Month: September 2025

The Silver Bayonet: Britain – Bones Of Albion review

Disclaimer: Osprey Games were kind enough to send me a review copy of The Silver Bayonet: Britain – Bones of Albion with no obligation to post about the book. What follows then, is my review of the book and is my own opinion. #ad

The Silver Bayonet is coming home!

‘As the specter of invasion looms from across the Channel, the ghosts of Britain’s ancient past return to haunt the living.’ – Britain – Bones of Albion – Joseph McCullough.

The latest campaign book for The Silver Bayonet, brings the action back home to Britain. It takes Silver Bayonet units around Britain to discover the cause of the increased encounters with undead across the country.

A Look At The Book

The Silver Bayonet: Britain – Bones of Albion  by Joseph McCullough and will be published by Osprey Games on the 25th September 2025, continues the theme seen in previous books in the series with a cover styled to look like an old book with gold-ish lettering on a dark red cover, showing signs of wear. ‘Slightly foxed, but still desirable’ in book collecting terms, I believe. So, it will look great next to other books from the series on your book shelf. 

Inside, the pages continue the style aesthetic and look like the well read pages, of an old book,  occasionally stained with blood splashes, bloody finger prints or showing damage to the edges. 

The book is liberally sprinkled with excellent illustrations by Brainbug Design that carry on the great work they have contributed to other books in the series.

The book opens with an introduction from Joseph giving us an insight into some of the inspiration for the campaign and how the idea came to him while out cycling one day. 

Chapter One

Here Joseph details the background for the campaign, weaving in threads from many parts of Britain’s history of invasions. The campaign has its roots in the island’s distant past when druids performed a ritual to curse the invading Romans, but were unsuccessful. Centuries later an ancient magical black stone has been uncovered that has belatedly finished that ritual.  Now the undead of the island’s many invaders from the centuries since the original ritual are rising to plague the country.  Thus, Silver Bayonet Units are making their way to Britain to investigate and deal with the risen dead.

Chapter Two

A short chapter but sweet nonetheless detailing a new soldier type available for British units or any unit if you use the ‘Go outside the list’ optional rule from the main rulebook, the Bow Street Runner. 

These were possibly London’s first professional police force and were attached to the Bow Street magistrates office, giving them the nickname of the Bow Street Runners. The previous link is to the website of The Bow Street Museum of Crime and Justice. It’s well worth a look, full of little bits of historical gems.  Don’t have a suitable mini for officer? Look no further than Northstar Military Figures who are producing a Bow Street Runners set of two metal miniatures for the very reasonable price of £6.00 at the time of writing.  

Chapter Three

This is where you will find the campaign itself.  There are eight linked scenarios intended to be played by two players competitively, but the book also offers advice on increasing the player count to three or four players.

The campaign sees the special units visiting eight ancient sites across the British mainland in search for the titular Bones of Albion. The bones are relics left over from the magical ritual of the druids in Roman times and are the targets of the first seven scenarios.

Joseph offers an option to make the campaign more fantastical by using a ‘Bones of Albion Deck’ separate from the clue marker decks found in the first seven scenarios. He also advises a method of assembling the Clue Marker Deck for each scenario to make investigating clue markers more incentivised.

Unexpected Events and Encounters are triggered as detailed in the main rule book, but there is a table of events and encounters specific to the campaign.

I won’t detail each of the eight scenarios as that would be a spoiler and nobody likes spoilers. Suffice to say that each scenario takes place at a different ancient site, so it is an excellent excuse to make some awesome scenery. Of course you can use whatever you have handy to be proxies, nothing wrong with that! 

As mentioned earlier the first seven scenarios have their own clue marker decks and many of the scenarios have special rules and or a specific events tables that further add to the flavour of each one. 

The Bestiary

Chapter four details all the new creatures and new attributes that feature in the scenarios and they are great. There are undead representing many of the peoples that have invaded Britain over the centuries. Apart from making these scenarios great you could also obviously use them in your own scenarios.  An idea I’ve been playing with is having a sort of random undead deck. Should be interesting, might go horribly wrong!

The varieties of undead are just itching for kit bashing but if that is not your for you Northstar Military Figures have got you covered with their ‘The Silver Bayonet. – Wave 9 Miniatures: Britain

Further Campaign Ideas

The one thing I’ve found with Joseph’s games that I currently play, Frostgrave, Stargrave and The Silver Bayonet, is the books just make ideas pop and fizzle in my head, hugely inspiring.  ‘Britain – Bones of Albion’ is no exception. Joseph states in the beginning of chapter three that this is your campaign and you can make any changes you want. He suggests that you could make scenarios based on any interesting locations in your own area. Living in Devon I am close to so many such locations, what horrors could emerge from the many ancient sites of Dartmoor? There could be a Silver bayonet unit hastily recruited from French POWs from Dartmoor Prison!  

The inspiration link of The Silver Bayonet to the Sharpe’s books by Bernard Cornwell could easily be extended to another of his book series The Arthurian saga.  Maybe events that took place in those books have echoes in the times of The Silver Bayonet?  There was one ritual in particular that Merlin started that could be the basis of a similar quest.  Or what if an ancient evil could only be slain by Excalibur? The special units could then search for the ancient blade. Or may be the special Units travel to Ireland in search of the four treasures of the Tuatha De Dannan? The Fomor of Irish myth make excellent bad guys and Balor of the Evil Eye would be a fantastic end ‘boss’. 

Another scenario idea I had, inspired by the themes of the Bones of Albion is something loosely based on the classic (and one of my favourites) horror film ‘The Wicker Man’ – Silver Bayonet units are sent to a mysterious island of the coast of Scotland to investigate the disappearance of a Bow Street Runner who was investigating the island.  Possibly having Lord Summer Isle as a sort of vampiric creature that feeds on the deaths of innocents, ‘Summer is a coming in…’

The Miniature Battles Rating

I can’t find anything in the book that I don’t like. I think even if you never play the campaign the book is just stuffed full of inspiration for creating your own scenarios, and that to me is the sign of a ‘must buy’ supplement.  The Silver Bayonet: Britain – Bones of Albion gets a D20 in my scoring system!

A set of polyhedral dice in grey scale with d20 in colour.

Frostgrave: Advanced Spellcraft Review

Marking and celebrating the 10th year of Frostgrave comes Advanced Spellcraft by Joseph Mc Cullough and published by Osprey. It is the largest of the Frostgrave supplements so far and apart from Frostgrave: Wizard Eye: The Art of Frostgrave the only one in hardback. 

The look of the book

Like its predecessors Advanced Spellcraft is beautifully presented with a cover depicting a mage studying a magical tome with a look of surprise or perhaps building terror on her face while unbeknownst to her two whispy Book Wights approach from behind. Inside the text is liberally adorned with great photos by Kevin Dalimore, of miniatures painted by him and Paul Cubbin, and stunning artwork by aRu-Mor. The painting on page 27 is one of my favorites and is wonderfully creepy.

What’s inside?  

The book opens with an introduction from Joseph. I always enjoy reading these because I always get the feeling that Joseph is as excited about playing his games as he is writing his books, so you know you are in good hands.

The book is themed around the rediscovered Bibliosepulchre of Felstad. This vast library-crypt was the resting place of ancient librarians who were entombed, each holding tightly to a rare grimoire.  Chapter One details a range of eight optional spellcasting rules that you can add to your game. My favourites are the Casting Roll Criticals and Flourishes. 

As the name suggests Casting Roll Criticals add an enhancement on a casting roll of twenty, a critical success or a detrimental effect on a roll of one, a critical failure.

The Flourishes are used for when a Wizard finds or purchases a grimoire of a spell that they already know, they can then use it to learn to cast the spell with an optional flourish, to achieve different effects albeit with a harder casting roll. These are a great addition to the game adding further depth and variety to the spells.

Chapter Two is the Codified Spell List.  All the spells from the Frostgrave rule book are covered with Critical Success and Critical Failure effects and apart from one spell, two or more flourish effects.  Additionally there are notes or FAQs for many of the spells listed. 

Next is The Bibliosepulchre Campaign that consists of ten scenarios written for two players and recommended for experienced wizards as they are ‘extremely dangerous and include deadly monsters’, to quote the book, so will be suitably challenging if you have been playing Frostgrave for the last 10 years. The scenarios are playable in order but there is also a table for rolling for them randomly.  Each scenario takes place in a section dedicated to one of the schools of magic from the Frostgrave rulebook. A nice touch is that the scenarios can be played with your normal Frostgrave terrain as the Bibliosepulchre reflects the city and also many areas would be collapsed ruins.  Ideally though you might want to make some book shelves, lecterns and other accoutrements found in libraries.   I will admit to not having read through all the scenarios, mainly because I like to read them in sequence of playing them, if you get what I mean, and I haven’t had the time yet. 

Chapter Four details thirty nine new treasure items that can be found in the Bibliosepulchre. After each scenario one treasure token can be exchanged for a roll on the Bibliosepulchre Treasure Table.  There is a huge range of magical items detailed here and a note is made that due to their rarity none of them should be available to purchase which will keep them as a great incentive to play the scenarios. 

The final chapter details fourteen new creatures that may be encountered within the Advanced Spellcraft scenarios.  There is of course a random encounter table and details of new creature traits not found in the main rulebook.

Conclusion

I have to say that Advanced Spellcraft is a really great supplement for Frostgrave and adds so much to the games.  I haven’t gone into page by page detail in this review, partly to keep the review to a reasonable length, and partly as doing so would feel a little like giving out spoilers.  If you enjoy Frostgrave, go and buy the book or the PDF, I don’t think you will be dissapointed! I’m giving Advanced Spellcraft a d20 in the miniature battles rating scheme.

A set of polyhedral dice in grey scale with d20 in colour.

All Alone in Felstad Pt4 – Frostgrave Battle Report – 2nd solo scenario

Isher’s weapon shop

Durnimlath watched as the unconscious bodies of  Seregthaur and Mothorm became surrounded by a hazy light, flickering from blue to purple and back again. The air was filled with a subtle tang of hot metal which she associated with magic being used. Both the elves became indistinct as the light grew stronger. And then, as the light winked out the two forms were replaced by two different elves, Breged and Calaraglar. Both sat up looking confused.

Two Miniatures for the skirmish wargame - Frostgrave
The new Thugs – Breged On the left & Carlaraglar On the right

“Welcome to Felstad” Durnimlath said with an ironic smile. “Tell me. What were you doing before you arrived here?”

“We were patrolling near the Sentry Oak” Breged replied, standing up and brushing dust from the floor from her leather clothing.

“Yes, and then I heard a sound like screaming in the distance that got closer and became louder until I felt like I could not bear it…” Calaraglar said, her voice trailing off into silence.

“I heard it also, yet I thought it more like the cry of marsh geese, and then we were…here.” Breged continued looking at the nodding Calaraglar.

“I am sorry my friends but it seems that someone or something is using strong magic to play games with us. We were likewise patrolling the boundaries of the forest and then we found ourselves on the edge of this ruined city. It is Felstad and we are at the doorway to an abandoned weapon shop. We here have already fought with strange smoke like serpents to get this far. It is my hope that inside we will find items to aid us in returning to Farran. Until then I fear we may have many adversaries to overcome.”

The Setup

This, the second solo scenario from the Frostgrave “Perilous Dark” supplement, takes the war band to the weapon workshop of Isher, in search of magical items. It begins with the war band having come through the doorway of the ruined weapon shop.

I made a change to my war band after the previous scenario and made Brikolad a captain using the rules from “The Frostgrave Folio“. This lets you have a war band member who can gain experience, in return for a small fee. The initial cost is 100GC and as I’d already spent 75 on Brikolad I just paid an additional 25.

I used some home made, slightly wonky, slightly scruffy, dungeon tiles and various piles of rubble and walls also made from XPS foam plus weapon racks and shelves made from coffee stirrers.

Wargames table covered with xps foam dungeon tiles xps rubble, walls and weapon racks made from coffee stirers.

The object is to get from the door to the opposite side of the board where there is a magical cabinet with a switch on either side. When both switches are pulled the cabinet will open, depositing two loot tokens. Then the war must get back to the door and exit the workshop, ending the scenario. At each corner of the board is a numbered spawn point. At the beginning of the game there are two gnoll thugs at each of the spawn points and two gnoll knights standing in front of the magical cabinet.

Diagram of the board set up
Diagram of the board layout
Scenery pieces for skirmish wargame Frostgrave
Switches on walls made with XPS foam and bamboo sticks with green stuff.
Model cabinet for skirmish wargame Frostgrave
The magic cabinet made with thick card and XPS foam

Out of game spells

Durnimlath and Mirhen both cast Out of game spells Familiar, Brew Potion and Animal Companion (more on that at the end). Only the Animal Companions were successful so they each start the game with a Snow Leopard companion.

28mm Snow leopard miniatures

The following are the highlights (and low lights) of the skirmish.

Turn 1

My plan was to move the thieves and snow leopards up the board as fast as possible to throw the switches and open the cabinet, while the Wizard, Apprentice, Captain and knight move up the board ready to grab the loot. The rest of the war band was to stay fairly close to the door to keep it clear for when the others come back with the loot.

Miniatures on a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish game

Durnimlath successfully casts enchant weapon on Daetir‘s dagger – this is useful as it negates the -1 damage penalty that daggers have.

In the creature phase II the gnolls begin moving towards the centre of the board. I decided that the two gnoll knights would however, stay guarding the cabinet.

Turn 2

Brikolad gets first blood taking a gnoll down with his bow and Durnimlath casts another Enchant Weapon, this time on Kirgwaith’s dagger.

Miniatures on a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame


Mirhen does a great job casting an Elemental Bolt successfully despite an effective -4 penalty and does enough damage to also kill a gnoll. That laser burned up my whole special effects budget!

Miniatures on a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame and a laser line marker

Back near the entrance Calaraglar and Galenglim are attacked by gnolls. Calaraglar takes damage but Galenglim wins the combat and damages the gnoll.

In the soldier phase Calaraglar attacks the gnoll and removes it from the game.

Miniatures on a a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame

At the end of the turn a gnoll knight spawns at 2.

Turn 3

Apart from maneuvering and some failed casting rolls nothing much happens until the soldier phase when Gurthbor, Galenglim and a snow leopard all attack and kill gnolls.

Miniatures in a game of Frostgrave
Miniatures in a game of Frostgrave
Snowleopard and gnoll miniatures in a game of Frostgrave

At the end of the turn two gnoll thugs spawn.

Turn 4

Durnimlath begins the turn by casting elemental bolt at a gnoll. She needs to empower it (taking damage) but it hits and kills a gnoll.

In the soldier phase the first war band casualty occurs when a snow leopard attacks a gnoll, loses the combat and is killed.

At the end of the turn two more gnoll thugs spawn.

Turn 5

At the beginning of the turn Durnimlath casts another empowered elemental bolt and kills a gnoll.

Later in the turn Mirhen successfully casts bone dart killing a gnoll.

Miniatures on a a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame

In the creature phase 2 a gnoll attacks Calaraglar and removes her from the board.

Miniatures on a a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame

The Coming of Borock

Borock is a huge gnoll mutated by magic to be a Minotaur/gnoll hybrid. Big bad and able to send other gnolls into a killing frenzy, he will be a big problem for the war band. There is a chance that he might spawn earlier but if he hasn’t, he spawns at the end of turn 5.

Miniature of Borock a Gnoll/minotaur hybrid

I digitally kit-bashed Borock using Microsoft 3D Builder using a gnoll miniature by Evgenii Tkachenko at Maypole Minis and Minotaur horns from Murray – GameScape3D

Turn 6

Breged rolls lucky attacking and killing a gnoll..

Miniatures on a a wargames board for the Frostgrave skirmish wargame

A Gnoll attacks the remaining Snow Leopard killing it while another gnoll loses its combat with Naru Magol and is killed.

Miniatures and scenery being used for the skirmish wargame, Frostgrave

At the end of the turn a gnoll archer spawns.

Turn 7

The thieves continue moving towards the switches while Naru Magol attacks and kills a Gnoll. Gurthbor and Galenglim both attack gnolls and kill them.

Two elven infantry men miniatures used in the Frostgrave skirmish wargame

At the end of the turn both a gnoll thug and a gnoll archer spawn at spawn point 2.

Turn 8

Daetir reaches the left-hand switch and Kirgwaith is nearly at the right-hand switch but, has a gnoll thug and a gnoll archer (who has already done 8 damage) very near-by.

Galenglim and Gurthbor attack Borock, hopefully keeping tied up and not able to inspire other gnolls to frenzy.

At the end of the turn a gnoll knight spawns, at 3 right near the left-hand switch!

Turn 9 – Turn 12

This where it all started to unravel. Galenglim and Gurthbor kept Borock busy but Galenglim was brought down before Gurthbor finished him off. The rest of the the war band were slowly whittled away including Mirhen the apprentice. Durnimlath was left all alone and made a break, heading back to the door to leave but was brought down by gnoll archer, inches away from reaching it.

Post Game

Luckily both Durnimlath. Mirhen and Brikolad had good rolls on the Death and Injury table, making full recoveries.

The soldiers rolls were as follows:

Naru Magol – Full Recovery

Gurthbor – Dead

Galen Glim – Full Recovery

Daetir – Badly wounded

Kirgwaith – Badly wounded

Calaraglar – Badly wounded

Breged – Dead

Badly Wounded means the soldier will not be available for the next scenario. I’m going to replace the two thugs with animal companions and the two thieves with new ones as they are free to recruit. They will look somewhat identical to the ones that the replace. Odd that! Gurthbor is replaced by a new soldier a Man At Arms.

I also realised I had miss-read the rules regarding the Animal Companion spell and that they should have taken up a soldier slot. I also forgot that both the magic users had heal spells – doh!

There was some XP and Durnimlath goes up a level and raises her shoot stat, which will help with Bone Dart and Elemental Bolt. This also means that Mirhen’s shoot stat also raises.

The war band have moved into the Treasury to use as their base and found some Gold Crowns so that was some good news.

I’m undecided whether to run through the scenario again or just go on to the next. I think I will run it again but with a changed gnoll spawning table.

I was surprised at how tough the scenario felt. There is a lot talk on the internet about the previous scenario being overpowered, and Joseph has said as much himself, but I thought this one was as tough, if not more so. What, I think makes it difficult is the spawning of extra gnolls at the end of every turn.

As I think it is said in Perilous Dark, balancing solo scenarios is not easy. Of course, if I had had a lot of better dice rolls, my perception might have been different, and you do have a reasonable chance of any downed soldiers surviving which is a plus. I also possibly didn’t have enough scenery as it is suggested that you have a bit more than for competitive games.

I think I will re jig the gnoll spawns to have less knights and only spawns on every other turn. After all Borock is out of the picture so maybe the gnolls are leaving that area now their leader is gone.

Overall i really enjoyed the game and am looking forwards to playing again.

Gnoll mniatures

Northstar Military Figures – Frostgrave Gnolls

Free STL files used,by:

Jaime Blanco at Warpainted Minis

Nicolas Hughes The Jester Mask

Yasashii Kyojin Studio

And a group of “Heroscape: Gnoll Fighters” which I can’t find any details on plus some basic gnolls from an old D&D game.

Let me know in the comments if you have played this scenario and how you found it? Also how do you find campaign play in skirmish wargames? Are there any that get it spot on?

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