Lord of the Rings LCG: Khazad-Dum Battle Report
There hammer on the anvil smote,
There chisel clove, and graver wrote;
There forged was blade, and bound was hilt;
The delver mined, the mason built.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale,
And metal wrought like fishes' mail,
Buckler and corslet, axe and sword,
And shining spears were laid in hoard.
Following on from our last post on the Dwarf deck builds for the Khazad-Dum expansion of the Lord of the Rings Living Card Game by Fantasy Flight, is a brief synopsis on how each scenario played out as our party of Dwarves ventured further into the depths of Moria.
As mentioned before, I envisioned a retelling of the tale whereby the remaining Dwarves of Erebor made the journey into Moria to determine the fate of Balin and his company. I decided that the dwarves would follow a similar path as the Fellowship, approaching Moria by the Doors of Durin and having to deal with the silent but terrifying Watcher in the Water. Yes, I do realize that the Khazad-Dum scenarios mention the East Gate and that Durin's Doors are in the West but let's just put all differences of East and West aside for now and assume that there was only ever ONE gate.
The Watcher in the Water
Description: Tolkien mixed in with some Lovecraft flavor as our heroes stealthily try to evade being tentacle mauled by the mysterious watcher.
Fun Factor: 5/5
Difficulty: 4/5
How it went down: Tentacles! Tentacles! So many tentacles! Grasping, thrashing and striking! Our first phase started off perilously with some Turbulent Waters showing up in staging during setup as well as a Warg, a Bitter Wind treachery and the dreadful Grasping Tentacle enemy card. Of the 3 types of Watcher tentacles, the Striking Tentacle proved to be the most annoying in that it led to quite a few forced defenseless attacks. The first 2 rounds were brutal to my Dwarves with both Gimli and Dwalin hanging on to life by a thread and with little resources to spare. By round 3 I managed to sneak attack a certain Wizard into play for extra card draw which led to a really lucky draw with an Unexpected Courage and a Steward of Gondor reaching my Leadership/ Spirit deck. Lore/ Tactics were a little low on resources but I managed to beeline Erebor Record Keeper into play along with a few Veteran Axehands for extra attack. By round 7 Gloin, now equipped with a Narvi's Belt, a Steward of Gondor and a Self Preservation managed to pop a few resources over to tactics which led to Gimli acquiring a shiny new Citadel Plate as well as a Dwarven Axe on an already booted Dwalin. With attackers in place and a few allies for defense, our Dwarf volley went to work and laid waste to 2 tentacle enemies as well as a pesky Warg that kept biting our behinds and retreating to staging. We were well into the 10th round and questing strongly, despite running afoul of a Stagnant Creek, Makeshift Passage and 2 Wrapped treacheries, one of which we cancelled using A Test of Will. 2 More tentacle enemies hit our staging just as we cleared The West Door and The Watcher approached. The Seething Lake became just that: A lake filled with Tentacles as another Grasping Tentacle returned to staging along with some Black Uruks which forced me to drop off a Narvi's Belt from Bifur. At this point we had a total of 3 tentacle enemies and the Uruks as well as a few locations and a Makeshift Passage to overcome as the active location. Luckily, 2 copies of Born Aloft allowed Gandalf to jump into play for a double attack which saw some tentacles hitting the hot grill with some Wizard Wasabi. Gimli and a Gondorian Spearman managed to snuff out the remaining enemies who were already wounded thanks to Thalin's questing attack ability. A Shadow of the Past was in hand and we managed to pop the Striking Tentacle back from the encounter discard pile, discard Shadowfax from our hand and overcome the Durin's Door riddle. Funnily enough, during this very round, with no tentacle enemies in play but the Watcher, Gimli and his 2 Veteran Axehands went into a berserker rage and managed to kill off the Watcher, just as the Durin's Door's opened!
Closing Thoughts: Overall a really fun scenario with some harsh enemies and treacheries to overcome. Like with my run through of Conflict at the Carrock, it helps to quest slowly for the first part of the quest, building up your resources, weapons and allies before facing off against the dreaded watcher.
Into the Pit
Description: Location, location, location! From the East Gate to the First Hall to the Bridge of Khazad-Dum this scenario has your heroes test their wit and skill as super fast questing real-estate agents.
Fun Factor: 3/5
Difficulty: 2/5
How it went down: After defeating The Watcher and with a threat of 37/ 39 we decided not to linger around the Doors of Durin and pressed on into Moria, keeping all of our threat, cards, allies, damage and attachments intact. With the East Gate as our active location, we snapped the Cave Torch onto Bifur and we were off to seek our the company of Balin in Moria. A few Branching Paths and Crumbling Ruins later we ran into a Fouled Well which we chose to surge which caused a Dreadful Gap to hop into play with a staggering threat of 13 to overcome. Worst off, we ran into a Cave In which we declined the option to surge (one heavy location lesson learned!). But, our Leadership/ Spirit deck was quick on the questing draw with Arwen, Faramir and Sailor of Luhn worthy questing allies. We also managed to get the card draw engine rolling with the Second Breakfast - Ancient Mathom strategy which also netted a few Born Alofts back from discard for our Tactics/ Lore sphere which in turn led to a double dose of Gandalf, who, along with Shadowfax, wide awake and ready after a second breakfast, managed to get our willy Wizard both questing heavily and attacking a few goblin enemies in our staging. By round 6 we had cleared the East Gate and with the help of a Northern Tracker and Untroubled by Darkness we managed to hop over the First Hall and past the Bridge of Khazad-Dum. Some knife-work by Legolas made quick work of the Goblin Patrol that showed up in Phase 2 and powerhouse Gimli tackled the Patrol Leader without a drop of sweat in his beard. Three rounds later and we were into the pit, clearing the last and final phase of this adventure without any real difficulty. Our threat levels were hovering around the 45/46 mark at this point though so decided to take a moment to gather our thoughts for some retrospect.
The Seventh Level
Description: Stab, stab, roll, duck, evade, slash, flick, poke, punch, pummel!
Fun Factor: 4/5
Difficulty: 3/5
How it went down: We started this adventure from scratch, resetting our threat dials, clearing our playing areas of allies and attachments and drawing a new starting hands of cards. On our way up to the Seventh Level we ran into some Goblin Tunnels but since we had not quested yet, no progress was lost. Unfortunately, around the corner was a Cave Troll and while we weren't quite ready to engage the Troll, the 4 threat in staging made for losses in our early game for questing. We ran our threat level up by 4 by the time we had hit the 6th round. Around round 10, Lore of Imladris managed to get all damage healed off a mortally wounded Gimli and with a few Quick Strikes and Feints we were able to knock off a few pesky goblins off of our stage. By the 13th round, much to our relief, we encountered a Plundered Armory which allowed us to snap a Citadel Plate on Gimli. Leadership/ Spirit had a few good questing allies at this time with Faramir in play, along with a Lorien Guide and 2 Snowbourn Scouts for a bit of extra boost to questing. With Bifur holding on the Book of Mazarbul, we searched eagerly for the chamber, worried now about the fate of cousin Balin whom we though would be standing ready with 'roaring fires, malt beer and ripe meat off the bones. Alas, as we cleared the first phase we happened across the inner chamber and the tomb of Balin, last Lord of Moria. But this time, we had 2 Cave Trolls, a Goblin Archer and 2 Goblin Spearmen engaged with both players but our Dwarves had rallied. We were ready to avenge the death of our dear cousin. Longbeard Orc slayer made his appearance then and, with Thalin's help, managed to cull the ranks of our enemies. Gimli and Dwalin (with the help of Longbeard and a fine Dwarven Axe) managed to severe the heads off of the trolls. We had cleared the Seventh Level.
Closing Thoughts: I enjoyed the combat aspect of this scenario with hordes of goblins and even two trolls making an appearance at one stage. Definitely more enjoyable than our previous scenario although the enemies do become a bit monotonous towards the end and it starts to feel a lot like a hack-and-slash game minus the loot. I did have a lot of fun with different combos and tricks but, despite a few nasty shadow cards, never really felt challenged to the point of losing.
Flight From Moria
Description: Like getting to work only to realize you forgot your laptop at home and then going home only to realize you left your house keys on your desk at work and then going back to fetch your keys and coming home only to realize your laptop was in your car all along. Yes....frustrating.
Fun Factor: 4/5
Difficulty: 4/5
How it went down: With The Nameless Fear breathing down our necks we pressed on with our 36/39 threat as we sought a passage out of Moria. We decided to Head Up, running into a Stray Goblin and some Undisturbed Bones which saw a Zigil Miner and Hennermarth Riversong leave play. A great Cave Troll came charging our way as we took a Wrong Turn and then we retreated to a Hasty Council with 2 more enemies and a lashing from the Nameless Fear's A Foe Beyond almost putting an end to Gloin. Luckily, he was citadel plated and with Self Preservation snapped on for that extra medical cover. With an Orc Drummer beating more loudly we lost Arwen in a Sudden Pitfall and were forced to Head Down after some New Devilry came into play. By this time, we managed to get Stand and Fight into play which brought Arwen back and then a second Stand and Fight popped Hennemarth back into play who, along with Rumor of the Earth, gave us some foresight into what nastiness lay waiting in the encounter deck. With our threat rising and a second New Devilry and a Shadow of Fear bringing even more treachery to our plight, we doubled back to another Hasty Council before Heading Down once more to a Massing in the Deep which saw yet another Great Cave Troll make an appearance. With our path Blocked By Shadow, Thalin fell as a second sudden pitfall led to the death of our greatest questing Dwarf. With heavy hearts we trudged on, Heading Up again and eventually stumbled across a Narrow Path which led to some Abandoned Tools being attached to Gimli. Ererbor Record Keeper and Unexpected Courage allowed the stout dwarf to quest heavily but Dwalin, taking the brunt of an attack by a troll fell too in Moria, just as our dwarves were beginning to see light. With our threat bubbling at 46/48 we Escaped From Darkness, leaving the deep sadness and dark of Khazad-Dum behind us.
Comments
Post a Comment
Your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated. I cannot always guarantee that I will reply but you're more than welcome for tea.