LotR 89 - Into the Pit (18)

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After a couple months off, I'm back to Moria with the dwarves to attempt to get into the pit. I've had a lot of trouble getting started because the initial location requires 7 progress, and my deck musters only 3 at the start. By the time I have enough Willpower on the table, the Threat has increased to lock levels. So now it's a rebuild for Deeds of Dwarves. Here's the Deeds of Dwarves v2.0.

Initial hand:

  1. Veteran Axehand
  2. A Test of Will
  3. Dwarven Tomb
  4. Kili
  5. Dwarven Tomb
  6. Durin's Song

Initial Encounter: Lightless Passage.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Dwarrowdelf Axe.
  2. Planning: play Durin's Song on Thorin.
  3. Quest: all, Will is 8, draw Signs of Conflict, surge Goblin Tunnels. Play Cave Torch and draw Crumbing Ruin, lucky! Net + 2P on East-Gate. Threat 32.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Kili
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: all, Will 6, draw Signs of Conflict, Threat 35, surge Branching Paths. Cave Torch to get rid of Lightless Passage, draw Burning Low another lucky draw for Cave Torch. Net +1 P.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Blade of Gondolin.
  2. Planning: play Kili, get Fili for free, now have 5 dwarves on the table. This puts me out of Spirit resources so I hope no Treachery shows up for encounter. Threat reduced to 34 by Nori.
  3. Quest: all but Fili, Will 7, draw Dark and Dreadful which deal 1 D to each character exhausted in quest, which is not that bad because it would be 2 if Dark location. Cave Torch reveals Zigil Mineshaft, sweet! Branching Paths discarded. Net +5 P and East-Gate is cleared.
  4. Travel: First Hall, Threat 37.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Longbeard Orc Slayer.
  2. Planning: play Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: All but Veteran Axehand, draw Goblin Follower which engages.
  4. Travel: Bridge of Khazad-Dum.
  5. Encounter: engaged with Goblin Follower.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends on Goblin Follower, shadow draw Goblin Follower which is +2 so Veteran Axehand is dead.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 10, draw Quick Strike.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Thalin, Nori, draw Crumbing Ruin and discard Fili, draw Fili, and discard Fili. Bummer.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: engaged with Goblin Follower.
  6. Combat: Kili defends, Goblin Swordsman to the staging area. Not looking good for this game. Kili is dead. Thorin attacks for one hit of D on Goblin Follower.
  7. Refresh: Threat 40.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 13, draw Unexpected Courage.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: All, no choice. Draw Cave in and that's the game: Cave In removes all progress from current quest. However, Bridge of Khazad-Dum is cleared, and could travel to Goblin Tunnels.
  4. Travel: Goblin Tunnels.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Swordsman.
  6. Combat: Goblin Follower on Thorin undefended, shadow +2 as last player for Goblin Follower, Thorin dead. Goblin Swordsman on Nori undefended, shadow Dreadful Gap, Nori killed.

My deck building skills suck.

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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.