We've goten "leftover" characters as allies before, namely Skinbark and Gamling, never heroes. Thus, I personally think we'll see ally Éomer, hopefully Leadership (and reinforcing those Rohan discard decks with Théodred), and we'll probably see his hero version in the next cycle.

I think the last box will include the battle at the black gate. So Eomer won't be left over.

Of course, we don't know for sure at this point, but I would assume that the last box will bring both halves of the narrative together.

Well, Skinbark and Gamling are really a very different league to Éomer, story-wise. And indeed, Éomer isn't leftover if the Black Gate Opens is included, as it most likely will be. I wouldn't mind Gwaihir as a hero, but I can't see it happening right now.

I'm just happy that we finally got some Wose character.

I'm just happy that we finally got some Wose character.

Yes, and he it's a useful one too.

The whole box is very good.

I dare say it's the second best one after black riders.

Grimbold and Ghan-Buri-Ghan both look great to me, although as a thematic player I don't think I'll be able to fit them into the decks I'm playing at the moment.

Also, it's just nice to see Ghan-Buri-Ghan in the game!

I hate CardGameDB's distribution. You cannot see clearly how a scenario is supposed to be.

I hate CardGameDB's distribution. You cannot see clearly how a scenario is supposed to be.

Filter it by Custom then choose Card Encounter Info and it sorts itself into player cards first and then the three scenarios separately

I hate CardGameDB's distribution. You cannot see clearly how a scenario is supposed to be.

Filter it by Custom then choose Card Encounter Info and it sorts itself into player cards first and then the three scenarios separately

Ghan-Buri-Ghan is insane!

Ooh, a good box set! It's mainly that my saga decks include a Santa Theoden and Eomer deck, but Grimbold is looking very useful to me! I need to get back into building Dunedain and Gondor decks to play around with Halbarad and Imrahil, and the new mount is interesting (now I can't remember, but can we give the Dunedain trait yet?).

I've barely had time to try the new Noldor stuff yet...man, I need to catch up with this game!!

Ghan-Buri-Ghan is insane!

Attach him with Elf-friend, and then play Fair and Perilous with this as active location.

The character distribution means one thing, there will be Éomer in the last box, I cannot see past that. And it seems also given he will be hero, otherwise they would have made him an ally here. Further, Leadership feels more probable than Tactics (him becoming king at the time) since those are the two spheres left if they are going to get equal number of heroes across saga. But, supposing all above is right, what of the Tactics hero then? Surely not Meneldor, and I would not like to see another Sam, as I feel we shouldn't get a character twice in the saga (outside the Fellowship sphere), but who then?

Personally, I'm hoping for Leadership Frodo, Fellowship Sam, and Tactics Gwaihir, with Éomer and Meneldor as allies. The rule books for The Black Riders, The Road Darkens, and The Land of Shadow all say:

Alternate Ring-Bearers would be sweet. I want to be able to do Alternate history where Boromir is the Ring-Bearer

Ok, so it might be Fellowship Sam, Leadership Éomer and Tactics Frodo -- the last could be interesting.

I'm hoping for a Tactics/Leadership ability switch like we saw in this pack. Honestly, I'd love a Tactics Frodo who can't attack and provides some sort of resource allocation.

Quest-related spoiler:

For thematic reasons, I'm hoping for a powerful Army of the Dead objective ally in the second quest (especially since completing that quest quickly is important in campaign mode). The cardgamedb spoilers suggest that we'll get one. Stage 3A of the first quest says "When Revealed: Add The Stone of Erech and Army of the Dead (enemy side faceup) to the staging area." This indicates that Army of the Dead is double-sided, and the other side is likely an objective ally. (The card numbering also supports that it's double-sided: The Corsair Fleet and The Witch-king are both double-sided, and they have distinct numbers for each side; Army of the Dead (enemy side) is number 67, and there's no card numbered 68 in the spoiled cards.) However, neither the campaign card nor the quest card for the second quest mention putting Army of the Dead into play (though perhaps the spoiled text is incomplete and quest card 1B mentions it; we don't have the image for 1B). Since it's a double-sided card, it couldn't be shuffled into the encounter deck. I imagine the objective ally will have Setup instructions that put it into play, though in the past there's also been text on a campaign or quest card so that players don't miss the Setup instructions.

On another note, this version of Aragorn is the first Fellowship hero without an ability that requires Fellowship resources. The first quest requires Aragorn's resources to detach Overcome by Fear, and Overcome by Fear (like Wraith on Wings) is a burden. I wonder if it will be possible to avoid either burden. My guess is that Overcome by Fear will only be earned by players who have it attached to their threat dials at the end of the first quest, but that it will be tougher (or impossible) to avoid Wraith on Wings. Aragorn's Fellowship resources will be less relevant in the second and (once Aragorn enters) third quests if the players have avoided earning Overcome by Fear, but it's still likely worth using the newer version of Aragorn because campaign mode allows you to start with Anduril in hand, thereby ensuring that Aragorn quickly has an artifact attached.

Good catch, I was already wondering when these dead men would actually help us.

Good spot, looks like it's a Boon:

(CardGameDB can't handle double-sided cards very well - you can actually see Side B of quest cards by adding a 'b' to the image URL right before the '.jpg' extension, e.g. this is 1B from the Siege of Gondor quest: http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/uploads/lotr/ffg_MEC54_69b.jpg)

nice!

Starts off in play at the start of the second and third quest in this box by the looks of things!

An extra 4 willpower or 6 attack is pretty **** handy!!


Edit: Goddamn Peter Jackson movies! Forgot that the Dead Men of Dunharrow only help Aragorn take the Corsair fleet and are then freed from their curse and do not participate in the Battle for Pelennor fields.

I remembered that them taking out EVERYTHING and being a huge deus ex machina was certainly nonsense but did not remember that they actually don't help at all past the Corsair fleet being destroyed/beaten. We should really only get that Boon for the second quest for it to remain thematic.

What's the logic behind a Tactics Frodo? He's got to be the least battle-ready hero in the story.

What's the logic behind a Tactics Frodo? He's got to be the least battle-ready hero in the story.

Boromir: Kills about 30 Uruk-Hai, the others kill him but that doesn't matter because he's cool.

Legolas: Kills 41 Uruk-Hai and Dunlendings at Helm's Deep.

Gimli: || 42 || || || || ||

Gandalf: Defeats a Balrog.

Sam: Defeats Shelob.

Merry: Co-kills the Witch-King.

Pippin: Kills a troll.

Frodo: Distracts his enemies to attack him so that the others can kill them.

Leadership Frodo with a 'Two or fewer heroes/Less than 5 characters' power would be most appropriate imo.

(CardGameDB can't handle double-sided cards very well - you can actually see Side B of quest cards by adding a 'b' to the image URL right before the '.jpg' extension, e.g. this is 1B from the Siege of Gondor quest: http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/uploads/lotr/ffg_MEC54_69b.jpg)

Thanks, that makes it possible to see side B of the campaign cards. Spoilers:

As expected, it's possible to avoid Overcome by Fear (which would mean the new Aragorn's resources are a bit less relevant after the first quest). It's not possible to avoid Wraith on Wings, however. Army of the Dead isn't automatically earned in the first quest, and if it's earned, it gets removed from the campaign pool after the second quest.