LotR 155 - Journey Along the Anduin (16)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

Taking Thanee's single core deck for a test drive. It should be a pretty good deck, despite a slightly high starting threat of 28.

Initial hand after mulligan:

  1. Lorien Guide
  2. Lorien Guide
  3. A Test of Will
  4. Northen Tracker
  5. Valiant Sacrifice
  6. Stand and Fight

I'm not sure why I took a mulligan as the first hand had a Galadhrim's Greetings in it, which would have been perfect for keeping the troll in the staging area for a while.

Encounter: The Brown Lands. Ugh.

This is going to be tough, The Brown Lands is 5 threat. I'm liable to face the Hill Troll this round.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Veteran Axehand, good.
  2. Planning: nothing.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Treacherous Fog which bumps The Brown Lands to 6. Discard Lorien Guide to Eowyn, Threat 29. Troll is coming out next turn. Crap.
  4. Travel: The Brown Lands, which clears.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Hasty Stroke.
  2. Planning: Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Eastern Crows. Progress 3.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Hill Troll and Eastern Crows.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends Hill Troll, shadow Eastern Crows for +1, kills Veteran Axehand raises threat to 34. Eastern Crows undefended, shadow Hill Troll, excellent! I have a chance if I can get through Stage 1. Theodred takes 1 hit. Play Valiant Sacrifice to draw Daughter of the Nimrodel and Quick Strike.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Snowbourn Scout.
  2. Planning: play Snowbourn Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Eastern Crows, progress +4 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Eastern Crows.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends Hill Troll, shadow Dol Guldur Beastmaster for no effect, Gimli take 4 hits. Eastern Crows undefended, shadow Dol Guldur Orcs for +3 which is the game. Should have chumped Snowbourn here, but he would have killed Eastern Crows if it worked out.

AAR

This game was in a bad place from the beginning, with the initial appearance of The Brown Lands. That really messed everything up at the start.

And, as mentioned above, I should have kept the initial hand with the Galadhrim's Greetings in it. (I should also list the initial hand even if I do mulligan.)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

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.