LotR 132 - We Must Away, Ere Break of Day (7)

Aug 25 2020

Round 1

Resource: 4, draw Foe-hammer.
Planning: Play Veteran Axehand, Threat 28.
Quest: Nori, Thalin, Bilbo, draw Hungry Troll surge Hobbit Lands, net 0.
Travel: Troll Camp.
Encounter: None.
Combat: None.
Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 2

Resource: 6, draw Heavy Stroke.
Planning: none.
Quest: Gimli, Thalin, Nori, draw A Nice Pickle, Threat 30. Clear Troll Camp for 2 Progress.
Travel: Hobbit Lands.
Encounter: none.
Combat: none.
Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 3

Resource: 10, draw Heavy Stroke.
Planning: Play Kili and Fili.
Quest: Gimli, Thalin, Nori, Bilbo, Kili, draw Hungry Troll, surge Wind-Whipped Rain for no effect as I have no attachements. Heh. Net +7 which is going to clear Hobbit Lands and the quest, draw Stand and Fight.
Travel: None.
Encounter: Bert, sack Gimli.
Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, shadow Troll Camp for no effect.
Refresh: Threat 32 + 1 for 33.

Round 4

Resource: 11, draw Gandalf
Planning: play Gandalf 4 hits on Bert, will quest with him. Citadel Plate on Gimli.
Quest: Thalin, Nori, Bilbo, Gandalf, Kili, Fili, draw Roast 'Em or Boil 'Em. Fili and Kili are gone, but this matches 8 for no net Threat increase.
Travel: none
Encounter:
Combat: Bert swings, undefended on Gimli, shadow A Nice Pickle back into the Encounter deck. 5 hits on Gimli. Just need to unsack Gimli and Bert is handled.
Refresh: Threat 34 + 1 for 35.

Oops, made an error, Tom should have come out last turn.

Round 6

Resource: 6, draw Gandalf. Hrm.
Planning: Gandalf for 4 hits on Bert.
Quest: Thalin, Bilbo, draw Troll Camp for net +10 Threat for 45, that's game.
Travel: Troll Camp.
Encounter: Tom and William, calling it here.

AAR

I think I might have had a shot at this if Gimli hadn't been sacked. That would have taken Bert off the board.

Need to rotate out Foe-hammer, it hasn't gotten any play. I think it's better for quests where there are a lot of enemies, and the quest just has the trolls and a couple of crows.

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.