Keep in mind that Daughter of the Nimrodel can only heal heroes, not allies (so Wilyador can't benefit from her power).

The included radagahst card looks nice for healing if somewhat slow, but better than nothing.

Getting all the athelas out of the deck seems a key thing too.

So five games at rhosgobel. Beaten every time.

First three were leadership/lore/tactics.. just could not quest enough. Badly beaten in stage 1 all times.

Second two games swapped out leadership for spirit. Did much better but still lost.

Think i may give another couple of goes with this deck before changing.

Though Denethor unable to defend against airbourne made him less useful. Maybe berevors card draw would get me radagast out quicker.

Also, other than healing, lore didnt do much these games yet. Thinking of including the song to get lore icon and just have lore healing, then either trisphere with remaining three or go spirit+2xtactics to get more tactics resource.

Not sure yet.

Another few games with same deck first so i can fully appreciate where I think it may be lacking.

I am finding this quest much harder than hunt/gollum or carrock so far. Fun though.

Stay tuned..

Edit: oh and one game i might have won if eowyn didnt die. Theres some nasty damage treacheries in there this deck

Have you been using his encounter deck manipulation ability? Denethor has always been part of my successful straight solo progression decks vs. Rhosgobel.

Used it a bit yes, though if Eowyn is questing and no allies out yes, then he tended to be saved for defense (even though cant if airbourne) and thus only use his ability if no defense used (or exhaust to gain athelas) so it didnt get used as much as i would have thought.

Heres a query, does radagasts ability count as a straight action... or is it a card effect thus making him a discard if he heals wilyador even once?

Thanks

I believe it counts as a card effect, so he would be discarded even if he only heals Wilyador once… at least, that's the way I played it.

Re: Denethor… I find him a good candidate for Unexpected Courage.

It's an effect. It is on a card. Ergo it is a card effect. So yes, he gets discarded.

Eoywn, Bilbo, Denethor is a very good hero group against Rhosgobel. I lost continuously against this quest and I finally built a Eoywn, Bilbo, Denethor deck and I won 9/10 games. Just an option in case you get super stuck!

Thanks for all the comments

I think my deck has too much offensive in it at the moment (worries against airbourne enemies) which is reducing draw against other cards.

Want to have another couple of goes before tweaking again.

The bird lives!!

So a good few game sessions this afternoon. First 2 (maybe 3) were repeat losses at this scenario. Still finding it difficult. So for my last game i decided to deck redesign because i seemed to be holding cards without playing them so far.

So, i wondered what to replace. I needed tactics otherwise i had almost no attack/defense against airborne. I also wanted to keep the healing of lore and eowyns questing and card-countering, but i found i felt i missed key leadership cards like steward of gondor, celebrians stone etc.

So I kept lore and spirit too (with eowyn) and for leadership i included three copies of the song card plus three minstrels to pull them out. Then the sprinkle of leadership cards and i slimmed down some unused cards to make space.

Lastly, with denethor unable to defend against flying, i ditched him for berevor.

It went smooth as silk. Eowyn questing left berevor able to card draw and fairly soon i had the leadership song on eowyn as well as steward of gondor and celebrians stone. So eowyn was questing for loads, getting lots of resource and playing spirit and leadership with those resource.

Berevor kept card draw which meant i pulled all three of the lore healing cards so once i was in phase 2 i was almost waiting for bird to get 6 damage before dialing it back to 1 with a lore heal.

Once i managed to get an athelas (needed to complete game) by shoving gandalf onto its guard (dol guldur beastmaster) it was a big push to the finish over two turns, questing like mad. The penultimate turn played my third lore heal which dropped the birds damage back and the last turn i got final questing points with 3 damage on bird, with one athelas meaning a win yay!

Very pleased to beat it after so many tries and happy it was my own deck design too rather than a borrowed one.

While i can now move onto the next scenario, i think i will try a couple more times first with this deck just to see if i can beat it again first

Onwards

Another two games with same scenario and deck.

Game 1 another win, so this deck is good for this adventure played out very similar to my other success and included kicking chieftan uftacks butt. Was engaged with ungoliant spawn at the end but completed the game before that fully resolved.

Game 2 i got beaten.

Early on i got the treachery that discards all...ALL.. events from your hand and i wad holding two of the three lore-heal cards aaarrgghh!!

I still made a good fight of it with this deck but not one single athelas turned up so bird died during stage 2.

Very happy with my deck solution. Now ive found it, i cant decide if to enjoy some more rhogosbel for a bit or move on to next scenario.... decisions

No desire to try 2-handed, to get a real feel for the way some keywords (e.g., sentinel, ranged) work?

Enjoy Rhosgobel as much as you can. The next scenario is fairly...bland.

No desire to try 2-handed, to get a real feel for the way some keywords (e.g., sentinel, ranged) work?

At the moment, dont really have the extra space for two handed and never certain if i have time for a full game so two handed is less of a priority right now. I like the idea of getting all this fun out of the game single handed and then at a later date being able to go right back to the start and see everything again but different via two handed

Enjoy Rhosgobel as much as you can. The next scenario is fairly...bland.

I do like the fact this game covers light hearted blandness as well as hardcore as it caters to all moods

There is some really beautiful art on the many location cards in Hills of Emyn Muil, which enhances the "journey" feel. I like to hike/trek in the wilderness IRL, so I find HoEM to be, for the most part, a pleasant, relaxing jaunt in Middle-Earth. A nice change of pace from the intensity of most quests.

Yes Emyn Muil has really cool art! Unfortunately, for solo it is rather easy but every once and a while it can trip you up! Personally, I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time on Emyn Muil because it is very repetitive and just a few plays will give you almost the full experience of that quest. However, the last two quests in the Mirkwood cycle are my favorites so looking forward to you facing those! (especially Return to Mirkwood!)

Yes Emyn Muil has really cool art! Unfortunately, for solo it is rather easy but every once and a while it can trip you up! Personally, I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time on Emyn Muil because it is very repetitive and just a few plays will give you almost the full experience of that quest. However, the last two quests in the Mirkwood cycle are my favorites so looking forward to you facing those! (especially Return to Mirkwood!)

Yes, Emyn Muil is good the first couple of times, but it feels pretty much the same every time after that.

Emyn Muil has gotten more hate than any other quest ever. I think it also has to do with the player cards, which were not that great. Personally, I didn't find it that bad. Khamul said the next two were great quests. I'm sorry, but I think the Dead Marshes is a horrible quest. It is my pick for the easiest quest in the game. I can bear it on turn 4 or 5 every game and even the nightmare version is easy. Talk about repetitive, you basically quest, and then quest again. Then, if you are unlucky or bad enough to lose Gollum the quest becomes super lame as you are literally just sitting around and waiting for him to come out again. I don't get it. Why do people hate on Emyn Muil but nobody seems to remark on how terrible Dead Marshes is, much worse and more boring quest. IMHO

I am almost ashamed to admit that I lost a few times to Hills of Emyn Muil (straight solo) as a result of not drawing/being able to put into play certain cards that arguably were critical to victory… I won't name the cards in order to not spoil the quest for alexbobspoons.

The only quest I have never ever lost to in straight solo or 2-handed (so far!) is The Dead Marshes. I'm afraid to play it again for fear that I may lose my perfect record! Still, I enjoyed TDM. It apparently doesn't take much to please me.

Emyn Muil has gotten more hate than any other quest ever. I think it also has to do with the player cards, which were not that great. Personally, I didn't find it that bad. Khamul said the next two were great quests. I'm sorry, but I think the Dead Marshes is a horrible quest. It is my pick for the easiest quest in the game. I can bear it on turn 4 or 5 every game and even the nightmare version is easy. Talk about repetitive, you basically quest, and then quest again. Then, if you are unlucky or bad enough to lose Gollum the quest becomes super lame as you are literally just sitting around and waiting for him to come out again. I don't get it. Why do people hate on Emyn Muil but nobody seems to remark on how terrible Dead Marshes is, much worse and more boring quest. IMHO

Dead Marshes actually requires some strategic decisions on how much willpower you send on the quest and how much you hold back for escape tests. Emyn Muil you just dump a ton on the quest, but most of it goes to waste anyway. If there's combat, it's easy. Rinse and repeat for far too long, just doing the same thing over and over. I'll grant you it doesn't have anything as bad as the possibility of losing gollum in TDM.

Also, you think Dead Marshes is easier than Passage through Mirkwood or Hunt for Gollum?

I do think Dead Marshes is a weak quest because of how easy and quick it is. But I think the hate towards Emyn Muil vs. Dead Marshes may have to do with how the former can drag on while the latter is almost always over in a flash. Much better to watch a boring 5-minute video than a boring 2-hour movie!

Yes, Dead Marshes is easier than Passage and Hunt for Gollum. The "strategy" it takes is very minimal. It is true, however, that the fact it is so easy and quick does improve it's playability. I have been known to try a new deck on it just to smash something.

Yes, Dead Marshes is easier than Passage and Hunt for Gollum. The "strategy" it takes is very minimal. It is true, however, that the fact it is so easy and quick does improve it's playability. I have been known to try a new deck on it just to smash something.

Well the strategy that Emyn Muil takes is pretty much non-existent.

See, when I'm trying a new deck and want to smash something I choose Hunt for Gollum...

I think Emyn Muil could be a better quest if it had a much smaller encounter deck.

Another win at rhosgobel so on to emyn muil