LotR 276 - The Steward's Fear (5)

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After managing this two player fairly well, The Steward's Fear has so far stymied me in solitaire. I'll figure it out I'm sure. I'm using an Outlands deck, which has so far been really slow to start.

Initial hand:

  1. Daeron's Runes
  2. Daeron's Runes
  3. Anfalas Herdsman
  4. Peace, and Thought
  5. Ever Vigilant
  6. Sneak Attack

I've played this deck a few times, and even mulliganned, but have never turned up any of the 3 Steward of Gonder cards in the deck.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Henamarth Riversong.
  2. Planning: Play Daeron's Runes drawing two Gandalfs :/ discard Ever Vigilant. Daeron's Runes again drawing Warden of Lossarnach and Valiant Sacrifice, discard Valiant Sacrifice. Play Henamarth and scry Storehouse.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluin, reveal Storehouse for +3 on The Fourth Star.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Hunter of Lamedon and Sneak Attack.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

Good start, I think.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Knights of the Swan.
  2. Planning: Scry Underworld Dissident. Play Anfalas Herdsman.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, reveal Underworld Dissident for Threat 29.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Underworld Dissident.
  6. Combat: Hirluin defends, shadow Underworld Dissident for no effect and Hirluin takes 1 hit. Play Sneak Attack Gandalf to kill Underworld Dissident, draw Snowbourn Scout, Knights of the Swan, and Hunter of Lamedon. Still no SoG. Beravor draws Warrior of Lossarnach and Snowbourn Scout. Damn.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf(!!!)
  2. Planning: Scry City Street, which surges. Play Snowbourn Scout x2 which clears The Fourth Star and reveals Pickpocket..
  3. Quest: Eowyn, reveal City Street surge Lurking in Shadows which surges due to no Brigand engaged. Threat 36.
  4. Travel: City Street.
  5. Encounter: Pickpocket.
  6. Combat: Discard 1 from Eowyn and Hunter of Lamedon from hand. Snowbourn Scout defends, shadow Local Trouble for no effect. Hirluin puts 1 hit on Pickpocket. Beravor draws Men of the West and Warden of Healing.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 6, draw Ethir Swordsman.
  2. Planning: Play Ethir Swordsman. Scry A Knife in the Back.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluin for 6, reveal A Knife in the Back, use Snowbourn Scout to deal 0 damage and discard Gandalf, play Valiant Sacrifice to draw Warden of Healing and Gleowine. Dang. City Street is cleared.
  4. Travel: Storehouse.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Pickpocket attacks, pay from Eowyn and discard Hunter of Lamadon, shadow Local Trouble for no effect. Beravor draws Warden of Healing and Steward of Gondor. Now I just need to make it through the next round and I should be good to go. Hirluin kills Pickpocket.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 7, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: Play Gleowine and Warden of Healing. Scry City Street.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Ethir Swordsman, reveal City Street surge Unwelcome Discovery and add Lossasnach Bandit surge Lost in the City. I have to play a Sneak Attack Gandalf here else all is lost. Lossarnach Bandit would discard the resource in any case. I'm two turns away from Steward of Gondor. Direct Damage Lossarnach Bandit. Storehouse cleared and Zealous Traitor goes into the Staging area. This is going wipe my allies almost completely. I think this is the game.
  4. Travel: City Street.
  5. Encounter: Zealous Traitor optionally engaged, 5 allies leave play: Henamarth, Warden of Healing, Ethir Swordsman, Snowbourn Scout, and Anfalas Herdsmen. I might scoop, this is too discourading..
  6. Combat: Beravor defends, shadow Market Square to discard all resources. :( Beravor takes a hit. Gleowine draws Hunter of Lamedon.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 3, draw Snowbourn Scout.
  2. Planning: do nothing, nothing to do.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, reveal Underworld Dissident. Threat 43. Scooping.

AAR

Couple of things about this deck and quest. First, without Steward of Gondor, Hirluin simply cannot get enough Outlands characters in play. This quest punishes holding resources, so they need to be spent as soon as possible regardless of whether an Outland character is available to play.

Second, something needs to be done about Zealous Traitor. It's a game ender. There are 3 of them in the Underworld deck, and they need to handled immediately if possible. Thalin could manage 1 hit as they are revealed when a location is explored, just as if they had come off the top of the Encounter 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.