Okay. I have some thoughts to share on Heirs of Numenor, that hopefully some of you will find helpful or at least entertaining if you get through my wall of text. (sorry in advance)
Since release, Heirs of Numenor (HoN for here on out) has been heralded as the standard for LotR LCG brutality. Players constantly talk about how difficult it was, new players were sometimes encouraged to skip it, and all three quests essentially never saw play due to how hard they were. When players had success against HoN's quests, it often came from specifically tailored, fine-tuned decks, and these made and piloted by experienced vets. When I recently opened my own copy of HoN, I was braced for the worst.
After playing each quest multiple times, I was somewhat disappointed. I have a bold statement to make: HEIRS OF NUMENOR IS NOT THAT HARD! I concede that it's three quests are much harder than most others that I've played, but they are nowhere near as difficult as I gathered from the general consensus. Let me break it down quest-by-quest
Peril in Pelargir is the hardest of the bunch for me personally. Its encounter cards aren't as devastating as those from the other two quests, but the puzzle nature sets it apart from its rather straightforward siblings. I've yet to run away with a clear win against this one, always finishing with a high threat and damage all over the place. But all you need to win this one is a really strong early game from a heavy-duty combat squad. As long as you don't depend on allies too much (thanks to the Zealous Traitors), the only thing standing in your way is the ability to build up a board than can suddenly shift to willpower questing quickly; before the encounter deck outlasts you.
Now, let me take a deep breath here, because this next sentence is close to blasphemy. Okay. Into Ithilien is not hard to win. I know, know, but I'm serious! I've played it six times now, with the only loss coming from a Mumakil and a Southron Company engaging me on the first round. I've beaten it multiple times each route (stage two and three). Yes, two wins were with a Dwarf deck that also took down Assault on Dol Guldur, but all you really need is a decent combat deck. On the first round, seek to blow out the Ithilien Road. Build up your board while you let Celador take hits until he's gone (trust me, it's for a good cause
). You should be able to defeat stage two and four with minimal resistance. Those Blocking Wargs can cause problems, but you should be fine as long as you don't threat out.
As for Siege of Cair Andros, I honestly don't know how anyone who knows what they're doing could possibly lose this one, barring some (reasonably possible, I grant you) bad luck. A deck that starts with two strong defenders and a strong attacker and stuffed with allies and tactics good stuff consistently does the trick (Beregond/Legolas/Gimli and Beregond/Elladan/Elrohir are great hero lineups). Quest like a madman until you can clear the Banks, otherwise stage two will kill you. You should be able to take an undefended attack or two on the approach, but it's a high priority to explore that one too; removing stage three from the deck. Letting the Citadel fall to attacks is a crucial step to success though, as counter-intuitive as that may be. This will keep your Victory Point total low enough to keep stage five in siege mode, meaning you can siege-quest the entire game.
Any thoughts? Do you agree? Is it just me? Or did I just mis-perceive how our fine community looks at this expansion? Whatever the case, I hope I don't sound like I'm just boasting. I recognize that's quite likely, but I assure you; that was not my intent. There are many members of this community that probably have much better records against these quests than I.
Anyway, my main reason for this post is to just let my thoughts out in a way other than voicing my opinions to myself. To anyone that read any of this rambling, thank you.