CTHULHU WARS

Cthulhu Wars!

Cthulhu Wars is a game of epic struggle as the Great Old Ones clash to determine which one rules the Earth. No matter the outcome, it seems that humanity loses. The game is currently on Kickstarter with more than 2 weeks to go and it is way past the funded level and will be made. The figures are all sculpted in the standard miniatures game scale of 28mm. The monsters are quite large.

The game is designed by Sandy Peterson, a guy that knows a thing or two about Cthulhu, having written the classic pen and paper RPG Call of Cthulhu.

The Kickstarter has options to just buy the figures by Faction, special 1st player marker sexy figures, sculpted gates, custom dice, posters, t-shirts, and additional factions. You could just buy in on a faction and play with your friends using your own figures, or use the figures for horror RPGs. As minis go, these are a good value, look great and should paint up well.

There are lots of extra factions and choices including additional Great Old Ones. They are planning 13 additional Factions. These are $48 each. The first is Yog Sothoth. Others planned include: Tsathoggua, Ithaqua, Azathoth.

There are also 3 map expansions including the Dreamlands with a new maps and plastic pieces. These are $40 each.

Cthulhu Wars is played on a huge world map (ala Risk) and each player gets a unique army led by one of the Great Old Ones. The base game factions are: Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and Hastur. Other figures are listed in the complete list below.

I am quite impressed with the figures and the game design itself.

One of the interesting features of the rules is how first player and turn order are determined. The player with the most power goes first, but they get to choose if the round is played clockwise or counter-clockwise around the table. Neat. Power is determined by how many people and gates the player controls. This includes cultists captured in the turn before! Those guys are then killed and returned to their player's off board unit supply.

On your turn you may do one of the following:
Recruit a single Cultist (get more dudes on the map)
Move your dudes (spending 1 power for each) to an adjacent territory
Create a Gate (a portal to bring in Monsters) (only one per territory)
Capture Cultist - your monsters can help recruit your enemies forces to your side
Battle - fight enemy units in the same territory
Summon Monster to a territory where you have a controlled gate
Control Gate
Ritual of Annihilation
Awaken Great Old One

Players recruit Cultists and summon monsters and gain power and Spellbooks until they have enough power to win.

I will probably always think of this as Cthulhu Risk and to me that is a good thing. A 15 page text only rulebook is posted on the Kickstarter and I think it reads pretty well and the components are great. With Sandy Peterson involved, this is likely a pretty good game. But the price - $150 for the base game. Woah.

Here are the factions in the base set:

The game includes the following (quoted from the rulebook pdf):

Rulebook
Player Hints & Tips
Mapboard of Earth (in two pieces, printed on both sides)
4 Faction Cards
4 Power markers (faction-specific)
4 Doom track markers (faction-specific)
1 Ritual of Annihilation Marker
Starting player tile (circular)
24 Spellbooks (6 per Faction)
~12 Desecration markers (yellow sign)
16 Gates (cardboard, large)
30 Elder Sign chits (two-sided: one side has the Elder Sign, the other has a number – either 1/2, 1,
or 1 1/2)]
· Thus, a third of the Elder Sign chits say “1/2”
· A third read “1”
· A third read “1 1/2”
20 six-sided dice
Plastic:
24 cultists, six each in four colors; BLUE, GREEN, RED, YELLOW
5 Great Old Ones; Cthulhu (GREEN), Nyarlathotep (BLUE), Shub-Niggurath (RED),
Hastur (YELLOW), The King in Yellow (YELLOW)
4 Deep Ones, 2 Shoggoths, 2 Starspawn (all GREEN)
3 Nightgaunts, 3 Flying Polyp, 2 Hunting Horror (all BLUE)
2 Ghouls, 4 Fungi, 3 Dark Young (all RED)
6 Undead, 4 Byakhee (all YELLOW)
Total types of figures: 18
Small figures = 39 (cultists, deep ones, nightgaunts, ghouls, undead)
Medium figures = 14 (shoggoths, flying polyps, fungi, byakhee, King in Yellow)
Large figures = 7 (starspawn, hunting horror, dark young)
Huge figures = 4 (Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur)
Total figures: 63 + 16 Gates

Fnord

The Adventurers - Painted Figures

The Adventurers

AEG / Dust Games

Painted Figure Pack - $30

I think that The Adventurers is a very fun game. During production AEG made a choice to not paint the figures to keep the cost down. After all, there are 12 figures with this game and they did not want a fun, family oriented game to retail for $70.

But they did want to give players the option of paying extra to get the painted figures, so they have released on their website a pre-painted pack for $30. While that may seem high, 12 figures plus 2 walls and the bridge is actually a good price. If you get the combo pack with the full game and the pre-painted pack the price is $70.

Is it worth the price? Yes. Compared to other pre-painted figures these are reasonably priced. The following price comparison does not include tax or shipping for any of the selections. Just counting the figures you get 12 Adventurers figures for $30. That's $2.50 per figure. Heroscape is $2.15 per figure. AT-43 is $5 per figure. Tannhäuser is $13 (but you get a card and a bunch of tokens - still high.)

With the Adventurers pack you also get the walls, boulder, and bridge painted, but for me those aren't different enough to be worth inclusion. I think they could have skipped those parts and just made the figures five bucks cheaper and everyone would be happy.

I bought the pack and it was delivered promptly. I have played four times with the unpainted figures and really like the game. However, using the painted figures is even more fun. It is really easy to tell them apart and the colors help give the game more personality. I love them and my customs brain wants to make Tannhäuser characters out of them. They would also be great for any Pulp themed rpg or for Heroscape.

In my opinion, these are some of the best pre-painted figures on the market. The quality matches that of Tannhäuser and the best of AT-43.

Game Spotlight - The Adventurers

The Adventurers: The Temple of Chac
Designed by Frédéric Henry and Guillaume Blossier
AEG/Dust Games
2-6 Players
MSRP $49.95
Online $35

Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) is best known for the terrific, long running CCG, Legend of the Five Rings, first released in 1995, following the release of Magic: The Gathering in 1993. L5R is one of the few CCGs to survive to to this day.



Starting with Tomb, published in 2008, AEG has been making a strong push into the boardgame arena. The successful launch of Tomb was followed by a flood of nine board games in 2009. Rush 'N Crush, Arcana, and The Island of Doctor Necreaux, and the Tomb sequel, Tomb: Cryptmaster were successful releases.





One of the biggest splashes at GenCon was made by The Adventurers: The Temple of Chac, a clever game of Archaeological survival in the temple the Mayan rain god.

Each player starts the game with two randomly chosen adventurers, but only one enters the deadly ruins seeking ancient treasure. If that adventurer should happen to die in one of the many traps set to protect the ancient tomb, then all their treasure is lost, but the player can send in the second adventurer to try and salvage a win.

The game play is quite straight forward and although there are different rules for each room, the basic choices are constant - move or pick up ancient relics. But there are many perils that must be faced to escape alive. Walls that crush you like a trash compactor; a giant boulder that may roll over you; a lava pit; a terrifying river and the rickety bridge that crosses it.

The Game Begins

The Wall Room

The game is great family fun and the challenge lies in balancing the amount of treasure you are carrying versus getting out before that giant boulder smooshes you or locks you in the temple. The treasure not only takes time to collect (allowing that boulder to move ahead), but the weight of it slows you down as well.

The boulder starts off slow, but rapidly gains speed.

If I have any qualms about this game it is that the abilities don't differentiate the characters enough. They are all identical other than that once-per-game special ability. Everyone can carry the same amount of treasure and everyone moves the same and checks traps the same. The characters are also assigned randomly. Given how unique and interesting the figures are, this is a shame and probably something I will address with custom rules.

The game is played out in rounds. The round begins with comparing the number of treasure cards you have to chart that gives you an Encumbrance number. One player, designated as the dicekeeper, rolls the 5 dice and each player compares that roll to their chart. The characters get one action for each die equal to or higher than their encumbrance number. So each time you take on more treasure you risk decreasing the number of actions you will get on future turns.

After determining the number of actions, the dicekeeper uses their actions to search for treasure, look of clues that warn of traps, or to simply move. The board is not a strictly straight line, but there is finality in that the boulder will block off the only exit and trap you in the Temple if you move too slowly, or spend too much time searching for treasure.

The traps are cleverly designed and serve to push you to the end of the game. The first room is the wall room. You can spend actions taking treasure, moving, or looking a the carvings on the walls. An ingenious bit of design lets you briefly look at up to four hieroglyphic tiles that will each match one of 14 on the tile floor over a pool of lava. However, those lava tiles are covered until someone gets to that room so you have to remember them.

The Lava Room

Of course, the hieroglyphics on the trap tiles are very similar to one another and you only get to look at them a few seconds. If you step on a wrong tile in the lava room, your character dies.

The Footbridge

You can spend actions in the room with the closing walls to find out which four tiles are traps, but that takes time away from either moving or grabbing treasure. But the walls are closing and the boulder is building up speed.

There is quite a bit of luck in The Adventurers (dice rolls determine how much you can do), but the choices you make do have a big influence on the outcome of the game. Each turn there are decisions to be made and if you choose wrong, the dice may hurt you.

All in all, I found the game a blast to play and so did my family.

Each character has one of six special abilities that can be used once per game to help out in dire circumstances. These are Leap (allowing one diagonal move), Linguistics (allowing a peek at an adjacent tile in the lava room to see if it's a trap), Lock Picking (helps with getting certain treasures, including the highest value treasure in the game), Sprint (move one space without using an action point), Stamina (get more action points for one turn), and Swimming (helps you escape the river without losing treasure).

The twelve figures included allow up to six players (as each player needs two figures).

 

Behind the Game

I asked some questions of AEG owner, John Zinser as well as Frédéric Henry and Guillaume Blossier, the designers of The Adventurers. (Hopefully the designers will reply. If so, I will add an article.)

At Gencon this year you really stepped it up in the board game arena. I believe you had 9 games this year and have plans for a big 2010. What led to the sudden increase in your board game presence?

John Zinser - The best way to be successful in gaming is to make what you play. We love board games and are playing lots of them. We have other non board game projects on our 2011 schedule but for now we had a bunch of really good ideas and a staff enjoying board games.

Rush N' Crush was previously available as a print and play game. How do you feel that has impacted sales?

John - Won't know for sure for months. Good games sell no matter what the previous incarnation.


What upcoming games would you like to hype for the readers?
John - well we are psyched about Thunderstone and Infinite City. Both were held up in customs so they will be available January 11.

Thunderstone is a deck building game - the first to follow Dominion. We love Dominion and Thunderstone is like a Reese’s peanut butter cup - you got your Dominion in my Dungeons and Dragons.... and it tastes great. Infinite City is as simple as play a tile do the effect but it has much deeper strategy and is one of the most amazing looking games we have done to date.

Was The Adventurers a finished game when you first saw it, or did you decide to buy it from Dust Games as a prototype or proposal?

John - Finished. I literally called Italy half way through the first run through to sign us up. We got to add some AEG flavor to the world but it was almost perfect.

The release of The Adventurers pre-painted figure pack has been somewhat controversial. Any time there is an exclusive, gamers get a little upset they can't have it. Do you have plans to make it available to the general public?

John - We have more coming, so yes. How we will make them available is still in question. If we put the painted figs in the box, the box would have been $70; no way around it. We are glad players like the painted figs and will try to make them available to players and collectors who want them.

(The game and figures are now available on the AEG site.)

In terms of new material, are you planning to release any additional figures or map packs?

John – Wow, fun idea. Yes, we have a promo fig in the works and Adventurers 2 is in development but with no date because we want it to be as good or better than #1.




There you have it - Part one. I'd like to thank John and Alderac for providing a review copy and for answering my questions. He was also gracious enough to send some questions along to the designers and with any luck, I will follow up with their answers and a look at the pre-painted pack in part two.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Georgi & Ramirez

I finally received my Georgi and Ramirez expansion packs so I thought I'd give a look at what comes in the box. You get the tokens, the character sheet, rules booklet and of course the figures.

Sergio Ramirez Delastillas

The Ramirez pack comes with 2 figures. One is Sergio Ramirez Delastillas, a Warrant Officer in the Union Army. The second figure is the Hound DOG (Directionally Operated Gun), a remote that Ramirez can send off to shoot things.


Ramirez

Special Object is the Hound DOG remote control.

Combat pack:
Mark 19 mod A1 grenade launcher - the grenades do not cause automatic wounds or Debris Tokens, but he has an unlimited supply.
HB-3 Visor lets him ignore smoke penalties.
Bouncing Betty - the user place this mine and then can set it off at any time (even in the middle of any player's turn) to do 2 automatic wounds to figures on its circle and all adjacent circles.

Stamina Pack
Mark 19 mod A1 - grenade launcher
Purple Heart - The first wound Ramirez takes each game is cancelled.
The Brothers Bomb - A remote bomb that explodes causing 2 automatic wounds to all adjacent characters.

Mental Pack
Mark 19 mod A1 - grenade launcher
Corporal 5th Grade - Receive a +2 to the Deployment Roll.
Bronze Star - Receive 1 Bonus point at the start of the game.

Hound DOG card picture courtesy of littlewars

Additionally, the NOS Token of the Month is included in this pack. It allows the Hound DOG to move 3 spaces on one turn. This can only be done once per game. The Hound DOG only gets one token and it must be an "Area 51" token. NOS is the only Area 51 token so far.



I am not too happy with the paint job on my Ramirez figure. It is possibly the worst of any of my Tannhäuser figures... But I love the character and his tokens look like they give a lot of interesting choices.

Georgi Volkov

Georgi Volkov is the leader of the mysterious Phantom Division; a Matriarchy hero that may also be taken as a Mercenary by other factions. However, Georgi will never fight against a team that contains Matriarchy characters. Unlike Ramirez, Georgi is fairly well painted.


Georgi

Special Object is Multiple Targets - this ability allows Georgi to shoot at 2 different targets during his Action Phase. The 2nd attack uses his lowest Combat Value.

Combat pack:
PPSh-41s Submachine Guns - these add a 1-point bonus to the result of each die (except 1s) and add 1 to the users Combat Value.
F1 Fragmentation Grenade - regular grenade rules.
Hero of Rugen - Georgi's Combat Value column is 5,5,5,5.

Stamina Pack
PPSh-41s Submachine Guns - see above.
Survival - If Georgi is killed his figure remains on the board until the end of the next game turn. He may not be healed, move, take any action, or be affected in any way. His disposable equipment is not dropped until his figure is removed.
Hero of Giva - The first time Georgi is wounded in each game, he automatically ignores one wound.

Mental Pack
PPSh-41s Submachine Guns - see above.
Gold Star - Once per game Georgi may use his highest row of stats until the end of that game turn.
Major - Receive a 5-point bonus to the Deployment Roll at the start of the game.



Additionally in this pack is Wolf's Wolftrap Token. You may use an Action Phase to place the token on an adjacent circle on the same Path. Any character passing over that circle suffers one Automatic Wound. This Token may only be used by Mercenaries.

This is really great for people who didn't pre-order the game 2 years ago and have never been able to get Wolf without paying an arm and a leg on Ebay. This token can be used by other Mercenaries, but really... FFG should have either included another token or release Wolf now. It has been a pre-order exclusive long enough. Or they could have made Wolf available as a pre-order special with Novgorod. Players of these kinds of games with lots of expansions tend to be completists and having something they can't get can make folks a little bitter. Now if there were lots of exclusive expansions like Zooloretto then that would be different. Getting everything would be a challenge and part of the fun, but not when there is just one thing you can't get. Just put Wolf for sale, FFG. C'mon, be a sport.



I also recieved Okko in the same shipment from The War Store. This looks like a pretty cool game and the floor tiles might be adaptable into Tannhäuser maps.


The publishers of Okko have kindly supplied a bunch of clip art of the furniture and accessories to assist people in customizing their maps! I will post a write-up of Okko in the near future.



I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!



© 2009 Peter Miller


My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD.