I am "new" to the gaming community. Aside from Heroquest over half my life ago, and a recently kindled interest in a very modified version of Lego's Heroica dungeon crawl games, I have no experience with table top gaming, and none whatsoever with LCG (or CCG) or deckbuilding or anything. That said, I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre and read an average of about 2 or 3 books a month within the genre.

I've been scouring these FFG forums and the internet in general trying to get a feel as to what LCG I want to try to get into. I'm a huge fan of AGOT, LOTR and Warhammer and I really am torn between which one of these (or 2?!) I should dive into. It seems the consensus is that LOTR is good for 1 player/co-op, W:I is best for 2, and AGOT is the most difficult and best when played with 4 people. Is that a fair assesment. Being new, would I (and the guy I may rope into playing with me)be better off with W:I or LOTR?

LOTR does appeal to me because of the 1 player aspect. I spend 2 nights a week on the road for work and that could be a nice activity for me. Does 1 player get boring, or is it too hard - is it better done with 2 decks.

Any input would be appreciated. I'll be posting this in the other 2 brands' forums as well. Thanks!

sammann11 said:

Hey, im new to AGOT lcg too but have already bought 2 core sets and the Martell, Greyjoy and Lannister expansions. I got sucked in hard after afew games. Shame there seems to be no other people in Edinburgh i can find to play with so i have to bribe all my mates with food to come use all my cards so i can get games.

Id argue that while AGOT melee (3-4+) player is fun, you can still get alot of fun from joust (2 player) games.

I've no experience with LOTR and didnt even know it could be played solo so cant help there.

I've only played W:I one time and it was with 3 people and i didnt really enjoy it much, but was also told its best with just 2 people.

How tight are your expenses, can you only afford to get one of them, or will you eventually pick them all up and are just looking for an order to buy them in?

Personally id say pick up the AGOT core set, you get 4 decks to choose from, and can play from 2 to 4 people, even 2 people wont get boring that quickly because you can each use all 4 decks for some variety.

Having played all three, I think AGOT is far and away the best game of the lot. W:I is fun but it's a bit too simple for me. While LotR is a beautifully designed game, cooperative just doesn't interest me as much as competitive as a mainstay of my game playing (not having played it solo, I cannot speak to whether or not you'd find it a good fit for you in your circumstances). AGOT just has so much going on, I never tire of it.

Huge aGoT fan but LoTR is teh superior game of the three. Its great solo and co-op. That said if you are not a co-op fan, aGoT is the way to go. Avoid Warhammer imo.

dcdennis said:

I was going to say that the players of the game's forum will probably back that particular game: the LotR's players will say LotR, W:I's will say W:I, and AGoT's will say AGoT. But it looks like dennis just cast the tie-breaker.

You may find a lack of opinions because there aren't many people who play all three. I've heard W:I is rather flat and the gameplay not very subtle. LotR has its theme going for it, and the ability to scale. AGoT is great two-players, but can also scale to 3 or 4 or more. LotR will have a lower initial investment, though.

I've heard W:I is a bit flat too. LotR never interested me because it's co-op. I don't understand why I would keep buying cards for co-op. AGOT is great 2 player. At least for people on the boards, it's probably the preferred format for most. It is certainly preferred in the competitive scene. Melee (3 or 4 player) is also a lot of fun and offers very different dynamics. Though, I must say that 4 player is vastly superior to 3. 3 player, as with any game that has direct player interaction, always devolves into a 2v1.

I've played all of the FFG LCGs to varying levels, and the one that I keep coming back to the most is AGoT. It's easily the deepest of the four. It's difficult to compare LotR to the others due to the co-op nature, but I do have to admit that I dig being able to play it entirely by myself if need be. Honestly, that concept is fascinating to me. Cthulhu tends to offer more inventive combo based play than AGoT, and has a very interesting resource system, but is pretty much strictly one on one. Warhammer appears to be the most linear and "Magic-like" of the games. AGoT on the other hand scales nicely from 2 to 6 players (though the melee recommendation is 4) and offers a wealth of varied strategies and tactics due to the three separate challenges and plot system.

Thanks to all of you for your input and feedback. I'm going to process all of what you said and take the info to a buddy of mine and my brother. Tehy're the two poor saps who I'm going to try to rope into playing with me! I'll see what they think and we'll make a purchase then, I suppose. I'll be back on one of these forums for sure once I have more questions about the ins and outs of these LCG's. Thanks!

I like 3-player AGOT! The interactions of Support and Opposition are so much fun, it really makes you think ahead.

Certainly aGoT for 1v1 and multiplayer. Unless you really like co-op. LoTR didn't have the replay ability, and Warhammer is just missing…soemthing. I say it a lot but the plot phase in aGoT is one of the best innovations in any card game.

If you have a small group of people available to play with on a regular basis, go with AGoT. That said, if they are competitive people, get ready to sink some money into the game because you will be wanting or needing cards to keep up with the power of your friends' decks. But, you can buy just the core set and have a TON of fun with up to four players. It is also quite fun 1v1.

LoTR is an excellent game also, and the single player experience is great, in my opinion. The nice thing about this game is that it is cooperative. I am a pretty competitive person, and some of the people that I play with are quite competitive also. LoTR brings a shared frustration that doesn't leave anyone at the table bitter, even when you lose. I have fun even as I am losing, which is odd, and tells you how awesome the game is. The core set provides a lot of fun, and the chapter packs have been great so far.

If you have to only get one game, LoTR gives more utility and enjoyment quite broadly. But, the AGoT LCG is intense, complex, and wildly fun if you really plunge in, have a big pool of cards, and have a steady stream of people who like to play.