LotR 168 - Flies and Spiders (5)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

It's a slow Sunday, and I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and work is not going that well overall, so I'm going to see if I can get a few games in today and tomorrow to see if I can get my head clear. Otherwise it's just a mass of chores (although I could also do some recreational programming).

Initial hand:

  1. Boots from Erebor
  2. Erebor Hammersmith
  3. Erebor Hammersmith
  4. Bilbo's Magic Ring
  5. Dwarven Tomb
  6. Miner of the Iron Hills

Encounter: Caught in a Web, which results in surge Wicked Spider.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: Bilbo's Magic Ring on Bilbo, spend Pipe find Sting and attach to Bilbo. Boots from Erebor on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Ori to quest, draw Forest Stream, Threat 28.
  4. Travel: Forest Stream.
  5. Encounter: Wicked Spider.
  6. Combat: Gimli takes it undefended, shadow Dark Bats which is attached to Gimli. Gimli take 4 damage, good thing I have Boots from Erebor on him! Gimli swings for 6 - 1, kills Wicked Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: play Miner of the Iron Hills, Zigil Miner, Veteran Axehand. Dark Bats goes away.
  3. Quest: Ori, Bilbo, Zigil draw Dark Bats, net +3 on Forest Stream.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Dark Bats.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, shadow Old Tomnoddy for no effect. Because Dark Bats lowers hit points, with 1 damage, Veteran Axehand is done.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 5, draw Gandalf and Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: play Veteran Axehand using Oin resource as well.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, draw Hidden Path, net +2 progress clearing Forest Stream, which remove poisons from Gimli.
  4. Travel: None, leave Forest Path alone as a buffer for accumulating resources on Bilbo before going to Stage 3.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Bilbo exhaust Ring for resource.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw Zigil Miner and Erebor Record Keeper.
  2. Planning: Erebor Record Keeper.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Zigili, Bilbo draw Giant Web for net +1 progress. All good.
  4. Travel: Giant Web.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Ring for +1 Resource.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 12, draw Citadel Plate and Burglar Baggins.
  2. Planning: Play Erebor Hammersmith.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Zigil, Erebor Hammersmith, Erebor Record Keeper, draw Lazy Lob which poisons all characters committed to quest. Make 1 progress on Giant Web.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Lazy Lob.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends Lazy Lob, shadow Lazy Lob for no effect, Veteran Axehand is killed. Gimli kills Lazy Lob. Ring for Resource.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 15, draw Quick Strike and Feint.
  2. Planning: Zigil Miner.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Zigil, Erebor Hammersmith draw Old Tomnoddy for net 0.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Old Tomnoddy.
  6. Combat: Miner of the Iron Hills defends, shadow Poisones by Spiders, discard Zigil Miner, Miner of the Iron Hills killed. But Gimli swings for 6 and takes out Old Tomnoddy. Ring for Resource.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 18, draw Dwarven Tomb, A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: Play Erebor Hammersmith.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, Zigil, Erebor Hammersmith, draw Crazy Cob who attacks Erebor Hammersmith, shadow Giant Web for no effect, 2 damage on Erebor Hammersmith. Didn't quite clear Giant Web. I need to get this done next round.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Crazy Cob.
  6. Combat: Play Feint, Gimli kills Crazy Cob. Ring for Resource.
  7. Refresh: Threat 40.

Need to bring in Gandalf next round.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 20, draw Quick Strike, Veteran Axehand.
  2. Planning: play Gandalf to lower threat to 35.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Zigil, Erebor Hammersmith draw Hidden Path, net +6 - 2 for Giant Web, play Burglar Baggins to get +2 which clears Stage 1.
  4. Travel: Hidden Paths.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 41.

I played this really wrong. Stage 3B requires removing all resources from heroes, so that big bank I built on Bilbo was completely moot, and now my threat is super high. That's a real bummer. This game will be over very quickly I'm sure.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 1, draw The Galadhrim's Greetings.
  2. Planning: Ring for Resource, Threat 42. Ready Gimli.
  3. Quest: none, can't afford to, draw Fighting Among Friends which has no effect right now. Threat 45.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 46.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 2, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: Ring for Resource, ready Oin.
  3. Quest: Bilbo, draw Caught in a Web, which has to go on Bilbo, Threat 47, and I'm calling it here.

AAR

The next game I think I want to blitz quest through Stage 1 as fast as possible. I think the key is running the Threat up in Stage 3, use the Ring to generate Resources during planning phase (or earlier?) if possible to get the characters conscious.

Previous:
Next:
Tags

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.