Tips? MEWH FW recyclers vs Saruman's Robes taps Saruman

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CDavis7M
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The White Hand recycler stage events, such as Huntsman's Garbs, Pocketed Robes, Ring of Fire, Many-Colored Robes, etc, are pretty neat. All but one of them require tapping the event to pull the card EXCEPT that Saruman's Many-Colored Robes requires Saruman to tap himself (instead of tapping Many-Colored Robes) to retrieve Ringlore, Lordly Presence, or First of the Order.

I thought this was a mistake, but an experienced player told me it was intentional. He believed that it was because Saurman could more easily uptap, or be useful even tapped. I have been investigating this.

Could it also be that these cards (Ringlore, Lordly Presence, First of the Order) are more powerful than the others? For instance, Ringlore doesn't require the sage to tap. And First of the Order boosts corruption checks for the entire turn.

Any thoughts on whether Many-Colored Robes has an error?

And whether error or not, what are your tips for using Saruman's taps efficiently? He already needs to tap to use his inherent spell/sorcery recycler, or to use a palantir.

My best guess is that Saruman can benefit, more than other Wizards, from Tales of the Hunt, Hall of Fire, and Washed and Refreshed.

Tales of the Hunt is a permanent event playable on a Man at a Border-hold. The bearer may tap to untapped a character in his company. Isengard is within travel distance of Cammeth Bring, Dunnish Clan Hold, and the Woses. And, there are plenty of Rohan men who could end up at a Border-hold.

Hall of Fire is a permanent event playable on a Haven. After the M/H phase you can untap or heal 1 character.

Washed and Refreshed is a short event that untaps a number of characters in a moving company for each region moved less than 4.

It seems to me that Saruman would be likely to stay at Isengard or to at least stay local to it. He'd stay put because he'd be using the palantir. Or maybe he'd move within Gap of Isen (glittering caves) or to Rohan (factions, allies, and characters at Edoras, information at Amon Hen). So Hall of Fire and Washed and Refreshed would work well for Saruman, compared to others.

Maybe all of the reasons are hit above. But let me know your thoughts.

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Theo
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Ringlore does require the sage to tap, per CRF errata.

First of the Order ability is almost entirely bettered by White Light Broken, which Fallen Saruman can already tap to retrieve from his discard. I guess White Light Broken does force an additional corruption check, which limits its usefulness above 4 or 5 starting corruption.

I theorize that it is more likely the logic of causation is in the other direction. The tapping requirement for his robes make him distinctly less useful wandering around compared to other wizards, since he'll be needing to tap to use the robes anyway. This encourages behavior reflecting how Saruman was the only wizard in the stories to hide away in his tower.
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CDavis7M
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Thanks for your thoughts Theo. You might be onto something there as far as Saurman's "theme."

Definitely a lot that Saruman could do squatting at Isengard.

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Vastor Peredhil
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UEP Accepted List 3 (End Jul 2006 - End Oct 2006)

This is the list of accepted unofficial errata. To be included on this list a UEP has to be accepted following the correct procedure at the time of acceptance.

Categories:
• Balance:
o Multiple Rivers only require one ranger
River
Playable on a site. If a company that has moved to this site this turn does not tap a ranger, it must do nothing during its site phase.
Delete the following curent CRF ruling: You must tap one ranger for each River played on the site. Replace with: Tapping a single ranger to meet the requirements of River also meets the requirements of any other Rivers already played and resolved on the same site.

o Sneakin' like a true Stealth
Sneakin'
Scout only. Playable at the end of the organization phase on an untapped scout in a company with a company size less than 3. Tap the scout. No creature hazards may be played on his company this turn.

o Beorning Skin-changers
Beorning Skin-changers
Animals. Men. Bears. Two strikes. As a creature, playable only against minion companies. May also be keyed to Anduin Vales, Western Mirkwood, Wold & Foothills; and to sites in these regions.
Alternatively, playable as a short-event against a hero company moving through mentioned regions or with two wilderness in its sitepath. Unless the company contains Beorn or an untapped warrior with prowess greater than 4, it must return to its site of origin.

o Blackbole playable at non-haven sites
Blackbole
Unique. Playable at any non-haven site in Western Mirkwood, Heart of Mirkwood, or Southern Mirkwood. May not face any strike at a site or from an automatic-attack.

• Ringwraith:
o Khamul the Ringwraith (Avatar).
Khamul the Ringwraith
Unique. Manifestation of Khamul the Easterling. Can use sorcery. -2 direct influence in Heralded Lord mode. +1 prowess in Fell Rider mode. +2 to all body checks resulting from failed strikes against or successful strikes from Khamul. As your Ringwraith, one Ringwraith follower in his company may be controlled with no influence. You may bring this follower into play during your organization phase.

o Dwar Unleashed doesn't require mode card
Dwar doesn't have to be in a mode to use this card.

o A mode card is not required for a Ringwraith to travel to Barad-dur.
A mode card isn't required for a Ringwraith to move to Barad-dur.

o Ringwraith with a mode ally (Black Horse or Creature of an Older World) doesn't return to hand on a body check (bc) of a 7 or 8.
A Ringwraith with a mode ally (Black Horse or Creature of an Older World) will not return to hand on a body check (bc) of a 7 or 8.

o Altered conditions for discarding the Black Rider and Fell Rider Ringwraith mode cards
Black Rider
Discard this card and any other Ringwraith followers in the company during any of your following organization phases the company is at a Darkhaven after having moved from a non-Darkhaven site to a Darkhaven. Cannot be duplicated on a given company.
Fell Rider
Discard this card during any of your following organization phases the company is at a Darkhaven after having moved from a non-Darkhaven site to a Darkhaven. Cannot be duplicated on a given company.

• Balrog:
o Balrog can only play characters from sideboard or discard pile with mind <3 rather than <4.
A Balrog player can only play characters from sideboard or discard pile with mind <3 rather than <4.

• Cheeze reduction:
o Army of the Dead Cheeze extraction
Army of the Dead
Unique. Playable at the Vale of Erech. May only be played by Aragorn II on the same turn that he uses the special movement of Paths of the Dead. May not be influenced by an opponent.

• Consistency:
o Mumak Playability
Mumak (Oliphant)
Animals. May be keyed to Dagorlad, Gorgoroth, Horse Plains, Ithilien, Khand, Nurn, Udun, or Harondor; and may also be played at sites in these regions. May also be played (on the same turn and on the same company as Corsairs of Umbar) keyed to Andrast, Anfalas, Belfalas, Lebennin; and at Ruins & Lairs and Shadow-holds in these regions.

o Flies and Spiders playable on character facing a strike rather than attack.
Flies and Spiders
Playable on a character facing a Spider strike. If the strike is successful, target character is not harmed and is taken prisoner at a Ruins & Lairs. During his untap phase, make a body check for that character modified by +1. If not eliminated, his player then makes a roll adding his body. If the result is greater than 15, the character is automatically rescued into his own company located at the rescue site. Rescue-attack: Spiders - 3 strikes with 9 prowess.

o Hobbit-lore does not require a Haven
Hobbit-Lore
Playable on Gandalf during the organization phase while at a Haven. If untapped, tap Gandalf afterwards. He receives +2 direct influence against Hobbits and Hobbit factions.
Delete while at a Haven

o Many-coloured Robes tapped for effect rather than Saruman
Many-coloured Robes
Unique. Saruman specific. Place this card on Saruman if he is in play. If on Saruman, he may tap Many-coloured Robes during his end-of-turn phase to take Ringlore, Lordly Presence, or First of the Order from his discard pile to his hand.

• Creatures:
o Barrow-wight:
 Barrow-wight playable at Barrow-downs
Barrow-wight is playable at Barrow-downs.

o Elf Lord Revealed in Wrath:
 Elf Lord Revealed in Wrath playability reduction
Elf Lord Revealed in Wrath
Elf. One strike (detainment against hero companies). +4 prowess versus Ringwraiths. If Gates of Morning is in play, may also be played keyed to Shadow-lands.

• Esthetic:
o Strider can use Athelas like Aragorn
Athelas
A Dunadan can tap and use this item to heal a character in his company (change from wounded to well, character remains tapped). A manifestation of Aragorn II can also tap and use this item to remove a corruption card from a character in his company. Discard after use.

• Nazgul attack strategy:
o Fell Beast counts as half a creature
Fell Beast
The number of strikes of one Nazgul hazard creature is increased by one and its prowess is decreased by 2. Attacker chooses defending characters. Additionally, target Nazgul may be played keyed to a Shadow-land or Shadow-hold. Cannot be duplicated on a given Nazgul. Fell Beast counts as half a creature for the purpose of deck building.

• Promos:
o German Promo Das Pack vor der Tür is legal in games using UEPs
The special german promo German Promo Das Pack vor der Tür is allowed in UEP games.
Das Pack vor der Tür
Playable if Doors of Night is in play. Each non-unique Animal, Spider and Wolf creature may be played in Boder-lands, Border-holds or Ruins & Lairs. The creature must be playable in a non-Coastal Sea region.

o All German Promos except Das Pack vor der Tür are legal in games using UEPs
The special german promos: Scwertmeister, Zwergenaxt, Belegennon, Ringil, Horn der Herausforderung, Baugur, Freca and Wolf, are allowed in UEP games.

• Theme:
o Maximum company size for the Nine Riders is 9
When a minion company consists entirely of Ringwraiths and Black Horses its maximum company size is increased to 9.


@edit: this post was edited/updated on 28th of June 2008

mfg Nicolai
Last edited by Vastor Peredhil on Mon May 11, 2009 9:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
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the JabberwocK
Ex Council Chairman
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Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:46 am

Bear in mind that the list Vastor posted, as the name suggests, is “unofficial” and is thus a set of optional rules to play by.

I have played in games before where there was debate about certain cards and we had to pause the game and do research, only to later find the cards were part of the UEP and those optional interpretations had seeped into some players mindsets, mistaking them for normal rules.

Most importantly, you should not expect to use the UEP to play games in a tournament, online, or local playgroup, unless it has been communicated by the organizer that UEP is being used.



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