My understanding is that the expansions for second edition essentially just supply you with tiles, investigators and monsters from first edition that you then combine with your conversion kit. So if you have access to a first edition is it identical to buying these expansions?

My understanding is that the expansions for second edition essentially just supply you with tiles, investigators and monsters from first edition that you then combine with your conversion kit. So if you have access to a first edition is it identical to buying these expansions?

In short: yes.

Additionally, if the bases in the expansion are the same as in the 2nd edition -- which is quite likely -- you'll have a huge advantage, as the the small bases in 2nd edition have taken a large step back in usability, so if you're going to be using the monster minis, the 1st edition bases are the way to go.

And the new expansions each come with a new scenario, but if you have the existing tiles/monsters from the original edition you can just select in the app that you have the expansions to gain access to these scenarios?

And the new expansions each come with a new scenario, but if you have the existing tiles/monsters from the original edition you can just select in the app that you have the expansions to gain access to these scenarios?

Yes. (you actually only need Call of the Wild for the second scenario... Forbidden Alchemy just adds a map variant)

And the new expansions each come with a new scenario, but if you have the existing tiles/monsters from the original edition you can just select in the app that you have the expansions to gain access to these scenarios?

As KBlumhardt says, yes, you functionally get access to one of the new scenarios with 1st edition core figures and map tiles, and to the other new scenario with Call of the Wild figures and map tiles (in either case through use of the 1st edition conversion kit monster tokens).

For full disclosure, I'd also mention that the new expansion map tiles HAVE changed slightly. They dropped the line-of-sight dot markers (since LOS is no longer a feature of gameplay in 2nd edition) and gained the indoor/outdoor treatment on the map name plaques, so you can know at a glance whether a space counts as indoor or outdoor for gameplay reasons. Neither of these is necessary, they just make things more convenient.

SO:

1st edition and 1st edition expansions: allow you to play the 1st edition game (duh) in addition to acting as 2nd edition expansions, and have more functional small monster bases.

2nd edition expansions: have some usability improvements to the map tiles, and are available on market for reasonable prices. Probably have LESS functional small monster bases.

EDIT: changed 'lost' to 'dropped' to be less colloquial in my usage

FrogTrigger,

point is what you're aiming at. If you are fine with 2nd edition, and you want only coop play, go with the new expansions to have a full set of tiles and monster and investigator minis; it's cheaper, and the graphical layout of tiles has been slightly modified to perfectly match the new style (it's really minimal, I play with 1st edition and I barely notice the difference). If you're interested also in play competitive, and in have access to a lot more scenarios, get 1st edition.

I understand this perfectly now, thanks for clearing everything up. I did have access to a 1st edition through a friend, but then realized that I would also need to grab the old expansions. So it makes more sense for me to just pick up the 2nd edition expansions as I get there. Thanks again for all your time

I bought the base First Edition in a discount but I plan to buy the second tile expansion that brings the Call of the Wild and Forbidden Alchemy tiles and investigators.

For me, the first edition has some nice complexities that thee second edition lacks. I love the ability to customize the starting stats of the characters and we sometimes like to play competitive. Since we play the 1st edition maybe twice a year or something, the base game is enough.

I bought the base First Edition in a discount but I plan to buy the second tile expansion that brings the Call of the Wild and Forbidden Alchemy tiles and investigators.

For me, the first edition has some nice complexities that thee second edition lacks. I love the ability to customize the starting stats of the characters and we sometimes like to play competitive. Since we play the 1st edition maybe twice a year or something, the base game is enough.

Same here, which is why I didn't mind getting the Italian version of Forbidden Alchemy (which was waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than the English version was several months back).