LotR 265 - Into Ithilien 10

Jun 24 2023

Trials

Here are a number of first turn trials.

Trial 1

Play Snowborn Scout, 1 P on Ithilien Road.
Quest all for 9 Will, clear Ithilien Road, net +3 P on Stage 1, Threat 27.
Reveal Haradrim Elite, which attacks and kills Snowbourn Scout.
Haradrim Elite attacks, shadow Block Wargs, Elrond is dead.
Scoop.

Forgot to draw a card for the first turn.

Trial 2

Play Imladris Stargazer.
Quest with all but Glorfindel for 6 Will.
Reveal Southron Mercenaries.
Ithilien Road cleared, no net progress on quest.
Success.

Forgot to draw a card for the first turn.

Trial 3

Draw Daeron's Runes, draw Daerons Runes and Daeron's Runes, discard Dunedain Watcher, draw again and again, super weird, this will have no effect on this round, but I did draw two Vilya in a row.
Play Asfaloth and two progress on Ithilien Road, play Zigil Miner.
Quest for 6 Will.
Reveal Watcher in the Woods for Threat +3, surge Southron Support which is Doomed 3, threat is now 33, surge Blocking Wargs for 1 hit on Celador, Elrond, and Dunhere, surge Morgul Spider.
Ithilien Road cleared, 1 P on Stage 1.
Morgul Spider engages to kill Zigil Miner, shadow is Morgul Spider which has no effect.
Scoop, Round 2 looks super sketchy.

This one is potentially doable depending on what I have in hand and can play next round.

Also, Asfaloth was a mistake as it costs 2 Lore, which I don't have on the first round. So this was a legit scoop.

Trial 4

Draw Erebor Hammersmith.
Play Arwen and Vassal of the Windlord.
Quest for 9 Will.
Reveal Blocking Wargs which kills Vassal of the Windlord, total 6 Will. Surge Forest Bat, 2 more hits on Elrond and remove from quest for net 3 progress which doesn't clear Ithilien Road.
Scoop.

Probably best not to play Vassal of the Windlord until Blocking Wargs is either done or can be canceled.

Trial 5

Draw A Test of Will.
Play Daeron's Runes drawing Vilya and Ancient Mathom. Discard Beorn. Play Snowbourn Scout and Ancient Mathom.
Quest Elrond, Dunhere, Celador for 6 Will, reveal Southron Company to clear Ithilien Road drawing Asfaloth x2 and Gildor Inglorion. Net 4 progress on Stage 1.
Success.

This was an encouraging first turn. I think it would be pretty hard to succeed at this quest unless the hero lineup was able to bring 4 Attack value on the first turn. It's almost always enough to both succeed and clear Ithilien Road, which is critical.

Trial 6

Draw Gandalf.
Play Daeron's Runes drawing Haldir and Vassal of the Windlord, discard Gildor. Play Light of Valinor on Glorfindel, play Imladris Stargazer.
Quest with Celador, Glorfindel, Dunhere for 7 Will, reveal Forest Bat for 2 hits on Dunhere, net 4 to clear Ithilien Road.
Elrond defends Forest Bat, shadow Southron Support for no effect.
Success.

Looks like about 50% chance of success for any given play so far.

Trial 7

Draw Vilya.
Play Vassal of the Windlord as an emergency chump. Hasty Stroke stays in hand.
Quest Celador, Elrond, Dunhere for 6 Will.
Reveal Forest Bat, taking 2 damage on Elrond and removing him from the quest which results in +3 will.
Scoop, failed to clear Ithilien Road.

I suspect this one would be workable, depending on the outcome of defending Forest Bat.

Trial 8

Draw Erebor HammerSmith.
Play Imladris Stargazer and scry. Play Daeron's Runes for Vilya and A Test of Will, discard Beorn.
Quest Celador, Elrond, Dunhere for 6 Will.
Reveal Overgrown Trail for 2 Progress on Ithilien Road.
Scoop, failed to clear Ithilien Road, and with 4 Threat, clearing it next turn is dicey given what's in my deck.

For this situation, I'd probably be able use Imladris Stargazer to ensure an E/V play would bring in Gandalf, which could quest in place of Elrond. That has a chance of clearing Ithilien Road on Round 2, but would still require playing a defender for chumping, of which Erebor could probably work.

Trial 9

Draw Haldir of Lorien.
Play Arwen for chumping. Save Lore resource for Asfaloth.
Quesy Celador, Elrond, Dunhere for 6 Will.
Reveal Watcher in the Wood to raise threat to 29 and surge Blocking Wargs and surge Forest Bat. Remove Elrond from quest, Ithilien Road not cleared with 3 Progress.
Arwen defends, shadow Overgrown Trail which whiffs in this case. Glorfindel kills Forest Bat.
Success.

The next round should be successfull as Asfaloth will come into play, Arwen survived to potential chump next round, and Vassal of the Windlord provides another potential chump.

Trial 10

Draw Vilya.
Play Elond's Counsel x2 for Threat 20. Play Daeron's Runes drawing Dwarven Tomb and Haldir of Lorien. Play Snowbourn Scout as a potential chump.
Quest Celador, Elrond, Dunhere for 6 Will.
Reveal Watcher in the Wood for Threat 23 and surge Watcher in the Wood for Threat 26 and surge Lost Companion and remove Elrond from the quest. Ithilien Road cleared with 1 Progress on Stage 1, no enemies in play, Snowbourn Scout in play for chumping, and Vilya in hand.
Success.

Trial 11

Draw Haldir of Lorien.
Play Imladris Stargazer for chump, Light of Valinor on Glorfindel.
Quest Celador, Elrond, Glorfindel, Dunhere for 9 Will.
Reveal Haradrim Elite, which attacks Imladris, shadow Blocking Wargs which kills Imladris, undefended on Glorfindel for 4 damage. Ithilien Road cleared with net 3 progress on Stage 1.
Scoop. No chump on the table, and too much damage on Glorfindel to make it interesting.

Trial 12

Draw A Test of Will.
Play Snowbourn Scout and Ancient Mathom.
Quest Elrond, Dunhere, Celador for 6 Will.
Reveal Secluded Glade, and Ithilien Road cleared, Ancient Mathon drawing Vilya, Elrond's Counsel, and Northern Tracker.
Success.

I have another Snowbourn Scout in hand for a future chump if necessary, and the Elrond's Counsel could get me out of a nasty enemy reveal.

AAR

I feel much more comfortable with Into Ithilien now. The main thing I need to remember is to put a damage on Celador when a character leaves play. I need to get to Stage 3 as fast as possible.

Some cards which might useful:

Warden of Healing. This would provide some safety for Celador and any hero having to take an undefended initial attack.

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.