GAME 167 – INTO THE PIT

In honor of starting the Khazad-Dum expansion I brought in a deck full of Dwarves. My heroes were Bifur, Dain Ironfoot and Nori for a starting threat of 27.

My starting hand was:

Lore Of Imladris

Legacy of Durin

Erebor Hammersmith

Self-Preservation

Ered Nimrais Prospector

Erebor Record-Keeper

Since it didn't have any of the cards I really wanted I decided to mulligan, drawing:

Lure of Moria

Ever My Heart Rises

Legacy of Durin

Steward of Gondor

Zigil Miner

Hardy Leadership

Set-up for the quest consists of placing East Gate as the starting location and attaching the Cave Torch to Nori before drawing Burning Low, which does nothing.

Turn One

Resource Phase

I added a resource to my heroes.

I drew Miner of the Iron Hills.

Planning Stage

I played Ever My Heart Rises on Bifur.

Quest Phase

I committed Bifur (for three) and Nori (for three) for a total of six willpower.

I drew Patrol Leader for a total of three threat.

Three progress was placed onto East Gate.

Refresh Phase

I refreshed my cards.

I increased my threat to twenty eight.

Turn Two

Resource Phase

I added a resource to all my heroes.

I drew Hardy Leadership again.

Planning Phase

I spent two resources from Dain Ironfoot to play Steward of Gondor on Dain Ironfoot.

I exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Dain Ironfoot.

I spent two resources from Dain Ironfoot to play Hardy Leadership on Dain Ironfoot.

I spent one resource from Bifur to play Legacy of Durin on Bifur.

I spent two resources from Nori to play Zigil Miner, reducing my threat to twenty seven and drawing Erebor Hammersmith.

Quest Stage

I committed Bifur for three, Nori for three and Zigil Miner for two for a total of eight willpower.

I drew Goblin Tunnels for a total of five threat. Another three progress was placed onto East Gate.

I risk exhausting Cave Torch to add three progress onto Goblin Tunnels. The draw is Branching Paths and is discarded.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty eight.

Turn Three

Resource Phase

I added a resource to my heroes.

I drew A Test Of Will.

I exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Dain Ironfoot.

Planning Phase

I spent two resources from Bifur to play Erebor Hammersmith, then reduced my threat to twenty seven and drew Ever My Heart Rises.

I played Ever My Heart Rises on Nori.

Quest Phase

I committed Bifur for three, Nori for three, Zigili Miner for two and Erebor Hammersmith for two for a total of ten willpower.

I drew Zigil Mineshaft for 5 threat.

I exhausted Cave Torch to add 3 progress to Zigil Mineshaft. The draw was Stairs of Nain, which is discarded.

I increased my threat to twenty eight to add a progress to Zigil Mineshaft.

I increased my threat to twenty nine to add a progress to Zigil Mineshaft and explore it.

The threat total was five against ten willpower. Five progress is made, one explores East Gate and adds it to the victory display. Four progress is added to stage 1B leaving me with three progress to make.

I added First Hall to the staging area.

Travel Phase

I travel to Goblin Tunnels. Since it is a underground location I refresh Bifur and Nori and reduce my threat to twenty seven.

Encounter Phase

I opted to not engage the Patrol Leader.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty eight.

Turn Four

Resource Phase

I added a resource to my heroes.

I drew Narvi's Belt.

I exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Dain Ironfoot.

Planning Phase

I spent two resources from Dain Ironfoot to play Narvi's Belt on Dain Ironfoot.

I exhausted Narvi's Belt to give Dain Ironfoot the Lore icon.

I spent one resource from Bifur and one from Dain Ironfoot to pay for Miner of the Iron Hills which reduces my threat to twenty seven before I drew Dwalin.

I spent one resource from Nori to play Dwalin, which drops my threat to twenty six before I drew Zigil Miner.

Quest Phase

I committed Bifur for three, Nori for three, Zigil Miner for two, Erebor Hammersmith for two, Miner of the Iron Hills for one and Dwalin for two.

In addition to the five in the staging area I drew Goblin Swordsman for one threat.

The willpower is thirteen against six threat. Seven progress is made.

Four progress explores the Goblin Tunnels and three of seven progress goes onto stage 1B.

Travel Phase

I raised my threat to twenty nine to travel to First Hall, which due to it being a underground location, readies Bifur and Nori and drops my threat to twenty seven.

At this point I should point out that I could not believe how tough this deck is. I'm mid-way through turn four and I'm on the same threat as I started on. I have no idea why Ever My Heart Rises isn't unique. Anyway, rant over. Back to the action..

Encounter Phase

I engage the Goblin Swordsman.

Combat Phase

The Goblin Swordsman attacks Bifur.

The shadow card is Watchful Eyes, no effect.

The Goblin Swordsman does one damage to Bifur.

Dain Ironfoot and Nori attack for three, killing the Goblin Swordsman.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty eight.

Turn Five

Resource Phase

I added a resource to my heroes.

I drew Self-Preservation.

I exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Dain Ironfoot.

Planning Phase

I exhausted Narvi's Belt to give Dain Ironfoot the Spirit icon for this phase.

I spent one icon each from Dain Ironfoot and Nori to play another Zigil Miner. This drops my threat to twenty seven and draws Longbeard Orc Slayer.

I spent four resources from Dain Ironfoot to play the Longbeard Orc Slayer who does one damage to the Patrol Leader as well as lowering my threat to twenty six and drawing Lore of Imladris.

Quest Phase

I committed Bifur (for three), Nori (for three), Zigil Miner (for two), Erebor Hammersmith (for two), Dwalin (for two) and Zigil Miner (for two).

In addition to the three already in the staging area I drew Crumbling Ruin and exhaust the Miner of The Iron Hills before drawing Legacy of Durin from my deck. Since it is a cheaper card than the Miner it is safe.

I made fourteen willpower against three threat, making eleven progress. Two explore the First Hall and add it to the victory display and another four complete stage 1B. As soon as I explore the Bridge of Khazad-Dum I can proceed to stage 2.

the Bridge of Khazad-Dum is added to the staging area.

Travel Phase

I travel to the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, which due to it being a underground location, readies Bifur and Nori and lowers my threat to twenty four.

Encounter Phase

I opt to not engage the Patrol Leader.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increased my threat to twenty five.

Turn Six

Resource Phase

I add a resource to my heroes.

I draw Sneak Attack.

I exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Dain Ironfoot.

I spend one resource from Dain Ironfoot to add one resource to Bifur.

Quest Phase

I committed Bifur for three, Nori for three and the two Zigil Miners for four.

In addition to the three in the staging area I drew Lightless Passage for four.

I make ten willpower to the seven threat, meaning that I make three progress, which is enough to explore Bridge of Khazad-Dum, addi it to the victory display and proceed to stage 2.

Stage 2B tells me to add another Patrol Leader to the staging area and states that if there are no enemies in the staging area I proceed directly to stage 3.

Travel Phase

I exhaust the Cave Torch to travel to Lightless Passage. This refreshes Bifur and Nori and reduces my threat to twenty three.

Encounter Phase

I optionally engage the wounded Patrol Leader.

Combat Phase

The wounded Patrol Leader attacks the Miner of the Iron Hills.

The shadow card is Fouled Well, for no effect.

The Patrol Leader does four damage to the Miner of the Iron Hills, killing him.

Bifur, Nori and the Longbeard Orc Slayer attack for seven, killing the Patrol Leader.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty four.

Turn Seven

Resource Phase

I add a resource to my heroes.

I draw Zigil Miner.

I exhaust Steward of Gondor to add two more resources to Dain Ironfoot.

Planning Phase

I spend two resources from Nori to play Zigil Miner, reducing my threat to twenty three and drawing Miner of the Iron Hills.

I spend one resource from Dain Ironfoot to add it to Bifur.

I spend three resources from Bifur to play Self-Preservation onto Bifur.

I exhaust Self-Preservation to heal the wound on Bifur.

I spend two resources from Bifur to play Miner of the iron Hills. This reduces my threat to twenty two and draws another Self-Preservation.

I exhaust Narvi's Belt to add a lore icon to Dain Ironfoot.

I spend three resources from Dain Ironfoot to play another Self-Preservation on Bifur.

Quest Phase

I commit Bifur for three, Nori for three and the three Zigil Miners for six.

In addition to the three threat in play I draw Many Roads which shuffles all locations back into the encounter deck before it surges to Dreadful Gap, which replaces Lightless Passage. The bad thing is that I need to make ten progress to pass it.

After adding Lightless Passage there is a total of seven threat in play to my twelve willpower. Five progress goes onto Dreadful Gap.

Encounter Phase

I optionally engage the Patrol Leader.

Combat Phase

The Patrol Leader attacks the Miner of the Iron Hills.

The shadow card is Signs of Conflict which increases my threat to twenty four.

The Patrol Leader does four damage to the Miner of the Iron Hills, kiliing it.

The Longbeard Orc Slayer, Erebor Hammersmith and Dwalin attack for 7, the draw is Zigil Mineshaft, which means that the Patrol Leader is killed. This completes stage 2.

Refresh Stage

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty five.

Turn Eight

Resource Phase

I draw King Under The Mountain.

Quest Phase

I commit Bifur for three, Nori for three, three Zigil Miners for six, Erebor Hammersmith for two, Dwalin for two and Longbeard Orc Slayer for one.

In addition to the four threat in play I draw Stairs of Nain for two.

I make seventeen willpower against six threat meaning that eleven progress is made. Four explores Dreadful Gap and sends it to the victory display before seven progress goes onto stage 3B.

Travel phase

I travel to Lightless Passage, refreshing Bifur and Nori and reducing my threat to twenty three.

I exhaust the Cave Torch to add three progress to Lightless Passage and draw Signs of Conflict which is discarded.

Refresh Phase

I refresh my cards.

I increase my threat to twenty four.

Turn Nine

Resource Phase

I draw Gloin.

Quest Phase

I commit Bifur for three, Nori for three, three Zigil Miners for six, Erebor Hammersmith for two, Dwalin for two and Longbeard Orc Slayer for one.

In addition to the two threat in the staging area I draw another Stairs of Nain for two threat.

I exhaust Cave Torch to add the final progress to Lightless Passage before drawing Zigil Mineshaft, which is discarded.

My willpower is seventeen against four threat so thirteen progress is made. It is more than enough to explore stage 3B and win the quest.

This deck is ridiculous. I spent nine turns and ended up with a lower threat than I started off with. The final score was:

Completed Turns (8): 80

Threat: 24.

VP: 7

Total Score: 97.

There are now over 200 replies to this thread. That's close enough to 200 games, right?

If you read his last post, he is now at 167 games.

I know. I was just jokingly saying that 200 replies to the thread was close enough to playing 200 games that he might as well call it quits, which is obviously not true. Mostly I just wanted to point out the 200 reply milestone in a silly way.

thanks, it's so freaky that I've got so many replies to this thread. When I started this I was hoping some folks might at least look at the thread. To be on page 11 already is a big plus.

GAME 168 – THE SEVENTH LEVEL

After having a moment of briliance (nothing to do with watching the start of The Two Towers last night) I decided to try a 'Three Hunters' deck with Aragorn (Leadership), Gimli and Legolas. The up side is that they are tough heroes. The down side is that I wind up with a threat of 32.

After a mulligan I drew Bofur, Citadel Plate x2, Feint, Song of Battle and Steward of Gondor.

For quest set-up I add Book of Mazarbul to Aragorn before drawing Goblin Spearman.

Turn One

I added a resource to each hero before drawing Galadhon Archer.

In the planning phase I spent one resource from Gimli and Legolas to play Galadhon Archer who does one damage to Gondor Spearman.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for two and Gimli for two for a total of four willpower before I drew Goblin Spearman for a total of three threat. I make one progress on stage 1B.

In the encounter phase I was forced to engage both Goblin Spearman and Gobln Swordsman.

In the combat phase the Goblin Spearman attacks Aragorn for two, doing no damage. The Goblin Swordsman then attacked the Galadhon Archer for 3, killing her. Legolas then attacked the Goblin Swordsman for three, killing it and adding two progress to stage 1B.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to 33.

Turn Two

I added a resource to all my heroes then drew Nalth Guide.

In the planning phase I used two resources from Aragorn to buy Steward of Gondor. I then exhausted the Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Aragorn and used the two resources to purchase Nalth Guide, who makes it that Gimli doesn't need to exhaust to quest this turn.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for two, Gimli for two and Nalth Guide for one for five total willpower. I then drew Upper Hall for three which increases my threat to thirty five. Two progress goes onto stage 1B.

In the travel phase I travelled to Upper Hall.

In the combat phase the Goblin Spearman attacked Gimli for no damage. In return Legolas killed the Goblin Spearman, adding another two progress onto Upper Hall.

To end the turn I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to thirty six.

Turn Three

At the start of the round I added a resource to all my heroes and drew Blade of Gondolin. I then exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resoueces to Aragorn.

In the planning phase I used a resource from Aragorn to play Song of Battle on Aragorn. I then spent two resources each from Gimli and Legolas to play Citadel Plate on Aragorn before spending one resource from Aragorn to play Blade of Gondolin on Legolas.

Proceeding to the quest phase I committed Aragorn for two, Gimli for two and Nalth Guide for one for a total five willpower. I then drew another Goblin Spearman for two total threat. Three progress was made, two explored Upper Hall and one progress was added to stage 1B.

In the encounter phase I engaged the Goblin Spearman.

In the combat phase the Goblin Spearman attacked Aragorn, doing no damage. In return, Legolas attacked the Goblin Spearman, killing him and adding another two progress to stage 1B.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to thirty seven.

Turn Four

I added a resource to my heroes before drawing Boromir. I then exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two resources to Aragorn.

In the planning phase I used one resource each from Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to play Bofur who I then exhausted to look for a Weapon in the top five cards of my deck. I hit lucky and put Dwarrowdelf Axe into my hand before spending a resource from Aragorn to play Dwarrowdelf Axe on Gimli. I ended the phase by spending the last two resources on Aragorn to play Celebrian's Stone on Aragorn.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for two, Gimli for two and Nalth Guide for one for a total five willpower. I then drew Goblin Scout for a total of three threat. Another two progress went onto stage 1B.

In the encounter phase the Goblin Scout engaged me before attacking Aragorn. The attack did no damage but the shadow card added a Goblin Swordsman to the staging area. Legolas then killed the Goblin Swordsman to add three progress to stage 1B.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before raising my threat to thirty eight.

Turn Five

To begin the turn I added a resource to each hero, exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two more resources to Aragorn and drew Errand-Rider.

In the planning phase I used four resources from Aragorn to play Boromir before spending the last resource from Aragorn to play Errand-Rider.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for four, Nalth Guide for one and Bofur for two for a total seven willpower. I then drew Plundered Armory for a total of four threat. The three progress I made completes stage 1B.

Stage 2 removes the Book of Mazarbul from play.

In the travel phase I travel to the Plundered Armoury.

In the encounter phase the Goblin Swordsman engages me before attacking Aragorn and doing two damage to him. In revenge, Legolas kills the Goblin Swordsman and adds two progress to the Plundered Armoury, exploring it and adding Citadel Plate to Aragorn before adding one progress to stage 2B.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before raising my threat to thirty nine.

Turn Six

As the turn started I added a resource to each hero, exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two more resources to Aragorn and drew Nalth Guide.

In the planning phase I used two resources from Aragorn to play Nalth Guide, nominating Aragorn to not have to commit to quest this turn.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for four, two Nalth Guides for two and Bofur for two for a total eight willpower. I then drew Goblin Swordsman for two before the regular staging draw was Goblin Spearman for a total four threat. Four progress went onto stage 2B.

In the encounter phase I engaged Goblin Spearman and Goblin Swordsman. The Goblin Spearman then attacked Aragorn, doing one damage while the Goblin Swordsman attacked Boromir, doing one damage and readying him. In return, Legolas attacked the Goblin Swordsman, killing him and adding three progress to stage 2B. Gimli and Boromir then attacked the Goblin Spearman and killed it.

At the end of the round I refreshed before increasing my threat to forty.

Turn Seven

To start with I added a resource to each hero, exhausted Steward of Gondor to add two more resources to Aragorn and drew another Errand-Rider.

In the planning phase I used one resource from Aragorn to play another Errand-Rider.

In the quest phase I committed Aragorn for four, Gimli for two, Legolas for one, two Nalth Guides for two, Bofur for two and Boromir for one for total twelve willpower.

I then draw for stage 2B for no effect before staging drawing Goblin Spearman for two total threat. Ten progress is made, completing the stage and winning the quest.

This deck was different to most decks I've played before. The heroes were tougher than most but the high threat adds a sense of urgency that most decks don't. All in all, it was fun and I'll definitely be using this deck for the next quest.

Deleted duplicate post.

Edited December 3, 2014 by silverthorn

Posting the same reply twice helps lengthing the thread at least. ;p

I have no idea how that happened, it's probably fate that when I did it was just after I had made a comment about how well the whole thing was going.

GAME 169 – ESCAPE FROM MORIA

Due to having to build a deck for a run-through of the Fellowship saga scenarios and having been told that all the nine members of the Fellowship have been blagged by the other players I had to go back to the drawing board.

Armed with a list of characters who were already taken I decided to go with a eclectic set of heroes. Bilbo Baggins for extra card draw, Denethor for encounter deck manipulation and Eowyn for questing. This gives me a useable starting threat of twenty six.

After a mulligan my starting hand was Erebor Hammersmith, Miner of the Iron Hills, Short Cut, Song of Travel, The Galadhrim's Greeting and Unexpected Courage.

Quest set-up was to add the Nameless Fear to the staging area and draw and add the Mountains Roots to the staging area before putting stage 1B into the victory display and selecting a random stage 2A.

Turn one begins with me adding a resource to all my heroes before drawing Elrond and Hasty Stroke.

Proceeding to the planning stage I used one resource from Bilbo to play Song of Travel on Denethor before using one resource each from Denethor and Eowyn to play Unexpected Courage on Denethor. I ended the phase by exhausting Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, another The Mountains' Roots, and place it back at the top of the deck before exhausting Unexpected Courage to refresh him.

In the quest phase I committed Eowyn and Bilbo for a total of five willpower. I then flipped stage 2A to A Wrong Turn, which adds The Mountains' Roots to the staging area. In addition to the Nameless Fear (two) and the two The Mountains' Roots (one each) I drew Abandoned Tools, which was guarded by Fouled Well (three) for a total of seven threat. I discarded Elrond from my hand to avoid it surging. My threat was increased to twenty eight.

In the travel phase I travelled to the Fouled Well.

At the end of the combat phase I bypassed A Wrong Turn before exhausting Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck.it is a Chieftain of the Pit, who I put at the bottom of the encounter deck.

At the end of turn one I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to twenty nine.

Turn Two

At the start of turn two I added a resource to my heroes before drawing Arwen Undomiel and Henamarth Riversong. This is a fine pair of cards to draw.

During planning I used one resource from Bilbo to play Henamarth Riversong, then used one resource each from Denethor and Eowyn to play Arwen Undomiel. I then exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the deck, using Unexpected Courage to ready him. The card was another The Mountains' Roots which I returned to the top of the deck.

During questing I committed Eowyn for four, Bilbo for one, Arwen for two (adding her defence buff to Denethor) and Henamarth Riversong for one for a total of eight willpower.

I then flipped stage 2 to Escape From Darkness before drawing another The Mountains' Roots (I did shuffle the deck twice) for a total of five threat. Three progress is put onto Fouled Well before i exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, Goblin Archer. I move it to the bottom of the deck.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards and raised my threat to thirty.

Turn Three

At the start of the turn I added a resource to my heroes before drawing Gleowine and the Galadhrim's Greeting.

In the planning phase I used one resource each from Bilbo and Denethor to pay for Gleowine, who I immediately to draw another Arwen Undomiel. I then exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, exhausting Unexpected Courage to ready him. The card, Great Cave Troll, was sent to the bottom of the deck.

In the quest phase I committed Bilbo for one, Eowyn for four, Arwen for two (adding her defence buff to Denethor) and Henamarth Riversong for one. This gave me a total willpower of eight.

The staging draw was Massing In The Deep, which raises my threat to thirty one as well as adding another card, Sudden Pitfall, which discards Henamarth Riversong.

That leaves me with a reduced willpower of seven against five in the staging area. Two progress is placed onto Fouled Well, which explores it and allows me to exhaust Bilbo to attach Abandoned Tools to him. I then exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, Undisturbed Bones, and place it at the bottom of the encounter deck.

In the travel phase I travelled to one of the The Mountains Roots.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to thirty two.

Turn Four

To start the turn I added a resource to all my heroes before drawing Daeron's Runes and Galadriel's Handmaiden. I immediately played Daeron's Runes to draw Elrond and Core Set Gandalf. I then discarded Elrond before exhausting Gleowine to draw another Daeron's Runes (I checked, and the card under Elrond in the discard pile was the last Daeron's Runes). I then played the Daeron's Runes to draw Lore of Imladris and Song of Travel. Still no Fast Hitch and I decided to discard the Song of Travel.

Finally moving onto the planning stage I used the two resources on Eowyn to play Galadriel's Handmaiden who lowers my threat to thirty one. I then spent one resource each from Bilbo and Denethor to play Erebor Hammersmith, which returns the Song of Travel to my hand.

In the quest phase I commit Eowyn for four, Denethor for one, Arwen for two (buffing Denethor), Galadriel's Handmaiden for two and Erebor Hammersmith for one for a total of ten willpower. before drawing Undisturbed Bones, which makes me do four damage to a ally. Gleowine takes the hit for the team. The total threat is four, meaning that six progress is put on The Mountains Roots, exploring it.

In the travel phase I travel to another The Mountains Roots. I then exhausted Unexpected Courage to refresh Denethor before exhausting him to look at the top card of the encounter deck, Goblin Spearman, and put him at the bottom of the deck.

At the end of the turn I refreshed all my cards before increasing my threat to thirty two and exhausting Bilbo to add one progress to stage 2B.

Turn Five

To start off I added a resource to all my heroes before drawing A Test Of Will and Fast Hitch.i then exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the deck, Great Cave Troll, and put it at the bottom of the deck. I then used Unexpected Courage to refresh him.

In the planning stage I used one resource from Bilbo to give him Fast Hitch. I ended the phase by exhausting Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, Shadow of Fear, and move it to the bottom of the deck.

In the quest phase I committed Eowyn for four, Arwen for two (buffing Bilbo) and Galadriel's Handmaiden for two for a total of eightm willpower.

The staging draw was another Fouled Well, which forces me to exhaust Bilbo and makes for a total of six threat. Four progress is made which explores the Mountains Roots. I then used Fast Hitch to refresh Bilbo,

In the travel phase I travelled to Fouled Well.

in the refresh phase I refresh all my cards before exhausting Bilbo to add a progress to stage 2B before readying him by exhausting Fast Hitch to exhaust him to do another progress onto stage 2B. I then increased my threat to thirty three.

Turn Six

With one progress left to make to finish the game all I need to do is finish the turn with Bilbo alive. With this in mind I added a resource to all my heroes before drawing Galadriel's Handmaiden and Imladris Stargazer. I then exhausted Denethor to look at the top card of the encounter deck, Goblin Spearman, which I put on the bottom of the deck. I then exhausted Unexpected Courage to refresh Denethor before exhausting him again to look at the top encounter card again. The card is Plundered Armoury which I put back at the top of the deck.

In the quest phase I commit Eowyn for four, Arwen for two, Galadriel's Handmaiden for two and Erebor Hammersmith for one for a total of nine willpower.

Not unsurprisingly, the top card is Armoury for three making a total of six threat. Three progress went onto Fouled Well.

At the end of the turn I refreshed and increased my threat to thirty four before using two resources from Eowyn and one from Denethor to play The Galadhrim's Greeting and drop my threat back to twenty eight. I then exhausted Bilbo to add a final progress to Escape From Darkness and win the game.

This was interesting. The addition of Bilbo instead of Gimli makes the deck more of a sneaky deck where avoiding fights is more important than winning them.

Edited December 5, 2014 by silverthorn

GAME 170 – THE REDHORN GATE

My new line-up is the 'E Team' consisting of Eladan, Elrohir and Eowyn. This gives me a starting threat of 29.

My starting hand was Errand-Rider, Galadhon Archer, Gondorian Spearman, Hasty Stroke, Steward of Gondor and Unexpected Courage.

Set-up for the quest consisted of Adding Caradhras to the staging area and Arwen as a ally before drawing Black Uruks to the staging area.

Turn One

I commenced the game by adding a resource to each of my heroes before drawing Hasty Stroke. I then used 1 resource from Elrohir to play Errand-Rider before exhausting the Errand-Rider to move a resource from Elladan to Eowyn. I then used the 2 resources on Eowyn to play Unexpected Courage on Elrohir.

In the quest phase I committed Elrohir for 1 (refreshing him with Unexpected Courage), Eowyn for 2 and Arwen Undomiel for 1 (adding her resource to Elrohir) for a total of 5 willpower.

In addition to Caradhras (3) and the Black Uruks (2) I drew Fell Voices which had no effect other than to surge to Mountain Wargs (2) for a total of 7 threat. My threat increased to 31.

In the encounter phase I engaged the Mountain Wargs who attacked Elrohir for a total of 5 attack. 2 damage went onto Elrohir.

Eladan then attacked, doing 1 point of damage to the Mountain Warg.

At the end of the turn I refreshed my cards before increasing my threat to 32.

Turn Two

After adding resources I drew Feint before I used the two resources on Elrohir to pay for Steward of Gondor and play it on Elrohir. I then exhausted Steward of Gondor to add 2 resources to Elrohir. I then exhausted Errand-Rider to move a resources from Elrohir to Elladan before spending two resources from Elladan to play Gondorian Spearman.

In the quest phase I committed Eowyn for 3 and Arwen for 1 (adding her resource to Elladan) for a total of 4 willpower.

In addition to Caradhras (3) and Black Uruks (2) I drew Warg Lair (1) which forced me to search the deck for another Mountain Wargs (2) for a total of 8 threat. My threat increases to 36.

In the travel phase I travelled to Warg Lair.

In the encounter phase I was forced to encounter Black Uruks and the new Mountain Wargs.

In the combat phase the Black Uruks attacked Elrohir for 3, doing no damage. Elrohir used Unexpected Courage to ready before before the wounded Mountain Warg attacked for 5, doing 2 damage and killing him. To end the combat round, the unwounded Mountain Warg attacked Elladan, doing 2 damage.

At this point, on turn two with a hero dead and three enemies engaged with me I decided to throw in the towel.

I just noticed something as I looked the cards over in preparation for the second tilt at the quest. I misread the Caradhras card and it explains something of a reason why I couldn't get anywhere in a try and a half.

GAME 171 - THE FORDS OF ISEN

Heroes: Eomer, Eowyn and Hama.

After talking to the guys who I'll hopefully be playing multi-player with at the weekend I found out that out of the three decks they're using no-one is using any Rohan heroes so I decided to do a deck to redress the balance. This deck went remarkably well, although all my heroes were bearing wounds at the end of the game due to the stage 2B time counter shortage. This was countered by drawing 7 cards on the one occasion where the time counters ran out and drawing no enemies. All in all it was a good first time out of the deck box for the Riddenmark's Finest.

GAMES 172 THROUGH 177 - THE FELLOWSHIP SAGA BOXES

Decks: Eomer, Eowyn and Hama. Aragorn (Leadership), Gandalf and Glorfindel (Spirit). Merry (Tactics), Pippin and Sam Gamgee. Boromir (Leadership), Gimli and Legolas.

I've grouped these into one report since it went by in a rush for me and I was in too much of a hurry to really take notes (I really need to get more experience of multi-player play). During the game I wound up mostly using Hama's ability to recycle Feint to stop attacks on Frodo with Eowyn committing to quests and Eomer killing enemies when I needed to.

Highlights for me included: Eomer and Hama killing more than their fair share of Nazgul, Hama getting knocked down to one wound on about three occasions and Eowyn becoming a warrior (and getting Unexpected Courage so that she could contribute to fighting enemies.

Att the end of Breaking of the Fellowship I had managed to get my heroes through all six quests without losing a hero (although Haldir had taken the place of the fallen Legolas and Dwalin had taken the place of Gandalf after he thematically sacrificed himself against the Balrog in Moria).

With Hama a prisoner of the Uruk-Hai the story was halted until the next box set comes out. After playing six games in a day I'm going to retire my Rohan deck in favour of something else.

GAME 178 - TO CATCH AN ORC

Heroes: Aragorn (Lore), Glorfindel (Spirit), Prince Imrahil

This was a deck design I've never tried before but, hoo boy did it work. It took a while because Mugash was the bottom enemy in my out-of-play deck but the game went a lot better than I expected. In the last turn I drew Gandalf so I hit Mugash for the last wounds I needed to take and quested for 27 (using Sword That Was Broken and Henamarth to know that there was a chump location coming out of the encounter deck) to win Stage 3B in a turn.

My final score was:

Completed Turns (11): 110

Threat: 33

Damage: 1

VP: 0

Total: 144

GAME 179 - INTO ITHILIEN

Heroes; Aragorn (Lore), Glorfindel (Spirit), Prince Imrahil

This deck again showed it's quality as I shot through this quest at great speed. By the time I had Faramir and Blade That Was Broken in play I managed to quest for 18, just beating the threat on Stage 2B and beat the quest.

My score was:

Completed Turns (3): 30

Threat: 39

Hero Damage: 0

Dead Hero: 0

VP: 0

Total: 69

Edited December 11, 2014 by silverthorn

GAME 180 - THE DUNLAND TRAP

Heroes; Aragorn (Lore), Glorfindel (Spirit), Prince Imrahil

This one was closer than the points (and final threat) suggest. I survived mostly by killing ridiculous amounts of allies. My threat is so low because I drew all three Elrond's Counsels in turn one and blew the lot, knowing that they would be discarded by the time counter effect. My final score was:

Completed Turns (10): 100

Threat: 24

Damage on surviving heroes: 5

VP: 4

Total: 135

GAME 181 - THE THREE TRIALS

Heroes: Beorn, Beregond, Eowyn

I decided to try this deck out for size and it worked pretty well. Lots of Eagle and questy allies (and, in a first for me, a game where hero Gandalf was not involved and I didn't play Core Gandalf). The game was a bloody affair but I squeeked a win.

The final score was:

Completed Turns (10): 100

Threat: 38

Damage on Surviving heroes: 17

VP: 15

Total: 138.

GAME 182 - TROUBLE IN THARBAD

Heroes; Beorn, Beregond, Eowyn

This mission disproved the one doubt I had about this deck, that the questers couldn't operate as fast as Beorn and Beregond could handle combat. After I got all three Ethir Swordsmen into play I was questing for 20-odd per turn. The game went better than I had expected.

My final score was:

Completed turns (7): 70

Threat: 0

Damage: 0

VP: 0

Total: 70

18 more games. Dang. You're playing a dozen games to my 1 or 2. I wish I had the time for that.

I think that as soon as I finish Celebrimbor's Secret I'll temporarily call a halt until The Antlered Crown (I think that's the name, the last release in this cycle) comes out. I may go back to playing games online where I only use the cards released when the quest was released since it was fun, if more challenging.

GAME 183 - PASSAGE THROUGH MIRKWOOD (PROGRESSION)

Heroes: Denethor, Eowyn, Gimli

I decided to go back to playing through all the quests in release order online. The deck I tried worked well as Denethor (as soon as I got a Unexpected Courage on him) filtered out most of the risky cards in the deck.

GAME 184 - THE NIN-IN-ELIPH

Heroes; Gimli, Nori, Thalin

I keep on being drawn back to playing Dwarves, I decided to try a non-Dain deck and it ran a little slowly compared to the others I've tried so I may make a few substitutions before I play Celebrimbor's Secret. Regardless, a win is a win (although the only thing which stopped me threating out was Nori's ability.

GAME 185 - JOURNEY DOWN THE ANDUIN (PROGRESSION)

Heroes: Denethor, Eowyn, Gimli

The deck once again made great use of Denethor's ability to see the top encounter card but I was on turn 22 when I ended the game in a sweet, hard thought victory. I managed to kill the enemies as they came up on stage 2 and the staging area was clear of enemies when I proceeded to stage 3.

GAME 186 - CELEBRIMBOR'S SECRET

Heroes: Bifur, Dain Ironfoot, Nori

This deck made this deck seem a lot easier than I suspect it is. I was on stage 2 on turn 6 when I used Untroubled By Darkness, quested enough to hit 12 progress, then used Lure of Moria to ready everyone, let a Zigil Minor take the hit from Bellach and killed him with nine angry Dwarves.

GAME 187 - ESCAPE FROM DOL GOLDUR (PROGRESSION)

Heroes: Denethor, Eowyn, Gimli

This was a scrappy affair, all my heroes had at best 2 wounds left and I had gotten through a ridiculously high amount of allies. I hit lucky that Gimli was the captured hero and two of the Guarding cards on the objectives were treachery. All in all, I got exceedingly lucky with my draw.