3 Hunters tackle the impossible task of defeating Thane Ulchor once and for all. They do their best (sort of).
GAME 1
Forth, the Three Hunters! (Gandalf, Tactics Eowyn, Spirit Glorfindel)
50 cards deck, starting threat 25
Initial draw: Herugrim, Dagger of Westernesse, Round Shield, Wizard Pipe, Warrior Sword and Firefoot. (Not bad, but I'm looking for Light of Valinor.)
Mulligan: Strider, Warior Sword, War Axe, Rivendell Blade, Quick strike, Unexpected Courage (Sadly, no Light of Valinor)
SETUP
1A: Players decks cannot exceed 50 cards. Create the Power of Mordor deck (see insert) and set it next to the quest deck. Each player puts 1 copy of Ulchor's Guard into play engaged with him. Add Thane Ulchor and all 4 copies of the Storm the Castle side quest to the staging area. Place the top card of The Power of Mordor deck faceup under each side quest in play. Each player places 8 cards from top of his deck under the quest deck and each side quest in play.
*Thane Ulchor = 0 engagement cost, X threat, 6 attack, 4 defense, 12 hit points. Immune to player card effects. X is 1 more than the number of Castle side quests in the victory display. Forced: After Thane Ulchor attacks, reveal the top card of the encounter deck.]
*Storm the Castle side quests have all the same text on the front side. You charge into the castle, not knowing what you will find within ... The faceup encounter card underneath this quest is not in play. Forced: When this quest becomes the current quest, reveal the faceup encounter card under it. Then, flip this card over and make it the current quest until the end of the phase.
"Place the top card of The Power of Mordor deck faceup under each side quest in play."
1st side quest gets Covered in Darkness (Doomed 5. Each player's threat cannot be reduced by more than 1 each round by player card effects.)
2nd side quest gets The Armies of Mordor (Forced: After a non-unique enemy engages a player, that enemy cannot take damage until the end of the round.)
3rd side quest gets Khamul the Easterling (49 engagement cost, 4 threat, 6 attack, 4 defense and 9 hit points. Immune to player card effects. Khamul the Easterling engages the first player. Only the engaged player can declare attackers or defenders against Khamul the Easterling.)
4th side quest gets The Tower of Barad-Dur (Immune to player card effects. The players cannot travel here. Each player's threat elimination level is reduced by 5.)
"Each player places 8 cards from top of his deck under the quest deck and each side quest in play."
Under quest deck: 2x Gondorian Shield, 2x Gandalf's Staff, Silver Circlet, War Axe, Shadowfax, Unexpected Courage
Under SQ1: 2x Snowmane, Golden Belt, Firefoot, Ancestral Armor, Light of Valinor, Gandalf's Staff, Strider
Under SQ2: Feint, Shadowfax, Snowmane, Herugrim, Gondorian Shield, Rivendell Blade, Light of Valinor, Wizard Pipe
Under SQ3: 2x Round Shield, Warrior Sword, Silver Circlet, Wizard Pipe, Light of Valinor, Quick Strike, Dagger of Westernesse
Under SQ4: Unexpected Courage, Strider, Wizard Pipe, Round Shield, The Galadhrim's Greeting, Raiment of War, Herugrim
Quite the setup. Onward to 1B (3 QP).
Thane Ulchor cannot leave the staging area.
While there are at least 3 progress tokens on this stage, it cannot be chosen as the current quest during the quest phase.
This stage cannot be defeated unless it is the end of the round and there are 3 Castle side quests in the victory display.
Turn 1
Engaged with Ulchor's Guard (25 engagement cost, 2 threat, 4 attack, 1 defense, 4 hit points.)
RP: Draws Song of Travel (reveals Dagger of Westernesse)
PP: Plays Dagger of Westernesse from the top of the deck. Glorfindel buffs his attack to 4 (potentially 5). War Axe and Strider on Eowyn (now 6 WP and 2 attack). Song of Travel on Gandalf. Saves 1 resource on Eowyn (for Quick Strike).
QP. Staging Area: Thane Ulchor (1)
Decides to quest on SQ2, triggering forced effect (When this quest becomes the current quest, reveal the faceup encounter card under it. Then, flip this card over and make it the current quest until the end of the phase.) Puts into staging area The Armies of Mordor (Forced: After a non-unique enemy engages a player, that enemy cannot take damage until the end of the round.) Flips side quest and reveals Castle Garrison (Discard cards from the top of the encounter deck until X enemies are discarded, where X is the number of players. Add each enemy discarded this way to the staging area.) Discards 4 cards before adding to the staging area Mordor Olog-Hai (34 engagement cost, 4 threat, 6 attack, 3 defense, 9 hit points. Cannot have attachments. Forced: After Mordor Olog-Hai attacks and destroys a character you control, exhaust a character you control.)
Staging area: Thane Ulchor (1), Mordor Olog-Hai (4)
Sends Eowyn and Glorfindel for 9 WP. Raises threat by 1 (26) - no Light of Valinor.
Reveals Guard Tower (2) which reads: While Guard Tower is in the staging area, players cannot draw cards or gain resources from player card effects.
9 WP vs 7 threat = 2 progress on Castle Garrison
TP: Travels to Guard Tower (Travel cost: Each player exhausts a character he controls) and exhausts Gandalf. All heroes now exhausted.
EP: No way I'm engaging Mordor Olog-Hai this early.
CP: Deals shadow to engaged Ulchor's Guard. Uses Eowyn's action, readies her and raises threat by 3 (29), plays Quick Strike and kills Ulchor's Guard (11 attack vs 1 defense and 5 hit points)
RP: raises threat by 1 (30). No hero damaged, yet.
Turn 2
RP: Draws Raiment of War (reveals Feint)
PP: Plays Rivendell Blade on Glorfindel, Unexpected Courage and Raiment of War on Gandalf, Warrior Sword on Eowyn (3 attack now, 4 or 5 when engaged with an enemy or two). Each hero now has two restricted attachments.
QP. Staging area: The Armies of Mordor, Thane Ulchor (1), Mordor Olog-Hai (4)
Exhausts Eowyn and Glorfindel to quest on Castle Garrison which has 6 quest points. 9 WP + 1 threat penalty (31).
Reveals Catacombs (4) with text: While Catacombs is in the staging area, enemies in the staging area cannot take damage.
9 WP vs 9 threat = 0 progress
EP: Forced to engage Mordor Olog-Hai to remove threat from the staging area.
CP: Deals shadow to Mordor Olog-Hai, Gandalf defends with 4. Shadow card is The Dark Lord's Reach with effect: Discard an attachment you control. Discards Song of Travel. Gandalf suffers 2 damage. Nothing else I can do, Mordor Olog-Hai cannot take damage because of the forced effect on The Armies of Mordor in the staging area. Plus, I would've done just 1 damage and he has 9 hit points!
RP: raises threat by 1 (32) and flips the contract (Gandalf 5WP, Eowyn 8 WP, Glorfindel 5 WP)
Turn 3
RP: Draws Feint (reveals the last card in the deck, Firefoot)
PP: Plays Firefoot from the top of the deck on Eowyn (9 WP, 5 attack now). Pays with Gandalf's resource, saving Eowyn's for Feint.
QP. Staging Area: The Armies of Mordor, Thane Ulchor (1), Catacombs (4)
Exhausts Eowyn and Glorfindel to quest on Castle Garrison which has 6 quest points. 14 WP + 1 threat penalty (32).
Reveals Soldier of Nurn (28 engagement cost, 2 threat, 3 attack, 1 defense, 4 hit points. Forced: After Soldier of Nurn attacks, place 1 card from your hand facedown under a Castle side quest.)
14 WP vs 7 threat = 7 progress (4 on Guard Tower, 3 on Castle Garrison (5/6))
TP: Travels to Catacombs which has 4 QP. (Travel: Each player discards the top card of the encounter deck. If a player discards an enemy this way, he puts into play engaged with him.) Discards the top card, it's treachery, so no new enemies. Phew.
EP: Engages Soldier of Nurn
CP: Deals shadow to Mordor Olog-Hai and Soldier of Nurn. Plays Feint on Mordor Olog-Hai. Declares Gandalf as defender and uses Unexpected Courage to ready him. No shadow effect (Plaza of Nurn). 3 attack vs 4 defense = 0 damage on Gandalf. I don't place 1 card from my hand facedown under a Castle side quest because I don't have any in my hand. My hand and my deck are empty. Gandalf whacks Mordor Olog-Hai (3 defense) and does 1 damage. Splendid! Uses the contract and heals Gandalf for 1 damage. 1 remaining.
RP: raises threat by 1 (33)
Turn 4
RP: nothing happens, my deck is gone!
PP: nothing happens, my hand is gone!
QP. Staging Area: The Armies of Mordor, Thane Ulchor (1)
Exhausts Eowyn and Glorfindel to quest on Castle Garrison which has 6 quest points. 14 WP + 1 threat penalty (34).
Reveals Guard Dogs (12 engagement cost, 1 threat, 2 attack, 1 defense and 2 hit points. Surge. Forced: After Guard Dogs engages you, deal 1 damage to a character you control.) surges into yet another Catacombs (4). Unbelievable!
14 WP vs 6 threat = 8 progress (4 on Catacombs, 4 on Castle Garrison).
Castle Garrison goes to the victory display and Thane Ulchor gets +1 threat. I get back Feint, Shadowfax, Snowmane, Herugrim, Gondorian Shield, Rivendell Blade, Light of Valinor, Wizard Pipe. I shuffle the cards into an empty deck and draw Light of Valinor (Ouch! Was hoping for Feint.)
TP: Travels to Catacombs which has 4 QP. (Travel: Each player discards the top card of the encounter deck. If a player discards an enemy this way, he puts into play engaged with him.) Discards the top card, it's locations, so no new enemies. Again, phew.
EP: Engages Guard Dogs. Forced effect trigger, deals 1 damage to Eowyn.
CP: Deals shadow cards to Mordor Olog-Hai, Soldier of Nurn and Guard Dogs. Declares Gandalf as defender against Mordor Olog-Hai and uses Unexpected Courage to ready him. 6 attack against 4 defense = 2 damage (now 3/6 damage). No shadow effect. Guard Dogs attack goes undefended. Shadow effect: Attacking enemy gets +1 attack for each Castle side quest in the victory display. Ouch. 3 damage on Glorfindel (3/5). Gandalf defends Soldier of Nurn. 3 attack vs 4 defense = 0 damage. Shadow effect: If this attack destroys a character, resolve the Travel effect on the active location. Nothing happens. But because of the forced effect on Soldier of Nurn, I must put my hard won Light of Valinor under SQ4. No cards in hand. Again!
Uses the contract to heal heroes (Gandalf 2/6, Eowyn 0, Glorfindel 2/5)
RP: raises threat by 1 (35)
Turn 5
RP: Draws Shadowfax (reveals Rivendell Blade)
PP: Plays Rivendell Blade form the top of the deck on Glorfindel (6 WP now), and reveals Herugrim. Plays Shadowfax on Gandalf.
QP. Staging Area: The Armies of Mordor, Thane Ulchor (2)
Exhausts Eowyn to quest on main quest (3 QP) for 9 WP.
Reveals treachery Ulchor's Rage with the text: Thane Ulchor makes an immediate attack against the first player. If no attack is made this way, Ulchor's Rage gains surge. Perfect! Deals shadow to Ulchor and declares Gandalf as defender. Uses Shadowfax to ready him. Shadow card is another Ulchor's Rage with the effect Deal 1 damage to the defending character. Gandalf now 3/6. 6 attack vs 4 defense = 2 damage. Gandalf 5/6.
Because of Ulchor's forced effect (After Thane Ulchor attacks, reveal the top card of the encounter deck) reveals Ulchor's Guard (how appropriate!).
Staging area now has The Armies of Mordor, Thane Ulchor (2), Ulchor's Guard (2)
9 WP vs 4 threat = 5 progress on main quest
EP: Engages Ulchor's Guard.
CP: Deals shadow to Mordor Olog-Hai, Soldier of Nurn, Ulchor's Guard, and Guard Dogs. Exhausts contract to heal 1 damage off of Gandalf (4/6) and Glorfindel (1/5). Guard Dogs attack goes undefended. Shadow is Ulchor's Rage (again!). 2 damage on Glorfindel (3/5). Gandalf defends Soldier of Nurn. 3 attack vs 4 defense = 0 damage. No shadow. Gandalf defends against Mordor Olog-Hai which gets Mordor Olog-Hai for a shadow card. Its effect: Attacking enemy gets +2 attack. That's 8 attack vs 4 defense = 4 damage. Dead Wizard. Game over.
What a spectacular defeat. Next time I'll try with my other 3 Hunters deck. Well, that was a small sample of the quest. At the end, I felt I barely scratched the surface.