Modular gameboard?

By Attackmack, in Arkham Horror

While im eager to see what AH3 may bring to the table, the last edition being the game that brought me back to tabletop gaming, im not overly impressed with the new pussle-style gameboard.

Ignoring the fact that it (imo) looks horrible, which might end up a null-problem if it looks better in real life, im just wondering why the streets and locations of Arkham would change position? Of course as a game it can be argued its simply to offer some variety and unpredictability but I dont think rearranging how the town looks is a good solution to that.

Edited by Soulless

I like the modularity of the upcoming game. As for Arkham's changeability, I would put it down to the dark magyks of haunted Arkham ("I swear the train station was over there the last time I visited!")! ?

Edited by vsolfronk

The two setup cards I saw didn’t make it look random how the town was created. It was a 3 panel and a 5 panel

For the 3 panel it looked like

a to b

a to c

for the 5 panel it looked like

a to a2

a to a3

a2 to b

a3 to c

Basically just adding a step in between the two prior locations. So same basic map just one with more detail. I can live with that. I was fine with random setup though too.

The scenarios will probably detail exactly how to arrange the board for the scenario chosen which means only parts of arkham will be available for each mission, and im also guessing we will find the same part of arkham neighbouring different parts depending on the scenario. Which is the reason im not overly excited about this tile setup.

10 hours ago, Soulless said:

The scenarios will probably detail exactly how to arrange the board for the scenario chosen which means only parts of arkham will be available for each mission, and im also guessing we will find the same part of arkham neighbouring different parts depending on the scenario. Which is the reason im not overly excited about this tile setup.

Just think of it as the insanity causing you to lose your way around town! With only 5 regions at most in play it doesn't seem like it will change the layout that much.

12 hours ago, LordPyrex said:

Just think of it as the insanity causing you to lose your way around town! With only 5 regions at most in play it doesn't seem like it will change the layout that much.

Yeah its not something that will stop me enjoying the game I just found it to be a weird decision for a game set in a fixed location. But all is well now, FFG has seldom let me down over the years and considering how important AH has been to them I have a lot of trust in them that they will treat it right. But what would a game announcement be without some complaints ;)

I think it's a limiter on board space. This keeps the number of locations more manageable. It's good for expansions too.

I view it as less, "that's not supposed to be connected to that," and more, "hey, there's a shortcut to the magik shoppe through here!"

It should keep monsters from spawning 6 locations away from you during a low-player-count game. With 2.0 and its 3 board expansions, it always seemed unmanageable to me in 1-2 player game.

Yep... the big board is really a problem in EH with one investigator. It seems that AH 3rd is manageable even running only one investigator. By using money you can travel quite quicly to the problem spot!

and Also the expansions does not nesessary increase the area that is needed to be cowered. For example EH using antarctica and with only one investigator can be a real pain...

It's actually a really good thing because it allows them to provide expansion material without unbalancing gameplay due to additional board size. It's a really smart way to approach a game that they know they will be making lots of expansion material for.

The art on the “gameboard” does look similiar to the board of Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu.

I normally love modular boards but am really disappointed in this one. The hexagonal design looks too sci fi and the perspective of the tiles and connectors are different which looks sorta amateur. That and the recycled art make this title a pass for me (just like MOM2e) AHLCG already does everything.

I disagree.

For modular boards hexagons are used a lot because they allow more combinations than squares do. Also the connections do not look amateurish at all for is the art recycled.

It is amateur, that's not an opinion. By any measurement the perspective is wrong. It's unfortunate since the same affect could have been achieved without the error.

Sorry it is just your opinion. Unless you think that your opinions are facts...

The strange perspective of the street connectors puts me right off. It's the first thing my eye is drawn to when looking at the game board.

I really think the artists could have done a better job on this.

Not me. I just noted they seem to be one space of movement and open out into two spaces each way.

Yeah, the board is really ugly!

Having played it at Arkham Nights, it looks great on the table! Although I didn't really have complaints to speak of from the previews, so... shrug

There is only 1 odd thing to note about the modular board (which I otherwise like), there are 5 double-sided tiles and 8 locations...

2 of the sides are double up. I assume that's to give more play space (5 instead of 4 tiles) without adding new neighborhoods to the city of Arkham. It's just odd. I believe they are Riverside & Downtown, but I could be wrong.

19 hours ago, Duciris said:

There is only 1 odd thing to note about the modular board (which I otherwise like), there are 5 double-sided tiles and 8 locations...

2 of the sides are double up. I assume that's to give more play space (5 instead of 4 tiles) without adding new neighborhoods to the city of Arkham. It's just odd. I believe they are Riverside & Downtown, but I could be wrong.

Weird,

Traditionally, the city of Arkham has been presented as having 9 neighborhoods/districts:

  • Northside / Downtown / Easttown
  • Merchant District / Rivertown
  • Miskatonic University (or Campus) / French Hill
  • Uptown / (Lower) Southside

My guess is that they would add the missing one(s) on future expansions, along with known missing locations like the Hangman's Hill and such...

Just out of curiosity, which of the above is not present in the current tiles? (Uptown?)

Edited by Zsig
1 minute ago, Zsig said:

Weird,

Traditionally, the city of Arkham has been presented as having 9 neighborhoods/districts:

  • Northside / Downtown / Easttown
  • Merchant District / Rivertown
  • Miskatonic University (or Campus) / French Hill
  • Uptown / (Lower) Southside

My guess is that they would add the missing one(s) on future expansions, along with known missing locations like the Hangman's Hill and such...

Just out of curiosity, which of the above is not present in the current tiles?

French Hill.

  • Downtown: Arkham Asylum, Independence Square, & La Bella Luna (replacing Bank of Arkham)
  • Merchant District: River Docks, Unvisited Isle, & Tick-Tock Club (replacing The Unnamable)
  • Miskatonic University: Orne Library (replaces Library), Observatory is replacing either Science Building or Administration Building
  • Northside: Curiositie Shoppe, Train Station, & Arkham Advertiser (replacing Newspaper)
  • Uptown: St. Mary's Hospital, Ye Olde Magick Shoppe, & Hangman's Hill (replacing Woods)

The other 3 are unchanged.

  • Easttown: Hibb's Roadhouse, Police Station, & Velma's Diner
  • Rivertown: Black Cave, General Store, & Graveyard
  • Southside: Historical Society, Ma's Boarding House, & South Church
12 minutes ago, Duciris said:

French Hill.

  • Downtown: Arkham Asylum, Independence Square, & La Bella Luna (replacing Bank of Arkham)
  • Merchant District: River Docks, Unvisited Isle, & Tick-Tock Club (replacing The Unnamable)
  • Miskatonic University: Orne Library (replaces Library), Observatory is replacing either Science Building or Administration Building
  • Northside: Curiositie Shoppe, Train Station, & Arkham Advertiser (replacing Newspaper)
  • Uptown: St. Mary's Hospital, Ye Olde Magick Shoppe, & Hangman's Hill (replacing Woods)

The other 3 are unchanged.

  • Easttown: Hibb's Roadhouse, Police Station, & Velma's Diner
  • Rivertown: Black Cave, General Store, & Graveyard
  • Southside: Historical Society, Ma's Boarding House, & South Church

Nice, thanks!

Interesting. Uptown is known for not having many points of interest (as it's mostly housing apartments) so it makes sense they placed St. Mary's Hospital (even though the hospital is in fact part of the university campus) and Hangman's Hill (which is actually closer to the Merchant District/Campus than to Uptown)...

Eager to see what they'll do with the French Hill too, as the Graveyard (that they placed on Rivertown) is actually located on this district (along with the Silver Twilight Lodge and the Witch House).