Hello everyone

I just bought the game without giving it a second thought.

I've heard that the learning curve for this game might be kinda steep, but I don't think I should have a problem with it myself since I'm an avid card player. I'm a bit concerned over my mates though, I guess I'm gonna play this with my brother and my gf the most but both of them have nearly zero experience with card games. Is it easier to learn the game in a 2 player game or in a "melee" (multiplayer) game? They both like the AGoT universe so I hope they wont give up immediately.

Can't wait to try this out, I just bought the books a while ago as well, but I've yet to finish them. I'm one of the "new noobs" who got into this thing via the HBO series, I'll admit that.

PS I'm not sure if this is the right forum since there wasn't a "New players" section anywhere (afaik).

Lamme

First of all, welcome to the game!

I personally think 1v1 is a good place to start, as it eliminates some of the variables of a multiplayer game (especially the multiplayer titles), allowing you to focus more on the phase and challenge mechanics when teaching the game. If you will be teaching the game, I highly recommened you download the FAQ document (link in my signature). Besides card errata, it includes more in-depth rules and most importantly a breakdown of the timing structure, which, if understood, helps solve many issues that come up during play. I would not make your friends read the FAQ if they've never played a card game, because it's rather intimidating, but at least one person in the group should be familiar with it.

And we have a very active Rules subforum if you ever have any questions, so don't hesitate to search through there for answers or make your own post.

Welcome, hope you and your group like the game.
I agree that joust (1v1) is a better way to teach the game; the titles can be a bit confusing to new players, especially if they forget which titles support one another. Maybe consider teaching them to play by having them play a few games against each other, and you can try to answer any rules questions they have as they go. It will also allow all of you to familiarize yourselves with the cards.

Skowza said:

I love that idea!

Thank you for the replies!

And yes, that's indeed a nice idea. I'm gonna delve in to the rules as soon as I get my hands on the rule book and then observe other's matches.

Another question while I'm here: Do you think the bigger expansions are a good investment for me if I want to keep the 4-6 different houses balanced? Or should I redirect myself to the chapter packs instead? I've read some buying guides but I'm not sure if those applies to my situation since my playgroup consists of only 2-3, max 4 players.

Cheers

A lot of people will recommend getting a second Core Set before anything else. This has the advantage of giving you a bigger card pool to smooth out the core set decks and bring them up to the regular 60 card decks without confusing new players with too many new cards. There's plenty of core set cards that you will want to have multiple copies of further down the road, particularly the plots.

That being said, the house-specific expansion boxes are great value and definitely the recommended purchase after the core set(s). If you do want to pick up Princes of the Sun and/or Kings of the Sea to introduce the missing houses to your games, be sure to pick up the Revised Editions, as they contain 3 copies of each card, whereas the older editions only contained 2 copies or 1 copy of each card, respectively.

Welcome to the game!

While reading the FAQ is a good idea, just to warn you that it CAN be a bit heavy especially for people who don't play card games much. You can always refer to it when you run into a problem, so don't worry to much with it.

As for keeping houses balanced, it sounds like you're going to share a common card pool with our friends, so I'd definitely go for a second core set, then maybe start on the Brotherhood without Banners Chapter Packs.

Adding in Greyjoy and Martell via the revised boxes are a good idea too as the guy above me said.

honestly, my first game was with 3 other fans of the series. That helped spark their interest immediately, and keep their attention because they WANTED to like the game right out of the gates. We had to go a few SLOOOOOW rounds to make sure we were following the turn order. But after that it soon picked up pace as everyone seemed to get familiar with their houses. We ended up playing another game right after, just reshuffled and started over. it was a blast.

i've since played with a few others that were unfamiliar with the series/books/etc. playing this game made them drool for the HBO series (they won't pick up a book to save their life though).

I regret not getting a second core set sooner (i JUST now got my second after about a year). SOOOO much nicer to have multiples of some of the key plots that help with balancing the decks/game.

if you are looking to expand, keep your eyes open for the "revised editions" for Kings of the Storm and Princes of the Sun specifically. these have been re-released with 3 copies of each card. The original releases have less copies, making it harder to have a full playset of each card. Shouldn't be too hard now, but it's always good to know

As for Chapter Packs, i believe the Brotherhood Without Banners series is the first to offer 3 copies of each card. The Citadel series is the latest, and also offers 3 of each card. Fantasy Flight will be releasing "revised editions" of some of the earlier chapter packs, so keep your eyes open for those.

All-in-all, just have fun with it!

gn0x said:

Gn0x meant to say Kings of the Sea, not Kings of the Storm

Welcome to the game. If you ever wanna get some games in on octgn, I'll be more than happy to help you improve your game.

Saturnine said:

thanks! what a newbie mistake

it's a shame you cant even abbreviate! KotS versus KotS

Welcome to the game. An excellent choice on your behalf. I myself spent a small fortune for some years in MtG and tried my luck in L5R as well. AGoT is hands down better than both of them.

That said, here's a few suggestions you might find useful:

1. Pick a house and invest in it. Pick another one as your secondary. Give the cards of the other four houses to your friends and take from them the cards of the houses you picked in return. This will save you lots and lots of money, while, at the same time, two houses guarantee a much more than adequate number of different competitive decks for you to build and play.

2. Unless you pick Greyjoy and Martell, you definitely want -at least- a second core set. The first one should be purchased by you and you alone and this should be kept to yourself. Split the cost of the second set with your mates and pick the deck(s) you need.

3. Your next step should be to purchase the deluxe expansions of the two houses you picked. Mind you, the Lannister one is not out yet (due to November). As the guys before me pointed out, if you 're interested in the Greyjoy and Martell expansions, be careful to pick the revised ones.

4. From there, start complementing the houses you picked with chapter packs. What chapter packs you need is largely based on your houses of choice. Browse through excellent sites such as http://www.agotcards.org/, http://agot.dbler.com/ and http://www.cardgamedb.com/, as well as this forum to make up your mind. What few I can suggest here is the following:

a. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy anything from the A Clash of Arms, A Time of Ravens, King's Landing and Defenders of the North cycles yet. They are still in the old format of 40 cards per pack with 10 cards X 3 and 10 X 1. The latter two are due to be re-released in the new format of 60 cards starting this month or November. Wait till then.

b. The Brotherhood without banners is an excellent choice as a basis for thematic decks. This was not only the first cycle to introduce the new formal of 60 cards per pack, but presented the "innovation" of basing each pack to a specific house with 18 cards based on the presented house, 12 neutral cards and 30 based on the remaining five houses with 6 cards for each house. This has never happened before and, sadly, wasn't repeated in the Secrets of Oldtown cycle. Pick the two chapter packs based on your favorite houses and urge your mates to do the same for their own houses.

5. From then on, focus on your primary house, keeping an eye in your secondary one.

Concluding, 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 core set (only 1 if you pick Greyjoy or Martell), 2 deluxe expansions and 2 chapter packs from the BWB cycle and you 've made the most important step towards the mind-blowing excitement this fantastic game has to offer.

Serazu said:

I wouldn't subscriibe to that completely. It's definitely worth waiting for the King's Landing and Defenders of the North reprints, because they are just around the corner. But there's no telling when the other two cycles will be reprinted, and some of the packs already contain 3 copies of excellent cards. Particularly the Refugees of War chapter pack from the A Time of Ravens cycle is an excellent purchase and highly recommended, and War of the Five Kings is almost worth it for 3 copies of Pyromancer's Cache alone.

Saturnine said:

Well, largely depends on how desperately you need specific cards from the aforementioned packs. And what house you play as well. If, for instance, I played Stark, I 'd definitely wait for three copies of Cat before buying the Refugees. Anyway, my feeling is that, in the several months to come, all of the old cycles will be presented to the new format. Till then, the Brotherhood, the Oldtown, as well as King's Landing and the Defender cycles offer a large pool of cards for one to choose from.

If you play with friends you can always proxy some cards till you buy them later.