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Ben Skellett
Australia
Brisbane
Queensland
No one goes through the Valley of the Dead. That’s why they call it the Valley of the Dead!
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I've played Stronghold three times, always as the Invader.
I won my first game mostly because we were both learning the rules. I lost the second game but we played all 10 turns anyway just to see what happened.
This report is a summary of the third game where I broke into the Stronghold in turn 5 & won with a final Glory score of 12 to 8.
The photo below was taken at the end of the game & is centered on the Wall where the breakthrough occurred (just to the left of the Barbican). It also shows most of the cards I was playing with. The #2 card is the one with the Ram, Ballista & Altar.
Choosing Invader Cards
When faced with the options for my Phase 2 - 5 cards I mostly chose cards I hadn't played with before (e.g. #2 Ballista/Altar & #4 Drover/Drill Sergeant) as well as a #5 card that would help me quickly get the Blood Rituals Glory Point by sacrificing Goblins. Since I didn't have a Catapult the Blood Stones Ritual was useless & I wasn't happy only sacrificing at most 2 Goblins/turn on the other Phase 5 card I could choose. I was quite happy with my Phase 3 card (Shields, Banners & Ladders) & planned to build my attack around that.
The Plan
From the start my plan was to try & breach the Wall second from the left of the Barbican (it's the one with a Ladder token in the photo). I chose it because there are no spaces for Cauldrons & only 2 spaces for defenders. I thought that with my Ladders & a team of trolls I should be able to overpower the defender. For my plan to work I needed the defender to not see the attack coming until it was too late & for this Wall to stay as weakly defended as possible until I was ready with a team of Trolls.
Turns 1 - 4
I don't remember all the details but my first turn mostly consisted of building a Ballista & an Altar on the right side of the Stronghold as well as sacrificing 3 Goblins for the Possession & Panic Rituals. When it came time to Move Out (Dispatch) I chose to keep all my unspent Units in the Camp & paid only one Hourglass to do so. My Ballista fired (a miss) & that was it for Turn 1. I didn't want to give the Defender 3 Hourglasses to move my small force to the field just to be targets for Marksmen & Cannons.
By Turn 4 I had two Ballista on the right side, an Altar on each side & quite a few Banners & Shields tokens out. I had also achieved the Blood Rituals Glory Point by sacrificing 12 Goblins. The Defender was starting to see that something was happening around my target Wall but was mostly distracted with my attacks on the left side. During Melee combat in Turn 4 I revealed the Orc Detonation Order at my target Wall & destroyed the two Stone Components there.
Turn 5
Turn 5 started & I was getting nervous. In Turn 4 the Defender had really started to concentrate on the target Wall. There was already a Platform built & a Troll Trap between the Foreground on innermost Rampart. Would my plan work? It was time for the final push.
I flipped over my #1 & #2 cards since I had stockpiled enough Resources to build the Ladders token I needed & there would be no more need for construction.
After Phase 1 the Defender started to rebuild the destroyed Wall with their 1 Stone Component & only had 2 Hourglasses to work with. I took no actions in Phase 2 & in Phase 3 out came the Ladders & another Banners to spend the last of my Resources.
In Phase 4, I built a Drover to help my Trolls get around the Troll Traps (by moving between Ramparts) & in Phase 5 I simply Possessed the Warrior (Green Hero) to try & help my cause.
It was time to Move Out (Phase 6) & I took both actions (Major & Minor) as well as placing Classified (hidden) Order markers. That cost me 9 Hourglasses for the Defender but I had also managed to get 4 Trolls onto the Wall & earned the Attack of the Trolls Glory Point.
The Defender had moved a Veteran to the target Wall & built a Pole in an adjacent Tower too. The Hourglasses from Phase 6 were also spent to Confuse (i.e. discard) my face down Call of the Trolls Order at the Wall & to kill a Troll using Sharpshooter on the Tower. Four hourglasses were spent playing Unearthly Glare at the last Wall on the right side thanks to plenty of Trolls & Orcs showing up there too. (I used Drill Sergeant (Phase 4 Training option) quite a lot during the game to keep a good supply of Trolls available).
The Assault
The assault was upon us. Cannons fired at my Units on Ramparts but I didn't care enough to remember the result. This was all about the Walls! Despite being heavily damaged by the Defender, my Ballistae fired on the right side & scored 1 hit & 1 miss. The Defender's Marksmen were mostly engaged in combat on the Walls or without valid targets but they did manage to take out an Orc at one of the Ramparts on the left.
In Melee Combat the only Cauldron that could affect my Units was stopped due to Unearthly Glare & then the Poles kicked in. The Defender drew a card with a red square on it (1 in 3 chance) & killed a Troll on my target Wall! I had lost one to the Sharpshooter, one to the Pole & my secret Troll order had been discarded. With only two trolls on the Wall there was no hope left.
Time to reveal my remaining Orders. Orc Detonation at a Wall on the right (top right of photo) destroyed four Stone Wall Components & gained me the Ruined Walls Glory Point for destroying a second Wall. Then I revealed the Goblin Fury Order at the Wall to the immediate left of the Barbican. During Move Out I thought that the Goblins may as well go somewhere & then since this was the only Wall with Goblins I may as well put the Order there too.
Due to Unearthly Glare on one Wall & me Detonating all my Orcs at another, there were only two Walls to Resolve Strength at. Target Wall first: 2 x Trolls(3) + Banners(1) + Altar Influence(1) = 8 for the Invader; Markman(1) + Soldier(2) + Veteran(3) + Warrior(2) + Wall Component(1) = 9 for the Defender. The Defender has an Advantage of 1 which, when rounded up to the losing player's disadvantage, kills another Troll.
Now, let's do the last Wall. Hopefully that Shields token will leave me with some Units left alive. 3 x Orcs(2) + 2 x "Furious" Goblins(3) + Banners(1) = 13 for the Invader; Marksman (1) + 2 x Soldiers(2) + 2 x Wall Components(1) = 7 for the Defender. Now the Invader has an Advantage of 6. Cool, so that means the Defender has to lose 6 Strength points of Units ... wait ... what? The Defender only has Units worth 5 Strength! I'm in! My beautiful, furious Goblins saved the day!
Score
With the Breach happening just before the end of Turn 5, the Invader still had 6 Glory Point (for Time) + 3 GP for Breaking In + 3 GP for Glorious Deeds. The Defender had 4 GP (for Time) + 4 GP for not using any Dishonourable Deeds. Invader wins 12 - 8.
Bring on the next game! I can't wait to try the Siege Towers!
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