My brother and I have found that it isn't really worth it trying to get through the main track in Bree. We usually just blitz through the hiding and friendship tracks and then sit collecting cards and killing foes until the final event hits. This gives us plenty of time to deal with foes (and therefore skip Moria) and stash up on cards for the next scenario.

This works because the events in Bree are comparatively, imo, very gentle. You will actually save cards if you take the last event, as opposed to trying to get through the main track. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 (iirc) are actually beneficial if you are prepared. Which just means sucking up numbers 4 and 5; neither of which is extremely harsh.

Has anyone else used this strategy? Did you think it worked? Any comments?

Joram said:

Well - in some ways you are correct, the first few events are OK but the last few events are brutal, especially if you are unlucky enough not to have finished hiding & friendship. The trap is if you take some damage & consequences as you go through the early rounds, and then are hit with events 4&5 consecutively before you can react. IIRC you can be hit with 5 or 6 steps of Sauron advancing in one shot. Add some bad dice rolls or other unlucky tile draws and you can be really screwed.

The worst game we ever played ended in Bree with four very squished hobbits.

I'm going to have to look at it again. I was really just going off of memory. My brother and I played quite a bit of this at one point, and it became standard for us to save all of our traveling cards instead of trying to get through the main track; killing foes, gathering cards, etc.

So I may just be remembering incorrectly, as regards the final few events.

I'm going off of memory too...

In that case, we really need to get into a heated argument about it.

Joram said:

I'll go get my mithril armour then... On the plus side, I now want to get the game out & play it few times again.

I think your strat has a lot of merit - you want to play Bree by rushing hiding and friendship to get the goodies, and you don't mind triggering a few events to get the couple of cards that are hidden in the event track... but elbereth forbid you don't finish the sub-tracks before triggering events 3 or 4. Then I think you need to get through travelling and complete the board, other wise Sauron leaps forward 3-5 spaces and is staring the ring bearer in the nose halfway through the next board.

Some thing colouring my side of the argument:

- most of my experience is with 4 player games. In these games there aren't enough life tokens to go around and so hobbits tend to go corrupt faster, so Sauron moving forward is pretty scary. Also boards take a little longer as hobbits are more likely to spend a turn to move back a step.

- I always prefer consequences that can be undone (Hobbit corruption, foes, discard shields) over allowing Sauron advance, b/ there are very few ways to undo Sauron moving forward. (just the one Gandalf card IIRC)

- the only 2 -player game I've played also involved the battlefields expansion, so there were a whole set of new rules & consequences

- I'm currently of the opinion that the added military victory condition in Friends & Foes actually makes the game too easy. I have not tried the game with the special edition / limited release card (a print-it yourself copy is available here: http://www.convivium.org.uk/pdfs/LOTR_BG_Eng.pdf )

I have found it always to be too detrimental to wait out the event line. Even if you do manage to clear the two lines before the 3rd event hits, if you wait out the rest you are going to be severely short on shields, and blow through most of your 'walking' cards on the last event anyway. The shields are the biggest hit, because you are delaying when you can call Gandalf.

Bree is not too difficult

Use your ring on frodo to get a ring fiche on the main path for gandalf's letter and you can easily resolve event 3 with sam's special ability card

Try to get all the special cards from bree and walk as fast as you can before the events hits the end

Velhart said:

Umm, "ring fiche" ?

Dam said:

Oh Sorry Dam

I mean a ring life fiche...

Too long ago to remember...

Velhart said:

You don't mean "put on the Ring" in this example do you? 'Cos when you use the One Ring (just to separate it from the ring life token), you skip all spaces you hop over AND the space you land on.

Dam said:

No, i mean a ring life fiche. Same as heart or sun life fiche

Well, first game with F&F today, definately wasn't the "cakewalk" the base game was. After my last victory, seems the game wanted payback, so Bree started with 2 straight Events (Sundials), "yippee" . So much for Gandalf's Letter. Managed to score everything on the Friendship track though. Moria was breezed through, so fast in fact that I neglected to grab the Book. Isengard, Hiding as Main Activity line is just harsh! Had Legolas from Rivendell (White 2 Hiding), but not much else. Lucked out and got Gandalf the White on the first card. Helm's Deep ended prematurely. Surfed the Main Activity line to 1 from the end and was looking at skipping Shelob's when I noticed I didn't have the Book and had not yet gained Shadowfax. Naturally, the next tile drawn was Fighting, scenario ends. Blast! All ended in Shelob's Lair after 17 Event tiles had been drawn (Event track at 5 of 6). Sam died on Faces of the Dead Event, Frodo on Forbidden Pool. Pippin met Sauron at 10 on the corruption line (Sauron started at 15). Score 67 (space 48 + 19 Foes killed).