Played AH today
Skids, Ursula, Jim, Marie, Amanda vs Rhan-Tegoth and the Black Goat, AH, DH, KH, BGotW, MH in play. Rhan accelerates doom when cultists are drawn, and the Black Goat accelerates doom when surges happen, plus the hex cup is filled with Children of the Goat granting the food Rhan needs the most. So, nightmare arrived on Arkham.
The game starts during setup, with Ursula picking Independence Square as starting location. 5 clues gotten, and bingo, first gate opens there. R'lyeh. Amanda's happy, Ursula not so much: it's just one die to seal upon returning. The others move around a little bit, gaining clues and optimizing their chances: Marie lands on the Magic Shoppe to buy spells, fuelled by Skids' and Amanda's money so that her PS is soonish passed, and she can work with Blood Magic to keep Rhan's track under control. Got a second gate at the graveyard, and then a surge (yay) spawning a double Child of the Goat for a total doom of 5 after 3 Mythos. This was a punch under the belt, but still I've got margin with Skids having Eltdown Shards. Hallelujah granted a blessing that should have helped Skids a bit, but in the meantime a forest of Dark Youngs (Andrea named them Dark Jungs, saying Freud should be happy for the game - please lose 3 San and move on) was storming the streets of Arkham.
So, no way to use Skids' blessing for this, but fortunately we got a Braziers of Soul and some more time to control the monster situation while sealers started working their way up to victory.
Ursula quickly sealed Independence Square, Jim got the Graveyard, Skids the Witch-house.
Amanda was sucked into the Plateau of Leng with exactly 5 clues (got 3 at Unvisited Isle, et voilà); next Mythos was at the Woods.
Rhan's doom track is at 4 (Blood Magic exhausted, and Eltdown Shards already read) and with two major sealed and a third one open we decide to go for stealing the match. Marie uses Astral Travel to enter the gate at the Woods and move to the Abyss; her encounter requires Luck -1 or go LiTaS. I have no dice, but decide to risk and blow two clues on the skill check: passed. Amanda moves to the second area of Leng.
New Mythos bounces on Independence square's seal: Amanda and Marie return to Arkham, winning the game by closing gates in 7 Mythos.
Julia confirms being Rhan's worst nightmare (I'm leading 8-0 with this guy
)