The Deck
The first big decision I had was to keep Sam or not to keep Sam. Thematically he should not be here, but he is not specifically excluded in the rule book and I only get one free hero addition. Sam + a hero + Aragorn I can see working. Another hero + Aragorn with no Sam does not seem like it would be setting me up for success. Eventually I want Legolas & Gimli to join the party. I go with Legolas to increase the attack value of the party and help with location removal & quest resolution.
The next step is to figure out where I want the deck to go. Playing some of the top decks on RingsDB gave me a greater appriciation for card draw and resource acceleration. I tried to cram as much of that in as possible and had almost no room for allies.My first real draft of this deck was a bit of everywhere, with a lot of 2x cards and not enough of a clear strategy.This is the second version and tightens down on a few of the resource and draw paths while still keeping a healthy amount of allies in the list.
Hunt with a Hobbit
Heroes
Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)
Legolas (Core)
Aragorn (The Treason of Saruman)
Allies
Bill the Pony x2
Dwarven Sellsword x2
Errand-rider x2
Gimli (The Treason of Saruman) x1
Skinbark x1
Gandalf (Core) x3
Steward of Orthanc x3
Attachments
Celebrian's Stone x1
Heir of Mardil x1
Steward of Gondor x3
Sword that was Broken x1
Black Arrow x1
Blade of Gondolin x3
Rivendell Blade x2
Banner of Elendil x1
Keys of Orthanc x2
Events
Captain's Wisdom x3
Legacy of Numenor x3
Sneak Attack x2
Foe-hammer x1
Halfling Determination x2
Hands Upon the Bow x3
The Three Hunters x2
The Free Peoples x2
Sets Used
Core
Road to Rivendell
The Watcher in the Water
Shadow and Flame
Over Hill and Under Hill
Heirs of Numenor
On the Doorstep
The Black Riders
The Voice of Isengard
Celebrimbor's Secret
The Treason of Saruman
The Land of Shadow
The Thing in the Depths
The Drowned Ruins
The Flame of the West
Race Across Harad
Beneath the Sand
Rings DB Link
Note: I leave Mithril Shirt out, not having a Ringbearer to attach it to, and choose Glamdring to be in my starting hand.
The Journey
Love the campaign setup here! Big fan of getting Gandalf's Delay off of my chest.
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Round 1
Got off to an explosive start. Keys of Orthanc on Sam, Legacy of Numenor played, Sword that was Broken on Aragorn, Glamdring on Legolas. One resource on Legolas with Hands Upon the Bow in hand! Ended up loosing Hands Upon the Bow to a revealed Snaga, but picked up another one due to Glamdring's card draw after defeating said Snaga. Only one enemy in play meant a minor increase of one to the pursuit value (now 11).
Round 2
Get a Steward of Orthanc and Dwarven Sellsword down, then blow past the first quest stage. Probably a little too quickly, since I have to deal with Ugluk now. I choose to put a Isengard Uruk, placing the damage on my allies, then take it out with Hands Upon the Bow & Legolas (reducing the pursuit value to 10). Aragorn has enough resources to ready himself and he defends against Ugluk, taking 3 damage.
Round 3
Black Arrow gets drawn and slammed down onto Legolas. I put a little progress on the quest and Grishnakh comes out to capture Boromir. Then I have a big decision to make: Do I use the Phial of Galadriel or loose a hero? I peeked ahead at the campaign resolution, so it really comes down to picking up a skill boon (Intimidation catching my eye the most) or getting Beyond All Hope attached to a hero. I can't let Aragorn die or I loose the quest. I need Legolas to defeat Ugluk. I could sacrifice Sam. This means loosing Noble Hero, Old Bogey Stories, and Phial of Galadriel. So Phial is leaving no matter what. I don't really utilize Old Bogey Stories, so that won't be missed. Beyond all Hope is an upgrade over Noble Hero, but I do like having the Noble trait on Sam. Intimiation + Glamdring on Legolas would make him a powerhouse but a Rivendell Blade would get the same job done (just at the cost of a resource and assuming I draw it). I would like to have a well-rounded Sam for the eventual move when I pair him up with Frodo, so whatever kills him will apparently make him stronger. Undefended attack, with damagae assigned to Sam & destroying him. Then Legolas then does 10 damage to Ugluk, destroying him in turn. Pursuit value is reduced to 9. Grishnakh then destroyes an Envoy, increasing the pursuit value back to 10.
Round 4
A few more allies come down and, boosted, by Aragorn, my willpower this quest phase is in the teens. A second Snaga came out, discarding Ho! Tom Bombadil! and resulting in only one threat in the staging area. Victory for our heroes & rescue for Boromir!
The pursuit value is only at 10. Samwise Gamgee is brought back, Beyond All Hope.
Final Scoring
3 Completed Rounds x10: 30
Ending Threat: 27
Total Damage on Heroes: 4 (Aragorn: 3, Legolas: 1)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 8
Victory Display: -4 (Black Arrow, Ugluk)
Total Score: 65
Campaign Resolution
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Boon: Beyond All Hope attached to Sam Gamgee
Previous Campaign Resolutions
+1 starting threat
Boon: Ho! Tom Bombadil! (added to starting hand)
Boon: Sting
Boon: Mithril Shirt
Boon: Glamdring
Boon: Anduril
Burden: Shadow of Fear added to campaign pool
Burden: Ill Fate added to campaign pool
The Recap
This seemed to go a lot smoother than it should have. To the point that I re-read every important card (quest cards, campaign set up, Ugluk) to make sure I was not missing something major (and I won't be surprised to realize one day I goofed up). While my deck was a blast to play, the quest was such a push over that it was not too memorable. This is a good example of why solo games work best when they lean towards the more difficult side of the spectrum (with medium difficulty being key for me).
I will say I spoke one quest to soon about the campaign mode. Taking away a set of boons & burdens and then giving a non-penalized hero addition made this deck building experience feel fresh and exciting. I am actually looking forward to continuing my campaign now!
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