I finally started to play TSL today after enjoining ItP for several weeks. One reason for waiting so long was the difficulty level of TSL. Only a 3, so it shouldn't be to hard. But then I lost 12 games in a row. Only in two of those I made it to stage 2B. I used my beloved dwarfen deck (Dwalin, Dáin, Bifur) that could handle ItP quite good, but somehow it has only a small chance against TSL. Either I'm doing something wrong or the difficulty is more like 6 or 7 instead of 3 (I do think it is harder than JdtA and RtM). I won my last game due to some lucky encounter draws and getting Sneak/Gandalf.
One thought is that you apparently need the tactics sphere. I think about swapping Dwalin with either Gimli or Thalin (tending to the latter) and using Gondorian Spearmen and Dwarven Axe Warriors as my line of defense against the enemy hordes. Feint, Quick Strike and some Weapons should also help to handle the fighting stuff, but I fear that I will get problems during the quest phase if I completely give up the spirit sphere.
Is anyone facing the same problems as me? Who is playing TSL with tactics? Who isn't? What is your strategy beside exploiting the Ziggy and Beravor mechanics? Am I the only on who has to face more than one enemy per round on average?
Edit: I'm playing with one core set and all expansions.