Hey folks,

I just got the Grey Havens deluxe expansion and am planning on giving it a whirl this Sunday!

I'm pretty excited, I thumbed through the cards a bit and it looks pretty fun! However, it also looks like there are a lot of new mechanics introduced with this one (ship enemies/objectives, heading, etc).

For those of you who've played this one before, was anything that you remember needing clarification on (whether with the new mechanics or scenario-specific rules)? If so, please enlighten me!

Also, from a quick glance through the player cards, it looks like the player is rewarded for using cards frequently (with different effects being triggered depending on what kind of card is on the top of the discard pile). Whenever I'm playing a new expansion for the first time, I always use the new character cards that are provided; but does anyone have any recommendations for what to use to fill out the deck? I usually play pretty combat focused decks, but I'm trying to break out of that a bit. (In terms of what expansions I have available, I've got the two Hobbit saga expansions, the entire Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, the Wilds of Rhovanion and the Withered Heath)

Thanks!

The grey havens introduces a noldor themed deck. However, key pieces in modern noldor decks require cards from the Angmar awakened cycle - hero Arwen, erestor, silver harp, elven light.

The noldor archetype involves discarding cards from your hand in order to gain benefits. Luckily, there are some core set cards that build on that idea as well - Eowyn and protector of Lorien come to mind. You'll want lots of card draw to feed those effects, so lore is a good inclusion. Cirdan and Narya give you access to leadership, so steward of Gondor is a good call.

It's also a decent idea to include cards that play off of your discard pile - the core set has stand and fight and dwarven tomb, and will of the West will get your whole discard pile back in your deck if you run out