Glóin began then to talk of the works of his people, telling Frodo about their great labours in Dale and under the Mountain ... 'You should see the waterways of Dale, Frodo, and the fountains, and the pools! You should see the stone-paved roads of many colours! And the halls and cavernous streets under the earth with arches carved like trees; and the terraces and towers upon the Mountain’s sides! ...' --Glóin, The Fellowship of the Ring

An Alternate Art Starter Deck

Inspired by AutumnRose's work on her two incredible alt-art starter decks (Flight to the Ford and Where the Stars are Strange) I am releasing my tenth alternate art starter deck, Labours in Dale. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Glóin shares tales of the wonderful work the Dwarves have done rebuilding Dale. This deck is inspired by a what-if situation: Frodo is so inspired that after he returns home, he decides to travel with some fellow Hobbits to see Dale in all of its glory. This deck features some fun tricks that Hobbits love to play, and has plenty of attachments to keep the folks of Dale happy.

For those keeping track, this deck features eleven repeated cards. Frodo Baggins and Spare Pipe were included in Autumn's Flight to the Ford deck. Dúnedain Warning was included in Autumn's Where the Stars Are Strange deck. Folco Boffin, Cautious Halfling, Hobbit Archer, and Song of Hope were included in my Root and Twig deck. Miruvor was included in my Dear to Manwë deck. Resourceful was included in my Long and Hopeless Search deck. Messenger of the King was included in my The White Mountains deck. Wiglaf was included in the Ered Mithrin Hero Expansion. All repeated cards feature new artwork.

Hobbits

Frodo Baggins is your best blocking option. His 2 and 2 hit points can be boosted by Dúnedain Warning and Spare Pipe respectively, and his ability allows you to prevent excess damage at the cost of increasing your threat. That works well with Folco Boffin, who lowers the starting threat of all Hobbit heroes including himself. Folco's ability can also be used in a truly dire moment to drop your threat in one big shot. Folco's 2 positions him as your main questing hero, and can be boosted with Dúnedain Quest and Song of Hope.

Cautious Halfling gives you a peak at the encounter deck (and maybe a free draw) before helping with questing or chump blocking. Hobbit Archer provides some bonus attack and even Ranged if playing multiplayer. Odo Proudfoot can help you draw your hobbit allies faster. Keen-eyed Took is a card.

Good Meal can be useful in a deck that is heavy on events, providing a one time discount. Short Cut can let you delay seeing a nasty location, and Small Target can be used in target to effectively have enemies fight each other. Hobbit-sense is in the sideboard for use in pure Hobbit decks, and helps you skip the combat phase entirely in a round.

Dale

In using Messenger of the King for Wiglaf, you miss out on his free item ability. However, having him in play as a hero and saving 5 resources is worth it. Wiglaf can ready himself by exhausting item attachments, meaning he can potentially contribute to questing, defending, and attacking all in the same turn. Load him up with Miruvor, Spare Hood and Cloak, and Spare Pipe plus any spare Signals and he quickly becomes a do-it-all hero for you. Miruvor has no problem being exhausted to use its abilities - you can grant Wiglaf resources or as needed, and keep recycling it if you don't need to keep drawing for a specific card. Spare Pipe can also be exhausted at well after it enters play. Wiglaf is also a good target for Song of Hope, as he will most likely be questing every round.

Dale Messenger provides healing to all characters with an item attachment, which in a Dale deck usually means many targets. Knight of Dale has solid stats to contribute where needed and can be readied either by resources or if you are in Valour. Ravenhill Scout can help you manage your locations by keeping one with a bad travel effect in the staging area and moving progress off the active location onto it.

Other Cards

Resourceful is included as a luxury, not a main component, as this deck isn't really built around secrecy. However, if you see Resourceful in your opening hand, you will want to play it on Wiglaf first. Dawn Take You All can help you take an attack without risking a surprise shadow effect, becoming more valuable the more players there are. Rumour from the Earth allows you to scry the encounter deck, rinsing and repeating if you have spare resources. Second Breakfast helps you get back any attachments that may find their way into your discard pile, and can even allow you to choose a Miruvor ability that does not return it to the top of your deck.

Don't Be Hasty!, Far-sighted, Gildor's Counsel, and Ravens of the Mountain all allow tricky interactions with the encounter deck that can be used to your benefit in the questing phase. Ever Onward can be used to prevent a big threat spike if you failed questing in a round.

Print this deck

I have set up a Make Playing Cards project with ALeP backs that can be found here. If you wish to use official backs, a PDF of the deck that can be sent to MBPrint can be found here. A photo album with high-res versions of each individual card is available here.