Carn Dum again, and again, etc. 11:373

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After a long hiatus induced by work and family obligations, my Lord of the Rings collaborator and I have found some time to get back after it. We have still to vanquish Carn Dum, so that’s where we picked up today. Since it had been so long, we just grabbed whatever decks looked convenient to get started.

Game 370

Carn Dum 8.

I had Elrond/Vilya, JL used the Mirlonde deck. We made it to the 3rd round with no progress, and scooped on an enemy swarm. The Mirlonde deck doesn’t start fast enough for this quest.

Game 371

Carn Dum 9.

I stayed with E/V deck, JL switched to Deeds of Dwarves. This only lasted 1 round as we pulled a surge train which ended up flipping Thaurdir. Basically, I think we pulled all the surges on the first round staging reveal. It was pretty gruesome. Because flipping Thaurdir results in -10 engagement, all the enemies would come into play with everyone committed to the quest.

Game 372

Carn Dum 10.

We got to round 4 this time, but no progress placed on the quest. Once again, Thaurdir flipped and that was that.

Game 373

Carn Dum 11.

We stayed with the E/V and Dain decks, but changed a few cards to add Test of Will to full strength in both decks. As it turned out, we only used 1 Test of Will, but we did go 3 rounds, with 12 progress in play from the first two rounds. So this was pretty good. Once again clobbered by a surge train. JL says: “Thaurdir is the new Mugash.”

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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.