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Éowyn

Raise the Riders of Rohan for free — then ride down the Nazgûl no man dares face.

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Background

The shieldmaiden of Rohan, niece of King Théoden, begins at Edoras — the golden hall of Meduseld and the beating heart of the Riddermark. While the men ride to war, it falls to Éowyn to hold the Mark together, and the board casts her exactly as the legend remembers: a leader who can rally the Rohirrim (the brown army) and who fears no shadow, not even the deadliest.

Edoras sits in the plains of Rohan, near the Rohirrim muster and within striking distance of Frodo's long road east. From here Éowyn can grow an army out of almost nothing and stand between the Free Peoples and the horrors that hunt the Ring-bearer. She is the hero who turns a quiet Rohan location into a wall of riders — and the one you send when a Nazgûl must finally be brought down.

How you win

The team wins one shared victory — every Objective completed, with Destroy the One Ring cast into Mount Doom last — so Éowyn's job is to make that road survivable. She does it by building the army the rest of the party leans on and by removing the threats no one else can.

Concretely, you keep Frodo alive by clearing shadow troops and by hunting the Nazgûl whose presence poisons his searches. Fewer Nazgûl in Frodo's region means fewer search dice and less hope bled away each time he travels. Meanwhile your free musters give the whole team a standing force to defend havens, contest battle lines, and hold ground long enough for the objectives to fall in order.

How they play

Éowyn revolves around two confirmed abilities. "Shieldmaidens of Rohan" means that whenever she takes the Muster action in a Rohan location, she does NOT spend a Friendship symbol to add a Rohirrim troop — the Riders answer her call for free. "No Living Man Am I" makes her a devastating anti-Nazgûl fighter: in battle she can spend Valor to strike down a Nazgûl that others could never remove.

That shapes a clear turn niche among the six actions. Lean on Muster to stack the Mark with brown troops at no cost, then use Attack where your riders meet shadow troops — shifting the Eye of Sauron off Frodo and rolling the battle. Feed her the Valor she needs by spending Prepare at havens or by taking Valor cards from teammates. Between fights, Travel her toward wherever a Nazgûl looms over Frodo. She's less about Fellowship hand-offs and more about turning symbols into soldiers and slain Nazgûl.

Strengths

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Her "Shieldmaidens of Rohan" ability lets her Muster Rohirrim troops in Rohan without spending Friendship. That's a free army — Friendship you'd otherwise burn can go to special-path travel or to other heroes' musters instead.
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"No Living Man Am I" lets her spend Valor to remove a Nazgûl in battle — something almost no other hero can do. Every Nazgûl she fells lightens Frodo's searches and eases the pressure on the whole team.
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Because she generates her own troops for free, she can wage battles that pay their own way — Muster riders, then Attack with them — without draining the team's shared card economy. She turns a lull into a standing defense.

Weaknesses

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Her free muster only applies in Rohan locations. Drift too far from the Mark — escorting Frodo deep east, or answering a crisis in the north — and her signature ability goes quiet, leaving her a fairly ordinary fighter.
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Slaying Nazgûl costs Valor, and Valor is also the currency for Capturing strongholds. She competes with the whole team for a scarce symbol — without a steady Valor supply, her best trick stays holstered.
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She isn't a stealth escort. She has no special way to cover Frodo's travel or feed him the exact symbols he needs to reach Mount Doom — pair her with a hero who can shepherd the Ring-bearer while she handles the fighting.

Tips & tricks

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Spend your early turns Mustering hard at Edoras and nearby Rohan locations. A deep bench of Rohirrim costs you no Friendship and gives you the numbers to Attack safely and defend havens later — front-load the free army while you're standing on it.
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Use Prepare at havens to bank Valor tokens, or ask teammates to Fellowship you Valor cards before you go Nazgûl-hunting. Line up the Valor first so that when a Nazgûl reaches Frodo, you can strike immediately instead of waiting a turn.
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Remember that taking the Attack action shifts the Eye of Sauron to that region — drawing his gaze away from Frodo. Time your battles to pull the Eye off the Ring-bearer at a dangerous moment, not just to trade troops.
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A haven that falls costs the team 3 hope, and Rohan is your ground to hold. Keep at least a token garrison of riders on nearby havens and battle lines so an Advance can't roll over an undefended refuge while you're off fighting elsewhere.

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