Just picked up my box. Will get to spend the long weekend exploring a new part of Middle Earth. If I'm first I'll start a new thread with spoiler warnings about the quest(s).

Just ordered all the stuff I was missing to this very box. Feels good, man. It'll feel even better when I'll actually get all of it in a couple of months

Can ally Gandalf target himself with Narya, exhaust for the cost and then ready for the effect?

​It sounds wrong, but from the wording I would say this is perfectly fine, as I think (correct me if I am wrong) you are supposed to execute a card "step by step". So first you have to exhaust character + Narya, what allows you to choose up to 2 allies. At this point you are allowed to choose and ally Gandalf is exhausted, so he should be a valid target​​.

The card reads: "exhaust to choose", so you can't choose if you didn't exhaust Gandalf (in this case), and when you are allowed to choose nothing says you can't target the (completly exhausted) character, you used to pay the cost.

No garantee this is right, but it's how I understand the card and would play it.

Only Problem could be, if exhausting and choosing should happen at the same time (but from the card text it doesn't sound like this would be the case)

Has anyone asked Caleb about this one? Going to make some very serious changes to my decks if OhaUh Gandalf and Narya do indeed work like this.

I honestly don't see why do you even need to ask Caleb of that. You exhaust Gandalf, you choose Gandalf. Gandalf is eligible target as he is an ally, being exhausted is not even a requirement as it reads "choose and ready up to 2 allies", not "choose up to 2 exhausted allies and ready them".

I honestly don't see why do you even need to ask Caleb of that. You exhaust Gandalf, you choose Gandalf. Gandalf is eligible target as he is an ally, being exhausted is not even a requirement as it reads "choose and ready up to 2 allies", not "choose up to 2 exhausted allies and ready them".

If Gandalf is not exhausted you can't ready him and therefore don't pick him for the effect I would say.

I think FFG didn't bother writing "ready exhausted ally" as not exhausted ones can't be readied.

Can ally Gandalf target himself with Narya, exhaust for the cost and then ready for the effect?

​It sounds wrong, but from the wording I would say this is perfectly fine, as I think (correct me if I am wrong) you are supposed to execute a card "step by step". So first you have to exhaust character + Narya, what allows you to choose up to 2 allies. At this point you are allowed to choose and ally Gandalf is exhausted, so he should be a valid target​​.

The card reads: "exhaust to choose", so you can't choose if you didn't exhaust Gandalf (in this case), and when you are allowed to choose nothing says you can't target the (completly exhausted) character, you used to pay the cost.

No garantee this is right, but it's how I understand the card and would play it.

Only Problem could be, if exhausting and choosing should happen at the same time (but from the card text it doesn't sound like this would be the case)

Has anyone asked Caleb about this one? Going to make some very serious changes to my decks if OhaUh Gandalf and Narya do indeed work like this.

No reason to ask Caleb. We Are Not Idle has two effects based on the same sentence structure (Do X to Y). It has been asked and clarified that you can choose to draw the card first or add the resources first. This means, that the do X to Y structure does not happen simultaneously. If it did, you would not be able to choose which Y you perform first following X. Even if they are simultaneous (and I'm incorrectly remembering the thing about We Are Not Idle), though, when two things happen at the same time, isn't it true that the first player chooses the order? So then, why not choose the most beneficial order in the case of Narya/OHaUH Gandalf.

I honestly don't see why do you even need to ask Caleb of that. You exhaust Gandalf, you choose Gandalf. Gandalf is eligible target as he is an ally, being exhausted is not even a requirement as it reads "choose and ready up to 2 allies", not "choose up to 2 exhausted allies and ready them".

If Gandalf is not exhausted you can't ready him and therefore don't pick him for the effect I would say.

I think FFG didn't bother writing "ready exhausted ally" as not exhausted ones can't be readied.

See, what you present here is your assumptions. What I wrote there is facts. You don't assume FFG didn't bothered to write something for some reason, you do exactly what the card tells you to do.

That ring seems to be somewhat overpowered. So I put in on ally Gandalf and I get a new leadership hero? Who can ready himself and one other ally for free? Who can boost stats? For only 2 resources?

Seriously?

He doesn't turn into a hero, he doesn't gather resources and you still need to raise your threat by two every round.

Ok, so getting a resource icon is not enough to gather resources?

* checks rules *

You're right!

The threat issue is almost neglectable with all the opportunities to lower your threat or to turn high threat into an advantage. 2 cost still seems to be too cheap.

IMO ally Gandalf would help Dunedain decks quite a lot if he had that ring. He could block 2 enemies with 5 DEF all alone, and another defender could block 2 more attacks if neccessary.

Ok, so getting a resource icon is not enough to gather resources?

* checks rules *

You're right!

Just a fun fact - all non-neutral allies technically have a resource icon.

IMO ally Gandalf would help Dunedain decks quite a lot if he had that ring. He could block 2 enemies with 5 DEF all alone, and another defender could block 2 more attacks if neccessary.

He has to exhaust to use the ring, so you'd only get 1 defence out of him unless you ready him some other way.

Ok, so getting a resource icon is not enough to gather resources?

* checks rules *

You're right!

Just a fun fact - all non-neutral allies technically have a resource icon.

Is this true? The only definition of resource icon in the rulebook comes in the "Anatomy of a card" section and says they are "found only on Hero cards". The corresponding icon on allies has a different name.

Well, according to the recent Sword-thain ruling (which by the way states nothing about resource icons in its own text), the sphered allies have the resource icon by default, otherwise they wouldn't be able to pay for anything of their color once they become heroes.

I don't know why, but it bothers me tremendously that "To The Sea!" attachment can be attached to non-heroes X_X

But it is important whether you can use the Narya effect on ready allies or not. I believe it is a fact that only exhausted allies can be readied. There have already been many instances I wanted to give the stat bonus to a ready ally with Narya, but I couldn't (at least if I understand the rules correctly).

Wait...

If ally Gandalf could get a sphere with his ring, would you be able to Sword-thain him, and at last turn him into a hero?

Wait...

If ally Gandalf could get a sphere with his ring, would you be able to Sword-thain him, and at last turn him into a hero?

AFAIK this is possible, and would be a sight to behold. OTOH it's an order-dependent, 3-card combo that costs 11 resources, so I imagine it would be hard to get out on the table. I guess you could shave that down to 7 resources by using Sneak Attack, but that's a 4th card...

IMO ally Gandalf would help Dunedain decks quite a lot if he had that ring. He could block 2 enemies with 5 DEF all alone, and another defender could block 2 more attacks if neccessary.

He has to exhaust to use the ring, so you'd only get 1 defence out of him unless you ready him some other way.

Ah, that's right.

Looks like I was wrong, the ring seems to be ok in that case.

Wait...

If ally Gandalf could get a sphere with his ring, would you be able to Sword-thain him, and at last turn him into a hero?

AFAIK this is possible, and would be a sight to behold. OTOH it's an order-dependent, 3-card combo that costs 11 resources, so I imagine it would be hard to get out on the table. I guess you could shave that down to 7 resources by using Sneak Attack, but that's a 4th card...

Other than thematic reasons why would you want to do this?

If we're talking about Core Gandalf then you don't usually want him to stay around since he is more effective bouncing in and out of play and triggering his drop-effect multiple times.

OHaUH Gandalf is a little bit of a better choice but again--why? You would gain a leadership resource (the cheapest resources) each turn. And he would still commit to the quest for 4 each round. But he would lose the ability to ready himself each turn (and get the bonus) and he would still cost you the 2 threat per turn.

At that point, I think you would be better off just running Hero Gandalf.

Wait...

If ally Gandalf could get a sphere with his ring, would you be able to Sword-thain him, and at last turn him into a hero?

AFAIK this is possible, and would be a sight to behold. OTOH it's an order-dependent, 3-card combo that costs 11 resources, so I imagine it would be hard to get out on the table. I guess you could shave that down to 7 resources by using Sneak Attack, but that's a 4th card...

Other than thematic reasons why would you want to do this?

I'm pretty sure, just for funsies.

Wait...

If ally Gandalf could get a sphere with his ring, would you be able to Sword-thain him, and at last turn him into a hero?

AFAIK this is possible, and would be a sight to behold. OTOH it's an order-dependent, 3-card combo that costs 11 resources, so I imagine it would be hard to get out on the table. I guess you could shave that down to 7 resources by using Sneak Attack, but that's a 4th card...

Other than thematic reasons why would you want to do this?

I'm pretty sure, just for funsies.

Just to show that Boromir isn´t the only hero with very powerful stats that requires threat reduction. With Galadriel (hero), the combo is not impossible. I do not like the existing hero Gandalf, so I want my OHUH version to be a hero.

A even better thing: Neutral attachment. cost 1. Attach to a Istari character. Attached character gains the Gandalf name.

Then I could turn the BETTER wizard into the CORRECT White Wizard hero.

Five attack without Beorns limitation...

And with that weather from the Weather Hills, he remains the whole game!

So this is available in the UK now - my preorder was waiting for me when I got home from work. About to try the first quest.

I was hoping that there would be something in the rules about not using mounts on board ships, but no such luck. Perhaps the ships are big enough for them to be riding around on deck. I suppose that's no weirder than eagles in moria, though.

You can house-rule that.

I know I will, as a thematic (and more often than not easy mode) player.

I like having the Ranger of the North pop out of the ocean. What a swimmer!