Manual — Cthulhu Wars: The Windwalker Expansion

Copyright © Sandy Petersen 2014 1

Windwalker Expansion

I. Components
• Faction Card
• 6 Spellbooks
• Rulebook
• 19 figures (7 different types, all white):
o Power marker; Doom marker
o 6 Acolyte Cultists
o 4 Wendigos
o 4 Gnoph-Keh
o 1 Ice Age
o 2 Great Old Ones (Rhan-Tegoth, Ithaqua)
II. Set Up
Windwalker has TWO Areas on the map containing its Glyph. You may choose either Area as
Windwalker’s Starting Area, and both Areas enable Windwalker to summon either of his unique Great
Old Ones.
Windwalker also has a spellbook requirement achieved when any player builds a Gate in the
other Start Area – i.e., the Area which he did not choose for this Game. For instance, on the Earth map, if
Windwalker chooses to start in the Arctic Ocean, then a gate must be built in Antarctica to achieve this
spellbook. And vice-versa.
III. Playing the Windwalker
As Windwalker, you are a late bloomer. Your spellbooks are not all useful in the beginning, and you have
no good movement abilities until you awaken Ithaqua. As the game progresses your units become
cheaper, your strength increases dramatically, and an array of powerful options appear.
Gnoph-Kehs are expensive initially, but you need to start producing them to get the cost down.
Before Battling is common, you may need to summon some Wendigos – later, they are the product of
fighting. It can be tempting to Hibernate when you have a lot of Power left, but if your enemies are high
on Power too, it is risky. Wait till they are too weak to launch an effective attack, then Hibernate – even
an extra 2-3 points helps next turn. While Ferox lets you leave Cultists on their own more-or-less safely,
you still need to beware Cthulhu’s Dreams.
Your Great Old Ones are inexpensive and useful. Remember that you can summon Rhan-
Tegoth without a Gate, at either pole. This is oft a nasty surprise for an enemy who thought himself safe
(particularly in light of Rhan-Tegoth’s resistance to injury).
In the late game, bring out Ithaqua to advantage, and your spellbooks start to kick in. This is
when Ice Age is most valuable, plus your army is large enough to take the field. You lead one of the few
forces that can take on even Great Cthulhu. Generally as Windwalker you are banking on one gigantic

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turn of success, in which you end up controlling 5-6 Gates, then with your Power advantage, performing
a massive Ritual of Annihilation on the next turn.
• Howl → useful for clearing out an area to capture a Gate, or for removing an enemy Great Old
One’s protective shields.
• Ice Age → both defends a vulnerable Gate and can be used to prepare an enemy Area for
invasion.
• Cannibalism → take this spellbook early, to begin your Wendigo army. It also acts as a “damage
shield” – so long as you manage to score a kill, you can instantly replace a loss!
• Berserkergang → best when you have a lot of Gnoph-Kehs, so they are cheap to replace.
• Herald of the Outer Gods → simple and reliable.
• Arctic Wind → it is useful for marching your unstoppable horde to victory.
A. Thwarting Windwalker
If you face Windwalker, take action early, while he is still building up spellbooks and armies. Seek an
early lead in Doom points, and spread your empire far and wide, so he can’t cripple you with one big
attack. The harder you harass him in the early game, the later he comes into his glory, and that’s good
for you.
It may seem like a smart move to pre-emptively seize a polar area, but usually all it ends up
getting you is a Great Old One in the face. Rhan-Tegoth is a particularly knotty problem – you can’t kill
him, and you don’t want him to stay.
Like Cthulhu, Windwalker has a giant indestructible army, but a weak periphery. However,
unlike Cthulhu, Windwalker is costly to play – if you can keep him Power-starved, he is easier to deal
with.
B. Windwalker: Epilogue
“They came from the North, with fur and claw. We were confident in our weapons, guns, tanks, aircraft.
We tried to fight back and, at first, we held on. Little by little, they overcame us. They kept getting
stronger, and our armies melted away. When the impossible juggernaut appeared, indestructible and
unrelenting, all hope seemed lost. We fled, choosing to hide, rather than fight. We hoped that would
keep us safe, that maybe they’d stay in the cold. But then we heard it – the sound that brought the
winter. We heard the Howl.”
- David Mendiola

IV. FAQ
Q. How does Windwalker’s Hibernate interact with Crawling Chaos’s Thousand Forms?
A. Despite the fact that Windwalker is not an active faction when hibernating, he does participate in the
negotiations for how much Power is lost, and may choose to lose Power due to Thousand Forms.

Q. Normally when a Faction that is out of Power gains Power by some means, it re-enters the Action
Phase sequence. What happens if Windwalker under Hibernation gains Power?
A. You remain under the effects of Hibernation and may take no actions. Plus you may only spend Power
when given the option via spellbooks or abilities. For example, you can do so to keep Rhan-Tegoth from
being Killed or Pained.

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Q. How does Hibernate interact with the Minimum Power rule?
A. First add Windwalker’s Power saved from the previous turn. Then figure how much Power Windwalker
is entitled to earn that turn. For instance, if Windwalker has 3 Power at the start of Gather Power, and
only earned 4 more Power (say he only had 4 Cultists and no Gates), his total would be 7. If the Minimum
Power for that turn was 8, he would then increase his Power to 8.

Q. Gnoph-Keh cost depends on the number of Gnoph-Kehs in the pool. Please give a precise breakdown.
A. If no Gnoph-Kehs are on the map, Summoning one costs 4. With one on the map (and 3 in the pool)
Cost is 3. With 2 each in the pool and on map, the third will cost 2, and the final Gnoph-Keh only costs 1.
Remember that a Gnoph-Keh Captured by Tsathoggua is not in the Pool!

Q. Can Berserkergang be used if a Gnoph-Keh is eliminated by a means other than a Kill result (such as
Cthulhu’s devour?)
A. No. Berserkergang only works when actual Kill results have been scored.

Q. If I use Berserkergang in a Battle with Sleeper, who is using Demand Sacrifice, and I refuse to make
the payment, what happens?
A. Berserkergang, like all non-Kill eliminations, may be used to destroy the Sleeper’s units.

Q. Do Kill-like abilities such as Crawling Chaos’s Abduct or Cthulhu’s Devour spawn Wendigos or Acolyte
Cultists via Cannibalism?
A. No. Only actual rolled Kills do. Also Opener of the Way’s “Dread Curse of Azathoth” does not spawn
Wendigos, because that spellbook does not generate a “real” battle.

Q. If I have no Wendigos in my Pool, and a Wendigo is killed in Battle, can I immediately re-spawn it via
Cannibalism (assuming I’d killed an enemy unit in that same Battle)?
A. Yes. Obnoxious, eh? It also works with Cultists the same way.

Q. If Nyarlathotep is in a battle vs. Rhan-Tegoth, and gets a Kill or Pain that is neutralized by Rhan-
Tegoth’s Eternal ability, does Nyarlathotep still earn Power (or Elder Signs) as per his Harbinger ability?
A. Yes.

Q. What does it mean in the description of Ice Age when it refers to “any Action ending in the Ice Age
Area”?
A. If the Action affects units that finish the turn in the Area, or does something to the Area itself. For
example, units can move OUT of the Area for no extra cost. But moving INTO the Area costs 1 additional
Power (not per unit, just for the whole Move Action). For other examples, if Yellow Sign tried to
Desecrate the Area, it would cost +1 Power. If Cthulhu emerged from Submerge in the Ice Age Area, he
would pay +1 Power (but not if he left the area via Submerge). Great Cthulhu’s Devolve is not an Action,
so it is still free, through using Dreams would cost him 4. Black Goat’s Avatar would cost +1 Power as at
least one unit will be ending that action in that area. Opener of the Way’s units can Promote after Battle
without cost (because it is not an action), but declaring Battle would cost +1. Sleeper could still use Death

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From Below in the Ice Age Area as it is not an Action. If Sleeper declared Lethargy while Tsathoggua was in the Area, it would cost 1 Power. If you use an independent Great Old One Action, such as Mother Hydra’s Zygote, and placed at least one of the Recruited Cultists there, it would cost +1.

Q. Controlling or abandoning a Gate is defined in the rules as an unlimited Cost 0 Action. Does this mean it costs 1 Power to control or abandon a Gate if the Ice Age marker is in the Area?
A. Yes, unless you are Windwalker. The Action is still unlimited, though, so you could do it in addition to some other Action there or elsewhere.

Q. Can Crawling Chaos units fly over (but not land in) an Ice Age Area without spending extra Power?
A. Yes. They are not ending their Action in that Area!

Q. If Yog-Sothoth is in the Area in which you Awaken Ithaqua, can Yog-Sothoth be the “gate” you replace with Ithaqua?
A. If Yog-Sothoth is the ONLY Gate in the Area, then yes. If there is another available Gate, then you must replace THAT Gate with Ithaqua instead.

Q. Who determines where the unit is retreated to when Howl is used?
A. The victim decides which of their units is retreated, and which adjacent Area it goes to. Also, it can go where Windwalker has units, because Howl does NOT inflict a Pain (similar to how Cthulhu’s Devour does not inflict a Kill, even though it eliminates a unit).

Q. If Windwalker’s units completely surround an area before a Battle, and Windwalker uses Howl, will the retreated unit be Killed (as per the rule that surrounded units must receive an extra Kill if they cannot be Pained)?
A. No, Howl does not inflict a Pain, even though it causes a unit to retreat.

Q. Does Crawling Chaos’ Madness ability allow him to choose where victims of Howl are retreated to?
A. No. Howl does not inflict Pains, so Crawling Chaos’ Madness does not determine where the unit will retreat to.

Q. Can Windwalker’s Howl retreat a Brain Cylinder on the Yuggoth map?
A. No. Brain Cylinders can turn off their microphones, so they don’t have to hear the Howl.

Q. Yellow Sign’s Spellbook The Third Eye says that the cost of a Desecration “is reduced to 1”. Does that supercede the Ice Age Spellbook?
A. No. If the King in Yellow performs a Desecration in an Area containing the Ice Age token, then the cost to perform the Desecration is still increased by 1 (i.e., the cost is 3 without The Third Eye, and 2 with it).

Q. If you have Herald of the Outer Gods, do you still move the Ritual marker up when paying the 5 Power?
A. Of course.

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