Stern now was Éomer’s mood, and his mind clear again. He let blow the horns to rally all men to his banner that could come thither; for he thought to make a great shield-wall at the last, and stand, and fight there on foot till all fell, and do deeds of song on the fields of Pelennor, though no man should be left in the West to remember the last King of the Mark. So he rode to a green hillock and there set his banner, and the White Horse ran rippling in the wind.
–The Return of the King
Battle for the Beacon Stats
- Groups registered: 13
- Total attempts: 33
- Most attempts: 8
- Average attempts per entry: 2.5
- Total number of wins: 17
- Win-rate: 52%
- Average opinion on the quest: 4.3
Achievements
Here are the achievements we had for this quest:
Defenders of the Mark
Win the quest with Erelas Beacon having at least half hit points remaining.
Here We Travel Again
Defending the Beacon gains “When faced with the option to travel, the players must travel to Surrounding Grassland, if able.”
Encounter Card Opinions
With fully half the votes, the winner for favorite encounter card this week is the double-sided quest card: Defend the Beacon/Reclaim the Beacon. This quest card is what makes this quest so memorable and interesting. Conditions change as either Rohan or the Dunlendings control the beacon, and the entire quest is a push and pull between the two warring factions. The idea has since been re-used in Strange News in Bree, but at time of Battle for the Beacon’s release I can’t think of any other quests with quite the same dynamic.
Other than the overall least favorite card, the only other card to appear as a nomination for both favorite and least-favorite is the ever-present Surrounding Grassland. This one is a really interesting design because it’s basically permanent, but there are 3 copies of it in the deck and only a single copy of it is required to stay out. There are some clever ways to get rid of the last copy, meaning that this is much more of a dynamic and fun design than just putting “Archery 1” on the main quest card.
And taking the slot for most-hated card in this quest is Narrow Stair (though it was also nominated as a favorite encounter card). My own personal gripe with this card is that no matter how many times I read it, I can’t easily remember what exactly it does. I have to keep re-reading it to make sure I’m playing correctly. Aside from that, while it sits in the staging area it really slows down your ability to kill enemies (since they are filing up the stairs single-file), but once you travel to it it also really limits your ability to defend against attacks (as you try to hold the stairs single-file). It’s thematic and a very creative design.
Things worth sharing from the games
Very cool quest; again impressed by the ALeP team. I really enjoyed the delicate balance between deciding to place progress on the side quest or the main quest, when remove a progress token or to put the damage on the beacon, etc. The constant effect on each side of the side quest made for some tense moments not being able to damage enemies in staging or cancel shadow effects. Time mechanic on Stage 2 was great and also enjoyed the final push at the end. The first stage could stall for a few rounds, but Stages 2-3 really go quick. The Rohan discard did quite well against this quest and did not run into many problems. Great quest, will be one of my deck-testers going forward as it requires a deck to fire on all phases.
The best way to beat a quest that forces you to take on enemies is to raise your threat by absurd amounts! Saruman, Gildor, and Wilhelm amassed a board of allies and were almost destroyed by archery in the final round.
1st time with Dunedain sidequest deck was a bad idea–absolutely stomped by enemies. So those rangers phoned a friend, and Neutragorn came with his mom and claimed the beacon.
It took me a couple games to realize if I wasn’t positive that I could clear the side quest, I needed to under quest round one to make sure I could get the enemies out of staging. Once I figured that out, I stopped getting slammed with early beacon damage and was able to clear the rest of the quest pretty easily.
Oathbreakers are so efficient in this quest. The only way you can be safe from shadow effects in the scenario and also ignoring the Forced effects from engaging enemies. Not even the Wild Hillman could do anything to my Vigilant Dúnadan.
ALeP sure seems to enjoy designing scenarios that don’t let you just build up a head of steam and crush the encounter deck. I really like the design of Reclaim/Defend the Beacon, and it always gives many choices about where to quest and how much. The Surrounding Grasslands are pesky, so I got rid of one with a well-timed Distant Stars and put in a Narrow Stair instead right before resolving the quest, so I wouldn’t reveal it later. That gave me a reprieve from the archery for a few rounds, until I revealed another Surrounding Grasslands. Gilraen with Elendilmir and an enemy with a Forest Snare helped me draw cards, and I got Thalion to hero status.
Despite the staging area damage restriction on Reclaim the Beacon, direct damage is actually really solid here, if you can quest through it quickly enough. Other than one mini boss, every enemy has 2 or 3 HP, so Argalad, Thalin, and some ranger bows or spearmen can avoid a lot of the engagement effects.
I find the quest a little too fiddly in mechanics for a 5, but definitely like it. I appreciate how the surrounding grasslands impacts the way the quest plays. Eomund was great tech for it since the archery on the grasslands meant most rounds I was set up with mass readying to start the combat phase if needed (I then would get him back with Guthwine). I never drew a recreant rider but the shadow effect was still very annoying.
This quest worked particularly well for my Riddermark’s Finest deck with Thengel since Surrounding Grasslands gave me a perpetual target for The Riddermark’s Finest. My other deck was a location control deck so I basically never had locations contributing threat. I managed to finish the game with all progress remaining on Defend the Beacon. Giant Bears, Loyal Hounds, and Riders of Rohan were tearing through Dunlanding enemies.
Managed to make it so they didn’t deal a single point of damage to the Beacon. Don’t touch my Bacon!
Decklists used
Rohan Discard: Éowyn, Thengel, Théoden (https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/648023)
ALeP Isengard: https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/62190/thesandcastellan-3.0
1st attempt: Amarthuil/Idraen/Thurindir 2nd attempt: Amarthuil/Neutragorn/Gilraen
https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/647573
Oathbreakers and Vigilant Dúnadan: https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/63738/sidequestundead-3.0
Dúnedain https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/63347/gilraenandthegreycompany-1.0
Gondor Swarm: Boromir, Denethor, Ingold (https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/648134)
Standard Silvans (Celeborn/Galadriel/Bifur) and direct damage (Argalad/Thalin/Beregond)
Autumn’s 3 Hunters for Wainriders https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/632108 and To Hunt a Balrog https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/637826
Thengel, spirit Theoden, Theodred
Location Control + Rohan/Creatures https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/58862/hopefromthelasthomelyhouse-1.0 https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/62554/theriddermarksfinestfinesthour-1.0
A Perilous Voyage Rohan – https://ringsdb.com/deck/view/649507
This week we are playing The Horse Lord’s Ire. Once you have finished with your playthroughs, please fill in this form https://forms.gle/g8VfeuoBJ1yWcJKN6
If you want to share in the discussion of this quest live, join the Cardboard of the Rings discord and look for the Quest of the Week channel: https://discord.gg/5tkTeSCdxc
And for achievements for this quest, this is what we have:
The Horse Lord’s Dire
Win the quest without any player reducing their threat.
All the Pretty Horses
Mount objectives cannot be used to satisfy the Travel requirements of Vast locations, nor do they count toward the number of mounts the players control for purposes of Vast locations’ Response triggers.
Vision Of The Palantir 