Lotr 296,8 - Nin-in Eilph (3-5)

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We won't make it through Ringmaker this year, but we got pretty close. Today's session was 3 games, picking up the win on the third. We used our usual decks for the cycle, with the addition of Galadhrim's Greetings. (It turned out I had 6 Light of Valinor in the deck, fixed that by the the last game.) The games are number in sequence from our plays.

Game 3

This seemed to start out ok, but then we got bogged down with the time counters cycling which reset the progress. Meantime, Nalir drives up the threat really fast. We got about 5 rounds into without passing Stage 2, and called the game as unwinnable, because it was by that point.

Game 4

This was a Round 1 scoop due to the condition attachment Treachery which does damage each time a Time Counter is removed. Because it came out on Round 1, we decided it wasn't worth it.

Game 5

For this third game af the day, we decided we needed to go all in on every quest and just see what happens. Fortunately, with both Eowyn and Elrond in hand, I had 7 points out of the box for questing. It really helped. We got through Stages 2 and 3 in two rounds each with minimal enemy activity, took our punishment from the treacheries, and lined up for Stage 4 with enough will power to not threat out, and enough attack to beat the boss on the last round. It had to be all in, we would not survive it otherwise. We almost lost due to the stupid "assign as many points of damage as characters," but we just* squeaked by on that. My Warden of Healing got exhausted on a couple of previous rounds which kept me in the game.

AAR

For a two play, and probably multiplayer game, blasting through the quest stages as fast as possible seems to be the key. I'm not sure how this will play out in a solitaire game given the number of quest points will be relatively much higher than in multiplayer.

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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.