So, I've managed to clear some time for a game today...

Components: AH + KH + KiY (items, not the Herald), and TLatT (Relationship Cards)

Investigators: Vincent Lee, Darrell Simmons, Jenny Barnes, and Lola Hayes

Starting Items: Not bad, but not great either

Turns: 5 (6 Mythos Cards) ~ yes, each Investigator had exactly one turn (and Vincent, two turns) as the "first player."

- After gaining a few Clue Tokens, both Jenny and Lola ended up in LiTaS through some very unlucky Other World cards (that takes you out for a few rounds)

- Darrell had no weapons, and after stopping at both the General Store and the Curiositie Shoppe, he had a Derringer ~ okay ready to hit the Gates

- Every turn another gate opened, and another opened on poor Lola

- Terror Level ticked-up one space

- Of the five Mythos cards drawn before the sixth (and final one), four were Environments and one, a Rumour

- In the end, the Great Cthulhu awakened...

...after moving some items around among the Investigators...

- Vincent possessed Azure Flame,

- Darrell possessed a pair of Derringers,

- Jenny feebly used the Sledgehammer, and

- Lola (w/a +1 Fight) used an Enchanted Blade

For those who have played and beaten the Great "C" my guess is that you've done so by closing/sealing gates, because let me tell you I had to laugh out loud as this battle commenced. With C's -6, the combined dice rolled for the entire team amounted to 8. Yes, eight. So even with all successes, it would take 13 rounds to defeat him...we just don't have the stamina or sanity for that. In the end, Cthulhu returned to R'lyeh to heal the one-doom token worth of damage. At a shade under one hour, it was the most devastating loss in almost two dozen recorded games...

We ended up fighting him last night (4 characters in play). It's the best we have ever done against Cthulu and got him down to 6 doom tokens left (this was after he healed himself over 7 attacks).

Unless you have increased your maximum stamina or sanity you will not last more than 8 rounds of combat. Plus, in reality, you have to do some serious damage in your first couple of rounds to have any chance.

The only time I have ever beaten Cthulu in combat was during an Other World encounter for Curse of the Dark Pharoh. This was only made possible because I had a gigantic pile of clue tokens at my disposal and threw them all at him in one round (so he didn't even get a chance to attack me!).

The best way to beat him in the Final Battle is to prepare for it at the start of the game (and not make a genuine effort to win by closing/sealing). Stockpile clue tokens and shop till you for weapons - but this isn't really in the spirit of the game.

The Professor said:

Meh, eight dice is grand. I still shudder at that one game against Glaaki when our team of four investigators had a combined total of 4 dice (vs "only" -5, though Physical Resistance) and one round in which to inflict 48 hits...

Dam, I feel your pain, my friend. That's rough...

Yeah, stupid Glaaki, about as annoying as it gets. Of course, he also woke up from a Rumor, specifically failed Terrible Experiment.

It's amazing that even after nearly 50 games (only half recorded), there's that feeling of exhilaration I feel when I have a group of Investigators who among them possess good items...Weapons, Tomes, Spells, etc., all appropriately placed ~ i.e. Carolyn Fern has some good spells, or Bob has a decent weapon, and then you turn over the first Mythos card, and that exhilaration turns to a form of utter dread as you know these Investigators are fighting against great odds to achieve victory. That's what I truly love about this game...