The Well Takes Shape

Now, we want to start adding filler to shape the well and create a mood that fits its potential environments.  I want it fairly weathered and asymmetrical; I am thinking abandoned towns, ancient cities, and dank dungeons.   So, I am only going to add enough spackle to fill in the gaps and make it appear the mortar has either eroded away or only a small amount was used in the original project.  This is what we are starting with:

 

You can see quite a bit of gaps allowing light to shine through - that's ok; I think of these gaps as room for the model to develop personality.  Let's get those gaps filled and see what becomes of our mysterious well.
Normally, I always add a bit of water and a bit of paint to prepare the spackle for application.  When the spackle is wet, it is easier to work.  Adding a little bit of water, the spackle still holds it shape and has some spring to it; good for vertical fills and connecting two points.  Adding more water creates a slurry, good for when you want gravity to work for you and have the spackle settle into low areas.  I advise starting with a bit of water, as I almost always do, because you will be wetting your tools and fingers as you go, so the spackle will get wetter as you need it o without turning to soup.

I also recommend acrylic paint being mixed into the spackle.  The paint will make the spackle crack less when it dries, gives it some springiness once dry (resists chipping….a bit), as well as helps in the later painting stages if your spackle is supposed to be some other color than bright white.

I wanted to use up some spackle I was using for my desert terrain before it dries, so this spackle in the photos will be reddish in color because I had used a burnt sienna acrylic paint to tint it.  I would recommend using two drops of black and four drops of brown paint because it makes a nice “dirty” base.  The reddish color needed a lot more work than I had thought.  It was not as bad as  if i left it bright white, but it still required an extra few steps of inking after the spackle dried before the painting began.   I carved a popsicle stick and toothpick so I could get the spackle into every single gap, no matter how small or inaccessible.

Next step is adding the spackle.  I start with the inside gaps.  Any place light shines through (hold the well up to a lamp or shine a flashlight onto it) gets spackle pushed in.  I use my hands, but you can use a popsicle stick, too.  Either way, remember to dip your finger/tool in water periodically so the spackle releases easily.  You want the spackle to fill all the holes.  Below is a snapshot of the inside filled.  You do not need to worry too much if it cover your stones.  The next step is when you determine how much of the stone ends up exposed.  The amount of coverage depends upon the look you want to achieve. 

 

Now, get a sponge or some foam.  I use the foam that I pulled out of my miniatures carriers.  You can also use the foam that is packed in most miniatures when they ship.  Grab a cup of water.   Wear some clothes you don’t mind getting splashed (just in case) and put down some plastic or paper.  With the wet sponge, wipe across the spackle-covered stones with medium pressure.  This will smooth the spackle, push it into the lower crevices, and remove it from the upper part of the stone, leaving it exposed.  Again, you will wash as much or as little to get your desired look.  Keep the sponge wet and continuously clean it out with fresh water so you are not just smearing spackle everywhere.   I used medium pressure and I did the entire inside well once, let it dry, went back to that night and wiped it again to get my final look that I liked. 

 I wanted a look where the mortar has worn away and the only remaining mortar holds the stones, for only a few more years.  If I didn't remove enough spackle, I would wash it again for a third time.  If I remove too much, I have to add some spackle and then wash again.  I like the inside so I repeat the same steps for the outside.  This is what it looks like after the outside is done:

 

I then let the well dry for the night.  In the morning, I will begin the staining of the spackle and then the painting of my well.  Until then, make your miniature world in your image!

Ancient Well

This will be my first Malifaux/Frostgrave crossover terrain piece.
This piece will be used for the Scenario: The Well of Dreams and Sorrows

 Supplies Suggested:

Small lid -- the lids from mini cups are perfect. Diamond sells a bagof 50 cups with lids are the greatest for various projects.  If you can’t find a bag of mini cups, the local take-out or salad bar has them.  Order a salad with dressing on the side and you will have what you need after a healthy lunch! (Make sure you wash the cup and lid well if repurposing)

Wax paper  -- Protects your work surface and allows your glue to dry evenly.  I like the results much better than newspaper, but reusing the flyers they endless stuff in your mailbox are an ok substitute.

Small stones – I bought a bag of gravel from the local hardware store.  The gravel is various sizes, but for this project I pick out stones that are big enough to fit 3-4 onto a penny.  This creates a scale where it seems feasible the stones were hand carried to site and manually assembled.  This well is going to look ancient, but can also be used in settings where it looks like the denizens did the best they could with the material at hand.

Wood Glue – Flexible and strong.  A little more expensive than White glue, but a bit cheaper than Hot glue and I prefer than either when it comes to gravel.

Paint --  I am picturing this being used for Frostgrave mostly, so I imagine grey stone.  Inexpensive, Craft acrylic paints in Black, White and Grey. 

Spackle – This is the mortar.  Get a tub of spackling paste from your hardware store, you will use a lot of it in your coming terrain projects (great for hills, cliffs, cabins, water features and basing, too!)

 

1.   Find a lid that is slightly smaller than you want your finished product.  Cut a piece of wax paper that will be slightly larger than your finished product.  Place the lid centered on the wax paper, with the inside facing up.  The lid is not only going to serve as the guide for your well’s circumference, but it also  holds your “water”.

2.       Squeeze your glue (I recommend wood glue over the other options) onto the wax paper around the outer edge of the lid.  This glue will not only connect the stones, but it will also bond the stones to the lids.

 

3.       Start placing your stones around the base, flush against the outside of the lid and to one another.  Do not worry about spacing them, there will be enough gaps and space due to irregular shape and roundness of the gravel.  I create an irregular base, randomly alternating between large  and medium –sized gravel pieces.  You can create a more uniformed look by just using medium -, or even two small, –sized gravel pieces deep, but I like the irregular profile and it allows the second and third level of stones to settle in interesting ways.

 

4.       Once you get the initial base surrounded with gravel so it looks how you want it, let the glue set. 

 

 

 

5.     Now comes the fun part….. Well, fun in a fiddly  I-hate-gravity way.  The second level is you finding the stones that naturally settle into the gaps created by the base layer of stones.  It doesn’t have to be perfect because you are adding the “mortar” later to fill gaps and smooth the outer and inner profile.  The second and third level are your chance to create your well’s personality.  Will the stones be of uniform size, shape, and spacing, or are some going jut out, tilt, or even be missing in places?  It all depends on the story you want the well to tell.  I went for the middle ground.  Most of my stones are the same size, but some stick out more than others and some are rounded and others have sharp points.  I want the look that the builders had to use available material which might not have been ideal, but it was still useful and had a lasting result.  I also wanted to give the impression that the stonework was starting to shift from over the centuries so I allowed my pieces to sometimes move how gravity wanted them to settle.  I suggest letting each level settle and for the glue to set before going to the next level.  This is the project that will take a few days, but each day is only 30 minutes or so of gluing.

This is what my well looks like after the final level.  I went with 3 levels.  For 28-32 mm scale, I think anything higher seems impractical from the fluff of citizens getting water and also from a terrain perspective of giving cover, but not blocking LOS.

 

Next entry will discuss the addition of mortar and paint.

Let me know if I skipped anything, you have any questions, or was unclear about a step.

Have fun building your miniature world!

 

Pros and Cons from one on the frozen fence

ATTENTION:   As you read this, keep in mind that I have high hopes for Frostgrave.  There are great things about Frostgrave, enough of them for me to suggest people give it a try.  Yes, I am saying play this game.   That said, I must warn you:  I am a contrarian by nature and even things I really enjoy are critiqued - it just is how it is in this brain of mine.  I am fighting that nature and, to show my good faith, I ordered myself some Reaper minis to replace my current Hordes proxies.  So, I am invested.  I am ready to give this game a fair shot.

I have identified Frostgrave as the Monopoly of miniatures games.  What do I mean?  No two families ever play Monopoly the same way; no board game has been house-ruled so much.  Now, I think a lot of house-rules for Monopoly come from poor reading skills, boredom, alcohol, ADD, or Uncle Darren’s need to cheat.  I can see this game getting hundreds of house rules in hundreds of different variations.   Frostgrave will exist in a multitude of alternate universes all similar but very much different.  I am calling dibs of calling our universe FG704 (Yep, the first group in an area code should get to claim it!)   Anyway, this game screams for house rules.  I dare to say it necessitates house rules.  Why?  Well, Frostgrave reminds me of the games I made when I was in junior high.  Those were great games full of twists and endless possibilities, but they also had unavoidable gaps that left a lot to the imagination and required frequent on-the-spot rule creation.  I consider the comparison a compliment, a very tender compliment, while also being aware that it may be something someone else might not necessarily want associated with a published product. 

To illustrate my meaning, let’s get into the Pros and Cons. 

 

Pros:

Cost of Entry - You do not need to spend much on this game if you have played other fantasy-type games, board or miniatures.  The book is inexpensive anywhere you get it and the warbands are so generic your minis can be proxies from any fantasy board game or miniatures.  I dipped into Hordes, Malifaux, Descent, Castle Ravenloft, Super Dungeon Explore, Shadows of Brimstone, and Zombicide.

Easy rules - The book is 134 pages, but the game’s rules end on page 47 and the book lay-out is very reminiscent of school text books so those 47 pages are not a wall of tiny text nor hard to understand.  You will pick up the rules in one sitting, with a few errors made, and you will master it by the third game.

Terrain – This game is as in love with terrain as I am.  Sort of like the girlfriend that laughed at all of your jokes, I think that is why I am still on-board despite other misgivings.  Miniature games that require lots of terrain and make the players deal with the drawbacks of said terrain are the only ones that deserve to be called war games.  That is my stance.  This game gets a B when it comes to how it integrated terrain into the essence of the game.  For perspective, I give Malifaux 2e an A- for terrain and I love Malifaux 2e, so Frostgrave did well here.

Random Encounters – I like the idea of monsters and wild animals cropping up in these ruins and them suddenly becoming a bigger problem than your opponent.  I actually enjoy this aspect of the game  over the Scenarios included in the book.  The NPC Bestiary is a very welcome addition to the skirmish game and Frostgrave has a nice selection to choose from within their rulebook.

Spells – There is such a variety of spells and so many ways to combine them.  So many possibilities and it makes your Wizard seem so powerful… if the spells go off.  Grrrrr. Those spells do not go off that often.  This is as good as any time to move on to my first Con.

 

Cons:

D20  –  Spells just don’t cast in FG704.  I was able to pull off two Fog casts and a Poison Dart.  That was it between Wizard and Apprentice in an entire game with them both casting each turn.  It felt like a magic show on a street corner.   d8’s or d10’s would be leaps and bounds better.  I thought I disliked d6’s, but d20’s in a skirmish game are nonsense.  None of the dice gods have ever liked me, but I must have slept with d20’s daughter and never called her back because my d20 rolls fail beyond what probability would dictate, catastrophically fail.  2d10 might have been a better choice.  Possible House Rule!

Optional Rules  -  Really?  This basic of a game and the designer thought it might be too overwhelming to include Critical Hits and Wounded in the main rules?  They should have just been part of the rules.

Generic  –  No races, no classes, no skills, no diversity of equipment.  Cyril is a Thief.  Cyril is the same as any other Thief and will always be just a Thief.  It’s no better for Gus the Thug.  He carries a Hand Weapon until his dying day.  What is a hand weapon? It doesn’t matter according to the rules.   What if it is a whip, spear, sword, axe, flail, mop, or rubber chicken?  Does not change anything; if a weapon fits in one hand and swung at something,  it has the same stats as anything else.  This is good forpicking your  miniatures because you do not need to find specific models, but it gets boring and frustrating in-game.  This pairs with the next point regarding Warbands.  Possible House Rule!

Warbands  – This is where the RPG feel disappears.  Your Warband never advances, levels-up, or even changes equipment.  If Reginald the Sneaky and Sylis the Daring are both Thieves, they are same thing coming into the game and will remain the same until they are killed off by a Bone Dart or rabid Giant Rat.  You might as well not name them.  Give them a number like the Monarch does in Venture Bros..  Yes, you can give them a magical item that matches their normal item (magic dagger can replace starting dagger, magic mail armor for mail armor, etc.) but they can never equip anything outside their starting equipment’s type and they can never add to it beside a potion or jewelry.  They will never get better at using said knife.  There areno new skills or improved stats for the warband either.  Who cares if Cyril made it through ten Scenarios?  He still stabs and grabs treasure like the new guy.  Why not have promotions?  A very large opportunity missed here.    Possible House Rule!

 After Party – Rolling for treasure is awesome.  What seems anti-climatic is after getting your gold and magic rings and scrolls and all that stuff, you just declare something bought or sold and it magically happens without rhyme or reason.  You do some bookkeeping: erase an item off your page and add a number to your gold value.  Or, you subtract some gold from your stash and now you magically have a kennel attached to your hideout (which appeared out of the mist), or you just happen to hire some drifter who just happens to be this awesome Marksman which is so awesome because your last one died ten minutes ago.  There was an opportunity to have a post-fight RPG element (thinking something along the lines of Shadows of Brimstone) that would have created some fun moments.  RPG elements would also create a balancing cost for advancement or making rash decisions.  Why not make it the cost of your Apprentice riding back to town to collect new heroes, sell/buy  items, oversee renovations?  The Apprentice is absent from X amount of games while looking for said supplies or overseeing the job?  It is cost with a benefit at the completition.  Possible House Rule!

Turns – A game can go on-and-on-and-on.  This is a frozen ruin; could they not have something about inclement weather or attracting ghosts if the warbands stay too long?  5-7 turns would have been fine for game length.  Malifaux has a nice mechanic of 5 turns with a test at the end of 5^th to see if there is a 6^th turn.  That might even be nice for press-your-luck moments.   Possible House Rule!

Collecting treasure – If you are the only remaining one on the board you auto-collect.  So, really, you just need to murder the other team and then you win.  This does not seem like the fluff for Frostgrave where you are explorers and you stumble across another band and things get bad.  Also, if the game ends and treasure is lying on the ground, why would it magically transport itself to town for you?  It makes no sense; at least, make a spell the Wizard has to add their spell list and successfully cast to do this.  To coincide with the Turn rule, why not make it mandatory to exit the board with the treasure to get the treasure? Also, if you finish the game holding a treasure but were not able to exit, have the fluff where the chasing ghost or oncoming storm made the warband question the need to hold onto a cumbersome treasure at the potential cost of dying, so you wouldroll for treasure as usual  but pocket the gold value of the treasure only since Cyril chose life over that +1 two-handed weapon that he can’t use anyway.  Possible House Rule!

 

I am sure I could find more Pros and Cons, but this is the general idea.  The game has such great potential with the addition of house rules.  If you are the type of player that wants the rules fleshed out or wants complexity, this is not going to be your game.  I think this game is great for those in a group that can democratically vote for house rules and build a rich world using the seed that is Frostgrave.  I even hope future expansions from the maker might add races and classes (sub-classes!!!!) and even skill trees.  I am getting some Reaper minis in the mail soon and into the frozen ruins I will adventure again.  I will be posting terrain pictures, warband builds, bat reps, musings, and townhall minutes concerning new buildings erected in town as well as new “laws” instituted in the land.  Stay tuned and ideas, opinions are always welcome!