Boardgame

Frosthaven – Derelict Elevator (16)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Okay we’re now truly in unfettered territory and this scenario is one of the best to date in my opinion. Of course the fact that Math took the time to put the main tile on a real mechanical device that could simulate our descent helped make it really impressive!

Characters

  • Lazy Liz the Deathwalker (David) lvl 2, sun-averse, why walk when I can teleport
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 4 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 5, Master of the 4th dimension

We’re on board the derelict elevator with its guards, some Ruined Machines, and we’re passing by side-platforms occupied by Ancient Artilleries. 12 rounds to go!

And a lot of tokens telling us that we’re in for a few unexpected things too…
Shadows and banner out. Meanwhile the frantic Blinkblade jumps on the nearest platform to take out the artilleries.
The Banner Spear will mostly stay in one spot doing what she does best: absorb and dish out punishment.
4 rounds in and the security is keeping us very busy!
Fortunately, the Ruined Machines have seen better days and aren’t very effective.
Britney pulls an artillery on our side: « Come over here! »
Debris keep falling down near us and now, a more potent defender shows up, a Flaming Bladespinner.
We have the upper hand though but we’re still getting deeper and deeper. 3 more rounds to go!
2 more of these dangerous foes but with the banner behind us we’re sure to prevail!

Closing Comments:

  • Most impressive set-up with Math’s 3d decor and very enjoyable tactical challenge.
  • It looked like a hard scenario on first sight but we managed to defeat the ennemy waves without much of a sweat.
  • The Ruined Machines kept getting the same card at random, Signal Jam, one of the least troublesome that only put the muddle condition on us. That helped us a lot.
  • The Blinkblade quickly killing off the artilleries on each side platforms while the Banner Spear and Deatwalker could stay put, focusing their efforts on the main tile, meant a very optimal situation for our team composition.
  • The Banner Spear even managed to get her mastery with the banner surviving to the end from round 1.
  • I’ve killed a whole bunch of Ruined Machines, advancing my personnal quest more that I’d hoped for.

Frosthaven – Crystal Trench (8)

David Skelector Boardgame, Frosthaven, Play reports

We’re now starting the Unfettered thread of the campaign. What Frosthaven call unfettered are essentially robots so we could say its a big thematic change as per the yeti-like Algox thread we were focusing on earlier.

Characters

  • Lazy Liz the Deathwalker (David) lvl 2, sun-averse, why walk when I can teleport
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 4 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 4>>5, Master of the 4th dimension

Or at least, it will soon be a big change of theme but not yet. En route to investigate some strange sightings we’re now fleeing for our lives as we’re being pursued by a (an unlimited amount of) wolves with just one possible path ahead, into the narrow trench.

We must get out of the trench but to do so, we must fight snow bears and the ever annoying snow imps.
The Blink Blade opens the hostility and gets invisible. Meanwhile the Banner Spear calls for reinforcement and the Deathwalker summons ominous shadows.
The fight is on!
Banner Spear: « I’m surrounded, that’s perfect! »
Let’s move on. I’ll lead the way, don’t mind the creepy shadow following us.
The wolves have caugth up,. Move, move, move!
The Blink Blade gets face to face with one ferocious bear. He dances around it, stabbing it numerous times, killing it effortlessly.
Meanwhile the Banner Spear fends off the wolves as long as she can and the Deatwalker is… teleporting way behind with a shadow conveniently left there, to fetch some loot!
Finally, we’d better get out of there before exhaustion gets us.

Closing Comments:

  • Easy, straightforward scenario as it’s one of the first available too.
  • The Blink Blade had no trouble at all defeating an elite bear all by himself, that’s impressive.
  • The Banner Spear had a ton of unused bless cards by the end ot the scenario, they just refused to come up.
  • The Deathwalker and Banner Spear killed a lot of wolves, just to get xps and loot and got near depleted doing so.
  • Not a very fascinating scenario but it was mandatory to open up, as I said earlier, something that should feel different.

Frosthaven – Elemental Cores (66)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Second scenario of Boson’s personal quest, the Aether Outpost. The first one was hard, this one we teetered on the brink of disaster.

Characters

  • Lazy Liz the Deathwalker (David) lvl 2, sun-averse, why walk when we can teleport
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 4 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 4, Master of the 4th dimension

Last time we secured a special place for a stranded group of Aesthers. They need more of our help, we have to secure four (no less, no more) Elemental Cores so they can power up their, I dunno, their machine? Spaceship? Or…

Their nightclub! (okay, I’m totally making this up, but isn’t it a cool decor by Math yet again?)
As far as Haven goes, it’s a bigass map. Do we have the stamina?
Let’s open two rooms at once shall we.
The Blink Blade opens the light-blue room and finds four demons between us and our goal. We must find a way to get the Core behind and bring it to the central room.
Second room, the green, four more demons. Boson gets face to face with a meaty Earth Demon.
And uses his lucky dice…
An epic avalanche of luck for the win!
One Elemental Core brought back courtesy of shadow jumps. I’m so smooth, I’m so dope, yah.
Opening two more rooms? Why not?
Hey guys, ‘member how the Wind demons have disarm abilities like half their attacks? Wait? What?!
Things aren’t so smooth now. Not one bit.
But demons can bleed. Now, who can outlast the other?

That’s victory for us!

Closing Comments:

  • An amazing start for us led to a bit of overconfidence. I could easily have added 5-6 more pictures with grim comments attached.
  • The Wind Demons really messed up our momentum. Fortunately I was able to place a bleeding shadow on their path (along with the always pesky flame demon) and, lucky for us, they got a move on their cards and got the bleed condition. That reignited our hopes of winning.
  • The Banner Spear fought against a whole bunch of enemies all the way through and almost got a mastery even but had to let go of the project when things turned south.
  • The Blink Blade covered incredible distance while dishing out impressive damage, very strong character.
  • My shadow abilities were somehow both very restrained by the size and non-linearity of the map but also really instrumental to winning, All in all an auspicious start for the Deathwalker I think.

Frosthaven – Lurker Necromancy (118)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven

That’s it, last mission of the Snowdancer before her retirement. Coincidentally this scenario is about helping the Boneshaper, my previous character, achieving a personal objective.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 4>> retirement, General Winter is on the field
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 3>>4 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 3>>4, Master of the 4th dimension

There’s necromancy afoot! Of course this is of interest to the retiree, the Boneshaper, enough to ask for our help in finding out what the source of the power is. As it happens we find amulet-wearing undead. We must loot the amulets fast less the undead just keep getting back on their feet.

Where’s the Boneshaper? Care to join us? We’ll be doing all the hard work won’t we? Sigh
Shield and Strengthen to you. The Snowdancer will be missed…
Give us your shiny baubles and die! Meat Grinder time!
What the heck is that thing?! (Our first Lurker of the campaign.)
Another shiny bauble for us.
Oh shit, this one is even worst!
Making a last stand are we?
Never underestimate the power of funnelling.
A banner, a flag-bearing sidekick, ain’t the Banner Spear overdoing it a little?

Closing Comments:

  • A walk in the park this time, we even finished with everybody at full hp.
  • We were able to pick up the amulets as soon as they fell on the ground (or even before with loot cards) and so we didn’t have to kill the same adversaries again and again. It was key to our success.
  • We gained an item blueprint as a reward. A very powerful item, if only we could unlock one of the two prerequisite item to craft it.
  • The Snowdancer was an interesting character, with very efficient support abilities, but as soon as I realized that her retirement was coming fast I lost a bit of interest unfortunately. I’m very eager to try my new one though.

Frosthaven – Pylon Problems (115)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven

This time we’re doing the sequel to the Work Freeze scenario which is part of what I’m calling the Capitalist Venture mini-campaign.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 3>>4, General Winter is on the field
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 3 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 3, Master of the 4th dimension

We must protect the Pylons against angry indigenous people. We’re totally the bad guys aren’t we?

Seven Pylons, three of us and six opponents. Things will get rough.
But wait, here’s Britney’s banner of Hope, we should be fine!
A first pylon crumbles under the assault, all is left is rubbles.
A second wave of attackers. We’re starting to get seriously overwhelmed.
On one side, the Banner Spear and her torch-bearing sidekick against an Algox warrior and an annoying Snow Imp.
On the opposite side of the map…
A whole bunch of people want to smash a brittle pylon and only me and a bird stand in-between. How can I have any hope of surviving?
Time’s up! Wait, really?! It’s Victory for us!

Closing Comments:

  • With a set 10 rounds timer, all we had to do was to accept to take some damage ourselves (and lose cards in the process) to protect the pylons. Still, we saved only two.
  • Math’s quote after seeing the Blink Blade and a poor use of his Lucky Dice item: « You had some highs and lows. Mostly lows… »
  • One pylon had received the brittle condition (double damage) in the very first round but still got through intact at the end!
  • My Snowdancer, with its low damage output and not enough time to set up anything was less than optimal in this situation.
  • Hadn’t any time to loot, the pain!

Frosthaven – The War of the Spire (A) (29)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

The frosthaven campaign offers several mutually exclusive pathways, that’s great. We now have a choice to make: do we try to promote peace between the two warring Algox clans or, do we side with the war party and help annihilate the opposing clan?

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 3, General Winter is on the field
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 2>>3 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 2>>3, Master of the 4th dimension

Math let me decide on the matter as I have an Algox character and all. But I really have a hard time thinking in roleplay terms in this game. I mean, after all this second character of mine will soon retire after only a few (in-game) weeks of adventuring, how invested can one be? So rather than rp the decision, I’m just going with the realpolitik/murderhobo ethos, let’s divide & conquer our foes in ruthless fashion!

I choose violence.
The goal is to destroy the magic spire.
Mandatory for the scenario is to split the party. Here’s the Blink Blade, the Banner Spear and one Algox ally beside them.
Now’s the perfect time for a morale boost, banner mode on!
Meanwhile, I’m on the other side of the map with two Algox allies.
« Pull. Watch you step! Hehe. »
The diminutive Blink Blade gets into a duel.
« He’s hurt, finish him! »
And now the Spire. Oh wait, is that a chest over there? Snowdancer whistles.
One big chunk removed.
Ew, the enemies don’t like that at all! Here they come!
Banner Spear: « Too late for you, I’ll meat grind this spire into oblivion! »

Closing Comments:

  • We had to finish destroying the spire in a hurry. Both the Blink Blade and Banner Spear were seriously depleted.
  • Lot of hazardous terrain for my Snowdancer to use. I could afford to be the single PC on one side.
  • The Banner Spear AOE attacks helped a lot to smash down the Spire.
  • The chest was really disappointing, I’m telling you!

Frosthaven – Under the Influence (120)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

That’s it, now that the Geminate has retired we’re all playing with our second character. Here’s another optional scenario, one that was unlocked by a particularly gruesome town event.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 2>>3, General Winter is on the field
  • Britney the Banner Spear (Mathieu) lvl 2 a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 2, Master of the 4th dimension

Remember the strange event in town when the Drifter turned crazy and slashed open our bellies after he did the same with his own? Well, now we’re investigating the source of this malign influence, right outside of town.

Guards and hounds from town turned murderous by the influence.
I guess it’s okay to kill them? Sorry guys, we’re adventurers, we’re not paid to ask ourselves morale questions…
Vermlings now, a lot of them! Quick, door manoeuvre!
We’ll kill them one by one hehe…
Hey, you’re not supposed to do that, that’s not fair!
And now the pièce de résistance, the Evil Disco Ball of Mind Control!
And machines protecting the Disco Ball while the villain flees the scene. Coward!

Closing Comments:

  • We’ve killed everything except in the final room, It was not necessary to win but we felt we had not much choice to avoid being surrounded on all sides.
  • The vermlings put us under a lot of pressure when they got a « jump » card that allowed them to get inside the room.
  • The Banner Spear is tanky, has superior HP and do good damage if he manages to be in position which is not always easy.
  • Can’t say that our characters have that great a synergy. The Blink Blade is a great hit & run damage dealer that mostly do his own thing. My Snowdancer is support with healing and some repositioning of enemies. The Banner Spear need allies (or summons) to work effectively. Our current group is functional/good but don’t have any emergent combos or such that would make it more impressive.

Frosthaven – The Ice Cave (111)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Another side scenario, this one could be found inside the last scenario we did – an item we’ve looted is leading to further adventure with promises of riches. As my character is pretty much obsessed with gold I voted for this one and my fellow players were happy to oblige.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 2, General Winter is on the field
  • T-Gee/Mina the Geminate (Math) lvl 5>>6>>retirement, two competing hiveminded insect swarms in a single body
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 2, master of the 4th dimension

A magic mirror, that’s what we had found, but we promptly damaged it just as we were transported inside some dimensional pocket. Unfortunately this is no treasure-laden lair (dammit) but rather a prison of sort for a savvas called The Shimmer. The place is split into two symmetrical halves with some effects manifesting into one another. The incarcerated Shimmer is in both halves at the same time.

« Sorry Boson, you’re the new guy, you go alone… » Boson proceeds to get almost killed immediately.
The Shimmer knows how to create a mood! (surely if Math’s decors weren’t improving each time we would be sorely disappointed! No pressure.)
« You’re all alone now, the both of you. »
We’ve vanquished the Shimmer, even with his ridiculous amount of HPs. But look, here’s the magic mirror lying on the ground! What, you see a chest? No it’s a scenario item and thus, a magic mirror I tell you!
In a most fitting moment, the Geminate are reflected/doubled or is quadrupled? This is getting complicated…
Hey, we’ve killed the boss already, why don’t you just gently **** off?
The Geminate: « no it’s fine, more XPs yesss!
Finally we get out of the mirror world. Note how I didn’t forget to take a final picture this time, incredible!

Closing Comments:

  • The start of the scenario was disastrous for the Blink Blade but fortunately he managed to clear his side of the room with a bit of luck and then he could recuperate before going on.
  • Hard but well-designed scenario, with an unusual gimmick that gave it a lot of flavor. Could have given it a better title though!
  • The Geminate retires, the last of the original trio to do so. His personal quest (of getting 150 xps through cards) was also more demanding.
  • Frosthaven (as Gloomhaven did) almost always offers a solid tactical experience. The narrative experience is mostly hit & miss though IMO. This time was definitely on the hit side, the events (before and after the scenario) were interesting and flavorful.

Frosthaven – A Strong Foundation (65)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Character retirement in Frosthaven/Gloomhaven can be quite fast, maybe a bit too fast. The idea behind this obviously is to have the possibility of playing every characters within the span of the campaign. Aside from trying a new character, a further incentive for the players to get it done is that it also unlocks town buildings. Now, if only we could unlock a merchant shop or something, that’d be great.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 2, General Winter is on the field
  • T-Gee/Mina the Geminate (Math) lvl 5, two competing hiveminded insect swarms in a single body
  • Boson the Blink Blade (Guillaume) lvl 2, master of the 4th dimension

Our new friend, Boson the Blink Blade, convinces us of helping him with his personal quest that got something to do with a group of aesthers, weird ethereal beings, with this particular group even weirder than usual as its members act as a single mind. Stop talking in unison, it’s disturbing! Anyway, they want us to retrieve/save the Elemental Array, whatever that is.

Inside the Aesther Outpost:

Living Bones, Frozen Corpses and Snow Imps. All former members of the Ice Capades I think.

This one has botched his acrobatic figure.

Geminate and Snowdancer from afar: « Let’s go Boson, you’re doing great! »
Still more ex Ice Capades finishing lacing their skates.
This diminutive fellow is a killing machine!
The star of the show, Rime Heart, doing something bad to the Elemental Array.
Huh, yeah, one more pic showing us defeating the monsters would have been great!

Closing Comments:

  • This scenario is the start of Boson’s personal quest and leads to something else in 6 weeks of in-game time.
  • The Blink Blade looks like a stronger than average character, with interesting mechanics of fast and slow turns that accomplish a lot of different things in a single turn.
  • Rime Heart was a more beefy version of an Icy Wraith but it didn’t picked is more annoying cards fortunately.
  • Snow Imps are an absolute priority to kill as the brittle condition they give with their attacks make everything else very lethal.
  • Looting the final chest unlocks another side scenario, one with promises of treasure.

Frosthaven – The True Oak (70)

David Skelector Boardgame, Frosthaven, Play reports

Tredir the Drifter is asked to save the True Oak because some unhinged folks claim it’s not that true of an oak and want to turn it to ashes. Ain’t it all a bit excessive? Can’t each have their own oak and y’know, be happy and let be? And what do the squirrels think of all of this? Are there even squirrels in the frosthaven universe? So many questions…

This is the final scenario in the Drifter’s personal quest after which he will retire.

Characters

  • Grayzill the Snowdancer (David) lvl 1, General Winter is on the field
  • T-Gee/Mina the Geminate (Math) lvl 4>>5, two competing hiveminded insect swarms in a single body
  • Tredir the Drifter (Guillaume) lvl 5>>retirement, versatile Inox fighter
While the Drifter rummages through his stuff and prepares himself, it seems like the Geminate is particularly eager to help save the True Oak for their own unscrutable motives (yeah, it’s for XP) … They rush forward, activate a shield/retaliate combo, inflicting heavy damage to the hounds and fanatics.
But they get in a bit of a pickle… The fanatics are firm believers of « an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth » maxim. Fortunately the Drifter joins the melee and bashes skulls left and right. I patch up the Geminate as best I can thereafter and we’re good to go.
And here’s the True Oak in all its splendor, assaulted by fanatics and Sun Demons.
I channel life energy and heal the sacred tree almost faster that he can be damaged whilst my companions kill the offenders.
More fanatics and their leader, the so-called « White Flame » sporting a flaming sword. Well, it won’t be long before he’s extinguished! Tredir uses the Decanter of Mist that he just found, reducing the ranged attacks of the Sun Demons and it’s time for a Firefly Swarm from the Geminate.

Closing Comments:

  • Math sat on the True Oak mini and almost crushed it before he could even use it for the first time!
  • I used the persistent loss card Cold Therapy that allowed me to do a massive amount of healing during the scenario. As the True Oak was considered an ally I could heal it and it finished with full hit points!
  • We had our first winter outpost event. An evil influence in town is leading to bizarre acts of violence. We ourselves fall victim to this when the Drifter disembowels himself and then went after us (successfully, we’ll be wounded at the start of our next scenario)! We were joking afterward that it’s much better for this maniac to retire and he won’t be missed!
  • The retirement of the Drifter boosted our prosperity level to 3 and that means that our characters can’t be lower that level 2 as of now, that means that I’m bumped up to lvl 2 and Guillaume’s new character will start lvl 2.