Well hello one and all - greetings from the UK!

So...yesterday in the hotel with the wife on our anniversary weekend (won't say which one) and in between the oysters and champagne I'm thinking I need a new hobby....

PS4 : Check

Lead Guitar in Blues Band : Check

PC Gamer : Check

Average Husband : Check and Check

Hmmm.....so a search through Lovecraft takes me on to games, and from there a meandering path on to board games. Last board game I played was about 30 years ago....never was a D&D nerd....I was much too Rock n Roll for all that

So...ordered a copy from Amazon and should be here Tuesday all being well.

Reading up all I can, and pondering about getting some protective sleeves. The wife might even be convinced to give it a go although she's a bit more sensible than I am.

In one of life's great ironies my wife and daughter now think I'm a middle aged nerd....I've become the very person I laughed at all those years ago....

Great to be here and look forward to asking many daft questions!

There are no middle aged nerds. In my understanding of life, we have many marvellous people who are passionate about their interests

Welcome to the Carnival, Ezuna! You'll discover soo you got a great game for yourself Sleeves are a must for Arkham (you'll handle the cards quite a lot, especially location encounters); be patient, the game has quite a steep learning curve. Feel free to ask about all your doubts; there's always someone watching over here. And if you need suggestions on strategy, here you have some excellent tips.

Hmmm I was considering getting the official FFG sleeves from Amazon, but then the price was insane...the postage came to 50% more than the sleeves themselves. Also the description of one said 'German version' which confuses me...is there any difference if a clear piece of plastic is German?

Any other UK players / residents recommend a good hard wearing alternative to the FFG sleeves that Amazon.co.uk stock?

Thanks

PS Julia would you recommend that I play a good few games without any expansions whatsoever? I've also got my hands on the flowcharts and I've printed them off to help with the order of the turns.

PPS any other fansites you'd suggest that are dedicated to Arkham or is this the main one? I don't tend to do facebook although if there's a thriving community page on there I may re-activate my account.

Thanks again

FFG sleeves have one big advantage: they fit like a second skin, they are thicker than usual, and shuffling is easier than with other sleeves. But yes, they are expensive, and sometimes shipping kills the deal. Good alternates (just reporting what I read on different fora) are released by Mayday or Dragon Shields, maybe you would find among those something that is good for you

I guess a german sleeve is just like any other sleeve with possibly a different label on top (after all, the factories producing the sleeves are the same)

As for the games: yes, absolutely. Start with no expansions and playing 4 investigators, and keep going. Possibly play until you win at least one game against each AO coming with the core game, from the easy ones (Azathoth, Cthulhu) to the most difficult ones (Shub, Yog). This is extremely important to understand:

a) resource management (time, clues, and the really important stuff)

b) skills: where to use what and how important is to pass or not to pass a skill check

c) the frequency of gates: not all places have the same odds to have a gate opening there (i.e. some locations have a higher frequency in the Mythos deck)

d) how to protect yourself: Sneak instead of nuking the monsters, using rumors as shield for other rumors, and so on

I know it seems like a hard path to play a game, but actually you're about to enter in a whole different universe. Time is needed to properly explore.

Fansites: no idea. There's quite an active community at boardgamegeek.com, tho, so that maybe you want to join them.

Nice one thanks for all the help! Will let you know how I get on

The FFG sleeves are worth getting (other sleeves are not as good) but the prices on Amazon are not the best. Try a UK online shop like Gameslore or IGUK. I found the cheapest source for the UK was a seller from Germany on ebay: docholiday I think.

I'm going to be honest here, I haven't gotten the sleeves and my cards are still in amazing condition due to the durability of the cards themselves, and this is over a good 75 games! That being said, I do not bridge shuffle my cards and I live in a super dry environment.

1,800 sleeves, Several bottles of wine, my girlfriend, and a weekend of gaming!

Lol. 1.800 sleeves.

The investment in sleeves is probably worth it if you get very into the game. I LOVE the game, but do not have any of my components sleeved. I played it much more often before my game collection expanded, and my cards seem to be fine. I do bridge shuffle as well.

That being said, there are oodles of components for this game damaging them is probably more likely than with other games due to its sprawling nature.

Good luck on the discovery process! It's a wild ride!

Soakman,

It's a bit of an obsession...the sleeves was just the beginning, then my OCD kicked-in, which prompted me to started and preside over a company which makes pieces for AH and EH ...yeah, it's a love affair.

Cheers,

Joe