monotactic 3rd

i really like the shape of it now.

if you really want to commit to the Blade of Gondolin tech on Legolas I would go all in on it, playing multiple Blade of Gondolin and Golden Belt in every deck. You never have too much of them (you have a total of 7 restricted slots on the Legolas+Bard the Bowman+Merry triad + Golden Belt), and putting up to 4 Blade of Gondolin on Legolas and as many Rohan Warhorse as possible on Brand son of Bain/Merry lets you generate a lot of progress while clearing the board.

Maybe swapping Théoden with Merry to give Merry an extra horse is worth it, since you want to use him on Legolas not Aragorn the Aragorn+Merry+Mablung combo is not that relevant.

You could push as far as to have 3 Blade of Gondolin, Rohan Warhorse, Open the Armory and Golden Belt in every deck. that takes a lot of space but little resource and guarantees you can get that engine running first round.

with Golden Belt and 4 Blade of Gondolin on Legolas you can generate 6 progress per ennemy killed and kill 3 ennemies per round +1 per horse on merry/brand

since you are doing so well in combat and count on killing ennemies to make progress, maybe Dúnedain Hunter, Durin's Axe or Sting in addition to Wait no Longer can help generate some more meat for Legolas to grind! The prospect of clearing multiple stages in a single round is entertaining.

If Merry stays put The Hammer-stroke in the Aragorn deck is worth it in my opinion it pays it's own resource back with Mablung, it reduces in staging area before resolving quest and it lets you make full use of Merry who doesn't have ranged for maximum Legolas triggers.

I would add as many Honour Guard as possible as you have no healers, and they can serve a role similar to Dori.

Secret Vigil is an excellent way for to reduce threat in multiplayer, much better than Favor of the Valar.

your thoughts are understandable, but:

i like the merry-aragorn-kombo, because he can engage after killing from everywhere (even staging). his bonus is also good for the ranged warriors. i think its no need to overkill with legolas-gondolin. this way the deck has more flexibility and goodpunch from the start and its relatevely independant what cards are drawn (and can perhaps challenge the quests that steal some of your deck)

and this way with mablung he generates at least 2 extrares without cards (1 engaging phase, 1 thx to aragorn combatphase, perhaps 1 with wait no longer) and there are expensive eagles in the aragorndeck.

what i dislike at secret vigil, is that i have to remain the enemy at least 1 round. this fellowship wants to kill all enemys the round they came. secret vigil has 3 subjects to work, the card himself, an egliable enemy and preferable not one with threat 1-2, and you need the ressource. that in addition to leave an enemy live longer than needed,makes me dislike the card. favour of the valar perhaps will not be used, if the game goes well. its only safety. especially with all the keen as lances around.

meanwhile (with the whole keen as..) i think i can swap favour with honour guards

honor guards are a good suggestion, but what to cut for it?

hammerstroke is risky. and it is not so much needed to reduce because we have passable questing. but i think about Good Meal and Hour of Wrath

i understand and agree on merry staying with aragorn. On legolas-gondolin: as long as there are quests to complete you cannot really overkill, but because the amount of progress that specific sub-category of your fellowship produces is a product of the number of Blade of Gondolin you have times the number of Rohan Warhorse you have, the more you have the more efficient it becomes, so for that reason i would regard that strategy as all-in or nothing.

as extra ways to engage ennemies outside of normal phases for Mablung you have Dúnedain Hunter and Knight of Minas Tirith.

Secret Vigil can also be attached to ennemies that stay in staging until next turn, and in my experience it is worth waiting for the right ennemy and to let that ennemy live a turn, just because it does as good a job as a The Galadhrim's Greeting.

Good Meal is a good idea but be careful with how much card draw you have, if you don't have enough drawing Good Meal on an empty hand feels pretty bad.

As for The Hammer-stroke if you are interested in Hour of Wrath you will love Thicket of Spears.

Things i think you can cut: Bow of Yew, Dagger of Westernesse, Favor of the Valar, Grappling Hook, some Hold Your Ground! (if including Thicket of Spears), Beechbone, Arod, Envoy of Pelargir, Grimbold, Guthlaf. If you need to trim further get rid of the eagle package in one of the decks.

on testing the deck, i'm working at the moment so i can't spend a whole afternoon playing but during the holiday we could play double two-handed if you want to test the fellowship.

@askelad How can Legolas have 4 Blade of Gondolin's attached to him? I get three with Golden Belt but how does he get the 4th?

@GreenWizardhunters contract

@cutting weapons,

i do not like it. because there is not this much carddraw, i dont want to cut weapons. arod is o.k. but on the other hand together with meneldor and the beorning guardians, it can help to finish a location here and there. envoy is so flexible. cost effectively 1 and can quest or attack for 1 or in very dire need chumpblock.

grimbold is great cost 3 willpower 2, and if needed to save a hero he can be discarded. gutlaf is a sentinel or quest for 1. not bad for 2 res.

thicket of spears is not needet. the plan is, leave some in the staging, and engage with aragorn after killing, so they do not have to be defended, and for few enemys there is feint, beregond (+behind) or grimbeorn.

grappling hook ca be very good with support of the eagles or with a very improved eagle alone.

dunedain hunter is nice, but if i use Wait no Longer it is more unlikely to hit an enemy. minas thirit knight is to expensive. even if it gives 1 res back. and in the planning phase if it goes well, there is no enemy in the staging.

to get weapons early is more important. specially for the hunters to get contract fast.

i think except Honour Guard guards for Favor of the Valar i will leave it so until the first tests against hard szenarios, like belegost, attack n dol guldur, carn dum. would even try fortress of nurn. perhaps after tests i have a different view.

one thing i forget:

wyliador some of the eagles can be replaced with him. but that can be done as soon as a testing is at hand.

I was like "Pah! This fellowship cannot generate enough willpo- Oh wait there is Théoden. sorry about that..."

P.S. I do not use the word "Pah" on a regular basis

I worked on a 4p tactics fellowship with a few friends for a long while and wound up building one we really liked, but it took work. Tactics really has a lot of weaknesses to cover up. Keen as Lances is an intriguing way to add card draw; I'm curious to hear how that goes. For my part, I think you're right to heed the advice above Honour Guards. You're gonna need 'em! I would also recommend a full slate of Vigilant Guard for the Three Hunters deck. That's the only deck that can heal reliably so whenever you can take damage there rather than elsewhere, you'll be better off. I'd add Gather Information for more card draw too, which one can rarely ever have enough of.

Hope you're having fun with this bunch! mono-tactics is really a unique way to experience the game. :)

@doomguard i used your Aragorn+Merry with Blade of Gondolin combo in my last fellowship, thanks for the inspiration! check it out here: ringsdb.com