Nin-in Eilph 8:359

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I took a look at Chad's deck for this and he want with Dwarf swarm, which is all I needed to see. Dwarf I know how to do, and I have a couple of pretty good dwarf decks already built.

Having them already built doesn't mean I can find them easily… it took me an hour and tearing all my storage apart to find both of the decks. The one I'm using here is Khazad Dum and the Deeds of Dwarves, a deck which has a lot of fine adventuring, albeit not in a few years.

It will be fun to bring out Dain and friends.

Initial hand:

  1. Miner of the Iron Hills 2.Kili
  2. Narvi's Belt
  3. Dwalin
  4. Cram
  5. Amcestral Knowledge

Threat 32.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Bifur.
  2. Planning: Cram on Dain.
  3. Quest: Thorin and Ori, reveal Finger of Glanduin, net +3 progress.
  4. Travel: FInger of Glanduin
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Sneak Attack.
  2. Planning: Narvi's Belt on Dain.
  3. Quest: Thorin, Ori, reveal Shifting Marshland, surge In Need of Rest attached to Ori. Net +3 progress clearing Finger of Glanduin.
  4. Travel: Stinking Bog.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 36.

(This was a mistake, Narvi's Belt needs to go on Thorin.)

Round 3

  1. Resource: 7, draw Daeron's Runes.
  2. Planning: Narvi's Belt to play Kili, find Fili, play Miner of the Iron Hills remove In Need of Rest.
  3. Quest: All but Dain, reveal Low on Provisions distribute 6 damage. Net +7 after clearing Stinking Bog. I should have left this in the Staging Area, I would then be in Stage 3.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Time counter comes off change to A Weary Passage which requires discarding a card at random to quest.

Threat 39.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 6, draw Untroubled By Darkness and Dori. This is good, I can quest through Stage 2this round.
  2. Planning: Daeron's Runes drawing Erebor Record Keeper and Ancestral Knowledge. Discard Erebor Record Keeper.
  3. Quest: All but Dain discard Ancestral Knowledge, reveal Hidden Eyot.
  4. Travel: Hidden Eyot, exhaust Dain.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 41.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 9, draw Gandalf and Durin's Song.
  2. Planning: Play Bifur draw Dori and Longbeard Orc Slayer.
  3. Quest: All but Dain and Miner of the Iron Hills, discard Dori (Lucky!) reveal Remnants of Elder Days. We'll go with Neenerbreekers because it's killable next turn. Stage 3 Impassable Marshland is next, Threat 42.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Neenerbreekers.
  6. Combat: Miner of the Iron Hills defends. The rationale here is that if there is not a shadow, Neener only hits for 1, but if there is a shadow, with the damage already on heros, it risks killing a hero. Shadow Finger of Glanduin which removes all from current quest which is a whiff. Dain puts a hit on Neener.
  7. Refresh: Threat 44.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 9, draw Gloin and Longbeard Orc Slayer.
  2. Planning: Gloin to add 2 to Ori. Play Dori.
  3. Quest: All but Dain and Miner, Low on Provisions, this is going to be rough and may end the game. Amazingly, I didn't lose anyone! Net +15 Quest! Play Untroubled By Darkness to get +22 which clears Stage 3. Miner of the Iron Hills defends, shadow Off Track which has no Shadow.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none, already engaged.
  6. Combat: Sneak Attack Gandalf to defend, Shadow Giant Swamp Adder with no shadow, undefended from Neener, shadow Giant Swamp Adder which has no Shadow, Ori survives. Dain puts a hit on Neener.
  7. Refresh: Threat 46.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 10, draw Dwarven Tomb and Kili.
  2. Planning: Play Dwalin, Play Gandalf.
  3. Quest: Gloin for 3 Will, reveal Giant Swamp Adder.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Giant Swamp Adder.
  6. Combat: Gandalf defends Ancient, shadow Fen of Reeds to add +1 attack, which actually kills Gandalf. Dwalin defends Giant Marsh Adder, shadow Neenerbreekers which deals a damage and Dwalin takens another hit. Kili defends Neenerbreekers, shadow Hidden Eyot which has no shadow effect, no damage on Kili. Thorin, Ori, Fili, Bifur, and Dori attack for 15 total attack factors, only need 5 and that's a win.

AAR

I have forgotten how powerful a Dwarf swarm deck can be, especially when you need to bring the hurt in solitaire play. This was pretty good after getting stalled so badly on the last 2 games. The lesson here is that when I need a lot of quest power early on, a Dain deck can often (not always) deliver.

Main mistakes:

  1. Playing Narvi's Belt on Dain instead of Thorin.
  2. Not using Nalir to quest. With Dain, Nalir adds one Will to questing, and that probably would have saved me a round.
  3. Not realizing the Nalir counts as a Dwarf, so the starting hand is already at 4 dwarves.
  4. Nalir could also soak 1 round of Neekerbreeker damage.
  5. Nalir also counts as a character for Low on Provisions.

In any case, it was fun to bring out Dain and friends.

I'm going to roll right into Celembrimbor's Secret, the second to last AP in The Ringmaker.

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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.