So, when I first got Arkham, I would e-mail reports on particularly noteworthy games to a friend of mine (who is something of a Lovecraft aficianado and with whom I have played once). Now, I suppose I will post it here. This isn't goign to be too detailed, I just wanted to express some things about the game.

I just got Dunwich yesterday and played my first game this afternoon, finishing about an hour ago. I used every element of Dunwich, Black Goat, and the new Dark Pharoah, the match-up being Wilson Richards (myself) and Vincent Lee (my father) vs. Abhoth and the Dark Pharaoh. Things went pretty well in the beginning. The major problem was the pattern of gate opening. Monster surges are not a good thing against Abhoth, but by the end of the game, I was praying for them (we only got two the whole game). On the first turn, I got some money from Vincent and, on a whim, spent it at the Administration Building. This turned out to be an excellent investment, since it got me Mythos Lore (my pick for best skill in the game, as long as your max sanity is decent). I had initially planend to sweep the streets with Wilson, but all the monsters stubbornly stayed on their gates, so I joined my dad in collecting Clues. We sealed Indepdence Square and the Black Cave. The sealing is where my memory is haziest. I remember sealing the Witch House, but I feel like my dad sealed more gates than me, and I remember sealing one before the Witch House. We definitely sealed only three...I think maybe I only sealed the Witch House, and then my dad sealed the cave...yeah, we'll go with that.

At any rate, by the time he sealed the cave, the terror track was at 1 (thanks to a lack of monster surges and occasional bouts of monster hunting on my part, as well as a lucky Lodge Members Watch the Night), but the doom track was at 9 out of 11. Worrying, certainly, but I figured that the chances of two more gates opening were slim. Vincent had sustained a severe beating from a very nasty Gate card that sent him straight from full to 1 sanity. Upon returning to Arkham, he discovered that his path to the Asylum was blocked by both Children of Abhoth. He also only had a dollar, and I had a Rat-thing in my space. I decided that I would use my Conceal skill to make it to the Asylum and give him another dollar. He attempted to sneak past the first Child...and failed (rolling five dice!). Fortunately, he passed the Horror check and then successfully Evaded both the Child and its brother...and then a funnel cloud swooped in and devoured him! A bemused Wilson decided to just fight the Rat-thing instead.

My dad drew Rita as a replacement, just as another gate opened, placing us one Doom token away from Abhoth waking. I suppose I could have utilized the same logic as before to figure that now it was even less likely for a new gate to open, but I went into crisis mode and declared that we would have to gear up and face Abhoth. Fortunately, Rita started with a stick of dynamite and a .45. She went to the general store and Wilson went to Dunwich, where most of the clues were. Rita, with $6, drew (in addition to some other thing that I can't remember) a heartbreakingly out-of-reach .357 magnum and a dynamite, the latter of which she bought. The mythos phase came up...and the gate opened on a sealed location. I was hopeful that we would have several more turns to gear up, as the odds of another gate opening were slim. This time, Rita, with $4, drew two tasks and a shotgun. The common item deck was taunting us, it seemed. She took Newspaper Assignment (meanwhile, I had been delayed twice in a row at Bishop's Brook Bridge, with the second encounter netting me two clues). THe mythos phase came up...and the seal at Independence Square burst. Fortunately, this did not place a doom token. Unfortunately, it did make eight open gates, waking Abhoth up for dinner.

I thought we might have a chance. We strategically and repeatedly switched around our items to prevent devouring (Wilson started by lobbing both sticks of dynamite, rolling sixteen dice and getting three successes). On the third round, we realized that it was game over unless we could kill Abhoth right now. We needed nine successes between us...and got eight. ONE SUCCESS AWAY FROM VICTORY! I have never had a game that close.

Thoughts: So, we lost, but it was still enjoyable. We had two Dunwich investigators, a Dunwich AO, and a fair amount of Dunwich items and encounters, but the new mechanics did not come into play as much as I though they would. We no opportunity to pick up Injuries or Madnesses, since the only time an investigator was KOed/driven insane/LiTaS was because of Rask of Missing Persons (I despise that card). Only one gate opened in Dunwich, and it was the one that filled the tenth space on the doom track, so we didn't really care about the vortices any more.

Vincent did not seem as bad as many people here seem to think he is. His speed wasn't an issue, but that was only because I immediately gave him my motorcycle. He had to use his ability a fair amount. I didn't count exactly how many times, but I'm pretty sure he would have been knocked unconscious (or at least have to run for the hospital (without it). His starting possessions were a tad lacking, though (ironically, he started with Heal; he traded it to me and I lost it thanks to Rash of Missing Persons).

Rita came in at the last second, so she didn't really leave an impression. But I LOVED Wilson. I rarely used his Odd Jobs ability (partly because I like having random encounters), but his infinite focus was fantastic. It was quite refreshing being able to adjust his sliders without limitations or (perhaps more importantly) without considering the next turn. And starting the game with a shotgun is simply awesome. I never failed a Combat check.

Walk said:

Just to make sure, you meant in two separate rounds right? Because that would require four hands to use. Even Marie only has three :') (If you don't know what I'm talking about just say huh or something and I or someone else will explain the rule).

......Oops. Gah. Yes, I am aware of the hands rule, but it somehow completely slipped my mind that dynamite uses two hands. I must have gotten it mentally confused with Molotovs. Or maybe I just...visuallly...did not register the second hard symbol. At any rate, it kind of puts a damper on my "ONE SUCCESS AWAY," doesn't it? I'm not sure I have the heart to tell my dad. I'm sort of glad we lost, since it would have been devastating having our victory invalidated.

Walk said:

Apparently you guys lost so much sanity that game you hallucinated extra hands ;'D

Walk said:

not sure if i get you right here. but if both children were in the way - were they on the same area? 'cause if they weren't, entering combat (even if evading afterwards) with the first one will not allow you to continue to the next one. but since i don't know if you mean both were in the way [on different spaces] or if you mean that both were in the way [hanging out together]..

just pointing it out if you missed it.

Correct, they were both in the same area (a street area right next to Vincent). Vincent moved into their street, attempted to evade one, failed, passed his horror check, evaded it successfully, evaded the other one successfully, and then got torn apart by the funnel clouds. It was actually thoughtlessness that cost Vincent his life; my dad had maxed out his lore to seal the gate on the previous turn and had forgotten to move it, leaving his luck at its minimum. Ultimately, I think it was for the best, since Rita did better in final combat than he probably would have (what with the plethora of weapons she brought with her).

Also, related to Funnel Clouds: in what order does everyone resolve effects that activate when you end your movement? Say, for instance, that an investigator in Innsmouth ended their movement in a street area containing a monster while martial law and Funnel Clouds were active. In what order would you deal with these? My instinct would be to resolve the more "usual" effect first, i.e. monster, martial law, Funnel Clouds. Has there been a ruling on this?

Walk said:

My guess would be that, at least for now, you play it based on the rule that if timing isn't specified players get to resolve the effects in the order of their choosing.