LotR 294 - The Morgul Vale (4)

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First solo play of The Morgul Vale, typically a pretty difficult quest for solo. I'm going after it with my Outlands Tactic Splash deck for this play, but I suspect I'll be switching to a mono-Tactics deck to beat it, probably the one used against Siege of Cair Andros or something similar.

Initial hand:

  1. Feint
  2. Sneak Attack
  3. Anfalas Herdsman
  4. Ethir Swordsman
  5. Winged Guardian
  6. Warden of Healing

Acceptable, I guess.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Knights of the Swan
  2. Planning: Play Knights of the Swan.
  3. Quest: none, reveal Orc War Camp for net +10 Threat now 37.
  4. Travel: Orc War Camp
  5. Encounter: Murgash
  6. Combat: Beregond defends, The Dead City Looms revealed for no effect, shadow Watcher in the Wood for Threat 38 and Beregond takes 1 hit. Hirluin and Knights of the Swan put a hit on Murgash. Beravor draws Forlong and Warden of Healing.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 5, draw Defender of Rammas.
  2. Planning: Play Ethir Swordsman and Anfalas Herdsman.
  3. Quest: Ethir Swordsman and Hirluin, reveal Terror Drives Them surge Morgul Road. Net +3 Threat 42.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Murgash.
  6. Combat: Beregond defends, reveal Morgul Sorcerer, shadow Terror Drives Them for 2 more hits on Beregond. Anfalas Herdsman defends Morgul Sorcerer, shadow Lieutenant of Mordor with no shadow effect. Beravor draws Gandalf x2.
  7. Refresh: Threat 43.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 5, draw Daeron's Runes.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes drawing Snowbourn Scout and Daeron's Runes, again, drawing Warior of Lossarnach and Hunter of Lamedon. Discard Hunter of Lamedon and Winged Guardian.
  3. Quest: Ethir Swordsman and Hirluin, reveal The Master's Malice and that's the game.

AAR

An almost predictable result.

I'm definitely going to switch to my mono-Tactics deck and see if I can Hama lock these fools. This is legit progression style as Hama had not been issued errata at this point in the releases.

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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.