I definitely agree on the view that it's best that the game is hard.

I never enjoy playing against a dumb opponent, but quite the contrary. The more you are forced to think of strategies, the tenser the game, and the most satisfaction once you beat a given scenario.

I can't wait for this! I ordered my first on Amazon.uk (~£20), but knowing how they handle new releases, I have also ordered another copy from iguk (~£29).

I am pretty sure my translation back into English will not be 100% fair, so do not scald me for any mistakes

Faramir

4C 2-1-2 3HP

Gondor. Noble?. Watcher?

Action: Exhaust Faramir to choose player, Until the end of the Phase Each character contolled by this player gets +1 Will.

Beorn

6C 1-3-3 6HP

Beorning. Warior.

Action: Untill the end of the Phase Beorn gets +5 Str. At the end of the phase, You activated the effect, shuffle it into Your deck (only once per Round).

Now about Allies

Lore Deck

Daughter of the Nimrodel

3C 1-0-0 1HP

Woodelf.

Action: Exhaust DotN to cure up to 2 HP of any Hero.

Erebor Smith

2C 1-1-1

Dwarf. Craftsman?.

Response: When U play ES, move the top Attachement from the discard pile of any player to the deck of that player.

Henamarth The River Song

1C 1-1-0 1HP

Woodelf.

Action: Exhaust HtRS to see the top card from Encounter Deck

Miner from the Iron Hills

2C 0-1-1 2HP

Dwarf.

Answer: When MftIH enters play choose and discard 1 Condition Attachment

Gleowin

2C 1-0-0 2HP

Minstrel. Rohan.

Action: Exhaust Gleowin to choose Player. This player draws 1 card.

Gandalf

5P 4-4-4 4HP

Istari.

At the end of the round discard Gandalf from play.

Answer: When Gandalf enters play choose 1: draw 3 cards, deal 4 wounds to one enemy in play or lower your threat level by 5.

Now some update on my brain wrestling. I had not been able to play through my whole 3rd game but this time I made myself sure to shuffle all cards as good as possible,

I was able to kill staff now, and to get rid of one or 2 locations. Once Gandalf hit the playing area i lowered my threat lvl by 5 and went back under 40. Should not my chores interupt me i would try to see if i could reach stage 2 or maybe three of the quest. My insights into Lore deck as a standalone solution are still grim.

This deck cannot mange threat in any way (apart from Gandalf - from now on i shall treat 3xG as a must in this deck) and its ability to get cards back from the discard pile is very limited. Apart from that it lacks Allies comparable to Faramir or Beorn (You had the nose to ask for them - as u can see Beorn is one of the cards U may think is not necessary to have 3 copies - apart of the situation when U want him as soon as possible). So the whole fight depends on heroes. U can decide that You will not defend with them but then cards like Uthak will force U to sacrifice Hero (not to good idea as in th CS there is no way to get him back) or Ally. So Beravora and Glorfindel have total str of 5 and it is Your main hit force. When U commit them to the quest, You cannot strike back. I wander how much can U squeese of them.

Some of the early reports from demo sessions said that the players felt as if there were too many locations in the deck. Seeing you can only travel to one of them every turn, and the fact that in multiplayer games you might get more then one per round, leading to inescapable growing threat in the staging area.

Do you have the same experience with your solo effort so far?

That can be a serious problem. Though You just have to know the game to develope some skills. In my first game i was overcurious. Ah location, phew no problem -> active location, ah second location -> we will cope with it soon, ah 3rd location -> why do i have to get 5 additional threat....

On the other hand You just do want it to be hard. I am sure I will remember very well the first game I will matke through the I Quest

Soon we will see real geeks dig into everything (even flavor text ). I just hope they will not find anything game breaking.

Infyra said:

There is a problem with the wilderness deck. Two types of the locations included (Brown Lands and East Bay - or something like that, these are literal translations) are a somewhat broken combo. Brown Lands have a threat strength of 5 but once you travel there, it is automatically explored. East Bay on the other hand has a moderate threat strength but very high quest points (6). Moreover it forces the player to travel there if this card is in the staging area. If those cards hit the table in combination, with another Brown Lands card added in a round or two later, the game is lost (at least with the standard decks).

Except for this, I don't consider the frequency of locations turning up a problem of the game. It's rather a central aspect. The spirit sphere deals with locations while the tactics spehre deals with enemies. Here's a distribution of cards in the respective decks:

Set - Enemy - Location - Treachery - Objective - Total

Wilderness - 8 - 4 - 2 - 0 - 14

Orcs - 7 - 4 - 3 - 0 - 14

Dol Guldur - 5 - 4 - 3 - 3 - 15

Spiders - 4 - 5 - 3 - 0 - 12

Mirkwood - 6 - 4 - 0 - 0 - 10

Anduin - 3 - 5 - 1 - 0 - 9

Lidless Eye - 3 - 0 - 7 - 0 - 10

But maybe it should be that way. If my undeveloped 1 man army encounters Uthak, and on the two following 2 turns two Tamers (16HP total) I should loose. There is beauty in it. Encounter deck threatens You. How high should be the danger it creates to justify the words "Danger" and "Threat". Should You be able to cope with everything it throws at You in any sequence, would it be a threat? If some Enemy has the ability to get 2 shadow cards on himself, shoudn't he be dreadfull to You. How can one accomplish it without posing a risk of failure of the Party with one unlucky shadow effect - i got one time: Your threat rises by 4 - i started to cry , and than i did phew as i defended this attack, and the rest of shadow deck was: or by 8 if this attack is undefended.

So, for each scenario, you are looking at the following card totals.

Passage Through Mirkwood 36 cards(17 enemies,13 locations, 6 Treachery)

Journey Down the Anduin 47 cards (21 enemies, 13 locations, 13 Treachery)

Escape from Dol Guldur 39 Cards (16 enemies, 13 locations, 9 treachery, 3 objectives)

The odds of you getting two or three specific cards in sequence for a 47 card deck are not high. That being said, you do want to clear locations ASAP. Make friends with someone who likes to play Spirit.

Yeah, I think Eowyn is probably required in solo-play. That 4 quest (can be 5-6) is killer all by herself.

Gandalf is seeming more and more required as well. Hmmm...

Thanks sky for the info....i cannot wait to get my copy....patience

MarioelKamui said:

You are welcome.

The more time I spend with the game the more I like it . Forth attempt was quick and full of blows coming and going both ways. No, this time I did not succeed either. Yet I managed to look into the eyes of the Spawn of Ungolianth. She would be mine, did not Uthak, yes again the villain that from now on will stalk me in my dreams, enter the very second i chose the path in the third part of the quest. On this fight shadow was not on my side. Neither could second Gandalf help me. Yet dying in the final fight of the game has had its own merits.

This game is not for cheaters. U play it alone, and if You do stray from the rules, noone will notice it. And it was so tempting. I could win it - all i needed to do was to tamper with 2 shadow effects, which killed one of my heroes, and then did not allow me to counterstrike.

I like the fact, that in my 4th game each round takes 1-2 minutes. Apart from brainbashing moments in the quest phase and the shadow phase. Apart from that moments the game is like physics - You know what U do and why You do. And then the storm comes - the Quest moment is nicer of the two (if You do not draw Uthak ) You take some risk into account, you know there will be some lithning. And then in the Shadow phase it is like standing in the night in the wood when suddenly You hear the DANGER behind You. You turn once - nothing, You turn the second time - nothing, and than You know U have to turn round just one more time, and You hear scream of beast already in midair jumping at You.

Now i will switch my way of playing it. Spirit time

You may need some luck playing solo with a mono-spirit deck. You should be able to quest well, but does spirit have any way to deal with enemies?

I already suspected it would be very difficult (and probably require quite a bit of luck as well) to win a solo game using only a single mono-sphere deck.

It makes sense to me to use the pre-built decks for your first couple of games, though. You have to get a feeling for what the spheres are all about first, before you can build a deck that has exactly what you're going to need.

Thanks for the playtest reports and info - it makes for an exciting read. I can't wait till my copy arrives

I want to offer my thanks as well. Sky has me even more exited for this game.

Yay! That was a Night to Remember.

Spirit deck is completely a different story. So far it seems more balanced with each Hero well prepared for their part - Eowin Quests, Dunhern fights, and Eleanora takes some defensive position.

It did not start to well. First two spiders, hit, and hit hard, from the second round two of my Heroes were at 1HP. Then I had to throw away 2 cards (including Gandalf ( ). From that on the synergies between cards started to seamlessly function. I was able to throw back enemies from engagement so Dunhern hit them with +1 Str,. as i attached to him Unexpected Bravery he did it twice a round.

I darted through first two stages and the 3rd one was the one with 10 Quest Point, I continued fight with spider, and I choose who??? Yes Chieftain Ufthak. Should I fight him, i coud not scratch him a bit. But than the justice woke up at last and I was able to serch my discard pile for Gandalf. I put everyone for Quest (had about 13 points of Will against Ufthak and new Treachery). Of course I did not forget to apply Entrance 4 damage which Gandalf provides to this bloody bastard. And the TA DA!!!! Quest was won.

The spirit deck lacks healing ability. I sucked some damage like i did in the Lore deck and then some longsome thought came through my mind - Sebastian ... did you notice any healing ability when you looked at the cards in the deck? No? So how You are going to heal them now?

If I had the chance to play this game with a Lore player I think we woudl find some fields of synergy .

Let the ring be with You in Your pocket

Thanks for reports, Sky!

Could we get some pics? (here or on Board Game Geek)

Sky said:

Good job, Sky. I like your reports. And I have learned a lot from them.

Most of all I have learned that playing a single sphere deck early on is less about winning and more about the path of knowledge. I won't be frusterated if I cannot win when using a single sphere deck in solo play, it's all about getting a feel for what the sphere provides in relation to my personal needs/wants/play style.

Can't wait.

My copy arrived today and can't wait to get home and give it a try. Have a friend coming over so I'll get to try both solo and double play.

So excited.

Gandalf? Gandalf! Gandalf…He was gone. The sounds of galloping horse was quickly fading. Though he left us we were more or less the shape in which we entered this damned forest.
What was more important than our message for Lady Galadriel we could never know. What we knew was that at the bank of the Anduin we did left small raft and we hoped to use it soon.
“Why don’t we use shortcut to the river? One day through the Gladden Fields and we can bath in the warm current of Andiun” Eowina said in her impatient manner.
Eleanora would find this proposal charming, was it not the middle of April. And the winter has been harsh this year…
“Ladies first.” Said plainly Dunhern and turned his horse south – east.
The Gladden Fields were named after trolls. One said they gladden when they stab You. If You are reckless enough to run through shallow valleys and mild slopes of their homeland, the last thing one’ll see is their calm face turns cheery when they club their victim for the last time...
Once they dived in those shallow gorges they heard the sound of incoming Troll. For now they were safe but they knew once he would find them he will send them to Illuvatar. Two Lorien Guides showed them the way through the thicket.
They were pushing through the obstacles so hard they did not see the EYE, lidless EYE focusing on them. Was it not for Eleanora who in the very last second with all her strength moved them from the road they would be all harmed. But the EYE did not leave them and found them all one by one. All wriggled in excruciating pain…
And then they were on spiral of doom. First Allies then Eowin. I managed to resurrect her but only to see like I draw the third EYE. If it was not enough I got Necromancer’s Pass on the very next round, and then Beast Timer. I lost control of threat which lead to failing engagement checks, and suddenly everything was on me. I lost Eleonora, avenged her with Gandalf, but it was already fighting a loosing battle. Next round I was engaged with Troll and Tamer and I got only Eowina.

Could I play better? (I hate this question already) Of course. Once again I have to get used to each of the card abilities. I had a few moments I could avoid harmful effects but I did not cause I did not notice some of the abilities. Had I had a bad draw – I do not know. This game is about negotiating obstacles. And lets assume this obstacle was just a tiny little to high. I Hope to beat this quest next time.
The main thing on my mind is how to kill Troll which has 9HP and 3DEF. Jabbing him with Gandalf in the staging area? Pointless – only 1 damage will be done this way. Dunhern with 3ATT in the staging area does not hit him at all. And when he engages You all excess damage goes directly into Threat….- that’s why I have lost threat control. And I could not heal. Resources were not a problem, but I needed more Allies and drew mainly Events...

I don't think you're using Gandalf right. When he comes into play, I think he should deal 4 direct damage to an enemy without any reduction from defense value. So, you could get 4 damage on the hill troll if he was in the staging area (or engaged with you for that matter).

Narsil0420 said:

Very true. Defense does not stop direct damage. Not that four damage would kill the Troll.

Also, YOU can engage the Troll (and put multiple characters on him, correct). There are some other direct damage it looks like (some bowman, and something that does 2 damage when engaged?).

Lastly, you can put sacrifical lambs in front of the Troll and keep on questing away!

My first impression: I love this game, especially the Leadership Sphere, Aragorn and Theodred are an awesome combination, I've combined the Sphere with all other Spheres now and didn't have too many difficulties finishing the first scenario. Think I'm gonna try the second one tomorrow

Still I have some questions, maybe someone could help me clarify:

1. What's the advantage of confronting enemies while they are already in the staging area? I still don't see no difference, except your threat level isn't high enough to make them attack the next round... If you attack an enemy in the staging area, still the enemy strikes first, doesn't it?

2. Can heroes also be declared as defenders?

3. Can I combine Gandalf with "Sneak attack?" So bring him into game, let him do his damage and then take him back onto my hand? Or do I have to discard him after the phase then?

Bonzo said:

You are playing a Tactics/Leadership deck and your friend is playing a Lore/Spirit deck but they are the first player for this turn. That means that the Enemy would normally engage the Lore/Spirit deck. Since your deck is better at dealing defending and attacks so you decide to engage the Enemy and save your friend from having to deal with it.

Just an example but it illustrates one of the reasons you might want to engage an enemy. The other reason is to make questing easier but that only matters if your threat is too low to attract them on your own.

Had a friend round tonight to try out the game. The first story we did as a whitewash. Not a challenge. The Anduin story we tried twice and it killed us both times before we could get off the first part. It mainly came down to too many locations popping up and just how hard we found the hill troll. Did enjoy the game though but **** it's tough.