The Lord of the Rings™ TCG Help Clinic
Part 4 - Maneuver Phase and the Action Procedure
by Mark Tuttle (elrond@decipher.com)
This time around, we're going to discuss the maneuver
phase and the timing of actions in The Lord of the
Rings TCG. There are some very important lessons
to be learned here, especially if you're a relative
newcomer to Trading Card Games. You'll see a lot of
terminology that will be boldfaced to get your attention.
However, I'll give you card-based examples with almost
each word to tell you how they're played out in a real
game scenario.
Maneuver Phase
The maneuver phase is one of the more misunderstood
phases of the game. Many players who don't yet have
a lot of cards aren't sure what this phase is for. The
reason for this is because there are no rule-based mechanics
that take place specifically in the maneuver phases.
At the start of your turn, if you're at a sanctuary,
you may heal up to 5 wounds on your companions. This
is a rule-based mechanic. The maneuver phase
contains no such rules. It is currently only a phase
for playing card-based actions. There are cards
with the timing word "Maneuver:" and text that tells
you what to do.
The rulebook specifies that this is when you play
maneuver actions, and it tells you how to play them.
This procedure is called the action procedure,
which we need to discuss first.
Let's See Some Action!
Since the very first TCGs hit the market, timing
has become the bane of players and designers alike.
Timing is essentially a measure of how fast, or in what
order, you play an action and how, and when, your opponent
can react to it. I've played TCGs since the beginning,
and have actually seen timing arguments come down to
fist fights. It can get ugly if the game designers aren't
careful to come up with a timing model that is solid
and consistent. Fortunately, the designers of The
Lord of the Rings TCG have honed the model developed
in other Decipher games like Star Wars and Star
Trek, and tailored it to the specifics of gameplay
in The Lord of the Rings TCG.
The Action Procedure
Upon entering any phase, the current Free Peoples player
gets the first opportunity to perform an action.
An action is playing a card, declaring game text (such
as: "Exert Aragorn to make him defender +1..."), and
so on. Once an action is played, the player to the right
may play a response to that action. A response
is an action that directly affects the previous action
played. In The Lord of the Rings TCG, responses
are specifically identified by the timing word "Response:".
In a multiplayer game (with three or more players),
Shadow players get a chance to respond to a Free Peoples
action starting from the Free Peoples' right, and moving
around the play circle in a counter-clockwise order.
Thus, one action by a Free Peoples player could be responded
to by any number of Shadow players.
Once all responses to actions have been finished,
the action will resolve when all players pass consecutively.
A pass is when a player announces that they have
no actions or responses to play. When both players pass,
the pending action passes.
This is best described through example:
Let's assume that we're in a skirmish phase featuring
"Aragorn, Ranger of the North" and "Lurtz".
The skirmish phase begins:
Aragorn has a strength of 8. Lurtz is strength 13 and
is roaming.
FP: plays "Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom". Aragorn is now strength
+4, for a total of 12. SH: plays "Lurtz's Battle Cry". Lurtz is now strength
-1 for a total of 12 and now damage +1.
This is how you would play it in a friendly game.
However, there's more happening here which we'll show
you using the action procedure!
Let's use the same setup:
The skirmish phase begins:
Aragorn has a strength of 8. Lurtz is strength 13 and
is roaming.
FP: plays "Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom".
SH: has no response and passes. (The Shadow player has
no card marked "Response:" that would directly affect
the playing of "Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom".)
FP: passes...so the pending action, playing "Swordsman..."
resolves and the strength is adjusted. Aragorn is now
strength +4, for a total of 12.
Now, the Shadow player gets the chance to play an
action, since actions alternate to the right of the
FP player.
SH: plays "Lurtz's Battle Cry".
FP: decides to respond by playing a response and plays
"Strength of Kings" to cancel that skirmish event. (Note
that "Strength of Kings" is a response that will directly
cancel "Lurtz's Battle Cry".)
SH: has no response and passes
FP: passes
The pending action, "Strength of Kings," resolves since
both players passed consecutively, so "Lurtz's Battle
Cry" is cancelled.
When "Strength of Kings" was played, that then becomes
the pending action. Responses then can be played until
both players pass consecutively when the pending action
resolves. You then move up to the previous pending action,
which was "Lurtz's Battle Cry", which is cancelled.
Since the Shadow player got an action, even though it
was cancelled, it's now back to the Free Peoples player
to play an action, or the next Shadow player if you're
playing a multiplayer (more than 2 players) game.
If you're scratching your head about what just happened,
don't worry. It's much more intuitive in our first example.
The second, and more detailed example, is just to show
you the mechanics of how it's actually playing out.
In your neighborhood games, that's how it will play.
When you decide to go for the World Championship, you
had better have a clear understanding of the details!
Who's On First?
Remember, the Free Peoples player gets the first action
in any phase. In addition, when all players pass consecutively,
the pending action resolves. Once an action resolves,
it's too late to respond to it. Here's another, real
game example:
The skirmish phase begins:
Aragorn has a strength of 8. Lurtz is strength 13 and
is roaming.
FP: wants to play "Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom"
but wants to see what the Shadow player will do and
passes.
SH: has no response and passes.
The skirmish resolves and Aragorn takes two wounds.
Huh? What happened?
What happened, is that the Shadow player realized
that since Lurtz was already a higher strength, and
was already winning the skirmish, all he had to do was
pass to force the skirmish to resolve. The Free Peoples
player didn't have time to respond since he passed his
first action. Remember, when both player's pass consecutively,
the pending action resolves! Thus, when you want to
play "Hobbit Stealth" to cancel a skirmish with your
Ring-bearer, you should play it first! This is a very
important point about the pass - pass mechanic! Now,
it's entirely possible that the Shadow player could
have continued to play skirmish events to go for a fierce
skirmish or an overwhelm, but the point is that he forced
the skirmish to resolve.
Again, this is a complicated example, but it's also
important information.
A Few Maneuvers
Okay, so we've seen how the action procedure works.
You may be wondering, why the action procedure is spelled
out in the rulebook under the maneuver phase. It's not
because this is the only phase where you will do this.
Rather, this was a convenient place to put it in the
rulebook, and this is the first phase where you'll possibly
put it to use.
Conclusion
So, that's really about all there is to the maneuver
phase and the action procedure. It might seem overly
complicated, but it does offer a blueprint for resolving
timing issues when they start piling up. If you get
into a timing situation that you and your opponent cannot
resolve, just step back, and go step by step using the
definition of the action procedure. If you need any
help or have questions, please email me at elrond@decipher.com.
January 21, 2002
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