The Way Into Mordor - Elves (1/16: "Fæste, stille nú." / "A red sun rises....")

[DáinIronfoot]

Been a while since we did a FP culture in this set. In fact, it looks like the last FP card I posted was when I wrapped up the culture...in August! Guess I've been in a shadowy mood for the last 3 months, eh? Get it? :hey:

Yeah, okay not funny. But maybe this is....

With December officially begun and Christmas on the horizon, I figured it would be an appropriate time to begin with Christmas elves! Or at least...uh...regular Elves.

Still not funny? Aw, you people have no sense of humor. Anyway....

We have already seen two of the Three Hunters: Gimli, Dwarf of Many Journeys and the Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. Now it's time to complete the trio with their Elven comrade, who (unsurprisingly) will kick off this culture.

•Legolas, From Distant Mirkwood
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1.
Legolas may be spotted as an companion.
While you can spot Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas gains hunter 1.
Each time Legolas wins a skirmish, you may exert him to make a minion skirmishing a hunter companion strength -1 for each hunter companion you can spot (limit -3) until the regroup phase.
"‘He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. ‘You would die before your stroke fell.'"

He has the same first line as Gimli DoMJ and Aragorn SoA; if you have all three out, each is an additional hunter 1, which is nice for pure Three Hunters decks. His main ability, as with the other two, triggers when he wins skirmishes. Gimli's ability gives damage bonuses to other hunters and Aragorns spot hunters to increase the move limit a bit. Legolas' ability probably makes the most sense of the three, and really helps set up the other two to win skirmishes of their own.

Similarly, we've already seen the Helm's Deep versions of Legolas' Dwarf and Man companions--Gimli, Stout and Strong and the Aragorn, Man of the West--so here's the Helm's Deep version of the Prince of Mirkwood.

•Legolas, Hopeful and Fair
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Théoden
Valiant. Hunter 1.
At the start of each archery phase, you may remove an or token to exert a minion.
Each time Legolas wins a fierce skirmish, you may remove or reinforce a culture token.
"‘It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream.'"

Gimli SaS and Aragorn MotW have completely different abilities, so I decided to go wild with Legolas as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first token-manipulating version of ol' pointy ear, is it not? I think one is long overdue.

, for those who have forgotten, is the Mirkwood culture. It was the largest FP culture (besides ) in my Hobbit-based set Lasting Alliances, and maintains a small niche throughout my other sets, mostly tied in to Legolas somehow.

We'll likely stick with the Helm's Deep theme for awhile, since that's where most Elves in this set are tied to. So look for more tomorrow!

[Thranduil]

•Legolas, From Distant Mirkwood
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1.
Legolas may be spotted as an companion.
While you can spot Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas gains hunter 1.
Each time Legolas wins a skirmish, you may exert him to make a minion skirmishing a hunter companion strength -1 for each hunter companion you can spot (limit -3) until the regroup phase.
"‘He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. ‘You would die before your stroke fell.'"

I don't think any of your hunter guys should start with a base hunter bonus - the one they gain from spotting the others is more than enough.

•Legolas, Hopeful and Fair
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Théoden
Valiant. Hunter 1.
At the start of each archery phase, you may remove an or token to exert a minion.
Each time Legolas wins a fierce skirmish, you may remove or reinforce a culture token.
"‘It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream.'"

This guy seems fine.

Thranduil

[menace64]

Still not funny? Aw, you people have no sense of humor

hahahahah!!! That's HILARIOUS!!!!

•Legolas, From Distant Mirkwood
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1.
Legolas may be spotted as an companion.
While you can spot Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas gains hunter 1.
Each time Legolas wins a skirmish, you may exert him to make a minion skirmishing a hunter companion strength -1 for each hunter companion you can spot (limit -3) until the regroup phase.
"‘He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. ‘You would die before your stroke fell.'"

Now, I'm perfectly fine with a culture but just for the sake of argument, why wouldn't Mirkwood Elves be part of the culture? What separates them from their Rivendell and Lorien brethren?

I'm no fan of hunter but I agree with Thranduil.

•Legolas, Hopeful and Fair
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Théoden
Valiant. Hunter 1.
At the start of each archery phase, you may remove an or token to exert a minion.
Each time Legolas wins a fierce skirmish, you may remove or reinforce a culture token.
"‘It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream.'"

As far as "This and That" subtitles go, this one is pretty good. It's hard to make those sound decent.
Ooooh... Valiant. Me like. He's powerful but of limited use. Good balance.

[sickofpalantirs]

Been a while since we did a FP culture in this set. In fact, it looks like the last FP card I posted was when I wrapped up the culture...in August! Guess I've been in a shadowy mood for the last 3 months, eh? Get it? :hey:

Yeah, okay not funny. But maybe this is....

With December officially begun and Christmas on the horizon, I figured it would be an appropriate time to begin with Christmas elves! Or at least...uh...regular Elves.

Still not funny? Aw, you people have no sense of humor. Anyway....
It got a snort from me.

•Legolas, From Distant Mirkwood
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1.
Legolas may be spotted as an companion.
While you can spot Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas gains hunter 1.
Each time Legolas wins a skirmish, you may exert him to make a minion skirmishing a hunter companion strength -1 for each hunter companion you can spot (limit -3) until the regroup phase.
"‘He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. ‘You would die before your stroke fell.'"
fine. reminds me of the old tower legolas.

•Legolas, Hopeful and Fair
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Théoden
Valiant. Hunter 1.
At the start of each archery phase, you may remove an or token to exert a minion.
Each time Legolas wins a fierce skirmish, you may remove or reinforce a culture token.
"‘It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream.'"
nice lore  

, for those who have forgotten, is the Mirkwood culture. It was the largest FP culture (besides ) in my Hobbit-based set Lasting Alliances, and maintains a small niche throughout my other sets, mostly tied in to Legolas somehow.

We'll likely stick with the Helm's Deep theme for awhile, since that's where most Elves in this set are tied to. So look for more tomorrow!

[lem0nhead]

•Legolas, From Distant Mirkwood
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1.
Legolas may be spotted as an companion.
While you can spot Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas gains hunter 1.
Each time Legolas wins a skirmish, you may exert him to make a minion skirmishing a hunter companion strength -1 for each hunter companion you can spot (limit -3) until the regroup phase.
"‘He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. ‘You would die before your stroke fell.'"

He is ok.

•Legolas, Hopeful and Fair
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Théoden
Valiant. Hunter 1.
At the start of each archery phase, you may remove an or token to exert a minion.
Each time Legolas wins a fierce skirmish, you may remove or reinforce a culture token.
"‘It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream.'"

I like this guy much more.

Which one is the common guy and which is the "better" rare one?

[DáinIronfoot]

I think Hopeful and Fair would be the common. I believe the Helm's Deep Gimli (Stout and Strong) is one of this set's starters, so the Helm's Deep Legolas and Aragorn would be common. (Maybe uncommon for Aragorn. ) So From Distant Mirkwood and the Three Hunter versions of Aragorn and Gimli would all be rare, which I think makes up a bit for their potential hunter 2 each.

Sticking with the Helm's Deep version, here is some of Legolas' gear. (His bow we will hold off on until we get back to hunter stuff.) Enjoy!

•Long-knives of Legolas, The White Knives
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Legolas.
While the Shadow has initiative or you can spot 2 threats, Legolas is damage +1.
"‘But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'"

An Elf with a damage bonus?! Not completely unique in this set, believe it or not. There is a small handful of other ways to get damage-enhanced Elves (not too many, don't worry), but this is one of the easier ways. If you consider adding threats or losing initiative particularly "easy".

And now for something completely different....

•Legolas' Pauldrons
Possession • Armor
Strength +1
To play, spot a Man. Bearer must be a Man or an Elf.
At the start of each skirmish involving bearer, you may discard a card from hand to make bearer take no more than 1 wound during that skirmish.
Response: If bearer is Legolas and he is about to take a wound in a skirmish, discard this possession to prevent all wounds to him until the regroup phase.

For those who don't know what the heck this is even referring to, check out this shot of a normally-attired Legolas, and then this shot of him at Helm's Deep. Notice the difference? That light amor he has on his shoulders is called "pauldrons", and it's the only time the Elf wore any kind of armor in the novels or films. I figured that kind of occasion deserved a DC.

[Thranduil]

Yeah, they're fine.

Thranduil

[lem0nhead]

The second isn't amazingly useful as you have to pair elves with rohan, which you dont do to often. Nice card though. Your links dont work DI, they wont let you link directly to their images.

[Elf_Lvr]

•Long-knives of Legolas, The White Knives
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Legolas.
While the Shadow has initiative or you can spot 2 threats, Legolas is damage +1.
"‘But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'"

Meh. I like the classic version better, because overwhelms are more hardcore than damage.

But this is neat enough. Elves are good with threats. It's definitely more a Three Hunters-situation weapon, though, I think.

•Legolas' Pauldrons
Possession • Armor
Strength +1
To play, spot a Man. Bearer must be a Man or an Elf.
At the start of each skirmish involving bearer, you may discard a card from hand to make bearer take no more than 1 wound during that skirmish.
Response: If bearer is Legolas and he is about to take a wound in a skirmish, discard this possession to prevent all wounds to him until the regroup phase.

Could cost with the unique.

[DáinIronfoot]

The second isn't amazingly useful as you have to pair elves with rohan, which you dont do to often.

I intend to solidify their link a little more. It's really a shame that the Elves show up to aid the Rohirrim in the film and yet Big D didn't make a single card that ties the two cultures together. I will have a handful, and in fact already created a couple in my previous sets, like this one from way back in Lasting Alliances:

Need of Secrecy and Speed
Event • Maneuver
Stealth.
Until the regroup phase, each time a Man is about to take a wound, you may exert an Elf (or spot 3 Elves) to prevent that.
"Then Felaróf sprang forward, and all the host behind followed like a great wind, but in a strange silence...."

Your links dont work DI, they wont let you link directly to their images.

Really? They seem to work alright to me....

[Thranduil]

The links don't work for me neither.

Thranduil

[sickofpalantirs]

•Long-knives of Legolas, The White Knives
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Legolas.
While the Shadow has initiative or you can spot 2 threats, Legolas is damage +1.
"‘But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.'"
sure

•Legolas' Pauldrons
Possession • Armor
Strength +1
To play, spot a Man. Bearer must be a Man or an Elf.
At the start of each skirmish involving bearer, you may discard a card from hand to make bearer take no more than 1 wound during that skirmish.
Response: If bearer is Legolas and he is about to take a wound in a skirmish, discard this possession to prevent all wounds to him until the regroup phase.

Legolas's armor would sound better...he had some chest stuff too.
pauldrons just sounds funny fine.

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, time to unveil a pair of cards I've been wanting to spoil for a LONG time. No sense stalling any further...enjoy!

•Haldir, Warrior of Lórien
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1. To play, spot an companion.
Archery or Skirmish: Exert an Elf archer and add a threat to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai.
Haldir rallied two hundred of the elves of Lothlórien to join him, and together they marched, bearing the banners of their Lady Galadriel and the blessing of Elrond of Imladris.

I figured it was about time we had a kick-butt Haldir. His stats really set him apart from other versions, and he's an archer by default! His archery/skirmish ability is brutal against the right minions, too.

One question: do you think he should have my new Elrond signet instead? I was debating which to run with....

Haldir is not only great in archery, but has always been a kick-butt fighter, too. Here's a card that really turns him into a monster in that department.

•Blade of the Golden Wood
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an Elf. When you play this weapon, exert bearer or add a threat.
If bearer is exhausted, he or she is damage +1.
If bearer is Haldir, he is enduring.

Yes, another rare way to get an Elf a damage bonus, but with an obvious risk to it: they only get that bonus if they're exhausted. Of course, if you slap this on Haldir, that comes with OTHER benefits, too....

This is a nod to how Haldir is seemingly the last Elf standing (besides Legolas) at Helm's Deep. As things grow dark around him, he is still fighting on, slaying foes even as the blades begin to find him as they found his comrades. The scene is very moving in the film, and I think really deserved a card like this.

I really hope you like these, because they were some of the very first DCs I ever designed and I've been rather proud of them since. If you DON'T, though, don't hesitate to let me know. I can always tweak them and blame any deficiencies on being young to DC design when I made them.

[Thranduil]

•Haldir, Warrior of Lórien
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1. To play, spot 2 companions.
Haldir is strength -1 for each site an opponent controls (limit -3).
Archery or Skirmish: Exert an Elf archer and discard 2 cards from hand (or one card if at a battleground) to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai.
Haldir rallied two hundred of the elves of Lothlórien to join him, and together they marched, bearing the banners of their Lady Galadriel and the blessing of Elrond of Imladris.

•Blade of the Golden Wood
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an Elf. When you play this weapon, exert bearer or add 2 threats.
If bearer is exhausted, he or she is damage +1.
If bearer is Haldir, he is enduring.

I love the sword (though I think it should cost or have only +1 strength), but I do not love the Haldir. He's just too limited and he has too much text. I think he should have no drawback but a much lesser ability which does not require specific minions on the table. Warrior Messenger, for example, was really nice clean design. Obviously I love that this Haldir is strength 6 and an archer, but I don't like his other text (including hunter bonus, but you know my opinions on that already! ).

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

I love the sword (though I think it should cost or have only +1 strength), but I do not love the Haldir.

I respectfully disagree with the sword. I think the additional cost of threats or an exertion makes up for the and strength +2 (yes, even with the rarity of weapons being anything greater than strength +1).

I'm going to hold off on changes--for now--until I get another review or two. I'm certainly willing to make changes to either (especially Haldir), but these are cards I want to see the majority opinion on first.

for the first review!