Victory on the first attempt!
The Deck
Made a first attempt with a mono spirit dwarf deck, but that was cut short when OCTGN crashed on me. Love the program, but I'm not having much luck using it for a full round this week. I'm going to write it up to something on my end, since the internet has been a bit slow in general.
Anyway, that was enough to show me not to go with the Spirit dwarf deck. I wanted to break out the major questing power, but in a few ways I haven't tried yet (or combining a few ways I've tried in the past).
Unlikely Leadership
Heroes
Sam Gamgee
Thorin Oakenshield
Celeborn
Allies
Bill the Pony x3
Envoy of Pelargir x3
Faramir x3
Gandalf x3
Naith Guide x3
White Tower Watchman x3
Silverload Archer x3
Attachments
Celebrian's Stone x2
Dunedain Quest x3
King Under the Mountain x3
Steward of Gondor x3
Cram x3
Events
A Very Good Tale x3
Durin's Song x3
Rear Guard x3
Sneak Attack x3
Strength of Arms x3
Sets Used
Core
A Journey to Rhosgobel
The Hills of Emyn Muil
Khazad-dum
Over Hill and Under Hill
On the Doorstep
Heirs of Numenor
The Druadan Forest
The Black Riders
The Dunland Trap
The Journey
This is a "New To Me" quest. Strange, for one so old! My wife and I may have tried one attempt, before we put the game on the back shelf for a bit while we pursued other options (until the first Hobbit saga expansion came out), but I honestly don't remember ever coming up against this quest for a true game. Let's see how it goes...
Player Setup
Draw: Steward of Gondor x2, Naith Guide x2, Envoy of Pelargir, Bill the Pony
Nice! I can get the majority of this out on round 1, giving me a few allies to work with.
Encounter Setup
Lightless Passage is my initial location in the staging area.
Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Sam Gamgee (1), +1 Thorin Oakenshield (1), +1 Celeborn (1)
Draw: King of the Mountain
Planning Phase
Play: Steward of Gondor (Sam -1, Thorin -1). Attach to Sam.
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to give Sam +2 resources (2)
Play: Envoy of Pelargir (Sam -2). Give resource to Thorin (1)
Play: Bill the Pony
Play: Naith Guide (Thorin -1, Celeborn -1). Choose Celeborn not to exhaust to quest. Naith guide gets +1 willpower, +1 attack, +1 shield (Celeborn's ability)
Quest Phase
Quest with all (not exhausting Celeborn)
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Massing in the Deep. Doomed 1 (raise threat to 32). Reveal 1 additional card.
Reveal: Goblin Follower. Goblin follower automatically engages me. Ready Sam Gamgee, giving him +1 willpower, +1 attack, +1 shield.
Updated willpower: 14
Total threat: 4
Place 10 progress on stage 1B (10/13)
Travel Phase
None
Exhaust cave torch to put 3 progress on Lightless Passage
If I'm going to exhaust the cave torch anyway (needed if I want to travel there), then I'd rather just work on clearing the location.
Discard: Silent Caverns (no effect)
Encounter Phase
None
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Goblin Follower
Goblin Follower attacks. Sam defends. Shadow: Burning Low (+2 attack). Sam takes 3 damage.
Ouch. Was not expecting that. Bill the Pony is the only thing keeping Sam alive now.
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 33
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Thorin (1), +1 Celeborn (1)
Draw: Celebrian's Stone
Exhaust Steward of Gondor. +2 resources to Sam (3)
Planning Phase
Play: Celebrian's Stone (Sam -2). Attach to Celeborn.
Play: Naith Guide (Sam -1, Celeborn -1). Choose Celeborn not to exhaust to quest. Naith guide gets +1 willpower, +1 attack, +1 shield (Celeborn's ability)
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Thorin, Celeborn (does not exhaust), Bill, Naith Guide (old)
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Branching Paths
Total threat: 7
Place 6 progress on stage 1B, clearing it
Advance to stage 1A, flip to stage 1B
Locate Test. Discard Steward of Gondor from my hand. Discard Great Cave Troll from the encounter deck. Test failed.
Add Twisting Passages to the staging area. No lost effects to trigger.
Travel Phase
Travel to Lightless Passage
Encounter Phase
None
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Goblin Follower
Goblin Follower attacks. Envoy of Pelargir defends. Shadow: Cave Spider (no effect). Envoy is destroyed
Naith Guide (new) and Celeborn declare an attack on Goblin Follower, dealing two damage.
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 34
Round 3
Resource Phase
+ 1 Sam (1), +1 Thorin (2), +1 Celeborn (1)
Draw: Gandalf
Exhaust Steward of Gondor. +2 resources to Sam (3)
Planning Phase
Play: Gandalf (Sam -3, Thorin -1, Celeborn -1)
Draw 3 cards: Dunedain Quest, Durin's Song, Envoy of Pelargir
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Thorin, Celeborn, Bill, Gandalf
Total willpower: 16
Reveal: The Mountain's Roots
Play Durin's Song (Thorin -1) to give Thorin +2 willpower, attack, defense
Updated willpower: 18
Exhaust Cave Torch to place 3 progress on Branching Paths, exploring it
Branching Path's Forced effect: Reveal Massing in the Deep, Durin's Greaves, Foul Air. Move Durin's Greaves to the staging area. Place Massing in the Deep and Foul air at the bottom of the encounter deck.
Attach Durin's Greaves to Celeborn.
Cave Torch's Forced effect: Discard Goblin Warlord, adding it to the staging area.
Ha. Should have done those in the opposite order, but you never know. I figured I had drawn a few locations in a row, so the odds of an enemy coming up next were good. Oh well. At least I got a door-prize.
Total threat: 8
Place 1 progress on Lightless Passage, exploring it
Place 9 progress on stage 2B (9/17)
Travel Phase
Travel to The Mountain's Roots
Encounter Phase
Engage Goblin Wardlord. Ready Sam (+2 willpower, attack, defense)
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Goblin Warlord, Goblin Follower
Goblin Warlord attacks. Naith Guide defends. Shadow: Lightless Passage (cancel all combat damage dealt to Goblin Warlord). Naith Guide is destroyed.
Goblin Follower attacks. Naith Guide defends. Shadow: Burning Low (+2 attack). Naith Guide is destroyed.
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 34
Discard Gandalf.
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Thorin (1), +1 Celeborn (1)
Draw: Gandalf
Exhaust Steward of Gondor. +2 resources to Sam (3)
Planning Phase
Play: Gandalf (Sam -3, Thorn -1, Celeborn -1)
Destroy Goblin Follower (a bit of a waste, but I need a little security in case my next gamble does not pay off)
Quest Phase
All in.
Total willpower: 16
An encounter card with a threat higher than 4 or something that will mess up my questing power could kill it for me.
Reveal: Goblin Follower. Goblin Follower engages me.
Total threat: 3
Place 1 progress on The Mountain's Roots, exploring it
Place 12 progress on stage 2B, clearing the stage and winning the game!
Final Scoring
2Final threat: 34
Total damage on heroes: 3 (Sam)
Total threat of defeated heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total: 67
The Recap
With few lost effects in play (I think the Goblin Warlord was the only one), I didn't experience the ugly side this quest has to offer. I could see it being much more of a struggle with a mid-low willpower deck. There were some large enemies and nasty effects that never made it in front of me. Not one I'm going to jump at returning to, but one I wouldn't have a problem with either. Now, if I had fallen prone to a series of bad Lost effects I might be singing a different tune.
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