This is a review for the new Kingsport Horror expansion for the Fantasy Flight Games edition of Arkham Horror. It's the second "big box" expansion to date, although if you don't know what Arkham Horror is I'd go and check out my review for that first. It's under "Arkham Horror- My First Review" in the Arkham Horror forum. It should also be noted that many points might be in relation to all expansions and not just the base game (we are greedy and like to play with everything in at once). Thanks for reading.
OVERVIEW
As the dreaded Ancient Ones begin to stir from their eon long slumber the gaps between worlds are starting to weaken and falter. In the coastal town of Kingsport (where the walls of reality are already weaker then they should be) rifts are starting to tear into our world and cause instability in the void as far as the nearby city of Arkham. With the walls of our dimension crumbling, will the investigators be able to stop the Ancients' awakening and restore balance to the world before it's too late?
The Kingsport Horror expansion adds the misty town of Kingsport to your games of Arkham Horror. With Kingsport comes the threat of rifts- mobile portals that can open in the darker corners of Arkham and release even more monsters onto the unsuspecting citizens, as well as speed up the awakening of the Ancient Ones. Investigators must explore Kingsport in order to find what they need to keep the rifts in check, as well as attempt to stop the Ancients' arrival as normal.
COMPONENTS
As with most (if not all) FFG releases, the quality of components in this expansion is very good to excellent. The card stock is reasonably thick and all of the chits and game board are pretty solid and versatile. I noted with some relief that despite some complaints mentioned here of cards being the incorrect size mine were all perfect matches to those in the base game. It's a shame all of my cards in the Dunwich Horror expansion were slightly smaller then the others, but that's another expansion
.This expansion includes another 11" by 22" section of game board used to represent Kingsport town. When added to the already big Arkham Horror board this makes a very large 44" by 22" gaming board! Including all of the decks and other bits this makes Arkham even more unmanageable for getting a few gamers around. If you dare to add this to the Arkham AND Dunwich Horror board sections you get a rather terrifying 55" by 22" game board (take a tape measure out and measure it, it's more then it sounds!). The actual game space involved if you do this now means not only will you most probably have to play it on the floor (unless you have a giant house with a giant table) but you may also need one entire room just to fit it all out with room to sit around!
I'd also suggest you introduce new players to just the base game (possibly with one expansion, max). Before the big box expansions, the sight of Arkham Horror set up was enough to take three sanity of a non-gamer. Now the whole lot will drive them insane and make them jump out of windows!
Moving to the rest of the box contents, most Arkham Horror fanatics will be jumping with excitement at a selection of new monsters (including another two mask monsters), eight new investigators, four new Ancient Ones and another 300+ cards to add to the game, as well as various other bits and pieces including rifts and their associated tokens. I was diappointed to see they have changed the stands for the investigator markers, as I can no longer draw them from a bag to randomly see who everyone is using as they look and feel different enough to tell from the old ones. I'm also still not sure why the new Herald and Guardian cards are double faced- having a back would allow you to draw randomly. It was the same with the Tattered King Herald from the King in Yellow expansion, but it was the first and only Herald at the time so it didn't matter as much. I also noted that although there was an additional skill slider for the new investigator whose Sanity and Stamina is on an adjustable track, there was still no extra individual stamina/sanity tokens. This may seem like a daft complaint because there's enough tokens in the base game to support 8 players (as long as you use the annoying 3 point tokens), but I'd like to see enough 1 point tokens to go around! We stick them on Whisky and Food cards as reminders, not to mention various Mythos and events that require these tokens (such as "Nightmare Pool" from the Dunwich set). Surely they could have stuck just a few extra in! Never mind
. There is also a couple of "water" counters which are placed on Unvisted Isle and the River Docks in Arkham so that they become water locations that new aquatic monsters can move to- although the chunky counters just get in the way of gates and investigators instead. Maybe a better idea would have been to have stickers of either the whole locations or just the water markers which could be carefully stuck over the originals instead. Even just a thinner counter would have done I suppose! FFGs also seems to have forgotten about the Dunwich Horror expansion board which has two potential water locations with no mention in the Kingsport rules at all! Surely Bishop Brook Bridge and Cold Spring Glen should get some water action- might even make the Dunwich Horror a little more of a threat with a couple of extra monsters about...
Needless to say, you can no longer store all of the expansions in just one of the big boxes! Although they will fit comfortably in the base game box and one of the big expansion boxes (as long as you take out and burn/devour/bin the rubbish plastic inserts). You are even left with another big box that can be used to store parts not being used, as well as room for future expansions because lets face it, there will be more...
FFGs have also gone for a smaller A4 sized rulebook. Thankfully, this didn't stop them from adding a rather awesome rules errata and clarification section in the back, which answers alomst all of the questions most commonly asked here on BGG. In fact I almost thought Coltsfan would be out of the job it was that good!
Overall the components could be made out of carefully moulded Camel turd and I wouldn't mind because this expansion is still what I was hoping for. In fact it has plenty of great quality components that add a fresh appeal to the game despite a couple of very minor complaints.
GAMEPLAY
So what does Kingsport Horror bring to the game?
The rifts bring a step up in difficulty that will frustrate annoy players who will (if they want to keep the rifts in check) have to give up one investigator to Kingsport for at least a section of each game. The rifts become active when certain combinations of monster movement come up in the Mythos phase. If the right combination comes up a token will be added to one of the four spaces next to one of the three rifts, and if all four spaces fill that rift tears into the location shown on the Mythos card that turn. Once on the board, the rift (which has a dimensional symbol and colour) moves like a monster through Mythos cards, and spawns a monster each time it moves. If it's dimensional symbol AND colour comes up it also adds a Doom Token to the track. This makes them a mild to major threat depending upon how many rifts end up out on the board. Luckily they are easy to keep under control. Each rift token has a Kingsport location on it, and all you need to do to get rid of a token is to have an encounter in the shown location. The problem is that most monster movement will add a token to a track, and an investigator could find themselves at a stalemate with the rift tracks as every time they shift a token another replaces it in the Mythos. After several plays we have discovered the best thing to do is leave them to nearly fill before worrying about them. This way everyone can get on with the gates and monsters and not have to worry about getting stuck on "rift watch" for the entire game. The good thing about Rifts is that Kingsport will see a lot more action than the Dunwich Horror board which pretty much remains empty until a monster edges too close to a vortex (which due to flyers and stationary monsters doesn't seem to happen all that often in comparison). The responsibility of the Rifts means that smaller group games are almost impossible though, as three players or less is not really enough to cover Kingsport and Arkham together. I'd recommend at least four or more.
Worth a note is the area of Kingsport known as "Kingsport Head", three locations inlcuding The Causeway, Wireless Station and the Strange High House in the Mist (yes, the one from the Lovecraft story). These locations are described in the rules as "very difficult to enter and travel in" and they aren't wrong! An investigator must end his movement whenever he enters one of these locations, meaning to get to the Strange High House in the Mist it will take a minimum of three turns up and the same to come back (as these locations are in a line and only accessible by a single path)! A huge and valuable chunk of time wasted? The reward for this journey is the "Changed" cards. One gives you +1 Maximum Sanity and +1 Maximum Stamina and can be exhausted as a clue token each turn. The other of which allows you to "super seal" a single location, meaning the Eldar Sign cannot be removed for any reason (there are several ways sealed locations can lose their Eldar Signs and become unstable again in this expansion). We still can't decide as to whether the journey is worth the reward. It is possible to have the first player moved straight to the top through the event of a single Mythos card, but then he would need the 10 toughness/2 gates/5 toughness + 1 gate needed to take the reward, not to mention without help they would need three turns minimum to get back down again!
Also of note in Kingsport town is Neil's Curiosity Shop where you can sell unwanted items, and North Point Lighthouse where you can pay trophies to become captain of the White Ship, allowing you to sail from anywhere in Arkham or an Other World straight to a different Other World.
One of the other elements new to those who don't already own the King in Yellow expansion are Herald and Guardian play styles. These allow you to play with an additional malevolent force to help the Ancients ( like they need it), or a supernatural entity that wants to help/doesn't mind helping you stop the Anceints. You can even have one of each if you want. The Kingsport expansion includes two new Heralds and three new Guardians. They are all powerful in their own right, from the Herald Tulzscha who makes cultists avoid investigators and hunt down and destroy Eldar Signs on the board, to the Guardian Bast who will protect you from monsters and may even allow you to become immune to being devoured simply by feeding the stray cats on the streets of Arkham! It's nice to use a Guardian, as just for once you don't feel totally alone in a universe of human-hating alien beings, and any gamers who complain about Arkham being too easy can take a Herald and get beaten all they want.
Of the new investigators there is several who have unique abilities and statistics that seperate them from those in the vase game and eralier expansions. To mention but a few, there's a little urchin girl who starts with very little other then an Eldar Sign, and only has 4 maximum stamina and sanity. She can however automatically evade all monsters in the streets with "street wise"- a rather powerful ability. One of the coolest new characters is a visiter from the Dreamlands (his occupation is "dreamer")- he starts in the Dreamlands and gains a clue token each time he moves to an Other World area, as well as if he becomes lost in time and space (he also starts with a Gate Box that he can never lose). The reporter begins the game cursed and is never allowed to roll to get rid of it, although he has an ability similar to a stronger version of the common item "Press Pass" (an item from an earlier expansion) where he can gain an extra clue token everytime he collects one or more. Great until you find yourself spending 12 clue tokens trying to get two successes to kill an Eldar Thing! There is even a (not very Lovecraftian) martial artist who is capable of adjusting her maximum sanity and stamina on a skill track. It makes her the first investigator who can physically/mentally prepare for different situations.
The new Ancient Ones include some of the most outrageous game effects and special rules to date. Y'Golonac for example, gets a Doom Token everytime a Tome is drawn by an investigator (other then in starting equipment), this includes any tomes drawn whilst shopping at the stores, even if you don't buy them. Atlach-Nacha has instantly made a fearful reputaion in my group as he turns every gate opening into a gate burst. For those unfamilar with Gate Bursts (originally introduced in the Dunwich Horror expansion), they work just like a normal gate opening, except if the location is sealed it will burst open (returning the eldar sign token to the pile and opening a new gate, although at least no doom token is added to the track). Yes, that means EVERY gate that opens will be able to brake through a sealed location- causing mass despair and looks of stress and frustration on the face of the hardest investigators. For those who like to wait for the Ancient to awaken it should be noted that Atlach-Nacha is physically and magically resistant, and his attack is "Investigators must decide together to dicard one ally from in their possession or choose an investigator to be devoured".
One of the coolest things about this expansion has to be the Final Battle cards- an answer to those who complained that the final battle was not thematic/not Lovecraftain/the easy way to win the game. The Final Battle cards are drawn each round of the final battle after the upkeep. They decide when each side attacks, and what happens (sometimes the Ancient One will now attack first in the round). Each card has some story to help you build up the tale of your final stand against the Ancient One. Does it make the final battle harder? I'm not sure... The cards act like a timer as well- one of the cards is named "The end of everything" and allows the Ancient One to automatically devour everyone. Then there are the Sinister Plot cards too- special final battle cards that add a couple of unique surprises depending upon the Ancient One you are up against. These cards are great and really make the final battle something to look forward to (well, kind of). You even feel like you earned some part of a victory rather then just cheated the rest of the game. Final battles will never be the same again.
The new monsters include several that can devour you/make you lost in time and space simply if you fail a check or two against them which is pretty scary. The major new monster mechanic is Evasion, which makes monsters bearing the skill avoid direct confrontation with investigators. For example, investigators can ignore the Werewolf as they move, moving onto it or going straight past it without starting a fight. The problem is that when the Werewolf moves, it acts like a fast monster that automatically takes two stamina off anyone it travels into or past. The only way to catch these evasive monsters is to move to them in your own turn and pass an evade check against them in order to sneak up on them. If you fail you cannot attack the monster at all. They pose another threat as they are particularly hard to catch without a high sneak value, but cannot be left alive as their presence still counts towards the monster limit meaning they cause more monsters to go into the outskirts and subsequently more terror track rises. There is also two new water monsters- Skeletons and
When looking at the Investigator cards the theme seems to have stuck with being over-powered. The Elephant Gun sticks in my mind with it's +8 Physical Combat modifier- awesome except that to refresh the card you have to spend $2 each time. In fact, spending something to refresh cards is the major card mechanic in this expansion. There are many powerful skills and unique items that require reducing your focus to zero in order to refresh them, as with spending money to refresh common items. This expansion also comes with another Eldar Sign- a good idea since with all expansions in you only have 5 Eldar signs spread through about 150 cards! There is even a Tome that allows you to immediately awaken the Ancient One...
There's another big pile of Allies in the expansion too, which adds up to more then 30 if you have all of the expansions. This expansion includes some famous story characters including Herbert West (Reanimator), Charles Dexter Ward (The Case of Charles Dexter Ward) and Asnethe Waite (The Thing on The Doorstep). I now draw 20 allies and discard two ot them each time the terror track goes up- this means you may actually get an Ally or two (if you just use 10 you can go a couple of games without getting a single one from an encounter).
I should just make a last couple of points about some of the new Mythos cards. There are several more Gate Burst cards (as described earlier), and a couple of "No gates open, but add two doom tokens to the doom track" cards as well. These two-Doom-Token cards originally appeared in earlier expansions, and they are very nasty. You no longer have the safety zone of nothing much happening when 3/4 gates have been sealed that you can sometimes get with just the base game, as you can never be sure what the Mythos has in store! There is also a couple of "no gate opens, but there is a monster surge" followed by every single monster moving cards just to get all the monsters about a little (this can actually work to make the Dunwich board a dangerous place!).
CONCLUSION
I was sure that I would like this expansion before it even came out- I've thoroughly enjoyed Arkham Horror as a game since I started playing it. Therefore any new expansion is always going to be pleasently welcomed. With this expansion I feel they have listened to the voice of the gamers- many common issues with the game have been fixed in some way.
Although I now have no problem with the extra bit of complexity, I'm still not sure how much further they will be able to go before there is just too much book keeping, and I'm still pretty certain that this expansion makes the game too unruly for three or less players unless they take extra investigators each.
In terms of price it costs the same as the Dunwich Horror expansion (around 23-25GBP or $46-$50), which may be a little pricey for an expansion but worth it for all the new and interesting stuff it brings to the game. It's also a step up in difficulty for those who just have the base game and always claim they can (some how) beat it with their eyes closed.
I started off rating this as a 9 out of 10 which is the same as I rated the small box expansions, and I think after more plays it's...going to stay that way for at least a bit longer. I love Kingsport Horror, but there's just something that stops me rating it at 10 (as I did with the base game and Dunwich expansion). I'm not going to say that's a final decision, it may still change- but for now it stays with the still very good rating of "very good expansion, always want to play".
Posted Sun Jul 6, 2008 2:53 pm
