LotR 20 - Mirkwood 14

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Another stab at Passage Through Mirkwood using a Tactics mono deck. I almost won the previous attempt, ending with Threat exactly 50 on the last turn after killing Ungoliant's Spawn, Hummerhorns(!), and questing Beorn's Path. Without either Hummerhorns or Beorn's Path, it would have been a win.

Initial draw:

  1. Thicket of Spears
  2. Veteran Axehand
  3. Rain of Arrows
  4. Horseback Archer
  5. Blade of Gondolin
  6. Gandalf

Not too bad, I'm keeping it.

Start: 8:41.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Beorn, interesting.
  2. Planning: Blade of Gondolin on Legolas.
  3. Quest: All, draw Dol Goldur Orcs, Thalin deals 1 D, takes 2 D, Threat now 30. Not an auspicious start.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Legolas.
  5. Encounter: Orcs and Spider.
  6. Combat: Orcs on Gimli undefended, Shadow none, lucky. Spider on Legolas defending, 2 D.
  7. Refresh: 31.

Time: 8:45.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Swift Strike.
  2. Planning: Gandalf, will use up resources, can't be helped. 4 D to spider.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Driven by Shadow, no enemies in staging, surge Caught in a Web, play on Thalin. Crap. However, +3 P clears Old Forest Road.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Gandalf defends against Dol Goldur Orcs, Shadow: none. Legolas swings for 4, kills Orcs, +3 P on "Flies and Spiders."
  7. Refresh: 32.

Time: 8:53.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 3, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Play Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: Gimli, draw Forest Gate, net 0.
  4. Travel: Forest Gate, draw Horn of Gondor and Horn of Gondor!
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: 33.

Time: 8:56.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 4, draw Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: Horn of Gondor to Thalin, Horn of Gondor to Gimli.
  3. Quest: Gimli, draw Dol Goldur Beastmaster, net 0 P.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Beastmaster.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, neither Shadow has effect. Legolas deals 3 D. Vetern Axehand dead, resource for Thalin, Gimli.
  7. Refresh: 34.

Time: 9:02.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 5, draw Dwarven Axe.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Mountains of Mirkwood.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: already in.
  6. Combat: Thicket of Spears, expensive and wish I didn't have to play it this turn, but that's the breaks, would be undefended attack otherwise if I wanted to get this thing killed. Legolas swings with 4, net +3 P on Forest Gate.
  7. Refresh: 34.

Time: 9:08.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 5, draw Rain of Arrows.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Mountains of Mirkwood, 35 Threat.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: 36.

Time: 9:10.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 8, draw Thicket of Spears. Crap.
  2. Planning: play Gandalf, reduce Threat to 31.
  3. Quest: Gandalf, Thalin, draw Hummerhorns, net 0, Thalin puts a D on Hummerhorns.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: 32.

Time: 9:15.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf (again!).
  2. Planning: play Gondorian Spearman.
  3. Quest: Thalin, Gimli, draw Black Forest Bats, remove Gimli from Quest. Threat 36.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Black Forest Bats.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defending, Shadow, none. No damage on Gondorian Spearnman. Legola kills Black Forest Bats, clears Forest Gate, +2 P on Flies and Spiders.
  7. Refresh: 37.

Time: 9:21

Round 9

  1. Resource: 7, draw Horseback Archer.
  2. Planning: Play Gandalf, reduce Threat to 32.
  3. Quest: Gandalf, Gimli, Thalin, draw East Bight Patrol, net +1 P on "Flies and Spiders."
  4. Travel: Mountains of Mirkwood, reveal Old Forest Road.
  5. Encounter: East Bight Orcs.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defend, Shadow none. Legolas attacks and clears Mountains of Mirkwood.
  7. Refresh: 33.

Time: 9:28

Round 10

  1. Resource: 7, draw Blade Mastery.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: all, draw The Necromancer's Reach, 1 D to all, net 0 P.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Legolas.
  5. Encounter: Legolas engages Hummerhorns
  6. Combat: Legolas plays Swift Strike, sadly no P as a result, but no 5 D on a hero either.
  7. Refresh: 34.

Time: 9:34.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 8, draw Citadel Plate.
  2. Planning: Citadel Plate to Gimli.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Necromancer's Pass. Threat 36.
  4. Travel: none. We're in location lock. The remaining cards need to be all enemies, or this is the game.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: 35.

Time: 9:37.

Round 12

  1. Resource: 7, draw Quick Strike.
  2. Planning: play Horseback Archer, just in case.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Ungoliant's Spawn!
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's Spawn.
  6. Combat: Horseback Archer defends, Shadow discard attachment, Horn of Gondor from Gimli. Legolas deals 1 D to Ungoliant's Spawn. Weak. Play Blade Mastery for another D.
  7. Refresh: 36.

Time: 9:46.

Round 13

  1. Resource: 7, draw Feint.
  2. Planning: play Beorn.
  3. Quest: Thalin, draw Enchanted Stream, this is location lock. I'll play it out, but there's no way forward now, with all 3 Gandalf gone. Threat 42.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: all in.
  6. Combat: Beorn defends, Shadow +1 attack, Beorn for 3 D. Add 4 D to Ungoliant's Spawn.
  7. Threat: 43.

Time: 9:51.

Round 14

  1. Resource: 4, draw Quick Strike.
  2. Planning: Dwarven Axe on Legolas.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Thalin, draw Great Forest Web, Threat 49. =(.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: all in.
  6. Combat: Legolas Quick Strike for 1R, 2 D on Ungoliant's Spawn, that's a kill and Old Forest Road is cleared.
  7. Refresh: 50.

Time: 9:56.

That's the game.

AAR

Not that unhappy with this one. It went into Location Lock, and that's not winnable with Tactics, so no big deal. Hard to get around 4-5 locations in a row.

The card draws for me were not bad at all. Too many Gandalf too early, but that's the breaks. It kept me going several rounds longer than I would have been able to go, given all the locations.

Score:

  • Rounds: -140
  • Damage: -6
  • Threat: -50
  • Heros: 0
  • Victory Points: +5
  • Resources: +1

Total score: -190.

Total ET: 1:19.

I'd like to cut the play time in half, but if I'm going to log plays, I'll need to get faster at typing.

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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.