LotR 125 - Passage Through Mirkwood (30)

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Another Passage Through Mirkwood with an updated Elrond Vilya first build (v0.4). The previous game I messed up the Dol Guldur Orcs 2 Damage effects, and I want to play this one perfectly.

Initial hand (mulligan):

  • Light of the Valinor
  • Gondorian Spearman
  • Fili
  • Faramir
  • A Test of Will
  • Northern Tracker

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Hasty Stroke
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Theodred, Eowyn, draw Great Forest Web.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Theodred.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider
  6. Combat: Elrond defends, shadow Dol Guldur Beastmaster for no effect. Theodred attacks for 1 Damage.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Faramir.
  2. Planning: play Light of Valinor on Elrond.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, draw Ungoliant's Spawn! Well that sucks.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Engaged with Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: Elrond defends, shadow Great Forest Web for no effect, no damage on Elrond. Theodred applies another damage.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Ungoliant's spawn comes out next round. I can play Fili and Kili though, which will help a lot.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 9, draw Stand and Fight.
  2. Planning: Fili, Kili, Gondorian Spearman.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, Theodred, draw Necromancer's Pass, no Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's Spawn.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defends, shadow Forest Gate for no effect, Gondorian Spearman is dead. Fili defends Ungoliant's Spawn, shadow Enchanted Stream for no effect, Fili is dead. Elrond and Kili kill Forest Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw Unexpected Courage.
  2. Planning: play Northern Tracker.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, Northern Tracker, draw Caught in a Web, which gets canceled by A Test of Will. No Progress. Yikes!
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Engaged.
  6. Combat: Kili defends Ungoliant's Spawn, shadow Necromancer's Reach for no effect, Kili is dead. Theodred and Elrond put 2 Damage on Ungoliant's Spawn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 6, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: play Steward of Gondor on Elrond. Play Faramir, which is ugly as he's going to chump this round, very expensive.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, Northern Tracker for 8 Will, draw Forest Gate. Northern Tracker cleared Great Forest Web, net +3 Progress to clear Old Forest Road, ready Northern Tracker.
  4. Travel: Forest Gate, draw Imladris Stargazer and Northern Tracker.
  5. Encounter: Engaged.
  6. Combat: Faramir defends, shadow Caught in a Web for no effect, Faramir is dead. Elrond, Northern Tracker and Theodred add 4 more Damage to Ungoliant's Spawn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 7, draw Self Preservation.
  2. Planning: play Imladris Stargazer and Stand and Fight to pull Gondorian Spearman back from discard. Imladris reorders Gondorian Spearman, Miner of the Iron Hills, Daughter of the Nimrodel, Light of Valinor, Faramir. Where the hell is Vilya? I build this deck to learn how to play Vilya, and it doesn't come out? Next game with this deck I'm adding Vilya to my hand and won't take a mulligan.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, Northern Tracker, draw Mountains of Mirkwood, which nets +6 clearning Forest Gate and adding 2 to Stage 1. Finally starting to move…
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Engaged.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defends, shadow Enchanted Stream for no effect, Gondorian Spearman dead but now 7 Damage on Ungoliant's Spawn. Elrond and Theodred swing for 4 to kill Ungoliant's Spawn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 8, draw Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: play Gondorian Spearman.
  3. Quest: Elrond, Eowyn, Northern Tracker for 8 Will, draw King Spider net +4 Progress, exhaust Imladris Stargazer.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: King Spider.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman defends, shadow Forest Spider to discard Light of Valinor, Gondorian Spearman is dead, Elrond and Theodred kill the King Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 11, draw Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: play Northern Tracker, Faramir.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Northern Tracker x 2, Faramir for Will 12, draw Necromancer's Reach for 1 Damage on each character. Mountains of Mirkwood cleared.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 8, draw Daughter of the Nimrodel.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Elrond.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Faramir for 8 Will, draw Hummerhorns. I need a Gandalf in the next couple of rounds. Cleared stage 2, draw Don't Leave the Path and put Ungoliant's Spawn back in play. No big deal.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Ungoliant's Spawn.
  6. Combat: Imladris Stargazer defends, shadow Eyes of the Forest for no effect Imladris Stargazer is dead. Elrond, both Northern Trackers and Theodred attack for 8, which is a kill, which is a win.

AAR

  • Need to add Snowborne Scout to the hand. Maybe pull out Gondorian Spearman. Or one of the Faramirs.
  • I think maybe having at least 1 Dwarven Tomb could be useful.
  • Add in at least one Henamarth Riversong.
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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.