First of all, I'm sorry. I know that this sort of question must have been posted 1 million times, but I can't find any.

So I've played quite a few vanilla Arkham Horror games now and lately they've been incredibly easy and boring. We usually end up sealing gates long before the Ancient One awakens, and if it somehow does we usually beat the crap out of it with minimal casualties. So I'm currently looking for expansions for the game, perhaps 1 bigbox and 1 smallbox. I want something that increases difficulty and adds a lot more variety to the game. I've heard that Dunwich has the bang for your buck (the most new components), Innsmouth adds the most difficulty, and Kingsport is kind of meh. Smallbox wise, I've heard that Curse of the Dark Pharoah and the Black Goat are also somewhat mediocre, The King in Yellow is excellent, and the Lurker makes the game easier. So many choices!

Any suggestions?

Hello Luckycharms,

and welcome to the Carnival yes, you're right, this question popped up a couple of times during the years, you can find a good analysis of the subject here. Hope this helps!

You can always makes House Rules (which have the advantage of being free of charge) to increase your difficulty.

For example, have 2 monsters appear as a result of a gate instead of one.

Another alternate solution (similar to what the above poster said) is in this thread.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=5&efcid=1&efidt=414447

Although multiple discussions go on about this very topic, let me recommend Kingsport as a big-box and Lurker as a small box.

Kingsport has AOs that are nasty to fight in final combat, and nasty before combat (Atlach-Nacha!!!). However it also includes the EPIC BATTLE cards that make ALL final combats, including the base game AOs', more formidable. You'll think twice before you laugh at Nyarlathotep's awakening. Sure its board mechanic is the easiest to keep at bay of all three, but at least it never dilutes with multiple expansions (Dunwich's suffers the most from this), and Kingsport comes with two fun heralds (Tulzscha removes seals and Ghroth adds doom tokens). Also, Kingsport has the most brutal rumors, if I do say so.

Lurker and Black Goat were both recommended because they have gate bursts. But Lurker is just a better expansion. Its replacement gate tokens will add some fun new challenge, and the Relationship cards are a fine add-on. Its cards all support team play more than other expansions, and you can make up for Kingsport's lack of unstable locations with Lurker's... well, let's just say that Lurker has some Mythos "surprises.

Thanks Tibs! I've already ordered the King in Yellow, but I may just go ahead and order Lurker. I appreciate your input for Kingsport. Overall, I totally agree. I really like Kingsport's new components, especially the epic battle cards and heralds, and the overall theme and atmosphere of the game. However, most people agree that the rift mechanic is just plain annoying. While people rave about Dunwich and Innsmouth, the rift mechanic always makes reviewers hesitate on giving Kingsport a 10/10. Also, I doubt that dilution will be a problem, since I'm probably going to use big box expansions one at a time. Right now, I'm leaning more to Innsmouth, then Dunwich as soon as it is reprinted.

Kingsport is a good suggestion because of the epic battle and powerful Ancient Ones. I would recommend Innsmouth over Kingsport though because you get 16 characters and 8 Ancient Ones that are all more powerful than the stock AOs. Plus the Innsmouth board is more fun to play on than the Kingsport board IMHO. But if you really want to flesh your game out pick up both the Innsmouth and Kingsport board. Play the Innsmouth board with the Kingsport AOs and the epic battle cards and you will probably loose.

luckycharms94 said:

I think Kingsport is great too, it seems to get a harsh review at times. I can't imagine not using various elements particularly the epic battle cards. The rifts are a challenge and can tie up one investigator, but not annnoying. Now gate bursts, I find them annoying. The great thing about AH is that there is so much stuff now, and what you use is quite flexible - everyone can mix & match to suit their taste.

Don't like something - no problem, exclude it from your game atfter giving it a try.

Shub-Niggurath said:

Agreed. I must say that not everyone judges the expansions according to their difficulty. Some buy them based on their preferred Lovecraft stories and not everyone likes Innsmouth.

i still dont have KiY, Lurker, or Insmouth but out of the ones i have I kinda like Dunwhich more than Kingsport as a big board expansion... (at least for me as i normally play with only 2 characters) Kingsport normally requires someone on it at all times unless you want Rifts popping up all over the place... the card expansions all have their own charms i guess... dark pharaoh makes things a little easier imo with nicer loot, while black goat can make things a nightmare sometimes just keep in mind the more expansions you add the more gate bursts go into your mythos deck which can be a nightmare . As og now i tend to use Dunwhich + Dark Pharaoh + Black Goat... and if i have more people over i swap in Kingsport or could add it completely in... Also... even without the board i still leave the kingsport cards mixed in (mythos, otherworldly, locations, investigators, and of course Epic Battle Cards, etc...) with the rule being that if i draw a kingsport mythos card where it effects a kingsport location (gate added, clue tokens placed, etc...) i simply draw another card... same with locations that are added to the base ones... normally they don't really effect a specific kingsport area...the only thing that seems to happen more as a result of this is that if its a kingsport otherworldly you normally get Other as your encounter...but that already happened a lot anyway... so far im enjoying all the expansions and look foward to getting the ones i'm missing...not sure how well they will all integrate but i guess i'll find out and customize it as they come.

To experience full chaos, I play with all the boards and expansions at once! I do use some slight dilution of the mythos deck though.

Personally my favorite small boxes are KiY and Lurker. Both bring very interesting game mechanics into play, and are very thematic in nature. BgoTW is kinda bleh, as hardly any change in gameplay happens when this expansion is introduced unless you play with the herald, not to mention it's a tad bit too bonecrushing for my taste.

My favorite big-box expansion is definitely Innsmouth! The Deep One Rising Track is a killer, not to mention it has a whole lot of other nifty stuff such as the Innsmouth Look, Yhantlei (curses, not sure I spelled that right), and a massive amount of investigators and AOs. I actually lke Kingsport and Dunwich equally, as in Kport, the Epic Battle cards are a necessity IMO, and the rift mechanic is actually makes you WANT to visit this town. I don't understand the Kingsport hate at all.

As the other guys said above, pick one expansion that suits your taste, either thematically or in difficulty increase, or both.

RocksLikeToast said:

No it doesn't. The trick is to only send a person to Kingsport once a track hits three. Remember, it's okay to let all the tracks be half full, since that way they bounce 50% of mythos cards with no effect (iow, it really only requires half an investigator to keep the town under control). Kindof.

That's right. Unless I'm using a custom character who starts in Kingsport, ordinarily nobody shows up there until halfway-to-late in the game when at least one track is at 3. Depending on how close I am to getting a victory by seals or closed gates, or how lucky I'm feeling (or how nasty the AO will be to beat in combat, which, since Kingsport includes Epic Battle, ranges from nasty to impossible), I may just let the rift open and hope it does nothing.

Tibs said:

Even a rift open is not a major issue. With two investigators sent straigth to Kingsport and working both on the same rift track, it requires only 2 round to close a rift. Thus only one Mythos phase. A very low risk to have an extra doomer arriving, something less than 1/6.

Yes, it's the same frequency as the Dunwich Horror. But each rift is as bad as the Horror, and there can be as many as three! Plus, I house-rule that rifts only open in Kingsport, which often makes rift repair one hell of a task. Rifts seem to like to spit Dark Young and other nasty things into the Kingsport streets.

I have just ordered the Innsmouth Horror expansion, after making the following considerations:

• I already own the Dark Pharoh and Black Goat small expansions
• I would like some new Investigators & Ancient One's
• Dunwich is out of print
• I found an online retailer selling Innsmouth with 43% off the RRP and free shipping!

So yes, some people do choose expansions by them. Others choose by wanting to increase the difficulty.

While the rest of us just can't say no to a bargain. I feel that I should be drawing several corruption cards right now..

Hey man, with that good of a bargain, any given expansion would jump to my #1 recommendation. No shame in getting it while the gettin's good.

Tibs said:

Yep, they are as dangerous as three Dunwich Horrors, I agree :-) But it's very unlikely to happen that more than one rift opens at the same time. At least, it never happened to me but once, in the game I lost a couple of weeks ago against Tsathogghua. Anyway, I love your idea of rifts opening in Kingsport. How do you decide their "starting location"? Is it the location depicted on the last token added to the rift track?

Krawhitham said:

Do tell? I'm considering buying another expansion almost immediately. I'm quickly becoming obsessed with this game.

(Feel free to private message the answer, if you like.)

Tibs,

That's an interesting way to do it. I set-up my Kingsport Board a little differently in that I place, face down, all of the markers associated with the Rifts, and turn them over as they appear IAW the rules. However, I'm of the same mind that the last token reveals the location of the Rift (in Kingsport) vice any other Borad (vis-a-vis the Mythos card). It would seem to keep Kingsport quite relevant, while reducing the chance of Monster over-runs on the other boards.

The Professor

Exactly. It's like... if Kingsport is the source of the rifts, and we're investigating the rifts in Kingsport, why don't they ever open in Kingsport?

A more challenging rift mechanic would have used all 12 of Kingsport's locations, including the Kingsport Head, rather than just doubling three of the locations.

That's actually a very interesting houserule, Tibs. Keeps Kingsport from being so peaceful and :::yawn::: sleepy.

9-Jack-9 said:

I don't mind sharing, but you would need to be in New Zealand to take advantage:

http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Home_Garden/Crafts_Hobbies/Games/Role_Playing_Fantasy/9781589945951/?cf=3&rid=340860306&i=1&keywords=arkham+horror

Tibs,

I agree, in theory, with using ALL of the Kingsport locations, but in practice, the "thou shalt "end your movement" clause, makes those three locations unbearable.

Tibs said:

Speaking of which, my buddy works at Barnes and Noble, and they get a 30% discount on stuff (sometimes up to 40 on special days!) so I got my copy fo less than 30 bucks :-x So when I see him on Friday, I will now have Innsmouth! Huzzah! Oh my, my devoured investigators will soon go through the roof...