Nightmare Run Episode 15 - Return to Mirkwood (2p, Take 3)

One more time, let's go back to Mirkwood...

Nightmare Run Episode 14 - Return to Mirkwood (2p, Take 2)

Matthew and I once again attempt to return the creature Gollum.

http://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/254/nightmare-run-episode-14-return-to-mirkwood

Nightmare Run Episode 13 - Return to Mirkwood (2p)

Matt and I attempt to return Gollum to King Thranduil.

Deck List - Dúnedain, with a side of Shenanigans

We will soon have The Battle of Carn Dûm, and I have begun looking at the player cards, in preparation for my upcoming Impressions article. Seeing that Amarthiúl has been promoted from Objective Ally to full-blown hero, it made me interested to flesh out the Dúnedain trait in a full deck. I wanted to put three Dúnedain heroes for this, and I was pleasantly surprised when I started listing out how many we have at this point. I knew Aragorn would be in there, but which one is the question. I thought Tactics would be the obvious choice, since I love his abilities. As I thought about it, I decided to go with Leadership, which led me to also include Halbarad, for mono-Leadership. That then led me to include some of Aragorn's attachments to give him multiple spheres, which then led me to include Dúnedain allies of all spheres, and Lord of Morthond. To get LoM on the board, I also included Steward of Gondor. 

At this point, I haven't playtested, but my idea is to put Steward of Gondor and Lord of Morthond on Aragorn, along with his artifact attachments. Obviously, the Dúnedain benefit from being engaged with enemies, so Dúnedain Hunter and Son of Arnor are included to get set up. There's definitely some shenanigans involved in getting the deck set up, but I'll be interested to see how it works.

Hero: (3)
Amarthiúl (The Battle of Carn Dûm) Aragorn (Core Set) Halbarad (The Lost Realm) Ally: (24) 3x Dúnedain Hunter (The Lost Realm) 3x Ranger of Cardolan (The Wastes of Eriador) 3x East Road Ranger (The Wastes of Eriador) 3x Greyflood Wanderer (The Three Trials) 3x Guardian of Arnor (The Battle of Carn Dûm) 3x Sarn Ford Sentry (The Lost Realm) 3x Warden of Annuminas (The Lost Realm) 3x Son of Arnor (Core Set) Attachment: (24) 2x Celebrian's Stone (Core Set) 2x Sword that was Broken (The Watcher in the Water) 2x Ring of Barahir (The Steward's Fear) 2x Lord of Morthond (Encounter at Amon Dîn) 2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set) 2x Blood of Numenor (Heirs of Numenor) 3x Dunedain Mark (The Hunt for Gollum) 3x Dunedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock) 2x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath) 2x Heir of Valandil (The Lost Realm) 2x Star Brooch (The Lost Realm) Event: (2) 2x Descendants of Kings (Escape from Mount Gram)

Impressions - The Treachery of Rhudaur Player Cards

The Treachery of Rhudaur has been released, and with that, a new set of player cards.  Now that we are past the halfway mark of the Angmar Awakened cycle, we are starting to see FFG make good on the promises of new Noldor synergy,
Heroes
Erestor's debut as a hero comes with standard lore flavor, but with a twist.  As is no surprise, card draw is the main bullet point in his skill set.  Similar to Bilbo, Erestor gives additional card draw, but this time, it is only for his controller and it's three extra cards!  The draw back, however, is that all cards have to be discarded at the end of the round.  To put that into perspective, that's 10 cards, one fifth of a standard deck, in your opening hand, and four cards every round there after.  Obviously, quests such as Deadman's Dike, where you're punished for running through your deck, will not see much Erestor action.  In solo games, Erestor could be included, replacing all other forms of card draw.  That's pretty huge, as it could free up a significant amount of space in a deck.  In multiplayer, I could see including Beravor, as a support hero, to give other players card draw.  Erestor's extra card draw really shines with abilities which require card discard.  Old staples such as Eowyn or Protector of Lorien going to see a lot of use, as the discard requirement is less rough when the card are going away anyway.  All the benefits I see, however, are weighed against the potential downfalls.  Certain cards, such as A Test of Will or Feint, are typically held in hand until they're needed.  With Erestor, you have to think differently.  The player board is where you have to put your reliance in, not your hand.  Cards such as Scroll of Isildur will be very useful in recycling cards.  Another auto-include might seem to be Will of the West, but this is one you definitely will want to mulligan out of your starting hand.
Allies
Silvan is one of my favorite archetypes, and Galadhrim Weaver continues the trait.  For one cost, which is not reducible by O Lórien, it only provides one will power.  However, its enters play ability allows you to shuffle the top card of your discard back into your deck.  One of the keys to the Silvan trait is being able to return cards to hand, which are typically done through a number of event cards.  By playing the Weaver, you can return these valuable cards back into the deck to be used again.  Obviously, there are opportunities to use this card in any deck where you want to continuously recycle cards.
Galdor of the Havens is an appropriate pairing with hero Erestor.  As soon as you discard a card, draw a card.  Since it allows you to essentially replace the card you discard, it seems like an easy decision.  I especially like him with Galadriel and her mirror.  I don't typically like to run the mirror, since I don't like the chance of losing the card I just pulled, but with this ally, you can replace whatever card you lose.
Attachments
Elven Spear gives Silvan and Noldor a new weapon to run.  For the cost of three cards, the hero wielding the spear can boost his attack by three.  Since this is done in three separate occasions, Galdor would be triggered each time.
Silver Harp also helps the Noldor trait's new discard ability.  After discarding a card, exhaust the Silver Harp to return it to the hand.  This seems like a great card in general.  Obviously, it requires Spirit, both to pay for, and to attach to.  Oddly, it is a restricted attachment, which isn't usually an issue for Spirit heroes, with the exception of, perhaps, Glorfindel.
Elf-friend is a card I never expected to see.  By attaching this card to a character, they become both Silvan and Noldor.  This falls into the situational section of cards.  I like strong combos that don't rely on drawing the right cards at the right time.  In the case of this card, you have to pull it in, and then draw whatever card.  This could cause some cool combos, such as equipping Tactics Aragorn with Rivendell Blade to reduce enemies' defense by three, but I would probably include it in a deck that has a target that wouldn't require Elf-friend as well, such as Legolas.
Events
Horn's Cry adds to the Valour trait in a way I can get behind.  One less attack for each enemy until the end of the phase, or minus three attack for a single player's enemies.  Beorn is a strong defender, but his one defense can sometimes be a burden, with no way of directly boosting it.  By using this card, along with the bear's unexhausting sentinel defense, he can take a lot more slings and arrows.  Similarly, Boromir could also benefit from being able to lessen the attack of his enemies, and with his readying action, his player will probably be consistently using this card's Valour ability.
Reinforcements is a card I hadn't made up my mind about when I started analyzing it, but by the end, started to really like it.  For three leadership resources, coming from three different heroes, the group can put two allies into play from their hand, but only for that phase.  This is essentially a different version of Sneak Attack, but something that the whole group can utilize, rather than just the player playing the event.  The old combo was to use Sneak Attack plus Gandalf, but it required that both cards be in one player's hand to pull off.  Not only that, but you had to have access to Leadership.  Though more expensive, and requiring either mono-Leadership, or the inclusion of songs, this event allows any player in the game to utilize this same combo.  Not only that, but the allies may enter play under anyone's control.  Perhaps one player has Gandalf in hand and needs some card draw, while another player needs a defender for the round.  Simply play this card and both players get what they need.  Taking the example further, perhaps that same player needs some help killing the engaged enemy, you still have another ally that can be put into play.  Just like Sneak Attack, the allies return to their owners' hands at the end of the phase, which will trigger Horn of Gondor, leaving only a net usage of one resource and one card.  As mentioned above, I wasn't sure how I felt about this card initially.  Obviously, this won't see as much action in solo, and the three resources from three different resource pools can be rough.  In both cases, the downsides aren't that bad.  Even in solo play, getting two allies out could still be very strong, and mono-Leadership is one of the strongest mono-spheres in the game.  I'm very excited to play around with this card.
The Door is Closed is a very interesting play on A Test of Will.  For one Lore resource, you may discard any revealed encounter card.  The stipulation is, however, that a card with the same title has to be in the victory display.  Immediately, I think of this in a Rossiel deck.  Whether the card already has victory points on it already, or you use cards such as Out of the Wild to put them in there, this card takes a little bit to setup.  It seems like it could be OK, but at the same time, just like Rossiel, could whiff.
Side Quest
Send for Aid finishes the set of side quests for each sphere.  When this is played, each player gets to search the top 10 cards for an ally and put it into play under their control.  This ability is similar to other events such as The Eagles are Coming!, Mustering the Rohirrim, or Entmoot, where you get to search your deck for a certain trait, but in this case, you get to put them into play, albeit only one.  I could see this working well in a Rohan deck.  Mustering the Rohirrim is similar, but for only one player and they still have to pay to put it into play.  When playing multiplayer, this also benefits all players around.  You could also use hero Gandalf and Wizard Pipe to toss the ally you want on top of your deck to ensure you get a strong play out of playing this side quest.  Strangely, this is the only side quest, thus far, that costs a resource, but Leadership is typically not stretched for resources.  That said, more than likely you will get more than one resource's worth of allies out of this card, which makes it more than worth it.
Final Thoughts
With the release of this adventure pack, I finally feel that the promise of the new Noldor trait has been fleshed out. With Erestor's extra card draw, and the new benefits from discarding, I'm very excited to fully explore our new cards.

Impressions - The Lost Realm - Heroes and Allies

On Saturday, a boat sailed to my home from Westernesse, carrying with it the last of the Edain.  Along with it, the promise of adventure in the lands north of the Misty Mountains.  The Lost Realm is in our hands, and what does that mean for the game?

Heroes

Two heroes are included in the deluxe expansion, Aragorn and Halbarad.  Aragorn is no stranger to LOTR players.  This marks version 3 of the hero, with a fourth, fellowship version coming soon in Treason of Saruman.  Same states as before, but different text.  Still Dúnedain and a ranger, but this time he also has the warrior trait. This is very useful for him as a tactics version, which synergizes with attachments which require warrior heroes, such as Captain of Gondor.  He is combat focused, reducing all engaged enemies' defense by 1.  Including Aragorn with Bard in another deck, or Legolas with a Rivendell Blade, you have the potential to reduce defenses by 3.  Combined with Unexpected Courage or Rohan Warhorse, and you have a killing machine.

Halbarad was Aragorn's second-in-command of the Dúnedain, and was among the rangers who guarded the Shire prior to the War of the Ring.  I like heroes at 10 threat, such as Elladan and Elrohir, and has identical stats to fellow Dúnedain, Beravor, as well as Mablung.  Since the Dúnedain trait is showing a lot of engagement effects, Halbarad should be able to commit to the quest frequently without exhausting.  With the ranger trait, he has synergy with a lot of the lore cards related to rangers, such as Wingfoot.  In fact, Wingfoot would work well with Halbarad, as a back up, in case there aren't any enemies currently engaged with him.  Halbarad's built-in action advantage could be a replacement for, or addition to, other leadership heroes, such as Aragorn, without having to spend resources, or Prince Imrahil, without a character leaving play.  During combat, he could be combined with Gondorian Fire or Blood of Numenor to up his offensive or defensive ability, respectively.

Allies

Not Pictured: Warden of Annúminas

To jump start your Dúnedain decks, The Lost Realms includes four Dúnedain allies.  Starting with the Weather Hills Watchman, his ability is similar to that of Galadhrim Minstrel or Westfold Horse-breeder.  Currently, there are five signals, one of which will be discussed below, and all in the leadership sphere.  I'm interested in dusting off old favorites such as Dúnedain Mark, with the ability to scry for them.
Dúnedain Hunter is interesting in the fact that it is the first zero-cost ally.  The trade-off is having to search for an enemy, and possibly losing the ally if you don't see one.  Of course, if you're embracing Dúnedain, then having an enemy engaged with you is not a bad thing, plus the fact that you get to choose which enemy engages you when you search.  This could be very helpful in finding an enemy that you don't want popping up in staging.  In the event that you don't find an enemy, if you have Horn of Gondor on the table, you're at least up one resource.
Sarn Ford Sentry is not bad, but I'm not excited about.  For three cost, it's nice to have 2 willpower and 2 hit points.  Unfortunately, it is Dúnedain and scout, and not ranger, which would synergize with other ranger cards from the lore sphere.  Depending on how many enemies are engaged, it could result in significant card, but there are so many cheaper card draw effects, such as Mithrandir's Advice or Deep Knowledge, that I can rely on how much I can draw, I don't think I would rely on the Sentry for its effect.
Finally, we have Warden of Annúminas.  What to say about this card?  For four cost, I can't help but think of another Dúnedain: the classic Northern Tracker.  Both cards have two attack, two defense, and three hit points, but Northern Tracker has a static one willpower, where Warden of Annúminas, and his card effect is that he has +1 willpower for every enemy engaged.  This ties into the Dúnedain trait, but it still feels expensive for an unreliable effect.

Closing Thoughts

Out the gate, FFG has given us a good set of characters to flesh out the Dúnedain.  For the most part, the cards are good, with a few that aren't bad, but I'm lukewarm, at best, over.  One thing I am interested in is looking how many enemies we will have engaged with us at a time.  Obviously, the more you have engaged, the better many of these card effects become, but I am concerned that this will lead to getting overwhelmed.
In the next Impressions segment, I will go through the other players card: events, attachments, and the new card type, side quests.

Alternative Art

OG Aragorn

Promo Aragorn

The first and only promo card for LOTR is Aragorn. You could of gotten it either by going to Gen Con 2014, or a Fellowship event, or paying way too much on eBay. Guess which route I took. 

Anyway, the completionist in me wants every last bit from this game, even though I'm not a big fan of the art. It's ok, but I'm just a big fan of the original super baggy shirt and all. I did, however, fall in love with the graphic design. I love the full card art and the change in layout. 

Moving on from Aragorn, where are the others? Hopefully there will be another at this year's Gen Con, but one per year will not do. Inspired by some of the work Tom Howard and Beorn have done, I have made some of my own custom cards.  All of these were made in Strange Eons, a free program that will get more mention in future blog entries.

Gandalf

Gandalf was one of my firsts. I loved the old cover art from the 1978 version of The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi. I feel it really show the grand power of Gandalf. 

Galadriel

Whenever you create a new hero card in Strange Eons, this is the default image. After a while, I had to make her into her proper card. 

Loragorn

Finally, I thought I'd bring it full circle with Aragorn. This time, it's the lore version. I love the shadowing the artist used. I feel it fits the "Strider" persona that I associate with Loragorn. 

What do you think? What heroes would you like to see with new alt art cards?

Keep Running!