To get a full competitive play list, aka minimum three of each tournament playable cards, this is what you buy:
- 3x Core Sets ( link here )
- 1x Warlord Cycle, War Packs ( link here , 6 packs total)
- 1x Planetfall Cycle, War Packs ( link here , 6 packs total, 6 unreleased, 3 revealed)
- 1x The Great Devourer, Expansion ( link here )
- Standard Size Sleeves "63.5 x 88 mm perfect fit or 66 X 91 mm" ( link here , link here , or link here )
- Mini American Board Game Size Sleeves "41x63 mm" ( link here )
FAQ
Why do I need three copies of anything?
- You are allowed to play three copies of a card in a deck. This maximizes your draw to get particular cards. Competitive decks usually run three copies of cards.
- Rule book page 15: "When constructing a deck, up to 3 copies of each non-signature card, by title, may be included. Other warlords cannot be added to a deck. No signature cards other than the 8 designated cards in the chose warlord's signature squad may be chose. Running additional copies of key cards is an excellent means of creating stronger, more consistent decks. While there are only 1 or 2 copies of most cards in the core set, additional core sets and expansions may be used when customizing a deck."
Do I need three copies of every card?
- No. You can fully enjoy the game and have a full casual playset by purchasing one copy of everything.
I am on a limited budget, what do I need to experience the game?
- I recommend picking up: 1x Core Set and 1x first set of Warpacks and 1x first big box expansion ("The Great Devourer" aka Tyranids).
What does three Core Sets get me?
- You get will have a full playset of three of every card including the "rare" powerful cards that are only included one copy per box set. Each faction has only two name unique cards that get duplicated, but you will have extra neutral cards -- however this allows you to keep decks separated by faction and not have to share neutrals. The trash extras will be two unneeded sets of signature and warlord cards for each faction and duplicates of planets and information cards. You also get extra tokens and token cards. Note that each player can only field 10 of the same token card. So you will have duplicate token cards.
What extra stuff will buying three Core Sets provide that I won't need?
- See above. It is useful to have the tokens.
Why do I only need one copy of each War Pack?
- Assuming same distribution method as previous LCGs, each War Pack will likely be packaged to include three copies of each each card, one copy of each warlord and matching signature cards, so you do not need to buy multiples.
Why did you make this post?
- Because I'm tired of being confused on what to buy -- and as a longtime LCG player, I am sure that new players are even more confused. I've made mistake many times pre-ordering only one copy of something when I needed multiple copies to make a full playset.
Sleeve FAQ
Why do I need to sleeve my cards?
- Continual play will cause your cards to wear and tear if they are not sleeved. In tournaments, this means that some cards can be differentiated from other cards and you could get disqualified if you are caught with "dogmarked" cards.
What size sleeves do I purchase?
- Standard Size or "Magic: The Gathering" sized. This is 66 X 91 mm sized sleeves or 63.5 x 88 mm for a perfect/tight fit.
- Mini American Board Game Size. This is 1 and 5/8" x 2 and 1/2" (41x63 MM).
How many sleeves do I need to purchase?
- If you want to sleeve everything, then look at the back of the product or on the product home page. It tells you exactly how many FFG Brand sleeves you need to purchase and what type. The Core Set for example says 5 Silver/Gray and 1 Yellow. So you need to purchase five of the Silver/Gray sleeves (Standard Size) and one of the Yellow sleeves (Mini American Board Game Size). FFG sleeves come 50 sleeves per pack -- so you need 250 Standard sleeves and 50 Mini sleeves to cover the entirety of the Core Set. Do note that you may have excess sleeves for product. For example purchasing the recommended 2 Silver/Gray for a single War Pack will give you more sleeves than you need -- the exact number of cards in a War Pack is probably 60, so purchasing 2 Silver/Gray will result in 40 extra card sleeves.
Are sleeves required for tournament play?
-
For all officially sanctioned regional, national, invitational, and world championship events, players are required to use protective sleeves for their decks. If a player’s deck contains alternate art cards, the sleeves must be art sleeves or opaque. For all local level events, card sleeves are not required, but players are encouraged to use sleeves both to protect their cards and to protect themselves against accusations of marking or manipulating decks by exploiting variance in the size, wear, or texture of their cards.
Alternative Art Promo cards and sleeves?
- These are given out at FFG events such as League Nights or at conventions where FFG has a presence such as a booth or running product demos. They are legal for tournament play as a substitute for the card in their set. Due to the Print-On-Demand method, the card stock is slightly different so colored backings (not clear) must be used for sleeves.
What are colored backing sleeves?
- These are sleeves that only have clear visibility on one side, the other side is opaque and usually is a solid color or has a design. FFG released its own line of themed art sleeves. These are standard fit and are compatible with Warhammer 40k LCG. See all of FFG's standard sized Art Sleeves here .
Why do you talk about Standard Sized and Perfect Fit, what's the difference?
- Standard Size sleeves are 66 X 91 millimeter. However this is not a perfect fit for the card and is a little "loose" -- meaning the card sleeve will hang over a few millimeters as the card is too small. A perfect fit sleeve is 63.5 x 88 mm. Fantasy Flight Supply brand sleeves are not perfect fit.
Where can you get Perfect Fit sleeves?
- You can ask your local hobby game retailer for information on that. I do not want to advertise any particular brand. I personally sleeve my FFG products with FFG sleeves due to the ease of the sleeve system they created.
