What to Expect When Expecting (Content)

Surprising no one who knows me, I have shown zero chill in rebuilding my Lord of the Rings: the Card Game collection. Despite bailing on the game several times, it maintained a very strong place in my heart and I wanted to go back head first if I was going back at all. The flood of product was this week. Cataloguing boxes and packs as they come in has been a journey down memory lane.

An unexpected party (for my cat, who likes to sit here)

The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill came out during one of those breaks. My wife and I took a roadtrip a few states away and listened to Rob Inglis' incredible reading of The Fellowship of the Ring. We drove through hills and plains and wooded land as Tolkien, via Inglis, described the world of Middle-earth. My first stop on arriving home was my local game store to purchase the first Hobbit expansion and get back to this beautiful game. It's good to have it back.

With so much product back in hand, my mind is spinning with ideas of what I can play through and share on the blog. Here are a few of the types of posts to expect:

Revised Quests Using Revised Content

A lot of people are only going to have their hands on revised content. I want to showcase completing the available quests with just that hero pool. Core set & The Dark of Mirkwood have already been posted. The Dream-chaser Cycle is currently in progress and will likely be the focus of upcoming posts. Angmar Awakened really should have been next, but it wasn't on hand when I began getting games in last week.

Continuation of True Solo

Back in 2017, the blog ended with the final quest in The Sands of Harad box. The Mumakil was in draft form and Race Across Harad was being played through. And the saga quests were halfway done. While I enjoy two handed more these days, it would be nice to finish out that project and have every published quest completed solo. Not sure if that will include all print on demand content, mainly because it is such an expensive purchase these days and a low priority for me (except for you, Fog on the Barrow-downs; you shall be mine again!). The Haradrim Cycle is also missing pieces for me as I write this, so I may need to skip ahead cycles until I get my hands back on those packs.

(editors note: Before publication, an offer came in that will leave only one Haradrim pack missing, so I might just pick off where I left off)

Nightmares

Originally I didn't plan on chasing after Nightmare decks and only getting them if a good deal fell in my lap. Well, it did and about half of the Nightmare decks made will be arriving this weekend. Not sure what the rhythm of posting will be for these, but play 'em if you got 'em! 

Card Thoughts

Everything I've picked up is currently sorted into pack and box format (encounters and heroes) so I could catalogue the expansion and make sure it was complete. As packs were released, I liked to slowly go through the hero cards and think what type of decks I would like to put them in. Nothing technical. And that's the kind of post I would like to do: Thumbing through a pack and thinking up ideas for the cards or remembering how I've use them before.

Play It Again

There might be quests I just get a bug to play again in a way that doesn't fit any of the above categories. A recent collection came with The Old Forest and I remember really enjoying that quest, often using it to test out new decks ideas. In fact, I might just break that one out tonight...

On Post Order

When possible, I will try to keep some cohesion in how write-ups are posted. At the very least, I'll attempt to post a few consecutive encounters before switching tracks to another category for a bit. "Shower Thought" posts like this and card thought posts will be inserted wherever, since they don't take play & write-up time.

Hopefully the variety will give everyone something to enjoy!

Current collection stored with room for everything I'm missing

Quest 005(r): The Caves Nibin-dum

Opening Thoughts

Time for my first crack at The Caves of Nibin-dum. The core set introduced the game with an easy quest, then ramped up the difficulty, and ended with a frustrating nightmare. It will be very interesting to see how much the difficulty ramps up here. Does it feel appropriate for a beginner with a starter pool of cards?

The Decks

Precon Gondor and Dwarves are back! Like The Oath, I'll be keeping these as their stock versions to start with. We'll start getting fancy with the ingredients moving forward. Dwarves pumped out a solid ally swarm last time I ran these decks and Gondor struggled to keep up. Let's see if the pattern repeats. 

The Quest

setup
Goblin Chieftain and Cracked Pillar set aside. Cave Torch attached to Prince Imrahil (Gondor set as first player). Proceed to 1B. Gondor picks Collapsed Mine to add to the staging area and the Dwarves pick Goblin Dungeon.

Gondor hand: Steward of Gondor, Visionary Leadership, and a few allies. Definitely a keeper.

Dwarf hand: Some allies that don't have great synergy at present (Erebor Hammersmith)z. Doing a mulligan here. Still nothing crazy (and Hammersmith is back), but Narvi's Belt and Erebor Record Keeper will come in hand.

Round 1

Resources and cards! Gondor: Heir of Mardil. That'll add some spice to my Steward of Gondor timing. Dwarfs: Lure of Moria. A great card that will definitely come in handy.

Steward of Gondor goes on Boromir (Denethor wishes!). Steward is exhausted and Soldier of Gondor is played, finding Faramir in the first five cards and adding him to hand. Erebor Record Keeper goes down for the Dwarves.

Prince Imrahil, Mabling, Ori, Bifu, and Erebor Record Keeper quest. Total Willpower: 12.

Gondor reveals: Wild Warg
Dwarves reveal: Goblintown Scavengers. Gondor discards Valiant Sword and Dwarves discard Ered Nimrais Prospector, giving the Scavengers +3 threat.
Total threat: 11. One progress placed on the quest. The gang travels to the Goblin Dungeon, revealing Evil in the Dark. Doomed 1 (Gondor 33, Dwarves 27). Gondor will raise there threat by 2 (35) and Dwarves will discard the Erebor Record Keeper.

Gondor engages the Wild Wargs (resource added to Mablung) and Dwarves engage the Goblintown Scavengers. Shadow cards are delt. Wild Wargs attack and the Soldier of Gondor defends. Shadow: None. Soldier of Gondor takes one damage. Goblintown Scavengers attacks undefended. Shadow: +2 attack (3 total). Three damage goes on Dain. Boromir attacks the Wild Wargs, dealing two damage. Dain attacks and kills the Goblintown Scavengers. 

Cave Torch is exhausted to put three progress on the Collapsed Mine. Discard: Crumbling Ruin. That's a treachery I'm very happy to see gone.

Ready. Raise (Gondor: 36, Dwarves 28). Pass first player token to Dwarves.

Phew. I'm already feeling the increased toughness in this one!

Round 2

Resources and cards! Dwarves: We Are Not Idle. Gondor: Envoy of Pelagir. 

Narvi's Belt goes on Bifer. Erebor Hammersmith comes down. Valiant Sword returned to Gondor's hand. Mablung pays for Envoy of Pelagir, gets a resource back, and plays for Defender of Ramas. Steward of Gondor is exhausted and Faramir comes down.

Cave Torch is exhausted to explore the Collapsed Mine. Discard: Goblin Runners.

Questing: Bifur, Ori, Mablung, Prince Imrahil, Envoy of Pelargir. Total Willpower: 11 (can be bumped to 14 by Faramir). 

Dwarves reveal: Obsidian Arrows. Two damages goes on Erebor Hammersmith.
Gondor reveals: Goblin Sniper. 
Total threat: 3.
Exhausted Faramir to add +3 to Willpower. Five progress placed on Goblin Dungeon. Dwarves look at the top five and put Dori into play. Six progress placed on 1B.

Gondor engages the Goblin Runners (resource added to Mablung's pool). Shadow cards are dealt.

Goblin Runners attacks Soldier of Gondor. Shadow: Will make an additional attack with an additional shadow. Soldier dies. Prince Imrahil readies. New shadow dealt to Goblin Runners and it attacks, with Defender of Rammas doing it's namesake. No effect. No damage dealt.
Wild Wargs attack and Prince Imrahil defends. Shadow: Cancel all combat damage Wargs would receive. Bromir kills the Goblin Runners.

Dwarves deal a damage to Dori and Gondor deals a damage to Envoy of Pelargir. A resource is moved from Mablung to Bifur. Ready. Raise (Gondor 37, Dwarves 29). Pass token to Gondor.

Round 3

Resources and cards! Gondor: Defender of Ramas. Dwarves: Miner of the Iron Hills, Ered Luin Miner (thank you for the extra card, Ori).

Steward of Gondor exhausts. Visionary Leadership goes on Boromir. Heir of Mardil goes on Mablung. One resource stays in Bormir's pool for reasons. Narvi's Belt exhausts to make Bifur a leader. Gloin is played and two resources are added back to Bifur. Erid Luid Miner enters play.

Questing: Prince Imrahil, Mablung, Ori, Bifur. Total Willpower: 10. 
Gondor reveals: Lost in the Dark. Choice is made to exhaust the Cave Torch. Discarded: Branching Paths (not added to staging area).
Dwarves reveal: Goblin Tunnels. 
Total Threat: 4.
Stage 1B is history. Advance to stage 2A. Goblin Chieftain added to the staging area.  Goblintown Scavengers and Great Cave Troll added to the staging area. Advance to 2B. 

The gang travels to the Goblin Tunnels.

Dwarves engage the Goblin Chieftan. Great Cave-Troll engages Gondor (Mablung gains a resource and readies, exhausting Heir). Goblintown Scavengers engage the Dwarves. Shadow cards are dealt.

Busy, busy boardstate

Great Cave Troll attacks and Envoy of Pelagir defends. Shadow: Deal 1 damage to a character I control (Faramir). Envoy dies. Prince Imrahil readies. 
Wild Wargs attack and Defender of Rammas defenders. Shadow: +1 attack. No damage dealt.
Goblin Chieftain attacks. Ered Luin Miner defends. Shadow: None. One damage dealt and the Goblin Chieftain returns to the staging area.
Goblintown Scavengers attack and Dori defends. Shadow: None. No damage dealt.
All of Gondor unites to strike down the Great Cave Troll.
Dain and Gloin take out the Goblintown Scavengers.

Goblin sniper puts a damage on Faramir and Dori. 
Ready. Raise (Gondor 38, Dwarves 30). Token passes back to Dwarves.

Round 4

Resources and cards! Dwarves: Gloin, Lonbeard Elder. Gondor: Feint.

Dwarves lay down a Longbeard Elder. Gondor gets a second Defender of Rammas and a Valiant Sword is put on Boromir. Steward exhausts to give Bormir two resources, one of which is transferred to Bifur. 

Dwarves are questing with six characters. Longbeard Elder peeks at the encounter deck and sees a Cavern Warg, reducing his willpower by 1 and promising another week of winter. Gondor quests with Mablung and Prince Imrahil. Total Willpower: 20. 

Dwarves reveal: Cavern Warg (whaaaaat). Gondor reveals: Crumbling Stairs. Total threat: 9. Faramir exhausts to increase willpower by 6. 7 progress placed on Goblin Tunnels, exploring it. 8 progress placed on 2B (which currently has 16 quest points...to be remedied shortly). 

The gang travels to the Crumbling Stairs. Gondor engages the Cavern Wargs (resource & ready for Mablung). Shadow cards are dealt.

Cavern Warg attacks a Defender of Rammas. Shadow: Deal 1 damage to defending character. Prince Imrahil readies. The attack of three is now undefended. Dori sacrifices himself to take the damage.
Wild Wargs attack the other Defender of Rammas. Shadow: Discard an ally if attack is undefended (it is not). No damage dealt.
Boromir and Mablung defeat the Cavern Warg. Prince Imrahil defeats the Wild Wargs. 

2B now has 8 quest points and 8 progress. Advancing to 3A! Goblin Chieftain is set aside and Cracked Pillar is added to the staging area. Advance to 3B. 

Goblin Sniper places a damage on Gloin and Mablung. Ready. Raise (Gondor 39, Dwarves 31). Pass token to Gondor.

Round 5

Cards and resources! Gondor: Need Drives Them. Dwarves: Hidden Cache, Thror's Map.

Steward gives Boromir two more resources. One is transferred to Bifur. Thror's Map goes on Ori. 

Gondor quests with Mablung. Dwarves quest with Ori, Bifur, Gloin, and Longbeard Elder. A peek at the encounter deck shows as Lightless Passage, so Longbeard's willpower stays. One progress goes on the Crumbling Stairs. 

Gondor reveals: Lightless Passsage.
Dwarves reveal: Crumbling Ruin. Dwarves exhaust Erebor Hammersmith, planning on loosing it. Narvi's Belth is discarded and Erebor Hammersmith (one hitpoint left) is discarded. The only thing that could defeat Boromir (5 hit points) is Gandalf. Two in the deck. I just can't take the risk. I exhaust Defender of Rammas. discard Valiant Sword and discard the Defender. Boo.
Total threat: 8. Crumbling Stairs is explored. Discard: Collapsed Mine, which is added to the staging area.

Discard Thror's Map to make Cracked Pillar the active location.

Gondor engages the Goblin Sniper. Ready & resource for Mablung. Shadow card is dealt.

I play Pillar of the Kings to raise Gondor's threat to 40 and draw a card (Soldier of Gondor). 

Goblin Sniper attacks and Prince Imrahil defends. Shadow: Return enemy to staging if a characgter is destroyed. No damage dealt. Faramir destroys the Goblin Sniper. 

Exhaust Cave Tourch to put 3 progress on  Lightless Passage. Discard: Great Cave Troll, who gets added to the staging area.

Ready. Raise (Gondor: 41, Dwarves: 32). Pass token to Dwarves.

Staging area is starting to get pretty full.

Round 6

Resources & draw. Dwarves: Durin's Song, Longbeard Elder. Gondor: Errand-Rider.

One resource transfers from Boromir to Bifur. Dwarves get Gandalf down and draw three cards (Longbeard Elder, King Under the Moutain, Cram). Cram is played on Boromir. Gondor plays Soldire of Gondor, finding Soldier of Gondor and Squire of the Citadel in the top 5. Another Soldier goes down, finding Angbor the Fearless and Envoy of Pelargir. Envoy of Pelargir goes down, adding a resource to Boromir. Steward is exhausted to add two resources to Boromir. Angbor the Fearless and Squire of the Citadel go down.

Cave Torch is exhausted to explore the Lightless Passage. Goblins are Upon You is discarded and not added to the staging area.

Angor amd Mablung quest for Gondor. Ori, Bifur, and Gloin quest for the Dwarves. Total Willpower: 15. 

Encounter deck is shuffled.
Dwarves reveal: Goblin Dungeon
Gondor reveals: Lost in the Dark. I choose that no progress can be placed on the quest until the end of hte phase (lol).
Total threat: 10. Two progress placed on Cracked Pillar. Advance to 4A. Goblin Chieftain is added to the staging area. Advance to 4B. 

Opting out of travel. We're out of here next round.

Dwarves engage Goblin Chieftain and Gondor engages Great Cave Troll. Mablung gets ready and gets a resource. Shadow cards are dealt.

Goblin Chieftain attacks and Gandalf defends. Shadow: +3. Three damage placed on our Wizard pal. Chieftain returns to the staging area.
Great Cave-Troll attacks and Squire of the Citadel defends. Shadow: None. Squire is obliterated. One resource added to Boromir's pool. 

Boromir, Prince Imrahil, and Mablung destroy the Great Cave-Troll.

Discard Gandalf (by-e). Read. Raise (Gondor 42, Dwarves 32). Token passes to Gondor.

Round 7

Resources and card-os. Gondor: Pelegir Ship-Captain. Dwarves: Ered Luin Miner, Gandalf.

Exhaust Steward to give Boromir even more cash-money. Play down Pelegir Ship-Captain (move a resource from Boromir to Bifur). Transfer another resource from Boromir to Bifur. Dwaves put down another Longbeard Elder.

Everyone goes all in questing (just wait for it), except Dain and Faramir. Total Willpower: 35. Peeking at the top of the encounter deck shows a Goblin sniper, so both Longbeard's loose a willpower (now 33).

Gondor reveals: Goblin Sniper
Dwarves reveal: Wild Wargs
Total Threat: 13. 20 progress is placed on the quest.

Gondor plays Need Drives Them, readying all their characters. Dwarves play Lure of Moria, readying all Dwarves.

No travel.

Gondor engages Goblin Chieftain and Dwarves engage Wild Wargs. Obsidian Arrows is discarded and not added to the Dwarves' engagements. Shadow cards are dealt.

Gondor plays feint to prevent Goblin Chieftain from attacking.
Wild Wargs attack. Ered Luin Miner defends. Shadow: No effect. Miner is destroyed.

Gondor rains hell down on the Goblin Chieftain and victory is achieved!

Final Score: 137 (60 for rounds completed, 41 threat Gondor + 1 hero damage, 32 threat for Dwarves + 3 hero damage, nothing in the victory display).

Parting Thoughts

Now that felt like an appropriate quest to end a beginner's set with. Tough, but able to be beaten with a good deck and keeping your wits about you. I am very thankful these two quests did not remain locked behind the Two-Player Limited Edition Starter. My recommended order for a new player would be:

1. Passage Through Mirkwood
2. The Oath
3. Journey Down the Aundin
4. The Caves of Nibin-dum
5. Escape from Dol Guldur

Quest 004(r) v2: The Oath

 Opening Thoughts

You know what will stop a re-launch in it's tracks? Escape from Dol Guldur. So we'll skip that and head right to the Dark of Mirkwood quests. My last re-launch attempt was just a single match of The Oath. While I'm tempted to move onto the next quest (picking up where I left off, in a way), I want (and need) a little warm-up.

Awkward Aragorn is in attendance

The Decks

Dwarfs and Gondor precons won the day during my last run through this quest, so Elves and Rohan decks are up! The stock lists will be used. My theory is that Elves is going to run circles around the encounter deck. Cards that I always included in Elf decks are here (The Tree People), but there are also cards I rarely added (Greenwood Archer). The Rohan deck's performance will be more of a mystery.

The Quest

Regular, non-campaign mode will be ran this time. The goal is to shake off some rust.

setup
The Eves of Mirkwood added to the staging area
Goblin Troop set aside
Elves set as player 1 

Elf hand: Nenya, O Lorien! and four allies. Can't ask for better than that.
Rohan hand: A bit event heavy, but one of those events is A Test of Will, so we'll keep it

Round 1

Elf deck draws Daeron's Runes. I don't need filtering right now and I have plenty of playables, but always glad to see this. Rohan deck grabbed Ancient Mathom. 

Slapped down Nenya on to Galadriel and O Lorien! onto Celeborn. Exhausted O Lorien! and played a Galadhrim Minstrel, finding a Feigned Voices and putting it in hand. Sweet grab, even though I already have a second Minstrel in hand. Rohan will save resources to hopefully slap down a discounted Westfold Lancer after questing and to have a resource free for A Test of Will.

Galadriel lends her willpower to the minstrel, who quests. Celeborn quests. All three Rohan heroes quest. Emond comes down to quest, thanks to Lothiriel's ability.Total willpower: 17.

Elves reveal: Obsidian Arrows. 2 damage onto Galadriel.
Rohan reveals: Caught in a Web. A Test of Will deployed to counter it. Loosing regular access to a hero so quickly is a no-go.

Total threat: 3. Blew past the quest and stage 1B. Advancing to stage 2A, then 2B. Two locations need to be added from the encounter deck and the quest cannot advance without a Goblin Trail in the victory display. So Goblin Trail and a Forest Gate hit the staging area.

Rohan deck will use the -1 discount on a tactics ally to put down the Westfold Lancer. No need to raise threat and increase its stats. Then Eomund is shuffled into the Rohan deck, which triggers all Rohan characters to ready.

The gang travels to the Goblin Gate, which means revealing the top card of the encounter deck: Driven By Shadow. Technically has an effect but practically doesn't. Shame; I wanted at least one enemy to take out.

Ready. Raise threat (Elves: 30, Rohan: 28). Pass first player token to Rohan.

Round 2

Resources and cards. Horn of the Mark for Rohan. Lembas for the Elves.

Rohan plays Ancient Mathom on the Goblin Trail,  Elves play Daeron's Runes, drawing Galadhrim Minstrel and Orophin. Minstril is discarded (there are plenty of options for Lore to spend resources and nothing in hand for Leadership). Silvan Tracker comes down.

Lothiriel and Hirgon quest for Rohan. Galadriel lends her willpower to  the Silvan Tracker, who quests. The minstrel and Celeborn quest. Total willpower: 15.

Rohan reveals: Goblin Runners. Surge. Goblintown Scavengers. Rohan discards Gandalf. Elves discard Greenwood Archer. Goblintown Scavenger's threat is increased by 7 (shoot).  
Elves reveal: Spider Den.

Total threat: 17. Quest failed and both parties raise there threat by 2 (Elves 32, Rohan 30).

Rohan engages the Goblintown Scavengers and Elves engage the Goblin Runners. Shadow cards dealt. 

Goblintown Scavengers attack Rohan and Westfold Lancer defends. Shadow: No effect. Lancer takes one damage. Goblin Runners attacks Rohan, Silvan Tracker defends. Shadow: No effect. Silvan Tracker takes two damage. Eomer kills the Goblintown Scavengers andHaldir klls the Goblin Runners. 

Read. One damage healed from Silvan Tracker. Raise threat (Elves: 33, Rohan 31). Pass token to Elves.

Round 3

Resources! Cards! Elves: Defender of the Naith. Rohan: Ancient Mathom. 

Elves use O Lorien! to get Orophin down, who returns a Greenwood Archer to hand from the discard. A second Galadhrim Minstrel goes down, but finds no event in the top 5. Rohan attempts the Muster of Rohan. Westfold Lancer, Escord from Edoras, Eomund, and Guthlaf all come into play. Horn of the Mark is played on Lothiriel. 

Elves quest with: new Minstrel, Orophin, Celeborn, and Galadriel helping out Celeborn. Rohan quests with: Both Westfold Lancers, Escort from Edoras, Hirgon, Lothiriel. Total Willpower: 25

Elves reveal: Goblin Trails.
Rohan reveals: Goblin Runners. Surge. Spider Den.
Total threat: 16. 

As a quest action, Rohan searches the encounter deck for a Great Spider, putting into play engaged and exhausting Guthlaf. total threat reduced to 12. Goblin Trails is explored and added to the victory display. Ancient Mathom triggers and Elves draw three cards (Elrond's Counsel, Gandalf, Defenders of the Naith). Goblin Trails puts six progress on the quest. Questing puts an additional seven. Stage 2B explored, moving onto stage 3A. Goblin Troop added to the staging area. Goblintown Scavengers added to the staging area. Proceed to 2B. Both Westfold Lancers are discarded. Two damage goes on the Goblin Runners, killing them.Two damages goes on the Goblin Troop. Eomer gets +2 attack until the end of the round. Horn of the Mark is exhausted and Rohan draws Gandalf. Escort from Edoras is discarded.

Elves engage the Goblintown Scavengers and Rohan engages the Goblin Troop. Shadow cards are dealt. 

Goblintown Scavengers attacks the Elves. The old Galadhim Minstrel defends. Shadow: Discard an ally if undefended. Nope! but the Ministrel dies. Goblin Troop attacks Rohan and Eomund defends. Shadow: No effect. Eomond dies and all Rohan characters ready. Great Spider attacks and Guthlaf defends. Shadow: No effect. Guthlaf takes two damage. Orophim kills the Goblintown Scavengers. Eomer and Hirgon kill the Goblin Troop. Haldir assists Lothiriel in killing the Great Spider. 

Gutlaf is discarded (Muster's effect). Everyone readies. Threat raises (Elves: 34, Rohan: 32). Token passes to Rohan.

Round 4

Resources and cards! Rohan: A Test of Will (niice). Elves: Daeron's Runes (niiiice).

Rohan will just sit and save A Test of Will. Elves play Daeron's Runes, drawing Gandalf + Mirkwood Runner. Gandalf is discarded (already one in hand). O Lorien! is used to put down a Galadriel's Handmaiden. Elve's threat is lowered to 33. 

Rohan goes all-in on the quest (only heroes on the board for them). Elves go in with all heroes and all allies (Silvan Tracker, Galadhrim Minstrel, Orophin, new Galadriel's Handmaiden). Eown commits her willpower to Celeborn. Total Willpower: 22. A little shy of what I would like, but I do have an Elrond's Counsel to boost a bit and A Test of Will to help with bad effects.

Rohan reveals: Spiders of Mirkwood
Elves reveal: Great spider
Total threat: 12

Spider Den is explored. Stage 3B is explored. VICTORY!

He's so happy (and dusty)

Final Score: 94 (30 for rounds completed, 32 threat Rohan, 34 threat + 1 hero damage for Elves, -3 for the victory display). I could have lowered this by 3 with Elrond's Counsel, but I'm not even sure why I track the score.

Parting Thoughts

More than anything, it's good to be back! I'm still, like last time, enjoy the Oath as a first adventure. It's not a push over, but it's not punishingly difficult either. At least with the (well-built) starter decks. I definitely wouldn't run one of the single-sphere "starter" decks from the core against this. Time will tell how I fair at more challenging scenarios...

A New Dawn

A few weeks ago, I began reading The Hobbit to my younger kids (Bilbo escaped from Gollum yesterday). Tolkien's imagery and characters never fail to lead me back to The Lord of the Rings: the Card Game (Listening to the audio book of Fellowship of the Ring on a road trip ended a hiatus years ago). FFG knocked it out of the park with the art and feel. So it looks like it's time to shuffle up again and deal some shadow cards!

But I had sold off the majority of my collection years ago and only had a few Revised boxes sitting around. I wasn't playing the game at the time, I could use the office space, and why not let someone else take joy in the set? When the out-of-print announcement came, I figured I'd swing by my local game store at some point and (maybe?) buy the revised boxes I was still missing just for the heck of it. That turned into a few weeks. Then turned into the store being full sold out, except for a corse set. 

Calling around other local stores netted nothing. Then I remembered that Wizard's Chest in Denver always had a decent stock. But they also have a great player base and hosted Fellowship events in the past, so the odds felt against me. Lo and behold, they had Two Towers and Return of the King! The worker also said he might have seen some old promos and would throw in any if he found them.

(Side note - A good sense of how much time has passed is not my strong suit. I told the worker at Wizard's Chest that I had played a Fellowship event there, "Four or five years ago." No, friends. Looking at my past posts, it was December 2016 when I participated in a Fellowship event at Wizard's Chest.)

The best of the playmats

So what do I find in my bag when I show up? The Eowyn & the Witch-King playmat! Really debated getting rid of this in the past, even when I liquidated the rest of the collection. An amazing thing to have back in my hands.

Now I'm slowly (yeah, right) buying back older sets and missing revised pieces. I may not get back to a 100% collection, but I'll have plenty of content for quite a while.

Then the question is: Do I just play on my own or actually get the blog going again? Writing up sessions adds a lot to my playtime and I think the act of doing that has contributed to my burn out in the past. I signed back into Blogger to give the stats a peak, expecting this place to have been a ghost town for years. But around a hundred views each day? What the heck was happening. I headed over to r/LoTR and found The End May Be Dark listed under "Notable Archived Blogs and Podcasts." That really warmed my heart. And it helped push me to start the write-ups again.

This is not the first time I've planned on firing the blog up again. After my huge hiatus starting in 2017, a few attempts were made to get back on the bandwagon and they came to nothing. This time I saved up a few quests (3) which I will publish weekly, buying myself a little bit of time in my pattern of flood & drought with write ups. I had intended to wait longer, but I'm impatient to get this thing going again. 

Welcome to a new dawn!

Quest 004(r): The Oath

Opening Thoughts

The Oath is designed to be a possible first-quest if your initial purchase was the Two-Player Limited Edition Starter. I'm interested to see how it plays with that in mind while also testing the new hero decks.

Oh, you'll notice the formatting looks a bit different for the quest number. It's been stated a few times by Fantasy Flight Games staff that not all original Lord of the Rings: the Card Game products will be re-released. I could either follow the original quest numbers and have these put in their proper Print on Demand spots or re-do the numbering for these revised releases, since the campaign element does add a unique twist. I've opted for re-numbering and will update the tile of the core set posts to match.

The Decks

My goal for both quests in The Dark of Mirkwood is to try out all four hero decks in their initial 50-card configuration without swapping in any of the optional cards included in the packs. I have a hunch that Dwarves and Elves are going to be the strongest decks and will be pairing each with one of the human-tribe decks. Up first will be Dwarves of Durin and Defenders of Gondor!

The Quest

Setup

existing campaign card additions
Lingering Venom is added to the encounter deck.
Mendor's support added to each player deck.
Valor attached to Boromir and Dain Ironfoot.

new campaign card additions
Stalking Goblin added to the encounter deck.
The Secret of Leadership attached to Bifur
The Might of Tactics added to Boromir

additional setup
The Eves of Mirkwood added to the staging area
Goblin Troop set aside
Gondor set as player 1 and Mendor added to their cards in play
Gondor hand: Visionary Leadership and a few allies makes this hand a 'yes'
Dwarf hand: A few dwarf allies, to hopefully get me drawing an extra card starting round 2

Round 1

Gondor gets a Defender of Ramas down and a Valiant Sword added to Prince Imrahil. Dwarf gets down and Erebor Record Keeper and an Ered Nimras Prospector. Discarded from deck: Hidden Cache (score!), Erebor Hammersmith, Miner of the Iron Hills. Two resources added to Dain's pool. Play We are Not Idle, exhausting Erebor Record Keeper to add another resource to Dain and draw a card. Play Longbeard Elder.

Quest for 12. Look the top of the Encounter deck and it is not a location, so questing reduced to 11. Reveal: Spiders of Mirkwood, Stalking Goblin. Four progress put on the quest and The Eves of Mirkwood made the active location.

Gondor engages the Spiders of Mirkwood (resource added to Mablung) and Dwarf engage Stalking Goblin. Goblin Sniper pulled out of the encounter deck (thanks to Stalking Goblin) and added to the staging area. Shadow cards dealt. Spiders attack and Defender of Ramas defends. No shadow effect & the defender lives. Stalking Goblin attacks and Prospector defends. No shadow effect and the prospector takes one damage. Boromir and Mablung defeat the Spider (thanks to Valor) and Dain defeats the Stalking Goblin (also thanks to Valor). Damage put on Mendor and Longbeard Elder due to the Goblin Sniper.

Ready and raise threat.

Round 2

Healing Herbs attached to Bifur and Dori put into play. 

Questing for 15. Look at the top card of the encounter deck and it is not a location, so questing reduced to 14. Reveal: Surprising Speed, which get surge and doom 1 due to no enemies being returned to the staging area. Reveal: Goblin Runners (surge), Great Spider, Caught in a Web (attach to Mablung). The Eves of Mirkwood is explored and Stage 1 is completed. Each player draws a card, thanks to  Mendor. Add Forest Gate and Goblin Trail to the staging area. Travel to Forest Gate and Dwarves draws two cards (including Miner of the Iron Hills)

Dwarves engage Goblin Runners and Gondor engages Great Spider (exhausting Mablung but also getting him a resource). Shadow cards dealt. Goblin Runners attack and Dori defend, taking two damage. Would have had to discard an ally if I risked letting it go undefended and having Dori take the damage (which I almost did). Great Spider attacks and Defender defends, taking no damage. Dain takes out the Goblin Runner and Boromir takes out the Great Spider. Goblin Sniper deals one damage to Dain and one to Boromir. 

Ready (spending two of Mablung's resources for him), raise, and onward

Round 3

Gondor puts down Gandalf, defeating the Goblin Sniper. Dwarves puts a Thror's Map on Ori then plays a Miner of the Iron Hills, discard the Caught in a Web on Mablung.

Quest for 20. Top encounter card is not a location, so reduce to 19. Reveal: Lingering Venom. Choose to deal two damage each to Dain and Boromir. Surge. Reveal: Abandoned Camp, Obsidian Arrows (deal two damage to Bifur). Forest Gate is explored and 10 progress is placed on the quest. Thror's Map is discarded to make Goblin Trail the active location. 

Ready and raise! (and discard Gandalf)

Round 4

Gondor puts down an Errand Rider, uses it to move resource, and puts down Citadel Custodian. Dwarves plays A Very Good Tale, exhausting Miner of the Iron Hill and Dori. All discard cards are allies, including two copies of Ered Luin Miner! They both go into play as well as Gloin and Ered Nmrais Prospector. Three more cards are discarded, including another Ered Luin Miner (which goes into play). A Very Good Tale is chosen to shuffle back into the deck. Healing Herbs goes on Bifur, then is discard and he is exhausted to heal all damage on Dain. 

Quest for 17. Top encounter card is not a location, so questing goes down to 16. Reveal: Goblin Runners (surge),  Forest Gate, Wild Wargs. Goblin Trail is cleared, clearing the location. Advance to Stage 3. Each player draws a card (Thanks, Mendor). Goblin Troop is added to the staging area and Goblintown Scavangers is added. Travel to Forest Gate and Gondor draws two cards.

Gondor optionally engages Goblin Troop (one resource for Mablung) and Dwarves optionally engages Goblin Runners. Wild Wargs engages Gondor. Top card of the encounter deck is discarded and it is not a goblin (it's a location! ha). Goblintown Scavangers engage Dwarves. Shadow cards are dealt.

Now it's time to survive combat and push for the win.

Goblin Troop attacks and Citadel Custodian defends, dying valiantly. Prince Imrahil readies. Wild Wargs attacks and Defenders of Ramas take no damage. Goblin Runners attack and an Ered Luin Miner defends. The Runners return to the staging area (Surprising Speed shadow effect). Goblintown Scavangers attack and another Ered Luin Minder defends, taking no damage. One damage is dealt to the other Ered Luin Miner due to the Great Spider shadow effect. Prince Imrahil, Boromir, and Mendor take out the Goblin Troop. Mablung does one damage to the Wild Wargs. Dain takes out the Goblintown Scavangers.

Ready & raise!

Round 5

Dwarves puts down a Gandalf, destroying the Goblin Runners. Nothing really worthwhile to play for Gondor that will help for this final questing push.

Quest for 35. Look at the top card of the encounter deck one last time, with the Longbeard Elder's ability, and it is an actual location this time and one progress goes on the Forest Gate. Reveal: Spider Den, Goblins Are Upon You. Both teams put a Goblin Runners from the discard pile into play engaged with them. Forest Gate is cleared! Stage 3 is cleared! Victory!!

Final Score: 111 (40 for rounds completed, 36 threat + 3 hero damage for Gondor, 30 threat + 2 hero damage for Dwarves, -3 for the victory display).

Campaign Resolution: Only 4 rounds completed, so no burden added to the campaign pool. 

Parting Thoughts

The Oath felt like an appropriate initial quest for players with decent decks. It was tougher than Passage through Mirkwood but lower than Journey Down the Anduin, which is exactly where I think it was designed to be in terms of difficulty. 

The decks performed well, with Dwarves going on a crazy ally explosion. Gondor has a bit of this capability as well but it did not play out that way this game. Still, plenty of combat power in the starting Gondor heroes allowing Dwarves to quest hard while Gondor dealt with the bigger threats.

Really fun night of gaming. I'll speak more about these quests in the hero decks in a separate post down the line.

Quest 003(r): Escape From Dol Guldur

Opening Thoughts

By my fifth attempt of this quest, I was feeling pretty frustrated. I had just recently made a post proclaiming that the campaign boon additions helped even out some of the rough edges of this quest and yet I was still struggling with it. Not much else to say, but I'll return back to this topic after the break...

The Decks

My goal for the final two attempts was to do two-handed with two-sphere decks that used the opposite combinations from the ones in the player guide. But Lore did not have as many cards that I wanted to splash as it had high-cost cards with good effects. The final decision was to use the Lore deck from the core and then build a tri-sphere deck.

Heroes

Aragorn

Eowyn

Legolas

Allies

Faramir x1

Snowbourn Scout x3

Silverlode Archer x3

Guard of the Citadel x3

Wandering Took x3

Gondorian Spearman x3

Veteran Axehand x3

Gandalf x3

Attachments

Celebrian's Stone x3

Steward of Gondor x3

Unexpected Courage x3

Horn of Gondor x2

Blade of Gondolin x2

Events

Valiant Sacrifice x3

Sneak Attack x3

Dwarven Tomb x3

A Test of Will x3

Feint x3

The Quest

Setup

Valor on Glorfindel and Legolas. Beravor is captured! Appointed by Fate on Aragorn. Bad starting hands that mulligan into worse hands. Hopefully the setup is easy.

Gandalf's Map is guarded by: Necromancer's Grasp

Dungeon Torch is guarded by: Driven by Shadow, which surges into Caught In a Web (attaches to Aragorn)

Shadow Key is guarded by: Enchanted Stream

Okay, that's a pretty good start. Only one thing in the staging area and it's a location (and not the worst one out there). 

Round 1

Miner of the Iron Hills goes down, getting Caught in a Web off of Aragorn. Eowyn claims Gandalf's Map, putting Mendor back into play. 

Start off questing for 10. Aragorn spends a resource to ready. Reveal: Necromancer's Pass, King Spider. Each team pitches a card to Eowyn and gets five progress on the quest. Lore then discards two cards traveling to Necromancer's Pass.

The King Spider engages Lore and Denethor defends. No damage. Legolas, with Valor on, takes out the King Spider and completes Necromancer's Pass.

Round 2

Gandalf comes down for the Leadership/Tactics/Spirit team (LTS) and draws them three cards. I quest with Eowyn and Gandalf for eight, revealing the Reach and Under the Shadow. 8 will vs 4 threat, putting 4 on the quest and advancing to stage 2. Each team gets a card from Mendor, then the group travels to the Enchanted Stream.

Round 3

Celbrian's Stone goes on Aragorn and Henamarth Riversong comes down. Henamarth shows a King Spider coming up as the next card. I quest with Aragorn and Eowyn for a total of 8, then spend a resource to ready Aragorn. Reveal: King Spider, Cavern Guardian. The Enchanted Stream is completed and four progress goes on the quest. Beravor is rescued and the Nazgul enters the staging area.

Lore takes on the King Spider, LTS optionally takes on the Nazgul, and Lore gets the Cavern Guardian. Feint is played on the Nazgul. Denethor defends against the King Spider, taking no damage. Beravor defends against the Cavern Guardian, taking no damage. Glorfindel, with Valor, defeats the King Spider. Aragorn and Legolas get three damage on the Nazgul.

Round 4

LTS plays another Gandalf, getting four more damage on the Nazgul. Lore plays Lorien's Wealth to draw three cards, then puts a Protector of Lorien on Beravor. Henamarth shows a Necromancer's Pass coming up. Gandalf, Eowyn, Aragorn, and Beravor quest for 14. Aragorn spends a resource to ready. Reveal: Necromancer's Pass and Endless Caverns, which surges into Caught in a Web (attaches to Aragorn). One card is pitched to Eowyn. Lore raises their threat by four to attach the Dungeon Torch and Shadow key to Glorfindel. Quest advances to stage 3. LTS discards two cards to travel to Necromancer's Pass. 

The Nazgul attacks and Aragorn defends. No shadow effect. The Cavern Guardian attacks and the Miner of the Iron Hills defends, taking one damage. Glorfiendel defeats the Guardian. Legolas and Mendor defeat the Nazgul, clearing Necromancer's Pass. 

Round 5

Lore gets Gelowine down. Aragorn is still exhausted, but a Steward of Gondor goes on him and exhausts for resources. Questing all in for 14. Reveal: Dol Guldor Orcs (damage goes on Denethor) and Lingering Venom, which is negated by A Test of Will. Lingering Venom surges into Dungeon Jailer.14 v 4 puts more than enough progress on the stage and the scenario is won!

Resolution

Mendor joins the campaign pool. Each team has Valor and Mendor's Support. Lingering Venom is the only burden I accumulated. 

Score: 117 (both teams had 36 threat, a total of 5 hero damage, four rounds, and nothing in the victory display).

Parting Thoughts

So I do feel the campaign addition does take away the rough edges of this quest. Lord of the Rings is the type of game where a 25% win rate is acceptable for a harder quest. Escape from Dol Guldur can still beat you right off the bat with a bad set-up, but 'picking' (depending on how the last quest went) your captured hero + having extra resources and extra damage goes a long way towards evening out the playing field. Still, the final quest of the Core box retains its original purpose: teaching you that this game can just be flat out brutal.

Quest 003(r): Escape From Dol Guldur FAILURE

Opening Thoughts

Not every failed attempt is going to get it's own post, but this one was special. Escape from Dol Guldur is something I have always viewed as a horrible inclusion in the core set. It is one of the most difficult quests, with an unpredictable handicap in the beginning (loosing a random hero) and a three card staging area possibly loosing you the game right away. So the test with this first playthrough was: does the campaign smooth some of the rough edges of this quest and make it a better part of the core experience? Let's find out...

The Deck

The top deck in the RingsDB Hall of Fame is Back to Basics - A Killer Deck Using Cards From 1 Core Set by Xanalor. When building the deck, Xanalor felt a 44 card build was the most appropriate with the cards provided in the original core box (1s and 2s of the best cards). With 3x of every card for every sphere in the revised core, I decided to fill out the build with six additions:

Henamarth Riversong x1

Steward of Gondor x1

Unexpected Courage x2

A Test of Will x1

Sneak Attack x1

So here is a 50 card version of the Back to Basics deck:

Hero
Beravor

Eowyn

Theodred

Allies

Beorn x1

Erebor Hammersmith x2

Faramir x2

Gandalf x3

Gleowine x2

Guard of the Citadel 3

Henamarth Riversong x2

Miner of the Iron Hills x2

Northern Tracker x2

Snowbourn Scout x3

Attachments

Forest Snare x2

Steward of Gondor x3

Unexpected Courage x3

Event

A Test of Will x3

Dwarven Tomb x1

For Gondor! x1

Hasty Stroke x2

Lore of Imladris x3

Sneak Attack x3

Stand and Fight x3

The Galadhrim's Greeting x2

Will of the West x2

The Quest

Setup

I decided to pick Beravor as the prisoner because Leadership is pretty important to how this deck functions. I do assign the keeper of Valor randomly and it is Beravor, so both of those cards go upside-down. Mendor goes upside-down due to the campaign set up. Appointed by Fate goes on Theodred (since he can help get resources onto others).

Gandalf's Map: guarded by Dol Guldur Orcs (when revealed effect does nothing!)

Dungeon Tourch: guarded by Great Forest Web

Shadow Key: guarded by The Necromancer's Reach (when revealed effect also does nothing!)

My opening hand is about as good as it can get: Steward of Gondor, Gandalf, Sneak Attack, Faramir. Nothing too special for the other spheres, but I am not letting go of this.

Round 1

Steward of Gondor goes on Theodred and is activated immediately. Snowborn scout goes down, putting one progress on Great Forest web. 

At the start of the Quest Phase, I sneak attack Gandalf and deal lethal damage to the Dol Guldur Orcs. Then I raise my threat by two to attach Gandalf's Map to Eowyn, allowing Mendor to be freed (with one damage). Eowyn, Mendor, and Gandalf quest for 9. Reveal: Dungeon Jailer. I put six progress on the quest, return Gandalf to hand, and exhaust Theodred to travel to Great Forest Web.

I'm going to leave the Dungeon Jailer in the staging area. I don't expect to fail questing and I only have one ally down to chump with not a lot of attack ready.

Round 2

I get Gandalf down again, putting four damage on the Jailer, then quest for five. Reveal: Caught in a Web, which goes on Theodred. I'm able to progress through the Great Forest Web and complete stage 1, readying Mendor and getting me a card.  

Dungeon Jailer is optionally engaged and the Scout is thrown in front of it, dying quickly. Gandalf then finishes off the Jailer before heading to the discard pile himself.

Round 3

Faramir comes down. I commit Eowyn and Mendor to the quest for 5. Reveal: Hummerhorns. Hopefully another Gandalf surfaces soon! I exhaust Faramir to add +2 willpower, getting 6 progress on the quest and Beravor back with one damage and adding the Nazgul to the staging area. I exhaust Beravor to draw two cards.

Round 4 

Beravor is exhausted to draw two cards, then I commit 6 to the quest. Reveal: King Spider. I pitch a card to Eowyn, then use Stand and Fight for X=1 to get a Snowborn Scout in play. Failed questing & raise my threat by 1. 

The King Spider engages me and destroys the Scout.

Round 5

Gleowine goes down Unexpected Courage goes on Beravor. I exhaust Beravor to draw two cards, then unexhaust her with Unexpected Courage.

Questing for eight this time, I reveal an Endless Caverns which surges into a Dungeon Jailer. Faramir is exhausted and a card is pitched to Eowyn to raise my willpower by 5 and get five progress on the quest.

I travel to the Endless Caverns, then sneak in a Guard of the Citadel who is destroyed by the King Spider. 

Round 6

Beravor draws some cards and readies, then I go in for 8, revealing a Cavern Guardian. I pitch a card to Eowyn to break even. 

The Guardian and the Dungeon Jailer engage me. Dungeon Jailer is undefedned and gets Dol Guldur Orcs as it's shadow card, giving it +3 attack. I choose to sacrifice Beravor.Guardian is undefended but does not get a buff and I put the two damage on Theodred. The Spider is defended by Faramir who takes 1 damage.

Round 7

Unexpected Courage goes on Theodred and I quest for 6. No way to get out of this without loosing both heroes. I have made poor life decisions.

Parting Thoughts

This was a much better and more satisfying way to loose to Dol Guldur: Some sub-optimal decisions and flips that did not work out in my favor. That is how I expect most losses to occur for a higher-difficulty scenario. There was not at all a feeling of auto-loss. So, in my opinion, the inclusion of the campaign element does a tremendous amount to redeem Escape from Dol Guldur's inclusion in the core box.