I'm looking to get an expansion or two for Arkham Horror. Which expansions do you recommend? And why?

For that matter, which ones do you suggest I stay away from? (And, again, why?)

--Kkat

Because Arkham Horror is one of the best games I ever played I bought all the expansions. They 're all even good. One is harder then the other so you can choose what you want to play. So I hope you can do something with my advise.

What not to get :

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

Ignore that response, Kkat. Dam is notorious for his dislike of Kingsport. Here's a better link that summarizes each expansion, and has user-voted results on which ones are necessary and whether or not you should mix them with other expansions.

boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/41787/item/920615

Ok, time to get a more balanced explanation rather than the two above. Firstly, get comfortable with the basic game first, where you are winning at least 60% of the time, if not higher. Then we can start adding some of the expansions. Secondly, I second what Tibs said. Thridly, in deciding what expansion to get, after you do well with the basic game, you will need to add a board with new unstable locations. That means Dunwich or Innsmouth, and I must recommend Dunwich, as Innsmouth really ramps up the difficulty (don't do it, you fool! Don't do it!). After that, Kingsport would be a good idea as it adds to the difficulty without being overboard, and then Innsmouth for a real challenge. For the small box expansions, I can't recommend Black Goat of the woods. It adds difficulty, but without much in the way of fun. Both Curse of the Dark Pharoh and the King in Yellow are good small box expansions, to be played with the basic board and one or two other boards. Don't mix them, otherwise, you'll cause dilution of the mythos cards that take away from the fun of these small box expansions. The bigger boxes give you more bang for your buck, with new characters, Old ones, boards, allies, etc, so I have to recommend them first. You can play them all together, eventually, and then add in a small box expansion, and get a good game in.

Now here's the reasoning behind my suggestions. The learning curve for Arkham can be steep if taken too fast. If you throw in another board before you are comfortable with the basic game, you'll probably become very frustrated, as you haven't gotten down the proper strategy yet. The appeal of Arkham is the challenge it presents, so my suggestions have been to ramp up the difficulty slowly enough so you don't get overly frustrated.

Dam said:

Ahhh! Case solved, that explains it - mine was only €38!!

dj2.0 said:

KH even at a small-box price would still be too expensive for what it adds .

Of course youd say that, I got the better deal

FFG lists it $49.95, everything tends to be 1-1 basis with $-€ here . And there is really only 1 game store chain here in Finland (okay, there are 2 stores that you can find board games, but both have the same prices).

With just two board game stores in all of Finland you'd think they'd attempt to be a bit more competitive.

Dam said:

wow! At that rate it might be cheaper to fly in to Germany once a year and make purchases, but then you have to transport it back

dj2.0 said:

wow! At that rate it might be cheaper to fly in to Germany once a year and make purchases, but then you have to transport it back

I'd probably see too many Eurogames there. It would make me physically ill . AT forever!

"Worth" is in the eye of the beholder. I paid full ducats and I got my money's worth. But then (spoilers)...

I like Hypnos, Nodens, Ghroth, Tulzscha, Lily, Lola, Rex, Tony, Wendy, Eihort, Y'Golonac, Yibb Tstll--okay, I love to HATE Yibb Tstll--Basil Elton, Herbert West, Foolishness, Granny Orne, the Terrible Old Man, Thomas Olney, William Bain, Young Zoog, Flare Gun, Telescope, Makeup Kit, Martial Arts, Credit Rating, Run, Camoflage, Wrestle, Persuade, Linguistics, Listen, Forced Learning, Implant Suggestion, Livre d'Ivon, Eltdown Shards, Crystal of the Elder Thing, Yithian Rifle, Brazier of Souls, Crawling Ones, Leng Spiders, Moon-Beasts, Serpent People, Shan, Skeletons, Yithians, the Werewolf, the Tcho-Tcho Priest, the Shadowy Figure, The White Ship, Unknown Kadath, Neil's Curiosity Shop, Rift Management, and Epic Final Battles.

I can appreciate why some do not like Kingsport; for some, I imagine it would feel like wandering off to the restroom in the middle of a 400-yard sprint. I don't play that way, and have enjoyed my encounters in Kingsport.

Kkat, I agree with Renderfalls. Dunwich (for the extra board, item cards, monsters, Investigators and Ancient Ones) and King in Yellow (for the awesome Herald, item cards, and a heavy blast of theme)...then Innsmouth (for Personal Stories, Ghatanothoa, and the nasty Deep One Rising track). But if you can afford them all, get them all, and find out what you like. (The hell with us crusty grognards.) There really is something to enjoy in each expansion.

Welcome to the Carnival, Kkat!!! Just...watch where you step.

I just picked up Kinsport (now playing with AH, IH, KiY, CotDP and now Kingsport). Personally I like it as an addition to a game where you are already using another board. I wouldn't recommend it as your first expansion as it might be seen as not adding enough bang for your buck. However, once you're using either Innsmout or Dunwich it does serve to add a lot of extra things to the game (Heralds, GOOs, new investigators, equipment, encounters, etc.) without ramping the difficulty way up. Sure the rifts give you something else to monitor but they aren't lkely to end your game as suddenly as the Deep One track so it's nto as steep a difficulty jump as your second expansion board.

I don't have Dunwich but that's probably your best bet as a first big box expansion. I went with Innsmouth just because it had double the investigators and Ancient Ones, but most people feel that board is too much of a difficulty jump for newer players/

I think I'm going to try for Innsmouth first -- the local gaming store has it in first, and I love the extremely insolar atmosphere of Innsmouth. I suspect it will add a new level of creepy to the game. (Plus, it has an investigator who is a self-portrait of the artist who does all the Arkham art, and I just find that cool.)

I found a few pictures online, and the Wendy Adams character interests me. I'd love a chance to play her. That one is from Kingsport, right?

I'm told that Kingsport doesn't make the game too much harder; is that correct? Our group isn't really looking to make the game significantly harder than the base set, and I suspect that Innsmouth will give us all the harder we could ever want. So any additional expansion will have to be light on the difficulty ramping.

--Kkat

Wendy is in Kingsport yes.

Kkat said:

Im not sure about that! On balance compared to the raw assault of other expansions, yes.The thing I have learned about KH is that while on paper it looks less of a thorn, being the only board with no unstable locations, and is in fact designed that way as the town most free of the mythos, in practice, the experience is sometimes different. And it has Atlach, too...

Also remember you wont be able to use personal stories for the DH and KH box investigators if you go with IH first. Likewise, the sinister plots wont be any use at all unless you come up with one.

Is Wendy as fun to play as she looks? Does her lower stats compared to all the other investigators make for a problem?

--Kkat

I like her yeah, and dont have those problems, but my random selections rarely seem to find her so my opinion is based on only a handful of games. The big question for me with Wendy is when to smack down her sign.

Wendy is great in games where super tough monsters are causing traffic jams in the street.

Wendy's a blast. She's the one that really taught me how to break free of my preconceptions of how to play an Investigator. I always used to gear up for fighting monsters, even if I was playing someone more suited for gate closing. But Wendy is not suited for fighting at all (I initially couldn't stand her). But then the forums explained her to me, and I discovered an entire game based on Sneak and Evasion. Wendy's not just good at Sneak--others have good Sneak too, like Pete and Rita--Wendy is designed for Sneak. Wendy even helped me get over my loathing of Mark, the soldier who sucks at fighting, but excels at "not getting caught".

Don't listen to the hardcores who are going to tell you that Wendy "breaks games". They're just bitter because she forces them to win.

Yeah, "Wendy" taught you, and "the forums explained her" ;') I do have to admit I enjoy being personified as The Forums. Henceforth I shall be known as The Forums! Let it be known!

::Laughter:: I love Wendy, and I'm definitely a hardcore player. I just won't select her, that's all. Not all veterans of Arkham hate winning ;') Besides, Wendy doesn't break games. The violinist breaks games! Freaking clue machine... Heh... I always fail Wendy's mission now... It makes me a little sad, but to be honest, I'm glad they gave her a little kick in the ass (not that it really matters considering how overpowered she still is— I'm fine with that though, I don't mind randomly drawing an overpowered investigator ocassionally).

It's funny that you mentioned how Wendy taught you the value of sneak. To some extent she did the same for me. I still like to focus on collecting trophies and allies for an investigator, but I tend to be far more flexible about my strategy now.

P.S. I still dislike Mark, but at least he's good for Innsmouth... And his starting equipment's pretty good ;') I like to get him, then get him devoured.

jgt7771 said:

Avi_dreader said:

Okay, okay...credit where credit is due. It was late, I didn't feel like hunting the thread down, and I just couldn't recall which one of you it was. I figured whoever it was would step forward if desired...you credit hound.

I'm not EVEN getting into Patrice with you people anymore.

Wendy merely got me to stop LOATHING Mark. I'm still not fond of him, but at least we're civil with each other now. Mark's pretty good as the Kingsport Sentinel as well, dodging the dozens of delayed landmines.

Picked up Innsmouth, which prompted me to re-read Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth". I must say: nicely done! The board is very familiar to those who love the story, and the encounters capture Innsmouth quite well.

The game comes with a couple variants: Heralds and Personal Stories. I absolutely love the personal stories, and we've integrated them into the game right away. It really adds a lot to the characters and the personal feel of the game. Heralds, on the other hand, look boring and seem to add nothing aside from making the game harder. I figure if we get to a point where we are winning 9 times out of 10, then we need to increase the difficulty... and maybe Heralds would be a good way to do that. Although just buying another expansion would probably be a more enjoyable method.

We played two games, and mercifully won both... but just barely each time. The first came down to a battle against Nyogtha, and is was a pyrrhic victory at best with the Terror Track maxed out and every ally fled or dead. But we saved the world, so "Go Team!"

For the second, we managed to seal enough gates to lock away Yog-Sothoth... with only one to go on the Deep One Rising track. That track is brutal, and totally guts our normal win strategy. We also had repeated horrible luck -- the very first Mythos card wiped all the clues from the board, washed out tracks locked off Innsmouth just as the Deep Ones track was getting scary, etc. We would have been doomed without the violinist!

I'm considering using the Arkham Horror Wiki to print out some of the characters from expansions we don't have just to playtest them. Unfortunately, our tiny table doesn't have enough room for another board. We're already having to put our characters on other pieces of furniture when we play.

--Kkat

• Picked up Innsmouth

Brutal, but awesome.

• ...which prompted me to re-read Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth". I must say: nicely done! The board is very familiar to those who love the story, and the encounters capture Innsmouth quite well.

Haven't read it yet. But I did read Dunwich Horror just in time for the Dunwich expansion to be announced. It was delayed for like 5 months after its predicted release, so I almost became dehydrated multiple times from drooling.

• The game comes with a couple variants: Heralds and Personal Stories.

Personal Stories are in no way a variant, nor are Injury/Madness or Epic Battle: they're a requirement

• Heralds, on the other hand, look boring and seem to add nothing aside from making the game harder.

The first herald was the King in Yellow: that was an awesome one. Yes, the idea of heralds is that they increase difficulty, but I wouldn't usually (but not never) call them boring. Just something to look forward to when you want an additional challenge. But to be fair, now that you have Innsmouth, winning 9 out of 10 games seems hugely optimistic.

• We played two games, and mercifully won both... but just barely each time. The first came down to a battle against Nyogtha, and is was a pyrrhic victory at best with the Terror Track maxed out and every ally fled or dead. But we saved the world, so "Go Team!"

You beat Nyogtha in final combat?? Way to go. That ain't easy. 3/4 of final combats against Nyogtha are losses.

• For the second, we managed to seal enough gates to lock away Yog-Sothoth... with only one to go on the Deep One Rising track.

Also admirable.

1. The very first Mythos card wiped all the clues from the board

!!!

Those horrible league scenarios are all coming back to me...

• We would have been doomed without the violinist!

Patrice is a demigod. A boring, training-wheel-like demigod.

• I'm considering using the Arkham Horror Wiki to print out some of the characters from expansions we don't have just to playtest them. Unfortunately, our tiny table doesn't have enough room for another board. We're already having to put our characters on other pieces of furniture when we play.

In case you don't already know, you don't need to use expansion boards when using expansion characters--they're universally compatible. Except, of course, that some of the characters from Dunwich and Kingsport start with expansion items: you'd have to download and print those too.

Printed out Wendy and tried her out in a two-person game (using Innsmouth).

Wendy = fun.

Wendy + [other Investigator] vs Quachil Uttaus = lose.

--Kkat