Greetings from the Philippines!

I've been reading Lovecraft for some time now, and being a gamer, I wanted to be able to immerse myself in the Mythos. I was considering playing the video game or the card game, but when I saw Arkham Horror, I really wanted to play it. I read up on the rules, FAQs, the wiki and these message boards, and steadily built up my excitement.

Unfortunately, the game is not available locally so I had to order the base game and Curse of the Dark Pharaoh online. When it arrived, I couldn't contain my excitement. My sister and I played it right away, and let me say that it has surpassed all my expectations.

I chose my perennial favorite, Sister Mary while my sister chose Darrel Simmons. We picked Azathoth so we woudn't have to go through the final battle for the first game. I fell more in love with the Nun considering that she started with a Marksmanship card and grabbed a Tommy Gun early in the game. She almost seemed like a comic book hero (I kick ass for the Lord!). My sister rolled in the dough and grabbed practically half the ally deck from encounters thanks to the Photographer's ability. The game lasted for hours considering we had to go through the rulebook countless times. In the end, Azathoth destroyed the world but we enjoyed it so much that we couldn't wait to play again.

I want to order Dunwich Horror and King in Yellow next, but the shipping costs for the base game hit me like the Dark Young hit Sister Mary once. I'll have to save up a bit before I can purchase these two expansions so I'll just pretend I'm playing it in the Dreamlands.

I'd like to thank FFG and the designers for coming up with a great game. I'd also like the community for being so helpful to new players. If not for your assistance to others, I wouldn't have known certain things prior to playing.

Thanks again, everyone!

Congratulations on your new purchase, and welcome to the boards! I'm waiting for my own copy of the game, having come from a situation where I can no longer play with a friend.

Ha ha, yes! Dead Alive quote. Sister Mary does kick ass for the lord.

That was easily the best character in that movie.

I'm sure you'll be an awesome addition to the AH community and bring a fresh perspective. Make sure you write up a few detailed play reports, its useful for catching your own mistakes and much fun for everyone to read !

I didn't think anyone would get the Dead Alive reference. Cheesy movie but it's a zombie film, and I love shambling hordes.

I'd love to post a detailed playthrough but I can't seem to completely remember a game after playing. I think I take Sanity loss everytime I play Arkham Horror.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Chessy? Well, maybe, but I love it anyway. I've always wanted to come up with a DA variant for this game (with Mom as the Ancient One --"It's the W-L-W-L."). Sumatran Rat Monkeys need to be running all over Arkham.

Then we should have variants of zombies like Nurse Zombie, Hoodlum Zombie, Priest Zombie (with martial arts!) and Baby Zombie.

We should really get a Meat Cleaver weapon instead of a plain old knife too.

****, fine pudding. Rich and creamy; just the way I like it.

And a Lawn Mower. Let us not forget the Lawn Mower.

Add in a Mother spawn monster...from when she got huge at the end. Great movie.

Great to hear that a new player enjoys the game. But to be fair, you haven`t really played a true game of Arkham until you have Dunwich! I personally would order Black Goat of the Woods before King in Yellow. KiY is cool, but the stuff it adds is more just flavourful. BGotW really adds some great additions to any game!

Do you mean everything including the Dunwich board or just the Dunwich cards? Whenever we play, we hardly win (thanks to those cringe-inducing Rumors) and I think a new board would screw us over all the more.

Truth be told, I'm not sure about King in Yellow or Black Goat of the Woods. Which expansion brings in better Investigator cards? And what's harder to manage, Corruptions or Blights?

If you rarely win now, then remember that any expansion you add is going to reduce your win rate further. Curse of the Dark Pharoah probably has the least effect on difficulty (if you play it as the permanent exhibition). Adding just Dunwich's monsters and items, and not its board, mythos or other worlds probably would not change difficulty that much either.

With only two investigators it takes a lot of coordination and practice and a fair amount of luck to win. We play mostly two investigator games and it took a while before we got to the stage where we were winning a majority of them. Once we got to that stage, CotDP added a bit of difficulty - mainly in the Other World encounters - but a manageable amount. Dunwich flattened us and still does, with everything in. Without the Dunwich board and attachments it was still difficult, but not too bad.

(I've not played the other three expansions much, and never with only two Investigators, but with two Investigators terror level control seems to be the big issue, and KiY will really make that harder. BGOTW - if you leave out the herald - doesn't seem too bad. Kingsport - like Dunwich - will probably be manageable if you don't use the board)

Sekreth said:

The Dunwich board is fun and fine, and the Dunwich Horror itself is more fun, rewarding as hell, and risky, rather than a serious threat. The best thing that Dunwich adds are Injuries and Madnessess. I know, your probably thinking that those are bad things, but really they hinder you in a fun way, making all sorts of frustrating situations, but they give you a chance to survive, instead of having your character devoured or go insane. I wont explain the rules in full depth, but they are a great addition.

I have always found Corruptions to have a larger effect on the whole game, where as blights are really just interesting flavour, but they only come into play if your using The King in Yellow herald. Neither are hard to manage, and Corruptions have their benefits (twisted, bastardly benefits) but both are good additions. Corruptions just have a better chance of coming up in every game.

As far as Heralds go, The King in Yellow is MUCH easier to deal with than the Black Goat of the Woods. Ive been playing this game for several years, and my group has gone 17-3 in our last twenty game, but all three of the losses are the games we played with the Black Goat of the Woods herald. One mean mutha!

As far as losing often goes, who cares. I play solo games all the time and lose nearly all of them. The game is more about getting lost in the world of lovecraft and having some good old atmospheric fun!

Cant wait for Innsmouth!

First of all, it should be noted that Blights and Corruptions are only prominent in the game if you use the corresponding expansion's herald.

That said, Corruptions are harder to "manage." Corruptions can be removed by closing gates and by other effects, but it's sometimes a pain remembering to check everyone's corruptions to see if their symbol and color activates. And if you get a few corruptions, after a while they will multiply into many, compounding the problem. And the Black Goat herald is cruel.

I recommend getting King in Yellow before Black Goat.