The Last Homely House

Middle-Earth => Lothlórien => Fellowship => Topic started by: chompers on December 07, 2009, 08:18:15 PM

Title: Tales
Post by: chompers on December 07, 2009, 08:18:15 PM
Hi all - I have been working on a FoTR block deck based on tales, but having some issues (maybe because it is a bad idea  :P). Either way, I have little experience with FoTR movie block, so interested in some help. ;)

I have considered using Aragorn and Legolas archery
 OR
Boromir with horn to call forward allies
each with mass heal from burden removal and shire countryside for the bulk of this deck.

So - at this stage I have:

Bid to go first (at least 4 - they will be removed later to heal)
Play Hobbiton Party Field to get Bilbo Baggins WSG (to discard Tales and destroy shadow conditions)
Ringbearer - Frodo Old Bilbo's Heir to heal Bilbo

Start - Legolas Greenleaf with Hobbit/s (Aragorn and his bow, gondor bowmen, and mass heal)
or
Merry FOTB and Boromir and horn with allies

4 x The Council of Elrond to get tales
1 x Red Book of Westmarch for mass draws
4 x Songs of the Blessed Realm to remove burdens (by playing elven tales) or 4 x Elf-Song to remove burdens
4 x The Shire Countryside to mass heal

Has this been done before - any suggestions? My concern is that it simply costs too much shadow. Hope my post makes sense. What shadow should i combine it with?
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: ket_the_jet on December 07, 2009, 08:23:11 PM
There are not many good [Gondor] tales in FoTR block (at least, none you would want to discard on a whim) but Answering the Cries is such a bad-#$&*@! card.

Also, keep in mind with Red Book of Westmarch the Rule of four.

Hobbiton Party Field is one of my favorite sites ever!
-wtk
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: ket_the_jet on December 07, 2009, 08:26:20 PM
The Choice of Luthien
The Saga of Elendil
Banner of the White Tree
Gondor Bowmen
Might of Numenor
Some Who Resisted

Scroll of Isildur

According to Zorbec's, those are the only Movie Block eligible [Gondor] tales...in case anyone wondered.
-wtk
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: chompers on December 07, 2009, 08:29:13 PM
Answering the cries is perfect for the deck - costs nothing - and has little value expect for discard. Doesn't trigger Songs of the Blessed Realm, but all Elven Tales in FoTR block cost at least one.

I would like to see a card that reduces cost of tales or all the support cards - they are so expensive.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: ket_the_jet on December 07, 2009, 08:30:43 PM
[Dwarven] tales are pretty cheap...starting with Till Durin Wakes Again. Song of Durin, Stairs of Khazad-Dum, and Greatest Kingdom of My People are all (0) as well!

Plus, then you have Gloin, Friend to Thorin.
-wtk
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Cw0rk on December 07, 2009, 09:00:43 PM
I made a Noble Leaders/Bilbo movie block deck with Answering the cries and it worked well.

For Fellowship block, the lack of Gondor characters may be an issue. I would suggest playing a choke deck with Frodo-Sam-Aragorn-Boromir as the main character. Put Gimli, DotMR in starting fellowship for some site 4-5 choke then kill him. You can use 4x A Promise. 2x Answering the cries, 4x Might of Numenor and 4x Banner of the white tree would be nice.

I also made a FOTR block dwarven deck with tales and Bilbo. Its a 60/60 (maybe its even move) deck including 4 Mines of Khazad Dum and 4 Realm of Dwarrowdelf. It works fine when paired with Moria swarm.

I tried to use Song of the Blessed realm in the past but it never worked well.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Gil-Estel on December 08, 2009, 12:12:14 AM
If you go with allies, make sure you pack Thror's Map or Pathfinder to avoid the site which forces you to discard you allies!
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: sharkey on December 08, 2009, 05:32:28 AM
Oh, there is also Voice of Nimrodel, but that isn't always useful. It can get you out of a tight spot. And There and Back Again is another good one.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Kralik on December 08, 2009, 07:15:02 AM
Are you sure bidding 4 is worth it without Sam in your starting Fellowship? That's one burden away from Shotgun Enquea and all your opponent needs for Toldea MoM...
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: chompers on December 08, 2009, 12:14:19 PM
My thoughts on four is that i need burdens to remove to cause the heal - both versions of the deck do alot of exerting - so i will need to heal. Without a way to add burdens, i will rely on removing these to heal. The frodo card that adds burdens is an option, but it adds more bulk to the deck without adding tales.

Perhaps 3 is enough, but i have played a few people that have bid 3, but never 4. Those that bid 3 rely heavily on downloading aragorn at site one so perhaps i have hit them with a major deck hurdle right at the beginning.

Another option is to play an elf + sam in starting fellowship and the promise to beef up frodo and sam. Not sure on the overall theme using this combination though.

At this stage I am starting to think that Gloin with an elf in the starting fellowship is the way to go. Dwarven tales a cheap, sometimes useless (other than to increase gloins strength) and to discard with bilbo. The elf allow me to download tales, and red book allows me to draw extra cards. Problem is - there is not really a good elf uless i plan to do archery. Dwarves also have so many possessions which are always a temptation to put in the deck and throw out the balance of tales.

Thanks for all the help - i will put something together and try it out on GCCG soon.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Cw0rk on December 08, 2009, 02:52:54 PM
My thoughts on four is that i need burdens to remove to cause the heal - both versions of the deck do alot of exerting - so i will need to heal. Without a way to add burdens, i will rely on removing these to heal. The frodo card that adds burdens is an option, but it adds more bulk to the deck without adding tales.

Perhaps 3 is enough, but i have played a few people that have bid 3, but never 4. Those that bid 3 rely heavily on downloading aragorn at site one so perhaps i have hit them with a major deck hurdle right at the beginning.

Another option is to play an elf + sam in starting fellowship and the promise to beef up frodo and sam. Not sure on the overall theme using this combination though.

At this stage I am starting to think that Gloin with an elf in the starting fellowship is the way to go. Dwarven tales a cheap, sometimes useless (other than to increase gloins strength) and to discard with bilbo. The elf allow me to download tales, and red book allows me to draw extra cards. Problem is - there is not really a good elf uless i plan to do archery. Dwarves also have so many possessions which are always a temptation to put in the deck and throw out the balance of tales.

Thanks for all the help - i will put something together and try it out on GCCG soon.
If you want to play Elven tales to remove burdens and then heal your companions, why don't you just play dwarven tales with Mines of Khazad Dum to heal your companions right away. It looks like you want to have dwarven tales, elven tales, Bilbo... How big is your deck gonna be? 60/60? or you don't put any possessions (which would be suicidal) and you have a 35/35 deck.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Kralik on December 08, 2009, 03:59:16 PM
My thoughts on four is that i need burdens to remove to cause the heal - both versions of the deck do alot of exerting - so i will need to heal. Without a way to add burdens, i will rely on removing these to heal. The frodo card that adds burdens is an option, but it adds more bulk to the deck without adding tales.

Perhaps 3 is enough, but i have played a few people that have bid 3, but never 4. Those that bid 3 rely heavily on downloading aragorn at site one so perhaps i have hit them with a major deck hurdle right at the beginning.

I do sometimes bid 3, but if I do... Sam is starting. I wouldn't bid that much for Gorn, since you have to add a burden to get him as well.

Why not use Isildur's Bane as your ring? Surely you could rack up burdens that way.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Gil-Estel on December 09, 2009, 01:30:58 AM
I am, in the midst of busy weathers, especially in my head, thinking of a monstrosoty of a deck, with size at least 60-60..... :-) And I will use it on GCCG and will win!!!! Muhahaha :twisted: ...... at least 1 out of 100 games, which would kill my win rate which lies round 60%, but then again, I should not run that many solo RB decks :-)
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Gwaihir on December 10, 2009, 06:30:00 PM
This may be going in a bit of a different direction than you want, but Bilbo's Pipe will let you shuffle tales back into your deck.  Gandalf's Pipe can remove burdens to activate your Shire Countryside.  The Gaffer's Pipe can remove twilight if that is building up too much.  Aragorn and Gimli both have pipes rounding out a 5 person fellowship.

There are plenty of shire, gondor and dwarf tales to play around with.  Bilbo, Well-Spoken Gentlehobbit can help you with getting rid of enemy conditions, and the tales discarded can be brought back with Bilbo's Pipe.  The nice thing about the Bilbo stuff is that it works with tales of any culture.

Like I said, this may be moving in a different direction than you were planning, as it shifts the focus from elf tales to shire tales.  Pipeweed will help you cycle through your deck though as can Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim with Risk a Little Light, and/or Questions That Need Answering.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: chompers on December 10, 2009, 07:37:34 PM
Cool idea (I never pay much attention to the pipes). Thanks Gwaihir :)

It is not so much that I am interested in elven tales as I want to download tales using The Council of Elrond (to get Red Book of Westmarch ASAP, as I will bid to go first and get Bilbo with Hobbiton Party Field).

Beyond that I want an easy way to remove burdens to heal using The Shire Countryside provided the deck is based around mass exertions (Aragorn, Legolas archery OR Boromir and his horn) were two models that seemed to fit. Gimli Son of Gloin also fits and I am sure there are many others.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: Gwaihir on December 11, 2009, 09:03:34 AM
You could build around gandalf exertions.  Wizard's Staff weakens enemies, but requires two exertions.  Gandalf's Staff cancels skirmishes with two exertions.  Staff assunder lets you get rid of any minion you want to wit two exertions.  Then there is Trust Me As You Once Did to boost other companions with the Gandalf signet, again with an exertion.

If Frodo is strong enough to fight a moderate strength minion, the ring could add two burdens per skirmish giving you plenty of burdens to remove to activate Shire Countryside.  Then Gandalf's pipe would be your burden removal mechanism.

Longbottom Leaf would be great for your deck because it lets you throw away 2 cards.  If you are drawing 4 per turn because of Red Book of Westmarch, that will come in handy.
Title: Re: Tales
Post by: sharkey on December 11, 2009, 09:08:18 AM
I once made a deck that centered around hobbit allies and pipes, it worked well. Just about any pipes work well.