Lord of the Rings Trick Taking Chs. 1 & 2

The Lord of the Rings Trick Taking game has a lot of traction on the forums, enough that I purchased a copy for the family over Thanksgiving. While I did not get around to playing it then, I have more time this trip to Ft. Wayne than I had during Thanksgiving, so on the table it went.

Chapter 1

The game “starts” in the Shire, with Bilbo’s Eleventy First birthday party. As this is a trick taking game, Bilbo is the main character here, and has to take at least 3 tricks.

Game 1/1

Here’s the setup:

Chapter 1 Game 1 LotR Trick taking

As it turned out, I got to the last two rounds and determined that there was no way for Bilbo to take a third trick. Nothing in his hand could be engineered to win, and with no more cards to draw I called this game a loss.

Chapter 1 Game 2 LotR Trick taking

Let’s try again.

Game 2/2

I was a little surprised to have lost the very first game on the very first chapter, but that’s probably a good thing. Losing has a way of intensifying one’s focus. And this game played out very nicely with all characters meeting win condition by the second to last round, with no way for Pippin to force a winning hand.

With a win on Chapter 1, it’s time to proceed to Chapter 2. What will it have in store?

Chapter 2

With a Chapter 1 win, it’s time for Chapter 2, where Sam and the threat deck come into play.

Game 1/3

In this game, Sam drew the 3 of Hills, which he was able to win with a non-matching play from Pippin.

This one turned out to be a little easier than I thought it would be.

On to Chapter 3, but probably not today.