A Touch of Evil Expansion Sets

There are currently four expansion sets for Flying Frog Productions' boardgame, A Touch Of Evil, and I'm going to take a brief look at them here.

Something Wicked is the first of the two big expansion sets and it contains quite a lot - 1 Full Colour Rulebook, 1 Expansion Game Board, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 20 Card Monastery Deck, 20 Card Forgotten Island Deck, 20 Card The Inn Deck, 12 Monastery Item Cards, 4 Abandoned Keep Cards, 4 Manor Cards, 4 Olde Woods Cards, 4 Windmill Cards, 9 Lair Cards, 8 Event Cards, 12 Mystery Cards, 1 Town Item Card, 4 Curse of Stone Cards, 2 Possessed/ Crimson Hand Cards, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 4 Large Villain Record Sheets, 4 Extra Large Villain Minion Chart Cards, 1 Large Reference Card for Terrain Effects and 3 Full Colour Sheets of Die-Cut Counters. This expansion set adds the Echo Lake game board, which can be added to the right of the Shadowbrook board, doubling the size of the total game board. Echo Lake adds three new Corner Locations (Forgotten Island, The Inn and The Monastery), as well as new Dangerous Locations and paths that may be travelled.

I'll describe the four new Heroes in greater detail next time, along with photos of them. The four new Villains are the Banshee, the Gargoyle, the Bog Fiend and the Unspeakable Horror (a Cthulhu-type monster). There are a few new rules added to the game, most of which are optional. However, some of these optional rules are highly recommended, e.g.  Too Many Secrets,  Exchanging Items and Allies in the Competitive Game and using the Advanced Cooperative Mystery Phase Chart (for this you roll 2d6 and consult the chart instead of rolling 1d6 and having fewer options on the original chart). For me, the best new rules of all were the solo play rules. These are split into using a single Hero or a team of Heroes (2 to 3 being the recommended number). As a solo player, these new rules made this expansion set a must have purchase. If you're a solo player you'll need this set.

The Coast is the second big expansion set and it contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rulebook, 1 Expansion Game Board, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 20 Card Lighthouse Deck, 20 Card Shipwreck Deck, 20 Card Smuggler's Cove Deck, 12 Coastal Town Items, 12 Tidewater Village Encounter Cards, 7 Hauntings Cards, 8 Secrets Cards, 3 Tidewater Town Elders Cards, 4 Abandoned Keep Cards, 4 Manor Cards, 4 Olde Woods Cards, 4 Windmill Cards, 12 Lair Cards, 12 Event Cards, 22 Mystery Cards, 1 Town Item Card, 1 Drowned Dead Card, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 4 Large Villain Record Sheets, 4 Extra Large Villain Minion Charts, 1 Large Reference Card of Kraken/Haunted, 1 Extra Large Reference Card for Lost Ship and 2 Full Colour Sheets of Die-Cut Counters. This expansion features a coastline to explore. It may be added to the Shadowbrook board and sits neatly to the right of it, doubling the size of the total game board. If you also have the Echo Lake board from the Something Wicked expansion, the three boards may be used together, lining up the roads from Shadowbrook, through Echo Lake to the Coast. The Coast board adds three new Corner Locations (the Lighthouse, the Shipwreck and the Smuggler's Cove) as well as the town of Tidewater, new Dangerous Locations and a few new paths that may be travelled.

Once again, I'll describe the four new Heroes in greater detail next time, along with photos of them. The four new Villains are the Dreamweaver, the Ghost Ship, the Siren and the Sunken Seven Ghostly Horde. More new rules are introduced, all of which add to the flavour of the game. One notable feature of Tidewater is that it has its own group of Town Elders, albeit fewer in number than in Shadowbrook - three instead of six. Just like their counterparts from inland these three characters have their own Secrets and they may help or hinder the Heroes in their quest to vanquish evil. I have yet to play this expansion set but I am immensely looking forward to trying it out as I have read nothing but good reviews of it. Indeed, I have heard some say it is the best expansion set for the game. With the inclusion of ghosts and undead pirates I say, what's not to like about it? I'll play a few games using The Coast with the original set and omit the Something Wicked board but what I'm really looking forward to is playing some truly epic games using all three sets.

Hero Pack One is a much smaller expansion set and it contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rules Booklet, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 6 Event Cards, 1 Abandoned Keep Card, 1 Manor Card, 1 Olde Woods Card, 1 Windmill Card and 1 Large Villain Record Sheet. Note that the new Necromancer Villain uses the Vampire Minion Chart from the A Touch Of Evil base game.
The Hero Pack One expansion introduces four new monster hunting Heroes - Adrianna Quetado the Foreign Traveller, Harlow Morgan the Inventor, Lucy Hanbrook and the Scarlet Shadow. I reviewed these figures last time. Also included are 10 powerful Event and Location Cards, which are meant to be shuffled into their respective decks.
The new villain is the Necromancer. With total control of the Walking Dead, the Necromancer strangles the streets of Shadowbrook with an endless horde of zombie  minions and an unquenchable thirst for destruction.

I found it slightly misleading that the back cover of the game box prominently features a picture of Valeria the Eternal, a Hero from Something Wicked. For sure, you can mix and match the Heroes from all the sets but if you bought this set before Something Wicked, there is a good chance you might ask, who is that woman in the red dress and why isn't she in this set? Yes, it is only a minor criticism but it did make me wonder.
This is not a bad expansion set but it is not quite as essential as the two big expansion sets described above. Still, it does offer four more Heroes and a new villain to conquer, thus giving you more options and variety.

Hero Pack Two is very similar to Hero Pack One and contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rules Booklet, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 3 Event Cards, 3 Mystery Cards, 1 Abandoned Keep Card, 1 Manor Card, 1 Olde Woods Card, 1 Windmill Card, 1 Large Villain Record Sheet and 1 Extra Large Villain Minion Chart.
Hero Pack Two introduces four exciting new Heroes - Frederic Leon the Foreign Diplomat, Jack Fellows the Privateer, Abigail Sturn the Student of the Occult and Sara Essex the Bright Witch. I'll review these and the new Heroes from Something Wicked and The Coast in my next post. The 10 new cards should be shuffled into their respective decks.
The new Villain is the Reaper, a master of death and decay who brings withering despair to all that it touches. Casting its Dark Mark on the next unlucky victim, the Reaper harvests souls to feed its fetid hunger.

I don't have a lot to say about this expansion set. As with Hero Pack One, it comes with four new Heroes, a new Villain and an extra 10 cards. If you're a completist like me, you'll want this set but I can hardly describe either of these two small expansion sets as essential purchases. They are useful to have but if it comes down to affordability I'd recommend giving them a miss and buy either or both of the big expansion sets if you don't already have them.

Amazon UK currently has the two big expansion sets in stock. Something Wicked retails for £28.30. The Coast is slightly cheaper at £27.75. Hero Pack One and Hero Pack Two cost me about £15.00 each when I ordered them from Amazon. They are currently out of stock but I've just checked to see if they are available on eBay and they are, with both being offered for a tad over £20.00 each.

Finally, please note that all four expansion sets require that you own the original base set.