Traditionally in our Frosthaven and Gloomhaven adventures months of summer vacations (July-August) are a period of pause from the plays. We all head for well deserved rest, and that break allows us to come back in September with even bigger and greater eagerness to play.

That is why in this time you will see many more “strategy” related articles for those games, like recently published Trapper strategy guide. However, before we fully focus on those generic materials, there is one overdue session report which I would like to share today!

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
#10 Crystal Enclosure
#13 Frozen Fjord
#14 Jagged Shoals
#15 Ancient Spire
#16 Derelict Elevator
#18 Crystal Fields
#21 Realm of Endl. Frost
#22 Ice Floes
#23 Spire Basement
#26 Quatryl Library
#28 Summit Meeting
#32 Ravens’ Roost
#33 Thawed Wood
#38 The Way Forward
#42 Sunless Trench
#45 Living Glacier
#46 Dead Pass
#49 Beneath Sea and Stone
#52 Fleeting Permanence
#53 Underwater Throne
#55 Change of Heart
#65 A Strong Foundation
#69 Sacred Soil
#70 The True Oak
#99 Prison Break
#112 Raised by Wolves
#114 Work Freeze
#115 Pylon Problems
#116 Caravan Guards
#120 Under the Influence
#122 The Eternal Crave
#127 Derelict Freighter
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

Short reminder about our current group composition; we run a 4-player campaign again, with very versatile and flexible team – consisting mainly of unlockable Frotshaven classes:

  • Frozen Fist – level 6 (me) – a guy with pretty unusual mechanics (losing health to recover cards), proves to be a decent damage dealer while also can soak up some damage.
  • Infuser – level 5 (Kuba J) – crazy mechanics with infusion, possibility to send swords as summons, strong attacks with decent health. Another damage dealer capable of taking some beating.
  • Snowdancer – level 5 (Kuba G) – crowd control and manipulation master, creates a lot of hazardous terrain and then pulls or pushes monsters. Especially useful in open terrain scenarios.
  • Drifter – level 3 (Adam) – This is super flexible character, who can heal, attack, take the beating and is no dependent on elements; very strong addition to our team.

Scenario Specifics

Below we analyze scenario, its set-up, win conditions and complexity levels:

First of all, it is important to note that this scenario is on critical path to resolve the Unfettered Spire mystery. In other words, it brings us pretty close to the end of the game! From the description of the goal it seems straightforward – close four doors. But this is easier said than done – in order to do it you need to hit them hard and survive the constantly spawning enemies. One dot below scenario name (which reflects complexity rating) is definitely not enough.

PS. As always, feel free to click on below images for full details.

Session Report

Scenario #36 set-up – This is only a one room adventure but that is enough. We start in center, with five enemies on map and three spawning next to the doors almost each turn. So either we are quick with destroying those doors or we simply not be able to reach them in time due to number of enemies! On top of this, we draw some crazy City Challenge (monster deck being augmented with attack modifiers of one of our retired adventurers!).
The plan was simple – get to the two doors as soon as possible (no way to reach all four in time unfortunately), regardless of enemies and damage taken. Destroy them before anything can spawn from them! That plan worked like a charm!
So the doors “b” and “c” we dealt with quickly. However, the number of enemies at door “a” was preventing reaching it for some time and “d” was guarded by a crazy Bladespinner. But we felt that if we just push a little harder, we might win the game altogether. Thus we started to burn the cards and attack with all might! Again, it worked and we won!

The game unlocked for us two new scenarios. First of all, we got much closer to the center of Unfettered Spire – Nerve Center sounds ominous. Second is a side-quest, which can potentially give is some interesting bonuses.

Summary

The way we played this scenario you can clearly say was an example of masterful tactical planning. In Frosthaven you cannot just start playing the scenario, thinking “things will sort-out somehow”. Nope, you need to start planning from the start, to mitigate the risk factors and focus on main threats. Just like doors in above adventure, which we attacked and destroyed not paying too much attention to any damage we could receive. Great game!

More reports to come!