LotR 152 - We Must Away, Ere Break of Day (12)

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Back to the trolls with an adjusted deck version 1.6. Only one card: pulled out Master of the Forge in favor of a 3rd Gandalf. I need the threat reduction capability. I really want threat reduction in my opening hand, but the mulligan produced:

  1. Erebor Record Keeper
  2. Erebor Battle Master
  3. Stand and Fight
  4. Unexpected Courage
  5. Erebor Battle Master
  6. Quick Strike

Not really great, but I'll see what I can do with it.

Encounter: Cave Entrance, a good travel target.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Citadel Plate.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Bilbo and Oin, draw Roast 'Em or Boil 'Em, no effect since I have no allies out. Net 2 progress.
  4. Travel: Cave Entrance.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 8, draw Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: play Veteran Axehand and Erebor Record Keeper to get the double draw started. Risky due to treachery, but I really need to get the threat reduction going.
  3. Quest: Bilbo and Oin, draw Dreary Hills for no progress.
  4. Travel: None.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 9, draw Erebor Record Keeper and Erebor Hammersmith.
  2. Planning: Erebor Hammersmith.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Oin, Bilbo, Erebor Hammersmith, Erebor Record Keeper, draw Roast 'Em or Boil 'Em, which loses me Erebor Record Keepers, but that's ok, there is only one more of these potentially close by.
  4. Travel: Dreary Hills.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Next turn: if I get threat reduction, play it right away. Statistically, I should already have at least one of either Gandalf or Galadhrim's Greetings with better than 50% (guessing, been a long time since I've done stats).

Round 4

  1. Resource: 11, draw Veteran Axehand and Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Galadhrim's Greetings. Threat 24.
  3. Quest: Ori, draw Hungry Troll, surge Dreary Hills for Threat 25. Will need to quest a lot next turn.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 26.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 12, draw Galadhrim's Greetings and Song of Wisdom, which will eventually go on Bilbo.
  2. Planning: Veteran Axehand just in case another Roast 'Em comes out.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Oin, Ori, Bilbo, draw Troll Key, clear Dreary Hill with discarding Erebor Battle Master, which is about as good a discard as I could reasonably hope for.
  4. Travel: Dreary Hills.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 27.

I need Gandalf out right now. Also, need to be wary of Wind-Whipped Rain, really need some Test of Will here.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 14, draw Burglar Baggins and Heavy Stroke.
  2. Planning: Galadhrim's Greetings, threat 21.
  3. Quest: Bilbo, draw No Campfire for Threat 22, draw Lone Lands for Threat 23. Will need to quest hard next turn.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 24.

Keeping threat under control in this scenario is hard. I'd be in deep trouble without the Galadhrim's by now though.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 15, draw Dwalin and Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, draw Hungry Troll surge Troll Camp, play Burglar Baggins for 1 progress on Dreary Hills, discarding Quick Strike. Will have to quest hard next turn, but I have little slack.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 25.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 19, draw Legacy of Durin, Erebor Hammersmith.
  2. Planning: play Song of Wisdom on Bilbo, Legacy of Durin on Ori, Erebor Hammersmith draw Dwarven Tomb, Erebor Record Keeper draw Gondorian Spearman, Dwalin draw Stand and Fight, Erebor Battle Master draw Gandalf, excellent, play Gandalf to drop threat to 20.
  3. Quest: Gandalf, Ori, Bilbo, Erebor Hammersmith x 2 for 9 Will, draw Troll Camp. Clears Dreary Hills discard Heavy Stroke which is a real bummer, because that would have allowed a single Battle Master to take out the weakest troll in one shot. I bought some time though.
  4. Travel: Troll Camp.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 21.

Major mistake: I should have pulled the Galadhrim's Greetings from discard pile and played it right here. This game could well have been a win!

Another mistake: apparently, I played Dwalin, paid for him but I don't recall seeing him actually on the board. Which sucks because I could have used the questing and chumping.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 9, draw Unexpected Courage and A Test of Will
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: 8 Will, draw Troll Purse, clear Troll Camp.
  4. Travel: Lone Lands, need the Troll Camp in play a bit longer.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 22

Round 10

  1. Resource: 13, draw Gandalf, Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: Citadel Plate on Gimli. Bring in Gandalf and drop threat to 17.
  3. Quest: Gandalf, Bilbo, Erebors for 9 Will, draw Cave Entrance, net +2 for quest, clear Lone Lands remove one resource from Bilbo.
  4. Travel: Cave Entrance.
  5. Encounter: Optional engage Bert, Ori gets Worn sack.
  6. Combat: Gimli undefended, shadow Lots Or None at All, spend a pipe to prevent another sack. Gimli takes 5 damage. Threat 23 to keep Bert engaged.
  7. Refresh: Threat 24.

This is actually looking doable. I need to ensure Wind-Whipped Rain doesn't get me.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 6, draw A Test of Will, Thror's Map.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Bilbo.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, Erebors for 7 Will, draw Hobbit Lands net -5 Threat 29. Doable.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, shadow Roast 'Em or Boil 'Em, which is really, really bad, might have me bringing both Trolls down next turn, which would suck majorly. Basically, location locked. Gimli takes out Bert.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

This is really bad. I need to quest for at least 10. I might still be able to pull it out. Really only wanted to deal with one sack at a time.

Round 12

  1. Resource: 8, draw Feint, Kili. Back in the game.
  2. Planning: Thror's Map on Ori, swap out Troll Camp which reduces the quest burden, Gondorian Spearman to get a hit on a troll for free. I can quest for 9 with Gimli, and get the Unexpected Courage on him next turn. Unsack Oin and ready Bilbo.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, Erebors for 10 Will, draw Hobbit Lands which I think I now have all the locations in the game out, ridiculous. Threat 34. I can't win it. Location locked. Maybe if I brought down both trolls this turn. Worn sack on Oin, Faul sack on Ori, Bilbo exhausts to remove it.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Tom and William.
  6. Combat: Gondorian Spearman for Tom, shadow Hungry Troll removes Oin from the Game, which renders the other Unpexpected Courage moot. Dammit. Erebor Hammersmith defends William, shadow No Campfire which raise threat to 38. This is bad, location locked. Erebor Battlemaster puts 3 damage on Tom. Threat 40 to keep them engagd.
  7. Refresh: Threat 41.

Round 13

  1. Resource: 4, draw Song of Travel and Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Song of Travel on Ori. We can play Galadhrim's to get an extra round if we make it through this one.
  3. Quest: Ori, Bilbo, Erebors for 6 Will, draw A Nice Pickle. Reprieve.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Erebor Hammersmith defends William, shadow A Nice Pickle. Veteran Axehand defends Tom, shadow Lots or None at All, spend pipe to cancel sack. Gimli swings for 8, 6 hits on Tom. I made a mistake pulling down Bert first, but then again, I was hoping to take them one at a time. Erebor puts 1 damage on William.
  7. Refresh: Threat 44.

Round 14

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf! and Erebor Hammersmith.
  2. Planning: Ok, what to do, I don't have a lot of resources, and the two cards I want to play are expensive. Galadhrim's Greetings this turn, Gandalf next turn. Threat 38.
  3. Quest: Ori, Bilbo, Erebor Record Keeper draw Suspicious Crows and Wind-Whipped Rain, which really is the game this time.

AAR

I think I did better this game, need to figure out how to control the location lock.

Also: MAJOR MISTAKE: not using Dwarven Tomb to fish a Galadhrim's Greetings out of the discard pile and playing it.

Apparently I paid for Dwalin and didn't put him into my tableau.

I'm going to keep playing this quest, with this deck, until I start playing Dwarven Tomb. I never, ever play it.

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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.