The Nin-in-Eilph adventure pack for the Lord of The Rings the card game from Fantasy Flight Games

I have been having some great fun with the Lord of the Rings the card game, its a truly excellent game, though it is a tad scary and daunting how many adventure packs are out there, and hard to get them in order, so I grab them when I can, and if I do not have earlier ones, then its fine, they can sit and wait until I do, as the player cards inside will certainly prove useful in the mean time, expanding on my deck building options, and hopefully making life easier until I reach these quests.

At first they made fair progress, but as they went on, their passage became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were bewildering and treacherous, and there was no permanent trail even for Rangers to find through their shifting quagmires.     –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring


The Nîn-in-Eilph is the fourth Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

After slipping out of the ancient, ruined city of Tharbad, past a host of Orcs and spies, several of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes begin a journey through the Nîn-in-Eilph and its treacherous marshlands. They seek a hidden site on the other side of the marsh, in Hollin, which is rumored to be full of powerful secrets that may provide the White Council some means to work against the Dark Lord. However, your heroes have no time to lose because the Dark Lord’s servants have also learned of the hidden location within Hollin…
Among its sixty new cards, which also include a new hero and three copies of each new player card, The Nîn-in-Eilph introduces a deadly new scenario that challenges players to explore and survive the swamps of the Nîn-in-Eilph. Full of deadly Creatures, the swamps haven’t been travelled for an age, and no paths exist to lead your heroes through the shifting bogs. You’ll also find a new hero, and three copies of each new player card, several of which permit new interactions with the first player token, representing the leadership and assistance that other companions can offer.

Today so we do not give away any spoilers to the scenario, and story we will just be looking at the player cards that come in the pack, not any scenarios, or encounter decks.  So whats inside?

 Inside you get a nice chunk of cards, and a scenario sheet that gives you any new rules on cards that come in, and of course the deck composition for the scenarios.  now lets look at the player cards, bear in mind you do get 3 of each of the player cards in each adventure pack so there is plenty there to enjoy!

 Firstly we get a new tactics hero in the form of Mabling, who is Gondor and Ranger traited.  He is 2 for fight, will, and defence, with 4 hit points, so he is not a powerhouse in any area, but he does have a solid response, that after you engage an enemy you can add a resource to his pool, which can prove very handy indeed.

 For Leadership we get..... Follow me, a 1 cost action that lets you take control of the first player icon and draw a card, still useful in solo gameplay as its a card draw nice and simple.  Tighten our belts is a 1 cost event that as a refresh action each hero that did not spend any resources gets an extra resource, great if you can get this at the right time, as it can really start paying off.

 Spirit gets the Celduin Traveller, a dale scout that costs 3, 92 if you have secrecy which is your threat is 20 or below)  He has a willpower of 2, no attack, 1 defence and 2 hitpoints, so he's a good quester, or if need be as a blocker, but he will not be doing any fighting for you.  He has a response though that after he comes into play, you can look at the top card of the encounter deck, and if it is a location, you may discard it.

Island amid perils, wins my favourite art of the pack awards, and is a 0 cost event.  You return a sylvan traited ally you control to your hand to reduce your threat level by its cost.  Its a great card if you have Silvan allies in your deck, not so useful otherwise, so its certainly build dependant.

   

 Tactics gets the Galahon Archer as a 2 cost ally.  0 willpower, 2 attack, 0 defence and 1 hitpoint means she cant take a hit, and is no use for questing, but she has ranged, and a good attack, and a response that when she enters play you can deal 1 damage to every enemy not engaged with you, great for hitting those big scary things in the staging area!  Bow of the Galadhrim is a 1 cost attachment that can go on any sylvan character with the ranged keyword, such as the Galadhon Archer for example!  The attached character gets +1 attack, or +2 if fighting an enemy not engaged with you, so that's if they are using ranged.

 Lore gets the mirkwood pioneer, a 2 cost ally with 1 willpower, 0 defence and attack and 2 health.  You can give him doomed when you play him (increase your threat) to gain the response after you play him choose a card in the staging area, and that card does not contribute its threat.  This can potentially be really useful as it can lock down those big scar cards that would otherwise crush you in questing, letting you come up with some kind of answer to them, perhaps not committing as much as you would normally, so you can engage them and attack them.

Wingfoot is a  cost attachment for rangers only.  The character gains the response... after attached hero commits to the quest, name enemy location or treachery, and if a card of that type is drawn ready attached hero, very useful potentially, and quite fun too.

On to the last card in the pack, which is a neutral attachment.  Defender of the west.  this goes on a unique ally you have in play, and causes the first player to gain control of them, which is no issue in solo play.  It also lets undefended attack damage be assigned to that hero which can potentially save your main heroes in the game!

Well that's its for player cards, but stick around for a report on how I fared though the scenarios in this set....

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