for those of you who havnt checked- new details of imrahil and haldir on the news page

Prince Imrahil seems like his threat is a bit high for his ability, although with a pretty good attack number, being able to ready him during the combat phase could be a pretty big plus. Haldir seems a bit ho-hum for solo players like myself. The event card Parting Gifts, I can see some good use out of that, though.

And an interesting examples of game play, which confirms that you can play a Sneak Attack at the beginning of Questing and then send the Sneaked ally on the Quest.

Parting Gifts is also a card that will definitely see play in my decks.

Nice

But I hoped for a bit more info about the release date than "coming soon" though...

Parting gifts makes Steward of Gondor even more powerful...

Titan said:

Titan said:

Haldir has great stats, though, sort of compensating for his useless abilities in solo play. And with resources becoming ever easier to make of the right sphere (the Songs and now Parting Gifts) 4 cost is less of an issue now than when we just had the core set to play with.

My trouble with Imrahil currently is which Leadership Hero to dump if I want to include him. One deck uses Aragorn + Theodred, dump Aragorn as 'gorn + Imrahil is just murder on the threat level (might as well throw in Glorfindel to boot )? Other deck that has Leadership has Gloin with Glorfindel and Denethor, Imrahil won't be hoarding the same amount of resources Gloin gets. Would also pump up starting threat to 31, naughty for Journey Down the Anduin.

Shelfwear said:

Yeah, I was hoping more for a "released... now!" announcement.

Still no word from my seller, who normally emails me a couple days before each pack is released. Must... journey... to... rhosgobel...

Looks good, can't wait to get a hold of the pack.

As said above, it is a tough call on which current Leadership hero to sit on the bench when going with Imrahil. I'm starting to picture some kind of Gondor/Rohan standing deck theme with Imrahil + Eomund + Horse-breaker + attachment that adds Rohan trait + Sneak Attack. Might need some more Rohan and Gondor allies to add some meat but that'll come eventually.

I'm really excited for this pack, this game just keeps getting better with each pack. Now if only I can get a lord of the eagles hero card....

Avalanche said:

Whoah...Gwaihir as a Hero? Unlikely, I'd say, but i like your thinking.

Honestly, though, every card spoiled for Rhosgobel so far has been great: Radagast, Landroval, Patrting Gifts, Haldir...

I love the sight of all three previewed cards. It is a pitty Imrahil can use the response only once but that would surely be too powerful, so not a pitty, actually. He is just great. And if one wonders who to drop, just drop Aragorn, as Imrahil is better (a guess, obviously). I really think his response is super useful. Any time you sneak in something for a quest, he gets ready after questing to either defend or attack - and both he does in some fashion. He is cheaper than Aragorn for the same willpower, attack and defense. I would not worry much about the lower hps. He is also Gondorian, so there he prevails over Aragorn as For Gondor! makes him super defender. Yes, Aragorn can combo with Celebrian's Stone and he is Sentinel - also to consider; however, the response I would not think much about as which is better, I'd take Imrahil's any time - you just need to build a deck about it. Aragorn's readiness comes with a great price - albeit in Leadership deck.

Haldir of Lórien is great. Especially in the Lore dept. Lore can really do with some additional combat skills.

Parting Gifts, perfect. Especially as we are getting more cards that may use this. For instance the Map-maker, you just build up the resources at a Leadership hero and then move them for the final quest - or decisive one.

lleimmoen said:

I splash my Leadership/Tactics deck that has Aragorn with a few Spirit cards just for Ara+Celebrian's Stone. Further, had to take a Hill Troll attack today with someone, Threat was at 46 at this point, so couldn't throw a meatshield at it. Aragorn's 2 def + 5 hp allowed him to survive, with two Daughters of Nimrodel ready to apply their healing hands on him. Imrahil would've been toast against a six attack. Personally I prefer to keep every hero alive if possible, even if Gloin did die today on turn 1 (!) when defending against Wargs, who drew Massing at Night into two +1 Attack Shadow Effects .

Dam said:

Obviously, the arguments go both ways. And it is usually after many quests that a hero proves better and worse, and that usually switches according to a quest and situation. I was only guessing up there and pointing out some of the likes I see right away about Imrahil. I have a hunch I will enjoy playing him more than I did Aragorn but I shall see.

While we're on the topic of Prince Imrahil, look really closely at his card where the willpower value is. Someone commented in his spoiler article that the alignment is off, and now I can't un-see it

Must... fight... OCD...

I can't wait to team up Imrahil with Aragorn and Eowyn in my primary deck. Yeah, I'll be starting at 32 threat, but spirit can get that under control pretty quickly. Journey Down the Anduin may be tough...

Woz said:

It is of note how that quest sticks out in terms of the starting threat. In Dol Guldur for instance, it is no such big deal. Usually the boundary is about 34 or 35.

Yep (on JDtA having a different threat awareness). I like to make a 'primary' deck that I try to make versatile enough to handle any quest solo somewhat reliably (with a bunch of experiment decks always in the works too). So far my primary does so with the glaring exception of Escape from Dol Guldur. With Aragorn, Imrahil and Ewoyn's start of 32 threat, I'm afraid that Anduin win % will drop quite a bit!

Woz said:

I would strongly suggest to change your Hero line up. Or try it out, anyways, if you haven't. Éowyn is an obvious choice for a solo deck, Théodred is awesome there too as he generates either Leadership or Spirit resources, as you will hardly ever leave either of the two not questing. To round this up, Beravor for drawing and overall usefulness perhaps? That gives you 27 to start with, much better than 32 which is a suicide mission for either Anduin or Carrock.

Imrahil could also work in there I think. With Gandalf and Horse-breaker or Snowbourn Scout, you should be able to ready him quite often. I have already tried this quite a bit and beat Carrock with him on try one. He seems to ready enough times to be of significant help in combat.

Or perhaps you will tell me otherwise. Were you successful enough to lower threat in the opening rounds? Is it not too risky, especially in Anduin? I know you have more time to do so in Carrock but then again, the encounter deck is much more dangerous in there, thus balancing this out some way.

Eowyn/Theodred/Beravor was always my most successful lineup in order to pass the Anduin scenario. Yes, a very good combination of heroes there.

I did not explain well. I've not tried Imrahil yet, but I love his versaility alongside the versatility of Aragorn and the quest specialist Eowyn. For my primary deck, which is Spirit and Leadership, I mostly ran those two with Theodred for the 3 cores, doing fine other than Dol Guldur of course. For the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, I've replaced Theodred with Gloin as I really don't like playing with Theodred (not saying he's not effective, just don't like him much). I think I would like Imrahil, Aragorn and Eowyn even more, but we'll see.

Aragorn, Eowyn and Gloin have won or been close in all the solo Carrock games I've played since the first. The first was a complete beat down as I don't read up on the scenarios in advance. I thought...hmm I bet they bring in a troll into the staging area every turn. Imagine my surprise and chargrin when all four ambushed my poor, and soon deceased, heroes.

I've also tried the combo you mention. Effective, just not as fun for me.