10 hours ago, Duciris said:

I'm not going to pick up one of the clan (Dragon) mats. I picked up 2 beautiful mats from the old CCG on etsy. What I really want are clan deck sleeves. I want the same pattern found on the backs of the dynasty and conflict decks, but with the clan mon instead of the rings. I'm just not sure if I want the mons in clan color, or in the same color the rings are on their respective decks. I'm thinking the color of the rings.

You could look for the old CCG deck backers that AEG released. Those were available in clan mons as well as various clan personalities.

In my experience they were top of clan prizes at koteis.

I think I'll be passing on these. I tend to buy playmates to help new players learn a game. No placement outlines or rules to be seen on them. Might as well stick with the ones I own for other games and save myself the money.

On ‎24‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 11:42 AM, Ide Yoshiya said:

It makes way more sense for my army to be mobilizing against a landscape rather than on top of a giant Shinjo Altansarnai.

Oh, she's not giant, they're just very tiny; she owns the Bonsai Pine of Iuchi Ramatsu! http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Bonsai_Pine

Greetings Samurai.

If you want a closer look at the FFG playmats – particularly if you live outside the US - then we spent the weekend with them and made a video.

Click here

The Imperial Chronicle Gang

I like the mats. Some champs definitely have better artwork than others. If I was a Phoenix player I'd definitely get that Tsukune mat. I agree that the "Way Of The" artwork would all make great mats. I hope they consider that as well.

Hey everyone.

We contacted Asmodee before filming but the reply from customer service only just arrived.

Q: What are they made from?

A: “Polyester fabric on Natural Rubber”

Q: How can I clean it? Is it safe it put in the washing machine?

A: “Do not put in washing machine. I would not make any recommendations for washing.”

So we hope that helps.

The Imperial Chronicle Gang

Whilst looking for other information, I noticed the in-house code for the playmats.

They are numbered L5S08 - L5S14. The card products are numbered L5C01, L5C02, and so on.

I speculate that card sleeves will be numbered L5S01 - L5S07. We all assume that we need different sleeves (mostly because the RR says so) for the Dynasty and Conflict decks, and there are only enough numbered slots for one per clan. Thus, I do conclude that there will be 2 sets of sleeves in these packs, each having 50 sleeves.

From knowledge of how each Star Wars sleeve pack contains 50 sleeves at a cost of 5$, I further conclude that the going price for this product will be 10$ each. That reasoning is further bolstered by the Dragon Shield sleeves (owned by FFG) is 100 sleeves at a 10$ cost.

On 9/22/2017 at 1:40 PM, Tokhuah said:

Not a ton of buzz for this?! They do not look that great compared to what is out there, particularly from the Polish artist C. O. who has a bunch of L5R art mats. His are Strongholds, which I prefer over Characters on playmats anyway. In general I avoid playmats that create too much distraction.

Noah Bradley who did probably every stronghold from around right after Celestial onward used to sell them as playmats too. You can find them on ebay, togashishinkaze sells them still along with of course a lot of Mario Wibisono artwork and some Drew Baker.

Random tidbit I am an alumni of the same art school as Drew Baker, younger class by a few years though. Notable because it's a very small school.

2 minutes ago, Tebbo said:

Noah Bradley who did probably every stronghold from around right after Celestial onward used to sell them as playmats too. You can find them on ebay, togashishinkaze sells them still along with of course a lot of Mario Wibisono artwork and some Drew Baker.

Random tidbit I am an alumni of the same art school as Drew Baker, younger class by a few years though. Notable because it's a very small school.

Wanna share samples of your work?

I'm not an illustrator. I'm a graphic designer, mostly typography/layout and photo editing. Not as exciting or glamorous as illustration. No web portfolio to share since I haven't had to hunt for freelance work in years.

When I was in school I did ask some of my instructors about him and they remembered him which was cool. They were glad to hear he was having success and people were appreciating his work.

@Tebbo Ummm... got samples of your kerning?

3 hours ago, Duciris said:

Whilst looking for other information, I noticed the in-house code for the playmats.

They are numbered L5S08 - L5S14. The card products are numbered L5C01, L5C02, and so on.

I speculate that card sleeves will be numbered L5S01 - L5S07. We all assume that we need different sleeves (mostly because the RR says so) for the Dynasty and Conflict decks, and there are only enough numbered slots for one per clan. Thus, I do conclude that there will be 2 sets of sleeves in these packs, each having 50 sleeves.

From knowledge of how each Star Wars sleeve pack contains 50 sleeves at a cost of 5$, I further conclude that the going price for this product will be 10$ each. That reasoning is further bolstered by the Dragon Shield sleeves (owned by FFG) is 100 sleeves at a 10$ cost.

Dragon Shield is owned by Arcane Tinmen, not FFG...and while I don't know the details, it seems a parting of ways has occurred, as FFG no longer sells Dragon Shield merchandise through their website.

Given the numbering you observed, it does seem L5S01-L5S07 will be card sleeves. I doubt FFG will depart from their standard packaging of 50 sleeves of one design. You mention the RR says we need different sleeves for the decks, can you please quote that? I tried to find it, but no form of the word "sleeve" appears in the document, so not sure what you're referencing from it, would like to know what I'm missing.

44 minutes ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

Dragon Shield is owned by Arcane Tinmen, not FFG...and while I don't know the details, it seems a parting of ways has occurred, as FFG no longer sells Dragon Shield merchandise through their website.

Given the numbering you observed, it does seem L5S01-L5S07 will be card sleeves. I doubt FFG will depart from their standard packaging of 50 sleeves of one design. You mention the RR says we need different sleeves for the decks, can you please quote that? I tried to find it, but no form of the word "sleeve" appears in the document, so not sure what you're referencing from it, would like to know what I'm missing.

It would be in the tournament regulation document, which hasn't been published yet for L5R. Look the same document for the other LCGs to see what FFG is likely to do.

For Netrunner and Star Wars , for example:

Quote

Card Sleeves

Players are required to sleeve their decks in opaque card sleeves for Formal and Premier events. Players may use different sleeves between decks, but all sleeves within a single deck must be identical in size, color, texture, and condition. At Relaxed events, if a player is not using opaque card sleeves, he or she must make sure that all card backs in each of their decks have a uniform appearance. Players should bring a few spare sleeves for each of their decks in case a card sleeve breaks or becomes unusable during a tournament.

Okay, I've seen that...however that quote says players MAY use different sleeves between decks, not that they are required to. I'll admit I'm not familiar with the deck format of the other games, however given that the precedent set by FFG thus far is to sell packs of 50 sleeves in a single design, it seems a bit of a stretch to conclude that they'll break that precedent for L5R sleeves, unless they reword the tournament regulations to actually require different sleeves between decks.

@Zesu Shadaban

Why someone would use the same sleeves for each deck, I cannot imagine. Seems confusing.

That said, and I cannot speak for Netrunner , but in Star Wars the second deck is usually just 10 cards. Your main deck is usually just 50. So it's easy to tell them apart.

For L5R I could see a rules change because both decks are the same size.

9 minutes ago, selderane said:

Players may use different sleeves between decks, but all sleeves within a single deck must be identical in size, color, texture, and condition.

This distinction between decks is from the Netrunner LCG. In Netrunner, each player is required to bring 1 Corp deck and 1 Runner deck. Those can be in the same sleeve type because you only play with 1 deck per game, either Corp or Runner, while your opponent plays their copy of the other. I cannot reasonably imagine that FFG will allow us to use a single sleeve type for both Dynasty and Conflict decks (and I wouldn't want to play with both in the same style either). My real curiosity is if they'll mandate that our provinces be sleeved in a third opaque sleeve.

Keep in mind, that this tournament resource is specifically regarding Store, Regional, National and World level tournaments. Traditional tournaments at your local game store shouldn't be required to have opaque sleeves.

1 hour ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

Dragon Shield is owned by Arcane Tinmen, not FFG...and while I don't know the details, it seems a parting of ways has occurred, as FFG no longer sells Dragon Shield merchandise through their website.

For those who didn't know this, Asmodee North America (of which FFG is a part) distributes their products exclusively through Alliance distribution. Arcane Tinmen wasn't happy being so exclusive with their products, and decided to break with FFG/AsmodeeNA for their distribution, to remain available through wider means.

5 minutes ago, selderane said:

@Zesu Shadaban

Why someone would use the same sleeves for each deck, I cannot imagine. Seems confusing.

I don't disagree. Then again, maybe they're just cheap and don't want to buy more than one type of sleeve. Those tricky Dragon players might prefer it, for when they plan to copy Adept of Shadows and return their champ to their hand. A fringe case to be sure, but more could pop up. It very well could be that they decide to modify the wording for L5R, unfortunately the document for L5R tournaments hasn't been released yet, so we're left to speculate. Still, I think it's a safer bet that FFG will just maintain their existing product scheme for sleeves. I will be pleasantly surprised if they don't.

ADD: I really hope they do release that tournament info soon, given that we're now just 2 weeks away from Winter Court.