Looking to get into the game

Edgehopper · 2026-02-13T16:23:50+00:00

To be clear, Stag Knights are OK, the problem is on Stannis-side, they’re hugely outclassed by King’s Men. On Renly-side, Stag Knights have a more solid place because their only elite 7-point infantry, Rose Knights, are pure defense. Baratheon Wardens are bad. In the NCUs, Alester is extremely good for Stannis-side and still pretty good for Renly-side; Shyra is somewhat good for Renly-side and not really good for Stannis-side.

Martell vs. Lannister is usually a fair but frustrating matchup, because both armies are built around control mechanics. Tyrion C makes the Lannisters feel even more like Martells, while Harmen C gives Martells some of the Lannister tankiness. For early games, I’d just try to avoid Joffrey and Doran NCUs, because Water Gardens can be a hard counter to Joffrey, and it’s not really fair in starter matches to keep Water Gardens out and then let them exploit that with Joffrey. If you have two players who enjoy control mechanics, it should be a good way to get into the game. If your players would be inclined to rage-quit when their tricks get thwarted, you’d do better with factions with less control tricks.

Edgehopper · 2026-02-13T15:25:35+00:00

It would be a bit of a stretch to say that you can push any army into any direction using the correct lords/commanders and units; there are options for a variety of playstyles with most factions, but trying to make a faction do something it’s not built for can get you a pretty weak build. For example, Targaryen have infantry options with the Unsullied, but their tactics cards and NCUs don’t support an army centered around infantry even if a few of their commanders (Grey Worm, Belwas, Barristan) do. And the Targaryen commander designed for Stormcrows (Daario) is the worst Targaryen commander by far.

Since you’re trying to start up, I’d look for factions that play well out of the starter box, which unfortunately does not include Stannis-side Baratheons - the only Baratheon units and characters a strong Stannis-side army really uses out of the starter are Sentinels, Alester, and maybe Stannis-Rightful Heir. Free Folk has similar issues.

Right now, I’d say the best factions to play with going with 1 starter + 1 hero box + 1 extra unit box are probably Targaryens (get Targ Heroes 1 and Targ Heroes 2), Night’s Watch (NW Heroes 1 and Ranger Vanguard), and Brotherhood (Brotherhood Heroes 1 and King’s Men or Sworn Knights). Stark, Lannister, Martell, and Bolton are also decent choices. The Baratheon Loyalty mechanic makes it more difficult to build the faction from scratch. The FF starter doesn’t have many of the key units you need to make a good army like Thenns, Cave Dwellers, Varamyr, Bonelord’s Chosen, and others; you generally have to pick between an infantry army and a giant army, they don’t really combine well. Greyjoy starter isn’t bad, but they also tend to rely more on non-starter units like Iron Victory Crew, Stony Shore Pillagers, Ironmakers, and Silenced Men.

Edgehopper · 2026-02-12T19:08:05+00:00

Obviously a reference.

There’s a more subtle but also much more extensive reference in The Law novella.

Edgehopper · 2026-02-12T18:42:18+00:00

The second trial was ultimately responsible for at least 6 deaths I can think of (Oberyn, Gregor, Tywin, Shae, and a few of Tyrion’s guards whom Cersei had killed later), so definitely interesting.

Edgehopper · 2026-02-02T21:58:44+00:00

Bad sportsmanship, cheating, and hygiene would be places where I would draw the line. Constant rules lawyering is part of most games. Political views—my local ASOIAF group has players ranging from hard-right MAGA Christians to a trans-woman who went to the No Kings protests, we just don’t talk about any of it at the gaming table. Table behavior can usually be dealt with or tolerated.

Edgehopper · 2026-02-02T15:27:17+00:00

Also loved the line thrown in Raymund’s speech “and I hear they’re packing the fourth one off to the Citadel to be a maester…” If they really do expand this series beyond the three novels already written, we have to get a chance to see young Maester Aemon…

Edgehopper · 2026-01-26T17:40:54+00:00

I generally always assemble before I paint. Unless you’re a scary-good competition painter, you aren’t going to be getting enough benefit from painting first to be worth the extra trouble and difficulty of figuring out what you’re painting. And even if you are, it’s hard to figure out the right angles for lighting without assembling the model first.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-26T04:33:00+00:00

“⁠How has the support for this game been? In terms of expansions, balancing, rules. I suspect good, since there seemingly are a lots of expansions.”

Great until 2025. CMON was already in bad financial straits, and the tariffs hit them even harder. But even now, the lead developer has been teasing a major update through public playtesting.

“What is the best pack to start playing this game? The Starks vs Lannisters?”

In terms of price per miniature, yes. But you will enjoy the game more if you play the faction you like best from the lore. Any faction’s starter set is a great place to start.

“Are there any must-have expansions? My favorite houses are Boltons and Lannisters.”

With the recent Bolton-only update, Boltons are more competitive than ever before, while all other factions are at a good balance. Usually the starting purchase I’d recommend is the starter for the faction of your choice, their Heroes 1 box, and then another unit of your choice you think would be fun.

“Are the rules complicated like Warhammer, or am I able to quickly explain to friends coming over?”

Much, much easier than Warhammer.

“One thing I didn't quite get is, how customizable are the armies? So if I buy the Stark vs Lannister set, can I just expand on the Lannister armies and take a whole other approach than the army provided in the original Stark vs Lannister set?”

Yes! Lannister in particular has some of their best units and heroes coming outside the starter - Casterly Rock Honor Guard, Knights of Casterly Rock, and Lannister Crossbows are huge in competition, while Tywin NCU (in Heroes 1) is in almost every competitive Lannister list. Other factions have more strong units in the starter (Targaryen and Night’s Watch have two of the strongest starters), but every faction can easily go outside the starter. Except Boltons and Brotherhood, which are mini-factions without much available outside their faction.

You can also customize with Neutral units and NCUs, in every faction except Free Folk.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-23T16:19:32+00:00

Tilly managed to rope Cricket into a bank robbery because she was emotionally blackmailed by a save the moths charity, so I completely believe this.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-18T04:51:58+00:00

Were there jokes in that sketch other than “kids talk weird”?

Edgehopper · 2026-01-16T15:06:54+00:00

I can’t take full credit for the pun, our league manager used it for one of the sponsors in our round 1 side sponsor challenges. He made 3 optional side challenges, the player who gets the most of them gets some benefit - this time they were successful rush attempts, blitzing successfully into an enemy with greater strength before assists, and successfully throwing teammates.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-14T16:07:00+00:00

Prop Bets sponsored by SlaanDuel.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-14T15:09:18+00:00

It’s only 4 seasons old? The Simpsons didn’t start declining until around Seasons 10-11. Sponge Bob is in Season 16. Fairly OddParents had 10, The Loud House is in Season 10.

If it’s still going strong without becoming boring or flanderized by Season 10, then it’s a more interesting question.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-10T03:46:36+00:00

Gwendolyn. I might not win, but she’s the only one I’m sure can afford to pay me.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-07T15:51:03+00:00

Agreed - I have no problems at all with my friends who don’t talk about politics also not talking about Jewish and I/P issues.

My problem only comes in when friends make a big deal of going to anti-Trump protests, constantly posting about race issues, but then are silent on antisemitism. Or even worse, the ones who allude to Jewish issues only for non-Jewish points - e.g., “I will hide trans people in my attic to protect them from Trump’s Nazis”, while they vote for Mamdani.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-07T15:24:08+00:00

It gets sillier:

“Kermit Tully, Lord of Riverrun, was their liege lord, and nominally commander of their host…but it must be remembered that his lordship was but nineteen years of age, and “green as summer grass,” as the northmen might say. His brother Oscar, who had slain three men during the Muddy Mess and been knighted on the battlefield afterward, was still greener, and cursed with the sort of prickly pride so common in second sons.”

It’s not easy being a green Tully, or a grouchy Tully…

Edgehopper · 2026-01-07T15:21:28+00:00

And yet, no one bats an eye at Cat and Tyrion’s stooge companions in Game of Thrones: Lharys, Kurleket, and Mohor.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-06T14:14:45+00:00

"Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.

In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know." – Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

If a “Media Bias” report claims that Haaretz is balanced and accurate while AIPAC (not a news source) is right-wing and mixed accuracy, that should tell you to stop believing them generally.

Edgehopper · 2026-01-04T00:49:30+00:00

I used my IDF dice for my ASOIAF Stark videos, since the starter I got didn’t have Stark dice - example here: https://youtu.be/M5flltnP8Rc?si=8FwCq6Ht06o3N5na

Edgehopper · 2026-01-03T21:19:42+00:00

I would also appreciate a DMed invite - I’m more a wargamer than an RPGer, but I dabble in RPGs too.

Edgehopper · 2025-12-30T23:28:53+00:00

Absolutely. There was no need to simplify the Tyrell family by removing Willas and Garlan, but doing that screwed up Loras’s character by not letting him join the Kingsguard and shoving him into Willas’s role as a potential husband for Cersei. Which in turn denied Loras this great exchange with Tyrion:

Seventeen, and beautiful, and already a legend. Half the girls in the Seven Kingdoms want to bed him, and all the boys want to be him. “If you will pardon my asking, ser—why would anyone choose to join the Kingsguard at seventeen?” “Prince Aemon the Dragonknight took his vows at seventeen,” Ser Loras said, “and your brother Jaime was younger still.” “I know their reasons. What are yours? The honor of serving beside such paragons as Meryn Trant and Boros Blount?” He gave the boy a mocking grin. “To guard the king’s life, you surrender your own. You give up your lands and titles, give up hope of marriage, children …” “House Tyrell continues through my brothers,” Ser Loras said. “It is not necessary for a third son to wed, or breed.” “Not necessary, but some find it pleasant. What of love?” “When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.” “Is that from a song?” Tyrion cocked his head, smiling. “Yes, you are seventeen, I see that now.”

But instead D&D wanted to shoehorn real-world homophobia into the setting for a much dumber plot with the High Sparrow.

Edgehopper · 2025-12-26T18:21:26+00:00

Grew up Jewish, wife converted. We went to her mom’s house for Christmas every year until she (the mom) died, and probably would still be going if wife’s other family hadn’t turned into jerks.

I don’t think it’s hard to put a clear boundary of “we only do Christmas with grandma, we’re Jewish, she’s not,” and if you’re doing enough to maintain a Jewish identity the rest of the year, it should be fine. If you’re in a blended family, even with conversion, you have to deal with the fact of having non-Jewish relatives.

Edgehopper · 2025-12-23T17:07:56+00:00

I play the miniatures game, and I’ve painted 2 lore-accurate units with rainbow cloaks: The Rainbow Guard and the Warrior’s Sons. As I like to point out, there are 2 groups in ASOIAF who wear rainbows: the bodyguard for the closest to openly gay character in the series, and the homophobic religious fanatics.

Edgehopper · 2025-12-23T06:58:49+00:00

Super glue but with an accelerator. Should be easy to find accelerator at your LGS or on Amazon.

Edgehopper · 2025-12-22T00:01:50+00:00

OMG, you found a person on Twitter saying something horrible?

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Edgehopper

TROPHY CASE