Hello FFG Community....

I got LOTR Card Game for Xmas. I survived the Passage through Mirkwood and am now Journeying down the Anduin. Having tried using all four of the spheres of influence I cant get past the first quest card. Hill giant kicks my a$$ along with his buddy Chief U and friends. I guess my wife was right, I am an idiot. Playing solo. Any help?

Thanks!

Milton

Welcome. This is an extraordinarily common experience, and it's part of the learning curve.

Here's a post I wrote on the subject of HIll Troll slaying: http://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/how-to-kill-a-hill-troll/

I also highly recommend Beorn's Path, who takes new players through the first scenarios step-by-step: http://hallofbeorn.wordpress.com/beorns-path/

Finally, sometimes nothing is better than watching a scenario played. Look up "progression series" on YouTube, and you'll see some playthroughs that are very friendly to new players.

There are plenty posts about Journey Down the Anduin. For more, give a chance to the forum search.

I remember having played the core set a half dozen times and being so frustrated I almost quit the game. Then I went online to read about deck building and discovered many, many tips that made the game a lot more playable. I would highly recommend that you check out the progression series on youtube as well as the websites: Master of Lore, Hall of Beorn, and Tales from the Cards. Each of these sites has plenty of deckbuilding advice plus tips on how to play the game.

The reality of your situation is that until you get a bigger card pool, the game is going to be very difficult and success will be elusive at best. BUT.... that's part of the fun. The wins will come and when they do, they will feel very epic.

One of the interesting things about this game is that every time you buy new player cards, you also get a new scenario which is really fun because each scenario is slightly different and lets you see the game in a new light and gives you new deck building ideas. As to which expansions to buy first, I would recommend you check out the New Players Guides on Tales from the Cards, in particular the new player buying guide. There's no need to rush out and buy everything. If you know what style of play you want, you can get the card packs that suit you best.

Good luck with the game, and take heart, the learning curve is tough but the game is worth it. The more I play, the better it gets and I feel the game as a whole has finally hit its stride and the best is yet to come.

You are NOT an idiot! Solo playing is not common but it is awesome.

That scenario was built to read the rules carefully. I read it like 5 times before my 1st victory against Anduin, cos i thought I am doing something wrong, haha. I didn't believe it is so hard

Dont forget, that you can make decks of more spheres.

Good luck! Don't give up!

Solo playing is not common but it is awesome.

Says who? I bet well over 50% of the players play solo. Maybe nearing 75%. It's biggest reason this game is so popular.

But i dont know why there are people that cant play with more friends. It is the best game in the world !!! Really, the best thinks are unknowed by the most people, like all.

Solo is fun, but 2 player is where it shines... especially if you follow the table talk rules.

As for anduin.. yes it is hard with just the core, remember the sets are designed in cycles. So they have to make the quest accessible to people with the entire mirkwood set and as much as people talk **** about it, FFG expects you to buy 1 extra set of core at least. The card distribution is designed to encourage that.

Other than that, with out knowing your exact card pool it is hard to help... but in my experience I find dunhere + eowyn and Beravore to be a strong contender for this scenario when you just have the core cards. Once you get a few packs this quest beings a 100% win scenario.

If you post your exact card pool we can offer more specific advice.

Thanks for the replies, this seems like a pretty cool forum. In following up some of the resources provided, I'm getting the impression that using just the basic core one sphere one Gandalf deck just isn't up to snuff. Guess its time to learn deck building!

Thanks again, gotta make my way down the Anduin.......

Milton

yeah this is a constructed game.. no doubt. SO yeah.. once you start doing deck construction the format starts to really click. The problem is the card pool is so small even after 2 years due to 1/2 the packs being encounter cards that it is nearly impossible to make a unique deck. Pretty much anyone thinks of or posts someone has already built.

If you want a decklist that can beat anduin solo using just one core set let me know.

yeah it is totally beatable.. but with out trying to sound all snobby.... the "game" is working this stuff out for yourself. Just play with deck building a bit and modify your decks based on your experience.. this will give you much more enjoyment than copying a deck form a experienced player.

Hey guys,

Deck building 101 did the trick, although I'm sure card luck helped. The very first time I tried Anduin the first staged enemy was the second hill troll.....If that had happened with my newly built deck I probably would have been waxed again.

Ok, its time to Escape from Dol G. I think i'll try it first with a core sphere and one Gandalf and see how it plays and build a deck from there....

Thanks!

Milton

Ok, its time to Escape from Dol G. I think i'll try it first with a core sphere and one Gandalf and see how it plays and build a deck from there....

hehehe good luck we'll see him soon (it might be a hard quest)

yea dol guldur is one of the few quests that is considered almost impossible solo

i am not sure but i think FFG wanted to give a challenge in a two players game with Dol-Guldur back then wen the game came out.I don't think that this quest's propose was to test your limits at solo play but to force you try the coop aspect of the game.

Or maybe i am wrong .

Well, that was fast. Caught in a Web guarding an objective card, hummerhorns the first staged card. Using the Leadership deck I went down wham bam thanks for playing! I'm guessing the other sphere decks by themselves w/ one Gandalf with last about as long. Time to go deck building...

Well, that was fast. Caught in a Web guarding an objective card, hummerhorns the first staged card. Using the Leadership deck I went down wham bam thanks for playing! I'm guessing the other sphere decks by themselves w/ one Gandalf with last about as long. Time to go deck building...

You wont be able to beat it with the pre made decks. You have a small chance if you build a powerful deck using combined spheres. I would give a couple deck building tries and test them.

If you have a lot of trouble and you want a deck that works really well and can beat Dol-Guldur once and a while, you can use this deck - http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1108855

It works quite well and uses just the core set cards.

Have fun,

Khamul

Dol Guldur alone with only core set player cards: I won only one time (after lots of tries) with Legolas · Aragorn · Eowyn. Legolas was the captured heroe. Aragorn could attach Stewards and Celebrian Stone in the first rounds...

Well since you were humbled I'd figure I'd chime in as well after my first game. I lost..lol...with the spirit deck. I was mostly going slow and making sure I had steps right and looking stuff up as I went. Now that I know the cards in deck I'll try again. Very well thought out and creative game I can tell you that. You really don't realize when you keep hearing playing solo until you actually play a game yourself. There is a lot of thinking and planning involved! Anyway, y'all have a great day!

Well, I guess I can wrap up this thread in that I finally escaped Dol Guldur. I needed to play it two handed and I got lucky with many card draws from the encounter deck. But I sure as hell learned a lot during this process, many thanks to those with the advice.

So I go back to the beginning and play passage through Mirkwood again one handed. Got beat before I made it to stage 2. I guess my wife was right, I am an idiot!

lol

Welcome. This is an extraordinarily common experience, and it's part of the learning curve.

Here's a post I wrote on the subject of HIll Troll slaying: http://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/how-to-kill-a-hill-troll/

I also highly recommend Beorn's Path, who takes new players through the first scenarios step-by-step: http://hallofbeorn.wordpress.com/beorns-path/

Finally, sometimes nothing is better than watching a scenario played. Look up "progression series" on YouTube, and you'll see some playthroughs that are very friendly to new players.

I have found both Tales from the Cards and Hall of Beorn to be tremendously helpful as I start out.

I enjoyed reading the Core Set deck building articles from Beorn's Path and took the Leadership/Lore set through Mirkwood last night. I don't think I ever want to play again without some of those Lore healing cards, haha!