LotR 257 - The Battle of Lake Town (8)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

This is the 6th play of Lake Town, and I'm going to start Grace of the Valar with this one.

Initial hand, no mulligan:

  1. Imladris Stargazer
  2. Light of Valinor
  3. Gandalf
  4. Gondorian Spearman
  5. Stand and Fight
  6. Faramir

Reveal Close to the Flame, 1 hit on each character.

I'm going to attempt to survive the first turn.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: Play Imladris Stargazer, who I expect to lose.
  3. Quest: Choose Smaug to Staging, reveal Smaug the Mighty, Imladris Stargazer to defend, shadow Reckless in his Rage for no effect as there are no Burn locations in play. Imladris Stargazer is dead with 5 damage on Lake Town. Eowyn, Elrond, Theodred quest, reveal Town-Baiting, choose to put 5 damage on Lake Town. Net 1 Progress. Amazing.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Daughter of the Nimrodel.
  2. Planning: Play Gandalf, it's the only way I'm going to survive this turn. Draw Light of Valinor, Northern Tracker, and Gandalf.
  3. Quest: Choose Engage and reveal Smaug the Mighty, who engages Gandalf, shadow Scorching Blast for no effect because no locations in play. Gandalf takes 1 hit. Quest Eowyn, Theodred, Elrond, draw Merchant's District for 4 progress.
  4. Travel: Merchant's District, deal 2 damage to Gandalf to put into Victory Display.
  5. Encounter: Smaug.
  6. Combat: Elrond defends, shadow … oops…

Crap, I have to take this one undefended as everyone quested.

Scoop.

LotR 256, Lake Town 7

Oddly enough, I feel pretty good about the last game, like I can beat this quest. Let's see if I can get through 2 full turns no matter what.

Initial hand, no mulligan:

  1. Faramir
  2. Sneak Attack
  3. Snowbourn Scout
  4. Daughter of the Nimrodel
  5. Vilya
  6. Steward of Gondor.

Reveal Merchant's District.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: play Snowbourn Scout with Elrond.
  3. Quest: Engage and reveal Smaug the Mighty, darn. Snowbourn Scout defends, shadow The Master's Manor and discard the hand and place 3 damage on Lake Town. I don't think I can recover from this one. Quest with Eowyn, Theodred reveal Esgaroth Wharf for net 2 which clear Merchant's District. Since I'm not in the travel phase, this card is discarded instead of going to Victory Display.
  4. Travel: Esgaroth Wharf.
  5. Encounter: Smaug.
  6. Combat: Elrond defends, shadow Town Baiting for no effect.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

I feel like scooping because I don't see any way to get ahead given the hand discard, I just don't have the draw power I need. Let's see what happens.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Light of Valinor.
  2. Planning: Light of Valinor on Elrond.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug the Terrible. Eowyn, Elrond, Theodred quest, reveal Fisherman's Dock. Net 6 progress with Esgaroth Wharf cleared and 2 progress on quest.
  4. Travel: Fisherman's Dock.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

That was cool. I'm going to continue with the following strategy: don't worry about quest progress, and don't worry about Lake-Town burn, just build the board state.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 9, draw Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: Play Miner of the Iron Hills.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug reveal Smaug the Mighty, Miner defends shadow Dire Magnificence which is going to induce an immediate attack on Elrond as well, who won't be able to quest afterwards. Shadow Fisherman's Dock, added to Staging area. Elrond takes 2 hits. Quest Eowyn, Theodred and reveal Reckless in his Rage which is a whiff in this case. Net -5 for Threat 37.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Ok, I got through Round 3, let's see if I can get through Turn 4. Doubtful, but we'll see how the cards play out.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 11, draw Gondorian Spearman.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug the Magnificent who swings for 8, scoop.

LotR 257, Lake Town 8

Three rounds may be the maximum I've progressed in the past, let's try to get 4 rounds this game. I may need to get more cheap allies as well, I have not gotten the Vilya engine in play yet.

Initial hand:

  1. Unexpected Courage
  2. Vilya
  3. Steward of Gondor
  4. Hasty Stroke
  5. Henamarth Riversong
  6. Miner of the Iron Hills

Normally, this would be more or less a game winning hand, but in this quest I think I need more chump blockers early on. Let's see if I can survive long enough to get Steward into play.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: Play Henamarth, who is most likely going to chump.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug the Terrible. Scry Fisherman's Dock with Henamarth. Quest with Eowyn, Theodred, Elrond for net 0 progress.
  4. Travel: Fisherman's Dock.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

An excellent start!

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Steward of Gondor on Elrond, Miner of the Iron Hills.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug the Magnificent. Scry The Master's Manor. Quest with Eowyn, Theodred, Elrond for net -1, Threat 32.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Smaug.
  6. Combat: Miner defends, shadow Merchant's District for 1 hit on Lake Town. Five excess hits from Smaug on Lake Town.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Another sucessful round.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 10, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: Vilya on Elrond, Unexpected Courage on Elrond. I need allies now, especially Imladris Stargazer.
  3. Quest: Stage Smaug the Magnificent and that's a scoop.

At 30 threat or more, I must have an ally out to defend against Smaug the Magnificent, who swings for 8. No hero can manage without attachments.

AAR

I need to adjust this deck. Daughter of the Nimrodel needs to come out in favor of probably Zigil Miner. Add Daeron's Runes and Ancient Mathom.

Here's the deck I used:

Lake Town Progression 0.3

Hero (3)

Ally (26)

Attachment (14)

Event (10)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards Cards up to Shadow and Flame

Sideboard

Hero (3)

Ally (16)

Attachment (13)

Event (21)

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.