One God to Rule Them All

 

 

The people of ancient Egypt originally worshipped numerous gods, each one ruling over a different aspect of the people’s daily life or the afterlife. As their society changed, so did the people’s worship, assigning new realms to gods and even sometimes melding two gods together. The gods have noticed this and know that if things keep going as they are, there will eventually only be one god that rules over the Egyptian’s lives. Each wants it to be them, to be supremely worshipped not above all others, but to the exclusion of all others! One god will rule eternally. The rest will fade into legend. In Ankh: Gods of Egypt, players take on the role of these warring gods. In this article, we take a look at the game itself, and delve a bit into its mechanics.

The game begins with players choosing which god they want to represent. Each one has its own unique power based on those that the god is said to have possessed in Egyptian lore (read more about it here). After that, players decide on a scenario that they will play. While the ultimate goal of the game is the same (being the last god standing), the different scenarios provide different board set ups and other unique features to make each game of Ankh a little different from one-another. Players will also choose different Guardians that they will be able to recruit throughout the game. These Guardians are taken from Egyptian myth and will become powerful allies during the game for those who gain their allegiance – or powerful enemies. The game is ready to begin.

During a player’s turn, they will perform up to two actions on the Action Board. Players are free to pick which Actions they want to do, but, after performing a first Action, their second must be chosen from an Action listed further down the Action Board. They also cannot choose the same Action twice. Planning ahead is important when it comes to picking one’s Actions. Let’s take a quick look at what each of the Actions are.

Move Figures: The player may move each of their figures on the board up to three spaces. Figures can move through other figures, as well as over water and other obstacles, but must land in an empty space.

Summon Figure: The player summons one of the figures from their available pool into an empty space on the board. That space must be adjacent to one of their other figures or adjacent to a Monument that they control.

Gain Followers: The number of followers gained is equal to the number of Monuments, both under their control and neutral, that they have any figure next to in the same region.

Unlock Ankh Power: A player unlocks a new power to their god by sacrificing followers. The number of followers that needs to be sacrificed depends on the level of the power they wish to unlock. It is also by unlocking new Ankh powers that the god may be able to recruit new Guardians to their side.

As players go through their turns performing Actions, they move standees along the Action Board showing which Actions they have done. When enough Actions of a certain type have been completed, an Event is triggered. There are different Events, such as altering the landscape of the board by adding new camel caravans to it, or taking control of a Monument, or even direct, outright combat for domination in the different regions of the board. Planning one’s action carefully to try to anticipate which Event will happen when, in order to be prepared for it, is central.

The fight for Devotion will go on. Guardians and Warriors will be summoned, Monuments will be claimed, followers will be conquered. But Devotion is what truly wins the game, and Devotion is tricky. After the third Conflict event, in a 3+ player game, the two gods with the lowest amount of Devotion merge into one. Their power is consolidated, retaining the Monuments, Guardians, and Followers of the higher of the merging gods. From then on out, the newly created merged god acts on both players’ turns, having access to both of their unique powers at the same time and sharing the same resources. During battles, both players decide together on their strategies.

This derives from aspects of Egyptian history. The practice of combining different deities into the identity of a single one became more and more common with the passage of time, the most famous example being Amun-Ra.

After the fourth Conflict, as the game nears its end, any gods whose Devotion is too low is removed from the game. They have simply been forgotten. If that leaves only one god left, they are the winner. If there are no gods left, then everyone loses as Egypt becomes an entirely secular society. If multiple gods are still left, play continues until the last event, when the god with the most Devotion wins. A god can also be victorious if at any point they reach the top of the Devotion track.

Ankh: Gods of Egypt is a cutthroat type of game. Unlike Blood Rage and Rising Sun, it is possible for players to be eliminated towards the end of the game. Players must work hard to make sure that they’re not one of them. In the end, one god will rule over all of Egypt. Stay tuned for more about this amazing game.

A Guide to the Gods

 

One of the characteristics in Ankh: Gods of Egypt that sets it apart from its predecessors in the legendary saga – Blood Rage and Rising Sun – is the high level of asymmetry in the game. The presence, or absence of, a god in a particular game highly changes the texture of the experience and the strategy that needs to be applied. This happens because players represent the gods themselves and their powers. Let’s take a deeper look into which gods are included in the core box and how their powers are represented in the game.

First, we have Anubis, God of Tombs, Embalming, and the Underworld. Dying was a central part of the Egyptian mythology, if the elaborate mummies, pyramids and funerary rites can serve as any indication. Great efforts were made to ensure the well-being of souls after death. So, in the context of the game, Anubis’ power relies on trapping other Gods’ dead Warriors in his underworld. Each trapped Warrior makes him more powerful. The only way to get the warrior back is to pay Anubis with Followers which can make him more powerful in different ways. It’s a tough negotiation, and something for players to keep in mind when engaging in battle not only with Anubis, but with any god.

Then we have Ra, the mighty Sun God, a Creator God, giver of life. His power in the game is very different from Anubis’. When summoning a figure to the board, be it a warrior or a guardian, he can choose to assign it one of the sun tokens. By making the figure radiant, Ra gains more Devotion when winning conflicts with it. If not kept in check, this ability can make Ra players win very quickly, as the game ends when a God hits the top of the Devotion track.

Osiris and Isis were both brother and sister and husband and wife. Together, they were protagonists of one of the most well-known Egyptian myths. Osiris was a primeval pharaoh, murdered by his brother Set, who usurped the throne. Osiris’ body was then dismembered and scattered across Egypt. But Isis retrieved the pieces, restoring his body and bringing him briefly back to life. Osiris became the first mummy and continues to live in the mysterious Kingdom of the Dead.

The betrayal of Osiris by his brother is represented in a very interesting way. When Osiris loses a battle, he can open an underworld portal in the region which enemies cannot enter but allows him to summon additional allies. So, when battling in Ankh, losing could be advantageous to Osiris’ player as he can come back stronger later. That’s something his opponents must keep in mind.

Isis is the best at protecting her allies in the game. Her figures that are adjacent to enemy figures are protected and cannot be killed. So enemy players would do well to keep their distance from those protected by this goddess!

Finally, we have Amun, a mysterious and many faced god who assumed many roles during the different Egyptian eras. First, he was God of the Wind and patron deity of Thebes, a city in the South of Egypt. Later, he became the national Sun deity and King of the Gods, bringing Egypt into a period of virtual monotheism. His mysterious nature is represented in the game by him having a more flexible power. When battling, Amun can play two cards instead of one, and resolve both, adding together extra bonuses. Battles against Amun are unpredictable and can be very hard to win.

That covers all the gods present in the core box of Ankh: Gods of Egypt. In an era where Egypt is going from polytheism to monotheism, the gods will fight to be the last one standing. Some will rise, some will fall… and some will merge together. Who will they be?

 

 

The Rise Of Obliterarium - Sphynx

 

The children of the Great Desert are outstanding architects. But their strength lies in their power as warriors and conquerors. Living a life of creation and conquest, the Sphynx diligently prepare for their glorious afterlife. They must live in glory and heroic deeds if they are to be assured a place amongst their god-kings. The Sphynx stand solid like their huge buildings, they seek to rid the world of all evil. When they are tested by the sick corruption of other races, they know the Great Sphinx will come to them and revel in glorious victory

 

LINK

What Did Ancient Egypt Look Like? (Cinematic Animation)

This was captured from Origins. A big thanks to Ubisoft for creating such a tremendous video game.

In this cinematic animation video, we explore some of the major Landmarks, architecture, art buildings and landscapes of ancient Egypt! We also take a look at daily life and what the people of Ancient Egypt got up to.

Heroic Maps - Geomorphs: Desert Temple Entrances

Desert Temple: Entrances

A printable geomorphic dungeon floorplan compatible with any RPG/Dungeon-Crawl game. Use as a standalone gameboard, or combine with any same-scale tileset.

Contents: Five 10x10 battlemaps depicting doors and entrances to Ancient Egyptian-style temples. Each tile features an outdoor area (which matches with Desert Wilderness) and the interior of an Ancient temple or tomb. The set is designed to work alongside the other maps in the Desert Temple range to create huge Egyptian encounter maps. 

Uses: Explore the lost ruins of Egypt, bring an artefact to the Priests in the temple, escape the tomb of the Pharaoh with the Mummy's treasure, unlock puzzles and ancient secrets, dare to awaken the Grand Hierophant, discover if there really is a 'Curse of the Mummy', seek a blessing of the spirits still haunting the temple complex, use the pools of water in a summoning ceremony, visit the long forgotten Palace of the Pharaoh, walking past the statues of ancient Kings.

Also included is a set of 300dpi full size jpgs, for poster printing or VTT (Full jpegs feature gridded and non-gridded outdoor-area versions)

About Heroic Maps
Our game boards were originally designed to be used with Heroquest.  That's why you'll notice we don't mark the doors or add furniture - you can put these wherever you want them, using you favourite system (paper or 3D).  This will mean the board can be different every time you use it. You can download our free door pack here:
Heroic Maps boards are flexible enough to be used with many game systems.

Mix and Match with other Heroic Maps!

 

 

Egyptian art preview - Conquest of the Gods

The artwork is done by the talented Daniel Mitchell and shows off not only some of the historical units that are going to be in the game but of course some of the mythological figures too. That Ureaus looks amazing. A fire breathing Cobra, how can it get better than that?

Necrotect

Necrotect is a Tomb Kings melee infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer II: Rise of the Tomb Kings. All the Necrotects see now is purity besmirched. With a whipcrack they strive once more for perfection.

Necrotects were the artisans of ancient Nehekhara - not common labourers, but architects of extraordinary skills whose ambitions far outpaced what could be achieved in a mortal lifespan. In death, Necrotects have lost none of their frenetic drive. They are filled with a compulsive need to pull down the inferior, vulgar cities of their enemies and supplant them with vast monuments of their own design. In life, Necrotects were stern taskmasters who oversaw tens of thousands of Nehekharans as they toiled under the blazing sun. Under their gaze, an army of masons carved huge slabs of rock out of cliff faces before vast columns of slaves dragged the stones across the desert and hauled them into position. All Necrotects were foul tempered, and they would dispense summary punishment at the slightest provocation, hating anything and anyone that threatened their art. In death, much of their work lies broken or damaged by the greed of tomb robbers and invading armies. Necrotects have been driven to a blinding rage by the wanton desecration of their beloved masterpieces, and they have sworn to have revenge. In battle, Necrotects lead the Tomb King's regiments like the work gangs of old. They exude the same aura of hatred they possessed in life, and their mere presence instils a magical state of fury in the Undead warriors of Nehekhara.

Constructs generally are what will win the Tomb Kings battles. The Necrotects provides bonuses exclusively to constructs. Simply put, Necrotects will make constructs more defensive, giving them heals, missile resistance, and armour. The unit itself is also a decent melee combatant with a bonus vs. infantry. For this reason, they are useful for buoying the Tomb Kings front line and maintaining their constucts. Overall, a solid support hero.

Warhammer Wiki

ANKH: Gods Of Egypt

Ever since it was announced last GenCon, fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installment in the legendary saga that began with Blood Rage and continued with Rising Sun. The same creative team, including game design by Eric Lang, art by Adrian Smith, and sculpts by Mike McVey, are proud to bring you ANKH: Gods of Egypt, coming soon to Kickstarter! The gods that rule over Egypt can no longer share the devotion of the people. One by one, the gods must fall into oblivion, until only one will remain. Spread your forces across the land, build monuments to establish your dominion, reshape the land to your advantage, gain followers to increase your powers and get the support of powerful guardians. As the sands soak the blood in conflicts decided by both strength and cunning, each god will use their unique power to climb to the top of the devotion ladder. Will you be the one to achieve life eternal?

The storyline of the game, the reason for such conflict – beyond sibling rivalry – is the transition undertaken in ancient Egypt from polytheism to monotheism.

“The people are losing faith in the gods,” says Lang, “One by one the gods are actually dropping off as they lose the devotion of their followers. And you want to be the last god standing. I should say one or more because in this game, unlike any other mythology, two gods can actually merge together during the course of the game become one god – like Amun-Ra or Bastet.”

This mechanic is one where an event in the game forces the player lagging behind the other gods in devotion to join with another god. This melding of the gods fits with the way that the Egyptians, over time, joined together gods like Amun and Ra to form Amun-Ra as a kind of father-of-all life god amongst the gods. Interestingly this nods towards the mutability of the beings we control in Ankh: Gods of Egypt – while they are all powerful, they are at the whims of man, collectively.

“Gods are rated in devotion, which is the stat that allows you to stay in the game. It’s sort of analogous to victory points except it’s not really a VP track. Your status goes up and down as you gain or lose devotion,” says Lang, “It’s the only ‘track’ in the game. You start in the bottom third, and you are trying to gain the devotion of followers by conquering regions or worshiping at monuments or erecting cool things for them.”

“And you lose monuments by losing battles or by causing plagues and all that bad stuff. So, it has upward and downward mobility. As the game goes on, near the end of the game, players that are stuck in too low devotion will actually be eliminated, although, not for very long.”

Gameplay wise this newly joined god still plays as two separate entities. They take separate turns, take their own actions and command their own warriors on the board. The conjoined god is judged on the devotion of the least worshiped of the two players.

“So even though they get double the actions and double the power, they actually have to take care of the worst performing one of the two,” explains Lang. This acts as a kind of swing moment, rebalancing in the game. The additional actions, and the focus of having two players working together suggests these events aren’t defeats, just marks for getting revenge. “It’s a dynamic that I really liked. I haven’t seen it before in a game like this. I wanted to make a game that earned its own place on the shelf.”

Out of the box players will be able to become the powerful gods of ancient Egypt in the forms of Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Ra and Amun. The game promises to be highly asymmetrical, with each god feeling distinctly different from the others on the board. We asked Lang for a couple of ways which these gods interact with the board and one another.

“Amun is the keeper of the underworld,” explains Lang, “Normally, just like in Blood Rage and Rising Sun, if any of your figures die for any reason, they just go back to your pool and you can re-summon them again. In the case of Amun, when he’s in play, if any figures die, he can actually take that figure and take them into the underworld. And he gains strength for every figure that’s in the underworld. If anybody wants to take their figure back from him, they have to give Amun a follower, which is the main ‘currency’ of the game.”

As much of the game is about courting followers and devotion, it’s also about tripping up your fellow gods. It is easy to see how these interactions work against other players. Some powers are a vicious tax like those granted by Amun, whereas others are more insidious – less obviously evil until an action is taken.

“Isis is a protector. Her pieces are able to share spaces with other warriors unlike anybody else. If any of her figures are killed, instead, those sharing the space with their figures are killed. She’s really good at protecting her own people and making other people their shields.”

This kind of cut-throat play style will go down well with those looking for high intensity action on the board. Everything you do in Ankh: Gods of Egypt has a very real feeling heft to it. But the powers of the gods don’t just end with their effects on the warriors and followers around them. The very earth can be changed in huge and sweeping ways. The board itself, originally set out with three regions separated by the Nile (Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt and the Delta) can be altered dramatically. The board state can be quickly reformed by any individual player with a single action – including dividing regions up, so while on your turn a monument was in your region, that can quickly be flipped on its head by another player.

“As you progress down the timeline of events players get to place these camels on the game to form caravans, which split regions into two. This creates a new region on the board and players are incentivized to do that to their advantage,” says Lang. With this we can see something of the central ‘desperate but powerful’ theme coming through. While you as a god are claiming the devotion of others, the areas you can make those claims from are splitting. As the gods meld together, the world fractures. This leads to even more emergent narrative, as well as variety between games.

“So the map is going to look different every time you play the game because it gets divided in different ways based on the needs of a player at any given time,” says Lang “every time you play it’s just going to look like you’ve, you’ve redrawn the map in different ways.”

These huge power plays are part of the core flow of the game. A series of actions are taken by the players until one of the thresholds has been hit. This triggers the timeline to move on another notch, moving event to event. This tells you what happens in the game, whether that’s building pyramids, dividing regions, triggering conflict for monuments, and so on.

“And when an event hits, whichever player triggered the event is going to control how to split that region. So ultimately there’s a lot of timing in the game,” says Lang. Players are always building towards the next event, the next threshold being reached. While there is a conflict for a monument coming up, there may be also a regional shift coming up after, meaning players will want to work the board to their long-term strategic advantage.

“In reality, of course, you cannot possibly win everything,” says Lang, “so you literally have to pick your battles.”