Arkham Horror: The Card Game

The big campaign boxes (of which Dunwich Legacy is the only so far) have new investigators, new investigator cards, and two new scenarios to start the campaign. The small follow-up boxes to the campaign have new investigator cards and a new scenario (which is part of the campaign), but no new investigators. The one-offs, like Curse of the Rougarou, have a new scenario that stands alone but can be played within any campaign, but no new cards for deckbuilding at all.

I am so confused on something in the product line, can anyone help me out?

Ok, so you need the base game. From there, you can buy a big box and the 6 mythos packs associated with it. Is that right? Can you go in any order in terms of which big box and mythos pack series or only by release order?

Now they're being extra confusing. What are these?

www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/a...return-night-zealot/
www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/a...turn-dunwich-legacy/

Do I buy these with the big box and mythos packs? Is it worth it/essential? Or is this just a component upgrade? wtf are these?

The return boxes are mainly storage boxes with cards that change up some scenarios from the original campaign and have some marginal player cards. My understanding is that they are the very last thing you should buy.

As far as playing the campaigns in different order, there's nothing to stop you from doing so rules wise. The issue is them ratcheting up in difficulty and you not having the library of released cards to respond effectively with your decks. Plus they add more and weirder mechanics as they go.

Regarding the order to buy campaigns, I would recommend Dunwich Legacy first as the campaign is pretty solid and the new investigators have wide-open deck building options that are easier with a limited card pool. Then either Carcosa or the current Circle Undone as they have the best individual scenarios. Finally Forgotten Age as it can be an absolute grinder but might be the best narratively.

Or just buy whatever campaign you can actually get everything for. It would be pretty rough to get everything but scenario five and wait months for the reprint.

You also missed the standalone scenarios like Rougarou and Carnevale. They’re a lot of fun and can be crammed into a campaign but are inessential. Maybe a good idea if you want to bring one and some leveled decks to a game night.

Birthday today, so I just got this.

Something I'm not understanding about the campaign structure is if the new campaigns add new investigators, how does that work? Am I wrong that the game is about building up your investigator and customizing their deck over many plays? How does that work unless you buy a couple of the other big boxes that have investigators in them from the start? Do most people just play base game investigators, in practice?

Oh! That's helpful!

What all did you get?

Just base set, my spouse bought it as a surprise. Might throw dunwich and cycle into an order if we like it in our first games.

Spouse and I played this today for the first time. First thing's first, we were pretty tired from a long ass day of work. So keep that in mind.

For me, jury is out a little. It has this weird quality of being very simple, with refreshingly brief overhead. You can see that they really cut out as many administration points as possible when redesigning it as an LCG. The way the enemy just damages you with predictable amounts of horror and physical damage without checks, etc.

On the other hand, despite its mechanical simplicity, it is definitely not an intro game for casual gamers. Every card, every objective, every item is a wall of text that is *different.* I get that that's the draw, but it really ups the investment level in the game. So even though mechnically it's very streamlined, every element requires careful reading and consideration of how it interacts with everything else. The stage three with the ally in the parlor. My spouse trying to parse the interaction between the urchin's amulet and a fast event ability she pulled from the discard. Etc. It's a lot of moving parts, with no static parts.

We're both interested in playing it again.

I didn’t think of the game being that complex coming from the Thrones LCG, but you’re right. There is a lot of text and effects can come from several different sources. However the encounter sets system helps in this regard. While every scenario will have its original acts, agendas, locations, etc., the encounter deck will reuse encounter sets, and you’ll get used to them. Those from the core reappear in every campaign while each campaign deluxe introduces eight or so new sets for that series.

Glad to hear you’re looking forward to the next play. The second scenario is tops.

I'm a sucker and I bought the dunwich deluxe box and all the little packs with birthday money. If it continues fizzling with two I'll just solo it or i can just ship it out.

And you can come join us in Iain’s recaps! It’s all upside! If you do go the solo route, Roland and Jenny are pretty solid choices as is Wendy if you’re willing to try a pacifist run.

Planning to update that soon as it is now a little out of date with Circle being finished and the new cycle announced.