Finally we started our Frosthaven campaign! We waited for that game to arrive almost two years – pandemic time hit badly both the production as well as supply chain; well, that allowed us to comfortably finish our Gloomhaven adventure. But it was already 10 months since Gloom was defeated so it was high time to enter the new, fascinating, cold world of Frosthaven.

Our Frosthaven Campaign in scenario order:
#1 Town in Flames
#2 Algox Scouting
#4 Heart of Ice
#5 Frozen Crypt
#7 Edge of the World
#8 Crystal Trench
#9 Glowing Catacombs
#13 Frozen Fjord
#14 Jagged Shoals
#21 Realm of Endless Frost
#22 Ice Floes
#32 Ravens’ Roost
#69 Sacred Soil
#114 Work Freeze
Some interesting materials about Frosthaven World:
Frosthaven – first look – starting characters (1/2)
Frosthaven – first look – starting characters (2/2)
Frosthaven – monsters analysis & strategies – Lurkers
Frosthaven – monsters analysis & strategies – Unfettered

The sequel to the great Gloomhaven comes of course with some new, changed mechanics as well as concepts. I will do a separate article on this but to quickly mention the major ones:

  • New types of Loot – now you have a lot o herbs and materials to use in various ways
  • Crafting & Alchemy – I am very exciting to see what we will be able to produce
  • Outpost & Outpost Phase – this is completely new dimension; not only you build various buildings but also have to defend Frosthaven from attacks!
  • Seasons – and resulting, seasonal events
  • New characters, monsters, scenario types and items

Before approaching our first game, we familiarized thoroughly with long, 80-pages rulebook as well as possible characters to choose from. In the end our merry company will look like this:

How did we split the roles? Konrad with his Drifter is supposed to be our versatile tank; Kuba J with his Banner Spear will play his favorite role of support to whole group; I with Blinkblade will do what I do best – attack fast and attack hard, preferably in melee; and Kuba G will need to manage most complex, but pretty powerful dual-character – Geminate.

Session report

With the preparations finished we approached Scenario 1:

It takes place on the outskirts of Frosthaven; we were sent to that outpost from the South, to check how things are going and strengthen its defenses. As we are approaching that settlement, we hear the noises of battle, screams and observe large clouds of smoke. “Its Algox raid!” we hear. Who is Algox? – we have not idea, but there is also not much time to ponder as large, furry beasts notice us and charge in our direction…

Overview of Scenario 1. We will have two rooms – first pretty small, and the second – reflecting the battle near the Frosthaven walls – very large. One can only imagine what will await us behind the doors.
Close-up on initial room – Elite Algox priest seems like a most formidable enemy.
The first room was a piece of cake – we cleared it in two turns; but we made mistake of using the slowest characters to wipe the remnants out…
…which back-fired in the large room when only two units were able to enter in one turn! As you can see, Algox quickly surrounded Konrad, but his retaliate was dealing tons of damage.
To be quite honest – we were thinking at some moment, that we would need to repeat the scenario (Konrad was exhausted, two of our characters down to 1 HP). But with methodical approach we finally cleared the room and saved 3 guards!

Conclusion

Wow, that was really exciting beginning of the Frosthaven story; we learned a lot about our characters, their strengths but also limitations. The game is graphically astonishing, beautiful and really fresh – which is not easy taking into account how good the Gloomhaven was/. And we can’t wait to bring this title again to the table – somebody has to take care of those Algox attacks!