LotR 167 - Flies and Spiders (4)

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Getting some early morning gaming action in today. I did some deck upgrade to Mist Mountains Grim deck, now at version 0.4.

Normally I don't start games in the morning because they are too distracting, but I've put in so many 60 hour weeks over the last few years I'm not going to worry about being distracted. Besides, my car got stolen last weekend so I'm just doing well to show up for some usual work hours.

Initial hand:

  1. Galadhrim's Greetings
  2. Feint
  3. Feint
  4. Erebor Record Keeper
  5. Orcrist
  6. Dwalin

Encounter: Weighed Down.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Legacy of Durin.
  2. Planning: play Erebor Record Keeper, Orcrist, spend Pipe for Magic Ring, exhaust for Resource, find and attach Sting to Bilbo. Threat 28.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, draw Wicked Spider for 1 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Wicked Spider.
  6. Combat: Gimli defends, shadow Wicked Spider for two Poison on Gimli. Gimli takes 3 hits. Bilbo swings for 1, no damage, stupid treachery.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: play Legacy of During on Ori, play Zigil Miner and draw A Burning Brand.
  3. Quest: Ori, Zigil Miner, draw Lazy Lob which puts Zigil Miner unconcious, Threat 30.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: play Quick Strike to take out Wicked Spider with Gimli.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 6, draw Heavy Stroke.
  2. Planning: Nothing.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Erebor RK, draw Crazy Cob, net 0. Crazy Cob attacks Gimli from the Staging Area, shadow Dark Bats reducing Gimli's defense by 1. Crazy Cob swings for 3, killing Gimli, and that's a scoop.

I'm playing this one "by the book," looking for a clean win, no asterisks.

AAR

  • Consider swapping out Heavy Stroke.
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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.