I'm a new player and recently completed my first two-handed solo campaign through the core set. Already I can tell I love this game. Starting a few years in gives me lots of options in terms of content, from the stand alone adventures to Dunwich, etc.

But what if I started my expansion journey with the Forgotten Age? Does anyone have any thoughts on beginning with this cycle? If I understand the premise of Arkham Horror LCG correctly, then beginning with the new release should be natural, but would I miss out on mechanics or experiences that could prove useful by skipping those that came before? Obviously, I could always go back and play those expansions, but I'm considering following new content in the hopes of meeting up with a playgroup.

The only product you absolutely need is the core set. Story-wise, cycles are independent from each other. You will miss out on the mechanical possibilities offered by the previous cycles, but you can still play the campaign (and you can try the campaign later with the cards from the other cycles).

The beauty of the cycle format for this game is each cycle is a self-contained campaign. There is no thematic carry over from campaign to campaign. Any mechanics introduced in a specific campaign is explained all over again in further campaigns as the terms come up. For example: The Dunwich Legacy introduced the term "Exile" which allows for a powerful effect in exchange for returning said card to your collection to be purchased all over again. This mechanic was prominent throughout the cycle. It wasn't featured in the Carcosa cycle until the release 2nd mythos pack: The Unspeakable Oath. After the setup instructions, there is an explanation of how Exile works.

Long story short, there is nothing stopping you from going straight into The Forgotten Age. You will miss out on the player cards from Dunwich and Carcosa. That isn't that big of a problem considering this game is still fairly new in comparison to other Arkham Horror Files games, and the fact that this LCG is cooperative.

The only caveat I would give you about beginning with the new campaign is, it's not out yet. While you may not mind waiting for about a month between each scenario, I found the wait excruciating, and I'm very glad there are now two full campaigns to play through.

As far as finding a play group goes, though, I doubt replaying the older campaigns will make it much harder to find a play group. There's quite a bit of replay value simply by trying out other investigators to build decks for and also there are a few branching story paths per campaign cycle.

If you stick to starting with Forbidden Age, keep in mind that the deluxe kit with the first 2 scenarios for the cycle probably won't launch for a couple of months and then each new scenario will only drop a month apart from then out. What I'm saying is that if you like the game, you'll probably want to play more regularly than that anyway, so it couldn't hurt to pick up at least one of the other cycles.

Dunwich is more straight-forward with quite a bit of survival-oriented challenges and monsters to fight, while Carcosa feels more story-driven and is focused more on trying not to go mad while uncovering the secrets of a cursed play.

On 4/8/2018 at 7:14 PM, SGPrometheus said:

While you may not mind waiting for about a month between each scenario, I found the wait excruciating, and I'm very glad there are now two full campaigns to play through.

This is a scenario that I can easily see playing out. I’m not yet done playing through the core (I’m sure I’ll give it five or six playthroughs before I’m ready to move on), but when I am it’s very likely I’ll need a fix quickly, even if Forgotten Age isn’t ready.

I appreciate all all of these responses, though. Thank you all so much for your insights!