Monsters' two actions

By Zut the Overlady, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Hi!

I don't know if this has already been answered, but I didn't find it in this forum.

The rulebook says that monsters get 2 actions during their turn (only one combat action). Does that mean that they can make two move action (without OL card)? If so, goblin archer have a clear advantage in A fat goblin (1st enc.) as they will be able to move 10 squares in a single turn! What can the heroes do?

Yes, monsters can double move, triple move with Dash. Key for heroes in Fat Goblin 1 is to get past the initial blocking monster(s) at the Grasslands, so they should arrive near the Farm/River's Edge, getting LOS on the Goblins on hero turn 2, at which point they can even whittle down the numbers. Don't forget that heroes can effectively triple move if the OL doesn't properly block the path from the Grasslands by doing a double move + burning off fatigue. For some characters, that's 15 spaces, more than enough to be ready for the Goblins.

Thanks for the answer! I usually play the OL and the other players are often too keen on killing all the monsters in an area before moving somewhere else.

For that particular quest, I played a hero with two fellow players, and the three heroes were blocked in the grasslands by barghests. The heroes were able to recover only one crop from the goblin in the first encounter. In the second one, there was only me (still 3 heroes) and the OL player as the two other players had to go. This time, I crushed the OL! demonio.gif

Yeah, first time we played Fat Goblin, I had the Merriod out. Heroes killed it turn 1, but took all their actions, so the Merriod returned and Immobilized two of the heroes, leaving only one hero to try and stop the goblins. End result, goblins stole all four crops and the merriod Immobilized two of the heroes on the last turn before I ran out the last goblin, conditions remain during the Encounter change.

Oops!!!

I've just realised I've been attacking twice each round with the monsters….. I thought that the Cardinal's Plight was a bit easy sonrojado.gif

Zut the Overlady said:

Thanks for the answer! I usually play the OL and the other players are often too keen on killing all the monsters in an area before moving somewhere else.

This is a common tactical mistake for heroes in Descent. I don't think it's as grievous in 2E as it was in 1E (mainly because the OL player now has objectives other than "kill the heroes a lot"), but it's still part of the heroes' learning curve.

When playing a quest, the most important thing for either side to keep in mind is their victory objective. These objectives do not always require the killing of enemy forces, and since both sides can (usually) reinforce/ressurect fallen pieces, it's often a waste of time to try and clear the board.

Man…. And I was beating myself over for just getting 2 crops out… 2 move actions… yes, would def. made things easier… What other misconceptions are there that heroes/overlords commonly overlook?

- SC

Steve-O said:

This is a common tactical mistake for heroes in Descent.

Not to mention for Overlords. Knocking a hero out is not at all as advantageous as it might sound. Slowing them down while using speed up cards on monsters have been the reason behind almost any of my victories. That and using defense buffs on monsters to block off the heroes path as long as possible.

So it says "Only one combat action";

Does this count for actions such as the Barghests Howl ability?

eg; Could a Barghest attack and then Howl in a single round? Or would this count as 2 combat actions?

Hell, you can Howl twice if you want, Howl isn't an attack (although it can deal 2 dmg per hero if they are at full fatigue, if you Howl twice that is).

Hmmm.. I just saw some new OL potential I hadn't thought of before. I will have my revenge on that party of overconfident, smug little heroes. Next time we meet I will wipe that grin off their face.