Yig tends to be a bit of a joke in my Arkham Horror group. With his laughably easy final combat that you almost have to try to fail. A lot of the time, we don't even take Yig games seriously.
So a few days ago we drew Yig. It has been months since we played him. Before we got several of the expansions we have now. So we decided to throw the King in Yellow into the mix and the Dunwich board to spice things up a bit.
Piece of cake, right?
Well, things got off to an interesting start when Hank encountered an estranged Barnabas Marsh on the steps to the Historical Society. It cost two clues to keep Hank from going insane, but we thought it was worth it to remove that first doom token. Then we drew The Unraveling Tapestry rumor card on the third or fourth turn. Rita had already dealt with the first gate and Diana was skulking around Arkham, waiting to jump in one herself. Hank was getting turned around in the Lost Carcosa (he got delayed twice).
So, Diana departs the General Store. She craftily casts Mists of Releh to avoid the Fire Vampire in the street and heads towards the new gate at Hibb's Roadhouse. Casting Markings of Isis to put another clue token on the rumor, she deals with the Yithian there and leaps into the gate. Daisy wanders up to the Fire Vampire and uses Wither to take it down. That passes The Unraveling Tapestry in one turn. We thought things were going really well at that point.
We thought.
A monster surge occurs! Normally, not a big deal. But it just so happens that two Cultists appear from the very same gate at Cold Spring Glen and also move into the street. So, we're faced with either eliminating them and likely resolving this with yet another final battle trouncing of poor Yig, or letting them vortex and probably having to deal with the Dunwich Horror very soon, not to mention the blights that come into play as a result. We figured killing the Cultists was the best option, because even if we weren't able to prevent Yig from awakening, Diana could more than likely head to the Church when she comes out of the gate she's in and bless Rita, who is loaded for bear, and take care of Yig pretty easily.
So, Rita sprints across town and hops on a train. She murders the Cultists before they dive into the vortex, putting our total doom tokens up to 7. Then, it all comes apart.
Hank finally gets out of the Lost Carcosa, but more importantly, Rita grabs up the clues sitting there at Whateley Farm. You can probably guess what happens. Encounter: A monster and gate appear! Rita gets sucked through a gate to none other than Yuggoth! At this point, we figure we should still be ok. As long as Rita can avoid being LiTaS, we're good. Then, something inexplicable happens.
Rita finds herself face-to-face with Shub-Niggurath! Even with a decent collection of monster trophies and weapons at her disposal that would make Mark Harrigan jealous, Shub Niggurath dispatches her. There goes our best fighter and the only one fully prepared for a final combat with Yig, should it occur.
Wouldn't you know it, the very next mythos card is a double doomer. Yig awakens.
Our wholly unprepared group of investigators puts up a valiant effort. But after a few turns, we draw Yig's Sinister Plot that triggers his start of battle effect again. Our entire group, already cursed, is devoured instantaneously.
After just six turns, Yig awakens and defeats us. If only Shub-Niggurath hadn't interfered, we might have been in a good position. It's as if the Arkham Gods themselves sensed our hubris and cast us down.