So for the last few weeks I've been looking at getting back into some sort of gaming, something I can do solo, but also get my wife involved and/or play as a larger group, should the need arise.

I've looked at various games, Pathfinder (card game), Mage Knight (not sure if wife would enjoy), X-Wing (again not sure wife would enjoy), Imperial Assault (don't really have the players, and again not sure wife would enjoy), I realise the last 2 aren't solo games, but that's not the end of the world.

After watching Greyelephant gaming do a play through of Eldritch Horror, I thought I'd found my game. But I've started watching play throughs of AH and I actually prefer the game, the mechanics seem better, and the way you travel and co-op just seems to work better than EH. plus I prefer the atmosphere of AH

So what are your guys thoughts? I know AH is going to be a steep learning curve, don't mind that, using Rick Royals play through should help me to some extent, plus the great advice on here will help, should I ever become totally stuck!!

My only concern is table space, been mentally measuring table space in the house and working out how many side tables I'll need to deploy.

Hi,

and welcome to the board The question of EH vs AH could originate endless debates; I entered some observations in this thread here ; long story short, AH is heavier than EH, luck is present but can be controlled with a good strategy and yes, it has quite a steep learning curve, not only to master the rules (that are not as smooth as they could be) but also to master the game.

Space requirement: consider at least one sideboard expansion. Plus if you have some sort of card holders, all the better since there will be quite a few decks around the table.

But certainly getting Arkham it's a route I encourage you to follow

Thank you for the prompt reply, yes I think Arkham will be my game of choice, will pick it up tonight at my local shop. My tables a standard 5' or so but has extenders at either end taking it up to about 8', but my iMac will be at one end, so have maybe 7' in total and about 2.5' wide. But I do have use of some side tables as well, for say investigators or Mythos deck etc.

I read through the rulebook maybe 2-3 times and I started out slow when playing. The first game I played, i ignored the terror track, monster special movement and abilities, and just focused on beating the monsters by the 'numbers'. And then the next time, I introduced the terror track and monster movements, and then by the third game, their special abilities.

That really helped, one, to learn how to beat the game without making it frustratingly difficult, and two, learn the mechanics of playing it. Honestly, give the rulebook a once over, maybe twice, and then just play the game as best you can. You learn better that way, I think, and if you have questions you can be check as you're playing. Overall though, I didn't find the rules too daunting.

And always ask questions here

Yeah, that was my thinking (sort of) I will play solo for a couple of games just to get the hang of it. Maybe first time using just one investigator, then upping to 2,3,4 etc so I learn the different mechanics of each investigator and how they impact play. Then hopefully once I have the general bits nailed down, introduce my wife, and again just play 1 investigator each or differing classes to get her into the general game, then up to 2 investigators each, pulled at random.

Dimensions of your table are perfect for Arkham. I have a 2 m long, 1 m wide table and I'm able to play the game, with two expansion boards and all the deck of cards and 5 investigators on it without any trouble, so, don't be worried about that :

Thanks Julia, picked it up last night, and before heading to work this morning, I looked at the game board and it's not as big as I thought, fits well on table. cards were also smaller then I ha d anticipated.

Good Let us know how you like the game

Had my first solo run on Saturday, didn't end to well...lol. I choose Michael McGlen, Carolyn Fern and Darrell Simmons. They drew nothing special on their character setup, a few weapons etc. My first Mythos card, obviously dropped a gate plus spawn, and another 2 spawns, plus a clue. The Mythos cards were just not with me, and I repeatedly got Spawns and monster surges, forcing the horror track up to 9 and the Doom Track to 8. I did manage to close 2 gates, but it was hard work, no clues were dropping and monsters were taking over. I decided to call it a day. My only defence was that I forgot to return any monsters with the same symbol to the cup, when closing gates. But I don't think it would of made that much difference.

So on Sunday I did another run, choosing investigators that are meant to be easier. I went with Carolyn, Darrell, Joe Diamond and Kate Winthrop. They drew some nice cards and even got an Elder Sign. So this time I changed strategy I rushed for the tokens, and headed to close a gate. This game went smoother, I actually closed 6 gates, with only 3 ever being open at any one time, and one of those I was in the process of closing and another I had an investigator heading that way to close. I never had a monster surge, and managed to keep the doom track to 4, having sent it back twice due to use of Elder Signs. It helped with Darrell keeping his retainer for nearly the entire game, and when he did loose it, he managed to get another quite quickly. Carolyn's restore 1 sanity was very handy a few times as was Kate's re-roll ability. The only real nasty point was when I had a rumour card which had 6 monsters placed on it and another monster is placed every mythos phase until 10 are present. I sent all investigators there to sort it out and Kate managed to kill 4 in one round.

My only major mistake (I think) was when turning in monster tokens for clues, I just handed back 5 tokens and not 5 toughness worth of tokens.

This play through as said I went for tokens and at one point I had 3 investigators with 5 apiece plus an Elder Sign, so could choose to use clues on an easy gate and Elder Sign on a harder gate. I also avoided more monsters, which allowed investigators to get into areas and off the street, and actually get encounters, some of which lead to more clues etc.

All in all a great game.

Happy you had two great games Some comments:

- about your first game: you said you hade mostly monster surges; despite that the doom track was rather high, so my question: you do not add doom tokens on the doom track on surges, right?

- returning monsters to the monster cup upon closing gates is usually the main way to keep monsters under control; so that forgetting that point could be game changing

- (clues, please, not glues: the glue is something you use to stick paper on paper, the clues are used to seal gates )

- I guess in the second game you played Mandy in stead of Kate? Otherwise I missed the reroll reference

- anyhoo, that's the only really important point: try to look at the games and figure out why you had so many monster surges during game 1 and so few during game 2. It can be a coincidence, sure, but the Mythos deck is structured so that certain locations are more dangerous than others. Understanding this point will help levelling up in Arkham strategy

Good luck for the next games!

Clues...lol, early morning, (now edited) not paying attention. Not sure on the Doom Track, as I keep a Doom Token on top of the gate cards, so every time I play a gate, I place the token on the Doom Track and replace token. I think I had at least 1 encounter were the Track was put forward. I also keep character bases equal to monsters allowed next to the Old One card, so I can keep track of monsters on the board.

In second game I played 4 characters.