"The realm of Angmar arose in the North beyond the Ettenmoors. Its land lay on both sides of the Mountains, and there were gathered many evil men, and Orcs, and other fell creatures. The lord of that land was known as the Witch-king, but it was not known until later that he was indeed the chief of the Ringwraiths, who came north with the purpose of destroying the Dúnedain in Arnor, seeing hope in their disunion, while Gondor was strong."

–J.R.R. Tolkien, The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain

Will you dare to once more venture forward into the blighted lands north of the Ettenmoors? Three new Nightmare Decks are now available for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, and they recast your early adventures through the Angmar Awakened cycle into the darker and deadlier shadows of Nightmare Mode!

Featuring new setup and encounter cards, these Nightmare Decks offer veteran players and hardcare Dúnedain enthusiasts new and refreshed challenges amid the untamed wilderness that lies just outside of Bree-land and the Shire. No longer will the paths you once marked guarantee you safe travel. Instead, you'll find new, more ferocious enemies; formidable and shadowed locations; and treacheries that run the gamut from the foulest of weather to the most insidious tricks known to Goblin jailors.

Additionally, since each Nightmare Deck also offers a new twist upon its scenario's main themes, you'll find new side quests to reinforce the Angmar Awakened cycle's focus on self-directed exploration.

For more specific information about these Nightmare Decks, we turn to developer Matthew Newman:

The Wastes of Eriador

"The Wastes of Eriador introduced a novel mechanic for separating daytime from night, helping to represent the passage of time as our heroes made their trek across the northern wastes. For Nightmare Mode, we wanted to cut cards that did not interact as much with this mechanic, and replace them with difficult and thematic cards that embraced the scenario’s day/night cycle. We also wanted to enhance the feeling of being hunted by Wargs, and to that end we added several cards that make Warg enemies deadlier and smarter.

"The primary strategy that players used to deal with the enemies in this scenario was to wait until daybreak and engage and defeat as many as possible. But this changes in Nightmare Mode. Cards like Cunning Wolves (The Wastes of Eriador Nightmare Deck, 5) and Snowy Badlands (The Wastes of Eriador Nightmare Deck, 4) hinder your ability to kill enemies during the daytime. As a result, you and your friends may now find yourselves ambushed by Wargs at night, only to find them scattered during the day.

"My favorite new card in this Nightmare Deck, however, is the new side quest, Make a Stand (The Wastes of Eriador Nightmare Deck, 7). If you are beset by Wargs on all sides, you may find it impossible to camp for the night—you’ll have to deal with these lethal creatures first, and won’t be able to make any forward progress until you do!"

Escape from Mount Gram

"Escape from Mount Gram is a quest with a unique difficulty curve. It starts you off separated from your companions, with only one hero and no allies, which makes for a very rough beginning. As a result, many of the cards in this scenario also start off fairly weak, so a single hero can deal with them. Once the players find a footing and begin rescuing their allies and heroes, it becomes fairly easy to defeat the goblins of Mount Gram and escape… Or it did, but no longer!

"In this Nightmare Deck, you will still come across the allies and attachments that lie captured underneath encounter cards, but you’ll no longer get them into play for free. Then, even once you've rescued cards into your hand, you’ll find that hand assaulted by cards like Cruel Torment (Escape from Mount Gram Nightmare Deck, 6) and Goblin Patrol (Escape from Mount Gram Nightmare Deck, 7).

"The result is that you won’t have a deluge of cards to play in the middle and late game, as is often the case in standard mode. To make matters worse, your other heroes are harder to find, with one of them appearing on the bottom of your captured deck, and when Jailor Gornakh (Escape from Mount Gram Nightmare Deck, 2) enters play, he captures your remaining heroes, forcing you to fight him to the death in order to rescue them!"

Across the Ettenmoors

"One of my personal favorites from the Angmar Awakened cycle, Across the Ettenmoors is also a scenario that toys with the idea of a unique difficulty curve. Four safe locations scattered across the Ettenmoors provide your heroes a welcome reprieve from otherwise terribly harsh treachery and enemy cards. The goal, then, is to make your way from safe location to safe location, sneaking past enemies and weathering harsh storms as you travel.

"What we found was that players enjoyed the scenario tremendously when safe locations and side quests appeared often, leading them into difficult decisions and a unique experience. So, for Nightmare Mode, we guaranteed that more safe locations will appear, thanks to the Forced effect on the Nightmare Setup card (Across the Ettenmoors Nightmare Deck, 1).

"While this may appear to make the scenario easier, the new Nightmare cards make traveling to safe locations much harder than before. Hoarwell River Serpents (Across the Ettenmoors Nightmare Deck, 2) and Scavenging Stone-trolls (Across the Ettenmoors Nightmare Deck, 3) guard the passages to these safe havens, and a new Weather card— Crashing Thunder (Across the Ettenmoors Nightmare Deck, 8)—pummels you with damage for each quest you haven’t completed, spurring you onward.

"If you aren’t careful, you may even find yourself forced to leave safety in order to embark upon a Rescue from the Trolls (Across the Ettenmoors Nightmare Deck, 11)—one of the most dangerous side quests we’ve ever made! The result is a tense journey where every decision could be your last."

Every Step Could Be Your Last

Will you race to the aid of the brave Dúnedain rangers who guard the realms of Men from the evils that lie to their North? One of their number has gone missing, and it's up to you and your heroes to find him and bring him back. But if you thought you knew the land and the dangers that lie before you, think again!

Prepare yourself for a deadly new foray into the accursed realms of Angmar. Pick up your copies of these new Nightmare Decks today!