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Author Topic: Loan strategies from Towers and King?  (Read 2834 times)

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May 24, 2018, 04:40:38 PM
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Phallen Cassidy

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Loan strategies from Towers and King?
« on: May 24, 2018, 04:40:38 PM »
I've got some physical cards! My aim is to make as many decks as I can and start getting some players hooked at local card shops, playing primarily Fellowship block. I say primarily because I just don't have enough cards for more than perhaps 10 decks. About half of the 12 Frodos I have are already from Towers or King, and I've only got 5 site 7s, so I'm going to be doing a little bit of mixing. So my question is: what are the most thematic strategies from Towers and King blocks that FotR can adopt without any hassle?

Some background information: I'm borrowing these cards indefinitely from a friend, who had a Moria/Sauron and Elf/Gandalf focus for sure (which he got by trading away cards from other cultures within his play circle). I don't want to add anything altogether new, so no taking advantage of initiative, threats, site control, and I'm not planning on adding any of the new cultures. Some companions (such as Frodo, Master of the Precious and Frodo, Hope of Free Peoples) reference things I won't be using -- that's fine, because there's no way for the Free Peoples player to get anything out of those abilities (useless companions will get slightly better decks). I don't really know what I've got here, but I can probably field any deck type and buff it or nerf it with supporting cards as necessary (Lightfootedness has to go somewhere, right?).  I also don't really plan on using all the decks I can make, I'll be surprised if more than a few people stop by. Still, I may as well have a nice variety.

In following with some of the themes of Fellowship block, bonus points if any suggested Free Peoples side uses only new copies of Fellowship block characters. For the most part, one Orc is the same as any other, but I'm avoiding any culture hate. Do consider card rarity, but don't feel overly constrained. I'll make any substitutions that I need to on my end ;)

May 26, 2018, 07:20:59 AM
Reply #1

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Re: Loan strategies from Towers and King?
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2018, 07:20:59 AM »
Could I ask for some more detail? I'm not really sure what you're asking; are you saying that you have mostly got cards from Fellowship and you want to mix in Towers and King? Or that you have mostly Towers and King but that you want to make decks that play with the feel of Fellowship? Or that you want to use cards from Towers and King that thematically fit in with Fellowship?
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May 26, 2018, 02:37:47 PM
Reply #2

Phallen Cassidy

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Re: Loan strategies from Towers and King?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2018, 02:37:47 PM »
I'm looking to add a few strategies or card combinations from Towers and/or King to supplement my Fellowship cards without drastically changing the gameplay. I've looked over the cards a little bit more, so here's what I'm looking at:

I have enough Fellowship cards to make 8 decks, but it doesn't seem like there's a ton of balance. At the moment there's one Shire deck, two Dwarf decks, a Gandalf signet deck, an Aragorn signet deck (with the only copy of Aragorn I have from Fellowship block), an Elf deck, and 2 scrap heaps. Just now starting to get into Shadow sides, I'm hoping for 1 Sauron, 1 Uruk, 1 Isengard Orc, and either 5 Moria or 4 Moria and a nice rainbow.

The biggest issue is that I anticipate the fellowships will be pretty weak with the exception of the Aragorn deck (it's King in Exile, so that deck automatically gets a good fighter and healing). I have a ton of hobbit swords and wizard staves (4 Gandalfs, but 2 copies are going into one of the scrap heaps), but other than 2 hand axes no other weapons. Lots of skirmish events, but still. The signet decks, and perhaps the shire deck, look like they might be interesting to play, but I think I'd like to beef up the others. I don't have any Fellowship copies of Arwen, for example, but I did spy an Evenstar of her People which would be perfect.

Maybe playtesting will show that the decks aren't quite as off balance as I think. Still, I think it'll be interesting to find out what people think could fit in with Fellowship block.

May 27, 2018, 03:18:13 AM
Reply #3

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Re: Loan strategies from Towers and King?
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2018, 03:18:13 AM »
I'll probably say a bunch of stuff here that you already know, so apologies in advance. Let me know if I've got the right idea or not.

I much prefer Uruks in Towers to Fellowship. Less rare intensive, more variety, more strategies. You can take Broad-Bladed Sword over Uruk-hai Sword, Orthanc Warrior over Uruk Soldier and Ferocity over Bred for Battle. Uruk Rear Guard is a strong Common. There are also Berserkers and Archers and some other cool minions (Uruk Fanatic, Uruk Plains Runner etc.). There is also Ugluk, who is worth way more thematic points than Lurtz, but I guess they're both rares anyway. Suffered Much Loss gives battlegrounds, although I suppose it has Initiative on it. I guess I would suggest two main strategies: regular uruks and tracker uruks with Worry.

Isengard Orcs can use some Towers versions that discard rather than exert. Maybe also Gnawing, Biting, Hacking, Burning.

Mordor can do Mill or Grind, even if it's just with Under the Watching Eye and some Moria Archers. King also allows for some beatdown, maybe use the Advance orcs from set 10.

For the Free Peoples, Towers is way less rare intensive than Fellowship in general. Most characters have a common version, unlike Fellowship, and equipment is more common too. You can use dudes like Lorien Swordsman rather than Lorien Elf for some actual survivability. Towers Haldir is better than Fellowship Haldir. I don't know if using the Naith guys would fit. Gondor characters are mostly region specific, so they probably wouldn't fit thematically. Some of their support cards might work though, like Ancient Roads with the three Fellowship Rangers. Similar thing with Shire.

Why so many Moria strategies?

EDIT: Lots of common weapons in Towers too: Sword of Gondor, Elven Sword etc. More attainable than all the rare unique pieces in Fellowship.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2018, 03:21:34 AM by Dictionary »
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May 28, 2018, 06:42:45 AM
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Phallen Cassidy

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Re: Loan strategies from Towers and King?
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2018, 06:42:45 AM »
I'm just making decks based on the number of cards I have for each culture, it's predominantly Moria, next Sauron, then Isengard, and for Nazgul I think I have 4 minions. I have 4 copies of 2 Nazgul and a copy of WK from Towers I might bring over, but that deck might then be too strong.

I've got a nice Isengard collection from Towers (probably as much as I have Moria and Sauron combined for Fellowship), but I think uruks will already be the strongest shadow side. I built all of my decks 30/30, but I think I should add cards to my Moria swarm decks so They Are Coming is usable, and maybe those will be threatening too. There's not much for card drawing, unfortunately. I'm guessing a lot of good Fellowship cards were traded for better Towers/King cards (there's at least 3 copies of Host of Moria). Some Isengard Orcs from Towers will make a full deck possible, and the Sauron trackers provide much-needed card drawing for a swarm.

Adding weapons is a great idea, Boromir and Aragorn will finally be consistent skirmishers rather than just picking off the little guys while someone else loses to a bigger fellow. I don't want to add Lorien Swordsman (or most any generic companion from later sets) yet because strong redshirts weren't Fellowship's style, but those swords will at least help Legolas and Haldir not look like total wimps. I am adding a Balglin I found. I have a cache of Samwise the Brave and a few Aragorn, Heir of Elendil to give more Fellowships a fighting chance.

The Advance orcs seem too strong to add without buffing every Free Peoples side. Same with Worry, I can't guarantee these fellowships will even win a majority of their battles without a good hand of pumps. I removed all pumps from the Uruk deck because their strength levels are already above the fellowships and the damage is crushing. There aren't any battlegrounds in Fellowship Block, so I'm steering clear of the battleground cards anyway. Maybe the balancing act isn't worth while and I should just play Towers Standard. The goal of Fellowship Block was simplicity, and I don't think I'm accomplishing that :P