This is another good point; just because you don't personally care for that character/theme doesn't mean your friends will agree. In fact, that could be the difference between getting someone into the game or not; being able to offer them something that suits their interests.
For instance, I have a friend who plays a lot of Arkham Horror, so for his second game I told him to take Nightmist (no way I was letting him play her on his first game) and we did a match against Gloomweaver in the Realm of Discord. I explained that the hero and villain were both designed by Richard Launius who was the designer of Arkham Horror and he was enthralled. He had a blast finding all the references hidden within the cards and flavor text and I like to think because Sentinels gave him the freedom to choose that experience, he became as big of a fan as he is.
So I guess, good arguments overall:
You spend less money on shipping while getting more value if you get the full sets vs picking and choosing
Don't knock it til you try it; you don't know how interested you are in a hero/villain/environment until you actually play it
What you don't like, your friends might like; giving them more options helps get more people into the game
I'll have to beg your guys' forgiveness, but in the face of undeniable and inarguable logic I did my own thing . (I'm sure no one else has ever done that)
I bought:
Miss Information
Final Wasteland
Silver Gulch
Mr. Fixer
The Chairman
Unity
I'm actually very exited about these choices. I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place because I REALLY LIKE the mini-expansions, but I know they're over-priced relative to the IR and RC. Like I said before, I spend the money on IR and RC and I get a ton more cards of characters and locations I'm not nearly as interested in, or spend less money on what I did and get a lot less cards - but ones that I really like.
But anyways, with my set now I'm over 1,000 cards (SOTM EE, ST, Scholar, Ambuscade, Miss Information, Unity, Final Wasteland, Silver Gulch, Mr. Fixer, and The Chairman). 1,000 cards! That's a lot! And I've only played the game three times!
But on to something else. I'm having trouble getting my friends to play this game with me. I got Dominion, Cosmic Encounter, and SOTM for Christmas. They're all hooked on Dominion and won't try the other two games. I guess I'm just going to have to put my foot down. "We are GOING to play this game!"
Or failing that, bribe them. If they play one game of SotM with you, you'll play a couple of games of Dominion. If they really hate SotM then they don't have to play again, but they should at least give it a try.
You're on your own with Cosmic Encounter. I hate that game and wouldn't wish it on anyone...
I played with my wife and little girl, but then they played Dominion and got hooked on it. I like Dominion - but all the time? Really? It's a work in progress. My wife didn't like SOTM, but my little girl did. I think she'll particularly like playing Unity.
I have lots of gaming friends and I'm hoping to try it with them.
Along those lines, Baron Blade seems a little dull (and easy) to me. I wonder who would be a good villian for a bunch of new guys to play that's more challenging? Who'd you recommend out of what I have?
I'd recommend Voss, personally. He's tough, and he has some nasty stuff, but he's not in the habit of limiting hero choices by forcing discards or destruction.
And as has been said before, welcome to the forums! :D
Voss is probably a good choice, but personally, one of my most epic games ever was against Citizen Dawn, who I feel does the "horde of minions" concept MUCh better than Voss - the minions are all different sizes, so they're harder to wipe out with one area-effect attack, and unlike with Voss, it's possible to ignore the minions and focus fire on the boss, which turns the game into a gripping race to try and knock Dawn down before the other Citizens overwhelm you.
His namesake, Geoff Voss, is also a really nice guy. I had the pleasure of playing a few games with him over at KantCon last year.
Sadly I cannot recommend The Chairman or Miss Information for a starting game. The Chairman is one of the most difficult villains in the game and is very swingy depending upon which Underbosses he pulls in what order, and your work can be completely undermined by a Prison Break. Miss Information requires an incredible amount of patience to even deal damage to her in a three person game, let alone a five person game. Had you gotten Infernal Relics I would be recommending Akash'Bhuta, Apostate, Ennead, or even Gloomweaver. So, I guess I'm saying that you should totally buy IR/RC when you get the chance!
Of what you have, Voss is a great choice. Citizen Dawn also can be great in a five player game. Be prepared for a hard battle, however. She has a board wipe that hurts something fierce.
Final Wasteland and Silver Gulch are fine locals to fight in. Insula Primalis is Dawn's hometurf, so that might be fun if you want to be thematic, and Voss is quite an intense fight in The Wagner Mars Base if you want to keep the "Space" feel. Final Wasteland does some fun stuff with minions, so that might be a treat if you want some shenanigans to be had with the villain. Ruins of Atlantis are very aggressive, so be prepared for a harsh world if you fight there. I use to recommend Megalopolis all the time, but it has an immense amount of denial cards, so I'd actually avoid that for a first game with your friends.
Citizen Dawn has enough "I just kicked your butt" combos that you can really drive off new players if their first experience is just getting their rear handed to them.
Our first game vs. Dawn we got the Truth/Winter/Anvil start and That One Card in the third round. We forfeited when it was played, we still hadn't killed Truth.
I love Voss because it never feels like you are out of the fight, and it always is rough at some point.
I would suggest Insula Primalis or Silver Gulch. Silver Gulch is nice and tame, it does a lot of stuff that normally doesn't feel like it matters, which is nice when learning a new Villain. Dinosaurs will make you pay attention to what they are going to eat, and they deal lots of damage.
I still say that everyone's first game should be against Blade. Winning that first one gives people a little positive boost, and although he's easy he can do a few tricky things. Gives people the chance to understand the mechanics and start to see synergies and combos without getting whacked round the head with that horrible "we're so going to die in a minute and I don't know what we can do about it" feeling.
I do make sure to explain that Blade is the training wheels option and that this first one's a learning game and that we can move onto the harder villains once the earth is safe from moonfall (for now at least) and you know what all the buttons on your power suit do.
I taught a few friends and their daughter (whose cards were sort of group played) last week. First game was Baron Blade in Insula Primalis as a sort of training game. Second was Voss in The Final Wasteland. And since we were playing in New Jersey I got looks when a New Jersey Devil appeared and ate one of Voss' minions.
. (I'm sure no one else has ever done that)
