This is Han’s game, and it has a ton of miniatures. This box you see is just for the basic components, including the game board, the player boards and the player markers. However you cannot fit the miniatures into this box. There are at least two other huge boxes needed for all the miniatures in the game. When you need to bring this game to game night, you’ll be carrying several bags like you’re going on a trip. Or to war.
Cthulhu Wars is an area control dudes-on-a-map wargame. You play the Great Old Ones competing to dominate Earth. Every player controls a different faction. Some basic game mechanisms apply to all factions, but each faction has its own set of abilities, units, and ways to score points. One thing everyone has in common is the cultists. You need cultists at interdimensional gates to summon your monsters. Monsters come in three classes – small, medium and large. Your large monster is your Great Old One, the lord of your faction. This is a point scoring game. Sorry that doesn’t sound very wargamey, but I assure you there is still lots of warring. Some of your points are public, but some are kept secret. So you don’t know for sure who is the true lead player and how close they are to winning. One of the basic ways to score points is to be in control of gates. You score points every round.
This is the player board for one of the factions. They are all different. At the start of a round, you receive actions points, and this is marked using the track near the top. Not everyone gets the same number of action points. Factions have different ways to generate action points. Cultists in play are one way to generate action points, but there are other ways too. Whenever you perform an action, you spend action points. Once you run out, you can’t do anything else and need to wait for everyone else to also use up their action points.
The player board lists all your faction specific units, their combat strengths and their special abilities. The six spaces on the right are for your spell books. They specify conditions which you can fulfil in order to earn spell books. Spell books are faction specific abilities. They are all useful. You need to earn all six spell books before you qualify to win.
Han’s copy of the game is all painted. He did all this painting during the pandemic when he was stuck at home. It’s a lot of work!
Cthulhu Wars is a very Ameritrash-style game. You get a majestic view with so many pretty miniatures on the board. Nowadays Ameritrash games incorporate some Eurogame elements. You are not just blindly attacking. You choose how to attack and fighting is a means to an end. You must fully utilise the abilities of your faction to maximise your points. Some factions are natural warmongers. For example there is one which gets monster upgrades whenever a monster survives a battle. Fighting is no longer just about winning, it is also about surviving and coming back stronger. Cthulhu is the king of the seas. It can submerge and disappear and then emerge somewhere else (must be a sea zone) bringing troops. However there are also factions which benefit from coexisting with others.
One of the stars of the show – Cthulhu
This is a low granularity wargame. You only have a handful of units of each type. You can’t spawn units indefinitely. When you need to move units, each unit being moved costs an action point. Moving about takes a lot of energy! You have to use your action points sparingly. Your units can coexist with those of another player. When you enter a territory with units from other factions, you don’t automatically attack them. In fact, if you want to attack them, you need to wait for your next turn and spend an action point to do so. Big battles take much coordination to make happen.
Battles are resolved using dice. Some die faces have no effect, some force enemy units to retreat, and some kill enemy units. You may not necessarily score points by killing enemy units. You should fight only with good reason. Else you are wasting your action points.
In our game I was rather passive and I focused primarily on getting all my spell books. I did not work much on points. Eventually I did get all my spell books, but not that much sooner than the rest. By then I was rather far behind in points, and it was difficult to catch up. I should have been more aggressive earlier in the game, to make sure I don’t fall behind too much. To truly enjoy the game you need to know the characteristics of the factions in play. This shapes how you play. We had a 6-player game. By the time we saw one or two players pulling ahead from the group, we should have already ganged up on them to keep them in check. However most of us were busy learning the game and did not do much leader bashing. I certainly was absorbed in doing my own stuff and stayed out of fights. In hindsight that was unwise. I played a wargame like a Eurogame. That wasn’t going to end well.
The most interesting part of Cthulhu Wars is the distinctness of the factions. Your play experience varies greatly depending on which faction you play. You must learn to make good use of your faction’s unique abilities. The game experience also differs depending on the combination of factions in play. If you like the Cthultu theme, you will likely enjoy this.
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