So this is an idea I've been tossing around now that there are enough characters to do it. With all expansions, three characters begin at each stable location in Arkham (and there are three oddballs). This is about the number to make a decent game, assuming you use only one expansion board. I was interested in looking at which of these three player teams would be most effective. Unfortunately, I only own the base set and the small boxes, so testing this myself is about $150 away. This leaves me with pure conjecture. Feel free to chime in, or better yet, see if there's any fun in this.

I was envisioning something along the lines of trying each team with each board, and the winners would be those who could win the most games. (Yes, this is also incredibly time intensive.) You could go about assigning AOs scientifically or randomly, whatever floats your boat. I'd probably do random AOs and Heralds, maybe Guardians. You could also do something like a "regionals" competition wherein you would take all of the investigators from each neighborhood in an all out battle with the Mythos. Kate, of course, would join Team Miskatonic, and Luke and Ursula would probably go to the understaffed Teams Merchant District or Rivertown. The Northside Runners would require at least two expansion boards, because there are nine of them.

Anyway, yeah, I'm crazy.

The only concrete advantage this would provide would be trading starting equipment right off the bat. This corners of the board could be annoying, specifically investigators starting in Southside or Uptown. Here are our teams!

Team Magic Shoppe (The Mystics): Dexter, Lily, Akachi. Seems pretty solid. Sharing their spells can be very helpful. A little on the poor side.

Team Hospital: Vincent, Tony, Minh. This team takes a bit of a hit due to the presence of the doctor. Tony seems to be better due to his Personal Story. Minh has fun helping out out a bit the first turn.

Team Administration (Grumpy Old Men): Harvey, Norman, Charlie. Biggest problem: all are slow. Will have difficulties covering other towns.

Team Library (Sugar Daddy and his Grrls): Daisy, Mandy, George. Despite the maligned George, this would be a fan favorite due to the killer duo of Librarian and Researcher. Plenty of money will certainly help.

Team River Docks (The Worldly): Pete, Silas, Leo. Works better with Kingsport or Innsmouth, due to Silas's presence. A fun, solid team.

Team Curiositie Shoppe: Jaqueline, Jack, Patrice. Again, despite the presence of Jack, the team of Patrice and Jaqueline would likely be able to shut the Mythos down very well.

Team Newspaper: Rex, Trish, Darrell. A competent team, with some potential. Rex could very well be a liability.

Team Train Station (Out-of-towners): Jenny, Zoey, Wilson. Pretty balanced, overall. Could do great things. Pretty good at killing ancient ones, this team.

Team Bank: Wendy, Amanda, Finn. Don't know what to make of this team. Not good at combat, but slippery as hell. Plenty of skills, and would be prime for some bank loan abuse were it not for that "Minor" clause on Wendy. No pun intended.

Team Asylum: Roland, Lola, Carolyn. Strong characters, these three. Could do well.

Team Velma's: Agnes, Jim, Gloria (The Regulars). Get these guys some gates! Trading their starting possessions could go very well.

Team Police Station (The Usual Suspects): Rita, Tommy, Joe. Lots of speed here. Won't have many issues across boards at all. I would enjoy this team.

Team General Store(Normal People): Hank, Bob, Diana. This group can get the job done. Bob will get the weapons Hank needs, and the motorcycle Diana needs, and then run around turning in his usual solid performance.

Ma's Boarders (Smooth Criminals): Marie, Michael, Skids. Somewhat sketchy. Marie is very nice, but Skids and Michael have the same problem. Watch it.

Team South Church (Holy Avengers): Mark, Mary, William. This team has the potential to claw through monsters. The poorest team.

Team Eccentric: Luke, Ursula, Kate. An odd team, as their name would imply. Some strong abilities, though. Could get some comeback victories. Kate needs to watch out in Innsmouth.

Best, I'd guess Library or Curiositie Shoppe, with honorable mentions towards the Police Station, River Docks and possibly Magic Shoppe. I'm not overly thrilled about the Hospital or Ma's Boarding House.

What do you guys think? I know, I'm insane.

I was contemplating a scenario using Harvey, Charlie, Norman, and George. I'd call it "Attack of the Old Farts"

Well, if, as you said, the strongest advantage is trade.... than it seems to me that you're not only looking for good invesitgators, you're looking for investigators who can maximize that advantage. Therefore, I think that teams that start on the Shops with the Shoppers (all teams that start on the shops) have the advantage.

Magic Shop team is quite impressive, fast characters with good casting potential, Dexter is there for nice spell trade, good personal story rewards. Lack of cash here can hurt, but not too badly. My main complaint with this team is that it starts on the "wrong" end of the board for me, which is laregely okay due to the fact that the characters are quite speedy.

General Store team: Better. Hank and Bob are impressive killers, Diana is always nice to have in the game. Bob has a good chance of getting Diana a motorcycle. Another advantage, they start in "the best" start location IMO. General Store starters can get to SEVEN unstable locations with only three move! Main disadvantage here is a lack of clues to start.

Curiosittie Shop Team: Best. It's hard to say no to Team Jaquiline and Patrice. Monterey Jack isn't a bad pick either, because he is the curiositte shoppe shopper and can help to get the best unique items. A good amout of cash here lets Monterey Jack weed through the Uniques, or gives Patrice an easy personal story completeion.