Fortification

Citadel of the Stars, a popular fortification. It can be transferred to an exhausted minion, killing it instantly.

Fortification is an unloaded keyword which appears only on Free Peoples conditions in Gondor and Rohan cultures. First introduced in Tower Block, they represent the walls and defenses of Osgiliath, Helm's Deep, and Minas Tirith against the armies of Shadow-aligned minions. Fortifications are played to the support area, but many of them can be transfered to minions by spotting or exerting characters. The fortification condition then applies a penalty to the minion bearing the card, usually in the form of reduced strength or vitality or increased site number. They generally have very strong cultural enforcement, as many of them can only be played or used if you spot or exert multiple men of the matching culture.

The most popular type of fortification card, and the one most people think of when you just say "fortifications," are Gondor-culture cards, most of which disposable minion debuffs, as described above. A support area of fortifications can go a long way to smooth out a hard turn, as the Shadow player can quickly find their crucial minions doubled down under the weight of a fortification card or two, while Stone Tower (5R39) or Citadel of the Stars can turn a wound here or there into a dead minion. While these fortifications are discarded at the same time as the minion they're weighing down, they can simply be replayed with Sixth Level (8U44) . These cards can be played with any Gondor men, but oftentimes they are cheaper or free when you can have multiple knight companions in play. (There are also fortifications that work with rangers instead of knights, oftentimes increasing the minion's site number to make it roaming and thus vulnerable to cards like What Are They? (1C119) , but they are less popular.) Plus, knights have lots of healing to pay for the necessary exertions, and cards that benefit from or punish minions bearing fortifications, such as Alcarin, Warrior of Lamedon (5R31) and Gondor Bow (7U94) . All of this comes together in Gondor Knights, one of the most popular decks of Movie Block.

There are a handful of Rohan fortifications, as well. They are specialized counter conditions that focus on counteracting machines, archery, and Shadow possessions. Of these, only Arrow-slits (5U80) is popular, as a counter to Raider Corsair ships and Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (8R103) .

While there's only one Shadow card that interacts with fortifications specifically -- Destructive Orc (15C108) -- fortifications are all still conditions. Standard condition removal works against them normally. The only significant protection most fortification decks have against removal is replaying them with Sixth Level (8U44) , which is itself a condition that can be removed.

See Also

• Machines, the siege weapons of the armies of Isengard
• Engines, the siege weapons of the armies of Sauron
• Knights, the defenders of Minas Tirith and a subculture of Gondor companions that work well with fortifications.

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.
	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. ​

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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	Base of Mindolluin (10U117)	Site	Site	Sanctuary. Fellowship: If you cannot spot 2 threats, add a threat to play a fortification from your draw deck. ​

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. ​

---