Hill Giant vs Giant Spider

Steve and I played 2 games of BattleLore tonight. What a blast! This game just keeps getting better.

We played the Hill Camp scenario putting the Hill Giant and Giant Spider against each other. We played the same sides back-to-back, and the two battles couldn't have been more different. In the first all the action was in the center and on my right. In the second all the action was on my left. In the first we sort of took our time and considered the board. The second scenario was played under time pressure since we knew the store was closing, and so we went for broke.

In the first game Steve wore me down over the course of the game. I got some great stikes w/ the Hill Giant before a well placed arrow brought him down. Bummer! Steve had taken a high level cleric vs my well balanced lore council. The 2 card limit on lore was very restrictive, especially since I kept getting expensive cleric cards, the only one I didn't take! At least I kept them out of Steve's hands... Final score was 6-3 or 6-4 IIRC.

In the second game I opted for a 2nd level wizard and 1st level warrior vs Steve's 3rd level warrior. I drew a foot-onslaught and a powerful left card and some generic cards like "counter-attack", and I had 2 red and 5 total foot on the left. I held off until I pulled another left card, and then I moved up on that side. Unfortunately, Steve had put his training camp on that side, too, so he pumped up a blue to a red before I arrived.

We clashed again and again on that side, and the carnage was major. The tipping point was the spider. Steve had the foresight to spend the time to bring him over to the battle. I would have liked to bring the giant, but he moves a lot slower, plus I was just happy to be drawing some low cost lore cards.

The battle came down to the wire. We each had 5 flags, and I decided to go after the spider. I picked a weak cavalry, figuring I might get a pursuit for a total of 6 dice, but instead the spider killed me on battle-back. In retrospect it was probably too risky, and I probably should have attacked w/ the healthier unit, but the store was also just about to close.

The game, especially that crazy attacking 2nd game, is too much fun to worry about who won or lost, but for the record it was Steve again, 6-5.

Having seen how restrictive 2 lore cards can be, I'm re-assessing my thoughts on the lore council. I now think that a 2nd level guy has some real advantages. Either way, 6 total levels is the right amount. It forces you to make choices, leaving you w/ the feeling of "I should try X next."

I'm now up to 9 games of BattleLore, looking for double digits. 4 w/ Steve, 2 w/ Jeff, 2 w/ Brian, 1 w/ Al. My overall record stands at 2-6-1.

Right now this game is dominating my attention. It's a ton of fun.

Game on!

ps We've not been using the labels so much recently. Tsk, tsk!