Frostgr-enade

Had some great gaming over the weekend with new friends.

A four-way Frostgrave game meant... 
...a lot of magic flying around but also failing to go off.
...junior crossbowmen dropping infantrymen and knights with shots to the head.
...wizards being lit up like disco-balls with the "Glow" spell - and then becoming human pin-cushions.

"Grenade front" by geremology is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 

Overall, fun, fun, FUN, BUT:
there was a rules discussion, both from the point of view of RAW and RAI, about the Enchanter "Grenade" spell. So this spell basically allows the wizard to conjure a magic grenade, which can then be pointed at a target, explode, and do damage to everyone within 1.5 inches.
Does the target and those unfortunates around the target get a cover save from the exploding grenade?

Before I go on, I can admit to being a bit drunk by this point in the gaming day, so I may not accurately reflect the opinions of both sides of the discussion below as they happened between the players (or even that I remember all the points raised!)

Let's start with what the spell says:

"The spellcaster takes an object, commonly a simple rock, imbues it with magic energy and throws it at his target, whereupon it explodes into hundreds of fragments. The caster picks a target point within 12". Every figure, including allies, within 1.5" of that point immediately suffers a +3 shooting attack."

The questions we had were:
a.) if the target of the spell (let's say an archer) is partially obscured from the spellcaster's point of view by intervening terrain (such as a wall), and the spell is successful, does that target model get a cover save from the grenade when it explodes? 
The wizard can see the target, but not completely.

b.) do other models standing behind or around the target model get a cover throw of some kind? How does that work?

To my mind, for "a"...
the archer wouldn't get a saving throw. 
Although there is intervening terrain between the wizard and where the spell goes off, the grenade itself is exploding out in the open ON the archer (if the wizard chose the archer himself as the target), and the archer will take the full force of the blast. The spell doesn't mention about any kind of question around whether the grenade goes where you want it.

As to "b":
It seems logical that because it is a grenade, when it explodes the fragments will move outwards from that detonation point (e.g. the target archer). If the grenade is exploding ON the archer, then I would think the poor fellow (or lady) absorbs some of the blast and anyone behind him or next to him might get some kind of saving throw. Anyone behind THEM might get a better saving throw as there is someone else between them and the archer where the grenade exploded.

Note, according to errata docs, you roll the shooting attack for each victim around the grenade, which makes sense. 

The other opinion might be along the lines of: 
It is a shooting attack, as is clearly stated in the spell, and therefore as is noted on "Modifiers to shooting" in the rulebook "Every piece of intervening terrain between the shooter and the target gives +1". 
-The wizard can see PART of the archer but NOT the whole archer, so the wall is intervening terrain.
(In the case of our wizard and archer, neither of them is in CONTACT with terrain so no light cover or heavy cover rule applies.)
-This spell involved throwing a rock imbued with magic, therefore there IS a chance that the rock will hit the wall or be impacted by the intervening terrain in some way, hence the intervening terrain cover save mechanic is justified.

I don't disagree with the logic above, it makes sense according to the shooting rules and common sense. However the spell says:
"Every figure...within 1.5" of that point immediately suffers a +3 shooting attack." (emphasis mine) so I THINK that a shooting attack mechanic is worked out for all models "within 1.5 inches of that (grenade target) point". Anything before where that grenade goes off does not apply a modifier (e.g. intervening terrain.)

So what to do?
1. Target the ground.
I think the easiest way to solve this is to target a point on the ground the wizard can see, ideally not a person, so that you can maximize catching targets. The wizard player then can say "I'm not targeting the archer who is partially obscured from my view - I'm targeting a point on the ground that I can clearly see and isn't obscured."
In this case, the target archer wouldn't get a cover save because the grenade is going off right in front of him (he catches all those "hundreds of fragments") at a point on the ground that the wizard can see in full but others within 1.5 inches still might, depending on where they are standing.

2. Roll-off like good sports.
In the end, we basically had two opposing views on this grenade conundrum, so we rolled a D20 to choose one interpretation or another. Problem solved in-game, short term, with no hard feelings.

This seems to be a common situation - Rules as Intended, Rules as Written, rules DECIDED in a friendly way! The game continued, treasure was grabbed, warbands were annihilated, and a good time was had by all.

Does anyone have a different interpretation? If so please share.

Thanks,

Squeek

p.s. If I have incorrectly remembered the various arguments on the day, apologies in advance to my fellow players who should definitely feel free to discuss below so that their perspectives are completely laid out and we aren't relying on my faulty memory, bias (and tipsy state at the time!) Thanks to all for a great game.

Frostgrave: The Wishing Well

Happy to have got in a game of Frostgrave yesterday with a good friend. It illustrated all the things that make this game fun:

• A low model count.
• Flexibility (choosing your warband)
• Speedy play
• Fun spells
• Memorable moments!

As usual, soldiers, thieves and wizards dropped like flies, but to whose advantage? Just remember, don't get too attached to your warband...

The winding city streets...what treasures here are hidden?

The Warbands.

After losing some loyal followers the last time I ventured in the city of Frostgrave, it was time for Melvin the Marvelous to dust off his gold pouch and bulk up his gang. After emptying his coins onto his laboratory workspace, it took but seconds to realize that there wasn't nearly enough there! To supplement his resources, he used "Write Grimoire" to create an Elemental Bolt Grimoire, promptly selling this for an additional 250 gold. With that, he has just enough to pay (convince) the following lads to sign up:

• A ranger
• A tracker
• A barbarian
• A templar

This gave me some ranged support (replacing the two unfortunate archers of the last excursion), as well as a strong infantry core who (along with my knight) would give me some good sword-swinging, magician-mangling muscle(s)! After calling in my apprentice Hafnar the Cack-Handed and raiding his supplies, the full warband looked like this:

• Melvin the Marvelous - Elementalist Wizard (Fate Stone, Elemental Bolt Scroll)
• Elemental Bolt, Elemental Ball, Elemental Shield, Summon Demon, Summon Imp, Grenade, Decay, Spell Eater, Combat Awareness, Banish (learned)
• Hafnar the Cack-Handed - Apprentice
• Knight
• Infantryman
• Templar
• Barbarian
• Tracker
• Ranger
• Thief
• Thug

With plenty of warm (disposable!) bodies assembled, its off into the frozen city we go!

Melvin (at right) and Hafnar (left) before setting off into the city.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, another motley crew has assembled under the leadership of my old enemy "The Unnamed Soothsayer", with a LOT of ranged firepower...

• Wizard - Soothsayer
• Awareness, Combat Awareness, Will, Heal, Miraculous Cure, Fleet Feet, Glow, Leap, Enchant Weapon.
• Apprentice
• Treasure Hunter
• Tracker
• Archer
• Archer
• Archer
• Thief
• Thug
• Ranger

That is a lot of guys with bows, eh!?

The two bands start by picking their way through the ruins, so let's take a look at the city...

The city center is dominated by a massive wizard's tower,
in turn surrounded by statues of the Old Kings.

Behind the tower is a graveyard and some burnt out town houses.

Melvin and Hafnar split into two bands, and move up from the South. They plan to head into the center of town and to the wishing well at the western edge of the plaza.

Hafnar and henchmen crouch behind the old tower (L), while Melvin,
accompanied by an infantryman and thief, head right.

On the far Western side of the board, the thug and barbarian take cover,
hoping to dash across the graveyard or use it as cover.

The Un-known's apprentice and band of merry archers occupy a ruin
overlooking the graveyard.

Unknown's thug and thief crouch behind another tower.

Turn 1

(Wizard phase) The Un-named soothsayer acts first and immediately casts awareness on himself. After this, he group activated the soldiers around him and moved forward towards cover. 

His sense of self-preservation swinging into action, Melvin casts Elemental Shield. This gives him 3 additional wounds that must be taken before his own health goes down. Melvin, his infantryman and the thief then move along the town house wall towards the wishing well and the treasure hidden inside it.

(Apprentice phase)

On the other side of town, the Un-known's apprentice failed to cast "Glow", but powered up the spell with his own blood, injuring himself (2 damage) but getting the spell off and hitting my Knight (who is now lit up like a mystical lantern...)

...this bodes ill for the knight when he is now targeted seconds later by all three archers. Three arrows are let fly. Two fail to find their target, but the third hits (a 20!) and kills him outright (an arrow to the head?) 

Three archers can see the knight. Moments later he is dead, deAD, DEAD!

Hafnar can only sigh as the knight crumples to the ground next to him. The master WILL be displeased by the knight's performance (again!). Realizing they need a more commanding position, Hafnar cajoles the ranger and tracker with him into action, and they make a run into the ruined tower and up to the second floor, taking up position near a window to cover the graveyard and western side of town. The Templar trails behind, staying on the first floor to rush or intercept any enemy who tries to head for the wizard's tower that dominates the center of town (and the treasure chest there).

Run for the tower (and leave the knight behind!)

Seeing Hafnar's group run into the tower, the un-known's Tracker steps out of cover near the wishing well on the Eastern side of town and looses a quick shot. With no cover to protect him, the ranger in the tower is badly hit! (losing 8 damage!).

(Soldier phase)  At this, the remaining bodies on both sides make a dash. Melvin's thug and barbarian run towards the graveyard, just making it to the edge. In between their mad dash, Un-known's ranger moves, but misses his shot.

Turn 2

(Wizard phase):
Once again the Un-Known is quick off the mark (wins initiative), and this time casts "Fleet feet" on his ranger, giving him a longer move. The ranger, being close to his master, also takes a move and shoots at the Templar in the tower, just missing.  His arrow clattering off the masonry almost convinces the Templar to move position though.

Melvin, mustering the courage to move forward (just a bit!) grabs a stone from the ground and casts "Grenade" on it. He lobs it at the enemy treasure hunter and tracker, who are near the wishing well. It explodes, and with both of them being in close proximity to the explosion, they both take a lot of damage. The tracker now only has 1 wound left. The treasure hunter comes off better, but is down to 6 HP. As their master does this, Melvin's infantryman and thief move into cover near the well. 

(Apprentice phase)
The Un-known's apprentice, apparently very happy with the results of his last attempt, tries to cast glow on the barbarian, but this time misses the incantation, injuring himself (2 damage).

Spotting the enemy archers bunched together, Hafnar sees his chance from the tower window and makes a move to cast Elemental Ball, only to also fail - injuring himself (for 2 damage). Both apprentices curse loudly! From their position on the tower, Hafnar's accompanying tracker and ranger both have a good view over the Eastern side of town. They spot the tracker near the wishing well, and both fire. Only the tracker hits, but the shot is true, and the Un-known's tracker slumps to the ground, injured and out of the battle.

(Soldier phase)
One of the merry men takes a shot at Melvin's barbarian, but he has some light cover (2+ on his roll) and dodges the shot. After this he decides better cover is in order, so dashes behind a coffin in the graveyard as he tries to make his way through the hail of arrows to get up close and personal!

Melvin's thief and infantryman had thought they were safe behind the wishing well, but they soon discover they are very wrong when a thief draws a strange looking potion from her belt and lobs it at them. A perfect throw! It explodes, killing Melvin's thief outright and covering the infantryman in blood and gore. He is unhurt, but unsurprisingly a little shaken by being coated in red mist...

Meanwhile at the graveyard, the thug from Hafnar's group regrets being left alone and sprints up to the coffin near the barbarian. both are tantalizing close to a treasure filled coffin, but with the archers nearby decide they will have to charge them later on.

The thief and thug (r) hunker down in the face of three archers (l)

They spy treasure, but it is too risky to get to it with those archers!

The archers try to take out the disposable duo, but two of them miss. Seeing his chance, them templar moves forward out of the ruined tower, trying to reach the enemy band and add his strength to the thug and barbarian. Finally, on the Eastern flank the treasure hunter sprints across the well, jumping from wall to wall and into combat with the infantryman. The fight is a stalemate. Both circle the other, hoping to finish their opponent off in the next turn.

Turn 3

(Wizard phase)

The Un-known wizard take the initiative yet again, and things start well as he easily casts Glow on his opponent Melvin. As so often before, this is quickly followed by a nearby archer aiming and loosing a shot, but this fails to hit.

Whereas his opponent is all about buffing his team, Melvin is an Elementalist. He falls back on his go-to offensive spell, Elemental Bolt, and casts it at the Unknown wizard. Great Scott, his incantation is strong (rolls a 20), and the bolt lands home, instantly killing his enemy!

(Apprentice phase)

Undeterred, (or perhaps angered!) the Un-known's apprentice moves forward and casts glow on the thug. Yet again, glow is cast, but this time, all three archers miss due to their intended victim being in hard cover and their movement costing them accuracy.

Hafnar, (not to be outdone at this magic casting business) looks down from the tower and spots the enemy ranger across the board. Like his master, he knows Elemental Bolt. However unlike his master he is simply not as adept with this spell. To make it go off he has to empower it with his own blood. The spell succeeds, but costs him 3 HP. The ranger has no defense, and is killed. Hafnar's ranger has a thief in his sights and lets fly, hitting and killing his target (rolls 18 +2)

NOTE: Some confusion here as to who was killed..

(Soldier phase)

...but the key thing is that Un-known's thug make it to a treasure chest, and drags it towards home.

Seeing his chance, Melvin's thug leaps out of cover in the graveyard and sprints across the broken ground. He manages to get into combat with one of the archers. Shouting "Sweet revenge" at the top of his lungs he swings his club, and misses completely.

Melvin's thug runs up to an archer, while the templar (R) tries to get to the fight.

At the wishing well, the treasure hunter attacks Melvin's infantryman. Despite his heavier armour he takes 9 damage, and is left barely alive (1 wound left.) He swings back, but is easily dispatched by the wily treasure hunter. Noting that he is face to face with an angry wizard, he decides to retreat out of the town to fight another day (Melvin exhales a sigh of relief - hand to hand combat isn't his strong suite).

At the well, the treasure hunter attacks the infantryman, avoiding his spear swings...

...and killing him! With both the thief and infantryman dead at his feet,
he decides to leave the field. A relieved Melvin looks on (L)

Meanwhile near the graveyard, Hafnar's supporting barbarian and templar both move toward the developing fight between the thug and the archers, hoping that their skill at arms and numbers will help them overpower the merry men.

The barbarian moves across the graveyard to the treasure, but decides
to head for the combat.

Turn 4

(Wizard phase)

With the Un-known wizard out of action, Melvin is free to make his move first. He slips out of cover from behind the town house and tries to snipe an archer with his Elemental Bolt. He misses, but grasping the Stone of Fate in his pocket he alters his luck (rerolls) and the archer is hit by a bolt of elemental power and knocked out.

(Apprentice phase)

With the melee developing out of his line of sight from his hidey-hole in the ruined tower Hafnar has no choice but to move downstairs to the first level of the building. Meanwhile his opponent apprentice successfully casts yet another glow, but this time on Melvin! Caught out in the open and aglow, it looks like he is likely to be full of holes when an archer looses his arrow, but the shot goes awry. Drama!

(Soldier phase)

The archer swings at the thug, cutting him up, but leaving him alive and still with plenty of fight (7 HP remaining). Seeing the thug needs help, the Templar finally arrives at the fray. Diving in headlong, he gets up close to the apprentice and another archer, forcing them into combat.

During the melee, the thug manages to haul his treasure to safety, This ensures that whatever happens, at least the Un-Known's warband will have some gold at the end of the day! 

Ho Ho! Treasure!

At last the barbarian joins in - wading into the closest archer he can find and supporting the combat effectiveness of the thug.

Turn 5

The Un-known wizard's team takes the initiative, but with him out of action, Melvin gets to go first, only to fail in his attempt to cast decay.

(Apprentice phase)

The archer (gaining confidence and ability thanks to the presence of the apprentice), shows he isn't only handy with a bow, slices the Templar (who is reduced to 8 HP). He then pushes the Templar away, thus allowing the apprentice to attempt to cast "Leap", which would allow him to reappear high up on the Wizard's tower that dominates the town center (and helpfully next to another pile of treasure.) This would have been an awesome move, but the magic spell failed (on a 1.)

Hafnar, determined to do better, dashes out of cover and throws a Grenade spell. It lands well, hitting the opposing archer AND apprentice, but does no damage, causing the half-handed to hang his head in shame.

(Soldier phase)

The thug runs in to the closest archer and is followed by the barbarian, who does 5 damage to the archer. The  Templar also gets into combat and manages to overpower the apprentice, cutting him down with his two-handed sword.

Turn 6

(Wizard phase)
With both Un-known and his apprentice down, Melvin immediately tries to cast decay, but fails again! The same is true for Hafnar, who also fails at this - badly, taking physical damage.

(Soldier phase)

The lone archer left on the field bravely strikes out at the thug, but fails to connect and is struck down in turn.

Melvin's infantry stand over their fallen enemies.

For a moment all is quiet as everyone looks around to see what fight is next - only to realize that the Un-known wizard and his team are dead or fled, leaving the field (and five treasure chests) to Melvin and Hafnar.

Melvin turns back towards the wishing well. His thoughts turn briefly to the happy memories children and others must once have had here as they threw coins into the water and prayed for a brighter future. Now however "no-one will be making wishes - or drinking water here - for quite some time..."

The wishing well, surrounded by bodies...don't be drinking the water chaps!

Postgame

Well Melvin came out on top this time, and with at least of his crew intact and still on the table. However the Un-known's Glow/ archer combo proved immediately devastating to the knight in the first turn, reminding me of just how important cover can be, even when heavily armoured. Mid-to-late game, I survived due to some very unlucky dice rolling on the part of my opponent. 

I'd take this list again, as it is fun to play. The team that has some archery, so can hit at range, but which still has plenty of front line muscle if necessary (although maneuvering is always going to be essential to keep them alive.) I was disappointed with the knight (again) but that Elf model is a favorite, so I'll likely keep him in for aesthetic reasons.

My magic works well enough offensively, but next time it would be fun to be a bit more diverse in my choice of spells to try and cast.

Casualties and Treasure

Melvin

• Knight: recovered
• Thief: recovered
• Infantryman: recovered

Un-Known

• Wizard, Tracker, Thief, Archer 1: recovered
• Apprentice: close call and loses "Staff of Casting Leap"
• Ranger: Wounded (out for 1 game)
• Archer 2 & 3: Dead

Treasure Chest by Alan Dean CC 2.0

Unknown's haul:

• 1 chest =60 GC + Magic item x1 "Boots of Speed"

Melvin's haul:

• 5 chests = 180 GC (not great!) + 70 GC from my last excursion
• x3 magic weapons (better!)
• (Magic +1 two-handed sword, Amulet of Resistance, Gloves of Casting)
• x3 scrolls (Elemental Hammer, Invisibility scroll x2)

Total experience of 520 (owning a laboratory gave me the extra 20 there) to play around with, and I can carry over a scroll of Elemental bolt (unused) and my Fate Stone.

Looking forward to adding these into the warband, and thinking about how to spend those experience points!

As always, a big thanks to my opponent for the game too. :-)

Frostgrave Fightin'

Happy to get in a game of Frostgrave the other day with an old friend and opponent. We decided to kick off a campaign as this was our second ever game. I dusted off some of my homebrew Frostgrave terrain and a GW battlemat and off we went!

Our warbands were very similar, here is mine:

Melvin the Mildly Marvelous and gang.

Battlescribe Screengrab. Double click to expand

Wizard: "Melvin the Mildly Marvelous": (Elementalist.)

Spells: (See image below)

Spell cards. Before you ask, can't remember where I got them...

As the elementalist has the image of a traditional "explosive" damage dealer, I went with Elemental Bolt and Ball, Grenade. I also went with a couple of buffs (Fleet Feet) and debuffs (Slow, forget Spell)
EDIT: A friend has pointed out to me that I have chosen my spells wrongly. You choose 3 spells from your OWN school, three spells from aligned schools (but each of these must come from a different school) and two from any of the five neutral schools, (but again, each of these must come from different schools.) Thanks for the advice, and apologies to my opponent.

Warband: Some heavy hitters (Knight and Infantryman), ranged damage (archers), fast mover (thief) and cannon fodder (thug.)

I've still got to get a more "frosty" battle mat, so the city of Frostgrave was a bit verdant, but here are some photos and highlights.

The Warbands:

First of all, team photos:

Melvin the Marvelous (wizard at right) and Halfnar (the Cack-handed) at left

Da enemies.

The (decidedly unfrosty) City of Frostgrave:

Drone shot: Avenue of Heroes and Wizards Tower at center. Wailing watchtower at right.

The City Graveyard (scratch build treasure chest at top right)

Wizards Tower (with treasure chest)

The Old Stone Circle

Treasure chest (out in the open? revealed by the melted snow) by the Avenue of Heroes

Treasure in the town hall.

Highlights:

With both warbands on the table, I deployed mine into three groups, wanting to head straight up the table for a treasure grab. One treasure chest was right in front of me in the Graveyard, so Melvin, guarded by a couple of the warband, picked his way gingerly among the bones ("Damnit Jim, I'm an elementalist, not a necromancer").

Another group composed of the thug, thief and an archer sneaked off for the town hall - those corrupt politicians would surely keep their ill gotten gains from over taxation and bribery there right?

Melvin makes his way across the Graveyard. Thug and Thief at bottom right.

All that glitters...is not gold! (pill box, and gold tape!)

In these opening moves, Melvin failed to cast "Fleet Feet" on his underling, instead injuring himself. Halfnar the Cack-handed meanwhile DID get the spell off and the knight found himself able to run further than usual. (Although, as we all know, Knights were actually very mobile in their armour.)

Enemy warband makes their move, hiding behind (foam!) walls...

...and swiftly grabbing some nearby treasure.

Across town, the other warband moved up, making careful use of cover. After quickly recovering one chest of loot, their wizard successfully cast "Glow" on Melvin. Now lit up like Tokyo tower, Melvin is a juicy target for ranged attacks. An enemy archer grazes him, but he is then struck in the head by their tracker, and drops to the floor! DAMN!

Before his untimely death, Melvin looses an Elemental Ball spell,
while one archer picks up some treasure at top right.

Perturbed by his mentor collapsing like a sack of non-magical potatoes, Halfnar nonetheless surprises himself (and me), by actually managing to cast Elemental Ball, taking a whopping 13 points off the enemy wizard. Seeing how badly injured the enemy spell caster is, one of my archers takes a pot shot at maximum range, and manages to hit him. The other hauls one set of treasure to safety, and will now trudge back to base

The end of turn 2, and already two wizards have bitten the dust!

With both wizards out for the count, the two apprentices square off. Glow proves to be a devastating spell for my opponent, and he makes good use of it. I probably should have tried to use Forget Spell because of this, but was out of range.

Now into turn 3 and noticing one of the enemy trying to sneak off with some gold, Halfnar aims an Elemental bolt, but fails to complete the enchantment and for his trouble gets hit with an arrow (2 damage).

Halfnar, supporter by the Knight, looses an Elemental Ball

Stepping up to the plate, my second archer wings the enemy apprentice. Meanwhile my thief and thug sneak around the buildings, still heading for the town hall for a bit o' burglary.

The enemy warband proves their mastery of using cover by moving into good positions and continuing to lay down a hail of arrows, one finding its mark in my infantryman, who suffers a minor wound.

The enemy lines up some cover, continuing to loose off arrow shows.

...the enemy tracker moves forward. Aware of his predicament, Halfnar
hides behind the outhouse (Wizard's tower lacks plumbing!)

They make good use of this maneuvering in turn 4. The tracker (surely man of the match?) looses another arrow at Halfnar, hitting him. The apprentice, (foolishly thinking that hiding behind the outhouse would keep him safe) sinks to the floor, ignominy adding to injury by the unpleasant smell of night soil that fills his nostrils before he succumbs (to the arrow injury, not the smell of night soil!)

Not wanting to go down without a fight, the now leaderless warband rallies and sticks to the plan. One of my archers hits the tracker, but doesn't kill him. My thug, thief and infantryman have continued towards the town hall, finally within reach of some treasure. The thug and infantryman now break off towards the enemy warband, hoping to put them under some pressure. On the right flank, the knight, now alone, makes a dash for home with some treasure. (This was a big error from the beginning of the game as I barely made use of him. I should have let an underling go for the treasure and run him into the enemy warband.)

My archer lines up a shot at the enemy tracker - and HITS!

Knight does a runner...

In turn five, the enemy apprentice fails to cast a healing spell on himself, resulting in more blood loss, and my second archer goes down to an enemy arrow, slumping lifeless behind a building. One of his band also gets a second treasure chest to the board edge!

With the tide turned against them, Melvin's band have some tricky choices to make. We have safely gathered two treasures, and the thief is close to a third, but will he make it back to safety? Over the next couple of turns my infantryman and thug decide to run interference, hopefully distracting the enemy as the thief gets his gloved hands on another box of treasure. The infantryman's leather armour doesn't protect him for long though, and he falls.

The thug does a bit better, tying up a few enemy in the center over a couple of rounds of combat. Despite his lowly reputation, he gives a good account of himself before being overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

Thug life...ain't no life.

In an exciting finish, and now totally alone, the thief makes off with his treasure. He runs from cover to cover trying to arrange arrow fire (pesky bowmen!) or magical interference. In turn 8, the thief makes a run from cover towards the solid stone walls of the graveyard. Falling back on an old tactic, the enemy apprentice casts "Glow" in the hope of aiding his archers, but fails! (taking another wound).

Sighting down his arrow, the archer lines up a final shot, lets fly...
...and misses, his arrow ricocheting harmlessly off a graveyard wall!

Behind the old tower...

...to the graveyard wall (notice the combat in the back as the thug runs in!)

...and to safety!

Relieved to have made it to safety, the thief staggers away into the mist towards the warband's lair with his prize, but with many injured, will anyone survive to make a run at the city again?

Post game!

Great fun! Lots of shooting (both mundane and magical) and lots of wounds and excitement to go around. In the final analysis I managed to get 3 sets of treasure out of the city, and he got two. As we decided to make this the first game of a campaign though, we consulted the treasure table. Here is what I ended up with:

Experience points:

-190 points of experience (I got off x4 spells, and 3 treasures)

-130 gold coins

-2 magic scrolls ("Write" and "Create Grimoire")

-1 "Banish" grimoire

-1 magic item ("Fate Stone")

Don't know if that is a good haul or not, but as to the warband itself:

• Melvin survived (phew!)
• Halfgar the Cack-handed recovers, but is "Never quite as strong" (so starts every game at -1 health)
• Archer 1: wounded
• Archer 2: OK, and hungry to return, and wreak some rewenge.
• Infantryman: Dead, DEAD, DEAD!
• Knight: ready for duty.
• Thief: ready for pilfering.
• Thug: Really dead.

Lessons

1. It is super easy to die. Use those buff spells on yourself if you have them.
2. Archery is really handy. Would it be fun to have a Robin Hood themed "Band of Merry Men"?
3. If you have debuff, get it in when you can (for example, Forget Spell might have helped by causing his wizard(s) to forget "Glow", which tipped the archery battle in his favor.)
4. Don't skimp on thinking about your deployment. As with many games, this is one of the most important aspects. I wasted my knight carrying treasure by putting him with the wizard. More careful consideration of who goes where at the outset might have helped me.

Cheers!