Nightmare Run Episode 5 - Escape from Dol Guldur (2p)

Derek joins me, once again, to try to rescue a prisoner from the evil fortress of Dol Guldur!

Nightmare Run Episode 4 - Journey Down the Anduin (2p, Take 2)

In this episode of Nightmare Run, I am joined by Derek of The Grey Company.  Are we successful in our adventure down the Anduin? Watch and see!

The Battle of Carn Dûm

FFG has announced the fifth adventure pack for the Angmar Awakened cycle of LOTR LCG.  In this adventure, the players will be trying to stop a Sorcerer from complete some vile ritual.  We can expect a number of orcs to fight through, before facing the Sorcerer himself.

In the preview article, FFG teases a new Dúnedain hero, as well as continuing the Valour trait.  One of the most interesting additions is the new attachment, Favor of the Valar.  For the first time, the players have a card which can attach to the threat dial.  This card acts as a reactive threat reducer, where it only triggers when the player would be eliminated, dropping down to five below.  As mentioned in the article, it falls right into the valour trait, since you have to be at 40 threat to trigger those traits, which is a dangerous level.  

We can expect The Battle of Carn Dûm in stores late third quarter 2015.

Sidetrack - Sentinels of the Multiverse

Back in 2011, the same time that Fantasy Flight brought out Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, a small company named Greater than Games brought out their first game, Sentinels of the Multiverse.  The game follows exploits of various superhero teams (Freedom Four/Five, Prime Wardens, Dark Watch) as they fight the villains of their world and beyond.

If I explain this game to someone who already knows LOTR, I call it LOTR lite.  It's similar, but simpler at the same time, and this simplicity has its advantages as well as its own drawbacks.  Where as in LOTR, you have to build a deck before coming to play, in Sentinels, each hero has their own deck which is used each time that hero is chosen.  The only customization available is through the promo versions of certain heroes, which allows for different starting abilities, but otherwise they play exactly the same.  Instead of an encounter deck, the players choose which villain they will face, and a location.  These two choices will have their own respective decks.  The locations are especially interesting, as certain locations are more friendly to the players than others.  One of my personal favorites is Silver Gulch, where the heroes and villain have found themselves sent back in time to the Old West, in the middle of a shootout!  The combinations of different villains and locations allows for replayability, but because the players have limited hero customization, certain characters are significantly more powerful than other based on who and where is involved in the fight.
Sentinels of the Multiverse has enjoyed significant success, with five expansions out to date, another due later this year, a handful of mini-expansions, and a spin-off game in Sentinels Tactics, a scenario-based miniatures game.

If you're interested in checking out Sentinels, I highly recommend Sentinels of the Multiverse: The Video Game.  Developed by Handelabra Games, this implementation is loyal port of the card game onto your digital devices.  Currently, you can get the base game, a few of the mini-expansions, and the first expansion, Rook City.  Not only is it significantly cheaper than buying the physical version, the video game version takes care of a significant amount of the accounting required in the game.  In the card game, between passive effects, temporary effects, advanced rules, etc, it can be very difficult to catch all the effects that take place, even with all of the tokens included in the game.  The digital edition tracks all of that automatically, for a much smoother experience.

I'd be interested to see who has played this, and what your opinions are.  What's your favorite heroes?

Climbing the Ranks Playtest Episode 1

This is the first playtest of my custom quest, Climbing the Ranks.  Unfortunately, OCTGN disconnected, ending the play session early.  I'm going to try to record another session this week.

Nightmare Run Episode 3 - Journey Down the Anduin (Solo)

The Treachery of Rhuduar

FFG has announced the fourth adventure pack in the Angmar Awakened cycle.  The Treachery of Rhudaur has the heroes leaving the troll-infested lands of Across the Ettenmoors, into the undead lands of Rhudaur.  

To really press the side quest mechanic, The Treachery of Rhudaur requires to run through the side quests specific to this adventure.  I can see this as a thematic way to search for your path through this ruined city.

 Also included in this AP is a new and powerful hero, Erestor.  We had previously seen Erestor in ally form, where he allowed you to discard a card to draw a new one.  In this case, he allows the player to draw extra cards at the beginning of the round, but at the cost of discarding all cards in hand.  Per Matt Newmann, this sounds like it will be a theme of the Noldor in this cycle, where cards are discarded for various effects, to represent the decline of their people.  I am very interested to see this effect come into play, as it works very well with Eowyn, as well as Protector of Lorien.  Bringing Erestor to a quest such as The Dunland Trap would be interesting, as many of the effects are regardless of how many cards you draw.  We will get a chance to see these cards in the third quarter of 2015.