I’ve finally completed the first four Arkham Horror Leagues! I’m currently working on translating the third Spanish league with Jessa, so that may be a bit away, but the production of components for Arkham Horror leagues one and two, as well as Spanish Leagues one and two are complete. Images and a small side project after the jump.

Pictures first; here is the full setup:

What I like

Of all the components, I liked how the scenarios came out best. They were probably the easiest as well (as they were so big), but the colors came out sharp, and the feel of them is right on with what I would expect from a good, solid, component. I also found that the cards were great, but I (obviously) haven’t clipped their corners yet. This is because finding a corner clipper the right size has been infuriatingly difficult. I have a 1/8″ one on order now – if it is small enough, I will be a happy camper.

I am also happy with how the board turned out. This was actually my second crack at a board, since my first one was a little too easy to scratch. This one is laminated, and I was really worried about wrinkles or over-glossyness making it look terrible. Instead, it seems to be working significantly better. And between making the two of them, I learned a lot of technique.

What I don’t like

The main thing that is bugging me at the moment, is the investigator markers. It took me quite a while to figure out how to do good, solid, tokens, and I’m not convinced I’m quite finished learning how to do that. With this iteration, I didn’t cut the curve on the headstone, mostly because I don’t have a good tool to do it with. I tried on a few early tests using my hobby knife, but that made the edges too rough. Also, I couldn’t bring myself to try cutting a curve with my rotary cutter (what I used to cut the rectangle), but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for opportunity to make them look better.

The round tokens are also sub-par, but workable. In this iteration, I actually stacked three single-ply chipboard that I cut out with a 1 3/4″ hole punch. This makes them the right size and weight, but the edges are again rather rough. I just ordered an arch-punch to fix this problem, and I am eagerly waiting to see how it does for these (and, in the future, the Dune tokens).

A small side project

When I was all done with the main components, I found that most of the leagues needed some sort of reference card that captured the order in which the league was to be played, and which components to use for each. This was compounded specifically by the second Spanish league, which had eight different “Walter Gliman” ally cards! So, using the large scenario template, I put together a quick reference card, naming any components (specifically enough to be useful) needed in each scenario. I also figured out which expansions would be needed to play through the league in full, and put that on the card as well.

This has been a fun project, and has kept me busy for a good part of the summer (though, I’ll be honest, most of that was figuring things out!). My next project is putting together a classic Dune board game with updated cards and materials. This is, of course, in preparation for an all new Dune board game with new rules and a completely new way of playing. Stay tuned…