With the new Wilds of Rhovanion deluxe released I am very excited to have multiple brand new quests and player cards after somewhat of a long wait. I have beaten all three quests once and have lost twice against Journey Up the Anduin and can safely say all three quests are incredible and welcome additions to our game. Journey can be frustrating due to one particular card that can really shut my decks down and it continued to appear in every game I have played thus far but other than this I really enjoy all three quests and the various obstacles you must overcome in this new deluxe.

Having not done a turn by turn report in quite some time I decided I should do one for one of the quests from the new deluxe. I have decided to do a report of Lost in Mirkwood for a few reasons. Turn by Turn reports take quite a lot of time and effort to create so I would rather play a quest I have a very good chance of winning on the first attempt in order to avoid a ton of extra work. Journey Up the Anduin features Hills of Wilderland which has the potential to be a game ending card especially if combined with Dangerous Crossing!

Similarly The Kings Quest can be quite tough and even though I won the single attempt I have played, locations absolutely flood out of the encounter deck and can generate a ton of threat in the staging area very quickly. Lost in Mirkwood is both a very fun quest and one that I have more confidence in beating on the first try. I certainly did not have as much trouble against Lost in Mirkwood as I did with the other two quests. To make up for this my next Turn by Turn Report will be against a quest that is a little harder and which may actually require me to record multiple games before I achieve a win.

The other main reason I have decided upon Lost in Mirkwood is that this quest can deviate more than the other two each time you play with alternative quest stages and set aside encounter sets. Last time I played I ended up first arriving at Stage 2C and had the Dol Guldur Orcs Encounter set added to the Encounter deck. I then arrived at Stage 3A next and had to rescue two captured heroes. I finally ended up at 4A “The Forest of Great Fear” and had to take on a buffed copy of Ungoliant’s Spawn to win. Hopefully this time I encounter different quest stages and get to see some of the other possibilities and challenges when playing this quest.

This quest is certainly an interesting one as you progress through the quest stages by travelling to guarded Objective locations rather than by placing progress. In order to travel to these objective locations you have to first clear whatever encounter card is guarding them.

I don’t need the best starting hands ever considering this quest is not too difficult but it would still be nice to see some decent combat cards to deal with the Spiders that start in the staging area or some readying effects just in case more enemies appear first round.

I draw the following as my opening hands:

-Combat Deck: Sneak Attack, Feint, Derndingle Warrior, Rivendell Blade, Gondorian Shield and Gandalf

-Questing Deck: Power of Orthanc, Elven-Light, Unexpected Courage, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Quickbeam and Haldir of Lorien.

I decide to keep both as they are both pretty decent starting hands. I could play UC and either the Handmaiden or Quickbeam first turn with the questing deck and the combat deck can get Gondorian Shield on Gimli and save a tactics resource for Feint while also Sneak Attacking Gandalf into play. I should certainly be able to take on whatever the encounter deck decides to serve up on the first round.

For quest setup as per instructions on Stage 1A I set both the Dol Guldur Orcs and Spiders of Mirkwood Encounter sets aside out of play, the first player takes control of Haldan and I add Searching for a Way Out to the staging area. Finally I add two copies of Forest Spider to the staging area and shuffle the encounter deck. Alright all set up and ready to go it is time for my first resource and planning phases of the game!

Round 1: Stage 1B (- of – progress)

Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws another copy of Gondorian Shield and Rings of Power draws Dwarven Tomb. Decent draws but nothing too useful right now.

Sword, Axe and Bow

32 threat (First Player)

Hand: Sneak Attack, Feint, Derndingle Warrior, Rivendell Blade, Gondorian Shield x2 and Gandalf

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Gimli: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

–Haldan (Objective ally)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Empty

Rings of Power

31 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Power of Orthanc, Elven-Light, Unexpected Courage, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Quickbeam, Dwarven Tomb and Haldir of Lorien.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-none

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Empty

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So are two copies of Forest Spider. There is no active location.

Planning Phase

Sword, Axe and Bow is first. I play Gondorian Shield on Gimli for one tactics resource and save the other in case I need Feint. Thats all for now!

Rings of Power goes second. I discard Elven Light to Arwen’s ability to add 1 resource to Elrond. I play UC on Elrond with Galadriel and Arwen’s resources and play Quickbeam with both of Elrond’s resources. I deal 1 damage to Quickbeam to ready him. He should hopefully help dispatch a Forest Spider later this turn.

Staging and Quest Resolution

Alright time to really start the game! The combat deck uses Sneak Attack to put Gandalf in play. I choose to draw 3 cards as per Gandalf’s response. I draw Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer and Sneak Attack. This is a treasure trove of events! I can cancel a shadow with Sterner than Steel as Gimli already has Gondorian Shield, I can draw more cards with Foe Hammer once I get Rivendell Blade on Legolas and Sneak Attack will give me further cheap uses out the copy of Gandalf I have just played.

Now I want to keep several characters back in order to deal with the Forest Spiders right away. I also have no active location to clear and no real reason to place progress either this round so I only want to commit enough Willpower to avoid questing unsuccessfully.

The combat deck commits Gandalf and the questing deck commits Elrond (who immediately readies via UC), Arwen and Quickbeam who does not exhaust thanks to Galadriel’s effect on allies that have entered play this round. This results in a total of 12 willpower.

For staging I first reveal.. Old Forest Road, and then reveal Accursed Forest. This results in a total of 9 threat in the staging area. As per the effect on Searching for a Way Out I discard the top 3 cards of the encounter deck and the third and final card is an Objective Location: Forest Clearing (two enemies are discarded as the other two cards). This location then enters play and I resolve the Guarded keyword on it. I discard a whopping 13 encounter cards (including another Objective location which might be handy) from the encounter deck until I finally reach an enemy: Mirkwood Patrol! This was a somewhat rough first round of Staging as I now have a fairly tough enemy in play Guarding the first Objective Location. Gandalf returns back to the combat players hand thanks to Sneak Attack.

Travel

I would like to travel to Accursed Forest to get rid of it’s awful block on cancelling when revealed effects (not that I even have Test of Will in hand anyway..) but I don’t really want to reveal another encounter card to fulfil the travel cost so instead I travel to the harmless Old Forest Road. The combat deck has no exhausted characters so the travel response does nothing.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Mirkwood Patrol and then a Forest Spider engages each deck as per regular engagement checks. The combat deck raises threat by 2 and the questing deck raises threat by 1 thanks to the effect on Stage 1B.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to Mirkwood Patrol and the Forest Spider engaged with the combat deck and then deal one to the Forest Spider engaged with the questing deck. Each Forest Spider gets +1 attack this round due to engaging a player. I use Feint with my remaining tactics resource to stop the Forest Spider engaged with the combat deck from attacking this round, I would use it on Mirkwood Patrol but the Patrol is immune to player card effects thanks to Searching for a Way Out! Gimli exhausts to defend Mirkwood Patrol. The shadow effect is defending player discards a non-objective attachment he controls.. I decide to cancel this with Sterner than Steel rather than discarding Gondorian Shield and Gimli takes 2 damage from this attack but I keep Gondorian Shield. I then exhaust Elrond to defend against the Forest Spider engaged with his deck. The shadow effect boosts the enemies attack by 2 if the defending player has an attachment which Elrond does and he consequently suffers 2 damage from the attack. Nasty shadow card reveals indeed….

Time for a counter attack! Now I had planned to destroy both Forest Spiders but the Mirkwood Patrol takes precedence now that it has entered play. I exhaust Legolas, Aragorn and Haldan with a total of 9 attack strength to destroy Mirkwood Patrol. I then exhaust Quickbeam to attack and deal 2 damage to the Forest Spider engaged with his deck. Not ideal as neither Forest Spider is dead but one is damaged and at least the Mirkwood Patrol was destroyed and the Objective location has now been made available to travel to when I wish. I can always use Sneak Attack Gandalf to destroy a Spider next turn if I really want to. Finally before this phase ends I exhaust Galadriel to allow the questing deck to draw a card (cannot lower threat thanks to Stage 1B…) and I draw Master of the Forge. This could be great as he could allow me to find Nenya or Vilya quickly.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 2: Stage 1B (- of – progress)

Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Send for Aid and Rings of Power draws Daeron’s Runes. Send for Aid is PERFECT as I have no need to place progress on the main quest phase anymore now that there is already an Objective Location in play.

Sword, Axe and Bow

35 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Send for Aid, Gondorian Shield, Rivendell Blade, Gandalf, Derndingle Warrior, Sneak Attack and Foe Hammer.

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Gimli: 1 resource, 2 damage, Gondorian Shield attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-none

Engaged With:

–Forest Spider

Discard Pile:

Feint, Sterner than Steel and Sneak Attack

Rings of Power

33 threat (First Player)

Hand: Dwarven Tomb, Haldir, Power of Orthanc, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Master of the Forge and Daeron’s Runes.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 2 damage, Unexpected Courage attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam and Haldan objective-ally.

Engaged With:

–Forest Spider (2 damage tokens)

Discard Pile:

Elven Light

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So is Accursed Forest. Old Forest Road is the active location.

Planning Phase

Rings of Power goes first. I use Daeron’s Runes and draw Galadrim Healer and Firyal. I discard Dwarven Tomb and am sad to see it go.. I then also discard Master of the Forge reluctantly to place a resource on Elrond via Arwen’s ability. I use all four resources (two lore and two spirit) to play Galadriel Healer (who heals 2 damage off Gimli) and Galadriel’s Handmaiden. The reason for this is that I want to get as much willpower out as possible the next few turns to clear Send for Aid.

Sword, Axe and Bow is second. I would love to Sneak Attack Gandalf again but Send for Aid takes precedence and I play it with my single leadership resource on Gimli. I then play the other copy of Gondorian Shield on Elrond and Rivendell Blade on Legolas with both tactics resources.

Staging and Quest Resolution

I choose for Send for Aid to be the active quest this phase. The questing deck commits a total of 13 willpower (Elrond who readies with UC, Arwen, Quickbeam, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Galadrim Healer and Haldan who doesn’t exhaust as there is an active location) and the combat deck commits 2 willpower through Aragorn for a combined total of 15.

During Staging I reveal Forest Gate and East Bight Patrol. Fairly tame encounter cards but more threat than I was hoping for. There is a total of 9 threat in staging which means I place 6 progress 3 of which clears Old Forest Road and 3 of which goes on Send for Aid. Hopefully next turn I can clear Send for Aid and then travel to the first Objective Location ready for Stage 2.

Travel

Again I would like to travel to Accursed Forest to get rid of its awful effect but I still don’t really need to with no Test of Will in hand anyway. Forest Gate has a fantastic card draw effect for the first player so it is the clear choice to travel to in this situation. I travel to Forest Gate and the questing deck draws… Orophin and Vilya! Next turn I might be able to get Vilya up and going to great effect depending on how things pan out.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages East Bight Patrol and raises threat by 1.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to the Forest Spider engaged with the questing deck and then deal one for the East Bight Patrol and Forest Spider engaged with the combat deck.

Elrond exhausts to defend the Forest Spider engaged with the questing deck and takes no damage thanks to no shadow effect and 4 defense from Gondorian Shield. Gimli defends East Bight Patrol and also takes no damage thanks to no shadow effect once again. I actually take the final attack from the second Forest Spider undefended and place 2 damage on Aragorn after I reveal a third shadow card with no effect. Haldan attacks the Forest Spider engaged with the questing deck and places a further 2 damage on it destroying it in the process. Legolas attacks East Bight Patrol and kills it, I place two progress on Forest Gate thanks to his ability and then play Foe-Hammer and exhaust Rivendell Blade to draw 3 cards. I draw Dunedain Warning, Steward of Gondor and Feint.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 3: Stage 1B (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Dagger of Westernesse and Rings of Power draws Miruvor. Miruvor gets an additional defense out of Gimli and adds a resource which is fantasic and very useful right now.

Sword, Axe and Bow

37 threat (First Player)

Hand: Steward, Feint, Dunedain Warning, Derndingle Warrior, Gandalf, Sneak Attack and Dagger of Westernesse.

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Gimli: 1 resource, 0 damage, Gondorian Shield attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade attached

Allies:

–Haldan Objective-ally

Engaged With:

–Forest Spider

Discard Pile:

Feint, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer and Sneak Attack

Rings of Power

34 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Haldir, Power of Orthanc, Firyal, Orophin, Vilya and Miruvor.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 2 damage, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (1 damage), Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Galadrim Healer

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb, Daeron’s Runes and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So is Accursed Forest and the objective location Forest Clearing. Send for Aid player side quest is in the staging area with 3 of 6 progress. Forest Gate is the active location with 2 of 4 progress.

Planning Phase

Sword, Axe and Bow is up first. I play Dagger of Westerness on Legolas and save the other resource for Feint.

Rings of Power goes second. I play Vilya on Elrond with Galadriel and Arwen’s resource then play Miruvor on Gimli with Elrond’s resource now that he has the Spirit Icon via Vilya. I then exhaust Vilya and Elrond to play the top card of the questing deck which is revealed to be.. Galdor of the Havens! Fantastic luck!! I then ready Elrond with UC.

Staging and Quest Resolution

First off to ensure I am able to clear Send for Aid this turn I play Sneak Attack and put Gandalf in play. The combat deck draws three cards thanks to Gandalf’s effect and draws: Feint, Sterner than Steel and Unlikely Friendship. Ha! Another treasure trove of events that will all be very useful. I choose for Send for Aid to be the active quest this phase. The combat deck commits Gandalf and Haldan who does not exhaust to quest as there is an active location for a total of 6 willpower. The questing deck commits Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Quickbeam, Galadrim Healer, Elrond, Arwen and Galdor for total of 13 willpower. Combined total willpower this turn is 19.

During Staging I reveal.. Abandoned Village objective location which ends up being Guarded by Dark Black Woods and I then reveal another copy of Forest Gate as the second encounter card. There is a total of 9 willpower in the staging area so I place 10 progress. This clears Forest Gate as well as Send for Aid! Huzzah! After resolving the effect from Send for Aid the combat deck chooses to put Boromir ally in play and the questing deck chooses to put Glorfindel ally in play. This is more or less top value for the side quest bringing two expensive highly useful allies into play! Gandalf returns back to the combat decks hand.

Travel

Well and truly ready for Stage 2 I finally travel to Forest Clearing objective location. I shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck and each player discards the top card and raises threat by that cards threat. This only raises the questing deck’s threat by 1. I then follow the forced effect on the location and IMMEDIATELY ADVANCE TO STAGE 2C

Stage 2C (Booo! Was hoping to take the Spiders Path this time!) shuffles the Dol Guldur Orcs Encounter set into the Encounter deck and forces me to reveal 2 encounter cards.

I reveal Vastness of Mirkwood which fizzles and does absolutely nothing at this point in the round and then Dol Guldur Beastmaster.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Dol Guldur Beastmaster.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to the Forest Spider and Dol Guldur Beastmaster. I use Feint to stop the Beastmaster from attacking this round. Gimli exhausts to defend Forest Spider and takes no damage (no shadow effect). I then counter attack. Legolas destroys the Forest Spider thanks to Dagger and Blade. Aragorn, Haldan and Boromir all combine efforts to decimate the Dol Guldur Beastmaster and destroy it in one hit.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 4: Stage 2D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Marksman of Lorien and Rings of Power draws Galadhrim Healer.

Sword, Axe and Bow

38 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Marksman of Lorien, Unlikely Friendship, Dunedain Warning, Steward, Derndingle Warrior, Feint, Sterner than Steel and Gandalf.

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 2 damage

— Gimli: 2 resources, 0 damage, Gondorian Shield and Miruvor attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

35 threat (First Player)

Hand: Galadhrim Healer, Haldir, Firyal, Orophin and Power of Orthanc.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 2 damage, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (1 damage), Haldan Objective-ally, Galdor, Glorfindel, Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Galadrim Healer

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb, Daeron’s Runes and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So is Accursed Forest, Forest Gate and Dark Black Woods which is Guarding Abandoned Village. Forest Clearing Objective location is the active location.

Planning Phase

Rings of Power is going first this turn. I return Elven Light to hand by using Arwen’s one resource and draw: another copy of Power Of Orthanc (useless now that the Spiders of Mirkwood encounter set will not see play and Caught in a Web cannot appear). I then discard Elven Light to put a resource on Elrond via Arwen’s ability. I use Elrond’s two resources to play Galadrim Healer who heals 2 damage off Elrond. I exhaust Galadriel to lower the combat deck’s threat by 1 and allow it to draw a card. The combat deck draws: Treebeard. Finally I exhaust Vilya and Elrond to play… Dwarven Tomb… the only spirit card in my discard pile worth returning to hand is another copy of Dwarven Tomb which I fetch. Elrond readies via UC.

Sword, Axe and Bow is up next. I play Unlikely Friendship to place a resource on Aragorn and draw Azain Silverbeard. I play Steward of Gondor on Gimli and exhaust it immediately to add 2 resources to his pool. I then play Dunedain Warning on Gimli with one of his two resources. Gimli now has 5 defense thanks to the Warning and powered up Gondorian Shield. I then play Derndingle Warrior with two of my tactics resources and save the third in case I need to use my third and final copy of Feint.

Staging and Quest Resolution

This turn I need to clear the active location so I can travel to Dark Black Woods and free up another Objective Location in order to advance to the next quest phase. I commit Elrond, Arwen, Quickbeam, Glorfindel, Galdor, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Both Galadrim Healers and Haldan for a total of 19 willpower. The combat deck does not commit any characters this quest phase.

During Staging I reveal… Forest Spider and The Necromancer’s Reach! I cannot cancel this Treachery and it deals a ton of damage to the questing deck. Both Galadhrim Healers and Galadriel’s Handmaiden are destroyed! Galdor, Quickbeam, Glorfindel, Galadriel, Arwen and Derndingle Warrior all suffer 1 damage. Total Willpower is recalculated and is now 15. The total threat in staging is 11 so I place exactly 4 progress allowing me to just clear Forest Clearing. The Necromancer’s Reach very nearly stopped me from clearing the active location which would have made this round a disaster.

Travel

Now I need to advance to Stage 3 and can only do so by travelling to an Objective location. Abandoned Village is in the staging area but is Guarded by Dark Black Woods. Dark Black Woods has a fairly nasty travel effect but I have to clear it if I want access to the Objective Location. I travel to Dark Black Woods and resolve the travel effect.

Each deck discards the top card of the encounter deck and neither card is an enemy so nothing is added to the staging area.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally Forest Spider who gets +1 attack until the end of the round.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to the Forest Spider. Gimli exhausts to defend and Forest Spider’s shadow effect allows it to make an additional attack. I discard Miruvor to ready Gimli and give him a resource and exhaust him to defend the Forest Spider’s second attack, the second shadow card has no effect. Legolas counter attacks and kills the Forest Spider on his own. He cannot place progress on the active location as it is Guarding an Objective location and is therefore immune to player card effects.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 5: Stage 2D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws another Marksman Of Lorien and Rings of Power draws another copy of Miruvor.

Sword, Axe and Bow

38 threat (First Player)

Hand: Marksman Of Lorien x2, Feint, Azain, Gandalf, Treebeard and Sterner than Steel.

— Aragorn: 2 resource, 2 damage

— Gimli: 5 resources, 0 damage, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Derndingle Warrior (1 damage) and Haldan Objective ally.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

36 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Orophin, Firyal, Haldir, Power of Orthanc x2, Dwarven Tomb and Miruvor.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 2 resources, 0 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (2 damage), Galdor (1 damage) and Glorfindel (1 damage)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Galadhrim Healer x2 and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So is Accursed Forest and Forest Gate. Dark Black Woods Guarding Abandoned Village objective location is the active location.

Planning Phase

Sword, Axe and Bow is going first. I play Azain Silverbeard and Treebeard with all resources except for one remaining on Gimli. Treebeard enters play exhausted.

Rings of Power is playing second. First off I play Miruvor on Gimli using Arwen’s single resource. I then play Dwarven Tomb to return Galadriel’s Handmaiden from my discard pile to my hand and play it, this uses up my 3 remaining resources. I lower the combat deck’s threat by 1 with the Handmaiden’s ability. I exhaust Elrond and Vilya to play.. Gather Information for free. I ready Elrond with UC. Finally I exhaust Galadriel to lower the combat deck’s threat by 1 and allow it to draw a card. The combat deck draws another copy of Gandalf.

Staging and Quest Resolution

It should be relatively easy to clear Dark Black Woods this turn but just in case I am going to commit a few characters I would otherwise leave back for combat to the quest phase this turn. I choose for Gather Information to be the active quest this round. The Combat deck commits Boromir, Haldan and Aragorn for a total of 5 willpower. The Questing deck commits Arwen, Elrond, Glorfindel, Galdor, Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Quickbeam for a total of 15 willpower. Total combined willpower is 20.

During Staging I reveal.. Accursed Forest and Vastness of Mirkwood. Vastness of Mirkwood gives each location +1 threat and does not surge. There is a total threat of 13 in the staging area thanks to the boost from Vastness of Mirkwood. I am able to place 7 progress which is the exact amount needed to clear both Dark Black Woods and Gather Information!! I resolve Gather Information and add Armored Destrier to the combat decks hand and Imladris Stargazer to the questing decks hand. Exploring Dark Black Woods also places Abandoned Village Objective location back in the staging area unguarded and free of encounter cards.

Travel

I immediately travel to Abandoned Village so I can advance to the next quest stage!

I resolve the travel effect and each player discards the top of the encounter deck, a copy of Dol Guldur Orcs is added to the staging area thanks to this effect. I then follow the forced effect on the location and IMMEDIATELY ADVANCE TO STAGE 3C

Now this Quest Stage is new to me as last time I wound up at 3A. Each player discards cards from the top of the encounter deck until they discard a non-objective location and add it to the staging area. Each player places his hand of cards facedown under a different location in the staging area. The effect adds Twilight Hall and Enchanted Stream to the staging area (an objective location is discarded in the process which may be important for advancing to the next and final quest stage). I choose to place the combat deck’s hand under Forest Gate and the questing deck’s hand under Twilight Hall.

Essentially my plan is to first explore to Twilight Hall next turn after clearing Abandoned Village and placing 1 resource on Twilight Hall. This means I will avoid the +2 threat Twilight Hall will have from the resource token as I will only place that after already clearing Abandoned Village from quest resolution! The following turn I can travel to Forest Gate (which has a beneficial effect!) with ease and hopefully reclaim both sets of player cards by following this plan.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Dol Guldur Orcs.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to Dol Guldur Orcs and Gimli exhausts to defend the attack. He takes no damage (shadow effect boosts attack by 1 but this doesn’t help against Gimli’s 5 defense). Legolas counter attacks and destroys the Orcs on his own.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 6: Stage 3D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Gondorian Shield (more or less useless) and Rings of Power draws Imladris Stargazer! Huh! Take that Stage 3C I still have a Stargazer!

Sword, Axe and Bow

38 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Gondorian Shield

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 2 damage

— Gimli: 4 resources, 0 damage, Miruvor, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Azain Silverbeard, Derndingle Warrior (1 damage) and Treebeard (1 resource)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

37 threat (First Player)

Hand: Imladris Stargazer

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 1 damage

— Galadriel: 2 resources, 1 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (2 damage), Galdor (1 damage), Glorfindel (1 damage), Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Haldan Objective ally.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb x2, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor, Galadhrim Healer x2 and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. So is Accursed Forest x2, Enchanted Stream, Twilight Hall and Forest Gate. Abandoned Village objective location is the active location.

Planning Phase

Rings of Power is up first this planning phase. I play Imladris Stargazer with Arwen and Galadriel’s resources. I immediately exhaust the Stargazer to reveal the top 5 cards of the questing deck. I reveal Wellinghall Preserver, Vilya, Imladris Caregiver, Daeron’s Runes and Unexpected Courage. I put them back in the following order: UC, Daeron’s Runes, Imladris Caregiver, Vilya and Wellinghall Preserver. I then exhaust Vilya and Elrond to play UC on Gimli. I ready Elrond with UC.

Sword, Axe and Bow is going second this planning phase. I simply play Gondorian Shield on Aragorn with his resource.

Staging and Quest Resolution

I really need to clear the active location so I can hopefully travel to Twilight Hall and clear it asap returning the questing deck’s cards back to hand. As I look around the board to confirm my current plan I reread and realise the impact of some text on Stage 3C: “Each location gets +1 quest point for each facedown player card under it.”

If I want to clear either of the locations with my player cards underneath I am going to have to generate some serious willpower to do so. This will also probably stall me at this quest stage for quite some time. I may have to cut my losses at some point and simply advance to Stage 4 by travelling to an Objective location instead. The threat in the staging area is also getting pretty damn high and currently before staging this round it is already at 14… depending on what actually appears this round of Staging I may have to change my plan and abandon the player cards underneath locations.

The questing deck commits Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Arwen, Haldan, Glorfindel, Galdor, Elrond and Quickbeam for a total of 17 willpower. The Combat deck commits Aragorn, Gimli (who readies with UC immediately), Boromir, Derndingle Warrior and Treebeard for a total of 8 willpower. Combined is a total of 25 willpower.

During Staging I reveal: Swarm of Bats and Forest Spider. Swarm of Bats discards 5 resources from the combat deck and 1 from the questing deck raising each decks threat by that same amount. The total threat in staging is 16 so I place 9 progress easily clearing the active location. I place a resource on Twilight Hall which boosts its threat by 2. There are no objective locations in play so I discard 5 cards from the encounter deck and then add Overgrown Path objective location (which was actually discarded from an earlier effect) to the staging area. The Guarded keyword triggers and the Overgrown Path ends up being Guarded by Old Forest Road.

Travel

Twilight Hall is only going to grow in threat every time I clear a Forest location and so even though it has a whopping 12 progress points (due to the 6 player cards underneath it) I still travel there hoping for the best… I still may not stick to my plan though and after clearing Twilight Hall I may ignore the copy of Forest Gate (with combat cards underneath it) and instead race for the finish by travelling to Old Forest Road to free up the next Objective Location. I really should have placed the combat deck’s hand under Twilight Hall as I am beginning to really need Gandalf for his threat reduction..

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Forest Spider.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to Forest Spider and Gimli exhausts to defend the attack. He takes no damage (shadow effect boosts attack by 1 but this doesn’t help against Gimli’s 5 defense). Legolas counter attacks and destroys the Forest Spider on his own, placing two progress on Twilight Hall in the process.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Round 7: Stage 3D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Dagger of Westernesse and Rings of Power draws Daeron’s Runes.

Sword, Axe and Bow

44 threat (First Player)

Hand: Dagger of Westernesse

— Aragorn: 1 resource, 2 damage, Gondorian Shield attached.

— Gimli: 3 resources, 0 damage, Miruvor, UC, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Azain Silverbeard, Haldan Objective ally, Derndingle Warrior (1 damage) and Treebeard (2 resources)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

40 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Daeron’s Runes

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 1 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 1 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (2 damage), Galdor (1 damage), Glorfindel (1 damage), Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Haldan Objective ally.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb x2, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor, Galadhrim Healer x2 and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. The following locations are also in the staging area: Accursed Forest x2, Enchanted Stream, Forest Gate and Old Forest Road (guarding Overgrown Path objective location). Twilight Hall with 2 progress is the active location.

Planning Phase

Sword, Axe and Bow is up first. I play Dagger of Westernesse on Aragorn.

Rings of Power is up next. I play Daeron’s Runes and draw Vilya and Imladris Caregiver and discard Vilya. I exhaust Stargazer to look at the top 5 cards of the questing deck and reveal: Wellinghall Preserver, A Test of Will, A Burning Brand, Galadrim Healer and Wellinghall Preserver. I put them back in the following order: Wellinghall preserver, Test of Will, Galadrim Healer, Wellinghall Preserver and Burning Brand. I then exhaust Vilya and Elrond to play Wellinghall Preserver for free. I ready Elrond with UC. I then exhaust Galadriel to draw Test of Will and reduce the questing deck’s threat by 1. I pay 1 spirit resource to return Elven Light to hand and draw Galadrim healer. I discard Elven Light to place a resource on Elrond and use both of his resources to play Galadrim Healer who heals 1 damage off both Arwen and Galadriel.

Staging and Quest Resolution

Now both decks have had their threat raised considerably and things are looking a little bit grim. I do have Test of Will which I specifically drew instead of lowering the combat deck’s threat so I am somewhat safe against nasty treacheries. Immediately after doing so I quickly remember I cannot cancel treacheries anyway thanks to the two copies of Accursed Forest in the staging area… From this point onward I will need to start using Galadriel on the combat deck most rounds to avoid threat getting too high. I doubt I will have the chance to retrieve the combat player cards from underneath Forest Gate and I am almost certainly be travelling to Old Forest Road instead when I can next travel in order to free up the objective location so I can advance to the final quest stage. I really want those combat cards back but it may cost me the game at this point..

I commit as many characters as I can to this quest phase hoping to place as much progress as possible or even clear Twilight Hall as a best case scenario. The combat deck commits Haldan, Derndingle Warrior, Treebeard, Boromir, Aragorn and Gimli (who readies and gains +1 willpower via Miruvor) for a total of 11 willpower. The questing deck commits Quickbeam, Arwen, Elrond, Glorfindel, Galdor, Galadriel’s Handmaiden and Galadrim Healer for a total of 16 willpower. This gives me a combined total of 27 willpower which is not bad but not as much as I’d hoped for.

During Staging I reveal: Dark Black Woods and Ravenous Spider. The total threat in staging is 19.. I am only able to place 8 progress on Twilight Hall bringing it up to 10 progress (12 needed to clear it).

Travel

I cannot travel with an active location which is exactly what I hoped to avoid but this was extremely likely with the ridiculous 12 progress points required to clear the current active location. I can at least hopefully clear it with Legolas this combat phase allowing me to travel to Old Forest Road next turn.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Ravenous Spider and it makes an immediate attack. Gimli defends this attack and takes no damage (no shadow effect). I use UC to ready Gimli.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to Ravenous Spider and Gimli exhausts to defend taking no damage once again. The shadow effect does read “defending character cannot ready this round” however. I counter attack with Legolas and Azain Silverbeard and kill the Ravenous Spider. Legolas places two progress on Twilight Hall managing to just clear it! All cards underneath the location are returned to the questing decks hand.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted (except Gimli). Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken. Wellinghall Presever heals 1 damage from Derndingle Warrior when it readies.

Round 8: Stage 3D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Marksman of Lorien and Rings of Power draws Wellinghall Preserver.

Sword, Axe and Bow

45 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Marksman Of Lorien

— Aragorn: 2 resources, 2 damage, Gondorian Shield and Dagger of Westernesse attached.

— Gimli: 6 resources, 0 damage, UC, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Azain Silverbeard, Derndingle Warrior (1 damage) and Treebeard (3 resources)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

40 threat (First Player)

Hand: Imladris Caregiver, Power Of Orthanc x2, Wellinghall Preserver, Orophin, Stargazer, Firyal, Haldir and Test of Will.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 1 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 1 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam (2 damage), Galdor (1 damage), Glorfindel (1 damage), Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Imladris Stargazer, Galadhrim Healer, Wellinghall Preserver and Haldan Objective ally.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb x2, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor, Galadhrim Healer x2 and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. The following locations are also in the staging area: Accursed Forest x2, Enchanted Stream, Forest Gate, Dark Black Woods and Old Forest Road (guarding Overgrown Path objective location). There is no active location.

Planning Phase

Rings of Power is up first. I discard a copy of Power of Orthanc to Arwen’s ability to place a resource on Elrond. I use both of Elrond’s resources to play Imladris Caregiver. I discard the other Power of Orthanc and Imladris Stargazer to the Imladris Caregiver in order to heal 2 off Aragorn and 1 off Glorfindel. I exhaust Imladris Stargazer to reveal the top 5 cards of the questing deck and reveal: Burning Brand, Silver Harp, Elven-Light, Test of Will and Light of Valinor. I put them back in the following order: Light of Valinor, Burning Brand, Silver Harp, Elven Light and Test of Will. I exhaust Elrond and Vilya to play Light Of Valinor on Elrond. I then ready Elrond with UC. Finally I exhaust Galadriel to reduce the combat deck’s threat by 1 and allow it to draw a card. The combat deck draws Dunedain Warning.

Sword, Axe and Bow is up next. I use all three tactics resources to play Marksman Of Lorien.

Staging and Quest Resolution

I have no active location to clear so really I just need to hope that nothing raises my threat during Staging so I can then travel to Old Forest Road and hopefully clear it and then travel to Overgrown Path next turn.

The questing deck commits Arwen, Elrond, Glorfindel, Galdor, Quickbeam, Wellinghall Preserver, Imladris Caregiver, Galadrim Healer and Haldan for a total of 20 willpower. The combat deck commits Treebeard, Boromir, Derndingle Warrior and Aragorn for a total of 6 willpower. This gives a total combined willpower of 26.

During Staging I reveal: Twilight Hall then Gathering Gloom. I cannot cancel Gathering Gloom so must resolve its effects.. First off is Doomed 1 for both decks. Then each deck must either raise threat by 1 for each ally they control or reveal an encounter card, either deck would threat out if I chose the first option so instead each deck reveals an encounter card. I reveal Vastness of Mirkwood then Dol Guldur Beastmaster…

Total threat in staging is 27!! Vastness of Mirkwood hit me hard that round with so many damn locations in play.. it is starting to really hurt not being able to cancel when revealed effects.. I need to move fast if I am going to win.. honestly this game is looking a little like a potential loss instead! Unless I can get some threat reduction… hmmm..

Due to questing unsuccessfully each deck raises threat by 1..

Travel

I immediately travel to Old Forest Road so that next turn I can travel to Overgrown Path.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages Dol Guldur Beastmaster.

Combat

I deal two shadow cards to Dol Guldur Beastmaster and Gimli exhausts to defend taking no damage (one of the two shadow cards boosted attack by 1). I counter attack with Legolas and Azain Silverbeard and kill the Dol Guldur Beastmaster. I cannot place progress with Legolas as Old Forest Road is immune to player card effects while Guarding an objective location.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken. Wellinghall Presever heals 2 damage from Quickbeam when it readies.

Round 9: Stage 3D (- of – progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Derndingle Warrior and Rings of Power draws Burning Brand.

Sword, Axe and Bow

47 threat (First Player)

Hand: Dunedain Warning and Derndingle Warrior

— Aragorn: 1 resources, 2 damage, Gondorian Shield and Dagger of Westernesse attached.

— Gimli: 9 resources, 0 damage, UC, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Azain Silverbeard, Haldan Objective ally, Marksman of Lorien, Derndingle Warrior and Treebeard (4 resources)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

41 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Wellinghall Preserver, Orophin, Firyal, Haldir, Burning Brand and Test of Will.

— Elrond: 1 resource, 0 damage, LoV, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 2 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 2 resource, 0 damage

Allies:

-Quickbeam, Galdor (1 damage), Glorfindel, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Imladris Stargazer, Galadhrim Healer, Wellinghall Preserver and Imladris Caregiver.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb x2, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor x2, Power of Orthanc x2, Vilya, Imladris Stargazer, Galadhrim Healer x2 and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

Searching for a Way Out objective is in the staging area. The following locations are also in the staging area: Accursed Forest x2, Enchanted Stream, Forest Gate, Twilight Hall and Dark Black Woods. Old Forest Road Guarding Overgrown Path is the active location.

Planning Phase

Sword, Axe and Bow is up first. I play both cards in hand, Derndingle Warrior, and Dunedain Warning which I attach to Gimli.

Rings of Power is up next. Ok things are starting to look pretty damn hairy indeed, I do not like a threat level of 47 one bit. I am going to attempt to do some serious digging into the questing deck to find a copy of Galadrim’s Greeting. First and foremost I return Elven Light to hand by using a resource from Arwen’s resource pool. This allows me to draw: Silver Harp. I then discard Elven Light to heal one damage off Galdor as per Imladris Caregiver’s ability. I return Elven Light to hand again with Arwen’s other resource and draw: another copy of Elven Light. I then discard Elven Light to put a resource on Elrond via Arwen’s ability. I return Elven Light to hand a third and final time using one of Galadriel’s resources to do so and draw: Test of Will. Ok none of these cards were Galadhrims Greeting but I still have Stargazer and Vilya. There is not much left to my deck at this point so one of the next five cards has surely got to be Galadrim’s Greeting. I reveal the top 5 cards of the questing deck with Stargazer and reveal: Nenya, Imladris Caregiver, GALADHRIMS GREETING!, Test of Will and yet another Imladris Caregiver. I put them back in the following order: Greeting, Nenya, Caregiver, Caregiver and Test of Will. I exhaust Vilya and Elrond to play Greeting for free and reduce the Combat deck’s threat by 6 points. I ready Elrond with UC. I then exhaust Galadriel to reduce the questing decks threat by 1 and to draw Nenya which I then play with Galadriel’s second resource. Next turn that should really help with Questing!

Staging and Quest Resolution

I need to clear Old Forest Road desperately so I can travel to Overgrown Path and immediately advance to Stage 4. I commit as much willpower as possible with the combat deck committing Derndingle Warrior, Boromir, Aragorn, Haldan and Treebeard for a total of 8 willpower and the questing deck committing Elrond, Arwen, Glorfindel, Galdor, Quickbeam, Wellinghall Preserver, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Imladris Caregiver and Galadrim Healer for a total of 20 willpower. This gives me a combined total of 28 willpower.

During Staging I reveal: Dol Guldur Orcs and East Bight Patrol. Dol Guldur Orcs deals 2 damage to Aragorn from its effect. These are some fantastic encounter card reveals as I can easily defeat these foes with my current board state removing their threat from staging and giving me more chance to place further progress the following round. The total threat in staging is… 22… this allows me to clear Old Forest Road with a few points of progress to spare! This returns the Overgrown Path objective location back to the staging area. I am also forced to place a resource on Twilight Hall.

Travel

I immediately travel to Overgrown Path in order to reach Stage 4. I resolve the travel effect first forcing each deck to discard the top card of the encounter deck, the combat deck is forced to place 1 damage amongst characters it controls and the questing deck is forced to place 2. I deal 1 to Aragorn and 2 to Galdor. I then follow the forced effect on the location and IMMEDIATELY ADVANCE TO STAGE 4A.

I remove Searching for a Way Out from the game and then add Ungoliant’s Spawn to the staging area as the “nemesis”. This was my exact experience last time playing this quest so honestly not much has changed but it has certainly been a far more difficult experience this time around! Not being able to cancel when revealed effects has been fairly devastating to be honest and attempting to save player cards from locations during Stage 3D was foolish. Oh I also remove all the combat deck cards that were under Forest Gate from the game… bye bye hand full of fantastic cards like x2 Gandalf and x1 Feint…

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages the “Nemesis” Ungoliant’s Spawn. As per normal engagement checks Dol Guldur Orcs engages the combat deck and East Bight Patrol engages the questing deck.

Combat

I deal a shadow card to Ungoliant’s Spawn and Dol Guldur Orcs then deal one to East Bight Patrol. Gimli exhausts. pays 1 resource to ready Aragorn as per his ability and defends against Ungoliant’s Spawn, the shadow card gives Ungolian’ts Spawn +2 attack buffing it to 9 attack thanks to the +2 buff from it being the Nemesis already…. Gimli takes a very nasty 3 damage. I immediately heal 2 of this damage before resolving the next enemy attack this phase by discarding Elven Light to Imladris Caregiver. I then exhaust Aragorn to defend against Dol Guldur Orcs and he takes no damage (no shadow card effect). Finally Elrond exhausts to defend the East Bight Patrol and he takes one damage after a shadow effect gives the Patrol +2 attack. I counter attack with Azain killing the Dol Guldur Orcs and Legolas killing the East Bight Patrol.

Refresh



All characters are unexhausted. Each deck raises threat by 1. No player actions are taken.

Ungoliant’s Spawn returns to the staging area and makes an attack against the first player. Gimli exhausts to defend this attack and takes 1 damage thanks to no shadow card effect. I then ready Gimli with UC.

Round 10: Stage 4B (0 of 8 progress)



Resource Phase

I add 1 resource to each hero in play. Sword Axe and Bow draws Naith Guide and Rings of Power draws Imladris Caregiver.

Sword, Axe and Bow

42 threat (Second Player)

Hand: Naith Guide

— Aragorn: 1 resources, 1 damage, Gondorian Shield and Dagger of Westernesse attached.

— Gimli: 9 resources, 2 damage, UC, Gondorian Shield, Steward of Gondor and Dunedain Warning x2 attached.

— Legolas: 1 resource, 0 damage, Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse attached

Allies:

-Boromir, Azain Silverbeard, Marksman of Lorien, Derndingle Warrior x2 and Treebeard (5 resources)

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Feint x2, Sterner than Steel, Foe Hammer, Unlikely Friendship and Sneak Attack x2

Rings of Power

43 threat (First Player)

Hand: Wellinghall Preserver, Orophin, Firyal, Haldir, Burning Brand, Elven Light, Silver Harp, Imladris Caregiver and Test of Will x2

— Elrond: 3 resources, 1 damage, LoV, Vilya, Unexpected Courage and Gondorian Shield attached.

— Arwen: 1 resource, 0 damage

— Galadriel: 1 resource, 0 damage, Nenya attached

Allies:

-Quickbeam, Galdor (2 damage), Haldan Objective ally, Glorfindel, Galadriel’s Handmaiden, Imladris Stargazer, Galadhrim Healer, Wellinghall Preserver and Imladris Caregiver.

Engaged With:

-nothing

Discard Pile:

Elven Light, Dwarven Tomb x2, Daeron’s Runes, Miruvor x2, Power of Orthanc x2, Vilya, Imladris Stargazer, Galadhrim Healer x2, Galadrim’s Greeting and Master of the Forge

Staging Area/Active Location

The following locations are in the staging area: Accursed Forest x2, Enchanted Stream, Forest Gate, Twilight Hall and Dark Black Woods. The “Nemesis” Ungoliant’s Spawn is also in the staging area. The active location is Overgrown Path Objective Location.

Planning Phase

Rings of Power is up first. Alright I am planning to go more or less all out this round so I want to get as much additional willpower out as possible on this side of the board while also keeping back enough combat power to destroy the Nemesis on the other side of the board. I discard Elven Light to place a resource on Elrond. I use all 4 of Elronds resources and Galadriel’s single resource (which are now lore resources as well thanks to Nenya) and play Firyal. I then exhaust Stargazer to look at the top five cards of the questing deck and reveal: Imladris Caregiver, Test of Will, Galadrims Greeting, Silver Harp and Nenya. It would have been nice to see a higher willpower ally but the Caregiver will have to do… I put the cards back in the following order: Caregiver, Greeting, Silver Harp, Test of Will and then Nenya. I use Elrond and Vilya to play the Caregiver for free and then ready Elrond with UC.

Sword, Axe and Bow is up next. I play Naith Guide who allows Legolas to quest without exhausting this round.

Staging and Quest Resolution

I need to place 12 progress this turn if I hope to defeat the Nemesis and win this round. This seems like a tall order indeed but with the additional of Firyal and Nenya I might be able to pull it off. The Questing deck commits the following characters: Elrond, Arwen, Wellinghall Preserver, Galadriels Handmaiden, Imladris Caregiver x2, Galadrim Healer, Quickbeam, Glorfindel, Quickbeam, Galdor and Firyal and Galadriel exhausts to add 4 willpower to Elrond. Firyal’s ability allows me to look at the top card of the Encounter deck which is Forest Gate, I decide not to discard this location as it has low threat and is more or less harmless. This gives me a total willpower of 30!! The combat deck commits Aragorn, Legolas (who does not exhaust), Gimli, Treebeard, Boromir, both Derndingle Warriors and Naith Guide for a total willpower of 11. This gives a combined willpower of 41! This is fairly impressive and might just do the trick!!

During Staging I reveal: Forest Gate and the Necromancers Pass! No nasty treacheries that can raise threat, no awful enemies just two more or less harmless locations, fairly anti-climatic to be honest! The total threat in staging is… 29! I place 12 progress clearing the active location and placing exactly 8 progress on Stage 4B.. there have just been far too many of these moments in this game and each one is more nerve wrecking than the last! With exactly 8 progress on this stage the Nemesis can now take damage!! Clearing the active location places another resource token on Twilight Hall.

Travel



Now I certainly plan to destroy Ungoliant’s Spawn this turn in order to achieve instant victory but in the rare off chance something stops this from happening I am going to travel to Forest Gate both to get some threat out of the staging area and also to allow the first player to draw two cards. The questing deck draws Galadrims Greeting and Silver Harp.

Encounter

The Combat deck optionally engages the “Nemesis” Ungoliant’s Spawn. Time for a final showdown!

Combat

I deal Ungoliant’s Spawn a shadow card. Before resolving enemy attacks I pay four resources from Treebeards resource pool to ready himself and a Derndingle Warrior. I exhaust and defend against Ungoliant’s Spawn with Derndingle Warrior. In quite a hilarious twist of fate the other potential “Nemesis” Chieftain Ufthak appears as Ungoliant’s Spawn’s shadow card!! This has no effect and Derndingle is destroyed but there is no extra effect or penalty from this ally death while defending.

I counter attack with: Legolas, Treebeard, Azain Silverbeard and Marksman of Lorien. This gives me a combined total attack strength of 14. Ungoliant’s Spawn absorbs 4 of this damage thanks to its boosted armor from being the “Nemesis” and it then suffers 10 points of damage which is 1 more point of damage than needed to kill the foul spider! With the Nemesis defeated and 8 progress on Stage 4B I immediately win the quest!

Here is my final board state for reference:

CONCLUSION

That was actually a pretty close and very exciting game, had another copy of a certain treachery appeared it would have resulted in a loss for sure! Swarm of Bats would have forced the Combat deck to threat out as I was racking up a ton of resources on Gimli and would have had to raise threat by 10+! I didn’t really get to enjoy much of a different version or playthrough of the quest as I only experienced one new quest stage and even had the exact same Nemesis as last time. That being said the quest certainly had sharper fangs this time around and gave me more of a run for my money.

The one new Quest stage I did take on is actually pretty damn tough as it is quite hard to retrieve the stolen player cards from underneath locations and by trying to do so you may let threat or board state get out of control. I had to specifically abandon all the combat deck’s cards that were underneath a location in order to focus on actually advancing and winning the quest before threat got too close to or hit 50 for either deck. This quest stage in my opinion is far harder than the alternative where you must rescue a hero from each deck from being devoured by Spiders. It is so much easier to quickly clear two enemies than it is to clear two locations with massively boosted quest points. As well as this the Quest is already pretty location heavy and many locations have nasty effects and/or high threat levels, so adding two additional locations to a staging area already swamped with them really ramps up the threat level and has the potential to cause location lock. Now I was able to somewhat deal with the high threat in staging and ridiculous amount of locations in play but this did have a few side effects. By never travelling to or clearing the copies of Accursed Forest I was constantly blocked from cancelling when revealed effects and Vastness of Mirkwood got a massive boost in power and contributed around 7 threat when it appeared late game. Twilight Hall appearing from time to time also caused issues as you need to travel to Twilight Hall as soon as you can before it’s threat becomes huge from other locations being explored. Rather than travelling where you actually want to or the location that will be ideal you are often forced to travel to Twilight Hall instead. With plenty of other threat raising effects and a Stage 1B that stops players from reducing threat at all the travel effect on Twilight Hall is not exactly welcome either.

The decks certainly performed pretty damn well and I was able to pull off some pretty nice plays during this game. Digging for Galadrim’s Greeting when I really needed it and being able to find and play it for free after drawing a ton of cards and then using Imladris + Vilya was extremely satisfying and Treebeard certainly put in some serious work on the last turn Questing, readying himself and a Derndingle Warrior and then contributing 4 attack in my big attack against the Nemesis. The questing deck did get stuck with a bunch of high cost allies in hand almost all game as I never drew or got Gildor out so that I could play them with Vilya and I used most if not all of the questing decks resources most rounds of the game so could not save up to play these allies. Firyal was the only one that eventually saw play. Getting her out a lot earlier may have been helpful in avoiding so many locations and nasty treacheries especially given I could not cancel them thanks to Accursed Forest. That’s hindsight for you!

One thing I noticed after finishing the game was that I barely used Galdor’s response effect and actually could have been drawing quite a few more cards with the questing deck throughout most of the game. Other than this I can’t see any mistakes or misplays unless I messed up a copy of Twilight Hall at some point. Considering so many rounds were so ridiculously close and I was able to place exactly enough progress needed to advance or clear locations I certainly hope I haven’t made any silly errors or they would almost certainly invalidate the win.

This is a great new quest and one I look forward to playing quite often in the near future. I probably prefer it to Journey Up the Anduin almost purely because I don’t have to face the awful Hills of Wilderland location. I hope you enjoyed reading my turn by turn report on this exciting new Quest. I also hope you are enjoying this fantastic new Deluxe as much as I am!