My core set arrived today and I'm really looking forward to the game. I will be playing my first game this weekend with my girlfriend. I want to make the experience as easy as possible for her, so with this in mind I'm looking for some advice on the following:

1. Her deck: What is the easiest starter deck to play? I don't mean the most effective here, but the simplest to use in terms of the cards and their abilities.

2. My deck: Which is the best deck for me to play to complement the above? Would I be better off making a custom one using 2 spheres? (complexity is not an issue for me)

Any other advice also welcome. Thanks.

I think there are 2 decks listed at the end of the rule book, you should try with those decks, they'll give you a good feel of the game.

If you get screwed up or overwlemed by the rules, you can play the first quest more than once to get used to the rules.

Beware that the 3rd quest is difficult (the 2nd one is brutal in solo).

Thanks, the rules seem fine to me, its just for the benefit of my GF. I just don't want to overwhelm her with a deck that's tricky to play on top of all the game rules.

BTW, we'll be playing the first (intro) quest).

Just rechecked the rule book and can't see any deck recommendations other than just using the basic/starter decks.

ok so the only thing that the premade decks are worth is getting to know the cards. the best premade deck by far for solo is leadership but two player I guess tactics and... spirit or maybe lore? If you want I can give you a deck I design, not premade that will help you to beat the quest quite well. I could give you some pointers on strategy also if you want.

Btw, welcome to the game! this is probably my favorite game and I play quite a few! also, just ask if you have any rule qs! have fun!

Hi Sauron.

Just to clarify, I don't want the best deck for beating the quest, I want to know the simplest deck to play (i.e. minimal rules and abilities). So for example, if the Lore deck is rubbish but easy to use and understand, that's the one I'll give her (for the first game). Any weaknesses in the simple deck I can hopefully balance in the deck I use. Winning is secondary ATM, I just want my GF to understand and enjoy the game, and that means not over complicating things for her.

If you can suggest an easy to use deck (premade or custom), it would be much appreciated

simple... I think leadership premade is good. it is good at everything.

I would say Tactics for her and Spirit for you.

I would say Tactics for her and Spirit for you.

Yep. Questing and direct damage, con,t go wrong with that, and girls (even if they often say otherwise) like to kill monsters.

I would say Tactics for her and Spirit for you.

Yep. Questing and direct damage, con,t go wrong with that, and girls (even if they often say otherwise) like to kill monsters.

Cheers for the advice all. Killing stuff will definitely appeal to her lol

If she is a anxious person, then taking her to the killing part is probably not the wisesed thing. Because she has to defend to and definding means loosing characters which might be a turn down for her to touch that game again.

But if shes not, then the fighting part is less boring (than e.g. playing blue and just suporting willpower to the quest) and she feels more included in the game. Thus having more fun with the game in the end.

Edit:

Just to not overwhelm her by the rules (not the rules of the game itself, but the rules on the cards) I'd not include Lore or in general cards with to much own text; the game gets confusing and the speed of game will dramatically slow down when she has to read to much.

I am pleased to report that she likes the game (as do I ofc - in fact it is fast becoming my favourite solo/coop game) It took a couple of goes playing the Mirkwood quest for her to get the hang of it, but we won both times. We then played the next quest (Anduin?) which we failed but still found the game very enjoyable - looking forward to having another crack at it soon.

I actually managed to get in a couple of solo games first, so when she joined in I was using a Leadership/Spirit deck, and she used the Tactics deck. They worked well together, but going to add some Lore into the Tactics so there is some healing and card draw in there - should still balance well with my Leadership/Spirit deck

Awesome that it went well.

Do be aware of the general opinion that core quests 2 and 3 (anduin and dol guldur) are awesomly hard with only core set cards.... but the standard expansions afterwards are much better balanced. So do not lose heart at loses at anduin or dol guldur enjoy!!!

Thanks, it was sort of good we lost as it makes the game more challenging and satisfying when we do complete a quest. We were doing quite well until we started the 3rd stage and a hill troll appeared! We actually enjoyed the quest more, even though we lost.

As much as I'd like to get all the expansions, I can't afford to ATM so I have decided we'll likely go down the Saga route starting with Black Riders and following them sequentially every month or so. I've read they are pretty solid expansions, with the added bonus of being able to follow the story from the books/films, so seems like a sensible option.

The sagas do have good reputations, especially the LOTR ines and especially Black Riders.

There are a few additional rules, so maybe an idea to go to the FFG priduct pages, go down to "rules" and download the rule booklet in pdf and have a readthrough first so you are happy with additional rules before you buy

Anduin is one of my favourite quests though, I like the differences between the beack attack against the troll, then the river raft ride picking off individual enemies from the bank, then the big ambush. Great adventure flavour.

Hope you enjoy Black Riders, a lot of people think its one of the best boxes ever

Anduin is one of my favourite quests though, I like the differences between the beack attack against the troll, then the river raft ride picking off individual enemies from the bank, then the big ambush. Great adventure flavour.

Hope you enjoy Black Riders, a lot of people think its one of the best boxes ever

Yeah, Anduin is very thematic. I've had a couple of attempts solo, but man it's hard. That hill troll really causes me problems. Thought I had a lucky starting hand with Sneak Attack and Gandalf - managed to kill the troll on turn 3 by using Gandalf's ability twice over 2 turns (followed by Gandalf attacking it) but I ended up engaged by too many other enemies and got overwhelmed.

Considering trying it two-handed as it seemed easier with 2 decks (we got to last stage on our first try).

Looking forward to Black Riders but won't be able to get it until a month or so

Great job! so for Anduin, the key is to have a lower threat than the troll at the beginning. that may sounds simple, but lest say your threat is at 27. That should give you AT LEAST three turns to be allies and other things in. if you play 2 player, you have a larger chance of killing it cause ranged and sentinel and direct damage.

About the Sagas, sounds great! the one thing is that this game gets tougher the later the quests were put out, so black riders quests shouldn't be that bad, you can probably managed the road darkens, But when you get to Saruman and play helms deep, you will have problems beating it with just core and saga. well good luck!

I agree with SauronTheGreat's statements.

I will just add that Tales from the Cards has an excellent buying guide for new players, if you decide to try something outside of the Saga boxes: https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/new-player-guides/

But the Saga boxes are definitely the best bang for your buck out there.

Great job! so for Anduin, the key is to have a lower threat than the troll at the beginning.

Yeah, I figured that out and soon tried a deck with threat of 27, but even then the troll was engaging me too quickly. Managed to sneak in couple of games this morning - in the first one I switched Beravor for Denethor (other heroes are Theodred and Eowyn) which basically bought me 2 extra rounds to prepare and it made a huge difference. However, late game I really suffered from lack of cards.

So for the next game I added some card draw. Took me 15 turns (which I'm guessing isn't great) and Denethor bought it right at the end due to a nasty shadow effect, but it I finally got a win and it was very satisfying

About the Sagas, sounds great! the one thing is that this game gets tougher the later the quests were put out, so black riders quests shouldn't be that bad, you can probably managed the road darkens, But when you get to Saruman and play helms deep, you will have problems beating it with just core and saga. well good luck!

That's good to know, thanks for the heads up. I thought that each Saga box was meant to be usable with only the core set?

I have read Tales from the Cards, and will probably get Dead Marshes to go with it Black Riders. For later ones I'll just have to see how it goes. Are there any you would recommend purely on the basis that they will help with the later Sagas?

Awesome you got a win well done!!!

So far I have played core set, 6aps from mirkwood, 1pod scenario and 2 kazad dums and i still think Anduin is one of the trickiest to deckbuild for.

Awesome you did well!!!

That's good to know, thanks for the heads up. I thought that each Saga box was meant to be usable with only the core set?

I have read Tales from the Cards, and will probably get Dead Marshes to go with it Black Riders. For later ones I'll just have to see how it goes. Are there any you would recommend purely on the basis that they will help with the later Sagas?

Well, the Saga boxes are definitely usuable with just the core set but it can be difficult to build two decks that will consistently beat all quests. I am fairly confident that, with a bit of luck, you could get through the Road Darkens. The Treason of Saruman will be hard though.

Dead Marshes is a very good addition in terms of player cards. If you wanted to get the most out of Gimli, the player cards in Khazad-dum would definitely be helpful. If you wanted to build a Rohan deck for defending Helm's Deep and defeating Saruman, I would recommend also getting Voice of Isengard (Eomer, Rohan Warhorse/Westfold Horse-breeder, doomed cards). The nice thing about these deluxe expansions is also that you will be able to play them out of the box (in contrast to later adventure packs).

Awesome you got a win well done!!!

So far I have played core set, 6aps from mirkwood, 1pod scenario and 2 kazad dums and i still think Anduin is one of the trickiest to deckbuild for.

Thanks I like the fact that decks need to be tweaked for some quests, makes them more challenging and interesting.

Are there any you would recommend purely on the basis that they will help with the later Sagas?

Well, the Saga boxes are definitely usuable with just the core set but it can be difficult to build two decks that will consistently beat all quests. I am fairly confident that, with a bit of luck, you could get through the Road Darkens. The Treason of Saruman will be hard though.

Dead Marshes is a very good addition in terms of player cards. If you wanted to get the most out of Gimli, the player cards in Khazad-dum would definitely be helpful. If you wanted to build a Rohan deck for defending Helm's Deep and defeating Saruman, I would recommend also getting Voice of Isengard (Eomer, Rohan Warhorse/Westfold Horse-breeder, doomed cards). The nice thing about these deluxe expansions is also that you will be able to play them out of the box (in contrast to later adventure packs).

I'll bear that in mind. Where its practical, I'd like to theme the decks as much as possible (e.g. hobbits for Black Riders and Road Darkens), so Rohan for Helms Deep would be cool. I'm assuming there is already some in Saruman (?) but if money allows I'll look into Isengard too.

I'm really loving this game so far and can't wait to progress through more quests and expansions (both solo and two-player).

Awesome you got a win well done!!!

So far I have played core set, 6aps from mirkwood, 1pod scenario and 2 kazad dums and i still think Anduin is one of the trickiest to deckbuild for.

Thanks I like the fact that decks need to be tweaked for some quests, makes them more challenging and interesting.

Certainly!! But it also means there are vert very few dead cards in your collection. You will have a card you never thought useful, then all of a sudden a quest appears that makes that card priceless. So you really get value from your collection and often have to redesign your deck to suit a really hard or unusual scenario.

Ive never found that with 1vs1 card games as they always have tons of cards you never use. This game is different

So many different scenarios too, forest adventures, dungeons, castles, journeys, escorts, sieges, spies, clue hunting, battles etc etc such variety.

Welcome to a wonderful game!!

Just thought I'd drop this here...

https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/how-to-kill-a-hill-troll/

Just thought I'd drop this here...

https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/how-to-kill-a-hill-troll/

Thanks, I actually discovered that guide AFTER I worked out the strategy, which I'm glad about as I find it way more satisfying when I've worked it out myself. A good read though.