The Battle of Bywater 1.0

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• 1.0

"'Raise the Shire!' said Merry. 'Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don't at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don't know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they'll go up in fire.'" - Merry, The Return of the King

Merry and Pippin come into their own upon their return to the Shire, finding it under Sharkey's control. Along with Frodo and Sam, they organize resistance to the ruffians, but it is Merry and Pippin who earn a special place in history as a result of this battle, showing just how far their characters have come since originally leaving the Shire. Tom Cotton plays no small part in this as well,

"The very considerable rise in the fame and fortune of the Cottons dates from this time; but at the top of the Roll in all accounts stand the name of Captains Meriadoc and Peregrin." - The Return of the King

This is a multiplayer specialist Hobbit Combat deck. It has small willpower potential but handles combat elegantly. It is strong enough to withstand all of the attacks in a 2-player game of Fire in the Night. In at least one test it took over willpower responsibilities when another deck got ambushed by a swarm of Undead, emerging victorious. A nice feature for a deck intended primarily for combat.

General strategy: build up Tom Cotton with Ring Mail, Friend of Friends, and Rosie Cotton. Bring hobbits into play for boosted attack, attacking together with Merry, who then readies them for a second attack. Mulligan for Resourceful and put the first one on a tactics hero, second on Pippin if you get it.

Card discussion:

Tom Cotton is the lynchpin of the deck. His ability exempts you from a resource match for the first hobbit you play each round if you keep your threat low enough. However, this deck does not really intend to keep threat low forever-- that actually makes it hard to engage multiple enemies. So play those blue and purple cards early. Tom can defend several times and ends up with 7 to 9 defense (3 native, +2 Ring Mails, +1 Friend of Friends, +2 potentially from Rosie).

Merry is primary attacker. Either give him the Daggers of Westernesse, or give one or two to Pippin if needed, at which point he is a powerful attacker who can be readied by Merry for multiple uses. Either Merry gets the other Friend of Friends, or Pippin does, depending on who you have decided to stack weapons on.

Pippin provides card draw and quests, or attacks if you choose to set him up that way.

Resourceful is an important card to see on round 1. Mulligan for it. If it is not there, you might be lucky enough to get Drinking Song for an extra mulligan attempt! If you get it in an early round but are over 20 threat, either use The Shirefolk or a Wandering Took and temporarily pass him to another player to lower your threat.

Raise the Shire is a great 'sneak attack' for Farmer Maggot. Rosie Cotton is also excellent to fish out of your deck with this card. Gaffer Gamgee is another good target. I have also used it to grab a Wandering Took so I could pass him, lower my threat, and play Resourceful.

Fast Hitch: typically the first 1 or 2 go on Tom, then the third can go on Rosie or Merry, depending on what you need.

Rosie Cotton is typically used as a combat boost, but can do willpower at need, or both if you give her a Fast Hitch.

Outmatched seems built just for Tom. This helps you keep an enemy engaged with you so you can use his resource exemption, while your threat is low enough.

Warden of Healing is tangentially thematic due to Merry's stay at the houses of healing in Gondor. Otherwise he's just here to mop up damage. With extra resources on Pippin from Resourceful, he can do multiple heals per round, if you only have 1 copy available.

Gaffer Gamgee doesn't need to be recycled endlessly-- you'll have enough defensive power. However, he is a good emergency valve and, bless his heart, gets +2 attack every time you bounce him back into play.

Curious Brandybuck is an ambusher. Hold onto them until you get a boss enemy, then travel and drop all three for +6 attack! Alternatively, use them to chump block anywhere on the table, or for emergency willpower if your table gets locked up.

Halfling Bounder is here mainly for his color (no resource exemption required, although it can be helpful) and stats (has 3 attack on the round you play him). However, with side quests in the victory display, his ability is also extremely useful. He was a champ in Fire in the Night.

The deck can have trouble engaging enemies due to low starting threat, which is not ideal for a combat deck! Swap out The Shirefolk for Tireless Hunters if you anticipate a lot of high engagement cost enemies. If the scenario features a lot of evil shadow effects, Sterner than Steel is a natural fit for Tom and his Ring Mails. Finally, Wait no Longer pairs very well with this deck, and Good Meal helps pay for it if you have included it, or for Raise the Shire. You could also work space in for Song of Wisdom and A Burning Brand from Tom, but I have not found them to be needed.

This is an updated version of my Knee-pokers Hobbit Combat deck, with cards up through Mount Gundabad. Original is in the 'derived from' link.