I played my first solo game yesterday using the core Tactics deck.

Gimli, Legolas and Thalin have a combined willpower of 4, with very few ally cards to offer even 1 extra willpower, (excluding Gandalf).

At one point I was already travelling to the Old Forest Road, and had two locations in the staging area that had a combined threat of 4 between them, (this is excluding the Old Forest Road as I'm already travelling there).

After a few card draws I stopped, looked through the remainder of my deck, and declared a stalemate as the core had no remaining cards to offer additional willpower, meaning I could not progress through the quest.

After trying the other decks, I found them much easier as their Willpower was higher.

I understand that the game is encouraging you to build your own deck, but the core deck should be sufficient enough to complete a game, especially the introductory quest.

Is it just me that thinks the Tactics deck is just insufficient on its own? Or am I missing something here?

I agree with you. A pure Tactics deck cannot solo at present. I've tried numerous times and it just does not have the willpower to do it. I can't even get off the first stage of Passage Through Mirkwood with Tactics.

WatchItPlayed Youtube channel has a solo win with Core Tactics against Mirkwood. It can be done, but you really need Enemies more to get progress with Legolas + Blade, location-lock will kill them.

Dam said:

Ah yes, forgot about Legolas' ability. Thanks guys.

the expansions offer a few Tactics allies with willpower, and also Radagast who is nominally neutral but about as Tacticy as it gets. But yeah, Tactics needs enemies, 2 or 3 locations in a row and you're very unlikely to win.

Yeah, with just the core set, Legolas is your only hope for quest progression. Don't forget Blade of Gondolin can help too. However, you'll still have to be getting some lucky draws or your threat will just shoot through the roof.

With the expansions, I've been trying to make a viable deck that is primarily tactics and eagle centric. My only hope with solo play is to be able to get Radagast out by the second or third turn.

gatharion said:

Exactly. With only 21 Threat left until you're eliminated. The location cards alone set to increase your threat so much you have no option but to commit all your Heroes to the quest, leaving just your allies to defend. It's a shame because I think the core deck would be better if a number of allies had more will to them, otherwise someone like me starting with the Tactics deck on solo could think the game is badly balanced.

It's doable. Actually Core set Tactics deck is my favorite to play solo with Passage Through Mirkwood. It is hard and my success rate is low, but it is winnable. It's the challenge for me -- pure playing skill only , no deck building involved.

Ever since I won PTM with Core Tactics solo (I've only straight defeats before), I started my wins and losses record. I think I win 4-5 games every 10 games played.

The trick is in the mulligan and play strategy. Core Tactics is weak on willpower. So I mulligan when I don't have a card that'll help in the willpower/questing department. I look for Blade of Gondolin, Beorn, or Gandalf. If one is not there, I mulligan. Try to play Beorn in the 2nd round. Hold onto Gandalf to break through in your questing when you have 2 or 3 location in the staging area and use him to lower your threat score since reaching threat of 50 is the most common reason for losing with the core Tactics deck. Try to clear the staging area by engaging the enemies and travelling to location. The real challenge is in deciding when to quest with Legolas or hold him in case an enemy is revealed in the staging area and you want the progress token from the kill. I don't have the answer for that. Good luck.

ppsantos said:

I think it's all about constantly playing until you see the mechanics unfold, and you have a good idea of when certain cards are played at their most effective. In games like these I always play with core decks first, just to get a feel of where improvements can be made and help with the deck building.

I think my overall strategy was just poor, and made a clumsy assumption that lack of willpower means you can't progress, overlooking the Legolas card.

Agree that a core tactics deck is quite weak, and it's a nightmare if all you draw is locations against it. However I have bought the first three adventure packs and now the deck is very strong. Played Conflict at the Carrock this morning and wiped the floor with the trolls, although I guess a quest based on killing things is right up those band of brothers street! My only thought is although it is legal (I believe) to use cards from a later pack in an earlier quest is it morally ok? Should you not be able to beat quests with the cards available at the time...

I think the intersection of morality and the LOTR LCG is quite thin. I think it's ok