Cthulhu Wars is a competitive strategy game in which 3 to 5 players produce cultists and monsters, build mystic gates, and awaken Great Old Ones. The players earn spellbooks, try to destroy their enemies, and capture their bases. Each faction has its own unique set of monsters, spells, and its own Great Old One(s).
4 factions in the game box Cthulhu (pictured below), Nyarlathotep, Hastur and Shub Niguarath (with more to unlock as add ons)
The highly detailed Cthulhu Wars' miniatures were hand sculpted by the experts at Fenris Games in Great Britain. The figures are designed to 28mm scale – perfect for use in other games such as D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Descent, Zombicide, and if you dare, Arkham Horror.
Each copy of Cthulhu Wars comes with 64 high detailed miniatures (Ultimately, over 200 with expansions). They vary in scale from normal human-sized entities (ghouls or Deep Ones) up to huge pieces – larger than any game pieces we’ve encounted
You can pledge for the box game, or if you prefer just for the minis
there are expansions galore to pledge for too (the example below is chosen as it's bundled in the Culte de Goules level)
Bundle Deals on Expansions and Maps now available
Stretch Goals
$50K funded: Full colour players handbook
$60K funded: 2 player rules + power/doom track
$100K funded: Tsathoggua paid add on
$125K funded: Ithaqua paid add on
$150K funded: Azathoth paid add on
$200K funded: Primeval Earth map paid add on
$250K funded: Yuggoth map paid add on
$300K funded: FREE Yig (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$325K funded: FREE Atlach Nacha (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$350K funded: FREE Ghatanotha (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$375K funded: FREE Bokrug (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$400K funded: FREEAbhoth (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$425K funded: FREE Chaguna Faugn (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$450K funded: FREE Cthugha (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
$475K funded: Dreamlands map paid add on
$500K funded: FREE Father Dagon & Mother Hydra for Cultist level backers and over
$512.5K funded: FREE 8 Extra dice (normal I think) for Cultist level backers and over
$550K funded : High Priest expansion paid add on
$600K funded: FREE 6 extra gate miniatures with each gate add on purchased (Confirmed: Cult de Ghoule pledgers also get this as their pledge includes the gate add on)
$650K funded: Dreamland Underworld Monster expansion
2800 Backers achieved: FREE Cultist collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
2900 Backers achieved FREE Deep One collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over
$700K funded: Dreamland Surface World Monster expansion
3000 Backers achieved FREE Undead collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
$750K funded: HLP 1st Player Marker paid add on
3100 Backers achieved FREE Mutant collectors figure (CDG pledge, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
$800K funded: Upgrades all faction cards to high quality card mats
3200 Backers achieved FREE Nightgaunt collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3300 Backers FREE Wizard collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
$850K funded: Upgrades Doom and Power marker to plastic
$900K funded: 6-8 play map add on
3400 Backers achieved FREE Ghoul collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
$975K funded FREE Wendigo collectors figure (Windwalker expansion or expansion bundle)
$1000K funded FREE Shoggoth collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
$1025K funded FREE Byakee collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
$1050K funded FREE Abomination collectors figure (CDG pledge, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
$1075K funded FREE Fungi From Yuggoth collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3700 Backers achieved FREE Serpant Man collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
3750 Backers achieved FREE Flying Polyp collectors figure (Cultist Pledge or higher)
3800 Backers achieved FREE Spawn of Yog Sothoth collectors figure (CDG, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
3850 backers achieved FREE Star Spawn collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3900 backers achieved FREE Gnoph Keh collectors figure (Windwalker expansion or expansion bundle)
3950 backers achieved FREE Hunting Horror collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4000 backers achieved FREE Formless Spawn collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
$1260K funded FREE New Mystery Great Old One (for Book of Eibon or De Vermiss Mysteriis pledges)
4050 backers achieved FREE Dark Young collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4100 backers achieved FREE High Priest collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4150 backers achieved FREE Zoog collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4200 backers achieved FREE Ghast collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4250 backers achieved FREE Moonbeast collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4300 backers achieved FREE Dimensional Shambler collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4350 backers achieved FREE Leng Spider collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
Collectors figures
These display figures will be the same size as the figures you get in the game. However, they will be in the gray color we have used to displayed them in our miniature pictures. (This will be a kickstarter exclusive color and offer, so they are true collector's edition).
1450K or 4400 backers FREE Slime Mould collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1475K or 4450 backers FREE Elder Thing collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1500K or 4500 backers FREE Gnorri collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1525K or 4550 backers FREE Star Vampire collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1550K
1575K or 4600 backers FREE Servitor if the Outer Gods collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1600K or 4650 backers FREE Gug collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1625K or 4700 backers FREE Shantak collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
1650K or 4750 backers FREE Bhole collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
I absolutely love the figures here! These guys will be useful for pretty much any sci-fi or horror game. I really might have to scrape together some funds to get some of these.
I have pledged for the Father's Day special price option as chances are I would go for the first expansion, kickstarter exclusive figure and gates anyway (so end up with the dice for free).
At first I thought this was a little overpriced for a board game...but then I watched the video and saw just how enormous those beautiful miniatures are. A pretty epic Lovecraftian game...and the rules are actually available to read right at the start!
The 2-D art is top-notch, and the premise of the game seems similar to "Chaos in the Trolled World". I wish I had the hobby-money allocated to this game, but so many other things are around right now.
I'm curious if the figures will be in the strong, sharp plastic that comes in model kits, or if the plastic is the rubbery/bendy plastic in common board game parts.
Absolutionis wrote: The 2-D art is top-notch, and the premise of the game seems similar to "Chaos in the Trolled World". I wish I had the hobby-money allocated to this game, but so many other things are around right now.
I'm curious if the figures will be in the strong, sharp plastic that comes in model kits, or if the plastic is the rubbery/bendy plastic in common board game parts.
Welp, there goes my RH pledge money right at this guy. I cannot express how many of my KS pledge buttons this pushes. EBs, a KS exclusive, beautiful art, Cthulhu, I'm dooomed
Unbelievably, we hit our first expansion stretch goal within the first hours! We are overwhelmed by the support! The first Expansion unlock is the Sleeper Faction.
Here is the Faction description from Sandy Petersen himself!
The Tsathoggua expansion turns indolence into a virtue. He has Wizards, Formless Spawn, and Serpent Folk. He can capture enemy monsters, copy other player’s unique faction abilities, and force other players to donate to his cause.
In this faction you will recieve:
16 figures, faction sheet, game tokens, and rules. More information to come tonight!
With just the three of us, we were not expecting this much support this fast! We will try to keep up with the updates as much as possible. It looks like we won't be getting any sleep the next 30 days
I hope those paid expansions come at a significant discount. Because there's a LOT of them from the looks of things.
From the look of it the expansions are NOT at significant discount ($48 instead of an MRSP of $55), so if something has to give get the game, see if you enjoy it and them pick expansions up at retail (that's what I plan to do)
Putting the rules out up front was a good move imo.
Absolutionis wrote: I'm curious if the figures will be in the strong, sharp plastic that comes in model kits, or if the plastic is the rubbery/bendy plastic in common board game parts.
Right, this is what it's going to hinge on for me - whether they're board game pieces or "proper" miniatures. In the case of the latter, I'm going to have to find some funds from somewhere to back this.
This looks phenomenal. Wow. I may have to get in on this. And I was planning on avoiding Kickstarters until the Warpath one...I'll have to see how funds are towards the end of the campain.
Absolutionis wrote: I'm curious if the figures will be in the strong, sharp plastic that comes in model kits, or if the plastic is the rubbery/bendy plastic in common board game parts.
Right, this is what it's going to hinge on for me - whether they're board game pieces or "proper" miniatures. In the case of the latter, I'm going to have to find some funds from somewhere to back this.
I've put that question to Sandy Peterson using the KS contact function, but doubt he'll be in a position to think about answering for a day or two .. hopefully he'll be able to say they'll be like the minis in XXXX
(Fenris Games who actually did the sculpts don't know what plastic is planned but from what they've said they will be allowed to release metal or resin versions of the minis after the game goes on general sale,)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Stretch target hit, Ithaqua paid add on is in
I hope those paid expansions come at a significant discount. Because there's a LOT of them from the looks of things.
From the look of it the expansions are NOT at significant discount ($48 instead of an MRSP of $55), so if something has to give get the game, see if you enjoy it and them pick expansions up at retail (that's what I plan to do)
Yeah, I noticed that as well. I figured I can always get them at miniature market for 20% off or so. Just in for the base game now.
Screw it, hiatus be damned, I'm at least going to get the KS exclusive tentacle girl. She'd make a pretty good Slaaneshi Daemon Prince (if only I played Slaanesh). But good lord I want that Yog-Sothoth faction. Chaos Spawns and mutants galore in that one! And what a Daemon Prince Yog-Sothoth would make!
Same here. $45 shipping, 20% VAT on top, customs, handling fee - it'd take the $200 level up to $350 odd, or $150 to $250. It's far better for anyone in the UK to wait for retail on this one, particularly because it has been funded so there's no pressure to 'back it or lose it'.
I don't mind $45 shipping for a big boxed game, the killer is the customs. If this was being distributed from the UK (like Sedation Wars) I would definitely pledge.
Same here, the shipping is a deal breaker. No I don't expect free service, but simple math is that its cheaper to buy at retail than pre-order via Kickstarter.
Will definitely be buying this for my group when it goes retail though, the game looks fantastic.
Right, while I slept this monster filled KS has been rolling on
$150K achieved: Azathoth paid add on unlocked
$200K achieved: Primeval Earth Map paid add on unlocked
next up Yuggoth Map paid add on at $250K
Automatically Appended Next Post: Now I've caught up here's the detailed info on the Tsathuogga, Ithaqua and Azathoth paid add ons
The Tsathoggua expansion turns indolence into a virtue. He has Wizards, Formless Spawn, and Serpent Folk. He can capture enemy monsters, copy other player’s unique faction abilities, and force other players to donate to his cause.
The Windwalker
the Ithaqua expansion focuses on the late game with a variety of potent abilities that flower as the game progresses. Like Yellow Sign, the Windwalker faction has two Great old Ones! UNITS – Wendigo (small), Gnoph-Keh (large), Rhan-Tegoth (Great Old One), Ithaqua (Great Old One) You will receive in the expansion: -16 figures -Faction sheet -Tokens -New rules
Here is a short description of the Azathoth expansion from Sandy himself!
You will receive:
1) Set of Rules
2) Azathoth – a Great Old One.
3) Four types of monsters (Elder Thing, Star Vampire, Dimensional Shambler, and Servitor of the Outer Gods)
4) Special “loyalty” cards for the monsters & Azathoth.
The Azathoth” faction” is neutral – anyone can summon one or more of its monsters or Azathoth. The first person to summon a particular type of monster gets its loyalty card, which has its statistics & special ability (all these monsters have a special ability). Then only that person can summon that monster, unless and until he has no more of them on the map.
For instance, the first person to awaken Azathoth gets the Azathoth loyalty card by his faction sheet, and he places the Azathoth figure on the board. It will work for him until it is Killed or otherwise leaves the map. Then someone else could awaken Azathoth.
I remember ordering some WarGods figures several years ago and getting charged by customs and then charged by the Post Office for their service in taking the payment for HMC from me.
IIRC the models were ~£30 and I ended up paying ~£15 on top.
I tried looking through HM Customs website but lost D6 SAN in the process :(
Souleater wrote: How much are UK Customs likely to charge on this?
It's a board game which is a zero rated category so you only need to worry about VAT (20%) but that is also charged on the postage
so roughly
$150 game + $45 shipping will cost about £25 in tax
$300 game & extras + $45 shipping will cost about £44 in tax
there would also be an additional fee charged by the courier to collect this tax (the swine), Royal mail charge £8
so not cheap, if they can work out a way to ship from within the EU (they are looking into this) i'll be delighted
Automatically Appended Next Post: INFO ON FREEBIES (paraphrased from Sandy & crew in the comments)
pledge $200 in total (BEFORE shipping, so for international backers this will be $245) and you'll get a number of great old one miniatures (as we reach these stretch goals) currently listed on the roadmap
there are intended to be other freebies which will be based on your pledge level (ie Cultist, Cult de Ghouls), later in the campaign (funding permitting) which is why the pledge description mentions stretches
Automatically Appended Next Post: and a final addition, then I think i'm up to date
Sandy Peterson (project creator) is actually at a convention (and thus really busy)so the account is also being manned by a number of others (family members, the games concept artist) so responses to PMs may be a bit slow for a while,
and they may not be have the authority to answer certain questions/commit to certain actions until Sandy himself is able to get to them, so be patient
I pinged Sandy about obtaining full sets of the miniatures, and his response was that Fenris is going to be publishing the miniatures in both metal and resin.
The boardgame doesn't interest me, but the miniatures most certainly do. Looks like I'm going to be dropping a mint on the figs when they come out.
Should be interesting to see what happens pledge- wise once they start hitting free Great Old One territory, since you need to pledge at least 200 dollars (which was confirmed somewhere or other).
Are all the people at cultist going to bump up, in effect nearly doubling their pledges as the old ones begin to rise? Things might blow up even more than they already have.
Supposedly there will be stretch goals further down the line that all pledge levels will benefit from.
I'll sit on my EB Cultist until I see what the other big guys will look like. Hopefully my sanity will remain intact. Wallet probably won't be.
Sandy has posted his own thread in N&R to answer questions but I'll keep this one going as I suspect he may not be around as often as we want
he posted these
So here is a thread for me to answer direct questions about Cthulhu Wars. I figure you guys can discuss and evaluate it on your own, but at least I can answer questions. Looking at the other thread, I noticed tthese questions so answering them as best I can for now.
Q. Might have to throw that 50 in at some point. Will it be ok taking GBP? A. You pledge to Kickstarter using Amazon, and they magically convert it to US$ at some point when it comes to us at Green Eye Games. So we can accept any kind of cash that Amazon can accept. I assume everything except maybe North Korean “won”.
Q. I'm curious if the figures will be in the strong, sharp plastic that comes in model kits, A. the figures are PVC plastic, as is used in Fantasy Flight products. If you’ve seen DESCENT, for instance, we are aiming at about that level quality. The figures have lots of surface detailing so they paint up quite nicely. There are images of some painted figures in another thread, and also on Boardgamegeek (look up Cthulhu Wars, then browse images).
Q. this is what it's going to hinge on for me - whether they're board game pieces or "proper" miniatures. A. they are plastic, not metal, but they are 28mm scale and made of glossy, stiff, material. I realize that the size listed on the site is 40mm for the Cultists, and that is correct, but they are 28mm “scale” if you get my meaning. They are on a thick base with one arm upraised which increases overall height. Still they match my other Games Workshop and Grenadier miniatures. And of course Fenris Games is doing the figs individually in metal & high-quality resin, But those are super-expensive (but nice).
Q. with no real provisions made for non-US backers? A. we are using a UK drop point to help decrease out-of-country costs, and we are eating $15 of the shipping cost to the EU, so we are actually trying to make it better for our European fans as much as we can. The ways of the UK customs and VAT are a mystery to us but we are striving diligently to minimize this added cost as much as possible.
The emphasis in red is mine, and if I'm right about the way UK customs will work the fact that they intend to use a UK drop point for EU shipments means that THEY (not the backers in the EU) will be the importers and thus liable for tax
(fenris games has posted the following about it in frothers thread: "As an aside re:shipping/import duty - the plan/hope is that I'll get a container shipped direct to me and then redistribute to UK & European backers to save on hideous direct airmail costs. We're trying to work out the figures at the minute...."
Automatically Appended Next Post: Stretch goal achived
$250K reached so the Yuggoth map paid add on is unlocked
next up is a good one
$300K, a FREE Yig (Great Old One) mini & rules for all who have pledged $200 (not including shipping)
I can't believe I didn't make that connection earlier--but I didn't realize it was "that" Sandy Petersen. Talk about a degrees of bacon moment--I remember Sandyman from my Age Of Empires days (where I first made this nick)--then later I ended up working with Rick Goodman at SSS after he split from Sandy/ES. What a flashback!
I will be pledging to this KS on his name alone. For those who don't know Sandy Peterson, he has a very extensive history in game design, Cthulhu and in my experience, is always very interactive/informative with the players of his games. Excited to see him still around and excited about the game!
Yeah, I am "that" Sandy Petersen. Those who don't know who I can can google me or look me up on Wikipedia.
Sorry I didn't know only one thread per game system, though this thread saddens me for mispelling my last name.
Just finished showing off the game at NTRPGcon for several hours. We played the game for a little under 8 hours, and had 4 run-throughs, plus each time I had to explain the rules again to the new set of players. Plus we took breaks between the games, so ended up being slightly less than 90 minutes per game to play.
As nice as a PDF of the rules are, I've always felt I've learned more actually watching the goings on of a quick game session. I was able to pick up X-Wing in a flash tonight just by a quick game session.
Mr Petersen, thank you for keeping the Cthulhu mythos alive for all these years for us to enjoy.
I read Lovecraft and Derleth in my youth (a French translation, but a very good one) and found that the game was still in print only last year. With my gaming group being slowly overtaken by a critical mass of kids, boardgames have now become the go-to instead of PnP roleplaying or tabletop games. I'm definitely picking this up.
Think of it this way, the bank account is a bully that wants to keep you away from awesome things. By taking the money anyway, you're just standing up to it and taking control!
For those that want to get more in the mood for the game you can legally download all HP Lovecrafts stories in various placed
(they're all out of copyright now, one reason we're drowning in Cthulhu stuff)
a decent place to go is Cthulhu Chick who's put together an all in one file for various e-reader & formats, and has other Cthulhu stuff too (thanks to Talae on the Reaper forums who flagged this up for me)
The last of the three original Mythos masters was Robert E Howard who was much more prolific, wrote in a bunch of different genres, and some of who's stuff is still under copyright
(I've got it all on paper so havn't paid any attention to what's out there digitally but I'll have a look and see what I can find)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Stretch target hit
$325K funded: FREE Atlach Nacha (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
next
$350K : FREE Ghatanotha (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+
Well this is the first Kickstarter I have backed. I played Call of Cthulhu back in the 80s and seeing Sandy Petersen's name linked was enough to get me in on the $138 level.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: Should be interesting to see what happens pledge- wise once they start hitting free Great Old One territory, since you need to pledge at least 200 dollars (which was confirmed somewhere or other).
The $200 requirement frankly pisses me off. Assuming the game goes retail, the creator's are already making more off these direct KS sales than they will be after the distributor's and retailer's take their required cuts. The "stretch goal" for expansions boil down to "buy this at more than you can from any online discounter, 6 months in advance!". So that's crap. Same with the base game now that the good early birds are gone.
especially as this is a brand new company which has already spend a fair chunk of money and over year getting to this point. It's not as if they've had a revenue stream to draw on
Later on in the campaign Sandy has said there will be free stuff for the cultist level which you could have got for $110 (and can still get for $138), we just have to get there to generate enough cash for them to be able to do so
I'm personally going to wait for retail for the (most of) expansions just because I can't afford them all, they may end up cheaper, but you can never be certain. A lot of stuff is heavily discounted by online retailers,
but not everything, and since this is a new company we don't even know what distribution model they will use. It could be everywhere, it could be stores, it might even be direct sale only so assuming it will be available cheaper is always risky
Automatically Appended Next Post: New Update
Opener of the Way adds the cosmic horror of Yog-Sothoth. He changes the fundamental laws of reality. With his ability of the Million Favored Ones, his units are able to promote for free after combat. Cultists promote to Mutants, Mutants become Abominations, and Abominations become Children of Yog-Sothoth. (Children of Yog-Sothoth can fragment into as many Mutants as are in your unit pool.) He also has the Dragon Rising and Dragon Descending spellbooks, which can only be used once per game (they are flipped upside-down after use). These give him potent one-time boosts which are real game-changers. Other spellbooks let him rain death from the sky; summon monsters from enemy-held gates; and channel raw Power into a Battle. And of course, Yog-Sothoth gives you the ability to move from Gate to Gate without passing through intervening Areas.
In our playtests, Yog-Sothoth has proven to be an extremely powerful faction, as befits the status of the One-in-All. Other players have learned to keep one eye cocked at the Opener of the Way, because he has powers that produce sudden upsets and reversals of fortune.
Automatically Appended Next Post: and another (Sandy's back in the office I guess)
The Sleeper turns indolence into a virtue, as the greed-crazed God of Entropy, Tsathoggua, emerges from the depths to turn the world upside-down. The Sleeper can force enemy factions to make sacrifices to him, and he is able to capture and sacrifice enemy monsters. In addition he brings out ancient sorceries, with monsters that appear for free on-map, burrowing their way up from underground, arcane wizards who are able to teleport to an enemy player's Faction Card and parasitize their special abilities, and the fearsome Formless Spawn.
The Formless Spawn, a signature monster, have battle strength equal to the number of them on the map. For instance, if you have all four Formless Spawn in play, each has a Combat of 4 (which is huge). He has other abilties such as Cursed Slumber, Lethargy, Death from Below, and Burrow, all of which let him do more with less, making him the most Power-efficient faction around.
In our playtesting, The Sleeper has proven to be one of the most popular factions to play. He doesn't win any more often than any other faction, but man is he fun.
Automatically Appended Next Post: 'tis a flood
The Windwalker features a new and unusual faction, with Ithaqua, the god of Outer Space. His faction is most powerful in the late game, when his mighty army, fueled by his Sweeping Winds, Howl, and Ice Age spellbooks and abilities, dominates play. He also features the dread Gnoph-Kehs, strong monsters whose cost lessens the more numerous they become, setting up a feedback loop that forces other players to take note.
In our playtests, Great Cthulhu is traditionally the most powerful faction in Battle. But a late-game Ithaqua has proven equal or greater than Cthulhu's wrecking squad. Players, knowing this, sometimes try to weaken Windwalker in the early game, but he has proven extremely resilient. His cultists are immune to capture, his Wendigos appear for free anywhere a unit is killed in battle, and his lesser Great Old One, Rhan-Tegoth is Eternal, and almost impossible to kill.
Ithaqua himself is usually the last Great One One to be awakened, but before that time, Rhan-Tegoth's proves a useful and durable ally. If you are more interested in late-game prowess than early building, this is the expansion for you.
Automatically Appended Next Post: a veritable tide
The Azathoth expansion is a unique "neutral" expansion. When you awaken Azathoth, or are the first player to summon one of the four Monster types associated with this faction, you get that unit's Loyal Card. This lists the Monster's (or Azathoth's) stats, gives his special ability (all Azathoth monsters have these), and so forth. From then on, only YOU can summon that Monster type.
At least, until all of that Monster type have been wiped off the map. For instance, if you are the first person to summon an Elder Thing, then no one else can do so. You can summon all three available Elder Things, should you choose to do so. But if all your Elder Things are ever killed off, you lose their loyalty card, and if someone else seizes the opportunity to summon an Elder Thing before you, THEY become the new controller of that species.
Azathoth is unusual in many ways. When he is summoned, you choose how much Power you want to spend, and place a special marker on your Power track. This is Azathoth's combat ability - so the more you spend, the more deadly he is. Of course, in some games, a person, fearing Azathoth's misuse, might summon it cheap and dirty just to keep it out of the hands of another player. That's all part of the fun.
Oh Gods, the stars are right
The Primeval Map expansion includes a map of the ancient earth. Like the normal game map, it is double-sided and can be assembled into four different maps.
It changes play dramatically. Each turn, a Glacier piece appears in one of the polar areas, and moves south (or north). As the game progresses, the glaciers begin constraining the actions and movements of the players, until everyone is forced to move into the equatorial regions, which naturally enough ensues in a bloodbath.
If you like massive clashes and forced battle in the mid-to-late game (even more than in a normal game of Cthulhu Wars). this is the expansion for you.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: Should be interesting to see what happens pledge- wise once they start hitting free Great Old One territory, since you need to pledge at least 200 dollars (which was confirmed somewhere or other).
The $200 requirement frankly pisses me off. Assuming the game goes retail, the creator's are already making more off these direct KS sales than they will be after the distributor's and retailer's take their required cuts. The "stretch goal" for expansions boil down to "buy this at more than you can from any online discounter, 6 months in advance!". So that's crap. Same with the base game now that the good early birds are gone.
And they cant afford to throw the backers a bone?
Get cultist + the first expansion, that should bring you up nearly to 200. The game is designed for 5 players but the base game only ships with 4, so the extra expansion is worth it. I don't find the extras at the 200+ pledge levels to be worth it, so bumping up a cultist level is ideal for me.
Honestly the fact that Cultist Level states 'any Stretch Goals applicable!' when there are none that are applicable and advertising the game as '3-5 Players' when its really only up to 4 without purchasing an expansion that pisses me off. There really should have been *Something* that actually applied to Cultist in the first set of stretch goals to warrant that text. 2 Player Rules and Color Rulebook don't qualify, those should have just been done regardless, and just go into the boxed game. The # of Advertised players should be what is in the box, and any expansions that increase that should be labeled as such.. especially since it appears that not all of the expansions actually allow for a 5th+ Player to join in.
I'm going to hold onto my EB Cultist for now in the hopes that it gets better, but it still puts me off.
The Yuggoth map is quite unusual. It adds three new Areas with special powers.
The Slime Sea
The faction which controls the Slime Sea overlook is allowed to summon the useful Slime Mold monsters, which are a good mid-level monster. The problem is that they obey ANYONE who controls the overlook. So if you have summoned up a batch of Slime Molds, and then another person captures the overlook from you, THEY take control!
The Laboratory
The faction which controls the Laboratory is able to use it to transform his Cultists into Brain Cylinders. Fans who have read The Whisperer in Darkness or seen the eponymous film know what I'm talking about. The cylinders still produce Power like a normal Cultist, but cannot move on their own (they have to be carried). They also cannot fight or be selected to take a hit in combat. Instead, when a Brain Cylinder is "dropped" the other side can capture it. Now THEY get the Power from it.
The Green Pyramid
The Green Pyramid contains the mighty Brain of Yuggoth, which boosts your faction in many useful ways. However, each Cleanup Phase, the Green Pyramid's controller has to check to see if the Watcher of the Green Pyramid has been awakened! The Watcher is a particularly loathsome Great Old One who is the enemy of EVERY faction, and, after destroying all units at the Green Pyramid, moves on a set path around the map wreaking destruction everywhere. He has his own unique figure.
Update the next
Yig is the first of our free add-ons, positioned as a "thank you" to everyone who has supported us with $200 or more.
Yig is a new Great Old One who comes with a high-quality figure, a loyalty card, and his own unique spellbook. The loyalty card contains his Awakening procedure, his special Ability, a cool picture of him, and his unique Spellbook requirement. On the back of the loyalty card are all needed rules for using any or all of the bonus Great Old Ones in a game.
The first player to meet Yig's Awakening requirements places him on the map, and takes Yig's loyalty card. As long as Yig remains on the map, that player can try to fulfill his spellbook requirements, and then he will earn Yig's spellbook, which will also benefit him. If Yig is killed, the loyalty card is "released" and then any player can race to meet Yig's Awakening requirements and take control.
and finally taking us up to date
Atlach-Nacha is the second unlocked free Great Old One for our fans at the $200 level.
He works the same as Yig (q.v.) though of course he has a different ability, a different awakening procedure, and a different spellbook. He also comes with several Web tokens.
Atlach-Nacha's special ability is a new Action. Here is the in-game description.
Spinneret (Cost: 1) place one Web token in the Area where Atlach-Nacha is located, if one is not already present.
What does the Web do? Well THAT is where his spellbook comes in. Atlach-Nacha, in the mythos, is a sort of Ragnarok emissary who, when he finishes spinning his eternal bridge connecting the cosmos, brings the End Times. His spellbook requirement says that he has to have a complete chain of Web tokens across the map in order to get the spellbook.
But the spellbook itself simply states. "You immediately win the game".
So he provides players with a new, alternative, victory condition. It's a risky one, too, because Web tokens can't be destroyed - so if you spent half the game trying to move Atlach-Nacha across the map, and painstakingly placing Web tokens, it could all go awry at the end if another player is able to kill Atlach-Nacha, and then re-awaken the spider god, now under that OTHER player's control.
Automatically Appended Next Post: & good spot on Father Dagon/Mother Hydra Recruittons
highlord tamburlaine wrote: Should be interesting to see what happens pledge- wise once they start hitting free Great Old One territory, since you need to pledge at least 200 dollars (which was confirmed somewhere or other).
The $200 requirement frankly pisses me off. Assuming the game goes retail, the creator's are already making more off these direct KS sales than they will be after the distributor's and retailer's take their required cuts. The "stretch goal" for expansions boil down to "buy this at more than you can from any online discounter, 6 months in advance!". So that's crap. Same with the base game now that the good early birds are gone.
And they cant afford to throw the backers a bone?
Get cultist + the first expansion, that should bring you up nearly to 200. The game is designed for 5 players but the base game only ships with 4, so the extra expansion is worth it. I don't find the extras at the 200+ pledge levels to be worth it, so bumping up a cultist level is ideal for me.
well, except I would have to buy 2 of the overpriced expansions (overpriced vs what I can buy them for at release), since I have a $110 cultist. Its throwing good money after bad.
Again, the makers are profiting more off this than they will when the game is released. Considering we're paying 6 months (and lets be honest, thats IF its released on time), I think a bigger break is due.
Ugh, looks like they changed the requirements to qualify for the $200 pledge level freebies. Yesterday is was "$200 pledged," todays its "$200 or more BEFORE SHIPPING."
Think I'm gonna have to wait for retail. Sadly this is out of budget for me.
More choice excerpt from BGG by the project creator
Right now I play the game with 24 dice, and about every second game we don't have enough for both sides to roll at the same time.
We are planning to provide 12 dice in the game, which frankly is grossly insufficient. But the way I see it - if a BGG who buys Cthulhu Wars doesn't have more than enough dice for all his needs, he has a misspent youth.
in response to someone claiming that he should have provided more dice since component should not be grossly insufficient at $169, he replied
I guess I just don't care that much about how many dice are in the box. Do you not have enough dice easily at hand? We are trying to use the money wisely in creating the game. Which, EVEN AT $169, is tight - this game is really big, very high component quality, and the simple fact that we have such a large variety of figures ups the price per box a lot. Particularly with a small print run.
If it really bugs you I will look into how much we would have to take out of the game to add 12 more dice. Maybe we could do a black-and-white manual or something.
rabidaskal wrote: Ugh, looks like they changed the requirements to qualify for the $200 pledge level freebies. Yesterday is was "$200 pledged," todays its "$200 or more BEFORE SHIPPING."
Think I'm gonna have to wait for retail. Sadly this is out of budget for me.
No, it was always $200 before shipping. I initially pledged at the $110 early bird cultist level in the first couple if minutes, then switched to the $200 fathers day special about 20 mins later after I'd read the front page completely because of this. (they have changed the question in the FAQ relating to this to make it clearer though, just not the answer)
rabidaskal wrote: Ugh, looks like they changed the requirements to qualify for the $200 pledge level freebies. Yesterday is was "$200 pledged," todays its "$200 or more BEFORE SHIPPING."
Think I'm gonna have to wait for retail. Sadly this is out of budget for me.
No, it was always $200 before shipping. I initially pledged at the $110 early bird cultist level in the first couple if minutes, then switched to the $200 fathers day special about 20 mins later after I'd read the front page completely because of this. (they have changed the question in the FAQ relating to this to make it clearer though, just not the answer)
I was going by the unlock banners towards the bottom of the page; I'm 100% sure those were changed from the beginning of the Kickstarter, since I read them very carefully before coming to the conclusion that shipping counted. As of today though the banners read "$200 or more before shipping." But as you say, the info could have resided elsewhere like in the FAQs and I just missed it.
Ugh still horribly conflicted on this. Will ruminate on it a few more days.
and while I was away we passed another stretch goal
$350K FREE Ghatanothoa (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
next
$375K FREE Bokrug (Great Old One) mini & rules for those who pledge $200+ (not including shipping)
On the subject of dice mentioned above, it does seem a shame if players regularly end up needing more dice than are provided in the game
although I see no reason why both sides have to roll at the same time, it doesn't seem to be set in the rules, so you could share dice without trouble (if a single player needs more than 12 dice it could be an issue)
You can now add on Great Old One minis (+ Rules/spell books) that you are not getting free (or if you want extras for painting)
$20 for 1 $50 for 3 $150 for 10
(and of course you can only add the ones that unlocked at the end of the campaign)
also
When the campaign launched the Great Old One Y'golonac was one of the future (unreached) stretch goals, unfortunately there may be copyright issues about using him/her/it so they've pulled this goal and replaced it with a different one
(if they can resolve the issues Y'golonac will rise again later in the campaign)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sandy Petersen has provided some basic strategy tips for the 4 starting factions exclusively to BoardGameGeek, I won't copy/paste them (and I'd ask other board members to respect this too) because of this but provide links to them below
Bokrug comes from the tale The Doom That Came to Sarnath, by H. P. Lovecraft, one of my favorite stories as a kid.
Bokrug changes the rules of the game yet again. You see, he is sort of an extinct god, only a shade, but still capable of wreaking terrible havoc on the world.
His special ability is as follows: "Ghosts of Ib (ongoing) if Bokrug is killed, you do not lose his Loyalty card. Instead, place him on top of this card. During Cleanup, place Bokrug back on the map in any Area not containing enemy units. If there is no such Area, leave Bokrug here till next Cleanup." So, you are thinking to yourself. That's pretty nice - I don't have to fulfill Bokrug's onerous Awakening requirements again, once I've got him.
But wait, there is more. His spellbook requirement is THIS: "Select an opponent. Hand Bokrug's loyalty card to that opponent, and he immediately places Bokrug's Apocalypse spellbook on this card." So you can hand Bokrug to another player, if you don't already have his spellbook (which last would mean someone else had given Bokrug to YOU."
And then, his spellbook says: "Apocalypse (ongoing) during each Cleanup phase, select an opponent. That opponent then chooses one of your Cultists and removes him from the map."
In effect, Bokrug, though a decent combat monster, also weakens your faction and messes with you. He is a good Great Old One to awaken first, so you won't get stuck with him!
The only reason I'm dropping the $$ for one now is because it helps get me to the $200 level for the free Great Old Ones. I don't want the one in the $240 level, and I have a $110 EB, so 1 expansion plus a couple of the add-ons I really love and I'm taken care of
Essentially, I'm rolling my EB savings into a "free" expansion
Sandy Petersen has posted this about the expansions in the KS comments
Plus we are making the expansions these gigantic things, full of figures, die-cut counters, rules, and so forth. We are actually pricing the expansions at just above the break-even point. I know that sounds odd, given how expensive they seem to be, but remember that they include all shipping, and will have a lower print run than the main game, which bumps up costs per copy.
and in another post
Our goal is to have as many expansions as possible available in stores one day. But they will probably be somewhat harder to find than during the kickstarter, if only because of the nature of things.
Sandy
so for those (like me) thinking of delaying getting the expansions till after the KS they probably won't have a huge margin for retailers to discount from so while you might find them cheaper, they may not be that much cheaper, if you can find them
Alpharius wrote: I wish I had been lucky enough to have snagged one of those Early Bird $200 levels...
I took one for my cousin just in case he wants to drop 240$ on a board game.
Right now, he's more on the "no thanks side" so I might have to drop it. I'll let you know ?
(I could be wrong but that is a very tight schedule as the art/sculpts for at least some of the expansions is not done yet so I'm betting on 3-6 month of delays at least)
As to whether it hits the stores in a big way ? (certainly from the sound of it the expansions may end up direct from them only)
they've also implied both the game and the expansion have lower margins than typical board games so retailers my have less opportunity to give discounts (and I guess that may mean some just don't stock it)
Wow, this thing is really chugging along. I figure we're due for the KS lull to hit soon. The current growth is astonishing, but is it sustainable? It would be awesome if it was!
2 more updates the firsty bring us back 'up to date' with the unlocks as far as the descriptions go
Ah, the infamous proboscidian godlet. Chaugnar Faugn gives you the ability to alter the way the Elder Signs work (to your advantage). In addition, he provides you with a new action:
Miri Nigri (Action: Cost 1) select an Area in which you have units. A battle immediately begins there. All your Cultists in the Area add +2 to their Combat.
This is a valuable defensive ability (though of course it can also be used offensive, under some circumstances). If someone marches a critter into your Area, hoping to capture some cultists or otherwise make trouble, you can drive him right back out again. The Miri Nigri action is particularly useful for Black Goat (whose Cultists already get some Combat power via her Frenzy spellbook) and Yellow Sign (whose Cultists tend to cluster together in large groups).
On the other hand, his spellbook Curse of Chaugnar Faugn is actually way better for Great Cthulhu and Crawling Chaos, because it messes with the way Elder Signs work, and generally Black Goat and Yellow Sign are the factions who most rely on Elder Signs.
So this is a Great Old One whose specific use differs depending on which faction takes him.
and the second is for Cthuga the current stretch goal
As I write this (7:40 am, June 11th), Cthugha has not yet been unlocked. However, I am going to be out the rest of the day talking to teenagers at my son's school for Career Day (note: my son is a teacher at the school, not a student). So I thought no one would mind if I went ahead and jumped the gun for this one. It's either that or wait till way later.
Cthugha is difficult to get (you have to sacrifice a Great Old One!). Of course, since some Great Old Ones are bad for you, even if you control them (Bokrug, for instance), this can be a blessing at times.
Cthugha changes the way Battle results work. You can transform your Kills rolled into Elder Signs. Of course, this spares your opponent, but hey, Elder Sign! Also, his spellbook, Fire Vampires, earns you Power for damage inflicted on YOU.
Automatically Appended Next Post: More info from Sandy
Right now we are hoping to make all of the currently-unlocked stretch goals available in Q1 2014. This is dependent on a lot of factors, so please don't shoot the messenger.
(so I presume that implies 2 sets of shipping, rather than ship to some backer early and some with expansions later, but no official word on that)
He's going to have to update that front page unlocked stretch goals graphic!
And, he's going to have to add in more stretch goals too - he's at $440K now, and the next two are for $475K and $500K and given the pace this things moving at...more will be needed soon!
Sandy has mentioned that he has some non-GOO stretch goals planned which will be included with the Cult pledges and above, so hopefully some of those will be coming next (not that I don't like free GOO but some variation would be nice soon).
Human faction (or two) has been mentioned before so I wouldn't be surprised if they turned up in an expansion soon.
Aeneades wrote: Human faction (or two) has been mentioned before so I wouldn't be surprised if they turned up in an expansion soon.
Hard to imagine how they will fit in.
Indeed. At the point where you have multiple great old ones slugging it out, the stars WERE right some time ago, and humanity is kind of the white marbles in the eldritch horror equivalent of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Found one of his quotes explaining how one of the human factions would work (I don't believe he has explained how investigators would work yet) -
Or maybe we could even have two different human factions. Investigators vs. Authorities. I can even see them being hostile to one another.
The basic concept now is that with the Authorities form of the game, the humans will START in control of much of the board, and their position will deteriorate as play proceeds. They need to hold off long enough to achieve victory despite the inevitable decay. My psychological model for this is Axis & Allies Pacific, where the Japanese start big, and then get smacked around the rest of the game.
Geez. I know games like this aren't cheap to make but, damn that a chunk of money! Couldn't they offer a cheaper version of the game with cardboard tokens instead of the mini's? :(
Warplock wrote: Geez. I know games like this aren't cheap to make but, damn that a chunk of money! Couldn't they offer a cheaper version of the game with cardboard tokens instead of the mini's? :(
Yeah they probably could, but where's the fun in having a little cardboard chit of old squid face when you can have a big MASSIVE figure of him that you could probably club your opponent with if they get to mouthy?
I'm trying to resist pushing my pledge up to 200. Considering this will probably break its 500k goal before the week is done, who knows how much more junk is going to end up stuffed in this box? If I can get a pretty cool serpent at some point or another I don't think I'll have much choice.
There are some Early Birds left - $140 is the minimum now.
I was somehow lucky enough to come into this one late and sill grab a $115 EB...
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Alpharius wrote: There are some Early Birds left - $140 is the minimum now.
I was somehow lucky enough to come into this one late and sill grab a $115 EB...
Also, a Great Old One Clarification!
Creator Sandy Petersen about 1 hour ago
There are two categories of Great Old Ones right now. First are the Great Old Ones associated with the game or a paid expansion faction. At this time, these include Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur, the King in Yellow, Yog-Sothoth, Rhan-Tegoth, Ithaqua, and Tsathoggua. The Watcher of the Green Pyramid, though technically part of no faction, falls into this category as well, because he is part of a paid expansion. These will only come with a Character Card.
The second category are the independent Great Old Ones specifically intended for use as a game add-on. Currently all of these are free rewards for anyone at the $200 level. At this time, these include Yig, Atlach-Nacha, Ghatanothoa, Bokrug, Abhoth, Cthugha, and Chaugnar Faugn. The Father Dagon/Mother Hydra twin-pak is yet not unlocked, but will be in this category. These come with a Loyalty Card, a unique spellbook, and sometimes other counters (for instance, Atlach-Nacha has die-cut Web tokens).
For the first category, the Character Card has the same information that you would get on your Faction Card for your Great Old One. It does come with a unique Spellbook - of course if you play them as part of their main faction they have significant extra powers, and some of the faction spellbooks boost them. Really, we do not recommend players use the faction-specific Great Old Ones as random add-ons to their games of Cthulhu Wars - they have not been designed nor play-balanced for such use. The idea behind buying their figures independently was for people to ... have an extra model to paint and display, or set up a little shrine, or perhaps to use in a game of Call of Cthulhu. Of course, people may invent house rules for such use.
Works starting on the expansion (from Fenris Games on facebook)
I've been in the workshop since 6am, emailing sculptors to try and fill up slots for duties on all of the expansion models for Cthulhu Wars. It's now 11am and I haven't left the keyboard all morning, but I do have 11 sculptors confirmed and booked in. Still more needed !
from the KS comments, Sandy reveals the plastic colours for the factions so far
Creator Sandy Petersen 7 minutes ago
@ Joseph:
They will absolutely be color coded. Here is the full color scheme per faction:
green - Great Cthulhu
red - Black Goat
blue - Crawling Chaos
yellow - Yellow Sign
purple - Opener of the Way
brown - The Sleeper
gray - The Windwalker
white - Azathoth, the "add on" gates and all "free" stretch goal GOOs
I've posted I'm not keen on white as it tends to 'hide' detail, and end up looking dirty if you play with stereotypical 'cheeto' fingered gamers, but whether he'll listen who knows (and I'll buy them anyway)
GenCon now available!
Update #25 · Jun 12, 2013 · comment
Sandy Petersen will be at GenCon, with our prototype game (it's all finished and tested - just the components are prototype). This is a new pledge level. In case you are wondering why it is at $420 instead of $500 (like the NecronomiCon pledge), this is because we are NOT providing tickets to GenCon - you will have to register and purchase your own.
Congratulations to all of you guys! We are so glad to have you on our team!
The Dreamlands expansion contains two separate maps (smaller than 40x20, but larger than half-size - together the two maps cover more area than a 40x20 map). One map is the Surface World, while the other is the Underworld. Certain Areas on the map are Portals between the two maps, and when you are at one of these sites, you can travel back and forth. For instance, the Tower of Koth (Underworld) and Sarkomand (Surface) are one linked pair.
"Why would I want to travel around?" you ask. It's simple - both maps have certain Areas that contain what we are currently calling Citadels (for example: Kadath, or the Vaults of Zin). If you control all of the Citadels on a map, then you win immediately! This gives players a whole new way to win the game! You can be far behind on the Doom track, but pull off a victory by your effectiveness in the Dreamlands.
It's not as easy as it sounds either. The game comes with 6 plastic Zoogs, and a Bhole. Both of these species are controlled by game rules - not the players. The Zoogs scuttle across the Surface World, interfering with your cultists and your Gates, as a pesky annoyance. The Bhole, on the other hand, is a fearsome predator who periodically rises from the depths of the Underworld and can demolish entire armies. Both of these make it more challenging to get a "Citadel victory" which of course improves gameplay further, because typically some players are going for the old-fashioned Doom victory, while others are going for Citadels and the interaction becomes even more thrilling.
512k: 8 more dice added to the base game
550k: High priest expansion - Adds 7 high priests that lead cultists
600k: 6 more 3D gates added to the 3D gates add-on
650k: Dreamlands underworld monsters expansion
700k: Dreamlands surface world monsters expansion
New bundles have been added for the current expansions
All 3 maps for $120, all 4 faction expansions for $160 ($120 if you have a Cultes Des Goules)
512k Goal: Achieved
8 more dice will now be included in each box copy of the game! This should be enough to cover almost any combat roll if you're REALLY piling units into a single region.
Up next: High Priest expansion
Adds 7 high priests, one for each playable faction (remember, Azathoth isn't a playable faction), to lead your cultists in the world. Probably a paid expansion, hopefully inexpensive since it's small.
Project Update #29: Father Dagon & Mother Hydra free Great Old One twin-pak description
Father Dagon and Mother Hydra - two of the most well-known entities in the Cthulhu Mythos, despite the fact that they are never, ever described by Lovecraft. While there might be another tale by a contributer which does mention them, I don't recall one in 49 years of reading horror tales.
So these are (obviously) two different Great Old Ones. They do NOT look the same! They are NOT the same model in different poses! They are completely distinctive models with their own features and organs. They are as different as a bulldog and a greyhound (though both are dogs). Okay, that's out of the way.
Their powers are complementary, so if you control them both, you can use them to greater advantage. As a result, once you summon one of them, it is in your opponent's interest to summon the other, so you can't get them both.
We normally intend for you to use both Dagon and Hydra in the same game. Their combat powers and spellbook requirements are quite different. Now you know.
One thing I'm wondering, when I play this game -- who am I? I mean, in the sense of, say, MtG -- I am a Planeswalker. Or in Pandemic, I am a healthcare professional of some sort. In CW (sidenote: what a gakky name for a cool game) am I a human cultist or a GOO or nothing or what?
Manchu wrote: One thing I'm wondering, when I play this game -- who am I? I mean, in the sense of, say, MtG -- I am a Planeswalker. Or in Pandemic, I am a healthcare professional of some sort. In CW (sidenote: what a gakky name for a cool game) am I a human cultist or a GOO or nothing or what?
That's a good question!
Since we're summoning all these things... I guess we're cultists?
Or High Priests?
But then, since there's an upcoming High Priest expansion... I have no idea!
First Free Great Old One Concept! Yig!
Update #30 · Jun 13, 2013 · 2 comments
Here's the concept for the front of the Great Old One, Yig.
I'm going to try to revamp the front page a little and show all the Great Old Ones and free Great Old One concepts in a visual guide. That way I won't be cluttering your inbox with updates.Just check the main page. Unless you want me spamming you
Manchu wrote: One thing I'm wondering, when I play this game -- who am I? I mean, in the sense of, say, MtG -- I am a Planeswalker. Or in Pandemic, I am a healthcare professional of some sort. In CW (sidenote: what a gakky name for a cool game) am I a human cultist or a GOO or nothing or what?
I'd say you're the whispering subconscious of whatever Great Old One leads your faction.
The voice that drove all those cultists to try and raise you while the stars were wrong and the Great Cthuluh (or whatever) still lay dreaming in R'yleh, the part that still whispers and plots and plans after it rises from the waters of the pacific and starts to reform the world in it's own image....
I've always had the feeling they are part of the whole, but somewhat separate
why does Cthulhu need worship (or help) from mere mammals, the Stars are not Right, so he lies Dreaming
When the Stars are Right it will wake anyway
So in my version of the Mythos all the Great Old Ones have an internal 'voice' that is more actively malicious, that wants to destroy the world, that wants to return before their time, that WANTS
Perhaps that is their version of the Freudian Eros ... not so much a life instinct but rather something that compels them in the opposite direction of their usual indifference. Kind of like going out of one's way to step on ants.
The marketplace today has many boardgames featuring the Cthulhu Mythos. In these games you strive to avert the impending catastrophe. But in Cthulhu Wars you ARE the catastrophe! The Great Old Ones have returned to claim the ruins of Earth, and you are one of them!
So, I guess we are in fact a Great Old One, trying to dominate what's left of the Earth?
Okay, so I am directing my cultists to summon me. I dig. Still not sure what I want with the ruins of the Earth but hey, my squamous desires are unknowable to the sane mind.
Gameplay overview is out. There is a full gameplay vid coming, as well. I really like the mechanics, and seeing those MASSIVE GOO sculpts makes me really happy
$550K Cult leaders (I think these are a paid add on, no detail so far I'll edit this when I know)
next
$600K FREE 6 extra gate plastic markers for those who get the gate marker add on (I'm guessing Cult de Ghoules gets them too but no info on this so far, I'll edit this when I know)
why does Cthulhu need worship (or help) from mere mammals, the Stars are not Right, so he lies Dreaming
When the Stars are Right it will wake anyway
So in my version of the Mythos all the Great Old Ones have an internal 'voice' that is more actively malicious, that wants to destroy the world, that wants to return before their time, that WANTS
Actually, to be a Cthulu geek about things, Cthulhu does need help in waking up even when the stars are right...
"They all lay in stone houses in Their great city of R'lyeh, preserved by the spells of mighty Cthulhu for a glorious resurrection when the stars and the earth might once more be ready for Them. But at that time some force from outside must serve to liberate Their bodies. The spells that preserved them intact likewise prevented Them from making an initial move, and They could only lie awake in the dark and think whilst uncounted millions of years rolled by."
I don't think he need's 'worship' as such, but he does need some pesky humans to act as an alarm clock.
The rules for the High Priests are in final playtest, and Richard has not yet done concept art for him. I am pushing for the High Priest to be dressed like Noyes in The Whisperer in Darkness film (during the scene in which he is opening the gate to Yuggoth).
I went away to look for a picture but you beat me to it
Automatically Appended Next Post: The High Priest expansion includes 7 High Priest figures. They all are the same shape, cast from the same mold, but they come in 7 different colors - one for each faction (Great Cthulhu, Crawling Chaos, Black Goat, Yellow Sign, Opener of the Way, Sleeper, Windwalker). You get all 7 even if you chose not to get the add-on in which a particular faction appears!
The High Priest is a Cultist, technically, but oh what a Cultist! He adds amazing powers and dynamizes your activities. His precise abilities depend on which Great Old One he worships (as you'd expect).His powers play right into a variety of strategies which, as always in Cthulhu Wars, vary by Faction. By which I mean that each faction will have a variety of strategies in which to employ High Priests.
High Priests are Recruited, like Cultists, but they MUST be Recruited BY a Cultist. After all, you can't have a captain without a crew! They have all normal Cultist abilities, plus more.
Looks freaking awesome! love the style, the deals seem good....only one thing, Cthulhu and Hastur are both Great old ones, while Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath are both Outer Gods, IIRC.
I have their Call of Cthulhu and I love it, Is Whisperer on the same level? I always had the impression that the story was mostly written by somebody else.
Many of the new expansions and Great Old Ones are leaving me cold. Seeing them reminds me why I decided to avoid many of the writers other than Lovecraft in the Mythos circle.
I'd like to know how the base for Atlach-Nacha is going to be designed.
I get the spider design. Is it going to have a rocky outcrop like Yig and Squid-face to perch on, or will we get a cool web design for it to look nasty on?
Man I would hate having to paint piles of spiderweb they go that route.
12 is reasonable for the High Priest, but I still think they should have tossed everyone a bone and included them for free. But I'm a cheapskate, so it's not like they need to listen to me.
I hope we see at least one humanoid shaped Old One/ Outer God before all is said and done (besides sleepy tentacle mouth man). Maybe Dagon?
Well the very reason Sandy went to Fenris games to design the sculpts was his deep ones and dagon interpretation (pictured)
I'd imagine the stuff in the box will be influenced by them (even if not identical), I know Sandy's said the deep ones will be quadrupeds (as they are in the stories, even if they are rarely portrayed that way in art)
Grot 6 wrote: I'm up to 557 for the 240 pledge level and map and additional faction expansions.
Fortunately, no.
$240 comes with Opener of the Way. So that's $120 for the expansion bundle plus $120 for the map bundle. You're in the USA so that $0 added to ship. So that's $480.
Throw in the High Priest expansion for another $12 and you're still significantly below your estimate.
Hmmm weekends are typically slow, and the current stretch is fine, but not an OMG must add cash one
so I'll guess late Sunday night (about $19K needed)
Agreed on reaching the goal tomorrow. Despite the very high, initial and impressive performance of this KS , I think we're starting to see the KS mid level slump. May give the developers a chance to regroup.
Grot 6 wrote: I'm up to 557 for the 240 pledge level and map and additional faction expansions.
Fortunately, no.
$240 comes with Opener of the Way. So that's $120 for the expansion bundle plus $120 for the map bundle. You're in the USA so that $0 added to ship. So that's $480.
Throw in the High Priest expansion for another $12 and you're still significantly below your estimate.
If you are getting cultes des goules, the faction expansion bundle is 120 since you are already getting 1 of 4 with your pledge, I suppose you could just keep it 160 and get and extras discounted opener of the ways expansion.
do you realise you get 12 plastic gates already with the $240 pledge level ?
and another 6 are coming when the next stretch hits (we think this will apply to CDG pledgers too)
Adding another set as it looks you plan to do might be worth it anyway as in theory you can have more than 16 gates in play in 4 or 5 player games
(however they've only seen it happen twice during play testing so if you need to economise before the end....)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Another tit-bit of info from Sandy & Co this time how Desecration works for the King in Yellow
Creator Sandy Petersen less than a minute ago
Desecrations work like this. The King in Yellow must be in an Area without a Desecration marker. You spend the Power for the Desecration, and place a Monster or Cultist of your choice in the Area. Then roll 1d6. If your die roll is equal or less to your total units in the Area (including the King), the Desecration succeeds and a marker is placed.
Note that you get a Monster or Cultist just for attempting Desecration. Three of Yellow Sign's spellbook requirements are based on Desecration locations. In addition, during Gather Power, Yellow Sign receives 1 extra Power for each Desecration marker sharing an Area with one or more of hits units. Finally, the Third Eye spellbook "super-charges" Desecration, making it even more useful.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sample Game Video now available
Update #34 · Jun 16, 2013 · 1 comment
First let me make it clear that this video is not a production of Green Eye Games. Some of my testers (including two of my adult sons) put it together purely on their own initiative. I was in another room during the test, though they did call me in at one point to settle a game question (they didn't have a copy of the rules printed out).
But now up on Youtube are the following videos which, in order, show a complete game of Cthulhu Wars played through.
Sample Game Video now available
Update #34 · Jun 15, 2013 · 3 comments
First let me make it clear that this video is not a production of Green Eye Games. Some of my testers (including two of my adult sons) put it together purely on their own initiative. I was in another room during the test, though they did call me in at one point to settle a game question (they didn't have a copy of the rules printed out).
But now up on Youtube are the following videos which, in order, show a complete game of Cthulhu Wars played through.
part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
I neither monitored nor vetted this game, so it is the real deal.
More updates in the comments section:All in good fun Orlando!
More updates in the comments section:
Creator Sandy Petersen about 16 hours ago
The map areas are actually sized to work out with the general style of play. For instance, Africa is huge because it is Black Goat's stronghold, and generally has a thicket of monsters there. Australia rarely has more than a few (lucky them) and so can be smaller. Of course, occasionally huge monsters congregate in obscure parts of the map - we just cram them in, and usually some of the ones at the edge overlap into neighboring areas. So far we have never had any problems knowing "where" the critters were supposed to be and it is both entertaining and exciting to see the monster mash going on in South Asia or wherever.
Creator Sandy Petersen about 15 hours ago
Sandy has seen, and approved of Hastur. He pretty much looks the same as in the video (you get a brief glimpse of his almost-finished model I think around 2/3 of the way through). Now he is way more detailed and textured, and is simply spectacularly horrifying. His soulless dead eyes stare and stare and give me the creeps.
Creator Sandy Petersen about 15 hours ago
re: map areas. Just last night we had a giant fight in South Asia, in which one player brought Cthulhu, a Shoggoth, and 2 Deep Ones, and took on Nyarlathotep, two Cultists, a Nightgaunt, and a Hunting Horror. That's a lot of guys for one smallish area. We had no trouble at all telling where units were located. Particularly because when a whole lot of units gather together into one space, almost immediately the space is cleared out by Kills and Pains in battles, and the armies scatter.
Also note that in general the game does not reward massing all your forces together into a single giant unstoppable horde - players who do this get spanked on a regular basis. One of the reasons that Cthulhu is so effective in battle is because his monsters are tough, so he can do more with less. Cthulhu plus 2 monsters is a frightening force.
Creator Sandy Petersen about 8 hours ago
If you pledge $200 you get Yig, Atlach-Nacha, Ghatanothoa, Bokrug, Abhoth, Chaugnar Faugn, Cthugha, Father Dagon, and Mother Hydra at this time.
Just a random thought... but are any other serious mini-painters horrified by the prospect of having these garish "board-game" colors to deal with as under-coats/base-coats? I just wonder how much base-coating of my own i'll have to cake on, obscuring details, etc.... before I completely remove their impact on a finished product.
Right now i'm definitely thinking of going all-in, as the minis would be amazing for Call of Cthulhu, or Arkham Horror... but i'm dreading painting them.
Not really. I figured I'd just carefully prime the figs like I do normally. If I can re-do the old AT-43 pre-paints this way, I think I can do the GOO this way, too.
Well, $240 is wicked-far from getting you the whole thing. Remember... there are... what, eight more unrevealed expansions mentioned?
This game is going to cost an unprecedented amount to go all-in on by its end. Its subject matter and aesthetic quality is the only reason i'm justifying it thus far.
I do wish there was a "just miniatures" pledge though. I would happily go in for $400 or so, for zero game components, and just miniatures. Not because Sandy isn't an amazing game designer (he is), but because I want these minis for use elsewhere.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: Well, $240 is wicked-far from getting you the whole thing. Remember... there are... what, eight more unrevealed expansions mentioned?
This game is going to cost an unprecedented amount to go all-in on by its end. Its subject matter and aesthetic quality is the only reason i'm justifying it thus far.
I do wish there was a "just miniatures" pledge though. I would happily go in for $400 or so, for zero game components, and just miniatures. Not because Sandy isn't an amazing game designer (he is), but because I want these minis for use elsewhere.
Right, similar feelings here. I initially pledged but then realised that the rewards weren't what I thought they were (I'd found some of the wording confusing and misunderstood what was on offer), and the cost for the whole game (at that point) would have been $480. Which is be personally more than I'd pay, as realistically I'd likely not play it very frequently. It was the miniatures I was most interested in. So, I am keeping an eye in case a future update brings an 'all the miniatures, none of the game' option.
8 Great Old One expansions - Yig, Atlach-Nacha, Bokrug, Ghatanothoa, Dagon+Hydra, Abhoth, Chaugnar Faugn, and Cthugha
3 Misc. expansions - High Priest, Dreamlands Underworld Monsters, Dreamlands Surface World Monsters (the latter two of these are not yet unlocked)
So depending on how you count the Great Old One add-ons we have up to 18 expansions right now. And more in the works.
Sandy
and on the subject of elder signs
Creator Sandy Petersen 2 minutes ago
David Windrim - EVERY faction has a special method of earning Elder Signs. Black Goat gets them to using Blood Sacrifice to eliminate his own cultists. Crawling Chaos gets them for Killing or Paining enemy Great Old Ones. Sleeper gets them with his Demand Sacrifice ability. Opener of the Way gets them for his Dragon Descending spellbook, and Windwalker earns them through his Ice Age spellbook. Oh yeah Cthulhu gets them for awakening (and re-awakening Cthulhu), and Yellow Sign for his Third Eye spellbook.
I'm still going to sit at a base cultist level until I see what actually comes with those expansions. I'm familiar with a lot of the Mythos creatures, but how they get inerpreted can vary quite significantly depending on the artist.
I'm hoping those Dreamland expansion- expansions aren't going to cost too much. If they work similar to the Zoogs already in place (ie board controlled rather than by the player), I can see the Dreamlands being my go-to expansion board.
I also hope I can talk my brother into picking up one faction to mitigate the cost of this game. There's just no way I can go all in on this, especially with Deadzone's first survey rolling out pretty soon.
How long before we get Deadzone stats for the Great Old Ones? Someone's got to be up to the task. That's the biggest plus about this game for me. Not only do I get something similar (in theme) to Chaos in the Old World, I get a pile of kick ass models that are going to be pulling all kinds of double/ triple/ quadruple duty in all kinds of other games.
So, for example, if I am a Cultist backer...
$650,000 unlocks a new expansion.
Who gets that for free...anyone? Surely the point of unlockable bonuses is to reward early backers.
But as far as I can see (and I may have this well and truly wrong) you don't GET the expansion at Cultist.
What about the $240 level...do I get these expansion now?
Nope, sorry.
You ant expansions, cough up MORE money.
$240 is easily the most I would have ever spent on a boardgame, which I can pretty much guarantee will never get played.
I had in fact pledged $200, because a question suggested that was all I needed:
"As long as the pledge total at the end of the Campaign is over $200 before shipping and handling, you will receive all applicable stretch goal rewards!"
This is despite the fact that you needed the $240 level for the free mins...or not...huh?
But as i looked at everything, i decided to just cancel my pledge, $245 incl shipping for a handful of minis (mostly identical cultists) just wasn't worthwhile.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: Well, $240 is wicked-far from getting you the whole thing. Remember... there are... what, eight more unrevealed expansions mentioned?.
Oh sure, bring facts into it.
At any rate, for the price of two Wraithknights I get a boatload of some of the best-looking Cthulhu figures I have seen. That sucked me in...and from the funding to date I'm guessing that's a common response.
Agreed about wanting a figure-only option - I would gladly shell out for that.
So, for example, if I am a Cultist backer...
$650,000 unlocks a new expansion.
Who gets that for free...anyone? Surely the point of unlockable bonuses is to reward early backers.
But as far as I can see (and I may have this well and truly wrong) you don't GET the expansion at Cultist.
What about the $240 level...do I get these expansion now?
Nope, sorry.
You ant expansions, cough up MORE money.
$240 is easily the most I would have ever spent on a boardgame, which I can pretty much guarantee will never get played.
I had in fact pledged $200, because a question suggested that was all I needed:
"As long as the pledge total at the end of the Campaign is over $200 before shipping and handling, you will receive all applicable stretch goal rewards!"
This is despite the fact that you needed the $240 level for the free mins...or not...huh?
But as i looked at everything, i decided to just cancel my pledge, $245 incl shipping for a handful of minis (mostly identical cultists) just wasn't worthwhile.
Was I wrong?
I'll address your last question first, where you wrong ?
No, if what's on offer does not appeal to you in terms of content or value you shouldn't back the project. It's easy to get caught up in the latest 'cool' KS project and realising that one isn't for you is not a bad skill to have.
In terms of stretch goals in a KS, the aim of them is to fund these aspects of the project, who gets them will depend on the project (and how much they cost). Project creators can give them away as freebies to encourage pledgers to move up to a higher level, or new backers to come into a project but there is no obligation on them to do so.
In the Cthulhu Wars KS there have a lot of free stretch goals
1 stretch goal which added 6 D6 to every game box
1 stretch goal which gave away 2 free Old One miniatures to cultist level or over backers
7 stretch goals which gave away free Great Old One miniatures to backers pledging over $200 (excluding shipping)
1 stretch goal which added free 6 gate miniatures to those who pledged for a set of them (also applies to cult de ghouls level pledgers as they have a set of gates bundled in with their pledge)
plus a number of paid ones
4 paid faction expansions
3 paid map expansions
1 paid cult leader expansion
2 paid monster expansions dreamlands creatures (not yet achieved)
It's certainly not been the most generous KS out there, but then it's being run by a start up company with no current revenue stream to draw on so I think what's on offer is not unreasonable. I know I'd love to get the lot but can't afford to, I'll get the game and, if the EU shipping works out, will probably add both a map and faction expansion. I'm pretty sure I'll get my moneys worth in terms of the gameplay on offer and the painting time on the minis,
and hey, it's Cthulhu stuff! by Sandy Petersen! and I'm a big fan of both, just owing this stuff will make me feel happy
DeChevalier wrote: Additionally, if you JUST want the Awesome BIG mini's (and not the Awesome BIG game), you can do the following...
1. Pledge at the $11 Options Only level
2. Up Pledge to $325 + shipping to your locale.
This will net you the 20 Great Old Ones and Asenath Waite... and none of those pesky game boards or rules that some people just don't seem to want...
That is an interesting option.
I count 19 minis, so $150 for 10, another 3 lots of $50 for 3 each, plus $25 for whatsherface
By pledging $200 plus shipping get you the following minis anyway (Plus the whole game).
24 Cultists
4 deep ones
2 shoggoths
2 Star Spawn
3 Nightgaunt
3 Flying Polyp
2 Hunting Horror
2 Ghoul
4 Fungi Yuggoth
3 Dark young
6 Undead
4 Byakhee
Cthulhu
Nyarlathotep
Shub-Niggurath
Hastur
Yig
Atlach Nacha
Ghatanothoa
Bokrug
Abhoth
Chaugnar Faugn
Cthugha
Father Dagon
Mother Hydra
The remaining 6 cost another $100
So all up, $300 plus shipping.
Seems a better deal!
HOWEVER!
I have NO IDEA what most of those minis will look like, there's not even concept art for the majority, and if the concepts used for Yog Sothoth, Tsathoggua, Abominations, Ithaqua, Azathoth etc are anything to go buy...well...they aren't exactly grabbing my full attention!
Wow, this has really taken off. Do people actually think the game itself will be good / fun, now that the sample game video was put up? And will the figs be miniature-game-quality or board-game-quality?
Our intent is to have hard-plastic miniatures, much like those used in the 1st edition of Descent.
Fenris Games will be producing the figures in high-quality resin and metal. These will, of course, be significantly MORE EXPENSIVE (though even nicer) than the ones provided in the Cthulhu Wars boxed game.
Sorry all. I initially wrote "cheaper" instead of more expensive. My bad. Dunno what my brain was thinking. I was completely wrong, In my defense, if you look at other sites where I describe the cost differential I get it right there. Dunno why I didn't here.
What quality is the Descent-level plastic? Is it bendy like the Cadwallon Guild of Thieves figs? Or the harder, more resilient plastic Legacy is using for their new Confrontation miniatures?
Sandy Petersen wrote: Our intent is to have hard-plastic miniatures, much like those used in the 1st edition of Descent.
Fenris Games will be producing the figures in high-quality resin and metal. These will, of course, be significantly cheaper (though even nicer) than the ones provided in the Cthulhu Wars boxed game.
Well that's sorted then, i'll simply wait for the Fenris minis to be released.
Not sure why the higher quality resin would be cheaper, but I'm not arguing!
Cultist des Goules gets the 6 additional plastic Gates. For 98% of games of Cthulhu Wars, 16 Gates is enough, even for a 5-player game. But now you are all covered for those 2% where people go nuts building Gates. Plus, in the back of my mind, I wonder if perhaps there are as-yet-undiscovered strategies which involve blanketing the globe with Gates. Perhaps not, but if there are, now people will have the tools to explore it properly.
The Fenris Games miniatures will be significantly MORE EXPENSIVE,. Argh. Not cheaper. The plastic ones are, of course cheaper. (thumps head on desk)
Well that does make more sense.
But I am prepared to pay more, resin is much better at retaining detail.
But can you tell me how detailed these minis will be?
Are they going to have fine scales etched on the skin, hairs picked out on scalps, all the sorts of things that painters expect, but games most likely won't.
In other words, is there any point, from a detail and painting viewpoint to wait for the reins minis, or is their simply no more detail to be brought to light by casting in a material with a higher fidelity
After consulting with several logistics companies, we are happy to announce that we will be able to help you save money on import taxes. Because pledges on Kickstarter are explicitly for the "funding of a project in a pre-retail environment," we can ship our products to you with a declared commercial value equal to the core manufacturing cost, rather than your full pledge amount. This should save a lot on any VAT taxes which may apply. We are also exploring other options which could potentially provide additional savings, including manufacturing and distribution from within the E.U.
Well you can see our Hastur figure and tell whether the detail is enough for your needs or not, re: painting. Also, here are some images of painted figures from our model set.
Dark Young looks pretty good (the teeth!) but the others remind me of D&D Minis. Still, I think it's more a question of the style of painting than the miniature itself.
Sandy, could you please post some close-up pictures of unpainted Cthulhu Wars miniaturs?
I like the fact that Bokrug has some sort of actual form and shape to his body, rather than the usual writhing mass of tentacles and unmentionables like most of the Old Ones are.
H-man looks cool. Big floating head of doom. He looks like he will snack on beholders with his multiple mouths.
More art (I'm afraid this one is the mass of tentacles mentioned above, LOL)
Abhoth
Automatically Appended Next Post: Update #40 · Jun 19, 2013 · 10 comments
Thanks for all the great support so far everyone! The first part of our Kickstarter has been a huge success! Now we need your help getting the word out about Cthulhu Wars so we reach even more fans!
We are very grateful for all the backers so far, but need help spreading the word and will reward our loyal fans with tons of goodies. That is why almost all of the stretch goals from here on out are all FREE display figures, along with some "special" upgrade add-ons.
To reward you for helping us spread the word, you will get a Kickstarter exclusive, a free special set of display figures for all Cultist pledges and above. As we get more backers, we will give away more and more of these FREE figures. So tell your friends, share this news on Facebook, gaming forums, etc!
Thanks for all the support and help spreading Cthulhu's influence around the world!
Automatically Appended Next Post: 3100 Backers FREE Mutant collectors figure (CDG pledge, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
3200 Backers FREE Nightguant collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3300 Backers FREE Wizard collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
3400 Backers FREE Ghoul collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over
3500 Backers FREE Wendigo collectors figure (Windwalker expansion or expansion bundle)
3600 FREE Shoggoth collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3700 FREE Byakee collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
3800 FREE Abomination collectors figure (CDG pledge, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
3900 FREE Fungi From Yuggoth collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4000 FREE Serpant Man collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
4100 FREE Flying Polyp collectors figure (Cultist Pledge or higher)
4200 FREE Spawn of Yog Sothoth collectors figure (CDG, Opener expansion or expansion bundle)
4300 FREE Star Spawn collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4400 FREE Gnoph Keh collectors figure (Windwalker expansion or expansion bundle)
4500 FREE Hunting Horror collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
4600 FREE Formless Spawn collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
4700 FREE Dark Young collectors figure (Cultist expansion or expansion bundle)
$750K FREE HLP 1st Player Marker
$800K Upgrades all faction cards to high quality card mats
$850K Upgrades Doom and Power marker to plastic
I think I'm sadly going to be dropping my pledge. I'm in this for the miniatures, and I'd rather pay more for premium resin and metal than for Descent quality plastics.
Also it's getting to the stage where the boardgame and all the expansions I've pledged for are so expensive that I'd literally need to play this game every game night to justify it to myself.
Still haven't felt the pull towards the full 200 yet. There's some value there with the free Old Ones, but not enough for me to fully plunge in yet. Plus I haven't really had any of them just jump out at me yet design- wise.
These new goals are starting to tempt me, but it's still not to the point where it's like "Oh my God! I HAVE to add more to my pledge since this is such an awesome deal!"
Myth got me to do that with its constant showing of new stuff going in the base game. Guardian Chronicles got me to do it once it hit those few final goals.
I do like the fact that we're getting some base game upgrades.
I'll wait and see what's in store for the million mark.
At least I've still got Dagon and Hydra with a cultist pledge, right?
Zond wrote: Also it's getting to the stage where the boardgame and all the expansions I've pledged for are so expensive that I'd literally need to play this game every game night to justify it to myself.
I understand the sentiment and have been walking that line myself. If I do keep my money in this one, it will be the most expensive KS I've ever participated in. So I came to the same issue: how often am I really going to play this? Is it worth X hundred dollars? For me, the question comes down to a gaming budget: am I going to go with this KS or get kits to make an Iyanden army. When I think of it that way, it reminds me that everything in the gaming budget is only going to get some use some of the time. If I spend X hundred dollars on a 40k army, it's not like I'm going to play 40k every night.
Zond wrote: Also it's getting to the stage where the boardgame and all the expansions I've pledged for are so expensive that I'd literally need to play this game every game night to justify it to myself.
I understand the sentiment and have been walking that line myself. If I do keep my money in this one, it will be the most expensive KS I've ever participated in. So I came to the same issue: how often am I really going to play this? Is it worth X hundred dollars? For me, the question comes down to a gaming budget: am I going to go with this KS or get kits to make an Iyanden army. When I think of it that way, it reminds me that everything in the gaming budget is only going to get some use some of the time. If I spend X hundred dollars on a 40k army, it's not like I'm going to play 40k every night.
Fair point. I'm only interested in the miniatures though, which I'd rather pay a premium for. If I invested in this KS and every paid expansion, as I'm currently pledged for, I'd certainly play it and enjoy it, however it's a large chunk of my gaming budget on a game where so far the gameplay doesn't terribly excite me (it's certainly solid enough however), and then I'd have to go through the usual checks of storage space, transportation issues, and getting folks to play it. Add to that the fact that I only wanting the figures to paint and display for my own enjoyment, one of my relatives is buying all of it and the UK VAT will be horrendous and it's losing some of it's initial lustre for myself. It's a cracking kickstarter however.
I'm feeling a bit the same way now. Even if there's a pledge level going up with just the miniatures alone (from all the expansions and maps and what-not), I'm seriously re-considering my pledge.
He looks great perched up there. A bit anthropomorphic but, as has been mentioned before, with this kind of faction play you can't have every GOO be a bloated slimepile of tentacle-writhe. The long fingers help but I think it's the sheer scale that keeps him from looking like Gollum wearing a cuttlefish hat.
gohkm wrote: What's the difference between the collectors' edition figs and the standard gaming figs? Has that been clarified yet?
The collectors edition figures are the same sculpts (and size) as the ones in the game or expansion. They will be cast in grey rather than their normal faction colour see below
Update #43 · Jun 20, 2013 · 28 comments
We hit the first backer milestone of 2800 fans and unlocked a figure!!! Now the Collector Edition Cultist is FREE for all Cultist Level Backers to enjoy! Thank You and please continue to spread the word about the Kickstarter. Next FREE figure will be the Deep One!
(it looks like this photo has been 'mirror imaged', but from what Sandy & Co has said it is NOT a different sculpt)
So I have to ask: What is the overwhelming appeal of Cthulu? I tried to read some of Lovecrafts writing but wasn't a huge fan. For those of you that backed, what draws you to it?
the point of view that humanity is doomed at the end of the day when the 'Stars are Right'
The writing is somewhat old fashioned and a touch 'purple prose' but the images can be really strong, and really give a good sense of mood and place
And it's something that has penetrated deep into popular culture and a lot of other stuff can be more fun if you see the references (many people really believe the Necronomicon is real)
cthulhu mythos actually shares a lot in common with the W40k Chao's mythos, you might even say the Chao's mythos is a little based off the strangeness that the cthulhu mythos has(if you've read the Eisenhorn trilogy). So its less about say a Space Marine struggling against the inevitability of Chaos, but the common man struggling against the inevitability of the Great Old Ones. (More horror theme then Sci-fi)
Yep, I believe that's why the allusion is to Descent. Descent uses good plastic even if the sculpts aren't as good as what a war gamer would like. This project puts war game quality sculpts into higher end board game plastic.
The new Descent stuff from 2E is actually even better than 1E, so you should be pretty happy.
Thanks for the input on Cthulhu. I couldn't get into his writing style and I think it's a bit of a miss for me because I dont really "do" horror. I think that makes me a wuss or something. I like Hellboy, but I just never was a fan of the Cthulhu infusions. C'est la vie.
The miniatures in this certainly do look nice, though!
listen to it, go on you know you want to (it's about 45mins long)
it's interesting and talks about the genesis of the game, costs, stretch goals, and where they may go next I've pulled out a few juicy bits under the spoiler tags)
Spoiler:
Sandy had intended the game to be his tabletop swansong before going off to write iOS games (he'd accepted a job), but the KS has done so well he's now sticking around to do more TTG/Boardgame stuff
The Green Eyed Games crew have no external funding and are living by cashing in their retirement savings
Each time they add a new figure to the game the mould cost are about $30,000 (this bit's not Sandy: it could be a 'cultist' is cheaper and a 'great old one is more expensive, it could be he's talking about GOO moulds in the context where he's talking about this)
$250,000 would have let them make enough of the game to distribute to the KS backers, but that would have been it. (this bit's not Sandy again :Break even, no money in the company, Sandy goes and does something else leaving the KS backers with a great Cthuloid Swan-Song)
It sounds like they may have and EU distributor locked in (or I guess ruled out) by next week, as he's talking to companies who want to do the job this week)
A human faction may be in the works, revolving round characters like Herbert West (instead of GOOs) they would start powerfull and get weaker as the game progresses, so would need to go for a quick win. This may not hit during the KS however high it goes as it will need a lot of testing/balancing and Sandy does not want to do it if it doesn't work well
A potential followup game may a cooperative affair detailing how the GOOs set the scene for their rise.Think Cthulhu wars the prequel
Cthulhu Wars isn't really about horror. It's not necessarily about Cthulhu and there's even a good argument that it is counter-Lovecraftian.
Yog Sothoth has an interview with Sandy up that Sandy sent out as a KS update. In it, he mentions that his play test group knows nothing about the Cthulhu mythos but still enjoyed the game play so much that they insisted on filling their weekly game night playing it even after weeks of play testing.
Yea the mini's look really good. As a mini collector and board gamer both have me really happy so far (just wish there was more game play up lol)
Gotta admit, I don't really understand getting the 240 pledge though. From a game play perspective you get the base game and the expansion bundle you still get those free Old Ones plus three more expansions for only 60ish dollars more.
The 240 pledge really only gives you the plastic gates and player marker (Plus the old ones but everyone over a certain amount gets those) Unless I'm misreading it.
The Opener of the Way expansion 48 Plastic Gate markers 25 Custom dice 12 Custom 1st Player marker/art print (of Asenath Waite) 25
so $110 of value (if you want it all), a saving of $10 over adding the stuff to a full cultist pledge of $150
Which let's you add a T-shirt which is cool
(although I know you can still pick up early bird cultists at $146 reducing the saving to $6.... but then if you got an early bird cultist it goes up so you can't really count it)
and yes, everybody over $200 (not including shipping) gets all the free GOOs, although a few of the backer number based stretch goals (see the first post) are specific to pledgers getting CDG (or The Opener of the Way expansion)
Victorraven wrote: Yea the mini's look really good. As a mini collector and board gamer both have me really happy so far (just wish there was more game play up lol)
Gotta admit, I don't really understand getting the 240 pledge though. From a game play perspective you get the base game and the expansion bundle you still get those free Old Ones plus three more expansions for only 60ish dollars more.
The 240 pledge really only gives you the plastic gates and player marker (Plus the old ones but everyone over a certain amount gets those) Unless I'm misreading it.
I think you have it right. At the base + 4 expansions + 8 stretch goal GOO, you're pledging:
4x $48 expansion = $192.
$150 Cult + $160 Bundle = $310 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO
$240 CDG + $120 Bundle = $360 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO + 1st player marker + 16 gates + 12 custom dice
$150 Cult + $160 Bundle + $25 First Player Marker + $25 22 Gates + $12 12 custom dice = $372 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO + 1st player marker + 22 gates + 12 custom dice
The "problem" is that the sweet spot is at $200, when the 8 GOOs come in, at $25 MSRP each.
OLGS discount needed for base + 4 expansions
MSRP = ($169 base + 4x $48 expansions + 8x $25) = $561, not including 1st player marker + 16 gates + 12 custom dice
$310 / $560 = 55%, so you'll need a 45% discount from the OLGS to match the Cultist + Bundle level.
OLGS discount needed to match bundle
4x $48 = $192
$160/$192 = 83% so you'll need a 17% OLGS discount to match that. Not difficult.
OLGS discount needed to match CDG
($150 Cult + $25 First Player Marker + $12 12 custom dice + $25 22 Gates = $212) = $240 CDG - $48 expansion
($240 - $212) / $50 = 56% so you'll need a 45% discount from the OLGS to match the CDG + 6 gates
So... is there a better way to spend $60 or $50 to reach the $200 spot from the $140 to $150 Cultist spots? (:
Victorraven wrote: Yea the mini's look really good. As a mini collector and board gamer both have me really happy so far (just wish there was more game play up lol)
Gotta admit, I don't really understand getting the 240 pledge though. From a game play perspective you get the base game and the expansion bundle you still get those free Old Ones plus three more expansions for only 60ish dollars more.
The 240 pledge really only gives you the plastic gates and player marker (Plus the old ones but everyone over a certain amount gets those) Unless I'm misreading it.
I think you have it right. At the base + 4 expansions + 8 stretch goal GOO, you're pledging:
4x $48 expansion = $192.
$150 Cult + $160 Bundle = $310 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO
$240 CDG + $120 Bundle = $360 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO + 1st player marker + 16 gates + 12 custom dice
$150 Cult + $160 Bundle + $25 First Player Marker + $25 22 Gates + $12 12 custom dice = $372 = Base game + 4 expansions + 8 GOO + 1st player marker + 22 gates + 12 custom dice
The "problem" is that the sweet spot is at $200, when the 8 GOOs come in, at $25 MSRP each.
OLGS discount needed for base + 4 expansions
MSRP = ($169 base + 4x $48 expansions + 8x $25) = $561, not including 1st player marker + 16 gates + 12 custom dice
$310 / $560 = 55%, so you'll need a 45% discount from the OLGS to match the Cultist + Bundle level.
OLGS discount needed to match bundle
4x $48 = $192
$160/$192 = 83% so you'll need a 17% OLGS discount to match that. Not difficult.
OLGS discount needed to match CDG
($150 Cult + $25 First Player Marker + $12 12 custom dice + $25 22 Gates = $212) = $240 CDG - $48 expansion
($240 - $212) / $50 = 56% so you'll need a 45% discount from the OLGS to match the CDG + 6 gates
So... is there a better way to spend $60 or $50 to reach the $200 spot from the $140 to $150 Cultist spots? (:
You don't have to "find a way* simply pledge $200 plus shipping.
That's it.
You're done,
I think an easy way to hit 200 is with the dreamland monster expansions. Those should both be 20, plus gates is a fast way to hit 200. 140 + 20+ 20+ 25 = 205.
Or do a faction expansion + and the high priests witth an EB cultist should hit around 200.
Brother wants to drop his pledge and toss it in with mine, so I guess I'll be getting my great old ones after all. Makes more sense for us to pool resources.
- anyway - from start to finish (sort of) on an unutterable something: had to carve up the original sculpt as it wasn't quite hitting the spot with the concept art, but the tentacle-y terror soon began to take on his intended shape. Made about a squillion little teeth to stick in and then just found a quicker way of sculpting them directly into the...well, gums, I guess...so that was time well spent. Lots of faff added in with figuring out how to make him take-to-bits-able - he'll need a bit of re-tooling anyway to go into proper production - but Ian managed to cast him up in mostly one bit in the meanwhile.
...brought to you today by the letter H and the Unsuitable for Children's Television Workshop.
and he's right version 1.0 looks alarmingly cute, sort of Hastur for a childrens TV cartoon where all the Great Old Ones and their friends have PG rated fun, and learn important lessons about sharing
Automatically Appended Next Post: As a change of pace, here are some more concepts in a different style. More Free Great Old Ones!
Cthugha, Rhan-Tegoth, Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, Chaugnar Faugn, and High Priest
Automatically Appended Next Post: Seeing the concept make me hope the IP issues with Chaugna Fuagn can be sorted out even more strongly and that he can join the other free (or even paid) Great Old Ones
ced1106 wrote:Yea the mini's look really good. As a mini collector and board gamer both have
So... is there a better way to spend $60 or $50 to reach the $200 spot from the $140 to $150 Cultist spots? (:
I like your analysis. The way I look at is that I can usually get 20-25% off using online retailers, which means that funding for something below that cutoff means that I'm essentially pre-ordering something with no information on how the finished product will look or play.
Using that as a qualifier the only addons that break that line are the map and expansion bundles (25% and 27% respectively). After that are the high priests (20%), the gates (17%) and the dreamlands monsters (17%). The gates might actually be a better deal since there are bonus gates with the Kickstarter (22 up from 16) so if there's only 16 in the actual release it's quite a good deal.
Based on this if you're only looking to just get to $200 the gates, high priests and the soon to be two deamlands monsters packs are the way to go discount wise.
Personally I'm going with the cultist (in at $130), expansion bundle, and the gates. In the meantime I've dug up my old Petersen Field Guides to contemplate the age old question, "To paint or not to paint?"
Unix wrote: the age old question, "To paint or not to paint?"
For me, this is a definite NO because I will be using them as board game factions (either for CW or for something homebrewed).
That's the big reason why I'm debating. Currently I'm thinking of just painting the great old ones since they're big enough to not get mixed up and I've been wanting good Cthulhu miniatures for so long, but I'll see once the package arrives on my doorstep.
Has anybody been wondering about that 6-8 player map stretch goal? ($900K I think)
What is it ?,
Does it mean another faction will be released in the KS ?
Well they were discussing it on board game geek and Sandy posted the following
"The way we do the maps, one side is the "low density" map, while the other is the "high density map". To play the "medium density" map, you flip half the map over, so you are playing with 1 "low" side and 1 "high" side.
So with the 6-8 player map, the "low" side is the 6 player side, and the "high" side is, of necessity, 8 players. "Medium" is 7 players. Because of this construction system, we were basically able to include the 8 player map automatically.
That said, we do not have an 8th faction in the chute and ready to go. There is likely to be one someday, depending on how well Cthulhu Wars does in the real world. And of course I imagine players will create their own homegrown factions for Cthulhu Wars, and probably upload them to BGG. So the 8 player side will get used.
Unix wrote: Personally I'm going with the cultist (in at $130), expansion bundle, and the gates. In the meantime I've dug up my old Petersen Field Guides to contemplate the age old question, "To paint or not to paint?"
Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't have a good look at the smaller expansion sets, so will look at them closer.
As for painting, of course! Even clear gesso + paint + water washed over the miniature will bring out the detail, and you can still paint the figure later.
I've actually had some luck painting mythos miniatures with metallic craft paint for an alienish pseudo-slimy look.
I think my situation is that I won't have time to play the game, and, since Cthulhu is public domain, another company can put out a set of Cthulhu figures. Reaper said "cross your fingers" when I asked them about mythos miniatures in their next KS. However, from the mythos figures offered in their last KS, I'm guessing the figures won't have the cohesive style the CW mini's have. Darn you KS! *shakes tentacle*
So 2 more stretch Goals have fallen overnight (for me anyway)
Thank you for SHARING the Cthulhu Wars kickstarter with your friends and other Lovecraft fans, we are now over 2900 backers! That means another collector's edition figure is FREE!!! In all seriousness, we really want to make sure all of these figures are yours, so continue to share the news and help us keep this dream alive!
This little nasty is the Deep One. It's the smallest of the game's figures, but size is not everything... right?
Well you guys have done it and we are grateful! Now we have unlocked the Dreamlands Surface Monster expansion. This consists of 2 Shantaks, 3 Gnorri, and 4 Moonbeasts. As with the other Dreamlands Monster expansion, these creatures come with special Homeland markers which are placed on the map and designate points of control.
Both Dreamlands Monster expansions are for use with ANY map. Yes, they can be used with the Dreamlands map as well, but they are not exclusive to it.
Each monster has a special ability inherent to it, which is described on its loyalty card. Shantaks have the highly useful ability of carrying a Cultist with them when they move, so you can move two units for just 1 Power (as long as one is a Cultist, and the other a Shantak). Gnorri, Lovecraft's little-described amphibious horrors, are one of the few creatures who are habitat-specific. They have ONE ability when in the water, and a different ability on land. The Moonbeasts have a particularly obnoxious special power which makes them the bane of the other players.
Any pledge of $200 gets the free Great Old Ones. What Cultes des Goules level (currently at $240) gets you is an additional faction (Opener of the Way), and three Kickstarter exclusives which we are not planning to offer post-KS. These are the 75mm tall Asenath Waite miniature, the 22 plastic Gate models, and the custom dice. Since the additional faction, all by itself, is nominally $48, we thought it would be a good deal.
Yes they do, this quote if from Sandy in the KS comments
Creator Sandy Petersen 7 minutes ago
Cultist des Goules gets the 6 additional plastic Gates. For 98% of games of Cthulhu Wars, 16 Gates is enough, even for a 5-player game. But now you are all covered for those 2% where people go nuts building Gates. Plus, in the back of my mind, I wonder if perhaps there are as-yet-undiscovered strategies which involve blanketing the globe with Gates. Perhaps not, but if there are, now people will have the tools to explore it properly.
Sandy
(I suspect whoever does the graphics is not working this weekend which is why they've not been updated)
Here are a few new concepts for some monsters. Watcher of the Green Pyramid, Ghast, and Leng Spider. Unfortunately I will be out for the majority of next week, so there will be a lack of concept art being put up. But for the meantime, here is some spam.
Wow, those Dreamlands expansions are incredible, but unfortunately I can only afford one (unless I give up my sweet art print and high priests). I think I'll be making some REALLY hard decisions come the last couple of days...
Gugs do look cool. I wouldn't mind having a few. But, I've just dropped my pledge. Shifting my money into my brother's pledge though and increasing it, so that way I can get what I really want, which is Yog-Sothoth. Abomination horde here I come!
I like this interpretation of the Gug. Looks big and meaty.
I had been pretty content with my Pathfinder Gug, but this one looks much cooler.
I wonder how the HPL figure will end up. I have this vision of him at a desk with all kinds of nastiness spilling out of his brain.
I think it would be a bit underwhelming if it's just him standing there looking off in the distance pointing at something, like a skinny American version of the Kim dynasty. from the roaring twenties.
We are so proud, just hit 3000 Backers! The UNDEAD Collector's Figure is now unlocked and FREE for all Cultist pledge level and above Backers to enjoy! Thank you for making this possible, and please keep SHARING with your friends when we Update our concept art, open stretch goals, etc... helping get the word makes a huge difference, and gets you more FREE stuff! =)
Next up on the FREEbie list, is the MUTANT! We have this super sick model ready, and will reveal it when we reach 3100!!!
What's the deal with the "collector's figures" - same sculpt just cast in grey plastic instead of blue/green/yellow?
I'm in at CDG right now, but I could go either way. I know I'll rarely have a chance to play this, so it's another care of do I want to pay for some nice miniatures (with lots of duplicates - and attached boardgame) 6 months in advance?
The main thing keeping me in atm is the GOO figures...
The collectors figs are identical to those in the game and/or expansion, just in grey plastic
(just a bit of fun, and something for painters to work on without spoiling the utility of the colour coding of the main models)
If you're really just after the great old ones this seems your cheapest route
cultist 150 (or less if you're an EB) 3 x GOO bundle Yog Sothoth, Ithaqua, Tsathoggua 50 3x GOO bundle Ran Tegoth, Azathoth, Watcher 50 P&P 45 Total $295
for all 18 unique GOOs plus the game & other minis
working out at $17.35 each pack (Dagon/hydra comes together so 17 packs) compared to an estimated retail of $25 a saving of about 30%, so pretty decent value if you want them all (of course that falls apart if you don't want some of them)
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: Yup,
The collectors figs are identical to those in the game and/or expansion, just in grey plastic
(just a bit of fun, and something for painters to work on without spoiling the utility of the colour coding of the main models)
If you're really just after the great old ones maybe consider
Consider....?
I'm happy to buy boardgames as well, but this is quite an expensive one - especially with the international shipping on top, so just the CDG is going to run me close to $300, if you see what I mean.
Azazelx wrote: What's the deal with the "collector's figures" - same sculpt just cast in grey plastic instead of blue/green/yellow?
I'm in at CDG right now, but I could go either way. I know I'll rarely have a chance to play this, so it's another care of do I want to pay for some nice miniatures (with lots of duplicates - and attached boardgame) 6 months in advance?
The main thing keeping me in atm is the GOO figures...
That's exactly what the collector's figures are. Apparently it was to give miniature collector's figures specifically meant for painting, although I think it would have made more sense to keep them the same color as the boardgame pieces since that way you could choose not to paint them and still use them with the boardgame, and if you did want to paint them the plastic color is inconsequential.
For me the only thing that makes this worthwhile is the GOO figures. Take that away at $200 and you're left with a pre-order with marginal savings.
Personally my hope is that they make it to 4200 backers which will give me grays of the mutant, abomination, and spawn of Yog-Sothoth, which will become spawn in my 40K chaos armies.
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: Yup,
The collectors figs are identical to those in the game and/or expansion, just in grey plastic
(just a bit of fun, and something for painters to work on without spoiling the utility of the colour coding of the main models)
If you're really just after the great old ones maybe consider
Consider....?
I'm happy to buy boardgames as well, but this is quite an expensive one - especially with the international shipping on top, so just the CDG is going to run me close to $300, if you see what I mean.
Oh it's certainly expensive, no doubt about that (and at the moment I'll get taxed on it too, where you get one of the rare benefits to being an Australian gamer and dodge that bullet)
but CDG is NOT the way to go if you want the most bang for your buck as you're paying for the unnecessary 1st player marker, plastic gate markers and custom dice (and this is speaking as somebody who is getting the CDG level) unless you want all three of these cultist is the best start point and that way you can choose what faction you want if you only want one
the way I posted above gets you the basic game (so 2-4 players) and all the GOOs for $295 shipped, not the most elegant or gameplay effective (but you did say the GOOs were the main attraction for you)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Update #53 · Jun 25, 2013 · 3 comments
We haven't unlocked this yet ($750K target), but I'm gonna be out of town, so... an early release!
Update #52 · Jun 25, 2013 · 1 comment
Here are some videos describing both the Black Goat and Great Cthulhu Factions. We cover faction descriptions and strategies. Yellow Sign and Crawling Chaos videos will be up soon too!
Also we have added to the main page, a PDF list of all the available add-ons and pledges for easier viewing. We will also be adding a pledge calculator of some sorts soon too.
Comments were made on board game geek recently that although not 100% yet, the dice expansion will end up netting you TWENTY dice instead of 12.
For the same price. More than likely. This coming from Sandy's son.
The custom dice will be 16mm, regular standard ones in box will be 12mm.
Again, that's not 100% confirmed, but more than likely that's what they'll be going for.
For the amount of dice they said you'll be rolling in the game, that's not a bad deal at all.
That should more than likely affect the CDG pledges as well since they are coming with the custom dice.
3200 Backers FREE Nightguant collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over)
Automatically Appended Next Post: Project Update #55: 3100 backers! Mutant collector's figure now unlocked!
Posted by Sandy Petersen Like
We are really excited about this one! So much so, that we are going to show you the photos that Fenris Games sent us of the Mutant. It is, technically, not finished or molded but you can certainly see how terrific this model is going to look.
The Mutant is one of the Monsters available to the Opener of the Way. His Cultists are actually able to "grow" into a Mutant, and then, later on, the Mutant can grow into an Abomination, and so up the line.
It's nice seeing more of these awesome sculpts. Kind of makes me wish I had the $$$ not just to buy everything(which I probably won't be able to do), but have it all professionally painted.
That said...if there's a good price break on the as yet to be revealed "get everything" add-on bundle, my credit card bill might be quite painful next month!
It's nice to see more greens. I wonder if it will get more people to pledge, since it's always more assuring to see sculpts as opposed to concept art, even awesome concept art.
Also, glad that we unlocked the first of my chaos spawn.
That said...if there's a good price break on the as yet to be revealed "get everything" add-on bundle, my credit card bill might be quite painful next month!
Sandy Petersen is out of town for a few days(and trying to get the EU distribution stuff locked down) so there should be an announcement very soon, hopefully this weekend. But they've definitely been discussing it.
My guess is they'll reveal it along with the 900K stretch (the 6-8 player map) and that will be the last 'paid' content for the KS
and hopefully that will come up with 2-3 days to go
That way they'll know exactly what "everything" includes cost wise
Automatically Appended Next Post: Happy news from the KS comments for all custom dice lovers
Creator Sandy Petersen 2 minutes ago
Arthur here:
I fought for the past two days for Custom Dice being 20 (in the add-on and at the CDG level). The GEG guys were not against it, but they have a keen interest in not over promising on things they cannot deliver. They really want this to be a solid project, good for the backers, but something they can realistically handle producing.
And...it has paid off. It turns out that because it seems so many people want the custom dice, the print run will be large enough to support the 20 dice for $12. Custom molded dice are more expensive than I thought - but this will be doable.
The main KS page will be updated soon (although it may take a day or so). In any case, add on the custom dice - it will be 20 for $12.
Hoorah for Arthur
(now remember to spend any savings on more CW stuff!)
I sent Sandy a PM about the Dreamlands Underworld monsters (Ghast, Leng Spider, and Gug) and he sent me back brief descriptions of the Gug and Leng Spider. They sound really cool!
"The Gug is a very strong monster who actually has a disadvantage in play - he is not able to Capture Cultists.
The leng Spider has the Bloodthirst ability which lets you engage in Battles for free."
A human faction is not on the cards for this KS (so far) but possibly for later retail release
If it does happen the thinking is for the faction to start strong and get weaker as the game progresses, so needing to go for a quick win.
and an update
Nightgaunt unlock!
Update #57 · Jun 30, 2013 · 6 comments
Sorry for the delay on this. Our full team is back now though. we will be working hard this last week to come out with some new pledges, which you guys have been asking for. Look out for it soon. Also we have added a HP Lovecraft pledge level!
Not sure if you guys have noticed, but on the home page little pictures of various critters have been starting to show up.
These are all creatures we've yet to see any full pieces of art for.
At the moment you can get small glimpses of the Wendigo, Gnoph kehs, Dimensional Shambler, Gnorri, and the Shantaks.
Can't really tell what the Gnoph Kehs are supposed to be- it looks like a bug on a rock. Would that be an accurate description of them? I need to see a better picture of them.
I've got to see the Sleeper's serpent men before I commit to one of the other factions. I think I may just grab both Dreamland monster expansions so I've got more critters to paint/ play with. Kids want the dragon- like Shantaks and I want more Gugs as it is.
A new update! I hope this helps bring in some EU backers
"We want to thank all of our European backers for their support and patience. Today we are happy to announce that we have made arrangements to provide distribution of your backer rewards from within the European Union! Additional details will be made available as we finalize everything."
325 lets you get the bling for the game (plastic gates and dice), high priests, your choice of player marker, and three expansions of your choice!
525 gets you ever single thing they have available gameplay -wise, locked (for now) map included. Plus all the stretch goal collector figures too.
There was talk on Board Game Geek that this will very likely have a pledge manager to add funds into as well.
I'm afraid I may end up with everything if that's the case...
Really liking those Gnorri and Gnoph-kes. Hope the Gnoph kes are tall and imposing. Reminds me of something from Toriko for some reason. Kids said the same thing. Odd.
Thanks for putting up these updates guys (all the good stuff happened while I was asleep)
EU shipping news is brilliant as it means I can boost my pledge without fear of VAT
And I think the Wendigo looks spectacular!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and yesterdays updates got us passed 2 stretch goals
$850K funded: Upgrades Doom and Power marker to plastic 3300 Backers achieved FREE Wizard collectors figure (Sleeper expansion or expansion bundle)
next
3400 Backers FREE Ghoul collectors figure (Cultist pledge or over
Automatically Appended Next Post:
From Fenris Games via facebook
For those following the CW kickstarter, here's a shot showing some of the detail on the PROTOTYPE model for the summoning gates. The white castings GEG have don't show the best level of detail in photographs, so this should help.
These pieces are approx 75mm in diameter, 25mm high, and designed to hold either 25 or 50mm-based models (30 and 40mm will fit, too, though those sizes don't necessarily "fit" with gameplay in the game).
I was lucky enough to eventually get a "Father's Day Special" Cultes Des Goules for $200, so it looks as if it is still cheaper to stick with that and get all the add-ons via the various additional packages, unless I'm missing something (most likely!)?
Alpharius wrote: I was lucky enough to eventually get a "Father's Day Special" Cultes Des Goules for $200, so it looks as if it is still cheaper to stick with that and get all the add-ons via the various additional packages, unless I'm missing something (most likely!)?
If you're planning on getting everything gameplay-wise, the number crunchers on the comments section have worked this out, pledge-wise:
For those of you catching up with the new pledges, here is the breakdown for different all-in packages.
Cultist EB1 = $545
FDS = $533
DVM = $525
If you are getting everything, the DVM is the way to go.
However, if there are any pieces that you don't want to get, then FDS is the best thing.
De Vermis Mysteris is about $8 cheaper than adding everything game play related to fathers day
Fathers Day 200
Dreamlands Underworld Monsters 20
Dreamlands Surface world Monsters 20
Expansion bundle 120
Maps bundle 120
High Priests 12
HPL 25
6-8 player map 16
total 533
DVM 525
but as soon as you don't want anything you'll save by going father day plus bits,
(like the 6-8 player map which is no good to me, but since i'd only 'save' $8 by not having it I might as well go DVM and stick it in a cupboard)
Automatically Appended Next Post: from Fenris Games on facebook
For the completists among you, you might like to know that the 75mm Asenath Waite player marker mini - available ONLY via the kickstarter - is being sculpted by a certain Kev White of Hasslefree infamy
this is the first good look at the concept art which I presume is what comes with the marker
Automatically Appended Next Post: and the last cash based stretch goal is in
$900K funded: 6-8 play map add on ($16 based on the pdf)
Backer based stretch goals now have cash based alternate unlock conditions too
First, we reached a Backer's Stretch Goal and have unlocked the FREE Ghoul Collector's Figure! Thank you again for supporting and SHARING our project in these last few days! We hope to unlock all of these Collector Figures before time runs out!
Faction descriptions and strategy videos up for Crawling Chaos and Yellow Sign!
Sadface that the new GOO isn't free for $200 backers, since I can't afford to break that mark upwards, but I think I might be able to rejigger my rewards to include the $20 new guy, if he is indeed as game-changing as the update implies
Automatically Appended Next Post: Although the change to the CE figures being 25k per unlock is REALLY good news! There is a very real possibility of getting a free Bhole! But if we get the Leng Spider, I'll be satisfied because it's the only one of the Underworld expansion minis I liked, so I was going to probably pass on that set.
I really hope we'll reach that Bhole, as I can't afford to pick up maps as well as factions. I gotta squeeze by with just the 200, which is already stretching it for me.
I had toyed with the 325 pledge, but went and pledged for that Fairy Tale Battle Royale with its 2000+ cards and 40 miniatures at the last minute, so that scratches that plan.
If I can dump enough old video games on eBay I might be able to grab that last Great Old One via pledge manager. I think I've got just about every major PS1 RPG that was released, all original print runs. That should bring in a little bit of money. Maybe I can even get the big 525 pledge if things go well.
EDIT- that Yog stuff is NASTY. perfect. Thank God I'm dumping those on my brother, since he has nefarious plans for incorporating them into a Nurgle army!
We just reached an epic $1,000,000 dollar milestone for our little team with a big dream! Thank you so much for the support to help us bring H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu to life in a whole new way! This means the world to us knowing that fans around the world will be able to own this fabulous game.
You have unlocked a FREE collector's figure of Shoggoth!!!
*moves cash from RH to CW*
me hard on a couple of occasions so waiting for retail is the best option.
