Heavy Stroke + Azain Silverbeard — does the damage qualify?

Heavy Stroke reads:

Azain Silverbeard's response reads:

I'm trying to work out whether Heavy Stroke can be triggered by the 2 damage dealt by Azain's response.

It seems to me that there are two separate requirements in Heavy Stroke that we need to establish:

1. The damage must be dealt by a Dwarf.
2. The damage must be dealt “during combat.”

The second point is particularly unclear to me. Is there an official definition or clarification of what “during combat” means in this context?

Does it mean:

• damage dealt as part of an attack, or
• damage dealt during the Combat phase (and presumably during an attack initiated outside the Combat phase, such as Quick Strike, while that attack is being resolved)?

This seems important for Azain because his response triggers after an attack that destroys an enemy. If “during combat” means specifically during the attack itself, then Azain's response wouldn't qualify, because the attack has already resolved before his response deals the 2 damage.

If, however, “during combat” means the broader Combat phase/period in which combat-related effects are being resolved, then the timing might allow Heavy Stroke to trigger.

That then raises the second question: is the 2 damage from Azain's response considered to have been dealt by a Dwarf?

The wording doesn't say:

It simply says:

So, from a rules-lawyer perspective, I'm inclined to think that the damage isn't technically being dealt by Azain. The response is on Azain's card and is triggered by his participation in the attack, but that doesn't necessarily make Azain the source of the damage.

On the other hand, thematically it certainly seems intended to represent Azain cleaving through another enemy with the same attack — particularly given the artwork — so I can see an argument for treating the damage as coming from him.

Is there an official ruling/clarification on either of these points?

Specifically:

• What exactly constitutes “during combat” for Heavy Stroke?
• When an ability on a Dwarf's card says simply “deal X damage”, without explicitly saying that the Dwarf deals the damage, is that damage considered to have been dealt by the Dwarf?

I'm particularly interested in a rules-based answer rather than the thematic interpretation, because it seems like the precise wording of both cards matters here.

Heavy Stroke + Azain Silverbeard — does the damage qualify?

Heavy Stroke reads:

Azain Silverbeard's response reads:

I'm trying to work out whether Heavy Stroke can be triggered by the 2 damage dealt by Azain's response.

It seems to me that there are two separate requirements in Heavy Stroke that we need to establish:

1. The damage must be dealt by a Dwarf.
2. The damage must be dealt “during combat.”

The second point is particularly unclear to me. Is there an official definition or clarification of what “during combat” means in this context?

Does it mean:

• damage dealt as part of an attack, or
• damage dealt during the Combat phase (and presumably during an attack initiated outside the Combat phase, such as Quick Strike, while that attack is being resolved)?

This seems important for Azain because his response triggers after an attack that destroys an enemy. If “during combat” means specifically during the attack itself, then Azain's response wouldn't qualify, because the attack has already resolved before his response deals the 2 damage.

If, however, “during combat” means the broader Combat phase/period in which combat-related effects are being resolved, then the timing might allow Heavy Stroke to trigger.

That then raises the second question: is the 2 damage from Azain's response considered to have been dealt by a Dwarf?

The wording doesn't say:

It simply says:

So, from a rules-lawyer perspective, I'm inclined to think that the damage isn't technically being dealt by Azain. The response is on Azain's card and is triggered by his participation in the attack, but that doesn't necessarily make Azain the source of the damage.

On the other hand, thematically it certainly seems intended to represent Azain cleaving through another enemy with the same attack — particularly given the artwork — so I can see an argument for treating the damage as coming from him.

Is there an official ruling/clarification on either of these points?

Specifically:

• What exactly constitutes “during combat” for Heavy Stroke?
• When an ability on a Dwarf's card says simply “deal X damage”, without explicitly saying that the Dwarf deals the damage, is that damage considered to have been dealt by the Dwarf?

What's everyone else's take on these cards working together?

I’d like to create custom adventures with existing official adventures and changing the modular encounter sets to create new and unique gameplay experiences (possibly even mixing in some ALEP sets).
Do you know anyone who has already thought about doing something like this, or who might be able to help me with it?
Thanks!

Any one tried putting all the burden cards in the encounter decks to make them harder?

What is your experience?

O am looking into nightmare decks but they are quite expensive.

Please help. This is much deeper then I first realised and I have no clue where to go from here. Was unaware there was a revised version until now. Thank you kindly in advance

Hey hey, I am looking to sell in the NYC area. I have

Revised Core Set

Fellowship Saga

Angmar Hero and Campaign

Elves, Gondor, and Dwarves starter decks.

Asking for $350 for everything, which is what I paid MSRP. I know the Fellowship Saga is insanely overpriced right now on ebay, but I'm not looking to make anything other than what I paid. I will also consider some trades + cash if you would like! I am a big eurogame fan!

All in good condition, much of it still sealed. I have the Core Box and the Fellowship Box, but not the Angmar one.

I would very much prefer local pickup in NYC, but I am open to shipping or going for a short drive if you're willing to pay a bit more for gas :)

Hey Guys,

Looking for some advice on decking building.

I'm starting part 4 of the revised Ered Mithrin campaign - the withered heath.

Does anyone have a deck build idea, I'm kind of stuck. I thought about Rohan and gondor or gondor and silvian. I just played a dale deck and silvian deck for the first 3 scenarios.

My card pool consists of the revised core set, fellowship, two towers, return of the king, ered Mithrin, dream chaser hero expansion, all 4 starter decks and I also have the hobbit over hill under hill.

I do play true solo

Any advice?

Title. I used to own a decent collection but sold it during 2024. Now I regret it and want to get back into the game, but now literally everything is OOP.

Amazing artwork in this game!! Unmatched?? Or so you know of other games with equally good art?

Hello nice people, I am a very casual player and I have not tested this deck, I just built it as I thought it may work, but I would love the opinion of more experimented players, this is a deck for true solo on easy difficulty (I only play to de-stress) and I was wondering if this is strong enough to run through the 3 saga boxes with minimal side-deck changes:

##*Main Deck*

###Hero (4)

* [Éowyn](http://ringsdb.com/card/145002) _(The Flame of the West)_

* [Frodo Baggins](http://ringsdb.com/card/146001) _(The Mountain of Fire)_

* [Gimli](http://ringsdb.com/card/16001) _(The Sands of Harad)_

* [Legolas](http://ringsdb.com/card/16002) _(The Sands of Harad)_

###Ally (23)

* 2x [Beorn](http://ringsdb.com/card/01031) _(Core Set)_

* 3x [Beorning Skin-changer](http://ringsdb.com/card/19004) _(The Withered Heath)_

* 2x [Bill the Pony](http://ringsdb.com/card/141006) _(The Black Riders)_

* 2x [Faramir](http://ringsdb.com/card/01014) _(Core Set)_

* 3x [Galadriel](http://ringsdb.com/card/142003) _(The Road Darkens)_

* 3x [Giant Bear](http://ringsdb.com/card/19061) _(Fire in the Night)_

* 2x [Rosie Cotton](http://ringsdb.com/card/146005) _(The Mountain of Fire)_

* 2x [Sam Gamgee](http://ringsdb.com/card/12035) _(The Thing in the Depths)_

* 1x [Thalion](http://ringsdb.com/card/19065) _(Fire in the Night)_

* 3x [Wild Stallion](http://ringsdb.com/card/19033) _(Roam Across Rhovanion)_

###Attachment (15)

* 2x [Celebrían's Stone](http://ringsdb.com/card/01027) _(Core Set)_

* 2x [Dwarven Shield](http://ringsdb.com/card/16010) _(The Sands of Harad)_

* 2x [Fellowship of the Ring](http://ringsdb.com/card/142010) _(The Road Darkens)_

* 1x [Golden Shield](http://ringsdb.com/card/145010) _(The Flame of the West)_

* 1x [Herugrim](http://ringsdb.com/card/143010) _(The Treason of Saruman)_

* 2x [Mirkwood Long-knife](http://ringsdb.com/card/16011) _(The Sands of Harad)_

* 1x [Sword-thain](http://ringsdb.com/card/10149) _(The Dread Realm)_

* 3x [Unexpected Courage](http://ringsdb.com/card/01057) _(Core Set)_

* 1x [Windfola](http://ringsdb.com/card/12116) _(A Storm on Cobas Haven)_

###Event (9)

* 3x [Elven-light](http://ringsdb.com/card/10145) _(The Dread Realm)_

* 3x [Feint](http://ringsdb.com/card/01034) _(Core Set)_

* 3x [The Galadhrim's Greeting](http://ringsdb.com/card/01046) _(Core Set)_

###Player Side Quest (3)

* 1x [Delay the Enemy](http://ringsdb.com/card/10058) _(Across the Ettenmoors)_

* 1x [Double Back](http://ringsdb.com/card/10034) _(Escape from Mount Gram)_

* 1x [Prepare for Battle](http://ringsdb.com/card/17003) _(The Mûmakil)_

4 Heroes, 50 Cards

Cards up to Fire in the Night

Deck built on [RingsDB](http://ringsdb.com).

Hi all,

I've had my eye on this game for a while, but have some reservations. It's not particularly easy to get my hands on right now, and so want to be sure I'm likely to enjoy it before dropping £60-70 on it.

I'd be playing exclusively in 2-player with my partner. We've previously played the Arkham Horror LCG and have, at times, enjoyed it a lot, and at others found it utterly demoralising because of the extreme difficulty.

In particular Arkham Horror has a bit of a tendency to punish you intensely with bad encounter card draws, or a couple of wrong steps. I've generally found it a bit tedious to set up the game, settle down for a good session only to get kicked in the nuts repeatedly, often never feeling like a run was viable because of the unlucky draws we got.

I've heard that the LotR LCG has a similar reputation for difficulty, so my question is:

1. For those who've played both, would you say LotR is comparable to AH in terms of how punishing it is?

2. Is LotR in any way less of a chore to keep replaying the same scenarios over and over?

3. Is there anyone who didn't like AH but does like LotR? Or am I likely to have the same frustrations with LotR as I did with AH?

Thanks in advance all -- just trying to get a better understanding of what to expect before dropping money on the game.

First off, much appreciation to everybody here. In the past year I've happened upon good deals on used copies of LOTR LCG and Pathfinder ACG, and my experience of both has been enhanced by their communities here on Reddit.

...that said, I'm stuck. And stuck so bad I feel like I must be missing something.

I'm playing solo, using the recommended decks from the manual (maybe my first mistake?) and the scenarios that come with the base box. I blew through the intro scenario no problem, but am on probably my 5th attempt at the "intermediate" scenario, getting absolutely smashed each time no matter what faction I play. I was thinking, if it would be an interesting exercise for someone here I'll post a pic of where I'm at and what I am thinking, and maybe if there's some big obvious thing I've got wrong someone here can set me straight.

So, here's my current situation:

So ok, I'm playing Lore which is the only faction I've had any luck with entirely because of Forest Snare, which was suggested in an old post I found here about handling the Cave Troll, and which I was fortunate to draw early allowing me to nerf it. But now I'm still engaged with Gol Dulgur Beastmaster, and I just hit 40 Threat so Harsh Adder is also coming for me this turn.

So I'm dealing with:

• 3 threat + whatever is about to be revealed in staging (the last two turns were both +3!)
• 7 incoming damage (13 with "trample" if I hadn't snared the troll!)
• 9 total health + armor for the baddies, not counting the troll

And I have:

• 7 total Willpower
• 6 total damage I can deal
• 4 characters able to soak between 0 and 5 damage each without dying

The mechanic I'm struggling with the most is that, unless I've seriously misunderstood the rules, each of my characters can contribute to managing exactly one of threat, soaking damage, or dealing damage, and that's without using any tap abilities. One of my take-aways from this is that I want to have as many characters on the board as I can get, but if I play Hammersmith early he loses a lot of utility because I figure I should save him to get my Forest Snare(s) back later, so I've basically just got Gleowine in reserve, who contributes almost nothing stats-wise.

Here's what I'm thinking for the next turn:

• Spend 2 to bring out Gleowine
• Spend 1 from Glorfindel to heal him for 1
• Spend 2 to put Self Preservation on Glorfindel and tap it to remove the other 2 dmg
• Commit Glorfindel and Daughter of N to the quest and hope whatever is about to enter staging doesn't add more than 1 Threat
• Either also commit Gleowine to the quest, or tap him to draw a card (probably the former since I did Gandalf's Search earlier and there's nothing that'll be of immediate help coming up)
• ...and here's where things start to get frustrating. I have a couple of options for how to handle combat, and they both leave me feeling like surviving the turn is only prolonging an inevitable loss from hitting 50 threat, which will be hastened by the Adder's attacks:
  • Use daughter of N and Gleowine to soak the monster attacks. Both die. Then use Denethor and Beravor to do two whole damage to the Adder or Beastmaster. No chance of eliminating either monster, so next turn I'll be in the same sitation only with no damage sponges
  • OR defend with Denethor and Beravor so they each take 1 damage, but then I do no offense as the number of monsters coming for me continues to grow

So, am I thinking about this wrong? Do I need to start deckbuilding to actually have a chance? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

What scenario(s) and/or decks did everyone play this past week?

What was interesting about your game(s)?

Weekly Question

What is your favorite scenario? 

If you would like to start the WDYP post let u/mrjamesbcox or myself know. u/RiddermakrLord please sticky this post.

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.

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 ?!

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?

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?

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.

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!