Narsil0420 said:

Very true.  Defense does not stop direct damage.  Not that four damage would kill the Troll. 

Also, YOU can engage the Troll (and put multiple characters on him, correct).  There are some other direct damage it looks like (some bowman, and something that does 2 damage when engaged?).

Lastly, you can put sacrifical lambs in front of the Troll and keep on questing away!

My first impression: I love this game, especially the Leadership Sphere, Aragorn and Theodred are an awesome combination, I've combined the Sphere with all other Spheres now and didn't have too many difficulties finishing the first scenario. Think I'm gonna try the second one tomorrow :)

Still I have some questions, maybe someone could help me clarify:

1. What's the advantage of confronting enemies while they are already in the staging area? I still don't see no difference, except your threat level isn't high enough to make them attack the next round... If you attack an enemy in the staging area, still the enemy strikes first, doesn't it?

2. Can heroes also be declared as defenders?

3. Can I combine Gandalf with "Sneak attack?" So bring him into game, let him do his damage and then take him back onto my hand? Or do I have to discard him after the phase then?

Bonzo said:

You are playing a Tactics/Leadership deck and your friend is playing a Lore/Spirit deck but they are the first player for this turn. That means that the Enemy would normally engage the Lore/Spirit deck. Since your deck is better at dealing defending and attacks so you decide to engage the Enemy and save your friend from having to deal with it. 

Just an example but it illustrates one of the reasons you might want to engage an enemy. The other reason is to make questing easier but that only matters if your threat is too low to attract them on your own.

Had a friend round tonight to try out the game. The first story we did as a whitewash. Not a challenge. The Anduin story we tried twice and it killed us both times before we could get off the first part. It mainly came down to too many locations popping up and just how hard we found the hill troll. Did enjoy the game though but damn it's tough.

Bonzo said:

Sure thing

Bonzo said:

You just brought up one of the most discussed topics so far (check BGG). My opinion is that Gandalf should not be able to use his special ability with Sneak Attack or that would be almost a quest breaker all the time. So if you Sneak attack him just can use him in one Phase (his stats alone are just awesome) and then back to your hand. If you pay the 5 Resources, then use him for one full round but then discard.

This is almost sure a topic in the first official FAQ though.

Sky said:

I don't have the game yet but for what i have seen so far i think a tactik deck with Beorn,Gandalf and Gimli(i think a nice combo is to let Gimli have some wounds on him) will be a good solution for troll.On the other hand i don't know how god is tactik with the quest fase but i will find out tomorow.

servant of the secret fire said:

Just Gimli himself is a good solution for the Troll. The question remains on how to tackle the beast at the moment when he (or Aragorn) is not around.

Tactics definitely needs some help in the questing area.  Legolas ability is a great asset though.

Gimli + Eowyn combination is working nicely for me so far though.

Acererak said:

I plan to make a deck like this(Gimli,Legolas and Eowyn).You use 3 copies of Gandlaf or 2 are enough for this deck ?

servant of the secret fire said:

Sounds like a great team to me. I would probably go for just 2 copies given Gandalf resurce cost and that you don´t have access to Sneak Attack (specially if you are playing with 2 players and one core set, so your pal can have his 2 copies as well). Otherwise it could be a burden more than anything...although you always have Eowyn´s ability to feed (triggers discarding one card, although doing so with Gandalf seems a bit unrespectful to the old wizard), so probably up to you ;-)

Acererak said:

AHAHAHA you can understand from my name that i prefer die than discard a Gandalf card.

Oh and i forgot to ask you.You said that Gimli alone can manage the troll.You mean with his dwarven axe right?Or he can do the job without his axe?

servant of the secret fire said:

And I can see a few Gandalfs under your avatar as well, hehe. I did use it that way (discard for extra willpower for Eowyn, he was my last card on hand) once since that point meant one stage completed before a nasty Location was going to force me another 6 quest points. I found it a necesary sacrifice the wizard was willing to make for the good of the fellowship. Ended up winning, by the way.

The Axe, the Citadel Armor, the Gondorian Blade and a few nice Tactic events for combat surely help (and definitely you will probably have some of them if you go for 2 tactic heroes). But the main point is that Gimli has 2 defense + 5 hit points which means he can stand at least one assault from the Troll himself. And in the next round, put a minimum of 6 attack strength to the combined attack on the beast. With the help of some of those assets and the rest of heroes the Troll should fall without making too much damage to your mission.

Thanks for your reply mate.If Gandalf's sucrifice was for the safety of the fellowship i think i can forgive you .

servant of the secret fire said:

You stole my deck idea before I even ever told anyone that it was my deck idea! I'm using three Gandalf, because I am scared to run with less than three, until I build up my confidence through play.

:). My question was very specific. Sure thing You can build Your deck to tackle the Troll. But i was wandering how to deal with him without activatoing +4 wounds of Gandalf with the full spirit deck. When I could play Gandalt i had to chose from deal four wounds and get all the mobs engage me or lower the threat. In the second option Gandalf is only normal 4str character - that is why I asked how to kill him. The quest ordered to kill him to advance (i had enough exploration tokoens in round 3) so questing was not a solution. WIth STR6 he can kill any of the spirit deck heroes - regardless - in defence position or not.  

Letrs assume You have all Heroes Ready

Then Troll engages You.

You play Gandalf > 4 wounds. (5HP left)

You declare some lamb as defender (lets assume def 1 hp2) -> death and +3 htreat.

You use Gandalf -> defence overcome and 1 damage done (4HP Left).

You attack with all the party (3 Heroes) -> deal 4 dam -> Troll is dead.

So You killed Troll at sacrifice of Gandalf, I good character, and Your threat at the end of fight is +3.

As You have Gandal and Lamb in Your play area - the minimum round is 3. It means You can have to cope with other foes and locations.

And when Troll engages You - >you have to deal with its shadow effect.

Should You exhaust any of this five characters due to some Treachery or other effect then what -> lets assume You were not able to deal last point of damage and Troll is at 1HP.

Next Round You have to have two more ready characters -> One to deal with defence, second to deal last point of damege after Your heroes. -> If you took this possibility into account it pushes the start of this sequence to Round 4 (U need to pay for the two characters)..

But what with engagements, building threats and such. How to fight (skills, moves.. any ideas) should You not have any Gandalf in Your hand. Do You have any insights into this situation?

Bonzo said:

You can put into play Gandalf with Sneak Atack and then return him to your hand at the end of the phase, but you cannot use his ability then. Why?:

SNEAK ATTACK: Action: Put 1 ally card into play from your hand. At the end of the phase, if that ally is still in play, return it to your hand.

GANDALF: At the end of the round, discard Gandalf from play.
Response: After you play Gandalf from your hand, (choose 1): draw three cards, discard one enemy from the staging area, or reduce your threat by 5.

Sneak attack obliges you to return the ally to your hand sooner (at the end of the phase) than Gandalf's card text (at the end of the round). So you don't have to discard Gandalf in that case.

But you cannot deal damage from Gandalf's ability when you put him into play with Sneak Attack. Because Gandalf's text says: After you play Gandalf from your hand.

Playing and putting into play are two different things, i think (in other card games are: for example in AGoT LCG). The first one means, that you have to play the card with all costs and by the standard rules. Putting into play bypasses normal rules and costs. Page 8 and 25 of the LotR LCG rulebook suggest that there's a difference between playing and putting into play, so i think this rule also applies in LotR.

Then:

You can put Gandalf into play with Sneak Attack, but you cannot use his ability then (but he can still fight :) )