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Rank: Caamasi Noble
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/26/2012
Posts: 5
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After being out of the gaming world for a long time (10+ years) I am interested in beginning to play SWM with a few friends in my area and hopefully the wife. With that said I have tons of questions about the best way to get started. I'll just list a few here and see where the conversation goes: 1. What is the best way to begin collecting the physical minis and maps? EBay? CoolStuffinc? I'm assuming it is best to buy singles rather than boosters? Is there a cheap way to get the common/uncommon figures in bulk? 2. What is the best faction to start collecting/building a squad with for a beginner? Is there someone who can point me to something a little longer than the general articles on here and SWMGamers? 3. Vassal- I've download it and realize that if I play offline it is just like having the physical pieces etc; what is it like once online to play someone else? Does the game run itself in terms of deducting hit points, force usage, movement, line of sight, etc or is it still manual? 4. Would anyone be interested in helping me out by playing a few games with me on Vassal? Shoot me a message at rtboswell1980@gmail.com Thanks in advance for your help. Boz
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Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 1/10/2010
Posts: 1,153
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Welcome to the game.
1. I prefer ebay as my source for minis. BUT the places like coolstuffinc and trollandtoad are also good for picking up deals on rare minis. Ebay is useful for bulking out your collection with groups of minis. Buying boosters will probably be expensive, that being said, if you can find a cheap booster case (pack of 12 boosters) then you can get most of a set in one bash.
2. When I started the game I really liked Republic. They are fairly easy to run. In a typical squad you want a mix of melee damage and shooters. Republic has Captain Rex as a fairly staple shooter, and has no shortage of Jedi to fill your melee needs. It is also worth checking out the V-Sets, community created sets of cards that can be used with stand in minis. They have added quite teh breath of fresh air to the game.
3. Vassal is all manual no matter what. You have to physically remove hit points and keep track of force points. There is a line of sight tool in the toolbar which helps measure LOS. But it is still really fun, and the best way for isolated players to get their games in.
4. I am sure there are many people who would help you out on vassal. If you ever see me on there then give me a shout. But being from the UK, I am a whole bunch of time ahead of you. I'm assuming you are an American.
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Rank: Caamasi Noble
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/26/2012
Posts: 5
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Wannabe-
Thanks for the info. I am actually in the UK myself- Aberdeen, Scotland working on my PhD. Gonna be here for oh three or so more years.
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Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 11/6/2010
Posts: 409
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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I just love that we are still getting new players !
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Rank: Moderator
Groups: Member
, Moderator
Joined: 5/26/2009
Posts: 8,428
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Best way to get pieces to find a collection on ebay that someone is dumping. If you're just getting into the game and can drop $100 or more at once, you can get an incredible deal by getting an old collection, there aren't many other bidders at that price range. Per piece, that would be a lot cheaper than any other option.
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Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 12/26/2008
Posts: 2,115
Location: Watertown, SD
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One of the things you'll need are maps. So, as part of your initial purchases, look for the attack on endor pack and the 2nd and 3rd Clone Wars map packs (Showdown at Teth Palace and Crystal Caves of Ilum). All of them come with several miniatures and several maps.
As for the miniatures, your best bet would be to focus on the big 4 (Rebel, Imperial, Republic, and Separatist) at first as they are the largest and you can more easily make squads with them. It also helps that several sets focus on those factions, allowing you to get a decent collection with only a few packs. Having a healthy dose of Fringe characters is also good since they can be used with any faction and can help cover any gaps in squad making.
Probably the best starting point would be a case of either Imperial Entanglements or Galaxy at War. Both of those focus on only two factions + Fringe (Imperial/Rebel and Separatist/Republic), both have good amount of solid figures that see regular play, and since they are 40-piece sets, you'll get half of the VRs, 1 of each R, 2 of each UC, and 4 of each C, leaving you with only 4 minis to complete the set which will cost about $20-100 to complete depending on luck.
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Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/14/2008
Posts: 2,063
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I'd like to also add looking at the Trading section. There are people here giving up the game or having starters available of any variety as some of them are store owners/players.
If you can find the Clone Wars Starter with Count Dooku and General Obi-Wan Kenobi, that will have the more recent full rule book and you can get the details from the Faqs.
Good luck.
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Rank: Moderator
Groups: Member
, Moderator, Rules Guy
Joined: 8/24/2008
Posts: 5,201
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In terms of maps, get the Clone Wars Starter, Clone Wars Map Packs, and the Battle of Endor pack, all still fairly available. ESPECIALLY the Battle of Endor pack. I think only the bad map in that is the Endor map.
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Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010
Posts: 3,562
Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
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For maps, I also recommend Armored Cartographers Map Pack 4: Strongholds & Fortresses - you can find it from http://www.miniaturemarket.com/accessories/gaming-supplies/gaming-maps.html If you grab that and the Attack on Endor pack, you have about half of the top-level tournament legal maps available.
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Rank: Moderator
Groups: Member
, Moderator
Joined: 9/23/2008
Posts: 1,487
Location: Lower the Hutt, New Zealand
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http://save11.fusion.net.nz/ is a link to a Vmag that gives an overview of the game and highlights some of the modern changes.
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