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.
 

From The Workbench... Adventurers and ARVs!

While I haven't been able to make much more headway with my Wrath of Kings minis, I've still managed to squeeze in a little bit of hobby over the past week.  In particular I ordered some minis from Reaper for the family to use in the D&D game we are part of.

Rather than go with the cheaper option of Bones, I decided that I really wanted to paint some metal so I splurged on our actual characters.  So far I've gotten paint onto two of them, the animal companion for my wife's ranger and my bard mini.

They're not quite done as I still need to paint my bard's bow but I'm really liking how they have turned out, especially the mountain lion.  Wasn't sure if I would be able to get the color right but I had some old bubonic brown from GW that really fit the bill.

I've also been toying with adding an ARV to my US force for Konflikt 47 but I've been at a loss for what to use.  While there is the M32 listed in Resurgence (based on the Sherman for those like myself who didn't know), I was looking for something that I could just use as a tractor to fill in some points.  I asked the Konflikt FB group and they had a great suggestion.

Based on an M3 Stuart that I had lying around, I took the towing assembly from a Mater tow truck from Cars and then cobbled together a pintle mounted MMG using the base of the turret assembly.  Since this is just supposed to be a soft skinned tractor I really wanted it to have more of a cobbled together look.  I might try to put someone sitting up on the ring manning the MMG but for now this will work.  Just need to make time to get some paint on it.

Hopefully I will be able to start getting in more hobby soon because we are in the process of buying a house!  Huzzah!!!  While I won't be able to have my own mancave, we will have a game room which in some ways sounds even more awesome.  Having a whole room where we can have friends over to play games?  Heck yeah!  Even better is a space where I can play more games with my family, something that has become a serious challenge over the last year.  Time is always a premium but lack of space has definitely been a factor as well so it will be nice to be able to address at least one of those problems.  Next I just need to make a time machine and I'll be all set.