The most recent adventure included Vincent Lee, Lola Hayes, Daisy Walker, and Bob Jenkins . While each individual did their respective part to keep Yibb-Tstll at bay, the 2-Doom Token Mythos Cards ( a pair of Rumor cards...one in play, and one buried as the other was still in play) and several times in which the Investigators found themselves delayed did not fill me with optimism. Additionally, as much as Nodens can assist in other games, his aid proved more a nightmare as we approached the higher numbers on the Doom Track . If we were to face the Great Old One in Final Battle it would have been a massacre.

About eight Mythos cards into the game, the Investigators shifted their strategy from one of sealing gates to one of closing them. One of the things that pushed us in this direction were two (out of three) Mythos Cards which had us reveal the next Act . Act one stayed since the beginning, but we needed to eliminate our hard-fought Elder Signs from the board. At every Upkeep from that point on, Daisy (who passed her Personal Story along with everyone else) cast Arcane Insight to make favorable our immediate future. While it didn't keep another gate from opening, some trading allowed Daisy to move through the Other World (Lost Carcosa) and return, sealing the gate via an Elder Sign , removing one Doom Token from the Doom Track (10 to 9). In the end, one gate remained open, the Investigators were too far from it, and Daisy ' s Arcane Insight r evealed that all three Mythos cards would add either an additional gate or two Doom Tokens.

Daisy, with her Library Use Skill and equipped with a Magnifying Glass held forth the Tome De Vermiis Mysteriis ~ rolling five dice, she garnered a success, closing the gate and saving the New England cities of Arkham, Dunwich, and Kingsport from utter doom.

The Professor said:

Well done, Professor!

I appreciate the way you force the board to follow your will, great tactics!

Very cool Professor. I will have to look at using Daisy more in the future especially since she is the key figure in the "Dance of the Damned". Should be fun.

This game marked the 8th game in a series of 16 games I'm playing with AH + CotDP (both versions melded together) + DH + KiY + KH + BGotW + LatT + MH + IH"s Personal Stories. Each of the 16 GOOs will face-off against 4four randomly determined Investigators. Once the game's over, those Investigators and the GOO are returned to the box until I've exhausted the other 32 Investigators. It's been great ~ with a W-L-T rate of about 3-4-1. Always exciting!

The Professor said:

You know, I've started practicing Arkham basics again with your method of GOOs / Investigators selection. It's good (like a Rangers training camp, I guess), I'm forced to learn how to use properly all characters. Always fun, even if I lose a little more (1 game out of the last 12, IIRC)

I never realized how powerful Vermiis is until I saw how Julia used it. Sounds like you had a fun win.

Avi_dreader said:

Julia, I missed your rendition of Vermiis ~ was it similar to mine or...? I'll tell you that the last two games went well in no small measure to the use of Arcane Insight with Harvey and Daisy. The Personal Stories make all of the Investigators a bit more fun to play. I, too lamented how powerful of a Spell Caster everyone seemed to find Daisy in sharp contrast to the Investigator who should be amazing with spells, Dexter Drake . The PS gives Daisy's player pause in digging through the Spell Deck in search of " Shriveling " for example.

The Professor said:

You could read a small report of my adventures here , reply 529 :-)

Thanks for the link! Yes, with the right combination of Spells, coupled with seasoned play, the game remains exciting at every turn. Of course, we've all had those games in which we're ticking down the clock to obvious victory (Doom Track stalled at '4' and the Terror Track barely has a pulse, with 5 locations sealed), but those are truly the rare exception and not the rule. Most times, it's a nail-biting finish either as a 'true' victory with seals or all gates closed OR a hard-fought battle against the GOO (which most people technically claim as a "draw"). I'm still a long way off from my 100th game (I really thought I was closer), but congrats to you as I saw Tibs' most recent report ~ you've accomplished a number of games in short order, my friend.

On another matter, check out your e-mail ~ I've reason to believe that I'll have pictures within the next two weeks which he claims are "web-ready" and suitable for Prime-Time.

The Professor said:

Thx for the congrats, Professor :-) It has been a long way during those years. I hope to hit 150 by the end of 2012 :-)

As for the e-mail... the latest from you dated back to February, 24th, and I answered it. Something got lost?

Ahh, okay, thanks! No, I unfortunately never saw the response. Hope all is well and that you're feeling better, my friend. If you get a chance, send me the response again as I believe it dropped into the Atlantic Ocean.

Ahh, I see ~ unfortunately the response got lost over the Atlantic Ocean. Anyway, just let me know your thoughts on the matter at your convenience. I hope you're doing well, my friend.