Much to Expect from the Assault on Osgiliath

By lleimmoen, in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

The preview states the following:

In addition to its challenging new scenario and the Palantír, Assault on Osgiliath introduces a new Ranger hero, and a number of cards that support the Gondor and Outlands traits. You’ll also find cards that promote the construction of mono-sphere decks and that represent the effective traps, ambushes, and skirmishes that Ithilien’s scouts andRangers use to weaken their foes. Altogether, it’s a wide array of cards to support multiple new strategies, and you’ll need everything you can find to confront the Orc and Southron hordes and reclaim the city.

So we've got the Palantír and eight more player cards (not counting the hero). In those eight cards we're to see support for both Gondor and Outlands, support for mono-sphere decks, support for traps? Even a single more Outlands ally will be enough to strengthen the faction yet some more (especially if not of the Leadership sphere). I hope to see yet another trap surely but perhaps even better a card that fishes it out from the deck, though it is more likely we will see the already spoilt Anborn that brings a trap back from the discard pile. More than the above, I'm really hoping for a strong Gondor card, and by that I mean a card that strengthens a strictly thematic Gondor deck. Like: if all your heroes have the printed (!) Gondor trait, you... eh... win the game? No, not quite like that, but a decent ability to be sure.

And above all, I'm looking forward to see a strong Faramir hero card. We've been getting many articles lately, though more often dealing with the future saga or errata, could it be we see Faramir previewed today? Amon Din was out at the very beginning of July, I'm thinking Osgiliath cannot be far off...

I dont really care about Player cards to be honest. But what i do care is about a good interesting and challenge Adventure which is will not be so easy and boring as a last 3 AP.

I know you don't. But some of us do. Understanding is a good thing.

As for the quest, I think this one will be hard. And if you want a challenge, try and win the Forest with 4-players (I haven't even got it yet but I've heard it's very hard with 3 or 4 coop).

I know you don't. But some of us do. Understanding is a good thing.

As for the quest, I think this one will be hard. And if you want a challenge, try and win the Forest with 4-players (I haven't even got it yet but I've heard it's very hard with 3 or 4 coop).

I dont have much players around in Bangkok. Most of the players play home solo.

So i play mostly solo and 2 players. Some times 3. DF is a cool quest but too easy since there is no much enemies.

Anyway really hope for Osgoliath.

I know, it is not easy to find players for a real coop. I only sometimes do. Still, it is quite easy to handle a coop alone. Also, one needs not take his strongest deck against a relatively easier quest. I found it to be quite a challenge to beat even the "easier" quests with a "weaker" thematic deck.

And I'm looking forward to strengthening some of those decks, like a Gondor deck, with the upcoming expansion. The upcoming site hasn't been updated for a while (at least not for Osgiliath) but I have a hunch it cannot be too long before it is out...

i hope that it is around difficulty level 6 (i know that doesnt mean much, but say just a little harder than stewards fear). what i want to know is when are we getting the weapons? we have a cycle based on the most powerful military of the free peoples and we have seen 2 items from her armoury- the spear and shield.....we need more, quick

rich

This one should be cool. Since we already see all this weak encounter decks from HON in first 3 quests. we will use now a more stronger encounter sets like southrons and the spiders of Morgul Assault. Blood and Vale quests should be strong and difficult. Sounds like 8 10. Will be cool!

Sorry but Amon Din is a joke. Im a bit insulted as a player! For what i play my money?

i know i am repeating myself, but i cant help but to say this- just make weaker decks. just becuase a game exists, it doesnt mean every single quest has to be a huge challenge to win....a game must cater to all difficulty levels and experience.

i would be interested to see what the players think of the difficulty, how many thinks it too hard, easy or otherwise. quite a few players over the years have left due to the difficulty of this game, and if ffg actually went ahead with what you wish, then there would be no game left for you to play- most players would have left through complete frustration at the difficulty.

not just that, but there are other levels to this game than charging ahead with your best deck. there are many theme players here and they need to be thought about. what i mean by this is that the whole idea of having this game based upon such a great narrative as the lord of the rings is that players can make decks with their favourite characters and go and play against quests that are similar to the books......and as we know theme decks are hardly the best are they?

so ffg needs to think about making quests that are within reach of theme decks. as i said on the amon din post, i have not yet tried it with a proper deck (i.e. one i know will easily win it) but i have tried it with a theme deck, and lost...but it was a fun game, and thats all that matters here....not win rates, but fun.

so, thats a long, drawn out, way of saying that there are at least some gamers here who do not think amon din laughably easy, personally i am a little tired of the bashing that quest is getting due to its difficulty level, despite it being a good thing for this game- every game needs variation

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@lleimmoen -sorry for sidetracking your thread, but i thought it had to be said. now onto the topic at hand, as i said above i want weapons, and reading the part you quoted i think that we shall probably get some, though i think perhaps it will be more ranger based...so how about a ranger bow?

i am not sure what it should do, perhaps:

Ranger Bow

after a hero with ranger bow destroys an enemy, search your deck for 1 trap card and add it to your hand

i would also love to see some sort of archery variation for the player....so archery deals X damage in combat phase, perhaps an ambush attatchment that deals X damage to 1 enemy per turn where X is the amount of ranger allies in play?

Edited by richsabre

I know you don't. But some of us do. Understanding is a good thing.

Glaurung and understanding the others? Are you that naive?

Anyways, I don't expect much from their PR speech. You know, this whole cycle was supposed to improve Gondor and it didn't do much. No, Outlands are a different trait so I don't count it. Also I agree with Rich - shield and a spear....that's it?

This has got to be one of the most anticipated AP's in some time for a few reasons:

1. We have got no news/spoilers on it since it was announced despite it being released likely within the next week or two (US anyway)

2. Faramir hero. I needs it, it is precious to me....and I swear if FFG goes off the deep end and gives us Mablung or Halbarad...I will still buy their product...with bitterness

3. Epic scenario. You can tell that this is set up to be a huge confrontation the likes of which we haven't seen since the HoN box or battle of seven armies to a degree. Heavy expectations for both difficulty and scale abound

i hope that it is around difficulty level 6 (i know that doesnt mean much, but say just a little harder than stewards fear). what i want to know is when are we getting the weapons? we have a cycle based on the most powerful military of the free peoples and we have seen 2 items from her armoury- the spear and shield.....we need more, quick

rich

Oh yeah, weapons, armies, please! It is easier to be a pacifist once the wild imaginations of youth have been played out in a Middle-earth game...

Yeah, I wonder how different it shall be from Massing at Osgiliath, which I find to be one of the best quests out there (I'm not a fan of the PoD idea but both quests so far rank among the best, for me).

Surely we cannot get Mablung as a hero, not whilst Faramir is overdue.

On a weapon-related note, I wonder if we ever see siege engines like catapults or trebuchets as player cards.

I know you don't. But some of us do. Understanding is a good thing.

As for the quest, I think this one will be hard. And if you want a challenge, try and win the Forest with 4-players (I haven't even got it yet but I've heard it's very hard with 3 or 4 coop).

I dont have much players around in Bangkok. Most of the players play home solo.

So i play mostly solo and 2 players. Some times 3. DF is a cool quest but too easy since there is no much enemies.

Anyway really hope for Osgoliath.

So play OCTGN and join our community there.

just becuase a game exists, it doesnt mean every single quest has to be a huge challenge to win..

rich, there are like almost no quests with a real challenge. MIrkwood cycle has only 1 with a challenge(RtM) Dwarrowdelf has only 1-2. Hobbit 1 has none. Not sure about Hobbit 2. HoN has 2. I personally think Ithilien is pretty easy. and so far, 0/3 are challenge in this new cycle. core has only 1 challenge out of 3. So that's something like 5/24 quests that actually give you a little bit of a challenge. Rest are easy. So the players that like losing to a quest sometimes and having to make lots of strategic decisions, only have a very small margin of quests that are hard.

We dont have almost every single quest a hard quest. We have way too few hard quests.

And I can't help saying, the "build a weak junky deck" idea is......not the solution. I wan't to use powerful cool new cards.

And i dont mean to sound mean.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I know you don't. But some of us do. Understanding is a good thing.

As for the quest, I think this one will be hard. And if you want a challenge, try and win the Forest with 4-players (I haven't even got it yet but I've heard it's very hard with 3 or 4 coop).

I dont have much players around in Bangkok. Most of the players play home solo.

So i play mostly solo and 2 players. Some times 3. DF is a cool quest but too easy since there is no much enemies.

Anyway really hope for Osgoliath.

So play OCTGN and join our community there.

I would like too but i have a mac there is no octgn. But my computer at home is windows one. So if you can help me to get to octgn i will be happy

just becuase a game exists, it doesnt mean every single quest has to be a huge challenge to win..

rich, there are like almost no quests with a real challenge. MIrkwood cycle has only 1 with a challenge(RtM) Dwarrowdelf has only 1-2. Hobbit 1 has none. Not sure about Hobbit 2. HoN has 2. I personally think Ithilien is pretty easy. and so far, 0/3 are challenge in this new cycle. core has only 1 challenge out of 3. So that's something like 5/24 quests that actually give you a little bit of a challenge. Rest are easy. So the players that like losing to a quest sometimes and having to make lots of strategic decisions, only have a very small margin of quests that are hard.

We dont have almost every single quest a hard quest. We have way too few hard quests.

And I can't help saying, the "build a weak junky deck" idea is......not the solution. I wan't to use powerful cool new cards.

And i dont mean to sound mean.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Agree 100%

But Most of the serious players already leave a game too.......And reason is same.....

I love speculating on player cards, so with the given information...i'll try to do just that:

so with 8 player cards remaining after the revealed palantir and the much assumed Faramir Hero we need to satisfy:

Gondor trait

Outlands trait

Mono-sphere capability

Traps

Leadership #1- a outlands themed event (leadership seems like the sphere of choice for outlands with hirluin and lord of morthond). We really dont need anymore outland allies, but some more support in the form of attachments (of which we have one already) or more likely events would be a nice addition if they are intent on continuing to strengthen the trait

Leadership #2 - no clue but another gondor themed card whether that be ally, attachment, or event would be very welcome

Tactics #1 - A gondorian weapon attachment of some sort...just needs to happen

Tactics #2 - A gondorian soldier ally (we already have two tactics gondorian defenders its time we have one with some attack strength)

Lore #1 - Anborn (hes been spoiled for what seems like forever and with his ability and traits he would satisfy both the Gondor and trap archetypes)

Lore #2- Card which was shown in the reveal article although we can only see the art, not the name or text. To me it looks like it would be an event and based on the picture, will likely also expand the use of traps

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

Spirit #2 - really no clue, could be anything. Possibly Mablung since he was partners with Damrod who is presently in the spirit sphere as well.

Colorless #1 - Palantir

thoughts?

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

thoughts?

Dwarven Tomb already does this, so i hope the spirit version of this type of attachment is a bit different.

just becuase a game exists, it doesnt mean every single quest has to be a huge challenge to win..

rich, there are like almost no quests with a real challenge. MIrkwood cycle has only 1 with a challenge(RtM) Dwarrowdelf has only 1-2. Hobbit 1 has none. Not sure about Hobbit 2. HoN has 2. I personally think Ithilien is pretty easy. and so far, 0/3 are challenge in this new cycle. core has only 1 challenge out of 3. So that's something like 5/24 quests that actually give you a little bit of a challenge. Rest are easy. So the players that like losing to a quest sometimes and having to make lots of strategic decisions, only have a very small margin of quests that are hard.

We dont have almost every single quest a hard quest. We have way too few hard quests.

And I can't help saying, the "build a weak junky deck" idea is......not the solution. I wan't to use powerful cool new cards.

And i dont mean to sound mean.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Agree 100%

But Most of the serious players already leave a game too.......And reason is same.....

Because no one on this forum is a serious player...

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

thoughts?

Dwarven Tomb already does this, so i hope the spirit version of this type of attachment is a bit different.

well technically it is a bit different since the scroll will pay for the cost of the event whereas dwarven tomb just puts it in your hand but i know what you mean....i still think it will be the same tho because with that same reasoning, tactics also has a very similar effect with Hama, but nonetheless it was still had the same event recycle effect as anticipated.

and while the effects are similar...they are different enough to play different roles. Dwarven tomb can grab that Elrond's counsel for some immediate threat reduction, a quick Will of the West or Hasty Stroke, or that 1 ally whom was discarded and you really need back. The scroll can essentially cheapen the costs to replay expensive events like Galadrim's Greeting, Light the Beacons, and Fortune or Fate where even if returned to your hand, you would likely need another turn or so to pay for them

Edited by Pharmboys2013

I love speculating on player cards, so with the given information...i'll try to do just that:

so with 8 player cards remaining after the revealed palantir and the much assumed Faramir Hero we need to satisfy:

Gondor trait

Outlands trait

Mono-sphere capability

Traps

Leadership #1- a outlands themed event (leadership seems like the sphere of choice for outlands with hirluin and lord of morthond). We really dont need anymore outland allies, but some more support in the form of attachments (of which we have one already) or more likely events would be a nice addition if they are intent on continuing to strengthen the trait

Leadership #2 - no clue but another gondor themed card whether that be ally, attachment, or event would be very welcome

Tactics #1 - A gondorian weapon attachment of some sort...just needs to happen

Tactics #2 - A gondorian soldier ally (we already have two tactics gondorian defenders its time we have one with some attack strength)

Lore #1 - Anborn (hes been spoiled for what seems like forever and with his ability and traits he would satisfy both the Gondor and trap archetypes)

Lore #2- Card which was shown in the reveal article although we can only see the art, not the name or text. To me it looks like it would be an event and based on the picture, will likely also expand the use of traps

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

Spirit #2 - really no clue, could be anything. Possibly Mablung since he was partners with Damrod who is presently in the spirit sphere as well.

Colorless #1 - Palantir

thoughts?

Leadership

The interesting fact is that Leadership is the sphere of choice not only for Outlands (Lord of Morthond) but also Gondor (Boromir, Visionary Leader, etc.). I would certainly like to see a Gondor specific card there, the one requiring all Gondor heroes to be in the line-up.

Lore

Yes, more traps, and probably Anborn. It is a bit far-fetched, but I'd like to see a trap that makes resources, like: once the attached enemy leaves play, add a number of resources equal to its threat to one of your heroes (perhaps a bit too strong, but something like that - and making sense also, like getting information out of someone, though that would thematically more likely transformed into cards).

Spirit

No idea. An ally would be nice.

Tactics

Definitely a weapon, a must, pretty please? (I know it's been printed.) I wouldn't mind seeing an attack modifier but it is not probably where they're going with Gondor. It is hard to beat the big villains like Smaug without an army of allies at the moment... A little threat reduction (as a reward for killing) enemies would be nice... but Spirit got that one already.

what i hope doesnt happen is that we get a weapon but in event form, like goblin cleaver. i much prefer my weapons as attatchments (they look cooler haha)

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

thoughts?

Dwarven Tomb already does this, so i hope the spirit version of this type of attachment is a bit different.

well technically it is a bit different since the scroll will pay for the cost of the event whereas dwarven tomb just puts it in your hand but i know what you mean....i still think it will be the same tho because with that same reasoning, tactics also has a very similar effect with Hama, but nonetheless it was still had the same event recycle effect as anticipated.

Edited by Tracker1

what i hope doesnt happen is that we get a weapon but in event form, like goblin cleaver. i much prefer my weapons as attatchments (they look cooler haha)

agreed that would be disappointing to have such cool items reduced to 1 time events

Spirit #1 - Book/Scroll of "X" this will be the attachment which plays an event from the discard pile that we have already gotten in the last pack for tactics, and were spoiled for lore and leadership from the last two APs. Process of deduction means we'll get the spirit one in this pack which also qualifies for the mono-sphere boosting

thoughts?

Dwarven Tomb already does this, so i hope the spirit version of this type of attachment is a bit different.

well technically it is a bit different since the scroll will pay for the cost of the event whereas dwarven tomb just puts it in your hand but i know what you mean....i still think it will be the same tho because with that same reasoning, tactics also has a very similar effect with Hama, but nonetheless it was still had the same event recycle effect as anticipated.

From what i understand is that if you use the scroll you still need to pay for the event. It's not a freebee, although, if it did the card would be really good, what do others think on this?

I dont think thats correct, the book of eldacar (tactics scroll) states:

Action: Discard Book of Eldacar to play any tactics event card in your discard pile as if it were in your hand. Then, place that event on the bottom of your deck.

-so the only cost, is the book itself...unless i've completely misinterpreted it