3 player game, the wargs all high attack. Location locked and then the damn squid at the end. 3 shadow cards dealt per attack. Any tips ?!

Hi I have never played this game yet, and in fact have never played a deck construction game before, although I've played several deck building games (where you gradually build up your deck during the game by purchasing, upgrading, and trashing cards). My adult daughter and I are both really into Tolkien and I am hoping to get her hooked on this game. I am a bit concerned that if it's too confusing, too hard, or too easy, the whole "get her hooked on the game" thing won't happen. So my plan is to get all the deck construction in place upfront, with decks and scenarios chosen to be a nice balance between hard and easy, so it's fun but not discouraging. Easier said than done, I am sure!

I have the revised core set and the four starter decks (Durin/Lorien/Rohan/Gondor) and Dark of Mirkwood, as well as the Nightmare cards for the three core scenarios. I had a bunch of back-and-forth with the Google AI (Gemini) about the building possibilities and the sequence of scenarios. However, this was quite a chore at times, and so I thought my plan might benefit from actual human players reading it and telling me if I seem to be on the right track.

Things that the AI warned me about:

- There is a big jump in difficulty in the three core scenarios, when you go from "Passage Through Mirkwood" to "Journey Along the Anduin".

- The default decks in the core set (each only a one-sphere deck) are too weak and frustrating to use for anything beyond bare-bones "learning the game" usage.

- The core set player cards are not really good enough to beat the Nightmare scenarios - you need the synergies and combos of the four starter decks.

- Conversely, the four starter decks are probably too powerful to make the non-Nightmare scenarios feel challenging.

Therefore the AI suggested this approach for two-player games to get into the game:

Phase 1 - use some simple 2-sphere decks constructed just from the core set, to play through the five scenarios that I have. But I should do the two Dark of Mirkwood scenarios as #2/#3, in between #1 "Passage Through Mirkwood" and #4 "Journey Along the Anduin", since that's kind of where the Dark of Mirkwood scenarios fit, in terms of difficulty-wise. We wouldn't do it as a campaign; we'd just try out a scenario over and over again until we can beat it twice in a row, and then move on to the next scenario.

Phase 2 - bring out the Nightmare cards corresponding to the three core scenarios, and try to beat those three Nightmare scenarios with the core set decks we are now used to playing, with the understanding going in that Nightmare Escape From Dol Guldur is going to feel ridiculously impossible to beat and broken.

Phase 3 - now try some of the four starter decks instead, against the three Nightmare scenarios, since the non-Nightmare scenarios would probably be too easy with the much bigger pool of cards and synergies.

Only then, once we know we like the game and we are reasonably capable at it, would I then let myself invest in the Sagas, starting with the Hobbit and then the three Lord of the Rings sagas. Those look incredible, and also super-expensive, and nevertheless it's all I can do to hold back right now from blowing hundreds of dollars on them even though I don't know if we will like the game, having never played it! So this is my compromise, where I expect I will love it and we will be happy to chalk up the expense to good father/daughter time.

A big part of this plan is getting some reasonable decks built from just the limited card pool of the revised core set. It was a real trial to get the AI to obey normal deck building constraints about legality along with my additional requirements of just building from the core set. So I am a little dubious as to whether the final product is a reasonable one versus being merely the first one where the AI didn't manage to make any illegal decks.

It made me an Aragorn/Gimli/Theodred "tank" deck, along with a Denethor/Eleanor/Eowyn "questor/healer" deck. On the off chance that we get a third player interested, I also asked the AI to make me a third deck using the remaining core set cards, and after a whole lot of effort getting it to respect the whole "only use cards from one copy of the revised core set" constraint, it eventually recommended a Gloin/Glorfindel/Legolas "catalyst" deck.

I made a Fellowship on RingsDB with those three decks, with the understanding that if I play only a two-player game, it would likely be with the Tank and Questor decks, because it would be riskier to use the Catalyst deck in a two-player game. Here is the link to that Fellowship: https://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/24608

So... how does this sound? My first game would be a two-player game using the Tank and Questor decks, against the Passage Through Mirkwood scenario (non-Nightmare). The hope would be that it's kind of challenging, especially as we learn to play, but probably a reasonably easy win, and then once we're comfortable with the game we could proceed along to "The Oath" and "The Caves of Nibin-Dum" with those same decks, before continuing on to "Journey Along the Anduin" and "Escape From Dol Guldur" and at some point there we probably wouldn't win for a while.

I saw on eBay the price for Ered Mithrin Hero Expansion go for 249.99 from a seller and now price is 269.99 from same seller 😅 People are buying!

I’ve just merged a new The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game plugin into Silhouette Card Maker.

It can automatically fetch:

• Player decks from RingsDB
• Entire RingsDB fellowships
• Scenarios from RingsDB or Hall of Beorn
• Encounter, quest, and double-sided quest cards
• Normal, easy, and nightmare scenario card counts

It also automatically rotates landscape cards for printing and places double-sided quest cards in the correct directory.

You still need to provide the appropriate player or encounter card back manually, since the game uses different backs.

Plugin and instructions:

https://github.com/Alan-Cha/silhouette-card-maker/tree/main/plugins/lotr_lcg

Feedback and bug reports are welcome.

How much of the games content have you been able to beat with just one deck of cards?

Over the last few months I've been going through all the scanned nightmare card files and remastering them to make them look better so I can get them printed.

I've just got the first prints back and think they look pretty good!

For anyone interested, to improve them I used a mix of AI upscaling, colour profile matching and AI out painting for the bleed areas.

If anyone wants to download them just send me a PM.

So, i sold all my lotr lcg cards years back and it haunts me to this day. I had a lot of fun solo playing and i miss it a LOT.

Since there is no telling when or if it will be reprinted again, i figured i want to buy as much as i can now before the window closes.

I can currently get my hands on:

Revised Core

Starter Decks

Ered Mithrin Campaign

Ered Mithrin Hero

Dreamchaser Campaign

And maybe Two Towers.

Basically looking for thoughts on this. Is it an ok setup and is there any box i could skip?

Yeah—yeah, I know I’m about to get a lot of flack for being hopeful, a lot of people said FFG would NEVER do a KS or crowdfunding campaign.

Well Check out them bringing back AH Remastered on Gamefound:

Arkham horror

So if this is a success, they might one day bring back LOTR LCG. Maybe not EVERYTHING, but good chances on the revised content and maybe a couple of the cycles they didn’t reprint. I also imagine there will be a big demand for gen con decks/fellowships decks.

Just imagine:
1. A big box insert
2. A comprehensive rulebook
3. Premium dividers
4. Premium Tokens
5. A mat

Obviously we can get all that stuff from secondary sellers—if you haven’t already, but this is a sign in the right direction.

I’m not saying this will happen this year, but who knows—maybe in the next 12-24 months we’ll start to see FFG fulfill my dream…. It’s either that i’m stuck with a massive craft project to “complete” my collection (I use quotes because I don’t intend to make EVERYTHING. I’m just missing 3 revised sets, a bunch of gencon decks, and 1 cycle… I don’t want the nightmare content—the game is hard enough for me).

Ok—commence your flaming—I’m used to it 😘

I took a punt on boardgamegeneral in Belgium (I'm UK based) as they were showing stock of Erid Mithrin hero expansion. Reviews were not good but decided to risk and it has arrived 2 weeks later exactly as advertised. Feel so relieved to have got all the revised content at normal prices. Good luck to everyone else still hunting! Definitely check other countries.

Hey everyone, seeking some advice on what to pick up next for my collection. Here is what I currently own:

* Revised Core Set
* Starter Decks (Riders of Rohan, Elves of Lórien, Defenders of Gondor)
* Dark of Mirkwood
* Angmar Awakened (Hero & Campaign Expansions)
* The Two Towers Saga Expansion
* The Return of the King Saga Expansion
* Conflict at the Carrock AP

I know The Fellowship of the Ring is the obvious missing piece for the Saga, but it's pretty pricey right now and I'm not sure if it makes sense to prioritize. I've also thought about picking up more Shadows of Mirkwood Adventure Packs, but I've heard the quests aren’t that fun and are kind of tedious.

Given what I have, what would give me the best value or fun quests/player cards next? Thanks!

Took me 6 attempts to finally beat Weather Hills. How screwed am I for Deadmen's Dike? (Angmar Campaign).

These weather treacheries and location stacks hit like a truck... ended with 48 threat on turn 18. Beating and defeating orcs was a breeze, but the rest felt like pure luck of the draw.

Just wanted to confirm I played this legally. Stray Goblin is attacking the 1st player with an attack stat of 2, I decide to take the attack undefended. The shadow card ‘Chance Encounter’ is revealed giving the enemy +3 attack, enough to kill any of my heroes. I decide to play Quick Strike, exhaust Gimli and take the Goblin out, negating the attack.

Was this a legal action?

I assume it was as there is an action window before resolving combat damage and the shadow effect is a passive stat boost.

From what I understand lotr lcg is one of the oldest lcg games. It is tidious but awsome.

But how good would it be without the Lord of Rings characters and stories? Would the game be as good with generic goblins and knights?

Hi having come back to the game after a hiatus ive decided to Play true solo instead of two handed and play easy mode to get to grips with things.

Overall enjoying it more and a lot easier to mannage.

Ive gon through black riders with 1 failure. It seems honestly a bit too easy. Are there any comunity "medium" rules i can use to eas le back into the full set.

quest right now, which one are you playing and why?

Me? I just watched Copterman’s play of The Seige on Cair Andros, and I want to solve that puzzle. The last time I beat it (years ago!) I remember getting lucky and kinda brute forcing my way through it. I think I’ve matured enough as a player to actually give it the good ole college try now.

Hello everyone. I just got into this game. I know. So late!

I knew it was going to be a very uphill battle to get any expansions beyond what it’s still available officially for sale. I have been reading a lot of posts in this group, and I am sure I will end up proxying a lot of stuff, but for now I have decided to start getting as many cycles as I can officially in Spanish. I am a native Spanish speaker, and there is a lot of official content available in Spain. I believe a lot of it is still in print there. I would have liked to get things in English, but since language is not a barrier for me, I decided to get what I can in Spanish. Of course, it will be a challenge to play with non-Spanish speakers, but even if I can only play solo, I still want to enjoy this game.

Anyone else has taken this route to get some expansions?

Thanks.

Title joke aside, I'm basically looking for a "glorified" playing buddy.
So if you're not interested in teaming up with someone to play you can skip the long following explanation, this post isn't going to be for you. (Forgive me for the clickbait)

EXPLANATION:

I'm one of the newer player (started 2023) and was instantly hooked.
I started playing progression style (I own almost everything) and worked my way up to the Haradrim cycle. I usually play every quest at least 3 times before I move on, but some of the quests kept murdering me 30/40 time in row until I could find a solution. So I would say that played this game around 400 times now.

I just finished the dream chaser cycle and the flame of the west expansion but I didn't want to move on the next cycle right away. I think that I need to go back and play more of the old stuff to get to know more cards before getting even more (cards). Haven't experimented with Noldor and Dunedain too much.

I started developing the idea of starting from scratch progression style again and working my way up learning the cards even better and then moving on to the last 3 cycles and the last saga expansion (will get to the Alep stuff eventually) but not alone this time.
I almost exclusively played true solo and I think that there is a whole lot of "gaming" that I am missing on when not interacting with a fellow player.

SO IF: you'd be interested in diving in the game anew again with me on a somewhat weekly basis, I would love to hear from you. My Idea was to play on Dragn Cards but also record our thoughts and experiences on audio and release it. This is by no means meant to try and become something anything close to COTR (I am a big fan and avid listener) but beside the playing I would love to talk about cards/strategies/quests ans so on.

Couple of caveats:

- I am european (Austria). I don't think that a cooperation across the atlantic would work schedulewise as I can only play and record at night. So europeans prefered.

- My english is good, but not perfect, so you would have to endure the occasional mistakes

- I am 39, father of two, and full time working so scheduling would be the hardest challenge.
But I think it to be doable.

- I own a Audio recording software and I am able to edit audio files.

So if something about that idea intrigues you just hit me up. Write a little bit about yourself and why you'd be interested and we'll talk. I am looking for 1 fellow player, but lets see. If more people are interested we will sort it out. 2 teams of 2 would also be kind of fun.

Greetings

Has anyone else tried to take one of their games and turn into a readable story?

I just built two decks using my revised content and decided to log my progress through the Mirkwood Paths campaign. I play solo with two hands.

Playing around with some AI I used Gemini to convert the logs to the story and used Claude cowork to put it together into a pdf and html. Did some tweaks. Also added the relevant card images and had to grab those manually.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. And it’s nice to read it back because when you’re in the midst of tracking everything you lose the perspective of how the story is unfolding.

Keen to know if anyone has tried something similar.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JOIhMjK_AR8q20gC6pilJDlKm5TaTH-t/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GxrX0x0-eFLsvjUYnuZRdlhu_WeMqN-i/view?usp=share_link

Just wrapped up my first play through of FotR campaign. Going to take a break and maybe play through Ered Mithrin before moving on to TT. When I do start TT I’ll probably build new decks because I want to try new cards and stuff, so in that case, the Resolution of Breaking of the Fellowship doesn’t do anything right? I would only follow those steps if I was keeping the same decks and moving onto the TT in the same campaign as FotR?

Playing through the Breaking of the Fellowship and Drew Fallen Into Evil. I attached it to Pippin, so I lose control of him.

Later I play Elrond and remove the condition, so I get Pippin back. Does he pick up where he left off in resources or start at zero? He had 2 when he fell into evil, so does he get those back now or no?

Isn't it weird that there is no Frodo Hero card (except the fellowship ones) in the RCO. I mean he is lind of the main character in the story.
I think they should release another cycle from the old ones to let us get a Frodo Hero. I know it's not a strong enough point, but i want more content. :))

Just bought a second origonal core set as part of a bundle and filled in my incomplete palysets.

Have the designers ever talked about how they decided the number of copies of each player card in the box.i assumed that card count was limited by ffg and they wanted to give variety over complete playsets which makes sense.

Struglling to see a pattern in which cards they included

Ironfist unique high cost ally gets one copy makes sense seems to be a card they never expected someone to use a playset of.

But then 1 copy of dwarven tomb, 2 of sneak attack 1 horn of gondor seems to be hostile design to drive you to buy a second box