LotR 148, 149 - Return to Mirkwood (15, 16)

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The more or less monthly game day with a work colleague. The goal for the day is finishing up the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle with Return to Mirkwood. This is a notoriously difficult quest as a solo player. I've never played it two-player, and never really beaten it correctly in solo mode.

Game 148 Return to Mirkwood 15

We stalled on the first quest phase while killing Attercop, then managed to draw two Hill Trolls on the same round, which was a scoop. This was determined to be a hint as well: lunch break. I made tuna melts on Semifreddi's sweet batard.

Game 149 Return to Mirkwood 16

This second game turned out pretty well. We got lucky on encounters, did not draw any other of the big baddies. There were a couple of close calls with respect to location locking, but we pulled through. I lost Bilbo as a hero when Hummerhorns came out, but that was fairly late in the game. I was able to get Faramir on the table, and once he was down, we smoked the last couple of rounds pretty fast, even with The East Bight active.

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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.