New Year Adventures

I had been hoping to give the Lord of the Rings LCG ('living card game') a go for some time.

Having read mixed reports, from a number of sources, and being a bit of a Tolkien fan - my curiosity needed satiating.

 

Last night a full moon over Erebor, and an auspicious sighting of a hooded stranger on horseback (or, to be more precise, a certain wormtongue being stuck in traffic outside Bristol, precluding his appearance at Monday night gaming), signalled that the time was right.

 

The forces of good opted for the prebuilt 'Leadership' and 'Tactics' decks, and plunged headfirst into Mirkwood.

The scenario was something about a messenger having to take a short cut, along the Old Forest Road, in order to make sure that news of the gathering darkness reached the Free People in good time.

 

Interestingly, the cards in this first test of skill were laced with quotes from the Hobbit (rather than the Lord of the Rings) and the quest, itself, could equally have been Bilbo and Thorin's Company heading in the other direction, en route to the Lonely Mountain.

 

Spiders jumped out, as did a few Orcses, and the path was left despite Beorn's good advice. Ultimately, though, the brave companions successfully emerged out of the forest canopy with a few minor scratches and a couple of major stories to tell, to the young Tooks, on a cold winters night.

 

Flushed with our achievement the message was delivered and the next batch of adventurers decided to head straight for the mighty Anduin.

This time the company was comprised of the other two standard decks - 'Lore' and 'Spirit' - something of a mistake, as it transpired, as the journey down the river turned out to be a ferocious running (/flowing) battle. 

Before we even got to our boats, we were faced with a huge Hill Troll blocking our passage. Something of a problem as none of our company was really, what you might call, a warrior. In fact it looked like we weren't so much 'dead in the water' as 'dead before we even got to the water'.

Still, these particular decks turned out to be quite tricksy and we managed to hold off the onslaught until Gandalf popped up to lend a hand. Along with a timely use of a Forest Snare we managed to pull the troll down, kick him in the nuts, and run for the boats.

 

However, it turned out to be something of a pyrrhic victory because, as our party barrelled down the river, we could do little else but watch the growing number of enemies lining up on, and chasing us down, the banks of the river. We took some pot shots at them, they hurled boulders and bad smells at us, but there was no way we were going to be able to set foot back on shore with our entrails in the right places.

Ignominious defeat, on the second quest, but some good lessons learnt. The main one being: "bring someone with a large sword, and a taste for Orc blood, next time".

 

It's a nice little game - far more atmospheric than I had expected. I really felt a sense of doom as the Hill Troll stood in front of me and my feet were pretty wet by the end of the rush down the Anduin. (River water, not the contents of my bladder)

 

The mechanics were a little counter intuitive, the first few times through - or, maybe, my intuition was still a bit fuzzy from New Years Eve.

 

I like the concept and, next time, it would be interesting to mix the decks up a bit and put together some more customised raiding parties.

 

The quests are neat; I could see myself getting drawn into buying some of the expansions, to try out new scenarios, if I owned the game myself.

So maybe it's a good thing that I don't.

It might have the same draining properties as the One Ring itself.