Hi all,

I started to play LOTR 2 months ago. I love this game and I'm happy to be with you in this community. I'm just on the Core Set right now, with only the core-cards. After been defeated around twenty times, i win Escape from Dol Guldur quest, maybe...

I would check if I played in the right way and need some rule's clarifications please.

Round 12, in the quest phase i draw "Iron Shackles " and in the next phase I travel to "Mountains of Mirkwood"; Dol Guldur Orcs come as travel effect. After engage I deal the shadow card to the enemy, then before orcs attack i use "Quick Strike" to kill them with Legolas (with double blade of Gondolin) exploring the mountains. Iron shackles prevents to draw, but...:

1. Can i look trought the top 5 cards of my deck and choose one? If so, have I to reshuffle the player's deck, put Iron shackles on top and discard it when the next 'draw a card' will come?

2. Can I use quick strike after dealing shadow cards before a enemy attack? If so, can i use it , for example, before sub phase -Resolve shadow effect- , to avoid the eventual shadow and the damage , if the enemy is killed?

All for now , next questions will follow, thanks in advance and sorry if my english is bad.

1) Iron Shackles is an attachment that triggers when you draw, which you're not, so your resolution sounds correct -- put Iron Shackles back on top after you look at the top cards.

2) Absolutely. You choose when to play Quick Strike -- can be during encounter phase, before enemy has a shadow card, or during combat, when it does have one. Either way, with the enemy destroyed, there is no attack to resolve. Same idea with Spear of the Citadel on an enemy with 1 life remaining -- the enemy is killed before it can attack.

It seem that you play all of it very well. Congratulations!

Thanks ! Sounds good, with the spear man example i've got it.
The one damage some time save me on the Anduin's quest, but he stay in the deck on this game...

Round 4, on research phase i've got a tie after resolution, 'The Watcher' ( if the name is correct) was in the staging area , i didn't reshuffle one objective in the encounter deck. Then , in combat ,'DG Orcs' come as shadow card, increasing the enemy attack power in a defended attack:

3. A tie is not a fail or an unsuccess right?

4. Can i use 'Mastery' to increase the defence by 1 after resolving shadow effect and before determine shadow damage?

3) Correct

4) Yes, you can play Mastery before determining the combat damage.

Yeah i mean "before determining combat damage".

Thanks a lot for answering, and see you next!

Last questions about this game in Dol Guldur, for the others i've just checked into this forum, so thanks to the community.

Round15, in the planning phase I've bought 'Celebrian Stone' for Aragorn , discarding 'Map of Gandalf' (i've got already 'Citadel Plate', and the 3 attachment are all limited), then, in the action window after, I've played Galadhrim threat reduction, given the map to Legolas ( discarding one blade sigh!), and the other two objectives to Gimli. Because on stage 2 were all the tokens needed I go on stage 3 , putting the tokens, gained in the quest phase, on the new stage. I waited the round after , the last one, to buy an axe and discard the map from Legolas; the two objectives of Gimli gone with him( he die on round15 during combat phase,sigh again!) :

5. Can I end stage 3 , escaping from Dol Guldur without objectives ?

6. Could I buy the axe just after getting the map? Or better, there's an action window during the planning phase , between the purchase of an attachment and another?

7. Wich quest is the next after the 3 of the core set?

Thanks and goodbye .

5) I guess not (quest card doesn't say it) so it seems viable to "drop" them by adding your own restricted items. That's never occurred to me. (Thematically, you only needed them to find the prisoner and exit tunnel... fun idea to get rid of them as you rush out while grabbing your gear. :))

6) Not sure I follow, but you can only buy attachments during the planning phase. But you can buy as many as you can afford, in whatever order you want.

7) The Hunt for Gollum (see list order here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/77423/lord-rings-card-game/wiki )

To others reading this, regarding (5), is that a known/common strategy, to "drop" the restricted objectives this way during stage 3? (Usually I try to bolt out and it doesn't matter, but it's a nice option I'd never considered.)

3 hours ago, JYoder said:

5) I guess not (quest card doesn't say it) so it seems viable to "drop" them by adding your own restricted items. That's never occurred to me. (Thematically, you only needed them to find the prisoner and exit tunnel... fun idea to get rid of them as you rush out while grabbing your gear. :))

6) Not sure I follow, but you can only buy attachments during the planning phase. But you can buy as many as you can afford, in whatever order you want.

7) The Hunt for Gollum (see list order here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/77423/lord-rings-card-game/wiki )

To others reading this, regarding (5), is that a known/common strategy, to "drop" the restricted objectives this way during stage 3? (Usually I try to bolt out and it doesn't matter, but it's a nice option I'd never considered.)

That's an interesting strategy that I never thought of before. Since they're all restricted I guess you could just replace them so that you only have to deal with them for one round.

3 hours ago, JYoder said:

To others reading this, regarding (5), is that a known/common strategy, to "drop" the restricted objectives this way during stage 3? (Usually I try to bolt out and it doesn't matter, but it's a nice option I'd never considered.)

Since getting good at the game, I've never spent more than one quest phase on stage 3 which makes it irrelevant.

8 hours ago, JYoder said:

5) I guess not (quest card doesn't say it) so it seems viable to "drop" them by adding your own restricted items. That's never occurred to me. (Thematically, you only needed them to find the prisoner and exit tunnel... fun idea to get rid of them as you rush out while grabbing your gear. :))

6) Not sure I follow, but you can only buy attachments during the planning phase. But you can buy as many as you can afford, in whatever order you want.

7) The Hunt for Gollum (see list order here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/77423/lord-rings-card-game/wiki )

To others reading this, regarding (5), is that a known/common strategy, to "drop" the restricted objectives this way during stage 3? (Usually I try to bolt out and it doesn't matter, but it's a nice option I'd never considered.)

Escaping, in just one round, from the stage 3 of Dul Guldur was my strategy too, and it is the best one i think, before orc guards increasing... But unfortunately I have an extra round at the end due to the impossibility to attack with Legolas plus blade killing-progress abilities ( king spider revelated and, if not enough, another king spider as shadow, just 3 Heroes , no allies, no resource to ready Aragorn after quest committing, no way to have Legolas ready, 'Unexpected Courage' still in the deck...), and no chance to get 7 tokens from questing without Faramir; so due to the fact that the spiders will come ( never seen them during the game, and that were just 2 cards left in the encounter deck before questing), I give the map to Legolas, discarding it with a dwarf axe in the round's after planning phase.

My doubt about the question I asked on point 6 , I'll try to explain with one example, is this:

You get Steward of Gondor spending 2 lidership resources in the planning phase , then, exhausting the card, you get 2 resorces for the Hero with the attachment. This is an action, like the one i did in Dol Guldur after buying 'Celebrian's Stone' with Aragorn reducing the threat with Galadhrim card . I don't know if after one of these actions the planning phase is finish, and if i can use the steward's fresh resources to buy other allies and attachments, or buy an axe for Legolas right after getting the map in my game, in the same planning phase.

New 6. Does any action interrupt the planning phase ?

Thank you for the previous answers
JYoder, The Haunt for Gollum wow!

You can take actions throughout the planning phase without affecting your ability to play more allies and attachments.

2 hours ago, NathanH said:

You can take actions throughout the planning phase without affecting your ability to play more allies and attachments.

Thank you NathanH. Now it's all clear. Just one more clarification about one card I've not entered in my deck, but I love it:

Can you play 'Thicket of Spears' if your heroes are Legolas , Gimli and Aragorn?

Goodbye

5 hours ago, Moradir said:

Can you play 'Thicket of Spears' if your heroes are Legolas , Gimli and Aragorn?

Only if all three heroes have the Tactics resource icon. So if you're using the Tactics version of Aragorn from The Lost Realm or you've played something like Song of Battle on him, then yes. Otherwise, no.

3 hours ago, Authraw said:

Only if all three heroes have the Tactics resource icon. So if you're using the Tactics version of Aragorn from The Lost Realm or you've played something like Song of Battle on him, then yes. Otherwise, no.

Ok what I've expected...I'll wait for a Song of Battle then, thank you Authraw.

Nice communty, thanks again to all for the quick answers.

5 hours ago, Authraw said:

Only if all three heroes have the Tactics resource icon. So if you're using the Tactics version of Aragorn from The Lost Realm or you've played something like Song of Battle on him, then yes. Otherwise, no.

One of the things like Song of Battle is Roheryn from the Flame of the West saga expansion, a useful attachment that happens to give a tactics icon to Aragorn. So when you get to the LOTR saga, that can be a nice replacement for Song of Battle.

10 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

One of the things like Song of Battle is Roheryn from the Flame of the West saga expansion, a useful attachment that happens to give a tactics icon to Aragorn. So when you get to the LOTR saga, that can be a nice replacement for Song of Battle.

I just saw 'Roheryn' card, it is epic