Okay, I think we need a new topic of conversation, so here goes an attempt:

What do people see as the predominant "personalities" of the Houses? Which ones do you prefer and are you drawn to? I'm thinking of this in terms of mechanics, strategy and flavor, so do you think (for those that know the books) that the House personalities capture the people and personalities from the books?

If you span the CCG and LCG eras, please think in terms of the LCG-only environment so that everyone can join in the discussion.

I am personally drawn more to the personality of House Baratheon in the LCG. I think they are pretty well balanced in terms of icon representation and they have a combination of mechanics and strategies that are both straight forward and tricky, so there is a lot of depth in the House. I like that in-game because it lets you set up one situation to draw your opponent's attention, then come out of nowhere with some oddball, quirky effect. Their balance (which would be seen as inside bickering...) is also a weakness in that a focused opponent can outlast them (as often happens). I think that's got a lot of flavor because Batatheon tends to set itself up early in the game as the "guy to beat" and, more often than not in my case, is indeed beaten.

Still, I like working with the "larger than life" personality of the House.

Other thoughts? Other Houses?

well, becuase they are my favorite house I'll go with Martell:

Their personaility seems to be, not letting other houses know what they are up to and internal politics/flexibilty.

House Dayne is making a big push (both with its historical strength and current STR (boosters)) and they seem to be taking on the mantel of Martell, while its leaders and more well known personalities are not heard from too much (perhaps working behind the scenes or soon with other houses?) One of the Sand snakes is lending her powers of flexibilty(read it however you want...) to not only House dayne, but anyone who cares for it. Beware the Underhanded Assassin as he flips the script on you.

Martell is using a lot of mercinaries to beef out their forces currently and this could be a fient or their actual intention for a later battle.

And as always, Martell is battling against the inhospitable and non-resourcful dersert and trying to wring an existence out of it.

Agreed with your Baratheon analysis.

Targ seems to have the unsvabale kill thing going pretty well. even in LCG, there are quite a few ways to hand out (-) STR and really wreck someone's key character. As has always been the case, this isn't particulalry relfective of the way the House is portaryed in teh source novels, but it does have historical echoes to when the Targs ruled westeros with Fire and blood and (hopefully) foreshadows nicely dany's eventual triumphant return.

A House that has dragons and that is skilled at the game of thrones should always be able to kill anyone who really needs to be killed.

Stag Lord said:

LOL. Priceless.

I'll just go through all the houses as I see them:

1) Stark: Kill, kill, kill. Nice in small doses, boring when that's all they ever get. Neddly enough, Stark has always had difficulty dealing with Intrigue challenges (I like that), but it may be a little too dificult at present with only a handful of characters available with intrigue icons. I'd prefer to see House Stark as the "Hard to Kill" house with some saves, defense, recursion, etc. In melee the killing machine tends to break down a little (you can only kill so much).

2) Lanni: Kneel, kneel, kneel. Sadly, that's all they see these days. I prefer an intrigue heavy Lanni deck, but LCG doesn't seem to support that as well right now. Their abundance of gold is pleasantly thematic, and I like that many of their effects are triggered by paying gold. Again, Lanni kneel doesn't hold up as well in melee as it does in joust, but Lanni is full of usefull characters that are strong in challenges.

3) Bara: I must admit that I haven't played Bara much. At a glance, I've found myself confused, with no idea of where to go with them. However, ktom, you have perked my interest. I'll have to build a deck and pray for someone to give it a test run against.

4) GJ: All the good GJ rush cards left with Winter. They certainly have lots of mill effects these days, which I guess represents denying resources to your opponent. I almost think ambush would have been a more thematic keyword in this house, as opposed to Targ (surprise raiding etc.). Thuggish Tactics is a great card to support the intimidate keyword however, and that has me excited. I'm not sure what GJ is going to be able to offer the other houses once the announced agendas come out, but I hope people begin to find a good reason to include them.

5) Targ: Boy, did this house get a shot in the arm over the past year. Burn, attachments, and recursion all make Targ a strong house in LCG. Some of these I feel would be better suited for other houses (ie. recursion for Stark, and ambush for GJ). I'd prefer to see more of a "True Queen" them in Targ where OOH penalties are reduced to represent to rag-tag army coming together. Take control effects would be Nedly as well.

6) Martell: I love Martell. It's hard to judge Martell looking through the lense of LCG only. Like GJ, I hope they eventually offer enough, that people will consider playing the agendas when they come out. Of course we'll all do it because we want to play Martell/GJ, but will it be worth it to do so? I certainly hope it will. I love revenge effects that keep you opponents worrying about what might happen should they choose to attack you.

Ok, that's my screwed up run down.

"The chick-pea is neither a chick, nor a pea. Discuss!"

Since this seemed to be an interesting thread, I decided to offer some of my own perspectives on the matter. As a short background I'm and old MTG and V:TES player, with some RPG and board-game history as well. To AGOT I'm a complete newcomer however, so my views are pretty well constricted to the current LCG card pools.

Stark - The house seems to want to be taken seriously, by giving a clear military threat and backing it up with even more firepower (kill events etc.). Also the element of honor (clear distinct tactic, with not too many surprises) is clearly present in the house, as it should be according to the books themselves. A sort of not just wanting to win, but wanting to win honorably (not resorting to intrigue etc.).

Lannister - The ever present feeling of Lannister seems to be a sort of looking down on the other houses. A flaunting of gold, with willingness to sacrifice some of their own in the process of winning the game and always feeling in charge of the situation. While when things start going sour for Stark, the only way to get back on top is to struggle even more, the Lannisters are more eager to resort to underhanded tactics to keep in control of the game (not allowing their power to be stolen through infamy, keeping key characters out of the game by kneeling etc.). But I'd say the main ideology is to stay in charge of the situation, to always have choices to make and force the others to play your way.

Baratheon - A chivalrous, boisterous charge right into the thick of it, making others want to admire you for it. Always wanting to make a bit of a show of the whole thing, with lots of jumping up and down and yelling of 'look at me' .

Targyeren - Unpredictability, not wanting to seem too strong at any one point, while always maintaining the option to remove bothersome individuals and only committing to the situation when it is strategically smart. A sort of a lurker house, which doesn't want to make too much noise of itself, but is clearly playing for the victory with every weapon they have.

As it is, I don't want to give any real thoughts on the Martells or Greyjoys, since I haven't really seen them in action yet.

Lannister - I love the symbolism of the kneeling mechanic in Lannister. The Lannisters in ASOIF are concerned with how every perceives them, their legitimacy, making sure everyone bows before them, and then they will let them go about their business. The kneeling mechanic is all about forcing characters to kneel before the Lannisters. Not an end unto itself, but useful...