LotR 80 - Into the Pit (10)

Mar 3 2018

Round 1

Resource: 3, draw Feint.
Planning: none
Quest: none.
Travel: none.
Encounter: Goblin Follower.
Combat: Play Feint to prevent Goblin Follower attack, shadow is Goblin Swordsman, which would normally put the Goblin Follower back in the staging area, but since I played Feint, I don’t think this happens, see related page in FAQ. Dwalin and Thalin attack for +6 with the Dain bonus to kill Goblin Follower, Threat 28.
Refresh: Threat 29.

A good first round.

Round 2

Resource: 5, draw Protector of Lórien.
Planning: play Unexpected Courage on Dwalin.
Quest: Thalin, Dwalin draw Goblin Swordsman net +3 on East-Gate.
Travel: none.
Encounter: Goblin Swordsman.
Combat: Dain defends, shadow Watchful Eyes for no effect. Dwalin swings for 2 and kills Goblin Swordsman, Threat 27.
Refresh: Threat 28.

Nice. This is how it’s supposed to work. Let’s see if we can clear East Gate next.

Round 3

Resource: 6, draw Zigil Miner.
Planning: play Gandalf for Threat 23.
Quest: Thalin, Dwalin, Gandalf draw Branching Paths net +6 Progress clearing East-Gate with 2 P on Entering the Mines.
Travel: First Hall.
Encounter: none.
Combat: none.
Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 4

Resource: 4, draw Erebor Record Keeper.
Planning: none.
Quest: Thalin and Dwalin, draw Fouled Well, net 0 on quest, this is not good, I’m on track for location lock now.
Travel: none.
Encounter: none.
Combat: none.
Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 5

Resource: 7, draw Zigil Miner.
Planning: play Zigil Miner.
Quest: Thalin, Dwalin and Zigil Miner, draw Goblin Swordsman.
Travel: none.
Encounter: Goblin Swordsman.
Combat: Dain defend Goblin Swordsman, draw shadow Sudden Pitfall which discard Dain from play. Game over.
Refresh: Threat.

In 5 games, I’ve drawn the single card Sudden Pitfall twice, both times ending the game.

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.