https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/8/the-thing-in-the-depths/

Man, despite all those haters who'll come here and say "omg, this is no longer lotr" and all that stuff, I'll say this:

THIS. IS. AWESOME!!!

I really want to know what Elevenses does.

Yeah man!

Sam Gamgee ally without Frodo is a bit meh but in Saga, he is even more awesome as you don't have to use Spirit Frodo. Nice to see Sam as an ally no matter what.

Wow, this quest sounds complex. Also, I like the art on ally Sam much more than the art on hero Sam.

This quest sounds really cool. Can't wait.

And I'm calling it: Captain Sahir will be a hero card in AP3

Also, interesting that they chose a squid/kraken like creature for the Thing in the Depths. A bit redundant with the octopus-like Watcher, I was expecting more of a huge sea-serpent or water-dragon, but I'm not complaining. They had to put more enemies in there, and tentacles end up being the best choice for that.

Also, is it just me or are there 2 encounter sets just in this pack?

Edit: nevermind, the very article mentions it.

Call me one of those who don't like the theme. But the mechanics look promising. My favourite card so far is "Hold Steady!", but the kraken cards also look cool.

I'm not so deep into LOTR lore, so could someone tell me if there are mermaids and stuff like that in Middle earth? I mean, are there some good underwater guys like Namor or, cough, Aquaman, cough

And I'm calling it: Captain Sahir will be a hero card in AP3

I thought about it too, but then I remembered lack of such things in previous cycles (Chief Turch, Dru-buri-Dru, etc.) and desided that this is too good to be true.

Yeah man!

Sam Gamgee ally without Frodo is a bit meh but in Saga, he is even more awesome as you don't have to use Spirit Frodo. Nice to see Sam as an ally no matter what.

Hey now--don't be knocking Spirit Frodo! He's a hero, Mr Frodo is. Like in the great stories!

Jokes aside--I was literally just about to type how awesome Ally Sam will be in a Saga playthrough.

Wow, this quest sounds complex. Also, I like the art on ally Sam much more than the art on hero Sam.

You don't like sharting Sam?

This quest sounds really cool. Can't wait.

And I'm calling it: Captain Sahir will be a hero card in AP3

Please no! I am done with Heroes I can't use in any quest. It was bad enough in the Sagas but Amarthiul worries me that it will become a trend. I love the flavor of it but I DO NOT like rebuilding my decks for each quest.

Also, interesting that they chose a squid/kraken like creature for the Thing in the Depths. A bit redundant with the octopus-like Watcher, I was expecting more of a huge sea-serpent or water-dragon, but I'm not complaining. They had to put more enemies in there, and tentacles end up being the best choice for that.

Also, is it just me or are there 2 encounter sets just in this pack?

Edit: nevermind, the very article mentions it.

I like the Kraken. It lets me imagine Gandalf--fresh off his successful bout against the Balrog--has decided to take on Cthulhu.

It is a little redundant with the Watcher though. Doesn't bother me but I can see it.

They have released the Kraken!

They have released the Kraken!

I'm a little ashamed of myself for not making that terrible joke first.

+ 10 spoiler points to the person who thought the corsairs looked so 'nice' in the previous article as if they where the good guys.

Also, interesting that they chose a squid/kraken like creature for the Thing in the Depths. A bit redundant with the octopus-like Watcher, I was expecting more of a huge sea-serpent or water-dragon, but I'm not complaining. They had to put more enemies in there, and tentacles end up being the best choice for that.

Also, is it just me or are there 2 encounter sets just in this pack?

Edit: nevermind, the very article mentions it.

Agree fully with your statement of Watcher thingy.

What do you guys mean by redundancy with the Watcher? From all I can tell, the quests are completely different (have you read the article? how those new tentacle thingies work? and that's just the second part of the quest, the first one you fight the pirates). And not just that, but the adversary itself is a giant squid, unlike the Watcher who is more of an octopus!

The mechanics of the Kraken are obviously new, but I'm talking about thematic redundancy, in that it's another octopus-like boss with tentacles. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with it, but when they hinted at this pack in the cycle announcement, I thought it was going to be a sea-serpent rather than a squid.

Edit: Specifically, I was thinking of this card:

Still, that is just nitpicking. Bring on the Kraken!

Well, to speak of thematic redudnancy, we fight orcs 90% of the time and everybody is ok with it, but once in a while we get something like that and it instantly gets labeled as thematic redundancy?

It's like calling Journey in the Dark a redundant quest because we already have Shadow and Flame.

Well, we get to fight orcs 90% of the time because they are the most common foot-soldiers of Sauron and we know they are almost everywhere. As far as we know, there was only 1 creature like the Watcher, and he dwelt inside Middle Earth. When creating a new monster in the sea they had total freedom to create whatever they wanted, they didn't have to make something similar to the Watcher again.

How is it similar? It's a squid, not octopus. And it's giant, compared to the Watcher. To make the quest mechanic work properly, they needed something with appendages.

To make the quest mechanic work properly, they needed something with appendages.

And that's why I'm fine with having it, as I said. Still, octopus and squid are similar to me, considering there are other very different types of creature they could have used.

I think the squid/kraken is fine, though it would be pretty cool to have battled Eärcaraxë the Sea-fang!

You know you're reaching when you say "How are they similar? It's a squid, not an octopus."

You know you're reaching when you say that thing remotely similar happened years and cycles ago is "redundant". And squids and octopuses are pretty different.

I agree that it's going to be pretty different than Watcher in the Water. I also don't think Gizlivadi is pushing the point so much.