Me vs Wife: Game 3

By Stormtower2, in 7. AGoT Metagame Discussions

I didn't see a specific forum for recording and sharing game sessions; but here's my latest experience!

My wife and I have been learning the game by playing decks built from the Valyrian Edition. We have the LCG, but we've decided to take advantage of some clearance sales and build our own CCG decks. Eventually we'll migrate to the LCG. Our first two games just used stripped-down versions of two Valyrian Edition starter decks (stripped down one each for Stark and Lannister, trading in-house cards between the two decks to give it more variety). But as most of our decks were from the neutral characters or non-aligned locations or events, we decided to buy more starters and boosters (which was also cheaper to do than buying additional copies of the LCG core set, thanks to sales). We wanted to see what the different houses can do.

So I ended up building four 40-card decks (which I also detailed elsewhere). It was my decision to stick to 40-cards for now, as we wanted to see the theme of the decks mature quickly. Three of the four decks actually had 20 extra cards laid aside in case we ever wanted to try a longer game.

Today, we finally played our 3rd game ... but it's the 1st time that my wife would see the revamped 40-card decks (3 of which I tested against other friends this past weekend). Upon this experience hinges the future of having this game be a regular in-house activity (rather than me trying to find time to play with my friends). And there's nothing more satisfying than playing with my wife!


I'll relist the contents of the two decks after the round-by-round breakdown. We decided to play to 8 power, to keep the game a short and sweet.

I played Lannister, my wife played Stark.

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Setup.
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.. Lannister sets out Dornish Caravaneer (aside from Resource Locations (RLs))
.. Stark sets out Asha Greyjoy with a Thirst for Power (aside from RLs)


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Round 1.
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We both use Securing Support; at this point, I realize I did not include any fiefdoms in my deck. Doh! Stark brings out an Iron Island Fiefdom. I win the random toss for tied initiative, and decide to go first.

Marshalling (skipping the locations, for brevity's sake)
.. Lannister marshalls: Jaime Lannister, Dragonbone Hilt Dagger
.. Stark marshalls: Catelyn Stark, Marine Legion, and another Thirst

Challenges
.. Lannister challenges with military, using Jaime and the Dagger. They stealth past Asha, which was the only character with military at this time. Stark activates the Marine Legion warship, and moves the two Thirst for Power onto it. Lannister's challenge is defeated.
.. Lannister challenges with intrigue, using the Caravaneer. They stealth past Catelyn. Stark is unable to defend. Lannister gains 1 Power.
.. Stark challenges with power, using Asha. All of Lannister's characters are knelt. So Asha claims 2 power with renown and her ability, plus the house gains 2 power for an undefended challenge and also claiming my power.
.. Stark challenges with intrigue, using Catelyn. Stark gains 5th power. (I cry OUCH!)

Dominance: Jaime stands and Lannister wins dominance.


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Round 2.
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Lannister uses Blockade. Stark tries Clash of Kings. Stark lets Lannister go first.

Marshalling.
.. Lannister marshalls: Tyrion Lannister
.. Stark marshalls: Whispering Wood Raiders

Challenges
.. Lannister challenges with military, using Jaime and Dagger (4 strength). They stealth past the Wood Raiders. Stark defends with Asha with 2 Thirst for Power (TfP) (which is what I wanted her to do) and the Marine Legion (7 strength). Lannister plays 2 Lannister's Ruthlessness, bringing strength up to 8. Lannister wins challenge; Marine Legion is killed.
.. Lannister challenges with intrigue, using Tyrion and stealthing past Catelyn. Stark has no defenders. Lannister gains power.
.. Lannister challenges with power, using the Caravaneer and stealthing past Catelyn again. However, the Wood Raiders defend. I smack my head: Doh! I was planning to use An Enemy Disgraced! Oh well.
.. Stark challenges with intrigue with Catelyn. Lannister has no defenders. Stark gains 6th power. I point out that she could have challenged with power and stolen power from me.

Dominance: Jaime stands and Lannister wins dominance.


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Round 3.
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Lannister uses Game of Thrones (desperately!). Stark uses Storm of Swords (and the Lannisters start quivering in terror). Stark decides to go first.

Marshalling.
.. Stark marshalls: Court Archivist and Marine Legion
.. Lannister marshalls: Dornish Caravaneer and Elder Septon

Challenges
.. Stark challenges with military, using Asha with 2xTfP and a Marine Legion (7 strength total). Lannister defends with just Tyrion. The Septon makes a token attempt to reduce strength but is killed to satisfy the military claim. Asha gains power through renown. (Stark now has 7 power total).
.. Stark challenges with military again, using the Wood Raiders. Lannister defends with Jaime (because an undefended challenge at this point would mean Stark wins her 8th power). Tyrion is killed.
.. Stark challenges with intrigue, using Catelyn (3 strength).

At this point, I stop the game. I show that I can defend her intrigue challenge with the Caravaneer. All she would gain is discarding one of my the cards in my hand ... and gain no power. On the other hand, if she challenges me with power instead of intrigue, Catelyn would still win against the Caravaneer, but she would also gain power ... and win the game.

After explaining that, I surrendered and declared her the victor. My remaining characters were the Caravaneer and Jaime; and they were facing a powerhouse of Asha, Catelyn, Raiders, Marine Legion, and the Archivist. My only chance of surviving is to draw The GreenBlood and King's Men, and hope that stops my military losses. However, during the discussion, I also saw that my wife was holding onto the Winterfell War Room ... so I would probably be facing two military challenges every round.

It was a pretty good game; and I admit I made some pretty big blunders as the Lannister player. But more importantly, my wife got really excited over the depth and complexity of the gameplay. I had prepared some spoiler lists of the two decks for her, so she shooed me away from the table and started studying the cards and the lists ... making some notes on what cards she should watch out for from my "tricky" Lannister deck (like that Greenblood) for next time.

After about 30 minutes of oohs and aahhs, I let her take a peek at the Targaryen and Baratheon decks ... showing off the Eviscerate and Firemages, as well as the Young Walders and Host of the Twins. She's still somewhat proud of "her Stark deck" (gotta love it when they become possessive!) And she just can't wait until she actually brings Eddard out into play!


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Here's the deck lists:

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Stark + treaty-Greyjoy
Military Domination
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Storm of Swords
Clash of Kings
Counting Coppers
Even Handed Justice
Preemptive Strike
Ready as We'll Ever Be
Securing Support

Eddard Stark x3
Asha Greyjoy x3
Winterfell War Room x2
Whispering Wood Raiders x2

Marine Legion x3
Reserve Fleet x2
Thirst for Power x2
Tavern Bard x3

Catelyn Stark x2
Court Archivist x2
A Greyjoy's Ambition x1
A Stark's Duty x2
Appointing the Hand x1
The Only Game that Matters x1
Hostage Rescued x2

Kingsroad Farmstead x2
Kingsroad Inn x1
Kingsroad Keep x2
Northern Fiefdom x1
Iron Island Fiefdom x1
Crossroads x2


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Lannister + treaty-Martell
Stealth pressure
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Game of Thrones
Clash of Kings
Blockade
Preemptive Strike
Ready as We'll Ever Be
Securing Support
Taxation

Tyrion Lannister x3
Dragonbone Hilt Dagger x3
Dornish Caravaneer x3
Gullible x1

Ser Jaime Lannister x2
Cersei Lannister x2
Elder Septon x2
Septon of Dorne x2
King's Men x3

The Greenblood x2
A Martell's Pride x1
Tyrion's Chain x1
A Lannister's Ruthlessness x3
An Enemy Disgraced x2

Kingsroad Farmstead x2
(after the game, I replaced these with Western Fiefdom x2)

Kingsroad Inn x2
Kingsroad Keep x2
Crossroads x2
Wealth of the Rock x2