They've put up another preview of the Hobbit Saga expansion, with three new cards spoiled, and the new attachment is going to be legendary! “Combat Action: Choose an enemy in the staging area. Exhaust Great Yew Bow and attached hero to make a ranged attack against that enemy. Declare attached hero as the attacker. No other attackers can be declared for this attack.”

Even a slightly tooled up Legolas (or Bard for that matter) is going to do lots of fun damage with that. I also like that it's subtley less good than Hands Upon the Bow, because it can't be used to trim the staging area during questing, as it's a Combat Action. It's very nice.

Thoughts on Bombur? Actually could be quite useful, and I think nicely thematic.

Really nice cards. Looking forward to this update again!

I love Bombur for theme but I'm not sure if I will put him in my deck. I really like Bard and together with this f***ing awesome bow he'll be a great sniper. Though I'm thinking of using Legolas with the bow + rivendell blades. That combo needs still one more card but will contribute progress and a lower starting threat…really like this expansion

Is that bow too good? But in anyway it makes tactics more reliable choise of sphere!

first of all, wooooo, i was really looking forward to some news or previews….now onto the awesome new cards spoiled

Bombur:

Absolutely love the art and the theme associated with this card, it instantly shoots up towards the top of my favorite pictures for heroes. I think he'll have a distinct place in dwarf decks as well. While playing solo, I think the lore dwarf of choice will remain Ori or Bifur, when branching out to multiplayer dwarf decks, Bombur will be a staple. He also has built in synergies with Ori and Thorin as mentioned in the preview, but also Erebor battle master and We are not idle…who knows what other dwarf themed player cards this set will bring so there will likely more to come as well. I hope the Balin character card (whom i will be stunned if it is not the Spirit Hero) is as thoughtfully designed as this card.

Bard & Great Yew Bow:

Very cool art, love the burning village in the backdrop…although the face seems a little off to me but whatever. Instantly strikes me as a very strong attacker card since he can single handidly drop most of the weaker enemies right off the first turn. I was initially disappointed that his use would only come in multiplayer tho (especially since i play mostly solo), but the Great Yew Bow instantly made up for that. At first glance it seems far superior to Hands Upon the Bow since it can be used every turn, but then i saw that it is a combat action card which levels down its potential. So long as your threat can be kept relatively low, Bard and the Bow make a great combination but later in the game the attachment will be relatively useless. It is still cool though that other characters such as Brand and Legolas can use the card as well. Overall i think Legolas is still the ranged attacker of choice since a single elven blade gives him the same effect as Bard, but that wont stop me from having a blast using the grim bowman in a lot of scenarioes

Yeah, the Combat Action makes a difference. It is also of note that Bard's threat cost is 11. Spirit is very valuable to keep the threat low and enemies in the staging area for combat, or send them there via Light in the Dark. Good that Hands Upon the Bow has by no means become obsolete.

I am so glad we get a proper Bombur, the ally version was quite terrible. This one is an instant thematic success. It almost seems a joke but it actually works, the early fifth Dwarf can make a huge difference in Thorin's and Ori's strategy.

Well i really like the new heroes. Bard looks epic and imagine his ability with the Black Arrow that was spoiled before!!! I also like that he has well rounded stats, he and his grandson (Brand) are the highest willpower heroes.

I also hope that Gwahir will make the Leadership hero, and maybe Balin for Spirit.

IVe been waiting for a long while to get a good defense character. And Bombur surely fills that hole (pun intended). Combine him with some Erebor Record Keepers and Burning Brand, and he will hold off hordes of nasty enemies. Lore also gives him access to healers. Boots from Erebor or Ring Mail can boost him further up.In theory you could pimp Bofur to 8 HP and 4 DEF (Arwen, Hardy Leadership, Ring Mail, Erebor Boots)! And a threat of 8 is also quite handy.

Brand is cool, but his threat of 11 is a big turnoff to me. What are his 2 WP for anyway? Make that zero and reduce his threat to 9, and he is fine.

Alex6222 said:

black arrow is going to be such a clutch card, gives the ability to knock out some of the stronger enemies or "boss" enemies in one turn. easy to find room for it in a deck too since its limit of 1 (unfortunatley)

If they do make Gwahir the leadership hero it would be great if he lowered the cost of the other eagle characters, i'm personally hoping for Thrainduil although for some more elf-synergies plus thematically Thranduil only appeared in the Hobbit where Gwahir is sporadically mentioned in LOTR

I'd bet hard money on Balin for spirit

leptokurt said:

Your alternative with the lower starting threat would no doubt be good, but I'm glad to see him with 2 will, which ties him w/ a few others for highest in Tactics sphere. It's not like there aren't ways to ready him after questing (UC). Also, it's good to have him versatile, especially since will is such a crucial stat for most scenarios. I'm certainly excited for Bard.

I'm not as keen on Bombur, since Bifur is such a great addition to Lore at the same cost. Yes, Bombur is technically a better defender with 2 more HP, and I try to have a character with 5 HP for some treacheries/enemies, but both Bombur and Bifur will need a few support cards to be reliable, great defenders. I'll give Bombur a shot, perhaps there's something I'm missing about him and I'll be pleasantly suprised, but so far I'm underwhelmed…

Hi, everyone, I've read in a wrong way or Bombur provides two lore resources a turn?. If so, it's better than Bifur……my opinion. Tutankarrer

Tutankarrer said:

You're misunderstanding the card. He is still a single hero, so he gathers the usual one ressource per turn. His ability only affects other card effects that read "if you control X dwarf characters" or "for each dwarf character you control" and the like.

"Just add Bombur to your starting line-up. That gives you two Lore resource tokens on your first turn, enough to play an Erebor Hammersmith (Core Set, 59) or a Miner of the Iron Hills (Core Set, 61), and, voila!, you control five Dwarf characters"….. so this is in the article, as the designer describe. What do you think?

jc1138 said:

Unexpected Courage works fine when you have enough core sets - I only play with one though, so UC is not a reliable option. However, you are right that there are ways to use Brand for different actions. I started to include "Spare Hood and Cloak" into my recent decks. A cheap card that can help you so much. Would help to maximize Brand's use.

That said, I still think that 11 threat is too much for a hero that is designed to shoot his arrows at enemies in the staging area. Well, at least "A Light in the Dark" may find its way into some decks. Or, even better, "Fresh Tracks".

Tutankarrer said:

You forgot to add one sentence:

"Want those extra resources and card draw from Thorin and Ori as soon as possible? Just add Bombur to your starting line-up. That gives you two Lore resource tokens on your first turn, enough to play an Erebor Hammersmith (Core Set, 59) or a Miner of the Iron Hills (Core Set, 61), and, voila!, you control five Dwarf characters!"

Ori also has the lore sphere, that's why you get two lore resources.

That paragraph confused me too on the first read through. As the guy above me says, you get 2 lore resources a turn with that build. One from Ori, one from bombur.

I think Bombur could be pretty useful. 2 defense and 5 hit points is not bad, and his ability will make Erebor Battle Master even nastier, in addition to the aforementioned Thorin and Ori effects.

I really loved it when Caleb wrote this:

"Now, I know what some players are thinking: “That’s great if you’re playing multiplayer where you can make Ranged attacks, but he’s no good to me in a single player game.” Well, just keep reading. What good is a bowman without his bow, anyway?"

I love how well he knows us and the game. I feel like the game's in really good hands with him.

Perhaps this is an ill-considered question with a simple answer, but how does Dain effect Bombur? Does he give him +1 or +2 W and A, since he counts as 2 dwarves? I'm a little unclear on this. If Dain does give Bombur +2 then I'll revise my earlier statement, as a 2W, 3A, 2D, 5HP for 8 starting threat would be great!

Also, with all the great support for ranged, where's the love for the sentinel ability? (crosses fingers that something will be in this or an upcoming set)

Off the top of my head, Bombur would only receive the normal +1 from Dain. I think his ability only comes into effect with cards that require you to count the number of dwarf characters you control, like Erebor Battle-Master or Thorin.

Narsil0420 said:

Yes Caleb is really good. I always say he is best designer for now for this game!