Whenever you're heading around in the wilderness, you should also take into account the
Chance of Being Lost # Hazard # Short-event
Playable on a moving company using region movement. Make a roll (draw a #)
modified by -2 for each ranger in the company. If the result is greater than 6,
you may replace company's new site card with a different site from your
location deck that is located in the same region or an adjacent region as the
company's new site.
This card can single-handedly waste your opponent a turn. While it's not absolute (it requires a roll), it can be very annoying, and can potentially stall your opponent from getting the final MPs she needs to win. Of course, you have to have a site handy to send the company to...
The most productive use of this card is switching the use of the company's new site. For instance, if a company heads to Goblin Gate you can play Chance of Being Lost on them and (with a little luck) send them to Beorn's House, or to be even more effective, Rivendell. Or perhaps your opponent went to Bree. Now you might send him to Lossadan Camp or Blue Mountain Dwarf-hold, if you doubt he has either faction in his hand, but you might also send him to get an item at Tharbad or Ettenmoors (I KNEW there was a use for that site...). Sending a company to a faction site is probably the best bet, as in order for the company to take advantage of the move they have to have a certain card, whereas most items are playable at most item sites. If you can check out your opponent's hand during your own turn, so much the better.
This card has a hidden use, as well. When you replace the site, the necessary region and site type are added. Thus, a company that thinks it's out on a routine trip to Henneth Annun can get mightily surprised by getting lost and ending up at Minas Morgul with several undead bearing down on them. While this isn't as effective as environmental change cards, it is harder to cancel and also has a better chance of screwing up the company's site phase. In fact, Chance of Being Lost may be a very good card to pack in any deck where you have creatures with playability problems. A single Chance of Being Lost can allow several dragons to be keyed against the company.
Chance of Being Lost, has a major disadvantage, though: the roll. If the company is without rangers, you've got close to a 50% chance of failing the roll. If the company has one ranger (almost all do), you've only got about a 28% chance of making the roll. If there are two rangers (a pretty normal occurance) you have to roll greater than a 10, not easy or dependable. To increase your chance, the best option is to get rid of the rangers. You can try to kill them outright, but that often proves difficult and is probably less dependable than trying to roll greater than an 8 outright. Call of Home can be a good answer here, especially if your opponent's trying to get the most out of his influence. Left Behind and Faces of the Dead can also be useful answers here, sending the ranger into a company of his own. The problem about these combos is that they often involve holding an extra card in your hand for a while, which sort of defeats the purpose of Chance of Being Lost: card and speed advatange.
So while Chance of Being Lost can be a very effective card, I find that the roll is rarely effective, if for nothing else than the fact that people make sure to have rangers in their companies just to avoid the affects of Chance of Being Lost.
| Ratings for Chance of Being Lost: | |
|---|---|
| Isildur: | 6.0 |
| Farmer Maggott: | 8.0 |
| Wormtongue: | 7.0 |
| Frodo: | 7.0 |
| Bandobras Took: | 9.0 |
| Samwise: | 6.5 |
| Legolas: | 6.5 |
| Strider: | 6.0 |
| Beorn: | 7.0 |
| Fingolfin: | 3.5 |
| Average: | 6.7 |
Card names and text copyright 1996 by Iron Crown Enterprises, all rights reserved. This document copyright 1997 by Trevor Stone. Permission given to duplicate so long as no profit is made and the copyright notice is kept in tact, blah, blah, blah.