https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/6/2/the-battle-of-carn-dum/

Woooohoooo ^^

Cards mentioned but not spoiled:

• A Leadership Dúnedain hero,
• a Lore event that "allows Dúnedain or Rangers to avoid a scenario's deadliest enemies", and
• a Spirit "Noldor-themed card that plays only from the discard pile".

attach to the threat dial! That's novel

Next: attach to a player's forehead. When you would bang your head on the table in frustration, instead discard this card. You do not need to bang your head.

Here is a lot of inovation.

Attach to Threat dial and attach to current quest condition which is triggered only when you defeat the quest. Sounds rrally cool!

Good to see new things. Especially when they're nice, haha. Well, the Long Defeat looks superb. For 1 resource each player gets either 2 cards or heals 5 damage anywhere. That sounds almost too good to be true.

On the other hand, as good as Secret Vigil is, the timing of some of these attachments can be crucial. I have had many games when I just had to let an enemy be to be able to attach it to it. Events certainly have an advantage for these one-time effects.

Still, I cannot think now the new Lore attachment won't find its way to many a deck.

The Leadership event is also very intriguing.

I am hugely disappointed by Hold Your Ground, though. I was surely hoping it would say Warrior instead of sentinel. This narrows its use considerably. Of course, it means a new way to ready Beregond but the Valour action will hardly ready many characters.

Favour of the Valar is intriguing, too. But how often do you play your deck with such an emergency card. I don't think it will see much play.

Incidentally, 'limit 1 per player' means 1 in play per player, right? You can still have 3 in your deck? And play it again if you use it the first time?

edit: You can use multiple copies in your deck, and use it again on yourself-- says so in the article.

Favor of the Valar is huge for Valor decks. I think I'm more intrigued by the spirit card that only plays from the discard pile. This could be a whole new meta in the game.

Favour of the Valar is intriguing, too. But how often do you play your deck with such an emergency card. I don't think it will see much play.

I expect this to get some real play with Valour-happy decks.

Let's get Readyyyy tooooo Rumble!

Dat 5 cost leadership event.

I am hugely disappointed by Hold Your Ground, though. I was surely hoping it would say Warrior instead of sentinel. This narrows its use considerably. Of course, it means a new way to ready Beregond but the Valour action will hardly ready many characters.

There are 17 current Sentinel characters, seems like a lot to me...

"Your threat elimination level." Very interesting. I have long thought that we would see some card or mechanic that allowed it to raise past 50.

I am hugely disappointed by Hold Your Ground, though. I was surely hoping it would say Warrior instead of sentinel. This narrows its use considerably. Of course, it means a new way to ready Beregond but the Valour action will hardly ready many characters.

There are 17 current Sentinel characters, seems like a lot to me...

Don't forget various abilities that allow you to bestow the Sentinel upon someone.

"Your threat elimination level." Very interesting. I have long thought that we would see some card or mechanic that allowed it to raise past 50.

You seem to be forgetting the Trouble in Tharbad.

Favor of the Valar won't see play? I couldn't be more excited about that one! 5 threat for 3 cost is great, and you basically can get a free Doom Hangs Still if your threat is already at 45 or above. Super cool card, I think I'm gonna have to proxy that one.

Favor of the Valar won't see play? I couldn't be more excited about that one! 5 threat for 3 cost is great, and you basically can get a free Doom Hangs Still if your threat is already at 45 or above. Super cool card, I think I'm gonna have to proxy that one.

That's a really cool point about the "free" doom hangs still".

It could be a lot more than 5 threat for 3 cost. If you're at 49 threat at the start of the round, you can choose to not commit anyone to the quest, and let the staging area blow you away.... only to return back to 45.

I am hugely disappointed by Hold Your Ground, though. I was surely hoping it would say Warrior instead of sentinel. This narrows its use considerably. Of course, it means a new way to ready Beregond but the Valour action will hardly ready many characters.

There are 17 current Sentinel characters, seems like a lot to me...

In the whole game though. I hardly have more than a few in a deck. The most I can think of is either in a Gondor deck with Beregond and Gondorian Spearman but the latter usually dies before he can get ready (though when timed right, this could be an option) or an Eagle deck with Landroval and Winged Guardian (too bad Beorn is immune). Well, we shall see, I am skeptical about this one.

Favour of the Valar is intriguing, too. But how often do you play your deck with such an emergency card. I don't think it will see much play.

I expect this to get some real play with Valour-happy decks.

Perhaps, yes. I still hardly ever threat out with my Valour deck, and I find Gandalf a much better option (when played from hand he only is 2 more cost and much more versatile). The best quest to use this now seems against the Secluded Homestead. I hardly ever clear it from the staging area and I have just threat-out because of it with one of my decks.

What do you all think about Doom Hangs Still? It is hard to get a great use out of 5-cost cards, but at the right time...

Hold your Ground is going to be pretty player-dependent. On the one hand, if you're a solo player, it's nice to see something that will meaningfully interact with Sentinel for you, even though the keyword by itself is useless. However, you probably aren't choosing 'sentinel' heroes intentionally, so might not have many in your deck.

On the other hand, if you do more multiplayer and consistently do a lot of cross-table defending, this is a very nice card. I often put 'Behind Strong Walls' in a 'defend-all' deck in 2 to 4 player games, for the sole purpose of readying Beregond. And I've wished I had similar events for other cross-table defenders like Erkenbrand, or anyone affected by Arwen, so that I can lean on someone other than Beregond for a change. Voila!

Doom Hangs Still seems like an even nobody will ever pay 5 resources for a non-valour action.

I enjoyed seeing this:

"However, if the walls of Carn Dûm and the raw might of the assembled Orcs and Werewolves aren't enough to slow you, you'll still need to deal with the dread Captain that leads them and the foul and shadowed Sorcery that fills the air."

While we never "saw" werewolves anywhere in LOTR or the Hobbit, they were mentioned in The Hobbit. I had a hunch we would see them at some point since Caleb is so steeped in the lore.

I love this! Finally we're going to the big places, and I'm glad to see more sorcery and even werewolves!

I like the player cards. Hold your Ground is pretty meh for a solo player, but I think it's still a pretty good card. I don't ever see myself playing Doom Hangs Still for its regular cost, especially considering we have Ever Onward. But, for its valour cost, it will be awesome in my monoleadership Gondor deck. As for Favor of the Valar, I love this card and I could see many a deck abusing it with Boromir and such. Great cards all around.

Can somebody explain me what the art on The Long Defeat is depicting? I think that the title and quote refer to the slow decline of the elves, but the art is weird.

The Long Defeat: It's a vine covered statue of (presumably) an elf warrior given that the quote is Galadriel talking about the "long defeat" of the elves.

Love what they're doing with the cards here. Lots of innovative stuff. One use for the "Hold Your Ground" is for siege questing. In a siege quest, a lot of my best questers have sentinel, but they are tapped for questing and can leave me scrambling for defense. Early in the game, Hold Your Ground will be useful for getting a key defender ready to fend off attacks. Late in the game, it could be a powerhouse, readying all my siege questers as I laugh at the enemies who thought they could overwhelm me with my defenses down.