The Fellowship of the Pipes (challenge deck) 1.0

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• 1.0

One of my favorite ways to add variety to my solo games is to come up with silly in-game challenges. These challenges are a little like Nightmare quests in that they make a scenario harder and change its feel. But they're more light-hearted than Nightmares; a good in-game challenge is one that makes me chuckle with satisfaction when I complete it.

In the past I've challenged myself to help Barliman Butterbur achieve his dream of ruling Gondor with the One Ring; to see Bombur succeed Thorin as King of the Mountain; and to guide Bill the Pony on a hero's journey.

For this deck, I wanted to play around with pipes. There are plenty of great pipe decks out there. Alonewolf87's All the Pipes and Metroid9's Pipes!!! Pipes!!! Pipes!!! are noteworthy for including 12 pipes in their decks: 3x Dúnedain Pipe, 3x Dwarf Pipe, 3x Hobbit Pipe, and 3x Spare Pipe. The only thing missing is 3x Wizard Pipe.

The challenge I set myself was to win a scenario with every possible pipe in play (15 total). I also wanted to win with every hero and every ally having their own pipe: a Fellowship of the Pipes.

I decided to set myself the further challenge of choosing thematic heroes. There are way better dwarf heroes than Ori, but surprisingly he's the only dwarf hero depicted in his card art with a pipe in his mouth. I chose Aragorn for the same reason, though his threat reduction does come in handy. The heroes are accompanied by Peregrin "You Smoke Too Much, Pippin" Took.

This is no power deck. It will struggle against most scenarios. But it does just fine against The Oath, which is the scenario I tested it against.

The deck includes 3 hobbit allies, 3 dunedain allies, and 3 dwarf allies, but you only want to play 2 of each; otherwise there won't be enough pipes to go around. The extras can be used as chump blockers if need be.

Put the spare pipes on Henamarth, Firyal, and Jubayr. (Unlike hobbits, dunedain, and dwarves, they don't come from pipe-smoking cultures, but their friends introduced them to the habit, lending them their spare pipes.)

To beat the challenge, Gandalf, Radagast, and Saruman all need to be in play at the same time, and each of them needs a Wizard Pipe. Gandalf can stick around for a few rounds if need be, but you'll need to wait until the last round to play Saruman, since he only has time for a quick smoke before he needs to get back to Isengard.

Mulligan for Northern Tracker, though Firyal and Song of Travel are also nice to have in hand early. The goal is to stabilize in the early rounds, then to draw through your entire deck. Old Toby can help.

The final round is supremely satisfying. When I tested the deck I was able to get Gandalf and Saruman into play for free (with 2x Smoke and Think), give them their pipes, then play 3x Smoke Rings to reduce the threat by 45. Not bad. But the most satisfying thing of all is seeing your fellowship complete ... the Fellowship of the Pipes.