Opening Thoughts
Time to start out with the easiest-rated quest in the Lord of the Rings: The Card Game catalogue. And I am thankful for it. Between the last blog post I wrote in 2017 and now, I have only gotten in a few games of LotR so there are a lot of cobwebs in my knowledge of how to play effectively. Being an easy scenario also lets me use sub-optimal decks (see below). I like to play around with options and not always use the best deck. That is not a luxury some of the harder scenarios afford.
The Decks
I decided to start off playing two-handed with some of the single-sphere decks that came in the core. Similar to the original core set, you just shuffle up all of one sphere in the box, add to Gandalf's, and you're off. The original, 30 card versions of these were pretty bad, with Tactics being terrible and frustrating to new players. Would adding 17 cards to fill out playsets make a big difference? Sure, you're getting three copies of Unexpected Courage, but you are also getting three copies of Power in the Earth (man that card is the worst).
Since the next quest will be with the duel-sphere decks in the rulebook, I picked two spheres that are not combined in those decks and ones that focus on what they do well: Spirit and Tactics.
The Quest
Setup
Starting hands are okay for tactics and foul for Spirit (two Power in the Earth). And that is after taking a mulligan after a bad initial draw (which is much better in hindsight)
The inclusion of Mendor for the Campaign is a powerful one. +1 will for question or +1 attack for fighting, possibly both plus an extra card when you complete a quest stage. I heartily approve of this inclusion for an introductory product.
Forest Spider & Old Forest start in the staging area.
Round 1
I get a Lothlorian Guide and a Gondorian Spearman down for some early chump blocking. The guide will come in handy once I have an active location. If they live.
I put the Spirit Squadron on questing and hold Team Tactics back for fighting. Eleanor and the guide stay up for needed cancellation/blocking.
Questing for 6*
Reveal: Chieftan Ufthar and Necromancer's Pass. Ouch. Thread of 8. I pitch a card to raise Eowyn's willpower, but still have to turn the dials up by one.
A few more cards are pitched to travel to the Necromancer's Pass, but then I use Strength of Will + Eleanor to complete it.
Team Tactics grabs the Forest Spider out of the staging area and they offer up the Spearman. No shadow, but still no more Spearman. The rest of the team makes short work of the Spider and, thanks to Legolas, gets a few progress on the quest.
Ready, raise, and off to Round 2.
*A tip I use for questing is to gather a stack of progress tokens equal to my willpower, adding or subtracting based on what happens during staging.
Round 2
Team Tactics gets a second Spearman down and Spirit Squadron revives the defeated Spearman.
Similar questing strategy as last round, going in for seven questing this time. Reveals are a Forest Spider & Necromancer's Grasp. Eleanor says 'nope' and instead we get Dol Guldur Orcs who will do two damage to Dunhere. Even on will v. threat, so one is pitched to Eowyn to get something on the quest.
Travel to the Old Forest Road, readying Mendor. Team Tactics then takes both enemies (one optional engagement and one normal). Legolas does a Quick Strike against the orcs, getting some progress on the active location. The Forest Spider takes out the Spearman and is then taken out by the rest of the team.
Ready, raise, go.
Round 3
Spirit Squadron picks up another Lothlorian Guide and I quest for 7, completing the Old Forest thanks to the guides. Ungoliant's Spawn drops my total questing to three. Eleanor takes care of Caught in a Web but replaces it with Driven by Shadow. 7 threat vs 3 will, pitching 1 to make it 7 v 4. Just enough to make it so Team Tactics will take on both enemies. Am I going to lose at Passage Through Mirkwood? Humbling!
The revived Spearman blocks the Spawn and I play two copies of Swift Strike, getting five early damage in. Gimli blocks the Chieftain, but pain only makes him stronger. Then Mendor, Thalin, and Legolas remove the spider (for now)
Round 4
Being close to the end of this quest, and with an empty staging area, I commit Mendor as well. Ends up 8 v 4 and we are able to get through stage 1. Mendor readies and both hands get a card.
Team Spirit takes some Dul Guldur Orcs, just to let Tactics take down the Chieftain. Gimili defends against the Chieftain. Risky, but Spirit has a Fortune or Fate in hand and the means to pay for it the next turn. No shadow, so the ploy paid off and Gimli has entered Beast Mode. I also play my third Swift Strike to get the party started. Spirit gets the first shadow effect of the night, forcing an attachment discard. But, oops, I don't have one down. Shucks. Blade Mastery is played in Legolas and the team hits the Chieftain for lethal. This also defeats stage two of the quest (thanks, Legolas) and gets each hand a card. "Don't Leave the Path" is randomly selected as our stage 3 and Uggy S. is back in the staging area.
Round 5
Unexpected Courage on Eleanor and I think we're just not questing this round. Ha! A reveal of Necromancer's Reach and Black Forest Bats makes that an excellent decision. 5 v 0, raising threat and then having Team Tactics take on the Spawn and Spirit Squadron get the bats.
Thalin blocks the Spawn, no shadow, and lives. Huh. I actually wanted him to die so I could revive him, ready, with Fortune or Fate. Oh well. I still think this will work.
Spirit Squadron defends their attacks with no casualties.
Legolas, Mendor, and 'roided out Gimli are able to pull of exact damage to take out the Spawn.
Resolution:
Mendor's Support x2 and Lingering Venom are added to the campaign pool.
Final score was 132 (39 threat + 4 hero damage for Spirit, 43 threat plus 10 damage for Gimli, 40 for rounds completed, -4 victory points in the display). I don't care about the score myself, but you can beat this and feel great.
Parting Thoughts
And old, familiar journey. This used to be a big deck-testing scenario for people, but I think other options were found later on. I was always a fan of the stand-alone The Old Forest scenario and would usually go to that when I wanted to mess around with a new deck.
Being the easiest scenario does not mean you can let your guard down. I had a true 'uh oh' moment during round three. Being untuned decks, the allies were just not there when I needed them and I really needed a steady supply of blockers.
Now a note about campaign mode: I love the boons and burdens of the campaign that were present in the Saga boxes. I am not a fan of the penalty for switching out heroes. Campaigns are designed to be long and a little permanent threat here and there adds up quickly (especially for decks that want to lay low and quest). The penalty also goes against the spirit of deckbuilding. More than any other deck-based game I've played, Lord of the Rings is a puzzle game where you need to work out the right combination to win. There are one-size-fits-all decks out there, but that would just bore me quickly. So the penalty will be house-ruled out in my campaigns.
No comments:
Post a Comment