LotR 160 - Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim (1)

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Next quest! The third and last quest in the first Hobbit box. I'm playing with the Misty Mountains Grim dwarf deck which has gotten through the first two quests. No idea how well it will work here.

Initial hand:

  1. The Galadhrim's Greetings
  2. Burglar Baggins
  3. Dwalin
  4. Forest Snare
  5. Erebor Hammersmith
  6. Veteran Axehand

Lake in the Cavern in the staging area. (Note: I forgot to draw an initial encounter card, already an asterisk, Also, I attached Sting to Bilbo from the beginning, which is wrong, it needs to go into the deck. The previous quest allowed searching the deck for a treasure card, this quest does not.)

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Erebor Battle Master.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, draw It Likes Riddles!, name cost as 1, draw Quick Srike and Gandalf for 1 progress on 2B and 4 progress on 1B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 8, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Erebor Hammersmith and Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, Erebor Hammersmith, draw What's In My Pocket? name Tactics 1 draw Dwarven Tomb and Citadel Plate, Bilbo spends 2 draws Forest Snare and Quick Strike for 1 Progress on 2B and 5 Progress on 1B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 6, draw Veteran Axehand, Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: play Gandalf, Threat 24.
  3. Quest: Gandalf, Gimli, Ori, Oin, Erebor, draw The Warg's Glade, will take the card into staging and travel there instead of answering riddle, which is just a single card draw. Net +7 progress for 12 total.
  4. Travel: The Warg's Glade.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 25.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 5, draw Gandalf and A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: play Dwalin.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Oin, Ori, Erebor, Dwalin for 8, draw What's in My Pocket? name Tactics 1, draw Veteran Axeand and Citadel Plate, spend 1 Pipe draw Feint for 1 Progress on 2B, clears The Warg's Glade, with +2 on stage 1B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 26.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 7, draw Unexpected Courage and Heavy Stroke.
  2. Planning: Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, Erebor HS, Dwalin, draw The Goblin's Caves. Net +1 Progress.
  4. Travel: The Goblin's Caves.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 27.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 9, draw Heavy Stroke and Erebor Record Keeper.
  2. Planning: play Erebor Record Keeper.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Erebors for 7 Will, draw Grip Grab Pinch Nab for no effect. The Goblins Caves cleared with +2 on 1B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 12, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings and Dwarven Tomb.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Erebors for 7, draw Hiding in the Trees, name Lore/Ally, draw Erebor Record Keeper, Miner of the Iron Hills, Song of Wisdom. Add 2 to 2B for 5 total.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 16, draw Feint, Unexpected Courage.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Erebors, Dwalin for 7, draw Wild Wargs, name Ally draw Zigil Miner, Erebor Battle Master for 7 Progress on Stage 2B, add 7 to 1B. Spend 1 Pipe to draw Legacy of Durin, another to draw Erebor Hammersmith for 8 Progess on 2B, another Thror's Map, another Stand and Fight, another with 8/4 odds of success, The Galadhrim's Greetings! Bust!
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 15, draw Zigil Miner and Erebor Battle Master.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Erebor Hammersmith, draw Goblin Driver exhaust Veteran Axehand. Add 5 to stage 1B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Driver.
  6. Combat: Undefended, shadow Come Down Little Bird for no effect, 2 hits on Gimli, who attacks back with Veteran Axehand to kill Goblin Driver.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 19, draw Erebor Record Keeper and Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Erebor Hammersmith, draw Wild Wargs, and this should be it. Name Event draw Bofur and A Test of Will, which clears it. Set up Stage 3 by removing Lake in the Cavern, adding The Warg's Glade to the staging area, and engaging Gollum.
  4. Travel: The Warg's Glade.
  5. Encounter: Gollum.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Not Fair! Not Fair! for no effect. Erebor Record Keeper exhausts, spend 1 lore from Ori to ready Gimli, both Veteran Axehands and Gimli kill Gollum.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 22, draw Miner of the Iron Hills and Stand and Fight.
  2. Planning: Play Gandalf, Erebor Record Keeper, Zigil Miner x 2. Draw Song of Travel, Erebor Hammersmith, Gondorian Spearman and that's the end of the deck. Play Song of Travel on Gimli, play Erebor Hammersmith to bring back Song of Wisdom.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Zigil x 2, Erebor Hammersmith x 2, Gandalf for 18 Will, which doesn't get me there, draw Goblin Driver exhaust Veteran Axehand. Play Stand and Fight to bring back Bofur for 20 Will which clears The Warg's Glade and puts 13 on Stage 3B.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Driver.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, shadow Goblin Miners for +1 attack and Veteran Axehand is killed.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Bofur back to hand.

Round 12

  1. Resource: 11, nothing to draw.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, Dwalin, Erebor Hammersmith x 2, Zigil Miner x 2, Bilbo for Will 12, draw Goblin Driver and exhaust Veteran Axehand. Net +9 on Stage 3B and this really is the win.

AAR

And that's the first Hobbit box Over Hill and Under Hill. I'm going to work through the second Hobbit box before taking on the Heirs of Numenor.

I made some mistakes, which definitely render this an asterisk win:

  • Did not shuffle my deck between riddles. However, since I did not do any deck scrying, this has exactly no effect on outcomes, random is random.
  • I did not use the Magic Ring ability to raise threat to do more progress on 2B. It didn't matter in the end, but I had threat to spare, some Galadhrim's in hand, and I might have shortened the game a few rounds had I done that.
  • Forgot to loy out an initial encounter card from 1B, just didn't see it on set up, and I even thought it was weird. It would not have mattered from the way the encounter played out through the game.
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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.