LotR 197-199 - Into Ithilien (3-5)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

We keep getting massively spanked by this quest.

At issue is that Stage 1 is a Battle quest, but the staging area fills up full of high hit point or defense enemies. Most enemies need 6 hits to one shot them, which is tough in the early game.

Game 197

We ended up with a massive swarm of enemies in the staging area, and did not get very close to completing Stage 1. We played perhaps 3-4 rounds.

Game 198

This was a "you lose now" situation with Dunhere getting eliminated on the first round.

Game 199

Stage 1 went on for a long, long time. Once we cleared it, we made a major mistake in that we continued to play the Engagement checks, which are disabled for Stage 2. We ended up losing the game with an 11 Threat sequence of surges which put both of our Threat into the 42-43 ranges, and with the enemies we engaged wiping out our tableaus, there was no point to continue. Also, Theodred was taken out.

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.