I love the Campaign experience.
A progressive building of characters is something Lord of the Rings has lacked for me, but I had not settled on the ideal solution (the Pathfinder card game is an option, but investing in two growing game systems might be too much). I've seen a few player variants, but the problem is the power creep any variant added in. The designers did a great move giving us reasonable Boons, but countering them with Burdens. Do I get to see all my characters grow? No, but I get a sense of achievement for having made it through the quest and get to come out with a slightly strong team (and possibly slightly injured).
So the new mechanic is a win, but what about the quests themselves?
I loved A Shadow of the Past. It had a great thematic feel to it, giving you that sense of hiding from the nazgul and trying to escape past the (with increased difficulty). It is amazing a little band of hobbits made it out of the Shire alive with the nazgul on their tail, and you get that feeling in this quest.
But A Knife in the Dark and Flight to the Ford did not quite give me the same thematic joy. This was especially true with the powerful, menacing spies in A Knife in the Dark, who gave me more trouble than the nazgul themselves. I would really like to see the two quests combined.
Here is what I think: You get past stage 1 of A Knife in the Dark, then discard all spies from play upon clearing it. Advance to stage 3 of A Knife in the Dark, then advance to stage 2 of Flight to the Ford (or even stage 1 first). I would also have Frodo hindered in some way (unconscious, as in Flies and Spiders) after the battle at Weathertop. And Weathertop should be obligatory to explore. This might be an easy enough variant to do that I'll try it on my own one day. Tough, but thematic and potentially a blast.
One quest was great (A Shadow of the Past), one quest was alright (A Knife in the Dark), and one quest was on the lower end of good for me (Flight to the Ford). No lousy quests and I will probably play through all of them again (especially once I get my hands on Fog on the Barrow-downs and The Old Forest). The campaign system itself is worth the price of purchase and makes even mediocre quests worth playing over.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Saga Quest 9: Flight to the Ford
Victory on the second attempt!
The Deck
I made a few ally alterations before the first and second attempts, then decided to test out this deck on the third quest before making massive changes. But it actually held up pretty well.
Four Friends v.2
Heroes
Merry
Pippin (The Black Rider)
Sam Gamgee
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gildor Inglorion x2
Faramir x2
Erebor Hammersmith x3
Barliman Butterbur x2
Snowbourn Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Envoy of Pelargir x3
Attachments
Good Meal x3
Fast Hitch x3
Elf-stone x3
Dagger of Westernesse x3
Hobbit Cloak x3
Events
Feint x3
Hobbit-sense x3
Sneak Attack x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
Hail of Stones x3
The Journey
Had a quick, three-round (two completed) victory during my first attempt thanks to Sneak Attack + Gandalf + Frodo's Intuition x2. But I forgot to flip an encounter card when traveling to Ford of Bruinen. Looking over my notes, it would have caused an unpredictable chain (but most likely delaying my victory only one round if at all). So a second attempt it is!
Campaign Setup
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins
Attach Noble Hero to Sam Gamgee
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 21
Draw (5): Envoy of Pelargir, Feint, Hobbot-sense, Fast Hitch, Bill the Pony
I like having two allies in the first round and a way to ready Merry (plus the ability to Feint that first nazgul that comes up), but I would like to have Gandalf + Sneak Attack or Frodo's Intuition.
Mulligan (5): Bill the Pony, Sneak Attack, Fast Hitch, Barliman Butterbur, Dagger of Westernesse.
Oh well. At least one early ally and the ability to boost Merry up right away. Maybe I can get a Gandalf fairly quickly to use with that Sneak Attack.
Encounter Setup
Create a burden deck
Attach An Evil Wound to Frodo
Set Ford of Bruinen and The Witch-king to the side
Add The Last Bridge and one Fell Rider to the staging area
Set Frodo's life to 15 (marked with progress markers)
Round 1
Getting Merry equipped for battle early on, I quest all out and get 7 progress on the quest and am able to deal a little a good chunk of damage to a Fell Rider.
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Elf-stone
Planning Phase
Play: Bill the Pony
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Power In Their Terror (-1 willpower to all allies + 2 damage if 0 willpower). Bill the Pony is destroyed.
Total threat: 3
Place 7 progress on stage 1B (7/15)
Travel Phase
Travel to The Last Bridge
Reveal (burden): Overcome by Terror. Exhaust The One Ring. Surge.
Reveal: Ringwraith
Encounter Phase
Engage Fell Rider. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Barliman Butterbur.
Add Mr. Underhill to the victory display. Choose Fell Rider to not attack.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Fell Rider
Merry + Sam declare an attack on Fell Rider, dealing 5 damage (5/6)
Discard Fell Rider's shadow card
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 22.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (14/15)
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Erebor Hammersmith
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Road Like A Gale. Return Fell Rider to the staging area.
Total threat: 5
Place 4 progress on The Last Bridge, exploring it an adding it to the victory display (4).
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (8/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Fell Rider. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Fell Rider. Attacks. Sam defends. Shadow: The Troll's Camp (no effect). Deal 2 damage to Sam (2/3).
Merry declares an attack on Fell Rider, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 23.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (13/15)
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (3), +1 Frodo (3)
Draw: Hobbit-sense
Planning Phase
Play: Barliman Butterbur (Pippin -2)
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Ringwraith
Total threat: 6
Place 4 progress on stage 1B (12/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Ringwraith. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, defense, attack). Draw (Pippin): Frodo's Intuition.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Ringwraith. Attacks! Barliman Butterbeer defends. Shadow: Pathless Country (no next player; no effect). Barliman Butterbeer is destroyed.
Play: Sneak Attack (Sam -1). Put Erebor Hammersmith into play.
Merry, Sam, Erebor Hammersmith declare an attack on Ringwraith, destroying it.
Return Hammersmith to hand.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 24.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (12/15)
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (3), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), +1 Frodo (4)
Draw: Gildor Inglorion
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: The Enemy Upon Us! (no enemy engaged). Surge.
Reveal: Black Steed. Attack to Ringwraith. Surge.
Reveal: Power In Their Terror (no allies; no effect).
Total threat: 3
Place 7 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 2, flip to side B.
Add Ford of Bruinen and The Witch-king to the staging area.
Travel Phase
Travel to Ford of Bruinen.
Reveal: Pain Assailed Him. Remove 1 life from Frodo (11/15). Reduce Frodo's willpower, attack, and defense to 0 until the end of the round.
Encounter Phase
Engage The Witch-king. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Elf-stone
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to The Witch-king. Attacks! Undefended. Shadow: The Troll's Camp (no effect). Remove 6 life from Frodo (5/15).
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Merry + Sam declare an attack on The Witch-king, dealing 3 damage.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 25.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (4/15).
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (4), +1 Frodo (5)
Draw: Dagger of Westernesse
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Hobbit Cloak, Hail of Stones, Erebor Hammersmith.
Play: Hobbit Cloak (Sam -1). Attack to Sam.
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attach to Fords of Bruinen.
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attach to Fords of Bruinen.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 14
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Ringwraith in play engaged with me. Shuffle. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones
Updated willpower: 15
Total threat: 3
Place 8 progress on Fords of Bruinen, exploring it and adding it to victory display (9).
Place 4 progress on stage 2B (4/15).
Discard Ringwraith and The Witch-king (Fords of Bruinen's effect).
Elf-stone #1: Put Gildor Inglorion into play.
Elf-stone #2: Put Barliman Butterbeer into play.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Ringwraith. +1 willpower, attack, defense to Sam. Draw (Pippin): Fast Hitch.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Ringwraith. Attacks! Undefended. Shadow: The Old Road (no effect). Deal undefended damage to Barliman Buterbeer, who is destroyed.
Merry + Sam declare an attack on Ringwraith, destroying it.
Exhaust Gildor Inglorion to look at (player): Erebor Hamersmith, Faramir, Gildor Inglorion. Replace Faramir with Hail of Stones. Place back in this order (top to bottom): Hail of Stones, Erebor Hammersmith, Gildor Inglorion.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 26.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (3/15)
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (4), +1 Frodo (4)
Draw: Hail of Stones
Planning Phase
Play: Faramir (Sam -4)
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor, Barliman
Total willpower: 14
Exhaust Faramir to give each character +1 willpower.
Updated willpower: 20
Reveal: Ettenmoors.
Total threat: 2
Place 18 progress on stage 2B, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
5 Completed Rounds x10: 50
Ending Threat: 26
Total Damage on Heroes: 2 (Sam)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -9
Total Score: 69
Campaign Resolution
Add Overcome by Terror to my burdens.
Previous Campaign Resolutions
Boon: Mr. Underhill attached to Frodo Baggins
Boon: Noble Hero attached to Sam Gamgee
Burden: Gandalf's Delay added to staging area
The Recap
There definitely is a feeling of rushing off to Rivendell in this one, with the constant threat of the Black Riders, but it was not a total thematic hit for me. Hindering Frodo in some major way throughout the quest (vs. due to some treachery effects) would have made things a bit more thematic (and significantly harder, which I guess is a con). I did enjoy the cost/benefit analysis the player has to make between receiving a (possibly) undefended attack and having that damage go on Frodo vs. adding a burden to their pool. And it was nice to have the focus be just on the black riders. Really, I would have been happier of A Knife in the Dark and Flight to the Ford were combined into one awesome quest. I do think this will be a good one to play multi-player in the future, so it's going on the Favorite Quest list (which maybe I need to re-name).
The Deck
I made a few ally alterations before the first and second attempts, then decided to test out this deck on the third quest before making massive changes. But it actually held up pretty well.
Four Friends v.2
Heroes
Merry
Pippin (The Black Rider)
Sam Gamgee
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gildor Inglorion x2
Faramir x2
Erebor Hammersmith x3
Barliman Butterbur x2
Snowbourn Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Envoy of Pelargir x3
Attachments
Good Meal x3
Fast Hitch x3
Elf-stone x3
Dagger of Westernesse x3
Hobbit Cloak x3
Events
Feint x3
Hobbit-sense x3
Sneak Attack x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
Hail of Stones x3
The Journey
Had a quick, three-round (two completed) victory during my first attempt thanks to Sneak Attack + Gandalf + Frodo's Intuition x2. But I forgot to flip an encounter card when traveling to Ford of Bruinen. Looking over my notes, it would have caused an unpredictable chain (but most likely delaying my victory only one round if at all). So a second attempt it is!
Campaign Setup
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins
Attach Noble Hero to Sam Gamgee
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 21
Draw (5): Envoy of Pelargir, Feint, Hobbot-sense, Fast Hitch, Bill the Pony
I like having two allies in the first round and a way to ready Merry (plus the ability to Feint that first nazgul that comes up), but I would like to have Gandalf + Sneak Attack or Frodo's Intuition.
Mulligan (5): Bill the Pony, Sneak Attack, Fast Hitch, Barliman Butterbur, Dagger of Westernesse.
Oh well. At least one early ally and the ability to boost Merry up right away. Maybe I can get a Gandalf fairly quickly to use with that Sneak Attack.
Encounter Setup
Create a burden deck
Attach An Evil Wound to Frodo
Set Ford of Bruinen and The Witch-king to the side
Add The Last Bridge and one Fell Rider to the staging area
Set Frodo's life to 15 (marked with progress markers)
Round 1
Getting Merry equipped for battle early on, I quest all out and get 7 progress on the quest and am able to deal a little a good chunk of damage to a Fell Rider.
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Elf-stone
Planning Phase
Play: Bill the Pony
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Power In Their Terror (-1 willpower to all allies + 2 damage if 0 willpower). Bill the Pony is destroyed.
Total threat: 3
Place 7 progress on stage 1B (7/15)
Travel Phase
Travel to The Last Bridge
Reveal (burden): Overcome by Terror. Exhaust The One Ring. Surge.
Reveal: Ringwraith
Encounter Phase
Engage Fell Rider. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Barliman Butterbur.
Add Mr. Underhill to the victory display. Choose Fell Rider to not attack.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Fell Rider
Merry + Sam declare an attack on Fell Rider, dealing 5 damage (5/6)
Discard Fell Rider's shadow card
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 22.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (14/15)
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Erebor Hammersmith
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Road Like A Gale. Return Fell Rider to the staging area.
Total threat: 5
Place 4 progress on The Last Bridge, exploring it an adding it to the victory display (4).
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (8/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Fell Rider. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Fell Rider. Attacks. Sam defends. Shadow: The Troll's Camp (no effect). Deal 2 damage to Sam (2/3).
Merry declares an attack on Fell Rider, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 23.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (13/15)
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (3), +1 Frodo (3)
Draw: Hobbit-sense
Planning Phase
Play: Barliman Butterbur (Pippin -2)
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Ringwraith
Total threat: 6
Place 4 progress on stage 1B (12/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Ringwraith. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, defense, attack). Draw (Pippin): Frodo's Intuition.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Ringwraith. Attacks! Barliman Butterbeer defends. Shadow: Pathless Country (no next player; no effect). Barliman Butterbeer is destroyed.
Play: Sneak Attack (Sam -1). Put Erebor Hammersmith into play.
Merry, Sam, Erebor Hammersmith declare an attack on Ringwraith, destroying it.
Return Hammersmith to hand.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 24.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (12/15)
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (3), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), +1 Frodo (4)
Draw: Gildor Inglorion
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: The Enemy Upon Us! (no enemy engaged). Surge.
Reveal: Black Steed. Attack to Ringwraith. Surge.
Reveal: Power In Their Terror (no allies; no effect).
Total threat: 3
Place 7 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 2, flip to side B.
Add Ford of Bruinen and The Witch-king to the staging area.
Travel Phase
Travel to Ford of Bruinen.
Reveal: Pain Assailed Him. Remove 1 life from Frodo (11/15). Reduce Frodo's willpower, attack, and defense to 0 until the end of the round.
Encounter Phase
Engage The Witch-king. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Elf-stone
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to The Witch-king. Attacks! Undefended. Shadow: The Troll's Camp (no effect). Remove 6 life from Frodo (5/15).
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Merry + Sam declare an attack on The Witch-king, dealing 3 damage.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 25.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (4/15).
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (4), +1 Frodo (5)
Draw: Dagger of Westernesse
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Hobbit Cloak, Hail of Stones, Erebor Hammersmith.
Play: Hobbit Cloak (Sam -1). Attack to Sam.
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attach to Fords of Bruinen.
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attach to Fords of Bruinen.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 14
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Ringwraith in play engaged with me. Shuffle. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones
Updated willpower: 15
Total threat: 3
Place 8 progress on Fords of Bruinen, exploring it and adding it to victory display (9).
Place 4 progress on stage 2B (4/15).
Discard Ringwraith and The Witch-king (Fords of Bruinen's effect).
Elf-stone #1: Put Gildor Inglorion into play.
Elf-stone #2: Put Barliman Butterbeer into play.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Ringwraith. +1 willpower, attack, defense to Sam. Draw (Pippin): Fast Hitch.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Ringwraith. Attacks! Undefended. Shadow: The Old Road (no effect). Deal undefended damage to Barliman Buterbeer, who is destroyed.
Merry + Sam declare an attack on Ringwraith, destroying it.
Exhaust Gildor Inglorion to look at (player): Erebor Hamersmith, Faramir, Gildor Inglorion. Replace Faramir with Hail of Stones. Place back in this order (top to bottom): Hail of Stones, Erebor Hammersmith, Gildor Inglorion.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 26.
Remove 1 life from Frodo (3/15)
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (4), +1 Frodo (4)
Draw: Hail of Stones
Planning Phase
Play: Faramir (Sam -4)
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor, Barliman
Total willpower: 14
Exhaust Faramir to give each character +1 willpower.
Updated willpower: 20
Reveal: Ettenmoors.
Total threat: 2
Place 18 progress on stage 2B, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
5 Completed Rounds x10: 50
Ending Threat: 26
Total Damage on Heroes: 2 (Sam)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -9
Total Score: 69
Campaign Resolution
Add Overcome by Terror to my burdens.
Previous Campaign Resolutions
Boon: Mr. Underhill attached to Frodo Baggins
Boon: Noble Hero attached to Sam Gamgee
Burden: Gandalf's Delay added to staging area
The Recap
There definitely is a feeling of rushing off to Rivendell in this one, with the constant threat of the Black Riders, but it was not a total thematic hit for me. Hindering Frodo in some major way throughout the quest (vs. due to some treachery effects) would have made things a bit more thematic (and significantly harder, which I guess is a con). I did enjoy the cost/benefit analysis the player has to make between receiving a (possibly) undefended attack and having that damage go on Frodo vs. adding a burden to their pool. And it was nice to have the focus be just on the black riders. Really, I would have been happier of A Knife in the Dark and Flight to the Ford were combined into one awesome quest. I do think this will be a good one to play multi-player in the future, so it's going on the Favorite Quest list (which maybe I need to re-name).
Friday, November 21, 2014
Saga Quest 8: A Knife in the Dark
Victory on the eight attempt!
The Deck
I did give this quest a quick attempt with the secrecy deck from last time, but it was a no go once I hit the massive Nazgul attack (very massive, since I kept agreeing to shuffle them into the deck). Then I did a few drafts with Merry until settling on this arrangement.
Four Friends
Heroes
Merry
Pippin (The Black Riders)
Sam Gamgee
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gildor Inglorion x2
Faramir (Core) x2
Erebor Hammersmith x3
Barliman Butterbur x2
Snowbourn Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Westfold Outrider x3
Attachments
Good Meal x3
Fast Hitch x3
Elf-stone x3
Dagger of Westernesse x3
Hobbit Cloak x3
Events
Feint x3
Hobbit-sense x3
Sneak Attack x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
Hail of Stones x3
The Journey
It took five attempts before it clicked that Bill Ferny was the real enemy here and the key to victory (for me) was an early dispatch of the vile spy.
Campaign Setup
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 21 (+1 for adding in Merry)
Attach The One Ring to Frodo Baggins
Draw (5): Dagger of Westernesse,Gandalf, Elf-stone, Good Meal, Feint
I like seeing Gandalf right off the bat, but I really need a way to do 1 more damage to Bill.
Mulligan: Snowborn Scout, Barliman Butterbur, Gandalf, Hobbit Sense, Frodo's Intuition
Oh well, looks like we go with this!
Encounter Setup
Set all copies of the Ringwraith, The Witch-King, Midgewater, and Weathertop aside, out of play.
Add The Prancing Pony and Bill Ferny to the staging area. Shuffle (enounter).
Flip to 1B
Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Fast Hitch
Planning Phase
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 9
Raise threat to 24 (Bill Ferny's effect).
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Rider of Mordor in play engaged with me (-1 willpower for all characters). Shuffle. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Elf-stone
Updated willpower: 6
Total threat: 5.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (1/8).
Travel Phase
Travel to The Prancing Pony. Put Gandalf into play. Deal 4 damage to Bill Ferny.
Encounter Phase
No engagements.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor.
Add Mr. Underhill to the victory display (1) to prevent Rider of Mordor from attacking.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Merry + Gandalf declare an attack on Rider of Mordor, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 25.
Discard Gandalf from play.
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (2), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Dagger of Westernesse
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Gildro Inglorion, Frodo's Intuition, Sneak Attack.
Play: Sneak Attack (Sam -1). Put Gildor into play.
I'm hoping to use this trick and get a way to take out Bill. We'll see!
Exhaust Gildor to look at (player): Westfold Outrider, Hobbit Cloak, Westfold Outrider. Put Westfold Outrider into my hand, replaced with Hobbit Sense. Put back in this order: Hobbit Cloak, Westfold Outrider, Hobbit Sense.
Play: Westfold Outrider (Merry -2).
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attack to The Prancing Pony.
Play: Snowborn Scout (Sam -1). Place 1 progress on The Prancing Pony.
Return Gildor Inglorion to hand.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 13
Increase threat to 28
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Rider of Mordor in play, engaged with me (-1 willpower to all characters). Ready Sam (+1 willpower, +1 attack, +1 defense). Draw (Pippin): Hobbit Cloak
Updated willpower: 10
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on The Prancing Pony, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (2). Put Gildor Inglorion into play (Elf-stone's effect).
Place 4 progress on stage 1B (5/8)
Travel Phase
None
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor. Attacks. Snowborn Scout defends. Shadow: Pale Blade (no effect). Snowborn Scout is destroyed.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Now this is tough. Looking at my resources available right now, I have to choose between taking out the Rider of Mordor and Bill Ferny. I think Bill is the obvious choice, though.
Merry + Westfold Outrider declare an attack on Rider of Mordor, dealing 3 damage (3/5).
Discard Westfold Outrider. Engage Bill Ferny. +1 willpower, attack, defense for Sam. Draw (Pippin): Westfold Outrider.
Sam + Gildor declare an attack on Bill Ferny, destroying him and adding him to the victory display (3).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 29.
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Hobbit-sense
Planning Phase
Play none.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor.
Total willpower: 12.
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 2
Place 10 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 2. Add Midgewater to the staging area. Place 1 progress on stage 2B (1/6)
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor
Play: Hobbit Sense (Pippin -1, Sam -1)
Discard shadow card
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 30.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (0/6)
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Gildor Inglorion
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intution (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Hail of Stones, Feint, Erebor Hammersmith
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor
Total willpower: 16
Reveal: Shady Bree-Lander
Total threat: 5
Place 3 progress on Pathless Country, exploring it.
Place 8 progress on stage 2B (8/6)
Travel Phase
Travel to Midgewater. Return Rider of Mordor to the staging area.
Encounter Phase and Combat Phase
No engagements or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 31.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (7/6)
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (3), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (2), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Fast Hitch
Planning Phase
Play: Barliman Butterbur (Pippin -2).
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor, Barliman
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 8
Place 5 progress on Midgewater (5/6)
Travel, Encounter, Combat Phases
No travel, engagements, or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (6/6)
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Hobbit Sense
Planning Phase
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Westfold Outrider (Merry -2)
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Hobbit Cloak (Sam -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor
Total willpower: 12
Reveal: Black Breath. Attach to Pippin.
I would rather loose Pippin at this point than exhaust The One Ring and get the lower engagement applied to the Nazgul.
Updated willpower: 10.
Total threat: 8
Place 1 progress on Midgewater, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (4).
Stage 2B cleared (6/6 progress). Proceed to stage 3. Add The Witch-king and Weathertop to the staging area. Search encounter discard pile and add Rider of Mordor to the staging area.
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country
Encounter Phase
Engage The Witch-king. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Frodo's Intuition.
Engaged by Shady Bree-Lander
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to The Witch-king, Shady Bree-lander
Shady Bree-Lander attacks. Barliman defends. Shadow: Power in the Terror (discard attachment). Discard Hobbit Cloak.
The Witch-king attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Pale Blade (no effect). Place damage on Barliman, destroying him.
Merry declares an attack on Shady Bree-Lander, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry, Sam, Westfold Outrider declare an attack on The Witch King, (10 attack vs. 5 shield), dealing 5 damage (5/9).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 33.
Round 7
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), + Frodo (3)
Draw: Feint
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intiution. +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Bill the Pony, Good Meal, Faramir
Play: Bill the Pony.
Play: Good Meal. Attach to Merry. Discard to lower cost of next Tactics event by 2.
Play: Hail of Stones. Exhaust Pippin and Bill the Pony, dealing 2 damage to Rider of Mordor #1 and destroying it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Discard Westfold Outrider to engage Rider of Mordor #2 (-1 willpower to all characters). Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Erebor Hammersmith.
Updated willpower: 8
Reveal: Lure of the Ring. Raise threat to 36. Surge.
Reveal: Squint-eyed Southerner. Choose to shuffle Ringwraith into deck.
Place 2 progress on Pathless Country.
Travel Phase
None
Encounter Phase
Engage Squint-eyed Southerner (37 engagement, due to Pippin). +1 willpower, attack, defense to Sam. Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #1 to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to The Witch-king, Rider of Mordor, Squint-eyed Southerner.
Play Feint (Merry -1). Pick Rider of Mordor to not attack.
Squint-eyed Southener attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Weather Hills (no effect). Place 2 damage on Pippin (2/3, due to Bill).
The Witch-king attacks. Gildor defends. Shadow: Lure of the Ring (+1 attack). Gildor is destroyed.
Merry (6 attack) + Sam (3 attack) declare an attack on The Witch King, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry declares an attack on Rider of Mordor, dealing 3 damage (3/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 37.
Round 8
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (4), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Bill the Pony
Planning Phase
Play: Erebor Hammersmith (Pippin -2). Return A Good Meal to hand.
Play: A Good Meal. Attach to Merry.
Play: Faramir (Sam -4).
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Frodo, Bill
Total willpower: 2
Reveal: Pale Blade. Attach to Rider of Mordor #2. Surge.
Reveal: Chetwood.
Total threat: 6
Exhaust Faramir to give all characters +1 willpower.
Updated willpower: 5
Raise threat to 38
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to Rider of Mordor, Squint-eyed Southerner.
Discard Good Meal to reduce the cost of the next Tactics event played by 2.
Play: Feint. Choose Rider of Mordor to not attack.
Squint-eyed Southener attacks. Erebor Hammersmith defends. Shadow: Unwanted Attention (return enemy to staging are after attack). 1 damage dealt to Hammersmith (1/3). Squint-eyed Southener returns to the staging area.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #1 to ready Merry.
Play: Hail of Stones (Merry -1). Exhaust Merry, Pippin, Sam to deal 3 damage to Squint-eyed Southerner, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry declares an attack on Rider of Mordor, destroying it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
7 Completed Rounds x10: 70
Ending Threat: 38
Total Damage on Heroes: 2
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -4
Total Score: 106
Campaign Resolutio
Boon: AttachTireless Ranger Noble Hero to Sam.
I thought Tireless Ranger was the willpower one. Corrected!
Past decisions:
Boon: Mr. Underhill attached to Frodo
Burden: Gandalf's Delay in the staging area.
The Recap
Questing, defending, attacking, dealing with treacheries...it's all here! Just maybe not in the way you would expect. The nazgul are certainly formidable here, but the real threat are the spys of Bree. Seriously. And I find that a bit weird. I understand that, thematically, these guys are ratting you out to the dark forces, but why are they so powerful? I would expect more enemies like Pickpocket, who pose a threat in the staging area but are quickly dispatched once engaged. I still am a bit baffled that Bill Ferny ends up being the real threat in A Knife in the Dark (more so than the fact that Weathertop is an optional location that hinders you quite a bit if traveled to). And the big battle for the nazgul? It can be a beast if you're not prepared. But if you go in ready for it, there is little the encounter deck does to stop you from building up a small army or good strategy that can quickly handle them.
It was a fun victory. The thematic choices confuse me, so I'm not going to write it down as a favorite.
Note: Right before I started questing in round 7, I realized I had been counting the combined willpower of my hobbits as 7 instead of 9 (due to having Black Breath on Pippin for almost all of attempt #7). I stopped, went back to make corrections, and found it actually did not affect anything (in terms of exploring locations and clearing quests to get to the same point at round 7's start). Still, let me know if you see some willpower/quest point anomalies.
The Deck
I did give this quest a quick attempt with the secrecy deck from last time, but it was a no go once I hit the massive Nazgul attack (very massive, since I kept agreeing to shuffle them into the deck). Then I did a few drafts with Merry until settling on this arrangement.
Four Friends
Heroes
Merry
Pippin (The Black Riders)
Sam Gamgee
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gildor Inglorion x2
Faramir (Core) x2
Erebor Hammersmith x3
Barliman Butterbur x2
Snowbourn Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Westfold Outrider x3
Attachments
Good Meal x3
Fast Hitch x3
Elf-stone x3
Dagger of Westernesse x3
Hobbit Cloak x3
Events
Feint x3
Hobbit-sense x3
Sneak Attack x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
Hail of Stones x3
The Journey
It took five attempts before it clicked that Bill Ferny was the real enemy here and the key to victory (for me) was an early dispatch of the vile spy.
Campaign Setup
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 21 (+1 for adding in Merry)
Attach The One Ring to Frodo Baggins
Draw (5): Dagger of Westernesse,Gandalf, Elf-stone, Good Meal, Feint
I like seeing Gandalf right off the bat, but I really need a way to do 1 more damage to Bill.
Mulligan: Snowborn Scout, Barliman Butterbur, Gandalf, Hobbit Sense, Frodo's Intuition
Oh well, looks like we go with this!
Encounter Setup
Set all copies of the Ringwraith, The Witch-King, Midgewater, and Weathertop aside, out of play.
Add The Prancing Pony and Bill Ferny to the staging area. Shuffle (enounter).
Flip to 1B
Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Fast Hitch
Planning Phase
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 9
Raise threat to 24 (Bill Ferny's effect).
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Rider of Mordor in play engaged with me (-1 willpower for all characters). Shuffle. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Elf-stone
Updated willpower: 6
Total threat: 5.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (1/8).
Travel Phase
Travel to The Prancing Pony. Put Gandalf into play. Deal 4 damage to Bill Ferny.
Encounter Phase
No engagements.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor.
Add Mr. Underhill to the victory display (1) to prevent Rider of Mordor from attacking.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Merry + Gandalf declare an attack on Rider of Mordor, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 25.
Discard Gandalf from play.
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (2), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Dagger of Westernesse
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Gildro Inglorion, Frodo's Intuition, Sneak Attack.
Play: Sneak Attack (Sam -1). Put Gildor into play.
I'm hoping to use this trick and get a way to take out Bill. We'll see!
Exhaust Gildor to look at (player): Westfold Outrider, Hobbit Cloak, Westfold Outrider. Put Westfold Outrider into my hand, replaced with Hobbit Sense. Put back in this order: Hobbit Cloak, Westfold Outrider, Hobbit Sense.
Play: Westfold Outrider (Merry -2).
Play: Elf-stone (Pippin -1). Attack to The Prancing Pony.
Play: Snowborn Scout (Sam -1). Place 1 progress on The Prancing Pony.
Return Gildor Inglorion to hand.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 13
Increase threat to 28
Reveal: Piercing Cry. Search encounter deck and put Rider of Mordor in play, engaged with me (-1 willpower to all characters). Ready Sam (+1 willpower, +1 attack, +1 defense). Draw (Pippin): Hobbit Cloak
Updated willpower: 10
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on The Prancing Pony, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (2). Put Gildor Inglorion into play (Elf-stone's effect).
Place 4 progress on stage 1B (5/8)
Travel Phase
None
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor. Attacks. Snowborn Scout defends. Shadow: Pale Blade (no effect). Snowborn Scout is destroyed.
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry.
Now this is tough. Looking at my resources available right now, I have to choose between taking out the Rider of Mordor and Bill Ferny. I think Bill is the obvious choice, though.
Merry + Westfold Outrider declare an attack on Rider of Mordor, dealing 3 damage (3/5).
Discard Westfold Outrider. Engage Bill Ferny. +1 willpower, attack, defense for Sam. Draw (Pippin): Westfold Outrider.
Sam + Gildor declare an attack on Bill Ferny, destroying him and adding him to the victory display (3).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 29.
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Hobbit-sense
Planning Phase
Play none.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor.
Total willpower: 12.
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 2
Place 10 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 2. Add Midgewater to the staging area. Place 1 progress on stage 2B (1/6)
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Rider of Mordor
Play: Hobbit Sense (Pippin -1, Sam -1)
Discard shadow card
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 30.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (0/6)
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (1), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Gildor Inglorion
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intution (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Hail of Stones, Feint, Erebor Hammersmith
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor
Total willpower: 16
Reveal: Shady Bree-Lander
Total threat: 5
Place 3 progress on Pathless Country, exploring it.
Place 8 progress on stage 2B (8/6)
Travel Phase
Travel to Midgewater. Return Rider of Mordor to the staging area.
Encounter Phase and Combat Phase
No engagements or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 31.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (7/6)
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (3), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (2), + Frodo (1)
Draw: Fast Hitch
Planning Phase
Play: Barliman Butterbur (Pippin -2).
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor, Barliman
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 8
Place 5 progress on Midgewater (5/6)
Travel, Encounter, Combat Phases
No travel, engagements, or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Remove 1 progress from stage 2B (6/6)
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (4), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Hobbit Sense
Planning Phase
Play: Fast Hitch (Pippin -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Westfold Outrider (Merry -2)
Play: Dagger of Westernesse (Merry -1). Attach to Merry.
Play: Hobbit Cloak (Sam -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gildor
Total willpower: 12
Reveal: Black Breath. Attach to Pippin.
I would rather loose Pippin at this point than exhaust The One Ring and get the lower engagement applied to the Nazgul.
Updated willpower: 10.
Total threat: 8
Place 1 progress on Midgewater, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (4).
Stage 2B cleared (6/6 progress). Proceed to stage 3. Add The Witch-king and Weathertop to the staging area. Search encounter discard pile and add Rider of Mordor to the staging area.
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country
Encounter Phase
Engage The Witch-king. Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Frodo's Intuition.
Engaged by Shady Bree-Lander
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Merry
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to The Witch-king, Shady Bree-lander
Shady Bree-Lander attacks. Barliman defends. Shadow: Power in the Terror (discard attachment). Discard Hobbit Cloak.
The Witch-king attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Pale Blade (no effect). Place damage on Barliman, destroying him.
Merry declares an attack on Shady Bree-Lander, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry, Sam, Westfold Outrider declare an attack on The Witch King, (10 attack vs. 5 shield), dealing 5 damage (5/9).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 33.
Round 7
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Sam (3), + Frodo (3)
Draw: Feint
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intiution. +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Bill the Pony, Good Meal, Faramir
Play: Bill the Pony.
Play: Good Meal. Attach to Merry. Discard to lower cost of next Tactics event by 2.
Play: Hail of Stones. Exhaust Pippin and Bill the Pony, dealing 2 damage to Rider of Mordor #1 and destroying it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Sam, Frodo
Total willpower: 10
Discard Westfold Outrider to engage Rider of Mordor #2 (-1 willpower to all characters). Ready Sam (+1 willpower, attack, defense). Draw (Pippin): Erebor Hammersmith.
Updated willpower: 8
Reveal: Lure of the Ring. Raise threat to 36. Surge.
Reveal: Squint-eyed Southerner. Choose to shuffle Ringwraith into deck.
Place 2 progress on Pathless Country.
Travel Phase
None
Encounter Phase
Engage Squint-eyed Southerner (37 engagement, due to Pippin). +1 willpower, attack, defense to Sam. Draw (Pippin): Hail of Stones.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #1 to ready Merry.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to The Witch-king, Rider of Mordor, Squint-eyed Southerner.
Play Feint (Merry -1). Pick Rider of Mordor to not attack.
Squint-eyed Southener attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Weather Hills (no effect). Place 2 damage on Pippin (2/3, due to Bill).
The Witch-king attacks. Gildor defends. Shadow: Lure of the Ring (+1 attack). Gildor is destroyed.
Merry (6 attack) + Sam (3 attack) declare an attack on The Witch King, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry declares an attack on Rider of Mordor, dealing 3 damage (3/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 37.
Round 8
Resource Phase
+1 Merry (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Sam (4), + Frodo (2)
Draw: Bill the Pony
Planning Phase
Play: Erebor Hammersmith (Pippin -2). Return A Good Meal to hand.
Play: A Good Meal. Attach to Merry.
Play: Faramir (Sam -4).
Quest Phase
Commit: Merry, Frodo, Bill
Total willpower: 2
Reveal: Pale Blade. Attach to Rider of Mordor #2. Surge.
Reveal: Chetwood.
Total threat: 6
Exhaust Faramir to give all characters +1 willpower.
Updated willpower: 5
Raise threat to 38
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Deal shadow cards to Rider of Mordor, Squint-eyed Southerner.
Discard Good Meal to reduce the cost of the next Tactics event played by 2.
Play: Feint. Choose Rider of Mordor to not attack.
Squint-eyed Southener attacks. Erebor Hammersmith defends. Shadow: Unwanted Attention (return enemy to staging are after attack). 1 damage dealt to Hammersmith (1/3). Squint-eyed Southener returns to the staging area.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #1 to ready Merry.
Play: Hail of Stones (Merry -1). Exhaust Merry, Pippin, Sam to deal 3 damage to Squint-eyed Southerner, destroying him.
Exhaust Fast Hitch #2 to ready Merry.
Merry declares an attack on Rider of Mordor, destroying it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
7 Completed Rounds x10: 70
Ending Threat: 38
Total Damage on Heroes: 2
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -4
Total Score: 106
Campaign Resolutio
Boon: Attach
I thought Tireless Ranger was the willpower one. Corrected!
Past decisions:
Boon: Mr. Underhill attached to Frodo
Burden: Gandalf's Delay in the staging area.
The Recap
Questing, defending, attacking, dealing with treacheries...it's all here! Just maybe not in the way you would expect. The nazgul are certainly formidable here, but the real threat are the spys of Bree. Seriously. And I find that a bit weird. I understand that, thematically, these guys are ratting you out to the dark forces, but why are they so powerful? I would expect more enemies like Pickpocket, who pose a threat in the staging area but are quickly dispatched once engaged. I still am a bit baffled that Bill Ferny ends up being the real threat in A Knife in the Dark (more so than the fact that Weathertop is an optional location that hinders you quite a bit if traveled to). And the big battle for the nazgul? It can be a beast if you're not prepared. But if you go in ready for it, there is little the encounter deck does to stop you from building up a small army or good strategy that can quickly handle them.
It was a fun victory. The thematic choices confuse me, so I'm not going to write it down as a favorite.
Note: Right before I started questing in round 7, I realized I had been counting the combined willpower of my hobbits as 7 instead of 9 (due to having Black Breath on Pippin for almost all of attempt #7). I stopped, went back to make corrections, and found it actually did not affect anything (in terms of exploring locations and clearing quests to get to the same point at round 7's start). Still, let me know if you see some willpower/quest point anomalies.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Saga Quest 7: A Shadow of the Past
Victory on the second attempt!
The Deck
I've really been looking forward to starting The Black Riders and messing around with Hobbit decks. But I have a few problems. For one, there are a lot of Spirit cards I would love to use with Hobbits (Hobbit Pipe, Smoke Rings, Small Target, Silver Lamp), but I don't like the Spirit Hobbit cards themselves that much. I would also like to go for Tactics/Leadership/Lore to get the four Hobbit companions out (sorry Fatty), but there goes secrecy after the first round. And secrecy seems like such a good fit for Hobbits. So much so, I decided to try a risk and focus on the secrecy aspect at the expense of a full company. Crazy? Possibly.
(Small) Party of Three
Heroes
Sam Gamgee
Pippin (The Black Riders)
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Rivendell Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Faramir (Core) x2
Henamarth Riversong x2
Barlimn Butterbur x2
Gildor Inglorion x3
Resourceful x3
Attachments
Fast Hitch x3
Protector of Lorien x3
Expert Treasure-Hunter x3
Events
Risk Some Light x3
Sneak Attack x3
Ever Vigilant x3
A Very Good Tale x3
Timely Aid x3
Hobbit Sense x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
The goal here is to keep things secret (via Gandalf) and know the encounter deck via Henamarth/Risk Some Light. You then want to control your own player deck as much as possible with Gildor (+ Ever Vigilant). Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale, and Expert Treasure Hunter area all great combinations with Gildor. And, yes, I realized after starting the scenario that having Gildor be an intergral part of this deck was an...interesting choice, but it worked out really well. In fact, the Gildor hidden in the encounter deck never saw the light of day either time. The only change I made between attempts was switching out Leaf Brooch for Protector of Lorien. The Brooch gave some some small benifit the first attempt, but I found myself wishing I had a way to boost my willpower and/or defense.
How does the deck function? Like a charm. Both attempts saw me never fail a hide test while also pumping enough allies out and/or playing enough Hobbit Sense that the Black Riders never touched my heroes.
The Journey
Once again, a small mistake cost me a first attempt victory (not doing a hide test after revealing Hunting for the Ring and returning zero Black Riders). Even with the mistake, I barley scrapped down that victory, with the win coming down to the result of the final encounter draw (and a painful death promised next). With such a close call the first time around, could this Hobbit secrecy deck pull off a legitimate win?
Campaign Setup
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins.
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area.
Shuffle Gildor Inglorion and The Ring Draw Them into the encounter deck.
Just about did a face-slap during the first attempt, not knowing Gildor would be an ally in the encounter deck and having him in my deck instead. But he was so useful to me that I want to keep him in all the same.
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 14
Draw (5, due to Gandalf's Delay): Ever Vigilant x2, Rivendell Scout, A Very Good Tale, Farimir
Rivendell Scout is nice, but the rest are not the best for me at this moment.
Mulligan: Rivendell Scout x2, Expert Treasure-Hunter, Frodo's Intuition, Barliman Butterbur
Encounter Setup
Set Buckleberry Ferry aside (out of play).
Add 1 Black Ridder to the staging area.
Make Bag End the active location. Shuffle encounter.
Round 1
Doing what I can with what I've got, I lay down two Rivendell Scouts and go all-in for questing. It's risky and might cause me to fail a hide test (which would just about end the game for me), but I want to clear Bag End and get the cards, if possible. And I make it! Risk Some Light is in the card draw, which is always good to see.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Hobbit Sense
Planning Phase
Play: Rivendell Scout
Play: Rivendell Scout
Play: Expert Treasure-Hunter. Attach to Frodo.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2
Total willpower: 9
Reveal: Green Hill Country
Total threat: 6
Place 3 progress on Bag End, exploring it and adding it to the victory display. Draw: Gandalf, Risk Some Light, Fast Hitch
Phew. An early Risk Some Light is always a relief to see.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Gildor Inglorion.
Travel Phase
Travel to Green Hill Country
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 15.
Round 2
I use Risk Some Light to help me see a hide test coming up with only two threat worth of cards behind it, so I quest all in. Sam, with a fast hitch now, readies to take the hide test and passes. I sneak in Gandalf for the next hide test (when a Black Rider will come out) and pass that hide test (just! 5 threat and 5 willpower). I choose to have Gandalf damage a Black Rider, hoping to finish it off next turn.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Sneak attack
Timely Aid lifted up with it. Replaced and shuffled deck
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light. Look at (encounter): Crawling Toward Him, Green Hill Country, Lure of the Ring. Replace as is.
Now that I know all three cards, I can hold back two willpower and pass the hide test.
Play: Fast Hitch (Pipin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x1
Total willpower: 8
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Crawling Towards Him. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard: Green Hill Country, Lure of the Ring. Threat: 3. Willpower: 3. Passed.
Total threat: 4
Play: Sneak attack (Sam -1). Put Gandalf into play. Deal 4 damage to Black Rider #1.
Place 3 progress on Green Hill Country, exploring it.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B, clearing it.
Proceed to stage 2, flip to side B.
Search deck and add Black Rider to the staging area. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Gandalf, Rivendell Scout. Discard: Evil Crow, Crawling Towards Him. Total threat: 5. Total willpower: 5. Passed. No location to place progress on.
Return Gandalf to hand.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Gandalf.
No travel, engagements, or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 16.
Round 3
Via Frodo's Intuition, I'm able to draw and play Risk Some Light again. Looking at what's coming up, and looking at the cards and resources I have, I realize I can take out both Black Riders in the staging area at a cost of 2 threat to me (and the use of the Mr. Underhill boon). I play Gandalf from my hand, destroying the already injured Black Rider. Then I quest with just Sam. Engage the last Black Rider (readying and boosting Sam), then go all in and dispatch it. We'll have to see how this plays out!
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (3)
Draw: Protector of Lorien
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition. +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: A Very Good Tale, Risk Some Light, Ever Vigilant.
Play: Risk Some Light. Look at (encounter): The Marish, Black Rider, Pathless Country. Place Black Rider on the bottom of the encounter deck. Put Pathless Country on top with The Marish beneath it.
Play: Gandalf (Sam -2, Pippin -2, Frodo -1). Place 4 damage on Black Rider #1, destroying it.
Slight pause here while I debated a crazy decision. What decision? Look and see...
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam
Total willpower: 4
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 6
Raise threat to 18.
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country.
Encounter Phase
Engage Black Rider. Ready Sam and give him +1 willpower, attack, defense. Draw: Protector of Lorien.
Discard Mr. Underhill to choose Black Rider not to attack this round.
Combat Phase
Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2, Gandalf declare an attack on Black Rider. 10 attack vs. 4 shield = 6 damage, destroying it.
And the staging area is clear for now.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 19.
Discard Gandalf from play.
Round 4
I quest all in, getting 6 progress on the quest card.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Frodo's Intuition
Planning Phase
Play: None
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2
Total willpower: 9
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Draw: The Marish.
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on Pathless Country, exploring it.
Place 6 progress on stage 2B (6/8).
Treasure-hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Barliman Butterbeer.
Travel Phase
Travel to The Marish
No engagements, or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 20.
Round 5
Once again, Frodo's Intuition comes in handy and I'm able to proceed to stage 3 (despite a useless play of A Very Good Tale which added zero allies to help me out). A new Black Rider in the staging area, but no worries. I engage an Evil Crow, which attacks 3 times for zero (due to Piercing Scream), just to get it out of the staging area. Pushing forward to victory should be very possible during round 6..
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Protector of Lorien
I'm totally going to need to feed a Protector of Lorien to a Protector of Lorien.
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Timely Aid, Bill the Poney, Hobbit Sense
Timely Aid is what I've been searching for. Ironically, very timely now that I'm at the secrecy threshold of 20 threat.
Play: Timely Aid (Sam -1). Look at (player): Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf, Resourceful, Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale. Put Gildor Inglorion into play, shuffling remaining cards into the player deck.
Play: A Very Good Tale. Exhaust Rivendell Scout x2. Discard: A Very Good Tale, Frodo's Intuition, Ever Vigilant, Gildor Inglorion, Expert Treasure-Hunter. Put nothing into play.
Ouch.
Play: Bill the Pony
Play: Protector of Lorien (Pippin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Bill the Pony, Gildor Inglorion
Total willpower: 14
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Black Steed. No Nazgul enemy to attach to. Surge.
Reveal: Evil Crow
Total threat: 2
Place 4 progress on The Marish, exploring it
Place 8 progress on stage 2B, clearing it. Proceed to stage 3.
Add Buckleberry Ferry to the staging area.
Flip to 3B. Search encounter deck and place a Black Rider in the staging area. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard (encounter): Stock-brook, Rode Like A Gale. Threat: 1. Willpower: 3. Passed.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Ally. Discard (player): Rivendell Scout. Put into hand.
Travel Phase
Travel to Buckleburry Ferry.
Encounter Phase
Engage Evil Crow. Ready Sam (+1 Willpower, Attack, Defense). Draw: Faramir.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Evil Crow.
Evil Crow attacks. Sam defends. Shadow: Piercing Cry (attack again). No damage dealt.
Deal second shadow to Evil Crow. Evil Crow attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Piercing Cry (attack again). No damage dealt.
Does anyone else imagine the Nazgul scream as soon as they see that card, like an instant reaction?
Deal third shadow to Evil Crow. Evil Crow attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Stock Road (no effect). No damage dealt.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 21.
Round 6
I play Henamarth Riversong, the third Rivendell Scout, and a second Protector of Lorien. Feeding the rest of my hand to the two Protector of Loriens, I quest for 21, pass a hide test, and put 17 progress on Bucklebury Ferry for the win.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Henamarth Riversong.
Planning Phase
Play: Henemarth Riversong (Pippin -1).
Play: Rivendell Scout (Sam -2).
Play: Protector of Lorien (Pippin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x3, Bill the Pony, Gildor Inglorion, Henamarth Riversong
Total willpower: 15
Discard three cards (Ever Vigilant, Barliman Butterbur, Hobbit Sense) to trigger Protector of Lorien #1 and give Sam +3 willpower, +3 defense.
Discard three cards (Hobbit Sense, Protector of Lorien, Faramir) to trigger Protector of Lorien #1 and give Sam +3 willpower, +3 defense.
Updated willpower: 21
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Lure of the Ring. Raise threat to 24. Surge.
Reveal: Hunting for the Ring. Doomed 2 (raise threat to 26). Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard: Green Hill Country, Have You Seen Baggins?
My favorite song from the soundtrack, actually.
Hide threat: 2. Willpower: 9. Passed.
Total threat: 4.
Place 17 progress on Bucklebury Ferry, exploring it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
5 Completed Rounds x10: 50
Ending Threat: 26
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -2 (Bag End, Mr. Underhill)
Total Score:74
Campaign Resolution
Choose Gandalf's Delay (burden)
Choose Mr. Underhill (boon) to stay attached to Frodo.
The Recap
Thematic, challenging but not crazy...I loved it! The quest did not necessarily have the variety aspect that I like, but the thematic aspect was strong enough for me to overlook that.
And I'm hooked on the campaign mode. The Road Darkens has been a "maybe" purchase for me so far, due to the terribly small player card pool. I wanted to get a feel for the campaign mode first and see if it was a bit enough draw for me. And I think the answer is: yes (not by itself; Gandalf and his attachments are great enough that I was more on the positive side of "maybe" about the set).
I'll look forward to continuing my campaign adventure, as well as bringing my wife along to take a trip along memory lane with A Shadow of the Past.
The Deck
I've really been looking forward to starting The Black Riders and messing around with Hobbit decks. But I have a few problems. For one, there are a lot of Spirit cards I would love to use with Hobbits (Hobbit Pipe, Smoke Rings, Small Target, Silver Lamp), but I don't like the Spirit Hobbit cards themselves that much. I would also like to go for Tactics/Leadership/Lore to get the four Hobbit companions out (sorry Fatty), but there goes secrecy after the first round. And secrecy seems like such a good fit for Hobbits. So much so, I decided to try a risk and focus on the secrecy aspect at the expense of a full company. Crazy? Possibly.
(Small) Party of Three
Heroes
Sam Gamgee
Pippin (The Black Riders)
Frodo Baggins (The Black Riders)
Allies
Gandalf (Core) x3
Rivendell Scout x3
Bill the Pony x2
Faramir (Core) x2
Henamarth Riversong x2
Barlimn Butterbur x2
Gildor Inglorion x3
Resourceful x3
Attachments
Fast Hitch x3
Protector of Lorien x3
Expert Treasure-Hunter x3
Events
Risk Some Light x3
Sneak Attack x3
Ever Vigilant x3
A Very Good Tale x3
Timely Aid x3
Hobbit Sense x3
Frodo's Intuition x3
The goal here is to keep things secret (via Gandalf) and know the encounter deck via Henamarth/Risk Some Light. You then want to control your own player deck as much as possible with Gildor (+ Ever Vigilant). Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale, and Expert Treasure Hunter area all great combinations with Gildor. And, yes, I realized after starting the scenario that having Gildor be an intergral part of this deck was an...interesting choice, but it worked out really well. In fact, the Gildor hidden in the encounter deck never saw the light of day either time. The only change I made between attempts was switching out Leaf Brooch for Protector of Lorien. The Brooch gave some some small benifit the first attempt, but I found myself wishing I had a way to boost my willpower and/or defense.
How does the deck function? Like a charm. Both attempts saw me never fail a hide test while also pumping enough allies out and/or playing enough Hobbit Sense that the Black Riders never touched my heroes.
The Journey
Once again, a small mistake cost me a first attempt victory (not doing a hide test after revealing Hunting for the Ring and returning zero Black Riders). Even with the mistake, I barley scrapped down that victory, with the win coming down to the result of the final encounter draw (and a painful death promised next). With such a close call the first time around, could this Hobbit secrecy deck pull off a legitimate win?
Campaign Setup
Attach Mr. Underhill to Frodo Baggins.
Add Gandalf's Delay to the staging area.
Shuffle Gildor Inglorion and The Ring Draw Them into the encounter deck.
Just about did a face-slap during the first attempt, not knowing Gildor would be an ally in the encounter deck and having him in my deck instead. But he was so useful to me that I want to keep him in all the same.
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 14
Draw (5, due to Gandalf's Delay): Ever Vigilant x2, Rivendell Scout, A Very Good Tale, Farimir
Rivendell Scout is nice, but the rest are not the best for me at this moment.
Mulligan: Rivendell Scout x2, Expert Treasure-Hunter, Frodo's Intuition, Barliman Butterbur
Encounter Setup
Set Buckleberry Ferry aside (out of play).
Add 1 Black Ridder to the staging area.
Make Bag End the active location. Shuffle encounter.
Round 1
Doing what I can with what I've got, I lay down two Rivendell Scouts and go all-in for questing. It's risky and might cause me to fail a hide test (which would just about end the game for me), but I want to clear Bag End and get the cards, if possible. And I make it! Risk Some Light is in the card draw, which is always good to see.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Hobbit Sense
Planning Phase
Play: Rivendell Scout
Play: Rivendell Scout
Play: Expert Treasure-Hunter. Attach to Frodo.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2
Total willpower: 9
Reveal: Green Hill Country
Total threat: 6
Place 3 progress on Bag End, exploring it and adding it to the victory display. Draw: Gandalf, Risk Some Light, Fast Hitch
Phew. An early Risk Some Light is always a relief to see.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Gildor Inglorion.
Travel Phase
Travel to Green Hill Country
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 15.
Round 2
I use Risk Some Light to help me see a hide test coming up with only two threat worth of cards behind it, so I quest all in. Sam, with a fast hitch now, readies to take the hide test and passes. I sneak in Gandalf for the next hide test (when a Black Rider will come out) and pass that hide test (just! 5 threat and 5 willpower). I choose to have Gandalf damage a Black Rider, hoping to finish it off next turn.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Sneak attack
Timely Aid lifted up with it. Replaced and shuffled deck
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light. Look at (encounter): Crawling Toward Him, Green Hill Country, Lure of the Ring. Replace as is.
Now that I know all three cards, I can hold back two willpower and pass the hide test.
Play: Fast Hitch (Pipin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x1
Total willpower: 8
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Crawling Towards Him. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard: Green Hill Country, Lure of the Ring. Threat: 3. Willpower: 3. Passed.
Total threat: 4
Play: Sneak attack (Sam -1). Put Gandalf into play. Deal 4 damage to Black Rider #1.
Place 3 progress on Green Hill Country, exploring it.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B, clearing it.
Proceed to stage 2, flip to side B.
Search deck and add Black Rider to the staging area. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Gandalf, Rivendell Scout. Discard: Evil Crow, Crawling Towards Him. Total threat: 5. Total willpower: 5. Passed. No location to place progress on.
Return Gandalf to hand.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Gandalf.
No travel, engagements, or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 16.
Round 3
Via Frodo's Intuition, I'm able to draw and play Risk Some Light again. Looking at what's coming up, and looking at the cards and resources I have, I realize I can take out both Black Riders in the staging area at a cost of 2 threat to me (and the use of the Mr. Underhill boon). I play Gandalf from my hand, destroying the already injured Black Rider. Then I quest with just Sam. Engage the last Black Rider (readying and boosting Sam), then go all in and dispatch it. We'll have to see how this plays out!
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (3)
Draw: Protector of Lorien
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition. +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: A Very Good Tale, Risk Some Light, Ever Vigilant.
Play: Risk Some Light. Look at (encounter): The Marish, Black Rider, Pathless Country. Place Black Rider on the bottom of the encounter deck. Put Pathless Country on top with The Marish beneath it.
Play: Gandalf (Sam -2, Pippin -2, Frodo -1). Place 4 damage on Black Rider #1, destroying it.
Slight pause here while I debated a crazy decision. What decision? Look and see...
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam
Total willpower: 4
Reveal: Pathless Country
Total threat: 6
Raise threat to 18.
Travel Phase
Travel to Pathless Country.
Encounter Phase
Engage Black Rider. Ready Sam and give him +1 willpower, attack, defense. Draw: Protector of Lorien.
Discard Mr. Underhill to choose Black Rider not to attack this round.
Combat Phase
Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2, Gandalf declare an attack on Black Rider. 10 attack vs. 4 shield = 6 damage, destroying it.
And the staging area is clear for now.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 19.
Discard Gandalf from play.
Round 4
I quest all in, getting 6 progress on the quest card.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (1), +1 Pippin (1), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Frodo's Intuition
Planning Phase
Play: None
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x2
Total willpower: 9
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Draw: The Marish.
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on Pathless Country, exploring it.
Place 6 progress on stage 2B (6/8).
Treasure-hunting. Name: Event. Discard: Barliman Butterbeer.
Travel Phase
Travel to The Marish
No engagements, or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 20.
Round 5
Once again, Frodo's Intuition comes in handy and I'm able to proceed to stage 3 (despite a useless play of A Very Good Tale which added zero allies to help me out). A new Black Rider in the staging area, but no worries. I engage an Evil Crow, which attacks 3 times for zero (due to Piercing Scream), just to get it out of the staging area. Pushing forward to victory should be very possible during round 6..
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (2)
Draw: Protector of Lorien
I'm totally going to need to feed a Protector of Lorien to a Protector of Lorien.
Planning Phase
Play: Frodo's Intuition (Frodo -2). +1 willpower to all heroes. Draw: Timely Aid, Bill the Poney, Hobbit Sense
Timely Aid is what I've been searching for. Ironically, very timely now that I'm at the secrecy threshold of 20 threat.
Play: Timely Aid (Sam -1). Look at (player): Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf, Resourceful, Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale. Put Gildor Inglorion into play, shuffling remaining cards into the player deck.
Play: A Very Good Tale. Exhaust Rivendell Scout x2. Discard: A Very Good Tale, Frodo's Intuition, Ever Vigilant, Gildor Inglorion, Expert Treasure-Hunter. Put nothing into play.
Ouch.
Play: Bill the Pony
Play: Protector of Lorien (Pippin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Bill the Pony, Gildor Inglorion
Total willpower: 14
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Black Steed. No Nazgul enemy to attach to. Surge.
Reveal: Evil Crow
Total threat: 2
Place 4 progress on The Marish, exploring it
Place 8 progress on stage 2B, clearing it. Proceed to stage 3.
Add Buckleberry Ferry to the staging area.
Flip to 3B. Search encounter deck and place a Black Rider in the staging area. Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard (encounter): Stock-brook, Rode Like A Gale. Threat: 1. Willpower: 3. Passed.
Treasure-Hunting. Name: Ally. Discard (player): Rivendell Scout. Put into hand.
Travel Phase
Travel to Buckleburry Ferry.
Encounter Phase
Engage Evil Crow. Ready Sam (+1 Willpower, Attack, Defense). Draw: Faramir.
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Evil Crow.
Evil Crow attacks. Sam defends. Shadow: Piercing Cry (attack again). No damage dealt.
Deal second shadow to Evil Crow. Evil Crow attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Piercing Cry (attack again). No damage dealt.
Does anyone else imagine the Nazgul scream as soon as they see that card, like an instant reaction?
Deal third shadow to Evil Crow. Evil Crow attacks. Undefended. Shadow: Stock Road (no effect). No damage dealt.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 21.
Round 6
I play Henamarth Riversong, the third Rivendell Scout, and a second Protector of Lorien. Feeding the rest of my hand to the two Protector of Loriens, I quest for 21, pass a hide test, and put 17 progress on Bucklebury Ferry for the win.
Resource Phase
+1 Sam (2), +1 Pippin (2), +1 Frodo (1)
Draw: Henamarth Riversong.
Planning Phase
Play: Henemarth Riversong (Pippin -1).
Play: Rivendell Scout (Sam -2).
Play: Protector of Lorien (Pippin -1). Attach to Sam.
Quest Phase
Commit: Sam, Pippin, Frodo, Rivendell Scout x3, Bill the Pony, Gildor Inglorion, Henamarth Riversong
Total willpower: 15
Discard three cards (Ever Vigilant, Barliman Butterbur, Hobbit Sense) to trigger Protector of Lorien #1 and give Sam +3 willpower, +3 defense.
Discard three cards (Hobbit Sense, Protector of Lorien, Faramir) to trigger Protector of Lorien #1 and give Sam +3 willpower, +3 defense.
Updated willpower: 21
Exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Sam.
Reveal: Lure of the Ring. Raise threat to 24. Surge.
Reveal: Hunting for the Ring. Doomed 2 (raise threat to 26). Hide 2.
Hide Test. Commit: Sam. Discard: Green Hill Country, Have You Seen Baggins?
My favorite song from the soundtrack, actually.
Hide threat: 2. Willpower: 9. Passed.
Total threat: 4.
Place 17 progress on Bucklebury Ferry, exploring it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
5 Completed Rounds x10: 50
Ending Threat: 26
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -2 (Bag End, Mr. Underhill)
Total Score:74
Campaign Resolution
Choose Gandalf's Delay (burden)
Choose Mr. Underhill (boon) to stay attached to Frodo.
The Recap
Thematic, challenging but not crazy...I loved it! The quest did not necessarily have the variety aspect that I like, but the thematic aspect was strong enough for me to overlook that.
And I'm hooked on the campaign mode. The Road Darkens has been a "maybe" purchase for me so far, due to the terribly small player card pool. I wanted to get a feel for the campaign mode first and see if it was a bit enough draw for me. And I think the answer is: yes (not by itself; Gandalf and his attachments are great enough that I was more on the positive side of "maybe" about the set).
I'll look forward to continuing my campaign adventure, as well as bringing my wife along to take a trip along memory lane with A Shadow of the Past.
Looking Back: Heirs of Numenor
Heirs of Numenor is where I decided to take a pause in my The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game purchases.
As the game saw less and less playtime at our house (we have quite a few other games we play as well!), the quests started piling up. My wife and I also realized the game was great for us with the middle-level quests, but not really that fun with the extremely tough ones. When Heirs of Numenor came out, the word was that the difficulty level had amped up to an extreme level. And the word also was that the player cards really were nothing to write home about. Signal pause.
Since getting back in the game earlier this year, I've left the Heirs of Numenor quests pretty much in the box. While I was working on a set of decks for my wife and I to beat The Steward's Fear with, I did try a two-handed attempt at Peril in Pelargir. I got destroyed and the set went back into the box. As for the player cards? They saw play in most of my decks from the time I got the expansion, so they've proved a useful edition to me (highlight on Defender of Rammas, who sees play in almost every non-thematic deck I do with "Tactics" having a part of it).
But now that I'm working with a larger card pool and more experience, going against the expansion recently was not as tough as I once feared. Yes, it might take a good number of attempts to beat (see Into Ithilien), but the possible strategies become clear fairly quickly. Then it is just a matter of getting the right draw from the player deck and the encounter deck. While there are some nasty effects (Blocking Wargs, The Power of Mordor), the quests are not characterized by them.
It seems to me the designers were reacting to two things: The relative ease of the game after dwarves had come into their prime and the background role mono-Tactics had taken in most players view. The solution? Really tough quests that had elements appealing to the Tactics sphere (Battle and Siege).
And just as the Mirkwood Cycle fell prey to an army of dwarves, Heirs of Numenor is not as intimidating surrounded by a much richer cardpool than available during its release. This expansion still has bite to it, and will prove quite a challenge to players just starting out, but should be a source of fun for players who have kept up with most releases and enjoy more well-rounded strategies.
As the game saw less and less playtime at our house (we have quite a few other games we play as well!), the quests started piling up. My wife and I also realized the game was great for us with the middle-level quests, but not really that fun with the extremely tough ones. When Heirs of Numenor came out, the word was that the difficulty level had amped up to an extreme level. And the word also was that the player cards really were nothing to write home about. Signal pause.
Since getting back in the game earlier this year, I've left the Heirs of Numenor quests pretty much in the box. While I was working on a set of decks for my wife and I to beat The Steward's Fear with, I did try a two-handed attempt at Peril in Pelargir. I got destroyed and the set went back into the box. As for the player cards? They saw play in most of my decks from the time I got the expansion, so they've proved a useful edition to me (highlight on Defender of Rammas, who sees play in almost every non-thematic deck I do with "Tactics" having a part of it).
But now that I'm working with a larger card pool and more experience, going against the expansion recently was not as tough as I once feared. Yes, it might take a good number of attempts to beat (see Into Ithilien), but the possible strategies become clear fairly quickly. Then it is just a matter of getting the right draw from the player deck and the encounter deck. While there are some nasty effects (Blocking Wargs, The Power of Mordor), the quests are not characterized by them.
It seems to me the designers were reacting to two things: The relative ease of the game after dwarves had come into their prime and the background role mono-Tactics had taken in most players view. The solution? Really tough quests that had elements appealing to the Tactics sphere (Battle and Siege).
And just as the Mirkwood Cycle fell prey to an army of dwarves, Heirs of Numenor is not as intimidating surrounded by a much richer cardpool than available during its release. This expansion still has bite to it, and will prove quite a challenge to players just starting out, but should be a source of fun for players who have kept up with most releases and enjoy more well-rounded strategies.
Quest 20: Into Ithilien (re-do)
Victory on the fourteenth attempt!
The Journey
Attempts 11, 12 ,and 13 resulted in solid victories...with small mistakes early on in all three games. Hopefully this time is different! But this Haldir Lore Ranger deck definitely delivers vs. Ithilien and has been a blast to play.
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 29
Draw: Secret Paths, Ranger Bow, Forest Patrol, Henamarth Riversong, Saruman, Ithilien Tracker
Ithilien Tracker + Denethor + Henamarth are the all start team in this deck, so it's great to see them here right off the bat.
Encounter Setup
Add Celador to the staging area.
Make Ithilien Road the active location.
Search encounter deck and add Southron Company to the staging area. Shuffle.
Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (1), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Ithilien Tracker
Here's someone to use that Ranger Bow on!
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor to look at (Encounter): Overgrown Trail
Play: Ithilien Tracker (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 8
Reveal: Overgrown Trail
Total threat: 7
Play: Secret Paths (Haldir -1). Choose Overgrown Trail not to contribute its threat.
Updated threat: 3
Place 4 progress on Ithilien Road, exploring it
Place 1 progress on stage 1B
Travel Phase
Travel to Overgrown Trail
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker to place 3 progress on Overgrown Trail (3/6)
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 30.
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (1), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Risk Some Light
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Blocking Wargs. Move to the bottom of the encounter deck.
Play: Henamarth Riversong (Haldir -1).
Exhaust Henamarth. Look at (encounter): Secluded Glade
Play: Ithilien Tracker (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1)
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #1 to place 3 progress on Overgrown Trail, exploring it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Ithilien Tracker #2, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 9
Reveal: Secluded Glade
Total threat: 6
Place 3 progress on stage 1B (4/15)
Travel Phase
Travel to Secluded Glade
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 31.
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (#), +1 Aragorn (#), Denethor (#)
Draw: Lembas
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Overgrown Trail
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Henamarth, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 6.
Reveal: Overgrown Trail.
Total threat: 6
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker x2 to place 6 progress on Overgrown Trail, exploring it.
Updated threat: 3
Place 3 progress on Secluded Glade, exploring it.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company (staging area), dealing 2 damage (2/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (2), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (2)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Ithilien Guardian
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -2)
Play: Ranger Bow (Haldir -1). Attach to Ithilien Tracker #1.
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Henamarth, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 6
Reveal: Ithilien Guardian
Updated strength: 8
Reveal: Forest Bat. Attach Ranger Spikes. Deal 2 damage to Aragorn and remove him fro the quest.
Updated strength: 5
Total threat: 3
Place 2 progress on stage 1B (6/15)
No travel or engagements
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, dealing 2 damage (4/5).
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #1 and Ranger Bow to deal 1 damage to Southron Company, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 33.
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (2), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (3)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light (Denethor -3). Look at (encounter): Secluded Glade, Blocking Wargs. Southron Company. Move Blocking Wargs to the bottom of the encounter deck. Put Southron Company on top with Secluded Glade beneath it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth Riverson, (Celador), (Ithilien Guardian)
Battle. Total strength: 9
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #2 to lower the threat of the next enemy revealed to zero.
Reveal: Southron Company
Total threat: 0
Place 9 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Bypass stage 2 and proceed to stage 3, flip to side B.
Take control of Celador and Ithilien Guardian.
No travel or engagements.
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, dealing 2 damage (2/5).
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker and Ranger Bow. Deal 1 damage to Southron Company (3/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 34.
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (3), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (2)
Draw: Erebor Hammersmith
Planning Phase
Play: Lembas (Haldir -1). Attach to Haldir.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Secluded Glade
Total threat: 4
Place 6 progress on stage 3B (6/12)
Travel Phase
Travel to Secluded Glade
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker and Ranger Bow to deal 1 damage to Forest Bats, destroying them.
Discard Lembas to ready Haldir.
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, destroying them.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 35.
Round 7
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (3), +1 Aragorn (3), Denethor (2)
Draw: Ranger Bow
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor to look at (encounter): Mumak. Move to bottom of encounter deck.
Exhaust Henamarth to look at (encounter): Watcher in the Wood
Play: Erebor Hammersmith (Aragorn -2). Put Lembas back in hand.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith
Total willpower:9
Reveal: Watcher in the Woods. Raise threat by 5 (threat = 40)
Place 3 progress on Secluded Glade, exploring it.
Place 6 progress on stage 3B, clearing it. Advance to stage 4, flip to side B.
No travel, engagements, or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 41.
Trigger Aragorn's ability to lower threat to 29.
Raise threat to 31 (stage 4B's forced effect).
Round 8
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (4), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (3)
Draw: Risk Some Light
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light (Denethor -3). Look at (encounter): Southron Company, Morgul Spider, Southron Company. Put Morgul Spider on top, with both Southron Company's beneath.
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -2).
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith
Total willpower: 9
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #2 to reduce the threat of the next enemy revealed to zero.
Reveal: Morgul Spider. Attach Ranger Spikes.
Total threat: 0
Place 9 progress on stage 4B (9/15).
No travel or engagements.
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Morgul Spider, dealing 2 damage.
Play: Forest Patrol (Haldir -1) to deal 3 damage to Morgul Spider, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Raise threat to 34 (stage 4B's forced effect).
Round 9
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (4), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Play: Lembas (Haldir -1). Attack to Aragorn.
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1).
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith.
Total willpower: 11
Discard Lembas to ready Aragorn and heal 2 damage.
Reveal: Southron Company. Attach Ranger Spikes.
Total threat: 0
Place 11 progress on stage 4B, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat: 34
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total Score: 114
The Journey
Attempts 11, 12 ,and 13 resulted in solid victories...with small mistakes early on in all three games. Hopefully this time is different! But this Haldir Lore Ranger deck definitely delivers vs. Ithilien and has been a blast to play.
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 29
Draw: Secret Paths, Ranger Bow, Forest Patrol, Henamarth Riversong, Saruman, Ithilien Tracker
Ithilien Tracker + Denethor + Henamarth are the all start team in this deck, so it's great to see them here right off the bat.
Encounter Setup
Add Celador to the staging area.
Make Ithilien Road the active location.
Search encounter deck and add Southron Company to the staging area. Shuffle.
Round 1
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (1), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Ithilien Tracker
Here's someone to use that Ranger Bow on!
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor to look at (Encounter): Overgrown Trail
Play: Ithilien Tracker (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 8
Reveal: Overgrown Trail
Total threat: 7
Play: Secret Paths (Haldir -1). Choose Overgrown Trail not to contribute its threat.
Updated threat: 3
Place 4 progress on Ithilien Road, exploring it
Place 1 progress on stage 1B
Travel Phase
Travel to Overgrown Trail
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker to place 3 progress on Overgrown Trail (3/6)
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 30.
Round 2
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (1), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Risk Some Light
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Blocking Wargs. Move to the bottom of the encounter deck.
Play: Henamarth Riversong (Haldir -1).
Exhaust Henamarth. Look at (encounter): Secluded Glade
Play: Ithilien Tracker (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1)
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #1 to place 3 progress on Overgrown Trail, exploring it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Ithilien Tracker #2, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 9
Reveal: Secluded Glade
Total threat: 6
Place 3 progress on stage 1B (4/15)
Travel Phase
Travel to Secluded Glade
No engagements or combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 31.
Round 3
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (#), +1 Aragorn (#), Denethor (#)
Draw: Lembas
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Overgrown Trail
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Henamarth, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 6.
Reveal: Overgrown Trail.
Total threat: 6
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker x2 to place 6 progress on Overgrown Trail, exploring it.
Updated threat: 3
Place 3 progress on Secluded Glade, exploring it.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company (staging area), dealing 2 damage (2/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Round 4
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (2), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (2)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor. Look at (encounter): Ithilien Guardian
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -2)
Play: Ranger Bow (Haldir -1). Attach to Ithilien Tracker #1.
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Henamarth, (Celador)
Battle. Total strength: 6
Reveal: Ithilien Guardian
Updated strength: 8
Reveal: Forest Bat. Attach Ranger Spikes. Deal 2 damage to Aragorn and remove him fro the quest.
Updated strength: 5
Total threat: 3
Place 2 progress on stage 1B (6/15)
No travel or engagements
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, dealing 2 damage (4/5).
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #1 and Ranger Bow to deal 1 damage to Southron Company, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 33.
Round 5
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (2), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (3)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light (Denethor -3). Look at (encounter): Secluded Glade, Blocking Wargs. Southron Company. Move Blocking Wargs to the bottom of the encounter deck. Put Southron Company on top with Secluded Glade beneath it.
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth Riverson, (Celador), (Ithilien Guardian)
Battle. Total strength: 9
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #2 to lower the threat of the next enemy revealed to zero.
Reveal: Southron Company
Total threat: 0
Place 9 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Bypass stage 2 and proceed to stage 3, flip to side B.
Take control of Celador and Ithilien Guardian.
No travel or engagements.
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, dealing 2 damage (2/5).
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker and Ranger Bow. Deal 1 damage to Southron Company (3/5).
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 34.
Round 6
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (3), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (2)
Draw: Erebor Hammersmith
Planning Phase
Play: Lembas (Haldir -1). Attach to Haldir.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador
Total willpower: 10
Reveal: Secluded Glade
Total threat: 4
Place 6 progress on stage 3B (6/12)
Travel Phase
Travel to Secluded Glade
Encounter Phase
No engagements
Combat Phase
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker and Ranger Bow to deal 1 damage to Forest Bats, destroying them.
Discard Lembas to ready Haldir.
Haldir declares an attack on Southron Company, destroying them.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 35.
Round 7
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (3), +1 Aragorn (3), Denethor (2)
Draw: Ranger Bow
Planning Phase
Exhaust Denethor to look at (encounter): Mumak. Move to bottom of encounter deck.
Exhaust Henamarth to look at (encounter): Watcher in the Wood
Play: Erebor Hammersmith (Aragorn -2). Put Lembas back in hand.
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith
Total willpower:9
Reveal: Watcher in the Woods. Raise threat by 5 (threat = 40)
Place 3 progress on Secluded Glade, exploring it.
Place 6 progress on stage 3B, clearing it. Advance to stage 4, flip to side B.
No travel, engagements, or combat.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 41.
Trigger Aragorn's ability to lower threat to 29.
Raise threat to 31 (stage 4B's forced effect).
Round 8
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (4), +1 Aragorn (2), Denethor (3)
Draw: Risk Some Light
Planning Phase
Play: Risk Some Light (Denethor -3). Look at (encounter): Southron Company, Morgul Spider, Southron Company. Put Morgul Spider on top, with both Southron Company's beneath.
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -2).
Quest Phase
Commit: Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith
Total willpower: 9
Exhaust Ithilien Tracker #2 to reduce the threat of the next enemy revealed to zero.
Reveal: Morgul Spider. Attach Ranger Spikes.
Total threat: 0
Place 9 progress on stage 4B (9/15).
No travel or engagements.
Combat Phase
Haldir declares an attack on Morgul Spider, dealing 2 damage.
Play: Forest Patrol (Haldir -1) to deal 3 damage to Morgul Spider, destroying it.
Refresh Phase
Ready all. Raise threat to 32.
Raise threat to 34 (stage 4B's forced effect).
Round 9
Resource Phase
+1 Haldir of Lorien (4), +1 Aragorn (1), Denethor (1)
Draw: Ranger Spikes
Planning Phase
Play: Lembas (Haldir -1). Attack to Aragorn.
Play: Ranger Spikes (Aragorn -1, Denethor -1).
Quest Phase
Commit: Haldir, Aragorn, Denethor, Henamarth, Ithilien Guardian, Celador, Erebor Hammersmith.
Total willpower: 11
Discard Lembas to ready Aragorn and heal 2 damage.
Reveal: Southron Company. Attach Ranger Spikes.
Total threat: 0
Place 11 progress on stage 4B, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
8 Completed Rounds x10: 80
Ending Threat: 34
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: 0
Total Score: 114
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Quest 21: Siege of Cair Andros
Victory on the eighth attempt!
The Deck
For this quest, I wanted to return to the mono-Tactics route that many seem to choose for Heirs of Numenor. And I'm glad I did, with cards like Orc Arbalesters and The Master's Malice punishing a non-mono sphere approach. With Siege and Battle factoring big in this box, eagles and their support were welcomed. I did want to branch out a bit, though, so this is not a pure eagle-strategy deck. But, with that said, a win would be harder to pull off without Support of the Eagles and the right allies.
Siege Prep
Heroes
Legolas
Beregond
Boromir
Allies
Defender of Rammas x3
Winged Guardian x3
Beorn x2
Gandalf (Over Hill and Under Hill) x3
Saruman x3
Vassal of the Windlord x3
Envoy of Pelargir x3
Attachment
Blade of Gondolin x3
Rivendell Blade x3
Gondorian Shield x3
Support of the Eagles x3
Black Arrow x1
Rohan Warhorse x3
Event
Thicket of Spears x3
Feint x3
Goblin-cleaver x3
Gondorian Discipline x3
Behind Strong Walls x3
Sets Used
Core
The Hunt for Gollum
The Dead Marshes
Return to Mirkwood
Road to Rivendell
Over Hill and Under Hill
On the Doorstep
Heirs of Numenor
The Steward's Fear
Encounter at Amon Din
The Voice of Isengard
The Journey
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 30
Draw: Support of the Eagles, Beorn, Vassal of the Windlord, Rivendell Blade, Winged Guardian, Rivendell Blade
Encounter Setup
Add The Banks, The Approach, The Citadel to the staging area. Shuffle.
Round 1
I get out a Winged Guardian right away to help with the siege and slap a Rivendell Blade on Legolas to aid him in getting progress points going. I under-quest, cautious after having over-quested on a previous attempt and progressed past stage 1 sooner than I wanted to. Boromir defends against an Orc Arsonist who gets four shadow cards, yet no attack boost for the Aronist comes up.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Behind Strong Walls
Planning Phase
Play: Winged Guardian (Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Play: Rivendell Blade (Legolas -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 8
Reveal: Orc Arsonist
Total threat: 9
Raise threat to 31
Travel Phase
Travel to The Banks
Encounter Phase
Engage Orc Arsonist. Deal shadow card to Orc Arsonist.
Combat Phase
Deal second shadow card to Orc Arsonist
Orc Arsonist attacks. Boromir defends. Shadow #1: The Masters Malice (no effect). Shadow #2: Orc Vanguard (deal two additional shadow cards). Shadow #3: Orc Assault (deal two damage to all battle grounds). Place 2 damage on The Banks (2/3). Place 2 damage on The Approach (2/7). Place 2 damage on The Citadel (2/11). Shadow #4: Orc Rabble (deal additional shadow card). Shadow #5: Southron Support (no effect). Deal one damage to Boromir (1/5)
Legolas declares an attack on Orc Arsonist, destroying it. Place 2 progress on The Banks (2/3).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 32
Round 2
A Defender of Rammas comes into my hand, and into play, greatly aiding with the siege. The Banks is explored (with two damage on it, so that was a close one) and a little bit of progress goes onto the stage. The Defender of Rammas is destroyed by a Haradrim Elite, so not much use there. Legolas + Boromir destroy the Elite, helping to put initial progress on The Approach.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Defender of Rammas
Planning Phase
Play: Defender of Rammas (Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Haradrim Elite. Immediate attack. Deal shadow card to Haradrim Elite. Defender of Rammas defends. Shadow: Scourge of Mordor (+1 attack, deal additional shadow card). Shadow #2: Orc Arbalesters (+2 attack). Defender of Rammas is destroyed.
Total threat: 8
Add 1 progress to The Banks, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (1). Remove stage 2 from play.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (1/9)
Travel Phase
Travel to The Approach
Encounter Phase
Engage Haradrim Elite
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 33)
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Haradrim Elite
Haradri Elite attacks. Boromir defends. Play: Behind Strong Walls (Legolas -1). Ready Boromir and increase his defense by 1. Shadow: Battering Ram. Add 2 damage to The Approach (4/7). Deal 1 damage to Boromir (2/5)
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Haradrim Elite, destroying it. Place 2 progress on The Approach (2/7).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 34
Round 3
No combat action an a little more progress put on The Approach.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Thicket of Spears
Planning Phase
Play: Support of the Eagles (Legolas -1, Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Orc Assault (-2 attack, -2 defense for all characters).
Updated defense: 4
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense: 6
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on The Approach (5/7)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagement
Combat Phase
No combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 35
Round 4
A standard round of siege questing and attacking. The highlight here is choosing to let The Citadel go unclaimed, keeping my Victory Display at 3 and allowing me to siege quest for stage 5. I wanted to try this for attempt #7, but that plan fell apart along with the falling of The Banks.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Bergond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Feint
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Bergond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Southron Support. Doomed 3 (raise threat to 38). Search encounter deck and add Southron Mercenaries to the staging area. Shuffle.
Total threat: 5
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense: 14
Add two progress to The Approach, exploring it and add it to the Victory Display (3). Remove stage 3 from play.
Add 7 progress to stage 1B (8/9).
But what about The Citadel! Let it fall. I want to siege my way to victory.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Southron Mercenaries
Combat Phase
Archery 1. Deal 1 damage to Legolas (1/3)
Deal shadow card to Southron Mercenaries.
Play: Feint (Legolas -1). Choose Southron Mercenaries to not attack.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 39).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Southron Mercenaries, destroying it. Place 2 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 4, flip to side B.
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 40
Round 5
Working on stage 4, I'm in comfortable territory with siege questing, even with the curve of +5 threat from the quest card itself. While I'm only able to get 3/5 progress put on the quest during the quest phase, Legolas works his magic during the combat phase and gets the party to the home stretch of stage 5.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (2), +1 Boromir (2)
Draw: Thicket of Spears
Planning Phase
Play: Vassal of the Windlord (Boromir -1)
I'm not planning on switching to Battle, but I'd like either a chump blocker or a little extra attack power.
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Seige Raft. Deal two damage to The Citadel (4/11)
Total threat: 11 (+5 from stage 4 itself)
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian
Updated defense: 14
Place 3 progress on stage 4B.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Siege Raft
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Siege Raft.
Siege Raft attacks. Vassal of the Windlord defends. Shadow: Lieutenant of Mordor (no effect). Vassal of the Windlord is destroyed.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 41).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Siege Raft, destroying it. Place 2 progress on stage 4, clearing it. Advance to stage 5, flip to side B. Reveal: Orc Arbalesters
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 42
Round 6
Beorn sees play here, aiding my siege efforts and giving me a great target for archery damage. I get six progress on the quest through siege questing, then Legolas helps contribute another two through combat.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (2), +1 Beregond (3), +1 Boromir (2)
Draw: Goblin-cleaver
Planning Phase
Play: Beorn (Legolas -2, Beregond -2, Boromir -2)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian, Beorn
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Southron Mercenaries
Total threat: 7
Place 6 progress on stage 5 (6/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Southron Mercenaries and Orc Arbalesters
Combat Phase
Archery 2. Deal two damage to Beorn (2/6)
Deal shadow cards to Southron Mercenaries, Orc Arbalesters
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 43). Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Orc Arbalesters attack. Reveal: Orc Vanguard (deal two additional shadow cards). Shadow #2: Seige Raft (+2 attack). Shadow #3: The Power of Mordor (no effect). No damage dealt.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 44).
Southron Mercenaries attack. Shadow: Scourge of Mordor (+1 attack, deal an additonal shadow card). Shadow #2: Orc Rabble (deal an additional shadow card). Shadow #3: Orc Arbalesters (+2 attack). No damage dealt.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 45).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Southron Mercenaries, destroying them. Place 2 progress on stage 4 (8/15).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 46
Round 7
Drawing (and playing) a second Winged Guardian, I'm able to pull out a total of 21 defense against this siege quest, blasting past the 7 remaining progress needed. Victory achieved!
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (2), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Winged Guardain
Just the boost I need for this final push!
Planning Phase
Play: Winged Guardian (Beregond -2)
Quest Phase
Commit Beregond, Boromir, Beorn, Winged Guardian x2
Either I'll go so far over that Legolas' 1 defense would not make a difference. Or something terrible will happen and I'll need Legolas ready as a back-up plan.
Siege. Total defense: 17
Reveal: Haradrim Elite.
Haradrim Elite attack. Deal shadow card.
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense 21.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 47). Boromir defends. Shadow: Orc War Camp (+1 attack). No damage dealt.
Total threat: 6
Place 15 progress on stage 4, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
6 Completed Rounds x10: 60
Ending Threat: 47
Total Damage on Heroes: 3 (1 Legolas, 2 Boromir)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -3
Total Score: 107
Variety? Choosing your path? I think you know by know that I'll like this one, especially as there was not a whole lot of crazyness that came at me. Yes, I did draw The Power of Mordor during the first quest stage on one attempt, which effectively ended all hope by shuffling the three battlegrounds into the encounter deck, but that was the only truly terrible single card the game threw at me.
The strategy to beat the scenario is pretty clear (and a bit up to you). Implementing it can be more difficult. But, despite those difficulties, I enjoyed myself and that's the point after all.
The Deck
For this quest, I wanted to return to the mono-Tactics route that many seem to choose for Heirs of Numenor. And I'm glad I did, with cards like Orc Arbalesters and The Master's Malice punishing a non-mono sphere approach. With Siege and Battle factoring big in this box, eagles and their support were welcomed. I did want to branch out a bit, though, so this is not a pure eagle-strategy deck. But, with that said, a win would be harder to pull off without Support of the Eagles and the right allies.
Siege Prep
Heroes
Legolas
Beregond
Boromir
Allies
Defender of Rammas x3
Winged Guardian x3
Beorn x2
Gandalf (Over Hill and Under Hill) x3
Saruman x3
Vassal of the Windlord x3
Envoy of Pelargir x3
Attachment
Blade of Gondolin x3
Rivendell Blade x3
Gondorian Shield x3
Support of the Eagles x3
Black Arrow x1
Rohan Warhorse x3
Event
Thicket of Spears x3
Feint x3
Goblin-cleaver x3
Gondorian Discipline x3
Behind Strong Walls x3
Sets Used
Core
The Hunt for Gollum
The Dead Marshes
Return to Mirkwood
Road to Rivendell
Over Hill and Under Hill
On the Doorstep
Heirs of Numenor
The Steward's Fear
Encounter at Amon Din
The Voice of Isengard
The Journey
Player Setup
Set starting threat to 30
Draw: Support of the Eagles, Beorn, Vassal of the Windlord, Rivendell Blade, Winged Guardian, Rivendell Blade
Encounter Setup
Add The Banks, The Approach, The Citadel to the staging area. Shuffle.
Round 1
I get out a Winged Guardian right away to help with the siege and slap a Rivendell Blade on Legolas to aid him in getting progress points going. I under-quest, cautious after having over-quested on a previous attempt and progressed past stage 1 sooner than I wanted to. Boromir defends against an Orc Arsonist who gets four shadow cards, yet no attack boost for the Aronist comes up.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Behind Strong Walls
Planning Phase
Play: Winged Guardian (Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Play: Rivendell Blade (Legolas -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 8
Reveal: Orc Arsonist
Total threat: 9
Raise threat to 31
Travel Phase
Travel to The Banks
Encounter Phase
Engage Orc Arsonist. Deal shadow card to Orc Arsonist.
Combat Phase
Deal second shadow card to Orc Arsonist
Orc Arsonist attacks. Boromir defends. Shadow #1: The Masters Malice (no effect). Shadow #2: Orc Vanguard (deal two additional shadow cards). Shadow #3: Orc Assault (deal two damage to all battle grounds). Place 2 damage on The Banks (2/3). Place 2 damage on The Approach (2/7). Place 2 damage on The Citadel (2/11). Shadow #4: Orc Rabble (deal additional shadow card). Shadow #5: Southron Support (no effect). Deal one damage to Boromir (1/5)
Legolas declares an attack on Orc Arsonist, destroying it. Place 2 progress on The Banks (2/3).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 32
Round 2
A Defender of Rammas comes into my hand, and into play, greatly aiding with the siege. The Banks is explored (with two damage on it, so that was a close one) and a little bit of progress goes onto the stage. The Defender of Rammas is destroyed by a Haradrim Elite, so not much use there. Legolas + Boromir destroy the Elite, helping to put initial progress on The Approach.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Defender of Rammas
Planning Phase
Play: Defender of Rammas (Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Haradrim Elite. Immediate attack. Deal shadow card to Haradrim Elite. Defender of Rammas defends. Shadow: Scourge of Mordor (+1 attack, deal additional shadow card). Shadow #2: Orc Arbalesters (+2 attack). Defender of Rammas is destroyed.
Total threat: 8
Add 1 progress to The Banks, exploring it and adding it to the victory display (1). Remove stage 2 from play.
Place 1 progress on stage 1B (1/9)
Travel Phase
Travel to The Approach
Encounter Phase
Engage Haradrim Elite
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 33)
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Haradrim Elite
Haradri Elite attacks. Boromir defends. Play: Behind Strong Walls (Legolas -1). Ready Boromir and increase his defense by 1. Shadow: Battering Ram. Add 2 damage to The Approach (4/7). Deal 1 damage to Boromir (2/5)
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Haradrim Elite, destroying it. Place 2 progress on The Approach (2/7).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 34
Round 3
No combat action an a little more progress put on The Approach.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Thicket of Spears
Planning Phase
Play: Support of the Eagles (Legolas -1, Beregond -1, Boromir -1)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Orc Assault (-2 attack, -2 defense for all characters).
Updated defense: 4
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense: 6
Total threat: 3
Place 3 progress on The Approach (5/7)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
No engagement
Combat Phase
No combat
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 35
Round 4
A standard round of siege questing and attacking. The highlight here is choosing to let The Citadel go unclaimed, keeping my Victory Display at 3 and allowing me to siege quest for stage 5. I wanted to try this for attempt #7, but that plan fell apart along with the falling of The Banks.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Bergond (1), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Feint
Planning Phase
Play none
Quest Phase
Commit: Bergond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Southron Support. Doomed 3 (raise threat to 38). Search encounter deck and add Southron Mercenaries to the staging area. Shuffle.
Total threat: 5
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense: 14
Add two progress to The Approach, exploring it and add it to the Victory Display (3). Remove stage 3 from play.
Add 7 progress to stage 1B (8/9).
But what about The Citadel! Let it fall. I want to siege my way to victory.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Southron Mercenaries
Combat Phase
Archery 1. Deal 1 damage to Legolas (1/3)
Deal shadow card to Southron Mercenaries.
Play: Feint (Legolas -1). Choose Southron Mercenaries to not attack.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 39).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Southron Mercenaries, destroying it. Place 2 progress on stage 1B, clearing it. Advance to stage 4, flip to side B.
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 40
Round 5
Working on stage 4, I'm in comfortable territory with siege questing, even with the curve of +5 threat from the quest card itself. While I'm only able to get 3/5 progress put on the quest during the quest phase, Legolas works his magic during the combat phase and gets the party to the home stretch of stage 5.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (2), +1 Boromir (2)
Draw: Thicket of Spears
Planning Phase
Play: Vassal of the Windlord (Boromir -1)
I'm not planning on switching to Battle, but I'd like either a chump blocker or a little extra attack power.
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian
Siege. Total defense: 10
Reveal: Seige Raft. Deal two damage to The Citadel (4/11)
Total threat: 11 (+5 from stage 4 itself)
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian
Updated defense: 14
Place 3 progress on stage 4B.
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Siege Raft
Combat Phase
Deal shadow card to Siege Raft.
Siege Raft attacks. Vassal of the Windlord defends. Shadow: Lieutenant of Mordor (no effect). Vassal of the Windlord is destroyed.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 41).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Siege Raft, destroying it. Place 2 progress on stage 4, clearing it. Advance to stage 5, flip to side B. Reveal: Orc Arbalesters
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 42
Round 6
Beorn sees play here, aiding my siege efforts and giving me a great target for archery damage. I get six progress on the quest through siege questing, then Legolas helps contribute another two through combat.
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (2), +1 Beregond (3), +1 Boromir (2)
Draw: Goblin-cleaver
Planning Phase
Play: Beorn (Legolas -2, Beregond -2, Boromir -2)
Quest Phase
Commit: Beregond, Boromir, Winged Guardian, Beorn
Total willpower: 13
Reveal: Southron Mercenaries
Total threat: 7
Place 6 progress on stage 5 (6/15)
Travel Phase
No travel
Encounter Phase
Engage Southron Mercenaries and Orc Arbalesters
Combat Phase
Archery 2. Deal two damage to Beorn (2/6)
Deal shadow cards to Southron Mercenaries, Orc Arbalesters
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 43). Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Orc Arbalesters attack. Reveal: Orc Vanguard (deal two additional shadow cards). Shadow #2: Seige Raft (+2 attack). Shadow #3: The Power of Mordor (no effect). No damage dealt.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 44).
Southron Mercenaries attack. Shadow: Scourge of Mordor (+1 attack, deal an additonal shadow card). Shadow #2: Orc Rabble (deal an additional shadow card). Shadow #3: Orc Arbalesters (+2 attack). No damage dealt.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 45).
Legolas + Boromir declare an attack on Southron Mercenaries, destroying them. Place 2 progress on stage 4 (8/15).
Refresh Phase
Ready all
Raise threat to 46
Round 7
Drawing (and playing) a second Winged Guardian, I'm able to pull out a total of 21 defense against this siege quest, blasting past the 7 remaining progress needed. Victory achieved!
Resource Phase
+1 Legolas (1), +1 Beregond (2), +1 Boromir (1)
Draw: Winged Guardain
Just the boost I need for this final push!
Planning Phase
Play: Winged Guardian (Beregond -2)
Quest Phase
Commit Beregond, Boromir, Beorn, Winged Guardian x2
Either I'll go so far over that Legolas' 1 defense would not make a difference. Or something terrible will happen and I'll need Legolas ready as a back-up plan.
Siege. Total defense: 17
Reveal: Haradrim Elite.
Haradrim Elite attack. Deal shadow card.
Exhaust Support of the Eagles. Choose Winged Guardian.
Updated defense 21.
Ready Boromir (raise threat to 47). Boromir defends. Shadow: Orc War Camp (+1 attack). No damage dealt.
Total threat: 6
Place 15 progress on stage 4, clearing it and winning the game!
Final Scoring
6 Completed Rounds x10: 60
Ending Threat: 47
Total Damage on Heroes: 3 (1 Legolas, 2 Boromir)
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -3
Total Score: 107
The Recap
Variety? Choosing your path? I think you know by know that I'll like this one, especially as there was not a whole lot of crazyness that came at me. Yes, I did draw The Power of Mordor during the first quest stage on one attempt, which effectively ended all hope by shuffling the three battlegrounds into the encounter deck, but that was the only truly terrible single card the game threw at me.
The strategy to beat the scenario is pretty clear (and a bit up to you). Implementing it can be more difficult. But, despite those difficulties, I enjoyed myself and that's the point after all.
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