Well, I played through for the first time. I played solo. Lasted about 2 3/4 hours. I played with the Doom Track, but not the Hazards, and now I wish I would have. I would have gotten to face more Green or Yellow enemies. You move fast on the Doom Track, almost too fast so you don't get to face many Purple Cards. Mostly Green, and a handful of Yellow.

I think I did the final combat incorrectly though. After the final Doom Track token was laid, I drew my first red card of the game. It was not the boss. I defeated the challenge, but was wounded, so I went to town, healed myself and my allies before taking on another Red Card. Is this legal??

Also, I kept the Challenge Card, as it says to do, a Dragon Rune. Now, does these Runes count toward my Equipment limit? Which I believe is 2 Equipement and 2 Allies? These are incredibly useful items, but I want to play by the rules.

When playing the Doom Track, if a Defeated Challenge says to keep the card for later use in another situation, does this A.) Count Against items limits and B.) Do these ever go on the Doom Track? I feel that they don't because they stay in your hand and become more of an item.

Lastly, If I wanted to play an almost completely different game, what expansions would be recommened that are not Big Box?

GalaxyUC said:

For the very first game you should have played without the Doom Track. This rule variant is strongly recommended to improve the difficulty, but at the beginning you don't know enough of the game to play it with success. I'm surprised you managed to defeat a Red Challenge if Doom track ended with only a couple of defeated Blue/Purple Challenges.

With Doom Track, you need to move fast to the Yellow and Purple Challenges. While playing solo, you should be able to attempt the first Yellow after not more than 5 Green; you should carefully and constantly spend your Gold to buy useful Objects and Allies. You needn't have Items that cost 7 or more, especially Allies. You can win a game only with a Rune Seeker or a Burning Priest if you play well.

GalaxyUC said:

In the Endgame, you must face Red Challenges one after the other. No Refresh step between Challenges, and no moving on the Board allowed! Your Hero needs to be well prepared for the Endgame.

GalaxyUC said:

The Equipment limit is as follows: 1 Armour Item, 2 Weapon Items, 2 Allies and everything else. You can carry as many Artifacts and Runes that you may buy/find, and Dragon Runes are actually Runes.

GalaxyUC said:

A) They are treated as Items, but they don't become Armours or Weapons = no problem with equipment restrictions.

B) They go on the Doom Track when you activate them and discard them (i.e. Hill Troll, Brood of the Bloodmother, Lady Vorakesh). While playing with the Doom Track, these Challenges are very welcome as you can keep them in hand instead of discarding. They don't cause the Doom Track to advance and you shouldn't, by all means, use their power. This seems a little odd, but you can make it without these little bonuses, and without solving the Encounters; you need to prevent Doom Track from advancing and this has to be your main concern.

GalaxyUC said:

Then you should look for Adventure Variants. Most of them are good, but I don't have played with every expansion I have. The ones I liked the most are Cult of the Rune and The Sceptre of Kyros. The first has some new features that add something new to the gameplay, the latter has a very interesting Endgame, but it's better to play with at least one other person.

For Big Box Expansions, if you're ever going to buy one of them, go for Sands of Al-Kalim.