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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LOTR-LCG: Grant's Three Player Campaign - Part 3 - The Breaking of the Fellowship - "Black-feathered Fellowship" - Report

by Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis

After vanquishing the vile Balrog of Morgoth in the fifth scenario of the Lord of the Rings: Saga Campaign, we moved to the last leg of The Road Darkens Expansion; The Breaking of the Fellowship.

This scenario sees the players continuing their quest after paying the tough price of sending one of theirs Heroes into the pool of Fallen Heroes at the climax of a Journey in the Dark. Our Fellowship lost Gandalf, so we no longer had access to his Hero or Ally card.

Fallen Heroes, particularly those as powerful as Gandalf, need replacing. We as a group, when replacing fallen heroes, like the idea of bringing the Hero version of Ally cards we've included into our decks into the game when the time comes.

We had some options to replace our Fallen Hero, while keeping with the trend of promoting Allies to Hero status. Galadriel was a lucrative choice, and would be a good fit for the Location Breaking style of the Glorfindel-Idraen Coalition. However, that deck felt a little exposed in regards to Defense, and I recommended a different course of action.

Haldir would have been a unique choice, with his attack potential and ranged keywords helping the group as a whole.

Boromir was another option, as his action advantage is phenomenal and the damage output between him and Glorfindel has high potential. Or the alternative would be to include his Leadership version, reworking the deck to apply buffs to Gondorian characters.

In this situation, however, we chose Elrond to return to the deck he started in (as Gandalf replaced him in the Ring Travels South.)

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LOTR-LCG: Grant's Four Player Campaign- Part 2- Journey in the Dark - "Four Became Three" - Report

by Grant "pfcamygrant" Ellis

It has been some time since I last spoke of my campaign. Many life events have occurred for everyone involved. Due to unpreventable circumstances our Fellowship of Four has become a group of three.  When life hands you challenges the only thing you can control is how you respond to them, so we made the decision to continue our campaign and see if we can overcome the trials that lay ahead.

We last left off passing through the West-gate of Moria, defeating the Watcher in the Water and entering the fallen kingdom of Khazad-Dum. A horde of orcs and an ancient evil lurked inside, and a fateful decision would need to be reached.

Something Was Rotten in Hobbiton…

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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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LOTR LCG: There and Back Again: Card Recursion in the Realms of Middle-Earth

Card-recursion has been a part of The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game since the Core-set. Over the years, with a consistent expansion of the card pool, we've seen an increase in the options we have available.  The ability to move your Player cards out of the discard pile and back into your hand or deck can be essential to making certain decks work, and what this article sets to do is examine the options available and explore what combinations or drawbacks might exist in regards to the inclusion of these particular player cards.

For players who are looking to build a deck that incorporates a recursion strategy and are willing to sacrifice a hero slot, we have an option. Within the Tactics Sphere, at a threat-cost of 9, the Rohan Warrior Hero-card Háma, has the ability to return a Tactics event to the player’s hand when making an attack. Afterwards, the player selects and discards a card from their hand.  The event you select is circumstantial around your deck strategy. Are you rushing the staging area with a host of Rohirrim? Then you might recur Forth Eorlingas! or Charge of the Rohirrim. Are you looking to proactively chop down your foe with pre-emptive strikes? Then you might opt to select Hands Upon the Bow if you are running ranged or Quick Strike. Cancelling attacks? Pull Feint. It all depends on your overall strategy and who accompanies the Door-man of Edoras. The downside is, you are limited to Tactics events, limited to your discard pile, have spent a hero slot, and rely on the need for Háma to be declared as an attacker. You can mitigate the risk of each of these aspects. Know your options and use Háma’s card-recursion ability to amplify your overall strategy.

As we examine our ally-card options, we find the Lore sphere dominant with three character cards to a single Leadership character.  Each card has different restrictions and uses and we will examine them here. In the Lore Sphere we start with a pair of dwarves. Out of the Core Set, the Erebor Hammersmith, a 2-cost Dwarf ally, gives the player who played them the optional response of returning the topmost attachment in any players discard pile to their hand. This ability is helpful when attachments are discarded through any in-game effect, be it caused by the player or the encounter deck. The limitations are the response can only be triggered at the time the Erebor Hammersmith enters play, and it is limited to the topmost attachment. This card synergizes well with decks that have a 5-Dwarf threshold for special abilities, as well as cards that buff dwarves (as the relatively low-cost of 2 is an even better savings should Dain Ironfoot be in play) and cards that discard from the players hand or deck, such as A Very Good Tale. 

The other 2-cost Lore Ally with the Dwarf trait, found in The Morgul Vale adventure pack, is the Ered Nimrais Prospector. His effect reads as follows. Response: After Ered Nimrais Prospector enters play, discard the top 3 cards of your deck. Then, choose and shuffle 1 card from your discard pile back into your deck. Now, there are some interesting combo decks that make use of his abilities, but as this article is based on recursion we will focus on that. In the simplest form, you play the Prospector when a card you need has been discarded in order to get it shuffled back into your deck. His pros and synergies are similar to the Hammersmith, but I suggest additional study and reading in regards to the secrets of this particular ally. 

From The Blood of Gondor adventure pack, the third Lore ally with recursion abilities bears both the Gondor and Ranger traits; Anborn. At a cost of 4, Anborn is expensive. Anborn does pack a mean punch with 3 attack and has a handful of hit points to boot, but we are mostly concerned with what Recursion abilities he brings. When Anborn exhausts he recurs discarded Trap cards into the players hands. These traps have potentially powerful effects and it may be worth the cost (or the Elf-stone) to get Anborn out and exhausting for the cause.

Moving from to the Leadership sphere, an Ally that offers recursion from the adventure pack Celebrimbor’s Secret is the 3-cost Silvan Orophin. Orophin has the ability to return a discarded Silvan allies to the player’s hand after he enters play. Silvan allies tend to be at their strongest the round they enter play. Celeborn provides buffs, Galadriel prevents exhaustion, and their own innate abilities add to the fun. Orophin strengthens Silvan decks and his Silvan recursion gets two thumbs up. The only drawback is only the elves get to have fun with his ability, but that is their way of doing things. 

 As we move to the Event cards, we have a set of four cards split two and two, Spirit and Leadership. The Spirit cards come right out of the Core Set. First up we have Dwarven Tomb. For the cost of one Spirit resource a player can return one Spirit card from their discard pile into their hand. Feels consistent with a core-set card introducing players to the idea of recursion in the game and it still makes since in a variety of decks, as it has some innate versatility, while not in the sphere of the card you recur, but in the type (Ally, Attachment, Event.) The second card, Will of the West, is a bit more dramatic. After playing this 1-cost event, you select a player and shuffle their entire discard pile back into their deck. You then remove Will of the West from the game. 

The Leadership event cards that offer recursion have similar effects to some of the previous cards mentioned, with subtle differences. The one-cost event card Second Breakfast impacts all players in the game. Each player returns the topmost attachment from their discard pile back into their hand. I find it most useful when looking for Hobbit-themed recursion, and the global effect is a bit nice, as well. The second Leadership event that offers card recursion is the Outlands themed Men of the West. At a cost of X, where X is the number of Outlands allies you wish to recur, its effect is similar to all other Trait specific ally recursion cards we've previously covered.

It is worth noting the Record-attachments: the Spirit-attachment Map of Earnil, the Tactics attachment Book of Eldacar, the Lore-attachment Scroll of Isildur, and for Leadership the Tome of Atanatar.  The cost to play these cards are reduced by having a hero in the Sphere of the appropriate record, with a starting cost of 4. The Record-attachments allow you to discard the Record to play an event from your discard pile that matches the sphere of the record, afterwards you place the event on the bottom of your deck. Knowledge is power.

We've covered the options of card-recursion, can you think of a creative deck that makes use of any of these cards? Some of the other blogs, as well as the contributors on this site, have demonstrated tri-sphere Hama archery action, Second Breakfast madness, and some good old Silvan bounce. Hit us up on the forums or in the comments and give us your thoughts on ways you've used card recursion to make your way to victory. 

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

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Hold the Line! Defense in the LotR:LCG

Many of those getting into the LotR:LCG quickly realize that the core set enemies, by and large, aren't much to write home about. Sure, there are a couple heavy hitters, but overall there aren't a ton of enemies that can't be handled by a hero's base defense or an easy chump-block.

Remember the Nazgul of Dol Guldur? Remember how tough he once seemed? Modern decks can thrash this guy without breaking a sweat!

There are two issues that cause problems with defending in later quests, especially in the most recent releases. The first and more obvious problem is that the enemies are simply tougher than they've ever been. They're swinging for a lot, they have nasty engagement effects, and they can't be killed as easily. The second and more subtle issue is the prevalence of shadow effects that punish chump-blocking.

It is increasingly beneficial to block attacks with characters that will not die as a result of the attack. At the same time, we need to keep our heroes alive. This article will go into some basics of how to form a reliable shield-wall against the worst that Middle Earth can throw at you.

My first tip, and one that many players are already tired of, is to have someone in your game run Tactics Boromir.

I know, I know.... It's so obvious that it hardly bears mentioning. But! The fact of the matter is that Boromir is probably the best Tactics hero in the game, and can easily be configured to defend at a ridiculous level for every player! Gondorian Shield alone will boost him up to 4 defense. Lately I've been running a deck I stole from this article on Hall of Beorn, and I've been able to get Boromir defending for 8, with Sentinel!! I like to call this deck "Leave Combat to Me" because it's so Aggro - none of this sneaky, dare I say 'cowardly', tricksy Steve MacLauchlan-type deck. (editor- Hey! We likes sneaking, precious -S) 

Even if you're not playing Boromir, there are a ton of other great heroes that are deserving of Gondorian Shield, chief among them being Beregond. Beregond's ability lets you play the shield for free, and immediately boosts him up to a defense of 6. At that point it's up to you whether to throw a Spear of the Citadel or Citadel Plate onto him. If another player has healing, I'd go with the Spear, otherwise giving him 8 hit points is too good to pass up. Unlike Boromir, Beregond doesn't have built-in readying, so he won't be blocking many attacks unless you getting a readying effect on him or play Behind Strong Walls (which, incidentally, would also boost his defense!). Beregond does have the advantage on Boromir in that he already has Sentinel. He's an awesome defender.

So there's a lot of Gondor defense synergy (Blood of Numenor, For Gondor!), but what if you aren't playing Gondor? Hell, what if you aren't playing Tactics? Never fear, there are still options available to you:

Arwen Undomiel - There is nothing not to like about this card. Two cost for two willpower and an ability that is already built into her natural purpose. Sure, she boosts defense by 1, but I think the bigger effect is giving a character Sentinel. 

Dunedain Warning - One resource for +1 defense: simple, easy, effective. Also, you can pay one resource to move the defense boost to other players in need, and it's in the sphere that generates the most resources!

Hobbit Cloak - Hobbit decks are one of the most popular deck archetypes, and this card was tailor-made for Sam Gamgee. Just make sure to keep your threat low and engage the correct enemies, otherwise this attachment will be nothing more than a cute decoration.

For more Hobbit goodness, Halfling Determination can also give your defender a well-timed boost.

Durin's Song - It seems like everyone except me loves a good Dwarf deck, and while those decks rarely have trouble handling combat once they get going, every once in a while it can be helpful to have a little boost. That's where Durin's Song comes in. A +2 bonus to defense, even if it's only temporary, can make a huge difference. 

Hero Denethor - I know I said we were done with Gondor, but Denethor bears mentioning. Lore can sometimes have trouble dealing with tough enemies, but throwing a Gondorian Shield on Denethor boosts him up to a very healthy 5 defense. 

A Burning Brand - Denethor + Gondorian Shield + A Burning Brand... that, my friends, is a good investment. An 8 threat hero + 3 resources that defends for 5 and ignores shadows, in the sphere that dominates healing?!?!?! The encounter deck will never see it coming!

I hope I've at least gotten you thinking outside the box for your normal modus operandi regarding defense. Modern quests can be so punishing to chump-blocking that it makes sense to explore ways in which to keep defenders alive.  

tl;dr - Defense good, chump-blocking not reliable

Thanks for reading, for more LotR:LCG and other gaming goodness be sure to follow us @WWPDFellowship on Twitter, or me personally @PIflamesofwar. Thanks as always to the Hall of Beorn Card Search for pretty much everything related to the hobby. 

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

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