Just starting to play, ready to expand a bit, but want to know of good combinations from core to start with. My collection will grow slower than I'd like. Aside from core, I did pick up the Hunt for Gollum and am looking forward to that.

Suggestions?

hey again

here is a deck i put together quickly using core and HFG

the deck is lore/spirit, my favourite 2 spheres, with song cards adding the leadership sphere to get those important cards like steward of gondor and sneak attack

the deck has high card draw from bilbo (1 card extra per turn) beravor (who can exhaust to draw cards) and gleowine. using all these cards the idea is to put protector of lorien on a hero and discard cards to power up their willpower

….note that beravor and protector of lorien were changed in the most recent FAQ to limit their power which can be found on the FFG lotr support page

ive put some decent questers in, northern tracker and lorien guide to handle locations, faramir to buff up everyones willpower, and minstrel, once she has drawn you the songs, is a good quester

dunhere is the hero for fighting. he can kill enemies in the staging area, so put those dunedain marks on him to give him +1 attack. put unexpected courage on beravor as she is a good all rounder, letting her quest and defend.

in the events ive put in galadhrims greetings to get threat down…however the start heros are all low threat anyways, test of will and hasty stroke are very important, so bring one of them back with dwarven tomb after use to recycle it. sneak attack is there for gandalf who is always useful

as always you want a good starting hand, so dont forget to mulligan if you dont have a good draw…..ideally you want a minstrel or song, at least a test of will or hasty stroke, and preferably an ally or two, or a dunedain mark or unexpected courage…and of course protector of lorien is central to the deck

you may find it slow to start as there is no immediatly powerful questers, the trap not to fall into here is going for someone like eowyn, which was what i used to do. she is good and her 4 willpower gives you a good start, but a nicely rounded deck with some sort of questing machine like protector of lorien (or even better longbeard map maker which is later packs) works better in the long run and is pretty much more fun as with eowyn you tend to get stuck always using her

the deck is of course weak on fighting allies which is often my play style. for really bad enemies however remember you have forest snare- take the attack with beravor and snare next turn. then heal her with lore of imladris

snowbourne scout also makes a useful ally to sacrifice if things go bad!

rich

Hero (3)
Beravor (Core) x1
Bilbo Baggins (THFG) x1
Dunhere (Core) x1

Ally (19)
Gandalf (Core) x3
Henamarth Riversong (Core) x1
Miner of the Iron Hills (Core) x2
Northern Tracker (Core) x2
Rivendell Minstrel (THFG) x3
Snowbourn Scout (Core) x3
Gleowine (Core) x1
Faramir (Core) x2
Lorien Guide (Core) x2

Attachment (16)
Forest Snare (Core) x2
Protector of Lorien (Core) x2
Song of Kings (THFG) x2
Steward of Gondor (Core) x2
Unexpected Courage (Core) x1
Celebrian's Stone (Core) x1
Dunedain Mark (THfG) x6

Event (15)
A Test of Will (Core) x2
Dwarven Tomb (Core) x1
Hasty Stroke (Core) x2
Sneak Attack (Core) x2
Ever Vigilant (Core) x2
Fortune or Fate (Core) x1
Lore of Imladris (Core) x2
Stand and Fight (Core) x1
The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core) x2

Thanks, Rich! I will try to give this a try today

Looks like Rich has you all set!

I prefer to try and find combos on my own right now, but if you are looking for a list of them check out The BGG LotR LCG Compendium .

I like Leadership the most; I tend to play a Ldr/Lore or Ldr/Spirit deck. This generally gives me enough allies, resources to play them, and either a great quester (Eowyn) or great defender (Denethor). Rich points at that if you have a good questing machine you can leave Eowyn at home.

I have been dabbling with a Spirit/Tactics deck focused on attacking the staging area as Rich talks about, and while I see a lot of potential there there have been so many creatures with low encounter levels it hasn't been easy.

So, some basic combos that have proven pretty useful:

Sneak Attack + Anything. Seriously, SA + Gandalf, SA + Miner of the Iron Hills, SA + That Dwarf smith that gives you an attachment back (Erebor Hammersmith iirc), SA + Longbeard Orc Slayer, SA + Snowborn Scout (if you're in a pinch); The list goes on!

Common Cause + Bilbo: Use this to ready a more powerful hero.

Gloin + Lore: Any sort of healing makes Gloin's ability amazing.

Dunhere + Damage boosts: Like the Dunedain mark, giving Dunhere +Damage lets him tear things up in the staging area.

Dunhere + Quick Strike: Use this to hit things before they engage.

There are many more in just the core set!

@ richsabre

What would you suggest to players that only has the core cards at the moment?

Bahoola said:

well if you would like me to be perfectly honest id say 'buy some packs' …..that isnt meant to be snarky or anything either….the quests get a lot more interesting and a whole lot easier after even a couple of packs……and i remember being extremely frustrated with just the core set (i lost alot )

….but i guess that isnt the answer you were looking for ….so heres some perhaps more constructive advice

id say stay away from tactics as much as you can, especially tactics mono sphere. lore and spirit has always been the most potent combination of spheres in my opinion, and theres plenty of options.

i said previously to stay away from eowyn, however she can easily fill a questing slot so try her if you want some immediate power….perhaps try taking out bilbo which you dont have in the deck i posted and put eowyn in instead.

the majority of cards in the deck are in the core set so keep them in as they are all good cards- test of will, hasty stroke, northern tracker, unexpected courage and forest snare are all cards i wouldnt do without whilst just having the core set, and including them will heighten your chances of a win.

…..alternatively, and perhaps more powerful, i would put in aragorn instead of eowyn. this gives you access to all the leadership cards that you would otherwise loose in by putting eowyn in. sneak attack is especially powerful and is still winning quests for me (ive just won the 2nd hobbit quest just now by sneaking gandalf in to kill the great goblin….its one of those cards that never gets old)

aragorn can then quest and ready for 1 cost….put steward of gondor on him and he can easily do this each turn. put celebrians stone on him and he not only gains a spirit icon but also can quest from +2 willpower and still be ready to attack/defend along with beravor…who i would still have unexpected courage on.

again have in a couple of protector of loriens and have some card draw cards such as gleowin/wealth of lorien, giving you a nice willpower/defence boost when you need it

ok ….here are some more ideas

denethor- put UC on him and you have a hero with 3 defense capable of manipulation the encounter deck to get rid of cards you dont want. add him in instead of berevor

Gloin + healing is a popular combo where gloin takes damage, thus getting resources, and then you heal him with self preservation or daughter of nimrodel etc.

thalin is very useful, but as i said tactics is hard to make work with core. its worth giving it a go though, as he can quest and immediatly get rid of those annoyign eastern crows before they surge. perhaps put thalin with gloin and a spirit or lore hero….there are no spirit or lore dwarves in core so maybe try dunhere or denethor or ewoyn. problem with core is you pretty much HAVE to have test of will in, as the only hero who can cancel treacheries is eleanor who is spirit anyways. this of course changes with songs, but for now youre stuck with spirit pretty much in every deck which can get frustrating as i said at the start of the post

all together every deck you make needs to satisfy the following….they may sound obvious but is useful to keep these in mind…in order of importance (my opinion)

1. questing- quests are won on questing- all else is second

2.fighting- allies can be sacrificed so good defense is less important than good attack, as build up of enemies can be fatal. you need at least 1 good attacking hero, or plenty of decent attacking allies to get in play

3.resource draw- of course all these cards need to be paid for, no matter how many you have…making number 4…

4.card draw- a cardless deck will quickly make a game go sour

5. ok…i guess i have to put defense in somewhere…it may need to be higher up but i think the first 4 deserve their places

6. card cancellation…ive put this here however in some quests it can be number 3 or even 2. however for most quests if you have a solid deck you should be able to withstand treacheries

some decks can have alot of 1 to make up for lack of others, however its can be a dangerous strategy. for instance alot of my decks have alot of willpower but poor everything else….this works fine for some quests, others its almost an instant death. but its again worth considering. journey down the anduin is a quest for example that needs a nice rounded deck whereas emyn muil is a quest that needs just number (1) and number (6) (which becomes of course number 2)

finally you need to consider strategy- how do you play? every turn needs a different approach depending on what is in the stagin area/ engaged with you.

if there is nothing ie. round 1, then you have 2 methods here-

1. quest with just about everyone as you dont have any current enemies in play (apart from set up cards)

or

2. quest with no one/ few people as you dont have any threat in play (apart from set up cards)

which one you chose will depend on the set up and the cards the encounter deck will throw at you- this is where henemarth riversong or denethor comes into effect. if you see an enemy, chose 2 and kill it, if its a location chose 1 and quest with everyone

of course in subsequent rounds you need to find the right mixture, and this is where your amount of allies is important, freeing your heros up to kill or quest

again in my opinion i would have 50% allies 25% events 25% attatchments, though you could go lower of the allies to perhaps 40% and make it up on either of the other two, but the point remains you need alot of allies in your deck

i shall round this post off with what i started with….everything ive said here gets easier with the more card choices you have, so if you find yourself stuck in a position where you win 1 in every 10/20 quests, dont worry….it gets easier!!!

hope this helps

Rich, you say 6 x Dunedain Mark. I assume this is really 3, yes?

Again, thanks for all the advice!

zelq said:

oh i apologise- must have been a typo, as yes, you can only have 3 of any card

rich

EDIT- i know what happened- i constructed the deck on cardgamedb and was double clicking each card, which was actually putting 2 each time

just wanted to PS this saying that given i mistakenly put an extra 3 dunedain marks, the deck will now need an extra three cards to make it up to 50

rich

Ofc I’m getting some expansions. My plan was to go throw the core set and the Massing at Osgiliath, and then the Shadows of Mirkwood “campaign”. And after that the Khazad-dûm Expansion and the campaign set to that box.

And at the time I’ve completed all those scenarios I bet that ether Bilbo or Numenor will have some campaign set going that will tell me what to by next.

Dose this sound as a wise plan or should I buy some thing ells to achieve (can't find the word) gaming experience.

Bahoola said:

hey

massing at osgilliath is difficult, esepcially solo

id say that you cant go wrong doing them in the order they came out, which sounds what you mean by the plan you set out.

rich

This is my first deck I put together from the information in this thread. It’s built form what you can find in a single core box. No big thoughts behind this deck. Loads of allies to take some beating and some combination of cards that found on this forum.

Let me know what you think!!! And don’t be afraid to trash it if u feel the need to do so, I can take it ;p

Total Cards (58)

Hero (3) -
Aragorn
Beravor
Dunhere

Ally (26) -
Gandalf x3
Faramir x2
Longbeard Orc Slayer x2
Guard of the Citadel x3
Snowbourn Scout x3
Erebor Hammersmith x2
Daughter of the Nimrodel x3
Gleowine x2
Henamarth Riversong x1
Lorien Guide x3
Northern Tracker x2

Attachment (12) -
Steward of Gondor x2
Celebrian's Stone x1
Forest Snare x2
Protector of Lorien x2
Self Preservation x2
Unexpected Courage x1
The Favor of the Lady x2

Event (20) -
Grim Resolve x1
Sneak Attack x2
Ever Vigilant x2
Lore of Imladris x3
Beorn's Hospitality x1
Fortune or Fate x1
Will of the West x1
A Light in the Dark x2
The Galadhrim's Greeting x2
Dwarven Tomb x1
Test of Will x2
Hasty Stroke x2

Its not a perfect deck yet, but so far it has taken me futher then the other decks I’ve played with ;S
Would still need to get rid of some cars so I’m down to 50 cards, less cards to work throw be for I find the main cards. Darn, do some one know it it’s possible to just buy single cards some where.

hey

first great deck- i like it!

as for the singles this is an often asked question and the answer is yes you can (well USA at least) however they cost around $4-10 each…which is of course ridiculous

rich

Well maybe I should play the game with the cards FFG intended it to be played with. I insure you, this new decision has nothing to do with the over pri… I mean resonable prising on the cards!

With the deck I just put to getter I played the second scenario in the core book “Journey Along the Anduin”. It feels like I scored pity okay, if not to say dame good, but I leave that to more experienced players to de decide sense this is the first game there I actually counted the score.

Core book score, 22 points and with the Errata tally system 152 points. I hop this give other new players a hint on how well the deck performs with a newbie’s tactical mind and knowledge.

richsabre said:

Rich, what would you suggest to replace those 3 cards?

i would perhaps add a card draw card such as loriens wealth or campfire tales

failing that you could have a few encounter card cancellers such as radagasts cunning or secret paths

rich