LotR 60 - Return to Mirkwood (3)

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After a several month hiatus, trying Return to Mirkwood again, and again with Beorn's Path 9 Return to Mirkwood deck. This will be an interesting game in part because this is a hard quest for anyone, and especially so me as I haven't played it for quite a while, and haven't even played this game in a while.

Initial hand:

  1. The Eagles Are Coming!
  2. Escort from Edoras
  3. Vassal of the Windlord
  4. Unexpected Courage
  5. Gondorian Spearman
  6. Song of Travel

I like this one well enough, no mulligan.

The initial Encounter draw is The Spider's Ring. Not too bad.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Ancient Mathom.
  2. Planning: Song of Travel on Thalin, Unexpected Courage on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Marsh Adder for net +1 on Quest.
  4. Travel: The Spider's Ring.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29 + 1 + 3 = 33.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 3, draw Song of Travel.
  2. Planning: Eagles are coming to find Winged Guardian and another Eagles are coming. Ancient Mathom on Spider's Ring.
  3. Quest: Eowyn and discard extra Song of Travel, Gimli, Thalin for 8, draw Wood Elf Path for net +4. Spider's Ring is cleared, draw Swift Strike, Gandalf and Escort from Edoras.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 5, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: The Galadhrim's Greeting to get Threat back down to 31. The Eagles Are Coming!
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Gimli, Thalin, draw Hill Troll. That's bad. Net +2 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Hill Troll.
  6. Combat: Ready Gimli. Draw Shadow Gollum's Anguish, Threat 35, Gimli takes 4 hits.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 6, draw Vassal of the Windlord.
  2. Planning: Gondorian Spearman and Vassal of the Windlord.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, draw Mirkwood Bats but killed from Thalin before surging. Awesome! Net +2 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Hill Troll defended by Gondorian Spearman, add 1 hit, draw Attercop Attercop for Shadow card (Yes!). Vassal of Windlord and Gimli for net 6 damage, Gimli readies with Unexpected Courage to swing for another +3 hits for the kill.
  7. Refresh: Threat 43.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 6, draw Song of Travel.
  2. Planning: Winged Guardian, Vassal of the Windlord, Escort from Edoras.
  3. Quest: Eowyn w/ Song of Travel, Thalin, Escort from Edoras for 10, draw The East Bight. Net +5 to clear "Through the Forest."
  4. Travel: East Bight is mandatory.
  5. Encounter: Marsh Adder.
  6. Combat: Winged Guardian defends, Shadow is Morkwood Bats, no effect, 3 hits on Winged Guardian pay 1 to keep in play. Gimli swings once for 6 to put 5 hits, the refresh for another 5 hits, Marsh Adder is toast. Threat 44 from Marsh Adder.
  7. Refresh: Threat 48.

I think I messed up on Threat control, I should have brought in Gandalf this turn to reduce threat, as I won't have enough Resource to bring him in next turn. If I don't draw and play Galadhrim's Greetings, the game is over.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 3, draw Eagles of the Misty Mountains. Too little too late.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, draw Great Forest Web, net +2 P on East Bight.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 52, game over.

This wasn't bad. The key to this scenario really is resource management, as there just aren't quite enough resources to keep threat under control.

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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.