NinjaDorg’s LOTR: LCG Journey to Rhosgobel Review

NinjaDorg’s LOTR: LCG Journey to Rhosgobel Review

You can find my other reviews of the LOTR expansion packs here:

NinjaDorg's "Massing at Osgiliath" Review

http://ratdorg.blogspot.com/2011/09/lotr-lcg-massing-at-osgiliath-review.html

NinjaDorg's "Conflict at the Carrock" Review

http://ratdorg.blogspot.com/2011/09/lord-of-rings-card-game-conflict-at.html

NinjaDorg's "The Hunt For Gollum" Review

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/7024671#7024671

SPOILER WARNING – this review will slightly spoil not only this expansion pack, but maybe some others too...

Ah, Rhosgobel.  Rustic home of Radagast the Brown.  As always there’s a bunch of beautifully thematic elements in this set – and I love the fact that you not only get to visit Radagast’s home, but that he also appears as an Ally.  So he can escort you to his house, if you like.

Basically, after having raided the homes of some innocent Trolls and beaten the living crap out of a whole bunch of them at the Carrock, the latest LOTR expansion pack sees your relentless Heroes meeting up with the great eagle Wilyador.  Sadly, he’s been attacked and he’s bleeding out towards an inevitable death...  Unless you’re able to save him by hunting the undergrowth for weeds, and then doping him up on Athelas.

A quick word on the new hero cards - which let’s face it are nowhere near as interesting as the new quests – some are good and expensive (Haldir), some are nice and affordable (Mathom), and some are seriously situational and deck-diluting (To The Eyrie).  I’m sure there are great future combos to had with these cards but I’m finding with each small expansion pack that some Hero cards are just being instantly buried back in the box.

Imrahil is a good but expensive Hero who plays like a poor man’s Aragorn.

As these expansion packs are released it is quickly becoming apparent that you need to read through all the special objective cards and mission cards before you play.  Which is a shame because I’d like to be surprised by what’s coming up in the new adventures.  But without reading the cards first you will quickly find yourself pretty much automatically defeated...

For example, in Conflict at the Carrock you’ll race through the first stage under the quite fair assumption that speed is of the essence.  Then you’ll crash into a bunch of Trolls who will murder you in short order because you weren’t prepared for them.

In Hunt for Gollum you’ll race through to Stage 3 and then be thrown back to the start of Stage 2 for not having enough Clues.

The same occurs in Rhosgobel when you race through the first two stages only to discover that Wilyador instantly dies because you didn’t collect enough Athelas herbs.

So all three of these scenarios rely on you employing slightly odd, thematically dubious delaying tactics.  Which means you’ll want to bring all your threat reducing cards so you can stick around for longer whilst you build your forces before moving forward.  For Conflict you need to amass a bunch of fighters.  For Gollum you need to ransack the encounter deck for Clues whilst getting Location overloaded.

And in Rhosgobel you need to ransack the encounter deck for Athelas herbs to heal Wilyador.  The problem here is that whilst you’re doing that, old Big Bird is losing 2HP every turn.  So you get a nice, threat-independent timer ushering you along.  Unfortunately this means you won’t be finishing this scenario without a Lore deck, and more specifically the card ‘Lore of Imladris’, which you will basically want in your first hand - otherwise take a mulligan.  You see, all healing cards are removed from the game when used and none can heal more than 5HP from the broken eagle.  Which makes Lore of Imladris the most cost effective and efficient method of healing Big Bird short of actually finding those slippery Athelas herbs.

Now then.  Athelas.  In Hunt for Gollum you had a scenario-designed method of scouring the encounter deck for Clues (e.g. drawing 3 and placing 1 card).  In Rhosgobel the scenario offers you a similar option but insanely requires you to further injure Big Bird to draw the extra encounter cards!  I can’t see why you’d ever risk this, since you only have about 9 turns to beat the scenario as it is.

So in my first play-through using my usually reliable Leadership and Spirit (Aragorn, Theodred, Eowyn) deck I was completely boned.  I hammered the Galadrim Greetings and Gandalfs to keep my threat low and try to scavenge for herbs but the encounter deck just kept throwing out enemies and locations and – the biggest danger of all in this scenario – killer treacheries.  The Treachery in this deck is horrible.  Your troops will be littered with little red wound markers and before you know it your guys will be dropping from Festering Wounds and having their eyeballs plucked from their sockets by vicious flying beasties (who ignore all attacks but those from your Ranged characters).

Next up was my Tactics/Lore deck starring Gloryboy, Denethor and Legolas, who, it seems, were all born to play this scenario.  Glorfindel heals your boys from all the treachery damage you’ll be accruing whilst also questing (or scrapping) as needed, Denethor hooks up with his Palantir (dealer) to score you de Herb, whilst Legolas despatches those pesky flying buggers winging their way out of the encounter deck at you (and netting you precious extra progress tokens).

On my first try I managed to pull together two Athelas herbs and race through to the second stage using Protector of Lorien on Glorfindel.  Hurtling towards the final stage I had 11 wounds on Big Bird but also one resource on Glorfindel – so I could remove him from the game him to heal Wilyador - and needed one progress token to complete the stage (and thus win).  I gingerly pulled the encounter card, and out came the Festering Wounds.  Everyone died and Big Bird committed suicide to put himself out of his misery.  Failed.

The next attempt luckily met with complete success and Big Bird was saved, although it again very much depended on the encounter deck draw.  Basically you really need Denethor to help you parse the encounter deck as quickly as possible and discard anything which isn’t a) an Athelas Herb or b) the Location where the Herbs grow.

The encounter cards not being split into 2 or 3 different icon types is now starting to really show as a design flaw when it comes to fanmade scenarios.  Granted, that clearly wasn’t FFG’s focus, but there are great individual encounter cards in these sets which would be nice to combine together, but it becomes very fiddly listing which cards you want to include.  And if you shuffle two or more of these encounter decks together it would be ridiculously huge.

On balance I like the quest.  It’s certainly a step up from the sheer disappointment of Carrock, and it’s much harder than the relatively simple Hunt for Gollum.

None of them yet match Massing at Osgiliath, however.  I don’t know if it was a different designer or what, but with Massing you get a nice scale of difficulty which doesn’t demand that you scale your deck specifically by demanding that you include Trackers/Guides (Gollum) or uber fighters (Carrock) or Lore/Healing (Rhosgobel).  Furthermore, the ‘twist’ in Massing – crossing the Anduin and having to discard a Hero or Ranger – is manageable and interesting with whichever decks you choose.  You aren’t instantly going to lose because you didn’t include card x. Although you may instantly lose because it’s just plain hard, which I’m fine with...

I think also I prefer that Massing has 4 active and interesting stages to progress through.  Carrock only has two and one doesn’t actually tell you how to win, Rhosgobel only has two – the final card being more of a victory condition addendum than an actual stage – and there is another forthcoming scenario that fits on one single mission card.  I tend to think that’s a quality-diminishing trend, kind of lazy and uninteresting.  Give us more scenario cards, more interesting paths to choose and more scenario effects – not less.  FFG set the precedent themselves with Passage Through Mirkwood’s two potential final stages, so I can’t believe they’ve not capitalised on that yet.

In summary: a flawed but nice and challenging addition to the game that is more luck-dependent than previous outings, with some brutal encounter cards and a nice new timer mechanic that requires you build your deck accordingly.  It also continues the tradition of keeping the ’official’ campaign/Nightmare mode unplayable.

The Legend of Drizzt video preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs9t-QGw6KY&feature=youtu.be


Rodney Thompson - Tabletop Games Manager at Wizards of the Coast - talks about The Legend of Drizzt: A board game which features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play for up to 5 players. Take on the role of the legendary drow ranger or one of his famous adventuring companions, battle fearsome foes, and win treasure and glory.

Fantasy Quest Official Sound Track!

You all have your own music and sound tracks you enjoy listening to whilst playing your favourite thematic games, whether it's 1920s jazz whilst playing Arkham Horror, the Howard Shore scores whilst playing the LOTR: LCG, or maybe even some heavy industrial rock as you roll out Doom:TBG.

Well for your listening pleasure, the hugely talented composer - Francesca L Hall - has embarked upon her own Musical Quest to develop a series of exhilarating, lamenting, and stirring piano pieces especially designed and inspired by the themes and settings in the world of Fantasy Quest to accompany the game.

Enjoy!

Fantasy Quest - Saga Tracker Sheet

First pass at basic playmat for Saga tracking.  Cards in hand would go face down.  Useful for solo play.  Competitive play would show you how far along your opponent is, which may be a good thing or a bad thing...

Feonix's custom scenario #2 - The Bandits of Chetwood North

Feonix's custom scenario #2 - The Bandits of Chetwood North 

PDFs of Feonix's scenario from the BGG thread here:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/703809/feonixs-custom-scenario-2-the-bandits-of-chetwoo

Bandits

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - Keen Eyes in the Emyn Muil

Original article here:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2690

They are good folk, the Bardings. The grandson of Bard the Bowman rules them, Brand son of Bain son of Bard. He is a strong king, and his realm now reaches far south and east of Esgaroth.
    –J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
As the heroes of Middle-earth begin to scour The Hills of Emyn Muil for recent signs of Gollum’s passage, they gain the benefit of a keen-eyed new companion. The Hills of Emyn Muil, the fourth Adventure Pack in the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, introduces an exciting new hero who provides tremendous options for Tactics players and their companions.
A new hero from Esgaroth
Brand son of Bain (The Hills of Emyn Muil, 72) travels southwest from Esgaroth to join the fellowship and aid them in their quest. He arrives steeped in a tradition of archery hailing back at least as far as his grandfather, Bard the Bowman, who slew the mighty Smaug with his black arrow.
Brand is the second hero to feature the Ranged keyword, along with Legolas (Core Set, 5), and like Legolas, he assists the party with a powerful ability that triggers when he defeats an enemy. After Brand son of Bain attacks and defeats an enemy engaged with another player, he can ready one of that player’s characters. This makes him an excellent hero in multiplayer games and the first hero whose text explicitly supports (and relies upon) the game’s cooperative aspect.
Brand in action
Imagine you and a friend are playing the Journey Down the Anduin scenario from Core Set. Your friend is running Gimli (Core Set, 4), and after questing, you’ve exhausted all your heroes other than Brand and Gimli. With two enemies in the staging area, your friend chooses to engage the Hill Troll (Core Set, 82), and the Dol Guldur Orcs (Core Set, 89) chase after him because of his threat. After a brief discussion, your friend chooses to have Gimli defend against the Hill Troll, ready to cancel any lethal shadow effect with a Hasty Stroke (Core Set, 48). Gimli takes four damage, but survives.
In the following action window, you jump in to play Quick Strike (Core Set, 35), have Brand declare an attack against the Dol Guldur Orcs, and defeat them. Now, Brand lets you ready Gimli, and the enraged Dwarf can strike at the Hill Troll for six damage, three of which gets past the Hill Troll’s defense. On his own, Brand can’t fire past the Hill Troll’s defense, but his special ability grants your fellowship enough flexibility to make the best use of each hero’s strengths.
Have you always wanted to use Glorfindel (Core Set, 11) both to quest and attack? With Brand’s assistance, it’s possible. Do you need to use Denethor (Core Set, 10) to manipulate the encounter deck and defend? With a Quick Strike, Brand can help. With his keen eyes, Brand can identify tactical advantages other heroes may miss.
A quiver full of arrows
As a Tactics hero, Brand can help pay for a number of attachments and events that further reinforce your fellowship. With the aforementioned Quick Strike and cards like Feint (Core Set, 34) and Gondorian Spearman (Core Set, 29), Brand and his resources can help control the ebb and flow of combat, letting your allies engage enemies to pull them out of the staging area, then helping your fellowship defeat the enemies other players have engaged.
Armed with cards like Blade of Gondolin (Core Set, 39), Dwarven Axe (Core Set, 41), and Dúnedain Mark (The Hunt for Gollum, 2), Brand can quickly become a fearsome archer, capable of damaging the most powerful enemies on the table, no matter with whom they’re engaged. Then he readies your teammate’s heroes, so they can take additional actions.
As the heroes of Middle-earth seek to recapture Gollum’s trail, Brand son of Bain assists the fellowship with his keen eyes and skilled archery.
The heroes of Middle-earth have nearly reached The Hills of Emyn Muil. Keep checking our website for updates as this Adventure Pack is coming soon!

NinjaDorg's PDFs for Dungeons & Dragons Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft

Here's all the PDFs and campaign rules for Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft.

Just need to upload hi res pdfs of the monsters now...

  Gray Hag rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Adventure System by  

  Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt Adventure Sys... by  

  Barovia Town Extra Events Deck Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon... by  

  Barovia Town Events Deck Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legen... by  

  Chamber Deck Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt... by  

  Dungeon Deck Backs for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt Adventure... by  

  Dungeon Deck Backs for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt Adventure... by  

  Dungeon Events Deck for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt Adventur... by  

  Kobold Wars Adventure Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend o... by  

  Levelling up to level 5 Adventure Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Asharda... by  

  NinjaDorg's Heroes for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of Drizzt Adventure... by  

  Designer Peter Lee's Scoring Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Legend of... by  

  Longridge Town Events Deck Campaign Rules for Dungeons and Dragons Castle Ravenloft Wrath of Ashardalon Leg... by  

The Lord of the Rings: LCG - The Hills of Emyn Muil preview

Original article here:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2659

Goblins don’t care who they catch, as long as it is done smart and secret, and the prisoners are not able to defend themselves.
    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Soon, the heroes of Middle-earth will arrive at The Hills of Emyn Muil, the fourth Adventure Pack for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Amid the barren slopes and stones of Emyn Muil, Gollum’s trail grows cold, and the heroes must explore the craggy terrain for fresh signs.
Hillsides full of hidden threats
In The Hills of Emyn Muil, your fellowship must cover a lot of ground and must do so quickly. The longer they take, the further Gollum gets ahead of them, the colder his trail grows, and the more likely your heroes will lose it entirely amid Emyn Muil’s many treacherous twists and turns.
As they travel, the rocky landscape serves both to hide the heroes from all but a handful of their enemies… and to hide their enemies from them. The Hills of Emyn Muil feature less combat than some other Adventure Packs, such asConflict at the Carrock, but the combat dynamic takes a dramatic turn toward hit-and-run tactics.
Utilizing Shadow effects like those on The Outer Ridge (The Hills of Emyn Muil, 89), enemy combatants stage multiple skirmishes, striking at your heroes, then racing back into the hills before you can retaliate. This can force you to exhaust more and more of your fellowship as you need to commit more Willpower to the quest to make progress past the threat of the pack of enemies following on all sides. Bad turns to worse as exhausted heroes can neither defend nor attack, and as your allies get weary or fall prey to Orc skirmishers, your heroes become vulnerable.
Cards like Hasty Stroke (Core Set, 48) and A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock, 33) can help your heroes trap the enemies that engage with you, but if you don’t draw them quickly enough–or if you play your last Hasty Stroke and run out of options–you may find enemies launching attacks at you each turn, with several of them escaping to gather reinforcements. Even a small band of enemies able to elude your heroes can defeat your fellowship if your heroes are unable to counter.
Hunting the enemy
Fortunately, players have a few options to deal with retreating enemies. Dúnhere (Core Set, 9) can ride them down, even in the staging area. Armed with a Blade of Gondolin (Core Set, 39) to increase his Attack strength, Dúnhere can cut through most Orc enemies, speeding your fellowship’s progress and keeping your backs free from threat.
Some foes may be too powerful for Dúnhere to dispatch, however, and you may need to provide him some assistance. Enter the eagles…
If you’re already playing with the Tactics sphere to arm Dúnhere, then The Hills of Emyn Muil provides you another resource to deal with pesky skirmishers. Descendant of Thorondor (The Hills of Emyn Muil, 75) allows you to deal two damage to any enemy in the staging area when you bring him into play and, again, when he leaves play. This can make the Descendant of Thorondor an excellent target for a Sneak Attack (Core Set, 23), and it means that even if he makes the ultimate sacrifice, defending the fellowship at the cost of his own life, the Descendant of Thorondor does not fall easily.
Prepare for the unexpected
Shadow effects add a dramatic element of surprise to combat in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, and The Hills of Emyn Muil feature challenging new Shadow effects that continue to change your game experience. Each Adventure Pack in the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle has introduced a scenario that focuses on different aspects of the game, populating your travels in Middle-earth with new perils.
As the time draws nearer for your heroes to step into The Hills of Emyn Muil, you may wish to seek advice from other members of our community forums as to how you may develop the flexibility you need to deal with the different challenges of multiple scenarios.
Finally, Fantasy Flight Games wishes happy birthdays to both Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins, who celebrate their birthdays on September 22nd. Join us in our celebration, and try building a deck to use both of these legendary heroes!

Castle Ravenloft Official Scenarios PDF

For all you D&D Adventure System Fans, here are the official online scenarios
released so far, all in one nice organised place:

Fantasy Quets Solo Session: A Bard's Tale (not the computer game) Part 1

Another great new Session Report from BGG user jokeroz AKA Nick Hughes:

Solo Session: A Bard's Tale (not the computer game) Part 1 | Fantasy Quest | BoardGameGeek: "Solo Session: A Bard's Tale "

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Jupiter Rising Doom TBG campaign by BarbarianWanderer

Looks like a ton of work went into this fan made mod for Doom: The Board Game, for those of us that still have and love this classic sci fi shooter...

Jupiter Rising pictures by BarbarianWanderer - Photobucket:

'via Blog this'

Example map:

Sacrifices in The Hills of Emyn Muil

New update from FFG here:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2645

“I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.”
   –Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring
One of the traits that most distinguishes Tolkien’s noblest heroes and holds them firmly in our minds is their willingness to make sacrifices. In addition to Aragorn’s oath, Tolkien gave us several stunning examples of individuals becoming heroes through their actions. Gandalf buys the Fellowship time to flee the Balrog. Boromir redeems himself by racing to protect Merry and Pippin at the cost of his life. The armies massed at Minas Tirith ride to the Black Gate of Mordor with little hope but that they might buy Frodo some time for his quest with their deaths.
Similarly, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game features myriad opportunities for players to make sacrifices for each other. Players recognize that they’re working together in this cooperative game and constantly make decisions for the good of the party, not just for themselves. Characters with Sentinel allow players to defend across the table, timely intercepting attacks that might be lethal to other heroes. Players can play attachments on heroes other than their own, letting other players accelerate their resources with Steward of Gondor (Core Set, 26) or Horn of Gondor (Core Set, 42) or giving them additional power to quest with Protector of Lorien (Core Set, 70).
The Hills of Emyn Muil
With the upcoming release of the fourth Adventure Pack in the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, The Hills of Emyn Muil, players will have more reason to consider making sacrifices to protect the fellowship, and they’ll have more to gain from the sacrifices they make.
After A Journey to Rhosgobel, Gollum’s trail leads the heroes south, where it grows cold. Now, the heroes must explore the vast expanse of The Hills of Emyn Muil, in the hopes of rediscovering the trail and following it wherever the elusive creature has fled…
This scenario places a heavy emphasis on the fellowship’s ability to quickly and efficiently explore a number of locations as they fend off skirmishing enemies and look to catch sign of Gollum’s trail. As the journey grows long and the heroes grow tired, a new Leadership sphere event, Rear Guard (The Hills of Emyn Muil, 74) can help them renew their focus and redouble their Willpower.
Finding their way forward
It was the third evening since they had fled from the Company, as far as they could tell: they had almost lost count of the hours during which they had climbed and laboured among the barren slopes and stones of the Emyn Muil, sometimes retracing their steps because they could find no way forward, sometimes discovering that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before.
    –The Two Towers
Frodo (Conflict at the Carrock, 25) and Samwise got lost for days in the barrens of the Emyn Muil, and the heroes of Middle-earth may face the same fate unless they draft a plan to navigate their way through the slopes and stones. Veterans of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game know they must act quickly to prevent the staging area from filling up with unexplored locations. If they don’t, their quest is quickly opposed by threats from all side, and their fellowships can make no progress forward.
The sacrifice of Rear Guard enables players to force their way past a threatening pile of locations and enemies. The more heroes committed to the quest, the more a single Rear Guard can help the fellowship near its goal. This can be particularly useful when encountering such deadly locations as Rauros Falls (The Hills of Emyn Muil, 87).
Because you’ll need a hero with the Leadership icon to pay for Rear Guard, some fun Leadership combinations may come to mind. The ubiquitous Snowbourn Scout (Core Set, 16) places a progress token on a location of his choice when he comes into play, and can then benefit the fellowship’s quest by serving as Rear Guard. Prince Imrahil (A Journey to Rhosgobel, 50) will stand the first time an ally leaves play each round, allowing him to combat enemies after questing–and to quest at an extra Willpower!
Or you can time your actions to gain the services of Faramir (Core Set, 14), using him to give an additional Willpower to all questing characters controlled by a single player, then benefitting from his sacrificial duty as Rear Guard. As a four-cost ally, Faramir may be too expensive to sacrifice so readily, but if he drops in for a Sneak Attack (Core Set, 23) and gives players the ability to exhaust him for his text before sacrificing him as a Rear Guard, then he gives a massive boost to the party’s Willpower for a mere two resources and two card draws.
Commit to the journey
As the saying goes, it’s not the destination that counts; it’s the journey. Prepare to enjoy the scenic vistas and to encounter the native wildlife of The Hills of Emyn Muil when this Adventure Pack releases later in the month. Until then, dig out your maps, find a guide, prepare your fellowship, and though you may hope that it won’t come to it… you may need to make some sacrifices.

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game NinjaDorg's Scenario 7 - Teasers

For your amusement:

Fantasy Quest Session Report: Some days EVERYTHING goes your way

An excellent narrative Fantasy Quest session report by BGGer Toc13 (Chris Stanton):

Setting off from the stinking, filth-ridden cesspit of corruption that is Sprawl City, I immediately move off the beaten track. I figure the fewer people see me, the better. Making my way through the old wood, I decide to give the consecrated altar I saw a wide berth- Not really my scene. Crossing a clearing in the forest, I spot a witch in the distance. Knowing them to be quite nasty when annoyed, I stayed out of sight only relaxing once she had gone. Night was closing in & the weather was turning chilly so I set up camp beside a spring that was reputed to have healing powers- a bit of insurance if anything happened. I had no sooner done this when the skies opened & hail came pelting down...but I was safe & warm...

To read more click here:

Some days EVERYTHING goes your way | Fantasy Quest | BoardGameGeek: "The Tale of the Vampire Assassin:"

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Fantasy Quest Solo game: DEMON WIZARD "Live to tell..."

Brilliant session report from BGG user Lestat Lioncourt:

"Solo game: DEMON WIZARD "Live to tell...""

Being the youngest ARCANE DEMON sucked. There was no way he could compete with any other DEMON of their CLASS. Most of them were done with their training and spend parts of their free time using SPELLS on him which he struggled to fend off. He was quite good with his dagger, but the older DEMONS rarely bothered to teach or train him.
Early on he discovered that CHARM got you much further at times than physical strength. Worked especially great on a drunken DEMON.

To read more click here:

Solo game: DEMON WIZARD "Live to tell..." | Fantasy Quest | BoardGameGeek:

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The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - Khazad-dum Expansion more info

Fantasy Flight Games [The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - Khazad-dum Expansion - About] - Leading publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games.: "The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - Khazad-dum Expansion"

“For a while we had news and it seemed good: messages reported that Moria had been entered and a great work begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria since.”
–Glóin, The Fellowship of the Ring

It has been many years since the Dwarves last heard from Balin. Now the heroes of Middle-earth must search for signs of him and his fledgling Dwarven colony.

Khazad-dûm is the first deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, expanding your game with 165 new cards. Two new Dwarf heroes offer their services, and players gain the benefit of new player cards (three copies of each) while facing new scenarios filled with perilous locations and a menacing host of enemies.

The road goes ever on

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game offers a unique, narrative play experience for cooperative or solo play. Middle-earth’s heroes undertake fantastic quests that lead them to distant and dangerous locations. Along their journeys, they must battle past enemies and steer away from the Dark Lord’s reach and the treachery he plots for them.

The story that began with the Core Set continues to expand further into the world of Middle-earth with each new release.

Where the Core Set and Shadows of Mirkwoodcycle of Adventure Packs explored the forests of Mirkwood and related the trials of chasing creatures through the wilds, Khazad-dûm evokes the ominous dread of your fellowship’s dark and perilous journey through Moria’s abandoned tunnels.

The mines of Moria

“The wealth of Moria was not in gold and jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant… For here alone in the world was found Moria-silver, or true silver as some have called it: mithril is the Elvish name.”
–Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

With no map nor guide to lead them, your heroes must light their torches and find their own way through the intersecting mines. Khazad-dûm introduces a number of dreadful new Underground and Dark locations, any of which may hold the clues to Balin’s silence that your heroes seek.

Fortunately, Dwarves are little bothered by the dark, and Khazad-dûm provides a wealth of new player cards that expand design options for any deck, but particularly for those with Dwarves! In addition to two new Dwarf heroes,Khazad-dûm strengthens the Dwarven contribution to any fellowship with new Dwarf allies, attachments, and events.

Drums in the deep

New treachery and a horde of new enemies await Middle-earth’s heroes amid the dark, Orc-infested mines of Moria.

The encounter sets in Khazad-dûm provide thrilling new challenges that will keep your heroes peering cautiously around each corner as they must face Orcs, goblins, and cave-trolls. Along their way, they must avoid the hazards of underground travel such as cave-ins, pitfalls, crumbling stairways, and impassable chasms. If your heroes take the wrong turns or delay too long, they’ll find that the Orcs of Khazad-dûm swarm against invaders in astonishing numbers. And while your heroes maneuver past the onrushing hordes, they risk delving too deep and waking the nameless fear.

Beyond the mines

From Orcs and Trolls to Ringwraiths and Dragons, Middle-earth is a rich and expansive world, filled with fantastic and iconic creatures. As you venture into the ancient Dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm, you’ll enter a place in Middle-earth far removed from the settings and creatures represented by the Core Set encounter cards. Dark tunnels teem with goblins, and any wrong turn could send you plummeting through pits to find yourself confronted by older and fouler things than Orcs.

Therefore, in addition to expanding your existing game experience, Khazad-dûm introduces nine all-new encounter sets! These unique sets, when combined into encounter decks (as instructed by the rules), make upKhazad-dûm’s three included scenarios.

It’s also important to note that you will need these new encounter sets to play the scenarios of the subsequent Dwarrowdelf cycle of Adventure Packs.

So while the Khazad-dûm expansion is an exciting addition in its own right, it’s also the first step in the game’s next engaging narrative. With it, you’ll have the option of bringing new regions to your gaming experience. Explore more of Middle-earth than ever before, from the forests of the Core Set and the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, to the perilous caves and treacherous peaks of the Misty Mountains.

Will your passage through Moria be tragic or heroic? The Dwarven kingdoms await word of Balin and his fledgling colony, so strike up a torch and head into the depths of Khazad-dûm!

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Khazad-dûm - deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

Fantasy Flight Games [News] - Khazad-dûm:

“Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of Khazad-dûm for many lives of kings, save Thrór only, and he perished. At last, however, Balin listened to the whispers, and resolved to go.”
–Gloin, The Fellowship of the Ring
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of Khazad-dûm, the first deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!
Khazad-dûm transports you to the ancient realm of the Dwarves with 165 new cards (with three copies each of its player cards), including new scenarios, encounter sets, heroes, allies, attachments, and events.
Unravel an old mystery
It has been many years since the Dwarves last heard from Balin and his fledgling colony. Reports have ceased to flow of the great works they began. Now the heroes of Middle-earth must search for signs of them among the mines of Moria.
Khazad-dûm presents you with three thrilling scenarios set in the dark, underground tunnels of the legendary, abandoned Dwarven city. Along the way, your heroes will be challenged by treachery and enemies from all-new encounter sets, including swarms of Orcs, goblins, and cave-trolls.

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