LotR 235 - Branching Paths (1)

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(Note: The quest card had an icon on it which I did not recognize and wasn't in the core set, so this game was played without that set of encounter cards. As it turns out, it was the Hunt for Gollum encounter set. Given the power of this deck, I believe I would have stomped it anyway, but it does provide an excuse to play it again.)

The sixth and final quest in Ninjadorg's Core set extension quests. I'm going into it blind with the Ninjadorg 3 Forgotten Ruins deck. If it beats this quest it will have 4 of 6 quest for the Ninjadorg quests.

Initial hand:

  1. Steward of Gondor
  2. Faramir
  3. Galadhrim's Greetings
  4. A Test of Will
  5. Stand and Fight
  6. Galadhrim's Greetings

Not bad, I can work with this.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Guard of the Citadel.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Cavern Guardian for Doomed 1, Threat 28. Net 2 Progress.
  4. Travel: East Bight, mandatory.
  5. Encounter: Cavern Guardian.
  6. Combat: Beravor takes it undefended…shadow Enchanted Stream for no effect. Beravor draws Dwarven Tomb and Stand and Fight.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 7, draw Forest Snare.
  2. Planning: Steward of Gondor on Eowyn.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw Chieftain Ufthak. No big deal. Pitch Faramir to bump Will, net +3 progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: play Faranir with Stand and Fight, Faramir defends, shadow Despair, Faramir takes 2 hits, bummer. Beravor and Theodred kill Cavern Guardian.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Ever Vigilant.
  2. Planning: play Guard of the Citadel.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Necromanver's Reach for 1 hit each on Eowyn and Theodred. I'll cancel the next one. East Bight is cleared, net +2 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Snowbourn Scout and Beorn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 12, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Tower Gate, pitch Bearn for net +2 on quest. Play Beorn with Stand and Fight.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none, Beravor draws Gandalf and Faramir.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 12, draw Forest Snare.
  2. Planning: play Snowbourn Scout to eliminate Tower Gate.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw The Brown Lands. Ugh. Whatever, this is an easy stall and I have the threat covered by exhausting Faramir.
  4. Travel: The Brown Lands.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Unexpected Courage and Miner of the Iron Hills.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 16, draw Dwarven Tomb.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Beorn.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Under The Shadow for +1 threat, net +4 with Faramir, clear Stage 1.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Hasty Stroke and Sneak Attack.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Need to play Galadhrim's next turn.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 21, draw Unexpected Courage.
  2. Planning: play Unexpected Courage on Beravor and both Galadhrim's for Threat 22.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Beorn, Guard of the Citadel, Beorn for 7 Will, draw Goblin Sniper. Net +7 on quest.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Chieftain Ufthak, need to deal with the sniper asap.
  6. Combat: Sneak Attack Gandalf, then Gandalf defends, shadow Dol Guldur Beastmaster for no effect, Beorn readies and attacks with Beravor to kill Chieftain. Beravor draws Henamarth and Sneak attack. Goblin Sniper puts 1 hit on Guard of the Citadel.
  7. Refresh: Threat 23.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 17, draw Snowbourn Scout.
  2. Planning: play Henamarth Riversong.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Endless Caverns Doomed 1 and surge Despair to remove 4 progress. Exhaust Faramir to add those 4 back. Henamarth is going to really help going forward.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Sniper.
  6. Combat: Beorn defends, shadow Dol Guldur Orcs for +1, Beorn readies and kills sniper. Beravor draws Guard of the Citadel and Steweard of Gondor. Scry Driven By Shadow.
  7. Refresh: Threat 24.

This is kind of ridiculous how slow I'm going, but then again, I'm about to throw down some serious quest mojo.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 21, draw Northern Tracker.
  2. Planning: play Northern Tracker and Guard of the Citadel.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Guard of the Citadel 2x, Northern Tracker for 8 WIll, draw Driven By Shadow to clear Stage 2 and proceed to Stage 4.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Beravor draws Gleowine and Gandalf. Scry Wolf Rider which surges.
  7. Refresh: Threat 25.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 21, draw Forest Snare.
  2. Planning: Play Gleowine.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Guard of the Citadel x2, Northern Tracker for 8 Will, draw Wolf Rider surge Goblin Sniper. Exhaust Faramir for 13 and pitch a Steward of Gondor to clear Stage 4. Move to Stage 5 and add a Dungeon Jailer to the Staging area.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Optionally engage Dungeon Jailer, Wolf Riders
  6. Combat: Beorn defends Wolf Riders, shadow Endless Caverns for no effect, readies and defends Dungeon Jailer, shadow Necromancer's Pass for no effect. Beravor kills Wolf Rider, readies to draw Hasty Stroke and Ever Vigilant. Gleowine draws Unexpected Courage. Scry Necromancer's pass.
  7. Refresh: Threat 26.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 25, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Theodred, he swings for 2!
  3. Quest: I need 17 to clear this stage this round, and I'll have to kill the Dungeon Jailer to make the advance. Play Gandalf during quest phase with Sneak Attack and hope there isn't a Hill Troll coming at me soon. Eowyn, Theodred, Guard of the Citadel x3, Northern Tracker, Gandalf with 4 danage on Dungeon Jailer, exhaust Faramir for total 18, draw Necromancer's Pass, Endless Caverns is cleared.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Goblin Sniper. Get it over with.
  6. Combat: Beorn defends Dungeon Jailer, shadow The Brown Lands for no effect. Snowbourn Scout defends Goblin Sniper shadow Tower Gate for no effect. Beorn readies and Beravor kills Dungeon Jailer, advance to Stage 7. Nazgul comes into play. Play Snowbourn Scout for free from Stage 5 clearing with 1 progress on Necromancer's Pass. Beravor draws Gleowine and For Gondor. Gleowine draws Erebor Hammersmith. Scry Hill Troll. No big deal, I got this, Dwarven Tomb can get me a Galadrhim's if necessary.
  7. Refresh: Threat 27.

Round 12

  1. Resource: Loads, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: play Gandalf and Miner of the Iron Hills.
  3. Quest: Need 14 to clear. Eowyn, Theodred, Northern Tracker, Gandalf, Faramir for 14 Will, draw Hill Troll and clear Necromancer's Pass.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Nazgul optionally engage.
  6. Combat: Ready Gandalf with Ever Vigilant to defend Nazgul, shadow Marsh Adder for no effect. Snowbourn Scout defends Goblin Sniper shadow Under the Shadow, Threat 29, could cancel with Hasty Stroke. Play For Gondor. Beravor, Theodred, Beorn kill Nazgul. Miner of the Iron Hills kills Goblin Sniper. I could have done all of this without For Gondor, Beorn could ready again, and the two Guards of the Citadel would be enoug to kill Nazgul. Whatever. Beravor readies and draws Henamarth and Miner of the Iron Hills. Beravor Draws Guard of the Citadel. Scry The East Bight. Proceed to Stage 8, and that's the game!

AAR

Several of these quests reward turtling to build board state. This won't serve me well in upcoming quests. But I'm glad I played them and I think they're really worthwhile for new players who only have a core set.

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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.