The Lord of the Rings™ TCG Help Clinic
Part 2 - Assignment
by Mark Tuttle (elrond@decipher.com)
There are many strategic elements to Decipher's The Lord of the Rings
Trading Card Game. Possibly the most important happens in the assignment phase.
This is where you decide which of your fellowship's companions face off against
which of the attacking minions of Shadow. A favorable pairing can result in
driving away the Nazgûl or a resounding kill of a rampaging Orc. A bad
pairing can result in a lost possession (at best), wounds, or even death.
The assignment phase takes place once your opponents have completed their
Shadow phases, and minions have been played to the table. These minions are
now charging toward your fellowship with the intent on killing them! Deciding
which of the bold companions steps up to defend the Ring-bearer happens now!
IT'S TIME FOR ACTION!
Rule Summary: Once the archery phase has completed, it's time to begin
the assignment phase. The first step in is to perform any assignment actions,
as indicated by the "Assignment:" special ability on cards like #147
Uruk Guard. These actions are performed in alternating order starting with the
current Free Peoples player and using the action procedure described in the
rulebook on page 22.
Strategy: Currently, these assignment actions all benefit the Shadow
player since most allow minions to choose which of the companions they will
skirmish. Further, cards like #169 The End Comes can even force the Ring-bearer
to come out from behind the relative safety of a large fellowship and force
him to fight. Don't overlook the importance of this part the assignment phase!!
YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?
Rules Summary: Once the assignment actions are complete, it's time to
assign defenders. The Free Peoples player gets the first chance to assign in
this part of the phase. Each companion may be assigned to one minion. The exception
here, is that a companion with "defender +1" may be assigned to 2 minions (and
"defender +2" allows assignment to 3 minions, and so on).
The Free Peoples player does not have to assign every companion to a minion,
even if there are more minions than companions. From a strategy point of view,
it's a usually a good idea for the Free Peoples player to decide as many of
the assignments as possible, as this is better protection for your Ring-bearer.
Move your companions (or participating allies) in front of the minion that they
are assigned to, indicating what the assignments are. Once an assignment is
made, it can't be undone unless a card or action permits it.
Once the Free Peoples player has completed his assignments, each Shadow player
in turn may then assign his unassigned minions to whatever companions he chooses,
regardless of whether or not they are already assigned to a minion. This means
that a Shadow player who can bring more minions into play than there are companions
(or participating allies at home sites) can use these minions to "gang up" on
a companion. This is an especially good situation for the relatively cheap Moria
culture, which make great "Goblin Swarm" decks!
Examples:
The Shadow player has played two Uruk Ragers. The fellowship has Frodo, Son
of Drogo and Aragorn, Ranger of the North in play. Aragorn has exerted once
using the special ability on his card to make him defender +1. Several things
may happen here.
- Aragorn may be assigned to defend against both of the Uruk Ragers. This
leaves Frodo free from skirmishing that turn.
- Aragorn may be assigned to one Uruk Rager and Frodo to the other.
- Aragorn may be assigned to one Uruk Rager and the Free Peoples player may
announce that he is finished assigning. At this point, the Shadow player has
the choice of assigning the remaining Uruk Rager to Aragorn or to Frodo.
- The Free Peoples player could assign no companions, and announce that he
is done assigning defenders. Here, the Shadow player could assign the two
Uruk Ragers to whichever companions he wishes.
Strategy: There are many ways to play this phase, and it's one of the
most important decisions each turn. In the above examples, each option is strategically
sound depending on how well you can support each.
In example #1, if you have some possessions on Aragorn or are holding some
event cards that will buff his strength, this is the way to go. It protects
your Ring-bearer from some dangerous damage +1 wounding. However, you had better
be sure to win this skirmish, as you'll take 3 wounds if Aragorn loses!
In example #2, you're assuming that you will, at best, survive the skirmish
with Frodo, or be able to cancel it. There are a lot of factors that can be
assumed here, but by spreading out the skirmish assignments you're spreading
out the wounds you might take that turn.
In example #3, you're running more of a bluff, to see what the Shadow player
will do. You might be baiting him to try to kill Aragorn by assigning the extra
Uruk Rager to him, when you know you're holding cards that will enable Aragorn
to win this skirmish. The Shadow player could assign that minion to Frodo so
the Free Peoples player should be certain he could survive that skirmish as
well, just in case.
In example #4, you could be very sneaky, and hope that a greedy Shadow player
will attempt to overwhelm Frodo by assigning both Uruk Ragers to him, while
you quickly cancel that skirmish with "Hobbit Stealth" or any of the other Shire
culture cards that cancel skirmishes involving Hobbits. The nice part of this
strategy is that not only did you survive the skirmish with no wounding, you
did so by only using 1 card from your hand! That's great card efficiency!
LET'S ROLL!
Once the assignments are complete, it's time to move on to the skirmish phase
and see how well each player plays their hand.
CONCLUSION
So that's all there is to the assignment phase. Games are won and lost based
on the decisions made in this phase, so it's very important for you to be aware
of the options available. In your own games, you'll find your own ways to protect
your Ring-bearer, bluff your opponent and (as a Shadow player) use assignment
actions to surprise your opponents! If you have any rules questions, feel free
to send them to me at elrond@decipher.com,
and watch for more help clinic articles coming soon!
December 17, 2001
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