Lol, you were so enraged fighting with the plastic you threw it across the room once you got the cards out.

I still don't have my copy of Treason, but I really wanna try new Theoden, although I prefer the spirit-tactics deck with Eowyn and Eomer. But right now I want to make more general-purpose decks until I get my copy, and Erkenbrand doesn't really fit in any. He's not a hero you can exploit like Mablung or Hama or Caldara, he just defends pretty much. Clearly a multiplayer hero, IMO.

I feel bad for everyone who doesn't have friends to play this game with. The game is like a thousand times better multiplayer.

And now for some good news. Spirit Merry with his Pony is amazing. Flip a card of three threat or greater and you tap him to reduce the threat. One or less and you tap him as a Late Adventurer. Two is situational. Put Fast Hitch on him and it's like cheating on your taxes.

I haven't tried the quest itself though. I wanted to try Spirit Merry, Lore Pippen and Treebeard against Saruman first, (Fail so far. That quest is hard.)

Yeah, I suppose Hobbit Pony would be nice in a solo game where the odds of revealing an enemy are low.

I still don't have my copy of Treason, but I really wanna try new Theoden, although I prefer the spirit-tactics deck with Eowyn and Eomer. But right now I want to make more general-purpose decks until I get my copy, and Erkenbrand doesn't really fit in any. He's not a hero you can exploit like Mablung or Hama or Caldara, he just defends pretty much. Clearly a multiplayer hero, IMO.

I feel bad for everyone who doesn't have friends to play this game with. The game is like a thousand times better multiplayer.

Playing two handed solves this

I can second that. I prefer real 2-player, but I still prefer 2-handed to solo, almost exclusively. My friend from abroad was like this before, he wouldn't try 2-handed for some reason until he finally did, and never came back. I am not saying it is for everyone, but I see nothing wrong in trying it out.

Hobbits just got crazy!

Raven-Winged Helm is a perfect Beregond toy, but not good at much else. It's free, non-restricted, and is the equivalent of a point of defense but can stop Cold from Angmar, Blocking Wargs/Biting Wind shadow, archery, et al as an added bonus.

As for Honor Guard, I think I might be one of the only ones who doesn't like it that much. Might as well buy a 1-cost chump blocker. The best use I can think of is, while in Valor, playing a Rallying Cry.

Merry is a great Splorfindel substitute in decks that don't depend on his statline. Just swap out 3x Light of Valinor for 3x Hobbit Pony.

I still don't have my copy of Treason, but I really wanna try new Theoden, although I prefer the spirit-tactics deck with Eowyn and Eomer. But right now I want to make more general-purpose decks until I get my copy, and Erkenbrand doesn't really fit in any. He's not a hero you can exploit like Mablung or Hama or Caldara, he just defends pretty much. Clearly a multiplayer hero, IMO.

I feel bad for everyone who doesn't have friends to play this game with. The game is like a thousand times better multiplayer.

You should be grateful, I have no one to play this with, and two handed just seems not only harder, which is not precisely my cup of tea, but also much more dense and complicated. The only reason I've been tempted to play two handed is to use cards that are not viable in a solo deck. There are sooo many options of heroes and other player cards that are rarely efficient in solo, but again, it seems like it's too much stuff to keep track of. In any case, in solo I still enjoy this game a lot! Probably because I come from a tcg background since I was like 6, so I still enjoy the mechanics. I do get to play Magic and another local tcg with people though.

Raven-Winged Helm is a perfect Beregond toy, but not good at much else. It's free, non-restricted, and is the equivalent of a point of defense but can stop Cold from Angmar, Blocking Wargs/Biting Wind shadow, archery, et al as an added bonus.

As for Honor Guard, I think I might be one of the only ones who doesn't like it that much. Might as well buy a 1-cost chump blocker. The best use I can think of is, while in Valor, playing a Rallying Cry.

Merry is a great Splorfindel substitute in decks that don't depend on his statline. Just swap out 3x Light of Valinor for 3x Hobbit Pony.

Also a chump blocker cannot help in situations with direct damage, with Hummerhorns being a great example of one such effect where you'd like to cancel all damage, or even a lump of archery damage funneled to a single character.

Finally, Raven-Winged Helm is great on any sentinel hero (which can be anyone if you use Dunedain Signal) and combos amazingly with The Day's Rising.

Honour Guard and the Helm are both very useful cards. Now Tactics can handle archery and other direct damage on its own, without having to splash Lore.

Honour Guard and the Helm are both very useful cards. Now Tactics can handle archery and other direct damage on its own, without having to splash Lore.

My kids have been watching too much Thomas the Tank Engine lately. I saw "very useful" and pictured Sir Topham Hatt saying "really useful engine". *sigh*

Honour Guard is great. Essentially healing for Tactics. This honourfull Guard makes above danpoage's Beorn somewhat viable again.

Raven-Winged Helm is somewhat lackluster. Good for Beregond -> free, but paying two for 1 damage where I would rather spend 1 for Gondorian Shield and keep the other 1. (Feint lol)

Rallying Cry seems somewhat meh to me. Even its valour response thing is not that great. 0 cost would've been better. it's too cost deficient.

Honour Guard is great. Essentially healing for Tactics. This honourfull Guard makes above danpoage's Beorn somewhat viable again.

Raven-Winged Helm is somewhat lackluster. Good for Beregond -> free, but paying two for 1 damage where I would rather spend 1 for Gondorian Shield and keep the other 1. (Feint lol)

Rallying Cry seems somewhat meh to me. Even its valour response thing is not that great. 0 cost would've been better. it's too cost deficient.

Raven-Winged Helm is not mind-blowing, for sure, but I don't agree that it's lackluster. Using Beregond as the example, in most cases, the shield is better, but it's not an either/or situation. He can only have 1 shield, but the Helm gives him an extra defense against overflow damage or archery as Dan mentioned. The ability to cancel non-attack damage is pretty significant.

Yeah sure, with Beregrod it's a nobrainer, because it's free as I said. With other heroes it is a either/or because resources influence your choice. Imo I find RWH have a really marginal influence. I would rather spend my deckspace to other things nowadays, like shield, then RWH.

It is quite the unfair comparison, but I deem even close call etc. better. Honour Guard.

Anyway, it is good in what it does but for 2 resources there is some much else.

Yeah sure, with Beregrod it's a nobrainer, because it's free as I said. With other heroes it is a either/or because resources influence your choice. Imo I find RWH have a really marginal influence. I would rather spend my deckspace to other things nowadays, like shield, then RWH.

It is quite the unfair comparison, but I deem even close call etc. better. Honour Guard.

Anyway, it is good in what it does but for 2 resources there is some much else.

That's often the sign of good card design - when inclusion is debatable and situational.

If I'm reading Honour Guard correctly, it seems that it can't stack on the same damage source since it targets the first point of damage. Any other opinions on this?

Raven-Winged Helm is a perfect Beregond toy, but not good at much else. It's free, non-restricted, and is the equivalent of a point of defense but can stop Cold from Angmar, Blocking Wargs/Biting Wind shadow, archery, et al as an added bonus.

As for Honor Guard, I think I might be one of the only ones who doesn't like it that much. Might as well buy a 1-cost chump blocker. The best use I can think of is, while in Valor, playing a Rallying Cry.

Merry is a great Splorfindel substitute in decks that don't depend on his statline. Just swap out 3x Light of Valinor for 3x Hobbit Pony.

If Raven-Winged Helm is good, then why not Honor Guard? They tend to have the same effect except HG isn't limited to a single sentinel hero and can stack with multiple guards.

Also a chump blocker cannot help in situations with direct damage, with Hummerhorns being a great example of one such effect where you'd like to cancel all damage, or even a lump of archery damage funneled to a single character.

Finally, Raven-Winged Helm is great on any sentinel hero (which can be anyone if you use Dunedain Signal) and combos amazingly with The Day's Rising.

True. I would still slap Raven-winged helm on Erkenbrand, even if it doesn't work with his ability.

He's main role is defending, with only means the helm will make him a stronger defender.

And he will take damage sooner or later from high attack foes any way you look at it.

If I'm reading Honour Guard correctly, it seems that it can't stack on the same damage source since it targets the first point of damage. Any other opinions on this?

It doesn't targets the first point of damage, I don't know where you got that idea form. It cancels one point of damage from all the damage that was just dealt to a character. If several Honour Guards triggered against the same damage source, each cancels the different point of damage, because the one that was canceled by the previous Guard is already canceled.

"Exhaust Honour Guard to cancel 1 point of damage just dealt to a character."

There is a discrepancy between the text on the card and the text provided by cardgamedb next to the card. We must go by the card text of course. So multiple Honour Guards will work.

I agree with those who say the helm is good on a few heroes, but very lackluster otherwise. I included it in my deck to try it out and then realized that my plan of slapping it on Boromir via Arwen would not work, because Boromir would not have sentinel during the Planning phase. And it's not good enough to jump through hoops for.

It's sad that Beorn may be the best hero for the helm but it doesn't fit on his big bear head.

It's sad that Beorn may be the best hero for the helm but it doesn't fit on his big bear head.

Oddly enough, in The Weather Hills and The Wastes of Eriador the foul weather gives Beorn the wiggle-room to don the helm. Assign one point of damage to him when Cold from Angmar blows by and you are ready to go!

I must say, I have been abusing the hell out of that card in these scenarios as it allows you to play attachments on Beorn, and keep certain itinerate wizards around for longer than usual. The fact that it leaves characters' traits and keywords but blanks everything else can definitely be used to your advantage. It's more than just some silly helmet in this case, though. I like to go for maximum absurdity and attach a Shield, Captain of Gondor and Support of the Eagles. Once you clear the active quest, none of his gear falls off. A bear that thinks he's human - there is *nothing* more ridiculous than that.

It's sad that Beorn may be the best hero for the helm but it doesn't fit on his big bear head.

Oddly enough, in The Weather Hills and The Wastes of Eriador the foul weather gives Beorn the wiggle-room to don the helm. Assign one point of damage to him when Cold from Angmar blows by and you are ready to go!

I must say, I have been abusing the hell out of that card in these scenarios as it allows you to play attachments on Beorn, and keep certain itinerate wizards around for longer than usual. The fact that it leaves characters' traits and keywords but blanks everything else can definitely be used to your advantage. It's more than just some silly helmet in this case, though. I like to go for maximum absurdity and attach a Shield, Captain of Gondor and Support of the Eagles. Once you clear the active quest, none of his gear falls off. A bear that thinks he's human - there is *nothing* more ridiculous than that.

Most of the gear will stop working though, as soon as his immunity comes back. The helm would continue to work for the same reasons that Honour Guards work, but the Shield, Captain and Support would just turn into 5 resources worth of nothing.

I did take Beorn against the Weather Hills with the intention of taking the opportunity to heal damage from him while Cold from Angmar was out, but that turned out to be unnecessary, as the Sheltered Valley can heal him much more efficiently by being explored as the active location. Taking a resource off the mission is obviously a significant cost, but it was totally worth it to heal 9 damage off the bear.

Cold from Angmar is kinda fun. It can be a pain, but it has some really fun side effects. I was playing with Boromir when it first popped up in Wastes and it put me in a tight spot, since he was doing a lot of defending, but when I put that point of damage on Gandalf and Glorfindel I felt like a genius.

Cold from Angmar is great for my OHaUH Gandalf deck. I keep the damage on until the end of the round so that I don't have to raise my threat to keep him, then heal it off with Self Preservation when I want his quest without exhausting text back.

It's sad that Beorn may be the best hero for the helm but it doesn't fit on his big bear head.

Oddly enough, in The Weather Hills and The Wastes of Eriador the foul weather gives Beorn the wiggle-room to don the helm. Assign one point of damage to him when Cold from Angmar blows by and you are ready to go!

I must say, I have been abusing the hell out of that card in these scenarios as it allows you to play attachments on Beorn, and keep certain itinerate wizards around for longer than usual. The fact that it leaves characters' traits and keywords but blanks everything else can definitely be used to your advantage. It's more than just some silly helmet in this case, though. I like to go for maximum absurdity and attach a Shield, Captain of Gondor and Support of the Eagles. Once you clear the active quest, none of his gear falls off. A bear that thinks he's human - there is *nothing* more ridiculous than that.

Most of the gear will stop working though, as soon as his immunity comes back. The helm would continue to work for the same reasons that Honour Guards work, but the Shield, Captain and Support would just turn into 5 resources worth of nothing.

I did take Beorn against the Weather Hills with the intention of taking the opportunity to heal damage from him while Cold from Angmar was out, but that turned out to be unnecessary, as the Sheltered Valley can heal him much more efficiently by being explored as the active location. Taking a resource off the mission is obviously a significant cost, but it was totally worth it to heal 9 damage off the bear.

Yeah *absurdity* was the operative word in that sentence - I'm not advocating this as some kind of grand strategy. In the game, as in life, I like having a bear in ridiculous garb, running around and pretending to be a man.

When it comes to actual legitimate strategies, I will second what Ian said. Assigning a damage to either version of Gandalf with Cold From Angmar in play is pretty great.