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| Bilbo, Retired Adventurer |
![]() Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:29 pm |
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Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 54
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
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--- description ---
Hobbits and Evil Men strategy before the Hunters expansion.
--- end description ---
Accident happening in Prancing Pony
The frightened and overwhelmed Hobbits have entered The Prancing Pony Inn. The big folk is all around and strange and secretive eyes watch from corners and behind dim candlelight. Gandalf,who set them on this journey isn’t here either.The Baggins’s name has been spoken...Now freeze.In the following moments hobbits will be exposed and certain figures will turn their backs to learn what is very dear to dark forces from the East, forces that will push young Frodo Baggins on a journey long and dangerous, far away from Shire,it’s green fields and warm stories of his uncle Bilbo Baggins.
In the moment trapped in time there are two important facts about the whole situation.The hobbits have so dramatically ran out of places to hide and there is an absence of key evil figure known in Bree as Bill Ferny, or in tcg terms Bill Ferny, Agent of Saruman.
As you already suspect this is an article about Hobbits without No Visitors and Evil Men without Bill, that come out soon in The Hunters.The Hobbits feature ringbound hobbits with Sam, Bearer of Great Need ringbearer,Frodo, Frenzied Fighter and Bilbo, Aged Ring-bearer combined with Smeagol, Simple Stoor for site manipulation and choke.On the other hand Evil Men build their strategy around utilizing Stragglers to their maximum potential.
Surviving Hobbits
Since they cannot cancel skirmishes Hobbits will have to find a way to survive by possesing enough strength not to be overwhelmed. A Promise is standard in any hobbit deck so isn’t an issue here.Obvious choice comes to Sudden Fury which,if not discarded, can give them enough power during the whole course of the game.For that comes into play Shadowplay which occupies space in deck but can do so many things, especially protect against Buckland Homestead abuse.Two swords are a must,one for Sam and one for Frodo.Salt from the Shire adds valuable resistance to Sam and Simple Living can heal all Hobbits when is relly neccesary.And that leaves us with adding followers and pumps for the hobbit side of Freepeoples deck.
All is connected in this hobbit deck as many cards benefit from each other or need them.Another card that gives strength is Frodo Gamgee, Son of Samwise but adds 2 burdens which combined with Gaffer and Daddy Twofoot is unstandable.That’s why the only option for pump despite its high cost is Hope is Kindled.(If a hobbit wins a smirkish you remove a burden.)The reason for not using Concerning Hobbits is that it takes time to develop and also that the shadow side benefits from plains.Having enough dwellings in that case could be difficult.
If all fails, in comes the rescue card to help in early game.Tom Bombadil, The Master can cancel skirmishes and also removes 2 burdens when played.It might be expensive to play (5 cost) but can be bearable if you have Safe Passage on table and/or you have already gave much twilight anyway.
Smeagol helps
Here we come to Smeagol and his many uses.He can be strong with four Deagol, Fateful Finder and There’s Another Way (15) ,he can put conditions on top of opponents deck with Gladden Homestead and choke with Safe Passage using plains as his choice.In addition to this he is a path chooser from first till ninth site with One Good Turn Deserves Another which is essential to put out with first site (Dammed Gate-Stream).The ability of TAW to exchange sites in Regroup is also very useful because you could drop a potential bomb for your Shadow turn or utilize same site again( i.e. Caras Galadhon/Buckland Homestead).
Setup and concerns
Putting all necessary cards into this deck means a lot but all cards have their use and combined make a tank of a freepeoples side.That said, a tank can be slow and 37 cards is too much in any case.That fact can be eased by using card drawing from both Freepeoples and Shadow sides. For that reason Freepeoples have Deagols which will be used 2 times in average,usually for sword and Phial of Galadriel, The Light of Earendil which is a second tool of Hobbits to draw cards by mustering in regroup.Shadow have their own way which will be discussed later.
The setup is to bid 2 to go first,then take OGTDA for site planning.After that all is in the hand of the draw and pool care.Ringbound Hobbits are not easiest to play because you have to plan when to use Frodo’s ability to replace skirmishes while taking care of wounds and early in the game their strength is very low so they must rely on choke.Which cards you draw will determine how you start your play.
Evil Men and their tricks
The main card of Evil Men is Stragglers . It is a condition and therefore vulnerable to discarding. That means that Men have few chances to strike a killing blow and must be used carefully.There are three cards that most often interfere with their plans. Traveller’s Homestead is the worst, and for that reason only, 2 Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders are in deck to try and meddle in the things.( you will use Buckland Homestead only with laying it behind your fellowship with TAW).Travelled leader will stop all plans for that turn but will devastate if Pallando, Far-travelling One is on table. What is a happy news, Pallando can be dealt with careful picking of minions to put down in which case the companion that caries him doesn’t win a skirmish at all. Dunlending Trapper proves most useful in that since you can assign him and it’s lurker, but other minions can be strong enough not to be beaten in a skirmish (i.e. Merciless Dunlending.)
The shadow player needs to do two things.One is to setup Stragglers and Caravan from the South using The Mouth od Sauron, Messenger of Mordor . The other is to pull a little 5-6 minions swarm to overwhelm a companion or two. Countless Companies comes in so you can stack Pavise on it to pull more possessions and conditions every time you get Mouth of Sauron . Since MOS is weak he is a liability and needs boost that comes in the form of Messenger’s Mount,which makes him fierce (awesome for Stragglers),and can also prevent wounds if necessary(especially with Pellenor Fields) . Legion of Harad is most useful for its swarm ability.
Worn battleaxe makes fine addition with strategy to win key skirmishes and also to fierce Frenzied Dunlending.As all possessions it can then be stacked on Countless Companies to use when needed. Finally, one copy of Lying in wait can sometimes be that deciding thing you need and you can pull it out with MOS.
Sticking together or fail
Considering all said, Evil Men have the ability to work well together and if they can not get killed or loose to Pallando, they can overwhelm strong opponents in that final skirmish and/or in fierce.If they cannot do that once per game they can certainly try to lay waste with Wold Battlefield site.They have all the tools,they just need to get lucky.On the other hand they can be totally beaten by good Gandalf draw.But one thing is certain.Using Mouth of Sauron several times will greatly help your fellowship since you will draw enough cards to minimize the effect of having such a large deck.
The decklist :
Adventure path:
(0) Buckland Homestead
(0) Isenwash
(0) Emyn Muil
(1) Northern Pelennor
(1) Pelennor Flat
(1) Pelennor Fields
(2) Wold Battlefield
(2) Caras Galadhon
(3) Dammed Gate-Stream
Ringbearer
Sam, Bearer of Great Need
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Companions/Possessions:
Bilbo, Aged Ring-bearer
Frodo, Frenzied Fighter
Smeagol, Simple Stoor
Sting, Weapon Of Heritage
Phial Of Galadriel, The Light Of Earendil
Salt from the Shire
Hobbit Sword
Allies/Followers:
Deagol, Fateful Finder x4
Daddy Twofoot, Next-Door Neighbor
Frodo Gamgee, Son of Samwise
The Gaffer, Master Gardener
Tom Bombadil, The Master
Conditions:
A Promise x4
Safe Passage
There’s Another way x4
Gladden Homestead x2
Sudden Fury x3
Shadowplay x2
Simple Living
Events:
One good turn deserves another
Hope is Kindled x4
Minions:
Dunlending Trapper x 3
Frenzied Dunlending x 3
Legion of Harad x 3
Merciless Dunlending x 4
Rampaging Easterling x 3
The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor x 4
Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders x2
Posessions:
Worn Battleaxe x 4
Pavise
Messenger’s Mount
Conditions:
Stragglers x 4
Caravan from the South x 3
Lying in Wait
Countless Companies
Final thoughts
The featured deck needs playtesting.I’d like to think that I thought of everything,but certain things need to be tested out in practice, especially like do Hobbits need more healing and will Nelya bring unbalance to Evil Men slowing their attack.I also believe Voice from the Desert should be put in and maybe Rosie Cotton instead of one Sudden Fury.I hope you enjoyed this article as I enjoyed making this deck.
Please comment if you think my article deserves 3 or less.Thank you
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| exarrkun |
![]() Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:54 pm |
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Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 93
Location: Belgium
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good article dude 
i didn’t read much of the evil men but your hobbit’s look very solid
perhaps you should put this card in your deck: Chance Observation
if all hobbit’s are there, it can make a hobbit str + 6 witch is not bad for 0 pool  |
a story that has a happy ending is a story that isn't over yet...
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| Bilbo, Retired Adventurer |
![]() Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:05 pm |
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Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 54
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
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exarrkun wrote: good article dude
i didn’t read much of the evil men but your hobbit’s look very solid
perhaps you should put this card in your deck: Chance Observation
if all hobbit’s are there, it can make a hobbit str + 6 witch is not bad for 0 pool
There won’t be mayn hobbit cards in discard,since there are only 4 events.But thanks for your comment.  |
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| hblika |
![]() Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:34 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 287
Location: Norway
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exarrkun wrote: good article dude
i didn’t read much of the evil men but your hobbit’s look very solid
perhaps you should put this card in your deck: Chance Observation
if all hobbit’s are there, it can make a hobbit str + 6 witch is not bad for 0 pool
The followers have no race, so they can’t be spotted as Hobbits for Chance Observation. |
| I'm not stupid. I'm just unlucky when I'm thinking. |
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| exarrkun |
![]() Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:42 pm |
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Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 93
Location: Belgium
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indeed you are right
sorry about that  |
a story that has a happy ending is a story that isn't over yet...
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| Bilbo, Retired Adventurer |
![]() Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:49 pm |
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Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 54
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
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| If anybody is interested, I played against Gandalf Saved/Knight deck paired with Corsairs and was able to stop/almost kill his fellowship before decking myself at 8.I had to go second with him.Maried couple of Rosie and Sam and Smeagol marched to 9th to win playing twice Caras Galadhon. Problem is taking care of resistence and key cards are Sudden Fury and Rosie Cotton which replaced Tom Bombadil. |
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