Arkham Horror product purchasing guide for new players

As of late there has been a question which has popped up over and over again regarding  which products to buy and in which order. Lets jump right into this simple yet sometimes overwhelming subject and get investigating. 

First things first the new vs old core set. Fantasy Flight Games has made it much easier to get into this great game with the new revised core set which retails for under $100 AUD from most game stores such as HP Gaming located her in Melbourne AUS https://www.hpgaming.com.au/products/arkham-horror-lcg-revised-core-set?_pos=1&_sid=99be3cd59&_ss=r. This is what the new vs old core looks like:

 

The new revised core is on the left and the old core is on the right. We highly recommend getting the revised core as if you choose to buy the old core set then you will need 2 copies to play with four players as the original was only sold with enough cards for 1-2 investigators. Likewise the revised core comes with a chaos token bag and much more health and sanity tokens than the old set allowing for easier gameplay. 

FFG a little while ago announced that Arkham horror LCG now has a new release format. In the past you would need to buy a deluxe expansion and 6 mythos packs to complete a cycle illustrated below:

 

Gone are the days of searching for mythos packs which were constantly out of stock. Now with the new release format each cycle is released in two distinct and separate products. The first is a campaign expansion  which is usually the larger of the two products and contains all you need in terms of scenario cards for a given cycle. As a new player this makes life much easier as now you just get this one box and you can enjoy a full campaign with usually 8 scenarios giving you hours of fun investigating with your mates. The second product is called the investigator expansion and is only comprised of investigator cards. This expansion is in a flimsy slightly smaller box which is basically just to throw away after you open it. In this box you will find a plethora of interesting and intriguing new player cards and investigators to expand your soon to be ever growing collection. Look out for these products below:

NEW PLAYERS BEWARE!

The most common question new players ask about these two products is what's the difference between the below Products:

 

It can be hard to tell but in person the box on the left is much smaller than the new cycle on the right. The most important thing to know is that the old deluxe expansion is the one on the left and costs around $45 AUD. We highly recommend you don't buy this product you will also need to buy the 6 mythos packs associated with the cycle and as they are out of print and very hard to find. In comparison the one on the right is the new campaign box and clearly says "campaign expansion on the box". This is the one you want as it is all inclusive and there is no need to buy the mythos packs. For the exact above cycle the dunwich legacy the first of the expansions released for the game you can find for around $110 AUD from HP Gaming based her in Melbourne AUS

https://www.hpgaming.com.au/products/arkham-horror-lcg-the-dunwich-legacy-campaign-expansion?_pos=3&_sid=08a4de0c7&_ss=r

Next on the list are investigator packs.

Investigator packs are a great way to boost the number and variety of investigator cards in your collection. For beginners and those of us who don't find it easy to deck build these packs allow for investigators to just grab and go. With their no fuss simplistic albeit sometimes too simplistic playstyles these packs allow for people to get into the game and focus on one specific class at a time. This product is perfect when showing a new group of people how to play the game getting right into actually playing rather than having to explain how deck building works before actually staring to play the game. These packs also come with upgrade cards which you can add to the deck as you earn experience allowing for some flexibility in deckbuilding. 

Perhaps one of the best products to dip your toes into the world of Arkham horror LCG is that of stand alone scenarios. With many to choose from stand alone scenarios are a great way to spice up your game, get into Arkham Horror LCG or introduce a new group into the game with a single scenario. You will need a base game core set to play with these products as you need to tokens/markers from the base game and the investigator cards. Each individual scenario can be played on its own or even slotted into a cycle for some experience points from each player. 

 

Finally we come to the return to boxes. Either you love them or think they are a waste of money and good quality cardboard. A return to box is a product made to allow a player or group of players to experience a cycle which they own and already have played again with differences to refresh it and make it more interesting. In terms of a new players and these products there is not really much to justify the cost in many cases. These boxes also have some new player cards but in most cases they are fixes of old cards which are not commonly used in many decks. 

 

 

Many of the products are available at HP Gaming in VIC AUS check them out and help to support a local business: https://www.hpgaming.com.au/

 

 

New to the game and need a question answered drop a comment below! :)

Anthony 

Gaming Haven