War of the Ring: Free Peoples openings that don't troll your future self

Second edition, physically huge, emotionally huger. I finally got War of the Ring to the table with a buddy who’s read the books a million times and he still got diced into oblivion round one because he tried to be clever everywhere at once.

As Free Peoples I feel like I have to pick a storyline to feed — Fellowship speed vs military pressure — but I always end up halfway on both and losing both.

What are your first two turns priorities as FP against an aggressive Shadow opener? Assume competent opponent, not a newbie mismatch.

Dice stories welcome but I’m trying to actually improve, not just commiserate about palantir rolls.

We play with the standard rules, no house stuff.