OK people. I am really in to Sentinels. Base game, Rook City, Infernal Relics and Vengeance are right here with me. I've got Ambuscade, Miss Information, Unity and The Scholar literally in the post to me right now. Shattered Timelines will be mine as soon as my FLGS gets it in, same with the upcoming Wrath of the Cosmos. I'm invested.
Thing is, I hear a lot of people on the board talking about the promos, all the different alternate version of characters, Dark Watch and the Freedom Six and so on. What I don't know is how to get them; I've done a bit of a search around the forums, but couldn't find anything, even though sometimes it seems like they're fairly common. I'm assuming that, as a Brit who's reasonably late to the party here, I may have missed the boat for most of them? What are my options at this stage, if any?
Promos are just alternate character cards with new base powers, max HP, and incap powers; they don't have different decks. They initially tend to be available as Kickstarter rewards and then >G makes them available at cons and other events (they don't charge for them, usually you need to play demo games to get them).
Several are out of print - I don't know what >G are taking to cons these days (maybe someone who went to PAX knows). You have a few options for getting your hands on them.
If you don't care too much about having the authentic, actual piece of paper handed to you by >G, images of all of them are available on BGG (and on Spiff's site, I believe). You could print them yourself or include them in a PrinterStudio/ArtsCow/etc. order.
Strictly speaking, if you have the information from the promo cards, you don't actually need them to play.
You can probably get some of them on ebay, but the prices are likely to be high.
>G has stated that, at some point in the future (after all SotM expansions are out, I assume), they will make a complete pack of promo cards available. They may have some differences from the originals (different art or something).
I've got a few left over from my PrinterStudio order if you don't mind unofficial ones.
I have: Young Legacy, America's Greatest Legacy, Rook City Wraith, Redeemer Fanatic, Ra Horus of Two Horizons, and G.I. Bunker. Basically all the ones I didn't have official versions of!
Well. The charity angle is big. I have thought about putting mine up for charity auction as well. But people are so willing to spend money at cons that I think you bigger numbers because people have already spent so much to be there.
Also at PAXEast the booth had all the Darkwatch characters (Nightmist, Mr.Fixer, Setback, and Expat) and Vengeance preorder cards WWII Legacy and Bunker.
Thanks very much for all the information, that's great!
I'm going to take the print-my-own route for the moment, and then pick them up properly if/when they're released as their own pack :) Thanks again everyone, really appreciated!
I've got a few left over from my PrinterStudio order if you don't mind unofficial ones.
I'm curious to know more about PrinterStudio. Quality, Cost, Options, etc. I would like to hear from anyone who has had this done before I spend money on this.
The quality is good. They look basically like real game cards, because that's what they are. Pics look sharp. My first order had some imperfections but they reprinted it for me and that one had no problems at all. I got smooth finish poker-sized cards, but they also do other sizes like bridge, large, and mini, and linen and plastic finishes.
Comparing them to Sentinels cards: the card is very slightly thinner, but you can only tell really if you put an official and PS deck next to each other. The finish is slightly less shiny so the glare is reduced, which I prefer. I gave some leftover promos to my friend and he didn't realise they were unofficial until I told him where they were from.
Mine were very nice, I got the linen finish, and I'd recommend it, most of the people with printing problems on their decks had smooth cards. I was very satisfied with my orders, and my promo cards may be a little low res on the back they are good enough to use. I'm perfectly happy to deal with them until the evenual promo card pack comes out.
I went the ArtCow route. I ended up with two copies of all the promos with a few extra Greatest Legacy and GI Bunkers. Cards are solid. The finish is more matte so you can tell they are bootlegs but that doesn’t matter to me. Card size is nearly identical maybe a half millimeter large.
Thanks for your replies. I do have some more questions.
Are the poker sized cards the same as Sentinels cards? What's the difference between the smooth and linen finishes? Do they print them on sheets or do you get the card already cut out? How much did this cost?
I too have a question as I've been looking into this option off and on for a while now. How big an order to you have to place to get his going? What's the minimum number of cards?
Yeah, poker sized is the same size as Sentinels cards, 63mm x 88mm. The linen finish is kind of textured in a cross-hatched kind of way, a little like woven linen fabric. The smooth finish matches official cards better, but I know many people like the linen ones a lot.
As for cost, it varies according to how many cards are in the deck you order (I made up a couple of mega-decks containing many regular decks, if that makes sense). A 54-card deck in smooth costs $7.99, and larger decks get gradually cheaper per card - decks are available in 72-, 90-, 108-, 126-, 144-, 162-, 180-, 198-, 216-, and 234-cards, with 234 cards costing $20.74. Shipping is free if you spend over $30 with the code SHIP30, and sometimes they have codes for a percentage off with free shipping (I jumped in when they had a 20% off code).
The cards arrive cut and shrink-wrapped. 54-card decks also come with a free plastic case.
Oh and I can't speak for quality or price for Artscow since I've only ever used Printer's Studio, but I believe that AC have a promotion on right now. Try the code POKERFACE.
