Hey everyone!

I just built my first fully custom deck for Arkham Horror: The Card Game. Up until now I've only played pre-built decks or made minor tweaks here and there, so this is my first real attempt at deckbuilding from scratch. I'll be playing alongside a Guardian focused on combat, so this deck leans into investigation and support instead.

My card pool is currently limited to: Core Set (Revised), Core Set 2026, Innsmouth Conspiracy, Hemlock Vale, and The Forgotten Age.

I'd love to get some feedback from more experienced players before I take it to the table. I'm mainly wondering about the overall card balance, whether I have too many or too few economy, combat, or investigation cards, as well as any glaring synergies I might be missing, plus any general deckbuilding tips for a first-timer.

Deck link: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/6249456

Here's the deck:

Carolyn Fern

Assets

• 2x Microscope (The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion)
• 2x Mouse Mask :The Meek Watcher (The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion)
• 2x Dorothy Simmons :Straight-A Student (Core Set (2026))
• 2x Local Map (Core Set (2026))
• 1x Experimental Psychology :From Mind to Behavior (Carolyn Fern)
• 2x Tooth of Eztli :Mortal Reminder (The Forgotten Age)

Events

• 2x Thorough Inquiry (The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion)
• 2x Gather Intel (Core Set (2026))
• 2x Caustic Reaction (Carolyn Fern)
• 2x Unflappable (Carolyn Fern)
• 2x Psychoanalysis (Carolyn Fern)
• 2x De-Escalate (Carolyn Fern)
• 2x Vantage Point (Shattered Aeons)

Skills

• 2x Deduction (Core Set (2026))
• 2x Unexpected Courage (Core Set (2026))
• 2x Establish Motive (Carolyn Fern)

Treacheries

• 1x Unbroken Web (Carolyn Fern)
• 1x Random Basic Weakness (Core Set)

I bought the Chapter 2 core set and I'm trying to track down the old expansions to have more deck-building options and more adventures. Most of the adventures are pretty expensive.

I was wondering if it's worth buying the revised Chapter 1 core set, it can be found at reasonable prices.

Starting my Persian campaign and wanted to share a quick session report.

Persians are masters at subjugating Tributes. Their deck starts with 3 copies of this card type, and thanks to their power card, it's possible at any time to break through from the Tribute card market. They have plenty of ways to acquire cards without generating Unrest, and the deck stays light overall since several Tributes get sent to History once used, rather than cluttering up the deck. Their Nation deck is also very short, which means they can reach the Empire phase very quickly.

Game 1: Persians vs. Egyptians (118–84)

Difficulty: Chieftain. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: Leaning into the Persian power, I started out acquiring Tributes straight from the market. With a bit of luck I managed to pick up Qin, which bumps hand size up to 6 cards, and Aksumites, which grants Materials and scores points based on the number of Tributes in play, a fantastic combo with the Persians. I'll definitely be keeping Qin as a campaign reward, since having it from the start of a game gives a huge burst for the runs to come. In the mid-game I shifted focus toward Fame, helped along by Satrap for the extra action and Port for a steady supply of Materials to pay for everything. I closed the game with 9 Tributes and 5 Fame cards, which accounted for the bulk of my points.

Egyptian Bot: The Egyptians started off very slowly, acquiring few cards in the early turns while stockpiling Materials and Population. They reached the Empire phase quite quickly, though, and that's when things exploded, converting all that stored Population into Progress in one go.

Card added: Qin.

Game 2: Persians vs. Romans (128–40)

Difficulty: Warlord. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: Starting with Qin already in my deck gave me a nice head start. In the first few turns I tried playing a couple of Regions to make use of Glory, but the Romans hit hard and kept forcing me to recall Regions almost every turn, so I switched plans and held off on playing Regions until the mid-game. I also needed a way to handle Unrest early on. I picked up Temple, an Empire card that plays Unrest during the Solstice and scores points when exhausted by discarding a card; it needed a couple of turns in the deck before I could use it, but it was well worth the wait. My overall plan was to rush the Empire phase, keeping the deck as light as possible and buying very little from the market in the early game. Once in the Empire phase, Temple let me handle Unrest with no trouble at all and I started racking up Progress. I also grabbed Corruption and Persian Gold, which let me gain Materials and Progress while making the bot draw Unrest. From there the game was all downhill in my favor: with so much Unrest clogging their deck they slowed down considerably, while I kept generating points, reaching 35 Progress tokens by the end. I also bought plenty of Tribute cards again, just like in the previous game. In the closing turns I picked up Shrine, which I'll be keeping as a campaign reward since it lets me manage Unrest and draw a card by paying 1 Material, but unlike Temple it can be played during the Barbarian phase too.

Roman Bot: Romans are very strong at forcing recalls of your Regions and at making you draw Unrest, though they're slow at acquiring cards from the market. Once I found a way around both of those problems, their own growing pile of Unrest started dragging them down, and from that point on they were easy prey.

Card added: Shrine.

Game 3: Persians vs. Celts (102–61)

Difficulty: Imperator. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: This game was a constant back-and-forth of drawing and discarding Unrest, since the Celtic bot makes you draw quite a lot of it, but luckily I already had Shrine to fall back on. Early on I rushed Regions to grab my first Glory card, and I added Awe-Inspiring, which increases hand size by one; combined with Qin, that let me play with 7 cards in hand. Cycling through the deck was extremely easy, and the game went by very quickly, I built all my Developments in no time. Besides the usual Tributes, I focused heavily on Glory cards, picking up 5 of them, and used Prosperity whenever I could to stockpile Materials for the Development cards. Another big help for Materials and drawing was Coinage, which grants 2 Materials during the Solstice and can be exhausted to draw a card; even though it's an Empire card, I decided to keep it in the deck, since the deck is so fast that it shouldn't weigh it down, and it gives a big advantage once in the Empire phase.

Celtic Bot: Celts are very annoying, they steal your resources and make you draw a lot of Unrest, so managing it is essential. I came very close to Collapse, but luckily I managed to pull through.

Card added: Coinage.

Game 4: Persians vs. Macedonians (105–50)

Difficulty: Sovereign. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: A very easy game, the build I've put together runs beautifully, the deck is lean and fast. I also snagged the Egyptian Tribute that advances a Nation card by one, I'll be keeping it for the final game. On top of the usual strategies, the engine for this game was the Glory card Notorious, the best pick if you get it in the early game: it lets you draw a card and steal a Progress point from the bot. With such a light, fast-cycling deck I was able to play it almost every turn, ending up with over 30 Progress points, taken straight from the bot's total. The game was fast overall, I built all my Developments without any trouble, finishing well before the bot even reached its Empire phase.

Macedonian Bot: Macedonians are strong with Regions if you let them pile up a lot of them, since it scores points for every Region in play with the Other tag. But their engine needs a lot of Regions and time to get going, so a short game is the ideal way to beat them.

Card added: Egyptian Tribute.

Game 5: Persians vs. Vikings (99–87)

Difficulty: Overlord. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: The hardest game of the whole campaign, but I won it, and with this final victory I also closed out the campaign. I started with Regions and quickly grabbed my first Fame card, bumping my hand size up to 7. After that I focused on holding onto Regions to make the most of Prosperity, since the Vikings steal a lot of resources; to boost my Materials I also leaned on Agriculture, which in combo with Prosperity gets me 3 extra Materials from the Grain tag on my Regions. I stuck to my usual strategy, which luckily held up, and I managed to accumulate just enough points to beat the Vikings.

Viking Bot: Vikings are relentless, they acquire Regions and Uncivilized cards very quickly, and on top of that their cards steal Materials from you too, which made it hard to complete my Developments.

Final Thoughts

Campaign closed with 5 wins out of 5 games. The Persian engine came together nicely over the run: Qin and Coinage together kept the deck cycling fast throughout, while Shrine kept Unrest under control even against the most aggressive bots. Between the constant flow of Tributes and a focus on acquiring Fame cards, the Persians proved to be an extremely consistent civilization across the whole campaign, closing things out with a hard-fought win over the Vikings.

Starting my Roman campaign and wanted to share a quick session report.

Romans are a very fun and strong civilization to play. Their two big strengths for scoring are Population and Fame cards. Bread and Circuses gives them excellent Unrest control, and regions come easily in the early turns, which feeds nicely into their two Prosperity cards for a steady flow of Population and Materials. Getting City of Rome down early also matters a lot, since it gives you either ongoing income or a faster-cycling deck, both of which the Romans rely on to score well.

Game 1: Romans vs. Greeks (137–54)

Difficulty: Chieftain. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: My main early goal was getting my hands on Mysticism so I could combo it with Bread and Circuses. Together they gave me a free action every turn without having to discard cards or let Unrest pile up. That combo basically let me snowball, I could keep acquiring cards all game without ever worrying about Unrest management. I also wanted it in my deck since it could then be added permanently as a campaign reward.

I also bumped my hand size up to 7 cards using a Glory card plus the Roman Development, which helped me cycle through my deck faster.

On the scoring side, I leaned into Rome's region-acquisition strength to rack up points with Shaduf, generating Progress from Regions and scoring points for cards with the River tag. Since I was almost always sitting on 5–6 regions, hitting 32 Population was easy, which let me cash in big with the Roman civilization card and Emperor Trajan.

Greek Bot: The Greeks did cause some early friction; they managed to pull 3 copies of a sword-type unit card that let them steal resources from me and forced me to recall permanents during the Empire phase a couple of times. It slowed me down a bit at the start, but at Chieftain difficulty it was never a real threat to the win.

Card added: Mysticism.

Game 2: Romans vs. Macedonians (117–70)

Difficulty: Warlord. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: With Mysticism already in my deck from the start, this game went a lot faster than the previous one. I picked up Shaduf in the first few turns, which works great with the Romans, and around mid-game I added Mercenaries, which combined with Roman cards to score me dozens of points off Population. Once again I pushed past 40 Population, racking up a good chunk of points from that alone. I also decided to keep Shaduf as a campaign reward, since playing it from the very start generates a huge amount of points thanks to Rome's peculiarities.

Macedonian Bot: Things got tense when the Macedonians entered the Empire phase. The bot got into a loop of regions and triggers that kept rewarding it for regions in play, scoring around twenty Progress points in just two turns. I reined it in with Notorious (which steals Progress, makes you draw a card, and is free to play) and Roman Invasion (letting you acquire Regions and Tributes while forcing an enemy to abandon a Region) to limit its regions and steal some points back. If the game had dragged on longer I could have run into trouble, so I pushed hard on Fame to close it out.

Card added: Shaduf.

Game 3: Romans vs. Celts (104–62)

Difficulty: Imperator. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: I struggled a bit with low hand size, since I couldn't increase it in the early game, but I managed to work around it thanks to Oracle, which let me dig through my deck right from the start, giving me a big advantage and plenty of points off the Glory I'd acquired. On top of that, I went all-in on acquiring regions to convert into Glory.

Celtic Bot: This match was easy too. Celts are very strong at making you draw Unrest, but the Romans had no trouble countering that. They also gave me some trouble with attack cards, stealing points and Materials from me a few times, but I still built up a stockpile of Materials thanks to Agriculture (which scores points for cards with the Fertile tag) combined with Prosperity, which also scored quite a few points on its own.

Card added: Oracle.

Game 4: Romans vs. Tainos (loss, Collapse)

Difficulty: Sovereign. Common cards from Classics.

A very short game. I was a bit careless and somewhat unlucky, and by turn 4 I lost by Collapse. On the last turn, the bot acquired 2 cards and hit me with an attack that made me draw an Unrest card, triggering the Collapse. Going to retry this one.

Game 5: Romans vs. Tainos (102–89)

Difficulty: Sovereign. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: This time I paid close attention to Unrest, though I still came close to Collapse, dropping down to one Unrest left in the deck. My early game was slow since I had to play more carefully around Unrest, and I didn't manage to increase my hand size. In the mid-game, though, the engine started rolling and I built up Regions, Population, and Glory. At one point I thought I was going to lose, but thanks to my Population and Glory points I managed to scrape by, helped by Rome and two City cards that kept my deck moving quickly. I never got around to building all my Developments, since the game was short.

Taino Bot: Tainos are really strong at acquiring cards early on, especially Regions, which empties the deck fast. The bot also clears the market quickly by acquiring and exiling cards, which had me worried for a while.

Card added: City.

Game 6: Romans vs. Carthaginians (110–86)

Difficulty: Overlord. Common cards from Classics.

Strategy: The final match of the campaign, and I won it, closing out the whole run. This one was easier than the Taino game, since by now my strategy with the cards I'd picked up along the way was solid. The game went smoothly with no real hiccups, sticking to the usual Regions/Glory plan. I picked up the hand size increase almost immediately, bumping my hand to 7 with my first Development. I also leaned on Agriculture again, picking up plenty of Fertile-tag points.

Carthaginian Bot: The bot is very strong at acquiring cards and scored a lot of points by spending Materials, but the game ended quickly, shortly after the bot entered the Empire phase, so it never had time to pile up points. That made for an easy win.

Final Thoughts

Campaign closed at 5 wins and 1 loss. The Roman engine built up nicely over the run: Mysticism gave me extra actions and Bread and Circuses handled Unrest, together keeping things off my back from game one, Shaduf turned Regions into steady Progress and River-tag points, and Oracle and City together kept the deck cycling fast in the early game. Overall, Rome's combination of easy Unrest control, fast Region acquisition, and Population scoring made for a very consistent civilization across the whole campaign, with no real weak matchup along the way. Looking forward to starting the next civilization.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my recent difficulty climb in Imperium Horizons and pick the brains of anyone familiar with the Taino Bot, because it is absolutely kicking my teeth in.

I recently bumped the difficulty up to Imperator after securing some solid wins at Chieftain and Warlord (+ 40/50 margin). Up until now, I was doing great playing as the Magyars, but now I’m trying out the Japanese and have racked up 5 consecutive losses against the Taino Bot. Here is how it went:

• Game 1 (Lost 115 to 91): The bot absolutely steamrolled me. I realized I needed to push hard right from the start to reach Accession as quickly as possible.
• Game 2 (Collapse): Tried to push the pace, but completely mismanaged my Unrest. Result: premature collapse.
• Game 3 (Lost 89 to 90): I was more careful and made it past the early stages, but I still lost. I narrowed the gap and was almost there! The game ended really quickly, which made me realize that I need to drag the match out more, since the Japanese excel in the long run.
• Game 4 (Another Collapse): Explosive start. Incredible first turn: secured 2 key cards and increased my hand size to 6. It felt like the perfect game, but then the bot triggered 3 Unrest in a single turn. Another collapse and game over.
• Game 5 (Lost 92 to 96): This time I was absolutely convinced I had won, and by a huge margin! The bot hadn't even reached the Empire phase, while I managed to grab 5 Glory cards and completely emptied my development deck. But instead? I still lost. The bot scored a bazillion points just by taking a massive amount of cards from the market. Help!

However, I have a major doubt about how I'm running this Bot.

In every single game, the Region deck completely runs out by turn 2. The Taino Bot acquires regions at a mind-boggling speed.

My doubt comes from how I handle the Bot's chart when the Infinity (∞) symbol triggers: if the Bot cannot resolve anything for that specific row, I move down to the "Other" trigger, which directs it to acquire Regions from the market. Like clockwork, during the first two turns, the Bot hits this sequence and just devours the entire region market.

Is it supposed to be this fast and oppressive, or am I misinterpreting how the fallback trigger works? Any Bot experts out there know if I'm missing a rule or making a common mistake with the Taino?

Thanks in advance for the help, and I'll gladly take any strategic advice.

I'm passionate about statistics and lately I've been starting to play imperium, especially solo. I'd like to keep detailed logs of my games and was wondering if anyone had already created an Excel or Google Sheets tracker before I created one from scratch.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a new board game to play mainly solo. Right now I'm playing Spirit Island and I'm enjoying it a lot. I'd like something with a similar feel, but with a stronger focus on deck-building.

At the moment I'm considering Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, and Mage Knight.

The problem is that the two TCGs are quite expensive and can be hard to find. As for Mage Knight, I'm worried it might be too complex and require too much time for each session.

What would you recommend? Are there any other solo games with great deck-building mechanics that I should look into?

I'm playing solo with 2 spirits on the base game. I didn't have any major problems against Prussia 0, everything was manageable. Today I tried Prussia 1. It was very difficult. I had 4 blight and two invader cards left. I was playing with the Shadow and River pair. I made a few mistakes at the start and the situation almost got worse, but I don't think I played worse than usual. Is there such a big gap between the difficulty levels?

Do you have any advice? I don't see how I could win by increasing the difficulty further.