Roland through Dunwich, play and analysis - Episode 5: 4

Continued from Roland through Dunwich, play and analysis - Episode 4: 3

Blood on the Altar. Scenario 4.

Introduction and upkeep.

I was not really excited about any of the remaining 1-2 exp cards, I considered Vicious Blow•• as an upgrade as well but I decided on .45 Automatic•• as it seemed the more immediately impactful addition. Also I had forgotten to add Dr. Henry Armitage to the decklist on arkhamdb after I acquired him at the end of episode 2.

Starting hand initial draw (mulliganed the italicized):

Guts, Guts, Beat Cop••, Unexpected Courage, Magnifying Glass

Redraw: Roland's .38 Special, Working a Hunch, Preposterous Sketches, .45 Automatic••

Thoughts:

The first scenario I was going in blind, which made me focus on the basics, clue gathering and weapons. Beat Cop•• and Guts would have been considerations had I had a weapon, but even so I might have elected to mulligan them regardless in hopes of getting Pathfinder•.

Setup:

The 2 Schoolhouse locations were left out.

Turn 1:

1. Play Roland's .38 Special (2 resources)
2. Move to Bishop's Brook Play Fast Magnifying Glass
3. Investigate (draw '' failure)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (2 resources). Draw: Machette

Turn 2:

Mythos: Doom +1 (1 doom in play). Draw: Mobster

1. Roland's .38 Special (3 ammo) Fight Mobster (draw '' failure). Mobster retaliates, lose 1 resource (1 resource), 1 damage on Roland (1 damage)
2. Roland's .38 Special (2 ammo) Fight Mobster (draw '0' success). Mobster takes 2 damage, dies. Gain 1 clue (1 clue)
3. Investigate (draw '-1' success) gain 1 clue (2 clues)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (2 resources). Draw .45 Automatic

Turn 3:

Mythos: Doom +1 (2 doom in play). Draw: Mobster

1. Bishop's Brook. Draw: Key to the Chamber. Move to Burned Ruins. Mobster makes an attack of opportunity, lose 1 resource (1 resource), 1 damage on Roland (2 damage)
2. Roland's .38 Special (1 ammo) Fight Mobster (draw '' success). Mobster takes 2 damage, dies. Gain 1 clue (3 clues)
3. Investigate (draw '0' success) gain 1 clue (4 clues)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (2 resources). Draw: Dr. Francis Morgan

Thoughts:

I was feeling very optimistic at this point, finding Key to the Chamber seemed like the perfect draw, on top of that I was moving at a decent pace, getting decent draws from the Encounter Deck and had a plethora of backup weapons in hand. I felt like I could slow down and consolidate my board with minimal risk.

Turn 4:

Mythos: Doom +1 (3 doom in play). Draw: Ancient Evils (4 doom in play)

1. Gain 1 resource (3 resources)
2. Play Dr. Francis Morgan (0 resources)
3. Investigate (draw '' success) gain 1 clue (5 clues)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (1 resource). Draw: Vicious Blow

Turn 5:

Mythos: Doom +1 (5 doom in play). Draw: Ancient Evils (6 doom in play). Strange Disappearances advanced. Exactly 3 potential sacrifices, placed 1 potential sacrifice under the Agenda Deck.

1. Burned Ruins. Draw: The Hidden Chamber. Gain 1 resource (2 resources)
2. Gain 1 resource (3 resources)
3. Gain 1 resource (4 resources)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (5 resources). Draw: Art Student

Thoughts:

I felt like I had three options to choose from, I could move to The Hidden Chamber immediately, postpone the move a turn or two while adding to my board or move somewhere else. The subtitle of The Hidden Chamber 'Prison of the Beast' made me wary of moving into The Hidden Chamber with only 1 bullet in Roland's .38 Special, so that made me lean towards the other two options. Even with having drawn two Ancient Evils I felt like I still had some time to explore, but looking at a 3 shroud/3 clue location without victory points led me to conclude that the only potential for additional victory points would be from unknown encounter cards, and that did not seem worth the risk.

Turn 6:

Mythos: Doom +1 (1 doom in play). Draw: O'Bannion's Thug

1. Roland's .38 Special (0 ammo) Fight O'Bannion's Thug (draw '-2' success). O'Bannion's Thug takes 2 damage, dies
2. Play .45 Automatic•• (1 resource)
3. Gain 1 resource (2 resources)

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (3 resources). Draw: Unexpected Courage

Thoughts:

Again, I forgot Dr. Francis Morgan secondary ability this turn. Moving back and forth from playing to recording is quite demanding, I remembered his ability for the next round though, so I guess that is progress!

Turn 7:

Mythos: Doom +1 (2 doom in play). Draw: Whippoorwill

1. Engage Whippoorwill
2. Fight Whippoorwill (draw '' success). Whippoorwill takes 1 damage, dies. Dr. Francis Morgan, draw: Laboratory Assistant
3. Play Laboratory Assistant (1 resource), draw: Calling in Favors, Calling in Favors

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (2 resources). Draw: Preposterous Sketches

Turn 8:

Mythos: Doom +1 (3 doom in play). Draw: On Wings of Darkness, commit Unexpected Courage, .45 Automatic, Calling in Favors, Calling in Favors (draw '-2' success).

1. Move to The Hidden Chamber, Searching for Answers advanced. Revealed: Osborn's General Store, Congregational Church, House in the Reeds. Moved a total of 8 clues to The Hidden Chamber. Spawn Silas Bishop
2. .45 Automatic•• (3 ammo) Fight Silas Bishop, commit Vicious Blow (draw '' success). Silas Bishop takes 3 damage (3 damage on Silas Bishop)
3. .45 Automatic•• (2 ammo) Fight Silas Bishop (draw '' failure)

Enemy: Silas Bishop attacks, 1 damage 2 horror on Laboratory Assistant, dies. 1 damage on Dr. Francis Morgan

Upkeep: Gain 1 resource (3 resources). Draw: Evidence!

Thoughts:

On Wings of Darkness was the momentary break I was looking for to move in. Silas Bishop seemed like a weak opponent, so my initial reaction was to look for options to advance instead of killing Silas Bishop, but the 3 shroud made me reconsider. Had I had Dr. Henry Armitage in play I might have chosen otherwise, but I did not fancy my chances at '-1'.

Turn 9:

Mythos: Doom +1 (4 doom in play). Draw: Hunted Down, surge Sordid and Silent

1. .45 Automatic•• (1 ammo) Fight Silas Bishop (draw '-3' success). Silas Bishop takes 2 damage (5 damage on Silas Bishop)
2. .45 Automatic•• (0 ammo) Fight Silas Bishop (draw '+1' success). Silas Bishop takes 2 damage (7 damage on Silas Bishop), Silas Bishop dies. R1!

Thoughts:

Making enemies with the O'Bannions has turned out to be quite the advantage for Roland, and avoiding the ally punishing encounter cards that could have done a number on me was very fortunate as well. Overall I enjoyed the scenario quite a bit with 2 caveats. I prefer scenarios with victory points on locations. First of all it incentivizes exploration which is never a bad idea. Secondly it seems to add a degree of fairness to scenarios where the number of locations you need to visit is variable. The second reservation I have is Ancient Evils. It is not that I find it overly punishing, I am playing solo where it has the least impact by far, but I simply find it boring, and that, in my oppinion, is much worse.

Resolution:

Professor Warren Rice was sacrificed to Yog-Sothoth.

4 victory points (Silas Bishop, insight into the hidden world of the Mythos)

Interlude II: The survivors:

Dr. Henry Armitage survived The Dunwich Legacy ( added Powder of Ibn Ghazi to deck)
Dr. Francis Morgan survived The Dunwich Legacy
Zebulon Whateley survived The Dunwich Legacy (added to deck)
Earl Sawyer survived The Dunwich Legacy

To be continued ...