In this article, I will discuss how the Twilight of the Third Age expansion affects the strategies and game-play of the standard game. I will discuss the added components and the value they bring to the game. Also, I will cover some of the issues that the expansion does not address effectively.
Factions
Dunlendings
The Dunlendings are an interesting addition to the Isengard armies. Normally, Isengard was unable to conquer Rohan easily since the Isengard forces are generally split between Isengard and Dunland. Capturing Helm’s Deep is often easy but getting Edoras can be tricky and often an un-checked Rohan can develop quite a formidable army in Edoras. The Dunlendings allow the SP to Muster additional troops directly in Rohan and this “forward mustering” capability is offset by their relative weakness in combat. Clever maneuvering allows the SP to reduce this combat weakness by separating Dunlendings from each other so that each individual unit is like a Regular in combat. However, this takes some time to achieve. Finally, the Dunlendings provide a threat to bolster Dunland/Moria and strike Lorien/Rivendell/Shire. Overall, they are useful but not needed every game so I really like their design in the expansion.
Corsairs of Umbar
The Corsairs faction provides the SP with a more strategic method for attacking Dol Amroth. Now the SP can siege this Stronghold when needed without having to draw a particular card. This flexibility comes at a cost, since the time it takes to muster S&E to War and to muster/move the Corsairs takes quite a few actions. Also, the Corsairs do allow for an assault on the Gray Havens from the Sea and they provide the SP with an easy way to reinforce sieges via the ships. I personally think that they are a good addition, but I’m not a big fan of the Corsairs card or the fact that mustering the faction actually doesn’t provide any “military” units (only ships). They can be useful but often they are just not needed and unless SP rolls lots of early musters they often don’t see play.
Ents of Fangorn
This is the only faction for the FP. Now the Ents are not just a part of the Character deck for the FP and they can strike more than just Isengard. The Ents do require a character in Fangorn (often a Hobbit or GtW) and a valuable muster die. However, they now put an extra cost on Saruman’s Voice ability, which was a key method for Isengard to muster a quick and powerful army. The ability to have the Ents attack Isengard, or clear away units in Rohan, or even protect Lorien adds a lot of options to the FP. However, strategically placed Dunlendings can contain them and they often don’t roll enough hits to warrant the effort to bring them into the game. I think that the Ents are a neat addition to the game but I wish they were a little more effective (but not so good that you would always need to muster them).
Siege Engines
The siege engines (towers and trebuchets) add to the complexity of siege combat. They do help the SP utilize late game musters more effectively and they provide the FP with good use of muster dice for active nations (not at War). The superiority rules and combat effects are very tightly balanced and I’ve seen discussions that they favor both sides (which means that they are pretty useful). They can draw out sieges by allowing the FP to sacrifice them for superiority and then muster more or to end sieges when the SP can continue without having to reduce Elites. I personally like the rule that allows the active nations to muster Siege Engines since this was one point that I argued for heavily during playtesting. Originally, they were only for nations (at War) and this greatly hindered the FP’s use for them.
New Characters
The Balrog
The Balrog allows the SP to get an extra die with only 1 muster and to control when he shows up in Moria. Like the Corsairs, the Balrog is an improvement since he can now be mustered when strategically needed and is not dependent on drawing a card at the right time. Also, he comes along with an Elite so mustering him is even better. He can “kill” the FSP guide when an Eye is drawn (adding more flavor and theme to the game). His downside is that the Dwarves, Men, and especially Elves advance 1 step politically. This is a big help for the FP and keeps the Balrog from being a “no-brainer” decision. I really think that he was a good design element and wouldn’t change anything from the design.
Galadriel
Probably the change with the most impact was the addition of Galadriel. She provides the FP with a critical action die when mustered and allows Gandalf the Grey to truly shine as the guide of the Fellowship. Her abilities to remove Eye tiles with Elven Rings and to muster Elves even when under siege are both interesting and useful too. The requirements for obtaining Galadriel changed quite a bit in playtesting but I am happy with the final version that requires either the Elves or Sauron to be at War. This puts extra emphasis on mustering the Elves early (and the impact of the Balrog) and it delays Sauron (and the base game Witch King) from going to War until after the Elves are at War OR the SP is willing to allow Galadriel to enter play.
Galadriel addressed two of my concerns from the base game. Namely, she varies the possible FP strategies and SP opening moves while providing an action die without requiring a Will of the West dice result. This makes her the addition to the game critical and simply makes the game much better in multiple ways.
Witch King, Chief of the Ringwraiths
The new Witch King adds an interesting element to the game. He can be mustered when Sauron is not At War and therefore can come into play without brining Galadriel into the game directly. He allows for more Hunt Re-rolls with multiple Nazgul and he doesn’t activate all the FP nations when he enters play. He must, however, be mustered in the region with the Fellowship and so can only enter games where Rivendell has fallen or the FSP is revealed. His hunting abilities are useful but since he lacks the card drawing power of the original WK he is considerably weaker. Also, successful hunting is further weakened by Galadriel’s ability to remove Eyes and the addition of Smeagol (below). Finally, the new WK has no special abilities once the FSP is in Mordor, which further limits his effectiveness.
This character was the biggest disappointment for me as I tried to continually argue for him to be more interesting and comparable to the original WK. I wanted him to provide an interesting choice for the SP. The WK chosen should really impact the “feel” of the game and both should be viable with different strategies. Instead, I would never choose this version of the WK except for a casual game where I wanted to “explore” different options.
Smeagol
Smeagol was added to the expansion in order to do two things. First, the corruption damage was so tough in the base game that the Fellowship had to stay together just to absorb all the potential damage. This meant that there was little opportunity to explore separating companions to defend/activate the Free Peoples and the designers wanted more opportunity for this. Second, most if not all of the playtesters wanted the FP to have a way to avoid the turn stalls. Smeagol became the means to do just that. He went through many versions but the design to include him in the Hunt Pool (instead of as an FP action die choice) was very creative and meant that neither side could predict when he might show up (but they had some minor control over it).
I think that he adds a lot of interesting elements to the expansion and I was very pleased with the design when it was first given to us. However, over many games I think that he gives too much value to the FP and really limits the corruption opportunities unless they separate several companions.
Re-makes / New Cards
Ents – These cards add nice value since they allow the FP to draw or play additional cards and don’t require Gandalf the White to be in Rohan/Fangorn to play.
Dunlendings – Okay effect.
Balrog – Often this is only used for combat but once in a while it allows the Balrog to venture forth and harass the FSP or lead a siege.
Corsairs – Strictly worse then the original surprise card. Would be much better if it actually helped the siege on Dol Amroth (95% of the time the target).
Wind from the West / Three Rings for Elven Kings / Rangers of the North – Great effects. Combat cards are okay but not used very often.
Threats to the Fiefs in the South – This card is useless unless Corsairs are in play and then only marginal.
Gates are Closed / Captain of Despair – Excellent event cards with great combat cards.
Deep Trenches and Great Engines – Very powerful card. Combat card is weak.
Shadow of Dol Goldur – Useful in some situations but weakest new SP event card.
To be continued in Part III House Rules / Variants.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
War of the Ring Strategy - Part 1 The Base Game
I will attempt to cover the basic strategy concepts and advanced strategies for the standard game of War of the Ring. Part 2 of this strategy series will cover the addition of the Expansion and its impact on strategies. Part 3 will cover my House Variants including why they were created and what strategic options they offer.
These articles will assume basic knowledge of the game mechanics and all of the various event/battle card effects. SP = Shadow Player and FP = Free People Player
Action Dice
The action dice are critical in the game for both sides. Getting additional action dice as quickly as possible is generally a good strategy.
SP Strategy: Getting Saruman and the Witch King into play quickly nets 2 more Action Dice for the rest of the game (barring some disaster). Usually the SP will spend his 1st Muster getting Isengard to War and 2nd Muster getting Saruman in play. The 3rd Muster gets Sauron to War and 4th Muster gets the Witch King (WK). There were some initial strategies that looked at holding back on bringing in the Minions (eliminating the possibility of Gandalf the White (GtW) coming into play) but serious players have dismissed them for a variety of reasons. Namely, the WK and Saruman have terrific abilities and leadership and drive key events plus giving up 2 Action dice to restrict the possibility of 1 Action dice is not worth the effort. Mouth of Sauron is usually only late in the game when the FSP is in Mordor so his benefits are limited to the end game.
FP Strategy: Getting GtW is very important but Strider/Aragorn is more of a dilemma. 4 Action Dice is usually not enough to give the FP a fighting chance. Gandalf the Grey is useful as Guide but GtW is powerful and gets a needed action die. The problem is getting GtG to “die” during the hunt and then get a Will of the West to bring out GtW. Timing is everything and sometimes Wills just won’t show up. Separating Strider early and getting Aragorn can cost several action dice and sometimes an Elven Ring (especially for 1st turn Aragorn). This is sometimes a good option against a Hunt Box loaded with Eyes since the FSP will not progress far on that turn anyway. Usually Strider will guide the fellowship for a while and then either fall in the hunt or separate to Gondor to become Aragorn (or sometimes to Rohan if Paths of the Dead is in-hand).
Hunt Dice
SP Strategy: A big decision for the SP is how many dice to allocate to the hunt each turn. Look at the 3 tables below they show the % of Hunt success based on the number of dice allocated and the number or re-rolls available.
This shows that with only 1 die in the hunt box (and No re-roll) the FSP can move twice with relative ease and only has a 50% chance of being hunted on a 3rd move. However, against 3 dice the first move gets hunted successfully 42% of the time and the 2nd move over 70%.
Another factor to keep in mind is that the Fellowship will only have about ½ of his total action dice available for moving/hiding the Fellowship (if he uses Wills as Character dice) unless he resorts to Elven Rings. This means that the first turn the FSP is going to average 2 moves and until the FP gets more Action dice this will be a constraint on the FSP’s progress.
As the SP you must always keep in mind that your primary goal (in most games) is to win a Military Victory before the Fellowship can reach Mt Doom. This means that you don’t have to corrupt the Fellowship entirely just delay their progress. At the same time, if you put too much effort into the Hunt then you won’t have Action Dice available to take further actions.
Taking all of this into account, the general consensus is 0-2 Hunt dice should be allocated each turn to the Hunt. More than 2 is overkill since you might roll even more Eyes and end up with a turn in which you can do very little with your Military. Let’s look at each option and when to use them.
2 Hunt Dice: This is a sound strategy for keeping a focus on the Hunt. First turn you are likely to roll 1 more Eye and have 3 in the Hunt, which will deter the FSP from going more than 2 spaces max (which means they won’t get to Moria). This is also useful when Strider is the guide since it reduces his ability to hide the Fellowship and move it quickly.
1 Hunt Die: This should be the norm for most SP players. It generally results in 2 Eyes and is safer than 0 Eyes but if the FP has 5-6 Action Dice then they can sometimes move quite effectively against only 1 Eye (assuming you don’t roll any more).
0 Hunt Dice: This should only be used in specific situations unless you are playing a Shadow Blitz strategy (like DEW North) and aren’t concerned about the Ring game. Other situations where 0 dice are good are in Turn Stall situations (discussed later) and when Strider is not the guide and the FSP is revealed (and the FP have 4 Action dice). In this case the FSP will progress 1 region on average so it isn’t a huge risk (plus you might roll a lot of Eyes). Finally, this strategy can work if you have the Lidless Eye event card too.
First Turn the SP needs Muster dice to get his Minions and more action dice so usually 1 Hunt Die is the preferred choice.
FP Strategy: The FP must decide how much to move against the dice in the Hunt Box. The Hunt Box is going to have 1-4 Eyes in most cases. The FP will only be able to move with Character Dice and WotW (Will of the West) dice unless he uses Elven Rings.
Against 1 die the FP should maximize the Fellowship’s movement and against 4 only 1 move is relatively safe (but there are times to double move against 4 Eyes also). The difficult decisions will be to move again against 2 or 3 Eyes in the Hunt box.
Let’s take a 1st turn example where the FP rolls 3 Character dice and the Hunt box has 2 Eyes. The first move has almost a 70% chance of success so they move. The 2nd move has just under 45% chance of success so the Shadow is likely to get at least one hit on either the 1st or 2nd move. If they do get a hit on the 2nd move then reveals become very important since 2 moves from Rivendell will determine which path the FSP is going to take (there are only 2 viable paths thru the Mtns – Moria or Goblin’s Gate). If for some reason the FSP avoids the first two hunts (or isn’t revealed) then a 3rd move is very dangerous since it has only 12.5% chance of success and a hunt tile could reveal them in Moria. Generally, a double move would be the best strategy in this situation but this can vary depending on the flow of the game.
Basic Shadow Tactical Objectives
The SP has a primary victory condition of 10 VPs of FP settlements and with a secondary objective of slowing the FSP progress in the ‘Ring’ portion of the game. There are 20 VPs available: 5 in Gondor, 5 in DEW (Dale, Erebor, Woodland Realm), 6 in other Elven strongholds, 3 in Rohan, and 1 in the Shire. The SP should attack areas that are not heavily defended and before FP nations get To War where they can muster troops to defend. Let’s look at each area from the SP’s perspective.
Gondor: Gondor is the closest FP nation to war at the start of the game. They also have the Osgiliath Fortification to help resist SP invaders and Dol Amroth takes time to reach and place under siege. However, the SP has Mordor and the Haradrim (S&E) that can strike Gondor with 3 large armies without mustering additional units. Gondor is often a target of the SP during the game and at a minimum Pelagir is a quick VP in the late game.
DEW: The DEW line is more divided (3 different nations) and easier to take before the FP can get nations to war and muster a defense. The SP can send the Dol Goldur Troops, the Easterlings, and even the Morannon army from Mordor (or sometimes a Mt Gundabad army) here. Usually the SP will take out the Dwarves first and then take Dale and finally Woodland Realm since this utilizes the Political Track to its fullest.
Elves: There are 8 VPs in just Elven Strongholds and the Elves have the least amount of reinforcements of all the FP nations. This makes them a good target for the Shadow except that the Elven strongholds are spread out across the board. Lorien can be taken by an army from Moria or Dol Goldur. Rivendell can be attacked by Moria, Mt Gundabad, or by units mustered through SP event cards. Woodland Realm can be hit during a DEW attack. The Gray Havens is rarely a target but a consolidated force from Moria and Dunland can sometimes take the Shire and Gray Havens.
Rohan: Usually Isengard can focus on Rohan. Helm’s Deep is an easy target early but failure to conquer all of Rohan can often lead to a large Rohan army in Edoras that can strike in Gondor or take back Helm’s Deep later in the game. Rohan is tricky and takes practice to conquer. Sometimes even an army from Dol Goldur can support Isengard in vanquishing Rohan and then together they can assault Gondor or Lorien.
The Shire: see Elves above as the Shire is only a late VP target and often in conjunction with an attempt at the Gray Havens.
This means that the SP must carefully consider where to send his armies. The Morannon army can go North to DEW or West to Gondor, the Moria army can go East against Lorien or West against Rivendell, Dol Goldur can help invade DEW, attack Lorien, support Rohan invasion, or even finish off Minas Tirith.
Turn Stalling
SP Strategy: Turn Stalling is a valuable SP tool. The only way for the FP to enter Mordor is for the FSP to declare on either Minas Morgul or the Morannon. This can only be achieved if the FSP can reach one of those strongholds AND if the FSP is hidden during the Fellowship Phase of a turn. Turn Stalling occurs when the SP plays a card that prevents one of these two requirements. The strategy is for the SP to use his last action die (either a Palantir or Character die) to play one of the turn stall event cards just before the FSP would be able to declare on their next turn. Event cards that can perform turn stalls: Cruel Weather, Nazgul Search, Foul Thing from the Deep, Isildur’s Bane, and Orc Patrol. Cruel Weather and Nazgul Search are the strongest options since they don’t rely on drawing a Reveal Hunt Tile. The effect of a Turn Stall is to give the SP a full turn to attack and work toward Military Victory without having to allocate any Eyes to the Hunt and without worrying about the FP moving the Ring closer to Mt Doom. This can be a huge advantage and sometimes it is possible to perform turn stalls for more than 1 turn, which is devastating to the FP’s chances.
FP Strategy: The FP player can take certain tactics to avoid turn stalls. The first is to try and get revealed on one of the Mordor Strongholds. This will cause them to draw an extra tile but if they can hide again then many cards cannot be played on them since they will no longer be on step 1 or higher of the Fellowship track. Another strategy to avoid Cruel Weather is to move an additional region if possible but this is an extreme counter to a card the SP may or may not have in hand. The best way to avoid a turn stall is to not be revealed and declare in Mordor directly from Rivendell or Lorien. The SP cannot play most Shadow Character cards while the FSP is in a Free Stronghold. This requires a lot of luck in hunt rolls and can be countered if the SP decides to besiege the stronghold in question.
Shadow Strategies in Depth
There are two primary strategies that players have been using as the SP. They both try to use the WK card cycling combat ability to draw through the event decks and get key event cards. One is called DEW North and the other is a Corruption strategy. The Shadow often dictates the pace of the game by implementing one of these strategies. The FP can pressure the SP by getting the Fellowship toward Mordor quickly (or by winning a crucial siege) but generally the SP dictates the overall scope.
DEW North
This strategy involves taking a 10pt army in Morannon and moving it North against the DEW line. Muster Isengard and Saruman and then get Mordor to War. Get the Witch King in play before attacking DEW and use his combat ability to cycle through SP event cards. Then Muster S&E if needed. Draw Strategy Cards since they provide you more units and movement options while also providing some of the best combat cards. Usually place 0 or 1 Eye in the Hunt. This strategy wants to hit the FP before he can get any defense mustered and quickly attain a Shadow MV. It doesn’t account for the Ring game because it tries to outrace the Fellowship. The goal here is 5pts from DEW + 5 pts from wherever FP is weaker (Lorien, Pelagir, Rohan, etc).
The FP will often try to sprint with Strider as guide and this type of game will be over quickly (one way or the other). The FP will often separate companions (usually with a card on a Palantir die result since Character dice are needed to move the FSP). The goal is to get these companions at key FP strongholds to resist/delay the SP military engine. One stronghold that resists can be critical by allowing Strider and the ring-bearers to reach Mt Doom in time.
Corruption
This strategy also leverages the Witch King’s card cycling ability. As before, get Isengard to War and Saruman followed by Mordor and the Witch King. Early attacks on Gondor are useful since they allow frequent use of the WK ability. The goal is to cycle for character cards and use them to turn stall and corrupt the Fellowship. Typically placing more Eyes in the Hunt and using both armies and Nazgul to get hunt re-rolls. Thic can delay (reveals, stalls) and corrupt the Fellowship and force them to move slowly or even to stop and heal. The SP should also be working toward Military Victory and the corruption delays should allow the SP time to effectively complete this strategy. Corruption makes for a longer game but it can be as effective or more effective than the DEW North strategy.
Against this strategy the FP needs to keep companions to soak up corruption damage and try to muster a defense at the same time. Sometimes getting Aragorn is helpful while other times having him prevent three damage can be pivotal.
Both of theses strategies should be able to draw from 7-13 additional cards with the Witch King’s ability. This is a HUGE advantage for the SP and allows him to get turn stalls, dominate most combats, and really hammer the Fellowship. This brings me to my final take on the base game overall.
Issues with the Base Game
First of all, the base game of War of the Ring is an excellent game and I have played many tense and enjoyable games with it. The game design, flow of play, and the unbalanced forces dynamic are all wonderful and well thought out. The action dice mechanism forces different tactical decisions and it still allows for strategic play. The same can be said of the event/combat cards. However, there are a few areas where the original game could improve in my opinion.
Action Dice: It is crucial for both sides to improve their initial action dice situation as soon as possible. For the SP this means using the first four Muster dice to get Isengard to War, then Saruman, then Mordor to War, and then the Witch King. For the FP this means getting Gandalf the Grey hit by a tile and brought back as Gandalf the White and sometimes getting Aragorn too. This critical goal results in two issues. (1) The SP opening moves are very routine and repetitive. This is not a bad thing inherently since certain moves in Chess are good openings and others are not as optimal. However, it is a problem when there is only one valid/optimal opening regardless of which SP strategy chosen. This is only an issue for me because I would like more variety and options available to allow players to pursue and explore different early tactical moves. (2) The FP can’t roll a Will of the West to get Gandalf/Aragorn when needed. This is a thematic element of the game and certainly puts some risk in sacrificing Gandalf early. However, it can end the game if the SP is rolling 9 dice while the FP has only 4 dice and can’t get a Will of the West.
Turn Stalls: I don’t think that the designers intended the SP character cards to be used to stop the FSP on the brink of Mordor. This tactic alone can give the SP one or more “free turns”. The FP can try to avoid this but it is usually at a high cost. This combined with the Witch King’s ability to draw through the character deck allows turn stalls to be a significant weapon for the SP.
Game Balance: The base game certainly favors the Shadow Player and this is not necessarily a problem as it is certainly more thematic to have the SP win more than the FP. The problem is that after players are very experienced, the FP strategic choices are very limited and the FP player can only win about 30% of the games (given equivalent player experience). I would like more options for both sides and in particular more interesting and relevant choices for the FP.
To be continued in Part II The Expansion Game
These articles will assume basic knowledge of the game mechanics and all of the various event/battle card effects. SP = Shadow Player and FP = Free People Player
Action Dice
The action dice are critical in the game for both sides. Getting additional action dice as quickly as possible is generally a good strategy.
SP Strategy: Getting Saruman and the Witch King into play quickly nets 2 more Action Dice for the rest of the game (barring some disaster). Usually the SP will spend his 1st Muster getting Isengard to War and 2nd Muster getting Saruman in play. The 3rd Muster gets Sauron to War and 4th Muster gets the Witch King (WK). There were some initial strategies that looked at holding back on bringing in the Minions (eliminating the possibility of Gandalf the White (GtW) coming into play) but serious players have dismissed them for a variety of reasons. Namely, the WK and Saruman have terrific abilities and leadership and drive key events plus giving up 2 Action dice to restrict the possibility of 1 Action dice is not worth the effort. Mouth of Sauron is usually only late in the game when the FSP is in Mordor so his benefits are limited to the end game.
FP Strategy: Getting GtW is very important but Strider/Aragorn is more of a dilemma. 4 Action Dice is usually not enough to give the FP a fighting chance. Gandalf the Grey is useful as Guide but GtW is powerful and gets a needed action die. The problem is getting GtG to “die” during the hunt and then get a Will of the West to bring out GtW. Timing is everything and sometimes Wills just won’t show up. Separating Strider early and getting Aragorn can cost several action dice and sometimes an Elven Ring (especially for 1st turn Aragorn). This is sometimes a good option against a Hunt Box loaded with Eyes since the FSP will not progress far on that turn anyway. Usually Strider will guide the fellowship for a while and then either fall in the hunt or separate to Gondor to become Aragorn (or sometimes to Rohan if Paths of the Dead is in-hand).
Hunt Dice
SP Strategy: A big decision for the SP is how many dice to allocate to the hunt each turn. Look at the 3 tables below they show the % of Hunt success based on the number of dice allocated and the number or re-rolls available.
This shows that with only 1 die in the hunt box (and No re-roll) the FSP can move twice with relative ease and only has a 50% chance of being hunted on a 3rd move. However, against 3 dice the first move gets hunted successfully 42% of the time and the 2nd move over 70%.
Another factor to keep in mind is that the Fellowship will only have about ½ of his total action dice available for moving/hiding the Fellowship (if he uses Wills as Character dice) unless he resorts to Elven Rings. This means that the first turn the FSP is going to average 2 moves and until the FP gets more Action dice this will be a constraint on the FSP’s progress.
As the SP you must always keep in mind that your primary goal (in most games) is to win a Military Victory before the Fellowship can reach Mt Doom. This means that you don’t have to corrupt the Fellowship entirely just delay their progress. At the same time, if you put too much effort into the Hunt then you won’t have Action Dice available to take further actions.
Taking all of this into account, the general consensus is 0-2 Hunt dice should be allocated each turn to the Hunt. More than 2 is overkill since you might roll even more Eyes and end up with a turn in which you can do very little with your Military. Let’s look at each option and when to use them.
2 Hunt Dice: This is a sound strategy for keeping a focus on the Hunt. First turn you are likely to roll 1 more Eye and have 3 in the Hunt, which will deter the FSP from going more than 2 spaces max (which means they won’t get to Moria). This is also useful when Strider is the guide since it reduces his ability to hide the Fellowship and move it quickly.
1 Hunt Die: This should be the norm for most SP players. It generally results in 2 Eyes and is safer than 0 Eyes but if the FP has 5-6 Action Dice then they can sometimes move quite effectively against only 1 Eye (assuming you don’t roll any more).
0 Hunt Dice: This should only be used in specific situations unless you are playing a Shadow Blitz strategy (like DEW North) and aren’t concerned about the Ring game. Other situations where 0 dice are good are in Turn Stall situations (discussed later) and when Strider is not the guide and the FSP is revealed (and the FP have 4 Action dice). In this case the FSP will progress 1 region on average so it isn’t a huge risk (plus you might roll a lot of Eyes). Finally, this strategy can work if you have the Lidless Eye event card too.
First Turn the SP needs Muster dice to get his Minions and more action dice so usually 1 Hunt Die is the preferred choice.
FP Strategy: The FP must decide how much to move against the dice in the Hunt Box. The Hunt Box is going to have 1-4 Eyes in most cases. The FP will only be able to move with Character Dice and WotW (Will of the West) dice unless he uses Elven Rings.
Against 1 die the FP should maximize the Fellowship’s movement and against 4 only 1 move is relatively safe (but there are times to double move against 4 Eyes also). The difficult decisions will be to move again against 2 or 3 Eyes in the Hunt box.
Let’s take a 1st turn example where the FP rolls 3 Character dice and the Hunt box has 2 Eyes. The first move has almost a 70% chance of success so they move. The 2nd move has just under 45% chance of success so the Shadow is likely to get at least one hit on either the 1st or 2nd move. If they do get a hit on the 2nd move then reveals become very important since 2 moves from Rivendell will determine which path the FSP is going to take (there are only 2 viable paths thru the Mtns – Moria or Goblin’s Gate). If for some reason the FSP avoids the first two hunts (or isn’t revealed) then a 3rd move is very dangerous since it has only 12.5% chance of success and a hunt tile could reveal them in Moria. Generally, a double move would be the best strategy in this situation but this can vary depending on the flow of the game.
Basic Shadow Tactical Objectives
The SP has a primary victory condition of 10 VPs of FP settlements and with a secondary objective of slowing the FSP progress in the ‘Ring’ portion of the game. There are 20 VPs available: 5 in Gondor, 5 in DEW (Dale, Erebor, Woodland Realm), 6 in other Elven strongholds, 3 in Rohan, and 1 in the Shire. The SP should attack areas that are not heavily defended and before FP nations get To War where they can muster troops to defend. Let’s look at each area from the SP’s perspective.
Gondor: Gondor is the closest FP nation to war at the start of the game. They also have the Osgiliath Fortification to help resist SP invaders and Dol Amroth takes time to reach and place under siege. However, the SP has Mordor and the Haradrim (S&E) that can strike Gondor with 3 large armies without mustering additional units. Gondor is often a target of the SP during the game and at a minimum Pelagir is a quick VP in the late game.
DEW: The DEW line is more divided (3 different nations) and easier to take before the FP can get nations to war and muster a defense. The SP can send the Dol Goldur Troops, the Easterlings, and even the Morannon army from Mordor (or sometimes a Mt Gundabad army) here. Usually the SP will take out the Dwarves first and then take Dale and finally Woodland Realm since this utilizes the Political Track to its fullest.
Elves: There are 8 VPs in just Elven Strongholds and the Elves have the least amount of reinforcements of all the FP nations. This makes them a good target for the Shadow except that the Elven strongholds are spread out across the board. Lorien can be taken by an army from Moria or Dol Goldur. Rivendell can be attacked by Moria, Mt Gundabad, or by units mustered through SP event cards. Woodland Realm can be hit during a DEW attack. The Gray Havens is rarely a target but a consolidated force from Moria and Dunland can sometimes take the Shire and Gray Havens.
Rohan: Usually Isengard can focus on Rohan. Helm’s Deep is an easy target early but failure to conquer all of Rohan can often lead to a large Rohan army in Edoras that can strike in Gondor or take back Helm’s Deep later in the game. Rohan is tricky and takes practice to conquer. Sometimes even an army from Dol Goldur can support Isengard in vanquishing Rohan and then together they can assault Gondor or Lorien.
The Shire: see Elves above as the Shire is only a late VP target and often in conjunction with an attempt at the Gray Havens.
This means that the SP must carefully consider where to send his armies. The Morannon army can go North to DEW or West to Gondor, the Moria army can go East against Lorien or West against Rivendell, Dol Goldur can help invade DEW, attack Lorien, support Rohan invasion, or even finish off Minas Tirith.
Turn Stalling
SP Strategy: Turn Stalling is a valuable SP tool. The only way for the FP to enter Mordor is for the FSP to declare on either Minas Morgul or the Morannon. This can only be achieved if the FSP can reach one of those strongholds AND if the FSP is hidden during the Fellowship Phase of a turn. Turn Stalling occurs when the SP plays a card that prevents one of these two requirements. The strategy is for the SP to use his last action die (either a Palantir or Character die) to play one of the turn stall event cards just before the FSP would be able to declare on their next turn. Event cards that can perform turn stalls: Cruel Weather, Nazgul Search, Foul Thing from the Deep, Isildur’s Bane, and Orc Patrol. Cruel Weather and Nazgul Search are the strongest options since they don’t rely on drawing a Reveal Hunt Tile. The effect of a Turn Stall is to give the SP a full turn to attack and work toward Military Victory without having to allocate any Eyes to the Hunt and without worrying about the FP moving the Ring closer to Mt Doom. This can be a huge advantage and sometimes it is possible to perform turn stalls for more than 1 turn, which is devastating to the FP’s chances.
FP Strategy: The FP player can take certain tactics to avoid turn stalls. The first is to try and get revealed on one of the Mordor Strongholds. This will cause them to draw an extra tile but if they can hide again then many cards cannot be played on them since they will no longer be on step 1 or higher of the Fellowship track. Another strategy to avoid Cruel Weather is to move an additional region if possible but this is an extreme counter to a card the SP may or may not have in hand. The best way to avoid a turn stall is to not be revealed and declare in Mordor directly from Rivendell or Lorien. The SP cannot play most Shadow Character cards while the FSP is in a Free Stronghold. This requires a lot of luck in hunt rolls and can be countered if the SP decides to besiege the stronghold in question.
Shadow Strategies in Depth
There are two primary strategies that players have been using as the SP. They both try to use the WK card cycling combat ability to draw through the event decks and get key event cards. One is called DEW North and the other is a Corruption strategy. The Shadow often dictates the pace of the game by implementing one of these strategies. The FP can pressure the SP by getting the Fellowship toward Mordor quickly (or by winning a crucial siege) but generally the SP dictates the overall scope.
DEW North
This strategy involves taking a 10pt army in Morannon and moving it North against the DEW line. Muster Isengard and Saruman and then get Mordor to War. Get the Witch King in play before attacking DEW and use his combat ability to cycle through SP event cards. Then Muster S&E if needed. Draw Strategy Cards since they provide you more units and movement options while also providing some of the best combat cards. Usually place 0 or 1 Eye in the Hunt. This strategy wants to hit the FP before he can get any defense mustered and quickly attain a Shadow MV. It doesn’t account for the Ring game because it tries to outrace the Fellowship. The goal here is 5pts from DEW + 5 pts from wherever FP is weaker (Lorien, Pelagir, Rohan, etc).
The FP will often try to sprint with Strider as guide and this type of game will be over quickly (one way or the other). The FP will often separate companions (usually with a card on a Palantir die result since Character dice are needed to move the FSP). The goal is to get these companions at key FP strongholds to resist/delay the SP military engine. One stronghold that resists can be critical by allowing Strider and the ring-bearers to reach Mt Doom in time.
Corruption
This strategy also leverages the Witch King’s card cycling ability. As before, get Isengard to War and Saruman followed by Mordor and the Witch King. Early attacks on Gondor are useful since they allow frequent use of the WK ability. The goal is to cycle for character cards and use them to turn stall and corrupt the Fellowship. Typically placing more Eyes in the Hunt and using both armies and Nazgul to get hunt re-rolls. Thic can delay (reveals, stalls) and corrupt the Fellowship and force them to move slowly or even to stop and heal. The SP should also be working toward Military Victory and the corruption delays should allow the SP time to effectively complete this strategy. Corruption makes for a longer game but it can be as effective or more effective than the DEW North strategy.
Against this strategy the FP needs to keep companions to soak up corruption damage and try to muster a defense at the same time. Sometimes getting Aragorn is helpful while other times having him prevent three damage can be pivotal.
Both of theses strategies should be able to draw from 7-13 additional cards with the Witch King’s ability. This is a HUGE advantage for the SP and allows him to get turn stalls, dominate most combats, and really hammer the Fellowship. This brings me to my final take on the base game overall.
Issues with the Base Game
First of all, the base game of War of the Ring is an excellent game and I have played many tense and enjoyable games with it. The game design, flow of play, and the unbalanced forces dynamic are all wonderful and well thought out. The action dice mechanism forces different tactical decisions and it still allows for strategic play. The same can be said of the event/combat cards. However, there are a few areas where the original game could improve in my opinion.
Action Dice: It is crucial for both sides to improve their initial action dice situation as soon as possible. For the SP this means using the first four Muster dice to get Isengard to War, then Saruman, then Mordor to War, and then the Witch King. For the FP this means getting Gandalf the Grey hit by a tile and brought back as Gandalf the White and sometimes getting Aragorn too. This critical goal results in two issues. (1) The SP opening moves are very routine and repetitive. This is not a bad thing inherently since certain moves in Chess are good openings and others are not as optimal. However, it is a problem when there is only one valid/optimal opening regardless of which SP strategy chosen. This is only an issue for me because I would like more variety and options available to allow players to pursue and explore different early tactical moves. (2) The FP can’t roll a Will of the West to get Gandalf/Aragorn when needed. This is a thematic element of the game and certainly puts some risk in sacrificing Gandalf early. However, it can end the game if the SP is rolling 9 dice while the FP has only 4 dice and can’t get a Will of the West.
Turn Stalls: I don’t think that the designers intended the SP character cards to be used to stop the FSP on the brink of Mordor. This tactic alone can give the SP one or more “free turns”. The FP can try to avoid this but it is usually at a high cost. This combined with the Witch King’s ability to draw through the character deck allows turn stalls to be a significant weapon for the SP.
Game Balance: The base game certainly favors the Shadow Player and this is not necessarily a problem as it is certainly more thematic to have the SP win more than the FP. The problem is that after players are very experienced, the FP strategic choices are very limited and the FP player can only win about 30% of the games (given equivalent player experience). I would like more options for both sides and in particular more interesting and relevant choices for the FP.
To be continued in Part II The Expansion Game
Monday, September 24, 2007
Gaming Update and other stuff
I haven't posted any session reports recently since I've been either at my son Matthew's baseball games or on the beach (a much needed vacation). Also, I wanted to write down some thoughts on other articles for this site and playing games solitaire.
I've been writing some other reviews (in my spare time which seems less and less these days) and also drafting some strategy articles (in particular on War of the Ring). I will try and get these posted in the next few months. Also, I have kept a log of all games I've played this year and at the end of 2007 or early 2008 I'll review the results. (This log doesn't include the solo games I play -- see rest of this article below).
I also started playing in the first War of the Ring online tournament and it is a lot of fun. One of the playtesters for the expansion wrote a java program that allows two people to play against each other over the computer and it allows players from around the globe to play each other. I have done little in on-line gaming since I prefer face-to-face games but even though I love WotR it is hard to get it to the table (plus it is best as a two-player game). The program is fun for playing the game solo also since you can save the game and pick it up when you have time without leaving the big game out. I played a lot of solitaire games when playtesting the expansion and this program would have really helped speed those games up.
Speaking of playing games solitaire... I really enjoy this (maybe it is just me). My new "Big Game" purchase was World of Warcraft, the Boardgame and the first expansion for it. I played as 6 characters in the basic game to get the feel of the game and even though it took me most of a day to play it was a lot of fun. I like to learn a game thru solo play and then re-read the rules for any mistakes before I try and teach it to others. Even after this, I often miss-up some rules but it gives me a chance to understand the basics clearly and see the direction that the game can go. Other games I still enjoy solo...
I've been writing some other reviews (in my spare time which seems less and less these days) and also drafting some strategy articles (in particular on War of the Ring). I will try and get these posted in the next few months. Also, I have kept a log of all games I've played this year and at the end of 2007 or early 2008 I'll review the results. (This log doesn't include the solo games I play -- see rest of this article below).
I also started playing in the first War of the Ring online tournament and it is a lot of fun. One of the playtesters for the expansion wrote a java program that allows two people to play against each other over the computer and it allows players from around the globe to play each other. I have done little in on-line gaming since I prefer face-to-face games but even though I love WotR it is hard to get it to the table (plus it is best as a two-player game). The program is fun for playing the game solo also since you can save the game and pick it up when you have time without leaving the big game out. I played a lot of solitaire games when playtesting the expansion and this program would have really helped speed those games up.
Speaking of playing games solitaire... I really enjoy this (maybe it is just me). My new "Big Game" purchase was World of Warcraft, the Boardgame and the first expansion for it. I played as 6 characters in the basic game to get the feel of the game and even though it took me most of a day to play it was a lot of fun. I like to learn a game thru solo play and then re-read the rules for any mistakes before I try and teach it to others. Even after this, I often miss-up some rules but it gives me a chance to understand the basics clearly and see the direction that the game can go. Other games I still enjoy solo...
- To Court the King -- easy to play solitaire and very enjoyable to try multiple strategies.
- Magic the Gathering -- seems like a difficult game to play solo but I use an old MS Access based program called Magic Suitcase to demo various deck designs against each other.
- Puerto Rico -- I play this one using an MS Excel version of the game
- Carcassone H&G -- okay this one is a stretch but sometimes I'm just bored and there is no one to play games with...
- Lord of the Rings (Knizia co-op game) -- this one is quite fun trying to "beat the game" with any number of hobbits. It is a little harder to solo with the Sauron expansion but I like to try to win against the "Full game" (excluding the Battlefield expansion since I don't own it)
- Marvel Heroes -- I enjoy this one solo especially with all my new heroes and villains
Another thing that I run into that is similar to playing solo is playing more than one player in some games. My wife, Barbara, and I do this quite often so that we can play 4-player games with only two people. Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Ticket to Ride, Ra, Tigris and Euphrates, Settlers, Amun Re, and Caylus have all been played by the two of us playing a 4 player game. This can get quite confusing in auctions (and trading) but we try to play both players to win and it allows us the chance to try unusual strategies quite easily. Hopefully, when the children get old enough for these games we will have family game night to get in these games with 4 people!
One other note: Please feel free to add comments, questions, or whatever to any of my posts. I am always interested in feedback from fellow gamers and blog readers.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Session Report September 4, 2007
Attendees(6): David, Mary Ellen, Sharon, Troy, Steve, and Michael
We met at David's after Memorial Day for Tuesday gaming.
Citadels
David has really enjoyed this game and everyone except Troy had played before. We added the Queen to the standard 8 characters and it added a neat twist. I was robbed early and it took me a while to get going but I also wasn't a prime target so I was able to build up over time. Steve built 4 different Merchant buildings which made anyone taking the Merchant a target for the Thief and Assassin. David ended up going out and with 5 colors for both bonuses and this put him out of reach while the rest of us were within 5 pts of each other. Final: David (30), Mary Ellen (24), Steve (22), Michael (20), Troy (20), and Sharon (19).
Vegas Showdown
This was an Avalon Hill game with a lot of Euro mechanics and a solid American theme. It works very well and I think everyone would be willing to play it again after one game. The only problem was that most of us underestimated the income generation and overbid for many early tiles. Once again David was in a good position as he kept his money and was able to position himself to get both the coveted Dragon Room and 5 Star Steak House. Troy made a good late run and finished second followed by the rest of us. Final: David(75), Troy(53), Michael (46), Sharon (45), and Mary Ellen (43).
We met at David's after Memorial Day for Tuesday gaming.
Citadels
David has really enjoyed this game and everyone except Troy had played before. We added the Queen to the standard 8 characters and it added a neat twist. I was robbed early and it took me a while to get going but I also wasn't a prime target so I was able to build up over time. Steve built 4 different Merchant buildings which made anyone taking the Merchant a target for the Thief and Assassin. David ended up going out and with 5 colors for both bonuses and this put him out of reach while the rest of us were within 5 pts of each other. Final: David (30), Mary Ellen (24), Steve (22), Michael (20), Troy (20), and Sharon (19).
Vegas Showdown
This was an Avalon Hill game with a lot of Euro mechanics and a solid American theme. It works very well and I think everyone would be willing to play it again after one game. The only problem was that most of us underestimated the income generation and overbid for many early tiles. Once again David was in a good position as he kept his money and was able to position himself to get both the coveted Dragon Room and 5 Star Steak House. Troy made a good late run and finished second followed by the rest of us. Final: David(75), Troy(53), Michael (46), Sharon (45), and Mary Ellen (43).
Friday, August 31, 2007
Session Report August 28, 2007
Attendees(10): Michael, Barbara, Warren, Sharon, David, Andy, Andrew, Steve, Troy, and Adam.
Transamerica
Adam must have dominated this quick game while they waited on others to join. Final: Adam(12), Steve (3), Sharon (Ocean).
Marvel Superheroes
I taught Andrew and Troy this game and David had only played once before. We had fun but I think that it suffers from some downtime (particularly with 4 players) and the game may play better as a 2 or 3 player game. It finished with Andrew and David tied for the win as they completed their headlines and bested their Mastermind Villains who were both attempting to complete their master plans. Final Scores: David(19), Andrew(19), Troy(17), and Michael(11).
Midieval Merchant
I don't know anything about this game except the final scores... Warren(54), Adam(45 w/8 city tiles), Sharon(45 w/6 city tiles), and Steve(24).
Wits and Wagers
Adam, Barbara, Warren, Andy, Sharon, and Steve played this quick party/trivia game. Barbara won on the final round with an "all in" wager.
Amun Re
We had a good late game of Amun Re. This is really a great game with 5 players. Barbara was able to complete 3 bonus cards on the final kingdom and this was critical in winning over Andrew who had played a solid game. Andy played it for the first time and did very well with all the auctions and decisions. Final Scores: Barbara(45), Andrew(38), Andy(30), Michael(28), and Sharon(26).
Transamerica
Adam must have dominated this quick game while they waited on others to join. Final: Adam(12), Steve (3), Sharon (Ocean).
Marvel Superheroes
I taught Andrew and Troy this game and David had only played once before. We had fun but I think that it suffers from some downtime (particularly with 4 players) and the game may play better as a 2 or 3 player game. It finished with Andrew and David tied for the win as they completed their headlines and bested their Mastermind Villains who were both attempting to complete their master plans. Final Scores: David(19), Andrew(19), Troy(17), and Michael(11).
Midieval Merchant
I don't know anything about this game except the final scores... Warren(54), Adam(45 w/8 city tiles), Sharon(45 w/6 city tiles), and Steve(24).
Wits and Wagers
Adam, Barbara, Warren, Andy, Sharon, and Steve played this quick party/trivia game. Barbara won on the final round with an "all in" wager.
Amun Re
We had a good late game of Amun Re. This is really a great game with 5 players. Barbara was able to complete 3 bonus cards on the final kingdom and this was critical in winning over Andrew who had played a solid game. Andy played it for the first time and did very well with all the auctions and decisions. Final Scores: Barbara(45), Andrew(38), Andy(30), Michael(28), and Sharon(26).
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Session Report August 21, 2007
Attendees (13): Michael, Warren, Sharon, Troy, Andrew, Chris, Jeremy, David, Adam, Eileen, Aaron, Danielle, and Joel.
Shadows Over Camelot
I have been wanting to play this one for some time and I finally read the rules and got it to the table this week. It is an interesting cooperative game where everyone works together to defeat the "game" but with a twist that one player "might" be a traitor. This element of doubt adds the tension to the game and keeps everyone guessing each other's ulterior motives.
The cast: King Arthur (Michael), Galahad, (Chris), Gawain (Jeremy), Tristan (Steve), Percival (David), and Palamedes (Warren) have gathered at the round table to decide how to fight the evil that is invading the land, and thus our epic tale begins...
The brave knights gathered their resources while evil began to act swiftly against the noble realm. No one ventured from Camelot and the fabled sword Excalibur was swiftly drifting away. King Arthur decided to use Clairvoyance to allow his knights time to respond to the evil tidings. Alas it was not enough, as before Tristan could react the fabled blade was lost forever and frozen in Oblivion. It was a sad day in Camelot as Evil began taking over and the Round table lost two swords to darkness. Percival was quick to blame Tristan for not taking a different response to the threat of evil and so the harmony of the knighthood was splintered.
Percival took action and ventured to search for the Holy Grail artifact. This was a daunting quest and he would need help from other knights to succeed. The Black Knight offered a challenge outside of Camelots gates and Sir Palamedes rode out to meet him and defend the realm. King Arthur remained in Camelot, but he supported Percival in his quest with information that led Percival ever closer to the Grail. Unfortunately, Despair began to fall upon Percival and the Quest appeared a daunting and futile effort.
Gawain also had left Camelot and he came upon Lancelot who had fled Camelot after his relationship with the Queen and his betrayal to the crown. Gawain was able to overcome Lancelot and secure his armor which would help the good knights thwart the daunting evil forces that were assaulting Camelot. Meanwhile, Tristan and Galahad teamed up to repel a Pict invasion. This was a heroic battle and Camelot gained much glory in this victory. Gawain's return and Palamedes victory over the Black Knight tilted the balance of Camelot's fate toward the forces of good (4 to 2).
Tristan went to support Percival in the Grail Quest while King Arthur went to repel the Saxon invasion. The Dark Forest delayed the search for the Grail even further and Devastating attacks from the shadows made the quest even more difficult. The siege around Camelot was gaining momentum and Gawain and Palamedes valiantly fought against the growing assault. The King repelled the Saxon invasion and this deed brought hope to the knights that indeed the Grail Quest was not in vain. However, the doubt regarding Tristan's loyalty to the realm had gnawed at Percival and he accused Tristan of disloyalty to the kingdom. Tristan defended his honor but the damage was done and the knights began to doubt each other (4 white to 3 black). To further complicate matters, the Black Knight was unchallenged and this dishonor drove more knights away from Camelot (4 to 4).
Tristan, Arthur, and Palamedes ventured to confront an evil dragon in the land while Galahad took up the Grail Quest with a renewed Percival. Gawain fought valiantly against the growing siege forces outside of Camelot. Galahad called on Merlin's assistance to further the Grail quest and the knights were hopeful that they would soon find the relic and redeem the kingdom. The Dragon was also slain by the 3 knights and they returned to Camelot to assist Gawain in it's defense (6 white to 4 black).
The fate of the kingdom was on a knife's edge. If there was a traitorous knight remaining then the kingdom may fall into shadow forever. The Grail quest was nearing completion, Camelot was about to be overcome by the relentless siege...and Galahad decided to come forward and accuse Percival of disloyalty. It all made sense that Percival had falesly accused Tristan and he had failed to complete the Grail quest. Percival was outraged and proved his loyalty to the kingdom but again the hopes of the kingdom were dwindling (5 black to 5 white).
Percival foresaw evil tidings coming and warned his fellow knights. Palamedes headed the warning and did not tempt fate. The King had a plan though...once again he looked into the future with Clairvoyance to give his comrades time to complete the Grail Quest. Galahad followed his King's lead but was shocked to find that Morgan le Fay had plotted the demise of the kingdom. Apparently, Morgana had desposed of her step-brother, King Arthur, and replaced him with a traitorous spy. Her magic enhanced the deception and this "King Arthur" had misled the chilvarous knights. He had appeared helpful throughout the game, but in the end his betrayal revealed a hidden army that reinforced the siege upon Camelot. The siege forces proved too much and they overwhelmed Camelot. The kingdom was lost to the shadow and swallowed by the Mists of Avalon...Now it is only a whispered legend of a noble sacrifice by the last of the Knights of the Round Table.
End
I really enjoyed playing this game and would definitely play it again. I think it is great with a large number of players as there is always something to do and it seems quite challenging with a Traitor.
Caylus
Final Scores: Andrew (98), Sharon (82), Joel (78), and Troy (75).
Puerto Rico
Warren pulled out the victory with a dominant shipping strategy. He had 4 quarries, 4 corn, the harbor, wharf, and customs house. His win was never really in doubt once he got the wharf.
Final Scores: Warren (68), Michael (54), Andrew (52), Sharon (42), and Steve (38).
Shadows Over Camelot
I have been wanting to play this one for some time and I finally read the rules and got it to the table this week. It is an interesting cooperative game where everyone works together to defeat the "game" but with a twist that one player "might" be a traitor. This element of doubt adds the tension to the game and keeps everyone guessing each other's ulterior motives.
The cast: King Arthur (Michael), Galahad, (Chris), Gawain (Jeremy), Tristan (Steve), Percival (David), and Palamedes (Warren) have gathered at the round table to decide how to fight the evil that is invading the land, and thus our epic tale begins...The brave knights gathered their resources while evil began to act swiftly against the noble realm. No one ventured from Camelot and the fabled sword Excalibur was swiftly drifting away. King Arthur decided to use Clairvoyance to allow his knights time to respond to the evil tidings. Alas it was not enough, as before Tristan could react the fabled blade was lost forever and frozen in Oblivion. It was a sad day in Camelot as Evil began taking over and the Round table lost two swords to darkness. Percival was quick to blame Tristan for not taking a different response to the threat of evil and so the harmony of the knighthood was splintered.
Percival took action and ventured to search for the Holy Grail artifact. This was a daunting quest and he would need help from other knights to succeed. The Black Knight offered a challenge outside of Camelots gates and Sir Palamedes rode out to meet him and defend the realm. King Arthur remained in Camelot, but he supported Percival in his quest with information that led Percival ever closer to the Grail. Unfortunately, Despair began to fall upon Percival and the Quest appeared a daunting and futile effort.
Gawain also had left Camelot and he came upon Lancelot who had fled Camelot after his relationship with the Queen and his betrayal to the crown. Gawain was able to overcome Lancelot and secure his armor which would help the good knights thwart the daunting evil forces that were assaulting Camelot. Meanwhile, Tristan and Galahad teamed up to repel a Pict invasion. This was a heroic battle and Camelot gained much glory in this victory. Gawain's return and Palamedes victory over the Black Knight tilted the balance of Camelot's fate toward the forces of good (4 to 2).Tristan went to support Percival in the Grail Quest while King Arthur went to repel the Saxon invasion. The Dark Forest delayed the search for the Grail even further and Devastating attacks from the shadows made the quest even more difficult. The siege around Camelot was gaining momentum and Gawain and Palamedes valiantly fought against the growing assault. The King repelled the Saxon invasion and this deed brought hope to the knights that indeed the Grail Quest was not in vain. However, the doubt regarding Tristan's loyalty to the realm had gnawed at Percival and he accused Tristan of disloyalty to the kingdom. Tristan defended his honor but the damage was done and the knights began to doubt each other (4 white to 3 black). To further complicate matters, the Black Knight was unchallenged and this dishonor drove more knights away from Camelot (4 to 4).
Tristan, Arthur, and Palamedes ventured to confront an evil dragon in the land while Galahad took up the Grail Quest with a renewed Percival. Gawain fought valiantly against the growing siege forces outside of Camelot. Galahad called on Merlin's assistance to further the Grail quest and the knights were hopeful that they would soon find the relic and redeem the kingdom. The Dragon was also slain by the 3 knights and they returned to Camelot to assist Gawain in it's defense (6 white to 4 black).
The fate of the kingdom was on a knife's edge. If there was a traitorous knight remaining then the kingdom may fall into shadow forever. The Grail quest was nearing completion, Camelot was about to be overcome by the relentless siege...and Galahad decided to come forward and accuse Percival of disloyalty. It all made sense that Percival had falesly accused Tristan and he had failed to complete the Grail quest. Percival was outraged and proved his loyalty to the kingdom but again the hopes of the kingdom were dwindling (5 black to 5 white).
Percival foresaw evil tidings coming and warned his fellow knights. Palamedes headed the warning and did not tempt fate. The King had a plan though...once again he looked into the future with Clairvoyance to give his comrades time to complete the Grail Quest. Galahad followed his King's lead but was shocked to find that Morgan le Fay had plotted the demise of the kingdom. Apparently, Morgana had desposed of her step-brother, King Arthur, and replaced him with a traitorous spy. Her magic enhanced the deception and this "King Arthur" had misled the chilvarous knights. He had appeared helpful throughout the game, but in the end his betrayal revealed a hidden army that reinforced the siege upon Camelot. The siege forces proved too much and they overwhelmed Camelot. The kingdom was lost to the shadow and swallowed by the Mists of Avalon...Now it is only a whispered legend of a noble sacrifice by the last of the Knights of the Round Table.
End
I really enjoyed playing this game and would definitely play it again. I think it is great with a large number of players as there is always something to do and it seems quite challenging with a Traitor.
CaylusFinal Scores: Andrew (98), Sharon (82), Joel (78), and Troy (75).
Puerto RicoWarren pulled out the victory with a dominant shipping strategy. He had 4 quarries, 4 corn, the harbor, wharf, and customs house. His win was never really in doubt once he got the wharf.
Final Scores: Warren (68), Michael (54), Andrew (52), Sharon (42), and Steve (38).
Shark
This looks like a very close finish between Adam and Danielle...
Final Scores: Adam ($464k), Danielle ($461k), Eileen ($395.2k), and Aaron ($277k).
That's Life
Final Scores: Eileen (19), Adam (12), Danielle (6), Troy (6), and Aaron (-15).
This looks like a very close finish between Adam and Danielle...
Final Scores: Adam ($464k), Danielle ($461k), Eileen ($395.2k), and Aaron ($277k).
That's Life
Final Scores: Eileen (19), Adam (12), Danielle (6), Troy (6), and Aaron (-15).
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Session Report August 15, 2007
Attendees (15): Sharon, Warren, Adam, Eileen, Tamara, Cindy, Marty, Troy, Cheryl, Andy, Michael, Andrew, Steve, Matt, and Jaimie
We gathered at Steve's house this week for gaming and fun. Cindy and Marty joined us again (they are out of town friends of Warren and Sharon) and we are always glad to welcome more gamers.
Coloretto
While waiting on everyone to arrive, I taught this light card game to Andrew and Steve. Adam arrived and joined in for a 4 player game. Zooloretto is the board game based on this card game that won the 2007 Spiel des Jahres. The card game is all about collecting sets of like colored cards to score points but only 3 colors score positive pts while the rest count against your score. Players can draw a card and add it to a set or they may take all the cards in a particular set. There are a number of sets equal to the number of players and each set can only hold 3 cards max. There are also some wild cards and +2 cards that score 2 extra points.
Final: Michael (37), Andrew (32), Steve (28), and Adam (24).
Nexus Ops
Andrew, Steve, and I played about 1 rd of Nexus Ops and taught Andrew how to play. Then Matt and Jaimie arrived and we decided to play Amun Re...
Amun Re
I have already given my review on this great Reiner Knizia game. We taught it to Matt and Jaimie and I think that they also enjoyed the game. I rarely get to play this with 5 and it was a very enjoyable game with a full compliment of players. I was able to generate a lot of income during the first kingdom but never scored any bonus power cards during the game. Andrew grabbed the early scoring lead and Steve was about 10pts behind after the first scoring. In the 2nd kingdom, I had 3 sets and was very close to majority on both sides but Steve and Andrew each managed to win a side. Matt and Andrew grabbed 2 temples each but Jaimie, Steve, and I all played -3 cards during the last sacrifice to keep the level at 2 in spite of a +6 shift from Matt and Andrew combined! Steve and Jaimie both scored several bonus power cards and when we were adding up money there was only a 5pt separation between first and last place. I finished with 33 gold and if it was enough for first then I might be able to pull out the win but Steve had 34 gold and coincidently so did Andrew. This moved Steve into 2nd place and only 1pt behind Andrew who won! Final: Andrew (44), Steve (43), Michael (37), Matt (34), and Jaimie (33).
For Sale
This is another light card game that I found amusing the one time I played it. Today it was Marty (74) proving the best real estate dealer followed by Adam (65), Andy (60), and Cheryl (57).
Notre Dame
This one hit the table again tonight. Troy won with 67 pts followed by Sharon (49), Eileen (40), Cindy (34), and Tamara (30).
Mykerinos
This is a clever game fro Ystari. Troy again finished with a win. Finals: Troy (50), Cheryl (36), Andy (35), and Marty (21).
Medici
This is a classic Knizia auction game (that I haven't played yet). They had a full compliment of 6 players for this one. Final: Sharon (94), Adam (85), Warren (80), Tamara (72), Eileen (65), and Cindy (57).
To Court the King
This is a fun dice game often referred to as "Yahtzee with special powers". Many of the people in our game group have not liked it very much but I have found it to be very entertaining. Of course I like games with dice and enjoy manipulating the outcome that is so common in this game. My 5yr old also really enjoys rolling all the dice and after a few plays he 'gets' the basic strategies and can play competitively with the family. I was the only player who had played it previously and we used the "Weakened General" variant from Boardgamegeek. I will later give a thorough review on this game along with my adding dice to control varaint. Jaimie ended up impressing the King first (with 7 2's) and she got the Queen for the end-game roll-off. This allowed her to roll last and win all ties. Matt started the final round and impressed the King with 8 5's which was more than Andrew, Steve, or I could muster with all of the courtiers we had acquired. However, Jaimie was able to quickly accumulate her own set of 5's and with both the Astronomer and Magician she was able to roll 8 5's of her own and win the game!
We gathered at Steve's house this week for gaming and fun. Cindy and Marty joined us again (they are out of town friends of Warren and Sharon) and we are always glad to welcome more gamers.
Coloretto
While waiting on everyone to arrive, I taught this light card game to Andrew and Steve. Adam arrived and joined in for a 4 player game. Zooloretto is the board game based on this card game that won the 2007 Spiel des Jahres. The card game is all about collecting sets of like colored cards to score points but only 3 colors score positive pts while the rest count against your score. Players can draw a card and add it to a set or they may take all the cards in a particular set. There are a number of sets equal to the number of players and each set can only hold 3 cards max. There are also some wild cards and +2 cards that score 2 extra points.
Final: Michael (37), Andrew (32), Steve (28), and Adam (24).
Nexus Ops
Andrew, Steve, and I played about 1 rd of Nexus Ops and taught Andrew how to play. Then Matt and Jaimie arrived and we decided to play Amun Re...
Amun Re
I have already given my review on this great Reiner Knizia game. We taught it to Matt and Jaimie and I think that they also enjoyed the game. I rarely get to play this with 5 and it was a very enjoyable game with a full compliment of players. I was able to generate a lot of income during the first kingdom but never scored any bonus power cards during the game. Andrew grabbed the early scoring lead and Steve was about 10pts behind after the first scoring. In the 2nd kingdom, I had 3 sets and was very close to majority on both sides but Steve and Andrew each managed to win a side. Matt and Andrew grabbed 2 temples each but Jaimie, Steve, and I all played -3 cards during the last sacrifice to keep the level at 2 in spite of a +6 shift from Matt and Andrew combined! Steve and Jaimie both scored several bonus power cards and when we were adding up money there was only a 5pt separation between first and last place. I finished with 33 gold and if it was enough for first then I might be able to pull out the win but Steve had 34 gold and coincidently so did Andrew. This moved Steve into 2nd place and only 1pt behind Andrew who won! Final: Andrew (44), Steve (43), Michael (37), Matt (34), and Jaimie (33).
For Sale
This is another light card game that I found amusing the one time I played it. Today it was Marty (74) proving the best real estate dealer followed by Adam (65), Andy (60), and Cheryl (57).
Notre Dame
This one hit the table again tonight. Troy won with 67 pts followed by Sharon (49), Eileen (40), Cindy (34), and Tamara (30).
Mykerinos
This is a clever game fro Ystari. Troy again finished with a win. Finals: Troy (50), Cheryl (36), Andy (35), and Marty (21).
Medici
This is a classic Knizia auction game (that I haven't played yet). They had a full compliment of 6 players for this one. Final: Sharon (94), Adam (85), Warren (80), Tamara (72), Eileen (65), and Cindy (57).
To Court the King
This is a fun dice game often referred to as "Yahtzee with special powers". Many of the people in our game group have not liked it very much but I have found it to be very entertaining. Of course I like games with dice and enjoy manipulating the outcome that is so common in this game. My 5yr old also really enjoys rolling all the dice and after a few plays he 'gets' the basic strategies and can play competitively with the family. I was the only player who had played it previously and we used the "Weakened General" variant from Boardgamegeek. I will later give a thorough review on this game along with my adding dice to control varaint. Jaimie ended up impressing the King first (with 7 2's) and she got the Queen for the end-game roll-off. This allowed her to roll last and win all ties. Matt started the final round and impressed the King with 8 5's which was more than Andrew, Steve, or I could muster with all of the courtiers we had acquired. However, Jaimie was able to quickly accumulate her own set of 5's and with both the Astronomer and Magician she was able to roll 8 5's of her own and win the game!
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