LotR 115 - The Massing at Osgiliath (1)

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This is a print-on-demand scenario first delivered at GenCon 2011, about half way through Shadows of Mirkwood cycle. I'm going to play it with Thanee's single core and see where I get. Will be doing some chores along the way, because that just makes sense.

Chore 1: Line up math, personal info arch, and Anki projects to complete the weekend. This game is going to work through details for information syncing for my personal S3 buckets. Terraform is an integral component of that, so I'll read the terraform book along with the game play.

Initial hand:

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

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw Wainriders for -2, Threat 30.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Snaga Scouts, Wolves from Mordor.
  6. Combat: Snaga undefended, shadow Ranger of Ithilien, deal 2 damage to Snaga Scouts to kill, exhaust Theodred to acquire Ranger, Gimli defend Wolves from Morder shadow Snaga Scouts for no effect, taking 2 hits. Ranger of Ithilien applies 1 hit to Wolves.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Chore 2: ok this is not going to work, it's too committing. I'll need to figure out some other sort of chores.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: play Steward of Gondor on Eowyn, I have cards I can play next turn with it. Play Gandalf for 4 damage on one of the Wainriders.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw Cut Off, discard all allies from hand, which would be Northern Tracker and Daughter of the Nimrodel. Net +2 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none, leave the Wainriders alone for now, they're only Threat 2 in the staging area, and I can't kill them without risking a lot of damage (i.e., dead Gimli).
  6. Combat: Gandalf defends Wolves, shadow Emyn Arnen overlook for no effect, Gimli kills Wolves.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32, play Valiant Sacrifice as Gandalf leaves play to draw Feint and Faramir. Good cards!

Chore 2: Bah. I don't have anything easy to do…

Round 3

  1. Resource: 3, draw Citadel Plate.
  2. Planning: play The Galadrimh's Greetings, Threat 26.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Ruins of Osgiliath, Threat 27.
  4. Travel: Ruins of Osgiliath.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw Quick Strike.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Ranger of Ithilien, surge Captured Watchtower.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Engage Wainriders.
  6. Combat: Play Quick Strike, Gimli takes out Wainriders.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 12, draw Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: Play Stand and Fight to put Northern Tracker into play, play Faramir.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Faramir, one Ranger, draw Ruins of Osgiliath for Threat 8, net +5 which clears current Ruins of Osgiliath. Major blunder not questing with Northern Tracker, I could have cleared these next turn.
  4. Travel: Ruins of Osgiliath.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 10, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Citadel Plate on Gimli. I'm overdue for some big enemies.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Northern Tracker, Faramir, seems like overkill, and risky if surge happens, but let's see the draw: Snaga Scouts. Net +7 Progess, clear Ruins of Osgiliath and Beyond Expectations, start Through the Ruins.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Snaga Scouts.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Snaga Scouts for no effect. That's all the Snaga in the deck, more than half the scouts remain, but should be doable with my current tableaux.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 12, draw Snowbourn Scout, excellent!
  2. Planning: Snowbourn Scout, which clears Captured Watchtower.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Faramir, draw Wolves from Mordor, Through the Ruins is cleared. Advance to Anduin Crossing.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wolves from Mordor.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Ruins of Osgiliath for no effect, Gimli takes 2 hits. Rangers kill Wolves.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 16, draw Northern Tracker.
  2. Planning: play Northern Tracker.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Faramir discarding one Ranger, draw Wolves from Mordor, clear Anduin Crossing and here comes the Witch King I'm sure! Yep, and we're in the Race to Minas Tirith.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wolves from Mordor.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow…remove all defending characters from combat. This attack is considered undefended. Well, fine, Gimli can take it, just barely, and will be swinging for 10!
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 18, draw Unexpected Courage. Heh.
  2. Planning: Play Unexpected Courage on Gimli. Play Gandalf for 4 damage to Witch King.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Faramir, Northern Tracker, draw Uruk Vanguard, yow that's ugly, but Threat 45 so we'll just let that stew in the staging area. Net +4 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: pull down the Witch King.
  6. Combat: play Feint, do a lot of damage to the Witch King, like 16 or something, and that's not even readying Gimli. I probably could have ended it this turn with more questing, but let's not get overly rash.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 14, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: play Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: all but Gimli and Snowbourn Scout, draw Dark Pursuit which gains surge as there are no Scouts in the staging area, draw Morgulduin. Net +14 which clears Race to Minas Tirith for the win.

AAR

This was both easier and more fun than I thought it would be. I don't think I made any gross errors on this play.

I want to replay this with the Basic Tri-sphere deck, which will be slightly different.

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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.