sign in sign up
<<
Home , Dead Marshes

’s Buffet A publication about the news, announcements, and content of : The Card Game.

A living card game by Fantasy Flight Games. Volume 1, Issue 1

News About the Following GenCon, Fantasy Flight was flush with Time news regarding The Lord of the Rings: The Card This expansion will introduce a new mechanic into the Game. Beginning with another article in the Second game called “Time.” Buffet Breakfast series: Welcome to Boromir’s Buffet, everyone! Second Breakfast at the Stone of Erech This newsletter is meant to supplement the Published: 27 August 2013 audio podcast, as scheduling and the format Matt Newman and Caleb Grace provide some narrative of the show don’t always allow us to release about The Stone of Erech, the scenario designed information as quickly as we would like. specifically for GenCon that rivals Nightmare Mode variants of the first few scenarios. Additionally, frequent listeners will often hear us discussing visual elements that really There are some minor card spoilers for those of you who were unable to attend GenCon, and, of course, a shouldn’t be discussed on an audio podcast. promise that The Stone of Erech will be available via This gives us the opportunity to tackle those Print on Demand later this year. items as well. For me, personally, this is a great “Time” promises to introduce an exciting new opportunity to get back to desktop publishing, The Voice of mechanic into LOTR: TCG. Though the threat tracker something I absolutely love. While it’s a blast Published: 27 August 2013 acts as a built-in countdown timer, the new “Time” to record the audio with the guys, I can’t wait The In-Flight Report (a fairly informal annual report mechanic will add variable consequences for expiring to produce some print content for you like this. presented by Fantasy Flight to its fans) presented the that countdown that go beyond ending the game, upcoming duluxe expansion for LOTR: TCG -- The I’m also planning on learning how to optimize which is the only consistent consequence that comes all of this for tablets and phones so that you Voice of Isengard. The expansion promises a journey from threat getting too high (with some exceptions). to Isengard, a meeting with the treacherous white can connect to COTR in every way possible! wizard, , and -- wait for it -- a very important Check out the articles for some exciting new kingdom centered around horses. information and several card spoilers. Here are a few Brandon will be contributing a regular article, to wet your appetite! And check out the Featured The One Thing, every issue focusing on The announcement article on the Fantasy Flight Card article on page 3 for, obviously, the best spoiled whatever topic he wants to address. Jared will Web site, coupled with the separarate product page card. be contributing pieces like new deck ideas or explicitly designed for the expansion provides a strategies as his schedule allows. generous amount of card spoilers as well as some information about new mechanics within the game. It is also my hope that people from the Doomed community will get involved. As we stated An exciting new development, the keyword “Doomed” in Episode 49, Cardboard of the Rings is (always followed by a number that indicates how about conversation and community, and this much each player should immediately raise their newsletter is an extension of that statement. I threat), previously found only on encounter cards, welcome all our fans to throw me some ideas, is now on several player cards. The article explains or just send an article, for inclusion in the that the resource cost to play many new cards from newsletter! this expansion has been lowered, including Saruman himself, but they come with a different price: threat. All content can be sent to the email address you all know and love: cardboardoftherings@ “For example, any player can benefit from allying gmail.com. himself with Saruman ..., but open shows of great power are quickly reported to the Dark Lord. I’ll leave my note short and sweet for you all. Thus, even though Saruman plays for two less resources than the game’s other Istari, he comes I’m very excited to take this next step with all with the additional “cost” of Doomed 3.” of you and continue developing COTR into a virtual empire that reaches even beyond the Dark Lord’s influence. An additional statement in the article confirms that the “Doomed” keyword on player cards will affect all Please send comments and criticism (try and players, forcing everyone to raise their threat, not just keep it constructive, please). I welcome any and the player controlling the card with the keyword. every opportunity to improve this publication.

Thanks for the attention. Now get on with the content!

Your editor, Brian The Hunt For AP Cycles Our first feature is Part 1 of a series designed to highlight the locations in Middle-earth we have visited in each of our adventure pack cycles so far. The map is simple, but consistent. Red circles and lines indicate (mostly) confirmed locations within Middle-earth that correspond to the individual scenarios. Some locations are quite obvious (like Carrock), but some are far more vague. Return to , for instance, could take place nearly anywhere, but I chose to highlight the northern edge of the woods as that is where the elves live, and where the scenario is intended to conclude. The blue lines are merely to help direct you from one scenario to the next.

1. Passage Through Mirkwood Our heroes began their adventure in an easily identifiable location. Harkening back to The , LOTR: TCG first gave us a chance to visit Mirkwood Forest, a dangerous, massive piece of land crowded by dense forestry and particularly vicious creatures, especially the great species of spiders that exist in the woods.

2. Journey Down the Anduin 9 Leaving the dark woodlands of Mirkwood, our heroes, after fighting a particularly opportunistic (or two for some unlucky players), left the surefooted lands of Middle-earth to escape 5 6 quietly down the mighty river Anduin, one of the principle geographical features of Middle- earth. Though the river itself runs south along the 4 kingdoms of Men, our heroes spend only a short 1 amount of time before jumping ship, ready for their next adventure.

3. Escape From Nearly leaving Mirkwood behind, our heroes are forced to confront a threat at Dol Guldur. The highest point of Mirkwood, located nearly at its 2 southernmost point, stands a fortified tower upon the hill known as Dol Guldur (it seems there is some conflicting information as to whether Dol Guldur refers to the tower or the hill itself).

4. The Hunt for

Aptly named, the AP cycle our heroes first charge 3 through is known as Shadows of Mirkwood. The party’s stubborn refusal to leave such a dangerous location begins along the Anduin, near mostly indefinite sites around the borders of Mirkwood. A noteable location, The Old Ford, is where the Road (found in Passage Through Mirkwood) crosses the Anduin.

5. Conflict at the Carrock The Carrock is nothing more than a stone tower rising out of the land, providing a view of the nearby Mirkwood Forest and the pastures and farmlands of and the beornings nearby. Bilbo and his party were dropped here in , and our heroes pay their respects by visiting one of Beorn’s favorite scenic and 7 peaceful locations and, of course, bringing about nothing but trouble.

6. A Journey To Rhosgobel 8 Driven by the desire to save a wounded , our heroes trudge through more forest locations toward Rhosgobel, the home of .

7. The Hills of Emyn Muil Visiting iconic locations such as Amon Hen, Amon Lhaw, and Rauros Falls (all locations visited by the Fellowship), our heroes find themselves 9. Return to Mirkwood wandering aimlessly among the highlands of Emyn Muil, a rocky, barren land Having captured Gollum, our heroes triumphantly return to the dark forests of that serves as a sort of geographical crossroads among The Dead Marshes, the Mirkwood to brave the spiders once more and deliver their captive to the elves kingdom of , and the northern lands of Rhovanion. that reside there.

8. The Dead Marshes When you consider the size of Mirkwood Forest (approximately 600 miles from Choosing quite possibly the worst possible route to take, our heroes begin again north to south ends), you can imagine how far our heroes have traveled and how their pursuit of Gollum by entering the Dead Marshes, a swampy land inhabited much time it must have taken. If only they had taken a little more time to find by seemingly nothing but the ghosts of the past. Oh. And giant worms. GIANT more allies familiar with some sort of fast, hooved animal... worms. The One Thing Featured Card Take it Easy! with Brandon Let me make a case for easy mode for ALL players, from the very worst to the very best. For new/casual/bad players the rationale is pretty clear, it is easier! But what is in it for hardened veterans of the game? Why would a survivor of Laketown, a true Heir to Numenor want to play easy mode? For play testing, for variety, and it can be argued for greater strategic depth and a true measure of skill!

The first reason is for play testing new decks, and not just goofy easy mode decks -- competitive decks. When testing a deck, you really need to get cards out on the table and to see how they interact and function together. Easy mode facilitates that in two ways: the extra resources to get the cards on the table, and the time to see them work. You would need to keep in mind that resources are tight in standard mode, but this would allow you to more fully see powerful interactions in your deck, and possibly more importantly, identify weak interactions in your deck that just don’t pan out how you envisioned. If you have a great idea for a combo or archetype and it can’t function properly in easy mode, well it certainly won’t in standard more, and the longer playtime and deeper quest penetration provided by easy mode will get you to that conclusion faster. It is also a better sandbox to see your deck play and tweak it as necessary. Once you have a deck that is crushing easy mode, you have a proven foundation that is ready to tackle standard mode.

Secondly playing easy mode allows for variety. It can get boring playing the same decks over and over again. By its very nature easy mode is a better fit for a variety of decks that can keep your gameplay from stagnating. It you are hardcore and you have smashed every quest in standard mode, don’t feel like your only option is to pick up the nightmare packs. They will force you to stick with proven decks that are fully tweaked. Any attempts to veer from all but the most proven strategies will fail. I’ve seen several cases where players have dismissed easy mode because they feel like the challenge of the game is adequate in standard mode, which is true, if you aren’t taking some risks. There is also the undeniable fact that some of the coolest characters, objects, and events did not get the most playable cards. Easy mode presents a chance for players to add in some cards to suit their taste, rather than just focusing on raw power. Now I say some and I mean some, easy mode is easier than standard, but it is no piece of cake, so don’t get too crazy!

My final reason is perhaps the one people will disagree with but easy mode allows for greater strategic depth than does standard mode. I say this because As if you had any doubts as to who was putting this newsletter together, I many of the cards that are removed from standard mode to create easy mode would like to present Eomer as the first Featured Card of Boromir’s Buffet. are what I call “bad luck” cards. You draw them and you feel screwed and in some cases there is little or nothing your deck building, play decisions, or The Rohan synergy has been lacking since its introduction in technically the any other controlled factor could mitigate their effects. Sounds a lot like luck Core Set, though it was further enhanced within the first AP cycle to some to me. Personally I don’t like luck creeping into my strategy games. When degree. The high number of Rohan allies and Rohan themed event cards the name of the game is planning and careful decision making it can be so made it appear that Rohan had been given its time in the spotlight, and frustrating to throw your hands up and lose just for getting unlucky. So the they were soon completely shadowed by the powerful dwarves and their strategic depth comes from the fact that you can somewhat reliably make unbelieveable synergy. No more. Rohan will likely be making a full comeback plans and factor in considerations for a reasonable turn of the game. You in the new expansion (and hopefully the following AP cycle). can also have a deck that uses a strategic plan to succeed rather than just building one that focuses on the built in synergies in the game, which right Eomer’s ability is a very solid one. Simple, yet effective. It captures his now good examples are dwarves and outlanders. I am of the firm opinion that thematic presence within the game quite well. Eomer metaphorically took the most skilled players of this game up the crown after King Theoden’s death at the Battle of Pelannor Fields, and could repeatedly and consistently beat launched a powerful counterattack against the enemy with vengeance in his a particular quest on easy mode, rather eyes. He later became king and led Rohan during a prosperous time, uniting than the ones who manage to beat the kingdoms of Men under the rule of . a standard quest some of the time, simply because easy mode involves And look at that art! Magali will soon have an upcoming print order to fulfill! less luck.

To illustrate my point, two players of unknown skill are each playing Road to on standard mode. Player A About Cardboard of the Rings draws Sleeping Sentry as a shadow and Cardboard of the Rings (COTR) is a biweekly (sometimes) audio podcast loses. Player B doesn’t draw Sleeping dedicated to The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, a Living Card Game by Sentry as a shadow and wins. Is player Fantasy Flight Games. B better than Player A? Well, we may never know, until they play easy mode! cardboardoftherings.com facebook.com/cardboardoftherings Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear from [email protected] you! Email me at cardboardoftherings@ gmail.com Podcast is recorded in Audacity and mixed in Adobe Audition. Newsletter is produced in Adobe InDesign.