Scouting Party 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Before the armies arrive, before the warriors can attack, before the nobles have anything to command, the scouts have already come through. A whole party of them, mounted on the finest horses, can explore the ground and pave the way for the host to follow.

Eyes and Ears

With a lineup of Elfhelm, Idraen, and Lanwyn, this deck is uniquely suited to supporting other players with mounts, clearing locations, and providing strong burst questing. Elfhelm powers through the usual assortment of mounts, so give them out to everyone at the table, especially the defenders. Elfhelm himself is the deck's primary defender. He generally can't stand too long, but he gets the job done.

The ladies both quest, and Idraen will ready frequently enough that she can fight as well. Coupled with Ceorl, Orophin, occasionally Lanwyn, and whatever ranged your friends have lying around, you can generally dispatch mid-strength foes.

The rest of the allies are there to quest. Many of them, like Woodland Courier, Rhovanion Outrider, and Dunedain Pathfinder have a location sub-mechanic at work that fuels Idraen even further.

The Power Move

Scouting Party sometimes gets a bad rap for being overpriced. With this deck, though, playing it can net you a lot of will from relatively few cards. This can get you through location lock, or guarantee passage through a quest stage. This "surge questing" is particularly useful against quests that prevent you from making progress unless certain conditions are met, like being "On-course" in a sailing quest or "On Track" in Beneath the Sands. There are always risks that something in the quest phase will change your state, but when are there not? A Watchful Peace can help limit bad card draws, and there's always A Test of Will. Map of Earnil is there to repeat the party. If everything works out, you can play the party three or four times, which is usually enough to get you through whatever dire place your quest has taken you.

Weaknesses

Card draw and resource production are the biggest weaknesses. Necklace of Girion is probably best, particularly if you can get it pegged onto a location. Putting it on your heroes addresses the other weakness, which it must be said requires two cards to work: Steed of Imladris and Elven-light. There is less of a risk of stalling out than it seems, however. The allies bring good questing, and Westfold Horse-breeder is there to fetch those mounts.

Mount Up, Move Out!

The next time you're looking for a job, give the unsung Scouts a look. They'll take you places the Nobles, Warriors, and Rangers could only dream of.