Glorantha: Empires - New Powers Enter the Gods' War

What Is Glorantha: The Gods War?

Glorantha: The Gods War is a large-scale asymmetric strategy game by Sandy Petersen, set in the mythological world of Glorantha. Players take control of powerful empires, develop their territories, summon creatures and gods, enter battles, and try to gain an advantage over their rivals.

The game is published by Petersen Games, known for titles such as Hyperspace, Call of Cthulhu: Terror Paths, and 8-Bit Attack.

The main difference from a typical fantasy strategy game is that there are no four identical armies with different names. Each empire has its own creatures, gods, abilities, weaknesses, Heroquests, and Gifts. Choosing a side therefore affects not only the units available to you, but the way you approach the entire game.

The base game supports 3-4 players, while The Empires adds four new empires and a separate map for larger games. This increases the scale of the conflict to up to eight players. A game usually takes around 1.5-2 hours, making The Gods War better suited to a full strategic session than a short game lasting a few dozen minutes.

How Does a Game of The Gods War Play?

Each player Glorantha: The Gods War begins with an empire that has its own strengths, limitations, creatures, and abilities. From there, the main challenge is balancing the growth of your territory with the need to keep opponents under pressure.

Power is the key resource. It is spent on building, summoning creatures, moving units, and using special abilities, so every turn brings a choice between an immediate advantage and saving resources for a stronger move later.

Territories are important because buildings provide advantages and help generate Power. This makes controlling the right areas more valuable than simply destroying an opponent's army. A successful move can strengthen your position for several rounds rather than just win a single battle.

Heroquests and Runes add further options. Heroquests can provide Gifts and unlock new possibilities for an empire, while Runes offer effects that can turn a situation in your favor at the right moment. Victory also does not depend solely on eliminating opponents, giving players different ways to pursue their goals.

The Council Phase introduces a threat that can affect everyone. When a Chaos Rift appears, the empires may need to contribute Power to contain it. Ignoring the Rift can have consequences for all ordinary empires, creating moments where individual interests and the survival of the wider world collide.

What Does The Empires Add?

The Empires adds four new empires - Sea, Moon, Earth, and Invisible God - along with a new map designed for larger games. Together, these additions increase the player count from 3-4 to as many as eight.

The new empires are more than additional factions. Each brings its own approach to the conflict, giving returning players new combinations to explore and changing how the map can develop. With up to eight empires in play, threats can come from several directions at once, making alliances, positioning, and timing harder to predict.

The expansion is therefore particularly relevant for players who already know Glorantha: The Gods War and want more variety from the system. The Empires keeps the asymmetric foundation of the original game while opening the conflict to new factions and a much larger battlefield.

Who Is The Gods War For, and Is the Expanded Version Worth Trying?

The Gods War is a good fit for players who enjoy large board games where the situation on the map is constantly shifting and one player's decisions can affect everyone else. You have to keep an eye not only on your own side, but also on what is happening around you: an ally can become an opponent, and a strong position can quickly lose its advantage. The game is therefore particularly well suited to groups of 3-4 players ready to spend some time with a full strategic session.

The expanded version with The Empires is aimed primarily at players who already know the base game and want to add more possibilities. Four additional empires and a new map increase the number of ways a game can unfold and become especially significant when playing with a larger group.

In Glorantha, the war of the gods determines the fate of the entire world, and now players can decide for themselves who will emerge from that conflict victorious. The Gods War and The Empires offer another way to step into this struggle and test the strength of your chosen side.

Gather your forces, choose your side, and enter a war that could reshape Glorantha itself. The Gods War with The Empires is waiting for players on Tabletopia.