Dunwich Horror Expansion

I got the dunwich horror expansion for Arkham Horror and I like it, I think. It's got a bunch of rad cards and new concepts, but I played several games of it one-player while out of town on business and I'm pretty sure the game with the expansion is not for single player anymore.

I feel I can keep up with most aspects of the game, but with the expansion there are now 15 dangerous unstable locations. That means every turn there's a chance a new location will spawn a gate, and since 8 gates on the board means game over, the clock is running fast. If I ignore the gates in dunwich (for the purposes of counting open gates for the game-end conditions) it might make the game work better.



As it was I was doing very with with Joe Diamond, the private eye, but the 8th gate opened. I had sealed 2 and was well on the way to a 3rd. In a normal game that would be all 10 unstable locations accounted for--very rare. With the expansion the clock is too fast.

It's still a lot of fun. I like the new encounter cards and the new other worlds a lot.

-Merlin out

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Arkham horror fest

I've played 4 games of arkham Horror and 1 of high command since my last post. Those games are pretty sweet.

Devin and Robb came to my place for some games a week or so ago and we played arkham horror. I remember we played against Ithaqua, who's not the toughest ancient one. I was Darrell Simmons, who is awesome. I might need to revise his rating. I can't remember Robb and Devon's characters. We kicked ithaqua's ass pretty handily.



I'm Darrell Simmons, bitch!

The game was memorable because I kept Darrell's retainer for most of the game, which made me rich. I got a lot done with that cash. Also choosing two encounters in town was an incredible boon.

Then we played a game of high command, and despite the fact that we didn't really have a core strategy Devin and I did well. He wound up winning by 3 points, but we were 10 or more points ahead of Robb's cryx. I played each of the final 4 turns as if it were my last, but the fact that the game went the full length hurt me; while I was doing well Devin was buying VP cards to stuff into his deck.



Khador wins!

Robb came over last Friday for a game of AH and some music stuff. I was again Darrell Simmons and he was Mandy Thompson (who gives a reroll). We kicked ass again, though it was a close game versus Azathoth. Robb told me he'd never beaten Azathoth before, but I don't think I've ever failed to do so. He's got a 14-token doom track for chrissakes.

Notably, we had to defeat two of the worst rumor cards to win the game, All Good Work Undone (or something like that) which removes all elder seals from the table if left to pop(eff), and the one which adds doom tokens randomly. Those made it tight be we pulled it out.

By the end of this game I was saying "I'm Darrell Simmons, Bitch!" Because I was having my second good run in two games with him.

Then my power went out and and I wound up staying with Robb for two nights with my son. We played two mor AH games, a loss vs Nyarlathotep and a win vs Yog-Sothoth.

The Nyarlathotep game was doomed from the start, as Robb and I pulled Sister Mary and Dexter Drake, two of the worst characters in the game IMO. We managed to seal 4 gates before he awoke, and we had plenty of clue tokens to fight the final battle, but Dexter was cursed and was devoured quickly, and sister Mary isn't the stalwart for that fight.

Then we had a great game with Harvey The Professor and Mike the Gangster versus Yog-Sothoth. Robb started with Monterey Jack and got an elder sign from the Curiositie Shoppe turn one, then stepped into a gate intent on sealing it. His first encounter in the Other World sent him lost in time and space, and it turns out Yog-Sothoth devours anyone lost in time and space.

So Robb drew Harvey next after losing his first character on the second turn. Harvey started with the necronimicon, which as it turns out turns Harvey into a beast. He's the best spell caster in the game and reduces all sanity loss, so after getting like 7 spells from the necronimicon Robb was a beast. Harvey killed like 27 toughness worth of monsters and sealed two gates.

Mike had an arsenal of weapons and a bit of luck, and I sealed 4 gates and killed 10 toughness in monsters. The witch house got a gate early and we kept drawing witch house gates after, and so had many many monster surges from it. Stupid witch house. We killed two brutal rumors this game as well.

-Merlin out


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Ketchup post

I've played a lot of games of late, but I haven't been writing about it.

I went to a war machine "random list" tournament and went 2-2, though one of those games was in-hand when I lost it to a Hail Mary. It was okay.

Ray came out and my nemo3 murdered his testament of menoth. It was a good game. On my last turn I was about to NOT win when ray suggested I just kill his caster and I did. My dice tried to fuck me but in the end they got it done.

I then played a game of Space Hulk with Ray, and my gene stealers managed to get sergeant Gideon in the end, though it was close. He would have done better if brother Leon had not rolled trip-6s to self destruct on overwatch.



At Robb's wedding we played a game of VTES and I lost quite badly, as my predator had little pressure early and made me play a 1-minion game. It was rough. My deck seems good on paper but rarely performs well.



Then we played even more VTES, with Robb, devin, and the eskimatt meeting me at Robb's for two more games. I won the first with a ventrue breed/boon deck, mainly through being a bully and back ousting Matt.

Then Robb handily stomped us with a silly imbued deck, as he cannot help himself and continues to build imbued decks from a set of 60 cards on spite of the enormity of this game.

His deck seemed fine, but his victory rested some in the play of the rest of us, who all played bad combat decks and blew each other up around him. The mortals calmly stepped over the carcasses of the fallen, and Robb got his last two VP on the back of Devin (his PREDATOR) playing a dragonbound that would NEVER HURT HIS PREY, only himself (ha!) and me, his predator.

Ah well.

I'm not bitter about that or anything. That game was in the tank already.

Then we roped Alayna into playing 5-player Arkham Horror, and in spite of drawing the dread Cthulhu (who is a complete asshole) we kicked that game in the nuts over the next 3 hours, placing a 6th seal on the board with only 6 doom counters on Cthulhu and a terror level of 1. The town didn't even care. "Dread Cthulhu, you say? Ah well, life goes on."

Charlie is coming out tonight for more warm achine, and then he's having a games night at his place Saturday as a housewarming. What an awesome few weeks its been for games!

-Merlin out


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Arkham Horror Breakdowns

I played two more solitaire games of AH! Yesterday. This was mainly to say I'd played or seen played all the investigators and against all the ancient ones.

I lost both games, but I had 5 seals on the board, so pretty close to winning the game on oth counts. Gloria, the author investigator is pretty awesome despite looking ho-hum, while the flashy Drake the magician is nowhere near as cool as he looks.

I want to give some general ratings to these idiots who delve too deep and the creatures they strive to prevent eating reality. I'm going to break them down into some categories:

Bruisers:

All of these characters start the game with good stamina scores and guns. They kill cultists and zombies like nothing else, but struggle against top-end otherworld squiggle-heads because their maximum sanity and will aren't as good. They're min-maxed fighters. They are all lots of fun to play, with good starting equipment and money to burn.

Mike McGlen, the Gangster starts with a Tommy Gun and rarely loses stamina. He's a lot of fun to play because he gets to bully low-level mooks, but his game isn't too deep. Points for having the best Fight skill in the game. Rating 3.0.

Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist has a strong stamina, is good at finding relics, and begins the game with a .38 and a bullwhip. Awesome. One of my favorite games was with Monterey. Low sanity can be crippling. Rating 3.5.

Joe Diamond, the Private Eye begins with a .45 and a lot of clues, which is good. Joe's also got the best speed skill in the game which can be terribly important for evading monsters or getting to the right gate to close it. My game with Joe was short but he seems pretty strong. He also has the best maximum sanity of any of the Bruisers. Rating 3.0.

Explorers:

The explorer characters are good at choosing their fights more carefully than others, and when the stakes are as high as they are in Arkham and worlds beyond, choosing fights is way good. They tend to have some money, which is necessary at times for sanity and stamina regeneration, or for picking up a useful item. They're all fun to play.

Darrell Simmons, the Photographer doesn't start with much, but he has a steady if unstable income that can go a long way. He gets to draw two encounters at locations in town and choose the one he likes, which is amazing. Other than that he's a bit blah. Robb actually played him in a game we won, so I haven't had the pleasure but he looks good if not great. Rating 2.5.

Kate Winthrop, the Scientist actually possesses most of the tools to be a great spellcaster: starts with spells, a decent Lore skill, and a good maximum sanity. Gates can't open on a space she is at either, which can be an amazing ability in the late game. She starts the game off with a wide variety of items, some decent cash and 2 clues as well, so she's got a leg up on some. It's also nice that she can't be jumped by gates or monsters, which is a concern many investigators have to deal with. Rating 3.0.

Gloria Goldberg, the Author also has the tools to be a great spellcaster, but her Lore skill isn't as good as Kate's. She gets to draw two other world encounter cards while adventuring on other planes and choose her encounter, which is huge. H U G E. The other world encounters run the gamut from pointless to game-breaking (in a good or bad way), and getting a pick of two is nuts. In my game with her all my other world adventures had positive or nil outcomes, which is awesome when the possibilities include being Lose in Time and Space, Devoured, or Cursed. She's way good. Maybe the best in the game. Rating 4.0.

Wizards:

The three wizard characters excel at spellcasting in one or more ways, though I'm not too big on one of them. They all have some cash at the beginning of the game, and either start with lots of spells or have ways around the sanity loss good spells incur. They're fun to play, but spells are actually a bit random in their usefulness, so it can be challenging.

Dexter Drake, the Magician is a bit of a trap. He starts the game with a powerful attack spell, two random spells, and a good Lore skill. However, his maximum sanity is only 5. Unless he can mitigate the sanity loss of casting his awesome spells he's going to have trouble. Find a healing stone or some whiskey and you might be all right, but it's an uphill climb. And hope you get good spells or you're in trouble. Rating 1.5.

Carolyn Fern, the Psychologist doesn't seem to be a spellcaster on the surface: she doesn't start with any spells. However, she has an amazing sanity-restoring special ability and a Lore skill as good as Dexter's. Buy her some spells with her $7 and get 'casting. She's terribly slow, so try to get her a map or something ASAP as well. Rating 2.5.

Harvey Walters, The Professor has the best Lore skill in the game. He reduces all sanity loss by one. He starts with two random spells. If you want to play a wizard character, play Harvey. He's really good at it. He might be one of the best characters in the game, but for the randomness of bad spell draws. Rating 3.5.

Materialists:

These three characters all either manipulate items decks or have tons of cash to throw around, or both. All of them are fun to play because of how well equipped they can be, but being subject to the randomness of the items decks can sometimes suck.

Bob Jenkins the Salesman is pretty straightforward. He's got money and starts with a bunch of stuff. Depending on what he gets he can be pretty amazing, and since he starts in the store, with money and a common item special he can dial in some more goodies. Robb played as Bob and bought a gun straight away in one game, and it paid dividends. Points for having the highest possible Will skill in the game. Rating 3.5.


Jenny Barnes the Dilettante starts with the most money and gets more every turn. She also has a little of everything from the items decks, but aside from raw materials she's a bit bland. She can get a lot done with her cash but she's a bit slow and doesn't have a specialty. Rating 2.0.

Ashcan Pete the Drifter only has a dollar at the start, but he's the only investigator to start with an Ally, his dog Duke. Pete has a lot of clue tokens. He has a special that allows him to look at the bottom of several items decks and draw from them when he would draw. That's pretty amazing. He's got the best Sneak skill in the game. He's slow, and being poor isn't great in this game, but he's got some chops. Rating 3.0.

Jacks of All Trades/Support Characters:

The next two characters don't do much particularly well themselves but instead support awesome characters well. This can be important. These characters are great in a support role but aren't super great by themselves.

Vincent Lee, the Doctor regenerates his own or another character's stamina each turn. That's good but his own fight stat is so terrible that he's not a great combatant despite this advantage. He has some spellcaster traits with spells and a decent Lore, but his will is low and his maximum sanity is only average. He's rich, which is sweet. But overall he supports other characters better than running solo. Rating 2.0.

Mandy Thompson, the Researcher is an average investigator with middling skills who has an amazing special. Once per turn she can allow a reroll of all failed dice for a particular roll, whether her own or an ally's. That's nuts good. Aside from that she's not inspiring or particularly adept, though her basic stats allow her to succeed at many things. She is good, but not great. Rating 3.0.

The Masters of None:

These last two characters don't really have awesome special abilities, and in my experience they struggle a bit because of it. They aren't terrible, but they aren't particularly good either. One of their worst traits is that they are both poor, starting with $1 or $0, which can make sanity and stamina recovery difficult.

Amanda Sharpe, the Student is a skill monkey. She starts with 2 skills, which is more than many characters. Skills tend to give flat buffs to whole skill areas. They're good. In addition she draws extra skills when drawing from the skill deck (which rarely happens in-game unless you have the money for classes, which Amanda doesn't). Overall her special doesn't come into play often, and she's not particularly good at any skill trees without skill buffs. Rating 1.5.

Sister Mary, the Nun is an anomaly. She plays differently than all other characters. She can't get lost in time and space. She starts with a cross and holy water (the cross is best against undead and not great versus anything else). She has the best Luck skill in the game. She starts the game blessed. She has two spells, a decent Lore, and a high sanity.

Yet, she doesn't quite gel in my experience. Her awful will and fight stats hurt her abilities to thwart monsters. She's not fast or sneaky. And she's broke. So when things go south she can't pick herself up. Rating 1.5.

The mythos entities at work in the game range from tough to ridiculous, as any good CoC antagonist should be.

I'm going to rate them based on how tough they are to beat in AH!

Nyarlathotep is actually easy to deal with if you game for the final battle. A single investigator with a tommy gun and a dozen clue tokens practically can't lose in the final battle with him. He's flavorful and fun but he's a bit of a pushover. On the upside, playing against him allows for a lot of expiration not allowed against more stressful ancient ones. Rating 2.0.

Cthulhu is ridiculous. He makes cultists more difficult. He reduces all investigator sanity and stamina maximums by 1. He regenerates doom tokens during the final battle, meaning single investigators can't win. He's nuts. Rating 4.0.

Shub-niggurath is pretty nuts. All monsters are tougher. In the final battle investigators without monster trophies die. Not many investigators will have enough monsters to fight her for her 12 turns of doom tokens. Rating 3.5.

Yig is one of the lowest-doom ancient ones. Cultists are fierce. The final battle comes quicker but it's easier. Rating 2.0.

Ithaqua is middling. Cultists are tougher, and investigators need to be wary of their movement. High stamina investigators should win the final battle without much planning. Rating 2.0.

Yog-Sothoth makes gates harder to close and seal. Further, Yog eats gate trophies which are hard to accumulate in mass. It's an uphill battle for the good guys. Rating 3.5.

Azathoth is pretty straightforward. Not a lot of specials here. If the final battle begins the investigators simply lose. Nothing to game for there, but Azathoth sleeps deeper than the rest. Rating 2.5.

Hastur is off the chain. While the antagonist gates cost 8 clues to seal (which is A W F U L). During the final battle the difficulty of combat against him is equal to the terror level, which is bad. Cultists become harder to fight. He eats sanity during the final battle, so maybe Harvey could hang, but most everyone else is boned. Rating 4.0.

Arkham Horror is a fun game. I'm still enjoying it. Probably done with recaps. Maybe some house rules to follow. . .

-Merlin out


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Arkham Horror Explosion

So I played some Arkham horror at the beginning of the year, but I haven't played in a while. The wife and I invited Robb and Alayna over for dinner and after decided to give it a go.

The ladies didn't particularly enjoy themselves, but Robb, being an old Call of Chthulu stalwart, liked it enough to want to play again over the weekend. And again.

So, we played a four-player Thursday and won handily. Robb and I then played a two-player and were doing okay, then Alayna joined us as she returned from work and we won quite handily. Then Robb and I played a two-player and lost terribly.

Then it was already out so I played two single-player games Sunday. I lost the first by just a hair, and "won" the second (though I think I was playing the Final Battoe incorrectly). Then due to the texts I was sending Robb on my single player games he came over for another shot at the title. We won that two-player handily.

That's a crapton of Arkham Horror. General observations:

Each character plays very differently. Physical combatants like Mike the Gangster are awesome at killing Cultists but their sanity maximum makes it impossible for them to fight, say, The Hound of Tindalos or Shoggoths. Magical characters do great as long as they get good spells, which is a coin toss at best. Utility characters can be great at either but rarely excel without work.

Get a weapon early. During one game on turn one Robb's salesman character went to the general store and bought a .45. Totally worth it. Also it's an interesting beginning to a story: scene one, salesman walks into an army surplus and buys a gun. That was cool on a few levels.

Fishing for items from the stores in general is good. The unique items deck has some ridiculous stuff in it and it should be rifled through whenever possible (curiositie shoppe for those). The healing stone and elder signs are fantastic, potentially game-breakingly good items.

Always sealing gates instead of merely closing them is a good policy to adopt.

Rumors are terrible. Get rid of them.

Starting with 3 clues is way better than starting with none. One of our worst losses was with two characters who begin the game clueless.

You can game for the final battle sometimes. For instance, Nyarlathotep eats clue tokens and then investigators without them. So an investigator with 11+ clue tokens and a decent weapon (say a Tommy Gun) almost can't lose to Nyarlathotep. Most Ancient Ones are tougher. . .

I haven't played all the characters or against all the ancient ones. Maybe I'll try to get in a few more games and rate both sets according to the ancient method.

-Merlin out

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Location:My House

Elder Sign: Omens for iPhone

I have to admit, the setup for this game is significantly less time-consuming than that of its forebear. As an iPhone game, I can use this app to get my Lovecraftian horror on from just about anywhere. The game features many of the same characters and much of the artwork from Arkham Horror.

Gameplay-wise, the player controls a group of investigators maneuvering through a museum which has many breaches into various other terrible dimensions. There is an ancient one (always Azathoth for simplicity) who awakes and destroys the world if the doom track fills. The investigators must acquire 14 elder signs before Azathoth awakens.



As the game begins, there are 6 randomly chosen adventures scattered through the museum. The investigator who is active chooses one to do, or spends their turn doing some bureaucracy at the museum entrance (buying or selling items, etc.). After choosing an adventure, the investigator enters the adventure screen.



On the adventure screen, the investigator conjures various random runes necessary for completing adventures. With luck, special abilities to manipulate runes, or items to change them around, the investigator can complete the adventure and gain the rewards, which can be items, spells, or even elder signs if the adventure is challenging enough.



Failing to complete the adventure will have consequences that range from stamina or sanity loss to spawning monsters and adding to the doom track. Most adventures are set up with risks and rewards that are reflective of the adventure's difficulty. Tough adventures yield elder signs and lots of items, whereas simpler adventures will give an item or a clue.



Each investigator has a sanity and stamina level that will deteriorate as they complete and fail tasks. If either trait goes to zero the investigator is deceased of insane and no longer helps the team against the mythos.

Adding to the "race against the clock" feel of the game, there is a literal clock on the screen which advances with each investigator's turn. It periodically strikes midnight, and a random bad thing happens then, usually more doom and monsters.



It's a fun little game. I lost my first few games while learning how to play, but since then I rarely lose. Managing the investigators' sanity, stamina, items, and skills and matching those to appropriately difficult adventures is easy enough. As long as the team is completing adventures I seem to do well.

I think it's pretty good, though it suffers from a grind-y vibe as there is always more adventures spawning to complete. I quite like the art style and general mood of the game, but I'm not sure how often I'll come back to it. Few iPhone games have captured my long-term attention span. We'll see if this one holds up. Overall a 3.0.

-Merlin out

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Board Games on the Road: Arkham Horror

I actually got this last Christmas, and I hadn't played it until recently. It's a big time-sink, and a massive game. Luckily, it can be played single player, and since I apparently like single player games from Fantasy Flight Games, I decided it was time.

I'm traveling a bit for work here and there, and since I'm spending some time alone in hotel rooms I thought I should direct that time toward the blog and gaming. To this end I'm going to try and play some single player board games here and there during my travels.

Arkham Horror is an investigation and horror game based on the writing of H. P. Lovecraft. I'm a fan of his work, and the RPG community that's grown around his mythos is impressive. In the game, the players take the role of distinct investigators who must stop the otherworldly entities from devouring humankind.




The set up for the game took a long time. There are over a dozen different decks of cards, another dozen types of chit or counter, and some large cardstock pieces that represent the investigators and the Ancient One, one of eight mythos entities that represent the games antagonist element.

I played two games during an overnight stay. It took about 45 minutes to set up the game for the first time, but I imagine that it will be significantly easier and could be streamlined further by packing the game away in an organized fashion.

Game one featured the investigator Michael McGlen, the Gangster, pitted against the Ancient One Shub-Niggurath. McGlen has a high stamina, starts with a Tommy Gun (one of the more powerful mundane weapons), and takes less damage during combat. Shub-Niggurath makes her creatures more difficult to kill as well. So it was a toughness battle.




Each turn the game has several phases. Each investigator gets to move, do some encounters, collect clues, and so forth. They may even step through gates to Other Worlds. The last phase of each turn is the Mythos phase. During this phase gates open, monsters spawn and move, and additional clues and effects happen.

Each turn a gate will open at one of the dangerous locations on the map unless an elder sign token is on the location drawn, or a gate already exists there. If there's already a gate there, monsters pour out of the gates already on the board.

Here's a list of bad things that will awaken the Ancient One and force a difficult final battle:

Too many gates open on the board (8 for single player).
The Terror Track is filled (starts at 0 and advances every time there is an overflow of monsters).
The Ancient One's Doom track is filled (each time a gate opens a doom token is added)
There's more but I'm forgetting some. . .

To seal a gate requires 5 clue tokens, a successful check against the gate, and requires that the investigator has explored the other world to which the gate leads. It takes at least 3, sometimes 4-5 turns to seal one. A single-player experience seems to require the player to aggressively seal 2-3 gates ASAP to keep the ancient one from awakening due to the amount of gates on the board.

Mike did okay sealing his first two, but by then a Rumor Mythos card had popped up. Rumors are bad effects which linger until a specific condition is met. In this case the Rumor had a 33% chance to increase the Terror level. Mike had to get two gate trophies (seal gates for trophies) to stop the rumor. He did manage it, but by then the Terror track was almost full, and he'd been Cursed as well. Being Cursed is all kinds of bad.



So Shub-Niggurath woke up and ate Mike.

The Rumor card really did him in. It was fun, but difficult.




I played another game as Bob Jenkins, the salesman. Bob's special ability gives him extra items. He also starts with a number of items. I happened to draw two Elder Sign unique items (two of the same unique item?) which I thought was pretty awesome. Bob managed to seal two gates right quick and had saved up enough clues to do a third. He'd also managed to get a Tommy Gun during character creation, so he was tough.

However, a number of difficult monsters have Physical Resistance or Immunity, which makes fighting them without spells terribly rough. A Rumor popped up that put a pile of monsters into Miskatonic University, and if the pile ever grew to 8 (it gains one per turn) the terror track would max out and the final battle would begin.

Thing was, the Ancient One against Bob was Azathoth, and there is no final battle with Azathoth. He (it?) just destroys the world.

Bob spent several turns trying to prune the monsters at Miskatonic U while creatures and gates continued to spawn (because the game doesn't stop while you're dealing with a Rumor). Eventually the list of monsters at the University was just filled with ghosts and spectral beasts who didn't give a shit about Bob's machine gun. The number grew to 8 after a fire vampire knocked out Bob's last stamina and he wound up in the hospital. Azathoth destroyed the world.

So that was cool.

Overall, it's a fun game, but it has some trouble at the single player level. Perhaps since it's co-op, I will try it again and control 2 or more investigators at a time. I'm sure this will change the game in a number of ways, but hopefully it's a bit less challenging.

Perhaps it's meant to be super-challenging? The Lovecraftian mythos doesn't have a lot of rays of hope going for it. Maybe the difficult choices in the game are meant to represent the inevitable decline of humankind as Elder Gods and Things From Beyond encroach on our world.

Flavor-wise, it certainly gets an A. Gameplay-wise, it felt a bit like a gate-sealing grind, with so many additional complications that it felt impossible to win. I know that solitaire games tend to be brutally difficult, but Arkham Horror is the toughest I've played.I'd give it an overall grade-point (on the community-college 4.0-0.0 scale) of 3.0.

There's a stripped-down version of the game available, called Elder Sign. There's also an iPhone game just released called Elder Sign:Omens. I picked it up, and I'll talk about that soon.

-Merlin out

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