The Lord of the Rings™ TCG Help Clinic
Part 3 - Skirmishing
by Mark Tuttle (elrond@decipher.com)
When Frodo and company set off from the Shire on what, inevitably, became
a quest to destroy The One Ring, they had hoped to do so with little strife
from the roaming dangers that they could only assume they would come across.
This is probably the same for players of The Lord of the Rings TCG.
You'd like to be able to proceed up the Adventure Path quickly and quietly,
but you know that, sooner or later, someone is going to come along and pick
a fight with you. This article describes what happens during the Skirmish
phase, and offers a bit of strategy to help you survive the encounters.
WELCOME TO THE PARTY
Rule Summary: When you enter the skirmish phase, all assignments,
maneuver, and archery actions have passed. (We'll discuss those phases in
other Help Clinic articles.) At this point, every Shadow minion should be
assigned to a companion, and some companions will be assigned to minions,
with perhaps some hanging back and watching or supporting the skirmishers.
The Free Peoples player gets to decide which skirmish resolves first.
Meaning, he points to a match-up on the table and says, "We'll do this one
first". This can be very important strategically, as we'll discuss momentarily.
Now, any "Skirmish:" actions may be declared related to that skirmish.
This is done using the action procedure defined in the maneuver phase instructions
on page 22 of The Lord of the Rings TCG Rulebook.
Example:
Aragorn, Ranger of the North is assigned to skirmish an Ancient Chieftain.
Currently, Aragorn is strength 8 to the Ancient Chieftain's strength 9.
Should the Free Peoples player pass at this point, it's quite likely the
Shadow player will pass and the skirmish will resolve, resulting in a wound
being placed on Aragorn. So, the Free Peoples player plays #116 Swordarm
of the White Tower, raising his strength +2 for a total of 10. The Shadow
player now plays #201 Unfamiliar Territory to add +2, for a total of 11.
The Free Peoples player has nothing further to play so he now passes. Since
he is winning the skirmish, the Shadow player also passes, thus forcing
the skirmish to resolve.
In a skirmish, the winner is the character with the higher strength. Since
Aragorn has a 10 to the minion total of 11, Aragorn takes 1 wound for losing
the skirmish. Note that since sometimes it pays to be evil, the minions
win all ties! This means that if the Ancient Chieftain had a strength of
10, he would still win the skirmish.
The Free Peoples player then points to the next skirmish and it is played
out in the same fashion, until all skirmishes have been resolved.
SECOND VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST...
Rules Summary: Once all skirmishes have resolved, there's a good
possibility that your fellowship is not done fighting yet. If any of the
minions are fierce, then you're not quite out of the woods. Fierce
means exactly what you would think. This minion is so crazed, so driven
to get at the Ring-bearer, that even though he won or lost (without dying)
a previous skirmish, he comes back for more! So, the fierce minion steps
up again, and the Free Peoples player must assign another companion (or
ally if at their home site) to skirmish him. At this point, you go through
exactly the same sequence of events as the previous skirmishes.
IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS
There are many things that can change the events in a skirmish phase, and
many details that you need to be made aware of.
Defender +1
This keyword indicates that a companion is such an expert fighter, that
he can take on two minions at the same time, thus sparing another companion
for skirmishing the second. In a situation with a defender +1 companion,
you take the additional minion and add his strength to the first, giving
you a combined minion strength total. That is what you compare to the companion
total to determine the winner.
Example:
Aragorn, Ranger of the North was exerted in the Maneuver phase to make him
defender +1. Frodo is the only other member of the fellowship in play and
the Shadow player played two Uruk Shaman. The Free Peoples player has little
choice than to try and protect Frodo from a damage +1 beating or possibly
being overwhelmed. Once the skirmish begins, Aragorn has a strength of 8
and the minion strength is 16 (8+8). Note that this is not resolved
as two skirmishes, but rather one with the minions' strength combined.
Without getting into a lot of card play, there are three ways this can
resolve:
- Aragorn (through strength buffs) wins. Each minion involved in the skirmish
takes a wound for being on the losing side of a skirmish. Notice that
both minions take a wound.
- Aragorn manages a strength buff, but still loses and takes 1 wound for
losing a skirmish, then an additional wound for each damage +1. Since
he exerted in the Maneuver phase to make himself defender +1, it's a pretty
good bet he's on his way to the dead pile.
- Aragorn has a strength of 8 and is overwhelmed by the two Uruk Shaman.
It is important that you understand what happens in examples 1 and 2 and
how the wounds are distributed. We'll explain the damage +1 now.
Damage +1
This means that the character hits very hard. Some cultures like the Uruk-hai
have this keyword built in, whereas companions can get it from weapons and
the like. Anytime a character loses a skirmish to a damage +1 character,
the losing character takes 1 wound for losing the skirmish, and then an
additional wound for each damage +1.
Overwhelmed
There is another possibility during a skirmish that we must discuss. This
is when one character is so powerful that the losing character is overwhelmed.
In The Lord of the Rings TCG, if a character has double or more strength
than the character they're assigned to, the losing character is immediately
killed. When this happens, there is no placing or preventing of wounds,
and no converting wounds to burdens. If your character is being overwhelmed,
then your character dies.
Example:
Pippin, Friend to Frodo has been assigned to the Cave Troll. (Some play
circles would refer to Pippin as a "speed bump" at this point.) Pippin's
strength is 3. The Cave Troll is strength 15. Obviously, 15 is more than
double 3. Note that there is no consideration of wounds or burdens when
it comes to being overwhelmed. Thus, no wound avoidance strategies will
do anything to prevent this. If you're overwhelmed and the skirmish resolves,
you simply die, as Pippin did in this case.
There are several cards that make being overwhelmed more difficult by
requiring the opponent to have triple (or more) the power to overwhelm your
character. Card #286 Bounder does this nicely for Hobbits, although he wouldn't
have been much help to Pippin in the above example.
YOU'RE STILL HERE?
Once all skirmishes are complete and any fierce skirmishes have also resolved,
there's a good chance you'll still be looking at minions on the table, if
any survived. Remember that if your fellowship has movement left this turn,
and you decide to use it, these surviving minions will pursue you to the
next site. Further, they will probably be joined by more minions coming
from the freshly reconciled Shadow player hand. Take stock of the wounds
your companions took during the last skirmish phase and carefully weigh
the options!
CONCLUSION
No amount of battle avoidance will keep you out of skirmishing forever and
your archers will not always be able to clear a path for your marching companions.
You will skirmish frequently, so you need to learn the subtle strategies
that will help you survive it. The best tip is to read your cards!!
After that, read your opponent's cards. Know what a minion you're
skirmishing can and can't do. Skirmishes will not always be easily resolved
by one side or another just taking a wound. A crafty player will construct
a minion army full of skirmish special abilities that can seriously hamper
your fellowship's journey.
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 26, 2001
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