hendersondayton said:
I am building the deck now...without Son of Arnor how do I apply Forest Snare before the Troll Engages?
.....well you cant really....cant think of anyway at the moment, probably if you know that the troll only has one turn of life left, you take the threat and a dead ally, or let frodo take it and add the threat
also map maker is great. especially with protector, its a willpower overload!
hendersondayton said:
I am building the deck now...without Son of Arnor how do I apply Forest Snare before the Troll Engages?
You don't. Even the Son of Arnor engages the troll--it just allows you to do so during the Planning Phase, when you can follow up with a Forest Snare. If you aren't running the SoA, your best bet is to use Feint to negate the troll's initial attack. You can then play the Snare on your next turn. Alternately, keep your threat low and kill the troll (Dunhere+Dunedain Mark, Gandalf, Descendant of Thorondor, etc.) before it ever engages you.
Without the Son of Arnor, though, it's impossible to engage the troll and Snare it in the same turn.
starhawk77 said:
hendersondayton said:
Without the Son of Arnor, though, it's impossible to engage the troll and Snare it in the same turn.
i think im right in saying without running tactics or leadership its impossible to do both in the same turn
hendersondayton said:
I am giving Dunhere, Elenore, and Gimli a go. Starting at 26. Gives me 4 rounds to try to get enough ally's on the table to deal with him. Will also try to add some attachments to Dunhere to increase his attack strength and get the troll while he is in the staging area and cannot attack.
I know this got talked about later in the thread, but my first thought on seeing the hero lineup was who on earth is questing for you? Total of 4 WP if all three quest, that's like the vanilla core set Tactics deck bad in terms of questing. Two Spirit heroes probably help a bit at least in getting Northern Trackers out, but still.
richsabre said:
hendersondayton said:
This was my deck:
1 Beorn
2 Gondorian Spearman
1 Horseback Archer
3 Winged Guardian
1 Blade of Gondolin
1 Citadel Plate
2 Dwarven Axe
2 Feint
2 Quick Strike
1 Swift Strike
1 Eomund
1 Northern Tracker
2 Westfold Horse-Breaker
2 Power in the Earth
2 The Favor of the Lady
1 Unexpected Courage
2 A Light in the Dark
2 A Test of Will
2 Hasty Stroke
2 Mustering the Rohirrim
2 Strength of Will
2 The Galadhrim's Greeting
3 A Burning Brand
2 Forest Snare
2 Self Preservation
3 Gandalf
3 Song of Wisdom
Heroes:
1 Dunhere
1 Gimli
1 Eleanor
I was out before I could draw the Galadhrim or Gandalf but at the rate that I was playing ally's I was out of Resource. My strategy (tell me if it is a bad one) was to have two spheres covered with Hero's (Spirit/Tactics) and then add the Song for the Lore cards I was wanting (Forest Snare). I just couldn't keep resources on the table so even if I did draw Galadhrim or Gandalf, I would not have been able to play them without the sneak attack card which is in the leadership sphere.
I did see the strider's but was not able to get them in the deck.
Please make suggestions on how I could revise the above deck keeping in mind I have 1 Core, and AP's HFG, CaTC, JTR, HoEM.
ok my two ways that id go about this
1. switch out gimli for thalin.....get rid of them infuriating crows and their surge...surge really can kill you in any quest...or....
2.forget about the 3 sphere deck- it isnt wrong at all what your doing, infact i think most players do this, but i prefer to have just 2, 3 waters things down too much. all of my shadows of mirkwood and khazad victories were with double sphere decks. i would go spirit/lore and have 3 heros that corespond to that, so maybe bilbo, eowyn, dunhere, all lowish threat, or if you want lower switch out one for frodo or elanor
concentrate on two things
spirit for questing power and threat reduction
lore for card draw and getting those important cards then using protector of lorien to exploit that unlimited action per turn
when you have the cards you want, and with bilbos extra card draw and gleowines 1 card per turn, you will have 10-20 cards in your hand at a time, so no more waiting for what you want, so when you have them only having two spheres should help with paying for them, obviously include songs of wisdom and im not sure which pack song of travel is in but if you have it use it
my only strategy i can vouch for for this quest is threat reduction and sniping off the troll as stated before....then with spirit and protector of lorien you can discard 10 or so cards at a time
eowyn with +1 = 5 willpower
say frodo or someone like with protector and +10 willpower
you have yourself 15 willpower there, its basically
1.card draw
2.threat reduction
3.card discarding to buff up willpower for 2b
Have you tried upping how many allies you include in your deck? Some people have suggested having up to half (25 cards) allies in a deck, and I've found that works really well. Another thing is, make sure you're choosing as many low-cost allies as possible. Beorn is a beast, but having to save up 6 resources is a pain and limits what you can do for six phases.
lkb57 said:
richsabre said:
hendersondayton said:
This was my deck:
1 Beorn
2 Gondorian Spearman
1 Horseback Archer
3 Winged Guardian
1 Blade of Gondolin
1 Citadel Plate
2 Dwarven Axe
2 Feint
2 Quick Strike
1 Swift Strike
1 Eomund
1 Northern Tracker
2 Westfold Horse-Breaker
2 Power in the Earth
2 The Favor of the Lady
1 Unexpected Courage
2 A Light in the Dark
2 A Test of Will
2 Hasty Stroke
2 Mustering the Rohirrim
2 Strength of Will
2 The Galadhrim's Greeting
3 A Burning Brand
2 Forest Snare
2 Self Preservation
3 Gandalf
3 Song of Wisdom
Heroes:
1 Dunhere
1 Gimli
1 Eleanor
I was out before I could draw the Galadhrim or Gandalf but at the rate that I was playing ally's I was out of Resource. My strategy (tell me if it is a bad one) was to have two spheres covered with Hero's (Spirit/Tactics) and then add the Song for the Lore cards I was wanting (Forest Snare). I just couldn't keep resources on the table so even if I did draw Galadhrim or Gandalf, I would not have been able to play them without the sneak attack card which is in the leadership sphere.
I did see the strider's but was not able to get them in the deck.
Please make suggestions on how I could revise the above deck keeping in mind I have 1 Core, and AP's HFG, CaTC, JTR, HoEM.
ok my two ways that id go about this
1. switch out gimli for thalin.....get rid of them infuriating crows and their surge...surge really can kill you in any quest...or....
2.forget about the 3 sphere deck- it isnt wrong at all what your doing, infact i think most players do this, but i prefer to have just 2, 3 waters things down too much. all of my shadows of mirkwood and khazad victories were with double sphere decks. i would go spirit/lore and have 3 heros that corespond to that, so maybe bilbo, eowyn, dunhere, all lowish threat, or if you want lower switch out one for frodo or elanor
concentrate on two things
spirit for questing power and threat reduction
lore for card draw and getting those important cards then using protector of lorien to exploit that unlimited action per turn
when you have the cards you want, and with bilbos extra card draw and gleowines 1 card per turn, you will have 10-20 cards in your hand at a time, so no more waiting for what you want, so when you have them only having two spheres should help with paying for them, obviously include songs of wisdom and im not sure which pack song of travel is in but if you have it use it
my only strategy i can vouch for for this quest is threat reduction and sniping off the troll as stated before....then with spirit and protector of lorien you can discard 10 or so cards at a time
eowyn with +1 = 5 willpower
say frodo or someone like with protector and +10 willpower
you have yourself 15 willpower there, its basically
1.card draw
2.threat reduction
3.card discarding to buff up willpower for 2b
Have you tried upping how many allies you include in your deck? Some people have suggested having up to half (25 cards) allies in a deck, and I've found that works really well. Another thing is, make sure you're choosing as many low-cost allies as possible. Beorn is a beast, but having to save up 6 resources is a pain and limits what you can do for six phases.
yeah you gotta have plenty of friendlies for this one........actually the best fodder ive came across is snowbourn scout...pay 1 to put into play...put a progress token on something ...then watch the dude bite the dust
Feint is in the Tactics Sphere and I am trying to build a Spirit/Lore deck per Rich's suggestion.
Here is what I have so far. As Rich and others have said, I was concentrating on Spirit/Lore to Reduce Threat, Draw Cards, and boost Willpower.
Heroes
• Éowyn CS 7
• Bilbo Baggins SOM 1
• Dúnhere CS 9
Deck
3x Escort from Edoras (SOM 55)
2x Northern Tracker (CS 45)
2x The Favor of the Lady (CS 55)
1x Unexpected Courage (CS 57)
2x The Galadhrim's Greeting (CS 46)
2x • Gléowine (CS 62)
3x Longbeard Map-Maker (SOM 32)
2x Forest Snare (CS 69)
2x Protector of Lórien (CS 70)
2x Lórien's Wealth (CS 64)
3x Strider's Path (SOM 9)
3x • Gandalf (CS 73)
2x Song of Travel (SOM 81)
2x Song of Wisdom (SOM 34)
Total 31
My only issue right now is Ally's for Spirit/Lore are expensive and crappy
hendersondayton said:
Here is what I have so far. As Rich and others have said, I was concentrating on Spirit/Lore to Reduce Threat, Draw Cards, and boost Willpower.
Heroes
• Éowyn CS 7
• Bilbo Baggins SOM 1
• Dúnhere CS 9
Deck
3x Escort from Edoras (SOM 55)
2x Northern Tracker (CS 45)
2x The Favor of the Lady (CS 55)
1x Unexpected Courage (CS 57)
2x The Galadhrim's Greeting (CS 46)
2x • Gléowine (CS 62)
3x Longbeard Map-Maker (SOM 32)
2x Forest Snare (CS 69)
2x Protector of Lórien (CS 70)
2x Lórien's Wealth (CS 64)
3x Strider's Path (SOM 9)
3x • Gandalf (CS 73)
2x Song of Travel (SOM 81)
2x Song of Wisdom (SOM 34)
Total 31
My only issue right now is Ally's for Spirit/Lore are expensive and crappy
you say you have everything up to eymn? im just looking on deckbuilder for your options
you could sort of have a rohan sub theme with eomund, horse breaker and riddermarks finest...a bit rubbish on attack though
haldirs handy as an ally....
henmarth riversongs great for peeking at the encounter deck
miner of the iron hills and erebor ironsmith are two good cheap ones
wandering tooks ok as a defender/throw away ally
lorien guide i find a bit expensive compared to northern tracker whos much better and only 1 more
daughter of the nimrodel is good if you want to spend 3 on an ally that is basically a life support system
gildors good but expensive
i think thats about it...probably doesnt help you much
ill add stuff as i think of it
Heroes
• Éowyn CS 7
• Bilbo Baggins SOM 1
• Dúnhere CS 9
Deck
1x • Celebrían's Stone (CS 27)
2x • Steward of Gondor (CS 26)
3x Escort from Edoras (SOM 55)
2x Northern Tracker (CS 45)
3x Westfold Horse-Breaker (SOM 6)
2x The Favor of the Lady (CS 55)
1x Unexpected Courage (CS 57)
2x A Light in the Dark (CS 52)
2x A Test of Will (CS 50)
2x Hasty Stroke (CS 48)
2x The Galadhrim's Greeting (CS 46)
2x Erebor Hammersmith (CS 59)
2x • Gléowine (CS 62)
3x Longbeard Map-Maker (SOM 32)
2x Miner of the Iron Hills (CS 61)
2x Forest Snare (CS 69)
2x Protector of Lórien (CS 70)
2x Self Preservation (CS 72)
2x Lórien's Wealth (CS 64)
3x Strider's Path (SOM 9)
3x • Gandalf (CS 73)
1x Song of Kings (SOM 10)
2x Song of Travel (SOM 81)
2x Song of Wisdom (SOM 34)
Total 50
OK. Here is is. I actually added the Song of Wisdom (Leadership) and a couple attachments to help with Resource adding and Willpower (Steward and Celebrian)
hendersondayton said:
Heroes
• Éowyn CS 7
• Bilbo Baggins SOM 1
• Dúnhere CS 9
Deck
1x • Celebrían's Stone (CS 27)
2x • Steward of Gondor (CS 26)
3x Escort from Edoras (SOM 55)
2x Northern Tracker (CS 45)
3x Westfold Horse-Breaker (SOM 6)
2x The Favor of the Lady (CS 55)
1x Unexpected Courage (CS 57)
2x A Light in the Dark (CS 52)
2x A Test of Will (CS 50)
2x Hasty Stroke (CS 48)
2x The Galadhrim's Greeting (CS 46)
2x Erebor Hammersmith (CS 59)
2x • Gléowine (CS 62)
3x Longbeard Map-Maker (SOM 32)
2x Miner of the Iron Hills (CS 61)
2x Forest Snare (CS 69)
2x Protector of Lórien (CS 70)
2x Self Preservation (CS 72)
2x Lórien's Wealth (CS 64)
3x Strider's Path (SOM 9)
3x • Gandalf (CS 73)
1x Song of Kings (SOM 10)
2x Song of Travel (SOM 81)
2x Song of Wisdom (SOM 34)
Total 50
OK. Here is is. I actually added the Song of Wisdom (Leadership) and a couple attachments to help with Resource adding (Steward and Celebrian)
ok good luck with it....also its probably best to take a mulligan (or is it do a mulligan?) anyways to make sure that you get protector of lorien in your set up hand, as that will help alot
when posting decks for help... might be a good idea to tell us what card pool you are using...
Looking at your deck, I think it's fine, beside having only one Northern Tracker. Replace Horseback Archer (too costy) with NT. I'd use Frodo instead of Eleanor, as you're lacking questing power. Frodo is also a last line of defense against the troll if everything else goes wrong. Thódred is always a good choice for 3 sphere decks.
If you don't want to rely on Forest Snare you could also use Song of Kings instead of Wisdom. This supplies you with Steward of Gondor, Celbrían's Stone, Sneak Attack and 3 Dunedain Marks. Give the latter to Dunhere, and the troll might be dead before he's able to engage you.
Don't think this has been mentioned, you could use Gimli + Dwarven Axe + PoL. When playing Anduin Gimli is one of my questers, so PoL helps to get more WP. However, when it's about beating the troll, I usually try to engage him when I have attached both Dwarven Axe and PoL on Gimli, and Gandalf or Feints is in my hand. Gimli defends against the troll, with PoL as his life assurance and he gets 4 damage. Next round he has 8 attack. Play Gandalf or Feint to block the next attack, and let Gimli and some allies attack the troll. He should be dead by now, or he has only 1 HP left. If the latter is the case, you can easily take him out with a Gondorian Spearman.
booored said:
when posting decks for help... might be a good idea to tell us what card pool you are using...
I am not sure what you mean by "card pool" (forgive me). I am playing Spirit/Lore Hero's with Song of Kings and a couple Leadership Attachments (Celebrian and Steward of Gondor) to boost willpower and Resources.
If you are referring to what sets do i have: 1 Core, and Adventure Packs HFG, CaTC, JtR, HoEM
leptokurt said:
Looking at your deck, I think it's fine, beside having only one Northern Tracker. Replace Horseback Archer (too costy) with NT. I'd use Frodo instead of Eleanor, as you're lacking questing power. Frodo is also a last line of defense against the troll if everything else goes wrong. Thódred is always a good choice for 3 sphere decks.
If you don't want to rely on Forest Snare you could also use Song of Kings instead of Wisdom. This supplies you with Steward of Gondor, Celbrían's Stone, Sneak Attack and 3 Dunedain Marks. Give the latter to Dunhere, and the troll might be dead before he's able to engage you.
Don't think this has been mentioned, you could use Gimli + Dwarven Axe + PoL. When playing Anduin Gimli is one of my questers, so PoL helps to get more WP. However, when it's about beating the troll, I usually try to engage him when I have attached both Dwarven Axe and PoL on Gimli, and Gandalf or Feints is in my hand. Gimli defends against the troll, with PoL as his life assurance and he gets 4 damage. Next round he has 8 attack. Play Gandalf or Feint to block the next attack, and let Gimli and some allies attack the troll. He should be dead by now, or he has only 1 HP left. If the latter is the case, you can easily take him out with a Gondorian Spearman.
This will be my next attempt!! Thank you!
hendersondayton said:
booored said:
when posting decks for help... might be a good idea to tell us what card pool you are using...
I am not sure what you mean by "card pool" (forgive me). I am playing Spirit/Lore Hero's with Song of Kings and a couple Leadership Attachments (Celebrian and Steward of Gondor) to boost willpower and Resources.
just mean what cards you have to draw on i.e your current collection
Got it. I provided those as well. Thanks for the help!
Wow! What a gem this thread is! I'm in the same situation, stuck on Anduin with solo play. I only have one core set and have only been playing since Christmas, but this thread gave me some great ideas. The interesting thing is that I played some 4 player games when I first got it and we beat every single game and played all three scenarios from the core set. I'm playing solo now and it feels impossible! After reading this, though, I think I'll try Anduin again.
Budgernaut said:
Wow! What a gem this thread is! I'm in the same situation, stuck on Anduin with solo play. I only have one core set and have only been playing since Christmas, but this thread gave me some great ideas. The interesting thing is that I played some 4 player games when I first got it and we beat every single game and played all three scenarios from the core set. I'm playing solo now and it feels impossible! After reading this, though, I think I'll try Anduin again.
yeah at first the player scaling will feel way off ..... it gets better though
Budgernaut said:
Wow! What a gem this thread is! I'm in the same situation, stuck on Anduin with solo play. I only have one core set and have only been playing since Christmas, but this thread gave me some great ideas. The interesting thing is that I played some 4 player games when I first got it and we beat every single game and played all three scenarios from the core set. I'm playing solo now and it feels impossible! After reading this, though, I think I'll try Anduin again.
Wow, have you been playing with the standard decks of the coreset?
I tried Anduin thrice solo and twice with three players and the standard decks and closest I got to winning (that is I killed the troll) was in one solo game.
After playing this scenario a number of times with may different hero sphere combinations, this scenario leads me to believe it should be higher than a difficulty 4. Basically if you flip over any extra hard to deal with enemies (like a second troll) you just scoop and start over. It almost feels like you need a opening hand with sneak attack and Gandalf to really have a chance at this one.
Xeodus said:
After playing this scenario a number of times with may different hero sphere combinations, this scenario leads me to believe it should be higher than a difficulty 4. Basically if you flip over any extra hard to deal with enemies (like a second troll) you just scoop and start over. It almost feels like you need a opening hand with sneak attack and Gandalf to really have a chance at this one.
That's not entirely true. Especially the second part.
While I would agree it is not as easy as one should expect of a Dif. 4, there is no simple 'you lost' draw on the encounter deck. Even if you flip a second Troll or, a beastmaster, or the Adder, whatever; you always have a chance.
The most appealing facet of this game is that you can overcome (almost) impossible odds, in the face of death, after losing two of your Heroes, you pull that nice strategy in your mind and then, BOOM! Shakalaka. You made it! You won!
Crap. It is way more interesting to win after being almost decimated than just 'Rohannize' the quest after a couple of turns.
I still do'nt have a good Rhosgobel win ratio, and that's the reason I build several decks to beat the entire cycle instead of a single scenario. I have to plan accordingly to each scenario's strengths. So, in Rhosgobel, I either must have a good deal of healing, or lots of shadow-meta and treachery-meta. It's nice to play that way.
More to the point, the Trolls can be managed by Gimli or Gandalf, and then, be bombardied (sp?) by a good lot of 1-2 cost guys... or again, Gimli.
That Orc with victory points in the Anduin is more of a worry than the Trolls, in my opinion, if you don't kill it soon, he'll be a PAIN to deal with. The adder is another one you should worry; still, after all being said, last night I had 16 (out of 24) points of victory in Anduin, defeating (IIRC) 2 Trolls, 2 victory locations and the orc mentioned earlier.
Hope it helps. 
Ser Folly said:
Budgernaut said:
Wow! What a gem this thread is! I'm in the same situation, stuck on Anduin with solo play. I only have one core set and have only been playing since Christmas, but this thread gave me some great ideas. The interesting thing is that I played some 4 player games when I first got it and we beat every single game and played all three scenarios from the core set. I'm playing solo now and it feels impossible! After reading this, though, I think I'll try Anduin again.
Wow, have you been playing with the standard decks of the coreset?
I tried Anduin thrice solo and twice with three players and the standard decks and closest I got to winning (that is I killed the troll) was in one solo game.
When I played with 4 players it was with the standard core sets, and we probably ruled some minor things incorrectly which seems to be common, but with the solo decks I've been trying to multisphere. It's just hard because if you have one hero quest, one defend, and one attack, you'll never do damage to the hill troll unless you get Gimli, Gandalf, or can play lots of heroes. I agree with the above statement, I feel like you pretty much need Gandalf in your starting hand to have a chance at this one.
This is a quest that my first few plays through (both solo and two-player) I managed to win, and only did it feel easy. More recently I've tried playing it in solo again and have been getting my butt-kicked. 
I played last night with an all Spirit deck. Low Threat, build up a bunch of allies, etc. I had myself pretty well prepared for the troll, I payed for Gandalf, sent just some Westroad Travelers to Quest, and then I drew the crows...who surged the other Troll. With both trolls bearing down at me (and Chieften Uthak waiting in the staging area) I just couldn't pull it off.
I think my last solo victory had been a Lore/Tactics deck With Bilbo, Glorfindel, and Legolas. I'm nigh certain that victory involved the use of a Forest Snare (and Possibly a Feint card).
Budgernaut said:
Ser Folly said:
Budgernaut said:
Wow! What a gem this thread is! I'm in the same situation, stuck on Anduin with solo play. I only have one core set and have only been playing since Christmas, but this thread gave me some great ideas. The interesting thing is that I played some 4 player games when I first got it and we beat every single game and played all three scenarios from the core set. I'm playing solo now and it feels impossible! After reading this, though, I think I'll try Anduin again.
Wow, have you been playing with the standard decks of the coreset?
I tried Anduin thrice solo and twice with three players and the standard decks and closest I got to winning (that is I killed the troll) was in one solo game.
When I played with 4 players it was with the standard core sets, and we probably ruled some minor things incorrectly which seems to be common, but with the solo decks I've been trying to multisphere. It's just hard because if you have one hero quest, one defend, and one attack, you'll never do damage to the hill troll unless you get Gimli, Gandalf, or can play lots of heroes. I agree with the above statement, I feel like you pretty much need Gandalf in your starting hand to have a chance at this one.
I never use gimli in solo play...