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...

Re-Do: Quests 22-25

It was in early 2014 that I decided to get back into the game.

I had been on an extended break. After a decided drop off in the frequency Lord of the Rings was hitting my table, I had heard about the difficulty of Heirs of Numenor. This seemed like a good a time as any to cancel my subscription and stop playing. LotR was bought as a co-op game for my wife and I, but spending significant time to deck build, set up, and get crushed was not proving to be the casual & relaxing game night we had hoped. Fortunately I learned something from my previous times liquidating card games and decided to just shelve this one in case my interest was peaked in the future. As Against the Shadow came out, the word on the street was still that the difficulty had increased and I was glad to be out. Fast forward a bit and I'm in Thailand when the bug to try the game out again hits me. A visiting friend kindly brings over my collection as well as a large order I put in for everything I was missing up to that point. Latter in the year is when this blog began (only three years ago?).

The blog set out to document my solo play-throughs, but I still wanted to give the game a crack at also being a co-op experience for my wife and I. The first two quests of the Against the Shadow Cycle, The Steward's Fear and The Druadan Forest, were beaten with my wife well before I knew I even wanted to do a blog. I wrote up what I could remember of them and figured I would re-attempt them some day. Well now is that day! It would be great get caught up with the Haradrim Cycle releases and realize I am truly caught up with the non-saga quests. The third and fourth quests of Against the Shadow, Encounter at Amon Din and Assault on Osgiliath, will also be getting solo redos.

The Steward's Fear

Victory on the twelfth attempt!
Victory on the fifteenth attempt!

I forgot how truly hard this quest is! I'm pretty sure I beat it solo after a few attempts, but then failed attempt after attempt as I sought two decks that could consistently conquer this one. My goal was to find the perfect decks first and then invite my wife for an enjoyable, relaxed game. Pro tip: Relaxed + The Steward's Fear probably don't mix well! In any case, we eventually beat it together. Yet, despite knowing how many attempts I spend on The Steward's Fear, I still didn't quite remember the brutality this quest brings (at least for me). There are very few reveals from the quest deck that you are thankful to see.

After a failed attempt at a mono-leadership Gondor family build (Denethor, Faramir, Boromir), I went for a Lore/Leadership Denethor/Elrond/Glorfindel build that had a slight chance but was not looking good before I was called away and had to end the game. Then Libro Rojo posted about his newest creation, The Calephon's Dream, and I wanted to give it a shot. The deck rocked!

This final attempt did not feature the worst of the encounter deck and did feature pretty good draws from the player deck. There were not super-closed moments, but neither were there rounds where I felt the encounter deck didn't have a chance.

Notable moment:Playing A Test of Will to cancel the when reveled effect of Lurking in Shadows, banking on the fact that I could complete the quest the next round. I did beat it, but with one more threat in the staging area would have cost me the game.

Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat:47
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total Score: 127

Original Post

The Druadan Forest

Victory on the first attempt!
Victory on the second attempt!

Man I love the switch-up is at the end! Needing to use your entire stat line in fairly rapid succession is an awesome twist. Once again, felt like I had just the right amount of power to make it but I was never fully out of the woods until I was fully out of the woods.

Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat: 39
Total Damage on Heroes: 3 (Cirdan: 2, Denethor: 1)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total Score: 127

Original Post

Encounter at Amon Din

Victory on the second attempt!
Victory on the third attempt!

As many have found out, this one feels like it should be a lot tougher than it ends up being. In this case, I did end up with an ally swarm that overwhelmed the encounter deck. Getting a bit cocky lead to more dead villagers than should probably have been allowed, but I was still within plenty of margin for the win.

Final Scoring
6 Completed Rounds x10: 60
Ending Threat: 32
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -5 (Gulat: 2, Secluded Farmhouse: 1, Gondorian Hamlet: 1, Burning Farmhouse: 1)
Total Score: 87
Rescued Villagers: 12
Dead Villagers: 5


Original Post


Assault on Osgiliath

Victory on the second attempt!
Victory on the third attempt!

Thought I would blow through this in two rounds, then my second staging step revealed a Ruined Tower. Round after round went by without something I could make active before the tower. A good number of strong enemies came out and right on their heal was Beorn to knock them off their rockers.

Had a good ally army starting to build, then The Master's Malice made short work of that. Nasty card. The choice came down to saving most of my allies or Denethor. Denethor won the day. Fortunately two Dunedain Remedy's came out to help Imrahil and Cirdan heal up.

Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat: 45
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total Score: 125

Original Post


The Deck 

After failing twice to come up with good deck for the Stewards Fear, I saw a post in the Facebook group about a deck that had ripped its way through the Against the Shadow Cycle. Libro Rojo had come up with a Cirdan/Denethor/Prince Imrahil deck he was really enjoying (for non-Spanish speakers, Google Translate does a decent job with his blog). A version of Denethor was in both decks I had tried so far and Cirdan is in a few of my favorite decks. But most importantly, I have really been wanting to try out a Tactics Prince Imrahil build.

There's a lot to love about this deck. You're questing big, able to defend decently (very decently once you get a Gondorian Shield on Denethor) and popping allies in and out. It was such a blast to play, and handled the quests so well, that I may tackle the remaining Against the Shadow quests this next week just for the fun of it.

The Calphon's Dreams - Los Suenos De Calphone v.3

Heroes
Cirdan the Shipwright
Denethor (Flight of the Stormcaller)
Prince Imrahil (The City of Corsairs)

Allies
Arwen Undomiel (Watcher in the Water) x2
Glorfindel (The Flight of the Stormcaller) x2
Hama (The Treason of Saruman) x3
Jubayr x1
West Road Traveller x2
Knight of the White Tower x2
Beorn (Core) x2
Boromir (The Road Darkens) x2
Defender of Cair Andros x2
Deorwine x1
Legolas (The Treason of Saruman) x2
Marksman of Lorien x2

Attachments
Light of Valinor x2
Unexpected Courage x2
Dunedain Remedy x2
Heir of Mardil x2
Steward of Gondor x3
Gondorian Shield x2
The Red Arrow x1
Narya x3

Events
A Test of Will x3
Elrond's Counsel x3
A Very Good Tale x2
Feint x3

Sideboard
Galadriel's Handmaiden x2
Stand and Fight x2
Knight of the White Tower x1
Dunedain Remedy x1
Marksman of Lorien x1

RingsDB Link

Libro Rojo's Blog

Redo: Temple of the Deceived

Victory on the second attempt!
Victory on the third attempt!

The Journey & Recap

My first time around beating Temple of the Deceived came with the realization that I had missplayed Jungle Path and traveled to a location I should not have been allowed to. While it looked like my victory would not have been affected, I felt it was worth a shot redoing this one. Plus, I love the unique layout of this quest.

This attempt was pretty uneventful and quick (if fighting off the Temple  Guardian three times can be uneventful). I started off at a Drowned Graves, moved to a Winding Caverns, and hopped right over to a Cursed Temple. After that I moved to a Temple Halls, then down to The Grotto's Entrance. No Jagged Cliff/Jungle Path shenanigans to worry about.

A fun moment was being at the Cursed Temple, with it's downside of keeping everyone but Eowyn tapped down, and having a ready Eomund to block with, die, and ready his friends. Then, just a few rounds later, the quest ended with a very Rohanesque casting of Astonishing Speed as our heroes and allies galloped off to victory!


Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat: 38
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -4 (Temple Guardian)
Total Score: 114

The Deck

My Rohan horse deck was a blast to play the fist time I journeyed around the island. I did want to add a few more mounts, such as A-Rod and Winfola. Songs were also conspicuously missing from the deck the first time around (I did not think of the implications of those with Elfelm's ability). Perfectly refined? Not yet. Fun? Yup. It doesn't spam the allies, like my usual preferred plan, but gives you just the right number while watching Eowyn & Eomer do their respective things.

You Get a Horse v.2

Heroes 
Elfhelm (Temple of the Deceived)
Eomer
Eowyn (Core)

Allies
Ceorl x1
Errand-rider x3
Deorwine x1
Westfold Outrider x3
Eomund x2
Gamling x2
Hama (The Treason of Saruman) x2
Westfold Horse-breeder x3
Gandalf (Core) x2

Attachments
Armored Destrier x2
Steward of Gondor x2
Arod x1
Firefoot x1
Rohan Warhorse x2
Herugrim x1
Snowmane x1
Steed of the Mark x1
Winfola x1
Song of Battle x1
Song of Kings x1

Events
A Very Good Tale x2
Captain's Wisdom x2
Sneak Attack x2
Charge of the Rohirrim x2
A Test of Will x2
Astonishing Speed x2
Elven-light x3


Sets Used
Core
The Hunt for Gollum
Conflict at the Carrock
The Dead Marshes
Return to Mirkwood
Over Hill and Under Hill
Heirs of Numenor
The Steward's Fear
The Morgul Vale
The Voice of Isengard
The Dunland Trap
Celebrimbor's Secret
The Treason of Saruman
The Land of Shadow
The Dread Realm
The Thing in the Depths
Temple of the Deceived
A Storm on Corbas Haven

RingsDB Link

Campaign Progress Update: Journey in the Dark

The Recap

As I documented in my post on Journey in the Dark, I was not satisfied with my deck or experience playing Journey in the Dark earlier this year. Sure, I won, but I accumulated all four burdens and had a pretty "meh" time playing. Hoping to improve both my experience with the quest and my campaign pool, I went at it again a few weeks ago with a new version of my "Hot Mess for Moria" deck. It was a blast! Now, I did not have reveal after reveal of Mines of Moria, so that helped ease the frustration of the quest. The deck got out quite a few allies until my horde by the end was pretty sizable, giving the Balrog little chance of survival. I did sacrifice Gandalf and earned that thematic satisfaction.

This quest was beaten fair and square previously, so I am not going to increase the number of attempts it took me to beat it, but I am going to update my campaign pool with the new adjustments:

Boons
Mr. Underhill (attached to Frodo Baggins)
Noble Hero (attached to Sam Gamgee)
Anduril, Mithril Shirt, Sting, Glamdring (one in opening hand, others shuffled)

Burdens
Gandalf's Delay (setup)
Overcome by Terror (shuffle)
Overcome by Grief (setup)
Shadow of Fear (shuffle)

Fallen Heroes
Gandalf

The Old Forest and Fog on the Barrow-Downs have made their way into my collection recently. I plan on tackling them with the heroes and campaign pool I had accumulated at that point (which means I can go with Merry/Pippin or Merry/Pippin/Sam). If I earn the accompanying boons, I will add those to the campaign pool moving forward.


The Deck

Another Hot Mess for Moria

Heroes
Aragorn (The Watcher in the Water)
Gandalf (The Road Darkens)
Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)

Allies
Dori (Over Hill and Under Hill) x1
Galdor of the Havens (The Treachery of Rhudaur) x1
Gildor Inglorion x1
Henamarth Riversong x1
Mablung (The Land of Shadow) x1
Quickbeam x1
Warden of Healing x2
Anborn (The Land of Shadow) x1
Bill the Pony x1
Eldahir x1
Erestor (The Long Dark) x1
Faramir (Core) x1
Gimli (The Treason of Saruman) x1
Ingold x1
Beorn (Core) x1
Envoy of Pelargir x3

Attachments
Celebrian's Stone x1
Steward of Gondor x1
Sword that was Broken x1
Elf-stone x2
Expert Treasure-hunter x1
Fast Hitch x2
Gandalf's Staff x1
Good Meal x3
Narya x1
Shadowfax x1
Wizard Pipe x1

Events
Captain's Wisdom x3
Timely Aid x3
Heed the Dream x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
A Good Harvest x3

Sets Used
Core
The Hills of Emyn Muil
The Dead Marshes
The Redhorn Gate
The Watcher in the Water
The Long Dark
Over Hill and Under Hill
Heirs of Numenor
On the Doorstep
The Steward's Fear
The Black Riders
The Road Darkens
The Nin-in-Eilph
The Treason of Saruman
The Wastes of Eriador
The Treachery of Rhudaur
The Land of Shadow
The Grey Havens
Flight of the Stormcaller
The Thing in the Depths

RingsDB Link

Get some allies out. Heed that dream. Destroy the monster. Rescue the princess Istari something.

Taste It Again: Conflict at the Carrock

One fact often on my mind, in regards to this blog, are the 'completed' quests where I made a pretty big error or ones that I haven't actually tackled solo yet. Browsing through the logs today I found, much to my pleasant surprise, that the number of these quests were much smaller than I realized. I decided to clean up one of those records today and try a mistake-free attempt at Conflict at the Carrock.

The Deck

Ever since its release, I felt Conflict at the Carrock needed to be taken on with a solo Tactics deck. It is a conflict, after all. This was a pretty fanciful concept in the early days of the game, when Tactics was poorly rounded out as a sphere, but the currently rich card pool allows for multiple successful options.

The four (unique) trolls in this quest are nasty and the last thing I want to do is go up against them in a fair fight. Two options are staying under 34 threat and taking them on at leisure, or disregarding threat and stopping their attacks. I tried the first option twice and it just was not panning out. For the second option, Hama + Thicket of Spears seemed like the way to go. So the plan became shoring up my board with allies and attachments during stage 1 then progressing to stage 2 once I had Thicket of Spears in hand (or once my threat was getting to a dangerous level).

A Tactical Conflict

Heroes
Theoden (The Morgul Vale)
Hama
Dori (Across the Ettenmoors)

Allies
Dunedain Hunter x3
Eagles of the Misty Mountains x3
Winged Guardian x3
Vassal of the Windlord 3
Skinbark x1
Honour Guard x3
Derndingle Warrior x3

Attachments
Dwarrowdelf Axe x3
Book of Eldacar x3
Secret Vigil x3
Support of the Eagles x3
Rohan Warhorse x2
The Favor of the Valar x1

Events
Hold Your Ground! x3
Heavy Stroke x3
Khazad! Khazad! x3
Thicket of Spears x3
The Eagles Are Coming! x3

Side Quests
Gather Information

Sets Used
Core Set
The Hunt for Gollum
The Dead Marshes
Return to Mirkwood
Khazad-dum
The Long Dark
Foundations of Stone
Encounter at Amon Din
The Morgul Vale
The Voice of Isengard
The Lost Realm
The Wastes of Eriador
Escape from Mount Gram
Across the Ettenmoors
The Battle of Carn Dum
The Land of Shadow

A highlight here of Derndingle Warrior + Honor Guard. This is a match made in heaven, my friends. The best part is that you can have the Guard protect a hero instead of the Warrior twice before you are at risk of loosing the Warrior (in most cases).


The Journey

Player Setup
Set starting threat to 31
Draw: Heavy Stroke, Heavy Stroke, Support of the Eagles, Skinbark, Dunedain Hunter, Derndingle Warrior
Not a terrible hand, but no strong synergy for any strategy. I have Heavy Stroke's, but no way to boost Dori. Support of the Eagles, but no eagles. Derndingle Warrior, but no Honor Guard. I am a fan of seeing Skinbark and Dunedain Hunter, but let's see what I can get by doing this again.
Draw: Honor Guard, The Eagles Are Coming!, The Eagles Are Coming!, Derndingle Warrior, Eagles of the Misty Mountains, Vassal of the Windlord
Coming? The eagles are here, my friend!

Encounter Setup
Stage 1A. Add The Carrock to the staging area. Shuffle in one copy of Sacked!. Advance to stage 1B.

Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (1), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (1)
Draw: Hold Your Ground

Planning Phase
Play: The Eagles Are Coming! Look at the top 5 cards (player) and add Eagles of the Misty Mountains to my hand.
Play: The Eagles Are Coming! Look at the top 5 cards (player) and add non to my hand.
Thicket of Spears would have been my next draw if I had not played the first Eagles and another Thicket came up in the 5 cards for the second peek.
Play: Derndingle Warrior (Hama-1, Dori -1).

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Hamma (2)
Total Willpower: 5
Reveal: Gladden Fields
Total Threat: 5
No progress placed.

Travel Phase
Travel to Gladden Fields

No Engagements or Combat

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 33 (Gladden Fields).

Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (1)
Draw: Dunedain Hunter

Planning Phase
Play: Eagles of the Misty Mountains (Theoden -2, Hama -1, Dori -1)
Play: Dunedain Hunter. Look at top 5 cards (Encounter) and put Misty Mountain Goblins in play engaged with me.

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Hama (2)
Total Willpower: 5
Reveal: Despair (no progress to remove)
Total Threat: 2
Place 3 progress on Gladden Fields, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (3)

No Travel or Engagements

Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Misty Mountain Goblins. Attacks! Eagles of the Misty Mountains defends. Shadow: The East Blight (no effect). No damage dealt. Eomer + Dunedain Hunter declare an attack on Misty Mountain Goblins, destroying them.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 34.

Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (1), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (1)
Draw: Derndingle Warrior

Planning Phase
Play: Honour Guard (Theoden -1, Hama -1)

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Hama (2)
Total Willpower: 5
Reveal: A Frightened Beast (raise threat by two to 36)
Total Threat: 2
Place 3 progress on stage 1B (3/7)

No Travel Engagements or Combat

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 37.

Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (1), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Thicket of Spears
And here we go! Ready to party...eventually. 

Planning Phase
Play: Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (Theoden -1, Hama -1, Dori -2)

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1 (2)
Total Willpower: 5
Reveal: Muck Adder
Total Threat: 3
Place 2 progress on stage 1B (5/7)

Travel Phase
No travel

Encounter Phase
Engage Muck Adder

Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Muck Adder. Derndingle Warrior defends. Deal 1 damage to Derndingle Warrior to give it +3 defense for this attack. Exhaust Honour Guard to cancel damage dealt to Derndingle warrior. Shadow: Marsh Adder (Derndingle Warrior gets -1 defense). No damage dealt.
Dunedain Hunter declares an attack on Marsh Adder, destroying it.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 38.

Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (1), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (1)
Draw: Eagles of the Misty Mountains #3

Planning Phase
Play nothing

Quest Phase
Commit: Dori (2), Eagles of the Misty Mountains (2)
I could advance to stage 2 this round, but I want to wait and try to build up my party a little more.
Total Willpower: 4
Reveal: Banks of the Anduin
Total Threat: 3
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (6/7)

Travel Phase
Travel to Banks of the Anduin

No Engagements or Combat

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 39.

Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (2), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Dunedain Hunter

Planning Phase
Play: Dunedain Hunter #2. Look at the top 5 cards (encounter deck) and put Misty Mountain Goblins in play, engaged with me.
Play: Eagles of the Misty Mountains (Theoden -2, Hama -2)

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1 (2), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (2)
Total Willpower: 7
Reveal: Misty Mountain Goblins
Total Threat: 4
Place 3 progress on Banks of the Anduin, exploring it and placing it on top of the encounter deck.

Travel Phase
No travel

Encounter Phase
Engage Misty Mountain Goblins #2

Combat Phase
Deal shadow cars to Misty Mountain Goblins x2
Misty Mountain Goblins #1 attacks. Dori defends. Shadow: Banks of the Anduin (no shadow). No damage dealt.
Misty Mountain Goblins #2 attacks. Derndingle Warrior defends. Deal 1 damage to Derndingle Warrior to give it +3 defense for this attacks. Exhaust Honour Guard to cancel the damage dealt to Derndingle Warrior. Shadow: Bee Pastures (no effect). No damage dealt.
Dunedain Hunter #1 + Eagles of the Misty Mountains #3 declare an attack on Misty Mountain Goblins #1, destroying them.
Hama + Dunedain Hunter #2 declare an attack on Misty Mountain Goblins #2, destroying them.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 40.

Round 7
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (1), +1 Hama (1), +1 Dori (3)
Draw: Dwarrowdelf Axe

Planning Phase
Play: Vassal of the Windlord (Dori -1)
Play: Dwarrowdelf Axe (Dori -1). Attach to Dori.

Quest Phase
Commit: Hama
Total Willpower: 2
I am retyping this from an OCTGN report and I honestly have no idea why I didn't advance at this point. Possible reason: watching Downton Abbey in the background with my wife while playing.
Reveal: Roasted Slowly (no effect).
Total Threat: 2
No progress placed

No Travel, Engagements, or Combat

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 41.

Round 8
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (2), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Rohan Warhorse

Planning Phase
Play nothing.

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1 (2), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (2), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (2)
Total Willpower: 9
Reveal: Goblin Sniper
Total Threat: 4
Place 5 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Make The Carrock the active location.
Advance to stage 2A. Place Louis, Rupert, Morris, Stuart in the staging area.

No Travel

Encounter Phase
Engage Louis, Rupert, Morris, Stuart

Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to Louis, Rupert, Morris, Stuart
Play: Thicket of Spears (Theoden -1, Eomer -1, Dori -1)
Let the cakewalk begin!
Hama + Dori + Dunedain Hunter #1 + Dunedain Hunter #2 + Vassal of the Windlord declare an attack on Louis, destroying him. Hama: Return Thicket of Spears to hand and discard Rohan Warhorse.
Discard Vassal of the Windlord. Place upside down under Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1.
Discard shadow cards.
Forced (Goblin Sniper): Deal one damage to Derndingle Warrior. Exhaust Honour Guard to cancel the damage.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 42.

Round 9
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (2), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Heavy Stroke

Planning Phase
Play nothing.

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains (2), Derndingle Warrior (1)
Total Willpower: 6
Reveal: Sacked! Attach to Theoden.
Total Threat: 2
Place 4 progress on The Carrock (4/6).

No Travel

Encounter Phase
Engage Goblin Sniper

Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to Goblin Sniper, Rupert, Morris, Stuart
Play: Thicket of Spears (Theoden -1, Hama -1, Dori -1)
Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 declares an attack on Goblin Sniper, destroying it.
Hama + Dori + Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1 + Dunedain Hunter #1 + Dunedain Hunter #2 declare an attack on Stuart, destroying him. Hama: Return Thicket of Spears to hand and discard Heavy Stroke. Discard Sacked! from Theoden.
Discard shadow cards.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 43.

Round 10
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (2), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Heavy Stroke

Planning Phase
Play nothing.

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (2), Eagles of the Misty Moutains #3 (2)
Total Willpower: 7
Reveal: River Langflood (+2 threat due to two trolls in play)
Total Threat: 4
Place 2 progress on The Carrock, exploring it.
Place 1 progress on stage 2B (1/1)

Travel Phase
Travel to River Langflood

No Engagments

Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to Rupert, Morris
Play: Thicket of Spears (Theoden -1, Hama -1, Dori -1)
Hama + Dori + Eagles of the Misty Mountains #1 + Dunedain Hunter #1 declare an attack on Rupert, destroying him. Hama: Return Thicket of Spears to hand and discard Heavy Stroke.
Discard shadow cards.

Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 44.

Round 11
Resource Phase
+1 Theoden (2), +1 Hama (2), +1 Dori (2)
Draw: Book of Eldacar

Planning Phase
Play nothing.

Quest Phase
Commit: Theoden (3), Eagles of the Misty Mountains #2 (2)
Total Willpower: 5
Reveal: Oak-wood Grove
Place 3 progress on River Langflood, exploring it.

Travel Phase
Travel to Oak-wood Grove

No Engagements

Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Morris.
Play: Thicket of Spears (Theoden -1, Hama -1, Dori -1)
Hama + Dori + Eagle of the Misty Muntains #1 + Dunedain Hunter #1 declare an attack on Morris, destroying him and winning the game!

Final Scoring
10 Completed Rounds x10: 100
Ending Threat: 44
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -3
Total Score: 141

The Recap

It took me three attempts to work out the best deck for this quest, but once I had the right deck the quest became a push-over. Funnily enough, some of my main strategies (Dori + Dwarf-boosting events and Eagles + their Support) never made a real appearance. Hama + Thicket of Spears were the real all stars, greatly aided by strong allies and Theoden's questing boost to all tactics heroes (himself included).

This is a fun quest with a clear challenge and not an unreasonable amount of variation. Now that my goal of solo-Tactics victory has been accomplished, I think it is time to try scoring a victory with every sphere. Or how about mono-Tactics with no Feint/Thicket/Wizard's Voice allowed? Good luck with that!