The Decks I have used for the quest, and the notes for them, can be found here and here. The narrative for the quest can be found here.
Encounter Deck Set-up:
Add To Isengard! and Ugluk to the staging area
Shuffle Pursued by the Enemy and Followed by Night into the encounter deck.
Place Merry and Sam under To Isengard!
Make Eastemnet the active location.
Set the pursuit value to 10
Player Deck Set-up:
Attach Tireless Ranger to Sam Gamgee.
Attach Phial of Galadriel to Celeborn
Attach Valiant Warrior to Merry.
Attach Leaf-wrapped Lembas to Glorfindel
Deck One draws opening hand, adds Glamdring to his deck
Deck Two draws opening hand, adds Anduril to his deck
Deck One
Threat: 30
Sam Gamgee
Celeborn
Faramir (Lore)
Starting Hand:
Greenwood Archer
Dunedain Warning
Ranger Spikes
Roheryn
Naith Guide
The Tree People
So we’re a hero down, which means I really need so resource smoothing and generation. Here I’ve got one of the first (Roheryn), but none of the second, so I’m going to have to Mulligan.
Mulligan:
Sneak Attack
Steward of Gondor
Roheryn
Naith Guide
Sword that was Broken
Silvan Tracker
Now this is more like it! Roheryn and Sword that was Broken will open up both Tactics and Leadership on Aragorn when I get them on him. This means Steward of Gondor will serve us best on Aragorn because he’ll be swapping between the two decks, helping to spread the love.
Deck Two
Threat: 21
Merry (Tactics)
Elladan
Glorfindel (Spirit)
Starting Hand:
Ring of Barahir
Secret Vigil
Song of Travel
A Test of Will
West Road Traveller
Escort from Edoras
Again, resource smoothing is sorely needed, and we have some here. Obviously the Ring of Barahir is for Aragorn to play with, so now he’ll be opened up to pay for both Leadership and Lore cards from Deck One. Song of Travel will go on Faramir and we’ll hold out for Celebrian’s Stone from Deck One to open up Spirit for him. If we find a second Song however then that’ll serve the same purpose. A Test of Will is also welcome, as are the two cheap questing allies. With Secret Vigil to reduce the threat in the staging area, really this is almost the best opening hand I could have asked for, bar a Foe-hammer, or maybe a Blade of Gondolin for the extra progress.
Raise each players threat by 1 for the Fallen Hero Gimli
Turn No.1
Stage: 1B (0/10)
Active Location: Eastemnet (0/3)
Staging Area:
Ugluk (3 threat)
To Isengard! (10/30)
Resource Phase
Deck One Hand (New Card in Bold):
Sneak Attack, Steward of Gondor, Roheryn, Naith Guide, Sword that was Broken, Silvan Tracker, Song of Kings
Celeborn (1), Faramir (1), Aragorn (1)
This’ll go on Aragorn. With a hero missing from each deck, the son of Arathorn will need to pull double-duty and cover as many bases as possible.
Deck Two Hand:
Ring of Barahir, Secret Vigil, Song of Travel, A Test of Will, West Road Traveller, Escort from Edoras, Dagger of Westernesse
Elladan (1), Glorfindel (1)
Solid attack boost, never say no to this one.
Planning Phase
Deck One:
Song of Kings-Aragorn
Steward of Gondor-Aragorn
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to place 2 resources on Aragorn
We’ll save the resources for later on I think
Deck Two:
Song of Travel-Aragorn
Again, we’re keeping a resource, this time for A Test Of Will
Quest Phase
Deck One plays Sneak Attack on Naith Guide
Naith Guide: Aragorn
Celeborn-3
Faramir-2
Aragorn-2
Naith Guide-2
Elladan-2
Glorfindel-3
Trigger Glorfindel, raise Deck Two’s threat by 1
Total willpower: 14
1: Isengard Uruk (2 threat) (We’ll take the three damage. I hate revealing additional encounter cards) Deal 1 damage to Faramir, Aragorn and Glorfindel
2: Followed by Night (This happened last quest too. It whiffs but we still get Surge to deal with)
2.1: Plains of Rohan (0/4, 1 threat) (Not a terrible draw, but it can only get worse)
Total threat: 6
Win by 8, explore Eastemnet, place 5 progress on Stage 1B. Trigger Eastemnet, add to resource to each hero. Return Naith Guide to hand.
That was a pretty good round, no devastating cards. I doubt we’ll be able to keep up this pace however.
Travel Phase
Travel to Plains of Rohan (0/4)
We need to do this because we need to keep as much threat out of the staging area as possible
Encounter Phase
I think we’ll leave the Isengard Uruk up in the staging area for now. We can’t really take them out in one shot and we’ll be better off tanking the archery without suffering additional damage on top from their attack
Combat Phase
Resolve Archery 2, deal 1 damage to Celeborn and Elladan
Increase the Pursuit Value by 2
We’re catching up, but only slowly.
Refresh Phase
Raise each player’s threat by 1
Deck One: 32
Deck Two: 24
Increase the Pursuit Value by 1
So far so good, but we need to get in more allies to keep up the pace.
Turn No.2
Stage: 1B (5/13)
Active Location: Plains of Rohan (0/4, 1 threat)
Staging Area:
Ugluk (3 threat)
Isengard Uruk (2 threat)
To Isengard! (13/30)
Resource Phase
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to give Aragorn 2 resources
Deck Two Hand (New Card in Bold):
Dagger of Westernesse, Escort from Edoras, West Road Traveller, A Test of Will, Secret Vigil, Ring of Barahir, Unexpected Courage
Elladan (2), Glorfindel (3), Aragorn (5)
Excellent! We’ll give this one to Aragorn, try and turn him into a Voltron hero!
Deck One Hand:
Warden of Healing, Sword that was Broken, Roheryn, Naith Guide, Snowbourn Scout
Celeborn (2), Faramir (2)
A cheap and dirty ally? Don’t mind if I do
Planning Phase
Deck Two:
Unexpected Courage-Aragorn
Secret Vigil-Isengard Uruk
Escort from Edoras
Ring of Barahir-Aragorn
And now it’s just the Tactics sphere to go for Aragorn and he’ll have all 5 spheres!
Deck One:
Naith Guide: Faramir
Warden of Healing
Exhaust Warden of Healing to heal 1 damage from Celeborn and Elladan
We’ll start with the most fragile first.
Quest Phase
Celeborn-3
Faramir-2
Aragorn-2
Naith Guide-2
Glorfindel-3
Escort from Edoras-4
Trigger Glorfindel, raise Deck Two’s threat by 1. Exhaust Unexpected Courage to ready Aragorn.
Total willpower: 16
We ought to get a few more progress on the main quest stage this turn
1: Plains of Rohan (0/4, 1 threat) (And there’s another one! Good thing we traveled to the first one when we had the chance)
2: The Wold (0/2, 2 threat) (Not ideal, as this boosts Plains up to 2 threat, and the travel cost isn’t really helpful, but it could have been worse)
Total threat: 8
Win by 8, explore Plains of Rohan, place 4 progress on Stage 1B
We’re catching up!
Discard Escort from Edoras
Travel Phase
We’ll go back to Plains of Rohan to get rid of the threat in the staging area
Travel to Plains of Rohan (0/4)
Encounter Phase
Deck Two optionally engages Isengard Uruk
Now if we kill this guy we’ll drop our threat and reduce the amount our pursuit goes up
Combat Phase
Trigger Archery 2, deal 1 damage to Aragorn and Celeborn
Shadow Card dealt to Isengard Uruk
Elladan defends (2)
Ugluk’s Uruk-hai revealed as Shadow
Isengard Uruk attacks (3), deals 1 damage
Aragorn attacks (3), Faramir attacks (3), destroys Isengard Uruk. Trigger Secret Vigil, reduce each player’s threat by 2
With Ugluk stuck in the staging area Faramir gets a permanent +1 attack
Increase the Pursuit Value by 1
Refresh Phase
Raise each player’s threat by 1
Deck Two: 24
Deck One: 31
Increase the Pursuit Value by 1
So we’ve made up 2 progress on the encounter deck this turn, 2 last turn, we’re getting there! Slowly!
Turn No.3
Stage: 1B (9/15)
Active Location: Plains of Rohan (0/4)
Staging Area:
Ugluk (3 threat)
The Wold (0/2, 2 threat)
To Isengard! (15/30)
Resource Phase
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to give Aragorn 2 resources
Deck One Hand (New Card in Bold):
Sword that was Broken, Roheryn, Snowbourn Scout, Ranger Provisions
Celeborn (1), Faramir (1), Aragorn (4)
I’m getting an idea. Bear with me a moment
Deck Two Hand:
Dagger of Westernesse, West Road Traveller, A Test of Will, Light of Valinor
Elladan (2), Glorfindel (3)
I think this may have to wait, until the plan is implemented
Planning Phase
Deck One:
Ranger Provisions-The Wold
Snowbourn Scout: The Wold (1/2)
Sword that was Broken-Aragorn
And this will be invaluable on a quest that requires as much willpower as we can squeeze out of characters
Exhaust Warden of Healing to heal 1 damage to Celeborn and Elladan
I feel like I’m treading water with these two
Deck Two:
Dagger of Westernesse-Elladan
West Road Traveller
Trigger West Road Traveller, put Plains of Rohan into the staging area, make The Wold the active location
Now all we need is 1 progress for bonus cards and resources. Also there’s a smaller progress barrier before the main quest stage.
Quest Phase
Celeborn-4
Faramir-3
Aragorn-3
Naith Guide-2
Snowbourn Scout-1
Glorfindel-3
West Road Traveller-2
Trigger Glorfindel, raise Deck Two’s threat by 1. Exhaust Unexpected Courage to ready Aragorn
Total willpower: 18
Hopefully this’ll be enough to get us that bit closer.
1: Saruman’s Orders (Not bad, the essential effect is that it surges…for both players? That’s it, nope) Deck Two plays A Test of Will to cancel Saruman’s Orders)
1.2: Eastemnet (0/3, 2 threat) (So apparently we’re getting all the locations. All of them.)
Total threat: 7
Win by 11, explore The Wold. Trigger Ranger Provisions, trigger The Wold. Deck One: Warden of Healing (This will be much needed as the archery will begin to stack up). Deck Two: Westfold Outrider (A decent attacking ally will be appreciated in the coming fight, it’s engaging ability is also handy as we’ll be able to keep Ugluk engaged with Aragorn next turn) Complete Stage 1B, trigger Stage 2A. (Whoops. Now we have all the Uruk-hai!) Search the encounter deck for Ugluk’s Uruk-hai and Isengard Uruk (We’ll eat the detrimental effects because these 2 have higher engagement costs). Increase the Pursuit Value by 3 and deal 1 damage to Faramir, 2 damage to Celeborn.
Well that was a busy phase. Hopefully we can stand up to the fallout.
Travel Phase
Travel to Eastemnet (0/3). Trigger Eastemnet, increase Pursuit Value by 1.
We’re on 19 now for the Pursuit Value, but once we get Uruks killed we can start dropping it.
Encounter Phase
Deck Two optionally engages Ugluk.
Our only choice is to allow Elladan to take the damage and get the Wardens to heal it up next turn.
Combat Phase
Resolve Archery 3, deal 2 damage to Aragorn and 1 damage to Glorfindel
Shadow Card dealt to Ugluk
Elladan defends (2)
Rest by Night? revealed as Shadow
Ugluk attacks (5), deals 3 damage
We got lucky there. Not only did we avoid losing a hero, but we dodged a nasty treachery to boot.
Refresh Phase
Raise each player’s threat by 1
Deck One: 32
Deck Two: 26
Increase Pursuit Value by 1
Turn No.4
Stage: 2B (0/25)
Active Location: Eastemnet (0/3)
Staging Area:
Isengard Uruk (2 threat)
Ugluk’s Uruk-hai (2 threat)
Plains of Rohan (0/4, 1 threat)
To Isengard! (20/30)
Resource Phase
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to give Aragorn 2 resources
Deck Two Hand (New Card in Bold):
Light of Valinor, Westfold Outrider, Elrohir
Elladan (2), Glorfindel (1), Aragorn (4)
Well it is about time! Welcome to the party
Deck One Hand:
Roheryn, Warden of Healing, Anduril
Celeborn (2), Faramir (3)
Well you are coming right into play
Planning Phase
Deck Two:
Light of Valinor-Glorfindel
Westfold Outrider
Elrohir
Now we have the twins!
Deck One:
Warden of Healing
Anduril-Aragorn
More boosts for Aragorn, and we can start to chip off some of these wounds
Exhaust Warden of Healing to heal 1 damage from Elladan and Aragorn
Exhaust Warden of Healing to heal 1 damage from Celeborn and Aragorn
Quest Phase
Celeborn-3
Naith Guide-1
Aragorn-4
Glorfindel-4
Elrohir-3
West Road Traveller-3
Total willpower: 18
Exhaust Unexpected Courage to ready Aragorn
That boost from Sword that was Broken is incredible!
1: Strange Weariness (And that boost just goes away again!)
2: Banks of Entwash (0/5, 3 threat) (And that’s another boost for Plains of Rohan. I’m starting to not like that card)
Total threat: 9
Total willpower: 12
Win by 3, explore Eastemnet. Trigger Eastemnet, give 1 resource to all heroes
Travel Phase
Travel to Plains of Rohan (0/4)
It’s time for us to be rid of this
Encounter Phase
Deck Two optionally engages Isengard Uruk
Trigger Elrohir
Let’s try and clear out some archery
Combat Phase
Resolve Archery 3, deal 1 damage to Celeborn, Faramir and Westfold Outrider
Shadow Card dealt to Ugluk
Aragorn defends (3)
Snaga revealed as Shadow
Ugluk attacks (5), deals 2 damage
Aragorn pays 2 resources to ready Aragorn
Aragorn attacks (4), Elladan attacks (4), Westfold Outrider attacks (2), destroys Ugluk, add him to the victory display. Reduce the Pursuit Value by 1. (We just need to finish Stage 2B and we’re in the clear now.)
Shadow Card dealt to Isengard Uruk
Elrohir defends (3)
Uruk-hai Fighter revealed as Shadow (This isn’t too bad. Song of Kings is spare on Aragorn now, we’ll get rid of that). Discard Song of Kings
Isengard Uruk attacks (3), deals no damage
Glorfindel attacks (3), Faramir attacks (3), destroys Isengard Uruk, reduces the Pursuit Value by 1
Not too shabby a turn if I do say so myself. Ugluk is down, archery is reduced and the Pursuit Value will be at 19 after the refresh phase, giving us plenty of time. I don’t trust the encounter deck though. Something will go horribly wrong, mark my words!
Refresh Phase
Raise each player’s threat by 1
Deck Two: 27
Deck One: 33
Increase the Pursuit Value by 1
Turn No.5
Stage: 2B (0/19)
Active Location: Plains of Rohan (0/4)
Staging Area:
Ugluk’s Uruk-hai (2 threat)
Banks of Entwash (3 threat)
To Isengard! (19/30)
Resource Phase
Exhaust Steward of Gondor to give Aragorn 2 resources
Deck One Hand (New Card in Bold):
Roheryn, The Three Hunters
Celeborn (2), Faramir (2), Aragorn (3)
So is this card going to be Aragorn’s version of Frodo’s Intuition? I guess we’ll find out soon
Deck Two Hand:
Secret Vigil
Elladan (1), Glorfindel (2)
…guys? I’ve just had an idea.
Planning Phase
Deck One:
Roheryn-Aragorn (He’s got 5 spheres! Is there an attachment to give him the Baggins sphere at all?)
And we’ll keep the rest for the quest phase.
Deck Two:
Secret Vigil-Ugluk’s Uruk-hai
Reduce their threat for a big push here
Exhaust Warden of Healing to heal 1 damage from Aragorn and Elladan. Pay 2 resources to ready Warden of Healing
Quest Phase
Celeborn-4
Faramir-3
Aragorn-4
Elladan-2
Glorfindel-3
Snowbourn Scout-1
Naith Guide-2
Warden of Healing-2
Warden of Healing-2
Elrohir-2
West Road Traveller-2
Deck One plays The Three Hunters on Faramir, Aragorn and Elladan.
Total willpower: 30
Surprise! Now let’s gamble again…if we get a Strange Weariness, Unseen Barrier, or even too many enemies we will be scunnered. But…but if we can pull this off then it’s a win.
1: Uruk-hai Fighter (3 threat) (Not having this.) Discard Westfold Outrider for Deck Two to engage Uruk-hai Fighter
2: Plains of Rohan (0/4, 2 threat) (We’ve done it! Sweet Gloin’s beard we’re through.)
Total threat: 6
Win by 24, explore Plains of Rohan, complete Stage 2B
Victory.
Victory Display: Ugluk (5)
Score: 33 threat + 27 threat + 50 for turns taken – 5 victory points, 2 for damage on Celeborn, 2 for damage on Faramir, 2 for damage on Aragorn, 1 for damage on Elladan, 2 for damage on Glorfindel =114
The Uruk-hai have been overtaken and the hobbits have been rescued. I think we got off lightly enough with this scenario, we didn’t draw any treacherous limiting our progress, the enemies came off at a steady pace and there was no Grishnakh! The encounter deck still gave us a run for our money, I was taken aback by the amount of archery we had to deal with, and it nearly overwhelmed us. If it hadn’t had been for the Wardens of Healing then we almost definitely would have been.
I am pretty happy with my decks, even though everything is going to change now. Again, I think card draw is an issue that needs to be addressed, especially when we move on to the more combat intensive quests that are upcoming. As for the Boons we have earned, I don’t feel that bringing back Gimli is something I’d be desperate to do, not while I can’t think of some suitable excuse that works thematically. So from the other Boons, Hands of a Healer is useless for us because we have no healer heroes. Resource generation is not as much of an issue, Steward of Gondor will follow whichever set has Faramir (Frodo or Aragorn), and there are plenty of heroes who can help with resource generation so I’m less inclined to go for Leader of Men. So that leaves Intimidation and Forewarned. Of the heroes we are taking forwards, only Merry can take Intimidation. And that leaves Aragorn and Sam as heroes with the Ranger trait. Aragorn, rather than Sam, is set up better as a defender, and will come under fire more often. It would be better then to put Forewarned on Aragorn, that we can make the best use of Anduril as we possibly can. What do you think about the boons we’ve picked up? Should I have resurrected Gimli? Who should accompany Frodo when we rejoin him in Emyn Muil?
Add Intimidation to the Campaign Pool attached to Merry
Add Forewarned to the Campaign Pool attached to Aragorn
The Road 