LotR 112 - Passage Through Mirkwood (25) with Thanee's single core

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I built Thanee's Journey Down the Anduin deck months ago, but never got around to playing it. It's similar to the Basic Tri-sphere I've used in the past (and keep a built copy handy). Passage Through Mirkwood seemed like a nice way to give it a test spin.

Initial hand:

  1. Gandalf
  2. Daughter of the Nimrodel
  3. Dwarven Axe
  4. Northern Tracker
  5. Stand and Fight
  6. Faramir

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Gimli, Theodred, draw Forest Spider for net +2 Progress.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Gimli.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spiders
  6. Combat: both undefended, against Gimli with shadow King Spider for no effect, Gimli takes 2 hits. Theodred defends, shadow Necromancer's Pass for no effect, takes 2 hits.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: Dwarven Axe on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred draw Great Forest Web for net +3 and clear Old Forest Road.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: nothing new
  6. Combat: Play Sneak Attack Gandalf for 4 damage on first Forest Spider. Gandalf defends other Forest Spider with shadow Caught in a Web, Gimli swings for 6 to destroy second Forest Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Theodred, Eowyn, draw Dol Goldur Orcs, 2 hits to Eowyn will save A Test of Will a little longer. Net +1 Progess.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Dol Goldur Orcs.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Necromancer's Pass for no effect, Gimli takes no damage.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 12, draw Feint.
  2. Planning: play Northern Tracker and Faramir.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Northern Tracker, draw Enchanted Stream for net +1 Progress.
  4. Travel: exhaust Theodred for Great Forest Web.
  5. Encounter: nothing new
  6. Combat: Faramir defends, shadow The Necromancer's Reach for no effect Faramir takes no hits. Gimli kills Dol Goldur Orcs.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 6, draw Celebrian's Stone.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Faramir, Northern Tracker, draw Forest Spider for net +6 Progress which clears Great Forest Web and Flies and Spiders.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider
  6. Combat: Theodred defends Forest Spider, shadow Mountains of Mirkwood for no effect, Theodred takes 1 hit, Gimli kills Forest Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 9, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Northern Tracker clear Enchanted Stream draw Caught in a Web, attach to Gimli, who has the most resources right now at 5. A Fork in the Road cleared, start Beorn's Path. This is interesting as I might be able to beat this quest on the next turn, no need to dig out Ungoliant's Spawn. As long as I don't get Hummerhorns, I think it's good.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 12, draw Lorien Guide.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Faramir, Northern Tracker for 12 Will, Sneak Attack Gandalf in for 3 card draw Feint, Quike Strike, and Citadel Plate. Total Will 17 draw Ungoliant's Spawn! Pay 1 from Eowyn to negate the When Revealed -1 Will. What are the freakin' odds! This is actually pretty cool because at this point I don't really need to quest now, and I have a couple of Feints.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's Spawn.
  6. Combat: Feint and attack with Gimli for 4 damage on Ungoliant's Spawn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35. Pay 2 to ready Gimli.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 12, draw Beorn.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw The Necromancer's Reach, deal 1 damage to Eowyn.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: nothing new.
  6. Combat: Feint, and everybody in for the win.
  7. Refresh: Threat

AAR

Only one real mistake on this game, which is not discarding Daughter of Nimrodel for later extraction via Stand and Fight. To be fair, it would have probably cost me a turn though.

This was fun. I'm going to play it with other decks as well, just to see how it works. I wish I'd played it with Deeds of Dwarves, but I already broke that deck down. (I need to proxy cards from the adventure packs to have multiple decks going.)

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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.