My son has played the game, and we have decided to pick it up at Gencon.
What would the players suggest for a first time buyer? I dont have that deep of pockets...so getting EVERYTHING isnt gonna happen,
So what should a new player get? And what else should I pickup as a add on or player aid.??
Thanks in Advance
Wayne THAG Walls
If I had to rank the expansions in to-buy order:
1) Unity
2) Infernal Relics
3) Shattered Timelines
4) Rook CIty
i didn't rank any of the other mini-expansions besides Unity because they're cheap and you should get them all. But Unity is indispensable.
The Enhanced Edition core box is the place to start. That gives you everything to hit the ground running. If you have room to tack on an expansion, Infernal Relics offers generally easier Villains with complex heros, while Shattered Timelines has the harder Villain set but less complex heros. You can't go wrong getting either one first, but I would save Rook City for your last expansion as it by most accounts considered the hardest one.
If you have an iOS device, the Sentinels Sidekick app is a must have. I hate playing games without it I love it so much. Also go gorge yourself on Spiffs SotM accessories on his website. He has so many awesome goodies that I am sure you will like.
you mentioned that you will be getting it at Gencon- if they are available (and you have the time) see if you can play a few games and get enough Sentinels Points (awarded for doing things like buying expansions, playing games, beating villains, etc) for some of the Promo cards (alternate character cards that give heroes a different starting power/HP/feel).
I'd recommend Team Leader Tachyon (as she is phenomenal), but they are all interesting.
As it's been said EE is definetly the way to go for a starter set, for expansions, i personally like Shattered Timelines Chrono-Ranger is my current not-tachyon fav hero, but if you have the time at gencon demo the other hero's and villans and see which you like most of from a set. For mini-expansions unity is a good buy, i also really enjoy the scholar for hero's, the villans ambuscade is our current punching bag, he is a difficulty 2 villan (a soft 2) that's fairly easy to beat. A good villan to test new hero's or strats for hero's out on. Welcome to the club.
One of us! One of us!
EE is a great place to start as it has a pretty solid set of heroes and villains. I would suggest getting the mini expansion heroes/villians as well if possible. As for expansions, I am a noob as well so possibly Shattered TImelines first: I enjoyed battling Spite.
Spite is from Rook City.
Wow, thanks to everyone for some great suggestions.
Thursday is my "demo as many games as I can day", so I hope I can find somebody that can Demo the game for me.
Should I assume that there will be some sort of GenCon special that will give me a good deal on combined sets?
Or Gencon only Promos?
I hope I can meet some of you folks there...
I second everything in this suggestion.
I will also second the mini-expansion Unity.
FYI:
Enhanced Edition (main game, ~$40): 10 heroes, 4 villains, 4 environments
Expansions (Rook City, Infernal Relics, Shattered Timelines, ~$20 each): 2 heroes, 4 villains, 2 environments
Mini-expansions (single decks, $3-$5 each): There are two of these each for heroes (Unity, Scholar), villains (Ambuscade, Miss Information), environments (Silver Gulch, Forgotten Wasteland)
Accessories:
* Promo cards: Single cards that change the way a hero deck works or a pair of cards that change the way a villain deck works. The earlier promo cards are no longer available, but there are eight newer ones (Dark Visionary, The Freedom Six, Eternal Haka) that are. Team Leader Tachyon is one of the Freedom Six. These can't be purchased, but one can get 'Sentinels Points' at conventions by buying product and/or playing games in the booth and use the SPs to get the promo cards.
* Oversize villain cards (~$13): Replacements for the pair of cards used to define how a villain deck works. No new information, but some people like their looks and readability. PLUS, the two promo villains are included.
* Playmat ($50). Unnecessary, but fun and pretty.
Ah, I missed an accessory -- Extra token pack. This includes more HP markers and status makers. The HP markers are unnecessary, but some of the status markers in this extra pack are quite nice and not in the main game. I'm thinking in particular of the start/end of turn markers.
The booth will have ten tables of demo space. Shouldn't be a problem. If for some reason you can't get into the booth, I'd check the tabletop area. My experience at PAX East and what I heard from Origins is that there were lots and lots of people playing Sentinels.
Should I assume that there will be some sort of GenCon special that will give me a good deal on combined sets? Or Gencon only Promos? I hope I can meet some of you folks there…
The special you get when buying at conventions is the Sentinels Points, which help you get the promo cards. As I recall, EE comes w/ 200 SPs and each expansion comes w/ 100 SPs. Each promo card requires 100 SPs. I don't think there will be GenCon-only promos per say, though, as stated, the promos are convention-only promos (for the most part), which is close enough to what you mean, I think.
Sorry I won't be able to meet you. Despite LIVING IN INDIANAPOLIS, I will not be able to go to GenCon, as I will be traveling then.
Arenson(, I am sorry that you cant make it this year. I hope you
I think I can swing the EE set, and at least one of the others, and most , if not all of the smaller sets. Right now I have about an 70-80ish budget....
I suspect Ill hang out at the tables a lot to get some gametime in, as I have to be the one teaching my gaming Crew at home how to play...again thanks for all the advice folks
Stop on by the GenCon booth! I'll be there in an official >G capacity, at the booth the entire time. Look for the ginger with the goatee.
See? I have already proven my noobness!
To be honest, I haven't played that much. The only heroes I played as are Ra, Team Leader Tachyon, Unity, and Legacy, and the only villains I have fought against are Iron Legacy, Baron Blade, Omnitron, and Spite. So, for an expansion choice, I honeslty have no idea what is easy or hard, but Shattered Timelines has some interesting villains (Iron Legacy, La Captian, Dreamer, and Kismet)
With $80, I would get Enhanced Edition ($40), Infernal Relics ($20), and Shattered Timelines ($20). That will also give you 400 Sentinels Points. If you play a bunch of games at the booth, you might be able to get another 400 points and get all eight of the promo cards. I would get them in the following order:
Team Leader Tachyon
Eternal Haka
Dark Visionary
Bunker Engine of War (Possibly controversial to list him this high, but he's great against Iron Legacy)
Elemental Wrath Absolute Zero
Last Stand Wraith
Sacrifice Tempest
Golem Unity (Only listed last because Unity is not in EE, IR, or ST, but is a mini-expansion; Otherwise, I'd get her fourth)
Man, I just love both Infernal Relics and Shattered Timelines, and that's not to take anything away from Rook City either, but I think maybe one of the first two is a slightly better value.
If I could only pick one, I'd say Shattered Timelines. Crono Ranger is one of my favorite heroes, and Omnitron X is another favorite, love the villians there too.
One thing to keep in mind that nobody has mentioned yet is that there is a new expansion coming out: Vengence. It promises to have some really great stuff, let me tell you. I don't know if it will be out in time for GenCon, but you might consider buying it if it is. Or saving your money to buy it when it hits the shelves. You want more heroes (I know you do!) ?, well Vengence has got more heroes! More than the other expansions (less villians though). I'd say Vengence is a strong contender for first-buy (after Enhanced Edition, of course)!
As far as promo cards, I'd just suggest you get the promos for whatever heroes you guys like the best. But if you'd ask for my personal opinion, I'd list them in the following order.
1. Elemental Wrath Zero: Because it actually changes the way the deck is played. Forums are a bit split on this one, people seem to either love him or hate him. I'm in the love him camp, as I ought to be =p.
2. Bunker: Engine of War. I find this is just a great alternate card for bunker for games when his go-to power might leave something to be desired.
3. Dark Visionary: Visionary is the "control" hero and this power makes her Control like no other, it's absolutely fantastic.
3-b. Redeemer Fanatic: I love this card, but I don't know if she's still available. Reedeemer Fanatic is great where Fanatic might not ordinarily shine, much like Bunker: Engine of War.
4. Last Stand Wraith: Love the ability to do damage without any gear, great pickup.
5. Sacrifice Tempest: Tempest is a favorite hero of mine, but I usually just use the original card, but Sacrifice has some cool applications, I admit.
6. Eternal Haka. Also tend to use the original card, but if a card-drawing Haka is what you want, then go for it.
7. Team Leader Tachyon: Has a lot of fans. I list her a bit last because I think she's a bit overpowered =p.
I'll be there at Gen Con in an official capacity as well. I hope we get to play a game with you and your son!
-awp
If you buy everything, at the booth, its like 145 dollars. That will get you All 3 expansions, EE, The oversized villains, the mini expansions available (Missing Ambuscade, unles he is reprinted by Gencon) and the Freedom 6 Promo Cards plus Dark Visionary and Eternal Haka.
Not tiny, but not bad either.
I really do recomend buying them EE, then Rook City, then Infernal, then Shattered. there /is/ a story there. And you can see it play out in the cards adn you can get a sense of it as you come to understand the characters. Its really good, and its better to see it in order.
And to clarify what lynkfox said, getting all the promo cards is actually a Con special (at least it was at Origins, but I don't know why it wouldn't be at Gen Con, also). Normally, you'd get enough Sentinels Points from buying everything to get 6 promo cards, but they go ahead and throw in the other two.
How difficult will it be to get SP just by playing games? I missed out on the Kickstarters and was silly enough to have already bought everything (except if Vengeance is available to purchase at the time), but would still like to grab a couple of promos.
Not hard, but it's easier if you: