Cthulhu Wars in Review

dfour wrote: I was thinking Tcho Tcho's and Azathoth because is not a standalone faction and interacts with all. Should help keep things fresh, Or am I just better off with opener or sleeper?

Ok I'll get one of those maps. Will get punchboards. How necessary are the high priests?

This is advice from someone who hasn't played the game and is just reading everything, so take it with a grain of salt.

I would probably go for another faction before Azathoth, as the whole novelty of being neutral is diminished by the rules in the new KS for having the other GOOs as neutrals. The high priests are the non faction expansion that people seem to like most. They do the same thing as neutral units in providing a benefit to everyone for a fraction of the price, and there is special content in the KS for named high priests to make them even more useful.

I'm thinking Azathoth, actually....1) because it's Azathoth and because it comes with some really cool "main" monsters (Elder Things, Star Vampires, Servitors) 2) Reading the rules, I like how the neutrality works...it's a pretty big cost to get this stuff on your side, but it can be huge- and it can put pressure on other players to join the arms race.

I am actually looking at the "all the old stuff" package. It depends on how much I can trade out for cash before the pledge manager closes. But if not, I'm going with:

Tcho Tcho
Azathoth
Sleeper
Yuggoth
6-8 player Primeval (since I'll have six factions and it's just $15)
1st GOO pack (again, I like the neutral concepts)
High Priests (I think everybody ought to get these- by far the biggest bang for the buck)
Punchboards

I really want the Dreamlands because I like that stuff, but I'm wondering if you really want to have the over/under ground Dreamland monster packs for that map. If so, that becomes a much more expensive add.

I don't think I'm very interested in the plastic gates or the Shining Trapehedron stuff...at first I was, but then I realized that I wanted content over bling. Even though bling is pretty important here.

Remember too that shipping is...a lot.

I made my choice, using the great Pledge Manager ( app.crowdox.com/projects/1816687860/1228867626/pledge )

Tcho-Tcho (50)
Sleeper (50)
Azathoth (50)
Dreamlands Underworld (20)
High Priest (15)
Gates (30)
Punchboard Factions (10)
1$ Access fee
Total: 226.

Fuck, I feel dirty.

.

I have gone for something similar in the end, as I relented and added Tcho-Tchos and the 6-8 player map as I will have 7 factions.

Tcho-Tcho (50)
Sleeper (50)
Opener (50)
Dreamlands (40)
6-8 Player Earth (15)
High priests (15)
Punchboard Factions (10)
1$ Access fee

Total: $231

The more I think about this game, the more I think about how 'pirateable' it is. You can just download the rules online (or buy the master rule set in this kickstarter) and utilize other mini's you already have in your collection. I got to thinking about this by debating whether I should buy the high priests. I don't want to spend any cash on those mini's but I could easily implement the rules with other mini's I have.

Or maybe not. Looks like the high priests have some cards involved. That's good. Makes it more worth it.

I hit $266.

All right, just for a sanity check. All of you who are buying $250 worth of expansions, I'm also assuming you spent $150 on the base gaming, bringing your all in to $400. Are you telling me you would rather have this, than this random compilation of games I pulled off from CSI?

i.imgur.com/Kn1Fwrx.png?1

I already have all of those that I want. There isn't really anything else I can think I that I'd spend money on, to be honest. Sanity wise, I'm thinking $250 is about max but I got the core game for free so there's that.

dfour wrote: All right, just for a sanity check. All of you who are buying $250 worth of expansions, I'm also assuming you spent $150 on the base gaming, bringing your all in to $400. Are you telling me you would rather have this, than this random compilation of games I pulled off from CSI?

i.imgur.com/Kn1Fwrx.png?1

My wife very wisely decided that I could have one large cupboard for my games, and with both of us on good wages, storage and play time is much more of an issue than cost. Thus the 11 games you listed for the same price require much more of an investment in time and space than $400 of Cthulhu wars.

dfour wrote: The more I think about this game, the more I think about how 'pirateable' it is. You can just download the rules online (or buy the master rule set in this kickstarter) and utilize other mini's you already have in your collection. I got to thinking about this by debating whether I should buy the high priests. I don't want to spend any cash on those mini's but I could easily implement the rules with other mini's I have.

We've been using 40K miniatures to proxy the Sleeper, Opener, and Windwalker factions. Although I'm pretty sure our CW owner is going all in and getting everything. So it was more of a 'try before you buy' situation.

dfour wrote: All right, just for a sanity check. All of you who are buying $250 worth of expansions, I'm also assuming you spent $150 on the base gaming, bringing your all in to $400. Are you telling me you would rather have this, than this random compilation of games I pulled off from CSI?

i.imgur.com/Kn1Fwrx.png?1

I'm definitely different than a lot of people in that I play a game several hundred times. This game absolutely doesn't deserve the money I'm throwing down the rabbit hole at it...unless, to you, it does.

To be honest, as of now I have a 1$ pledge. I planned on upping it after the campaign. I really can't envision myself not wanting an Xbox1 and Fallout 4 instead, so I may only get a few things like the gates or something.

I traded for the core set, too; didn't drop 150 on it.

I'm with you guys, but if we don't unlock glow in the dark azathoth I'm going to be seriously disappointed.

I'll admit here I will probably buy in at the $600 everything level after buying the base game for $150. This is a game and style that I really like thanks to the variety and asymmetry of the factions, and it looks awesome. It plays fast and each faction gets to do something fun not even counting neutrals and independent GOOs. More importantly for me I have a far easier time getting the groups of people I know to play this game than my other favorites, including Kemet and Chaos in the Old World, both for easier rules and for a shorter play time. No it doesn't really tell a story or have a theme other than cool unique monsters fucking with each other, but for me thats enough of a theme to get behind. It has no more nor less of a theme than Kemet, and while Chaos has a great theme its always sad that Khorne is really the main scary faction.

As far as spending that money on other games, I'm actively trying to reduce the number of games I have on the shelf. I only own about 40 games in total and a good dozen of those are 2 player only games, ideally I cut another 10 or so games somewhere too. I've had fun playing this game every time out of about a dozen times and for the most part everyone has enjoyed it. Yeah some of the other games are good too but I definitely have a type and this is it.

Also in regards to the Nexus Ops comparisons here mentioned, I disagree on that account. Actively fighting in this game doesn't seem that optimal to me for many of the factions other than Cthulhu and Crawling Chaos in the late game. The other factions do alot better at manipulating the board and threatening others instead of outright starting battles. With only a 1/6 chance of kills and a 1/3 chance of having a force retreat battles are risky when you look at the total turns you have in an average 5-6 turn game. Thats not to say Black Goat or Yellow Sign shouldn't fight a weak target depending on the situation, but they both have plenty of other options than straight fighting to take over a gate with less risk.

Of everything offered I'm not that interested in the alternate maps since they introduce random neutral enemies that further fuck up the board. But when I look at the list of everything each of the independent GOOs and neutral monsters do, and look at all of the faction spellbooks and units, I have a hard time cutting any of those and by then I'm already at about $450-500.

I do have serious concerns about transporting this bitch once it shows up, but thats a problem for another day.