The Three Trials 12:348, 13:349

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I'd like to play more of this game, but logging plays takes so much time. An alternative is playing without logging. Would be nice to have a turn and phase counter.

I'm introducing a new system for tracking counts. The format is colon-separation like this: "scenario:game."

Game 12:348

Start with Trial of Intuition:

  • Stone Barrow, raises player's threat by Guardian's Threat on every attack. This is inconvenient.
  • Wolf Guardian, swings for the most putting a hit on Boromir even with Gondorian Shield.

These might be the two worst cards to draw at the start of the scenario.

Initial hand got me Gondorian Shield, which was good, but Wolf Guardian was the first out, which is bad. Because Wolf Guardian puts a hit on Boromir every attack, the alternative is chewing up all the allies which will be needed late in the game, along with the resources for playing structural cards.

Scooped when last time counter came off of Wolf, which would have resulted in an attack killing one of my heros.

Game 13:349

Start with Trial of Intuition:

  • Raven's Gaurdian
  • Cave Barrow

Gondorian Shield is in my opening hand.

This game went 11 rounds, and ended with a +1 for each Key held on Wolf attack, which killed Boromir. Without Boromir, there would be no way of winning. This attack was the result of an uncanceled Treachery. Canceling the Treachery would not have mattered as I was already out of allies for chumping, and the Shadow card would have come up anyway during Combat. My other alternative would have been to Quick Strike, which again would have resulted in no allies defending during Combat when Boromir could whack them all. Which he was in a great position to do with Rohan Warhorse, Unexpected Courage, and Miruvor. Totally doable, but with 3 hits already on him, just not really possible.

I think the main strategy for this quest is stall as long as possible on Stage 1 to build the hand, resources, and hulk out Boromir, then rush the last two stages as fast as possible, picking up the 3rd key during Combat to prevent any further Guardian attacks.

Good game. I might just play this a few more times to get a 2d clean win.

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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.