Full Doom Track said:

Innsmouth is tough, indeed. But probably Miskatonic is even tougher. Some environments are totally brutal, and you have double doomers Mythos puring down from the Sky to Full (quickly the) Doom Track :-P

Full Doom Track said:

Innsmouth quickly became my favorite expansion for several reasons, so Innsmouth is the expansion I've played most. Even so, I have yet to play a game where it is necessary to spend clue tokens to clear the DOR track. In most games I play, there are barely any tokens on the track at the end of the game --- if any at all. In my last game, for instance, which I played against Nyogtha and Hydra, the only DOR token on the track during the entire game was the one placed there by Hydra before the game started. I can only remember one loss on the Innsmouth board, against Chaugnar Faugn, and that was due to bad luck with gate bursts, which are not exactly Innsmouth exclusive. Of course, if you're playing against both Hydra and Dagon, and there is a party at Y'ha-nthlei or Devil Reef, you can be doomed in just a couple of turns. But really, that's two heralds and Y'ha-nthlei or Devil Reef. Why shouldn't you be doomed? =P Other than this, I wouldn't fear much in the Innsmouth expansion.

It's fun how our experiences with Innsmouth are so different. I'm not saying the other expansions are harder, though. There's really not much going on in Dunwich, for instance. However, when I play expansions, I shuffle the mythos deck quite thoroughly in order to avoid big clusters of expansion cards or base game cards. Maybe that's why we have different experiences? =P

A trick we pull is to prep the raid track using the clues in Innsmouth. Use the clues in Innsmouth to put five of the six clues ready on the Feds track, leave alone the one that's keyed to Falcon Point (where you won't get arrested). If the natives get too restless, call in J Edgar Hoover.

@Julia: I see what you did there!  Clever! ;)

@Eit:

I was thinking the same thing as I read your post.  I think that my posts come off a little negative when talking about Innsmouth when they really should be positive.  Innsmouth is a big challenge, no matter how you stack things up.  I can definitely see how with a little luck (and thorough shuffling) that the DOR wouldn't  be a problem (even with a Herald).  You still are unable to escape the possibility of having several gates cascade open at Devil's Reef at the beginning of your game with the consequent monster surges causing monsters to jump into the nearby rift like loose children in Charlie's Chocolate Factory, screaming with glee!  I suspect that my shuffling is part of the problem, but I will also blame some of it on my luck.  Basically, it just means that after I've licked my wounds for a while, that I'll have a personal score to settle with 6 of the 8 AOs inside the Innsmouth box.  Ultimately I think it boils down to the Mythos deck and how it is shuffled, which produces such contrasting experiences.  :)

@Jake yet again:

In our last game against Quachil Uttaus, we did exactly what you mentioned.  If you have the clues, front loading the FRA track makes it easy to get yourself out of a jam.  I think this is a very good point if you're having trouble with Innsmouth.  This game turned out to be a win for us and caused me to fall in love with Ursula Downs (who looks suspiciously like Angelina Jolie?) and Silas Marsh.

Full Doom Track said:

::laughter::

Oh, by the way, I forgot about the Innsmouth Look cards. In my last game, the Innsmouth Plague broke out, and it took us three turns to complete it. In other words, two of our players had to draw an Innsmouth Look card. I love the tension when drawing these cards. If you're unlucky, your most important investigator could be devoured in an instant. And if you're really unlucky that investigator could also be just one turn away from sealing that accursed gate at Y'ha-nthlei. So yeah, if you have bad luck, Innsmouth can be quite punishing. =P But again, the odds of this happening are not too high.

If you ever come to Norway, I'll let you borrow a little bit of my luck in a game of Innsmouth Horror. ;-]