Quest 4: The Hunt for Gollum

Victory after two attempts* (* follow the asterisk for important notes below)

The Story

The Hunt for Gollum is one of the only two quests that have sentimental value to me.

After being beaten to a pulp and stressed out by Dol Guldur, I still held out hope that this game had a bright future for my wife and I. That hope had to be a patient one as the months wore on without the promised release of the first Adventure Pack. Finally, an announcement appeared on the Fantasy Flight Games website: a preview event for The Hunt for Gollum! Calling up my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store), The Haunted Game Cafe, I did everything I could to get the preview event hosted in my town. Shortly afterwards the preview day had arrived! But I didn't want to go alone.

I recruited a friend and coworker (and fellow fan of Middle-earth) to play a quick round of Passage Through Mirkwood over lunch to learn the basic rules, then to join me that night. We showed up to the cafe excited to start our journey and were joined by Tuttle757 , who was a recent player of the game himself. Making some quick decks (mashing two spheres together, adding the new player cards, and making sure our unique cards were placed in a way so as not to cause conflict) we set out.

It was unique, tough, and we saw it through to a near victory at the end (with Tuttle757 and I defeated and my friend pushing forward until bitter death). I immediately bought the demo pack from the store and signed up for a subscription plan they were offering.

The Hunt for Gollum is not a quest I ever think of going back to, but it showed me that the game designers were planning on stretching themselves and the players as the game developed. It showed me that this was a game worth sticking with.

The Deck

It was a fun challenge limiting myself to the Core card pool for Passage Through Mirkwood and I felt like trying a similar challenge this time around: Limiting myself to the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle player cards (plus Core). I figured it might give me a chance to play around with some cards I haven't touched in a while.

And could a mono-sphere, limited card pool deck beat the quest? Let's find out. I expect to use Tactics heavily for Conflict at the Carrock and Lore for Journey to Rhosgobel (and I just played a mono-Spirit deck), so Leadership it is.

Mono-sphere deck building with just a single cycle and the core is a lot like mono-sphere deck building with the Core itself: Put all the cards together and pull out what you want. With a solo game in mind, there are some obvious choices to take out (Dunedain Catche and Signal, Parting Gifts). Events gave me the hardest time, specifically deciding between A Shadow of the Past and Dawn Take You All (Shadow won out).

Leaders of Mirkwood

Heroes
Aragorn
Theodred
Prince Imrahil

Allies
Brok Ironfist x2
Dunedain Watcher x3
Faramir x2
Gandalf x3
Guard of the Citadel x3
Silverlode Archer x3
Snowbourn Scout x3

Attachment
Celebrain's Stone x2
Dunedain Mark x3
Dunedain Quest x3
Dunedain Warning x3
Steward of Gondor x3

Event
Ever Vigilant x3
For Gondor! x3
Grim Resolve x2
Sneak Attack x3
Valiant Sacrifice x3
Shadow of the Past x3

Sets Used
Core
The Hunt for Gollum
Conflict at the Carrock
A Journey to Rhosgobel
The Dead Marshes
Return to Mirkwood

The Journey

Attempt #1:

Let's make this one a bit more thematic...

Our heroes start out on their journey brashly, careless of the apparent threat they already pose to Mordor. Yet they are well-armed, with the ability to sneak in enemies from cover and honor the valiant sacrifice of their fallen comrades. They also have knowledge of the past, in faint shadows of memory, that may prove useful. In the distance, a treacherous fog is seen, but it poses no threat as of yet.

On the way, the party discusses how Aragorn is the true Steward of Gondor. Aragorn's keen eyes notice a Dunedain Warning. Our heroes give their all into their search, with Theodred assisting Aragorn to feel refreshed during the journey.The party sees the route to the Gladden Fields, when an evil storm starts to build just at the edge of their vision. After feeling they may be slightly closer their goal, the party decides to follow the path to the Fields. Their threat to Mordor continues to grow.

Suddenly, a Snowborn Scout runs past, showing a quicker way through the Gladden Fields, and is gone in a flash. The party is better off for his aid (his valiant sacrifice, if you will) and will be ever vigilant in the future. As the party's skills increase, a guard of the Citadel is persuaded to join them. The Scout returns, revealing still more of the quick paths through the Fields, yet this time he decides to join the party himself. Theodred continues to encourage Aragorn as the party pushes forward. They pause to follow a false lead, but it is a brief pause and their is no harm done. Aragorn does fall for an Old Wives Tale and looses a brief part of his fortune. But what is this? A sign of Gollum, hidden in the very eaves of Mirkwood. After making their way to the edge of the Gladden Fields, the party pushes on to the eaves. Their threat grows still.

The abilities of the party continue to grow, yet no one new arrives to join their cause. Still, they hold out hope that they will be able to sneak in some friend to aid them in the future. A shadow of the past haunts Aragorn, reminding him that the Banks of the Anduin lay near this part of Mirkwood.

* A pause for transparency. I really debated playing Shadow of the Past here, knowing it could really be a waste of the card or a brilliant move. I moved forward without playing it, staged, then reversed and played as if I had played it. I would lie if I didn't say I had not made reversals in the past, usually when I forgot a Forced effect or did not realize I could have played X card that last phase for an amazing bonus. I'll try to keep moments like this few and far between in this journey.

Sure enough, after pushing onward the party arrives at the banks of that mighty river. But their journey to find Gollum's trail is quickly nearing its close. Theodred picks up the signs they found of Gollum and they proceed to a new river: Ninglor. The enemy is also closer to finding them.

Yet the party has a secret the enemy did not count on: Gandalf is waiting to come to their aid. Sneaking in, he gives the party advice on how to minimize their visibility to the enemy. He then aids them in pushing forward past the River Ninglor. Eastern Crows fly out on a scouting mission, followed by wisps of the Evil Storm that pass harmlessly by the party. Both Aragorn and Prince Imrahil fall prey to more old wives tales. Imrahil stands at attention as Gandalf leaves, turning around just in time to block a sudden attack by the eastern crows, who themselves are attacked and defeated by Aragorn. The enemy is increasing the search for the party, but they are still safe.

Brock Ironfist comes down from the mountains to lend his aid to the party. And who is that accompanying him? Gandalf has returned! He brings gifts for the party, including knowledge of how to summon his aid again. They all set off with a desire to see this quest near its end. Massing at night, the Misty Mountain Goblins try to halt the party's progress but are unable to stop a push to the final leg of the journey. Aragorn continues falling for old wives tales and is exhausted by the effort. Angered, the goblins attack the Snowborn Scout, destroying him while using weapons left by the Hunters of Mordor to harm Theodred. Prince Imrahil lashes out, severely wounding the goblins. The party's presence is more noticeable as Gandalf's protective presence leaves...

...only to return with knowledge of how to decrease their visibility even further. The party pushes on in one final, valiant effort. Goblin Scavengers jump out to block their path, but are pushed aside as the party picks up Gollum's trail and runs full-speed after the creature.

Final Scoring
5 completed rounds x10: 50
Final threat: 27
Damage on heroes: 1
Threat cost of defeated hero: 0
Victory points: -3
Total: 75

Attempt #2: Feeling a bit of guilt over my reversing of time during Round 3, I decided to play a quick round and see if I could scratch up another victory or have a justifiable reason to add an additional tick to number of games needed for victory. The result? Wholesale slaughter, of me. Locked down by the staging area at each turn, which was a snowball effect from a poor decision not to travel during my first turn. I ended up with only three progress on stage 1B, four locations in the staging area, two Hunters of Mordor engaged with me (both guarding Clues), two dead heroes, and three damage on Aragon. I threated out. Justice is served for my attempt #1 correction.

The Recap

Both games showed the long-lasting effects of one little decision. Had I gone with my original choice not to play Shadow of the Past during attempt #1, I would have been fighting off a Hunter from Mordor for two rounds, allowing the staging area to possibly get momentum over me (vs. the momentum I maintained over it throughout). During attempt #2, it was my decision not to travel to River Ninglor (threat 2, progress 4) or Banks of the Anduin (threat 1, progress 3) that did me in. I thought that traveling to either would be counter-productive, since I would need to quest a few times to complete them vs. simply trying to quest past them. I did not take into account that the tiny threat they contributed would be just enough to stop me from progressing. I assumed my deck would provide more willpower, fairly quickly, as it had during attempt #1. But each attempt is its own game and I need to play the cards I'm dealt as wisely as I can.

Note: I'm thankful for tupelo bound's uploading of compiled The Hunt for Gollum FAQ, which helped in confirming that I still needed to resolve the forced effect of the current stage if I quested past it.