So March is here and Decipher gives us yet another LOTR expansion, The Siege of Gondor, but does it measure up? Let’s look:

Like all the first block expansions before it, it tries to set up subcultures to enhance the game (Moria archery/Wargs/etc.). But like its predecessors it somewhat fails. While it would be good in Block tournaments, the new subcultures are mostly flash and little substance. Let’s check out what each culture got.

Dwarves: Last set, Dwarves got cool stacking mechanics to make them unique tournament-worthy decks. It seems that Decipher forgot about that and just gave them more battle cards - BOO!!! As if Dwarves need more skirmish and regroup events. The only card worth mentioning is Aggression which actually cycles your deck faster, but only in the fellowship phase.

Elves: The new semi-mechanic for Elves is to use your archery. Instead of killing minions you do other things like healing and um... killing minions. Somewhat interesting but not developed. Also, Life of the Eldar is one of the worse cards I have seem in a long time. So nothing really here either.

Gandalf: Now here things get interesting. They actually took relevant Gandalf themes and tried to improve them. First up is of course the new Gandalf - awesome. Starting with Gandalf is something I wanted to do since fellowship and the site that got his Cart. It allows us to get a jump start with all sorts of Gandalf Goodness. Next up is Saved from the Fire, a card that lets us kill a companion to download 3 cards of the same culture. This is AWESOME. I remember the filter decks of old and this card allows us to filter most of our deck in one move. A first turn Saved can get you out 5 companions with possessions to spare, filtering more than dozen cards out of your deck. Match it with a vicious shadow like Dunhill or Nazgul and your opponent has got some serious problems. I love sacking Forest Guardians to get Linderoot, an Ent Horde and a Host of Fangorn. Worried about getting bombed? Get Glamdring, the possibilities are endless.

Gollum: Ah Shelob, very interesting. Shelob decks are very possible and can be very deadly, but the only thing is that one has to get her quickly to begin downloading all her good possessions. If you pair it with a Fire deck that you filtered enough, you get at her fast enough to do damage. Throw in some Isenguard Orcs for condition removal (Arrow-slits) and for stacking on web, and she should get huge in no time.

Gondor: It only took a year but finally Knights have gotten the three things that power up a subculture: a great companion, a great pump and strong condition. The Garrison and the Prince are very strong Knights. The fourth level is also one of the best fortifications in the game, and the sixth level lets you get a fortification back every turn - no more crappy Rally Point. Catapult could be good, but it’s a bit random for my taste. The Wraiths look great on paper but are very hard to play. They constantly top off the burdens, which prevents you from playing more of them, plus to keep Swept Away in play (that rhymes) you must add at least one threat. On the plus side, you could use Frodo, Hope of the Free Peoples and add 3 twilight each turn to overcome this. So lots of threats, lots of twilight and few tricks - it's much too dangerous to use. Also on the plus side, you have Elessar’s Edict, which is quite powerful. It prevents your Wraiths from hitting the dead pile, which means you could (with event recursion) have unlimited companions in your deck.

Raiders: Can the Corsairs be good? Well they are champs at getting rid of fellowship cards, but the minions themselves are kind of lackluster on their own. What happens when they come across Ents who beat them with conditions? I think they lack the teeth to do any significant damage. Now this doesn’t mean that there are no good cards. For example, I love the Ships of Great Draught - it is weapon recursion for my Easterlings. True, it’s not the best, but against things like Wraith decks and site three’s, threats would be easy to find and bring back my precious Raider Bows to my Captains (or both!).

Nazgul: Well the movie spoiled me. I watched on the screen how cool Gothmog was... and how do they translate that coolness into the game? By making one of most disappoint minions ever. Man does he blow! The squealer is OK, along with the Nazgul - nothing too spectacular, but who needs it after the huge boost they got last expansion? The Flail is neat, but the picture was disappointing. My favorite is Flung into the Fray - stacking minions for later is always good.

Rohan: The best thing about the Rohan this time is the Characters. Théoden is so hot - site nine, if he gets eaten by a troll bring back someone to take his place. A good personnel to do that is our next contestant, the Rohirrim Army. Théoden dies, get the Army, discard the minion fighting Frodo - so hot. Other than those two the rest are pretty lackluster.

Sauron: This culture always gets the biggest boost in the first block expansion. Last time they got Grishnak, now they get a huge bunch of stuff. Besiegers get a massive boost with some huge cost effective Trolls, 2 new engines and some very easy ways to control sites with the Siege Troop and the Berserker. That is some good, but the best thing to come out of the set is all-purpose control in the form of Grond, Hammer of the Underworld. Allies, possessions, conditions, anything that bothers you (bounder anyone?) it is at your disposal. What I like best is discarding zero cost things like Gonder Bowman and Promises, it’s so easy.

Shire: What can I say, we finally got the Sting that can be used by Sam. No more Hobbit swords! Ya. Plus it helps that the Sting doesn’t suck either.

Sites: All good. They seemed to be tailored to help non-King shadows more. The underground sites are perfect for Moria and Asfaloth discarding, and the other 2 fit really well with Dunhill and their beat down plans.

So after this what’s the best of the best? Well, here it is.

10) Ships of Great Draught
09) Rohirrim Army
08) Théoden, Tall and Proud
07) Garrison of Gondor
06) Elessar’s Edict
05) Gandalf, Leader of Men
04) Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs
03) Gorgoroth Beserker
02) Saved from the Fire
01) Grond, Hammer of the Underworld

And there you have it, my guide to Siege of Gondor. If you have any questions or comments feel free to write me to the address below.

Peace.

Earl "Sparky" Prusak (mastere@shaw.ca)