The Theoden family in the Redhorn Gate 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Here is a true solo deck based on the Rohan theme and its sub-theme "Théoden and his children", which takes advantage of the combo Théoden + Gúthwinë + Éomund + Faramir to commit as many characters as possible to the quest without sacrificing attack. The riders of Rohan and their mounts will climb the snowy slopes of Caradhras to lead Arwen to Rivendell...

The Redhorn Gate scenario, itself strongly and cleverly thematic, literally puts the willpower to the test, and at the same time the numerous enemies who populate the staging area do not leave us the leisure to calmly put down our board. It is often necessary to clear the staging area in order to continue progressing in the quest.

The start

• Mulligan for Faramir, Steward of Gondor, Gúthwinë, a side quest, or Elrond's Counsel (allow by Arwen the objective-ally provided by the scenario)

• Don't rush to complete quest step 1B. Wait until you have several allies in play. I have not included any copy of Mustering the Rohirrim or Gamling, because I favor allies here who remain at the table (with the exception of the specific loop on Éomund). We will need a solid and stable foundation to build crescendo up to the very demanding stage 3B

• Attach Windfola and Herugrim to Éowyn; Steward of Gondor, Gúthwinë and Horn of the Mark to Théoden

• Once Gúthwinë is attached to Théoden, and Éomund is in play, you will trigger the Eomund loop as soon as an enemy is in the staging area

The Eomund Loop

• Commit all the characters into the quest, except: I) Eomund, II) the friend of Éowyn, Faramir, who is there in support to boost the efficiency in the quest of the Rohirrim, and III) from stage 2B those who have a base willpower of zero, to avoid Snowstorm then Caradhras punishments. Wait for the staging step to decide whether or not to trigger the action of Éowyn. When Freezing Cold is revealed, use Power of Orthanc to discard this Condition attachment

• Éomund is exhausted to defend. Most often he is destroyed in this attack, which triggers the readying of all Rohan characters, as well as the drawing by Horn of the Mark and Valiant Sacrifice. If you are engaged with multiple enemies, first exhaust Warden of Helm's Deep to defend against a small attack, then Eomund against the second attack, which will allow you to ready up Warden of Helm's Deep to defend again

• Our ready characters attack. Théoden + Gúthwinë bring back Éomund to your hand

• The next turn we pay Éomund again during phase 2, thanks to the resources of Steward of Gondor and/or the abilities of the ally Arwen and Theodred

Other techniques and tactics

• West Road Traveller is used here for its 2 , not for its initial effect. Once 2B / 3B have made Caradhras the active location, we want to explore it to achieve the objective of "5 points in the Victory pile" more quickly

• I attach Freezing Cold in the middle of the game to Théodred if I no longer need his resource generation; otherwise, and at the start of the game, at Théoden

• Elrond's Counsel and The Galadhrim's Greeting are especially useful at the start and middle of the game to give us time to settle in. Then, these threat reducers allow us to choose our engagements in combat, and engage one enemy per turn on average to use Eomund as the only chump-blocker

• To trigger its action, Éowyn first discard Elven-light then the duplicates of Steward of Gondor and Faramir

• If Black Uruks is revealed while we do not have a copy of A Test of Will in hand, we could discard Windfola, or Horn of the Mark if our board is in place

• Snow Warg can be tricky to defend. Depending on the context, you can defend either with Théoden, or with Theodred and Hasty Stroke, or leave him in the staging area if your threat level is low enough

• If a Mountain Troll engages you and you can't defend yourself with Eomund, chump-block with Snowbourn Scout or The Riddermark's Finest

• Theodred, Steward of Gondor, and Arwen partially compensate for Bitter Wind effects if one can not cancel that treachery

• Beside Elven-light and Ancient Mathom, you can discard The Riddermark's Finest for triggering Horn of the Mark or Valiant Sacrifice, if you need some more drawing while there is no ennemy to engage

• The side quests have several functions here: I) they facilitate the implementation, II) Rally the West increases willpower and, in addition to Faramir, further reduces the risk of triggering the discard of characters during quest step 3B, III) they delay so as not to move too quickly to step 2B and step 3B, IV) they score victory points to achieve one of the winning conditions of quest 3B.