Frostgrave Game: Rules, Minis & Battles

Frostgrave is a game where you lead a wizard, an apprentice, and hired soldiers into ruined frozen cities to hunt for treasure and use magic to overcome obstacles and foes.

What Frostgrave Is

Frostgrave is a fantasy miniatures wargame created by Joseph A. McCullough.
You explore a ruined magical city called Felstad, battle rivals, fight monsters, and collect artifacts.

Warbands & Roster

Each player forms a warband. A typical warband includes:

• A Wizard (your main character)
• An Apprentice (optional)
• Soldiers — standard types and specialists

You begin with a fixed amount of gold (in second edition, 400 gold crowns) to hire soldiers and buy gear.
There is a limit on how many specialists you can hire to keep balance.

Table & Terrain

You play on a tabletop (often 3′ × 3′) filled with terrain pieces like walls, broken buildings, ruins, obstacles.
Terrain is key: lots of blocking areas makes the game more tactical.
Line of sight is frequently blocked, forcing close movement and clever positioning.

Game Turn & Phases

A single round is split into phases. The usual sequence is:

1. Wizard Phase — activate the wizard and nearby soldiers
2. Apprentice Phase — activate apprentice and nearby soldiers
3. Soldier Phase — activate remaining soldiers
4. Creature / Monster Phase — uncontrolled monsters act

In each phase, players alternate activating their eligible figures.

Activation & Actions

When a figure activates, it normally gets 2 actions.
Possible actions include:

• Move
• Second move (half distance)
• Melee fight
• Shoot / ranged attack
• Cast a spell
• Pick up / drop / secure treasure
• Special action (depending on gear, spell, or scenario)

In group activations (wizard or apprentice plus nearby soldiers), all must move first before doing other actions.

Movement & Terrain Effects

• Difficult or rough terrain slows movement (for example, 2” movement for every 1” attempted)
• Jumping is allowed: up to 4” horizontally, if moving in a straight line
• Falling more than 3” causes damage (usually distance × 1.5)
• Models may sometimes block each other, especially in tight spaces
• Some rules let friendly figures move past each other in tight corridors under group activation

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Combat & Damage

• For melee combat, both figures roll a d20 and add their Fight stat and modifiers
• The higher total wins
• Winner’s total + damage modifiers minus opponent’s Armor determines damage
• If damage > 0, it subtracts from the loser’s health
• Winner may push either themselves or opponent back by 1” if desired

Ranged attacks follow a similar roll + shoot stat vs target, with modifiers.

Spellcasting & Magic

• Wizards choose a school of magic and learn spells from that school
• Each spell has a casting difficulty (target number)
• Wizards may “burn” health (lose HP) to increase their roll by +1 per health point spent
• Some spells let you damage enemies, summon creatures, move models, or change terrain
• In a campaign, wizards may learn spells from other schools, though with penalties

Treasure, Objectives & Victory

• At the start, treasure tokens (artifacts, gold, spell tomes) are placed on the board
• Models pick up, carry, drop, or secure treasure tokens
• Carrying treasure may impose movement penalties
• Victory is often determined by who controls or removes most treasure / completes scenario goals
• In newer rules, killing an opponent’s wizard does not give experience points

Experience & Campaign Growth

• Frostgrave is built for campaign play, over many games
• Each game gives a cap on how much experience (XP) you can gain
• XP is awarded for collecting treasure, completing scenario goals, defeating monsters, and sometimes for failed spells
• Players use XP to improve stats, learn new spells, hire better soldiers, and upgrade gear

Changes in Second Edition

• Starting gold reduced to 400 (from 500 in first edition)
• Spells rebalanced, and new spells added
• Some rules cleaned up, layout improved
• More scenario variety and updated monster rules
• Many of the first edition supplements remain usable

Strategy Tips

• Use terrain and cover to your advantage
• Balance between aggressive play (getting treasure) and defense
• Include at least one ranged or flexible spell
• Don’t overspend on specialists early; losing them hurts more
• Use your apprentice smartly — useful for flanking, securing treasure, or support
• Track your warband’s growth — gear and spells matter as games progress

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