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DáinIronfoot

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:22 pm

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

Dáin’s DC Duos #2

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to yesterday’s Duo, I’m posting more today, even though I didn’t plan on any more until tomorrow.

Here’s two more Dwarves from Lasting Alliances. I’ll probably continue with Dwarves from Thorin’s company for the next several Duos.

Enjoy!

•Balin, Son of Fundin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
While you can spot three Free Peoples races, Balin’s twilight cost is -1.
While you can spot another Dwarf and a Hobbit companion, Balin is damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Balin and spot X Ring-bound Hobbits to make Balin strength +X (and damage +1 if the Ring-bearer is a Hobbit).
“‘Balin at your service!’ he said with his hand on his breast.”

The Son of Fundin works well with the additional cost reduction of Thorin, King of Durin’s Folk, making it rather easy to get Balin for only

. The problem there is that King of Durin’s Folk works best with a Dwarf-heavy fellowship (Thorin’s other version, Oakenshield, is the one better suited for a "rainbow" fellowship), so more than likely you’re probably going to have to pick either lots of Dwarves with Thorin or lots of different races, and get Balin for

, which is still not bad at all.

Balin is a bit of an anomoly in Lasting Alliances. Most Dwarves in the set work best with other Dwarves, which makes sense considering the influence of the Quest of Erebor. Balin, however, is best when paired with Hobbits. To get full use of his abilities you want at least one more Dwarf and a companion of some other race mixed in, but beyond that, going Hobbit-heavy makes Balin into a tank. Pair him with another Dwarf and, say, Gandalf, and you’ve got three companions. Now load up on Ring-bound Hobbits (including, of course, a Ring-bearer) and a simple exertion turns Balin into a 10-strength, damage +2 wrecking machine! Keep some healing ability around for him and you can virtually always keep him going that way. Not bad for only

twilight, huh?

•Dáin Ironfoot, Son of Náin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
Dáin is strength +1 for each Dwarven

tale you can spot (limit +3).
Skirmish: Discard a Dwarven

tale to make all Dwarves damage +1 until the regroup phase. Limit once per turn.
“‘Let Dáin son of Náin come swifly to us!’”

Not much needs to be said here. My namesake is pretty versatile in that he can become huge himself or share the wealth by making himself a little weaker and making ALL Dwarves stronger, at least for a little while. And yeah, I guess that’s really all that needs to be said!

More cards tomorrow.

EDIT: Changed Balin’s ability to work only with Ring-bound Hobbits instead of any Hobbit companion.

Last edited by DáinIronfoot on Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:52 am; edited 7 times in total

thonnas7

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:20 pm

Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Springfield, OR

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Balin, Son of Fundin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
While you can spot three Free Peoples races, Balin’s twilight cost is -1.
While you can spot another Dwarf and a Hobbit companion, Balin is damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Balin and spot X Hobbit companions to make Balin strength +X (and damage +1 if you can spot a Ring-bound Hobbit).
“‘Balin at your service!’ he said with his hand on his breast.”

I’d have to say his skirmish ability is rather strong. With all the Hobbit companions coming out left and right now he’s be a beast in a Hobbit deck. Maybe make it strength +1 for each ring-bound Hobbit?

•Dáin Ironfoot, Son of Náin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
Dáin is strength +1 for each Dwarven

tale you can spot (limit +3).
Skirmish: Discard a Dwarven

tale to make all Dwarves damage +1 until the regroup phase. Limit once per turn.
“‘Let Dáin son of Náin come swifly to us!’”

I like it, although I imagined Dain a bit stronger.

DáinIronfoot

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:40 pm

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

thonnas7 wrote:

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Balin, Son of Fundin Dwarven

I’d have to say his skirmish ability is rather strong. With all the Hobbit companions coming out left and right now he’s be a beast in a Hobbit deck. Maybe make it strength +1 for each ring-bound Hobbit?

Hmmm. Maybe. I’d prefer a second opinion before I change him. I understand what you’re saying, but....

thonnas7 wrote:

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Dáin Ironfoot, Son of Náin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
Dáin is strength +1 for each Dwarven

tale you can spot (limit +3).
Skirmish: Discard a Dwarven

tale to make all Dwarves damage +1 until the regroup phase. Limit once per turn.
“‘Let Dáin son of Náin come swifly to us!’”

I like it, although I imagined Dain a bit stronger.

I know. Me too. Blame this on Decipher, who decided to make Dáin a 7/3 Dwarf that does NOT come standard with damage +1. Blasphemy, I say. My original Dáin had Ironfoot as a subtitle and was 7/4. I changed him a lot, but I couldn’t bring myself to drop the damage +1.

Still, Son of Náin can pretty easily get up to 9 or 10 strength, so he’s not all bad. But I hear ya. He seems rather weak, at least compared to what I had in mind originally.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews. Much appreciated. Smile

sickofpalantirs

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:09 pm

Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 7750 Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

DáinIronfoot wrote:

Enjoy!

•Balin, Son of Fundin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
While you can spot three Free Peoples races, Balin’s twilight cost is -1.
While you can spot another Dwarf and a Hobbit companion, Balin is damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Balin and spot X Hobbit companions to make Balin strength +X (and damage +1 if you can spot a Ring-bound Hobbit).
“‘Balin at your service!’ he said with his hand on his breast.”
I have to agree with Thonnas he is just to good especially if packing 4 endurance of dwarves make it just ring-bound hobbit.

•Dáin Ironfoot, Son of Náin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
Dáin is strength +1 for each Dwarven

tale you can spot (limit +3).
Skirmish: Discard a Dwarven

tale to make all Dwarves damage +1 until the regroup phase. Limit once per turn.
“‘Let Dáin son of Náin come swifly to us!’”
More cards tomorrow.

I love it. consider making just one thread for all your duos or at least a set of them.

Sop's haves/ top wants Exclamation

(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you. Razz

DáinIronfoot

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:03 am

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

sickofpalantirs wrote:

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Balin, Son of Fundin Dwarven

I have to agree with Thonnas he is just to good especially if packing 4 endurance of dwarves make it just ring-bound hobbit.

Okay okay okay. d'oh!

The people have spoken. The change is made. Check the original post to see the updated version.

sickofpalantirs wrote:

consider making just one thread for all your duos or at least a set of them.

I’ll try and keep Duos that share the same theme together. For example, since I’m going to spend the next few Duos on the Dwarves in Thorin’s company, I’ll post all of those Duos in this same thread.

Thanks for the reviews, both of you.

DáinIronfoot

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:54 am

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

Dáin’s DC Duos #3

Okay, at SoP’s request, I’m keeping the next several Duos in this same thread. And what will the subject of those Duos be? As promised, I’ll get through the meat of the Lasting Alliances set: the Dwarves of Thorin’s Company.

So here’s two of them. Enjoy!

•Nori, Of the Line of Durin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
While you can spot two Dwarves (or Dori), Nori’s twilight cost is -1.
Response: If an unbound companion is about to take a wound in a skirmish, exert Nori and another Dwarf to prevent that wound.
“‘You’ve left the burglar behind again....’”

Not much to add here. He’s pretty easy to splash--along with another Dwarf or two, especially his brother Dori--in to almost any fellowship. The ability to prevent wounds to any unbound companion of any culture and race makes him very valuable. And his 7 strength ain’t bad, either.

•Dori, Decent Dwarf Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
While you can spot two Dwarves (or Nori), Dori’s twilight cost is -1.
Skirmish: If Dori is not assigned to a skirmish, you may exert him to cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
“‘Half a minute!’ said Dori, who was at the back next to Bilbo, and a decent fellow. He made the hobbit scramble on his shoulders....”

Dori’s ability could come in even more useful than his brother’s. Obviously he’s not as good unless you have a couple Hobbits in your fellowship, but even without ANY Hobbits, his stats alone make him worthy of consideration. There aren’t many companions with 7+ strength and a permanent damage +1, especially at only

twilight...or, rather easily, only

twilight!

In short, Dori’s ability can be quite nice (especially since any Hobbit, ring-bound or not, fits the bill as long as they don’t carry a certain ring), but his stats make him a bruiser even if his ability is never triggered.

More Dwarves tomorrow. I’m on a roll. Very Happy

EDIT: Fixed both Nori and Dori after AC’s review.

Last edited by DáinIronfoot on Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:16 pm; edited 2 times in total

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:05 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Nori, Of the Line of Durin Dwarven

skirmish event from your draw deck.
“‘You’ve left the burglar behind again....’”

Wait... if somebody takes a wound in a skirmish, most of the time it’ll be after you check for strength to decide the winner, and thus the ability to play a skirmish event won’t help (and I’m not sure if it’s even legal by the current rules!).

I think he’d be fine if you dropped the skirmish event text; he’s still got great stats and a wound-prevention ability.

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Dori, Decent Dwarf Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 8
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
Damage +1.
Skirmish: If Dori is not assigned to a skirmish, you may exert him to cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
“‘Half a minute!’ said Dori, who was at the back next to Bilbo, and a decent fellow. He made the hobbit scramble on his shoulders....”

Ah!!! Even without that special ability he’d be a bit overpowered.

I seriously think that you should drop his strength down to 7. It’s actually be cooler if you dropped his cost to 2 and his strength to 6, so that Dori could be in your starting fellowship with Nori.

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

DáinIronfoot

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:29 am

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

AnxiousChieftain wrote:

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Nori, Of the Line of Durin Dwarven

skirmish event from your draw deck.
“‘You’ve left the burglar behind again....’”

Okay. Very good point.

AnxiousChieftain wrote:

DáinIronfoot wrote:

•Dori, Decent Dwarf Dwarven

How about I drop his strength to 7 and add "While you can spot two Dwarves (or Nori), Dori’s twilight cost is -1."?

Thanks for the reviews.

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:13 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

DáinIronfoot wrote:

How about I drop his strength to 7 and add "While you can spot two Dwarves (or Nori), Dori’s twilight cost is -1."?

Sounds good to me.

- AC

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

DáinIronfoot

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:15 pm

Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 4594 Location: Beltsville, MD, USA

Dáin’s DC Duos #4

More of the same today. Two more Dwarves and...what’s this? THREE cards? In a duo? But that doesn’t work!

Those of you who remember the Duos from back in the day know that I didn’t always keep it at two cards. I used to break that "rule" all the time, actually. Razz

Especially on Fridays. And today, of course, is a Friday.

Plus when you get into the cards, you’ll quickly understand why I have three today. Smile

Enjoy!

•Óin, Son of Gróin Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
While you can spot a Dwarf, Óin’s twilight cost is -1.
When you play Óin (except in your starting fellowship), you may play a Dwarven

condition from your draw deck.
“Óin and Glóin wanted to light a fire at the door to dry their clothes....”

There’s not a whole lot to Óin. In fact, as the rest of Thorin’s Company goes up, you’ll see that Óin is the weakest of all them, and probably has the least exciting text. I mean, sure, playing a condition from your draw deck is always nice, but then you’re stuck with a pretty weak companion. Especially since he eats up

twilight...no, wait, he’s easily only

. No, wait! Throw in one of the cost-reducing methods, like Thorin, King of Durin’s Folk’s "all other companions with the Thorin signet are twilight cost -1", and he’s free! So THAT’S why we’d use him!

Yep. All you need is King of Durin’s Folk and you can play Óin for nothing. Though his text doesn’t work when he’s in the starting fellowship, the fact that you can pair him with Thorin and start out with another companion from the get-go for NO additional twilight is pretty tempting, even if he DOES only have 5 strength.

•Glóin, Skilled Fire-starter Dwarven

Companion • Dwarf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Thorin
When you play Glóin (except in your starting fellowship), you may play a Tinder-box from your draw deck (ignoring cost and spotting requirements).
Maneuver: While at an underground or forest site, exert Glóin and add

(or spot two other unbound Dwarves) to heal a companion.
“‘...perhaps we can make a little light, and have a look round before the luck turns.’”

Let’s break down his maneuver ability first. Dwarves already have lots of benefits from underground sites, so Glóin’s healing ability just makes that better. But forest sites? That’s awfully rare for Dwarves. In fact, I don’t think there are ANY Dwarven

cards that reap benefits from forests, are there? Especially considering you can save on the twilight if you have two other non-ringbearing Dwarves, this makes Glóin a valuable asset to a Dwarf-heavy fellowship, or for a little extra twilight, virtually any fellowship out there.

Now, the other part of his text requires today’s third card....

Tinder-box Dwarven

Possession • Box
To play, spot two Dwarves. Bearer must be an unbound companion.
Fellowship: Discard this possession and add

to remove a burden.
Regroup: Discard this possession and add X threats to heal X companions.
“Dwarves have never taken to matches even yet.”

I flirted with the idea of leaving this for a future posting and leaving you all wondering what the full extent of Glóin’s usefullness was, but that would have been both counter-productive and just plain evil. Twisted Evil

The Tinder-box itself gives the Dwarves some much-needed burden removal, though it doesn’t come cheap. Still, since this possession is non-unique, you can load your fellowship up on them and use them when you really need to, either one at a time or all in one fell swoop. In a Dwarf-focused fellowship, this can be a lifesaver for Gimli, Bearer of Grudges, giving you an alternative to pumping him up with any many damage bonuses as possible.

But the Tinder-box is a versatile little possession. Much like lighting a fire for weary travelers, this little guy can rejuvinate not just the Ring-bearer, but the whole party. If you don’t mind throwing some threats onto the fire, you can heal several companions at once, creating your own mini-sanctuary. You better have some good threat removal though, because otherwise those wounds can come right back real fast once you douse the flames and break camp.

Now, back to Glóin. When he hits the table, he can bring a Tinder-box with him, and with the "ignoring cost and spotting requirements" text, he can do so without any additional twilight and even without any additional Dwarves. That makes both Glóin and his Tinder-box easy to splash in to any fellowship, even if there’s not another Dwarf in sight.

Hope you liked these. If I have time over the weekend, I’ll keep posting...otherwise I’ll pick it back up first thing next week. There’s still six Dwarves left in the company, after all, and seven more cards in total to cover them all.

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