Bard is underrated. Plus, now that Elf-friend exists, you can throw Rivendell Blades on him!
A Random Walk to Mordor #1
Well, my ranged decks usually have both Bard the Bowman AND Legolas. Bard's attack is potent enough, so he can manage being seated on the Rohan Warhorse to penetrate multiple enemies per turn.
Quest: Into the Pit
Heroes: Balin, Glorfindel (Lore), Erestor [used the first 3 heroes because I was playing solo]
I chose this one because I haven't really tried out the new Erestor hero yet, and I figured it would be good to pair him with a Leadership hero to help pay for those cards. Turns out I never ended up using that synergy after all.
Deckbuilding
My first attempt was to build a Dwarf Swarm deck. I figured Erestor would help me get through my deck to get all of those dwarves into play quickly. In practice, however, I wasn't loving the low willpower and attack available from the cheaper Lore dwarves, and the Leadership dwarves were a bit too expensive. Plus, it took too long to get to 5 dwarves and I didn't need the card draw that the dwarf cards offered.
So I scrapped that, and decided to focus a little more on traps for the many weak enemies in the scenario. I knew I needed some sort of resource acceleration, but I wanted to see if I could use Master of Lore to help pay for things instead of Steward of Gondor. After I finished building, I realized that I wasn't really using my Leadership resources for much, so I just dropped some Song of Wisdom in and used Leadership as a splash colour instead.
This was the result:
Total Cards: (57)
Hero: (3)
1x Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
Ally: (27)
2x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
2x Galdor of the Havens (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
3x Ered Nimrais Prospector (The Morgul Vale)
3x Erebor Hammersmith (Core Set)
2x Quickbeam (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Master of Lore (Heirs of Numenor)
2x Anborn (The Blood of Gondor)
2x Henamarth Riversong (Core Set)
2x Mablung (The Land of Shadow)
3x Mirkwood Runner (Return to Mirkwood)
Attachment: (24)
3x Song of Wisdom (Conflict at the Carrock)
3x Cram (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Thror's Map (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Protector of Lorien (Core Set)
3x Lembas (Trouble in Tharbad)
3x Ambush (The Land of Shadow)
3x Ranger Spikes (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Poisoned Stakes (The Blood of Gondor)
Event: (6)
3x Ancestral Knowledge (Khazad-dum)
3x Expecting Mischief (Over Hill and Under Hill)
Side Quest: (0)
Play Report
The mulligan card is Song of Wisdom--the sooner I can start using Balin's resources, the better. From my first hand, I played Protector of Lorien on Erestor, Song of Wisdom on Balin, and Thror's Map on Glorfindel. That was a great starting hand, because it set me up for victory the rest of the game.
This scenario is pretty location-heavy, and the gimmick with many of the locations is that they have rough Travel abilities. Thror's Map does away with that problem almost entirely.
Erestor would play the role of both quester and defender, so the first Cram/Lembas went on him in case he needed to do both. Most turns I could play one or two cards and then drop the rest to Protector of Lorien to boost Erestor's willpower.
My Turn 1 encounter card was Zigil Mineshaft. Combined with the Branching Paths already in the staging area from Setup, I was looking at 8 threat in the staging area and already worried about location lock, so I used the Cave Torch and raised my threat by 2 (per Zigil Mineshaft's Action) to clear the Mineshaft immediately.
Turn 2 I got down a Master of Lore, but I ended up sending him on the quest for a few rounds because I didn't want to lose a hero to Sudden Pitfall. The encounter card was another location.
Turn 3 I put down Ambush and got my first enemy of the game, a Goblin Scout. I had held back Glorfindel, so I used him to dispatch the enemy before it could attack.
Turn 4 I got my first ally since Master of Lore, an Erebor Hammersmith. Finally I could use Master of Lore as a cost reducer instead of Sudden Pitfall insurance! Good timing, too, because the encounter reveal that turn was indeed a Sudden Pitfall, discarding the poor Hammersmith before he even got to make a contribution to the quest. But there is only one copy of Sudden Pitfall in the encounter deck, so from that point onward I was safe to quest with my heroes alone.
From there on out, I was able to get at least one ally down each round, and trap all enemies so that I could either ignore them or kill them before they had a chance to attack. I had no trouble focusing most of my efforts on clearing locations and quests, and I cleared the first two stages on Turn 7, and then quested through stage 3 to victory the next turn.
8 turns
43 threat
0 damage on heroes
0 dead heroes
4 victory points
Final Score: 119
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed using Master of Lore in conjunction with Erestor--with a single Master of Lore in play for most of the game, I was able to get down either a 4-cost card or two 2-cost cards each round, and then dump the other two to Protector of Lorien. It worked really well, and felt more native than Steward of Gondor.
It's been a while since I played Into The Pit, but I have found that the Cave Torch provided plenty of location control on its own. Early incarnations of this deck included Asfaloth, and while I could get some use out of him, I discovered that he really wasn't worth the resource cost--the Cave Torch took care of the nastiest locations on its own.
Thror's Map was definitely MVP of this game. The locations in this quest lose a lot of their bite when you can completely ignore their travel effects.
Thanks for arranging this Seastan! Forum games are fun.
Quest 10. Notes on my attempt to beat Peril in Pelargir with Tactigorn + Erkenbrand + Eleanor and Elrond + Haldir + Bombur. TL;DR: Discarding hand first turn leads to loss. Much cursing all around. Everyone blames Bombur.
Turn 1. Started off strong. Even with enough pints in him to glow (LoV), Elrond was killing it at the Leaping Fish's trivia night: dropping references to ancient runes, deep knowledge, etc. like there was no tomorrow. Haldir was performing knife tricks with a (rivendell) blade he won off of Aragorn at dice -- the dunedain practically fell off his stool when snake-eyes came up, mouthing something about a "gift from Arwen". Erkenbrand and Eleanor were off in a dark corner, but even they noticed when Quickbeam strolled in to challenge Bombur to a drink-off. The fat dwarf quaffed beer so fast it was running down his beard, but he had found a scroll lying around to mop up the mess with. Unfortunately, it turned out the scroll might not have been the best choice of napkin, for a thuggish patron jumped him as he was draining his 3rd pint. The initial collateral damage was limited to a few broken bottles, but Elrond got dragged in when a second thug grabbed him by the pointy ears. The elf-lord was undismayed, and reached into his bag of tricks only to find that it had gotten lost in the city somewhere. [Note: discarding my lore deck's hand of 8 cards on the first turn to that shadow effect pretty much ended the game right there, but I pressed on for a while]. "Dammit, Bombur," he bellowed, "What'd you do with the bag of tricks?!". "I dinnae know where yer bag of tricks is," yelled back the double-sized dwarf, "ye had it at…" but his reply was cut short by a bar stool to the back of the head. He dropped the scroll, and the smug thug grabbed it up, only to meet an unsmiling Haldir. Meanwhile, Eleanor lost her purse to a pickpocket in the tumult. Erkenbrand promptly threw him out the window, but the purse went too…
Turn 2. Elrond helps Bombur to his feet. He's dazed, and blood mixes with beer in his braids, but he stands his ground. An errand rider arrives with a note for Eleanor (raising a grumble from Erkenbrand), as Aragorn and Quickbeam work on some crowd control. Eleanor spotted an entrance to the storehouse, and made her way to it looking for a way out of the rapidly degenerating pub. All might have been fine but for the barkeep turning traitor — he lunged at Eleanor, though thankfully cloaked figure — likely a veteran of Ithilien — spotted the move and tripped him. The lord of the Westfold slugged him a good him, and bloodied the zealous barkeep's nose. Haldir, stone-cold, mowed down another thug. Bombur picked up the bloodied scroll. "That's my napkin," he bellowed, "ye cannae have it!"
Turn 3. A second rider brings a note to Eleanor, bringing a blush to her cheeks. Erkenbrand, red with jealousy, downs a bottle he found rolling across the floor. "If that were a gentleman what wrote that note," he roared, "then I'm the steward of Gondor!" Aragorn shot him a dark look, and the horselord trailed off at the dunedain's warning, collecting some of his composure back. Hennemarth Riverson appeared at Elrond's side, "ready to serve, my lord". "Did you find my bag of tricks?", asked Elrond. "Well, no, but I did spot another pickpocket!". "…thanks." Aragorn and Quickbeam are still keeping the holding off the crowd, when Bombur remembers that Elrond left the bag of tricks back in the market square. "Son of a…," mutters Elrond. "That's halfway across the city!" The dwarf shrugs, causing the pickpocket to grab a roll of fat rather than Bombur's coinpurse. Meanwhile, Haldir pulls off a hat-trick, dispatching the turncoat bartender as he grapples with Erkenbrand.
Turn 4. Bombur makes his own medicine as he downs another pint, "'tis good for me self preservashun," he slurs. Though his eyes point two different directions, he seems to stand more firmly. "Bombur, you fat fool!" shouts Bofur, bursting into the bar. "It's your drinkin' that's the cause of this ruckus. Looks like I'll have to clean up yer mess again." Aragorn, feeling the need for a bit more dramatic emphasis to keep more of the crowd from joining the fight, draws out his sword. "Fat lot of good half a blade's gonna do!," shouts Erkenbrand. "This here's a battle brawl, not some pansy queen's rules fisticuffs!". Eleanor's diplomacy does more to avert local trouble than either of the two men's blustering, but even her charms can't deter a cloaked figure with a crossbow, determined to seek revenge for the barkeep and reclaim the napkin. He fires away, maiming both errand boys and thrusting a dagger into Aragorn's thigh. Amid the confusion, he snatches the napkin from a now cross-eyed Bombur and rushes for the door! Elrond makes a stand over the stricken strider, his elven mail flashing in the torchlight as he faces the assassin's blades. The elf-lord takes a slicing before Erkenbrand and Haldir rush the assassin from both sides, ending his spree of bloodshed. But the napkin has disappeared again…
Turn 5. "Haven't we got any options here?!," screams Elrond. "Where's our backup?" Hennemarth does a little jig to cheer his lord, but Elrond's already seen the shtick and is not amused. [Note: drawing second copies of Quickbeam and Hennemarth really put the nail in the coffin — pretty much anything else, literally anything else, might have given me the edge to pull through. But combined with a handful of sneak attacks and no allies for the tri-sphere deck, I was running low on plays.] An endless string of thugs seems to be pouring into the bar, and the kitchenboy turns traitor just like his former employer. Elrond, Bombur, and Erkenbrand engage, but Haldir can't work his blade fast enough. In the chaos, Eleanor catches sight of the scroll, and nabbing it from under an overturned table she flees into the street.
Turn 6. No help is on the horizon, just another errand rider with a note for Eleanor. "**** your notes, woman!" shouts Erkenbrand, "Where's that grey wizard when you need him?". We need to gather our wits and information, decides Aragorn (admittedly not the brightest bulb in the bunch, bringing a broken sword to a bar brawl, after all). But another thug steps out of the shadows as the mostly-drunk heroes rush blindly into the City Street. The thug and traitorous kitchen boy emerge behind them. Just then, a bandit drops down from the roof overhead, striking out at Elrond. An evil power must have guided his blow, for the knife went through all the elf-lord's defenses, even his elven mail. As Elrond's life-blood poured out on the pavement, and the light of valinor faded from his eyes, Eleanor wept. "Have the napkin!," she shrieked, throwing it at the nearest thug. "We give up!" Kneeling over the stricken elf, Aragorn leans close to hear his final words. "Tell Arwen… she's too good.. for you… …and.. Haldir… cheats… dice……." Turning his face to the heavens, fists clenched in helpless rage, Aragorn lets loose a primal roar, "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!" Bombur belches, and passes out. "Game over, man" moans Haldir, "Game over".
Edited by Kjeld
Amazing. This surpasses any and all expectations I had for this thread. Thank you Kjeld for that thematic retelling!
With choice #6, I picked an easy one: Gandalf, Legolas, Lorefindel, Frodo, and Idraen form a better set of starting heroes than random selection would normally yield. So what if Dwalin is, um, Dwalin? Against Journey Down the Anduin, the only thing that made me hesitate was the total starting threat cost of 62... Thus, at least one deck would have to start >=30 and, in the absence of shenanigans, would be forced to engage that old friend, the Hill Troll.
Rather than going all in with first-turn threat reduction, I decided that just one-shotting the Hill Troll would be the way to go. I had four different heroes with a native 3ATK, after all, one of whom was ranged. Plus, I had a lot of cheap options for 3 additional ATK on the first turn, including: Vassal of the Windlord, Fair and Perilous (on Lorefindel), Khazad! Khazad! (on, gasp, Dwalin). In retrospect, I could've thrown in Unseen Strike to up the chances even more.
I split my heroes into Gandalf/Lorefindel/Frodo and Idraen/Dwalin/Legolas. I was fortunate enough to initially draw Shadowfax -- so Gandalf could both defend and attack the Hill Troll, even from the other side of the table -- a Rivendell Blade for Legolas, AND Khazad! Khazad! for Dwalin. I didn't even need all that because the quest setup included a Brown Lands, whose self-annihilating effect guaranteed that Idraen would quest yet be ready by the combat phase. I almost felt bad for the Hill Troll. Almost.
Ancient Mathom got Asfaloth into my hand before turn 1 was over (thanks again, Brown Lands), I managed to get several cheap, high-willpower allies into play early, and the encounter deck was kind throughout... No Necromancer's Reach, no second Hill Troll, and a pair of Banks of the Anduin locations helped me to know I could take attacks from the weak enemies undefended.
I was pretty happy that something about every hero proved useful -- most of the native abilities were used, excepting Dwalin's (who nevertheless proved useful just being a Dwarf target for Khazad! Khazad!) and Lorefindel's (who never really had a suitable target for healing, but who still served as Asfaloth's rider; yay in-faction Glorfindel).
Overall, the luck of the draw made the win a cakewalk. To up the challenge, I then threw together the heroes in a different combo (high-threat Gandalf/Lorefindel/Legolas and mono-Spirit Idraen/Frodo/Dwalin) and promptly got my butt handed to me. Time to quit while ahead!
The decks:
Edited by sappidus
Amazing. This surpasses any and all expectations I had for this thread. Thank you Kjeld for that thematic retelling!
Confirmed, great piece!
Thanks for the write-up sappidus! Sure says something about the power of our cards now when a legitimate strategy is to just kill the hill troll on the first turn 
Only 10 days left to participate in ARWtM #1, after which a new challenge will begin! Write-ups for past challenges will continue to be accepted indefinitely.
I'll take challenge number 5 if it's still available!
I'll take challenge number 5 if it's still available!
It's all yours.
Amazing. This surpasses any and all expectations I had for this thread. Thank you Kjeld for that thematic retelling!
Confirmed, great piece!
So much fun. Thank you and here's hoping for another report from you!
Cheers.
19. Into Ithilien Aragorn (Le) Galadriel Boromir (Ta) Bilbo Baggins Dwalin Balin
20. Encounter at Amon Din Sam Gamgee Beregond Brand Aragorn (Lo) Balin RossielX. Random Random Random Random Random Random Random
Hi Seastan,
I'll claim 19, if it is not spoken for yet.
Cheers.
19. (Bardo el Arquero) II
Aragorn (Le) Galadriel Boromir (Ta) Bilbo Baggins Dwalin Balin
On the fall of 2013, three friends and I started a campaign at work, and it just so happens that we are in the middle of our third try at Into Ithilien, so I'm happy, in a masochistic kind of way, to jump at this adventure.
Looking at the choice of heroes, this looks like the perfect opportunity to using Boromir and Galadriel as the main strategy and perhaps make Brandon from the COTR podcast proud!
The main deck is made up with Boromir, Galadriel and Dwalin. The main purpose of this deck is to equip Boromir with a Gondorian Shield and Blood of Numenor to boost his defence, and Gondorian Fire to boost his attack. The tried-and-true Imladris Stargazer and Zigil Miner partnership will help pile resources on Boromir. Almost as important as boosting Boromir, we will try to counter the nasty, nasty treacheries on this quest with Test of Will. Feint is always great and since we have dwarf heroes Khazad! Khazad! giving +3 to battle questing it ought to be very useful, as is Vassal of the Windlord. Elrond's Counsel, Galadhrim's Greeting and Secret Vigil will hopefully counteract the threat incurred by using Boromir. Finally, Nenya and some allies are there to help with the willpower questing, if we manage to keep Celador alive!
The second deck is composed by Aragorn, Balin and Bilbo. The focus for this deck is to support Boromir by providing resources with Steward of Gondor, The Day's Rising, Envoy of Pelargir and Errand Rider. Faramir, Visionary Leadership and a host of Gondor allies should prove useful if we get to do willpower questing. Bilbo will use a Good Meal for Lorien's Wealth and Gildor's Counsel.
Now let's see how I fared.
The first game started in a very promising way. I made the questionable play of using Sneak Attack Gandalf on the planning phase to draw cards, but hey, I could sneak attack Gandalf again on the questing phase. Everybody was committed to the quest to ensure that the Ithilien Road would be fully explored, but an enemy was revealed followed by Watcher in the Wood, which means that, as I had failed to draw a Test of Will, I have to raise the threat of both hands by nine. I concede the game since all enemies engage, and it is impossible to avoid at least one dead hero.
On the second attempt I survived the first turn and it was looking like Boromir was going to get fully set up. But then I took the bad decision on turn three to spare some damage to Boromir and defend an attack with Balin. Of course a Southron Mercenaries show up as the shadow and the +3 attack kills Balin.
As Bilbo's father used to say 'third time pays for all'. I was finally able to beat the quest, but it was though. It took eight rounds and during the first four I was constantly on the edge of the abyss. An overworked Warden of Healing could barely keep the heroes alive. I was lucky to avoid treacheries and having Test of Will when did show up. It was not until the sixth turn that I was able to complete the first quest, but I did manage to keep Celador alive. By the time I made it to the final quest, my threat was so high on both hands that it was siege questing, but that turned out to be for the better. Boromir with Blood of Numenor can siege quest like there is no tomorrow. The Gondor allies never materialized except for the Warden of Healing which proved indispensable.
This adventure is a real challenge. There is a lot tension as each card is revealed during the quest phase.
Notwithstanding this victory, this adventure will continue to preoccupy me until my friends and I finally beat at work. There I'm playing a deck with a murderous Dunhere that has been proving very effective. We are doing very well at the point where we paused the game and I have a Test of Will at hand which gives me hope for the subsequent turn. But I still fear the one-two punch of Southron Support and Watcher n the Wood.
Hero
1x Galadriel
1x Dwalin
1x Boromir
Ally
2x Arwen Undómiel
3x Vassal of the Windlord
1x Honour Guard
3x Galadriel's Handmaiden
3x Imladris Stargazer
3x Ethir Swordsman
3x Zigil Miner
Attachment
3x Gondorian Fire
3x Blood of Númenor
2x Gondorian Shield
3x Secret Vigil
1x Nenya
3x Mirror of Galadriel
2x Silver Harp
Event
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x A Test of Will
3x The Galadhrim's Greeting
3x Khazâd! Khazâd!
3x Feint
Hero
1x Aragorn
1x Balin
1x Bilbo Baggins
Ally
3x Envoy of Pelargir
3x Errand-rider
1x Ithilien Tracker
2x Anborn
3x Warden of Healing
2x Faramir
3x Citadel Custodian
3x Gandalf
2x Weather Hills Watchman
Attachment
3x Steward of Gondor
2x The Day's Rising
2x King Under the Mountain
2x Visionary Leadership
2x Dúnedain Cache
3x Good Meal
2x Dúnedain Signal
Event
3x Sneak Attack
3x Daeron's Runes
3x Gildor's Counsel
3x Lórien's Wealth
Sideboard
1x Squire of the Citadel
1x Heir of Mardil
1x Thrór's Map
1x Cram
1x Pelargir Ship Captain
Awesome to hear you on COTR, Seastan! Great insight on the game and I was pleased to find out you were the player who got the Random Walk started. Very cool
Awesome to hear you on COTR, Seastan! Great insight on the game and I was pleased to find out you were the player who got the Random Walk started. Very cool
Thanks!
I played this game during the first day of the challenge/game.
It begun with six heroes, Aragorn (lore), Glorfindel (lore), Frodo, Idraen, Haldir of Lorien and Brand (son of Bain).
Five heroes with 3 attack is a big waste in this quest (stone of Erech), but they need to be used. The high wp of Glorfindel is invaluable, both for attack and quest. Frodo will be a ecxellent blocker together with Loragorn. Brand will be able to ready Glorfindel, which is very good.
Haldir and Brand will both (of course) go in the same deck, and Loragorn together with Frodo in the other. Glorfindels three wp needs to be in the combat deck. Loragorn, Glorfindel and Frodo will be the engaging-deck and Haldir, Brand and Idraen will be the support.
Some rare cards used;
Curius Brandybuck - Two attack the first round and two willpower next round (but discarded after that) for free. Very good.
Longbeard map-maker - Will allow exactly the wp needed to kill an enemy or explore a location.
Protector of Lorien - not rare but even more powerful in this quest.
Gildors counsel - awesome in two handed/two player.
Star Brooch - atk when engaged with an enemy? Good.
Straight shot - the unded have a very low defense.
Turn one:
Asfaloth, Rivendell blade and Fast hich played. The blackroot graves was successfully explored.
Turn two:
Arwen, Wandering ent and Light of Valinor (a key card to Glorfindel) entered play during planning. The Company explored more Blackroot Graves and Tarlags neck. The whole quest stage was defeated, together with a Whisperer and a Restless dead. Defruin joined the party.
Turn three:
After a skipped planning phase, a third blackroot graves got explored, together with the Stone of Erech.
Turn four:
After getting no resources, lembas, protector of lorien, ranger spikes and a Gondorian Spearman was played. The encounter deck hurried on to dusk, a vale of shadows was explored and the quest advanced. Soon after the lord appeared, he also died by a sword hit from Glorfindel, the protector of lorien. A shadow man was also killd by the elf-lord, but the brave Gondorian Sperman died a noble Death.
Turn five:
Gandalf and an swordsman from Ethir entered play. Glorfindel actually used his ability and healed Aragorn.
The dead rode behind me, and that became the fate of the wandering ent and the sworsman from Ethir.
The last quest stage was explored and I won with one progress on dusk.
Score:
29 + 31 threat
0 dead hero threat cost
6 damage (due to that last treachery)
40 round points (four compleated rounds)
6victory ponts
Total: 100!
It was not so hard, and the decks managed every aspect of the game good. The star in the game was, as always, Glorfindel (but the rarely used lore version). This really proving the fact that Glorfindel (lore version) is a very good hero.
Edited by DurinVoronweDurinVoronwe, thanks for the write up! I thought it was cool how you noticed that Curious Brandybuck is good for the quest. I would've missed that!
Thanks for everybody's participation! It has been 1 month now and we have had a lot of great session reports and positive feedback. I will be starting up the second round today, and while this thread will not be taking more signups, you can certainly still post your session report if you haven't yet!
2. (Narsil0420) IiC Damrod Hama Eleanor Halbarad Idraen Denethor
Sorry I'm late!
I paired my heroes into a Idraen/Eleanor/Hama and Damrod/Denethor/Halbarad deck. The Lore/Le deck ended up being pretty effective as a trap deck. I beat Intruders in 2 tries. I've been playing around a lot since with a Leadership/Lore Dunedin deck, trying to step away from the primary Tactics/Leadership build.
Thanks for doing this Seastan!
Excessively late, but I got mine done: https://wardenofarnor.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/a-random-walk-to-mordor-1/