LotR 170, 171 - Flies and Spiders (7, 8)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

Retuned the Misty Mountains Grim dwarf deck to get more willpower, this quest is best powered through when possible. I was going to scrap this deck completely in favor of a rebuild, but I came so close last game, I know this deck can win it. The only major change is taking out Citadel Plate, which I don't think I used last game anyway. Let's see how it plays.

Initial hand:

  1. Dwalin
  2. Unexpected Courage
  3. Zigil Miner
  4. Quick Strike
  5. Veteran Axehand
  6. Fast Hitch

Looks good, keeping it.

Encounter: Old Tomnoddy, annoying, going to leave him in staging for the first round.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 4, draw Zigil Miner.
  2. Planning: Bilbo spends to find and play Magic Ring and Sting. Threat 28. Play Fast Hitch on Bilbo.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, Bilbo, draw Giant Web. Net 0.
  4. Travel: Giant Web. This card sucks.
  5. Encounter: none, can't afford to engage yet.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29. Poison on Oin.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Unexpected Courage.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Gimli.
  3. Quest: Oin, Ori, Bilbo, draw Fat Spider, Threat 31.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Fat Spider. Also engage Old Tomnoddy.
  6. Combat: Fast Hitch to ready Bilbo as defender, Sting draws Wicked Spider for 1 damage, shadow Poisoned by Spiders for no effect, Fat Spider does 2 hits to Bilbo but let's cancel that for now. Threat 34. Gimli defends Old Tomnoddy, shadow Forest Stream for no effect, takes 3 damage. Gimli readies with Unexpected Courage deals 2 hits (because Giant Web).
  7. Refresh: Threat 35 and deal poison to Ori.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Stand and Fight.
  2. Planning: play Veteran Axehand to chump.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, draw Fat Spider, dang. Net 0.
  4. Travel: none
  5. Encounter: Fat Spider.
  6. Combat: Veteran Axehand defends, shadow Crazy Cob for 1 poison, Fat Spider kills Veteran Axehand. Bilbo defends Fat Spider, Sting draws Dark Bats for 2 more hits, shadow Hidden Path for no effect. Cancels damage for Threat 38. Gimli plays Quick Strike to attack Old Tomnoddy and kills it. Gimli readies with Unexpected Courage and kills first Fat Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

I need to turn this around.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: none, save the monies.
  3. Quest: Ori, Oin, draw Lazy Lob, Threat 40.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Bilbo defends, Sting draws Hidden Path for 3 hits on Fat Spider, cancel damage for Threat 43. Gimli kills Fat Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 44.

I forgot to engage Lazy Lob, I'm calling the game here and definitely rebuilding the deck. This deck I'll take forward to the next quest and see how it does. Last game when I almost won it (should have won it but I made a mistake on stage 4), I got pretty lucky with the cards even though it went many rounds (14?).

Game 171

I'm not logging this one round by round, just going to see how fast I can play it through.

Time:

  • start 10:18 am
  • end 11:16 am

And it's clean win. Legit. Go figure.

Misty Mountains Grim dwarf deck v1.2

Main Deck

Hero (3)

  • Gimli (Core Set)
  • Óin (On the Doorstep)
  • Ori (Over Hill and Under Hill)

Ally (19)

Attachment (15)

Event (16)

Treasure (3)

3 Heroes, 53 Cards. Cards up to On the Doorstep

Sideboard

Ally (2)

Attachment (2)

Treasure (1)

Deck built on RingsDB.

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.