Shadows of Brimstone: Playthrough 2 - Chronicles of Jurgen West & Herbert Herring

Chronicles of Jurgen West & Herbert Herring

As Jurgen and Herbert arrive at the city they saw some of the buildings destroyed. As they went to the Salloon several faces throughout the town turn to them in surprise. In there the salloon girl Jane embraced Jurgen and asked where have they been. All other heads turn to face them. Jurgen and Herbert told her that they had been on the mines and they had battle strange beings and even collected several of the dark stones. When Jane ask them why they had been out for a fortnight they were shocked. 

"We left yesterday in the morning." said Jurgen "I said fairwell to you. Don't you remember?"
"Yes I remember" said Jane " but it was not yesterday. It was two weeks ago."
"That can be true" interrupted Herbert.
"Everybody here knows that to be true Jurg. It was a fortnight that you left... what happened to you?"
"I... I don't know." 



"Maybe I can help." said a voice coming from the darkness of the Saloon. A tall indian with a great axe came forward.
"And who might you be friend?" said Jurgen

"He is Lane the Tracker" interrupted Jane. "He came about ten days ago with a warning. He and his friend Juanito, a mexican, came to warn us that something strange was happening. Several towns had been destroy and the trail lead back to Brimstone. We didn't believe him in the begining but some people took precautions and that's what save us. The beasts attack us. They weren't wolves or coyotes but beasts from hell. Some had more than two arms and others had shells that protect them from shots. But we hold our ground. If it wasn't for Lane, Juanito and the Gunslinger we would all be dead. His marksmanship was flawless."
" Gunslinger?" ask Herbert"
"Yes It is I Herring."

Herbert Herring took out his shotgun and point it to the Gunslinger. 
"At long last I found you"
"No. I found you." Said the gunslinger cockily.
"What are you doing" Ask Jane "He help us. If it wasn't for him we would all be dead"
"I don't care. I've been searching for him for two years. Pass every town from the east coast through here." he step closer to the gunslinger
"I won't you do that" said Jane vehemently stepping and putting her between the US Marshall and the Gunslinger.
"Neither will I" said another voice in the crowd
"Or I" said several other voices.

Herbert Herring stop moving towards the Gunslinger and address the people.
"He is a fugitive and a killer and I am US Marshall sent to capture and judge him. That is the law."

Some people voice their opinion that the Gunslinger help them and it was wrong for him to arrested him now. Herbert knowing he was outnumbered and outgunned withdrawn but vow to the Gunslinger he would still be captured when all of this was over. The Gunslinger just smiled. His dark cloak and hair blending with the darkness of the saloon.

The Indian then told them that he had heard stories of people being on places and for them only a day had passed but it was far longer to the rest of the world. He gave to both the Lawman and the US Marshall some trinkets from his tribe that would prevent that to happen. He had given as well to the Gunslinger, the Mexican and to the saloon girl.

They also learn that a lot had changed and they head to the frontier post where they sold the dark stone because some wanderer was buying them and he warn them that they should carry many of the stones because it could corrupt and mutate them. 

They purchase one pickaxe and a cavalry sabre and they went again to the mines to solve what was happening. The indian said that there was a ancient being that his tribe called The Darkness. It was trap there but the miners had free it. He also said that heir minds twist the information they had previously so every time they went to the mines it would feel that the layout of the mine had change. He also said that sometimes portal open and could lead them to other worlds...

Shadows of Brimstone: Playthrough 1 - Chronicles of Jurgen West & Herbert Herring

Chronicles of Jurgen West & Herbert Herring

The first time I knew about Jurgen and Herbert was in the Town of Brimstone. They were the Law and Order of that small town. One was a Lawman and the other was a passing US Marshall. They were both investigating on strange things happening around the new city of Brimstone. It all began after some miners disappeared.

Jurgen and Herbert went to the mines to investigate what was happening. One of the oldest miner was outside and told them that the problem had began after they encountered some strange minerals. Beasts appear from out of nowhere shortly after they vanish in smoke. Some miners disappear there was no way out. Jurgen, the lawman asked why he wasn't informed and the miners shrugged saying that life in the mines of west were pretty cheap. Some chinese or indians were of no importance to anyone. Even other people leaving wasn't that strange. There were no contracts and people work and were pay per day, per work.

They had request and some people had appeared and left in fright. First was a priest to bless the mine and vanish the demons but to no avail. Then they had request the help of other people but none appear.

Jurgen cocked his pistol and Herbert unslung his shotgun and entered the mines...

They traveled through the mines shoulder to shoulder. Jurgen with only a peacemaker pistol had a lantern and herbert was protecting with his shotgun. One thing they start to feel after the light from the entryway dissapear was that something was there with them. Something ominous was messing with their heads and senses. Eerie light was coming from some passages just to find nothing... There was strange sounds indeed.

Stranglers

Night Terrors

The first thing that ambush them was some strange tentacles coming out from the ground. Neither of them had fighting nothing like it. They suffered but banished them. Just after kiling them and trying to get their wits together undead appear. Some of them were miners some were Indians and other skeleton with no discernible cloth. They both were very shaken by them but they were slow. But it seems the US Marshall Herbert was not so shaken and kill most of them.

After discovering some of the strange stones that they amassed to get to the city they met something they were not able to tell afterwards. Something from the dark - bluish thing that was akin to what the indians called a Windigo. But that was not all. Something that afterwards they would called stranglers attack them. Stranglers because they had two arms as a human but also two other things that would grab them. Their mouth was huge fill of teeth. There was also two beasts akin to crab but with two big claws they later called Slashers. 

After some cuts and bruises they shot them all. Afterwards they left the town but to find something strange had happened. It seems that
they were on the mines for only a day but the town of Brimstone had been attacked...

Arkham Horror vs Eldritch Horror - Part 3 - Ancient Ones & Winning Methods

So, part three of this review...

So, how to win against a old one in Arkham Horror?

Well there are a couple of ways
First - Seal 6 Gates - This is most "easy" way; but with the expansion Lurker in the Threshold it is a bit more difficult due to the bursts of gates
Second - Banish the Ancient One - Or as to say, you fight the old one after he has awaken and defeat him. This is hard as steel....
Third - Close the Gates - This one means that you've closed or seal every gate on the board and the number of gate throphies are equal or greater than the number of the investigators. This is not an easy condition because if you do not seal them another gate can open on the same spot. So...
Fourth - For the greater good (unique item of the Dunwich expansion) - In this task you must go to the Abyss (2nd Area); Yuggoth (2nd Area); The Dreamlands (2nd Area) and R'lyeh (2nd Area) and sacrifice in each one 4 clue tokens. If you achieve this task you are devoured but all investigators win the game (including you) - I watch some excel with games played by people (boardgamegeek) and in 13416 games submitted this happend 10 times so as you can see it is not that easy or possible.

Now about losing conditions?
Final combat - This is the more common one... You fight the ancient one and die... We shall talk about this a bit more about combat the ancient one..
King in Yellow Act III - When you play with the expansion cards from King in Yellow you can die if you have drawn the third Act. There is no battle nothing. You die!
Shudde M'ell - When you battle this ancient one (dunwich horror) he as a power that says that everytime a monster surge occurs you draw a rubble token and it's put on that location closing it for the duration of the game. When you drawn 7 rubble (everyone of them) you lose.
Joining the Winning Team - Well this is one of the most interesting ways to win(lose) the game...
So, this is a mission where  you must go to St Mary Hospital; Arkham Asylum; South Church and Lost in time and Space and sacrifice 1 ally in each location... If you do that you win the game and everybody else loses. Suffice to say in the 13416 games played only 11 bastards done it.

Every one of them is different and that's the reason I really enjoy the game. Btw, as a curiosity the most played is Nyarlathotep, Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth. The least played is Daoloth (I think it was a free card) and from the 24 old ones is Rhan-Tegoth and Atlach-Nacha and Cthugha.

The Hardest one and Easiest one... 
I never played against them all but from the same site look at this...
This graphic is to percentage of lost games against a particular ancient one

Atlach-Nacha	49%
Zhar	49%
Rhan-Tegoth	47%
Cthulhu (Arkham Nights)	42%
Abhoth	41%
Yibb-Tstll	41%
Chaugnar Faugn	41%
Quachil Uttaus	40%
Tsathoggua	40%
Yog-Sothoth	40%

...

Shub-Niggurath	29%
Azathoth	28%
Hastur	27%
Yig	24%
Nyarlathotep	21%
Ithaqua	19%

This graphic is to percentage of lost games when fighting an old one...

Ancient One	Lose
Azathoth	100%
Tsathoggua	98%
Quachil Uttaus	96%
Cthugha	94%
Chaugnar Faugn	91%
Zhar	91%
Hastur (Arkham Nights)	89%
Yog-Sothoth	89%
Cthulhu	86%
Ghatanothoa	86%
Yibb-Tstll	82%
Eihort	82%
Nyogtha	78%
Y'Golonac	77%
Atlach-Nacha	77%
Daoloth	76%
Rhan-Tegoth	72%
Shub-Niggurath	68%
Abhoth	67%
Bokrug	62%
Glaaki	60%
Shudde M'ell	59%
Yig (Arkham Nights)	58%
Hastur	46%
Nyarlathotep	42%
Ithaqua	38%
Yig	37%

Well, Azathoth is impossible to win if you fight him (basicaly there is no fight you lose). And as you can see fighting an old one is not easy. Half of them have a percentage of over 80%. Tsathoggua is 98%... DAMN... So what's so hard about him you ask? Well... 

So lets start of how to defeat an old one.. This particular old one has 13 on the doom track so for each investigator you have to have one success. So if you are playing with four investgators you have to deal 13*4 .... so as you can see it's not good... But let imagine we have to fight him.

First of all we lose all clues - so no rerolls. OK that's not hard. Then I attack and deals some wounds... Then he attacks.. and how does he attack?

I have to discard 2 monster trophies and 1 gate trophy! Each one!!

So, in normal games of cooperation one investigator is good to close gates and others are good to buy and help others, some are good at killing monsters
and so on. And the gates and monster trophies are very useful to gain allies, becoming bless, clues and so on.

Thank you for existing in your life! Praise Cthulhu!

So as you can see - to fight this beast we have to change the gameplay. Well first we try to seal the gates but sometimes you know, you have the feeling that you are not going to do it, so you change your tactic and start amassing weapons, spells and clues to battle the ancient one. With this one you don't do that but you focus on killing monsters and closing gates. 

Lets talk about two other ancient ones... Ithaqua (one of the "easiest" ones with 37% losing probability) and Cthulhu with 86%

Cthulhu - In this case as you atta ck  you must lower the maximum sanity or stamina by one. After he attacks 1 doom token is placed in back. So, basicaly you battling with 4 investigators. Total you did 7 damage. You remove one doom token and the other one is one success away to being remove. After he attacks he receives his doom token so this turn was useless to the investagors. Ah, about sanity and stamina loss. Each investigator starts with some stamina (per exemple 3) and  sanity (per example 7) so each investigator is losing one this per turn... This is not that hard but combining with his regenaration is pretty hard. Ah don't forget that your investigator starts the game with less 1 stamina and 1 sanity so, that example should be 2 stamina and 6 sanity. It's hard, believe me. Now about Ithaqua, one of the easiest ones..

So this guy steals your items in the beginning of the battle. Imagine you have two weapons, you have to roll a die for each one so if you are unlucky you may lose everything.. But how does it attack. Each investigator must pass a fight (+1) check or lose two stamina. Each turn this decrease one. So, second turn it's a fight check (0) then fight check (-1). So imagine you have a fight check of 4 and that weapon you had was stolen... First turn you attack with 2 dice 4+1-3. The second turn you attack with one die and then you are taking damage until you lose. If you didn't lost that might weapon you may begin with 7 attacks, then 6 and so on... But this guy has a life of 11. So unless you have something you are going to lose the game. And this guy is the easiest eheh

Now what about Eldritch Horror

Well, as you know I only have the main game and with four investigators they made them pretty the same. As I said - you only have two winning conditions. Either solve all three mysteries before the doom track gets to zero or after the old one awakes defeat him and I don't think it's that hard to solve the mysteries. In all my games only Shub-Niggurath have awaken (and I lost). And one of the things they should fix in the expansions (don't know if they did); each old one has only four mysteries and eight encounter cards unique to each one. This made me a little upset because after playing against them all I knew 3/4 of the cards. So after playing two games I will know every card which is kind of stupid. BUT  I must say that each mystery is the same. collect some clue tokens and put it on the card (the way to adquire the clues is the only thing that changes).

So guess which one I prefer?

Well I don't know how to answer that. For once I like that I have 24 ancient ones and each one has a battle and conditions that differ from other. Against X ancient one I must do Y but against W that won't work. And that's nice. In eldrich those clues and mystery cards unique to those ancient ones are a sure delight that give me more thematic feel but after playing two games against an old one it's been spoiled...

Board Game Review: Elder Sign

So let us talk about Elder Sign.  This post is going to be an intermission between my Eldritch vs Arkham Horror but I also have Elder Sign. This book is a fraction of the cost of other two....

Well Fantasy Flight Games first began with Arkham Horror and all expansions, then they went to Call of Cthulhu LCG and now they are moving two ways - Eldritch Horror & Elder Sign. Between Eldritch Horror & Arkham Horror there are similarities but Elder sign is a dice game and Call of Cthulhu LCG is a Card game (in the likes of Magic the Gathering). Currently they stop doing expansions for both Arkham and Call of Cthulhu and are focusing on these two ones. Eldritch now has 2 small box expansions and 2 big boxes expansions (Arkham had 4 small and 4 big) and Elder Sign is per definition a small box and they have release 3 expansions (this last one was released this month.

Investigators

I only have one expansions call Gates of Arkham and the main board. First of all the base game.

Investigators 

First of all FFG used the same drawings, paintings and art from the previous games - yeah, why create new things if we can milk these cow this way. The investigators are the same, the old ones as well (in eldritch there are some new old ones). Well, each character has stamina & sanity points and each one starts with a base set of items or clues and has a in-game bonus. 

Old One

The Old Ones

The Old ones has a beautiful character sheet where we can see the omen track (on the right side) and it's attack and on the left the condition that exist on the game. Each one has a special condition. There is also the way to defeat the monster. In this case Yog-Sothoth for each hit we have to roll 3 clues plus 2 manuscripts (more on that later. 

As you can see neither the investigator or the ancient one has a fluff text. They exist because they do. There is no story, there is nothing that links me to one or other investigator. It's irrelevant who I am battling. For a Cthulhu based game I don't konw where they are going with it.

Encounter cards

Where the action Occurs

Then we have the encounter cards where the action occurs.  Each card has some design in it but the fluff again is almost non-existent. At much there is a sentence for each one. In elder sign we are inside a museum and almost each card relates to it. With Gates of Arkham the place takes place outside the Museum in the city of Arkham. The last expansion the action is set on Antartica. So, usually there are 6 of these cards laying around and we can do it at any order. Each card also have a winning or losing condition. Per example look at the card on the right side. In the first card we have to roll two eldritch plus sacrifice some sanity or the second row we have to roll 2 skulls plus sacrifice some stamina. If we fail we (bottom left) there is a penalty - in this case we lose a stamina ((the brain) and we get a doom token. But if we suceceed we get two elder signs tokens. If we go to the second drawing there is one row with a single skull and then another row with two skulls. Again each one has a failing and winning condition. But this card has another characteristic. If a monster is loose on the museum he will get to this card on the first row and if that was not enough that green locker locks one green die until we resolve this card.

The 8 dice & Monsters (And the common, rare cards)

Dice, Monsters and Cards

So let us talk about how do we play. Well each player gets 6 green die. And there is also a red and a yellow die. These two dice only enter play when we play a common or rare card. The green dice have 6 sides: 1 Clue; 2 Clues; 3 Clues; 1 Manuscript; 1 Skull; 1 Eldritch Sign. We have to roll the dice each time and resolve one row on the encounter card. Even if we have the amout necessary to clean two rows that is not possible (there is a character who can do it but the rest they do not). So If in the first row I have one clue and one manuscript and the second has 3 clues - I can do it in any order but if I lock the first row I lose those two dice there. Then I will have only four. So as you imagine cards with three rows can be very difficult. Each time I fail to complete one row I lose one gree die until I have none and fail the encounter which makes me do the Fail condition. This is a cool mechanic because I can be closing encounters because they are the easiest and leave the dificult ones who have the Elder Signs. 

Tokens & Clock

There are also monsters who appear because of the Old One or because of Mythos Deck. These monsters are inserted on the encounter cards and I have to deal with them the same way. Some are pretty awful and when they have 3 conditions plus your encounter card has more than 3 conditions unless you have a common or rare item it would be very hard if not  impossible. One of good things is that another investigator on your spot can "lock" a particular hard die and help you out. There is also spells that do the same thing.

Mythos Card
Now for the Mythos Card.... The mythos card in Elder Sign are very straightforward. A monster appear, a doom token is added, the clock moves faster or slower or something like that. That clock on that picture turns with each investigator. With four players, if everyone plays the clock chimes for midnight and a new mythos card is drawn.

Conclusion
So, what do I think??
Well, if you want a fast game that takes 30 minutes of your time, then go for it. If you want to roll some dice without any story or fluff get in your away, then go for it. As I said, this is a good game for playing with your 8 year old son or daughter. Yeah son, roll those dice if they match Yeee.. if not welll something bad happens. It's fast and quick to learn with only a couple of rules. But if you are used to Arkham or Eldritch you will find it boring. Truly boring. It's just roll some dice. This game is 8/10 of Luck based. The rest 2/10 is choosing the investigator to have some benefit and the choosing of the encounter or gate card. 

In that back is the expansion Gates of Arkham

I have bought this game and the expansion in amazon and played 2 or 3 times. Never got around to play the expansion but I will and make a review... But as I said. This game will stay put in my house hoping my baby boy grows so we can play a easy game.

If you enjoy Arkham or Eldritch stay away from it, unless you are a Cthulhu Mythos freak like myself....

Arkham Horror vs Eldritch Horror - Part 2 - Board Game

So lets talk about the use of the boardgame

Arkham Horror with all expansions.... Do you have a BIG ENOURMOUS table?

In Arkham (is's one big city) we've got 9 districts each one with 3 locations and one street. Some are safe locations which no gate can appear (and neither will clues appear). And the other half are the dangerous areas which can have clues, gates and/or monsters. Other areas we've got stores and some places where we can trade monsters/portal tokens for blessing; clues; Allies; Deputy of Arkham cards and many other things.

In Eldritch Horror we've got the map of the world and you travel around the map from europe to asia to america and so on. You've got 9 cities with their location cards and 18 (I think) that are either city, wilderness or sea space.

In both games either you end up on one of this locations you draw a card. Some areas in Arkham can give you the possibility to draw unique items or common or clues or other thing but most of the cards are just bad things. Usually, there isn't a draw of card that don't apply in doing some random check. In Eldritch each city has skills enhanced or the possibility to drawn a clue, spells and items.

Eldritch Horror Boardgame.... Prettier than Arkham isn't it?

Both are quite nice - the cards on both games have some flavour text. In the base game of Arkham there are less flavour as the expansions. I mean there is always some sentences that explain why something is happening. Per example if you are playing King in Yellow or Curse of Dark Pharaoh the flavour on the cards reflects that expansion.

In Arkham as I said in previous update you move around the board collecting clues, fighting monsters, closing gates or going to some shop spree or just go around the board to X or Y location that gives a possibility to get something. But the main flaw is that there are some zones that I rarely go. I've play a game with 25 turns or more with four investigators and there are some locations I rarely or never went. Per example the top left district on Arkham I have cards that I never read... And that to me it's kind of strange. 

All cards lay out, all expansions lay out... darn

I have all expansions but I never play with an aditional board (I bougth them all in one big bundle). When I see some playthroughs in youtube with Dunwich, Kingsport or Innsmouth I think most of them they don't even go to some of the boards. And to me that's very unsettling. So why playing with that board?

In Eldricth that does not happen. I don't have any expansion but I've watch playthroughs from Under the Pyramids and the Antarctica one. And they both have rules that say that the gates open before in those boards and then in other ones. Which to me makes sense. I have to go to that new board - it's the expansion I am playing!

Monsters
One of the things that I really enjoy in Arkham is that the monsters move through the streets and I have to plan ahead. I have to decide which path I go and If I kill or Sneak it. In Eldritch the monster stays put. It's strange. In arkham we fight it to end and in Eldritch we fight only one round. In arkham either you killed it one go or you must try again. In Eldritch the beast takes wounds tokens.

The monsters are the same in both worlds (or at least most of them are). There are some differences. There are more cultists in Eldritch Horror because the cultists are influenced by the Old One. In Arkham each Old One focus on one type of monster. I think that both are quite nice but I think Arkham Horror has more variety which is a plus. Everything in the Monsters I prefer the Arkham Horror counterpart.


Gates
Well in Arkham everything is about Gates. To win you have to seal gates or close all gates in the board equal to number of investigators. Every time a gate opens (and they can open every turn) the Ancient Ones gets one doom token and if they reach the number on their sheet (could be between 9 to 14) they are awaken and we battle it. In Eldritch is not so simple. The Gates are almost irrelevant... and why do I say this? It doesn't matter If I close them. The only objective of the game is to gather clues and solve the Mystery (three times). In Eldrich there is a Doom Track that goes down and when it arrives to 0 something happens. If we are playing with Azathatoh we lose. If we are playing with other Old God, it appears and we continue to play the game as we've doing and then go after it (or he comes after us) and he becomes more stronger as the turn pass or we become weaker... But we still are playing the game. But that's the third part

To resolve a gate on Arkham we must go to the otherworld and have two encounter cards corresponding to that gate or if I have a spell I can even go to ARkham immediatly and seal it. In Eldritch I draw a encounter card and must pass it two times. So it's quicker. 

So, what do I think of them - Conclusion

The BLUE and RED circles on the left or right side are the wounds they will give us. So, some of these monsters can give us 1 to 4 wounds... Some of our investigators would be dead at the first strike... well not dead but insane or wounded.

Well, I do prefer the overall movement of Arkham (be that be monsters or investigators) but I prefer the mixing of boards in Eldritch. They are really a part of the game and not just some cards that I join my main board. The monsters - In arkham there is a feel of dread. Consider this. We have some investigators that have 3/5/7 stamina and the same to in Sanity. A confrontion with a beast can take from us 1 to 4 of stamina or sanity so it a sure lose if you fail a check. And other monsters will get you devoured, delayed and lost in space and time. Other interesting thing is that almost every character as a trait. Some cannot be fought with magical or physical weapons. Some deal extra damage and so on... 

In eldritch horror since I only fight once per turn I can always fight one turn and then if wounded leave and let someone take the last blow...

In the other departament I like Eldritch Horror use of other boards... It's very difficult to choose one over the other...