Hey guys,

I recently got Arkham Horror (yay!) and have played a few times. I already know that I probably miss steps occasionally, and make silly mistakes when playing. i.e. I know a couple of times I have forgotten the doom counter. Some of the rules still throw me, and sometimes I feel like there aren't any written rules about a couple of the things that I can find. Or at least any clearly written rules. I.e. when to do stuff with the terror track etc.

But I am learning, and I am getting better. I also noticed that there are expansions to the game. Now eventually I am sure I will wind up getting all of them, but is there any in particular you would recommend first. Should I buy them in release order? I am certain that the shop near me has Dunwich Horror, but don't know if it has Dark Pharaoh. They said on the phone they can order anything though. So does it matter about order? Which do you suggest I get first?

Also is the game still getting expanded? I love the fact that with the expansions the game gets so big and detailed. Though I also know that even then I would eventually want more. Can we expect more? Or with the Mansions of Madness game, are we to expect Arkham Horror support to stop?

Just curious, and sorry if they have been asked elsewhere.

Thanks guys

Hi Ebonrook,

and welcome to the Carnival The theme "what expansion is the best to start with" has been debated a lot (almost once a week) during the years, so it should be easy for you searching for detailed posts at this regard ::nodding seriously:: my two cents: if your local store has a copy of Dunwich, go for it. It's (imo) the best big box expansion to start with, because it boosts the difficulty of the base game (which is pretty easy to beat, once you've understand some of the "hidden" mechanics like the frequency of gates), adds tons of new materials (7 new encounter cards for *every* location in Arkham + location cards for the new 9 locations in Dunwhich; in addition to this you have Injury and Madness cards, that can be used with any expansion of the game), 2 new worlds (Lost Carcosa and Another Time) and introduces you to the vortex mechanics that you'll find later in other expansions. Nice investigators and some challenging AOs complete the pack.

The Dark Pharoah is also a good expansion, the allies rock and the egyptian component is very well designed, but it shouldn't add really a challenge, since it does not change a lot the difficulty of the base game only. So, my suggestion, if money isn't a big issue, go for both. Otherwise, I'd go with Dunwich.

As far as your other question is concerned, well... we all hope MoM does not imply the main AH line is interrupted forever. I wouldn't think so, anyway, since at the Arkham Nights event two new AOs for AH will be presented to the public, and the game is still selling very well, so if I were the factory, I'd continue producing new material for AH, but... well, let's see what happens!

Thanks for the detailed reply, but this will sound very dumb, but what is AOs? Sorry. Am still trying to get used to this. What were the new ones?

I think I will try to get both some time tomorrow

Ebonrook said:

Uops, sorry for this! AOs = Ancient Ones, the bad dude you have to deal it while playing (Cthulhu & friends)

As far as the new Ancient Ones... we have to wait until the end of october to see them see the light :-)

Ah so there is a couple of new ones due out? See that is kinda what I meant, even if it's only small things occasionally that still suggests support for it, always good sign

There's a ton of creative content for this game(literally, sometimes it feels too much to handle, really), both official and fanmade, so you won't get bored with it easily. Get some of the custom Ancient Ones off boardgamegeek.com. These will keep you busy for a while.

We all made silly mistakes when we started. Anyone who says otherwise is either a liar or terrifyingly oblivious. So you're already on a very well-worn path...just keep walking. We are trying to coax FFG into finishing a grand overall FAQ to fill in all the rule holes, but our Summoning Rituals don't seem to be working all that well. Stay tuned.

If you already intend to buy every expansion, then buying them in release order (DP, DH, KY, KH, BG, IH, LT) is not a bad idea. (With the possible exception of buying Dunwich first.) This will give you time to experience each new expansion to the fullest, deciding what you like or dislike about it, before either shuffling it aside or integrating it for the next one. There is something good to discover in all of them.

There is no guarantee that there will be more expansions; FFG keeps its plans locked up tighter than the Miskatonic copy of the Necronomicon. But many thought Innsmouth was the last...untill Lurker came out. As long as Arkham Horror remains even a fraction of how popular and profitable it is now, I can't imagine FFG not coming up with SOMETHING new every so often. The Arkham Nights promo items Julia mentioned, or even the fact that there IS an Arkham Nights event, should state pretty solidly that FFG knows how important Arkham Horror is to their catalog.

I don't think Mansions of Madness is intended to take away anything from Arkham Horror. Rather, I think MoM is FFG's sneaky way of offering all those gamers who shied away from AH a taste of their Lovecraft Country. And if they like this new little satellite game...well, maybe they'll finally take a shot at the grandfather material.

Hello and welcome Pump your Will, because you will be losing sanity soon!

I too support the idea of starting with DH. First because the new board and its mechanic are pretty cool and very flavourful if you've read HPL's story Second because it also adds a lot of new material to the "base game" board.

I've also bought the King in Yellow and the Black Goat and have them permanently mixed in. I must say, I'm getting a little sick of seeing constant references to goat-this and goat-that, so I might be pulling out some elements from the Black Goat. The King in Yellow is excellent though, and very thematic.

Some people prefer to play with every expansion at the same time, but this, apart from the need for a huge table, IMHO it dilutes the theme of each individual game...so when I'll get a second board expansion I intend to use only one extra board at a time. It's really a thing on which you'll make up your mind once you've played a few games

Tox said:

I am not really sure how it'll go for me. We have a rather large group who can play reguarly. I don't know how well that would effect having the extra boards. I know it affects the number of monsters etc, but would that change with the extra space?

Personally I would expect there the number of potential monsters to rise with the extra board spaces/number of players. Though I could be wrong.

Just to double check a random one. Exhaust does mean essentially 'used for that turn' and we can get it back during upkeep? Because the King in Yellow Tome seems a bit Overpowered if that is the case? You can essentially get that tome, then use up some Sanity every turn, then just go to the Asylum to get it all back. Resulting in having a stockpile of clues? Or is it that I have misunderstood the Tome and it's actually a one time only deal?

Exhausted means "used up for that turn)Many(or most) exhausted cards are refreshed(made available again) in the upkeep phase of the next turn.Note, however that many tomes can only be used again if you've failed the skill check to gain the tome's benefit.

So, essentially, the tome card may read:

Movement: Exhaust and spend 2 movement points to make a Lore(-2) check. If you pass, gain 2 clue tokens, lose 1 Sanity and discard [card's name]. If you fail, nothing happens. So, on a failure you get to keep this card until you succeed the skill check, in which case you gain the item's benefit and discard it.

But there are tomes that can yield their benefit several times. The King in Yellow Tome is not one of them. though I could be wrong; I don't have the card in front of me)

Yeah, that's right. Actually, this is a good opportunity to mention the wiki

Regarding your query about monsters Monsters that appear on any of the expansion boards do not count against the monster limit in Arkham, nor do they move to the Outskirts The game introduces vortices(in Innsmouth and Dunwich Horror expansions). Any monster that enters a vortex(in addition to inflicting some negative expansion-dependent effect on the game), is returned to the cup.

From what I understand, the only exceptions to this rule are monsters with special movement patterns and flying monsters. The latter, upon moving, go directly to the sky if there is no investigator in an adjacent area or location, and the sky is considered adjacent to all of Arkham and its surroundings, so any flying monsters in the sky count against the monster limit

Special green-bordered monsters like The Hound of Tindalos move in accordance to what is written on their combat(text) side, so they may cross expansion boards with ease, if the situation calls for it.

Thanks for the answers guys. I was playing last night, and for the first time ever cam up against a monster, I think it was called God of Old or something like that ... I dunno... It had a red border and looked big and nasty. It had 4 Blood drops and silly things like -4 fight and -3 will etc.

So unless I am mistaken that means I needed 4 successes to beat him in combat? But I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to not go insane and not die trying? It seemed like he would be impossible to fight?

I personally was playing as the Gangster (and gave up on combat when I realised we were constantly getting monsters that did all my sanity in one go). My brother on the other hand was Ashcan Pete, and being of the Xbox generation was determined to run in guns blazing, and then got upset everytime he lost.

Have I misunderstood how combat works? Could you guys perhaps explain it in regards to these tougher "Four droplet" monsters?

Thanks again for all the helpful advice

Faceless Investigator with Fight 5 + Tommy Gun +6 to combat checks vs Faceless Monsters with 4 Toughness (aka blood drops).

Horror check

Combat round 1: Let's say monster has -2 combat modifier, so FI (Faceless Invesigator) rolls 5+6-2 =9 dice. He gets 3 success, but needed 4. FI takes the monster's combat damage.

Combat round 2: Rolls 9 dice, gets 2 success. Since there are no wounds, FI is looking for 4+ success in a single combat check. FI takes the monster's combat damage.

Combat round 3: Rolls 9 dice, gets 5 success. Monster is defeated.

Ebonrook said:

That one sounds like the God of the Bloody Tongue. Especially with four droplets, it should be a "Mask" monster. Check the back, it should have the word Mask on it. That means it only occurs in games against Nyarlathothep. So maybe it shouldn't have been in your monster cup just then. Another thing to watch out for, I know. We've been playing 50+ recorded games and we still mix things up. Don't anyone say FFG isn't trying to keep its players intellectually challenged...

God of the Bloody Tongue, perhaps? It has a black border but the combat stats match. I think he's the only monster in the base game with 4 toughness (blood drops). He's tough, no doubt about it, but he's actually pretty easy to evade. I usually try to run from him, unless I happen to have an investigator with some powerful weapons or spells (or an absolutely rotten sneak skill) and think it's worth the risk.

Don't forget that when you encounter any monster, before the first round of combat begins, you must make a Horror check, using your Will +any modifiers you may have.

The monster's horror rating is printed in blue at the bottom left corner of the monster's card. Beneath the horror rating is the amount of sanity you will lose if you fail the Horror check. Note that you must make the Horror check only once for each monster, and even if you fail the Horror check and lose sanity,if that loss doesn't drain your sanity completely (to zero) you may begin combat with the monster.

Example of a Horror check with a Nightgaunt- a blue-bordered(flying) monster.

Let's say your current will stat is 4, and you have the Cross(which gives you +1 to Horror checks).

The number of dice you roll to check for successes is equal to: your current Will+/-any Will/Horror check modifiers +/- the Monster's horror rating.

So, for this example you will roll 4+1+(-1)=4(your current will stat+the cross modifier minus the Nightgaunt's horror rating). You will roll a total of 4 dice, and you only have to score one success to pass the Horror check. If you fail the Nightgaunt's horror check, you will lose 1 sanity. If that doesn't reduce your sanity to zero, you proceed to combat.

Is there any instances where the difficulty of the horror check increases? Does the Blood Drop effect Horror checks as well as combat checks?

Feels like that would be quite harsh if that was the case haha.

What happens if two Investigators are there to fight one monster? Do you have to fight it one at a time? Or is the only co-op combat against the AO?

I don't remember there being any instances/game effects that modify the difficulty of Horror checks. It wouldn't be really fair, to be honest. Sanity is a more prized asset in Arkham Horror than Stamina, and it is easier to lose, anyway.

If there are two or more investigators in a location with a monster, the one who goes first will have to encounter it first during his movement phase(remember that all investigators must complete their current phase in order, starting from the first player before the next phase of a turn begins. So, for example the Arkham Encounters Phase will not begin until all investigators complete their movement phase).

If there are several monsters in the investigator's location, he must encounter them all in order that he chooses during the same movement phase.

Don't forget that if you feel that the odds are against you in combat, you may try to pass an evade check to sneak past the monsters using your sneak stat +/-the monster's awareness rating printed in red on the front side of the monster's card+ any Sneak modifiers from game/item effects). Succeeding at an evade check will let you bypass both the Horror and combat check for that monster, and if you've successfully evaded all monsters, you may leave the location and move according to your current Speed(unless it happens to be zero). If however you engaged at least one monster in combat during your turn, your movement immediately ends(meaning you only get to fight on this turn) and you may not move out of the location on that turn even if you've defeated all monsters.

What I meant was, take an encounter, or mythos card, that spawns multiple monsters to one place. What if there are multiple players already there? Would it be in player order then? Can they agree to fight one each for example? Especially if they are easy monsters to fight? The way we decided to take that one last night was;

My brother and his friend (first time they've played) were sticking mostly together. They both wound up in Uptown streets (I think) where the Mythos card then spawned two monsters. I may of got it wrong, but I assumed they had to fight them. They were both pretty simple to deal with though. Cultist and Maniac.

Because I wasn't sure who should fight them, my brother fought the cultist, and his friend fought the maniac, so they got a trophy each (It wasn't til later on that I realised that some of them aren't meant to be kept so forgive me if those two aren't).

Was this totally incorrect, or in the circumstances was it acceptable? What do you guys think?

Monsters are encountered in order of movement of investigators during the movement phase The first player in the monsters' location during the next turn's movement phase will take on both monsters. To distribute monster trophies equally, he could've defeated the first monster, then evaded the second, which would've ended combat and his movement phase for that turn, thus allowing the other investigator at the location to defeat the second monster.

Sorry for the convoluted explanation; the phase sequencing can be confusing for newcomers, but you'll get the hang of it in no time(:.

zealot12 said:

No no that makes sense.

I keep reading about "Epic Battle" Cards, I am guessing they are in one of the expansions?

Epic Battle cards are from Kingsport. They make Final Combat a lot more interesting. Usually harder too, but not always.

Dam said:

Another thing about this example is, when in a situation like round 1, where one manages to (mostly) beat the odds and roll one fewer success than needed, one should consider whether it's worth taking the combat damage and rerolling all the dice, or (especially if one has a relevant skill or ability) spending a clue to try and get that last success. This is sort of a last resort, since any clue spent in combat is one that isn't going to be spent sealing gates, but sometimes it's worth it to get a God of the Bloody Tongue out of your way. (The other, more long-term strategy is to just stay out of his way until you can close a triangle gate, and then he'll get returned to the cup.)