Hi All, just discovered the game about 6 weeks ago, been looking at reviews on youtube and various websites for a few weeks after that, I decided to dive in head first and bought core set and the complete Shadows of Mirkwood cycle in one go.

My inner OCD has kicked into overdrive, I went all out and bought one of those organizers from thebrokentoken.com, printed out and laminated card dividers for each set/quest, printed out all the rules from each expansion/pack and put them in a folder...and I STILL haven't played a game yet!

So, I understand the aim is to progress through each quest in sequence of release but there's a few things I wanted to get peoples advice/opinion on...

1. Should I only use the cards that were available at that point of time to make my decks when I play each quest or should I use the complete pool of cards at my disposal regardless of expansion/cycle?

(I plan on buying in sequence a Deluxe box with its complete cycle packs in one hit intervals)

2. Are the Saga Expansions a necessity to my eventual collection or can I do without them entirely?

3. I've double sleeved ALL my cards with KMC perfect fits and KMC clear hyper matts...is this Overkill?

I'm a little embarrassed as a grown man I'm acting like a little school kid, but I'm excited and ready to get stuck into the game now!

Check out Hall of Bern and Tales from the Cards.

1. It's up to you. I would say no.

2. Saga expansions are great. More people get those and skip the others. Definitely get the Sagas.

3. Double sleeve? Nobody double sleeves. Is that a joke? If you want to spend the money then you can sleeve all your cards. Most people just sleeve the player cards.

Definitiely get plugged into the community resources online. There are a lot of great ones out there. In addition to the two blogs that DukeWellington mentioned, there's the Progression Series on Youtube (really great for new players), Cardboard of the Rings (older episodes would probably be most helpful) and links to lots of other blogs/podcasts/websites you can find out there.

1. I didn't, but a lot of people find going in order the easiest way to digest the cardpool.
2. Some of the best content in the game is in the Saga boxes. I wouldn't skip them.
3. I only sleeve my decks. The encounter decks don't get that much use because I'm constantly playing different quests, and I don't feel the need to sleeve all my player cards. But that's up to you.

Hey, hope you enjoy playing the game as well as organising it! We like to link Beorn's Path to new players - that website is a great resource overall and has a card search engine.

Your questions have already been answered, but I'll chime in: it's up to you whether you use all cards at your disposal or only cards released up until that point for any specific scenario. The saga expansions are some of the best boxes, but unless you really like dwarves I would go for The Black Riders instead of the Hobbit boxes. The Black Riders is one of the best boxes for player cards overall, and a good next step if you already have the Core set and Mirkwood cycle. But try the cards you have and see if you like the game before you invest more! As for sleeving, again it's up to you. I sleeve my decks and encounter sets, but I've never double-sleeved.

And use the resources available - these forums are great for asking about rules and reading up on news and strategies. The sequence of events in a game round can be daunting to learn and the game is quite difficult overall, but you'll soon get the hang of it. And of course, it's an excellent multiplayer game if you can get someone to join you.

Welcome to one of the best games i have played in 40 years!

I am playing with only cards available in order. It makes deck design more gradual and doesnt smash older adventures with new cards.

I would but sagas too the look awesome, though i havent played any yet.

I have sleeved player cards in good quality deck protectors and encounter decks with penny sleeves and it seems a great solution.

There are so many different adventures and so many different decks its awesome, i do hope you enjoy!!!

Hey welcome to the game! I've heard that the developers playtest an entire cycle at one time, then divide the cards into the individual adventure packs. Lots of people play "progression" with a card pool restricted to the sets available at the time, but I tend to play with the cards from the core set and a particular deluxe expansion + its corresponding cycle. (For example, core set, Heirs of Numenor and Against the Shadow cycle). I've found it increases the chances that I'll actually win!

Welcome to the game. It's a lot of fun and we have a great community. As a three year veteran, here are my thoughts:

First - Tales from the Cards, Tales from the Cards, Tales from the Cards. Ian's blog is a great resource. It's extremely thorough, enjoyable to read and regularly updated.

1) Many people play through each cycle with only the cards that were available at the time of release. You are free to do whatever you wish. You will likely reach a point where the scenarios become sufficiently difficult that expanding your card pool will almost become necessary if you want to win. Additionally, you will encounter certain scenarios (A Journey to Rhosgobel, Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim, and to a degree scenarios with heavy archery) that will require very specific deck building to defeat them. You can certainly win these scenarios, but limiting yourself to only the cards available at the time of release will likely make them harder. But you might find that fun. I personally do not limit myself to the "cards at release" approach. In addition to the increased difficulty level of the game over the past year or so, it starts to become a hassle in terms of card organization and storage.

2) I absolutely agree with the other posters regarding the high quality of the Saga expansions. If you are playing this game, its pretty likely that you read and greatly enjoyed Tolkien's works. Assuming that is the case, the Lord of the Rings Saga expansions are unquestionably some of the best material available. The scenarios are challenging, thematic and often cleverly implement characters, events and places from the trilogy. The Campaign game included in the Trilogy Saga boxes makes the scenarios even more enjoyable by offering a progression experience. Additionally, the Saga boxes typically offer very mechanically strong player cards. The Hobbit Saga boxes are not quite as well done in my opinion, but I think you'd find that anyone committed to playing this game would say they are still well worth owning (I own them both).

3) Again, you can do whatever you wish. Personally I see no reason to invest so much into card protection. I find sleeving an annoying waste of my time, my money and my storage space. I do concede that it is important to protect the cards to some extent, so I use penny sleeves on my player cards. Like Olorin93, I do not sleeve the encounter cards. Unless you find a scenario that you play frequently or you play this game 24-7, the encounter cards just aren't going to experience that much wear and tear. I replayed some scenarios in the first year that I owned the game but they are so numerous now, particularly with Nightmare mode, that its hard for me to keep up with everything out there. Obviously I'll play new scenarios several times, but after that I find it hard to replay anything other than my very favorites.