I just have the base set of Arkham Horror now till next my next order in about another 3 weeks. Anyway Arkham Horror is now my favorite game of all time. Pretty new to board games but this game is just so much fun. BTW I went to a fabric store and got some nice green felt to spread over the table when I play. Ordered some good 20's music and Horror Movie theme CDs for an added touch.

Anyway, I have only played with Azathoth & Nyarlathotep so far, about 5 games each and mainly played with the same investigators as suggested by Julia for starting out. I finally have all the rules down pretty well. Tomorrow I (and my wife) are starting a new game with new investigators and A0. Any suggestions for match ups? Since I am getting expansions soon, so I can learn rules before playing them, if anyone wants to suggest match ups with an expansion that would also be fine.

I hope to do Tibs league when I get the expansions to learn the game better.

Really enjoy this forum, especially since there seems to be so many people here willing to help out and share ideas. Nice crowd of people.

Azothoth is the AO of choice for learning the game. Its ability is very minor, so you can concentrate on learning the basic game down instead.

Joe Diamond, Jenny Barnes and Mandy Thompson are pretty good starting Investigators. If you want an investigator who is OK at everything but excels at nothing then go with Amanda Sharpe. If you want a whack monsters Michael McGlen is your man, though Bob Jenkins isn't too shabby either.

You don't really need the expansions to do the first scenario in the "League," since all it is is removing a few mythos cards, items, and monsters. Since you don't have any expansions, you can ignore the parts about expansion monsters.

The first scenario offers investigators with the simplest abilities, and you play against Yig (who has the shortest game). When you get a new expansion, you can play the scenario for that particular expansion. It won't change the rules, it'll just make the game a bit more thematic.

Anyway, 10 total plays is enough to be able to just your AO and your investigators completely at random! Unless it's your wife's first game, in which I must defer to my League scenario 1, if not only for the investigator pool so that she can pick an investigator with a simple ability. Yig was a deliberate choice: it makes the game shortest in order to make up for time spent teaching the game.

Match-ups? As in, a good Investigator to match with an Ancient One? I'm not really sure how that would work. With the exception of a few obvious ones--like Leo and Ithaqua, or Silas and Cthulhu--I'm not sure if I'm getting your meaning. Plus, the base game Investigators are all fairly "middle-of-the-road" when it comes to backgrounds. I'm not dissing them, I'm just saying that they're all archetypal, without a lot of specific arch-enemies. With the possible exception of Amanda.

If you're just looking for good Investigators: Darrell and Gloria are good for Encounters; Bob, Monterey, and Dexter are good for Item shopping; Harvey and Carolyn are good for Spells; Joe and Mandy are good for Clues and dice rolls; Jenny is never broke, and Pete comes with a puppy. But really, every Investigator is "good" in their own way, and every Investigator is someone's favorite. Even Sister Mary is someone to be feared with a Shotgun and a Motorcycle. When you're ready to start drawing randomly, try drawing one more Investigator than you intend to play, and choosing from the few you picked.

Azathoth and Nyarlathotep are the easiest, so that's covered. Then comes Yig (fast!) and Ithaqua (stay inside!). Unpredictable Hastur makes Clue-gathering a fun quest. Shub makes for some intense monster combat. And despite who they named the Mythos after, Yog is the hardest. Even after a full pool of 24 Ancient Ones, Yog remains competitive. (Yog with Lurker Herald...you're gonna need nuclear-powered dice to close Gates.)

Eh. What we say doesn't really matter. If you love the game, you'll eagerly figure it all out for yourselves eventually. That's half the fun! (The other half is getting your minds shredded into confetti by a cardstock rectangle and a deck of cards. )

Welcome to the Carnival, Drakson!