LotR 385 - The Weather Hills 1

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One of my game goals this year is to play through the entire Lost Realm/Angmar Awakens cycle. I knocked out Intruders in Chetwood last year, so there are eight more to go. The Weather Hills is next. To get started, I’m using the Core Killer Extended deck which beat Intruders in Chetwood.

Initial hand:

  1. Unexpcted Courage
  2. Gleowine
  3. For Gondor!
  4. Forest Snare
  5. Dwarven Tomb
  6. Sneak Attack

Threat starts at 27.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 3, draw Gandalf.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: All, draw Tragic Discovery, Threat 30. Exposed Ridge cleared. Orc reveal Angmar Marauder. Play Gandalf/Sneak Attack to get rid of this.
  4. Travel: Weathered Hilltop.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 6, draw Hasty Stroke.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Beravor, Gleowine.
  3. Quest: All for 8, draw Cold from Angmar, surge second Cold from Angmar. Weathered Hilltop cleared.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Faramir and Lore of Imladris.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 5, draw Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: None.
  3. Quest: Eowym and Theodred, draw Ice Storm to damage Gleowin. May end up using him to chump now. Bummer.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Guard of the Citadel and Miner of the Iron Hills.
  7. Refresh: Threat 33.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 9, draw Forest Snare.
  2. Planning: Play Faramir, Miner of the Iron Hills.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, draw Concealed Orc Camp.
  4. Travel: Concealed Orc-Camp and engage Cornereed Orc. Undefended, shadow Search the Ruins with no shadow effect.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Cornered Orc, Faramir defends, shadow Biting Wind which would deal 1 damage but I’m going to cancel that with Hasty Stroke. No hits on Faramir. Beravor and Miner destroy Cornered Orc. Beravor draws Snowbourne Scout and Northern Tracker.
  7. Refresh: Threat 34.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 6, draw Beorn.
  2. Planning: Play Miner of the Iron Hill, remove condition from quest. Play Snowbourne Scout.
  3. Quest: none, don’t want to advance this round. Draw Ice Storm, damage Miner of the Iron Hills.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Unexpected Courage and Ever Vigilant.
  7. Refresh: Threat 35.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 6, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: 6, Gleowine draws Snowbourne Scout.
  3. Quest: none, don’t want to advance, draw Cornered Orc, Threat 37.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Cornered Orc, Faramir defends, shadow Sheltered Valley with no shadow effect.
  6. Combat: Miner of the Iron Hills defends Cornered Orc, shadow Ruins of Arnor, cancel with Hasty Stroke. Beravor and Theodred kill it. Beravor draws Stand and Fight and Guard of the Citadel.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 9, draw Faramir.
  2. Planning: Unexpected Courage on Theoden. Gleowine draws Captain of Ships.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, draw Freezing Blast which removes Eowyn from the quest. This is actually fine, eexcept Doomed 2. Threat 40. Surge Ruins of Arnor, Threat 42. I need to get on with it, or find a Galadhrims to lower threat.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Dwarven Tomb, Gandalf.
  7. Refresh: Threat 43.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 12, draw Ever Vigilant.
  2. Planning: Play Snowbourn Scout and advance the quest. Lore of Imladris to heal Eowyn. Cornered Orc into play, Faramir defends, shadow Ruins of Arnor, Faramir takes a hit.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Theodred, Beravor, reveal Cold From Angmar, which is going to make a lot harder to win the game now, really a lot harder as Faramir is out of commission. Eowyn discard Beorn, Ever Vigilant, Steward of Gondor, plays Stand and Fight to bring back Beorn. However, Cold From Angmar attached to Orc Ambush will get rid of it fast. I’m going to have to chump him and put in the other one.
  4. Travel: Amon Forn.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn Scout defends, shadow Weathered Hilltop which has no shadow. Beorn kills Cornered Orc. Beravor draws Sneak Attack and Galadhrims Greetings.
  7. Refresh: Threat 44.

Round 9

  1. Resource: 10, draw Gloewine.
  2. Planning: GleoAwine draws Galadhrims Greetings. Play Guard of the Citadel, Snowbourne Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Beravor, Faramir. Reveal Biting Wind, 4 damage on Beorn, 2 on Northern Tracker. I don’t think I’m going to win this one. I’ve run out of quest mojo. Discard Forest Snare, Gandalf, Galadhirms. Total Will is 4, the condition and the quest card annihilated quest ability. If I win it, it will be a fucking slog from here. This only puts 2 progress on Amon Forn.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws Erebor Hammersmith and Will of the West.
  7. Refresh: Threat 45.

Round 10

  1. Resource: 9, draw Henamarth Riversong.
  2. Planning: Play Henamrth, scry Tragic Discovery. Play Galadhrims Greetings, Threat 39, play Dwarven Tomb to get Galadhrims back. Play Erebor Hammersmith.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Beravor, Northern Tracker, reveal Tragic Discovery. Play Sneak Attack Gandalf to draw Erebor Hammersmith, Northern Tracker, Snowbourn Scout. Add 3 to quest which clears Amon Forn and Orc Ambush. Threat 43.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: none. Beravor draws A Test Of Will and Henamarth Riversong.
  7. Refresh: Threat 44.

Round 11

  1. Resource: 7, draw Steward of Gondor.
  2. Planning: Play Guard of the Citadel, Erebor Hammersmith. If I need one more, I’ll Stand and Fight Snowbourn Scout. Henamarth scry Angmar Captain. I can only quest for 11, did not get Faramir back out.
  3. Quest: Eowyn, Beravor, Theodred, Northern Tracker, Guardx2. Ereborx2.
  4. Travel: None.
  5. Encounter: Angmar Captain.
  6. Combat: Snowbourne defends, shadow Exposed Ridge which whiffs,

But I’ve lost the game here as Savage Counter-Attack expired.

Bummer. I need healing, otherwise this deck should work pretty well.

AAR

The hardest thing about this quest is probably the will power punishment on Stage 2B. It’s really hard to overcome a -1 penalty on all Will for damaged characters. This deck will need some healing power to mitigate that risk. More condition removal seems advisable as well.

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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.