LotR 164 - Flight from Moria (3) with Jump Drive

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Another Game Day at Dos Palmas. From our last play, we were still stuck in Moria, so this game was all about getting out of there, with Flight from Moria. This was a quest I beat on my first play a couple of years ago, and I hadn't played it since.

This quest has a lot of treacheries, with two win conditions. First is gambling on card draws which are not treacheries, the second is using Abandoned Tools to "dig out." Last week we gambled on the treacheries, and lost. There are so many treacheries in this scenario that's not surprising. With single hand solo, it's probably a better gamble.

For this game, we choose to find Abandoned Tools and "dig" our way out. The game went on one turn longer than it should have as I forgot about exhausting the hero with Abandoned Tools, send him (Bifur) questing instead. On the second turn after, Bifur did not quest, then two Erebor Record Keepers readied Bifur to finish it off. Good game.

Jump Drive 10

I solidly lost at Jump Drive this game. I hung on to get an alien military 5 world into play, which put me behind on VPs. While my engine finally got cranking, I ended up at least a turn behind opponent, maybe two turns. I ended with ~27 VPs per turn on the table, just wasn't soon enough, he had his VPs engine already moving. My card draw was excellent though.

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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.