THE QUAGMIRE
Theodore Rousseau's "A Swamp in Les Landes," about 1846, oil on canvas. (Getty Museum)
You may have noticed that the last couple days have been slow, almost like The Gods War has been fought to a standstill.
On Tuesday, we had over $10,000 in new pledges. If we could do that every day, it'd be wonderful. Sadly, we also had $9,000 in reductions and cancellations - which is why our pledge total has only risen at a glacial pace. Wednesday was likewise – lots of new pledges, and a nearly-equal number of cancellations.
Initially, I feared something was wrong with our campaign, but I have seen only a few complaints – certainly no more than I’d expect from a campaign this size (of course, we are concerned about every one). Certainly the good things people keep saying about The Gods War far outweigh any grievances.
And there are some really great things being said...
- Geek & Sundry wrote about The Gods War
- Forbes (yes, that Forbes) featured The Gods War
- Kickstarter featured us in the Games Newsletter
- we have had articles, interviews with me (Sandy), photos, and discussions
...all within the past two days.
I've had my team ask some of the former backers who dropped their pledges why they chose that course, hoping to learn how to improve our campaign. The responses were universally focused on paying bills at the end of the month. Perhaps, with school starting back up and vacation spending coming due, The Gods War is just suffering from unlucky timing.
We are looking around other, similar crowdfunding campaigns, and we notice that they are suffering likewise. So it’s not just us. No doubt it really is end-of-August blues. We naturally expect for the campaign to pick back up after the end of the month, but I am not content to sit and hope and wait.
This is The Gods War! It’s about struggle, and courage, and effort!
Luckily for me, you guys are the most generous and supporting community I've seen anywhere. I am humbled daily by your support. With your help, I have an idea about how we can jumpstart this Kickstarter and get it back on track.
The 6-8 Player Map
I was saving this for later in the campaign to help keep the momentum during the doldrums. But it seems the doldrums have arrived early, so here's my challenge to you all: help The Gods War reach $430,000 by the end of Saturday (US Central Time, here in Texas) and I will immediately add the 6-8 Player Map to Empires. I feel this stretch goal makes a lot of sense to work towards, because we are a community, and the 6-8 player map represents lots of people coming together for a common cause (namely, to play The Gods War).
This does not replace any stretch goals – it is an extra, an addition to the other Stretch Goals we're working towards right now.
How You Can Help:
- Share this project on your social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., and appropriate forums.
- If you know a blogger or podcaster or news source that you think could help boost our signal, please introduce them to us by emailing support@petersengames.com
- If you have other ideas that might help us reach more gamers that might be interested The Gods War, please let us know. Again, use support@petersengames.com as your one-stop contact.
Thanks, my friends. Let’s get this campaign moving ahead at the speed it deserves.
Also, as an additional treat:
The Trolls
The Darkness faction, uniquely, starts with all four of its minions in play. These are, of course, Trolls. Beginning with the second turn, they can burrow up from below and wreak a fair amount of havoc. As with most minions, their attack is only 1, so their main strength comes from numbers. For example, if you send all four trolls against an enemy Ziggurat, you can general assure its destruction, unless the enemy is able to defend it brutally well.
For example – let’s say Darkness plots to destroy the Storm Ziggurat early in the second turn. Even if the Storm player summons his Champion to defend the Ziggurat, it is probably lost. Say the Champion kills or routs two Trolls with his two combat dice. The Ziggurat kills another one automatically. If the four Trolls manage to roll just one single Rout between them (to scare off the Champion), they’ll have one troll left behind to destroy the Ziggurat. Ouch. Of course, if you have more than just a lone Champion, you can usually keep it safe.
Trolls don’t have any Gifts associated with them, but they do benefit from the Hellmother’s Nocturnal Raids ability. This ability states that during the Power phase, all Trolls who are not currently in play, are placed in Hell.
This has four useful effects. First, it means that Darkness has an everlasting supply of trolls, so she can send them into battle aggressively – at least so long as the Hellmother is protected. Second, it boosts the Hellmother’s prowess. Her Combat is based on how many core Darkness units are in play, and this means that she will start each turn with a minimum of 4. Third, it means that other factions are restricted in placing buildings in Hell. Of course they can do it, but such constructions are likely to be attacked by the trolls. Also, guarding Hell buildings is awkward because your units are pretty much stuck in Hell for the duration. Thus, in most games, Hell is left to Darkness to exploit, and she gets a “safe house” for a nice easy 2 VP every turn. Fourth and last, it means that Darkness can bounce quickly back from even a disastrous turn – so long as the Hellmother herself remains safe.
The Minions and the Mother
This feature also means that the Hellmother is generally guarded and kept from enemies in a way that most other Greater Gods are not. The Storm King, the Moon Goddess, even the Titans are all bravely hurled into battle by their owners. But the Hellmother tends to stay hedged around with defenders, or sequestered away safely in Hell. This of course is a handicap for Darkness – it means that her most effective combat unit usually is often too valuable to risk.
As a result, ALL of Darkness’s core minions only have a Combat of 1 (even her Hero), which means that she generally can’t afford to go head-to-head with a large enemy army. But her ability to burrow out of Hell, and escape back there mean that she is the best faction in the game to ambush and raid.
In fact, Hellmother’s Nocturnal Raids ability is so named precisely because that’s what it gives rise to. Other player’s don’t fear Darkness as a major battle enemy – they fear that Darkness will launch a sneak attack on a weak temple somewhere, and steal a march. And they are right.
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