LotR 288 - Blood of Gondor (5)

Previous:
Next:
Tags

First solo play, taking the Basic Outlands deck v3.0 against it. Blood of Gondor gave us a fit in 2 player, taking 4 tries to beat it. I'm not anticipating beating it first try in solo, but looking forward to taking a good crack at it. Also, anticipating a rebuild given Master's Malice is in the encounter deck.

Initial hand:

  • Steward of Gondor
  • Daeron's Runes
  • Parting Gifts
  • Knights of the Swan
  • Anfalas Herdsman
  • Unexpected Courage

Pretty good hand, really.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Ethir Swordsman.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes draw Snowbourn Scout and Sneak Attack discard Parting Gifts.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Lord Alcaron for 3 Will, reveal Evil Crow for Threat 29.
  4. Travel: The Dark Woods.
  5. Encounter: Evil Crow
  6. Combat: Hirluin defends Orc Ambusher, shadow Orc Arsonist, second shadow Mordor looms for no effect, Hirluin takes 3 hits. Evil Crows undefended, shadow Orc Rabble, second shadow Orc Rabble, third shadow The Dark Woods for no effect, Beravor takes 1 hit. Beravor kills Evil Crow.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Warrior of Lossarnach.
  2. Planning: Play Steward of Gondor, Snowbourn Scout, Unexpected Courage on Beravor. Play Anfalas Herdsman.
  3. Quest: Hirluin, Eowyn, Beravor, Lord Alcaron, Faramir, reveal Lying in Wait, turn over Brutal Uruk, which is probably the game. Or at least the game just got a lot more tense. Net +4 progress.
  4. Travel: The Crossroads.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Beravor defends Orc Ambusher, shadow Scourge of Morder for 2 hits on Beravor. Snowbourn Scout defends Brutal Uruk, shadow Orc Arsonist, second shadow Orc Rabble, third shadow Northern Road for no effect.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31 + 2 for hidden cards makes 33. Black Numenorean.

I don't see any way to get through this, too many enemies.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 6, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: Warrior of Lossarnach.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluim, Warrior of Lossarnach for 5 reveal Orc Ambusher, net +2 which clears The Cross-raads.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Orc Ambusher discard Anfalas Herdsman.
  6. Combat: Lord Alcaran sends Brutal Uruk back to staging. Sneak Attack Gandlalf kills one Orc Ambusher defends against the other, shadow Southern Road for no effect. Beravor and Faramir kill Orc Ambusher. Beravor draws A Test of Will and Snowbourn Scout.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34 + 3 for Black Numenorean.. 37.

I can now quest with will, which is good.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 8, draw A Test of Will.
  2. Planning: Knighs of the Swan, Ethir Swordsman, Gandalf.
  3. Quest: Ethir Swordsman, Warrior of Lossarnach for 8 Will, reveal Orc Ambusher for +2 progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Black Numenorean, Brutal Uruk, Orc Ambusher. Discard Knights of the Swan.
  6. Combat: Lord Alcararon sends Brutal Uruk back to staging. Gandalf defends Black Numenorean, shadow Orc Ambusher. Faramir defends Orc Ambusher, shadow Mordor Looms which whiffs. Beravor puts a hit on Orc Ambusher, readies to draw Gandalf and Forlong.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38 + 4 = 42.

I'm going to quest all in next round and lose, but will be interesting to see what happens. I suspect all the hidden cards are flipped.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 7, draw Forlong.
  2. Planning: Snowbourn Scout, Gandalf kills Black Numernorean.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Hirluin, Ethir Swordsman, Warrior of Lossarnach, Gandalf for 14 Will, reveal Lying in Wait and cancel with A Test of Will. Stage 1 is cleared. Turning 4 Hidden cards face up finds two Lying in Wait, which whiff, The Dark Woods, and Brutal Uruk.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Brutal Uruk.

AAR

I could have been using Faramir to turn up one Hidden card at a time without turning over all of them. This game was winnable with this hand, for sure. I misplayed it with the expectation I was going to lose! Note that the Outland deck did not fire. The Master's Malice did not show, which was good luck. More:

  • Clear the hidden cards on Stage 1 before advancing. This seems pretty important, and it might be worth losing a bit of board state if the result is a clean entry into Stage 2.
  • Power quest through Stage 2, which is a battle quest, so get the attacking power on the table before advancing.
  • Don't worry about Hidden cards in Stage 2 if it can be powered through in a turn or two.
  • A Tactics mono deck might work in this quest if The Cross-roads is kept in the staging area.
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.