Sleeper

Sleeper

Painted

Sleeper {CW-F2} is a faction released with Onslaught One. It focuses on staying dormant until the enemies are exhausted, and then cleaning up the map while they're defenseless.

Components

Faction

Setup
8 Power, 6 Acolytes, and a Controlled Gate in the Area with this Glyph:
Unique Ability
Death from Below (Doom Phase): Place the lowest-cost Monster from your Pool into any Area containing at least 1 of your Units.
Spellbook Requirements
As your Action, spend 3 Power. Each other player gains 1 Power.		As your Action, spend 3 Power. Select another player who gains 3 Power.
As your Action, spend 3 Power. Each other player loses 1 Power.		Roll 6 combat dice in a single Battle.
Perform a Ritual of Annihilation.		Awaken Tsathoggua.
Spellbooks
	Ancient Sorcery (Action: Cost 1): Remove a Serpent Man from the Map and place him on an enemy's Faction Card. You now have access to that Faction's Unique Ability until the end of the next Doom Phase. At that point, gain 1 Power and replace the Serpent Man anywhere on the Map. If a Faction's Unique Ability mentions a Great Old One, it is also considered to include Tsathoggua.
	Burrow (Ongoing): After a Move Action in which you have spent 2 or more Power to Move Units, regain 1 Power.
	Capture Monster (Action: Cost 1): Tsathoggua can Capture enemy Monsters in the same way in which Cultists are Captured. These Monsters are sacrificed for 1 Power each in the next Gather Power Phase.
	Cursed Slumber (Action: Cost 1): Remove one of your Controlled Gates and its Cultist from the Map, and place them on your Faction Card. This Gate and Cultist still provide Doom and Power, but are immune to enemy abilities and Spellbooks. For 1 Power, as an Action, you may return the Gate and Cultist to any Area on the Map without a Gate. You may only have 1 Gate on your Faction Card at any time.
	Demand Sacrifice (Pre-Battle): If Tsathoggua is in play, your enemy chooses ONE of the following options before a battle with you: 1) You gain an Elder Sign. OR 2) All of their Kill results against your Units in this Battle count as Pains, instead.
	Energy Nexus (Ongoing): Just before a Battle in an Area containing a Wizard, you may take one Action that originates in the Area for its normal Power cost. The Battle proceeds once that Action is finished, starting with Pre-Battle Spellbooks and abilities.

Units

Cultists
Image	Unit	Quantity	Cost	Combat	Spellbooks
File:Acolyte (Classic) - Sleeper (Painted).png File:Acolyte (Alternate) - Sleeper (Painted).png	Acolyte	6	1	0
		Availability: [Classic] Sleeper {CW-F2} (x6), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x6), Acolyte Blister Pack {RPG-CG-A} (x2) [Alternate] Alternate Faction Acolytes {CW-U12} (x6), Cultic Set 2 {EHP-5} (x6), Sleeper Acolyte Miniature STL {U12-A6}
		From his ancient tome he intones the words of power. Beware, sane world. The realm of madness awakens at his command. The Sleeper Acolyte worships Tsathoggua, who is keenly interested in them because he is always hungry for sacrifice. They are often sane and rational, if callously so.
		The alternate sculpt units replace the classic sculpt Acolytes, and were originally developed for Evil High Priest.
Monsters
Image	Unit	Quantity	Cost	Combat	Spellbooks
File:Wizard (Painted).png	Wizard	2	1	0	Energy Nexus
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x2), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x2), Wizard Blister Pack {RPG-F2-O1} (x2)
		Falling deep under the sway of the great old ones, this occultist is now locked into permanent dependency on its symbiotic familiar.
	Serpent Man	3	2	1	Ancient Sorcery
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x3), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x3), Serpent Man Blister Pack {RPG-F2-O2} (x2)
		Ancient but not yet extinct. His magic, poisons, and science is lethal, but is it enough?
File:Formless Spawn (Painted).png	Formless Spawn	4	3	*
		Combat: Roll 1 die per Formless Spawn and Tsathoggua on the Map. (i.e. if you have 2 Formless Spawn in play, each rolls 2 dice–if Tsathoggua were also in play, each would roll 3 dice).
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x4), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x4), Formless Spawn Blister Pack {RPG-F2-O3} (x1)
		"The explorers found living things that oozed along stone channels and worshiped the toad-thing Tsathoggua. Those who escaped alive sealed the passage leading to the Formless Spawn’s realm of nether horror." – H. P. Lovecraft
Great Old Ones
Image	Unit	Quantity	Cost	Combat	Spellbooks
File:Tsathoggua (Painted).png	Tsathoggua	1	8	*
		How to Awaken Tsathoggua: You must have a Formless Spawn on the Map. Pay 8 Power. Place Tsathoggua into the Area with the Formless Spawn.
		Combat: Equal to 2 or your opponent's current Power, whichever is greater.
		Lethargy (Action: Cost 0): If Tsathoggua is in play, do nothing. This counts as an Action.
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x1), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x1), Tsathoggua Blister Pack {RPG-F2-O4} (x1)
		The Sleeper, Tsathoggua squeezes his way up through the rock to take his place on the surface world. His long slumber has left him voracious. Feed him!

Expansion Units

Cultists
Image	Unit	Quantity	Cost	Combat	Spellbooks
File:Acolyte (Handicap) - Sleeper (Painted).png	Acolyte	1	1	0
		Availability: CW Onslaught 3 Stretch Goal Box {CW-E20} (x1)
		This unit is used as a Handicap Acolyte.
File:High Priest (Alternate).png File:High Priest (Alternate) (Painted).png	High Priest	1	3	0
			Unspeakable Oath (Ongoing): At the end of any player's Action (even if it is not your turn), Sacrifice your High Priest (return him to your Pool) and gain 2 Power. This may also be done during the Gather Power and Doom Phases.
		Notes: The High Priest is a new type of Cultist, it is Recruited like an Acolyte. Each High Priest generates 1 Power during the Gather Power Phase, can Create and Control a Gate, and can be Captured. Each Faction has only a single High Priest available. This unit may also be used as one of the Unique High Priests.
		Availability: [Classic] High Priests {CW-U3} (x1), High Priests {CW-U3-O3} (x1), High Priest Blister Pack {RPG-U3-HP} (x2) [Alternate] High Priests {CW-U3-O4} (x1), Cultic Set 2 {EHP-5} (x1), Cultic Set 3 {EHP-6} (x1)
		He leads the rites of old. It is time to awaken the great old ones! Iä! Iä!
		The alternate sculpt unit replaces the classic sculpt High Priest, and was originally developed for Evil High Priest.
File:Brain Cylinder Figure - Sleeper (Painted).png	Brain Cylinder	4	0	0
		Availability: [Token] Yuggoth Map {CW-M3} (x4) [Figure] Shining Trapezohedron {CW-E15} (x4), Shining Trapezohedron {CW-E15-O3} (x4), Shining Trapezohedron {CW-E15-O4} (x4), Brain Cylinder Blister Pack {RPG-E15-10} (x1)
		This helpless human, reduced to a mere living brain by the surgical and mechanical skill of the aliens, can now only communicate through electronic devices. What wisdom or warning can he relate?
		See Brain Cylinders for rules. The Brain Cylinder figures replace the Brain Cylinder Tokens.
File:The Dark Demon - Sleeper (Painted).png	The Dark Demon	1	1	0
			How to Obtain the The Dark Demon Loyalty Card: In the Doom Phase, when it is your turn to perform a Ritual of Annihilation, you may pay 2 Doom to obtain this Loyalty Card and then place the Dark Demon matching your Faction's color anywhere on the Map. If you wish, you may also perform a Ritual of Annihilation. Each of the other Factions permanently loses an Acolyte from their Pools (or from the Map, if all are in play) and then adds to their Pools a Dark Demon of their Faction's color.
			The Summons (Ongoing): Any Faction with a Dark Demon in its Pool cannot take any Action other than Recruiting the Dark Demon. (You can still choose to drop your Power to 0 and take no more Actions this Action Phase instead). Metamorph (Ongoing): Dark Demons are a new type of Cultist and are treated as Cultists in every way, but they produce 0 Power during the Gather Power Phase. They are Recruited rather than Summoned, so a Controlled Gate is not needed to bring them into play. Dark Demons may Create and Control Gates, and they are worth 1 Power when Captured. They can be targeted by any Spellbooks or abilities that reference Cultists, but not Acolytes.
		Availability: Masks of Nyarlathotep {CW-U10} (x1), Dark Demon - green Miniature STL {U10-N4}
		Nyarlathotep is infamous for his multiple shapes. As the Dark Demon, this pig-like humanoid is terrifying to behold, but the horror it leaves in its wake is far worse.

Buildings

Buildings
Image	Unit	Quantity	Cost	Combat	Spellbooks
File:Gate - Sleeper (Painted).png	Gate	1	3	N/A
		Notes: Used for Colour Out of Space
		Availability: Colour Out of Space {CW-U7} (x1), Eldritch Gate Pack {CW-U9} (x1), Eldritch Gate Pack {CW-U9-O3} (x1)

Other components

Other components
Image	Component	Quantity	Notes
	Faction Card	1
		Availability: [Cardstock] Sleeper {CW-F2} (x1) [3mm] 3mm Die Cut Faction Card Pack {CW-E10} (x1), 3mm Die Cut Faction Card Pack {CW-E10-O3} (x1), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x1)
	Faction Token	1
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x1), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x1)
File:Power Marker - Sleeper (Painted).png	Power Marker	1
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x1), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x1)
File:Doom Marker - Sleeper (Painted).png	Doom Marker	1
		Availability: Sleeper {CW-F2} (x1), Sleeper {CW-F2-O3} (x1), Upgraded Cardstock Items {CW-E11} (x1)
	Battle Dice	20
		Availability: Battle Dice - Sleeper {CW-U19} (x20), All 200 Battle Dice! {CW-U24} (x20), ALL 240 BATTLE DICE {CW-U24-O4} (x20)
File:Neutral Unit Identifier.png	Neutral Unit Identifier	6 (25mm) 3 (40mm) 3 (50mm) 3 (60mm) 1 (80mm)
		Availability: Neutral Unit Identifiers {CW-U26} (x16), Neutral Unit Identifiers {CW-U26-O4} (x16)

Strategy

Spellbook strategies

• Burrow - This is an easy Spellbook to ignore until it is too late. Try to get it even if you don't have immediate plans for it, it will be worth it when the time comes to use it.
• Capture Monster - This is probably one of the best offensive spellbooks in the game. Your enemies should be terrified of Tsathoggua when they are out of power!
• Cursed Slumber - It may be tempting to use right away, but consider saving this ability for when a gate comes under attack. Often, enemies will forget you have the ability to sink the gate into the depths at a whim. This can also be used offensively on gates you would not be able to defend. Use Tsathoggua to capture a cultist off of a gate in the heart of enemy territory, summon a cultist there, then take the gate away.
• Demand Sacrifice - This spellbook gives your enemy a decision to make, and both options are bad for them and good for you.
• Energy Nexus - An excellent defensive Spellbook. Especially useful for defending sensitive targets in late game when factions have unlimited combat.

Ancient Sorcery strategy

This spellbook is one of the most dynamic parts of Sleeper's kit, and its utility is heavily dependent on the other Factions in play. As a default, it can be a method for transferring unused Power to the next round and redeploying Serpent Men to more advantageous Areas. However, if certain other Factions are in play it can synergize quite well to make Sleeper a powerhouse.

Faction	Ability	Notes
Great Cthulhu	Immortal (Ongoing): Once Cthulhu has Awakened, he costs only 4 Power each subsequent time he is Awakened. Whenever you Awaken any Great Old One, gain 1 Elder Sign.	Demand Sacrifice already makes Combat one of the main engines for the Sleeper faction, but copying Immortal turns it into a win-win and removes the risk of throwing Tsathoggua at your enemies.
Yellow Sign	Feast (Gather Power Phasc): gain +1 Power for each Area containing both a Desecration token and one or more of your Units.	While Sleeper cannot place a Desecration token themselves, copying Feast allows it to parasitize Yellow Sign's engine, and could be used to negotiate a beneficial alliance.
Crawling Chaos	Flight (Ongoing): All of your Units can fly (even Cultists). When Moved, they can travel 2 Areas. They can fly over Areas containing enemy units.	Flight is best used with Burrow to grant Sleeper low-cost reach across the board, and alongside Lethargy or Capture Monster it can be used to have Sleeper grab almost the entire Map at the end of a turn.
Black Goat	Fertility Cult (Ongoing): You may Summon Monsters as an Unlimited Action.	???
Opener of the Way	The Beyond One (Action: Cost 1): Select one of your Units with a cost of 3+ in an Area that contains a Gate and no enemy Great Old Ones. Move that Unit, the Gate, and any Controlling Unit to any Area on the Map that does not already have a Gate.	Copying The Beyond One allows Tsathoggua or a Formless Spawn to Move a Gate, the monster, and the Controlling Unit to a Gateless Area on the Map.
Windwalker	Hibernate (Action: Cost 0): Gain 1 Power for each enemy Great Old One in play; in doing so you may not gain more Power than the amount of your current total Power. You may no longer perform Actions during this Action Phase (as though you were at 0 Power). Add your current Power to your total during the next Gather Power Phase.	Hibernate can be used alongside Lethargy and Ancient Sorcery's default effect to allow Sleeper to transfer an immense amount of Power to the following turn.
Tcho-Tcho	Sycophancy (Doom Phase): When an enemy player does a Ritual of Annihilation, either you gain 1 Doom or he earns 1 fewer Doom, his choice.	Sycophancy is one of the most important abilities to copy if it's available. Enemy factions must either accept double the tax on their Rituals, or provide Sleeper with free Doom.
The Ancients	Dematerialization (Doom Phase): Relocate any or all of your own Units from one Area to a single other Area, anywhere on the Map.	???
Bubastis	Sleeper lacks Earth Cats, so copying Bubastis's Lunacy has no beneficial effect beyond transferring 1 Power to the next round.
Daemon Sultan	Psychosis (Action: Cost 0): You must have an Acolyte in your pool. Select an area that has no units from any faction. Place an acolyte from your pool there. During each Doom phase, flip ALL your face-down faction spellbooks face-up again.	If Sleeper has lost any of its Acolytes, it can copy Psychosis to put them back down for free. Sleeper can do this with comparitive safety by waiting out the other Factions with Lethargy before using Psychosis, then using Death from Below or Ancient Sorcery to deploy a Monster to protect them.
The Invasion	Eternal Servitude (Ongoing): If you have 0 power & Baphomet is in play & another Player is still Active, then during your turn participate as if you had 2 Power. You cannot perform Rituals of Annihilation. This is not optional.	Eternal Servitude is like a weaker version of Lethargy, so copying it does not provide much benefit and can actually hurt Sleeper by removing access to the Rituals of Annihilation.
The Bad Movie Dimension	Sleeper lacks Auteurs, so copying The Bad Movie Dimension's Auteur Theory has no beneficial effect beyond transferring 1 Power to the next round.

General Tips

• Elder Sign Acquisition - Sleeper can gain Elder Signs through his Demand Sacrifice spellbook. This is completely up to your opponents. Try to tempt bloodthirsty players in battle. If Great Cthulhu is in the game, gaining Elder Signs becomes drastically easier! See below. Fighting Tsathoggua alone is often too tempting to resist, so many players will give you the Elder Sign. Then you gain a second one when using Ancient Sorcery to steal Great Cthulhu's faction ability.
• Great Cthulhu and Ancient Sorcery - As seen above, this is an excellent situation for Tsathoggua. Not only can you summon him again for 4 power, but you get an Elder Sign when you do, just like Cthulhu. When you no longer fear losing Tsathoggua, he is an absolute menace. Send him on suicide attacks at the beginning of a round. Since his attack is equal to the opponent's power, he can roll an absurd amount of dice ALONE! If you have Demand Sacrifice as well, it is a lose / lose situation for your enemy. If they kill Tsathoggua, you will have been given an Elder Sign and receive another upon awakening him. If they don't give you an Elder Sign, they are open to further assault.
• Lethargy - Use it! If left unchecked by your enemies, this gives an incredible advantage with many options. Chances are, you will be able to take at least one or two gates using Tsathoggua to capture Cultists and Monsters that stand in your way. Burrow maximizes your efficiency.
• Timing - You'll need to spend anywhere from 22 to 30 power to get all your spellbooks. Don't put them off, lest the game ends and you don't qualify for victory! Try and get 1 to 2 per turn (e.g. 1st turn "Pay 3: Everyone Loses 1", 2nd turn "Pay 3: Everyone gains 1"), and try to do your ritual before the cost rises too much.

Opening Strategies

Opening 1

A. Sleepy

1. 8 Power
2. Lose 3 power, each/one/all players Loses 1/Gains 3 Power. Take Cursed Slumber. 5 Power remains
3. Use Cursed Slumber to hide starting Gate (-1). 4 Power
4. Build and Occupy Gate (-3). 1 Power
5. Summon wizard (-1 Power). 0 Power
6. Repeat.

Opening 2

A. Early Riser

Turn 1:

1. 8 Power
2. Move a Cultist somewhere adjacent to starting area. 7 Power
3. Build a Gate in that area. 4 Power
4. Summon a Formless Spawn at the new gate. 1 Power
5. Summon a Wizard at the old gate. 0 Power
6. Death From Below the 2nd Wizard to your new gate

Turn 2:

1. 10 Power
2. Awaken Tsathoggua. 2 Power
3. Lethargy until everyone else is out of power. 2 Power
4. Next strategies depend on what spellbook you took for awakening Tsathoggua:
   1. Burrow - If there's an adjacent enemy gate with 1 Cultist, move Tsathoggua and 1 Cultist in, then take the gate over. If there's more than 1 Cultist, you can instead move Tsathoggua and the Wizard in, then Capture it, then next turn take Energy Nexus so that Tsathoggua is safe from reprisal.
   2. Capture Monster - If there are adjacent enemy monsters, move in and capture them
   3. Anything Else - There's nothing specific you can do, so it's probably a good idea to summon a Serpent Man in your Starting Area (so that you have at least 1 Combat dice there, to ward off easy raids from others).

Story

When the men...went down into N'kai's black abyss with their great atom-power searchlights they found living things—living things that oozed along stone channels and worshipped onyx and basalt images of Tsathoggua. But they were not toads like Tsathoggua himself. Far worse—they were amorphous lumps of viscous black slime that took temporary shapes for various purposes. The explorers of K'n-yan did not pause for detailed observations, and those who escaped alive sealed the passage leading from red-litten Yoth down into the gulfs of nether horror. Then all the images of Tsathoggua in the land of K'n-yan were dissolved...and the cult was abolished forever.
--H.P. Lovecraft

Of course it all started with a dame. I don't even need to tell you that, do I? It always starts with a dame. This one had a creepy vibe to her I just couldn't place. I felt she regarded me the way a female praying mantis sizes up a potential mate.
So, she comes knocking on my office door that evening, just as I was getting ready to throw in the towel for the day. As usual, the only phone calls I'd received that whole afternoon were bill collectors and irate drunks. She comes in slinking like an alley cat in heat; gloved fingers tracing lightly over every tchotchke littering this dump.
I motion her to the chair in front of my desk, and try to get to business. I'm expecting the usual: cheating spouses, familial squabbles... I shoulda been so lucky.
A few cool pleasantries are exchanged, and then the weird really begins. She starts in about her uncle who just kicked off. Implies the guy used to be into weird stuff, and she's trying to track down his more... esoteric... possessions. I'm thinking we're talking about vintage Russian snuff films on Betamax, but no. She starts in on an old book. I couldn't spell the thing's name, but she corrected me as "pnakotic." Apparently written by a sorcerer from, get this, Atlantis. Written by "Klarkash-Ton". Of Atlantis, I guess.
So I'm thinking that what I've got is a class-A fruitcake, with an extra helping of nuts. Then something happened that at once made me think I didn't want anywhere near this case.
I'm sitting, nodding, trying to come up with an excuse to get her out of my office without too much drama when I catch a sliver of movement out of the corner of my eye. Something slinky and black—I figure it's the neighbor's cat. Then the room goes dark. I spin in my chair, and there's this... don't know how to describe it. This black gel, ropy black slime which—I'm serious here—is climbing all over the windows, blacking it out. And there's a crack, and then a smash as the window implodes inward. This formless goop comes thundering through the window, a seemingly endless volume. I grab my trusty .44 and pop off a couple of rounds, but it's like shooting jello. It goes right for the dame. It bumrushes her, and she's screaming for a couple seconds, and then she is completely engulfed.
Now everything is quiet. I'm standing there with my gob hanging open as the blob oozes back to the window. I swear it smirked at me—it didn't have a face, but its surface twisted up like a mad grin. One dropping tendril reaches slowly towards me and I leap back—it stops and waves. The thing takes longer to squeeze out the window, because, just like a python that swallowed a moose, there's a spastically-twitching bulge in the middle. After a few seconds the dame must have run out of air, because the twitching stopped.
I feel like I should report this, but I never even got the dame's name.
—Ben Monroe

Epilogue

"The end came unexpectedly. I always thought it would be zombies or aliens or nuclear weapons. Instead, it was this ooze. It was as if the earth itself was falling apart, bleeding black tar. You couldn't fight it any more than you could fight the ocean. Slowly, but surely, the ooze dragged us from our homes, from our families. It dragged us to that awful beast's waiting maw. I can still see it, every time I close my eyes."
—David Mendiola