Gandalf the Hobbit 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

If you seen the new stand-alone scenario, The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, you know it comes with a bunch of new ship obectives which do cool new things. One ship, the Eithiliant, has the following setup text: " Choose a hero you control. Until the end of the game, that hero gains the printed Traits of another hero you control. "

Oh my.

We've had cards to give some traits before, but this is cart blanche. This is anything. You could make...

...Gandalf a hobbit.

This is a deck designed to be used solely for The Hunt for the Dreadnaught. Pick Eithiliant as your ship. And make Gandalf a Hobbit.

This deck isn't optimized for victory-at-all-costs; it's optimized for amount of different wacky things you can watch Gandalf get to do.

As a hobbit, he's eligible for Fast Hitch, so that's his readying. But you might want to put one on Rosie Cotton, since, as a hobbit hero, Gandalf can receive her boost, and he might want it to quest and to attack/defend. (He'll be readied during questing by Frodo Baggins's response, anyway.)

Forget Glamdring; give him Sting. For that matter, given their long friendship, you could say he and Frodo are Friend of Friends, so do that, too. If you do both, Gandalf will be at 5 , 5 and 5 .

If Gandalf is defending regularly, he might want to wear the Boots from Erebor, a Hobbit Cloak or a set of Ring Mail, and to wield the Staff of Lebethron. He can ride on a Hobbit Pony, smoke a Hobbit Pipe, or carry the Red Book of Westmarch. His willpower can be boosted by a Fireside Song, since when he plays it from the top of the deck, he's a spirit hero. Actually, by my reading of the rules, at the moment he plays any event from the top of his deck, he is a hero of that sphere... so is eligible to have a Good Meal to reduce its cost, too.

Since all your heroes are hobbits, you can use The Shirefolk, Hobbit-sense and Pippin's ability, and play both In the Shadows and Take No Notice for free. He can be removed from a quest with Elevenses, be a Small Target or have his stats boosted by Halfling Determination.

Of course there are his own toys there too — his Pipe and his friend Bilbo Baggins to help him find it, his Staff, and his skill as an Expert Treasure-hunter. Since the quest discards a lot of cards, I threw in a copy of Reforged in case you lose one you need. Since in theory there are six restricted attachments that could go on Gandalf, I put Golden Belt in the sideboard. (Some of the attachments—especially the Red Book and the Fireside Song—could usefully go on another hero, too.)

I threw a lot of x1 in here, since obviously the fun is the variety of what he gets to do, but mix and match as you like.

And, of course, Gandalf as a hobbit is only the beginning. The possibilities are endless. Who else would benefit from being a hobbit? For that matter, what hero would you like to slot into a dwarf line-up, as one of your set-up dwarves? Éowyn would be good for willpower, especially when boosted by Dáin Ironfoot, and you could find her Golden Shield with a Well-Equipped. It's standard by this point to put Erestor in outlands decks, but wouldn't it be better if he was benefiting from the boosts? Hell, Gandalf might like those too. And Boromir's readying would be useful for Word of Command, and he would benefit from the Flame of Anor, too.

The Eithiliant is a wild ride, is what I say. Take her out for a spin.