by a Snake-Man priest and his band of followers. It’s a water board with some islands, which means that you get to use small boats. If it lasts long enough, you get to fight off a Sea Serpent, too.

Whew. Anyway. The third chapter is very short, just introducing two new Specialist Crewman; the Bosun and the Topman. The Bonsun or Boatswain, is perfect was for crews that use small boats a lot, while the Topman is great for crews that do a lot of climbing in their games.

The fourth chapter is all about Snake-Men, which will be a theme for future supplements for the game. This chapter gives us the strange magic of Snake-Men, used by their priests. While not intended to be used by crews, it’s more for when you want to have a game run by a GM. This magic is called blood magic and gives us eight spells to choose from. There doesn’t seem to be any limit on how many spells the priest can take but I’m sure that players can figure it out. However, it isn’t intended for players to use them, but I could easily see someone making up something for it. If it were me, I’d have them build a crew like normal, with a Snake-Man Heritor, a Snake-Man Priest in place of a Warden with four spells, the Snake-Men from the core book as typical crewmen, and the new Snake-Men from this book (I’ll talk more about them in the bestiary chapter) as Specialists at 100 gc each. There you go, a quick and dirty way of making a Snake-Men crew.

The fifth chapter is the new treasure for this campaign and some new editions for the general treasure. We’ll start with the treasure for the campaign. There’s a few things in here that annoy me, the first being the inclusion of rope as treasure. Why is this treasure? Why not just make it a normal item? It’s pretty damn useful, so now we have to travel back to the mainland to get some, or hope that we get it in a random roll. Ahem. Anyway. The next part of the chapter is a revised and expanded magical weapons and armor tables. Designed to replace the tables in the core book, they really give you a lot of new abilities. There’s boosts to damage, boosts to hit, vampiric blades, battering shields and weapons, throwing daggers that return, and a lot of others. If you’re thinking about buying this book, this is easily the best reason to do so. It’s worth it.

The sixth and final chapter is the bestiary. It starts with some new critters, like glider snakes, huge wasps, and giant scorpions. Then there’s a new type of enemies, plants. That’s right, we’ve got man eating plants. One try to stick to you and the other spits poisoned spines at you. Just going to show that everything in the Archipelago is out to kill you. The next beasty is the Dragon Bull, or a triceratops, that’s a new saurian. Now for the Snake-Men. There’s the Priest, and then there’s the Warrior, Hunter, Rattler, Ripper, and Striker.

And that’s all there is in this supplement. And it’s a good one. For the first one for Ghost Archipelago, it was a good start.

Let's Talk: About The "Grave" Games

Hello and welcome back to Let’s Talk. Today, I wanted to take some time to talk about the FrostGrave/Ghost Archipelago/StarGrave games and system. This is going to be a bit negative but I do want to say that I really like Ghost Archipelago and I plan on getting in some StarGrave games at some point.
So, why don’t I love the X-Grave system? What is it about it that makes me not enjoy it as much as others seem to? I think there’s a few reasons that I can point to. 

 

Powers Cost Health:

You see, I’m okay with this for the Heritors in Ghost Archipelago. For whatever reason, I think it fits, and the thing is that you don’t HAVE to use your Heritor Powers. I’ve always looked at them as something you pull out when you need to. Need to stop a model from getting too close while you snag some treasure? It might be worth the risk. Have you finally worn down that enemy Heritor or big bad monster and need to make sure to put it down? There’s a power for that and it’s probably worth it. But what is it about the spells in FrostGrave that I don’t like? Well, it’s because you lose health if you fail, and only if you fail, further punishing you for using your magic. Magic is dicey in FrostGrave, which has never really jived with me, because it’s a game about wizards. You’re suppose to be throwing around spells and stuff. That’s the name of the game. And yet, magic is so risky, and wizards have far lower health than Heritors, it makes me not want to use spells. And yet, you need to use spells to gain more XP, so you can improve your characters. And you need to improve your characters so you can lesser that risk.

When it comes to StarGrave, I think we have the best the system has been, as not every power costs health, just the more powerful ones. I like this, as I can keep those powerful abilities in my back pocket, so to speak, and choose to take that risk when I need to, not every time I use anything. I know that this all boils down to Risk Versus Reward but it doesn’t feel like that with the original FrostGrave. It’s also hard to swallow when you can’t give your main characters healing items to start with, so you can off-set the cost of health you have to pay.

 

Lack Of Customization and Main Character Focus:

When it comes to this one, it’s not that you can’t customize your leaders, it’s that you can’t customize anything else. The game is completely focused on around the main character, the leader of your group, and offers a little bit of stuff for the second in command, but it depends on the game. In FrostGrave, your apprentice is an interior copy of your wizard and the only things you can really change is the gear they carry. Ghost Archipelago is better, as there’s tons of difference between Heritor powers and Warden spells, making for a much more customized core group. StarGrave is good, too, in that same way, and you can really go all own with filling gaps in what you want to do. However, that’s all you can really customize. For example, I’d love to give my troopers shotguns in StarGrave. It just seems cool to me, to have a bunch of dudes with shotguns. But I can’t do that. I can’t even find a single crew member that starts with a shotgun. Those are for Captains and XO only, when you start. As the systems are random, you can’t really buy them, either. And that’s another thing that factors into all of this. You can’t fully equip anyone exactly how you want. Want to give your leader a healing potion? Well, better hope you find one. Want to have a crewmen start with a different weapon? Too bad.

And this factors into my next point, that the games are entirely focused on your main character and their second in command. It’s all about them. You don’t even have to make rolls for the free crewmen or warband members if they get removed during a game, unless they’re holding something special, and then it’s really to see if you lose that thing. And that’s what sucks. You don’t want to invest in these “lesser people” because the game makes them disposable. They’re just bubblewrap for your leader and second in command, to protect them and to help them accomplish their goals of stealing treasure. The best way to put it is that the game feels a like like chess, with your King and Queen, the various specialist crew being the Bishops and Knights and the like, while your free crew are the Pawns. Honestly, if this is how the game was presented, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with it.

Before you say “well, you can play other games for that customization” I’d like to point out that many of those games are not as mechanically easy as the X-Grave system(s) and they’re usually nowhere near as popular.

 

Too Many Missions/Scenarios/Etc:

This one is a minor complaint but it feels like every time I look at one of the expansions for the game, there’s a ton of new missions. Like, six or more. And the core books come with a lot of them, I think seven is the lowest from Ghost Archipelago. And almost all of these missions require specialized terrain, models, or something else. There’s very few more basic missions, ones that don’t require complex terrain or buying more minis. Give us something more than missions. Give us new rules, or new ways to play the same missions we are already prepared for. New missions feels a little cheap. I don’t mind campaign books, because you’re going to need new missions for that, but I do feel like there’s a push to sell more minis to people with the missions. And that can be okay but when your first campaign calls for EIGHT of a new monster, I can see what you’re doing. It just feels like the only creativity is being drawn into making more missions, to the exclusion of anything else. I do understand that it’s not easy to come up with things that don’t unbalance the game or require a lot of play testing, as opposed to just cooking up a new mission. It just feels like that’s all we really get from the expansions and the like.

FrostGrave 2nd Edition has 20 core missions, while Ghost Archipelago has 8. With each expansion of FrostGrave providing at least six new missions, that's an insane amount of missions to play. Sure, most of the ones I have include campaigns or mini campaigns, but that means that you end up with so many missions, you're probably never going to play them all.

 A Lack Of Diversity:

No, I don’t mean diversity in humans, as that can easily be solved with paint jobs and buying minis from different companies. No, what I mean is that there’s no rules for dwarves, elves, or anything else. And that’s a shame. There’s so much you can do with this, so much that can improve your world but it’s not there. And it sucks. It is a bit of a mixed bag, as it does make it easy to just grab any mini you like and throw it on the board. But it also makes it easy to model for advantage. For example, I got a decent group of Mouselings that I could use to make a Warband for FrostGrave. Since they’re so small, trying to hit them at range is going to be hard. So, an easy way to cheat. Or at least abuse the system. And adding in rules for different races could be a great thing to work into supplements and make them a little more interesting.

I also feel like StarGrave could really have fun with new races, as you could give players that ability to make races, not just pick them. You could really let people match their collection or make crews that have a lot more flavor to them.

And it’s not even the humanoid races that are out there, there’s things like centaurs, who are going to require a bit of some work to fit into the rules. But they could add a lot of flavor to a group. And there’s a lot of other races that can do the same. While we have rules for having dogs, and some other summoned or manufactured things, there’s a lot of other animals that we could have be part of crews.

With all of this said, I do like playing Ghost Archipelago, and do want to give StarGrave a real chance. I’d even like to run through the Thaw of the Lich King campaign for FrostGrave with a friend or two. So, I don’t want you to think that I’m coming from this of a place of hate or dislike. I do like the ideas, I just wish it was better. And, yes, I’ve been working on some modifications to the games to fit my tastes. It just feels like there could have been improved on its own.

Let's Talk: About Boats (From Reaper)

Howdy, everyone! Today, I wanted to take a minute to talk about boats! But, why? Because you need some for a scenario or two in Ghost Archipelago! And I thought it might help to know what will work best for your crew and your games, before you spend any money.

Dreadmere Fishing Boat - 

 

Cost: $4

Capacity: 1 Model

This was the first set of boats that I bought and I like the look of them. Sadly, they aren’t really big enough to use for games. However, they do work great for terrain. Or maybe other games. Or if you want to split up your crew even more. For the price, they might be a bit expensive, but are nice for some good looking terrain. You might also be able to use them for other games or leave them around for games. As many games could have large bodies of water, you could leave some around for models that will have trouble with swimming checks to get across them, perhaps a bit slowly.

Raft - 

 

Cost: $3.50

Capacity: 1 Model

While this boat does look pretty good, it isn’t really big enough for much of anything. One nice thing is that the raft is flat on the top and the bottom, so there’s no need to worry about balancing the raft or any minis on top of it. This is slightly less expensive than the boat above, so it might be a better option for terrain or spares, as noted above.

Raft Of The Damned - 

 

Cost: $8

Capacity: 4 Models*

This is a beautiful boat to have on the table. However, fitting models on this one isn’t easy. To fit four models on this one, I had to add quite a few pins to it, strategically placed. Which wasn’t too hard to do but might not be something you want to do. And it might not fit the look of your crew. Thankfully, I have a Dark Elf crew that I plan on running, so the corpses and dead shark will fit in nicely.

Sloop - 

 

Cost:???

Capacity: 4-5 Models

This one is the best one that Reaper makes (thus far) but isn’t easy to buy. That’s because it’s part of The Pirate City Of Brinewind boxed set, which is $40 and part of the ReaperCon 2021 stuff. I don’t know if the sloop will be sold separately in the future. That said, the whole set is great for the other terrain it has, but you might not want to pay $120 for three boats. If they do sell it separately, for hopefully less than $20 each, I strongly recommend it for your crew. It looks nice, the boat fits four models easily enough, and it doesn’t require any modification to use. One thing to note, if you do buy the boxed set, is that the wagon that comes inside doesn’t fit 30mm bases but will fit 25mm ones.

Getting Started With: Ghost Archipelago

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.

Sources Say: Blaster vol 2

Name: BLASTER, Volume 2
Produced By: BLASTER
System: Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, Rangers of Shadow Deep, This Is Not A Test, Gaslands, and Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse.
Genre(s): Horror, high fantasy, and post apocalypse

Well, looks like we did get another issue of Blaster this year. I was honestly worried that we wouldn't but it's a nice little surprise. The first thing you might notice is that Ash isn't the editor this time, it looks like Greg Horton is our new Overlord. This should be interesting to watch.

Shadowgrave: Cthulhu in Frostgrave/Ghost Archipelago/Rangers of Shadow Deep

The first part of this issue is ShadowGrave, rules for Lovecraftian horrors in Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, and Rangers of the Shadow Deep. Well, this appears to be the first part of a series for adding these in but this looks finished enough to try out the missions they've provided. Each of the games get one mission each, mostly solo ones. Since the games all use similar rules, there's a dump of them up front. Rules for losing sanity, and its effects, and the stats for Mythos monsters. The rules for sanity tests and loss are very damaging to models, so you'll want to keep that in mind if you want to do anything long term with them. It's not some minor thing. Making the rolls aren't easy and the consequences of failure are harsh, with losing all of your equipment, death, loss of actions, turning rolls of 13 into 1s, and having to be in groups or suffer penalties are all on the table. And that's naming just a few. The monsters are fairly standard for the Mythos but there's some odd ones in there. These creatures don't look easy to put down, in addition to causing the sanity rolls, so they're going to be quite the challenge for your crews and warbands.

The first scenario we have is for Frostgrave, designed for a usual game. You're going to need a idol, some wells/ponds, some mist clouds, some ghouls, and some shoggoths. This is probably going to be very damaging for the sanity of the models you're using, so good luck with that, as you're going to be bringing out a lot of ghouls and shoggoths with the right rolls. There's a random effects table, so no one is going to be safe in this game...

The next scenario is for Ghost Archipelago and is for solo play (which means I'm probably going to be giving a shot pretty soon). This one isn't as harsh as the one above but it is going to be a hard fight with some poor rolls. You're up against a fair amount of tribal warriors, some Nightgaunts, and a Spawn of the Stars if things go really, really bad. There is a way to stop it from getting worse, but good luck. This scenario also uses a slightly smaller table size, about the size of a card table, so it's perfect for me.

The last scenario is for Rangers of Shadow Deep, which I know almost nothing about, so I'll try my best here. This one is very much inspired by Dark Fantasy stories, taking place around some trees and a sheep pen. There's “Dark Goats” and “Dark Satyrs” to be dealt with, as well as some kind of rune covered stone. While I haven't picked up this game (yet) I do like the idea of this scenario better than the one they put in the last issue.

This Is Not A Test: Masters Of The Wild, Part II

Now that we're done with all of that, we're on to second part of the This Is Not A Test supplement, continuing from last issue. And, of course, I have no clue what this one talks about, as I don't play this game (yet). Where the last one had enough for me to really find stuff to talk about, this one... Doesn't. It covers alternate elites, which I'm assuming will mean something to those of you who do play the game. We've got a Beast Controller, a Beast Friend, Chimeric Shepard, and the Lesser Tribal Wildcaller. Next, it's animal skills, which can be taken in place of the ones they'd normal get. And they're pretty funny. After that we have Wastelander Creatures Tables, that adds a few monsters. I'm a fan of the Lil' Steggo and I have no idea what it does.

 

Mystic Skies: A whole new game (but it's pretty much Gaslands)

Now, we're moving on to the “New way to use your Gaslands templates and other models” part of the book. Like the Martian Racing Federation in the last issue, pretty much giving you a whole new game to play, Mystic Skies does the same thing, but completely disconnected from the world of Gaslands. This time, we're playing in a world like Arabian Nights, with flying carpets, wizards, monsters, and summoned servants, created by the minds behind Gaslands (duh) and Relicblade. So, yeah.

This game revolves around a wizard on a magic carpet (or has wings or a flying mount) on a base no larger than 50mm and a tower of some kind. For your monsters (which are going to pop up and change controllers), you'll want some monstrous beasts (owlbears and the like spring to mind), evil champions (perhaps some vampires?), evil warriors and bowmen (skeletal warriors or goblins could work), and beasts (maybe rats?). For minions, you've got elementals of varying size and power, fighters, archers, and engineers, which you've probably got laying around if you've been playing tabletop RPGs long enough (or have gotten in on any of the Reaper Bones Kickstarters) or might be able to use stuff from other miniatures games. When you're building your wizard, you're got a list of spells anyone can use that boost or summon allies and monsters (or let you boost your wizard) and you get to pick one school of magic they know. These schools give you four spells and a school bonus, leading to a lot of variety and will make you want to experiment with them until you find what works best for your style of play. Sadly, there's only one scenario to play but it shouldn't be hard to cook up something to play around with if you're really enjoying it. If I get the chance to play this one, I'll be sure to post any new scenarios I come up with.

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Evolutions

The last part of this issue is something that a lot of people have been looking forward to, changing things up for your Last Days games. While I like this idea, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get another timeline (I'm really looking forward to the sci-fi one and the World Wars one).

Now, there's a lot of rules changes for this one, as we're going to be able to use things beyond the Romero style zombies, so I strongly suggest giving this whole thing a read before you start throwing things out there. The first major change is that now your games will have a “Key Menace” to them, the most basic enemy type. For most Last Days games, these are zombies. However, now you're going to get “Evolutions” to make things a little harder, even if you're sticking with zombies. The next rule change is Behaviors, which are going to determine how these new threats act, since not every enemy is going to charge your guns like zombies. We've got Stalking enemies, who are going to dash from cover to cover while trying to get in close enough to attack, and Hunting enemies, who are going to move a little more aggressively but still try to be sneaky. There's also new Traits to make these new enemies even more dangerous, as now they themselves might explode! And that's just one of the things to worry about but is probably the most dramatic. The regenerating enemies are going to be a pain...

For our first Evolution, we're getting new types of zombies (of course) and they're taken from some of the more recent zombie media. We've got bloated and explosive zombies, spitting zombies, stalking zombies, fast zombies, and something like the good old Tyrants. Oh boy. These are probably going to be really easy to pick up, as at least one other zombie game already uses these sorts of enemies. I can easily use some of the zombies I got from the Zombiecide Walk Of The Dead to fill in for these roles. And I might just pick up some more, especially if I can find some big nasty guys. And if you're a fan of the Left 4 Dead series, I bet you've been waiting to this moment.

Next up, we have robots. That's right, now we're getting into Terminator territory, which you can do using Cyber Reavers from Reaper (they make them in Bones, just so you know) or whatever else you've got laying around. Maybe some Shield Drones? We've got robots armed with “blasters” (yeah, I saw what you guys did there and shook my head), Infiltrators that are “legally distinct from but closely resemble” the aforementioned Terminators, heavily armed and armored Prosecutors, Nano-Slayers that are clearly some T-1000s, and the big-bosses, Hunter Killers. Yeah, this is Terminator. And I am okay with that. I just don't know how I'm going to find enough models for this...

And that's it, folks. All in all, this is another solid bit of work. You've got some new rules for three different games that adds in the “fun” that is the Cthulhu Mythos, the conclusion of the beast rules for This Is Not A Test, a fun little wizard game that you can play with a friend, and some neat stuff for Last Days. I don't know it's as useful as the last issue but it's a nice boost of everything. And I think the addition of the Mystic Skies game is the part that's probably going to help it sell, as the templates needed are free online.

Let's Review: Ghost Archipelago

What is it?:
Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago is a 28mm miniatures game set in the Frostgrave world published by Osprey Games. 

 

The setting:
While in the same world as Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago is a literal world away, set in the tropical isles that make up the aforementioned archipelago. You take control of a Heritor, who's ancestor once visited this area and drank from a Crystal Pool, gaining great powers. Since the archipelago vanishes every 200 years, only to reappear for a few more, you have acquired a ship and crew and are now looking to find the Pool. You need to find the pool so using the powers you have don't make your blood burn... 

 

The system:
Much like Frostgrave, you're going to start out by building your crew, beginning with your Heritor. You pick five powers for your Heritor (which is just like your Wizard in Frostgrave), one of which will be very easy to use and four others that aren't much harder. Of course, you can use these powers multiple times per turn (depending on a few factors) which makes them harder to pull off and hurts your Heritor more. After you get the Heritor figured out, you have to pick a Warden, which is more like a Frostgrave wizard with a “school” of sorts, but are much more like druids in a traditional high fantasy setting. Once the magic users are done, it's time to get your crew sorted out. You get a total of eight crew, up to four of which may be upgraded to Specialists, with 250 gold. The basic crew get to choose a weapons package, like hand weapon and shield, two handed weapon, etc. The Specialists will help you decide what kind of force you're going for. Heavy weapons and armor? Ranged specialists? Speed? It all comes down to what you pick.

Just like Frostgrave, you have a few stats and everything is settled with a single d20 roll. And each mission revolves around claiming treasure and getting away. The random monster tables are similar yet very different. You'll spiders and undead return, but now there's a whole bunch of dinosaurs and even intelligent forces to contend with. One positive change is that most of things that could make a game complex (like random encounters) are now optional and can be used to bridge the gap in power between forces. Of course, this does mean that you're going to need to buy more miniatures, but, come on, dinosaurs! Who doesn't want some of those to play with?

One of the major changes is that most of the missions will involve water and boats, meaning you might need to invest in new terrain and some miniatures for those. I'm a bit unhappy with that, having to make a bunch of islands and waterlogged ruins, but I do have to agree that it makes sense for the setting.

 

Is it worth it?:
Yes. If you already have a Frostgrave group, switching over shouldn't be too hard. If you don't, just buy some pirates and dinosaurs. Or just buy some anyway.