After being persuaded by a friend to try two handed, i can say i am honestly shocked at how fun it is. All the options opened up for me that i had previously shouted and complained about- rider of the mark, song of earendil, and most of all ranged and sentinel. i dont have to keep them as bookmarks anymore.

not only this but the deck options have expanded- i am now using two decks elrohir/elrond/glordfindel and elladan/frodo/strider and its nice trying to get them to compliment each other.

i am actually most surprised though at how well it flows controlling two decks. i had played two handed with reiner knizia's lotr board game and found it clunky and boring, but not so here.

so yes- i know playing two handed is nothing new, but i just wanted to say to those hesitating, give it a try! your're denying yourself much

rich

To tell the truth I am also tempted to try this. With the standard way to play solo I find quarter of my cards never used (tactics), quarter rarely used (lore). Not to mention the cards that are just useless solo (sentiel, rear guard and many others come to mind).

There is a small chance that I might do it the "proper" way though as a friend from work just got the game and seems to be excited by it … I sense some two player games in my future.

I've always said playing this game 2P is the best way to play. My friend and I must have spent hours over the past 9 months or so building decks together and coming up with interesting combos and game plans. Always satisfying to see your plans come to fruition too.

I've been very tempted to try double fisting a dwarf.

Ehem…

There are just so many good dwarf cards and heroes at this time that I can't fit everything I want into just one deck. Thanks for the feedback, i'll have to give it a try.

Captain Poe said:

haha- that got a genuine laugh out of me.

i did try a dwarf double deck, but it didnt works as well as the noldor deck i posted above- let me know if it works for you

rich

Welcome!

Yes, 2-handed gives you a much fuller experience. One can actually win Dol Guldur. And the stories that develop 2-handed always seemed more Fellowship than solo. Aragorn Core suddenly becomes a savior just like in the books. Having six heroes opens up more combos. And a slow deck may actually have a chance.

I actually went the other way; because of portability issues. The spread gets huge two-player. But I miss it.

I acutally believe the game was designed for two players. I love the solo aspect, since I travel with my job and now have something to do rather than watch TV. However, there are some quests that I just can't obtain a victory despite deck manipulation etc. In addition, my regular playing partner has recently moved so solo is all that I have at the moment. I am trying to get some other locals to give this game a try.

I also had the opportunity to play 3 player at GenCon and had a blast with the complications of "surge". We played throught the new Saga Hobbit quests and there were some wild moments.

Since I don't have anyone in my area to play with, I always play solo with two decks. Much more fun than trying to cram everyone into one deck and much more likely to get a win in certain scenarios. Glad you like it!

Playing two handed also allows the encounter deck to combo more often, which is kinda nice to see. Sometimes running solo can be a bit predictable, because you can pretty often know the coming card with a lot of certainty, but two handed it gets more tense! The big downside is the space it can take up!

the thing that stops me doing it, is that you have two groups and two decks to deal with, which doesn't "feel" right when they are obviously all in the same party. it makes it obvious that you are playing a 2-player game. a lot of the fun in this game is to do with the flavour, and that messes it all up for me because it screws up the story

why would half the party not bother to help out when someone is getting attacked? why would some of them stand back when the others are fighting for the lives?

Cunir said:

Because the two parties aren't clumped together into a single party. They need to cover more ground by splitting up, because any one location is a frickin' huge area in Middle Earth. At the same time they don't need to split up too much, so that's why they're in groups of three heroes + different armies of allies.

Believe it or not i actually 4 fist(play 4 decks)> This might not be for everyone, but i enjoy it…you want to talk about card options!

Morbid666 said:

controlling 4 decks - that may be a little too much for me haha

I think unpredictability is the biggest change when going to multiplayer. I've watched videos of people playing solo, and it seems like seeing cards in advance (shadow effects, top encounter card) is a strong factor in some folks' solo strategy. Introduce another reveal during Staging (or two reveals, or three more reveals for a four-player game) and predictability goes out the window. You have to plan for all eventualities… you don't know if 0 enemies will be revealed, or 3, or 4 (2 reveals + surge!… or two reveals plus two surges!!).

A downside of multiplayer exists, too. You are 2x or 3x or 4x as likely to draw that one card that will devastate you in the first couple rounds of the game. And Flight from Moria is lousy with these.

GrandSpleen said:

Totally agree with this… as much as I love 2 player I find the 'o crap we've just had a really bad set-up/first round there's-no-way-we-can-recover-from-this-best-start-over' situation happens more frequently, although things have definately improved in the later quests.

bollywongaloid said:

still as per the other players thread a few days ago- i dont think this is a downside….it just makes things more challenging

rich

First time playing 2-handed (double fistin', as the kids say) I beat Carrock, which I'd never done before.

And there you have it.

shipwreck said:

yep- its official- 2 fists really are better than 1

rich

Weeelcoome. (Said with a very dark Voice and very slovly )

I think 2 decks will speed up the game? Since u have enough heroes&allies to one shot the boss this time?

Cutievalkyrie said:

depends on the quest- some are easier and get a swifter victory, some are harder and you end up being swamped by encounters

rich

That is very true. I always play 4 player myself and our group has never beat osgiliath…Such a rough quest with 4