by Johnny Crawford

One of the most popular fellowship strategies revolves around the idea of "disposable" companions who fight a skirmish or two before paying a visit to the dead pile. Of course, if these companions are sacrificing themselves, would it not be better for them to block multiple minions? This is where the Defender +1 keyword comes into play. Players have long used Sam, Proper Poet as well as the ultimate expandable expendable Aragorn, Ranger of the North, for their ability to heroically defend against more than one minion. However these two companions are not the only ones able to block numerous baddies; in fact, most Rohan companions can do it as well. There are currently three cards that can make Rohan companions Defender +1, and there are also ways to make sure these companions live through their encounters.

The most obvious (and popular) way to grant the Defender +1 to a Rohan Man is to equip Eomer with his steed Firefoot. Unfortunately, this is also the most limited way since only Eomer can take advantage of the Defender +1 game text on Firefoot. Of course, the fact that Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark, is the backbone of most Rohan decks means that Firefoot's pickiness will not cause the horse to be excluded from many Rohan decks.

The second card that allows the horse-lords to become Defender +1 is Forth Eorlingas!, which requires an exertion from Theoden. Considering Theoden only has two vitality, it is necessary to boost his vitality and/or find an effective way to heal him, for this to be effective. Vitality can be added to Theoden by endowing him with his sword Herugrim and, if playing with Gandalf, the condition Hearken to Me. When it comes to healing Theoden, there are two choices. First, there is Theoden, Lord of the Mark. By playing a possession on him during the fellowship phase, this version of Theoden can heal himself and, if that possession happens to be Rohirrim Shield, he can heal again during the regroup phase. The second choice is to use Theoden, King of the Golden Hall in conjunction with Guma, Plains Farmer or Weland, Smith of the Riddermark. Both Theodens have drawbacks. King of the Golden Hall does not have the Theoden signet, and thus cannot be made Defender +1 with Forth Eorlingas! while Lord of the Mark is not Valiant, and thus cannot be used with No Rest For the Weary.

No Rest For the Weary is an event that requires three Valiant men to be in play. As of The Battle of Helm's Deep, there is no Valiant Eomer, so everyone's favorite Rohan companion cannot be used with this card yet. Luckily, there are plenty of other Valiant men, though players may be forced to include the non-unique Household Guards and/or Rohirrim Scouts if they wish to play this card.

When fighting against multiple minions, companions may find it tricky to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Obviously, boosting companions' strength with possessions and skirmish actions will make it more difficult for the minions to overwhelm them, and equipping Heavy Chain helps enormously as well. But remember how Sam, Proper Poet can find himself facing two enormous baddies only to be saved by a well-timed Stealth card? Wouldn't it be nice if Rohan companions could use a Stealth card to cancel their skirmishes? Well, Rohirrim Helm may not be a Stealth card per se, but it can cancel skirmishes almost as well. Using Rohirrim Bows and the various Rohan mounts ensures that few if any minions will be left with enough vitality to cancel the use of a Rohirrim Helm. An especially nice aspect of using this card when playing against a Moria deck is that any goblins involved in the skirmish cannot be stacked on Goblin Swarms since the skirmish was cancelled.

Below is a deck incorporating many of the ideas above. It is legal for Open Format, Standard Format, and Tower Block.

Collection Manager deck file

Ring Bearer:
Frodo, Courteous Halfling
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles Adventure Deck:
[1] Horse-country
[2] Rohirrim Village
[3] Westemnet Plains
[4] White Mountains
[5] Deeping Wall
[6] Hornburg Armory
[7] King's Room
[8] Ring of Isengard
[9] Orthanc Balcony

Free Peoples (30):
Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark (start)
Eowyn, Lady of Rohan (start)
2x Theoden, Lord of the Mark
Gamling, Warrior of Rohan
3x Household Guard
Rohirrim Scout
3x Forth Eorlingas!
3x Simbelmyne
3x No Rest for the Weary
Firefoot
Heavy Chain
Herugrim
2x Rohirrim Bow
4x Rohirrim Helm
2x Rohirrim Shield
Sting, Baggins Heirloom

Shadow (30):
2x Saruman, Rabble Rouser
2x Wild man of Dunland
4x Dunlending Rampager
4x Dunlending Renegade
4x Wild Men of the Hills
4x Hides
4x War Club
Constantly Threatening
Death to the Strawheads
War Cry of Dunland
3x Leaping Blaze

The shadow side uses cheap Dunlendings and Leaping Blazes to cycle through the deck quickly.