A red day, ere the sun rises! (Theoden Mono-Tactics)

Intro and Concept

An almost entirely Tactics fellowship, trying to make use of Théoden. I deliberately wanted the starting threat to be under 30, so chose these heroes. I did consider Thalin and Háma, but the questing is already a struggle and they wouldn't help with that very much. I'm using Merry and Brand son of Bain as dedicated questers, as they benefit from Théoden

I haven't optimised the balance of cards between the decks especially well, but I like being able to play Support of the Eagles and an Eagle in round 1. I have chosen to make the Ranged deck use more events and the Book of Eldacar as Hands Upon the Bow requires control of a ranged character. The Théoden deck has more non-eagle allies, and has most of the attachments simply because the other deck has a lot of events.

Results

So far, I've tried some of the Core and Shadows of Mirkwood quests. In full:

• Passage through Mirkwood 2/2 (One game with each stage 3, not much to say about this quest)
• Journey down the Anduin 4/4 (Some nice luck, but these decks can cope with the Hill Troll fairly well, they struggled more with questing on stage Gandalf helped a lot)
• Escape from Dol Guldur 1/2 (An incredibly lucky victory in 5 rounds with Boromir as the prisoner. Arod helped a lot against Tower Gates. I also got Song of Travel and A Test of Will early on. The loss was a quick loss, Brand son of Bain as the prisoner with double Necromancer's Reach and lots of locations in setup.)
• The Hunt for Gollum 1/4 (Most of the losses were due to location lock, on the win I tried to avoid adding too many locations. I still managed to win with Old Wives' Tales in setup and on the first round!)
• Conflict at the Carrock 2/2 (I had one game where I quested too much and advanced really quickly, the other I tried to delay and spent 9 rounds on stage 1. Dealing with the Trolls was fine, I could kill at least one a round, and managed to defeat 3 in one round after delaying. Thicket of Spears was great against the Trolls.)

Update

• Flight from Moria 1/2 (I had a lucky win by getting Abandoned Tools early on with Boromir, then found the right quest card really quickly. The loss was just gambling on Blocked by Shadow)
• The Seventh Level 2/2 (Very straightforward. Boromir and Legolas were great against the Goblins) _ The Watcher in the Water 2/2 (I defeated the Watcher both times, the decks have great combat potential and I used Hail of Stones to great effect to take out Tentacle enemies so I could engage the Watcher)
• Road to Rivendell 2/2 (On the first win I never saw any copies of Sleeping Sentry, and the 2nd I had Sentry revealed round 1 but Boromir was able to handle the enemies and I stabilised)
• Shadow and Flame 1/4 (I was lucky on my win and drew enough allies to keep blocking the Bane and didn't have too much trouble with questing. The other losses I just couldn't get enough blockers)
• Peril in Pelargir 4/4 (This quest was really fun with these decks, but Collateral Damage was a pain. Boromir was great for dealing with the Thugs and battle questing was not a problem)
• Encounter at Amon Din 2/2 (Not much to say for these, Ghulat died in one round each time)
• The Morgul Vale 1/6 (This scenario felt like it was possible with the decks, 2 losses were to early Power of Mordor and I did make it to the Nazgul on all the other losses. On the win I used Gandalf and Hands upon the Bow to stop Alcaron ever attacking, and Murzag only got to attack once. I also had 2 Morgul Roads that wounded the Nazgul, as well as Spear of the Citadel on Beregond.)
• Into Ithilien 0/7 (After the first 4 losses I changed the hero lineup, swapped Boromir and Brand and replaced Merry with Thalin but it still felt too difficult. I was aiming to go via stage 2, but the Archery and direct damage just felt like too much. I also found questing a problem on stage 1, I struggled to clear the road most attempts, and I was struggling to deal with one Southron Company at a time.)
• The Siege of Cair Andros 6/10 (This scenario was great to play with these decks, and I only lost the Banks on one attempt. The other losses were mainly due to Orc Assault or Power of Mordor early on. It was fun to be able to ignore the Master's Malice and the effect of Orc Vanguard)

General Strategy I try to quest with Théoden, Merry and Brand son of Bain most rounds, and will sometimes also quest with Boromir if necessary. Legolas is the main attacker, so I prioritise getting Rivendell Blade on him. Beregond is the main defender, and I try to let the Théoden deck engage most enemies, then if I need him Boromir can attack with Legolas while Beregond defends.

If I get Song of Travel early on I usually put it on Legolas, and then Snowmane and Herugrim are for Théoden. Unexpected Courage has worked well on Brand son of Bain for me, so he can quest for 3 and attack for 3 as well. I have put it on Beregond if I need to defend a lot of strong enemies. The Book of Eldacar is to recycle primarily Feint or Hands Upon the Bow, but it can be used to try to draw Eagles with The Eagles Are Coming!

The Eagles of the Misty Mountains and the Envoy of Pelargir usually help to quest, as does Farmer Maggot. The other allies all help with combat.

For more detail see the deck descriptions.

Changes and future ideas I plan to try these decks against some of the Dwarrowdelf quests next, I think they might cope with the Seventh Level and The Watcher in the Water, possibly the Road to Rivendell as well. I don't think they'll be suitable for any of the other Shadows of Mirkwood quests, except perhaps Return to Mirkwood with some luck. I also plan to try them against the Heirs of Numenor quests and The Morgul Vale but I expect questing will be very difficult for the latter.

So far I'm happy with the hero lineup, but I might consider Thalin instead of Brand son of Bain for some quests. I've been really happy with Boromir and Théoden, they seem to work fine together. Legolas is great for extra progress, and Hands Upon the Bow is great and feels like almost reason enough to include him.

I have cards from the first two cycles, HoN, EaAD, TMV and the first 4 Lotr saga boxes. If I had The Steward's Fear I would definitely include Gondorian Shield. I hopefully will get Over Hill and Under Hill soon, and then I'll certainly put Bofur in the Théoden deck, and Foe-hammer in the other deck.

Any feedback is great!