Oh my God!

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/12/8/the-wilds-of-rhovanion/

I don't think this is the big announcement. I think they have something else planned for the Fellowship Event. Also, a new cycle makes me think Core 2.0 is less likely to happen.

I really do hate to be that guy, but this is about what I expected. I'm glad the game is alive for sure, but normally this is announced before gencon and we get it around Christmas. So the real news is "our schedule has slipped". Now this is supposedly available in the first quarter of 2018... well Cirith Gurat going to be available in the first quarter of 2017. So I guess I know what I'll be getting for next Christmas.

P.S. If they really do announce something bigger tomorrow, I'll come in here and eat crow after the Fellowship tournament.

Wow, this all looks really cool. Bard is really good, but by far Necklace of Girion is my favorite card of this announcement. And it's an Artifact! I'm really looking forward to some developing of the Artifact trait during the cycle, much like we're getting Item support in the deluxe. Hopefully that could mean some Istari heroes. Also, hopefully we'll see some drakes and dragons during the cycle as well!

And I don't actually think this will be the announcement, as it was teased that it was only going to be released tomorow and they are even livestreaming it. No reason for it to release it before that. It has to be someting different, but I could be wrong.

So Necklace says neutral 1, reveal a card and later I get +2 WP? Not so excited for that one. Am I missing something? Convince me.

2 minutes ago, Bullroarer Took said:

So Necklace says neutral 1, reveal a card and later I get +2 WP? Not so excited for that one. Am I missing something? Convince me.

Also +1 Resource?

Later you get +2 wp *and* an extra resource each round. That's well worth the cost, I think. The article says that the card is *added* to staging, so hopefully it's not revealed either.

5 minutes ago, Bullroarer Took said:

So Necklace says neutral 1, reveal a card and later I get +2 WP? Not so excited for that one. Am I missing something? Convince me.

+2WP and an extra resource every turn?

Later you get +2 wp *and* an extra resource each round. That's well worth the cost, I think. The article says that the card is *added* to staging, so hopefully it's not revealed either.

Guarded's text in the rules says to reveal, though, right?

2 minutes ago, webslinger9 said:

Also +1 Resource?

Ah... Yes, that changes things.

Just now, Bullroarer Took said:

Ah... Yes, that changes things.

Yes. It's good, not great. I think I would like it if it was Guarded Enemy or Guarded Location only. You could build around engaging an enemy or placing progress on a location to clear it out before questing, but this way you're at the mercy of the encounter deck unless you're scrying. I'm sure it will be a nice bonus in certain decks as a resource smoother, but it seems like it could be a win more card.

5 minutes ago, Kakita Shiro said:

Guarded's text in the rules says to reveal, though, right?

Guarded does, but Guarded (X) says to add -- I just checked the Black Serpent rules to be sure. This is a Guarded (X) card.

Just now, dalestephenson said:

Guarded does, but Guarded (X) says to add -- I just checked the Black Serpent rules to be sure. This is a Guarded (X) card.

Cool. I didn't realize Guarded X was different.

18 minutes ago, Bullroarer Took said:

I really do hate to be that guy, but this is about what I expected. I'm glad the game is alive for sure, but normally this is announced before gencon and we get it around Christmas. So the real news is "our schedule has slipped". Now this is supposedly available in the first quarter of 2018... well Cirith Gurat going to be available in the first quarter of 2017. So I guess I know what I'll be getting for next Christmas.

P.S. If they really do announce something bigger tomorrow, I'll come in here and eat crow after the Fellowship tournament.

Please don't eat crows.

As for the reveal, I got several things to say:

1. I like the new item theme;

2. I hate how they just obscure some player card texts on the previews, as per usual;

3. Bard son of Brand? I am a bit confused. I thought Bard the Bowman was the founder? Educate me, loremastas;

4. I do think that these are the big promised news, because what can be bigger?

I hope there's more like it. I love Dunedain Pathfinder and Dunedain Hunter.

With the 5th pack *finally* out and the 6th pack already known, it's good to have some cards to look forward to. Hopefully the humongous delay on the current cycle will allow them to get the next cycle out quicker -- they've had plenty of time to playtest.

21 minutes ago, Bullroarer Took said:

I really do hate to be that guy, but this is about what I expected. I'm glad the game is alive for sure, but normally this is announced before gencon and we get it around Christmas. So the real news is "our schedule has slipped". Now this is supposedly available in the first quarter of 2018... well Cirith Gurat going to be available in the first quarter of 2017. So I guess I know what I'll be getting for next Christmas.

P.S. If they really do announce something bigger tomorrow, I'll come in here and eat crow after the Fellowship tournament.

Get your appetite ready. I, for once, have faith in tomorrow's event delivering us something different to today's news.

Excited for the trading theme qith Dale.

Hoping, like Gizlivaldi, to see on the following cycle some drake related content. For now,we go back to the roots. Spiders and orcs.

Oh and Journey Up the Anduin... see what they did there...

2 minutes ago, John Constantine said:

3. Bard son of Brand? I am a bit confused. I thought Bard the Bowman was the founder? Educate me, loremastas;

Bard, son of Brand was named for their founder Bard the Bowman.

Bard II is the son of Brand and succeeded him as King of Dale. Thorin III Stonehelm succeeded Dain, maybe he's the other hero.

So we can make a Bard the Bowman, Brand son of Bain, and Bard son of Brand Deck?

This looks interesting (although I now have no idea what the big reveal is tomorrow).

At last the Dale deck is possible

1 minute ago, dalestephenson said:

At last the Dale deck is possible

Now we just need a Beorning deck.

Maybe this wont take as long to release as there wont be a saga this coming year? (Wishful thinking).

Just wanna fawn over the Necklace some more. I just love how the designers open the deckbuilding space by giving us occacionally these neutral resource generating attachments that are more balanced than Steward of Gondor by having some sort of drawback. First Rescourceful, then Keys of Orthanc and now Necklace of Girion. Even Magic Ring is kind of like that too. I really hope they keep opening the possibilities of different decks being on the same level, without depending so much on staples like Steward of Gondor. Even though I'm mostly curious and excited for this next cycle (as we kinda knew what the Dale expansion would explore in terms of quests) I think I'm already gonna love the new themes and player cards in this expansion.

Wow, really liking the new Item mechanics, that's pretty cool.

My partner pointed out how great it is that the Long Lake Trader lets two characters share a single copy of a Weapon or Armor Attachment. Or passing around A Burning Brand!

20 minutes ago, John Constantine said:

3. Bard son of Brand? I am a bit confused. I thought Bard the Bowman was the founder? Educate me, loremastas

Bard the Bowman's son was Bain. Bain's son was Brand. Brand's son was named after his great grandfather, Bard.

It confused me when I first saw it too.