The Siege of Erebor: The Last Alliance of Dwarves and Men 1.0

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• 1.0

Of the Dwarves of Durin and the Mountain King

In the events of The Hobbit, Thorin Oakenshield and a retinue of twelve other dwarves set out from the Shire to reclaim the kingdom of Erebor. Of these dwarves, seven of them were Longbeard Dwarves, Durin's Folk seeking to regain their lost home. Many of the dwarves from Erebor had been set adrift after the dragon's attack and were forced to make a living for themselves elsewhere. Many settled in Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains, where they made their living blacksmithing and mining. Upon returning to the Lonely Mountain, Thorin regained his throne though he perished shortly after in the Battle of Five Armies along with his nephews Fili and Kili. Dáin Ironfoot became King under the Mountain. As for the rest of Thorin's company, Glóin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur remained at the Mountain. Balin along with Óin, Ori, and many other dwarves set out on an expedition to regain the lost realm of Khazad-dûm while King Dáin counseled against this, recalling the doom of many dwarves there. In the Mines, Balin was slain as was Ori while Óin fell victim to the Watcher in the Water.

But Dáin Ironfoot, his cousin, who came from the Iron Hills to his aid and was also his rightful heir, became then King Dáin II, and the Kingdom under the Mountain was restored, even as Gandalf had desired. Dain proved a great and wise king, and the Dwarves prospered and grew strong again in his day.

‒The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Theme

While building this deck, it was important to me that I stick to the theme of The Siege of Erebor (a standalone scenario created by A Long-extended Party), but I always felt the need to balance that with the deck's utility and playability. Most of the allies and other cards in this deck make sense from both a thematic standpoint and a strategic standpoint, while a few require some explanation:

• Balin is dead during the events of the War of the Ring. That being said, I wanted to include him in this deck anyway because without him, many of the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings would have been entirely different.
• Ered Luin Miner is included here from a thematic standpoint because many of Durin's Folk became miners in the Blue Mountains following the desolation of Smaug.
• Fili and Kili are included here because they were two of the original thirteen that set out to reclaim the Mountain even though they did not survive to see the Kingdom of Erebor restored.
• Gimli represents the Battle of the Pelennor raging in the south. Gimli also represents the ambassadors that were sent by Thorin Stonehelm to the crowning of King Elessar after the War of the Ring.

Of the Battle of Dale and the Siege of Erebor

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of the Morannon (The Black Gate) are two of the most important and well-known battles in the War of the Ring. The characters fans grew to love across The Lord of the Rings trilogy fought for the very fate of their world in the southern theater of the war. Often forgotten by fans is the northern theater. While an army of orcs fought the forces of Gondor and Rohan in the south, Dáin Ironfoot, King under the Mountain, and Brand, King of Dale, fought against an army of Easterlings for several days. The armies in the north, in what would be the last alliance of dwarves and men in the Third Age, fought the Battle of Dale before being pushed back to Erebor. Hoping against hope, the Northmen and Durin's Folk waited behind the Gate of Erebor for any news from their allies in the south...

At the same time as the great armies besieged Minas Tirith a host of the allies of Sauron that had long threatened the borders of King Brand crossed the River Carnen, and Brand was driven back to Dale. There he had the aid of the Dwarves of Erebor; and there was a great battle at the Mountain’s feet.

‒The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Purpose

This deck's main purposes are three-fold:

• appeal to players that like to play thematically
• provide inspiration for players to build their own thematic decks
• provide a "quickstart" deck for busy players who prefer to netdeck

Of Dáin, called Ironfoot, and Brand son of Bain son of Bard the Bowman

So it was after being pushed back to the mountain that King Brand and King Dáin fought the army from Rhûn at the foot of the Lonely Mountain. The two kings defended the Gate to their dying breaths, and their sons succeeded them as kings: Bard II son of Brand became King of Dale, and Thorin III who is called Stonehelm became King under the Mountain. The fledgling kings there withstood a siege and continued to hope...

‘I grieved at the fall of Thorin,’ said Gandalf; ‘and now we hear that Dain has fallen, fighting in Dale again, even while we fought here. I should call that a heavy loss, if it was not a wonder rather that in his great age he could still wield his axe as mightily as they say that he did, standing over the body of King Brand before the Gate of Erebor until the darkness fell.

‒The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Heroes

The Siege of Erebor standalone scenario does not come with the versions of Dáin Ironfoot and Brand son of Bain. For a deck that contains Dáin Ironfoot and Brand son of Bain, I recommend checking out this deck made by Durin's Father: Final Stand at the Gates of Erebor. Note that the new Free to Choose List version of Brand son of Bain can replace Bard the Bowman comfortably in this deck for players that wish to remain more true to theme.

This deck, on the other hand, uses Dáin Ironfoot, Brand son of Bain, and Bard son of Brand. Brand and Bard make up the backbone of most Dale decks while Dáin has been used in most traditional Dwarf decks. This deck aims to thematically link those two archetypes using The Last Alliance contract.

The Contract

The Last Alliance is an ALeP contract that allows for a ridiculous amount of pairing possibilities. The two traits this deck plays with are Dale and Dwarf. The cost reduction on Side B of the contract provides part of the ignition needed to start swarming Dwarves, as Dwarves are wont to do. This is why starting with one Dwarf hero can be an overlooked, albeit, important aspect to getting this deck rolling.

Exhausting the contract allows us to choose a card in our hand or in play to gain the other Trait in our alliance. While testing (many...) iterations of this deck, I eventually settled on the decklist found here, but there are many directions you can take with this exhaustion effect on The Last Alliance. If you find yourself playing multiplayer, you can use this effect with a bit more flexibility which will likely change the composition of the deck. While I built this deck with the solo player in mind, I will also talk through other options/directions one might take when deck tinkering. (See Deckbuild Rationale and Other Considerations sections.)

Playing solo, I almost always use The Last Alliance to grant Dáin Ironfoot a printed instance of "Dwarf or Dale" until the end of the round. And, yes, that is an inclusive "or", meaning Dáin will give a and boost to every Dwarf and Dale character while he is ready. Couple this with ally attachments strengthening your allies, and you will end up with some allies that have ridiculous stats.

Of News from the South and the Routing of the Easterlings

The Rohirrim had come to the aid of Gondor. The armies of Men marched on the Black Gate itself. Against all odds, the Ring was destroyed and Barad-dûr crumbled. King Dáin and King Brand had not fallen in vain!

When news came of the great victories in the South, then Sauron’s northern army was filled with dismay; and the besieged came forth and routed them, and the remnant fled into the East and troubled Dale no more. Then Bard II, Brand’s son, became King in Dale, and Thorin III Stonehelm, Dáin’s son, became King under the Mountain. They sent their ambassadors to the crowning of King Elessar; and their realms remained ever after, as long as they lasted, in friendship with Gondor; and they were under the crown and protection of the King of the West.

‒The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Deckbuild Rationale

This deck went through many iterations by the simple virtue of having too many fun options to try. I originally built a deck for Con of the Rings that did not include any version of Dáin because it was part of a Fellowship that was already running him. I still plan on bringing that deck to the Con, but building that deck really made me want to build a strong solo deck that focused more on theme. With ALeP's release of The Siege of Erebor, I knew I wanted to build a fun deck that was hopefully helpful to others that like to play thematically!

At one point I tried to double down on the dwarven mining mechanic which is a really fun archetype to play. While that version of the deck was fun, I found it inconsistent and it always felt really bad getting a copy of Hidden Cache in my hand. (There is still a fun deck to be built there that someone else is welcome to try!) Not running A Very Good Tale was something else I tried. That edition of the deck had more copies of King of Dale, but that didn't feel the best either for reasons I explain below.

I also tried an iteration in which attachments were being played on not just Dale characters but Dwarf characters, too. That was a fun version of the deck as well, but it suffered from card draw issues if I didn't exhaust The Last Alliance to activate Brand son of Bain's ability for both Dale and Dwarf allies. This is the same reason that I eventually removed allies such as Erebor Battle Master. You could exhaust The Last Alliance and King of Dale to get a Dwarf ally in for cheap, but it isn't really necessary when you can get a Dale ally into play the same way without exhausting The Last Alliance at all.

In the end, I found this version of the deck to be the most consistent. It lets the Dwarves and the Men of Dale both do what they're good at while also pumping up all of their and with Dáin Ironfoot.

Combos and Piloting

• many starting hands can be successful; ideally look for a couple of attachments for Bard son of Brand and Brand son of Bain; King Under the Mountain is really nice for deck milling
• while King of Dale can be really nice later on, in this deck I don't often like seeing it too early; it costs 2 so Bard son of Brand likely won't be able to pay for it until round 2; you only really need to run one copy because it's really important to have as many ally attachments as possible, and cost reduction from The Last Alliance is often enough to get you running
• later in the game you will want King of Dale or A Very Good Tale to get Long Lake Trader in play to shuttle around Spare Hood and Cloak
• mulligan if you get Ered Luin Miner in your hand; it can still be fine thanks to price reduction from The Last Alliance, but it's an irritating feeling...
• I opted to run A Very Good Tale since we are trying to get out a bunch of Dwarf and Dale allies; Reforged and Half-pint will help you fetch attachments you might have lost that you end up wanting later
• unless playing in multiplayer or if is not a problem, try to save The Last Alliance for Dáin Ironfoot's effect every round
• Traffic from Dale can generate huge amounts of resources; you will almost always want to put those resources on Bard son of Brand since his resources will be working overtime a lot
• Erebor Guard can have his price reduced to one with his own effect and the effect from The Last Alliance
• try to hold off playing Glóin until you have 5 other Dwarf characters, but you can use The Last Alliance on him in a pinch for resource smoothing
• similarly, Dwalin can be free thanks to cost reduction from The Last Alliance, and if you really need to you can exhaust The Last Alliance to get him in faster by counting Dwarf and Dale allies
• use the age old trick of failing or breaking even on the quest to get Bofur in permanently for one resource
• when playing Long Lake Fisherman, the card you search for is really dependent on the situation you find yourself in; searching for a cost of 2 can help you dig for King of Dale or King Under the Mountain; but you may find yourself searching instead for a 0 cost card to play more attachments or put into play more allies (A Very Good Tale)
• Spare Pipe is amazing for digging out one of the few events in this current build
• North Realm Lookouts are especially good carriers of Spare Hood and Cloak since they don't exhaust to quest; exhaust them afterwards and move a cloak to ready one of your heroes!
• running one copy of Redwater Sentry and Warrior of Dale is sufficient; neither, I feel, is strictly necessary in solo and could be swapped for a third Long Lake Trader and North Realm Lookout; the former two cards really shine in multiplayer though
• by the end of the game try to have at least one Guardian of Esgaroth completely tricked out in attachments, but try to move the second and third attachments onto him so that you can still draw a card from Brand son of Bain's effect

Sideboard

• Captain's Wisdom is another good resource generator if you feel you need more and you don't want to play Hidden Cache; We Are Not Idle is another option, though to get maximum benefit you will likely want to exhaust The Last Alliance when you play it
• Captain's of the North... I mean Captains of the West deserves consideration since all three heroes in this build are Noble.
• Lure of Moria needs to be mentioned especially since it can ready Dwarf and Dale characters using The Last Alliance; I chose not to run it because I was already limited on deck space, and most of the time this deck ends up having enough powerful characters in play that readying them all tends to be a "win more" scenario
• Open the Armory is worth considering since a lot of attachments can be fetched that way; honestly, if I make any more iterations on this deck, I will likely try that; the major downside is that it costs 1 to play it and resources can sometimes be at a premium
• To me! O my kinsfolk! can be used with The Last Alliance to put a Dale ally into play by exhausting The Last Alliance; the ally gets put back on the bottom of your deck after; Long Lake Fisherman is a good target for this because you will also get to dig for a card in your deck
• Any deck that includes a lot of ally attachments should consider To Arms! I included it in the sideboard because there just weren't enough room for events in this deck, but if you opt to go a route that puts attachments on Dwarf and Dale allies, it's definitely worth including.

Other Considerations

• for theme purists, of the thirteen dwarves from The Hobbit, here are the ones that would be alive for this scenario: Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Glóin, Dori, and Nori; if a friend is playing Dáin Ironfoot, try building around a different Dwarf instead; I have had good success with Bifur
• if you go the route, Expert Treasure-hunter is fantastic for card draw and deck milling; Erebor Hammersmith can also fetch your attachments from the discard pile
• it feels terrible to find a Hidden Cache after playing Spare Pipe... I don't really have anything else to say about that other than it makes me sad
• Thorin Stonehelm would be another great thematic hero to choose!
• Ever My Heart Rises and Relic of Nargothrond are great tech if you ever run a version of this deck in which you put attachments on Dwarf characters
• Second Breakfast can be an alternative for getting attachments from the discard pile though it isn't as efficient as Reforged
• Narvi's Belt can work, but isn't very good in this current build of the deck because most of the resources generated will need to be placed on Bard son of Brand; still, there is probably a strong build there somewhere
• when trying to balance attachments with allies in a build that puts attachments on Dwarf and Dale characters, make sure to choose attachments that are cheap and ideally can be played on allies of either Trait; this will make your deck far more consistent
• Armor of Erebor can work but its 2 cost was very prohibitive in my current build
• Dwarf Pipe is cool in a deck that leans into the mining
• I made a thematic deck that included Thorin Stonehelm and Bard son of Brand using At the End of All Things, but I didn't feel that it was in a place to be published. Perhaps that inspires you to do something similar!

‘Yet things might have gone far otherwise and far worse. When you think of the great Battle of the Pelennor, do not forget the battles in Dale and the valour of Durin’s Folk. Think of what might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords in Eriador, night in Rivendell. There might be no Queen in Gondor. We might now hope to return from victory here only to ruin and ash. But that has been averted - because I met Thorin Oakenshield one evening on the edge of spring in Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth.’

‒The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Useful Links

A Long-extended Party Website

A Long-extended Party Printing Guide

Durins_Father - Final Stand at the Gates of Erebor