We just re-launched our (war)gaming website but since we are dedicated LCG players as well (CoC, AGoT, WI, looking forward to LotR), we also wrote some stuff about LCGs.

I thought some of you might be interested in our introductory articles to CoC, AGoT and WI which were written with the idea in mind to tell new players what these games are about. They also offer helpful links (rules, FAQ) and a link to this forum for asking rules questions. If you want to convince friends or relatives who have no idea what LCGs are about or who don't know how to get into the game, you could hint them to our introductory articles for all three games

wargamecenter.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/call-of-cthulhu-the-card-game-introduction/

In addition, we wrote a review about "the Call of Cthulhu Core Pack and its qualities as a standalone game" to answer the popular question of "do I have to buy Asylum Packs or can I play the Core Pack until I'm old and grey?"

wargamecenter.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/review-call-of-cthulhu-the-card-game-lcg-core-pack/

Remember, it's not a review of the entire CoC game system, but of the "Core Pack as a standalone game", which explains the somewhat low replay value. We will certainly write a review of the entire game (including APs) somewhere in the future.

I gotta say that is an extremely well thought out and written review of the core game. Very impressed.

I recommend going over to BGG and starting a new thread linking that review there as well since that site gets a lot of hits. www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40270/call-of-cthulhu-lcg

Thank you for your comment upon the review, it is much appreciated!

Posting on boardgamegeek is a very good idea, thank you!

The core set article is quite a thesis. It's really great and extensive. I heartily agree with the hard work. I have differing opinions and observations here and there, and will only address one or two for now. It's the Core Set, not the core pack. Wouldn't matter if this was some post on a thread, but you are writing something for keeps, the first grand core set review.

The debatable stuff you hit briefly nicely. One could be more parsimoneous regarding the alleged financial benefit of LCG. The seismic shift was far more complex than as sold by FFG - to keep it viable and non-collectible.

Though a pre-history for core isn't really a focus, more could be written. Where it was. What it is not. What new players will miss. What of the old player.

I look forward to reading the review in its entirety. A really nice piece of work.

Thank you for your valuable insights and your comments - and for pointing out my popular "Core Pack" mistake Obviously, I was confused by Core Set vs. Asylum Pack. I corrected the "Pack" in all our articles.

I deliberately avoided any discussion about the pre-history because I wanted to concentrate on the Core Pack and its contents alone. I also didn't dwell on the game mechanics and on gameplay as such because I am planning to write a review about the CoC game system in the future. Currently, I'm concentrating on writing reviews for the LCG Starter Packs - A Game of Thrones will be next.

Thank you again for your helpful comments!

johnny shoes said:

Regarding the creativity element, the game is considered not new for two reasons, both of which need rebuttal. The resourcing system is unique, any card can be played as a resource. Though the core reprints older cards mostly, some are new. And all of the pictures, save one or two are specific to the card game. This remains true of each AP. And the art is the game's very strongest thematic point.