I recently got in a play of Cthulhu Wars, with miniatures gloriously painted by my friend David. The play reminded me of what the brilliance of this game.
Cthulhu Wars is an area control, action points management game with strong asymmetrical factions. In it, you play as a faction of one of the Lovecraftian Elder Gods, scoring points by area control, and performing rituals. Action points are used to raise forces (cultists, monsters and summoning the Elder God itself), fight opponents, build gates, capture enemy cultists, cast spells and use your own faction’s special powers.
The rules are quite simple: Spend a point to move. Spend a point to attack. Spend x points to summon a cultist, monster or Old One. Restock your points at the end of the round based on the board state. Score points based on the board state.
What makes Cthulhu Wars so good is the way in which each faction bends, breaks and modifies those rules. For example, in the last game, I played the Ithaqua faction which — among other rule breaking powers — allows you to hibernate and carry action points over from one turn to another. One of the monsters allows you to push a single opposing unit out of a battle before it commences.
In all, there are (as far I know) twelve playable factions. I’ve played six or seven of them, and they all somehow seem simultaneously over- and under- powered. I look at the player board (with the faction rules) at the beginning of the game and think “how the heck am I supposed to win with this?” Then, a turn or two in, a path to victory becomes clear. Unfortunately, the other players are also gaining clarity on their own factions at the same time. The powers seem to balance out; each seems to have a way to offset the others. In the end, every game I’ve played has ended relatively close.
I suppose that if you played the same faction multiple times, you would skip that initial bewilderment phase. However, with 495 (by my calculations) different possible combinations in a four player game, it would be a very long while before one is able to cement a strategy for each of the factions to counteract each of the others.
Every one of my plays of Cthulhu Wars has has been a delightful exercise in exploration and discovery of my faction’s abilities both on their own and in relation to the other factions on the table.
Cthulhu Wars also has a huge variety of maps for various player counts, many of which have unique rules of play.
The miniatures are well-done, and in many cases, huge. Cthulhu Wars is visually impressive.
If you have not played Cthulhu Wars and get the chance to do so, I recommend you jump at the chance.