QOTW: The River Running

His name in youth was Olórin in the West, but he was called Mithrandir by the Elves (Grey Wanderer), Tharkûn by the Dwarves (said to mean “Staff-man”), Incánus in the South, and Gandalf in the North, but “to the East I go not.” … “The North” must refer to the North-western regions of Middle-earth, in which most of the inhabitants or speaking-peoples were and remained uncorrupted by Morgoth or Sauron. In those regions resistance would be strongest to the evils left behind by the Enemy, or to Sauron his servant, if he should reappear. The bounds of this region were naturally vague; its eastern frontier was roughly the River Carnen to its junction with Celduin (The River Running), and so to Núrnen… Beyond Núrnen Gandalf had never gone.
–Unfinished Tales, The Istari

The River Running Stats

Groups registered: 17
Total attempts: 24
Most attempts: 3
Average attempts per entry: 1.4

Total number of wins: 17
Win-rate: 71%

Average opinion on the quest: 4.3

Achievements

Here are the achievements we had for this quest:

Running a Little Faster!

Easterling Pursuit should read “Then, if there are at least 2 resources here, remove 2 of them…” instead of 3 resources.

Put Off Pursuit

Stage 2B gains: “While at least 1 player is engaged with an enemy, the players cannot defeat this stage.”

Encounter Card Opinions

There were a lot of different options submitted for favorite encounter card. The only card to get 3 votes, though was the quest-defining Objective card, Easterling Pursuit. I think it’s great that this is the overall favorite card, because it sets the whole pace and unique mechanic of this quest. It gives this quest a nice ebb and flow to it, and interacts with other encounter cards to give the players difficult and meaningful choices. For those who are familiar with the other FFG LCGs, this card went on to inspire the core mechanic of the Zola scenario in Marvel Champions.

The two cards to be nominated for both favorite and least-favorite this week were the two encounter side quests that are in this quest. I always love it when cycles incorporate side quests into quest design, and (if you ignore Fire in the Night) we only have three cycles that use this card type: Angmar Awakened, Haradrim, and Vengeance of Mordor. Of course, side quests can really slow down a quest if they are absolutely mandatory to clear. I overall love the side quest design in this cycle because (depending on your deck) none of the side quests feel absolutely mandatory to clear, so targeting them is a legitimate tactical choice!

With nearly half of the votes, the overall least-favorite encounter card for this quest is Rocky Outcrop. If, for example, your big defender requires readies to keep you safe, this location can be a huge problem for your ability to manage combat. And if you get both copies out in staging at the same time, you’re in even more trouble.

Things worth sharing from the games

With Castellan and Perilous Voyage, I was able to end the game at 55 threat with an elimination level of 70. Gandalf and some other allies were within my Ring Walls, so I had some good ally defenders. Getting Edrik Ravenhelm out also really helped boost my attack after going to stage before I’d wanted to so I could clear the enemies I had engaged with me.

My band of Rohan’s and Gondor’s could outfight these enemies with ease! (Knock on wood)

I only saw a little bit of the quest, my Into the West deck ramps up quickly and doesn’t want to take too long. Galadriel pulled out a second Hobbit Cloak, so I put it on Merry, then let him defend against an Easterling Outrider when it made an immediate attack. Not often that he gets to defend, so I thought it notable. That went fine, then when the Outrider attacked Sam for his regular combat phase attack, I had to discard an attachment I controlled, so that was naturally the extra Cloak. Everything really went pretty smoothly, got my pipes out early and only had 8 cards in my deck when I won on round 6. Never saw the Captain, though the Gaffer would’ve diverted him nicely.

Once my BoF deck got rolling, there was really no stopping it. Asfaloth was nice to help avoid travel costs. I was mostly able to keep a clear staging area for the whole game, even with the “Running a Little Faster!” achievement. Eowyn’s ability helped me stay ahead of the encounter deck early on by nuking an enemy I would have had to keep engaged. I thought the travel costs on the locations were interesting and had me thinking about where/if I should travel each round. At one point I ended up with Warrior of Rhun engaged and an empty discard pile so I got to dodge that effect.

Always feels fun to play Alatar and Pallando in these quests that take place in the East. Unfortunately I never was able to convert any Easterlings to my cause with Word of Persuasion.

I’m used to playing this quest solo and it feels SO much more punishing in multiplayer. Really dreading those 4p attempts at the con

Managing to defeat enemies and send some back to staging in round 10, we quested in round 11 with 1 progress to spare, just clearing River Running and the second stage. Rohan and the wizards survive!

Decklists used

Perilous Voyage with Castellan: https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/61296/isengardinperil-2.0

Autumn’s recommended deck. (https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/587542)

Hirgon, Erkenbrand, Tacowyn https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/624634 Grima, Galadriel, Loragorn https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/624789

Into the West deck, https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/60897/notalltearsareanevil-1.0

“Dunedoom” – Amarthiul/Halbarad/Loreagorn https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/530041

3 Hunters Elfhelm / S Eowyn / T Theoden (scooped to early enemy swarm); Grey Wanderer Neutragorn (victory)

BoF – The Free Peoples https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/581051

Alagos, Gwaihir, Faunith – ALeP eagles

https://ringsdb.com/questlog/view/60481/theriverrunning-1player-2025-09-11

Alatar and Pallando Two Hunters: https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/587542 and Tactics Burglar’s Turn: https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/539699

Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Elena (https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/48534/qotwtheymightbegiantkillers-1.0)

Five Istari Deck: https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/61093/therodsofthefivewizards-1.0

BoF Dunedain: Aragorn, Gilraen, Halbarad, Thurindir

T.Aragorn/Mablung/Le.Faramir on one side, Cirdan/Erestor/Kahliel (Last Alliance) on the other

Seastan’s Erestor Gondor Swarm, Black Riders Hobbits

TEowyn/STheoden/Thengel [https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/625919] Pallando/Alatar [https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/587542]

This week we are playing this cycle’s revamped “Steward’s Fear”. Once you have finished Danger in Dorwinion, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/uGQcoNRWSjAHMfgU7

And for achievements for this quest, this is what we have: