Synopsis: Throne of Strench is a level 7 module in the online game Card Hunter that will once again set you against the rather difficult troglodytes. Troglodytes are, in general, both sturdy and strong and this module is particularly frustrating because the enemies tend to take advantage of terrain to make fights very difficult. You are high enough level to have a nice variety of cards at this point. If you don’t take advantage of this and start employing new strategies, you will lose quickly.
Enemies in Module:
Trog Spearmen – Trog spearmen are minions, so they can only attack once per round. They have 10 hit points, a normal move speed of run (3 squares), and every single one of their attack cards is a stab attack with a range of 2 squares. Spearmen also have armor cards that have a 50% chance of preventing 2 damage.
Trog Scuttlers – Trog scuttlers are minions, limiting them to only one attack per turn each, like all minions in Card Hunter. They have 7 hit points, a standard move speed of scuttle (2 squares), and every attack card in their deck is a range 2 stab. They have the same armor cards as spearmen. The big difference between spearmen and scuttlers is that they have a lower average damage on attacks and more movement cards, including some run cards.
Trog Gouger – Trog gougers are the toughest minions in this module. Trog gougers have 15 hit points, a standard move speed of run, and high damage ranged 2 stab cards. They have incredibly good armor that can block 4 damage half the time and knocks them back a square when it prevents damage.
Strench the Pungent – Strench is the toughest wizard in the game so far. He is nearly as durable as a warrior and has better attacks than your wizard should at this point. He has 15 hit points, a standard move speed of run, and uses lots of low to mid damage spark attacks that are hard to block. He also has the same armor that spearmen and scuttlers have.
First Scenario – Frozen Warren:
Setup – You will start the first Throne of Strench mission in the middle of the map with two trog gougers and two trog spearmen at the top of the map. There are hallways and small rooms below you that you will probably never use a single room above you that has all the enmies in it.
Enemies – Trog Spearmen (2), Trog Gouger (2)
Strategy – Right from the start you will want to move your warrior to the square one below the one square hallway to the top room. This will prevent enemies from moving past your warrior and only allow at most two to attack you per turn. This tactic relies on you having built an incredibly defensive deck for your warrior. Focus on high value armor, Parry, and any blocks you can get. Don’t just get these cards from armor, helmets, and shield, but also look for these cards on weapons and boots. If you have an option after that, equip stab attacks.
Once you cork the hallway, sit back with your wizard and launch high damage attacks. Since the armor of your enemies is a problem, either equip acid attacks to burn away the armor or use cards like Boiling Armor to make your enemies discard the armor cards. Damage and penetration attacks are things important when choosing your spells. Your cleric will either spend the fight healing your warrior, using Inspiration to let one of your other characters draw a card, or possibly using frenzy cards on your warrior if your warrior deck has a lot of stabs. This is a long slow fight, but with the trogs only able to attack twice a turn, winning is easy.
Second Scenario – Frozen Cavern:
Setup – You will start the second Throne of Strench mission on the right side of large map filled with twisty hallways. A trog scuttler and a trog gouger is positioned on both the top and bottom of the map while a trog spearman is on the top and left side. Besides walls, the map also has a lot of water which doesn’t block line of sight, but blocks movement.
Enemies – Trog Spearmen (2), Trog Scuttlers (2), Trog Gouger (2)
Strategy – If you play this Card Hunter map correctly, the terrain is your friend. If you play it wrong, the terrain will kill you. All of the trogs can attack you across water, so you need to avoid standing close to water. The best way to do this is to start the battle by moving into the walled room at the bottom of the map. It is narrow enough that enemies will be bottlenecked coming towards you and far enough away from most enemies that you are likely to only face one trog in the first round, maybe two. Kill that trog quickly and then either bunker in the room or move left. The first option will cause you to get attacked from both sides, but only by one enemy at a time. The second option will keep you ahead of a small pack of trogs that will be chasing you, if you have enough movement cards.
Just like in the last map, defensive cards are important, but this time you need them for characters other than your warrior. Also, you want more movement cards this time, unless you decide to bunker in the first room. Boiling Armor and similar discard cards will serve you well again, but aren’t quite as strong if you march left because you can focus fire and fight enemies with a three on one advantage. A really useful card in this scenario is Telekinesis which you can use to teleport an enemy across water or move an ally to safety across water. As long as you don’t ever move into a location where all of the enemies can attack you each turn, you should be able to beat this map in roughly the same way you beat the last one.
Third Scenario – Frozen Throne:
Setup – You will start this scenario at the bottom of a room that has a lot of water and blocking terrain. A trog gouger starts in the upper left and upper right corners and Strench starts at the top of the map. Strench can see you and attack you, but you can’t move adjacent to him due to a river blocking the way.
Strategy – Strench can attack you with at least some of his spells right from the start. If you are packing a lot of long range spark attacks and you have the Spark Generator trait, you might be able to win the battle of the mages, but this strategy is more likely to fail than succeed. Your best bet is to put extra armor in your deck and also a lot of movement cards. Make a break to the right side of the map. This will put blocking terrain between your characters and Strench, move you out of reach of one of the two gougers and give you a chance to fight the other one in a three on one battle. Your warrior shouldn’t have as many block or Parry cards this time because those cards are worthless against Strench, but armor should keep him alive. In this map both stabs and cards that let you move and attack at the same time are good, especially if any of those attacks have penetrating.
Defeat the gouger as fast as you can and keep and eye on Strench who will likely be coming around the corner. If he does, charge him. He has a lot of cards, but his damage for individual cards is quite low. Once he is exposed, pile on him. You will take a hit or two from the other gouger, but armor should protect you long enough to defeat Strench. From that point, the gouger is easy since it can only attack once per turn.
