Month in Review: June 2023

We’re halfway through the year already. And while June wasn’t a particularly big month for LOTR LCG, we did get the release of the Magic the Gathering sets, which has put some more eyes on this game as “that other LOTR card game”. I’ve really noticed that when seeing a sharp uptick in traffic to this site paired with more members joining both the Discord and Facebook groups. So if you stumbled onto this article in your search, welcome! I will just go through the main updates happening in the LOTR LCG world this month, and share my thoughts on the months to come.

June

We got some news out of FFG this month, now that the Dream-chaser boxes are starting to release. I hope that everyone is enjoying their adventures on the high seas and will find interesting ways to use the new (to new players) player cards in the Hero box. The scenarios are an absolute blast and I’m glad that this thematic cycle gets a proper campaign surrounding it. As for other news, there isn’t much. We are waiting on the inevitable Two Towers Saga box, but we might get lucky soon and have some more info on FFG’s plans with GenCon around the corner. The fan-made projects had nothing new to share either, except for some new art pieces by FarCom that hint at some amazing cards heading our way in the new AleP cycle.

Scenario analyses

I have finally done it! I have completed the review for all four of the custom scenario kits! The two Moria ones are probably my favourite, as you can craft some really nasty quest decks with them without restricting progress on stage 2. I have celebrated this achievement by building 4 encounter decks (1 for each set) and testing them on my local playing group as “Sauron” in control of the encounter deck against a group of 3/4 players. It was great fun and a good way to play the game with 5 players.
As for future plans, there is now only one quest standing between me and a completed POD analysis: Attack on Dol Guldur. Veteran players might understand why I left this one for last, but if I can do an analysis on Dreadnaught, then Dol Guldur should be possible to beat and write an article on. It will take a lot of time in July, so be aware that articles might not be as frequent.
Beyond POD stuff, we hope to bring you the next installment of the LOTR Saga campaign in July, where we cross into the Flame of the West box.

Nightmare analyses

I have been putting a hold on this series for a while now, distracting myself with the Custom Scenario kits. But with that coming to an end, I suppose it is time to jump back into Nightmare mode and try to finish the NM Angmar Awakened cycle. I cannot promise that the first article will release in July, but I’ll try and get some done during the summer.

Storage hub

Not that I want to write another update to my own storage, but I thought it would be nice to put out the request for anyone looking to share their storage solution again. It has been a while, and I don’t believe I have any good looking options for people who only go the rereleased content so far. Let me know if you’re up to write a quick article on how you store your cards and how people can adopt that method for themselves.

Traits/Staples

I have completed my revival of the Staples series for now, since I think it would be better to space them out a little more and instead focus on some other content. I do have some ideas that I’ll put on the list whenever I feel like changing things up again, but for now I can put this series back in the freezer. The traits are also pretty much done, as I don’t see how I can expand on it without touching the fan-made content. I might do that eventually, but not yet.

Additional articles

No additional articles were made this month, as I took a bit of a break after having released all the books for the loot and I had less time to focus on the blog. Perhaps I can do another article in July if anyone can come up with a good topic. To avoid starting any debates, I will not cover the MtG sets, since I have never really been an MtG collector/player, and would rather invest the money into other games. I also don’t think I could write anything worthwhile on a game I know nothing about.

The Future

June started off well on a personal note, I had another CT-scan that showed no cancer-growths had developed in the past 6 months. So I’m really happy to hear that, and also glad that I’m off the hook until September. That makes the chances of me missing the Con of the Rings event a lot smaller! I have also been receiving a lot of great messages from people who have been receiving the custom notebooks that I have been making. The books are being put to good use, and I have heard that some people are starting to take on the challenges as well. Best of luck to everyone attempting those!

July will be another busy month for me personally, since I will be working full-time all month, in order to be able to take my vacation later in the year. It will mean that articles won’t be very frequent, as I rarely have time (or energy) after work to continue writing. But with some new articles on the horizon, I hope to find some inspiration and makes things easier on me and still release some quality articles on Nightmare content and Attack on Dol Guldur.

In the meantime, I have been looking into creating some extra loot to hand out to all the supporters that have joined the blog since a few months. I had some ideas, but those turned out to be a lot more expensive than I had anticipated. I’d have to keep the Patreon site going for a few more years before that is going to be possible. I’ll keep the ideas in the back of my mind though, just in case I feel like picking up the project and can set a price on the items instead of giving them away. I have also looked into ways to republish the playthrough logbook, and hope to give an update on that soon. It won’t take very long to make, since I can repurpose a ton of assets from the January 2022 edition. Stay tuned for a further update, and I will hopefully get to share some more news on how you can order the books later this summer.

For now, I hope that you are all doing well and aren’t going to melt in the coming months. Stay hydrated, though I think that the Ocean locations from the Dream-chaser cycle will have you covered on that. See you all next month.

~Aa’menealla nauva calen ar-malta~

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One thought on “Month in Review: June 2023”

Scorpion says:

11 July 2023 at 09:17

“June started off well on a personal note, I had another CT-scan that showed no cancer-growths had developed in the past 6 months.”

Great news, man! congratulations! keep it up

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