LotR 284 - Encounter at Amon Din (2)

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It's still early in the day, and having curb stomped Druadan Forest, it's time to dig into Encounter at Amon Don. This is supposed to be a fairly easy quest, and my experience with it in the past playing cooperatively bore this out. We'll see how it works solo. I'm taking the Basic Outlands 2.0, which was the deck which whipped The Druadan Forest.

Initial hand:

  1. Steward of Gondor
  2. Unexpected Courage
  3. Men of the West
  4. Miner of the Iron Hills
  5. Sneak Attack
  6. Hasty Stroke

Not bad, nice to have Steward of Gondor for a change.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Daeron's Runes.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes drawing Gandalf and Hasty Stroke, discard Hasty Stroke.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Alcaron, reveal Burning Farmhouse. Two Progress on active location.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Hasty Stroke and Hunter of Lamedon.
  7. Refresh: Threat 28.

This is not looking super great.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Anfalas Herdsman.
  2. Planning: Play Anfalas Herdsman, Unexpected Courage on Beravor. Steward on Hurluin.
  3. Quest: Eowyn Alcaron, Beravor, reveal Craven Eagle. Net +1 progress, Anfalas Herdsman discarded. this is not looking good.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Orc Rabble.
  6. Combat: Beravor defends, shadow Orc Ravager for 2 hits on Beravor.
  7. Refresh: Threat 29.

Slow start.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 8, draw Ethir Swordsman.
  2. Planning: Play Ethir Swordsman. Hunter of Lamedon.
  3. Quest: Eowy, Beravor, Ethir, Hunter, Hirluin for 12 Will, reveal Gondoriam Hamlet. Pitch a Hasty Stroke to Eowyn to clear active location and Stage 1.
  4. Travel: Burning Farmhouse.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Sneak Attack Gandalf to defend, draw Daeron's Runs, Anfalas Herdsman, Warrior of Lossarnach. Ready Beravor to use with Lord Alcaron to kill Orc Rabble.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw Anfalas Herdsman.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes drawing Miner of the Iron Hills and Knights of the Swan. Discard Miner. Play Anfalas Herdsman x2, Knights of the Swan, and Warrior of Lossarnach.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Warrior of Lassarnach, Anfalas x2 for 8 Will, reveal Orc Arsonist. Bummer. That puts me way behind the power curve. Threat 33.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Orc Arsonist and Ghulat come out.
  6. Combat: Hunter of Lamedon defends Ghulat, shadow Trapped Inside which is worthy of a Hasty Stroke to cancel. Knights of the Swan defends Orc Arosonist, shadow Orc Rabble, next shadow Gondorian Hamlet for no effect. Knights takes 2 hits. Beravor, Lord Alcaron, Ethir Swordsman kill Orc Arsonist. Beravor draws Gandalf and Men of the West.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 7, draw Warrior of Lossarnach.
  2. Planning: Play Gandalf and Warrior of Lossarnach.,
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Beravor, Ethir, Anfalas x2, Knights for 11 Will, reveal Orc Arsonist. Pitch Miner to put 4 Progress on active location.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Orc Arsonist.
  6. Combat: Warrior of Lossarnach defends Orc Arsonist, shadow Panicked! Gandalf defends Ghulat, shadows Marauding Orc, Trapped Inside, Ghulat only swings for 7 so both whiff. Alcaron, Hirluin, and Warrior kill Orc Arsonist. Beravor draws Miner of the Iron Hills and Sneak Attack.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 5, draw Snowbourn Scout.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluin, Ethir, Anfalas x2 for 10 Will, reveal Secluded Farmhouse. Sneak Attack Gandalf commited to quest and deal 4 hits to Ghulat for the kill. Clear active location and +5 on Stage 2.
  4. Travel: Gondorian Hamlet.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Beravor draws Warden of Healing x2.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 9, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Play Men of the West to pull back Anfalas Herdsman, Hunter of Lamedon, and Warrior of Lossarnach. Play Warrior of Lossarnach and Hunter of Lamedon. Hunter of Lamedon response is another Hunter of Lamedon. I think I have this thing. I could win with a lucky YOLO, but I think I'm going to take a chance on one more round. Really would like to have Henamarth working right now.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluin, Ethir, Hunter, Anfalas x2, Warrior x1 for 14 Will, reveal Orc Rabble. Net +2 on Stage 3 clearing Gondorian Hamlet. I need 8 progress for the win.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Orc Rabble.
  6. Combat: Warrior defends Orc Rabble, shadow Panicked! which kills Warrior. Alcaron and Beravor kill Orc Rabble. Beravor draws Henamarth x2.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 7, draw Ethir Swordsman.
  2. Planning: Play Henamarth scry Marauding Orc. Play Ethir Swordsman, Snowbourn Scout, and Hunter of Lamedon with response Sneak Attack to discard.
  3. Quest: Hirluin, Eowyn, Ethir x2, Hunter x2, Anfalas x2, Warrior of Lossarnach for 24 Will, reveal Orc Marauders and that's a win.

AAR

I'm getting more of hang of the Outlands deck. It will get really powerful as the card pool grows, and I'm sure I could make it even more powerful with the current card pool. While it's not that difficult to pilot, it's not exactly trivial either.

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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.