Strategy Cards

[stevehope]

Question regarding Event cards:

Is it correct that each of these (whether drawn from the Character or Army deck) can be played as a battle card or as an event? If so, how often do you find yourself using them as battle cards?

Reading over the cards that we've been shown, the events on them generally seem more powerful than the battle effects (which would make sense given that you have to use an action die to make them happen). So, given that it "costs" you one action die to draw/play a combat card and two action dice to draw/play an event card (as an event), what percentage of cards in a typical game do you think you use for events and what percentage do you use for combat?

Are there any of the cards from the playtest that spring to mind as "you always play this as an event" or "you always play this as a combat effect" cards?

[Veldrin]

Since the Shadow often needs to use battle cards to quickly win sieges I believe the Shadow uses a bigger percentage of the cards as combat cards than the FP player.

I also think that since many of the events are powerfull in some areas (where they make the effect) and very useless in some (where their effect doesn't matter) it is very probable that the situation in the war at the time the card is drawn decides very much if it is to be used as an event or for its battle effect,

An example:

If the Shadow player is about to lay siege to Minas Tirith and draws the card "Denethor's Folly" I would say that the chance that he card is used for its effect is 100% but if Minas Tirith already has been taken or the Shadow player is avoiding the southern theatre due to choice ot due to heavy mustering in Gondor early by the FP player the card will most likely be used as a battle card.

This is not true all of the time... all too often will you draw a card whose effect suits the situation on the map perfectly but the combat effect is much needed.

Decisions are difficult in this game since the best events are often found on the same cards as the most powerful combat effects!

Let us not forget the six card maximum hand (4 in a four player game) which sometimes will force you to burn away some cards as battle effects in order to prevent you from discarding them anyway next turn when you always draw two new.

[glow=green,2,300]Veldrin[/glow]

[deadeyethingy]

I love the card play in this game! I am glad they created a card system because it really adds a level to the standard strategy-take-over type games by forcing timely card play.

Also the designers have done a magnificent job of making decisions tough with regards to when/how to play cards from what I can tell - and the way cards are played (and which ones) will alter play from game to game.

Love it!!