LotR 99 - The Seventh Level (3)

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Continuing with my more-or-less progression playthrough of The Seventh Level, let's deal another hand and see what we get.

Initial hand:

  • Durin's Song
  • Fili
  • Untroubled by Darkness
  • Dwarven Tomb
  • Parting Gifts
  • Erebor Record Keeper

Not bad, better than the previous game's load of Spirit cards which were unplayable.

Initial encounter: Goblin Swordsman.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Bifur.
  2. Planning: play Parting Gifts to shift 1 Lore Resource to Leadership, allowing Fili and Kili to go into play.
  3. Quest: Thorin and Dain for 6 Will, draw Cave Troll. Dang this is really bad news.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Swordsman
  6. Combat: Dain defends, shadow Goblin Spearman which gets added to Staging Area. Others attack to kill Goblin Spearman.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 4, draw Henamarth Riversong and Erebor Record Keeper.
  2. Planning: play Henamarth, scry Goblin Archer.
  3. Quest: Thorin, Dain, and Kili for 8 Will, draw Goblin Archer.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Spearman.
  6. Combat: Fili defends, Upper Hall for no effect, Fili takes 1 hit. Dain and Ori take out Goblin Spearman.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 7, draw Erebor Hammersmith and Untroubled by Darkness.
  2. Planning: play Erebor Record Keeper. Henamarth scries Goblin Scout, put 1 hit on Thorin. Play Durin's Song on Thorin.
  3. Quest: Dain, Thorin, draw Goblin Scout for Threat 34.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Cave Troll
  6. Combat: Erebor defends, shadow Watchful Eyes for no effect, Erebor dies, 1 hit each to Ori, Kili and Thorin, 2 hits to Dain. Dain, Ori, Fili, and Kili kill the Cave Troll.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

No progress on quest yet. Not sure how to play it with the number of enemies pouring out of the encounter deck.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw Forest Snare and Longbeard Orc Slayer.
  2. Planning: Play Longbeard Orc Slayer which takes out Goblin Archer and damages Goblin Scout. Scry Goblin Tunnels.
  3. Quest: All for Will 14, draw Goblin Tunnels for net +9 on quest.
  4. Travel: Goblin Tunnels.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 8, draw Narvi's Belt and Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: Scry Goblin Swordsman. Play Narvi's Belt on Thorin. Play Erebor Hammersmith.
  3. Quest: Dain, Thorin, Ori, Erebor Hammersmith for 11 Will, draw Goblin Spearman for +6 net to place on Goblin Tunnels.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Spearman.
  6. Combat: Longbeard defends against Goblin Spearman, shadow Watchful Eyes (woohoo! Great luck!) for no effect, Longbeard takes 1 hit. Fili and Kili kill Goblin Spearman.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 10, draw Dwalin and King Under the Mountain.
  2. Planning: Scry Goblin Swordsman. Play King Under the Mountain on Dain, exhaust to draw Narvi's Belt and Miner of the Iron Hills, keep Miner. Play Erebor Record Keeper.
  3. Quest: Dain, Thorin, Ori with Untroubled by Darkness for 15 Will. Draw Goblin Swordsman, net 11 Progress to clear Goblin Tunnels and Stage 1.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Swordsman and Goblin Scout.
  6. Combat: Dain defends Goblin Swordsman, shadow Goblin Scout for no effect. Erebor defends against Goblin Scout, shadow Undisturbed Bones, shadow is remove defender from play. Longbeard takes out Goblin Swordsman, Fili and Kili take out Goblin Scout.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 11, draw Gloin and King Under the Mountain.
  2. Planning: Scry Undisturbed Bones, will need a cheap ally for this. King Under the Mountain for Cram and Ancestral Knowledge, keep Cram and play on Dain. Play Gloin and Miner of the Iron Hills.
  3. Quest: Thorin, Ori, Fili, Kili, Gloin with Untroubled by Darkness for 24 Will, draw Undisturbed Bones and Goblin Swordsman. Miner is dealt 7 hits. Net 23 Progress and that's a win.

AAR

Not a lot to say about this one. Dwarf swarm is powerful once it gets going. This was a pretty easy quest to be sure.

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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.