Tom Bombadil

Mind: 4
Marshalling Points: 3
Prowess/Body: 12/11

Unique. Playable at Old Forest. Tap to cancel the effects of any one hazard that targets any company moving to a site in Arthedain, Rhudaur, Cardolan, or The Shire. Discard Tom Bombadil if his company moves to a site that is not in Arthedain, Rhudaur, Cardolan, or The Shire.

He's also 12/11, a very useful feature for defending your party when it is in that area. And, like the Ents, he makes a good escort there.

Plus, he can cancel any attacks in that area, very useful and making any company there practically invincible. Let's look at that area. There are a total of 9 sites in it: Rivendell, Cameth Brin, Ettenmoors, Barrow-Downs, Old Forest, Bag End, Weathertop, Bree, and The White Towers. The regions are 3 wilderness and a free-domain, and the sites are a haven, a free-hold, 3 border-holds, and 3 ruins/lairs. Not too dangerous, but some bad things can be keyed to there. Corsairs to Barrow-Downs, and Huorn and Old Man Willow to Old Forest, among the regular keyings. Plus, Hobbits, Rangers of the North, and Hillmen are playable there, as well as loads of characters and Goldberry, Bill the Pony, Palantir of Elostirion, and Red Book of Westmarch. A fairly plentiful region, which also contains Rivendell, a site almost any character (except the hobbits, who are playable at Bag End still) can be played at. So you have a decent number of points and other useful things, but not a lot of danger that he nullifies.

He's especially good, however, in the role he actually played; escorting Hobbits from Bag End to meet up with more poweful companies in Rivendell, where they can then go out on larger adventures. He's also useful to get all 3 factions in that area, a total of 5 marshalling points (well, it's not much, but it's something). And that's not counting the huge load (23 from characters only playable there, wow) from characters and also the large one (9) from allies and items, not counting Tom's 3. Total of FORTY points counting him available there, enough to almost entirely win some games. Plus, who knows, maybe there will later be a card (in an expansion, or a promo for that matter) that lets allies be played at other sites and not be discarded there, which would make Tom an even better one.

Anyway, overall Tom Bombadil's a pretty good ally, one of the better ones, though he is extremely limited in where he can go.

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