LotR 274 - The Steward's Fear (3)

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Initial hand:

  1. Peace, and Thought
  2. Ever Vigilant
  3. Hunter of Lamedon
  4. Warrior of Lossarnach
  5. Elrond's Counsel
  6. Daeron's Runes

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes drawing Snowbourn Scout and Elrond's Counsel, discard Ever Vigilant. Play Snowbourn Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, reveal Unwelcom Discovery to add Unmbar Assassin to the Staging area, and surge City Street, which surges to City Street, which surges to A Knife in the Dark; 1 hit on Beravor and Snowburn Scout is discarded. Threat 31.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Archery x2. Beravor draws Faramir, Ethir Swordsman.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

This game is lost already as I have no healing in the deck, and no location control. I'm going to play another round or two just to see what flips up. Two Elrond's Counsel's will get my Threat back under control, but Umbar Assasin is going to take me out. I'm essentially location locked right now anyway.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Hunter of Lamedon.
  2. Planning: Play Ethir Swordsman and Hunter of Lamedon, reveal Ethir Swordsman to hand. Lucky!
  3. Quest: All characters to try and beat the location lock. Reveal Underworld Dissident. Net +1 progress on The Fourth Star.

I'm scooping here as Elrond's Counsel requires a Nolder hero, so it's got to come out of the deck. I need to put location control and healing into the deck.

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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.