Hunting for Gollum in 2011

I had already purchased a second core set before my first pre-ordered one arrived in 2011. Fantasy Flight Games' articles about the upcoming game had me salivating. A big fan of the books, I made a short-lived and unrealized attempt as a kid to host a club where would learn Elvish. I had heavily purchased the old Middle-Earth CCG, for games that never happened. And I watched the movies on the regular. This new game looked like it was going to scratch a constant itch I had for quality LotR content.

The cores arrived, my wife and I played the heck out of them, and I wanted more. Not only because the game was so tough (to me) with the limited card pool. If you can't grasp my hate for Escape From Dol Guldur, remember that it was one of the only three quests we had at the time! Journey Down the Anduin was the default best quest but you could only play it so many times. Creators such as ninjadorg were coming up with custom quests to pass the time but that didn't solve the player card pool issue.

Then it happened: FFG announced that stores could request preview copies of the very first adventure pack, Hunt for Gollum, for a special event! I read it on my phone and immediately called my local store, The Haunted Game Cafe, begging them to sign up. The wait seemed like it was forever. I checked in a few times with the owner to make sure they were still on the list and the pack was coming. The night came, I convinced a buddy to come play the game for the first time, and we headed out to the cafe!

There were either two or three tables open. Most people came with friends, but there were a few spares looking for a group. We joined up with another player and the three of us began our hunt! Here are my thoughts from the night (which I posted as a Spoiler-Free Review on Board Game Geek shortly after):

What does Hunt for Gollum add to the core set (without specifics)?

The Cards

The core set has the feel of a game with greatness in it's future, but certain strategies and areas of potential need to be fleshed out further. The Hunt for Gollum continues with that feeling. While there is a little bit of addition to previous strategies, the expansion introduces new elements at their basic level. These new elements may add a slight advantage to the core, but it is apparent that they are setting the stage for future expansions. There is at least one card that I found extremely useful for the included scenario, but nothing that made me think "my deck was missing that!" For my second try today, I am going to continue putting a priority on including every new player card from the expansion, but I feel that will actually hinder the deck. The game, in it's initial stages, is developing along the lines of Lost, with the first two "episodes" ending on a cliffhanger. Let's hope everything starts tying together!

The Play

This is a fun expansion to play. The increased difficulty, over Journey Along the Anduin, is felt, but it is still a far cry easier than Escape From Dul Guldur. I prefer to play my initial game with each scenario "blind" (with no knowledge of the contents) and, with three players, we came close to a win. But it was apparent that a little tweaking and thoughtful deck building is greatly in need. Even with that, I can predict some twists the encounter deck might throw next time to make even a well-designed deck struggle a bit. There is a bit of variety in challenges thrown out by the encounter deck and players cannot focus just on one area of potential threat (which is tempting!). while defeated, it was not hopeless and I am eager to start the hunt again!

The Bottom Line

The Hunt for Gollum is a great addition for players who are already on the Lord of the Rings: The Card Game bandwagon. If you were waiting for this expansion to sell you on the game, then you will most likely be disappointed. But if you were wanting a little more variety and a look at things to come, then you will be satisfied with your purchase.

I, personally, was in the middle. I was 95% on subscribing to the entire Shadows of Mirkwood cycle and this expansion convinced me that was a good choice (I signed up last night). But I also bought two cores and, not finding the second set to be a great benefit, was thinking of liquidating one. I was waiting to see if this expansion would convince me of the need to have that extra Unexpected Courage or third Sneak Attack, but I did not find a strong argument here.

So was the need for more player cards met? Not in the way I hoped. But there was a glimmer of hope for the future! Hunt for Gollum was more a promise of strategies to come (like Eagles) vs a welcome expansion to the Core set.

The Revised packaging, with the Hero cards for a campaign released in a single box, is a much more satisfying way to build with new archetypes. It was frustrating to see cards that you hoped would be useful one day but didn't quite hit the mark yet.

Take The Eagles Are Coming! 

This came packaged with a single Eagle, so the card was effectively useless. This gave a sign that more Eagles were on the way (and hopefully would be worth searching for). Frustrating to have a card that was hardly useful at present taking up a precious spot in the very first expansion. If, instead, this had come out towards the end of the cycle it would be a welcome addition to the five eagles released in the cycle.

Speaking of cards, the full set of Hunt For Gollum player cards had not been spoiled by Fantasy Flight Games by the time the preview event happened. I walked away with the adventure pack and did a cringy poll asking people on BGG if they wanted the cards spoiled or wanted to wait for FFG/official release. Obviously everyone wanted to see the cards, so I used my work scanner and posted the first look many people had of the final six cards in the pack.

The Hunt for Gollem is a quest rarely praised in the community. Like most of FFG's Living Card Games, it was the first in a cycle created before the game came out and the world at large started to play the game and give valuable feedback about what worked and what didn't for scenarios. But it was the first. And, for someone in on the ground floor of the game, that gives it a special place in my heart.