LotR 301 - Celebrimbor's Secret 3

Dec 30 2023

Tags

Probably the last LotR game of 2023, as I don't have plans to play tomorrow. I've hoping to get High Frontier out for one more game this year, but it's really daunting to try and wrap a long game up in a single play session.

We squeaked a win out of this one with myself coming in at 49 threat. The game went way longer than it really ought to have due to a massive number of locations coming out. We came really close to location locking, but I finally got a Northern Tracker out, and we were able to hang on a couple of rounds which cleared most of them up. Also, Prince Imrahil was the recipient of a two Blades of Gondolin, which really helped get get progress on locations. We probably wouldn't have won without those. My Elrond/Vilya never fired. However, with Light of Valinor and Burning Brand, he turned into a great defender, and two Wardens of Healing kept the board in shape. A long game, but we won and we're off to The Antlered Crown next.

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.