Ghost Archipelago: First Impressions

Earlier this month I played in a Ghost Archipelago game at my LGS.  We had previously run a Frostgrave campaign there so we were all interested to see how the new game played.  Mechanically, it is very similar but the strategies seemed to be very different.



The table for our first game of Ghost Archipelago

Our initial Frostgrave games were very lethal due to ranged attacks.  Archers and crossbowmen were the bane of all of the warbands.  After having a few wizards and apprentices turned into pin cushions, we all started keeping our wizards in the back as the grunts pressed forward.  After all, its far easier to replace some random mook rather than scrap the whole warband to a lucky arrow shot.

 



"Let charge in there and bash some heads!"

Ghost Archipelago does mitigate this some by limiting the number of specialists you can field in your crew so you won't see a full band of archers on the table across from you but even just facing four can be intimidating enough.  To nip the problem in the bud, I chose a Storm Warden and gave her Call Storm which drastically reduces line of sight once it gets into play.  This does hamper my own force as well but honestly I'm okay with that.  Having actually played a game, this does seem like it helps but even the mechanics of the game seem to have been tweaked to encourage players to get in each others faces much more than in Frostgrave.  In fact my Heritor even led one of the charges across the table, joining a combat against one of the other Heritors and then killing the Warden single handedly.



Oh look! There's one of my crew members drowning!  Maybe you should get out of the water?

The table itself is also now a threat as deep water not only slows you down but can kill you as well.  Yay for drowning!  To pass a swimming test, you need to pass a Will check of 5 at the start of the minis turn.  Should be simple, right?  Except this is modified by any armor they are wearing, equipment they are carrying, and if they are carrying a treasure chest.  What seems like a simple check can get very "dicey" (it had to be said).

Overall, I really liked the changes that have come about for Ghost Archipelago and I'm really looking forward to getting in some more games.  We are currently scheduled to play the first Saturday of each month playing the Lost Colossus campaign.  I don't know much about this particular campaign but I'm helping build some of the key pieces of terrain and it has been a blast.  I should have it done within the next week so I'll try to get some pics posted of it before the game.