LotR 194, 195 - Into Ithilien (1, 2)

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Back in the groove with my usual collaborator. It's been a few weeks as first he was sick, then I was traveling, then I caught a cold. So it was nice to get back after it.

We did a bit of deck adjustment to get Sneak Attack into his deck. He hadn't played it before.

Game 194. Into Ithilien 1.

This was an interesting in part because Gandalf got sneak attacked in on both rounds 1 and 2, which helped move the game along pretty fast. We ended up getting killed on stage 4, just didn't have enough chumps or hit points to manage the number of enemies which came out. It felt like we came close though.

Game 195. Into Ithilien 2.

This was a more normal game than the first, with no sneak attack Gandalf combos. We didn't clear the Ithilien Road location on the first round though, which meant handling everything in staging. I lost Dunhere. On the second round the boss Mumlak came out, we called the game as we would have lost all the heroes anyway.

This is a doable quest, we just have not quite got it dialed in.

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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.