LotR 245, 246 - To Catch an Orc (3,4)

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Another successful Game Day with my usual collaborator for Lord of the Rings card game progression play through. To Catch An Orc stymied us on our previous session, so after a deck rebuild from mono Leadership to a Leadship, Lore, Spirit deck, we try again.

Game 245

This was a first turn scoop with two Orc Skirmishers appearing. Not an auspicious beginning. I was inclined to swap my deck out completely, but we decided to continue on, this time ensuring we quested successfully no matter what.

Game 246

This game started out better than any of the three previous games, first turn successful questing is really important, and there could be a lot threat coming out. However, we got through the first turn pretty well, then ended up treading water for long, long time.

This went really, really long, 12-15 rounds. We cycled the Encounter deck twice, and both ran out of cards. The orc Mugash turned out to be 2d from bottom of JL's out of play deck, it took a really long time to find it, then we ended up in location lock, where the "Deal One Damage to Each Exhausted Character" treachery cleared the board. Brutal.

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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.