by Heidi-Marie Farinholt

With the recent release of the Battle of Helm's Deep expansion, a new mechanic was introduced into the game - the deployment of weapons onto Fellowship characters during the maneuver phase. Ordinarily the territory of events and special abilities, the maneuver phase is now even more thoroughly exploited by the Horse-Lords of the Rohirrim. With characters such as Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund, and Theoden, King of the Golden Hall, you can now deploy possessions during the maneuver phase to often quite useful effect - in the case of Eowyn, healing her (especially useful in decks using Help in Doubt and Need), and in Theoden's case, healing your Rohirrim allies. While not a maneuver ability, this is also echoed in the character Gamling, Warrior of Rohan.

Being able to deploy possessions during the maneuver phase opens up many new strategy options . . . firstly, and probably the one that springs to most peoples' minds, is that twilight usually given in the Fellowship phase as a result of playing possessions is now no longer available to the Shadow player for purposes of playing cards in the Shadow phase. This can limit the number of minions faced and conditions and events played. It is a semi-choke strategy, an interesting prospect given the recent announcement of Standard Format and the restriction of cards traditionally used in choke decks. Another advantage is that by deploying possessions in the maneuver phase you gain the ability to use them later on during the battle. For example, if you're playing against an Uruk-hai archery deck, and you've got a couple of Rohirrim Shields in hand, you could play one on Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund and Theoden, King of the Golden Hall, effectively reducing the minion archery total by two, just in time for the archery phase. Haven't healed enough wounds from Eowyn, or need to pump Gamling up again? You can use one of the new non-unique companions, Rohirrim Scout, to return your possessions back to hand during the regroup phase.

Another newly-opened door in the great hall of strategies is the use of the keyword Valiant. While the Two Towers expansion introduced this new keyword, it saw little exposure, being present only on the two Eowyn personas (Lady of Rohan and Sister-Daughter of Theoden) and the highly useful event card Simbelmyne. However, with Battle of Helm's Deep, the gates are thrown wide open, with a number of new companions, allies, and events that trigger off of this keyword.

Theoden, King of the Golden Hall, gets his Valiant keyword in this set, along with newcomers Gamling, Warrior of Rohan, Rohirrim Scout, and Household Guard. Two new allies also join the fight against darkness - Sigewulf, Brave Volunteer requires you to spot five Valiant Men to discard a minion in the regroup phase, a useful skill in facilitating the often-risky double- or even riskier triple-move, and Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer, requires you to spot two Valiant Men to retrieve weapons from your discard pile - a very useful skill to have when playing against War Club-bearing Dunlendings or discarding-type decks! This set also brings two very useful Events - No Rest for the Weary, great against swarming decks, and Let Us Be Swift, another form of condition removal for the Rohirrim, with the extra benefit of site liberation.

Ready to ride? Here's a sample decklist to get you started.

Collection Manager deck file

Ring Bearer:

Frodo, Courteous Halfling
The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

Adventure Deck:

[1] Horse Country
[2] Wold of Rohan
[3] Throne Room
[4] Westemnet Hills
[5] Deep of Helm
[6] Hornburg Armory
[7] King's Room
[8] Wizard's Vale
[9] Orthanc Balcony

Free Peoples: (32)

Eomer, Third Marshall of Riddermark
Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund
Houshold GUard x 2
Thundering Host x 2
Gamling, Warrior of Rohan
Simbelmyne
Theoden, King of the Golden Hall x2
Eowyn's Sword
Flaming Brand x2
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
Frying Pan
Brego
Let Us Be Swift x2
Herugrim
Eomer's Spear
Firefoot
Rohirrim Bow x4
Arrow-Slits
Rider's Mount x2
Rider's Spear x3
Rohirrim Helm

Shadow (32):
Grima, Chief Counselor
Grima, Wormtongue
Saruman, Keeper of Isengard
Saruman, Servant of the Eye
The Palantir of Orthanc
Savagery to Match Their Numbers x4
Orthanc Assassin
Orthanc Berserker
Greed
Saruman's Power x2
Troop of Uruk-Hai x4
Berserk Savage
Broad-Bladed Sword x3
Saruman.s Snows x2
Berserk Rager x2
Uruk-Hai Berserker x2
Uruk Soldier x2
Lurtz, Servant of Isengard x2

This deck not only showcases the new Rohan abilities, but also the new breed of Uruk-hai, the Berserkers. This deck is one brought to weekend leagues by one of my local players, Matt Good, and is an ah . . . interesting . . . deck to play against when you're playing Rohan as well. Remember from previous experience that one of the original skills of the Rohirrim was making minions exert, and gaining advantages. Also, with Help in Doubt and Need being a popular deck choice lately, your companions will need to exert themselves. What do those two things together make? A tasty snack if you happen to be a Berserk Uruk at this Rohan-Gondor party. Too bad they don't check ID . . .