A Game of Thrones LCG - Spring Kit Tournament Report

Hello All

On the 30th of May I went to my local games store, Bag of Holding, for their monthly AGoT LCG tournament, up for grabs was the prize support for the latest spring kit. Most of the guys there were deck testing for the following weekends regional at the Games Expo, unfortunately I wasn't going, but still wanted to try out a deck I have been messing around with for a few weeks, my Stark Fealty deck.

We had 8 players which is an improvement for us as we are a new and growing meta. We played 3 rounds of swiss and then most stayed around for some pick up games afterwards. I took my camera along and recorded the games on the top game, which I have linked below.

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AGoT LCG - Bristol Regional AAR - Swiss Rounds

Hello All

Last weekend saw the first 2nd Ed UK Regional for A Game of Thrones LCG, I popped along to Bristol and brought my camera along. I recorded the top table for each round of Swiss and I did record the cut to top 8 but my camera card got corrupted so I lost the top 8.... not happy about it but it was a good lesson to learn.

The event was well run by Liam Hall and the venue, Excelsior Comics, was really nice and friendly, if the toilets where slightly odd.... All the players were really great bunch of guys and from this experience the AGoT community seems to be a competitive but very friendly bunch. Here are the Swiss rounds I recorded, with games one and four probably being the highlights.

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Netrunner: Tournament AAR

Hello All

Ben here from Breakthrough Assault, that small site from across the pond. It might surprise you but I'm not here today to chat about Flames of War, no I'm here to chat about (well, show you) Netrunner and A Game of Thrones the card game from Fantasy Flight Games.

I have been playing living card games now since last summer as with baby number two on the way I knew my painting time was about to disappear and I wanted something new to play that didn't need painting. A couple friends ran me through a few games of Netrunner and what was meant to be something I picked up a few sets of here and there and turned into a collecting obsession... I really must have all the cards! The price point to get into Netrunner was a little bigger than I hoped (but probably still cheaper than the average 40k army these days), so when A Game of Thrones was released I decided to pick it up too. I'm a massive fan of the show, I didn't want to decide to get into the game a few years down the line and have another big price point to over come.

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LOTR-LCG: Grant Unboxes The Land of Shadow Saga Expansion!

Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis un-boxes the latest Lord of the Rings Living Card Game Saga Expansion, finally catching up with those who obtained it at GenCon!

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LOTR-LCG: Grant’s Three Player Campaign – Part 4 - The Uruk-Hai – “Entering the Realm of Rohan” - Report

By Grant “pfcamygrant” Ellis

In the last campaign report, our Fellowship was broken, as Frodo headed towards the Land of Shadow, and we saw the capture of Pippin, Idraen, and Gimli by the Uruak-Hai at the Seat of Amon Hen. I have difficulty reconciling the narrative as to why and how the proud Dwarf and elusive Dunedain hunter would have been made prisoners. One theory is that Idraen, known to the people of the village of Archet as Hawk, would have the knowledge and ability to leave the most obvious trail for Aragorn and company to follow. Secondly, she may have instructed Gimli to allow himself to be captured should the need arise for a fight to the death with the Uruk-Hai; Gimli would have the battle sense and sheer ferocity needed in an unfair fight with the Orcs. Regardless of the deeper reason, our Noble Hero Idraen and the son of Gloin, joined the fool of a Took as captives to start our next quest.

The Treason of Saruman rules explicitly state on page 5 that if Aragorn was being used as part of any players’ campaign deck, he can be replaced for free, or rather not incur a +1 threat penalty. The tactics version of Aragorn had been used as part of our mono-tactics Three Hunters deck. He needed to be replaced so his Fellowship Sphere counterpart could be used.

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LOTR-LCG: Angmar Awakened Cycle - Treachery of Rhudaur Unboxing video!

by Grant "pfcamygrant" EllisThis month's Lord of the Rings: LCG Adventure pack, The Treachery of Rhudaur has arrived and I'm about to jump right in and explore the new player cards and discuss my initial thoughts and impressions.  The video below gives an overview of each card that has been added to the card pool. It introduces the latest Hero card, and explores the various allies, attachments, events, and side quests that are included in this month's release.

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Conquest Tactics: Deployment

By Parker Ince

Hi everyone, welcome back to my not-at-all regular series on tactics and strategies for the Conquest LCG. This is going to be a fairly short article about deployment guidelines that I like to follow regardless of which faction I'm playing.

Cato or Urien - these tips still apply

Deployment can be a tricky proposition. You want to get the right units on the table, at the right planets, without telegraphing all of your intentions to your opponent. I've found success with the following general rules -- but these are by no means the only strategies out there and you should take some time to ask other players how they go about deploying their cards.

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Grant's Unboxing of "Escape From Mount Gram" for the Lord of the Rings LCG

Take a look at Grant's excellent unboxing of Escape from Mount Gram!

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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LOTR-LCG: Old Friends Meet Again, My First Year of Play

by Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis

I was introduced to The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game mid-summer of 2014. That night I fell in love with the game system. I was thrilled at the attention to detail, the reverent treatment of the source material, and committed to seeking out every possible way to satiate my appetite for the game. I built my own collection, I attended events, I imported adventure packs, I spent hours in OCTGN and I joined a community of enthusiasts, analysts, and players who all shared the same level of passion for this game. One year has passed since the journey began, has my passion waned?  Has the fire gone out? I say nay, I am more enthusiastic for the game than ever! This article looks at how my play experience has evolved since I joined the ranks of the global player-base.

Ordinary People

Despite the awesome power displayed in the Lord of the Ring’s written narrative, such as an Istari’s epic duel with a Balrog, the treachery and treason of Isengard, the showdown between the Black Captain and the White Wizard, and so forth, the story is at its core the following:

A tale of ordinary people who persevere to accomplish extraordinary things.

This is a game that can be played and enjoyed by ordinary people. With patience, planning, and a willingness to commit to the learning process, you can find great satisfaction when playing the game.

 
My First Deck - The Noldorks

My initial foray into solo-play involved the construction of a tri-sphere Noldor themed deck around Elrond’s sons and the spirit version of Glorfindel. The deck taught me the importance of resource smoothing and the need to keep an eye on a growing card pool (in case a more appropriate or effective card would be released.) These boys were my “EZ-Mode Crew”, as I used a reduced difficulty in order to learn the flow of the game. I avenged a previous defeat in Dol-Guldur, I took the team into and through Khazad-Dum, I played through the Dwarrowdelf Cycle, and even got a taste of the Black Riders first quest. The major challenge was I still had a limited card-pool when I attempted to make a run at the game, and I didn’t quite have the best understanding of how to pace my play. I spent many hours reading and researching on a variety of websites, such as the Hall of Beorn and Tales From the Cards; trying to get a better grasp on the fundamentals I would need to tackle the more difficult adventure packs and to step up to a higher level of difficulty. I still like the idea of these three heroes in Tri-sphere, and I may revisit and post the 2015 version.

I Switched Gigs For This Game

Long before I was writing on this blog I covered game design and analysis for PC and console games. I was supplemental material to fill in on a web-comic, turning in about 1000 words a week. It isn’t any wonder that my final article would be about The LOTR LCG and I would drop that gig as I was fully committed to learning and getting better at this game. While I am still passionate and involved in the world of video and computer games, my heart is found in the world of cardboard tokens and sleeved cards with commissioned artwork crafted specifically for our community. Tolkien himself may not have had the chance to see this adaptation, but I think he would have approved of the level of craftsmanship and innovation in design.

The Road Goes Ever On and On

This article marks my thirteenth (lucky number) article and blog post on OutpostZero. While it is more of a love letter than any sort of in-game analysis or demonstration of deck design, it is where my heart is right now. Playing because I love it.

The game isn't over; it is just getting started, as we are beginning to play through the Angmar Awakened cycle and preparing to enter the Land of Shadow within our campaigns. It's been a wild first year, playing card-pool catchup, meeting up with old friends and making new ones too.

The year is more than half-through. Conventions and meetups have come and gone with more on the way. What keeps you motivated to play the game? Is it the eventual presentation of thematic events that are near to your heart? Is it the evolution and shift in the meta-game. Perhaps your favorite trait is finally getting the attention it deserves. Let us know in the comments section and on the forum how long you've been playing, some of your favorite in-game moments, and where you want to see the game headed. Game on. Always and forever.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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LotR: LCG Deck - Beorn is Back

Solo-play in the LotR:LCG is increasingly becoming a... "challenging" enterprise these days (other terms used to describe solo-questing against the latest quests include "maddening", "frustrating", and "aggravating" - among others). More and more I find myself eschewing thematic decks in favor of powerful decks that can simply fight and quest their way through tough these scenarios.

One of the highlights from the most recent AP, The Wastes of Eriador, is a new ally that helps out one of my favorite heroes, Beorn. The new ally, Honour Guard, is one of the few player cards (possibly the only one) that can directly aid Beorn in his thunderous efforts to remove every servant of evil from Middle Earth.

Thus I set 3 goals for a new deck:

1. Include Hero Beorn;
2. Be able to handle a wide variety of quests, in both multiplayer and solo mode; and
3. Include a hero lineup that other players are unlikely to utilize, preventing hero conflicts

Behold his noble visage!

Beorn is a very strong hero, but he struggles to find a niche in many decks. While his ability to defend without exhausting is strong, his low defense means that he can't take every hit that comes his way, especially against modern, tougher enemies. However, his massive hit point pool means that he can reliably help out against weenie enemies, and he can also soak up archery damage like nobody's business. Honour Guard helps in both scenarios, and can keep Beorn alive to murder-stomp enemies all day.

But now who to include to support this ursine friend? I love the Lore sphere, but after including Beorn and his high 12 threat I was wondering who I could include that had low threat, a powerful ability, and didn't see the table that often in my group...

I "wondered" for about two seconds before choosing Grima. His ability is amazing, and can jump-start the first couple turns of any game.

So now we're raising our threat periodically to get ahead, so my third hero would have to be on the lower end of the threat spectrum, and would also have to be Spirit to give me access to threat reduction cards, as well as treachery cancellation (which I almost always take now against recent quests). Spirit Merry is a good option, but my buddy Brandon from Cardboard of the Rings recently announced that he was claiming him. So I decided to pick up what he dropped: 

Yes, to complete the ridiculous level of un-thematic choices with this deck, I have chosen the lady Galadriel to be my third hero. Her inclusion has also been made possible by fellow author Steve's recent transition from Silvan deck to Dunedain and Secrecy decks. Of course, no Galadriel deck would be complete without her handmaidens, who also help with threat control, for myself and for other player who may suffer under Grima's blessings.

Here is the deck in full:

Heroes
Beorn
Galadriel
Grima

Allies
Defender of Rammas x 3
Galadriel's Handmaiden x 3
Erebor Hammersmith x 2
Booming Ent x 2
Honour Guard x 3
Ethir Swordsman x 3
Arwen Undomiel x 2
Warden of Healing x 2
Envoy of Pelargir x 3
Vassal of the Windlord x 2

Attachments
Keys of Orthanc x 3
Unexpected Courage x 3
Nenya x 3

Events
Daeron's Runes x 3
Elrond's Counsel x 3
Feint x 3
Strength of Will x 3
A Test of Will x 3

Side Quests
Gather Information x 1

Sideboard
Northern Tracker
Hasty Stroke (if playing the HoN cycle especially)
Wandering Ent

So how has it been doing? So far it's demolished every non-Battle/Siege quest I've encountered. The entire Mirkwood cycle (minus Escape from Dol Guldur), most of the KD cycle, Nightmare: Amon Din, and 5 of 9 quests from the Ring-Maker cycle have fallen beneath the might of these three heroes.

The deck is a ton of fun to play. Every attachment is meant for Galadriel to unleash her full power. I've found that I really only use Grima's ability a few times throughout the game, which is more than compensated for by Galadriel, her Handmaidens, and Elrond's Counsel. If you draw additional copies of Unexpected Courage then be sure to pass them around to other players in multiplayer games, as a way of thanking them for Grima's shenanigans.

I hope this article encourages you to shake up some of your normal deck-building procedures. This game can get repetitive after a while, so making crazy but effective decks can help reinvigorate your play experience.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Conquest Talk: Opening Hands

One of the most important concepts in any card game is understanding the importance of an opening hand, and knowing when to mulligan. In the Conquest LCG, having a good opening hand can mean the difference between victory and defeat - that's right, a bad opening hand can cost you the game, no matter how well you play from that point onward.

Luckily there are strategies to help mitigate the chances of drawing a poor opener, and there are ways to recover. While many strategies are going to be specific to a certain warlord, there are some universal tips that can help you.

Universal Tip #1: Don't bother trying to 'hold the line'

Deck Design - When you're designing your deck, really give some thought about how you'd like it to work. Is this an assassin deck? A control/choke deck? A planet-gobbling deck? What cards are essential to victory? This overall assessment is going to dictate what you want to look for in an opening hand that is specific to your warlord.

A prime example is Kith. If you see Khymera Den in your opening hand, the other 6 cards better be dogshit if you decide to mulligan. Other examples include Cloud City in an Aunshi deck, Kustom Field Generator in a Nazdreg deck, and Promise of Glory + Daemons in a Chaos deck.

Planet Lineup - Before you even look at your hand, look at the planet lineup. Is there a quick victory condition? Do all of the first 5 planets have a green icon? Can you play the long game, or will you need to fight from the start? More than anything else, the planet lineup is going to dictate your opening moves, and will have a huge impact on whether you should mulligan or not.

If you're going to have to fight it out from the start, and your opening hand doesn't have any good combat units or tricks, then you should probably mulligan.

Cost Curve of Your Deck - Big units in this game are, generally, a poor investment. Each faction has its exceptions, but by and large big units are not worth the cost. This is doubly true in the first turn, where limited resources make paying for a big unit even more of a bad move.

Great units, just not on turn 1

With so many uncontested planets on the first turn you need to be able to spread your command presence, and single big units prevent you from doing that. Cards like Slaanesh's Temptation and Deception are making expensive units even more vulnerable.

Maybe you don't have big units in your deck, and you have a good cost-curve overall. It's still likely that you will, on occasion, draw an opening hand with lots of 3-cost units. Having a couple of these guys ready to go in the early game is fine, but if you're only able to deploy 2 units on turn one, it's likely not going to end well for you. This is one reason why Ragnar Blackmane is so good. His signature squad not only costs a mere 2 resources, but can then commit to the fight at a later point.

Ratio of Events/Attachments/Supports to Units - You'll notice that so far I've been emphasizing the cost of units, as opposed to events, supports, and attachments. This is because the only way to win the overall command battle is to have units with more hammers than the other guy. Seems obvious, but it's one of the primary reasons why Urien and Shadowsun aren't cracking the top tier of warlords. Urien relies on having a ton of events, and his signature squad doesn't have any command icons. This leads to situations where he gets completely out-classed on command right from the start.

Likewise, Shadowsun's ability seems fine, but requires a deck that has a multitude of attachments. At this stage in the game, decks really need to have between 28-32 units to be effective in the command struggle. This is a big reason why, to the chagrin of some players, Void Pirates and Rogue Traders won't be leaving decks anytime soon. You need to have cheap, turn-1 unit drops ready to go.

Deck Size - I'm just including this no-brainer tip because I still see people struggling with this. Let me say this loud and clear: get that deck down to 50 cards! At the last tournament I attended there was an Ork player with a 65 cards in his deck. His excuse: "there are just so many good Ork and AM cards!" Yes, there are, but you're not going to see them consistently enough in a deck that big.

Putting it into Practice -

Let's look at a quick example. Say we have two players facing off: brave, strong, and handsome Parker is playing Baharroth -

- while dastardly, cranky, and odoriferous Steve is rolling his snazzy Aunshi deck

Let's assume that there is a win condition on the planets fairly early in the game, and that Steve has the first move. Let's look at his hand (generated randomly on ConquestDB):

Wow, you could literally not ask for anything better. There's the Orbital/Cloud City, a recon drone to help with command, and a Viorla Marksman + Gun Drone for that ranged AoE, with enough resources left over to play either Borkan Recruits or Ethereal Envoy.

Now let's take a look at Parker's hand:

Another solid opener. ETC is a good first play to dig for an attachment or another Wraithguard, and he can easily be promoted to become a solid command unit. Banner of the Ashen Sky is a key Baharroth piece, and BLT Guardians are always good to see. After that we have two good events. Probably not as good a hand as immoral Steve, but Parker wouldn't know that. Both of these hands are keepers.

tl;dr - keep the cost down so you can play a bunch of units and win command on turn 1, and don't mulligan if you have key cards

Thanks for reading. Take the time to practice your opening hands using the tools on ConquestDB and CardGameDB. By doing this you'll get a good feel about what your deck might be lacking, and how you can start a game strong.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Conquest Warlord Review: Baharroth

After a brief hiatus from gaming in general due to some crazy life stuff popping up, I have found myself reinvigorated by Conquest. I was playing almost every night in preparation for a regional tournament (that I ended up skipping), and really diving into some decks and warlords that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to play (although, I still haven't played Zogwort, and probably never will). The warlord that has grabbed my attention the most has been Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind in Eldar-speak.

When it comes to the 40k lore I obsess over two factions: Eldar (of all varieties) and Chaos. I love the Eldar storyline and background, especially concerning the Phoenix Lords. Now, Baharroth isn't my favorite Phoenix Lord in the background, but in Conquest he's a fun, unique, and effective crusader for the Eldar race.
Whenever we get a new release for Conquest, our first thoughts concern the new warlord and the impact of his ability on the game. Baharroth's ability can take quite some time to read through, so you should sit down before continuing this article. Ready? Deep breath....

Mobile.

Oh...well...ummmm... That's a bit underwhelming...

At least, that was my first reaction, and the first reaction of many other players as well. But rigorous playtesting has confirmed that while the Mobile keyword on a normal unit adds a bit of flavor, having it on a warlord can be extremely powerful.

Baharroth is a command phase monster. Most warlords, when they commit to a planet, will be stuck there for the rest of the turn. Eldorath has the ability to move, but only if he has his signature event Foresight in hand. Aun'shi can use Kauyon Strike or Over-Powered, er, Orbital City to bounce around to different planets, but only Baharroth has the built-in ability to commit to one planet and then move around to others without an event card. This effect is huge, as it effectively leverages his warlord trait across multiple planets in a given turn. He can claim a good command value on one planet, then fight on another. Of course, he can also get out of harm's way if necessary, making him very hard to bloody.

Some art from the 3rd Ed. rulebook 

That said, he only has 6 HP, and can become vulnerable if you pick the wrong fight. Plus, you have to remember that movement via mobile occurs before combat starts, so make sure you have a plan to fight when you have to. Luckily, Baharroth's signature army units can move around as well to come to the aid of their leader.

There has been controversy surrounding this unit, much of it deserved. Namely, is it too damn expensive for what it does? I'm inclined to say that it is a little expensive, BUT! the unit is still very good. Note that its +3 attack only applies if Baharroth is present ("your" warlord, not "a" warlord"). If an enemy walord commits to their planet and you can't get Baharroth there, or don't want to, then get these guys away from the action, because they'll be obliterated.

This lack of attack ability is the primary reason why I'm inclined to ally with Tau for Baharroth, since Tau provide access to Ion Rifles (and the Earth Caste Techs that can fetch them). Now, this is a four-cost investment, but now we're looking at a mobile unit that could be swinging for 6. Plus, the Eldar event Death from Above can help reduce the cost of these guys, but automatically places them at the last planet. I've been including that event in my deck thus far, but the jury is still out on it.

Assuming we live in an ideal world, that 6 attack can be boosted even further by:

Now this is a great support. Simple, cheap, and effective. Also, the artwork continues in the game's grand tradition of stomping all over the Imperial Guard. In addition to Baharroth and his Hawks, this support can target Wildrider Squadrons and get them swinging for a beastly 5 attack. All in all it's a fantastic support that synergizes perfectly with the warlord and the faction as a whole.

We go from a great support to a very middling attachment. There's no base attack boost, and the ability can take some serious maneuvering to set up. When you compare this warlord attachment to the Tempest Blade, Plague Banner, Glovodan Eagle, Frostfang, etc - there's simply no comparison. Most of the time I've been using this for the 3 shields.

We're going to end on a high note with Baharroth's signature event: Cry of the Wind. "Baharroth" roughly translates to "Cry of the Wind", so A+ on theme for the designers. The obvious use for this card is to make your units super-mobile. But it's important to note that this card can apply to enemy units as well, which is how I prefer to employ it. If an opposing Eldar or Dark Eldar player tries to use their Wildrider Squadron against me, I can just move it right back to where it came from. If someone tries to get cute with Plannum, I can move their unit right down the line and out of contention for the rest of the game. This is a fantastic event with a ton of utility, and can really get in your opponent's head.

Time will tell if Baharroth is a competitive warlord or not, but I can say that he's been a blast to run. He may not be my favorite Phoenix Lord from the lore, but he's carved out a space among my favorite Conquest LCG warlords.

Now we just need badass Maugan Ra and I'll never play another warlord.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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