LotR 71 - Return to Mirkwood (14)

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Continuing my exploration of The Eagles Are Leaving!.

This game is on Easy mode per the rules, with the exception of adding the two normal mode Mirkwood Bats. One thing about not using Shadow cards is that I'm now subject to the effects of every card in the deck. However, there aren't that many enemies in this deck, so the cards don't progress that fast anyway.

Initial hand:

  1. A Test of Will
  2. Unexpected Courage
  3. The Galadhrim's Greetings
  4. Citadel Plate
  5. Song of Travel
  6. Escort from Edoras

This was hand-picked, I pulled these cards from the deck and shuffled the remainder to use for the draw. This might well be "cheating" in some sense, but I don't really care. At this point, I'm more interested in proving out the deck.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 6, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: Song of Travel on Thalin.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Great Forest Web. Net +5 on Quest.
  4. Travel: Refresh Gimli, then exhaust for Great Forest Web.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Wasted Provisions. Net +7, clear Great Forest Web. Discard Vassal of the Windlord, A Test of Will, Dwarven Axe, West Road Traveler, Hasty Stroke, West Road Traveler, Hasty Stroke, Escort from Edoras, Ancient Mathom, Feint.
  4. Travel: refresh Gimli for Woodman's Glade.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 9, draw Northern Trackers.
  2. Planning: play The Galadhrim's Greetings, Threat 31.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, draw Mirkwood Bats. Net +5 clears Woodman's Glade and Stage 1.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Citadel Plate on Gimli, play Escort from Edoras.
  3. Quest: Thalin, draw The Spider's Ring. Threat 36.
  4. Travel: The Spider's Web.
  5. Encounter: The Spider's Web.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 40.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 6, draw Northern Tracker.
  2. Planning: The Galadhrim's Greetings, Threat 34.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Mountains of Mirkwood.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 6, draw Vassal of the Windlord.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, Escort from Edoras (this is where I'll win or lose the game), The Brown Lands. Could be worse, like Hill Troll. Quest with 11, 7 Threat in Staging, net 4 on quest. Will be tight.
  4. Travel: The Brown Lands.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 42.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 9, draw Citadel Plate.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Gollumn's Bite. Not a problem, put that on Gimli for 4 hits. Net +7 which clears Stage 3.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 46.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 12, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Galadhrim's Greetings, Vassal of the Windlord, Citadel Plate on Gimli. Threat 40.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Thalin, Gimli, draw Wood Elf Path. Net +4 and that's a win.

AAR

This turned out to be on the edge of too easy. I think it would be worth playing again with a random draw on the player deck. That said, since this was the 14th play of this quest, I had a pretty good idea of the pitfalls, and it could have easily gone pear-shaped.

I do think it would be really, really hard without having at least Song of Travel or Unexpected Courage in the initial hand, probably both. While Citadel Plate turned out to be unnecessary in this game, there are plenty of enemies for which it would be necessary.

I should do an in-depth analysis of this scenario in the future, especially discussing the interplay of locations in the Staging area and active versus the hinge between Stage 2 and 3. Given threat control, that's where the game is most easily won and lost.

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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.