I've been fooling around with this deck a bit. The fellowship side is actually pretty strong. The Gandy/Rohan beastly companion combo is freaking awesome. The shadow side is ok. I went with a berzerker-focused shadow instead and it's got incredible stopping power. I got 8 tokens on
Devilry of Orthanc in one turn, bombed the fellowship with it, took some fellowship archery and let it kill off my sappers and engineers, then killed a companion with Berzerk Savage. All in one turn. Berzerk Savage got killed in the Regroup, but with every companion wounded and a companion in the dead pile, the freeps player is almost always going to stay put.
The biggest problem with the fellowship is too few companions and vulnerability to conditions, which shouldn't be the case in any deck with Gandalf in it. I tried
Let Us Be Swift and quickly realized it was completely useless because there are only 2 valiant companions in the deck. Condition vulnerability was this deck's biggest issue. Originally I had my starting fellowship as Eowyn and
Eomer, TMoR, but then Theoden's cards clogged terribly, because there was only 1 of him and I couldn't draw him in time. Eowyn gets murdered pretty fast either way. The only other alternative is to start with Eowyn and Theoden, but Theoden's low vitality is a major liability, and given how many Theoden-dependent cards there are in this deck, cycling is a nightmare if he dies at site 2 or 3.
So now I have a dilemna. I start with Theoden and Eowyn, which is a weak starting fellowship, and pray I get Gamling and Eomer in time, or I start with Eowyn and Eomer, which is a much more stable starting fellowship, but then cycling slows way down as I wait for Theoden to appear.
Gandalf and Eomer basically carry this deck so I can't cut them out, and Theoden with Eowyn is too unstable a starting fellowship, so I added 2
simbelmyne to help pull Theoden faster:
Freeps (33):
Frodo, Curteous Halfling +
The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles1x
Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark (starting)
1x
Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund (starting)
3x
Gamling, Warrior of Rohan1x
Theoden, Lord of the Mark4x
Gandalf, The White Wizard1x
King's Mail1x
Herugrim3x
Rider's Spear3x
Rider's Mount3x
Rohirrim Bow3x
Rohirrim Shield1x
Gandalf's Staff, Walking Stick1x
Shadowfax2x
Simbelmyne2x
Fortress Never Fallen2x
Under the Living Earth1x
Hearken To MeShadow:
4x Berzerk Savage
3x Berzerk Slayer
2x Berzerk Butcher
4x
Uruk Crossbow Troop4x
Uruk Engineer4x
Uruk Sapper2x
Ranged Commander1x
Elite Crossbowmen2x
Devilry of Orthanc4x
Siege Engine3x
Weapons of IsengardThe Shadow needs a little fine-tuning still, but overall it's been pretty effective.