Hi all. I got this game for Christmas and i think it's really good. I have got the CORE set and the first two Shadow's of Mirkwood expansion: Hunt for Gollum and Conflict at Carrok. I managed to beat the first scenario with a Spirit Lore deck of 30 cards, since then i have created other decks, but i can't manage to beat the next scenario.

Could somone please help me with a good deck fort me to play.

Thanks alot to anyone who replys as i am itching to play again and progress to other scenarios, and actual win a game!!

are u playing solo or 2 player?

Sorry, i am playing Solo.

snowyy said:

try eowyn, dunhere, and aragorn

eowyn is a powerful quester and great for solo when alot of will power is needed, use her discard a card to get +1 will power, dunhere can really help by attacking enemies in the staging area preventing a build up of enemies, and finally aragorn is powerful all round but also can ready after questing by spending a resource token.

not a complete deck but in your deck try to include the following:

unexpected courage: one of the best cards in the game, lets you ready a character once per turn

3 gandalfs: probably THE most powerful card in the core set

sneak attack: use these to sneak attack gandalf in to play then back to your hand allowing you to get his 'when gandalf enters play' effects multiple times

galadhrims greeting: solo you can get -6 threat off your dial with these....very powerful

northern tracker: use these guys to get rid of location build up, when they commit to a quest they put a progress token on each location in the staging area

celebrians stone: great attacthment for giving +2 willpower

test of will- cancel them pesky treachery cards

hasty stroke (i think its called that)- allows you to cancel shadow card effects

steward of gondor- lets you get resource tokens extra per turn- put this card on aragorn

i think its called ever vigilant (sorry away from the game at the moment)- its a leadership event card and lets you ready a character

ok. Thansk alot for your help and quick reply. You said gandalf is probably the most powerful card in the Core set, and i would agree. I have four, so should i use 4, or is that too many high costing cards?

snowyy said:

you can only have 3 of each card in a deck...unfortunatly!

Oh, then i have been cheating and still losing!! Thanks.

snowyy said:

haha no worries

Try and get it so your start threat is low, around 25ish. A good way to go as you only have one UC is Bilbo for card draw. Dunhere to attack staging area and then use either Elenore or denathor depending on play style. My opinions on Eyowen is well know now, and it is not good.. yes she is a powerful quester, but questing is the least of your problems I would strongly recommend stop using her as fast as possible freeing up a hero slot for more interesting game effects, it will greatly increase your deck building options and IMO allow you to build much more function and reliable decks.

Thx, thats a good point. I did want to get my starting threat down, atleast below 30 because of the Hill troll. I will try Eowyn to start with, because i would like to try Spirit, and i don't fancy going 3 spheres just yet, but i will look to branch out when i am more expirienced.

Sorry, just another question, do you have any tips on dealing with the Hill troll? Last game i managed to use Snare on him so he couldn't attack, however im not playing Lore any more.

there are some tricks but lore is the easyist. a plated gimli can feal with it pretty well, dunhere with marks on him can take it out b4 it even enters the combat area (this is my prefered method), Beorn hit for 8 just by himself, he is expensive but a good sneak attack target. Frodo can eat his attack in threat alowing for a mega all out combined attack to kill it from lots of weaker units, then use spirt cards to lower threat back down after....

lots of options really.

Ok thx. I have just managed to take it out, with alot of help from Gandalf. On to stage 2!

Thanks for the help. I did well to start with but lost to a marsh adder followed by to crow's in a row Will have another go see if i can get better luck this time.

just beat carrock withj this deck

1 Eomund
2 Northern Tracker
3 Daughter of the Nimrodel
2 Erebor Hammersmith
2 Gleowine
1 Henamarth Riversong
3 Longbeard Map-Maker
2 Miner of the Iron Hills
3 Rivendell Minstrel
3 Gandalf
1 Celebrian's Stone
3 Dunedain Mark
3 Dunedain Warning
2 Steward of Gondor
1 Unexpected Courage
2 A Burning Brand
2 Protector of Lorien
1 Song of Kings
1 Song of Wisdom
3 Sneak Attack
2 A Test of Will
1 Dwarven Tomb
2 The Galadhrim's Greeting
2 Radagast's Cunning
2 Secret Paths
Heroes:
1 Dunhere
1 Bilbo Baggins
1 Denethor

only uses 1 copy of core... not the best score as it was slow but was a very crusy fun game with no scary bits as it was all under control. Could prob remove the Warnings, and replace with some more questers... farimer would be good as the idea is to fight everythign in the staging area with dunhere

I finally won!! Thanks everyone for their help. using your advice i created a 2 sphere deck using:

Bilbo: For double card draw
Dunhere: To attack enemies in the staging area
Theodred: To allow me to use 'Sneak Attack' and increase my resources, also including Steward of Gondor for triple resources for the attached hero.

i think included lots of cheap cards and ally's.

I used Forest Snare on the starting Hill Giant and then left him while i added counters on the quest, built up an army, used Strider's path to deal with locations and built up my hand with loads of cards. When i was ready i killed the troll then played Protector of Lorien to give Theodred loads of Willpower.

I also used the Sneak Attack - gandalf combo to reduce my threat and block incoming creatures, allowing my army to kill them. I also Stand and Fight for even more Gandalf goodness!

Overall, it was pretty easy and i finished on 18 Threat. Once i managed to Forest Snare the Troll i was pretty safe.

Thanks again for all the help, i final belive i have made a decent deck, however tomorrow will tell when i tests it's consistancy and take on the Last of the Core Set Scenario's, Wish me Luck!!

snowyy said:

Note that the hero you give Theodred's ability resource to has to be questing as well.

snowyy said:

Tsk-tsk, illegal play ! Check the FAQ.

Dam said:

haha yes i believe dam is referring to stand and fight not working on neutral cards

Dam said:

Oops. I fogot about that. I did use Theodreds ability only on people questing, but yes, ill change my finishing threat to 23 because the 'Stand and Fight' doesn't work, luckily i only used it at the end.

Dam said:

Aw crap, I've been playing Theodred wrong. I knew that's how he worked, but somehow I didn't notice I was doing it incorrectly.