LotR 46 - Escape from Dol Guldur (4)

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Continuing my thrashing on Escape from Dol Goldur, my current effort is simply to figure out how to get through Stage 1.

Initial hand after mulligan:

  1. Stand and Fight
  2. Snowbourn Scout
  3. Erebor Hammersmith
  4. Sneak Attack
  5. Forest Snare
  6. Hasty Stroke

Initial Encounter draw:

  1. Shadow Key has Enchanted Stream.
  2. Dungeon Torch has King Spider, exhaust Theodred.
  3. Gandalf's Map has Ungoliant's Spawn.

I do not think this is winnable out of the gate. I'm going to play a round or two to see what happens.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 2, draw Northern Tracker.
  2. Planning: play Snowbourn Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw Great Forest Web, Threat 32.
  4. Travel: none, can't exhaust any heroes, they're all already exhausted.
  5. Encounter: King Spider and Ungoliant Spawn.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn defends from Ungoliant's Spawn, draw Shadow Mountains of Mirkwood, no effect. King Spider undefended draw Tower Gate Shadow no effect, 3 D to Theodred.
  7. Threat 33.

I made a mistake here: I should have discarded a Lore card to get Eowyn 1 more Will, which would have left Ungoliant's Spawn in the staging area until the next turn at least.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 3, draw Snowbourn Scout.
  2. Planning: play Snowbourn Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw King Spider, Threat 35.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: King Spider.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn Scout, Theodred and Eowyn are dead, there is no way to get around it.

Ok so that went pretty fast.

I think I'm going to mulligan the Staging area if Ungoliant's Spawn shows up during setup, for sure if there is Ungoliant's spawn and one other enemy. There's just no way to get around it. It's too much too fast at the beginning.

Goal for next game: mulligan for Lore card to discard on initial quest to boost Eowyn. Will of the West can be used to shuffle the discard back into the draw deck.

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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.