I am an new GM playing DnD-4E and i am looking for some tips how to spice up an encounter

I have played with my group ~10 times so far and what i really like is to challenge them. Not a TPK but almost.

I started with same level monsters as the players, which was obviously no challenge at all.

I tried to overrun them with a lot of minions, but found that it is quite difficult to manage to keep track of to many foes, their hp, initiative, ongoing effects and damage ect.. (so i now using cards, which helps somewhat) what i like here is that if the minions are slayed to fast there is always an infinite amount of additional which could join.

I also tried a young dragon once, hoping that its high hp and higher defenses will stress the group for a while, however i found out that it is of disadvantage to be able to do once action per round while 5-6 PC will be able to do one. If the defenses of an opponent are high enough to keep him alive for a while then players get frustrated that they waste several powers till they manage to land a hint. Also if the brute does high damage, they complain that they can be brought down in 2 hits.

I also tried compositions of foes, but the Players take them apart almost always the same way, ( the clerics, the spell-casters, the artillery, the soldiers, .. )

Last game a player (arcane striker) was missing and the game was going surprisingly well. The foes were 2 bugbears (brutes) and a few archer goblins in the back. While the players cleaned out the archers, I had enough time to land a few good hits with the bugbears to put some PC's into bloodied and make them retreat for a round to lick their wounds.

I am looking specifically for what is a good composition of foes is to challenge Players and make the encounter more interesting (not the standard round of move, attack, roll damage ). I do not want to try all possible combinations, i am looking for some recommendation what has proven to be a good mix, (e.g. two brutes in the front, 2 archers in the back and one controller on the side)

I am an new GM playing DnD-4E and i am looking for advice on how to compose challenging encounters.

I have played with my group ~10 times so far and what i really like is to challenge them. Not a TPK but almost.

I started with same level monsters as the players, which was obviously no challenge at all.

I tried to overrun them with a lot of minions, but found that it is quite difficult to manage to keep track of to many foes, their hp, initiative, ongoing effects and damage ect.. (so i now using cards, which helps somewhat) what i like here is that if the minions are slayed to fast there is always an infinite amount of additional which could join.

I also tried a young dragon once, hoping that its high hp and higher defenses will stress the group for a while, however i found out that it is of disadvantage to be able to do once action per round while 5-6 PC will be able to do one. If the defenses of an opponent are high enough to keep him alive for a while then players get frustrated that they waste several powers till they manage to land a hint. Also if the brute does high damage, they complain that they can be brought down in 2 hits.

I also tried compositions of foes, but the Players take them apart almost always the same way, ( the clerics, the spell-casters, the artillery, the soldiers, .. )

Last game a player (arcane striker) was missing and the game was going surprisingly well. The foes were 2 bugbears (brutes) and a few archer goblins in the back. While the players cleaned out the archers, I had enough time to land a few good hits with the bugbears to put some PC's into bloodied and make them retreat for a round to lick their wounds.

I am looking specifically for what is a good composition of foes is to challenge Players and make the encounter more interesting (not the standard round of move, attack, roll damage ). I do not want to try all possible combinations, i am looking for some recommendation what has proven to be a good mix, (e.g. two brutes in the front, 2 archers in the back and one controller on the side)

I am an new GM playing DnD-4E and i am looking for some tips how to spice up an encounter

I have played with my group ~10 times so far and what i really like is to challenge them. Not a TPK but almost.

I started with same level monsters, which was obviously no challenge at all.

I tried to overrun them with a lot of minions, but found that it is quite difficult to manage to keep track of to many foes, their hp, initiative, ongoing effects and damage ect.. (so i now using cards, which helps somewhat) what i like here is that if the minions are slayed to fast there is always an infinite amount of additional which could join.

I also tried a young dragon once, hoping that its high hp and higher defenses will stress the group for a while, however i found out that it is of disadvantage to be able to do once action per round while 5-6 PC will be able to do one. If the defenses of an opponent are high enough to keep him alive for a while then players get frustrated that they waste several powers till they manage to land a hint. Also if the brute does high damage, they complain that they can be brought down in 2 hits.

I also tried compositions of foes, but the Players take them apart almost always the same way, ( the clerics, the spell-casters, the artillery, the soldiers, .. )

Last game a player (arcane striker) was missing and the game was going surprisingly well. The foes were 2 bugbears (brutes) and a few archer goblins in the back. While the players cleaned out the archers, I had enough time to land a few good hits with the bugbears to put some PC's into bloodied and make them retreat for a round to lick their wounds.

I am looking for some advice what a good composition of foes is to challenge Players and make the encounter more interesting (not the standard round of move, attack, roll damage ).

Last thing: In one of the previous encounters the grave-digging PC's freed an unknown shadow creature, which can not be completely killed in the common way. I plan to use it on the group over the coming few encounters to interfere once in a while with the party and mess up their spells or bite them in the back. The shadow creature will slowly regain its strength over a few encounters until the party can finally corner it and slay it. Or at least i am hoping it to end like that.

I am an new GM playing DnD-4E and i am looking for some tips how to spice up an encounter

I have played with my group ~10 times so far and what i really like is to challenge them. Not a TPK but almost.

I started with same level monsters as the players, which was obviously no challenge at all.

I tried to overrun them with a lot of minions, but found that it is quite difficult to manage to keep track of to many foes, their hp, initiative, ongoing effects and damage ect.. (so i now using cards, which helps somewhat) what i like here is that if the minions are slayed to fast there is always an infinite amount of additional which could join.

I also tried a young dragon once, hoping that its high hp and higher defenses will stress the group for a while, however i found out that it is of disadvantage to be able to do once action per round while 5-6 PC will be able to do one. If the defenses of an opponent are high enough to keep him alive for a while then players get frustrated that they waste several powers till they manage to land a hint. Also if the brute does high damage, they complain that they can be brought down in 2 hits.

I also tried compositions of foes, but the Players take them apart almost always the same way, ( the clerics, the spell-casters, the artillery, the soldiers, .. )

Last game a player (arcane striker) was missing and the game was going surprisingly well. The foes were 2 bugbears (brutes) and a few archer goblins in the back. While the players cleaned out the archers, I had enough time to land a few good hits with the bugbears to put some PC's into bloodied and make them retreat for a round to lick their wounds.

I am looking specifically for what is a good composition of foes is to challenge Players and make the encounter more interesting (not the standard round of move, attack, roll damage ). I do not want to try all possible combinations, i am looking for some recommendation what has proven to be a good mix, (e.g. two brutes in the front, 2 archers in the back and one controller on the side)