The Antlered Crown Is Now Available for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

“Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!”
    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

War has come to the hills of Dunland. The Antlered Crown, the final Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore!

As a handful of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes return to Dunland from the ruins of Hollin, they find the region scarred by the battles raging between the different Dunlending clans. The Raven has risen against the Boar, the Wolf waits to choose its side, and their warriors fight and die all across the embattled lands. In The Antlered Crown, as the heroes seek to complete their journey to Isengard, they must ally with the Boar Clan and help defeat the Raven Chief.

In The Antlered Crown, these events are given shape by a challenging new scenario that depicts the brutal war that has erupted throughout the hills of Dunland. Amid fields littered with the bodies of the fallen, you must press a new assault deep into the territories held by the Raven Clan and its ferocious warriors.

At War with the Raven Clan

Throughout the scenario in The Antlered Crown, you find yourself racing into pitched battles with the Raven Clan. The scenario features unique rules for the creation of a “Raven deck,” and as you pursue the Raven Chief through the clan’s villages and war-camps, different encounter card effects will allow the enemies from this Raven deck to leap into the staging area and defend their leader.

Thus, you not only have to concern yourself with the Time X effects on each of the quest stages, you find yourself strongly encouraged to travel quickly from location to location. Each of the scenario’s locations also features the Time X keyword, and like the Raven War-camp (The Antlered Crown, 155) and Dunland Battlefield (The Antlered Crown, 157) they all introduce threats that weigh far more heavily than their Threat Strengths alone.

Of course, once you corner the Raven Chief (The Antlered Crown, 151), you then have to defeat him in order to end the war, and that’s no simple task. For starters, the Raven Chief cannot be damaged so long as the Raven Chief’s Camp (The Antlered Crown, 152) is in play, and even after it leaves play, he remains a fearsome warrior with an Attack Strength of five, a Defense Strength of five, and nine Hit Points. Plus, every time he attacks, he removes one time counter from the active location, meaning that he may continue to summon an unrelenting horde of Wild Men to his side.

Meanwhile, you gain the aid of the Boar Clan’s Chief Turch (The Antlered Crown, 150), but his aid is almost as much a burden as it is a blessing. Chief Turch is a great warrior in his own right, able to defend without exhausting, and able to attack with an Attack Strength of three. However, should Chief Turch be defeated, you lose the game. Thus, you have to weigh your options carefully any time you might want to use Chief Turch to defend an attack for you; he is “immune to player card effects” and cannot be healed by your cards.

Ride to War

“Erkenbrand!” the Riders shouted. “Erkenbrand!”
    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Beyond its new scenario, the sixty new cards in The Antlered Crown also include the new hero, Erkenbrand (The Antlered Crown, 137), and three copies each of nine new player cards that further develop the Rohan and Ent traits, as well as The Ring-maker cycle’s focus on the Doomed keyword.

With additional support from two unique, new Titles, Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown, 140) and The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown, 139), you’ll find both the Rohirrim and Ents ready to go to war, and they come not a moment too soon. The hills of Dunland are struck by smoke and blood and fire. Your heroes must play their part, and they’ll want all the help they can get.

March to war today! The Antlered Crown is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore!

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