Have to share, don't know if anyone has beaten this record for being beaten down - in a very thematically appropriate way both for Innsmouth and the record breaking heat wave we've had hereabouts.

Marie Lambeau, Amanda Sharp, Tony Muldoon and Jacqueline Fine are out to deal with Innsmouth (+Miskatonic Horror).

First Mythos Card pulled - Gathering Storm as situation in Innsmouth worses, Gate on Devil Reef, a ghoul appears and immediately heads into rift for +1 to Rising Track. Appropriate start I think, Amanda does have a copy of King in Yellow, we'll have to read and get over to Innsmouth to call down some feds shortly I guess. Now 2 clues on Esoteric Order of Dagon.

First turn clue collection, working to make sure right someone has bus fare to Innsmouth and back, oh oh, Marie visits Historical Society and ends up Cursed.

End of first turn mythos card, Sailor Take Warning (environment). Guess that coming storm is a bad one. Crap, a gate called for at Reef, oh oh, surge, only gate open, 4 monters appear on it. Whew, none move into rift. Now gotta get someone with clues but the weather makes Aquatic locations tougher, this is gonna be nasty - gonna have to get someone to Innsmouth and charter boat and go monster hunting pronto. Another clue at Esoteric Order (yeah I guess they're up to no good there).

Turn 2 done and all ready to do that on Turn 3, end of Turn 2, Severe Hailstorm mythos card (from MH). Another Reef gate, another surge, another 4 monsters (since no limit in Innsmouth) and oh oh, five of the eight monsters now move (whack of maniacs and cultists and a deep one all dive into the rift) - the Deep Ones Rising Track is filled and Cthulhu awakes (with another clue on the Esoteric Order just to rub it in). The final combat is short and ugly.

I'm smiling and shaking my head, well I guess not as it was just handed to me on a plate by Cthulhu - oh, of course with the AO being Cthulhu and the Innsmouth expansion being played, that first and only gate - it was to R'lyeh.

valvorik said:

If I remember correctly, you can get wiped out first turn with one of the cards... Or is the second turn surge the fastest way? Tibs? Anyone?

Father Dagon + Azathoth can equal a turn 0 loss.

Veet said:

There you go ;'D

Why does it have to be Azathoth though? I mean, guaranteed loss, yeah, but no reason other than that I presume?

Azathoth would technically still make it a shorter game because you wouldn't have the final combat after. Though Zhar actually has a greater chance of awakening on turn 0 than Azathoth.

The Dagon/Deep Ones Rising occurrence is perhaps more likely, but in a Zhar game, you always have the possibility of a Turn 0 defeat, regardless of boards, heralds, or, well, anything.

Sounds like a good game, Valvorik! Out of curiosity, were you playing with just the base + Innsmouth (and MH Innsmouth) mythos?

Veet said:

::Laughter:: joy... I'm pretty sure if Zhar wakes up on the first turn it's fair to just forfeit without going through the humiliation of final combat ;'D

Veet said:

How exactly do the turn 0 kills operate? I'm at a loss to figure that out.

With Father Dagon, you draw two turn zero mythos cards. I assume the idea is the first one opens a gate in Devil Reef, the second one causes a surge and also shows the movement symbols of five or more of the monsters drawn, who hop into the vortex and max out the Deep Ones Rising track (so I guess this can only happen in games with four or more players).

Similar sort of deal with Zhar, who has a chance of resolving an additional mythos card every time a gate opens (so, as Walk says, it's possible to lose to him on turn zero without even getting the Deep Ones involved; if you keep rolling doubles, you could lose by Too Many Gates (or even the Doom Track), especially if you're playing with double gate mythos cards or Zhar and Father Dagon)

I outlined, for The Terrible One, a turn-zero death. The new MH cards may change this fact, but so far as I know the only possible way is with the Dagon herald. That second opening Mythos is critical. I don't even think that one of them is required to be a monster surge.

All you need for an AO is one that devours you upon awakening.

Somehow, my post was devoured by the forums. Here it is, more or less.

subochre: It's actually possible to have a turn 0 loss with Dagon even if you have one player (or the effective equivalent of one player, if you're playing with more than one expansion board). The process you descrbibed can get you only three Deep Ones Rising Tokens with one player, so there would need to be three more. Hydra adds one, and there are two mythos cards that can add them (one just adds a token, while the other causes the first player to draw an Innsmouth Look card), both of which, conveniently enough, open gates on Devil Reef. I don't have Miskatonic Horror, so I don't know whether that adds more Mythos cards that can add tokens. Of course, all this (and, really, any turn 0 loss) is spectacularly unlikely, but still possible.

Musha Shukou said:

Yup, it was that combo.