Fortification

Fortification

Citadel of the Stars, a very popular fortification as it can be transferred to an exhausted minion and thus result in an uncounterable insta-kill.

Fortification is an unloaded keyword used exclusively on Free Peoples conditions. They are used to represent barricades and fortresses, offering further obstacles to Shadow minions. They are typically in the format of "play to the support area, pay a cost, then transfer to a minion," and offer perks varying between lower strength, lower vitality, or increased site number (to force minions to become roaming and therefore open to a whole slew of Gondor ranger tactics).

Fortifications can only really be used with other Gondor cards due to the spot/exert requirements, and even among Gondor it's best to run a set with Knights, as many fortifications offer fewer exertions if a certain number of Knights are spottable. A medium to large number of fortifications can really start to make a Shadow player's job very difficult as they find their crucial minions doubled down under the weight of multiple fortification cards, leaving even average strength Men able to finish fights.

There are a handful of Rohan fortifications, but they are really just specialized conditions that focus on removing tokens and possessions (both of which make up the core of the Isengard machines that represent the opposition at the Battle for Helm's Deep). They can be splashed into Rohan decks as needed to provide cover against those strategies, if needed.

As hinted above, multiple fortifications can easily be attached to one minion; as they are Condition cards at their core, there is no limit to the number that can be attached at once. Once a minion dies (or is discarded), the fortification attached is returned to the original owner's discard pile.

Being condition cards, they are no more difficult to be rid of than any other condition; therefore, no special strategy need be employed against them except for standard condition removal. See condition hate for more information.

See also Knight.

List of Fortifications

Portrait	Card Name	Culture	Card Type	Game Text
	Citadel of the Stars (5C32)	Gondor	Condition	Fortification. Skirmish: Exert a Man or spot 3 knights to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	City Wall (5C33)	Gondor	Condition	Fortification. Skirmish: Exert a Man or spot 3 knights to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Stone Tower (5R39)	Gondor	Condition	Fortification.Plays to your support area. Skirmish: Exert 2 Men to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Garrison of Osgiliath (6C52)	Gondor	Condition	Fortification. When you play this condition, you may spot a Man to place 2 tokens here. Skirmish: Discard this condition or remove a token from here to make a Man strength +1.
	First Level (7C92)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Maneuver: Exert a Man or spot a knight to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion.
	Second Level (7C118)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Maneuver: Exert a Man or spot a ranger to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion.
	Seventh Level (7R119)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Skirmish: Exert 3 Men to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Third Level (7U125)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Skirmish: Exert a Man or spot 2 rangers to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Fourth Level (8C35)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Skirmish: Exert 2 Men or spot 3 knights to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man. Exhaust that minion.
	Sixth Level (8U44)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Regroup: Exert a Man to play a fortification from your discard pile (limit 1).
	Fifth Level (10U32)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Bearer is strength –1 for each Fortification you can spot. Maneuver: Exert 2 Men or spot 3 knights to transfer this condition to a minion.
	Decorated Barricade (15R58)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. This condition is twilight cost -1 for each ranger you spot. Skirmish: Exert 2 Men to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Portico (15U67)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. This condition is twilight cost -1 for each ranger you spot. Skirmish: Exert a Man or spot 2 rangers to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Tremendous Wall (15R70)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Characters skirmishing bearer cannot take wounds from losing a skirmish involving bearer. Skirmish: Exert a Man or spot 3 rangers to transfer this condition from your support area to a minion skirmishing a Man.
	Soldier's Cache (18U58)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. At the start of your maneuver phase, you may spot 3 rangers or exert a Man to transfer this condition to a minion. Wound that minion. Regroup: Exert a ranger to reinforce a token.
	Great Gate of Minas Tirith (V3_23)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area,Support Area	Fortification. To play, exert a companion (or spot 3 knights). Each time the special ability of a Shadow support card is used, you may hinder a fortification to hinder that card. Then you may exert X knights to hinder X other copies of that card with the same title.
	Inner Gate (V3_25)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area,Support Area	Fortification. Maneuver: If this is in your support area, exert and hinder 2 unbound knights to transfer this to a minion. Hinder that minion.
	Armory (5U79)	Rohan	Condition	Fortification. Maneuver: Spot 2 Men to remove 2 tokens from a machine or to take a possession into hand from your discard pile. Discard this condition.
	Arrow-slits (5U80)	Rohan	Condition	Fortification. Maneuver: Spot 2 Men to discard a possession or a machine. Discard this condition.
	Parapet (5U87)	Rohan	Condition	Fortification. Archery: Spot 2 Men to remove 2 tokens from a machine or to make the minion archery total -3. Discard this condition.
	Stronghold of My Fathers (V2_48)	Rohan	Possession • Support Area,Support Area	Fortification. To play, spot 3 companions (or 2 valiant companions). Response: If a companion is about to take a wound, discard this or 2 other possessions to prevent that wound. ​

Cards That Use Fortifications

Portrait	Card Name	Culture	Card Type	Game Text
	Alcarin, Warrior of Lamedon (5R31)	Gondor	Companion • Man	Knight. The twilight cost of each other knight in your starting fellowship is -1. Assignment: Assign Alcarin to a minion bearing a fortification to heal Alcarin.
	Fall Back (5U34)	Gondor	Event	Skirmish: Discard all Shadow cards borne by a minion bearing a Fortification.
	Men of Númenor (5C37)	Gondor	Event	Skirmish: Wound a minion bearing a Fortification.
	Rally Point (5U38)	Gondor	Condition	Plays to your support area. Regroup: Exert a knight to transfer a fortification borne by a minion to your support area.
	Take Cover (5C40)	Gondor	Event	Fellowship: Exert a knight to play a fortification from your discard pile.
	Turgon, Man of Belfalas (5U42)	Gondor	Companion • Man	Knight.To play, spot a knight. Maneuver: Exert Turgon to wound a minion bearing a Fortification.
	War Must Be (5C43)	Gondor	Event	Skirmish: Make a Man strength +2 (or +4 if skirmishing a minion bearing a fortification).
	Footman's Armor (7U93)	Gondor	Possession • Armor	Bearer must be a Man. Response: If bearer is about to be overwhelmed, discard a fortification or a card from hand to make bearer strength +2.
	Gondor Bow (7U94)	Gondor	Possession • Ranged Weapon	Bearer must be a Man. If bearer is a knight, he or she is strength +1. Skirmish: Exert bearer to wound a minion he or she is skirmishing if that minion bears a Fortification.
	Gondor Still Stands (7R95)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	To play, spot 3 companions. While no opponent controls a site, wound a minion at the start of each regroup phase. Regroup: Discard this condition to place a fortification from your discard pile on top of your draw deck.
	Gondorian Captain (7C96)	Gondor	Companion • Man	Knight. Fellowship: Discard a fortification to remove a threat.
	Great Gate (7C99)	Gondor	Event • Skirmish	Make a companion strength +2 and, if you can spot 2 fortifications, exert a minion that companion is skirmishing.
	Greatest Stronghold (7R100)	Gondor	Event • Archery	Exert a Man and spot 3 fortifications to make the fellowship archery total +2.
	Hasty Repairs (7U102)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	To play, spot 3 Men. Regroup: While you have only 4 cards in hand, you may discard 2 cards from hand to play a fortification from your discard pile.
	Ingold (7C106)	Gondor	Companion • Man	Knight. Fellowship: Discard a fortification to heal Ingold twice.
	Strong and Old (7R122)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	To play, spot 2 Men. The twilight cost of each of your fortifications is –1. Response: If an opponent is about to control a site, discard 2 fortifications to prevent this.
	Garrison of Gondor (8R36)	Gondor	Companion • Man	Archer. Knight. To play, spot 3 companions. While you can spot a fortification, Garrison of Gondor is defender +1.
	Sixth Level (8U44)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Regroup: Exert a Man to play a fortification from your discard pile (limit 1).
	Every Little is a Gain (10C31)	Gondor	Event • Maneuver	Spot a Man to discard a stacked Shadow card or to wound a minion bearing a Fortification.
	Fifth Level (10U32)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area	Fortification. Bearer is strength –1 for each Fortification you can spot. Maneuver: Exert 2 Men or spot 3 knights to transfer this condition to a minion.
	Great Gate of Minas Tirith (V3_23)	Gondor	Condition • Support Area,Support Area	Fortification. To play, exert a companion (or spot 3 knights). Each time the special ability of a Shadow support card is used, you may hinder a fortification to hinder that card. Then you may exert X knights to hinder X other copies of that card with the same title.
	Pippin, Guard of Minas Tirith (8P122)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	To play, spot a Man. Skirmish: Discard 4 cards from hand to wound a minion Pippin is skirmishing twice if that minion bears a fortification. ​

Cards Against Fortifications

Portrait	Card Name	Culture	Card Type	Game Text
	Destructive Orc (15C108)	Orc	Minion • Orc	When you play Destructive Orc, you may discard a fortification for each possession and each artifact you can spot. ​

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