Top 8 Reasons the Chronomancer is Best

Today we have another Frostgrave bit, because this is my jam right now.  Of all the wizards, you can deviate a lot with the models in the Chronomancer warband.  I've collected a bunch of different models from across several ranges, and I hope after painting they look like they belong to the same warband...but that's the point with the Chronomancer.  You can have stuff from all over the timeline, and since we don't really know that much about it let's just assume the timeline has whatever we need.

Inspirobot knows what is in store for mankind.

Strangely, I haven't had much opportunity to see the Chronomancer in action.  Only one player brought one during the last campaign I played, and he was shut out pretty quickly.  I don't think that reflects on the caster, more like bad luck.  You all know how many (1)'s I roll.

That's just how I roll.

The aligned schools for the Chronomancer are Necromancer, Soothsayer and Elementalist.  The opposed school is Enchanter.  Now let's look at the bag of tricks the Timeriders bring...

Top 8 Reasons Chronomancer is Best!

1. Crumble
• It's a situational spell, but applications are quite useful.  Make a door to go through, or make a hole to fall through.  If you're inventive and use the terrain, you can use this to both attack the enemy and protect your own models.
2. Decay
• A powerful defensive spell you should use on heavy soldiers first, like Infantrymen and Templars.  This can easily turn a fight in your favor.
3. Fast Act
• The Chronomancer requires some finesse to make the best use of his spells, but this can be a nasty surprise for your enemy, especially late in the game.
4. Fleet Feet
• Great passive bonus for your soldiers who need to grab the goods.  A round or two and your spellcasters can create a big speed difference between the warbands.  A staple.
5. Petrify
• One of the most annoying spells ever, especially when it's leveled.  The target can still resist, but combinations of spells over the course of the game can really widen the gap between the warbands.  Taking actions away with this, even if it's resisted a few times, can cost your enemy the game when it comes down to the wire.
6. Slow
• Unlike Petrify, the target can still act...just not much.  If used on a model with low Will, it can persist for quite some time and add up those stolen actions.
7. Time Store
• Yes...you can be super-fast in a burst of speed, taking 3 actions in a turn.  Combine with Fast Act for a sad opponent.
8. Time Walk
• More dangerous to attempt than Time Store, the benefit is also slightly better, allowing for a total of four actions over the course of the turn.  This is an awesome spell, but probably not something you want to cast until you've spent several levels on it.  However, after that - it will be a staple in the repertoire of the high level Chronomancer.

This one is hard for me, since I've not really played with many of these spells.  I have seen them in use, but the possible combinations are intriguing.  If it were me, I'd probably take Fleet Feet, Decay and Fast Act.  In the early campaign, you're going to have to fight for your supper and those spells will make it easier until you start to uncover more magic in the Frozen City.

For soldiers, Knights and Warhounds will even the odds as far as hand to hand goes.  I found a nice model for a Crow Master, and a really cool Bones model for the Assassin.  A Treasure Hunter will be the recipient of a Fleet Feet spell right off the bat and will make for a great chest-grabber.

Locked wooden and metal chests full of treasure, for clarification.

Storm King's Thunder: Prepare to Die Edition [Part 2]

*Updated 10/27/2017*

Warning:  SPOILERS ahead for Storm King's Thunder.

View Campaign Page.

2.1 Triboar 

The party descends the cloud staircase from Zephyros' Tower, and makes their way into the town of Triboar.  Supposedly named after some guy in the olden days managed to kill three boars in one day nearby, the town is an agricultural community surrounded by farms and ranches.  The players remember that the ex-husband of the proprietor of the Lion's Share in Triboar perished in the attack on Nightstone, and find the shop right away to give her the bad news.

The players explore the town and meet various characters, including Narth Tezrin, who helps run the Lion's Share.  Ghelryn Foehammer is the crotchety dwarf smith from down the road, and Urgala Meltimer from the North Shield House, a respectable inn.  Othovir is the town harness maker but doesn't have much to say, and Darz Helgar is the creepy dude who rakes turds from yards.  After learning all this, the party makes arrangements to stay at the North Shield House, then immediately go to the nearest bar with a hole in the roof.

2.2 Attack on Triboar 

Suddenly, the town erupts in a great panic.  Sweeping forth from the northeast is a force of orcs, lead by two fire giants.  Orcs riding axebeaks sweep into town ahead of two squads of magmins and a group of orogs.  The axebeaks wreak havoc on the town, whose guards the Lord Protector had just dispatched to deal with threats out on the countryside.  Undefended, the town began to burn as the magmins began to torch fields and buildings.

The characters are unhappy with this, and Niv attracts the attention of one of the giants.  This earns him a boulder, which prompts his retreat from the battlefield for a few moments.  Total chaos breaks out as the town and adventurers rally to the defense.

The giants were after something, and seemed to follow some sort of magical divining rod into town to begin digging in the middle of Darz' field.  A bloody fight with orogs and the giants ensue, during which time Softhands disrupts their digging by dropping a darkness upon the dig site.  Starman gets everyone back in the fight, and in a torrent of rage, magic and dirty tricks the defenders of Triboar (incredibly) manage to kill the two giants and disperse the orc raiding party.

Afterward, the hole the giants were digging was found to contain a strange piece of manufactured adamantite about eleven feet long, almost free from the ground.



Return to Storm King's Thunder: Prepare to Die Edition?

Top 8 Reasons the Illusionist is Best

Inspirobot will help you cut through the delusions.

I've already collected a lot of miniatures that I've set aside for Frostgrave.  When I first started, I didn't intend to do every wizard as a full warband but as the Bones rolled in it became apparent that I could.  So I did.

I still have my eye on the official Frostgrave models, which came out later.  So I've moved some minis around to make room for Soldiers, Barbarians and Cultists, but it's still going to be a hundred models (not including bestiary or terrain).  However, that hundred models will be a blast to paint, as it will be more about painting characters than troopers.

For the Illusionist, I had some Bones models that I happened to have the corresponding translucents for.  Wizard, Apprentice and Captain.  Woot.  Now I can annoy my opponents with Invisibility.

My first wizard in any campaign was an Illusionist, and I had a lot of fun playing him as a scoundrel.  He's dead.  Still cool though.  The aligned schools for the Illusionist are Soothsayer,  Sigilist and Thaumaturge.  The neutral schools are Necromancer, Witch, Chronomancer, Summoner and Enchanter; the opposed school is Elementalist.  Interestingly, Illusionists are also known as Conjurors (along with many other derisive epithets).

Top 8 Reasons the Illusionist is Best!

1. Beauty
• This can actually cause a lot of disruption in the enemy battle line, especially if they've got a mean crush on (for) your wizard.  It won't work every time, but if you're being attacked by several enemies it can cause them to look stupid for a moment.
2. Fool's Gold
• This is an interesting spell you'll have to play with to get some true use out of.  When they get wise to your spell, try placing a REAL treasure well out of the way and send someone quick to go get it when your enemy is committed to the larger concentrations elsewhere on the board.
3. Glow
• Like most Illusionist spells, this is a solid support spell.  If your enemy forms a strong battle line, you may have to answer it in kind - and this can really turn the tide for your soldiers as +3 isn't a meagre bonus!
4. Illusionary Soldier
• Cast before every battle if you have nothing else to cast.  You have a good range of choice here, but remember the illusions aren't nearly as hardy as their corporeal counterparts and can't really do much.  But still.
5. Invisibility
• A staple for the Illusionist.  It has a great many applications, from approaching combat to escaping it.
6. Monstrous Form
• At first glance, this is very similar to Beauty but has a totally different effect.  It's good for getting enemies to move away from you, and even stopping a beatdown in progress.  However, it doesn't protect you from missiles or cause them to lose actions - but it's a better protection vs. melee.
7. Teleport
• Again, indispensable, no matter what school of wizardry you study.  It's a staple, and can't be ignored.
8. Transpose
• Slightly harder to cast successfully, Transpose can be used both offensively and defensively.  The ability to move ANY models is far out, but if used on the enemy there could be multiple Will rolls to resist.  That said, a successfully cast Transpose can really foul up enemy wizards and their plans.

Honestly, there's a lot of good stuff there...but remember you're starting at Level 1 and your apprentice can barely cast anything.  For my first three spells, I'm going with Glow, Invisibility and Teleport.  My wizard and her apprentice carry bows, and daggers as well, so I'll supplement the Glow advantage with other augmentation spells like Combat Awareness from the Soothsayer school.

I've also selected soldiers with higher move rates, and intend to run this warband like a team of thieves and rogues.  If at all possible, avoid combat and fire missiles with Archers while Thieves and Treasure Hunters grab the loot.  In and off the board in a hurry!!  Though I know combat can't be entirely avoided, it will be fun to see how this plays on the tabletop.