You also have to factor in the hit points for the hobbits. 2 points/hobbit (except Sam). That's quite the liability.

To those who don't anticipate that Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli will be heroes in the next box but rather allies, I'm curious to hear who you think WILL be the heroes. I just can't get passed the idea that the one box which would contain quests where the whole fellowship was present, we wouldn't actually receive any heroes IN the fellowship (save Boromir who's complexities of inclusion as a hero I already discussed previously). Do you also not think we will receive another Eowyn throughout the duration of the expansions simply because she's in the core? With 6 expansions we will have 24 heroes released by the time things are said and done, I really don't think FFG is going to neuter their creative developments to cater to the small portion of players that will only have the core and an even smaller portion of those that would be offended by duplicate heroes.

Playing devils advocate tho, if the 3 Hunters are not included that to me leaves:

Elrond

Arwen

Haldir

Celeborn

Galadriel

Boromir

(None of which are perfect fits for tactics (save repeating Boromir) although the same was said of the hobbits prior to yesterday)

***if after everything is revealed and I was wrong feel free to blast away at me, I'll deserve it

no i agree with you, i think we shall see both the hunters as allies and heros at some point, just like the dwarves of thorins company are

i think your list of who the heros are will depends greatly on how far ffg are willing to stretch the term 'hero'. there are of course plenty of characters, but whether the designers would use them for heroes or not i dont know....i sort of hope they do...i would rather like seeing lesser characters as heroes

rich

no i agree with you, i think we shall see both the hunters as allies and heros at some point, just like the dwarves of thorins company are

i think your list of who the heros are will depends greatly on how far ffg are willing to stretch the term 'hero'. there are of course plenty of characters, but whether the designers would use them for heroes or not i dont know....i sort of hope they do...i would rather like seeing lesser characters as heroes

rich

I also think (and would like!) to see them as allies too but I think that'll be later IMO.

As for my "list", I like the more obscure characters as well but I listed the most logical in terms of their relevance in the book and how most of them haven't had hero cards yet

I still think that you're right that we'll have at least one of Legolas, Gimli, or Aragorn in the next one. You raise a good point, because I don't think any of the characters listed have the right "feel" for the next box. But, we won't necessarily have 24 new heroes released. Heirs of Numenor only had two heroes. We might only see two in future sets. (Though I doubt it, since Heirs of Numenor was really focusing on Tactics and Leadership)

it will once again depend on how they handle the breaking....a very tricky issue from a design point of view, and i think everything we are speculating about depends on that

rich

I still think that you're right that we'll have at least one of Legolas, Gimli, or Aragorn in the next one. You raise a good point, because I don't think any of the characters listed have the right "feel" for the next box. But, we won't necessarily have 24 new heroes released. Heirs of Numenor only had two heroes. We might only see two in future sets. (Though I doubt it, since Heirs of Numenor was really focusing on Tactics and Leadership)

Well, the deluxe expansions have had only 2 heroes each, but each of the saga expansions have had 4 heroes from each sphere and the extra saga hero (i.e., Frodo, Bilbo...)

I have a doubt regarding Sam, could his ability be treggered whenever an enemy engages you optionally or not, because it doesn´t clarify and we have seen that they are considered almost the same (like the Hummerhons) and if it was the case his ability could be triggered more tha once ( the traits boost). Thoughts?

This is about Frodos journey, if my crystall ball is right :-) So Boromir may be a version(ally or hero) with hobbit saving ability: ""if hobbit would get killed, the Boromir will take the hit undefended" or something like that.

I know he only has a small part in the (side) story...

... but are we FINALLY going to see Gwahir, FFG???

Seriously, at this point, I'll take anything!! Hero. Ally. Objective. BEER-COZY OR GLASS-COASTER.... I don't care. I. JUST. WANT. HIM.

I have a sickness. It knows no cure....

I have a doubt regarding Sam, could his ability be treggered whenever an enemy engages you optionally or not, because it doesn´t clarify and we have seen that they are considered almost the same (like the Hummerhons) and if it was the case his ability could be triggered more tha once ( the traits boost). Thoughts?

i also want to know this, and i also would like to know if his +1 s are dependant on him readying...or can you get them if he is ready?

Merry looks like a very strong character to me. Untap effects are always strong. I expect him to sit very comfortably with either 2 other hobbits for 3attck , maybe 4. Still the real power is when playing with Brand. What you now have is a range attack system that can do so much.. It needs a add range card to run but this is not hard to get running and brand himself can function 1/2 the combo by himself.

Merry and Brand attack. Brand untaps target toon for your partner. Merry untaps Brand. Brand and Target Toon attack. Brand again untaps target toon again. So we are lookign at +5 attack minimum each attack from range + the attack value of what ever card you are untapping every time. Some thoughtful optional engagements can max the untap effect based on turn order, but in most cases the untap will be used for the NEXT attack. Still swarms of enemies can now be taken down with ease.

Also the sword deck can pull as much has they like and block, not needing to worry about attacking back as you can untap all the cards. This can be done nearly on trun 1 as well. Pretty powerful.

If you get some Elf Rope or w/e the **** it is called or UC on Merry this becomes a combo that can untap entire hero lines across the table. It isn't quite infinite but close.. though there are better uses for UC, the elf rope might find a good target in Merry.

Pretty keen to try it when I get a chance.

I still think that you're right that we'll have at least one of Legolas, Gimli, or Aragorn in the next one. You raise a good point, because I don't think any of the characters listed have the right "feel" for the next box. But, we won't necessarily have 24 new heroes released. Heirs of Numenor only had two heroes. We might only see two in future sets. (Though I doubt it, since Heirs of Numenor was really focusing on Tactics and Leadership)

Each deluxe expansion only has 2 heroes

Edit: I see someone made this same point already. Sorry for the redundancy. Topic moving too fast! Which is a good thing haha

If you get some Elf Rope or w/e the **** it is called or UC on Merry this becomes a combo that can untap entire hero lines across the table.

haha its called Fast Hitch. It should be called Elf Rope though. That would make much more sense and I like Item names like Miruvor, spare hood and cloak, Rivendell Blade, ect.

it will once again depend on how they handle the breaking....a very tricky issue from a design point of view, and i think everything we are speculating about depends on that

rich

I don't think it is that tricky. The books were fairly delineated between Frodo and Sam, and the rest of the Fellowship. So in those Saga Expansions with Frodo and Sam, you have the ringbearer sphere. With the rest of the Saga Expansions, maybe (this could be farfetched, but hear me out) you have Aragorn replacing Frodo as that main hero. Just my theory. It could be way out there.

Merry and Brand attack. Brand untaps target toon for your partner. Merry untaps Brand. Brand and Target Toon attack. Brand again untaps target toon again. So we are lookign at +5 attack minimum each attack from range + the attack value of what ever card you are untapping every time. Some thoughtful optional engagements can max the untap effect based on turn order, but in most cases the untap will be used for the NEXT attack. Still swarms of enemies can now be taken down with ease.

Crapamundo! Why stop there?! Put Brand and Merry on opposite sides of the table.

Brand and Merry attack the same target. Merry readies Brand. Brand readies Merry. Rinse, lather, repeat until the table is clear of enemies, at least on Merry's side of the table. Then you get at least one more attack on an enemy engaged at Brand's side of the table. 2, really (Brand's player declares attack, Brand readies Merry, Merry's player declares attack, Merry attacks alone).

heh.. nice!

Play the new Hammer-stroke card on Merry's side of the table and you're good to go

Merry and Brand attack. Brand untaps target toon for your partner. Merry untaps Brand. Brand and Target Toon attack. Brand again untaps target toon again. So we are lookign at +5 attack minimum each attack from range + the attack value of what ever card you are untapping every time. Some thoughtful optional engagements can max the untap effect based on turn order, but in most cases the untap will be used for the NEXT attack. Still swarms of enemies can now be taken down with ease..

Crapamundo! Why stop there?! Put Brand and Merry on opposite sides of the table.

Brand and Merry attack the same target. Merry readies Brand. Brand readies Merry. Rinse, lather, repeat until the table is clear of enemies, at least on Merry's side of the table. Then you get at least one more attack on an enemy engaged at Brand's side of the table. 2, really (Brand's player declares attack, Brand readies Merry, Merry's player declares attack, Merry attacks alone).

Wow wow sound like already broken combo. Ups designers make a mistake. Will be eraata limit once per round

Why all the sentiment that secrecy is dead?

I agree that 2 hero secrecy is very difficult to motivate but certainly not impossible if one of the hero's provides extra resources ala Theodred. 3 hero secrecy is very much alive and well and there are a large number of options here. If you're playing a deck that can provide strong threat reduction and you regularly find yourself below 20 threat, how could you not consider resourceful, even you don't play any other secrecy cards.

The secrecy card pool provides some of the strongest cards in the game imo. I would like to see it grow, but I do feel as though the current options support secrecy very well.

The recent Hobbit Developer deck is very instructive in this regard and my playtests with the deck have been excellent. It's a really really strong mechanic as it stands imho.

Play the new Hammer-stroke card on Merry's side of the table and you're good to go

Actully this card very cool. Now we start to see some effictive players cards combos

I hope we get some hard quests with epic battles to use all this powerful combos.....

My guess is that we won't get a fourth Hobbit hero in BR. Every saga expansion so far had three themed heroes and one other. I hope they're doing this with BR too. Why not adding Tom Bombadil, Goldberry or Gildor?

Bombadil would have a very high power level whem compared to other heroes (if the devs make him true to the books), Goldberry as a hero would also he quite a stretch and Gildor will be unplayable in some quests, because he is an objective ally in this saga expansion so you would have to eat up threat cost for replacing heroes in campaign mode, should you want to include him.

Bombadil would have a very high power level whem compared to other heroes (if the devs make him true to the books), Goldberry as a hero would also he quite a stretch and Gildor will be unplayable in some quests, because he is an objective ally in this saga expansion so you would have to eat up threat cost for replacing heroes in campaign mode, should you want to include him.

Right, forgot about Gildor. Guess he is out. I don't think that Bpmbadil has to be that strong. He is very passive/uninterested, so he could be designed in a way that he has some low stats but a great passive ability. or an ability that is triggered when you play a song on Bombadil. Same goes for Goldberry (who could have some healing ability) who I don't think is a stretch. She is more powerful than most of the characters in LotR and she gets more page time than Hirluin. Let's not forget there is a certain lack of female heroes.

I personally am most certainly not against duplicate Heroes.

I want more then anything a new Aragorn (spirit), Legolas and Gimli. Along with specific items, weapons for them (Anduril, Lothlorien gifts, etc.)

I know the existing versions of these characters are great, but they are my favourites and I want as many options to play them in different sphere combinations, synergies and circumstances as possible. I personally don't think it's likely, due to a lot of negative buzz concerning this topic in the past. I think we'll get ally or object ally versions of them instead. Like the Hobbit with Thorin's Company, the designers will want the single player to have the option of having the whole fellowship under their control.

I think this is a big shame. This is the real Lotr now, and I want up-to-date, definitive versions of it's most prominent characters. I think objecting to duplicate characters not only cuts down on the options available for playing with your favourite heroes, it hurts the longevity of the game. There are only a finite amount of characters, and while I very much appreciate seeing lesser characters as Heroes, eventually that is all we'll get. A second Pippin? Strange perhaps, but honestly how could he not be in the black riders set? The three hobbits previewed synergise fantastically together.

Having said all that, I think FFG will go the elven route with the second fellowship set. Galadriel, Celeborn, Arwen and Haldir. All new heroes, two new girls (much needed, as inevitably with some stunning art from Magali), and all giving a much needed boost to the much needed and requested Elven synergies. I would prefer this in a parallel Elven cycle, but I don't think it will happen.

The Three Hunters in the Treason of Isengard box? I would love it but I think it's unlikely. Rohan synergies and Ents are a certainty, I think.

As sad as it seems I think we may be stuck with the core set Legolas and Gimli (as Heroes at least) for some time.

Ps, whoever said the main objective ally after the breaking of the fellowship could be Aragorn, I think that would be an excellent idea. However, I think it more likely to be Gandalf the White (Fangorn onwards, of course). It wouldn't step on the toes of people who want to use the existing Aragorns, and would go part way to giving us an actual Gandalf hero. (A powerful Hero, and one they would never have to worry about breaking the rest of the game.)