After what seemed like a fort night of eager anticipation, I received my "assault on osgiliath" adventure pack today in the mail and played the scenario several times both solo and with a local friend.

In general speaking about the quest it seems like a relatively fair scenario. By that i mean, there arent any cards that are going to end the game the second they show up (like a sleeping sentry or the much discussed watcher in the wood). There are however many powerful and brutal cards. The Southran Commander is practically a stronger Haradrim Elite and the Uruk Lieutenant can be especially painfully especially if he pulls out a bulky enemy like the orc vanguard. The treacheries are actually quite mild except for Pinned Down which can be just a killer if there are any other archery enemies in play. The quest does seem to increase in difficulty with the number of players as there is a much greater likelihood revealing more osgliliath locations during staging if you are with 2 or 3 people thus prolonging the game.

This quest is uncommon in that the longer the game goes the tougher it becomes where as most scenarios if you can make it thru the first few turns and set up; you'll generally be just fine. With assault on osgiliath, you need to be lucky enough to win within the first 2-3 turns or you're going to be in for a long battle.

For my 5 solo attempts i used a different deck each time. Mono-lore, Lore/Tactics, Lore/Spirit, Mono-leadership/outlands and Mono-tactics. (each lore variation used Faramir and the various ranger cards). My first attempt with mono-lore lasted forever as i kept staging into osgiliath locations, there was a few times i thought i was just about finished, but eventually won. I conveniently pulled out all 3 ranger spikes quite early which was a nice boost for faramir. Lore/tactics and outlands lost quickly as i couldnt get enough will power fast enough and quickly became bogged down with enemies and locations before i could get things set up. On my Lore/spirit and Mono-tactics i was able to achieve quick victories as i lucked out by only revealing 1 additional osgiliath location after the initial set up.

I played 3 2-player matches with my friend who was using a glorfindel-elrohir-elladan deck. I used the outlands, mono-tactics, and spirit/lore. The outlands attempt went relatively smoothly and we recorded a respectable score. The Spirit/lore attempt took forever as it seemed the locations would never stop flowing. On top of that there was an almost endless amount of archery damage being dealt. At one point we had 3 southran mercenaries and an orc arblaster in the staging area. Combine those with the pinned down treachery and we had all our characters 1 hp away from death. Eventually won but it took forever. I used mono-tactics for our final 2 player attempt. It did not end well. on like turn 2 we staged into an uruk lieutenant who pulled out the orc vanguard and southran support which pretty much overwhelmed and killed us

that was way too much typing but id love to hear you're experiences too as it seems like this is a quest that will mostly turn out differently for each player

Hoping the UK release is fairly swift. I want to get the knights for a solo-tactics deck. Also a Faramir/Dunhere deck is calling.

I already mentioned this in another thread, but this scenario is bets be played with 2 (or moreß) players. Whe you play it solo it can be over after 2-3 turns, so I'd suggest to change the rules so that you have to explore at least X Osgiliath locations, with X being a number of your liking.

I also played it two-handed, and that is a lotm of fun. As Pharmboys said, this quest keeps the tension high and doesn't get boring after a few turns. And it can take forever, most of these games took around 13-15 turns. Almost all my losses were due to reaching the threat limit, so threat managment is vital. It's an excellent designed quest for multiplayer, but not as well thought out for solo mode.

After my first two games (second turn wins by choosing The King's Library) I randomly selected the opening location leaving the library out. Drew Ancient Harbor. Turn one win with Boromir. Guess I'll have to flip a coin between West Gate and The Old Bridge.

I can see this adventure could be really hard with multiple players btw.

Another game: flipped a coin and put The Olde Bridge in the staging area and it stayed there until the end of the game. This game went much longer, but it was really never in doubt. Once Boromir gets loaded up with a Gondorian Shield and a Burning Brand he is a freaking wall. And you don't need much questing power on this quest either if you are able to kill off the enemies each turn.

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Yes. And as soon as I can get her out I have Arwen adding another point of defense.

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Yes. And as soon as I can get her out I have Arwen adding another point of defense.

Sounds like for solo game no epic battle. just only for 2 or more players. when you play solo you win quickly or you lose.

Hmmmmm not really good idea.....But always can make it more difficult: for solo win if you control 2 locations or even 3?

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Yes. And as soon as I can get her out I have Arwen adding another point of defense.

Sounds like for solo game no epic battle. just only for 2 or more players. when you play solo you win quickly or you lose.

Hmmmmm not really good idea.....But always can make it more difficult: for solo win if you control 2 locations or even 3?

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Yes. And as soon as I can get her out I have Arwen adding another point of defense.

Sounds like for solo game no epic battle. just only for 2 or more players. when you play solo you win quickly or you lose.

Hmmmmm not really good idea.....But always can make it more difficult: for solo win if you control 2 locations or even 3?

You couls also add Old Harbor and Old Bridge at the start of the game. For one you have to exhaust a hero to make one point progress, for the other you have to pay 1 or 2 resources to make one point progress. That should keep you busy for 5-6 turns, and in that time you should have drawn the one or the other additional Osgiliath location and soome nasty enemies. I still prefer to play it two handed.

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Song gives only a resource icon, it does not makes character a "Lore" character, so I would assume you can't put Burning Brand on Boromir at all.

Bullroarer Took

Are you still using Boromir tactics, Glorfindel spirit, Aragorn lore deck that we came up with during HoN Scenarios. I have not touched it since then. If so, i 'd like to see how the deck has evolved since then. Maybe update the original thread if your still using those

Also,

Having the resource icon is what makes a lore character so, songs and burning brand will work. Narvi's belt will also work.

Is it your imagination or is it an official ruling which you can prove?

burning brand on boromir? with a song right?

Song gives only a resource icon, it does not makes character a "Lore" character, so I would assume you can't put Burning Brand on Boromir at all.

No yoi can. But i like the way how you think and i agree this is more logic.

Boromir is crazy powerful ability break quest mechanic. Same in FFM with tools attach.

Is it your imagination or is it an official ruling which you can prove?

no- this has been ruled that you can. and if you lose the song (or narvis belt) you still keep any attatchments that you needed the song for

Can I have official statement on this one? № of the rulebook page? Designer's post on the forum? Errata page, etc?

often you dont need it. follow it through...

song of wisdom is known to make a hero lore...thats why ffg needed to differentiate between 'printed icon' and 'icon' in the new cards. if wisdom didnt make a hero lore then there'd be no need to make this difference

edit- if you still need conformation i read on a thread its in the faq somewhere about narivs belt/brand

edit 2- part about it being able to stay on a hero

The “Attach to...” rules text on an attachment is only a
play restriction, and is not taken into account after the
card is already attached.

edit 3- i read on an old thread that our very own mr.glaurung had seen Nate's clarification on that matter

Can I have official statement on this one? № of the rulebook page? Designer's post on the forum? Errata page, etc?

Like Rich said, if it doesn't specifically say "printed resource icon" each sphere symbol on a card refers to the resource icon of a hero. Sng of Wisdom adds a lore resource icon to the attached hero, so he now belongs to that sphere and can play cards accordingly.

Rulebook page 8:

9. Resource Icons

Found only on hero cards, these

icons indicate the sphere(s) of influence to which

resource tokens in this hero’s resource pool belong.

They also indicate to which sphere(s) the hero card

itself belongs.

Got it today.

First attempt victory in three rounds solo.

Looking forward to multiplayer.

yea it does really shine in multiplayer. when playing solo i think you kind of need to consciously decide if you want to try and breeze thru it for an awesome score or if you want to have a legitimate matchup thru picking the first location. Selecting the old bridge in a solo game is probably the best option to ensure a full length game.

I've played 2 players on it a few more times and it is honestly one of the most fun in that regard so i in no way shape or form see this quest as a disappointment

I remember I said this quest was a kind of suicide in solo mode when I made the spoilers in the other thread but honestly I was taking for granted that Old Bridge or Ancient Harbor would be the selected Location during the set up (and I was intimidated by the action of both at the same time, I didn't remember that a solo player only has to take one location).

As I didn't test it in solo mode, I based my feeling in suppositions. I know now that I was wrong and It's easy in solo mode if you take the Library and it seems that even with the Bridge.

Maybe victory points requirement would be nice to make this quest perfect.

I always play with other player and I have experienced the two sides of this quest, the tough one and the soft one, depending on the luck. Anyway I really like this one because it has good length at least with more players and it is enjoyable.

I really like the quest although for solo it can be quite easy. My lowest score for solo has been 40 with my beloved deck of elves (Elrond, Glorfindel, Mirlonde). I think outlands would be a nice way of challenge because you need like 3 turns to get the outlands rolling and in that time the encounder deck could get nasty. I think this is my favorite of AtS cycle so far, many options for difficulty and incredible art.

Choose Ancient Harbor as the location for the second game took 4 rounds and collected 5 locations 3 of which were unique. Pretty interesting quest, but as others are saying pretty easy solo, but I think it gives you the choice to make it harder if you want, and it seems pretty fun.

I had one thought about the Ancient Harbor Location, which has you for a combat action exhaust a hero to place one progress token on the location. If i were playing Tactics Boromir, could I clear this location within the first round by exhausting and readying to place five progress? If no other Osgiliath locations were drawn in the first round i think it would be the fastest way to win. In fact you don't even need any other heroes. And you would probably will with a score of +/- 20.

Is this Possible?

Choose Ancient Harbor as the location for the second game took 4 rounds and collected 5 locations 3 of which were unique. Pretty interesting quest, but as others are saying pretty easy solo, but I think it gives you the choice to make it harder if you want, and it seems pretty fun.

I had one thought about the Ancient Harbor Location, which has you for a combat action exhaust a hero to place one progress token on the location. If i were playing Tactics Boromir, could I clear this location within the first round by exhausting and readying to place five progress? If no other Osgiliath locations were drawn in the first round i think it would be the fastest way to win. In fact you don't even need any other heroes. And you would probably will with a score of +/- 20.

Is this Possible?

presumably yes. all you would need to do is not stage into another location. you wouldnt even need a deck. so automatic i dont know what the point of bothering would be

Choose Ancient Harbor as the location for the second game took 4 rounds and collected 5 locations 3 of which were unique. Pretty interesting quest, but as others are saying pretty easy solo, but I think it gives you the choice to make it harder if you want, and it seems pretty fun.

I had one thought about the Ancient Harbor Location, which has you for a combat action exhaust a hero to place one progress token on the location. If i were playing Tactics Boromir, could I clear this location within the first round by exhausting and readying to place five progress? If no other Osgiliath locations were drawn in the first round i think it would be the fastest way to win. In fact you don't even need any other heroes. And you would probably will with a score of +/- 20.

Is this Possible?

presumably yes. all you would need to do is not stage into another location. you wouldnt even need a deck. so automatic i dont know what the point of bothering would be

Okay, had to try it.

Boromir takes Osgiliath by himself with no deck.

Here is the play through.

Ancient harbor and Uruk Soldier are in the staging area to begin for 2 threat.

1st card drawn: Street Fighting - discard cards from the encounter deck until I reach an Osgiliath location. I have the option to exhaust a hero to acquire it. I do, and ready Boromir. Threat at 12.

Lose questing by 2 threat at 14.

Combat action on Ancient harbor activated 5 times. Final threat 18

Final score 18 with two locations collected.

Boromir is a tank on this quest!

Here I come quest log.

Okay, seriously stuff like this should not happen. Of course who is going to play it this way (besides me), but I'm not sure how designers could miss this. I took me 3 seconds to figure it out when I looked at the card. Unless they were aware of this problem and they were not concerned about it, I hope that's not the case, they should be concerned.