"Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward."

At least that's what the mark on the door indicated. And you've just been hired!

Your journey to Middle Earth, to face the great dragon Smaug, begins at Good Games Chatswood. Twice-monthly Adventure Nights are starting for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - a fantastic cooperative game.

Time & Date: 6:30pm on second and fourth Mondays of the month, commencing Mon 11th August 2014 (See the Good Games Chatswood store calendar)

Location: Good Games Chatswood, Level 1, 16 Anderson Street, Chatswood NSW Australia (Note: entrance is around the corner via the ground-level door on Endeavour St)

Cost: First session is free; standard sessions thereafter are $10 with all money going towards great prizes, like Game Night Kit goodies

What to bring: Players are welcome to borrow a deck or bring their own

What to expect: Beginning with The Hobbit saga, we'll be running each session in Nightmare mode! Newcomers are welcome to join the fellowship any time, and our friendly players are always happy to teach this exciting game to those who have yet to experience it. (There's a reason why The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game made popten's The Top 10 Board Games of All Time - and this game doesn't even have a board! - so it's definitely worth checking out.)

Hope to see you there. May the hair on your toes never fall out!

" In fact, I will go as far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you - and profitable too, very likely, if you ever get over it. " -Gandalf

Just a reminder that this coming Monday night 25th August 2014 we'll be departing The Shire (via Good Games Chatswood) at 6:30pm as we journey forth to The Lonely Mountain, to reclaim the dwarven halls and their treasure.

Our party had a false start last time... (Who'd have thought it would be so difficult to find a burglar willing to face a red dragon!?) ...and our kick-off was postponed to this Monday, so you haven't missed anything yet.

Don't miss out this time, though, as in this initial adventure you might discover a legendary elven blade - Beater, Biter or Sting - that you can carry with you throughout the remaining Hobbit adventures. Better still, there's great prizes to win including a copy of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game core set, and don't forget your first session is free!

Hope to see you there.

"Clap! Snap! the black crack!

Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!

And down down to Goblin-town

You go, my lad!"

The journey continues, as this time we face The Great Goblin and his horde...

We had a fantastic response to our (rescheduled) first event with 8 fearless adventurers taking on the Nightmare Mode challenge of 'We Must Away, Ere Break of Day'*, and there should be even more players tomorrow night. (Newcomers are welcome to join the party any time.)

First session is free, and for everyone else it's $10 to cover the sweet, sweet prizes - like an exclusive The Lord of the Rings playmat!

See you at Good Games Chatswood tomorrow night (Monday 8th September 2014) at 6:30pm.

* For anyone that's interested in the outcome of the first session -- We had two teams of 4 players, each facing off against the three trolls in Nightmare Mode, and both parties were defeated by the game - twice - but still had a lot of fun trying. And we finally got the better of Bert, Tom and William after dropping back down to normal mode.

“Where did you go to, if I may ask?” said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.

“To look ahead,” said he.

“And what brought you back in the nick of time?”

“Looking behind,” said he.

If you've been thinking about joining the quest, this coming Monday 22nd September at 6:30pm is the perfect time to do so as we're restarting The Hobbit saga - this time in Standard mode*. Having grown from 8 players to 11, and with another two at least already confirmed for the next session (though there's always room for more!), now everyone can commence their adventure at the beginning. Also, players will have another chance to discover the legendary blades Glamdring, Orcrist and Sting in the trolls' cave - special Treasure cards that can then be used throughout the remainder of The Hobbit story.

Remember, first session is free (and thereafter it's $10 to be entered in the prize draws), and you don't need to bring anything as you are welcome to borrow a player deck (or if you have your own cards then you can alternatively bring your own deck to use).

In addition to cracking an entire Game Night Kit and other prizes every session, we're also introducing a special monthly prize. For each paid session you participate in during the month you get an entry to win the monthly prize (so if you pay and play in both twice-monthly adventure nights, you'll get two entries in the draw). The prize for this month of September is a fantastic (and safe to use) replica of Bilbo's sword: Sting .

Hope to see you at Good Games Chatswood!

* Last session report: Alas, not even Gandalf could save our 11 fearless adventurers as we faced Stone Giants, followed by the Great Goblin and his horde, in Nightmare mode. Our three separate parties (of 4, 4 and 3 players respectively) each attempted the challenge and were thwarted - twice, just like our first Nightmare mode session previously. Still, it was a rousing adventure and we laughed off our misfortunes.

Nevertheless, having been soundly beaten by Nightmare mode in both sessions now, we will be changing the format from the next session: scenarios will be played in Standard mode first to give us a fighting chance, and if successful (and time permitting) players can then re-attempt the scenario in Nightmare mode.

In this, the second of seven stories from The Hobbit saga, we will be facing the Great Goblin and his hordes...

- Golf*, anyone? -

...Join us at Good Games Chatswood, 7pm Monday 13th October, as we journey on towards The Lonely Mountain seeking to reclaim the gold and home of the dwarves from Smaug the Terrible.

P.S. You should see the wicked major prize we have up for grabs this month! https://www.facebook.com/ChatswoodGoodGames/posts/540432406089091

P.P.S. Last session report: We increased in size again to 12 players, with some as young as 10 and others as not-so-young as 41, and faced off against the three trolls in 'We Must Away, Ere Break of Day'. Even in standard mode they were fierce brutes, but all three adventuring parties (4 players each) eventually succeeded in defeating them - with Gandalf's help of course - and two of the three groups also managed to discover the Troll Cave, and the elven blades of Sting, Orcrist and Glamdring within, which they get to take and use throughout the remainder of The Hobbit saga adventures.

* “Excitable little fellow,” said Gandalf, as they sat down again. “Gets funny ***** fits, but he is one of the best, one of the best—as fierce as a dragon in a pinch.”

If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to Old Took’s great-grand-uncle Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their king Golfimbul’s head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit-hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment.