Ragnarok is almost upon us! The only live-action Tolkien festival in the world kicks off this weekend in Cambridge, Ohio. Ragnarok is a week-long extravaganza of mass melee and revelry. Ragnarok is a living, breathing celebration of Tolkien’s works and of the European history that inspired those works. [More]
Month: July 2002
The Second Prophecy of Mandos foretells the Dagor Dagorath, the final battle against Morgoth that will break the world! Dagorhir Battle Game Association presents our 17th annual Ragnarok!
The only live action Tolkien festival in the world! Leave the real world behind and enter a realm of mighty heroes. A realm of the fantastic where warrior maidens and grizzled veterans fight side by side with Elves and Orcs.
Ragnarok is a week-long extravaganza of mass melee and revelry. Ragnarok is a living, breathing celebration of Tolkien’s works and of the European history that inspired those works. This event draws hundreds of Tolkien and medieval combat enthusiasts from all over the United States.
Triumphs and defeats, parades and parties, tournaments and pit fighting, belly dancers, song, friendship, bloody battles and more lead up to the final Dagor Dagorath and the great triumphal celebration!
To read further on this fantastic event, head to dagorhir.com. [More]
For draw deck discarding, the Dwarves are the best fellowship cultures. Deck discarding in some ways can be a better then hand discarding simply because if you notice your opponent worrying about what is in his hand, sighing a lot with each new card he gets, this means that a majority of his good cards are buried in his deck. By discarding cards off the top, you are helping to eliminate those cards from play. This can sometimes make or break a game for you.
Here is a list of the cards that cause the discarding of the draw deck.
Nobody Tosses A Dwarf
Event
Relevant text: Response: If a Dwarf wins a skirmish, make an opponent discard 3 cards from the top of his or her deck.
Dwarves? Winning skirmishes? Never happen…okay, so maybe it will quite often. Dwarves are some of the most power characters in the game. Winning is going to be pretty easy against most cultures, especially with huge number of pump cards available to the dwarves and the permanent pumps they get from some conditions (Stairs of Khazad-dum, Gloin). Their ability to bear two hand weapons and gain strength from another possession means they are going to smack around even some of the most powerful minions (timed right, Gloin can slap around the Balrog quite easily). The major problem with this card is the fact that it is an event. That requires you to have the card in hand to play it. That means this possibly could be a dead weight card in your hand in the wrong scenario.
Dwarven Axe
Possession * Hand Weapon
Relevant text: Each time a player’s minion loses a skirmish, that player discards the top card from his or her draw deck.
This card is actually pretty useful in a dwarf deck for several reasons. First it is a hand weapon, meaning that it boosts the power of dwarves (already established as being a good angle to playing Nobody Tosses a Dwarf). Once again, we see the requirement of the dwarves winning the skirmish for the opponent to discard cards. Again, not hard to do with the right pumps. Another reason this card is good is because of its twilight cost – 0! For dwarves, who already suffer from minor twilight pool manipulation, this is great as they do not have to pay to play a permanent pump on them.
* Greatest Kingdom of My People
Condition
Relevant text: Each time your opponent plays an Orc, that player discards the top card of his or her draw deck.
Wow, if this card does not scream anti-swarm, I do not know what does. The only culture who does not have an Orc in it at the moment is Ringwraith, meaning that 3 out of 4 decktypes will be discarding cards off the top of their deck thanks to this card. Its major drawback is the fact you have exert a dwarf to put it in play.
What Are We Waiting For?
Event
Relevant text: Fellowship: Exert a dwarf to make an opponent draw 2 cards. That player then chooses to either discard 2 Shadow cards from hand or skip his or her next Shadow phase.
This card has the possibility to be good – if you can get it in hand. First, it provides a double edge – you are causing a discard from the top of the deck (in the form of the drawing of 2 cards) and then discarding two cards from hand or skipping the Shadow Phase. No requirement other then a non-exhausted dwarf. This card’s major draw back is the fact that it is an event – meaning it has to be in hand at the right time to use it.
The current major downside to playing the Dwarven deck discard strategy is two fold.
First is the fact that the dwarves have such a limited amount of cards that discard from your opponent’s deck. This makes it easy to run a tighter deck, but harder for the dwarves to do a lot of damage on their own.
Second is the fact that almost all the discard cards require you to win skirmishes against your opponent. If your opponent is playing Big Bad Naz or any deck that runs big power minions, you are going to be in trouble. You will barely make a dent into your opponents deck.
But against a swarm deck…well that is a different story. “Deck? What deck?”
Broken! Unbeatable! Unfair? Unbalanced? Too powerful!
Balanced. Necessary. Well-Designed. Excellent!
These are just a few reactions based on the most recently enhanced Minion Culture of ISENGARD. Since the release of the Realms of the Elf-Lords Starter Decks and Spoiler List, there has been a considerable amount of concern regarding Isengard: both in its newly designed tactical enhancements and the introduction of its “sub-culture” class of minions – the Isengard Orcs. Are they too powerful? Are they unbeatable? Will they cause a shift in balanced gameplay – or is it too early to tell?
Isengard as an overall culture has always been hailed as being slightly “above-average” at best. Comparatively, Isengard’s twilight-expensive Uruk-Hai do not have the recycling numbers of the MORIA swarms, cannot execute a focused corruption strategy like the NAZGUL and do not possess the direct damage skirmish ability and discard potential more strategically supported by SAURON’s own Orc class.
Because of their generally low vitality, archery – directed or total – is the Uruk-Hai’s main threat. With cards such as A Ranger’s Versatility, Armor, Valiant Man of the West, Mithril Coat and especially the Elven ” A Blended Race” the Fellowship can successfully keep the Damage +1 or “exert-to-use” capabilties of the Uruks at bay. Even Isengard’s most powerful effects such as Savagery to Match Their Numbers, Beyond the Height of Men and Caradhras Has Not Forgiven Us are unable to reach their full potential when the Fellowship is fortified with 4 companions or less.
The advent of the Isengard Orcs WILL change this power struggle in favor of the Shadow. With their abilities, above-average strength and HIGH vitality, they will severely shift the balance towards the Shadow come Site 4, and challenge the Fellowship’s ability to move a second time, giving the Shadow certain advantages in the later segments of the game.
And in my opinion – IT’S ABOUT TIME!
Why? Simply this: In overall contrast to the Shadow Player’s resources, there are more powerful and more versatile cards in the Fellowship’s arsenal which gives them a far greater advantage over any exsisting minion culture. Ultimately, a large, well armed, well fortified Fellowship can defeat ANY minion attack force, with the strength and numbers to spare for Frodo’s defense at Site 9 – especially when you have a fully healed Aragorn (Ranger of the North) or Sam (Proper Poet) who have the Manuever ability to become +1 defenders in the endgame.
The LOTR TCG is so well in tune with the “flavor” of the story that it seems almost uneventful when the Fellowship reaches SITE 9 with little or no resistance at all. Where is the sense of despair, the tension of the hunt and the essence of desperation?
This is where the Isengard Orcs will reach the pinnacle of their design. They have the ability of reducing the strength of the Fellowship within 1-2 turns and without the maximized strength of 5 or more companions, the Free Peoples Player will have to struggle with the fact that he or she must and will face a stronger and more dangerous opposition of Shadow Forces to truly defend the ring until the victorious or bitter end.
The Isengard Orcs are chaos amongst the order. They are the unknown threat created to exploit weakness in the Fellowship. They will bring forth that sense of tension and fear of moving forward that has been sorely missing from the game. They will force the Free People’s Player to stay fresh and keep sharp against a force so powerful; one mistake WILL change the outcome of the game.
I welcome the Orcs to the forces of Isengard and in my next segment – I will delve deeper into the inherent strategies of these Orcs and discuss exactly why we need them in this game – contrary to what many players believe.
Stay tuned for Part Two: Fuel on the Fire
The “Lord of the Rings” films are the result of many peoples’ labors, but some “L.O.T.R.” collectibles have essentially been the product of a single individual, New York sculptor Patrick Pigott. Last year, Pigott crafted a set of four 12 oz. “Glass Goblets” sold at Burger King restaurants, as well as a quartet of “character replica” statues for Applause, L.L.C. [More]
Charter Members to the LOTR fanclub will no doubt know that their names will be included on the DVD release of LOTR:FOTR. The cool part is that Howard Shore and PJ have decided to write special music JUST for the 19-minute long scroll of names! The bad news? Well…just follow the link for that. [More]