You guys are on a whole other level. Antiquegamer The card stands... OMG.
If I have the cards sleeved will they all fit in the Return boxes?
If I have the cards sleeved will they all fit in the Return boxes?
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Arkham Horror: The Card Game |OT| Cards of Cthulhu
- Thread starter XShagrath
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OP
OP
If you're talking about encounter cards only, then yes. Return to Zealot has tons of room, and I've got Core, Return to NotZ, and all of the stand-alones in that one. Return to Dunwich fits Dunwich and its Return companion as well. I also store a copy of all of the core cards needed for Dunwich in there as well.
You should see this guy at our game store, he got miniatures and map terrain pieces for all the scenarios.
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Good to know. I'm running out of space with my storage already.
That's freaking amazing.
See if he'll let you take a pic and post it next time.
Also, I'm a new player. Was able to get base, Dunwich deluxe, Rougarou and Carnevale for a good price on the BGG Geek Market. I immediate went out and picked up the rest of the Dunwich cycle and ordered some capsules. Currently going through the cards and organizing. All the pics of organization have been a huge help in figuring things out.
OP
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He's a store manager at Guardian Games in Portland, Oregon. If you listen to Drawn To Flame podcast, they ran one of Nathan's custom scenario set in Portland, Oregon. Nathan told me he is going to Arkham in Flame next week in London.
Finally got around to wrapping up Night of the Zealot with Jenny and Pete. In all we played through 15 scenarios: 1-4 of Carcosa, Curse of the Rougarou, Carnevale of Horrors, Carcosa 5-8, Guardians of the Abyss, and Night of the Zealot. By the end of it we were loaded up with trauma's and weaknesses. I figured Night of the Zealot would be a victory lap but it ended up being way more difficult than anticipated thanks to Guardians.
The Gathering ended up being incredibly challenging, but Pete adapted after that experience and ended up picking up the Ornate Bow which saved us in Masks and Devourer.
The decks can be found below, but be warned that they have spoilers for story assets and weaknesses.
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/10322/jenny-pete-pay-to-win-world-tour-1.0
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/10338/pete-jenny-pay-to-win-world-tour-1.0
Losing Duke made life very difficult for Pete since he could no longer really investigate nor was he particularly good at fighting.
The Gathering ended up being incredibly challenging, but Pete adapted after that experience and ended up picking up the Ornate Bow which saved us in Masks and Devourer.
The decks can be found below, but be warned that they have spoilers for story assets and weaknesses.
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/10322/jenny-pete-pay-to-win-world-tour-1.0
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/10338/pete-jenny-pay-to-win-world-tour-1.0
So, anyone had any experience with *teaching* Arkham Horror LCG?
It was fine when I was learning it, it was just a case of sitting down with the Getting Started booklet, ploughing through at my own pace, and correcting any mistakes on subsequent plays of NotZ; no real concerns about time, and already wanting to get into it.
But now I might be in a situation soon when I've got to teach it, and the parameters change a bit; I'm going to need to present the concepts in a way that are engaging and don't leave the players utterly overwhelmed with information before they can actually execute anything; The Gathering is quite good at starting in a simple state with only a few goals established, but you still need quite the infodump before you know enough to carry out a simple Investigate action; it's page 10 of the Learn To Play guide before you're talked through the basics of that (although a big chunk prior to that is the setup stuff, which I can handle behind the scenes)
The plan's going to start out with probably establishing the absolutely basic set of goals, something along the lines of "You want to get to the end of *this* deck, and you really don't want to get to the end of *this* deck; you get through the first generally by collecting clues, you get through the second generally by collecting Doom. You may get an option to resign, that may be a better choice than reaching the end of the Agenda deck". After that I *think* I'd go on to talking through how a skill test takes place, although I'm a little uncomfortable with the notion of talking about the pip-usage of the player cards before talking about the main usage of the player cards.
In terms of players, I don't quite know how many I'd be looking to accommodate (and I also don't know if I personally should play, or if it's better for me to hang back and monitor so I can give some guidance for things like Perils that might need a bit of explanation but shouldn't be discussed with other players). In terms of decks, since I have two cores I think I'm leaning to offering all Core investigators up to play using this family of decks. Not sure whether to encourage them to look through the deck and familiarise themselves with the content to give them some scope to plan ahead, or to go in blind with the deck as a whole so we can focus on only understanding the cards that are in play right now.
There's a surprising amount to go through that I hadn't quite realised when it was just me and the Learn To Play.
(OF course the *real* answer is "First, I'll teach you the Mash Shuffle, so you don't damage my cards...")
It was fine when I was learning it, it was just a case of sitting down with the Getting Started booklet, ploughing through at my own pace, and correcting any mistakes on subsequent plays of NotZ; no real concerns about time, and already wanting to get into it.
But now I might be in a situation soon when I've got to teach it, and the parameters change a bit; I'm going to need to present the concepts in a way that are engaging and don't leave the players utterly overwhelmed with information before they can actually execute anything; The Gathering is quite good at starting in a simple state with only a few goals established, but you still need quite the infodump before you know enough to carry out a simple Investigate action; it's page 10 of the Learn To Play guide before you're talked through the basics of that (although a big chunk prior to that is the setup stuff, which I can handle behind the scenes)
The plan's going to start out with probably establishing the absolutely basic set of goals, something along the lines of "You want to get to the end of *this* deck, and you really don't want to get to the end of *this* deck; you get through the first generally by collecting clues, you get through the second generally by collecting Doom. You may get an option to resign, that may be a better choice than reaching the end of the Agenda deck". After that I *think* I'd go on to talking through how a skill test takes place, although I'm a little uncomfortable with the notion of talking about the pip-usage of the player cards before talking about the main usage of the player cards.
In terms of players, I don't quite know how many I'd be looking to accommodate (and I also don't know if I personally should play, or if it's better for me to hang back and monitor so I can give some guidance for things like Perils that might need a bit of explanation but shouldn't be discussed with other players). In terms of decks, since I have two cores I think I'm leaning to offering all Core investigators up to play using this family of decks. Not sure whether to encourage them to look through the deck and familiarise themselves with the content to give them some scope to plan ahead, or to go in blind with the deck as a whole so we can focus on only understanding the cards that are in play right now.
There's a surprising amount to go through that I hadn't quite realised when it was just me and the Learn To Play.
(OF course the *real* answer is "First, I'll teach you the Mash Shuffle, so you don't damage my cards...")
I've taught 3 people using just
I've found that as long as I know the specifics (or look it up quickly in the full ruleset), they don't need to know more details
I've found that as long as I know the specifics (or look it up quickly in the full ruleset), they don't need to know more details
I've wondered that, but I'm a little reluctant to make other people watch a video! Feels a bit like setting homework.
OP
OP
I'm going to be teaching three new mostly new players next week (one has played one scenario like two years ago). I feel this is a game best learned while playing, so I'm going to do a pretty brief overview, and then dive into The Gathering. I'll explain things as they come up, so as not to frontload too many rules. For instance, when they draw their first encounter card, I'll just have them lay it out and we'll deal with it. There's no "Peril" cards in the first scenario, so I won't worry about that until we get to Midnight Masks.
As for things I'll need to explain right off the bat, I plan on going over how the act and agenda decks work, as well as the investigator cards. I'll then go over the three types of cards, and what their uses are. After that, I'll go over how to perform a skill test, and how to throw in cards for boosts.
I think that's enough to at least get someone going, and then we can discuss everything else when it happens. There's no reason to really talk about combat until a monster appears.
They've all played Arkham Horror 3E once, so they at least understand the concept of doom and clues, so that should be helpful as well.
Oooh, I hadn't noticed that, that helps a lot, means we could probably be more open with hands without getting into bad habits.
Are your group preselecting their characters/decks (with a brief precis or somesuch?), or are you going to bring them to choose on the night? And, for that matter, would you be choosing a specific collection of characters that you think would suit them, or giving them freedom to choose from a few preplanned decks?
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I went ahead and pre-built decks with what I considered to be the four "simplest" investigators. Roland, Jenny, Rex, and Ashcan Pete. I built decks for them that are comprised of mostly straight-forward cards, and we're going to be playing on easy. I ran all four of them solo through The Gathering last night with no problems. Of course, 4p is a completely different beast. I built them with the ability to do a little bit of everything, and I plan on going over some of their key cards during setup, letting them know they should probably mulligan if they don't have at least some of those cards in their hand.
After we we finish NotZ, I'll see if they're interested in playing more, and if so, then we'll look more into different investigators and go from there. They may want me to continue to build decks for them for later campaigns, or they may feel comfortable enough to do it themselves. I had one friend who I've played with the entire time, and he finally built his own deck for the first time with Circle Undone. His deck sucked, and all he did was complain the entire time. I've since stopped even bringing the game up with him and have been playing solo, and hopefully this new group will enjoy the game enough to want to make it a regular thing.
Playing through The Forgotten Age with my brother for the first time and I have been really enjoying it. He is Joe and I am Silas. Most of it has not felt as tough as expected, although maybe my expectations were just out of whack after all the hyperbole I had read without reading specific spoilers. The Boundary Beyond was really difficult though, and I think we are in for a tough time moving forward.
These are the decks used, although each one does have one story asset in it, so be warned if you are sensitive about such spoilers.
The Silas deck is here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/344489
The Joe deck is here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/344490
Silas has really surprised me because of how good he is at investigating, even without the Key of Ys. He has enough skill cards to boost his way to victory in just about any test. The Improvised Weapon has also been surprisingly useful, pulling Silas out of danger when he hasn't drawn the Axe or Brand yet.
For Joe, the Handcuffs have been the most consistently useful card his deck. Charles Ross providing his discount has also meant that all of Joe's expensive assets have never been a problem. Definitely a viable alternative to the played out Dr. Milan Christopher.
Joe and Silas currently each have only one physical trauma and neither is poisoned (Joe used XP to cure his poison). Silas also avoided adding a new weakness to his deck in The Boundary Beyond so the two of us are doing surprisingly well considering the amount of XP we have earned (25 each). Yig's Fury is at 12 because we got frustrated and decided to kill that Harbinger that was following us. We decided to get it over with sooner rather than later (I have to imagine this is going to bite us in the ass later). Silas has a map, a compass, a pendant, chalk, 1 provisions, and 1 medicine. Joe has rope, binoculars, a blanket, 2 provisions, and 1 medicine. We haven't read interlude 3 yet so presumably some of those supplies are going to get used.
We were able to complete all three acts in Threads of Fate so it felt like a huge stumble when we couldn't do anything right in Boundary Beyond. Silas drew like three tentacles throughout the scenario which killed his tempo, and by the time the third act and agenda came out we were only able to add one location to the victory display and now the Harbinger was out. Silas had the Key of Ys with three horror and Dark Horse out providing him with a huge +4 to all stats, which were used in conjunction with the fire ax and evades to kill the Harbinger. Seeing how much stuff is carrying forward it really feels as though our terrible performance in this scenario is going to drag us down for the rest of the campaign.
We were able to complete all three acts in Threads of Fate so it felt like a huge stumble when we couldn't do anything right in Boundary Beyond. Silas drew like three tentacles throughout the scenario which killed his tempo, and by the time the third act and agenda came out we were only able to add one location to the victory display and now the Harbinger was out. Silas had the Key of Ys with three horror and Dark Horse out providing him with a huge +4 to all stats, which were used in conjunction with the fire ax and evades to kill the Harbinger. Seeing how much stuff is carrying forward it really feels as though our terrible performance in this scenario is going to drag us down for the rest of the campaign.
These are the decks used, although each one does have one story asset in it, so be warned if you are sensitive about such spoilers.
The Silas deck is here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/344489
The Joe deck is here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/344490
Silas has really surprised me because of how good he is at investigating, even without the Key of Ys. He has enough skill cards to boost his way to victory in just about any test. The Improvised Weapon has also been surprisingly useful, pulling Silas out of danger when he hasn't drawn the Axe or Brand yet.
For Joe, the Handcuffs have been the most consistently useful card his deck. Charles Ross providing his discount has also meant that all of Joe's expensive assets have never been a problem. Definitely a viable alternative to the played out Dr. Milan Christopher.
I played through the entire Forgotten Era campaign with Ursula. What I would say first is be careful with that relic splash. I had Charon's Obol (lots of xp going about) so I got a little overexcited to load myself up with great relic cards and seriously bloated my own deck with assets. I found Ursula working best with a minimum of assets where possible (and focusing on cheap and fast ones). Cards that worked out well for me were Shortcut and Pathfinder (both free movement combo perfectly with her), Fieldwork (shes moving so much it almost always made its money back and more), Tooth of Eztli (makes her surprisingly resistant to the encounter deck plus free card draw is always fab) and Cthonian Stone (perhaps upgraded into Grotesque Statue if you have the spare xp). I can't say I super rate the Ornate Bow myself, if I needed to go punchy as Ursula I would favour 'I've Got a Plan' or Strange Solution - Acidic Ichor, that or get a Guardian ally to follow me round and be my bodyguard.
Ursula indeed you don't want much Relics especially if you run Dr. Eli you need to invest in the ones that benefit you the most like Ornate Bow and Grotesque Statue. Once we get an upgraded version of that Gold colored sword however things might lead to that being splashed.
Fair enough. I had two times where Elli came out and I couldn't find a relic in the top 9 cards of my deck so I started putting more in. It gets hard to manage, though. I'll try playing her more straightforward mobile-seeker.
Which gold sword are you talking about? Timeworn brand?
Nah I'm talking about this dual-class card from the recent pack The Secret Name:
Right now it isn't really good for Ursula, however we saw in another article that all the dual-class Gold cards are getting upgrades based on each class. So in the future we should get a higher level Guardian Enchanted Blade, and a higher level Mystic Enchanted Blade. I'm saying those could potentially be good for Ursula depending on what they do.
I've just bought the base game yesterday and started with the learn to play scenario. There's a lot to take in, especially since this is my first card game! Both the off- and online resources are great though.
There's two things that I can't completely figure out:
An enemy with the Hunter attribute moves to the closest investigator. Does it automatically engage an investigator when it reaches a room with one in it in the same turn? Because this would mean that a hunter enemy can Move > Engage > Attack in one single Enemy phase, which seems kind of much for one turn and near impossible to prepare for. The booklets and tutorial video weren't clear about this.
The second thing is also enemy related. An enemy with a Prey attribute is engaged with my investigator (Roland, because I have the highest combat value). Is the second investigator (Wendy in this scenario) allowed to engage the enemy not to attack but to evade, rendering the enemy exhausted in the Enemy phase so Roland does not take any damage/horror? Also, do Prey enemies move like Hunter enemies?
There's two things that I can't completely figure out:
An enemy with the Hunter attribute moves to the closest investigator. Does it automatically engage an investigator when it reaches a room with one in it in the same turn? Because this would mean that a hunter enemy can Move > Engage > Attack in one single Enemy phase, which seems kind of much for one turn and near impossible to prepare for. The booklets and tutorial video weren't clear about this.
The second thing is also enemy related. An enemy with a Prey attribute is engaged with my investigator (Roland, because I have the highest combat value). Is the second investigator (Wendy in this scenario) allowed to engage the enemy not to attack but to evade, rendering the enemy exhausted in the Enemy phase so Roland does not take any damage/horror? Also, do Prey enemies move like Hunter enemies?
OP
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You're correct. The Hunter will move, engage, and attack if there is an investigator in the next location. Part of the tactical decision is whether to tank the attack (so you can potentially do three attacks on your next round), be two locations away (not always an option), or to go in with the enemy and evade them (so that they don't activate that round). Other cards or scenario-specific things will add additional options or wrinkles, but those are three simple options to deal with Hunters.
Yes, Wendy can engage the enemy off of Roland, and evade him. However, the enemy will automatically re-engage Roland when he becomes unexhausted). Prey is always (as far as I'm aware) coupled with the Hunter keyword, and dictates the monster's path. They will take the shortest route to their prey (highest combat value, lowest remaining sanity, etc.) when they hunt. If they encounter another investigator along the way, they'll stop and engage them. The enemies aren't super picky in this game.
This game has a lot to take in, both in the rules, and the narrative. If you can get past the first part, you're in for (what I feel is) a wonderful journey.
A hunter enemy CAN move and then attack, these are two separate actions in the enemy phase. If you look at the learn to play page 12 it says for the enemy phase step 1 " hunter enemies move" then step 2 "enemies attack". This distinction is important as different player cards only activate during certain elements of the enemy phase.
Prey just tells you who the enemy will prioritize if there are multiple targets, it is a separate keyword from hunter. Only enemies with the hunter keyword can move during strp 1 "enemies with hunter move". This is applicable in a scenario where say investigator a evaded an enemy (which exhausts the enemy but didn't leave the room, then investigator b moves into that room as well. Normally you'd get to choose who engages with the enemy during the upkeep phase, but a prey enemy will automatically engage with the best target according to prey. If there is a tie (ie 2 players have lowest evade) players choose among the eliligble prey targets.
An enemy with hunter AND prey moves during the hunters move phase, but the rule prey is used as a tie breaker. So in a 2 player game if a hunter/prey (prey = lowest evade) is 1 space away from an investigator (4 evade) and 2 spaces away from another investigator (2 prey) it'll still move toward the first investigator as there is no tie for hunters "move 1 space towards the closest investigator" rule.
The only exception is if a card says "prey XXX only", then the enemy will act like no other investigator exists in the game and will not engage with them. Other investigators can still enegage and attack/evade that enemy though.
I'm 90% confident hunter/prey the latter only happens in case of a tie, unless they prey says "prey xxx only".
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Thanks for the great answers! I'm beginning to understand as to how Roland and Wendy complement each other as investigators.
I just noticed that the enemy in question (Ghoul Priest) also has Hunter and Retaliate abilities next to Prey. Especially Retaliate, combined with his pretty high attack stat, makes this guy no pushover.
I think that we're going to play the first scenario a second and third time to really get to grips with all the rules and to hopefully develop some tactics along the way.
I just noticed that the enemy in question (Ghoul Priest) also has Hunter and Retaliate abilities next to Prey. Especially Retaliate, combined with his pretty high attack stat, makes this guy no pushover.
I think that we're going to play the first scenario a second and third time to really get to grips with all the rules and to hopefully develop some tactics along the way.
Which is why evasion is so important, an exhausted enemy can't retaliate and you can just wail on them.
Also if you really get into ah:tcg I highly recommend buying a second core box. You're gonna want a second copy of most of the cards in the core box so you're more likely to draw them.
OP
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Example (not that this will probably happen): Ghoul Priest is in the Attic by himself. Wendy is in the Hallway, and Roland is in the Cellar. When the Ghoul Priest hunts, he will move to the Hallway and auto-engage and attack Wendy.
The only time an enemy would ignore another investigator if they entered their space, is if they were Aloof or had "Prey Only" on them. At least, that's my understanding of the rules.
At this point, a second core isn't *as* necessary, but still isn't a bad purchase. I would prioritize going with one of the deluxes and starting a campaign before spending money on a second core. One thing I would actively dissuade someone from is buying any of the "Return" boxes, before they've gotten all of the other content (outside of maybe the stand-alones).BassForever said:
I was thinking that my next purchase will probably be one of the expansions. (If we end up liking the game enough, have hardly played it so far :))
Ah ok. But when Roland enters the Hallway the Ghoul Priest will disengage Wendy in exchange for Roland, right?
What makes the Return boxes different from the other expansions?
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No. Once an enemy is engaged, it will stay engaged with that investigator until it is evaded or defeated.
The Return boxes are meant to give some new life to an existing campaign. The overall narrative is the same, but with some different encounter cards you use to replace or add to the scenarios. There are a few upgraded player cards of the cards found in that set (upgraded Physical Training, for instance, in RtNotZ). For hardcore players, they're worth it, but the value isn't as strong as getting a Deluxe expansion, as you're going to get more player cards in those, as well as new investigators, and some brand new scenarios to play.
To expand this example to it's logical conclusion
Ghoul priest moved due to hunt, engaged wendy, and attacks her
Next player turn the wendy player evaded the ghoul priest to exhaust it and it will disengage with wendy, roland player moves into the room. When the ghoul priest readies during the upkeep, it engages with roland because of the "prey highest fist" on the card. If it was another monster with no prey as a keyword the investigators would choose who the monster engaged with.
Any idea of the sort of length of time between a reprint hitting "in stock" on the FFG website and actually being available in FLGSes in Europe? I'm actually asking from a LOTR perspective, since the first cycle for that (for completeness's sake!) has just been reprinted.
My return to dunwich box came in and clearly the return to boxes were designed with a normal cycle in mind as everything fits well with sleeves. I'm even more grateful I got a second core box as I was able to sleeve and put my second set of encounters needed for dunwich so now I only need one box for everything needed for either campaign. As a remix release even this feels like a huge step up from rtnotz with quiet a few new cards that excite me like
I did order two of the go7 gaming inserts just to help keep the cards even more secure especially in the return to zealot box. I'll probably store the stand alone scenarios in the rtz box since I'm not sure where else it makes sense to store them and I doubt we'll see a "return to the stand alone scenarios" box.
naomi being an actual ally you can recruit, encounter cards that give the player more options like choosing to be a cheater or choosing to take a different penalty, and a wider variety of enemies in undimensioned as opposed to the same variant of the same thing over and over
I did order two of the go7 gaming inserts just to help keep the cards even more secure especially in the return to zealot box. I'll probably store the stand alone scenarios in the rtz box since I'm not sure where else it makes sense to store them and I doubt we'll see a "return to the stand alone scenarios" box.
Well, I've ended up purchasing Circle Undone and its first 2 mythos packs (to get free shipping). I still have yet to play Carcosa and Forgotten Age...
Killing the final bosses in ahtcg is usually not ideal but it can be done. Generally you need cards that allow you to do a lot of damage in a short amount of time and/or cards that let you nullify damage. Also a bit of luck to not get wrecked by the chaos bag/encounter deck.
Also, re-read the agenda cards very very carefully. I misread it (as did many people), which made this scenario much harder
do mean that act card that gave +1 to both agility and fighting of all enemies? Because we only used that rule when it was in play. We were not able to turn the agenda even once..
I mean the agenda 3a card.
(Just so we're not misunderstanding, agenda is where you put doom tokens, act is where you put investigation tokens)
https://cf.geekdo-images.com/camo/1...f6d2f61686c63672f41484330315f313435612e6a7067
Emphasis on "when this agenda advances". I basically spawned the big bad immediately as soon as agenda 3a was revealed, rather than waiting for the 5 doom tokens to accumulate. Whoopsies
Emphasis on "when this agenda advances". I basically spawned the big bad immediately as soon as agenda 3a was revealed, rather than waiting for the 5 doom tokens to accumulate. Whoopsies
I'm taking yet another crack about beating Dunwich. This time I am using Norman Withers solo. If I can survive all the way until Where Doom Awaits I think I should finally be able to beat it, especially once I load up on some spells.
https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/384812
I only did Extracurricular Activities so far but it is nerve wracking not having any good response to enemies. I lucked out getting Alyssa Graham in my opening hand who helped to mitigate the risk and unknown nature of the encounter deck.
https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/384812
I only did Extracurricular Activities so far but it is nerve wracking not having any good response to enemies. I lucked out getting Alyssa Graham in my opening hand who helped to mitigate the risk and unknown nature of the encounter deck.
The next standalone scenario was announced yesterday, "The Blob that Ate Everything." Looks pretty dang cool. Hopefully it plays ok at normal player counts.
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/5/17/the-blob-that-ate-everything/
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/5/17/the-blob-that-ate-everything/
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While this one will definitely excel at larger player counts, it should work well with smaller ones. This is in stark contrast to Labyrinths of Lunacy, which I still haven't gotten a chance to play. I'm going to try to organize one at this year's Invocation, although I assume that this scenario (Blob) will be the one supplied. Hopefully I can get enough contacts where I can set something up on another day.
Very poorly. The plan was pretty much grab all the clues before the monsters show up. I ended up losing in The House Always Wins and Miskatonic Museum. In hindsight, I needed more "deal with enemies cards." It is just tough with his deck building restrictions. I had Mind Over Matter and Anatomical Diagrams which helped a bit but they weren't enough. Getting the Silver Twilight Acolyte as my basic weakness was just about the worst luck too. In Miskatonic Museum I ended up burning through my Shards of the Void dealing with my two weaknesses and then my Mind Over Matter's were discarded by the encounter deck, leaving me with no way to deal with the enemy.
Anyway, I'm restarting with a revised deck that includes a lot more combat. I was being overzealous using two of the mystic slots on Delve Too Deep, I'm just throwing two copies of Wither in instead. Here is v2.
This game has kept popping up for me over the past few weeks, so after some research here and on Reddit/BGG I decided to spring for a Core set and try it out with a friend last night.
We played Scenario 1 with default decks and we got trounced. Of the 20 or so skill checks we did, we drew 10 failure tokens between the two of us - but we still had a great time! Learnt some vital strategies and it inspired us to construct our own decks and make wiser decisions (such as sticking together!).
Tonight I helped teach two other friends how to play and they crushed it! Their strats were different (though I didn't interfere with any sort of recommendation) but they also got terrific roles, drawing the star icon at least 5 times between them (it was actually unbelievable).
Good news is, the four of us are super stoked by what we played and are gonna scoop another Core Set so we can play 4 player ASAP. Making our own decks is gonna be rad and we're excited to see where different stories take us. We've never played an LCG before so I was unsure if they'd take to it but they're on board.
Quick Q: of the novella's with unique investigators available, are any worthwhile? Any exciting investigators among them that our team could benefit from having in our selection pool?
We played Scenario 1 with default decks and we got trounced. Of the 20 or so skill checks we did, we drew 10 failure tokens between the two of us - but we still had a great time! Learnt some vital strategies and it inspired us to construct our own decks and make wiser decisions (such as sticking together!).
Tonight I helped teach two other friends how to play and they crushed it! Their strats were different (though I didn't interfere with any sort of recommendation) but they also got terrific roles, drawing the star icon at least 5 times between them (it was actually unbelievable).
Good news is, the four of us are super stoked by what we played and are gonna scoop another Core Set so we can play 4 player ASAP. Making our own decks is gonna be rad and we're excited to see where different stories take us. We've never played an LCG before so I was unsure if they'd take to it but they're on board.
Quick Q: of the novella's with unique investigators available, are any worthwhile? Any exciting investigators among them that our team could benefit from having in our selection pool?
I don't know that any of the novella's are widely available, most people are still waiting for them to be reprinted. Silas and Norman are the only ones still book exclusive for the time being but I don't think either really works too well without a larger card pool. You should focus on just getting a deluxe expansion next. Honestly, release order makes the most sense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Horror:_The_Card_Game#Expansions
I would 2nd that. If you really enjoy the game, I would go for next deluxe campaign, especially Dunwich has a lot of good player cards plus the scenarios are nice step up from the core. I would get 2nd core in your case since you can benefit from more player card and tokens for 4 player game.
2nd core is essential for 3-4p. Top priority would be a deluxe expansion for more deck construction options. It's fine to go for a 2nd deluxe expansion too, but I would personally prioritize getting the 6 accompanying mythos packs to whichever expansion you get first (to have a complete campaign). The mythos packs adds player cards too (but the standalone packs do not).
Checking in after finishing Night of the Zealot.
After a rough start in the Gathering (we failed to beat Ghoul Priest and had to escape the house) , we made up for it in Midnight Masks by Killing him second round and doing a damn good job at getting 4/6 Cult Members.
Finally, we got to The Devourer Below. Because we went after Midnight in the previous scenario, our starting hands was severely stunted (I discarded Rolands gun & Machete...) - meaning we were well and truly off on the wrong foot.
Having struggled through the entire scenario, we inevitably got to summoning Umordhoth.
It was at this point that we discovered we were doomed from the start, as my lead investigator revealed he had REMOVED Lita from his deck as he didn't see value in her when he had an upgraded Luca. I could only stare at him in disbelief as reality set in.
To stay in character, we returned to the Main Path and resigned only to then read on and discover we were subsequently killed as Umordhoth consumed the town.
Whoops. Sorry Arkham.
It's official: I love this game.
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I've ordered a second Core Set + Playmat which will be due this week and allow me to merge our two separate 2P groups for a 4 player NotZ run!
There have also been some hella good sales on odd pieces recently, so I scooped Curse of the Rougarou, Carnavale of Horrors, Guardians of the Abyss and Return to NotZ (mainly for storage reasons + player cards - I'm VERY glad I did).
Once we've run through 4P NotZ, Rougarou and Carnavale we'll buy into Dunwich and take a big step into building proper decks. The guys I'm playing with have never played a deckbuilding game (other than Aeons End, but that's completely different) so we need to really identify what we need to succeed. That includes keeping specific story-based cards in our deck ;)
Thanks to everyone for all your help. This is truly a blast. I'm glad there's a community here :)
After a rough start in the Gathering (we failed to beat Ghoul Priest and had to escape the house) , we made up for it in Midnight Masks by Killing him second round and doing a damn good job at getting 4/6 Cult Members.
Finally, we got to The Devourer Below. Because we went after Midnight in the previous scenario, our starting hands was severely stunted (I discarded Rolands gun & Machete...) - meaning we were well and truly off on the wrong foot.
Having struggled through the entire scenario, we inevitably got to summoning Umordhoth.
It was at this point that we discovered we were doomed from the start, as my lead investigator revealed he had REMOVED Lita from his deck as he didn't see value in her when he had an upgraded Luca. I could only stare at him in disbelief as reality set in.
To stay in character, we returned to the Main Path and resigned only to then read on and discover we were subsequently killed as Umordhoth consumed the town.
Whoops. Sorry Arkham.
It's official: I love this game.
----------------------------------------------------
I've ordered a second Core Set + Playmat which will be due this week and allow me to merge our two separate 2P groups for a 4 player NotZ run!
There have also been some hella good sales on odd pieces recently, so I scooped Curse of the Rougarou, Carnavale of Horrors, Guardians of the Abyss and Return to NotZ (mainly for storage reasons + player cards - I'm VERY glad I did).
Once we've run through 4P NotZ, Rougarou and Carnavale we'll buy into Dunwich and take a big step into building proper decks. The guys I'm playing with have never played a deckbuilding game (other than Aeons End, but that's completely different) so we need to really identify what we need to succeed. That includes keeping specific story-based cards in our deck ;)
Thanks to everyone for all your help. This is truly a blast. I'm glad there's a community here :)
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