As we approach the release of Frostgrave: Second Edition, I've decided it's time to create a new warband to venture into the frozen city! I'll be charting the progress with my warband on the blog, along with how they do on the tabletop, starting today with a look at my Enchanter.

Since Frostgrave: Fantasy Wargames in the Frozen City first came out in 2015 I have ventured into the frozen city with a variety of different wizards.

I started, as many do, with an Elementalist, lured by the appeal of throwing bolts of magical energy across the battlefield, but soon became intrigued by the other schools of magic. For one campaign I had my Necromancer leading a warband of evil henchmen, often bolstered by undead companions that allowed me to overwhelm my opponents.

For another campaign, my Chronomancer manipulated time to give my warband the upper hand and stop my enemies in their tracks.

Then there was my attempt to make some sort of battle wizard, taking spells that bolstered my attack and defense from the Elementalist and Enchanter schools in an attempt to turn my spellcaster into some sort of all-powerful warrior. After dying in the second turn of his first game, it quickly became apparent that this strategy wasn’t going to work…

Now, with Frostgrave: Second Edition just a month away I thought I’d make a new spellcaster, and as I take my first steps in Second Edition I opted to go for an Enchanter. Here she is:

 

The miniature is made using the Frostgrave Wizards II boxed set, along with the hammer, which was clipped of a spare arm from the Oathmark Dwarf Heavy Infantry box. I didn’t want her to be too glitzy, so the majority of the paint scheme is grey and brown with brightness coming from her hair, the red of her robe, and the blue of the book.

Usually when painting the inside of books I just do a few black squiggles, but this time I tried to make something that resembled glowing runes, painting them with gloss varnish at the end. I’m fairly happy with the result, but hopefully over time I can come up with something a little more imaginative!

So that’s the miniature, but what about the wizard herself? When creating a wizard in Frostgrave, the first thing to do is give them a name. After that you need to choose their primary school of magic, indicating what they will be most powerful in, and also how they perform when casting other spells. There are 10 schools to choose from, and they are all related to one another – either aligned, neutral, or opposed.

Next, you choose your spells – 3 from the school you have chosen, 1 from each of your aligned schools, and the final 2 spells taken from schools you are neutral with (these must come from different schools)

My wizard is Esmerelda the Enchanter, and for her spells I gave her Animate Construct, Strength, and Grenade. The chance of bringing a construct to the battle is always fun (and sometimes invaluable), and Strength is a great spell for buffing your characters. Grenade is a useful offensive spell that can be used for attacking multiple units if they are grouped together (and is the only offensive spell my Wizard has!)

For Enchanters, the aligned schools are Elementalist, Sigilist, and Witch. Each of these would have a +2 modifier to the required casting roll, so I didn’t want to go for anything too complicated. I also wanted to stick with the idea of a Wizard that is less interested in blasting her opponents and instead is focused on the safety of her own warband.

From the Elementalist School I opted for Wall, which I could use to create a magical barrier blocking my enemies path. From Sigilist, the Push spell can get enemies away from my Wizard if they get too close. Finally, from the Witch school, I took Fog – a really handy spell when it comes to blocking line of sight!

The final two spells come from neutral schools, which for the Enchanter are Illusionist, Necromancer, Soothsayer, Summoner, and Thaumaturge. These are cast with a +4 modifier to the required roll, so are much trickier. I opted for Heal from the Thaumaturge school and Teleport from the Illusionist – a spell that would be fairly tricky to cast but which I envisage using most often as a last resort to escape from approaching enemies.

So there we have Esmerelda the Enchanter, the start of my new warband for Frostgrave: Second Edition. More to come!

Interested in Frostgrave: Second Edition? Preorder your copy today!