Need Cthulhu Wars buying advice!

I have an insurance claim that is expiring in 6 days and I have some money to spend - we were storing a lot of our kids' toys in the garage in preparation for moving and someone burned our garage down two years ago. Our new insurance claim rep tells us, after months of poor communication with our former rep, that replacements not only don't need to be exact replacements and need only be the same category, but he also told us that we can bundle items together to purchase larger items. We found this out last week and now we're under the gun to take advantage of the depreciation on a lot of items they paid us for.

In other words, with the large depreciation reimbursements we'll be entitled to in the Toy category specifically, I can afford Cthulhu Wars. For instance, I would only have to absorb $80 of the cost of a $400 purchase.

Are there any bundles out there that would set me up for 5+ player games with a nice variety of expansions, maps, additional old ones, etc.? Should I be looking at a bundle like this on ebay, or would I be better off with a different combination of stuff bought a la carte? We're doing a lot of shopping, pricing and submissions of old receipts this week so I don't have a ton of time to research everything, and I would greatly appreciate any advice.

No, unfortunately the only bundles are for all-in which I wouldn't recommend. Just get base game, at least one expansion faction, the high priests and the faction boards. From there it is a matter of how much you want to go in. Extra factions are the best buy, maybe a map expansion, and definitely the 6-8 player basic map if you want to play with that many players. Some people like the Azathoth neutral faction. The expansions that people like least are the neutral great old ones and monsters.

I was going to get the all-in, first round of expansions but I bought Armada instead. It feels like it was the right decision, as much as I love Cthulhu Wars, I don't think I will play it as much as Armada over the next year(s). Star Wars > Lovecraft.

That said, for five, I think getting two faction expansions is the way to go so you have some flex in the mix-ups. I would say any two that sound interesting to you. The High Priests look like a must-have given their price and the content they add. All of the neutral stuff remains a big question mark to me- is that going to muck up the simplicity and cleanliness of the game? I dunno. but they sound like cool additions.

I think an extra map is a good buy. I like the looks of Yuggoth myself.

I'll probably get two factions, a map and the priests myself by the time the pledge manager shuts down...wait on retail for the rest. If I miss out, I'm OK with it. The base game is great enough on its own to be honest, and it's exactly where it needs to be in terms of balance/complexity/content.

This all seems about right and consistent with what people told me when I asked a similar question a few months back. For better or worse, I found someone unloading almost all of the first-round expansion material and just bought that, then ordered the new stuff through the Kickstarter. It's almost certainly way too much, especially because I'm not as personally sold on the game as others here and elsewhere, quite possibly because I'm not all that good at it, and I'm just that level of selfish. I do get fairly regular requests or appreciation for it from others, though.

If you're trying to determine stuff NOT to get, I'd recommend avoiding the Dreamlands map. It was too distracting and convoluted. Difficult to mentally keep in mind what spaces are linked between the two boards (especially with big minis blocking the symbols) and got in the way of focusing on strategy.

Michael Barnes wrote: I was going to get the all-in, first round of expansions but I bought Armada instead. It feels like it was the right decision, as much as I love Cthulhu Wars, I don't think I will play it as much as Armada over the next year(s). Star Wars > Lovecraft.

That said, for five, I think getting two faction expansions is the way to go so you have some flex in the mix-ups. I would say any two that sound interesting to you. The High Priests look like a must-have given their price and the content they add. All of the neutral stuff remains a big question mark to me- is that going to muck up the simplicity and cleanliness of the game? I dunno. but they sound like cool additions.

I think an extra map is a good buy. I like the looks of Yuggoth myself.

I'll probably get two factions, a map and the priests myself by the time the pledge manager shuts down...wait on retail for the rest. If I miss out, I'm OK with it. The base game is great enough on its own to be honest, and it's exactly where it needs to be in terms of balance/complexity/content.

I ended up caving and getting the High Priests, Plastic Gates, Tcho-Tchos, another faction I can't remember, the map where if you control 4 rooms you auto-win, and the extra figures that work with that map.

I figure I'm pretty much set.

When I played with the 3D gates back in December I was impressed. they do take up more room and are completely unnecessary but they're pretty awesome. Really add emphasis and pop to those spaces that are important.

Name anything about the production that screams "necessary" LOL

charlest wrote: When I played with the 3D gates back in December I was impressed. they do take up more room and are completely unnecessary but they're pretty awesome. Really add emphasis and pop to those spaces that are important.

I think seeing the Primeval Map glaciers on the plastic gates in a video did it for me.

Thanks all for the advice. Coolstuff had the base game and I picked it up, so now it's just a matter of trolling eBay for a bundle I like before midnight Sunday. I'm not averse to going a bit crazy since I'm paying about $0.25 on the dollar but there aren't many auctions, few faction expansions to buy (NO Azathoth that I can see), and generally just a lot of people trying to unload map packs + extras to recoup their KS pledge costs.

ubarose wrote: I think you can still get in on the Onslaught kickstarter. They were accepting late pledges for everything except the base game as of yesterday. You have to go to the kickstarter and pledge a dollar, then get into the pledge manager and pick what you want.

Thanks, I saw that a couple days ago. I picked up a rather large lot off eBay and discovered Onslaught 2 when I was hunting around for the Windwalker expansion, which was the only thing from the first KS I hadn't yet ordered. Once I realized how much depreciation was going to evaporate tonight I went all in on everything from Onslaught 2, plus I added the Windwalker faction, the Shining Trapezohedron plastic markers and the Omega Master Rulebook.

Now that time has passed, anyone want to give advice on what is the best expansion purchases?

I own it all. Well, all except the "Onslaught 3" that will be delivered in the next few weeks.
Cthulhu Wars is an interesting beast. It's one of the few game "systems" that I would claim...

LESS IS MORE.

I own all of it. I doubt I'll ever play all of it. Instead, I do I play on painting all of it. The pieces are big, detailed, and are (for the most part) suitable visualizations of the Cthulhu Mythos. I dig all of that stuff.

For the game play? I think the core box is the best. No expansions are needed, but I do find the High Priests to be a fun add-on. Otherwise, it's about player count. If you have more than four that want to play, grabbing the Sleeper or the Windwalker are fine choices. Hell, if you play the core box SO much, you could justify those player expansions just to shake things up. NOTE: more than five players and you'll need a 6-8 player map expansion.

But really. Don't be a completionist with Cthulhu Wars. It's a recipe for insanity. A D20 SAN roll at the very least.