LotR 166 - Flies and Spiders (3)

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Taking PTO today today to deal with stolen car. Getting it home I think won't be too much trouble, but I have no idea where to get it fixed. I probably should not be playing today, but my frustration at work is pretty intense at the moment.

Anyways, let's get it started.

Initial hand:

  1. Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Erebor Hammersmith
  3. Citadel Plate
  4. Erebor Record Keeper
  5. Sting
  6. Thror's Map

Encounter: Old Tomnoddy.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Fast Hitch.
  2. Planning: Play Sting. Spend 1 to look for Magic Ring and play it.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, draw Great Web, Threat 29.
  4. Travel: Great Web.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Action, exhaust Magic Ring for 1 Resource, Threat 30.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 8, draw Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: Play Veteran Axehand and Erebor Record Keeper. Spend Pipe to get Orcrist and put on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Erebor Record Keeper, draw Crazy Cob with no effect from When Revealed as there is no poison at the moment. No net progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Crazy Cob.
  6. Combat: Bilbo defends, shadow Wicked Spider for 2 poison, Bilbo takes no damage. Gimli kills Wicked Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw A Burning Brand and Erebor Record Keeper.
  2. Planning: Play A Burning Brand on Bilbo.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Erebor Record Keeper, draw Fat Spider for no net progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Fat Spider.
  6. Combat: Bilbo defends, Sting for Fat Spider and 2 hits, shadow Lazy Lob for no effect, cancel damage with Magic Ring. Gimli and Axehand kill Fat Spider. Threat 35.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Unexpected Courage and Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Fast Hitch on Bilbo, Unexpected Courage on Gimli. Citadel Plate on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, Erebor Record Keeper, draw Wicked Spider, net +3 Great Web is cleared.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wicked Spider.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Caught in a Web for no effect. Gimli restores to kill Wicked Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

I should scoop this right here I have not been dealing poisons from Old Tomnoddy while he's in play. I could take the asterisk, but I'd like to beat this one a bit cleaner than that.

AAR

The Poison mechanism leans towards including 3 of each important card in the deck, because it's going to be a real problem if certain cards end up in the discard.

Notes:

  • Consider swapping out Thror's Map, I'm not seeing the use of it yet.
  • Consider bringing in The Lucky Number, a Pipe event.
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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.