The third scenario of the Heirs of Numenor expansion is extremely unusual: it’s the first scenario that really, really wants you to build a single-sphere deck to complete it with. And that sphere would be Battle.

Cards like The Master’s Malice (Each player chooses a sphere and then deals 3 damage to each character they control that isn’t of that sphere), Orc Arbalesters (at the start of each combat phase, deal damage equal to the number of different spheres a player’s heroes come from), and Orc Vanguard (characters who have icons that aren’t the Battle sphere can’t spend resources) made me very certain that I was playing a Battle Sphere deck only. Well, eventually. I don’t study the encounter decks before I play them, so I had no idea what I was up against.

The first couple of games I played using the deck that completed Into Ithilen, and it failed utterly.

The major objective of the game is to explore three locations, all of which start in the staging area. There are potentially five stages to the quest, but each of these locations you explore removes one of the quest stages. So, I thought that the next solution would be a Battle/Spirit/Spirit deck (Hama, Glorfindel, Eleanor) which could deploy a few Northern Trackers and clear all the stages while they were in the staging area. It proved to be far too slow – one progress token per turn isn’t fast enough when you’re looking at needing 11 to complete the most difficult location. And the aforementioned punishment cards for playing multi-sphere (and not battle) really wrecked me. One game, Orc Vanguard came out, and I was very, very fortunate to kill it – only to have another Vanguard come out and completely shut me down.

So, the solution to this was to build a battle-only deck. Gondor characters and Eagles, for the most part. The first stage is a Siege, so defence was important, and the last stage would likely be a Battle, so attack as well.

The biggest problem would be if I couldn’t clear the smallest of the locations – “The Banks”. This would mean I’d end up questing in stage 2B, which I was eminently unqualified for, with very little Willpower. My first couple of attempts with the final deck ended up there, after some horrendous draws which destroyed The Banks before I even had a chance to complete it, in the first first quest phase!

The game where I was successful played like this:

Turn 1: Play a Winged Guardian (Eagle, Defence 4) and put a Spear of the Guardian on Beregond. Quest with Winged Guardian, Boromir and Beregond, and discover a Siege Raft, which damages the Banks for 2 of its 3 wounds. This wasn’t starting well, but I travelled to the Banks, blocked the attack with an untapped Boromir – the Shadow card adds +2 strength, but I play Behind Strong Walls, so Boromir ‘only’ takes 3 damage. Attack with Boromir and Hama to almost kill it, discarding Landoval to Hama to pick up the event again.

Turn 2: Play The Eagles are Coming! to gain… almost nothing. Drop a second Winged Guardian. The Quest completes The Banks, and I travel to The Approach. Orc Rabble joins the fray, but the Siege Raft dies to Beregond’s Spear, and Boromir and Hama wipe out the Orc Rabble.

Turn 3: The quest discovers The Master’s Malice, which has no effect because all my characters are of a single Sphere. I play Eagles of the Misty Mountain, and complete and claim The Approach.

Turn 4: The Citadel is completed, and my other copy of Landroval hits the table. With all three starting Locations explored, I’ve removed stages 2, 3 and 4 of the quest. I immediately make my way to the final stage of the quest, but it flips a Lieutenant of Mordor which makes things a lot more difficult. The two monsters on the table from this turn’s draw can’t be defeated – I sacrifice a couple of Eagles to them, which end up beneath the Eagles of the Misty Mountain, making it stronger.

Turn 5: A surprise second attack kills Boromir, but Landroval saves him. I’m playing Behind Strong Walls to help Beregond defend against an Orc Vanguard and a Lieutenant, and Hama is recovering it for me. I draw a second BSW.

Turn 6: The quest stage draws another The Master’s Malice, and the stage is completed before I need to fight again.

Final Score: 92 (5 complete turns = 50, 46 threat, 2 wounds, 6 victory points = -6)

The Deck:

Boromir, Hama and Beregond

3x    Gondorian Spearman    (CS 29)
3x    Descendant of Thorondor    (SOM 75)
3x    Eagles of the Misty Mountains    (SOM 119)
2x    • Landroval    (SOM 53)
3x    Vassal of the Windlord    (SOM 98)
3x    Winged Guardian    (SOM 4)
3x    Defender of Rammas    (HON 7)
2x    • Beorn    (CS 31)
3x    • Gandalf    (CS 73)
1x    • Horn of Gondor    (CS 42)
3x    Gondorian Shield    (ATS 5)
1x    Spear of the Citadel    (HON 9)
2x    Dwarven Axe    (CS 41)
3x    Support of the Eagles    (SOM 120)
3x    Behind Strong Walls    (HON 8)
3x    The Eagles Are Coming!    (SOM 5)
3x    Gondorian Discipline    (ATS 60)
3x    Thicket of Spears    (CS 36)
3x    Feint    (CS 34)