LotR 161 - Flies and Spiders (1)

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First play of first quest in the second Hobbit box, "Flies and Spiders." I'm using the Misty Mountains Grim dwarf deck. This is pretty much the same deck as A Hobbit Goes Adventuring, but will probably morph through this next Hobbit box.

Initial hand:

  1. Veteran Axehand
  2. Veteran Axehand
  3. Veteran Axehand (!)
  4. Erebor Hammersmith
  5. Sting
  6. The Galadhrim's Greetings

Since I don't know any better, I'm just going to keep this hand as-is, I can play Sting right away.

Encounter: Fighting Among Friends which whiffs here.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Erebor Hammersmith.
  2. Planning: Sting on Bilbo, spend a Pipe to find Orcrist and attach to Bilbo.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin for 4 Will, draw Fat Spider for net +2 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Engage Fat Spider.
  6. Combat: undefended, shadow Weighed Down whiffs in this game state. Gimli takes 2 hits and 1 Venom. Gimli and Bilbo swing for 8 to kill Fat Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Erebor Record Keeper.
  2. Planning: Play Erebor Record Keeper, Veteran Axehand.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, Bilbo, draw Lazy Lob which put 1 Venom on all questers. Net +5 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: None, leave it in there. Need to save for card draw.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Miner of the Iron Hills, Dwalin.
  2. Planning: play Dwalin.
  3. Quest: I think I need to stall, the Spider's Lair is nasty, and I don't know when it comes into play. If it enters during stage 2, I need to be able to power quest through it. Oin, Ori, draw Hidden Path which results in Threat 31.
  4. Travel: Hidden Path.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Unexpected Courage, Feint.
  2. Planning: Erebor Hammersmith, Unexpected Courage on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, draw Old Tom Noddy, Threat 34. This is nasty, I need to engage these things and get them out of staging.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Lazy Lob and Old Tomnoddy.
  6. Combat: Feint on Old Tomnoddy, shadow Dark Bats too bad no effect. Dwalin defends Lazy Lob shadow Fat Spider defender gets 1 Poison, Dwalin takes a hit for another Poison. Bummer. Bilbo and Axehand take out Tomnoddy, Gimli takes out Lazy Lob.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 5

I want to go one more round before clearing Stage 1.

  1. Resource: 8, draw Forest Snare and Dwarven Tomb.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Ori, Erebor Hammersmith for 3 Will, draw Caught in a Web, which is great! It removes Ori from the quest and clears Hidden Path without putting any progress on the quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 12, draw Bilbo's Magic Ring and Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: Bilbo's Magic Ring, Erebor Hammersmith, The Galadhrim's Greetings because I'm getting a little nervous here. Threat 30.
  3. Quest: Oin, draw Fat Spider for no progress or threat.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Fat Spider.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, Shadow Hidden Path for no effect and no damage.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 11, draw Song of Travel and The Galadhrim's Greetings. This is cool, because I can generate Spirit resources via Magic Ring if absolutely necessary.
  2. Planning: Song of Travel on Bilbo. I can play Dwarven Tomb to get one of The Galadhrim's Greetings back from discard. Play both Axehands, just in case.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, one Erebor Hammersmith, draw Fighting Among Friends, name Spirit for net +3 on quest which clears Stage 1. Gah… Stage 2 does nothing, Stage is nasty, all resources gone.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Really wish I'd played that next GG on this round, would have given me a lot more runway.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 1, draw Quick Strike, Citadel Plate.
  2. Planning: Do the Magic Ring thing to ready Gimli. Threat 33.
  3. Quest: Bilbo for 4 Will, draw Wicked Spider. Net +3 progress, which is good.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wicked Spider.
  6. Combat: Gimlu defends, shadow Caught in a Web for no effect. Poison on to Gimli. Gimli kills Wicked Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 2, draw Erebor Record Keeper, The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Magic Ring thing to ready Oin because I need Spirit resources badly. Threat 35.
  3. Quest: Oin, Gimli, draw Crazy Cob. Ready Gimli with UC, play Quick Strike to take out the Crazy Cob. Net +4 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 3, draw Erebor Record Keeper, Bofur.
  2. Planning: Magic Ring thing to ready Ori, Threat 37.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, draw Wicked Spider. Net +5 Progess which clears Stage 3. This brings in Spider's Lair, which I don't think I care about. I'm going to be able to quest right past it I'm pretty sure.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wicked Spider.
  6. Combat: Bilbo defends Wicked Spider, shadow Crazy Cob for 1 Poison on Bilbo. Sting puts 2 damage on Wicked Spider from drawing Dark Bats. Bilbo takes 2 hits, Gimli kills Wicked Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 6, draw Heavy Stroke, Dwarven Tomb.
  2. Planning: Citadel Plate on Gimli, just in case. I don't think I'll need it, but if I get two enemies out and cannot clear staging, I'm screwed. This will get me to the next round almost surely.
  3. Quest: Gimli, Ori, Oin, Bilbo for 10 Will, draw Weighed Down which reduces Will by 4. But there is only 2 Threat in Staging, so that's the win*.

(Edit: But it's not. I just reread the Stage 4B text, there is no win if The Spider's Lair is in play. I can't really justify calling it a win with that big of a miss!)

AAR

This turns out to be a win* because the Quick Strike in Round 9 should not have been played, and that would have taken out Gimli.

I recalled doing a minor retcon in the first couple of rounds to prevent a scoop. So maybe this is a win**.

Per the note in Round 11, I'll be playing this one again to be sure.

More details: A clear loss in several aspects. First, I retconned early to prevent a probable scoop. Second, I conflated an Action with a Response for an enemy attacking "When Revealed." A Test of Will (Response) can handle this situation, Quick Strike (Action) apparently cannot. Lastly, I didn't clear The Spider's Lair, just quested through, which doesn't meet the condition on Stage 4B. It may be that questing before traveling is the smart thing to do, but will still need to travel and clear The Spider's Lair.

Also, the number of allies in this deck isn't all that helpful given the shenanigans on Stage 3 and 4 with the unconscious heroes. The main thing is getting as much will boost as possible so that fewer heroes can quest for more. For Bilbo, getting the Treasure cards is pretty critical, and a good use of the extra spend early on. I think I need to sideboard some will power boosting cards.

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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.