Another week and another adventure in the world of Frosthaven played with our regular group. That was a very merry meeting, as after last scenario all our characters reached level 2 – thus we were able to test new toys – i.e. new cards and perks! That is one of the best aspects of Isaac Chiders games – all those adventurers progression and eventually unlocking new ones!
Our Frosthaven Campaign in scenario order:
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
Now, as for our campaign, just a reminder that we follow the Lurkers campaign path. We decided we would like to know more about those creatures. After playing first installment in this story branch (#7 Edge of the World) we could make a decision whether to build a boat and follow-up via sea or choose the path along the coast instead. As we opted to spend resources for other needs, we knew we will need to enter the #13 Frozen Fjord.
That is pretty tricky scenario. The group starts divided (I think first such set-up, really like it!) and if monsters cannot attack us, they attack the ice bridge which has some number of HP. If it accumulates enough damage, it collapse and we lose! So the plan was simple – press forward and press hard!
We gathered our team for this exciting adventure. Here was our composition:
- Blinkblade (me) – level 2
- Banner Spear (Kuba J) – level 2
- Geminate (Kuba G) – level 2
- Drifter (Konrad) – level 2
Reaching level 2 after already 4 scenarios was much slower achievement than in Gloomhaven. Fortunately, with new cards we started to accumulate those points much quicker so maybe after another 2-3 sessions we will have further level-ups!
Session report
With the preparations finished we approached Scenario #13:
We travelled pretty far as first we resolved… 2 Road Events! (one for this scenario and one omitted and forgotten from previous!). Good they were pretty ok and did not caused us too much trouble.
PS. This was already second scenario we played on Hard difficulty.
Well, the scenario looked really daunting but our audacity and quick push forward prevented the bridge from collapsing!
Outpost Phase
Once scenario was finished, Outpost Phase was awaiting us. First thing was to gather scenario rewards and then resolved the Frosthaven event. It was pretty good – although a bit costly – giving us further benefits in form of barracks upgrade. Truly a fantastic thing, increasing defense of our settlement.
Let us see some other, main developments:
Conclusion
First of all, the story again was very interesting and scenario with great special conditions – bridge being attacked, separated company, multitude of monsters. Secondly, we are now halfway through summer so it is high time to prepare for winter and – from what author suggested – waves of attacks on outpost. Last but not least, I think we grasped enough mechanics – especially of Outpost Phase – to play in much smoother way than initially. Stay tuned – next report in a week!
The Boardgames Chronicle 
Great report again guys, that mission is a tough one . Those shrike multi attacks can be brutal!
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Thank James! Yes, shrike were pretty tough, especially with that “Angry Cloud” card. Next scenario (which we played just two days ago and will be reported in a week) was even worse, with them spawning… Stay tuned!
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I admit the masteries are mysteries for us 🙂 They are usually pretty difficult, although my Blink (“never be targeted by attack in scenario”) and Geminate (“change form each turn”) were achieved. But I see some imbalance here for sure.
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BoardGameGeek forum mentions “bad” scenarios, and that one is among one of the worst, the Fiend Shrieks are hated enemy. After turn 2 or 3 most of us has been brought to 1 HP, but if we didn’t take those hits, the bridge would get damaged and probably destroyed causing our failure. We were fairly lucky, that only in the first turns when we opened new rooms scenario got hit and never with a crit/double damage. I saw people getting Shrieks hit the bridge/scenario with crits and after the first it was basically a sure loss. We played smart, quick, had a good division of teams, my pairing with the Geminate was perfect, i used my new lvl 2 card – the Meatgrinder 3 times(strong attack against 2 targets requiring placing monsters between me and an ally- which isn’t easy to prepare) and it helped clearing enemies quick. Guys in the bottom route had bit more problems, but Blinkblade’s trademark move(deal 1-2 dmg within range 2) and Drifter’s aerial attack Destructive Fury with shocwave did quite a massive damage, so our help(my Bannerspear’s and Geminate’s) wasn’t required. All but just 1 (i think ) loot tokens have been collected, so we have tons of materials, but will they suffice for long, we’ll see 😉
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This one didn’t cause us too many problems re the bridge being destroyed (we thought it was a frozen giant skeleton from looking at the scenario sticker on the map) but think we were lucky with enemy card draws when we opened doors on this one . There is a later scenario we encountered later on (#67) which is similarly brutal and attracting some threads comparing it to the dreaded Oozing Grove. That was very tough and took us multiple tries.
Nice idea pairing destructive fury and shockwave with the drifter, although that could burn through the charges quickly certainly dishes out a lot of quick damage. We have just started our third party now – drifter and coral, seems like it could be very strong at damage dealing. I am playing the drifter, a big fan of the mini and the theme. Will be interesting to see which route yours goes down in build, many options. Also trying to work out how to achieve the masteries – have failed totally so far with the previous two characters. As a minor criticism think there is a lot a imbalance with these, some characters can feasibly achieve at least one of theirs first time out without even having to really focus too much on it others are almost impossible to achieve until a high level card unlock and then you would have to chose a certain build.
I wonder how you guys are finding those in your party of 4, a little bit easier to flex a play style with more characters.
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If i remember well our Geminate and Blinklade got their first and only masteries in the 2nd scenario, as a Bannerspear i didn’t get any and i suppose i won’t complete any until retirement, i’m more focused on winning than such personal achievement, and bannerspear as is now looks pretty strong extra perk won’t make a big difference . Not sure about Drifter , but proibably didn’t get any masteries too.
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