House: Stark
Agenda: The Siege of Winterfell
Plots:
Fury of the Wolf
Respect of the Old Gods
After the Mummer's Ford
Storm of Swords
Battle of Oxcross
Siege of Riverrun
Calm Before the Storm
Characters:
Robb Stark (KotS) x1
Robb Stark (Low) x1
The Blackfish x2
Catelyn Stark (LoW) x2
Hodor x1
Brienne of Tarth (KotS) x 1
Ser Rodrik Cassel x1
Jeyne Westerling x1
Lucas Blackwood x1
King Robb''s Host x2
Edmure's Host x 2
Northern Cavalry Flank x2
Northern Infantry x2
The Bastard's Elite x2
Riders of the Red Fork x3
Reed's Crannogmen x2
Guard at Riverrun x3
Bolton Refugee x2
Attachments:
Frozen Solid x2
Events:
To Be a Wolf x3
Endless Endurance x2
The Battle of the Whispering Wood x1
Locations:
Lord Eddard's Chambers x1
Great Keep x3
Godswood x1
Northern Fiefdoms x3
Narrow Sea x2
Street of Steel x1
Street of Sisters x1
River Row x1
Widow's Watch x2
Training Grounds x1
High Ground x 1
Frozen Outpost x2
Frozen Moat x2
Round 1 vs. Martell/Kings of Summer (James aka "Bronson")
For a much better description of this match, check out Bronson's superior TR
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=16&efcid=4&efidt=534763
It went just like he said. I expected his Valar after I marshalled big early, but didn't expect him cancelling my save of the duped Blackfish. Luckily I recovered pretty well. Catelyn was an early MVP (as she was most of the day) until he got rid of her with Threat from the East. Ktom came around and gave us a time warning, so figuring that the next turn would be the last and seeing James with a mitt full of cards, I played my anti-Martell tech, Calm Before the Storm. It paid off, as Robb was able to gather enough power to give me the modified win, even with To the Spears staring back at me. It was nice to open with a win, as well as play against such a nice guy. 1(modified)-0
Round 2 vs. Stark/City of Shadows (Justin Fox)
Justin made it Winter early on and got out a Littlefinger very quickly, which he used to beat me senseless on intrigue and some on power too. Shadows Arya came out quickly and absorbed most every military challenge as well. He also got a Black Cells out part way through, but I was able to Frozen Solid that. High Ground and Training Grounds kept me in it. He seemed to stall out resource wise a bit, though, so I was able to push through with my beefy armies and two-claim plots, giving me the 15-8 win. 2-0
Round 3 vs. Lannister/Maester's Path (Tim Peterson)
I'd never played against Tim, but I've seen him play several times and knew how tough he'd be. I held my own early, mostly though Widow's Watch, Catelyn, and Riders of the Red Fork. To Be a Wolf also helped with the kneeling. He got rid of Catelyn with I'm You Writ Small, which hurt a lot. His card advantage from Gold Tooth Mines and eventually Pyromancer's Cache (What I'd have given for a Frozen Solid...or two) really started adding up, though, as did his City plots, and Tim knelt me out on turn 5 (maybe 6) and took the 15-? win. 2-1
Round 4 vs. Stark/City of Shadows (Carl Morgan)
Carl was yet another super nice guy who was a pleasure to play against . Once again, Littlefinger hit the table early, as well as Reek, which was even more troublesome. Luckily, I was able to hold off Reek with Frozen Moat. Frozen Outpost was also a real winner for me, allowing me to keep up the attack with my armies and then hold off his challenges and win 15-?. This round also holds the distinction of the first match I was in that didn't go to time. 3-1
Round 5 vs. Greyjoy/Kings of WInter (Dan Ach)
This was probably my most nerve-wracking match, as Dan is a sharp player with a deck I was scared of and a great poker face. Greyjoy Winter Choke was one of the matchups I anticipated, though, so I'd built my resource curve to be a bit more robust than normal. Fury of the Wolf was nice as my first plot, but still, he did very well early, foiling my kills with Wendamyr and Inn of the Kneeling Man, as well as activating the Winter Agenda effect.. I was able to hang, mostly because of Respect of the Old Gods and my location-based reducers, until Alannys disappeared (I forget how), and Robb Stark (LoW) plus the Blackfish earned me the win. The kicker was that his Winter helped me pump up Robb and the Blackfish just enough to seal it for me, 15-?. 4-1
Round 6 vs. Martell/Kings of Summer (Jonathan Benton aka "longclaw")
So here's the match to decide whether or not I make it, and what do I run into but the Benton buzzsaw?
Jonathan (another very pleasant fellow) had a great flop and maintained board control with Game of Cyvasse and the Viper's Bannermen. Hodor and a duped King Robb's Host were just not enough and I played Calm Before the Storm too late for it to do much good. He took the win 15-?, but I hung with a World Champion for five turns and he signed my Halfhand, so I was happy. 4-2
My analysis:
I did expect to run into a fair amount of Martell, but not this much. I gameplanned against Greyjoy Choke, as I mentioned before, and some against Martell (Calm Before the Storm, Riders of the Red Fork, Edmure's Host, Brienne) but it wasn't enough, as Martell Summer handed me a loss and a modified win. My MVP's: Catelyn, Riders, Widow's Watch, Calm Before the Storm, Northern Cavalry Flank, and everything with "Frozen" in its name.
Overall, I had a blast at GenCon. All my matches were fun and interesting and as usual, the members of the community proved to be friendly and cordial. I saw some old friends, made some new ones, and connected plenty of board names with faces/real names.