I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
Notes are below the videos...
Setup
Upkeep Phase (also Win Conditions and Phases Overview)
Movement Phase (part 1)
Movement Phase (part 2)
Encounters Phase (Arkham Encounters and Other World Encounters)
Mythos Phase
Outskirts & Investigator Status
Final Battle
Playthrough (part 1)
Playthrough (part 2)
Playthrough (part 3)
So I started to film a tutorial video for Arkham Horror back in November when I had a couple of free days alone in a motel, and I had the tripod set up catching different angles, and I had things scripted and worked out with graphics of cards and components overlaid to highlight certain things... And so I began filming in that way, but then after well over an hour I hadn't even made it through the Setup. So I said forget it... My Sanity was dropping quickly and my Stamina would have run out before too long. I utterly failed the Will (-1) check.
But I really wanted to provide a detailed video tutorial for this game, so last week I had a day off alone in a motel again and said, should I try it again? Hmmm... And I did, but only with the understanding up front that I would shoot it all straight through, holding the camera, talking as if explaining the game, knowing I'd be making some errors and forget some things, knowing the video/sound/lighting quality would be poor and the video movement jittery, and knowing I would spend very minimal time editing the footage together. It was the only way I could commit myself to get it done, really. So here you go... It is what it is, and I hope for brand new players it will be useful to watch. I think the playthrough sections might be particularly helpful for newbies to get a sense of how turns function and how the flow of the game works.
I had to laugh watching back at how I forgot certain things, but I think it's probably an honest depiction of playing this game. For example, during the playthrough (which goes through three turns of a game in progress), it gets to the third turn before I realize that I forgot to roll for the Bank Loan during Upkeep on the previous two turns. So I rolled three times in a row at that point. And I think that's probably a good example for people to realize that yeah, you will probably forgot to do things during the game, even after having played it several times... but don't sweat it... just catch up if you can or house rule it on the fly and move on.
I tried to correct everything I could with notes or annotations, but if any of the AH experts here happen to watch through this whole thing and notice any rules errors or problems with how things are explained or depicted, by all means let me know and I'll correct what I can with more annotations. I'm curious to know if there are things I've been playing wrong the whole time... There probably are!
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
Dam the Man wrote:
Thoughts after watching the Setup clip.
#1: Rookie-mistake. Table spelled f-l-o-o-r is better .
Ehh, you mean I should have played this on the floor? No way. It's long enough as it is sitting down at a table.
Quote:
#3: Monster bag the bag from LotR: Sauron ?
Indeed.
Quote:
Movement Phase 1:
Forgot about Michael McGlen's ability which reduces his Stamina loss by 1 each time?
Ah, of course, but that's the kind of thing I'm not sure is worth even annotating to correct. If that had happened during the playthrough, then definitely. But where it is, the point is to teach the combat system. I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to make a special point about the one exception for that situation... in the example, it could have been any character fighting that monster. Also, if I had made specific reference to McGlen's ability at some point prior to that, then yes, that probably should have been noted.
Quote:
Also, resistances halve, then rounded up, not down.
What I say is that you round down as far as how much you're reducing, meaning that you reduce 2 instead of 3 if the number was 5. That's the way the rulebook usually states those kind of things, but yeah, I could see how that might be interpreted differently, so I'll add a note about that...
Mythos Phase, flying monster movement didn't sound quite right.
If a Flyer is at a gate at Historical Society and would move, it'll check if there is an investigator at an adjacent street (Southside in this case) and move to that investigator or not move if an investigator was also at Hist. Soc. If there is no investigator adjacent, flyer hops to the Sky.
The initial move of the flyer from the board doesn't check for an investigator on all streets, only adjacent to the flyer's current space. From the Sky the flyer then checks all streets.
Misc things, minor nitpick. Return from LiTaS happens at the start of the Upkeep, not Movement.
I have a question about the monster surge that happened in the tutorial. I was under the impression that you don't have a choice where each of the monsters go and have to take them one at a time from the bag to a predesignated place.
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
Dam the Man wrote:
Mythos Phase, flying monster movement didn't sound quite right.
If a Flyer is at a gate at Historical Society and would move, it'll check if there is an investigator at an adjacent street (Southside in this case) and move to that investigator or not move if an investigator was also at Hist. Soc. If there is no investigator adjacent, flyer hops to the Sky.
The initial move of the flyer from the board doesn't check for an investigator on all streets, only adjacent to the flyer's current space. From the Sky the flyer then checks all streets.
Misc things, minor nitpick. Return from LiTaS happens at the start of the Upkeep, not Movement.
Heh, I knew there had to be something I wasn't playing right all along. I'll be surprised if there aren't more things...
Annotations have been added. Thanks for the heads up!
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
Nephrinn wrote:
I have a question about the monster surge that happened in the tutorial. I was under the impression that you don't have a choice where each of the monsters go and have to take them one at a time from the bag to a predesignated place.
I think you're right. I always read "draw monsters randomly" to mean to do that simultaneously when multiple monsters are added, and then presumably to choose where they'd go, but it makes sense that the game wouldn't give you that benefit. I've added corrections... Thanks!
#1: Rookie-mistake. Table spelled f-l-o-o-r is better
?? On the floor??? I think your sanity tokens have run out )
@Grudunza
Great effort man, very cool. Now you need to do all the expacs and the on xpac integrations heh heh. Seriously though.. very good
Just a few things... one... you went to all this trouble.. why didn't you upload higher rez version to youtube... YouTube can take even 1080p now.... if it was higher resolution we could download these and be able to read the board.... If you stil have the source... mabey you could consider this?
#1: Rookie-mistake. Table spelled f-l-o-o-r is better
?? On the floor??? I think your sanity tokens have run out )
I play all my games on the floor. Space is never an issue . Yesterday went 3 hours vs Quachil Uttaus, in a game that was 1 monster away from being over after 3 Mythos cards. Had I drawn a Black/Orange/Red instead of a Green one, DOR track fills and GOO wakes, annihilating the team. He didn't so eventually, after a series of heartbreaks (an investigator got devoured with 5 Clues a turn before he was set to seal a gate and another lost all her 8 Clues to an OW encounter, no check to avoid it) and close calls, victory by seals was mine .
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
booored wrote:
Dam the Man wrote:
Thoughts after watching the Setup clip.
#1: Rookie-mistake. Table spelled f-l-o-o-r is better
?? On the floor??? I think your sanity tokens have run out )
@Grudunza
Great effort man, very cool. Now you need to do all the expacs and the on xpac integrations heh heh. Seriously though.. very good
Just a few things... one... you went to all this trouble.. why didn't you upload higher rez version to youtube... YouTube can take even 1080p now.... if it was higher resolution we could download these and be able to read the board.... If you stil have the source... mabey you could consider this?
Yeah, I hear ya... The thing is, it took over 2 hours to render each 10 minute video, and it takes longer rendering better quality. This was really a project I wanted to get done and get out, or it probably wasn't going to happen. As it is, it ended up taking longer than I wanted it to.
But at this point, now that it's already out there, I can take my time and go back and replace the different videos now and then, rendering another one overnight every day or two. I replaced the first one already with a higher resolution (and also added some brightness and contrast), and the second one should be updated later. So eventually, all of the videos will be of the better quality.
Having committed myself to learning AH before a couple of my buddies come over to play it, I've read through the rules twice, as well as read quite a few threads here about teaching the game, so this series was a nice "test" of sorts to see if I could anticipate what should be done at each point in your videos.
This is awesome! Thanks! I definitively had a few things wrong! and can now play knowing the proper methods! And on a side note. How do I post without always making it a reply. I'm new to BGG and I'm losing sanity over it
Great effort! We badly needed a video tutorial. I like your voice and way of explaining things.
I wish you have somebody there to help with the camera. It is very hard to talk and point with the camera at the same time. I cannot view the visual for more then a few seconds before feeling dizzy. It is just my vulnerability to motion sickness.
I am having a great time just listening to the audio alone.
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
chooche wrote:
Great effort! We badly needed a video tutorial. I like your voice and way of explaining things.
I wish you have somebody there to help with the camera. It is very hard to talk and point with the camera at the same time. I cannot view the visual for more then a few seconds before feeling dizzy. It is just my vulnerability to motion sickness.
I am having a great time just listening to the audio alone.
Thanks.
I totally understand and agree. I never liked NYPD Blue for that reason. As I said in the comments above, the original intention was to shoot this whole thing with a tripod and from multiple angles, with smooth zooms and all that... but it was just way too time consuming doing it that way and the only way I could muster the will to get this done was to do it fast and rough and to be able to move the camera around at will to cover everything. It doesn't bother me that much, and some sections are smoother than others, but yeah, it can be jarring.
One thing to be careful of if you're just listening to the audio is that there have been a few clarifications and corrections made with annotations. What I'll do is add the annotation notes to the video descriptions on the side, and also in the original post above.
We were reading the directions and could not even make it through the set up. I gave up and decided we would not be able to play the game. But, then I decided to check BGG for some help. We watched your video tutorials and everything made sense, so we were able to play
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
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(yes, I'm OCD about those)
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heh heh. Seriously though.. very good
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