Setup:
Do not capture one of your heroes. Instead, you are rescuing an objective ally "The Prisoner"
Search the deck for the 3 objective cards, the Nazgul, 1 Tower Gate, and 1 Dungeon Jailer
Attach Gandalf's Map to a Hero of your choice.
Resolve the Travel effect on Tower Gate and make it the active location. Attach Dungeon Torch to it.
Set Shadow Key, Nazgul, and Dungeon Jailer aside, out of play. Add The Prisoner to the staging area.
You cannot place progress on Stage 1 unless Dungeon Torch is attached to a Hero.
When you reveal Stae 2A, add Shadow Key to the staging area, guarded by the Dungeon Jailer previously set aside. Instead of flipping The Prisoner face up, take control of him (and deal him 1 damage).
You cannot place progress on Stage 2 unless Dungeon Key is attached to a Hero.
The Dungeon Jailer game text is active, even when he is set aside.
"The Prisoner" - 0 will, 0 atk, 0 def, 5 hp. The Prisoner is exhausted and cannot ready or be healed. If The Prisoner leaves play, you have lost the game. Forced: if an objective would be shuffled into the Encounter deck, deal 1 damage to The Prisoner instead.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Out of Mirkwood
A custom scenario, to be played in the Hobbit campaign between Flies and Spiders and The Lonely Mountain, or as an independent quest.
Quest 1: The Elf King's Hospitality.
Setup: Remove Orcrist from the Campaign pool. Remove Barrel Room, Keeper of the Keys, and all 6 Elven Guards from the encounter deck, along with the Lake Town Mayor and Lake Town Docks. Add Keeper of the Keys to the staging area, and make Barrel Room the active location.
Quest 1b: (4 quest points)
During each Quest phase, instead of revealing cards from the Encounter deck, each player must chose a set-aside guard and add it to the staging area, or add two resource tokens to this card (if all guards have already been added).
The total Threat in the staging area is increased by 1 for each resource token on this card.
Forced: when the 4th progress token is placed on this card, discard all Elf enemies from play
Barrel Room (Unique Location; 4 Threat, X quest points, 1 VP)
X is equal to the total number of characters in play
Keeper of the Keys (Unique Enemy; 50 engagement level, 4 Threat, 5 ATK, 4 DEF, 7 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Keeper of the Keys attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.
Elven Guard (Enemy; {22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37} engagement (one of each), 2 Threat, 4 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Elven Guard attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.
Quest 2: Barrel Rider
When Revealed: Reveal cards from the Encounter deck until the total Threat in the staging area is at least equal to the number of players. Skip the engagement phase this round.
Quest 2b: (SIEGE quest; 14 quest points)
Forced: After placing any amount of progress on this quest, the players as a group must assign that much damage among characters they control (to a maximum of the number of characters committed to the quest).
Quest 3: Masters of the Lake
When Revealed: add the Lake Town Mayor to the staging area, make Lake Town Docks the active location (discarding any previous location)
Quest 3b: (8 quest points)
The players cannot complete this phase unless the Lake Town Mayor is in the victory display.
Laketown Docks (x1) - Unique, 3 Threat, 5 Quest Points, 3 VP
While Laketown Docks is the active location, each Hero gains "Action: Exhaust this character to heal 1 damage from it"
Lake Town Mayor (Unique Enemy; 1 engagement level, X Threat, 2 ATK, 6 DEF, 1 HP, 4 VP)
X is the total number of players. The Mayor cannot leave the staging area, and is immune to player card effects. Attacks against the Mayor use Willpower instead of Attack.
Each hero gains "Pay 1 resource from this hero's pool, this hero can attack the Lake Town Mayor this phase as if he was engaged with you."
Remaining Quest Deck (30 cards) - 2 location, 1 enemy, 2 treachery removed for Easy Mode
Locations (10):
Banks of the River (x4) - 1 Threat, 3 Quest Points
Surge
{if this attack is undefended, raise the defending player's Threat by 3}
Rapids (x2) - 3 Threat, 2 Quest Points {one with difficulty indicator}
Forced: after any amount of progress is placed on the Rapids, each player must deal 2 damage to an ally he controls.
Streets of Laketown (x2) - 2 Threat, 2 Quest Points
Immune to Player card effects
{attacking enemy gets +2 Defense for remainder of the round}
Staging Area (x1) - 4 Threat, X Quest Points {difficulty indicator}
X is the total number of characters in play
{Raise defending player's Threat by 1 for each damaged character he controls}
Manor House (x1) - Unique, 1 Threat, 4 Quest Points
Travel: Raise each player's Threat by 3. Each player may heal up to 3 damage from his or her characters.
{Heal all damage on attacking enemy}
Enemies (12):
Goblin Archer (x3) - 33 engagement; 1 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin. Orc.
Archery 1
{deal 1 damage to defending character}
Goblin Scout (x2) - 45 engagement; 3 Threat, 4 ATK, 3 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin Orc.
Forced: at the end of the round, raise each player's Threat by 1.
Wargs (x2) - 20 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Creature.
Forced: if Wargs is dealt a shadow card with no effect, return Wargs to the staging area after it attacks.
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}
Black Forest Bats (x2) - 15 engagement; 1 Threat, 1 ATK, 0 DEF, 2 HP. Creature
When Revealed: Each player must chose 1 character committed to the quest and remove them from the quest.
Man of Dale (x2) - 28 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP.
When Revealed: Any player may exhaust a Hero he or she controls with Willpower of 3 or higher to discard Man of Dale
{cancel this attack}
Goblin Chieftain (x1) - {difficulty} 35 engagement, 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 3 DEF, 6 HP, 4 VP. Goblin, Orc.
While Chieftain is in the staging area, other Goblins have +1 Threat and +1 Attack.
When Chieftain attacks, deal it an additional Shadow card.
{If attacking enemy is a Goblin or Creature, deal it 2 additional Shadow cards}
Treachery (8):
Chilled to the Bone (x2): When Revealed: attach to a Hero. Counts as a Condition attachment with "Attached Hero gets -1 Willpower, -1 Attack, and -1 Def for each damage on him."
Fighting among Friends (x2) When Revealed: The first player names a sphere. Then, all non-baggins characters not of that sphere are removed from the quest
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}
Hatred Rekindled (x3) {2 with difficulty} When Revealed: Each engaged enemy makes an attack (without shadow cards). If no attacks occur, Surge.
{Attacking enemy makes an additional attack}
Elven Delegation (x1) Surge. When Revealed: shuffle each Elf enemy from the encounter discard pile into the deck.
{Shuffle this card back into the Encounter deck}
Quest 1: The Elf King's Hospitality.
Setup: Remove Orcrist from the Campaign pool. Remove Barrel Room, Keeper of the Keys, and all 6 Elven Guards from the encounter deck, along with the Lake Town Mayor and Lake Town Docks. Add Keeper of the Keys to the staging area, and make Barrel Room the active location.
Quest 1b: (4 quest points)
During each Quest phase, instead of revealing cards from the Encounter deck, each player must chose a set-aside guard and add it to the staging area, or add two resource tokens to this card (if all guards have already been added).
The total Threat in the staging area is increased by 1 for each resource token on this card.
Forced: when the 4th progress token is placed on this card, discard all Elf enemies from play
Barrel Room (Unique Location; 4 Threat, X quest points, 1 VP)
X is equal to the total number of characters in play
Keeper of the Keys (Unique Enemy; 50 engagement level, 4 Threat, 5 ATK, 4 DEF, 7 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Keeper of the Keys attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.
Elven Guard (Enemy; {22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37} engagement (one of each), 2 Threat, 4 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Elven Guard attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.
Quest 2: Barrel Rider
When Revealed: Reveal cards from the Encounter deck until the total Threat in the staging area is at least equal to the number of players. Skip the engagement phase this round.
Quest 2b: (SIEGE quest; 14 quest points)
Forced: After placing any amount of progress on this quest, the players as a group must assign that much damage among characters they control (to a maximum of the number of characters committed to the quest).
Quest 3: Masters of the Lake
When Revealed: add the Lake Town Mayor to the staging area, make Lake Town Docks the active location (discarding any previous location)
Quest 3b: (8 quest points)
The players cannot complete this phase unless the Lake Town Mayor is in the victory display.
Laketown Docks (x1) - Unique, 3 Threat, 5 Quest Points, 3 VP
While Laketown Docks is the active location, each Hero gains "Action: Exhaust this character to heal 1 damage from it"
Lake Town Mayor (Unique Enemy; 1 engagement level, X Threat, 2 ATK, 6 DEF, 1 HP, 4 VP)
X is the total number of players. The Mayor cannot leave the staging area, and is immune to player card effects. Attacks against the Mayor use Willpower instead of Attack.
Each hero gains "Pay 1 resource from this hero's pool, this hero can attack the Lake Town Mayor this phase as if he was engaged with you."
Remaining Quest Deck (30 cards) - 2 location, 1 enemy, 2 treachery removed for Easy Mode
Locations (10):
Banks of the River (x4) - 1 Threat, 3 Quest Points
Surge
{if this attack is undefended, raise the defending player's Threat by 3}
Rapids (x2) - 3 Threat, 2 Quest Points {one with difficulty indicator}
Forced: after any amount of progress is placed on the Rapids, each player must deal 2 damage to an ally he controls.
Streets of Laketown (x2) - 2 Threat, 2 Quest Points
Immune to Player card effects
{attacking enemy gets +2 Defense for remainder of the round}
Staging Area (x1) - 4 Threat, X Quest Points {difficulty indicator}
X is the total number of characters in play
{Raise defending player's Threat by 1 for each damaged character he controls}
Manor House (x1) - Unique, 1 Threat, 4 Quest Points
Travel: Raise each player's Threat by 3. Each player may heal up to 3 damage from his or her characters.
{Heal all damage on attacking enemy}
Enemies (12):
Goblin Archer (x3) - 33 engagement; 1 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin. Orc.
Archery 1
{deal 1 damage to defending character}
Goblin Scout (x2) - 45 engagement; 3 Threat, 4 ATK, 3 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin Orc.
Forced: at the end of the round, raise each player's Threat by 1.
Wargs (x2) - 20 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Creature.
Forced: if Wargs is dealt a shadow card with no effect, return Wargs to the staging area after it attacks.
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}
Black Forest Bats (x2) - 15 engagement; 1 Threat, 1 ATK, 0 DEF, 2 HP. Creature
When Revealed: Each player must chose 1 character committed to the quest and remove them from the quest.
Man of Dale (x2) - 28 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP.
When Revealed: Any player may exhaust a Hero he or she controls with Willpower of 3 or higher to discard Man of Dale
{cancel this attack}
Goblin Chieftain (x1) - {difficulty} 35 engagement, 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 3 DEF, 6 HP, 4 VP. Goblin, Orc.
While Chieftain is in the staging area, other Goblins have +1 Threat and +1 Attack.
When Chieftain attacks, deal it an additional Shadow card.
{If attacking enemy is a Goblin or Creature, deal it 2 additional Shadow cards}
Treachery (8):
Chilled to the Bone (x2): When Revealed: attach to a Hero. Counts as a Condition attachment with "Attached Hero gets -1 Willpower, -1 Attack, and -1 Def for each damage on him."
Fighting among Friends (x2) When Revealed: The first player names a sphere. Then, all non-baggins characters not of that sphere are removed from the quest
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}
Hatred Rekindled (x3) {2 with difficulty} When Revealed: Each engaged enemy makes an attack (without shadow cards). If no attacks occur, Surge.
{Attacking enemy makes an additional attack}
Elven Delegation (x1) Surge. When Revealed: shuffle each Elf enemy from the encounter discard pile into the deck.
{Shuffle this card back into the Encounter deck}
The Battle of Laketown
I'm a little worried about this quest. It wrecked me multiple times, until I tried it with 6 extra 1-cost chump blockers in my deck. I don't have those now, but let's see how it goes with just One Deck to Rule Them All.
Opening hand had no chump blockers or Vilya, mulligan to a hand with both.
First reveal is Town Baiting, which does nothing, leaving me with a clear staging area for
Round 1 (36 threat, 0 in staging area, 1 damage on Lake Town)
Play Vilya. Vilya in Beoren.
Runes to draw Expert Treasure Hunter (discarding 1 of 2 Unexpected Courage). Play on Gandalf.
Reveal Smaug the Terrible engaged with me. No burn.
Quest for 4 with a Counsel backup. Reveal another Town Baiting. Scorching Blast as a Shadow card does no damage, but Smaug does 7. 4 progress made (4/14)
Beoren defends. Fisherman's Dock added to the staging area. Beoren takes 4 damage.
Round 2 (36 threat, 2 in staging area, 8 damage on Lake Town)
Zigil miner, milling a known Hidden Cache, and hitting a second one! +6 resources to Elrond.
Runes off the top, discarding Expert Treasure Hunter.
Play Gandalf's Staff, Bilbo, Gandalf's Pipe, swap to Vilya in Treebeard, and play Riversong. No resources remaining.
Reveal Smaug the Magnificant engaged with me.
Quest with Gandalf and all the new allies for 7 with counsel backup. South Pier is reavealed, and I make another 4 progress (8/14).
Chump block with Beoren. Shadow card is nothing. Lake town takes 3 excess damage.
Scout with Riversong, and generate 2 extra resources (using one to Tomb off the top for the discarded UC).
Round 3 (36 threat, 2, will be 6, in staging area, 11 damage on Lake Town, 0 VP)
Arwen off the top. Pipe for a free UC. Play Asfaloth.
Reveal Smaug the Terrible, burn 3.
Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, and Arwen for 10 (bonus to Treebeard). Reveal the known Merchant's District. Play Counsel off the top, and make 5 progress (4 on location, 9/14 on quest)
Runes from hand, discarding a vassal. I now have Will of the West, A Test of Will, and Hasty Stroke in hand, so I'm feeling pretty safe.
Deal 2 damage to Lake Town to add Merchant District to the Victory display. Leave the Dock, since I have a Northern Tracker coming up.
Generate a resource on Elrond, and defend Smaug with Treebeard. No Shadow, he takes 3 damage.
Riversong scouts Reckless in his Rage, so Miners generate 6 resources, discarding another Cache, and the Northern tracker. Assfaloth adds 1 to the only location in play, and then finishes it off in the Refresh phase.
Round 4 (33 threat, 0 in staging (5 progress needed), 16 damage, 9 VP)
Play Light of Valinor, Ring of Barahir, and A Burning Brand on Elrond. This will allow him to defend against 9 attack without dying. If I get the big Smaug, I'll just have to Test of Will the shadow card.
Mine off a bunch of weak cards. Play 2 Warden of Healing (one off the top).
Vilya in Gwahir (plus Vassal), and give Elrond a second Unexpected Courage.
Reveal the 3rd Smaug the Terrible, burn 0. The rest of this game will be full of double attack Smaug.
Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen (bonus Elrond) and Gwahir. Finish stage 1. Gandalf keeps coming along to trigger is Expert Treasure Hunter. I'm down to 4 cards in my deck, so it's almost time for a re-set.
Elrond defends and takes 5 damage. The wardens heal 4 of that (and Treebeard's damage)
Counter-attack Smaug for 12 (Elrond, Treebeard, Gwahir, Vassal). With his reduced defense, Smaug takes 7 damage.
Riversong scouts a Wharf.
Round 5 (33 threat, 0 (will be 3) in staging, 16 damage, 9 VP, 7 damage on Smaug)
Play a Vassal off the top, then draw a Counsel and Will of the West (revealing Dwarven Tomb on top). Pipe to Vilya the Northern Tracker from hand.
Reveal Smaug the Mighty, defend his attack with Treebeard (3 resources). Hasty Stroke to cancel Too Close to the Flame, and get it back with a Tomb. 2 damage.
Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen (bonus Elrond), Bilbo, Tracker, 1 warden, Gwahir, and both Miners. A total of 15 willpower, which makes 12 progress. Double Elrond's Counsel from hand, 9 progress on the quest, and heal 5 damage from Lake town.
Travel to the Wharf. Defend the attack with Elrond, and scout a Dock on top. Not enough attack to breach his defense. Mine off a Cache in the refresh phase.
Round 6 (27 threat, 0 (will be 2) in staging, 11 damage, 9 (will be 13) VP)
Dig through the deck looking for a good Vilya/Flame target.
Play Tracker, Vassal, and Vilya Beoren, leaving Boromir on top of the deck.
Reveal The Magnificant. Lake Town takes 3 damage, Smaug goes down to 4 damage.
Quest with new allies, Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Bilbo (that's 13, which removes 6 damage after all is said and done)
I will need 24 attack to take down Smaug. I acutally have that already, so I also commit one Warden of Healing, Treebead (usinging 2 resources to ready) and Gwahir to the quest as well.
Heal 11 damage from lake town, leaving it with just 3. Arwen bonuses Elrond. Advance to stage 3.
Elrond defends Smaug, takes 4 damage. Warden + 2 resources heals that.
Flame of Anor, discarding Boromir, allows me to attack Smaug with:
2x Vassal (6), 2x Tracker (4), Beoren (8), Gandalf (7) and the Zigil Miner (1) for a total of 26. 8 defense means we deal 18 damage, more than enough to defeat him and win the quest.
Before that resolves, use the last Dwarven Tomb to play Counsel again, for a final score of:
5 full rounds (50) + 23 threat (23) + 0 damage/dead heroes - 14 VP = 59!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Conflict at The Carrock - second attempt
After making the mistake of not reading the Trolls, and getting Threated out by Louis, I'm ready to try again.
Setup - Add Cloak of Lorien and 2 Vassal of the Windlord (Frieghtened Beast protection, and extra attack to burst Troll defenses) to my deck, setting the rest of the sideboard aside, and removing Dwarven Tomb, Unexpected Courage, and one Silvan Refugee to make room.
In OCTGN, I added my 15 sideboard cards to the "Heroes" section of the deck, which puts them in my hand at the start of the game. From there, I can easily move them to the Player Secondary Deck zone, minimize it, and get on with the game.
My first hand is pretty bad, so I mulligan into double Unexpected courage, double Vilya, double Vassal of the Windlord. Not the most balanced start, but it should work out.
Round 1 - 36 Threat, 2 Threat in Staging, no troubles. Draw Cloak of Lorien, top card is Nenya.
Nenya is quite useful for these "slow start" quests, as it allows me to quest just enough, and then add +4 if I get more threat than expected. So, I will start with a pile of Neutral cards, playing Nenya off the top, Vilya from hand, and using that to get Treebeard into play. While I have no other Ents in my deck, he can always use his ability on himself to ready 1 extra time every 2 turns. He also has an astounding 4 attack, as well as 3 def / 5 hp, so he is one of the best combat guys in the deck.
Questing with just Gandalf for 3, I flip Gladden Fields for a total of 5 Threat. I can either add 4, which gives me 2 progress and a personal Threat of 36, or draw a card, which adds 1 progress (Nightmare Forced effect), +1 card, and a Threat of 37. Since I don't have an Expert Treasure Hunter yet, I'll go with the card draw option - exhausing Galadriel for her ability, rather than Nenya's.
I'll go ahead and make Gladden Fields the active location, and I also uncover a Runes on top of my deck. My new 4 cards are Ring of Barahir, Beoren, and 2x Expert Treasure Hunter. Things are coming along nicely for
Round 2 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, Elfhelm atop the deck (Vilya'd into play, revealing Light of Valinor).
I use my resources this turn to play Unexpected Courage and light of Valinor on Elrond, play my two Hunters, and quest for 7 (holding Galadriel in reserve, and Treebeard for attacking in case an Enemy comes up).
River Langford makes it 4 Threat, I make just enough progress to clear Gladden Fields (replaced with the River), and take Faramir, Beoren, and Hasty Stroke into hand for questing and Galadriel. One more free progress, and we're on to
Round 3 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, draw Northern Tracker, Bilbo atop the deck.
Play Bilbo off the top, then play the Wizard Pipe, swap Beoren to the top and Vilya him into play. At least, that was the plan. After searching, Gildor Inglorion was on top, so I just Vilyad him instead, and spent the extra resource on a Vassal.
Quest for 11 this turn, exhausting only Gandalf. Encounter another River, meaning 7 progress. That is exactly one short of finishing stage 1, which is fine by me. Draw Vilya and Runes, which (with Galadriel) turn into 2x Warden of Healing and a Zigil Miner.
Before the round ends, activate Gildor to put Beoren third from the top, play an Elrond's Counsel for free, just for the Treat reduction, and take Boromir into hand, planning to draw Will of the West.
Round 4 - 36 Threat, 2 in Staging, still no troubles, but the Trolls are coming out this turn.
Vilya Beoren
Play Zigil Miner, and mine off a hidden cache and redundant Bilbo
Give Elrond the Cloak, and the Ring of Brahir. He is now 4 defense, 6 hp.
Save 1 resource on Gandalf, and one on Elrond
Questing is light, sending just Beoren, Bilbo and Elrond, and playing Counsel off the top to make a total of 7 (and, crucially, my Threat down to 33). Staging is a Savage Hill, so I make 4 progress, and get to stage 2 exactly.
Not repeating my previous mistake of engaging Louis first, I take stock of my attack prowess. I have 21 total attack, assuming I use Treebeard twice, defend with Elrond, and take 1 attack undefended. The savage hill troll requires 9 attack, leaving me with about 12 available for other beasties. I also have a Hasty Stroke in hand, and the resource to use it. With The Carrock in play, none of the other trolls will fall to a mere 12 attack, but I could still use Beoren to buff that by 5.
All things considered, I optionally engage the least offensive troll to have in the victory display: Rupert.
Dealing with an attack of 4 and 6, Elrond defends the 6. The shadow card is Sacked! which I allow to attach to Galadriel (it's coming off in a moment, as soon as I defeat a troll). Elrond takes 2 damage.
For the 4 attack, I use my smallest attacker, Gildor, to defend. A Muck Adder means he also takes 2 damage. Not lethal, so I care little.
To attack and defeat Rupert, I need 14 total. Treebeard (4), Beoren (8) and Elfhelm (2) combine for just enough. Galadriel is un-sacked.
To defeat the Savage troll, I need 9 total. Treebeard (spending 2 resources to ready), Gandalf (3) and Vassal (3) is a total of 10. 2 Trolls down, 3 to go!
Use Galadriel to draw A Burning Brand before shuffling Beoren back in.
Round 5 - 33 Threat, 9 in staging area from Trolls, plus I want to quest for 6 extra to clear The Carrock this round. In the Refresh phase, I Vilya Beoren back into play, since he ended up on top of my 15 card deck.
For staging, I play the other Vassal, a Warden of Healing, Mine off a Hidden Cache, activate Gildor to be able to play an Faramir off the top this phase, an Elrond's Counsel when Questing, and leave a Hidden Cache on top (take Northern Tracker, the 3rd card down, into hand).
I can quest for 13 with my newly played allies, Elrond, and Bilbo (exhausing Faramir for his effect). This would not be enough, so I add in Gandalf for a total of 17 against 9 threat so far.
Staging is A Frightened Beast, which I gladly pitch my Vassal to negate. 16 willpower against 9 threat clears the Carrock, and lets me have my pick of the trolls. It also draws me a hidden cache (2 resources for Elrond) and Runes -> Zigil Miner, Arwen, discard Tracker.
I'll go ahead and take Louis now - I have Elfhelm to prevent is "in VP" effect, and I want to get a couple more threat so I can take both trolls at once next turn (since I'm at only 30 right now, that may also involve failed questing).
Warden heals all of last turn's damage, and Elrond defends. The shadow card does nothing, Elrond takes no damage, and I raise my threat to 33, then back to 32 from Elfhelm, and 31 from Galadriel.
9 attack at the ready, out of the 13 I would need. Play Flame of Anor off the top to ready Gandalf, and have him participate, but I flip a 0 cost card, so I also have to activate Beoren to defeat Louis.
Round 6
Vilya out Beoren at the end of the round, again. Play and use Wizard Pipe to make Hidden Cache the only card in my deck, then Will of the West to shuffle everything back in. Miner hits 2x Cache, allowing me to play:
Riversong (top of deck is Hives, so the total Threat will be 8. I need to quest for 7 to get both trolls down this turn).
A Burning Brand (for Elrond)
Arwen (off the top)
Zigil Miner (milling Vilya and Counsel)
Boromir
Quest with Elrond, Boromir, Arwen for a total of 6. Raise threat by 2, lower by 1 with Elfhelm.
Leave Hives in the staging area, but engage both Trolls.
Elrond defends Moris, taking 1 damage. Brand cancels both shadow cards, and his 4 defense means he takes a total of 1 damage.
Boromir defends Stuart, Galadriel lowers my Threat to 33 so he has 3 defense. no shadow effect, so he takes 1 damage and readies.
Counter attacks:
Moris requires 13 attack to dispatch. Gandalf (3), Treebeard (4), Boromir (3), Elfhelm (2) and Faramir (1) are up to the task.
Stuart requires 15. Beoren (8), Gildor (2), and Treebeard (4) are not. quite. enough.
Quick - retroactively don't play Arwen, and don't use the extra Zigil Miner. That gives 1 extra attack while still keeping resources around for Hasty Stroke if needed.
Move on to stage 3. Add Rob and Bob and a Savage Hill Troll to the staging area (8 total threat). Warden of Healing removes all damage.
Round 7 - 34 Threat.
I dig through my deck, playing a Vassal off the top, and playing as many Elrond's Cache as I can. (which is 2 in the planning phase, lowing my Threat to 27).
Riversong tells me I have Gladden Fields coming up, so I need to quest for 10 to avoid threat gain. Instead I quest for 12, including Gandalf, so I can draw more cards. I get a Seeker, and Vilya in Beoren.
Rob&Bob is 6 attack, Boromir takes 3 damage (Galadriel is Sacked again). Savage is 4 attack, Elrond takes no damage.
16 attack needed for Rob and Bob, Beoren (8), Vassal (3), Treebeard (4), and Elfhelm (2) are enough.
Victory! Final score:
6 rounds (60) + 27 Threat + no damage/dead heroes -13 VP = 74 total!
Setup - Add Cloak of Lorien and 2 Vassal of the Windlord (Frieghtened Beast protection, and extra attack to burst Troll defenses) to my deck, setting the rest of the sideboard aside, and removing Dwarven Tomb, Unexpected Courage, and one Silvan Refugee to make room.
In OCTGN, I added my 15 sideboard cards to the "Heroes" section of the deck, which puts them in my hand at the start of the game. From there, I can easily move them to the Player Secondary Deck zone, minimize it, and get on with the game.
My first hand is pretty bad, so I mulligan into double Unexpected courage, double Vilya, double Vassal of the Windlord. Not the most balanced start, but it should work out.
Round 1 - 36 Threat, 2 Threat in Staging, no troubles. Draw Cloak of Lorien, top card is Nenya.
Nenya is quite useful for these "slow start" quests, as it allows me to quest just enough, and then add +4 if I get more threat than expected. So, I will start with a pile of Neutral cards, playing Nenya off the top, Vilya from hand, and using that to get Treebeard into play. While I have no other Ents in my deck, he can always use his ability on himself to ready 1 extra time every 2 turns. He also has an astounding 4 attack, as well as 3 def / 5 hp, so he is one of the best combat guys in the deck.
Questing with just Gandalf for 3, I flip Gladden Fields for a total of 5 Threat. I can either add 4, which gives me 2 progress and a personal Threat of 36, or draw a card, which adds 1 progress (Nightmare Forced effect), +1 card, and a Threat of 37. Since I don't have an Expert Treasure Hunter yet, I'll go with the card draw option - exhausing Galadriel for her ability, rather than Nenya's.
I'll go ahead and make Gladden Fields the active location, and I also uncover a Runes on top of my deck. My new 4 cards are Ring of Barahir, Beoren, and 2x Expert Treasure Hunter. Things are coming along nicely for
Round 2 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, Elfhelm atop the deck (Vilya'd into play, revealing Light of Valinor).
I use my resources this turn to play Unexpected Courage and light of Valinor on Elrond, play my two Hunters, and quest for 7 (holding Galadriel in reserve, and Treebeard for attacking in case an Enemy comes up).
River Langford makes it 4 Threat, I make just enough progress to clear Gladden Fields (replaced with the River), and take Faramir, Beoren, and Hasty Stroke into hand for questing and Galadriel. One more free progress, and we're on to
Round 3 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, draw Northern Tracker, Bilbo atop the deck.
Play Bilbo off the top, then play the Wizard Pipe, swap Beoren to the top and Vilya him into play. At least, that was the plan. After searching, Gildor Inglorion was on top, so I just Vilyad him instead, and spent the extra resource on a Vassal.
Quest for 11 this turn, exhausting only Gandalf. Encounter another River, meaning 7 progress. That is exactly one short of finishing stage 1, which is fine by me. Draw Vilya and Runes, which (with Galadriel) turn into 2x Warden of Healing and a Zigil Miner.
Before the round ends, activate Gildor to put Beoren third from the top, play an Elrond's Counsel for free, just for the Treat reduction, and take Boromir into hand, planning to draw Will of the West.
Round 4 - 36 Threat, 2 in Staging, still no troubles, but the Trolls are coming out this turn.
Vilya Beoren
Play Zigil Miner, and mine off a hidden cache and redundant Bilbo
Give Elrond the Cloak, and the Ring of Brahir. He is now 4 defense, 6 hp.
Save 1 resource on Gandalf, and one on Elrond
Questing is light, sending just Beoren, Bilbo and Elrond, and playing Counsel off the top to make a total of 7 (and, crucially, my Threat down to 33). Staging is a Savage Hill, so I make 4 progress, and get to stage 2 exactly.
Not repeating my previous mistake of engaging Louis first, I take stock of my attack prowess. I have 21 total attack, assuming I use Treebeard twice, defend with Elrond, and take 1 attack undefended. The savage hill troll requires 9 attack, leaving me with about 12 available for other beasties. I also have a Hasty Stroke in hand, and the resource to use it. With The Carrock in play, none of the other trolls will fall to a mere 12 attack, but I could still use Beoren to buff that by 5.
All things considered, I optionally engage the least offensive troll to have in the victory display: Rupert.
Dealing with an attack of 4 and 6, Elrond defends the 6. The shadow card is Sacked! which I allow to attach to Galadriel (it's coming off in a moment, as soon as I defeat a troll). Elrond takes 2 damage.
For the 4 attack, I use my smallest attacker, Gildor, to defend. A Muck Adder means he also takes 2 damage. Not lethal, so I care little.
To attack and defeat Rupert, I need 14 total. Treebeard (4), Beoren (8) and Elfhelm (2) combine for just enough. Galadriel is un-sacked.
To defeat the Savage troll, I need 9 total. Treebeard (spending 2 resources to ready), Gandalf (3) and Vassal (3) is a total of 10. 2 Trolls down, 3 to go!
Use Galadriel to draw A Burning Brand before shuffling Beoren back in.
Round 5 - 33 Threat, 9 in staging area from Trolls, plus I want to quest for 6 extra to clear The Carrock this round. In the Refresh phase, I Vilya Beoren back into play, since he ended up on top of my 15 card deck.
For staging, I play the other Vassal, a Warden of Healing, Mine off a Hidden Cache, activate Gildor to be able to play an Faramir off the top this phase, an Elrond's Counsel when Questing, and leave a Hidden Cache on top (take Northern Tracker, the 3rd card down, into hand).
I can quest for 13 with my newly played allies, Elrond, and Bilbo (exhausing Faramir for his effect). This would not be enough, so I add in Gandalf for a total of 17 against 9 threat so far.
Staging is A Frightened Beast, which I gladly pitch my Vassal to negate. 16 willpower against 9 threat clears the Carrock, and lets me have my pick of the trolls. It also draws me a hidden cache (2 resources for Elrond) and Runes -> Zigil Miner, Arwen, discard Tracker.
I'll go ahead and take Louis now - I have Elfhelm to prevent is "in VP" effect, and I want to get a couple more threat so I can take both trolls at once next turn (since I'm at only 30 right now, that may also involve failed questing).
Warden heals all of last turn's damage, and Elrond defends. The shadow card does nothing, Elrond takes no damage, and I raise my threat to 33, then back to 32 from Elfhelm, and 31 from Galadriel.
9 attack at the ready, out of the 13 I would need. Play Flame of Anor off the top to ready Gandalf, and have him participate, but I flip a 0 cost card, so I also have to activate Beoren to defeat Louis.
Round 6
Vilya out Beoren at the end of the round, again. Play and use Wizard Pipe to make Hidden Cache the only card in my deck, then Will of the West to shuffle everything back in. Miner hits 2x Cache, allowing me to play:
Riversong (top of deck is Hives, so the total Threat will be 8. I need to quest for 7 to get both trolls down this turn).
A Burning Brand (for Elrond)
Arwen (off the top)
Zigil Miner (milling Vilya and Counsel)
Boromir
Quest with Elrond, Boromir, Arwen for a total of 6. Raise threat by 2, lower by 1 with Elfhelm.
Leave Hives in the staging area, but engage both Trolls.
Elrond defends Moris, taking 1 damage. Brand cancels both shadow cards, and his 4 defense means he takes a total of 1 damage.
Boromir defends Stuart, Galadriel lowers my Threat to 33 so he has 3 defense. no shadow effect, so he takes 1 damage and readies.
Counter attacks:
Moris requires 13 attack to dispatch. Gandalf (3), Treebeard (4), Boromir (3), Elfhelm (2) and Faramir (1) are up to the task.
Stuart requires 15. Beoren (8), Gildor (2), and Treebeard (4) are not. quite. enough.
Quick - retroactively don't play Arwen, and don't use the extra Zigil Miner. That gives 1 extra attack while still keeping resources around for Hasty Stroke if needed.
Move on to stage 3. Add Rob and Bob and a Savage Hill Troll to the staging area (8 total threat). Warden of Healing removes all damage.
Round 7 - 34 Threat.
I dig through my deck, playing a Vassal off the top, and playing as many Elrond's Cache as I can. (which is 2 in the planning phase, lowing my Threat to 27).
Riversong tells me I have Gladden Fields coming up, so I need to quest for 10 to avoid threat gain. Instead I quest for 12, including Gandalf, so I can draw more cards. I get a Seeker, and Vilya in Beoren.
Rob&Bob is 6 attack, Boromir takes 3 damage (Galadriel is Sacked again). Savage is 4 attack, Elrond takes no damage.
16 attack needed for Rob and Bob, Beoren (8), Vassal (3), Treebeard (4), and Elfhelm (2) are enough.
Victory! Final score:
6 rounds (60) + 27 Threat + no damage/dead heroes -13 VP = 74 total!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Conflict at the Carrock
Including the Lorien Cloak for this adventure.
Setup: Shuffle in one Sacked card, 2 threat Carrock in the staging area. I mulligan my opening hand and get:
Refugee, Tracker, Zigil Miner; Unexpected Courage, Vilya, A Test of Will, Runes.
Play Expert Treasure Hunter off the top (on Gandalf), revealing Elrond's Counsel (to be played next phase). Play the Zigil miner, and quest for 4 (Gandalf + Miner only).
Muck adder is my reveal, so I make 1 progress (playing Elrond's Counsel on Galadriel, just for the threat reduction). Before resolving the quest, I go hunting for a Hidden Cache, which I find after just playing Runes (+2 resources on Elrond, by taking it into hand with Treasure Seeker). I also chose to draw Flame of Anor (for future troll hunting). I dig further, looking for Hasty Stroke, but don't find it.
Elrond defends the Muck Adder, shadow card is just a River, so no damage (whew). Refresh, and move on to
Round 2: 30 Threat. 5 resources, Engaged Muck Adder.
I mine off another Hidden Cache, resulting in a second Unexpected Courage being discarded (the first went for the Runes, the last is in my hand). Play Riversong off the top. Use Vilya to play Boromir (revealing Beoren), and play Unexpected Courage, Silvan Refugee, and Light of Valinor from hand. This leaves 2 Northern Trackers, A Test of Will, Flame of Anor, and Warden of Healing in my hand, and 2 resources on Elrond.
Questing for 10 (sure, why not, it only exhausts Gandalf) I encounter a hill troll, and move on to Stage 2. Galadriel lowers my Threat to 29, so I can face the trolls at my leisure.
I decide to face Louis (trolls raise my threat by 1). Elrond blocks Muck Adder again. Boromir blocks Louis (5 attack with The Carrock bonus, Boromir at 3 defense, -1 from a shadow card) Boromir takes 3 damage and readies.
Boromir, and Riversong attack the muck adder, taking that annoyance out of the picture.
Round 3
I mill off my Hasty Stroke, revealing A Burning Brand. Brand goes on Elrond, revealing Will of the West.
Play Gandalf's Staff, and Warden of Healing from hand, then quest for 9 (against 8 threat) with Gandalf, Elrond, Refugee, and Warden. Shadow card is Roasted Slowly... which just does nothing! One progress on The Carrock, take Will of the West into hand (revealing Dwarven Tomb).
I use Vilya to play Dwarven Tomb, and play Elrond's Counsel to get back to 29 Threat, so I just take another attack from Louis. Elrond defends, and takes 2 damage (healed by warden).
Counter-attack Louis for 4, dealing 1 damage. Raise threat to 32, then to 33 as we go to
Round 4
Vilya in Faramir, play Expert Treasure Hunter, draw Warden, Staff to draw (and play) Cloak of Lorien, end with Beoren on top of deck.
Quest for 14, but reveal River Langfrod, meaning I fail by 1, going back to 33 Threat. Hill Troll engages.
Elrond blocks the 7 attack Hill Troll with his 4 defense, taking 3 damage. Boromir blocks Louis with his 3 defense, Shadow card makes him 7 attack, killing him and the refugee. This kills me, as I no longer have enough attack power to kill Louis. (6 from Flame of Anor, 3 from Gandalf, 2 extra is only 11, and I need 13. Even the Hill Troll requires 12) Apparently engaging Louis was a mistake.
Will have to re-deal.
Setup: Shuffle in one Sacked card, 2 threat Carrock in the staging area. I mulligan my opening hand and get:
Refugee, Tracker, Zigil Miner; Unexpected Courage, Vilya, A Test of Will, Runes.
Play Expert Treasure Hunter off the top (on Gandalf), revealing Elrond's Counsel (to be played next phase). Play the Zigil miner, and quest for 4 (Gandalf + Miner only).
Muck adder is my reveal, so I make 1 progress (playing Elrond's Counsel on Galadriel, just for the threat reduction). Before resolving the quest, I go hunting for a Hidden Cache, which I find after just playing Runes (+2 resources on Elrond, by taking it into hand with Treasure Seeker). I also chose to draw Flame of Anor (for future troll hunting). I dig further, looking for Hasty Stroke, but don't find it.
Elrond defends the Muck Adder, shadow card is just a River, so no damage (whew). Refresh, and move on to
Round 2: 30 Threat. 5 resources, Engaged Muck Adder.
I mine off another Hidden Cache, resulting in a second Unexpected Courage being discarded (the first went for the Runes, the last is in my hand). Play Riversong off the top. Use Vilya to play Boromir (revealing Beoren), and play Unexpected Courage, Silvan Refugee, and Light of Valinor from hand. This leaves 2 Northern Trackers, A Test of Will, Flame of Anor, and Warden of Healing in my hand, and 2 resources on Elrond.
Questing for 10 (sure, why not, it only exhausts Gandalf) I encounter a hill troll, and move on to Stage 2. Galadriel lowers my Threat to 29, so I can face the trolls at my leisure.
I decide to face Louis (trolls raise my threat by 1). Elrond blocks Muck Adder again. Boromir blocks Louis (5 attack with The Carrock bonus, Boromir at 3 defense, -1 from a shadow card) Boromir takes 3 damage and readies.
Boromir, and Riversong attack the muck adder, taking that annoyance out of the picture.
Round 3
I mill off my Hasty Stroke, revealing A Burning Brand. Brand goes on Elrond, revealing Will of the West.
Play Gandalf's Staff, and Warden of Healing from hand, then quest for 9 (against 8 threat) with Gandalf, Elrond, Refugee, and Warden. Shadow card is Roasted Slowly... which just does nothing! One progress on The Carrock, take Will of the West into hand (revealing Dwarven Tomb).
I use Vilya to play Dwarven Tomb, and play Elrond's Counsel to get back to 29 Threat, so I just take another attack from Louis. Elrond defends, and takes 2 damage (healed by warden).
Counter-attack Louis for 4, dealing 1 damage. Raise threat to 32, then to 33 as we go to
Round 4
Vilya in Faramir, play Expert Treasure Hunter, draw Warden, Staff to draw (and play) Cloak of Lorien, end with Beoren on top of deck.
Quest for 14, but reveal River Langfrod, meaning I fail by 1, going back to 33 Threat. Hill Troll engages.
Elrond blocks the 7 attack Hill Troll with his 4 defense, taking 3 damage. Boromir blocks Louis with his 3 defense, Shadow card makes him 7 attack, killing him and the refugee. This kills me, as I no longer have enough attack power to kill Louis. (6 from Flame of Anor, 3 from Gandalf, 2 extra is only 11, and I need 13. Even the Hill Troll requires 12) Apparently engaging Louis was a mistake.
Will have to re-deal.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Deck update #1
After losing a dozen times against Battle at Laketown, I made some significant changes in order to beat that quest. The first 10 cards for my sideboard are:
3x Anfalas Herdsman
3x Snowbourn Scouts -> Vassal of the Windlord, to minimize # of sideboard cards
1x Arwen Udominel
2x Hasty Stroke
1x Cloak of Lorien
The intent here is to ensure that I have chump blockers for the first two rounds, hopefully with 2 hp and/or Hasty Stroke protection, so they don't disappear and cost me actual heroes.
To make room for those 10 cards, I remove:
Nenya
Unexpected Courage
Expert Treasure Hunter
Miner of the Iron Hills
Boromir
Elfhelm
Gildor Inglorion
Elrond's Counsel
2x Flame of Anor
For Nightmare Journey to Rhosgobel, I needed additional Eagles, and some extra healing.
In:
3x Vassal of the Windlord
1x Haldir of Lorien (this might get moved to the main deck to make room, he's a fine "filler" guy)
2x Lore of Imladris
1x Healing Herbs (Herbs play for free off the top with Gandalf)
Out:
1x Elfhelm
1x Beoren
2x Flame of Anor
1x Expert Treasure Hunter
1x Silvan Refugee
1x Faramir
Current deck, with those changes:
Heroes (3) - starting threat 36
Gandalf
Elrond
Galadriel
Attachments (15)
For Gandalf:
1x Ring of Barahir
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Wizard Pipe
For Elrond:
3x Vilya
1x Light of Valinor
1x A Burning Brand
For Galadriel:
1x Nenya
3x Expert Treasure Hunter
Allies (19)
Questing power:
1x Arwen Undomiel
1x Bilbo Baggins
2x Silvan Refugee
1x Henamarth Riversong
1x Faramir
2x Northern Tracker
Support and protection:
2x Zigil Miner
2x Warden of Healing
1x Miner of the Iron Hills
1x Boromir
1x Elfhelm
Costly allies to Vilya into play (or discard with Flame of Anor)
2x Beoren
2x Gildor Inglorion
Events (16)
3x Hidden Cache
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x Daeron's Runes
2x Flame of Anor
2x Dwarven Tomb
1x A Test of Will
1x Hasty Stroke
1x Will of the West
Sideboard (15):
3x Anfalas Herdsman (Battle of Laketown)
3x Vassal of the Windlord (chump blocker for Battle of Laketown, Eagle for Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Arwen Udominel (Battle of Laketown)
2x Hasty Stroke (Battle of Laketown)
1x Cloak of Lorien (Battle of Laketown, Journey down the Anduin)
1x Healing Herbs (Journey to Rhosgobel)
2x Lore of Imladris (Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Haldir of Lorien (Journey to Rhosgobel, replacing Arwen/Faramir/Bilbo when illegal)
1x A Test of Will (Default choice for 15th card)
3x Anfalas Herdsman
3x Snowbourn Scouts -> Vassal of the Windlord, to minimize # of sideboard cards
1x Arwen Udominel
2x Hasty Stroke
1x Cloak of Lorien
The intent here is to ensure that I have chump blockers for the first two rounds, hopefully with 2 hp and/or Hasty Stroke protection, so they don't disappear and cost me actual heroes.
To make room for those 10 cards, I remove:
Nenya
Unexpected Courage
Expert Treasure Hunter
Miner of the Iron Hills
Boromir
Elfhelm
Gildor Inglorion
Elrond's Counsel
2x Flame of Anor
For Nightmare Journey to Rhosgobel, I needed additional Eagles, and some extra healing.
In:
3x Vassal of the Windlord
1x Haldir of Lorien (this might get moved to the main deck to make room, he's a fine "filler" guy)
2x Lore of Imladris
1x Healing Herbs (Herbs play for free off the top with Gandalf)
Out:
1x Elfhelm
1x Beoren
2x Flame of Anor
1x Expert Treasure Hunter
1x Silvan Refugee
1x Faramir
Current deck, with those changes:
Heroes (3) - starting threat 36
Gandalf
Elrond
Galadriel
Attachments (15)
For Gandalf:
1x Ring of Barahir
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Wizard Pipe
For Elrond:
3x Vilya
1x Light of Valinor
1x A Burning Brand
For Galadriel:
1x Nenya
For Whoever (usually not Galadriel, though):
3x Unexpected Courage3x Expert Treasure Hunter
Allies (19)
Questing power:
1x Arwen Undomiel
1x Bilbo Baggins
2x Silvan Refugee
1x Henamarth Riversong
1x Faramir
2x Northern Tracker
Support and protection:
2x Zigil Miner
2x Warden of Healing
1x Miner of the Iron Hills
1x Boromir
1x Elfhelm
Costly allies to Vilya into play (or discard with Flame of Anor)
2x Beoren
2x Gildor Inglorion
Events (16)
3x Hidden Cache
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x Daeron's Runes
2x Flame of Anor
2x Dwarven Tomb
1x A Test of Will
1x Hasty Stroke
1x Will of the West
Sideboard (15):
3x Anfalas Herdsman (Battle of Laketown)
3x Vassal of the Windlord (chump blocker for Battle of Laketown, Eagle for Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Arwen Udominel (Battle of Laketown)
2x Hasty Stroke (Battle of Laketown)
1x Cloak of Lorien (Battle of Laketown, Journey down the Anduin)
1x Healing Herbs (Journey to Rhosgobel)
2x Lore of Imladris (Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Haldir of Lorien (Journey to Rhosgobel, replacing Arwen/Faramir/Bilbo when illegal)
1x A Test of Will (Default choice for 15th card)
The Hunt for Gollum
Skipping Escape from Dol Gondor for now, we move on the the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle.
I played a few games, tweaking the deck, to beat Battle at Laketown. In the interest of keeping my number of changes as low as possible, I made a couple of changes to the main deck:
Out: Landroval, Gwaihir
In: Northern Tracker, Cloak of Lorien
Setup:
I mulligan a no-Vilya hand into:
Vilya
Hidden Cache
Northern Tracker
Bilbo
Arwen
Light of Valinor
Expert Treasure Hunter on top
Encounter deck starts with Old Wives Tales, exhausting all 3 of my heroes! At least there is no threat in the staging area.
Round 1 (36 Threat, clear staging area)
Play Wizard's Pipe off the top, revealing Elrond's Counsel. Play Arwen from hand, and move to Questing.
Quest for 3 (playing Counsel on Arwen). Staging reveals Flooding (doomed 1, surge, no effect) and Hunting Warg (1 threat, 3 attack). Add 2 progress, and look at top 3. Ravenous Hawk engages me, and I play Watched Path (and make it the active location), rather than a guarded Clue. The Warg also engages, and I have to fight two 3-attack enemies.
Arwen defends the first, giving herself a bonus. She is then Pursued by Shadow, returns to my hand, and I must take the attack undefended. 3 damage on Galadriel.
Second attack is undefended, shadow card is Hunters (no clues, so no effect). 3 damage on Elrond.
Hunting Wargs forces me to search the deck and add a Hunters to the staging area.
Refresh, and move on to
Round 2 (35 Threat, Hunters in staging area, 2 3-attack foes to deal with)
I have a Dwarven Tomb atop my deck, which will get back the Counsel, and allow me to avoid engaging the Hunters this turn. Gandalf pays for that, revealing Gildor Inglorian. I play Vilya, use it to play Gildor, and move to quest.
Gildor quests for 4. Encounter card is the Old Ford (1 threat for now) so my questing is successful by 1. No engagements, and we move on to the two 3-str attacks. Since I don't have the Attack power to eliminate either enemy, I will just defend each of them. Neither shadow card has an effect, and I take no damage. Galadriel exhausts just for the -1 Threat (I can't draw the card, due to Watched Path)
Round 3 (32 Threat, 3 threat in staging, +1 for every additional ally I play)
I play my freshly drawn Nenya, Silvan Refugee off the top, and a Light of Valinor on Elrond. Also, my two Expert Treasure Hunters finally come out to play.
Quest for 5 (keeping Gandalf ready) against 4 threat, then exhaust to play Beorn off the top. (oops, that's +1 threat) That reveals Daeren's Runes, which I can't productively play right now.
Staging gives me The Trail Goes Cold - making the total threat 8. Galadriel exhausts to add 4, getting me 1 progress this turn. Just enough to trigger Expert Treasure Hunter, and I use the Pipe before hand to swap in a Hidden Cache for +2 resources on Elrond. My new top card is Zigil Miner, so I should have plenty of resources going forwards. I look at 3, and play Relentless Hunters, which does nothing (not staging step, so no surge), rather than reveal Old Wives Tale and lose resources and Gandalf.
Block the first attack with the Refugee, no important shadow effect. Refugee dies.
Block second attack with Gildor, who is Pursued By Shadow back to my hand. Gandalf takes 3 undefended damage.
Gandalf and Beoren team up to kill the Hawk, leaving me with only one engaged enemy.
Round 4 (33 Threat, 5 + X in staging area, 1 enemy engaged)
Spend 4 resources for the Northern Tracker, then quest with Gandalf, Elrond, and him (7 willpower against 7 threat). Staging is an additional Hunters.
Before resolving the quest, I pipe Gildor to the top, Vilya him into play, and then activate him to look at Unexpected Courage, Refugee, Hasty Stroke. Swap Hidden Cache for Unexpected Courage, put Refugee on top. Exhaust Nenya for +4 willpower, passing by 1. (+2 resources to Elrond, leave Hasty Stroke on top from Expert Treasure Seeker).
Look at top 3, engage another Hawk, and add Eaves of Mirkwood to staging.
Now that I have 2 enemies again: defend one with Tracker (1 damage) and one with Beoren (remove progress from quest, 0 damage).
Round 5 (34 Threat, 9 in staging area assuming Tracker quests, 2 enemies engaged)
Riversong off the top (revealing Elfhelm). Arwen from hand. Unexpected Courange on Gandalf.
Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Riversong, Tracker (completing Old Ford), and Gildor for 13 against 9. Staging reveals a new Watched Path. I play Elfhelm off the top, pipe Beoren for the Cache, and take Cache and Unexpected Courage into hand, revealing a Cloak of Lorien. I reveal another Restless Hunters, for no effect. Exhaust Galadriel for -1 Threat (to 33, dodging the Hunters) and no card draw.
Arwen defends the first attack (bonus to herself) - no shadow effect, she takes 1 damage
Second attack goes undefended - one extra shadow card, but no effect. Gandalf takes 3 damage.
Gandalf + Elfhelm finish off the Hunting Wargs. Beoren activates his rage, and pounds the Hawk - no enemies engaged!
Riversong tells me the top card of the deck is The East Bank. My new top card is Will of the West.
Round 6 (34 Threat, 9 in staging assuming Tracker quests)
Exhaust Gildor to look at Counsel, Treasure Hunter, and Beoren. Swap Counsel for Hidden Cache.
Play Zigil Miner, and mill off Cache and Treasure Hunter for 4 resources, leaving Beoren on top to be played later.
Using my accumulated resources, play Refugee, Bilbo, and Unexpected Courage (Elrond) from hand. Exhaust Courage and Vilya to play Beoren off the top. Use Gandalf's resources to play Unexpected Courage off the top on Galadriel. Pipe to swap Vilya and the Counsel from hand, and it's time to quest.
Counsel off the top, quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Tracker, Arwen (bonus to Bilbo) and the non-kneelers for a total of 14 against a known 12 to be revealed. Galadriel adds 4, finishing the active location, and adding 5 to stage 1 (6/8 complete).
I finally reveal a Signs of Golem, guarded by Hunter's Lookout. Make Watched Path the active location, and optionally engage one Hunter.
Beoren defends, no shadow effect, he takes 1 damage. Gandalf, Elrond, Elfhelm, and Riversong team up and take out the Hunter. Galariel lowers my Threat by 1.
Refresh, move the Signs over to the Hunter (from the Nightmare Card effect), and move to
Round 7 (31 Threat, still 9 in staging, A Test of Will, Hasty Stroke, and Will of the West all in hand, though)
Play Warden of Healing off the top, and move to Quest. My piles of Spirit allies add up to 17 Willpower, when the Heroes are added in. Staging is just another Eaves of Mirkwood, so I make 6 progress, just enough to finish the location (I can draw cards again!) and stage 1 of the quest.
Before that happens, though, I activate Gildor and take a peek at the top 3, and move Boromir to the top (play with Vilya). I reveal The Old Ford for my 1-of-3, and take Gildor and Runes into hand from my deck. With all the Watched Paths gone, I exhaust Galadriel to draw, mill off a Cache with Zigil Miner, and then play 2 Runes (discarding Vilyas each time).
Make Old Ford the active location, and engage the Hunters.
Boromir defends. No shadow effect (another Clue), so he takes 1 damage (and readies). Boromir, Beoren, Gandalf, and Elrond combine to take out the hunter - no enemies in play means I will be able to claim the Clue next turn. Riversong tells me a West Bank is coming up. Warden heals Eldrond and Galadriel for 2 each, refresh, and use Miner to mill off a Hidden Cache before
Round 8 (31 Threat, no enemies)
Play Faramir from hand. Play Ring of Brahir and Burning Brand on Elrond. Pipe a Northern Tracker to the top, and play with Vilya. Play Warden of Healing off the top.
Quest for 27 after exhausting Faramir (2x tracker, Faramir, Arwen (buff Elrond), Refugee, Bilbo, Warden, Gandalf, Elrond) This also clears out several locations. Reveal the West Bank as my choice of 2, then reveal a Hunters, making the total staging threat 9. 18 progress is more than enough to move on to stage 3.
I also draw a Flame of Anor, Cloak of Lorien, Dwarven Tomb (exhaust Galadriel).
Block the 4 attack hunters with 4 defense Elrond, cancel shadow with A Burning Brand. Gang pile to kill them off. Exhaust both wardens to heal all my Heroes to full. Riversong tells me my next encounter card is West Bank. To win, all I need is to quest for 16 next turn.
Round 9:
Draw the last card in my deck. Play as many Elrond's Councel as I can to lower my Threat:
1 from hand
1 Dwarven Tomb from hand
Will of the West to re-shuffle
1 from deck in the Resource phase
1 from deck in the Planning phase (after manipulating with Zigil Miners and Gildor and Galadriel)
1 from deck in the Quest phase
2 Dwarven Tomb from hand in the Quest phase
for a total of -21 threat, leaving me at 9.
Also, play 2 Flame of Anor for no particular reason.
Final Score: 8 rounds + 9 threat + no damage/heroes lost - 2 Flame of Anor VP = 87
I played a few games, tweaking the deck, to beat Battle at Laketown. In the interest of keeping my number of changes as low as possible, I made a couple of changes to the main deck:
Out: Landroval, Gwaihir
In: Northern Tracker, Cloak of Lorien
Setup:
I mulligan a no-Vilya hand into:
Vilya
Hidden Cache
Northern Tracker
Bilbo
Arwen
Light of Valinor
Expert Treasure Hunter on top
Encounter deck starts with Old Wives Tales, exhausting all 3 of my heroes! At least there is no threat in the staging area.
Round 1 (36 Threat, clear staging area)
Play Wizard's Pipe off the top, revealing Elrond's Counsel. Play Arwen from hand, and move to Questing.
Quest for 3 (playing Counsel on Arwen). Staging reveals Flooding (doomed 1, surge, no effect) and Hunting Warg (1 threat, 3 attack). Add 2 progress, and look at top 3. Ravenous Hawk engages me, and I play Watched Path (and make it the active location), rather than a guarded Clue. The Warg also engages, and I have to fight two 3-attack enemies.
Arwen defends the first, giving herself a bonus. She is then Pursued by Shadow, returns to my hand, and I must take the attack undefended. 3 damage on Galadriel.
Second attack is undefended, shadow card is Hunters (no clues, so no effect). 3 damage on Elrond.
Hunting Wargs forces me to search the deck and add a Hunters to the staging area.
Refresh, and move on to
Round 2 (35 Threat, Hunters in staging area, 2 3-attack foes to deal with)
I have a Dwarven Tomb atop my deck, which will get back the Counsel, and allow me to avoid engaging the Hunters this turn. Gandalf pays for that, revealing Gildor Inglorian. I play Vilya, use it to play Gildor, and move to quest.
Gildor quests for 4. Encounter card is the Old Ford (1 threat for now) so my questing is successful by 1. No engagements, and we move on to the two 3-str attacks. Since I don't have the Attack power to eliminate either enemy, I will just defend each of them. Neither shadow card has an effect, and I take no damage. Galadriel exhausts just for the -1 Threat (I can't draw the card, due to Watched Path)
Round 3 (32 Threat, 3 threat in staging, +1 for every additional ally I play)
I play my freshly drawn Nenya, Silvan Refugee off the top, and a Light of Valinor on Elrond. Also, my two Expert Treasure Hunters finally come out to play.
Quest for 5 (keeping Gandalf ready) against 4 threat, then exhaust to play Beorn off the top. (oops, that's +1 threat) That reveals Daeren's Runes, which I can't productively play right now.
Staging gives me The Trail Goes Cold - making the total threat 8. Galadriel exhausts to add 4, getting me 1 progress this turn. Just enough to trigger Expert Treasure Hunter, and I use the Pipe before hand to swap in a Hidden Cache for +2 resources on Elrond. My new top card is Zigil Miner, so I should have plenty of resources going forwards. I look at 3, and play Relentless Hunters, which does nothing (not staging step, so no surge), rather than reveal Old Wives Tale and lose resources and Gandalf.
Block the first attack with the Refugee, no important shadow effect. Refugee dies.
Block second attack with Gildor, who is Pursued By Shadow back to my hand. Gandalf takes 3 undefended damage.
Gandalf and Beoren team up to kill the Hawk, leaving me with only one engaged enemy.
Round 4 (33 Threat, 5 + X in staging area, 1 enemy engaged)
Spend 4 resources for the Northern Tracker, then quest with Gandalf, Elrond, and him (7 willpower against 7 threat). Staging is an additional Hunters.
Before resolving the quest, I pipe Gildor to the top, Vilya him into play, and then activate him to look at Unexpected Courage, Refugee, Hasty Stroke. Swap Hidden Cache for Unexpected Courage, put Refugee on top. Exhaust Nenya for +4 willpower, passing by 1. (+2 resources to Elrond, leave Hasty Stroke on top from Expert Treasure Seeker).
Look at top 3, engage another Hawk, and add Eaves of Mirkwood to staging.
Now that I have 2 enemies again: defend one with Tracker (1 damage) and one with Beoren (remove progress from quest, 0 damage).
Round 5 (34 Threat, 9 in staging area assuming Tracker quests, 2 enemies engaged)
Riversong off the top (revealing Elfhelm). Arwen from hand. Unexpected Courange on Gandalf.
Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Riversong, Tracker (completing Old Ford), and Gildor for 13 against 9. Staging reveals a new Watched Path. I play Elfhelm off the top, pipe Beoren for the Cache, and take Cache and Unexpected Courage into hand, revealing a Cloak of Lorien. I reveal another Restless Hunters, for no effect. Exhaust Galadriel for -1 Threat (to 33, dodging the Hunters) and no card draw.
Arwen defends the first attack (bonus to herself) - no shadow effect, she takes 1 damage
Second attack goes undefended - one extra shadow card, but no effect. Gandalf takes 3 damage.
Gandalf + Elfhelm finish off the Hunting Wargs. Beoren activates his rage, and pounds the Hawk - no enemies engaged!
Riversong tells me the top card of the deck is The East Bank. My new top card is Will of the West.
Round 6 (34 Threat, 9 in staging assuming Tracker quests)
Exhaust Gildor to look at Counsel, Treasure Hunter, and Beoren. Swap Counsel for Hidden Cache.
Play Zigil Miner, and mill off Cache and Treasure Hunter for 4 resources, leaving Beoren on top to be played later.
Using my accumulated resources, play Refugee, Bilbo, and Unexpected Courage (Elrond) from hand. Exhaust Courage and Vilya to play Beoren off the top. Use Gandalf's resources to play Unexpected Courage off the top on Galadriel. Pipe to swap Vilya and the Counsel from hand, and it's time to quest.
Counsel off the top, quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Tracker, Arwen (bonus to Bilbo) and the non-kneelers for a total of 14 against a known 12 to be revealed. Galadriel adds 4, finishing the active location, and adding 5 to stage 1 (6/8 complete).
I finally reveal a Signs of Golem, guarded by Hunter's Lookout. Make Watched Path the active location, and optionally engage one Hunter.
Beoren defends, no shadow effect, he takes 1 damage. Gandalf, Elrond, Elfhelm, and Riversong team up and take out the Hunter. Galariel lowers my Threat by 1.
Refresh, move the Signs over to the Hunter (from the Nightmare Card effect), and move to
Round 7 (31 Threat, still 9 in staging, A Test of Will, Hasty Stroke, and Will of the West all in hand, though)
Play Warden of Healing off the top, and move to Quest. My piles of Spirit allies add up to 17 Willpower, when the Heroes are added in. Staging is just another Eaves of Mirkwood, so I make 6 progress, just enough to finish the location (I can draw cards again!) and stage 1 of the quest.
Before that happens, though, I activate Gildor and take a peek at the top 3, and move Boromir to the top (play with Vilya). I reveal The Old Ford for my 1-of-3, and take Gildor and Runes into hand from my deck. With all the Watched Paths gone, I exhaust Galadriel to draw, mill off a Cache with Zigil Miner, and then play 2 Runes (discarding Vilyas each time).
Make Old Ford the active location, and engage the Hunters.
Boromir defends. No shadow effect (another Clue), so he takes 1 damage (and readies). Boromir, Beoren, Gandalf, and Elrond combine to take out the hunter - no enemies in play means I will be able to claim the Clue next turn. Riversong tells me a West Bank is coming up. Warden heals Eldrond and Galadriel for 2 each, refresh, and use Miner to mill off a Hidden Cache before
Round 8 (31 Threat, no enemies)
Play Faramir from hand. Play Ring of Brahir and Burning Brand on Elrond. Pipe a Northern Tracker to the top, and play with Vilya. Play Warden of Healing off the top.
Quest for 27 after exhausting Faramir (2x tracker, Faramir, Arwen (buff Elrond), Refugee, Bilbo, Warden, Gandalf, Elrond) This also clears out several locations. Reveal the West Bank as my choice of 2, then reveal a Hunters, making the total staging threat 9. 18 progress is more than enough to move on to stage 3.
I also draw a Flame of Anor, Cloak of Lorien, Dwarven Tomb (exhaust Galadriel).
Block the 4 attack hunters with 4 defense Elrond, cancel shadow with A Burning Brand. Gang pile to kill them off. Exhaust both wardens to heal all my Heroes to full. Riversong tells me my next encounter card is West Bank. To win, all I need is to quest for 16 next turn.
Round 9:
Draw the last card in my deck. Play as many Elrond's Councel as I can to lower my Threat:
1 from hand
1 Dwarven Tomb from hand
Will of the West to re-shuffle
1 from deck in the Resource phase
1 from deck in the Planning phase (after manipulating with Zigil Miners and Gildor and Galadriel)
1 from deck in the Quest phase
2 Dwarven Tomb from hand in the Quest phase
for a total of -21 threat, leaving me at 9.
Also, play 2 Flame of Anor for no particular reason.
Final Score: 8 rounds + 9 threat + no damage/heroes lost - 2 Flame of Anor VP = 87
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