LotR 101 - The Redhorn Gate (1)

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First play of The Redhorn Gate, using the Deeds of Dwarves deck which crushed Khazad-dum.

Opening hand:

  1. Kili
  2. Forest Snare
  3. Narvi's Belt
  4. Erebor Record Keeper
  5. Erebor Record Keeper
  6. Dori

Encounter: Mountain Goblin

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, King Under the Mountain.
  2. Planning: play Erebor.
  3. Quest: Ori, Erebor, and Arwen for 7, draw Mountain Troll, net 1 P.
  4. Travel: no travel.
  5. Encounter: Mountain Goblin.
  6. Combat: Dain defends, shadow Black Uruks for no effect and no damage on Dain. Thorin attacks for 1 hit.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Dwarven Tomb.
  2. Planning: Play Narvi's Belt on Thorin, exhaust to play Kili (Spirit) and Fili, play Erebor Record Keeper for 7 dwarves on the table.
  3. Quest: Arwen, Ori, Kili, 1 Ereboer Record Keeper for 9, draw Black Uruk, which discards Narvi's Belt. Bummer. Two more Progress on quest card.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Black Uruks.
  6. Combat: Dain defends Black Uruks, draw shadow Black Uruks for no effect and no hits. Thorin defends Mountain Goblin, draw shadow Rocky Crags, no Active Location so no effect and 1 hit on Thorin.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 5, draw Longbeard Map Maker and Durin's Song.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Arwen, both Erebors, Ori for 9, draw Snow Warg for 8 Threat total, net +1 P
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Snow Warg.
  6. Combat: Dain defends Black Uruks, shadow Mountain Warg for +1 attack, Dain takes 1 hit. Thorin defends Mountain Goblin, shadow Black Uruks, no effect, Thorin takes another hit. Kili defends Snow Wargs, shadow Mountain Warg for +1, Kili is kaput.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 10, draw Second Breakfast and Cram.
  2. Planning: Attach Cram to Thorin.
  3. Quest: Arwen and Ori for 5, draw Bitter Wind to discard 3 resources from each hero. That's probably the game right there, and if not it added two rounds to the game while trying to rebuild resources. Need to think about canceling Treachery maybe. No net progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Dain defends Black Uruks, shadow Bitter Wind, no resources left, but Dain takes no damage. Thorin defends Mountain Goblin, shadow Warg Lair for no effect, takes another damage. Fili defends Snow Wargs, shadow Avalanche for no effect, Fili dies.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 4, draw Henamarth Riversong and Cram.
  2. Planning: Attach Cram to Dain.
  3. Quest: Play Henamarth, scry Warg Lair. This is going to put a Mountain Warg into staging, which will result in 5 enemies engaged this turn. Calling it here.

AAR

A lot of enemies showed up early. Will be interesting to see if this is random, or if this is a very enemy-heavy quest. Next game might put me in location lock, who knows.

Bitter Wind is just nasty and argues against "banking" resources. Somehow, resources need to be spent as fast as possible until Bitter Wind is out of play. In this game I was attempting to get a Forest Snare ready for the Mountain Troll.

This quest may benefit from a deck having a lot of treachary and shadow cancellation.

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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.