How best to get started?

[ollie]

I know there is a ton of information on this question scattered through the site, and maybe even a consolidated post on the topic but I couldn't find one.

I introduced half a dozen players to the game this week. They liked it. However, they don't live in my area and are currently dispersing back around the country. I'd like to follow-up with advice on how to get started playing for themselves and their local friends. I don't know if they'll take it, but I'd like to try. (I've already directed them to this site generally, of course, say hi if you think I'm talking about you!)

"See 'scape, buy scape" is, of course, still the central piece of advice. Especially early on, everything you can lay your hands on improves the game for you. C3V and SoV are keeping the ability to get new Classic units alive, and C3G and HoSS (and others worth mentioning to new players?) are giving varied ways to play with already-loved characters.

Terrain seems to me to be the biggest stumbling block. What's the best way to start? I've read that Auggie's does mats and maybe some terrain bits too?

So, suppose you were given $50, or $100, or $200 (what's a reasonable amount?) to assemble something that would be fun enough to keep returning to to play the game, but had to provide everything you needed, what would you do? Hasbro did it at $40 with RotV, so I hope there's a good option near the lower end; I realise that might be optimistic.

[Tooooon]

After being in your shoes a couple of months ago, I can tell you, once you start getting new squads and terrain, you'll just keep wanting more and more

To get yourself started though, I'd recommend setting a budget and sticking to it - Only once you start to get bored, or see specific figures or squads that you'd like and want to play with, that I suggest you buy more.

To get yourself started? Easy, go for a SotM set, 1-2 Forgetten Forest sets, and a Castle set - These will give you a nice handful of new figures to keep things interesting, and the amount of terrain you get from them will be more than enough to create TONS of fun and interesting maps.

I will warn you though, the more hooked you become, the more you start spending... (I swear I've spent at least $400 in the past 2 months, shipping costs to the UK has been a big factor for how high though)

[MegaSilver]

You can try to convince them to play online...

[ollie]

Thanks Tooooon. I've already spent way too much over the last six years; I'm looking for advice to get others similarly hooked.

How much do those sets cost at the moment? I agree it'd be a good start, but I'd've guessed it was well over $100, but I deliberately try not to keep an eye on these things in case I see a "bargain".

My hope is that something like SotM, Castle, a terrain mat and a decently varied bunch of units (possibly C3V/SoV or C3G/Hoss/? if someone is interested in those scenes) might be possible at $100.

Also, good to see a Britain-based 'scaper posting. I was born and grew up just down the road from you in Birmingham. (Geography for our American friends: Coventry is a smaller, inferior Birmingham clone, 20-odd miles down the road. )

Good idea Megasilver. I should try to convince myself as well...

[Utgars_General]

I've been pondering on the same question recently, and have come up with the same solution for figures (C3V and SoV is doing amazing work, as are C3G and HoSS). Terrain, however, is the difficult part. El Diablo's thread features an excellent build using Foamcore, and White Knight's thread contains some excellent advice for using insulation foam to build a large base that other tiles can be stacked on.

Personally, I have had promising results of mixing the two methods - remove the paper coating from Foam Core, press hexes into that, and paint by hand with acrylic paints.

Now, to bring this back to your question: with some time and effort, you could build some of the smaller maps found in the BoV or the rulebooks, and mail them out. It's possible that you'd have to cut the map into smaller segments and stack them vertically to fit in the boxes, but done right, it shouldn't be too terrible to cope with.

[caps]

Auggie's mats are pretty cool, and reasonably affordable. My suggestion is to watch craigslist like a hawk! And check out the trade thread here. Many people sell master sets and terrain sets for pretty reasonable prices there.

It is usually difficult (though sometimes possible) to get good deals on eBay.

--

And yes, C3V/SoV figures are, on average, cheaper than Hasbro/WotC stuff at this stage of the game's life. With that said, there are quite a few squads and heroes that are widely available for pretty good prices. My C3V/SoV collection is quite a bit bigger than my "classic" collection for this reason.

--

C3G is a blast, although they maybe should be almost considered a different game that uses the same basic mechanics. However, it is easy to build a large C3G collection (figure-wise) since they predominantly use 'Clix figures, many of which can be found for $0.10-$0.99 each.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by ollie

Good idea Megasilver. I should try to convince myself as well...

It's very fun...

[kolakoski]

Well met!

I'd concentrate on terrain. You can proxy figures, and all the rest of the info you need (cards, rules, etc.) for them is freely available here. You can't proxy terrain. [Well, here and there, but not enough to matter. ]

[sam268]

Well, I got started with....

1. x1 Rise of the Valkyrie : Ebay
2. Extra terrain : Ebay

and all the rest from auggies (go check it out)

1. Tor-kul-na
2. Taelord
3. Venoc warlord
4. Kelda
5. Omnicron snipers
6. Krug

All of this I got for about 80 dollars. Sure it took me about a week to find a complete RotV for under 75 dollars, but it is possible.

[sam268]

Originally Posted by Tooooon

After being in your shoes a couple of months ago, I can tell you, once you start getting new squads and terrain, you'll just keep wanting more and more

To get yourself started though, I'd recommend setting a budget and sticking to it - Only once you start to get bored, or see specific figures or squads that you'd like and want to play with, that I suggest you buy more.

To get yourself started? Easy, go for a SotM set, 1-2 Forgetten Forest sets, and a Castle set - These will give you a nice handful of new figures to keep things interesting, and the amount of terrain you get from them will be more than enough to create TONS of fun and interesting maps.

I will warn you though, the more hooked you become, the more you start spending... (I swear I've spent at least $400 in the past 2 months, shipping costs to the UK has been a big factor for how high though)

Yes sir, you could do that too, but beware, all of that will cost you around $200