With a starting threat of 36, the Hill Troll will be engaging immediately. Usually this results in Galadriel dying before I get all the allies in place, but we'll see how it goes.
Setup:
My opening hand isn't the best:
Eric draws 'Expert Treasure-hunter'
Eric draws 'Hasty Stroke'
Eric draws 'Zigil Miner'
Eric draws 'Hidden Cache'
Eric draws 'Miner of the Iron Hills'
Eric draws 'Elfhelm'
My top card is Arwen.
Even with draw and resource acceleration, this had isn't good enough. I'll mulligan to:
2x Unexpected Courage
Vilya - yay!
Gandalf's Staff
Expert Treasure-hunter
Gildor
Much better.
The encounter deck gives me a Wolf Rider, Flooded Ford, and Hill Troll. I have 5 threat to deal with so far, and two enemies coming down to play.
For Planning, I draw a second Gildor, and reveal Beorn atop my deck! I attach and exhaust Gandalf's Staff for +1 Resource, play Vilya and use Elrond to play my burly protector, revealing A Test of Will. Galadrial draws that, revealing a Northern Tracker, and we move to Questing.
Gandalf (with Expert Hunter) and Beorn commit, giving me 4 willpower against 5 threat, plus one extra card, a troll spawn. 4 will vs. 7 threat raises my Threat to 38, and I don't get to draw for Treasure Hunter. I make the Ford the active location, with plans to clear it next turn, and all 3 foes engage.
Beorn will defend against the troll, while I have to take the other two undefended. Hopefully this doesn't hurt too bad...
Troll - shadow card would put The Flooded Ford into play if I hadn't defended. Beorn takes 3 damage
Troll Spawn - no effect, Gandalf takes 4 damage
Wolf Rider - no effect, Galadriel takes 2 damage
I refresh, and immediately re-exhaust Elrond to play the Tracker, not wanting to risk a bad draw next turn.
So far, so good, on to
Round 2 (39 Threat, draw Elrond's Counsel, Flame of Anor atop the deck)
I exhaust Galadriel to draw the Flame, revealing Wizard Pipe, which I play using Gandalf, and reveal a Hidden Cache! Hopefully I'll quest successfully this round, and get that sweet +2 Resources.
With no Threat in the staging area, my biggest concern is clearing the Ford this turn, to avoid an explosion of Threat. So, I play Unexpected Courage to ready Elrond, then commit him and Gandalf, for 6 total willpower against 0 threat. Hoping for a treachery or low-threat card, I instead get Gladden Marshlands - 10 threat :-(. I play my Counsel, raising my Willpower to 7, then have my heroes take 4 extra damage, bringing all of them to 1 HP remaining, in order to quest successfully this round. I get my Cache, revealing a Zigil miner, and then it is on to combat...
Galadriel is definitely about to die, the only question is who should block the Hill Troll. I think the best bet, long term, is to suffer the +5 Threat from letting the Troll attack go undefended, and block the other two. I'm also going to let all 3 Shadow cards resolve, saving the Staff for resource generation this round.
First Combat - Wolf Rider (2) blocked by Northern Tracker (2) - shadow card is Rats, so I can't counter-attack the wolf this turn. No damage
Second Combat - Troll Spawn (4) blocked by Beorn (3) - shadow card is Reach, no effect, Beorn takes 1 damage
Third Combat - Hill Troll goes undefended - shadow card has no effect, Galadriel dies, my Threat goes to 40.
Gandalf then uses his Pipe to swap Gildor to the top of the deck. Elrond uses 1 resource to play Flame of Anor, allowing Gandalf to attack for 8, and kill the Troll Spawn.
My new top card is a Daereon's Runes, which I can play immediately, drawing a Counsel and another Expert Treasure Hunter. I discard my Zigil Miner. Gandalf's Staff gives a resource to Elrond.
Refresh phase, I play another Runes off the top, drawing a Burning Brand and Gwaihir, and discarding A Burning Brand.
Round 3 (Threat 41, Galadriel dead, other heroes 1 HP away, 10 Threat in staging area, all cards have Doomed 1)
I draw a Dwarven Tomb, Play Boromir off the top with Vilya and Unexpected Courage, and reveal another not-so-Hidden Cache. Gandalf gets some Unexpected Courage (yay for Vilya randomly giving Elrond a Spirit icon!).
For questing, I can only muster 8 willpower (and add a progress to the Marshlands). Hopefully I won't Threat Out soon, though I did lower my Threat to 38 with that Elrond's Counce.
The first encounter card is Smoking Blood, which would do nothing and Surge, which I can't afford right now, especially with all cards having "doomed 1," so I blow my Test of Will. 8 against 10 raises my threat by 2, back to 41.
For combat, Boromir will prove his worth by blocking the wolves (no shadow effect, he takes 1 damage and readies) and the Troll (no shadow, he dies, and my threat raises to 43).
Gandalf then kills the Wolf Rider, while Beorn rages, and deals 5 to the Hill Troll, then shuffles my deck. Gandalf's Staff gives another resource to Elrond.
Round 4 (Threat 44, Gildor, Gwaihir, Hidden Cache, Dwarven Tomb, Silvan Refugee in hand. Riversong atop the deck. Gandalf (4 damage), Elrond (3 damage) and Northern Tracker in play.
Play Riversong off the top using Gandalf, revealing another Flame. Wizard's Pipe swaps Flame for Gildor, play Gildor using Vilya. Play Refugee, top card is an Elrond's Counsel.
Gandalf (readies, and gets Counsel), Elrond, Riversong, and Refugee all commit. This is only 10 willpower against 10 Threat, but I need to save characters to get rid of the Troll this turn.
Staging gives me The East Blight, which is perfect, as I could NOT handle an enemy with more than 4 attack right now. I lose by 1, raising my threat back up to 43. My Tracker blocks the troll, dying, taking the Refugee with him, and raising my Threat back to 44. Gildor then looks at my top 3, seeing:
Runes, Courage, and Miner. I take Courage into hand, replacing it with Gwaihir, and use Gandalf's resource to play my second Flame. Gandalf attacks the troll for 8, killing it. I then play Runes off the top, drawing Miner and Landroval, and discarding my Unexpected Courage.
Round 5 - threat up to 45, and 11 in the staging area, but at least the Troll is dead, so I can finally start getting some allies into play.
I draw Bilbo, revealing a Cache atop my deck. I play the Zigil Miner, and mine away the Cache (+3 resources to elrond) and a Warden of Healing (oh, no!).
My new top card is Will of the West, which I Pipe/Vilya/Courage to swap with and play Landroval.
The new top card is Elfhelm, which I use my last 4 resources to play off the top, to mitigate the threat increases I keep getting.
I can only quest for 11 (leaving back Elfhelm), against 11 threat. Hopefully the encounter card won't be too bad...
Troll Spawn, which surges into Pursued by Shadow.
With 2 characters not committed, I raise my threat by 2 (2 doomed 1, 1 +2, and quest fail by 2, each of which is mitigated by Elfhelm. That's 47 threat. The troll attacks, and I use the staff to avoid any shadow effect, letting Elfhelm take 2 damage.
Round 6 - 48 Threat.
With Vilya on top, I Mine for +1 resource. With Nenya on top, I play Bilbo for +2 Willpower, and to shuffle the deck. With a Hidden Cache on top, I use Wizard pipe to swap the Ring back to the top, and play it on Gandalf. My new top card is Warden of Healing, which I Vilya into play, then quest for 12 against 11 Threat. Sadly, I reveal Marsh Adder (3 Threat)
Questing for 12 (Warden, Landroval, Elfhelm, Gandalf held back) and facing 14 threat, I have few options. I can take a bunch of damage to lower the threat, or use the Staff to add a resource, play Dwarven Tomb, and re-play an Elrond's Counsel. I pick the second option, lowering my threat to 45, and negating all the threat increases with Elfhelm.
I heal Elfhelm and Gandalf, and prepare to take 2 4 str attacks. Marsh Adder first (so Elfhelm can negate the threat increase). I defend with Gandalf, and the shadow card is Rats (Marsh Adder can't be damaged). Annoying but nonfatal, Gandalf takes 1 damage. Troll Spawn is blocked by Landroval, and the shadow card is nothing. Landroval takes 3 damage. Elfhelm can't counter-attack due to the Rants, so on to
Round 7 - 46 Threat
Draw Arwen, Vilya atop the deck. Use Pipe to swap Vilya for a Cache, then Mine away the Cache and a Refugee. This leaves Expert Treasure Hunter on top, which I can't play. I use 2 of the resources just gained to play Arwen, one off Gandalf for Hidden Cache from hand, revealing Light of Valinor, and then play the light off the top, leaving Elrond with one resource.
Finally, I get something worth Vilyaing, Beorn! I play him, revealing a Miner of the Iron Hills, and move on to Questing with nothing but the Will of the West in my hand (I'm not reshuffling, because I want to get Faramir first).
Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, and Arwen (boost Elfhelm) is an easy 10 willpower, so I exhaust Riversong to check on the Encounter deck. Pursued by Shadow means I want to commit everyone I possibly can, so I add Gildor, Landroval, Warden, and Beorn, making my total willpower 16, and leaving just 3 characters out of the quest (Elfhelm, Zigil Miner, and Riversong). Pursued brings my threat up to 49, then Elfhelm lowers it to 48. I make 5 progress, which is just enough to clear the Flooded Ford, and I then must travel to East Blight. I also finally trigger my Treasure Hunters, gaining the Iron Hills miner and a Hasty Stroke, revealing the second Beorn
2 4-strength attacks, and again Gandalf defends the Marsh Adder first, and the shadow card is Gladden Marshlands! Gandalf takes 2 damage (to 5/7) and the troll spawn gets +1 attack.
Elfhelm blocks the troll spawn, and his shadow card is Marshland Outlaw, which would threat me out, so I cancel with Hasty Stroke, replacing the resource with the staff. Elfhelm takes two damage.
Elrond counter-attacks the Marsh Adder, dealing 1 damage.
I desperately need threat reduction, so I play Will of the West before refresh, revealing a Northern Tracker after the reshuffle.
Round 8 - 49 Threat. Luckily the next card down is an Elrond's Counsel, which I play in the Resource Phase, just for the Threat reduction, revealing A Burning Brand.
In more need of cards and resources than Willpower at the moment, I activate Gildor and look at a Warden of Healing and Silvan Refugee, swapping the Warden with Vilya, and leaving the Refugee on top (to be played with Gandalf), then mining the two 2-cost attachments for 2 resources on Elrond.
My new top card is Gwaihir, who gets Vilya'd into play, revealing a Dwarven Tomb. Riversong scouts a second Gladden Marshland atop the encounter deck, so I need to quest All-In.
I have an easy 13 Willpower (Heroes, Arwen, Bilbo, Refugee, Dwarven Tomb to fetch Counsel). I add Gwahir for +2, and use both Wardens of Healing, in conjuction with the Marshland ability, to reduce the total threat down to 14 (to get the card draw). This ends up healing Elrond for 2 (3/4 hp remaining), and drawing Beorn and Unexpected Courage, revealing another Zigil Miner.
Beorn defends against Marsh Adder, who gets Rats as a shadow card, taking 1 damage. Gandalf discards the troll's shadow card, and Elrond defends (with +1 defense from Arwen), taking no damage. Gandalf, Landroval, and Elfhelm all counter-attack the Troll Spawn, killing it.
Round 9 - back down to 44 Threat.
Gildor looks at Hasty Stroke, Hidden Cache, and Neyna. Swap the Expert Treasure Hunter in hand for the Hasty Stroke, then Mine away the two zeros for +4 resources.
Use Pipe/Vilya/Courage to play the Northern Tracker, revealing Runes, which draws a duplicate Gildor and Vilya, discarding the useless Nenya.
I play another Unexpected Courage on Gandalf, and the second Zigil Miner, leaving Elrond's Counsel atop the deck for now. Riversong shows me Wargs coming up, and I'm ready to quest.
I'm able to quest for 17, leaving back Elfhelm, Beorn, and Landroval, giving a defense bonus to Elrond, and using both Healers to reduce the 22 threat in the staging area down to 16, while healing Elrond and Gandalf for 1 each (4/7 and 0/4 damage). Playing the Counsel drops me to 41 Threat.
Draw Hidden Cache and Boromir, revealing Faramir, giving 2 resources to Elrond. 2/6 progress on the East Blight.
Gandalf's Staff discards the Warg shadow card, Elrond defends against the Adder (no shadow effect, no damage). Elrond then takes 3 damage from the undefended Warg attack.
Gandalf and Elfhelm team up to kill the Wargs, then Gandalf readies and teams up with Beorn and Landroval to kill the Marsh Adder. Engaged enemies are all clear, and Faramir is coming to finish up the Locations.
Round 10 - 42 Threat
Gildor looks at Cache, Refugee, and Runes. Mine away the Cache and Runes, Vilya in Faramir, play Refugee and Boromir from hand. I also play Dwarven Tomb off the top, to get back Will of the West
For Questing, I send everyone but Faramir (who exhausts) and the wardens (who exhaust) and Boromir, Beorn, and Elfhelm. I play the Runes off the top of my deck, and draw Counsel and A Test of Will. This puts me at a total of 30 willpower against 20 threat. The encounter card is Smoking Blood, which surges into another East Blight (grrr). At least my Northern Tracker has been making a little bit of progress on the Gladden Marshes. Making 9 progress clears the first Blight, and finally puts 4 progress on stage 1! Luckily, the other Hill Troll showed up as a shadow card a while back, so I don't have to worry about getting stuck again (not that my army of allies would have a problem.)
Before resolving the quest I re-shuffle my discard again, and draw Runes and a Treasure Hunter. I use the Staff to draw a card, travel to East Blight.
I then play all 3 Runes over the next few phases, and end with an Elrond's Counsel in the Refresh Phase
Round 11 - 40 Threat, 4 progress on stage 1
In Resource phase, play Dwarven Tomb off the top to retrieve Will of the West. Then play 2 Elrond's Counsel in the Planning phase (one off the top), and re-shuffle. At this point, my deck is 10 cards: 3 Runes, 3 Counsels, 2 Hidden Cache, and Expert Treasure Hunter, and a Dwarven Tomb. I have Test of Will and Hasty Stroke in hand, and plenty of resources on Elrond.
Attach A Burning Brand to Elrond, mine two Runes for 2 Elrond resources, and then Quest:
I send the crew, +1 defense to Elrond, and pass with 32 willpower (play a Counsel) against 22 Threat, moving me on to Stage 2 (finally!). I Treasure Hunt up 2 Hidden Cache, and optionally engage the Marshland Outlaws who were revealed this turn.
Elrond defends for no damage, the attack team kills the Outlaw, and it looks like I have the quest well in hand (one Marshland has 5 progress in the staging area, the other is the active location with 4 progress). I also play the other two Counsels from my deck.
Round 12 - 25 Threat
No manipulation needed, re-shuffle 7 cards with Tomb/West, quest for 31 again. I get 2 Snipers, a Troll Spawn, and an Eastern Crows. That is a total of 17 threat, so I will make 14 progress. 6 will clear the active location, so I need +8 progress to clear stage 2 this turn...exhaust the wardens of healing to soak up -8 threat to the staging area Gladden Marsh (and pay 4 Lore resources to also heal everyone except Beorn to full, and have a ready Healer)
My bonus cards for stage 3 are Brown Lands and Necromancer's Reach (canceled with A Test of Will). I also take Hidden Cache and Elrond's Counsel into hand.
Eastern Crows and Troll Spawn engage, but I'm in a bit of a pickle now, since there are two Snipers, and I can't optionally engage either...
For combat, Elrond (at +1 defense) defends against both attacks, and takes no damage. Both enemies are then easily dispatched. All locations stay in the staging area. I play 2 Runes, discarding 2 Cache, to draw my deck. Then Tomb/Will to re-shuffle. Use the warden to heal up the Sniper damage, and the last point on Beorn.
Round 13 - 26 Threat.
The staging area contains 19 threat, and no more cards will be revealed. I quest with no-one, raising my threat to 46. Warden heals the 2 damage. Make Marshlad the active location.
Round 14 - 47 Threat
I quest with Northern Tracker (clearing Brown Lands) and Silvan Refugee. Lose by 1, raising my threat to 48. Both Snipers engage, and I play 3 Counsels + Tomb one of them to bring my threat back down to 36. Then I reshuffle, and use runes to re-draw them and reduce it to 27. I could possibly do it again, but I won't bother, but I do play both Dwarven Tombs to re-play 2 of them, and go to 21.
Elrond defends, takes no damage, and the snipers are easily dispatched.
Final Score: 13 full rounds + 29 threat + 9 damage/lost hero - 9 Victory = 159 final score. Much worse than the previous, but double Gladden Marshland is really, really insane. Luckily I had Elfhelm around to avoid the huge amounts of threat increase the deck was handing out. He was on the edge, and I was wondering if a second Northern Tracker (same stats) might be better, but this game really showed his worth!
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