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.

Actually i think your score would be 29. You still have to end the current round which would add 10 threar and the standard 1 threat. Anyway crazy.

That's new to me, I've never done that. Once I meet the conditions for wining. I thought the game was over, even before the round actually closed. I'd be curious to know how it's played, without derailing the thread too much. All my top scores would be 11 points higher.

Not all your quests would be 10 points higher, just this one since the victory condition requires

you to end the round. And even so, I'm still not sure too would need to add the 10 since you never start the next round. Might need an official ruling from FFG. I don't really think its a huge concern. Just to boost your own scores? Who cares

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.

Those are the exact two locations I chose for my first two-handed solo play through the quest. Mostly to start cracking away at them from the get-go instead of having one turn up mid-game and still needing the 5-6 turns to resolve (plus each one only has a threat of 1 and since the staging area also starts out with two enemies of choice, I was worried about questing successfully on round one.)

Anyways, I had a lot of fun playing this quest for the first time and finally won just in time before my Leadership/Tactics heroes' threat got too high. One mechanic on the Osgiliath location cards that I found to be particularly nasty was that one location makes you return it to the staging area anytime a character leaves play and for the first time I had to second guess using good-ole Gandalf. As a whole though, most of the locations only get returned if an attack goes undefended, but I had plenty of help in that department from Boromir and Beregond.

Finally, one last point I'd like to bring up is how awesome the new Knight of Minas Tirith ally is. With a base attack of 3 that upgrades to 4 when using Leadership Boromir, this guy can really pack a punch, and once I got two in play I was decimating those filthy orcs and haradrim.

Yea I've had some good experiences with the Knight of Minas Tirith as well. If using mono tactics he's nice to pull down any enemy that starts in the staging area like Forest spider or Harbor Thug. Even if used with other spheres, 3 atk on an ally is just a nice hefty amount.

Also tried this quest two more times this morning with outlands. Lost both times; just can't set up quick enough. Maybe this quest is the decks kryptonite

That's new to me, I've never done that. Once I meet the conditions for wining. I thought the game was over, even before the round actually closed. I'd be curious to know how it's played, without derailing the thread too much. All my top scores would be 11 points higher.

Not all your quests would be 10 points higher, just this one since the victory condition requires

you to end the round. And even so, I'm still not sure too would need to add the 10 since you never start the next round. Might need an official ruling from FFG. I don't really think its a huge concern. Just to boost your own scores? Who cares

For this scenario the winning condition is at the end of the round. The way i play itis that this happens after the player actions in the refresh phase and these actions happen after the threat increase and the 10 points for round. I might be wrong or missing something but perhaps an official ruling would be better.

Overall, I like this quest so far (only based on 2 play experiences so far, mind you!). It did strike me as a bit odd that there are no minimum requirements as far as how many Osgiliath locations you have to control for victory. I suppose this adds to the unpredictable nature of the quest, but it does facilitate Tactics Boromir/Ancient Harbor madness, as well as some other weirdness. I do have to say that each quest of this cycle has introduced new mechanics and really pushed the boundaries, more so than any previous cycle, and I appreciate that aspect.

My experiences with this Quest playing solo have been far easier than I anticipated at first. Granted, I have played three games starting with the King's Library and a that weak Southron who pumps for each location you control. Needless to say, I have won three games within no more than 3 turns.

I have not played this Quest with multiple people, but I can only imagine how difficult it may be under those circumstances.

All-in-all, I like this Quest a lot.

After tweaking my 4 player decks (The 4 Decks of Elves and Men) I gave this quest a shot just now

Starting with 4 unique locations, and 4 enemies.

I added enemies that have 'when reveled' effects to soften those cards a little.

So first round 4 harad enemies get added by Treachery. As the only test of will available was already swallowed to stop The Master's malice (I did so to not lose Arwen, So count THAT a lesson learned.)

So with other draws ! Uruk and a location

First round threat = 24

I quested with 19 so We pump Eowyn for 4 and take 1 threat dial increase each. Travel to West gate and a Tower.

Defend with some cuts and bruises and kill off a few enemies including the Lieutenant of Mordor.

Turn 2

No test of will. I cross fingers

Uruk Lieutenant adds the dead Uruk back from Discard pile. Orc Arbalesters, Orc War Camp and then calamity Southron support AGAIN

I add the Muak an Elite and the last 2 archers to the staging area.

I look at the 16 archery and the horde of cards ready to descend and shed a single tear for this play through.

I will try again

Started playing 2 handed on this scenario (which i normally avoid since i find it very cluttered and a hassle to set up) but it has really been an absolute blast. Really enjoying it each time i play it. A lot of replayability IMO

Started playing 2 handed on this scenario (which i normally avoid since i find it very cluttered and a hassle to set up) but it has really been an absolute blast. Really enjoying it each time i play it. A lot of replayability IMO

Yep, 2 handed is the way to play this one. One of the best scenarios in that mode so far.

Playing 4 handed is the same as any other way

You just need a larger play space. Perhaps I will take a picture of a typical set -up and link to it somehow

Played it for the first time tonight with 2 players, we lost our first attempt and won the second. Played with a tri-sphere Boromir(tactics/Eleanor/Denethor on one side and Imrahil/Glorfindel(spirit)/Eowyn on the other.

For the setup in both games, we added the Lieutenant of Mordor, a Haradrim Elite, Ancient Harbor and The Old Bridge. We discovered the same thing that others have -- tactics Boromir can claim the harbor all by himself during the combat phase.

First game, we pretty well got overrun by enemies. There was always an extra location or two in the staging area, and we just couldn't keep up. I even discarded Boromir to end an attack in progress (against Boromir -- would have killed Boromir anyway) by killing the attacking enemy, as well as one other that we had already allowed to attack. It was downhill after that.

Second game we attempted a first-turn win by using all player resources to claim The Old Bridge during Planning, and planned on using Boromir to claim Ancient Harbor during combat. Well, staging threw another location out at us, so this wasn't to be. That continued for three or four rounds, and meanwhile enemies started to pour out. In the end, we had a surprising save via Power of Mordor. There were two Osgiliath locations in the staging area, then Power of Mordor came out and replaced them all with enemies. We ended up winning at the end of that round.

I think any victory that exploits Boromir to claim Ancient Harbor is kind of a cheap victory, so we'll have to try it again more honorably. End score was 78 with the old system, probably something like 128 or 138 if you count rounds.

Got it, play it! Very strange feeling. Good quest but looks like is not really for solo. My best shot win on the second round.

Asfaloth make amazing job since he can put tokens on active location. For solo is too easy. From 6 games i lost only one.

Sounds like need to play 2-3 plyaer game.

Got it, play it! Very strange feeling. Good quest but looks like is not really for solo. My best shot win on the second round.

Asfaloth make amazing job since he can put tokens on active location. For solo is too easy. From 6 games i lost only one.

Sounds like need to play 2-3 plyaer game.

Definitely. 2 handed is more challenging.

Play 3 players and 2 player game. Very cool! Really interesting and fun. Solo experience very different.

I love this quest!

Yea I've had some good experiences with the Knight of Minas Tirith as well. If using mono tactics he's nice to pull down any enemy that starts in the staging area like Forest spider or Harbor Thug. Even if used with other spheres, 3 atk on an ally is just a nice hefty amount.

I've done mono-Tactics with mono-Leadership, the former including Knight of Minas Tirith, the latter Boromir. It was was one of those very satisfying moments when the Knight pulled and killed an enemy of 1 defence strength and 3 hit points (I actually think the difference between 3 and 4 attack strength is the most important in the game, with so many enemies having 4 as their total of defence and hps).

So first round 4 harad enemies get added by Treachery. As the only test of will available was already swallowed to stop The Master's malice (I did so to not lose Arwen, So count THAT a lesson learned.)

One of the most rewarding aspects of playing mono-sphere is Master's Malice. It may still sometimes kill an envoy or watchman but in general it has turned from one of the most dreaded to the very most welcomed encounter cards.

Wow, Knights of Mina Tirith just saved my fellwoship! I played two handed (mono tactics and mono lore), got these nasty Orc Vanguard. Next turn I played KoMT, removing the Vanguard from the staging area. Then I played Forest Snare wirh my other hand.

Sweet!

So first round 4 harad enemies get added by Treachery. As the only test of will available was already swallowed to stop The Master's malice (I did so to not lose Arwen, So count THAT a lesson learned.)

One of the most rewarding aspects of playing mono-sphere is Master's Malice. It may still sometimes kill an envoy or watchman but in general it has turned from one of the most dreaded to the very most welcomed encounter cards.

The decks I am using are theoretically Mono sphere.

However, the Spirit Rohan Deck uses Theodred and a smattering of cheap Leadership cards to generate resources.

The All leadership deck also has the outlands as its' core mechanic (using Hirluin)

And the Elrond/Vilya deck includes Spirit Glorfindel to get access to stargazer and test of will etc. And also a couple of high cost allies to spit out using Vilya.

The tactics deck is completely Monosphere.

But unless It is late in the game you're right, Master's Malice won'tr hurt too badly.