I'm new to the game and just have the Core Set , The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill , and The Hobbit: On the Doorstep . I solo played through the "easy" scenario in the core set a number of times until I beat it and then moved on to the first scenario in Over Hill and Under Hill .

I tried using a single deck as I'm playing solo so I went with the recommended "Leadership and Spirit" deck. I got pummelled very badly by the three trolls on my first few attempts. It appeared that I'd rushed through the first scenario quest card too quickly and wasn't ready for the trolls that pop up on the 2nd quest card so on my last play attempt, I held back and built up what I thought was a good force of Bilbo, Nori, Thorin, and Gloin as well as Fili and Kili, a Longbeard orc slayer, 3 snowbourn scouts, and a Silverlode archer.

What I found is that if I'm reading the troll cards correctly, it's mathematically impossible for me to beat a single troll before the threat count reaches 50. The Troll trait on one of the cards says that only a single character can attack a troll at any given time. The only character that can possibly do any damage is Thorin with his attack of 3 vs the troll's defence of 2. So he can only do 1HP of damage per turn and the weakest of the trolls has 10HP. Within a few turns, the threat count will be high enough that all three trolls are engaging every turn and using 4 sack cards. Thorin is always one of the first to get tossed into the sack and it then becomes impossible to harm any of the trolls. One can hope to pull a bunch of Gandalf cards but even he can only do 2HP of damage per turn so it's still not possible to take out a single troll before everyone's dead or the threat reaches 50

Is my take on this correct? Is it simply not possible to beat the game with the recommended deck?

I tried to play using both of the recommended decks but found that it's not possible to construct both decks simultaneously as both decks require 3 Burglar Baggins cards and only 3 come with the expansion.

Remember that you can win by running the encounter deck out of cards on the second stage.

It sounds like you might be subtracting the enemies' defense from each attacker rather than the total attack power. So you can do more than 1 damage to a troll by simply committing more attackers. Then you sum up their total attack, subtract the troll's defense, and the rest is damage.

It's still a pretty tough quest with just a Core + Hobbit, but it should be doable.

Yes, if I could commit more than one attacker that would work but the script on one of the three troll cards reads " Troll enemies can only be attack by one character at a time." Even though this is listed on only one of the three troll cards, I'm assuming that it applies to all trolls. The way it appears to me is that each troll can only be attacked by one attacker so the best possible outcome is to attack with Thorin (atk 3) vs the troll's defence of 2 for 1 damage/turn. No other character has an attack strength above 2 and therefore cannot harm the trolls as they have to attack individually rather than ganging up.

I don't actually know what the recommended decks are like, but I'd suggest trying with both the recommended decks and just subbing out Burglar Baggins in one of them (or both of them, it's not something I'd expect to be that useful) for another card or cards you think will be useful. That said, the recommended decks may not be such a great choice anyway.

If you give up on the recommended decks and decide to build your own, then obviously you probably want to focus on being able to deal with Tom as quickly as possible so you can gang up on the other two trolls. Look for attack boosts (limited from just Core+Hobbit, Dwarven Axe I guess is the obvious unless I'm forgetting something) and direct damage effects (Sneak Attack + Core Gandalf is good for this, plus then Gandalf can attack for 4 or defend a troll). Though as far as the attack boosts go, you should be wary of playing attachments too early because of Wind-whipped rain.

Given your limited card pool though, you definitely should also bear in mind Ecthelion's point that you can just run out the encounter deck (including discarding from it by questing), and that may be easier for you to manage than killing all of the trolls.

Yes, if I could commit more than one attacker that would work but the script on one of the three troll cards reads " Troll enemies can only be attack by one character at a time." Even though this is listed on only one of the three troll cards, I'm assuming that it applies to all trolls. The way it appears to me is that each troll can only be attacked by one attacker so the best possible outcome is to attack with Thorin (atk 3) vs the troll's defence of 2 for 1 damage/turn. No other character has an attack strength above 2 and therefore cannot harm the trolls as they have to attack individually rather than ganging up.

Oh of course, I forgot about Tom's ability. In that case the others are probably right that the easiest goal given your card pool is probably to stall and mill out the encounter deck.

If you're still looking to go the damage route, you might consider picking up the Khazad Dum deluxe box, which has a few attack boosting cards that could help Thorin to do some more damage.

Your #1 combo is going to be Sneak Attack + Gandalf. When he enters play he can deal 4 direct damage to an enemy. You have to engage a troll first, as you cannot damage them in the staging area from one of the troll's effects, but that direct damage can help chunk down the first troll.

Galahadhrim's Greeting can help get your threat down. Biding your time through the first step is wise, using this to drop your threat should help a lot.

Another idea could be to swap out Gloin for Oin which opens up the possibility for Dwarven Axe, Feint, and Swift Strike against the trolls. Since Thorin gains 2 resources when you have 5 dwarves in play, and you also likely have Steward of Gondor... doubling up on the Spirit resource might be good anyway to play Galahadrim's Greeting and always save 1 for A Test of Will to cancel that "all items die" shadow card.

It's not going to be an easy game though. The Core Set is a starting point, but even the quests included with the core set are not easy to take out with just the core set cards... Further playing the game solo is tougher than multiplayer. The Trolls is an easier quest to solo though, so I'd say stick with it.

I've tried a few more times. I don't think it's possible to run through the deck due to the Cave Entrance location cards. Once they're out, you have to grab a number of discards equal to the number of player decks and recirculate them back into the pile. Once the trolls are out in addition to other various encounter cards, it's just not possible to generate enough quest points to overcome their threat and remove the Cave Entrance cards.

I just can't understand why the designers would build recommended decks with which you can't beat the game. It's very frustrating.

Yeah, they did that all the time.

I actually did beat the Hobbit scenarios entirely with the decks recommended in the 2nd Hobbit box - I had bought 2 cores, and the two hobbit boxes. I made minor tweaks because I had access to a few more cards from the second Core. The first scenario was a big struggle, and took us multiple attempts (despite having 'figured out' Anduin, the second scenario in the Core, with the same decks), but it was quite an interesting experience.

I would actually recommend you try your hand at Andiun (the second scenario from the core) before you try the first from the Hobbit box. You may fail many many times (I did), but you'll learn a lot about dealing with threat, a big troll, and pacing yourself. I've been playing "progression series", where I only use cards that were available at the time of release, and after figuring out the hobbit boxes, my wife and I had a run of 8 undefeated new scenarios, going in blind. There's a lot to learn from the hobbit boxes!

Things to watch for;

1) I played with my wife, so we had both decks at our disposal, rather than a single deck. That changes things as the number of trolls is "fixed" (3) regardless of how many players you have. You might want to try to play this "two-handed" (where you play both decks yourself).

2) Stall in the early phases as long as possible

3) Don't get greedy with Bilbo, keep him able to un-sack people. In fact, this rule goes for all the Hobbit Scenarios, there are quite a few nasty tricks that Bilbo mitigates, and every time I think I can get away with spending his resources or using him willy-nilly, the encounters punish me .

Thanks. I've been playing two hands for the past half dozen attempts or so. Best I've managed to do is to knock down one troll before the threat counter wipes me out. Having the three trolls add 15 threat by themselves is brutal! (3 each and then the +1 per troll for player from one of the locations cards.)

Once Tom is destroyed you can attack the other trolls with as many attackers as you want. So swap in Gimli with a couple Citadel plates to take down Tom, or make heavy use of Sneak Attack + Gandalf to deal him some direct damage, or use Thorin + 2x Dwarven Axe + Goblin Cleaver. You should be able to take Tom down in 2 turns if you set up properly in the first stage.

You can? Ok, I wasn't sure if the powers as described on each of the 3 troll cards was dependent on that troll being in play or if they applied as a blanket rule for all troll characters. I'd been playing it as those powers described on the cards applied to all trolls regardless.

That should make things easier. I've been able to take Tom out in a few play sessions by locking him in engagement, letting Gimli get slapped around a bit and then pulling out Gandalf for the 4 free damage on the next turn and then finishing him off with a wounded Gimli with dwarven axes and armour. If I can tag team the other trolls once he's gone, I should be able to get past them.

Thanks.

Yeah they are only in effect when they are in play.