by rwinder
It seems that upon reaching Rivendell, Radagast and his troupe of heroes decided to hike all the way back to Moria and a lake rumored to be home to a friendly tentacle monster... or an unfriendly one maybe.Here we have a session for the Radagast and Eagle themed deck going up against the Watcher in the Water. One of the great things about using Radagast is his ability to heal creatures...although I almost never use that ability. One of the annoying things about the Watcher in the Water quest is the enemy creature's auto-heal ability. What, does he have some Bizarro-Radagast helping him?? It's a pity they didn't include three Watchers. He has the Creature keyword, so I'd definitely want to add him to my Radagast hero deck.
The deck remains unchanged from the last scenario, but I think it might be good to swap out someone to bring in Arwen now that we don't have her auto-included.
Radagast and Friends Deck
Heroes:
Eowyn (S)
Thalin (T)
Legolas (T)
Neutral Cards:
Radagast x 3
Spirit Cards:
The Favor of the Lady x 2
Hasty Stroke x 2
A Test of Will x 2
The Galadhrim’s Greeting x 2
Escort from Edoras x 3
The Riddermark’s Finest x 3
Unexpected Courage x 3
Bofur x 3
Tactics Cards:
Landroval x 2
Blade of Gondolin x 2
Feint x 2
Descendant of Thorondor x 3
Support of the Eagles x 3
Winged Guardian x 3
The Eagles of the Misty Mountains x 3
Vassal of the Windlord x 3
The Eagles are Coming x 3
Hail of Stones x 3
50 cards
And now the game...
The Watcher in the Water
Initial Hand: The Eagles are Coming, Radagast, Bofur, Unexpected Courage, The Riddermark’s Finest, Hasty Stroke
Initial Threat: 27
Initial Staging Area: Bitter Wind, Stagnant Creek (no tentacle)
Turn 1
Resource
Draw The Galadhrim’s Greeting
E1, L1, T1
Planning
NA
Quest
Quest with Eowyn (4W)
Add Black Uruks to staging area (5T)
Threat = 28
Travel
Travel to Stagnant Creek
Encounter
NA
Combat
NA
Refresh
Threat = 29
Turn 2
Resource
Draw Support of the Eagles
E2, T2, L2
Planning
Play Radagast (E1, T0, L0)
Play Eagles are Coming! Gain: Eagles are Coming, Vassal of the Windlord
Quest
Quest with Eowyn (4W)
Add Turbulent Waters to staging area (5T)
Add Bofur to quest (6W) (E0)
Add 1 progress to Stagnant Creek
Retrieve Bofur
Travel
NA
Encounter
Engage Black Uruks
Combat
Black Uruks attack, Radagast defends (takes 2 wounds)
Legolas, Thalin attack Black Uruks, kill em, add 2 progress to finish Stagnant Creek
Refresh
Threat = 30
Turn 3
Resource
Draw Unexpected Courage
E1, L1, T1, R1
Planning
Play Eagles are Coming! Gain: Landroval, Descendant of Thorondor x 2
Play The Riddermark’s Finest (E0, R0)
Quest
Quest with Eowyn (4W)
Add Makeshift Passage to staging area (4T)
Exhaust/Discard Riddermark’s Finest to add 2 progress to Turbulent Waters (complete it) (1T)
Add 3 progress (3P)
Travel
Travel to Makeshift Passage (add 2 progress to quest for 5P)
Encounter
NA
Combat
NA
Refresh
Threat = 31
Turn 4
Resource
Draw The Favor of the Lady
E1, R1, L2, T2
Planning
Play Landroval (T0, L0, R0)
Quest
Quest with Eowyn, Radagast (6W)
Add Ill Purpose to staging area (0T)
Add 6 progress (finish location and 6P)
Travel
NA
Encounter
NA
Combat
NA
Refresh
Threat = 32
Turn 5
Resource
Draw The Eagles are Coming!
E2, R1, L1, T1
Planning
Play The Eagles are Coming! Gain: Descendant of Thorondor
Quest
Quest with Eowyn, Radagast (6W)
Add Stair Falls (2T)
Add 4 progress (10P)
Travel
Exhaust Landroval and Legolas to travel to Stair Falls
Encounter
NA
Combat
NA
Refresh
Threat = 33
Turn 6
Resource
Draw Feint
E3, L2, R2, T2
Planning
Play Support of the Eagles on Legolas (L0, T1)
Play Vassal of the Windlord (VotW) (R1)
Quest
Quest with Radagast, Eowyn (6W)
Add Wrapped to staging area (attach to Legolas)
Add 6 progress (finish location and 12P)
Travel
NA
Encounter
NA
Combat
Exhaust Thalin to remove Wrapped from Legolas
Refresh
Threat = 34
Turn 7
Resource
Draw Winged Guardian
E4, L2, T1, R2
Planning
NA
Quest
Quest with Eowyn (4W)
Add Bitter Wind to staging area (0T) and (everyone 0 except Radagast)
Add 4 progress (13+P), Proceed to 2b, Add Doors of Durin to active location, add The Watcher to staging area
Travel
NA
Encounter
NA
Combat
NA
Refresh
Threat = 35 (3 damage on Landroval)
Turn 8
Resource
Draw Vassal of the Windlord
T1, L1, E1, R3
Planning
Play Descendant of Thorondor (DoT), damage the Watcher for 2 (R1, L0, T0)
Quest
Quest with Eowyn (4W)
Add Thrashing Tentacle to staging area (6T)
Add Bofur (6W) … technically a failed quest, so he stays out (E0)
Travel
NA
Encounter
Thrashing Tentacle Engages
Combat
Thrashing Tentacle attacks, Thalin defends, takes 1 wound (no boost to tentacle)
Legolas attacks Thrashing Tentacle and kills it, add 2 progress (2P)
Refresh
Threat = 36 (Legolas takes 3 damage, remove 2 damage from the Watcher)
Turn 9
Resource
Draw Support of the Eagles
T1, L1, R2, E1
Planning
Play Descendant of Thorondor (2 damage to the Watcher) (R0, L0, T0)
Quest
Quest with Bofur, Eowyn, Radagast (8W)
Add Makeshift Passage to staging area (5T)
Add 3 progress (5P)
Travel
NA
Encounter
Engage The Watcher
Combat
The Watcher attacks, DoT defends and is killed
Legolas + Support of the Eagles(Landroval), Landroval, Vassal of the Windlord, Thalin, Descendant of Thorondor (the other one) attack the Watcher for 16, doing 9 damage… he’s slain and claimed for 3 VP
VICTORY
Score = 36 threat + 90 (9 turns) – 3 VP + 3 wounds on Legolas + 1 wound on Thalin
127
NOTES: Rather than playing the guessing game with the Doors of Durin, I'm very pleased to have won by killing the Watcher...doubtless he'll regenerate in time to cause trouble for Frodo and company. This was much less amusing than the best win I had (which I wasn't logging sadly) where everyone just threw rocks at the Watcher to kill it in one blow when it appeared in the staging area. I assume that's a valid use of Hail of Stones, even if the thought of Eagles chucking rocks into the lake. I've only played this a few times, so catch me out in any errors you find.
