Dan Howell
United States
Bassett
Virginia
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Week 15
At the start of this week, the OL has a 17 point lead in CT over the Heroes so Smaug cannot go for the win yet. Counting a week for training the Heroes are 5 weeks from the Lonely Mountain. This means that if the OL can score any additional CT through a wilderness encounter, Smaug will get a chance to destroy Rivendell and win the game. The OL decides to purchase avatar upgrades just in case.
The Heroes train and shop in Carrock one last time before beginning the long journey to the Lonely Mountain.
Heroes – 49
OL - +3/66
Week 16
OL continues to purchase avatar upgrades.
Heroes move to Elf Path without incident.
Heroes – 49
OL - +3/69
Week 17
OL purchases avatar upgrades.
Heroes move to the ruins of Thranduil’s Hall but are ambushed by a Chaos Beast among the ruins. Here is the OL’s chance, just a single kill will give him enough CT to attack Rivendell. Unfortunately, the Heroes manage to kill the beast without any casualties.
Heroes - +2/51
OL - +3/72
Week 18
OL purchases avatar upgrades.
Heroes move to Esgaroth without incident.
Heroes – 51
OL - +3/75
Week 19
The OL is 3 CT short of being able to attack Rivendell! Accordingly, the OL makes one final avatar upgrade.
The Heroes move to the Lonely Mountain but find the path blocked by a massive Diamond Level Master Giant with 79 wounds and 12 armor! Instead of suffering heavy casualties, the Heroes immediately use the Eagles upgrade card and fly safely to the door step of the Lonely Mountain.
The Lonely Mountain
The Heroes found the first level of the Lonely Mountain lead by a Master Dark Priest with 27 wounds and 7 armor and the additional abilities of blast 1 and pierce 3. After dispatching this leader and his minions, the heroes moved to level two where they encountered a Master Ogre with 50 wounds and 8 armor. The thought of this fell minion resurrecting was a terrifying possibility for the Heroes, and unfortunately for them, he did just that. He inflicted numerous casualties before he was finally brought down for good. After a tough level two, the heroes moved to level three where they discovered a Master Bane Spider with 51 wounds and 8 armor. This creature also possessed the additional abilities of fear 4 and sorcery 4. The fear ability made the spider difficult to destroy, but the heroes were eventually successful and they moved further into the Lonely Mountain, reaching level four. Level four was occupied by a Master Chaos Beast with 57 wounds 8 armor and the additional abilities of sorcery 7 and fear 4. The fear ability coupled with the beast’s normal black curse skill, made him very difficult to kill. Even still, the Heroes did destroy the beast and moved on to level 5. Level 5 was the Great Wyrm’s Lair from the Rtl rule book. The Heroes suffered heavily on this level before they finally triggered the final battle.
Final Battle
The final battle featured Smaug the Dragon versus the four Heroes. Their stats were as follows:
Heroes
Laughin Buldar – Unmovable, Knight, Weapon Mastery, Swift, +2 Fatigue, 4 Silver Dice
Silhouette – Eagle Eye, Acrobat, Rapid Fire, Master Archer, +2 Fatigue, 4 Black Dice
Landrec the Wise – Spirit Walker, Leadership, Wind Pact, Boggs the Rat, 3 Black Dice, 1 Silver Dice
Runemaster Thorn – Blessing, Prodigy, Quick Casting, 1 Black Die, 3 Silver Dice, +2 Fatigue
Overlord
Smaug – Silver Master Dragon
Upgrades – Lawlessness, Deadly Claws, Toughened, Protective Magics, Diamond Scales, Dragon Fear, Enhanced Speed, and Dark Strength
Monsters – Humanoids and Beasts Upgraded
Treachery – 2 Event Treachery
Lieutenants – Gollum
Final Battle – Speed – 5, Wounds – 151, Armor – 7
The only Heroes that could really hurt Smaug were Buldar and Thorn. Their weapons did not rely on pierce and they could deliver some decent damage on Smaug. Landrec and Silhouette’s weapons relied on sorcery or pierce and as a result, their damage output was limited. The basic strategy for the heroes was to attack Smaug from different directions and maintain distances or positions preventing Smaug from battling and getting to attack twice. Landrec would use leadership to keep Buldar well supplied in fatigue so he could get at least three attacks per turn. Buldar with swift, knight, and elven boots could move in, attack three times, and then move to a position either out of range of Smaug’s deadly claws or force him to move to attack with breath. This all proved too much and Smaug was destroyed in a few turns.
Conclusion
The Heroes won the campaign in the final battle but the OL came within 3 CT of being able to attack Rivendell and probably winning the campaign. As a result, the campaign seemed tense and exciting until the end. One additional kill was all the OL needed to potentially win the game.
As noted in the beginning, I had a blast playing this campaign and I appreciate Andrew taking the time to create this campaign and upload it to the Board Game Geek website. I highly recommend it and I hope this session report encourages others to try this campaign. If anyone has any comments please let me know.
Dan Howell
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Andrew Chapman
Australia
Norwood
SA
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Unfortunately I clearly had a lapse of concentration when writing the rules. I meant for Smaug to be a Diamond level dragon, not silver, but this has also changed in the latest version. In the latest version (not yet posted), Smaug is equal in level to the highest level of monster upgraded by the OL.
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Dan Howell
United States
Bassett
Virginia
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A diamond level Smaug would have changed things considerably. I do not know if this group of Heroes could have defeated a diamond level Smaug with two additional armor, more fear and wounds. I look forward to the updated file. Thanks again for your work.
Dan Howell
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Andrew Colvin
United Kingdom
Unspecified
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Bit of a gimmick shoe-horning Tolkein into Descent, but looks like a fun attempt to make a mini-campaign although I don't imagine it works as well as the tried and tested full version.
Looks like the uploaded files are only half there though. Where are the rules for Golum, Bolg, etc
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Andrew Chapman
Australia
Norwood
SA
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Yes, a bit of a gimmick. One of the players calls it "There and dead again, a Hobbit's tale"
Mainly I'm interested in developing a shorter campaign, since neither I nor my friends have the time to throw at a full fledged Road to Legend. Perhaps when my sons have grown up a bit this will change.
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