I'm a new player want dwarf gimli bearer or rohan-eomer/easterling deck.

[puuma]

Hi, thing is, I love the movies of LOTR especially the second one. So I want to start playing. But the thing is I want a good deck. At start I was thinking about taking 2 of my favourite races from movies - Rohan, Eomer and Easterlings.
Then I found many posts saying that dwarves own. So I was thinking about Dwarf deck with Gimli as ringbearer.
Btw, one more thing, I don't know how to play neither lol.

Please post me answers and help me put together a deck, especially leokula because saw that you know alot about it.

[Elrohir]

Important is to choose one or two of your favourite races/cultures (Rohan/Easterlings in your case). That is, because all cultures are strong in a different way, and their are no perfect decks.

If you start with a starter deck, you will get things easier.

[Gerontius]

Deluxe two towers starter deck would help if you like Easterlings.
It has the tokens rule book, site path, etc.
It might be hard to find though.

[puuma]

Well, I was thinking of buying a deck where Eomer, Forthwith Banished is in (I think it's a good card) but yes, also thinking about dwarves. Which is better? Also not so sure Easterlings fit with Rohan, they just looked like kick-äss in the movie.

[leokula]

Hey there puuma, thanks for mentioning me

First of, Eomer, Forthwith Banished is a rare promo and doesn't come in starter decks and boosters, u'd have to buy it of someone from eBay, or something, and it'd be expensive! But there are other very powerful Eomers out there, don't worry

Dwarves do own indeed, they're maybe more effective than Rohan if you ask me, tho I prefer Rohan personally because I happen to be an Eomer fan too 

I don't know how much you want to spend with LOTR, but lem0nhead is selling some wicked Rohan and Easterling decks for a nice price in this topic ... If I were you I wouldn't bother with starter decks, I'd get one cool deck right from the start. Might be a bit harder to learn, but once you get to play with an advanced deck, you can play with anything else.

Before you start playing, read the rulebook here and you'll have an idea of how to play. PM or mail me with any questions you have, when you're ready we could try to play on-line (check out the LOTR on-line play foum) to see if you really learned

If you think about buying something, you can ask me, if you want, and I'll tell you if it's a good deal 

[Elessar's Socks]

Easterlings are pretty good at beatdown. Their big skirmisher, Easterling Captain, can raise havoc on a fellowship, which is why some folks have honored him with names like Easterling Captain Superstar and Captain Crunch. At its core you'd want 4 copies of each of these:

Easterling Captain
Easterling Polearm
Raider Bow
Small Hope

These basically cover how Easterlings work. The first task is to get 2 burdens (the threshold for many of their cards), and Small Hope is their best at it. It can stay on the table to defend against burden removal, or be discarded for an extra +2 pump. This unlocks the first stage of the Captain's ability: removing 2 twilight to make an Easterling strength +2. Easterling Polearm ensures he reaches the skirmish phase. Raider Bow gives him lots of twilight to work with. In a nutshell: Easterling Captain + Easterling Polearm + Raider Bow = terrifying monster.

Other regularly used minions:

Easterling Army
Easterling Axeman
Easterling Footman (don't bother with Easterling Sergeant)
Easterling Pillager
Easterling Regiment
Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul (basic crowd control)

The decktype also has a few nasty tricks up its sleeve:

Bold Men and Grim (kill off the fellowship's runt and then discard its main skirmisher)
Red Wrath (combo with Raider Bow)

As well as utility cards to round things out:

Discovered (condition removal)
Ships of Great Draught (retrieve whatever's needed)

IMO it's not necessary to go above 2 burdens. Sometimes your opponent will have to add more throughout the game (particularly if the Ring-bearer is getting attacked), which snowballs into even greater strength boosts for your Easterings. But if you'd like to give a nudge, these can help:

Easterling Guard / Easterling Lieutenant
Gollum, Stinker (and support)
Vision From Afar

The decktype has some weaknesses, particularly when you can't get the combo down. Tech cards like Drawing His Eye can mess with your hand. The popular Shadowplay / Unheeded combo can kill the Captain before you have a chance to play the Polearm. Possession removal such as For the Mark can leave him open to archery. Also, knights are something to watch out for, since vitality-reducing cards such as Citadel of the Stars (after Fourth Level) can ignore both strength and wound protection and sink the good captain.

Here's a sample deck at 33 cards:

3 Easterling Army
4 Easterling Axeman
4 Easterling Captain
2 Easterling Footman
1 Easterling Pillager
1 Easterling Regiment
1 Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul

4 Easterling Polearm
4 Raider Bow

1 Bold Men and Grim
4 Small Hope
1 Ships of Great Draught

3 Red Wrath

Hope you have fun with the sub-culture! It might be easier (and cheaper) to get whatever cards you need directly, since prices have really fallen.

[Gerontius]

With Easterlings there's also a swarm strategy that uses Easterling Skirmisher, Which is what I use.

[puuma]

But what do you people know about dwarves?

[Thranduil]

But what do you people know about dwarves?

Durin III + lots of possessions + Proud and Able + Honed = UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER!

That's essentially the core of the strategy right there. Then you run Blood Runs Chill to discard all the Shadow conditions (once you've killed all the minions with damage bonuses, that is!).

Thranduil

[Elessar's Socks]

Durin III + lots of possessions + Proud and Able + Honed = UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER!

Leave him with 3 wounds (and hopefully Armor of Khazad), and use Battle to the Last for a nice strength +6, damage +3 each. Then play Honed.

[Gil-Estel]

Dwarves are very strong, low on twilight and have almost everything. Durin is almost the core of every deck that involves Dwarves. Dwarves can get very nasty with discarding cards from the opponent. Dwarven Axe, Dwarven Warrior and Nobody Tosses a Dwarf are too annoying. Another strong strategy is with Mountain Homestead, Gimli, FA and Thorin's Harp. This way your dwarves are superstrong. Toss in some Ring of Fury and indeed BRC, if you can get it!
Welcome to the game, and to this forum

[Gerontius]

Durin III + lots of possessions + Proud and Able + Honed = UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER!

Leave him with 3 wounds (and hopefully Armor of Khazad), and use Battle to the Last for a nice strength +6, damage +3 each. Then play Honed.

You can do the same thing with Gimli Counter of Foes and Ring of Retribution.

The Gimli Starter deck from Mines of Moria will give you the weapons you need. After that if you get some Reflections booster packs you have a good chance of getting a rare dwarf companion or ring. The Gimli ring-bearer and Durin III are both in that set.

[puuma]

OK guys, I've learned a lot about this game during past few days, also I have the list of my deck ready which I'll start collecting the day after tomorrow.
The list of my soon-to-be deck:
1x Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
1x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1x Linar, Dwarven Lord
1x Thrarin, Smith of Erebor
1x Grimir, Dwarven Emissary
1x Gimli's Battle Axe
4x Dwarven Axe
4x Hand Axe
4x Dwarven Bracers
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Ring of Retribution
1x Ring of Fury
1x Ring of Guile
1x Ring of Accretion
4x Dwarven Skill
2x Proud and Able
4x Honed
2x Blood Runs Chill
2x No Pauses No Spills

4x Goblin Armory
2x Goblin Swarms
4x Host of Thousands
4x Goblin Scavengers
4x Goblin Runner
4x Goblin Scimitar
3x Ancient Chieftain
2x Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps
3x Guard Commander
2x Troll's Keyward
2x Cave Troll of Moria, Scourge of the Black Pit
3x Threat of the Unknown

[Pepin The Breve]

  Nice, but expanded is not the most popular format to play with, i would recomend movie (you would just have to switch some dwarven cards) or standard, but it's up to you of course. The important part is to enjoy the game.