LotR 43 - Escape from Dol Guldur (1)

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Using the "Back to Basics" deck for this first run at Escape from Dol Goldur. The original builder of this deck claims 1/4 win rate, which I think may be possible as he is (apparently) really, really good. I don't expect that for myself. If I win 1/10 I'll be surprised. However, I am expecting to learn some interesting card play.

I also intend on not retconning any of these plays in favor of writing up mistakes in detail as soon as I understand where the mistake was made.

Initial hand, after mulligan:

  1. The Galdhrim's Greeting
  2. Hasty Stroke
  3. Dwarven Tomb
  4. Will of the West
  5. Hasty Stroke
  6. Gleowine

Not sure this is any better than my original hand, but I'm going with it for now.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 2, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: none, don't have enough resources to play Steward of Gondor yet.
  3. Quest: none, can't afford to lose a hero, draw Iron Shackles, an annoyance but not directly harmful. Threat 30.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

I'm not dead yet.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 4, draw Iron Shackles. Womp womp.
  2. Planning: play Steward of Gondor on Eowyn.
  3. Quest: none, draw Dol Goldur Beastmaster, Threat 36. Dang.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Dol Goldur Beastmaster.
  6. Combat: Theodred defends against Dol Goldur Beastmaster, Shadow 1 Ungoliant's Spawn, Shadow 2, Caught in a Web. Hasty Stroke to Cancel Shadow 1. No use for Eowyn to attack. I should have had Eowyn quest.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

I made a mistake here by not questing with Eowyn. It would have been fine given Theodred to defend, but more importantly, would have kept the threat down to prevent Dol Goldur Beastmaster from engaging.

Round 3

This round I need to play Galadhrim's Greeting, and find a way to shut down the Dol Goldur Beastmaster or I'll lose a hero.

  1. Resource: 7, draw Gleowine.
  2. Planning: play The Galadhrim's Greeting, Threat 31.
  3. Quest: Now I'm in a bind, because I cannot quest Eowyn without losing Theodred. So I only quest Theodred, keeping the Leadership resource for himself for now. Draw Chieftain Ufthak, and that's the game because we have exactly 35 Threat which is his engagement threshold. I could go one more round at best, and examining the next cards in the player deck, there is nothing coming up with will allow a better outcome.

Not going to bother to score this bad boy.

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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.