Darkness Empire

**Darkness Empire** is one of the four empires from Glorantha: The Gods War board game. It focuses on exploiting weakness and attacks of opportunity.

## Components

### Other components

 **Availability**: Chaos Rift Dice {TGW-DICE-3} (x1)

## Strategy

### Faction Strategy

Darkness is a predator as well as a scavenger. Rather than assault a stronghold, you prefer to detect weakness and exploit it. With four type of building you have the most latent Power and VP of any empire, but it is expensive to realize that potential. Your ability to strike from Hell is fantastic, and your ability to hide there avoids retribution. Early on, collect trophies from other empires for your big Heroquest. The Mistress's *Hunger* is extremely helpful in this regard. While it might seem fun to take out enemy Temples with your second-turn attack (and you can certainly do this), it is probably better to target their Shrines. The Temples usually have at least one defender, and they (Sky, in particular) will scatter your forces with routs. This will force you to have to regroup and attack again. Simple, surgical strikes are preferable.

Remember when you finally achieve your big Heroquest (the one in two parts), you get a one-time infusion of Power. You can use this to establish board presence, summon your greater goddess, or build a Ziggurat, all of which set you up for the following turn. Do not waste it on petty revenge.

In the late game, the combo of *Fear* and *Psychopomp* rewards you for seeking out little fights; *Spectral Form* and Hellmother's *Nocturnal Raids* will help you survive these battles.

A common beginner's mistake is to build a Temple or even a Ziggurat in Hell. This deprives you of that buildings special power. Keep your eyes on the surface world! Hell is a refuge, not a base of operations. Sky may try to talk you into letting Sun God out of Hell. But...the truth is that Hellmother is Darkness' only unit capable of releasing him, and she has better things to do. Let him rot.

### Gift Strategies

* **Ancestor Worship**
	+ Best in the mid-to-late game. In the long run, the Castle of Lead is cheaper than a Ziggurat, and it gives you just as much Power. Still, you should usually place your Ziggurat before the Castle of Lead, for the gift the Ziggurat provides.
* **Black Market**
	+ You must be sly to maximize this gift's value. Do not always "buy" the runes yourself - instead choose players who are unlikely to use the rune to hurt you.
* **Fear**
	+ While you victims are normally sent to Hell, sometimes it ca be better to move them somewhere else.
* **Hunger**
	+ Often your first gift, because it plays so well with your need to eliminate other empires' units and buildings.
* **Psychopomp**
	+ An entertaining gift which irritates foes and encourages late-game raids.
* **Spectral Form**
	+ Gives your Shades the capacity to protect other units in your army.

## Story

Epilogue
*"We could hear her voice echoing from inside the great castle, but we understood not what it said. When she clambered out, we were aghast. Cragspider the Firewitch was both beautiful and hideous. Her hair and hands blazed with magical potency, and she commanded us to turn over our now-screaming prisoners as tribute. Too fearful to disobey, and to our shame, we did as she decreed."
—Sandy Petersen*