Mongo and Marvin Episode 2: The Barrow Lair

**Before I launch into Episode 2, I suppose I should mention that map details and spoilers may exist in this post ... so proceed with caution.

(Deep breath). Okay. Here we go. The Barrow Lair.

For whatever reason, Isaac decided to make the second scenario in the entire book one of the most challenging of all.  Personally, I'm glad he did. If the game was too easy, it wouldn't be much fun.

I've played this particular dungeon a few times, in both solo mode and with friends and family, and I've failed more times than I've succeeded. However, on this particular night, the board game Gods were smiling fondly upon our beloved heroes.

Mongo and Marvin brought the same gear with them as Episode 1, and Marvin brought along the same 12-card hand from last round too. Mongo, of course, grabbed his ability cards on the way out the door, taking whatever 10 cards he could find from under the pile of underwear back at his apartment. Thankfully, most would come in handy. (The ability cards, not his underwear.)

And let me tell ya, the game couldn't have started any better.

With the archers acting late, Mongo tossed a dagger at one of their heads - splitting it wide open for an instant kill. Marvin, feeling jealous, nailed the second archer for a one-shot smack-down as well - earning his battle checkmark within 0.9 seconds of the game. Sweet!

From there ... it was time for Marvin's sneaky-nasty-proximity-death-package. He snuck into the main room, dropped a mine next to Door A ... then went invisible. Mongo, meanwhile, stayed behind in the first room in the hopes of coaxing the elite archer into Hook Gun range for Marvin. Surprisingly, it wasn't Marvin's hook-pull that did the trick ... it was Mongo's move-push a couple turns later. Wow. Mongo actually did something right. The archer had already absorbed one damage thanks to a weak shot from Marvin, so the trap finished her off.

As a side note, I figured placing the mine next to Door 'A' was a good decision, because if the assassination attempt on the archer failed, Marvin could potentially pull the Bandit Commander onto our little pipe bomb when a 'Boss Special 1' showed up.

From here, things continued to go smoothly, as a couple of big hits and a wound took the Commander down to 9 health, and the Living Bones hadn't made an appearance yet. Door B was revealed, along with the first Elite Living Corpse, but I felt like I had the situation under somewhat control.

A few turns later, Door C was revealed, and the other elite Living Corpse was set free.

Once that happened, it was time to unleash Marvin's secret weapon: his sister-in-law and her two stupid kids. They would prove to be the ultimate decoy.

The perfect summon: a tempting, tasty snack for any monster

Sure enough, Susan, Albert, and Tiny Tim sacrificed their lives for the greater adventuring good, keeping the Elite Corpse occupied while Marvin and Mongo hammered away at the Commander and the other wee beasties.

One moment, Susan and her kids were watching Dora the Explorer.
The next moment, they were summoned to a nightmare. 

After a couple Living Bones were spawned, the air was thick with the stench of impending doom. Turns out the smell was just Tiny Tim, who had crapped himself at the sight of four terrifying monsters within spitting distance.

Even though the room was crowded, Mongo and Marvin continued to pluck away at everything, and the Bandit Commander was wounded with 1 health left. He wouldn't survive long enough to move another inch or summon anything else. As a bonus, Susan and company were still breathing.

For another minute, at least ...

Oops. I suppose we could have given her a shield, or something 

Oh, man. Marvin has a lot of explaining to do when he gets home. His brother is going to be pissed. "Sorry about your wife and kids" ... no matter how many times Marvin practices the line, it just doesn't sound sincere.  Oh well. That's what happens when you stand next to an Elite Living Corpse for too long. Anyway, what mattered most was that the dungeon was nearly cleared, coins were scattered aplenty, and both of our heroes had a card or two left.

No treasure chest this time, but victory nonetheless

FAST FACTS

Scenario Time: 1 hour, 13 minutes

Experienced Gained: Mongo 9(+6), Marvin 8(+6)

Gold Looted: Mongo 2 (+10), Marvin 2 (+10)

Checkmarks Earned: Mongo 0, Marvin 1 

In this particular mission, here's what I learned:

- I was dang lucky. Of the 6 curse cards in play, only 2 were drawn - one by Mongo, one by Marvin. 

- Avoiding damage is good. Mongo only took one serious beating near the end of the scenario. He lost 2 cards from his discard pile, but still managed to survive. 

- Lost cards mean very little to the Tinkerer. I used Ink Bomb, Net Shooter, Proximity Mine, and Flame Thrower ... took 2 rests ...  leaving me with 6 cards for the final fight against two severely injured opponents. True, I got lucky more than once, but I say use the gifts you were given - namely, the powerful lost cards at your disposal. 

Mongo and Marvin have two choices for their next mission ... they're going to play beer pong to sort it out. Stay tuned.