Just bought this and after messing around with it fir a bit it seems to heavily favor the adventurers. Any suggestions out there for a winning strategy for Sauron?

Can Sauron win? Yes, in fact he wins most of the time for us. 1-hero games are the most balanced (16-14 wins for Sauron), 2-hero are way in favor of Sauron (23-7 IIRC) and Sauron has won all 3-hero games (only 5 so far). Peril and corruption from peril are very good, especially Thalin. Don't forget a hero's turn ends if he encounters a monster during Travel and doesn't defeat it, so stalling in combat is a valid method of buying more time (doesn't work with Thalin, but he is so easily corrupted that he is by far the weakest hero). Know your Plots, as you need to have the requirements in play a turn before you put the Plot into play (this is VERY important).

If you're interested and have the time, I've done fairly extensive logs of all my MEQ plays:

wall of text warning

no, seriously

you've been warned

www.boardgamegeek.com/plays/thing/31563

Not quite a play by play and doesn't mention all of Sauron's actions taken each turn, but provide a solid overview of the turns in general.

Thanks, very good info.