I show you how to get started and do a playthrough of two rounds of the first scenario. Then I give my thoughts. Is it a good solo option? Patreon: / gaminggeekgiveaway Helpful tools from BGG: boardgamegeek....
This is definitely one of the more difficult scenarios out there. Creator Joseph Mccollough said in response to this scenario, "if it were easy, it wouldn't be fun." It took me several playthroughs of this to succeed. Take full advantage of your terrain and surroundings. Spells such as wall, fog and leap can be very useful in avoiding and escaping the vapor snakes. That said, great review. I enjoy your content and hope to see some more Frostgrave in the future!
Unless they changed the rule in the Perilous Dark book, but in the normal Frostgrave rules, when you group activate: the first action for all figures must be the move action. You were moving and attacking individually. This does affect some of the combat interactions. Outcomes of rolls etc. Thanks for the video, dont have this book yet.
Very honest review. I have not played it yet, but when I read the first mission I almost felt there was a typo when the setup had 5 large snakes and two big ballistas - just to start - and with more snakes coming every turn (snakes - why did it have to be snakes?) As others here have stated, the author's Rangers of Shadowdeep missions seem very balanced so it is unfortunate there is an overly deadly mission just as you start out. Also, wonder if some spells or equipment and weapons involving flame would be useful as the Vapour Snakes are vulnerable to fire. RoSD and games like Gloomhaven often have a "puzzle component"in which a certain strategy or approach are needed to win. This could be the case in this scenario. Finally, it's interesting that Perilous Dark is primarily a "how to" toolkit to create your own adventures featuring example missions along the way - but in this case the example mission may be too danged difficult. Btw I enjoy your honest and thoughtful reviews - you helped sell us on Vanguard which is a good system.
I made a review over at BoardgameGeek (if you want to check that out) and faced pretty much the same problems. I did succeed though, with a big toll on my warband. The key to my success was obscuring the LoS of the ballistae with a FoG spell (which works, as the MkII are not randomly moving) and feeling that the spawns are too strong I only started with Small Vapor Snakes during setup. Of course that means I deviated from the book and had a small advantage over your warband.
A little comment on the difficultie. The book mentions putting more terain on the bord for solo play. I played thuis scenario with a maze like structure on rhe board and that made the scenario significantly easier. Though the balista's still murdered me
Love your digital frame portal! It added that little extra flair to the table. For Writhing Fumes I recommend the following replacement for the encounter table, especially if you don't have a 25-sided dice and find the scenario a bit brutal... Roll a D6 for the spawning point( 1-5 ) but on a roll of 6 there is no encounter. Roll a second D6 for the Vapour snakes( small & large ) and refer to the following... 1 - Two large 2 - One large & one small 3 - One large 4 - Two small 5 - One small 6 - No encounter
I love the look of those spellcards that you printed. Do you have a link to the file? I didn't see these on BGG. Also, do you have any recommendations on where to get those great looking terrain pieces? Thanks!
I looked for where I got them originally but couldn't find it. Here is a good alternative tho: vdocuments.site/frost-grave-spell-cards-566c9a771efa7.html I printed and cast most of the terrain. Check out Printable Scenery.
I think I found the cards used in the video: 8f8d344a-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/sarlinclearinghouse1/frostgrave/Frostgrave%20Spell%20Cards%20v0.3.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7coTb8-0ZG4azniLwJI6tFpJ7PNg9ydLs82toVG7quoFm4QUOp-haGdS7qWmA1baRu-lxQj5Zp4bcS3_021q4Le20p19O_C2hGLiJ3f24OJZgqEjUH28Qtm_R8hiwNPi1uZjn-Qt3A7SWsul3NVGmWd_s-1hdFbEXYklG0XtMUkFBd9HQg4VjN7cSPnaS9NGRHNzMAXBywoQ0K9GBpWlOOkJEVMBMJXbxbVM3KImhVoH_NQ-zb2Fx9mpYbT1hOK8Le4Xjm9n&attredirects=1&d=1
An honest review. This is the second the first which didn't demonstrate play was more forgiving of the game mechanics. I will seek out others l think adjusting some of the monsters may be in order.
I tried the Vapor-snakes are WAY too Strong! I used standard Zombies instead. Makes it much more Playable, survivable! and Fun. I just increased the number of Zomies by 2, each turn spawn 2 more. Makes Grabbing Treasure tokens alot more fun.
You can sum up the entire content of Perilous dark by saying. 'Make it up yourself'. Frostgrave is a finished balanced product. A game in itself. But Perilous is just a book of suggestions really. At one point Joe himself says there is no way to judge the difficulty of a solo play adventure. I think when you buy a book selling as a solo play adventure that's probably what you want out of it. Some kind of play tested balance. On this level im not sure this book is terribly ground breaking stuff like Frostgrave was. Gorgeous book as always. Wonderful art. An very reasonable price point. I've not played alot of the content from the frostgrave expansions. Due to time restraints. But I never regret having them on my shelves. They are a nice nice collection. Very much look forward to Frostgrave 2.0.
Yes, I agree that the nice thing about Osprey is that their rulebooks and expansions are relatively cheap. I've not played any of the expansions either because I always thought vanilla FG was enough fun! But I think some of the mechanics that make FG fun is difficult to adjust for solo when you have to create an AI for the opposing side.
@@gaminggeek241 that's right. AI is a problem. Something they struggled with in computer games for a long time. Even in the original Frostgrave the creatures are a bit of an after thought and you just shuffle them along after you have done the interesting stuff.
Really enjoy your Frostgrave video along with the 3D printing stuff. Being really new to Frostgrave 2nd Ed, I like the various game aides you have; random creature direction marker, the spell cards and especially the creature cards. Is the random direction marker from Thinigiverse? Where can I get a copy of the creature cards too? Thanks again!
Look at Marc C's comment below and there are some links there for the cards. And yes, the direction marker is from Thingiverse, although I can't find it right now, sorry.
@@gaminggeek241 Thank you for the fast response. I found the spell cards, but not the cool looking bestiary cards you had. All good...will continue the internet search. Also, I became a Patreon of your channel. Looking forward to more great content. Take care.
I'm not sure if this is your regular PvP warband or if you built it to play solo, but I think a solo warband is going to need some tweaks. For example, you don't want Imp, as that just creates another uncontrolled monster. Raise Zombie is good to give a disposable body, but you forgot to cast it with your apprentice. Rebuild and give it another shot!
Good review. I ordered the book because I am always interested in solo. I'll give it a shot, too. Perhaps the author will fix some of the problems you have encountered. Fingers crossed.
The warband is mostly old metal Reaper minis and the snakes are from Shadows of Brimstone. I 3D printed the ballista from a file I found on Thingiverse.
Gaminggeek you field a crew. I have Rangers of Shadowdeep and the expansions. Have played it since it was released. I absolutely love it and so does the community. In fact, I’d guess Joe (author) made this because of the success of Rangers. I would love to hear your thoughts on that if you ever get around to playing it.
Start without any monsters on the table, limit the number of monsters spawning to one per round, remove the ballistas and add more treasure. I know, it's a lot to change, but it works just fine.
Hm, disappointed to hear how this has turned out for you. I have Rangers of Shadowdeep by the same author and it’s one of the best solo games I’ve ever played. Haven’t had a chance to play Perilous Dark yet, have it sitting on my shelf. Now I’m curious to see how I’ll like it...
The set up as is seems geared more for a co-operative mission with two teams. The author has stated many times that we are free to change whatever we want. You might find that a different wizard might do better. For solo balance, and fun I would have fewer spawn points for vapor snakes, say three one in the middle, and one on each side. I would also have a spawn point or two for zombies, and other creatures like snow leopards, ice toads, bears, wolves.
No, movement can be either first or second action: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mrW3P_T41DM.html The only time movement HAS to be the first action is in a group activation.
@@gaminggeek241 Ok thanks for clarifying! I hope you still like Frostgrave as a multiplayer game, even if you had a bad solo experience! Seems a good game to me
Yes, it gives you rules for a Sellsword (Captain) a special type of soldier who leads the warriors of the band. They cost 100 GC and is like a mini-ranger from ROSD that can improve their stats and special skills. Very useful.
Will definitely have to try it out, I love Rangers of Shadow Deep and this is obviously pretty similar but looks like it has a bit more tweaks for added difficulty - which sounds great to me, bring it on! There's no fun in just steamrolling the AI. I personally feel like your idea of "a lot of terrain" is pretty laughable, there was barely any terrain on your table at all! Frostgrave is meant to be played with lots of terrain :) But to each their own, if you prefer an easier game with less terrain then more power to ya :) Thanks for the video, it was a good showcase of some of the big differences between the base game and this expansion.
Usually the way to win at frostgrave is an entire war band of archers. They fight almost as good in hand to hand as thugs but have range. I like frostgrave but it got really samey after every game became a stab-and-grab for loot and we had to make our own experience progression chart to balance shooty wizards vs support wizards.
HI all, I'm interested on getting the game but... looks like there are a lot of book keeping? Maybe it's because Gaminggeek is making a demo? Would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions as I have experience this kind of game before
There isn't a lot of bookkeeping except for when you are leveling up. The regular Frostgrave is fairly straightforward, especially if you are using the cards for your spells.
It is normal for you tube to send out videos in lower resolution 1st and then to follow up with higher resolution versions- surprised you did not realise that.
