LotR 19 - Mirkwood 13

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Taking another stab at Passage Through Mirkwood using a Tactics mono deck. I think I've been lucky on my last two plays to get as far as I did. For example, Hummerhorns didn't come out, and I was able to control enemies fairly well until getting into location lock.

Here's another go at it.

Initial draw, after mulligan, doesn't look too good:

  1. Horseback Archer
  2. Horseback Archer
  3. Quick Strike
  4. Thicket of Spears
  5. Dwarven Axe
  6. Blade Mastery

Time: 2:53 pm.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Blade of Gondolin.
  2. Planning: play Blade of Gondolin on Legolas.
  3. Quest: all, draw Eyes of the Forest, discard all Event cards, which includes Quick Strike, Thicket of Swords and Blade Mastery. That really hurts. Net 1P.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Legolas.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: undefended, need some luck here, Shadow none, 3 D on Gimli. Legolas deals 2 D. Shit.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Time: 2:58, ET: 4:57.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Feint.
  2. Planning: play Horseback Archer.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw East Bight Patrol, net 0P
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: East Bight Patrol.
  6. Combat: Forest Spider 1 D on Horseback Archer. Play Feint on East Bight Patrol, Legolas kills Forest Spider, Old Forest Road is cleared.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Time: 3:06, ET: 12:28.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: play Gondorian Spearman.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Chieftain Ufthak, net 1P.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: nothing new.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defends from East Bight Patrol, draw Shadow none. Bye bye Spearman. Legolas kills East Bight, +3 P on the first Stage.
  7. Refreash: Threat 32.

Time: 3:12, ET: 18:14.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Quick Strike.
  2. Planning: play Horseback Archer.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Forest Spider.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: Horseback archer defending (need no Shadow, let's get lucky…) Shadow none. Legolas and the other Horseback Archer kill Forest Spider, +3 P on Stage 1.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Time: 3:18, ET: 24:01.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 9, draw Rain of Arrows.
  2. Planning: Dwarven Axe to Legolas.
  3. Quest: Thalin only, draw Dol Goldur Beastmaster. Dang. Threat 36. I don't think this is winnable at this point.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Dol Goldur and Ufthak come out.
  6. Combat: Horseman Archers defend. Legolas and Gimli both for 5 on Ufthak, sends him packing, and that's Stage 1.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Time: 3:26, ET: 33:06.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 10, draw Blade of Gondolin.
  2. Planning: play Blade of Gondolin on Legolas.
  3. Quest: none, draw Hummerhorns.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Thalin defends, take 1D. Dol Goldur sliced and diced by Legolas and Gimli. Draw Beorn's Path for Stage 3. If I didn't have Hummerhorns in play…
  7. Refresh: 38.

Time: 3:35, ET: 41.48.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 13, draw Dwarven Axe.
  2. Planning: play Dwarven Axe on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Thalin, draw Ungoliant's Spawn. Dammit. Just what I was hoping not to happen. I might still be able to win it though, with some Gandalf or Beorn, or locations. Threat 41. Crap.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's and Hummerhorns.
  6. Combat: Legolas for Quick Strike on Hummerhorns, they're done. Ungoliant Spawn undefended, Gimli deals 5 D.
  7. Refresh: 42.

Time: 3:43, ET: 49:34.

Round 8

  1. Resources: 10, draw Quick Strike!
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: none, draw Necromancer's Reach, no effect.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's spawn.
  6. Combat: Quick Strike from Legolas, deals 2 D, +4 P on Beorn's Path, if only 1 more, would have this one won. Gimli defends, killed.
  7. Refresh: 43.

Time: 3:29, ET: 55:57.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 5, draw Feint. If I get a location, I might be able to win it.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: none, draw Great Forest Web, who cares?.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: all in.
  6. Combat: Legolas plays Feint, then attacks to kill Ungoliant for +4 P on Beorn's Path. Just need 1 more…
  7. Refresh: Threat 46.

Time: 3:53, ET: 59: 36.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 5, draw Beorn! Weep! If it were Gandalf, would be a clear win.
  2. Planning: I don't have enough mojo to play Beorn, else I would.
  3. Quest: none. Draw Forest Spider, Threat 50, that's the game!
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: Undefended: Shadow, none, deals 1 D to Legolas, Legolas puts the Forest Spider away to clear Beorn's Path.

Time: 3:59, ET: 1:05

AAR

I'm calling this one a draw at 50 Threat exactly while meeting the Victory Conditions. If I had drawn "Don't Leave the Path" with the cards as otherwise dealt, it would have been a win.

Huge mistake: I haven't been dealing damage to engaged enemies when committing Thalin to quest. This a problem. I think this would have mattered at least once, and possibly twice, and could have been the difference between winning and losing.

The Tactic deck is subtle. Missing a beat anywhere is likely to affect the outcome.

Both Citadel Plate and Blade of Gondolin seem pretty critical for getting a win.

Let's score this beast:

  • Rounds: 100
  • Threat: 50
  • Damage: 1
  • Heros: 20

  • Victory Points: -9

  • Resources: 5 (resources should be counted!)

Total: 162, or -157

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.