Hey everyone,

So I picked up the core set of this game about a month ago and I'm having mixed feelings about it and just want to hopefully get some feedback from the people who've been playing awhile. So far I've played the Mirkwood scernario 3-4 times and handily beaten it each time ( i guess this is to be expected for a level 1 challenge) and I feel like I can see how this game can be a lot of fun with a little more challenge. However that being said after playing Journey Down the Anduin 3-4 times as well, I have been creamed each time. Mostly I've been playing solo but I did play one game with two players where we tried to combine spheres in our decks but I think we did a terrible job of it as we couldn't seem to play any cards from our hands. So my question is, should I invest in expansion packs to make the game more fun or am I just not playing the core set well or does it sound like this is just not the game for me? I don't mind being beaten as there has to be some challenge to the game but I'm having a hard time seeing how to get very far past that dang hill troll! Just as a frame of reference I do own a number of FFG games that I have enjoyed playing so complexity of the game is not so much an issue for me( big fan of Doom, Descent, and Civ)

Thanks for your replies

Incesting in some extra packs really expands your card base and you will find these harder quests more enjoyable!!

Also gives you song cards which will make it easier to build decks which are dual or Tri sphere, they give characters other sphere symbols making it easier to play other cards!

Well worth the investment IMHO!

packs packs packs all the way- dont worry - anduin is a tough one- i reccomend searching for a topic (use google) called 'drowing on the anduin' lots of good tips there

every player has what youre feeling at some point - i have before the first expansion ever came out- after experience and better cards it gets better

rich

You don't need expansions to beat the 2nd quest. It is, however, extremely hard to do with the premade decks. I would suggest trying to continually build a good two sphere deck for now, and just try a couple of different combinations. If you're playing solo, you'll probably want a hero for each step: A good quester, a good defender, and a good blocker. I would suggest mixing spirit and something else, as spirit has a lot of good counters, and Eowin who is a great hero for any player. I might suggest Eowin, Theodred, and Aragorn. That combo is pretty good, as theodred can either pay to unexhaust aragorn after he quests, or be used to give Eowin more spirit resources. I believe I was most easily able to beat the quest when I first started playing by using the premade Spirit deck, as it has a low threat, and Dunhere could slowly widdle down the troll that starts in play.

If you get bored of that quest, I'd say for sure go get some expansions. The newer cards are a lot of fun, and the third quest in the box, Dol Goldur, is **** near impossible in solo play. I finally beat it for this weekend, and I've been playing since January of this year. Its extremely hard, and extremely luck dependent, and without some of the newer cards, its even less likely you'll beat it in a hundred tries. So, after you beat anduin, unless you want to keep playing the first 2 quests over and over.

Captain Poe said:

That's right!
… and Dunhere is very useful

.

Use three copies of Gandalf to low yout threat or damage the troll.

Even just with the core set, Anduin is beatable

Mako83 said:

Thats right. Been a while, but that's the strategy I used to beat it. Plus Galadhrim's Greeting x2 + dwarven tomb can lower your threat by an additional 18 if you're lucky enough to get all 3.

Thanks for the info everyone, that makes me feel a little better. Maybe I will grab a couple expansions and see how that changes the game, especially since they're pretty cheap as far as expansions go. Mako's post actually leads me to a question I've been having, the rules mention putting one Gandalf in your deck but they don't say you can't put multiple Gandalfs in your deck so I'm guessing it is technically legal to load your deck with Gandalfs?

no more than 3 of ANY card can be in a deck- and no more than 1 copy of a UNIQUE card can be in play at any one time

rich

Don't know if it's too late or not, but I wouldn't invest in the adventure packs until you can beat Anduin with just the core. By using just cards from the core, you develop deck-building skills you will need later on, even with an expanded pool.

Budgernaut said:

I would second that. Core set alone should convince you that this game is for you. I have one advice for you when playing with only core set:
Ignore the rule that requires you to build a 50 card player deck - you do not have enough cards (yet) to make any interesting builds. Go for 30 or 35 card two-sphere decks instead. It will give you two things:
1. You will have a chance to see which cards work and which don't and have some pool of cards to those swap with.
2. You will not be getting so many semi-useful (for a given scenario) card draws which helps greatly with fighting the encounter deck.

oh i dont know about that - i had the core when i came out and didnt have any expansion until hunt for gollum…….i made many 50 card decks- i agree you havnt got a whole lot of options, but 1. its certainly good practice and 2. many of core cards still go into my decks anyways

I understand what you are saying but I still stand by mine observations . To elaborate:

1. I agree that most of the cards from core set are useful but I will say that many of them are only really worth putting into your deck with combination with certain heroes or certain other cards. Easiest example: If you do not have any resource generating heroes/cards then cost of 5 starts to be prohibitive (you need 3 turns to play them). So if I play spirit/tactic deck … putting in Fate or Fortune is as good as including empty card in my opinion.

2. Wining Journey down the Anduin scenario with a 50 card decks really relies on luck although it is possible. If go with 30/35 deck your chances are greatly increased (if you construct a decent deck) and you get much more enjoyment and wiggle room in deck building part of the game.

I'm a newbie when it comes to card games but I picked up the core set a couple weeks ago and didn't have much trouble beating Passage Through Mirkwood a few times and was able to beat Journey Down the Anduin once with Glorfindel, Theodred, and Gimli. I've only attempted Escape from Dol Guldur a couple times and lost in the first few rounds both times.

I don't have much deck-building experience but I agree that it is really difficult to build a full deck with just the core. I wanted to keep my deck at 50, which is why I went with a three-sphere deck because with only two spheres you're really only excluding a few cards from the core. I just picked up the Khazad-Dum expansion though and have all the Mirkwood packs coming in the mail this week so I look forward to putting those new cards to use in beating Dol Guldur. it will also be nice to have enough cards so that I can start practicing deck-building because, as I said, I'm pretty much a newbie to card games in general.