What Does the Great Race of Yith Do in Cthulhu Wars?
The Great Race of Yith is one of three Terrors in the Cosmic Terrors expansion for Cthulhu Wars ($29.99), a unit type built apart from Great Old Ones and faction armies. Petersen Games has not published detailed ability text for the miniature on its product listing, so the exact in-game mechanics live in the pack's rulebook insert, not the sales page.
What is confirmed: the Great Race of Yith ships as a physical miniature inside Cosmic Terrors, alongside the Dhole and Quachil Uttaus. The product listing names all three "new unit types for CW, the terrors," which tells you the category but not the combat numbers. If you want the precise rules text before you buy, the rulebook insert and the box back are the source, not a summary blog post guessing at values that Petersen Games has not put online.
What Is the Dhole in Cthulhu Wars?
The Dhole is the second Terror in the Cosmic Terrors pack, described on the official product page as "the massive Dhole." Like the Great Race of Yith, it is a distinct unit type from Great Old Ones and factions. Specific combat stats and abilities are printed in the pack's rulebook insert rather than listed on the store page.
The name draws a lot of new-collector confusion, understandably. A dhole is also a real, living species of wild dog found across Asia, and search engines mix the two up constantly. The Cthulhu Wars Dhole has nothing to do with that animal. It comes from the same Mythos lineage as Quachil Uttaus, the strand of cosmic horror fiction Clark Ashton Smith built alongside Lovecraft, and Petersen Games sculpted its own miniature and card for the entity rather than borrowing anyone else's version.
Are Terrors Different from Great Old Ones in Cthulhu Wars?
Yes, and this is the detail that trips people up most. Terrors are their own unit type in Cthulhu Wars, separate from both Great Old Ones and playable factions. Not a faction. Not a Great Old One. A third category, built around exactly three figures: the Great Race of Yith, the Dhole, and Quachil Uttaus.
The Cosmic Terrors listing spells it out in plain language: "new unit types for CW, the terrors." Not colossal Great Old One sculpts that plug into any faction's game. Not a faction with its own spellbook and unit stack. A separate design lane Petersen Games opened up specifically for these three entities, and nothing else in the current Cthulhu Wars line carries that label.
Why the distinction matters at the table: Great Old Ones (like the ones in the base game or the Great Old One packs) can be recruited by any faction and come with their own spellbooks. Faction expansions give you a whole new playable side, with its own units and win conditions. Terrors do neither. They are their own thing, and treating them like a discount Great Old One or a mini faction gets the rules wrong before you even open the box.
Where Does Cosmic Terrors Fit Among Cthulhu Wars Expansions?
Cthulhu Wars expansions break into three real categories, and knowing which is which saves you from an uneven collection. Faction expansions add a whole new playable side, something like the Tcho-Tchos or the Sleeper, each with its own spellbook and unit stack. Great Old One packs add colossal figures any faction can recruit. Cosmic Terrors is the third lane: standalone Terror units that do not belong to either group.
That structure is the whole appeal of the Cthulhu Wars ecosystem for serious collectors. You are not just buying more miniatures for the sake of it. Each expansion category changes a different part of how the game plays, and Cosmic Terrors is the cheapest, lowest-commitment way to add a category you do not already have. If your shelf already has a faction expansion and a Great Old One pack, Cosmic Terrors rounds out the set without asking you to learn a new faction's spellbook.
How Do You Add Cosmic Terrors to Your Cthulhu Wars Collection?
- Confirm you own the base game. Cosmic Terrors has no board, gates, or Doom track of its own. You need the Cthulhu Wars base game (O4 Edition) first.
- Decide where Terrors fit in your buying order. If you already have a faction expansion or a Great Old One pack, remember Terrors are a separate, third category, not a replacement for either.
- Order the pack. Cosmic Terrors is listed at $29.99 on the Cosmic Terrors product page. Check current price and stock before checkout.
- Unbox and identify the three miniatures. Separate the Great Race of Yith, the Dhole, and Quachil Uttaus from the cardstock, and keep the rulebook insert handy. It carries the exact ability text for each Terror.
- Bring the Terrors to your next session. They slot into a game you are already running alongside your factions and Great Old Ones.
Is the Cosmic Terrors Pack Worth It?
For most collectors who already own the base game, yes. At $29.99 for three miniatures, Cosmic Terrors runs cheaper per figure than most Great Old One packs, and it hands you an entire unit category the base box does not cover. Quachil Uttaus alone is also sold as a standalone blister for $8.99, so if the full three-figure set is more than you want to commit to right now, you can start with one Terror and add the rest later.
Where it is less of a slam dunk: brand-new players who have not settled on a favorite faction yet. If you only own the base game and nothing else, a faction expansion or a Great Old One pack probably gives you more immediate table impact, since those change who you play as or what you can recruit. Cosmic Terrors shines once the core roster already feels familiar and you are ready to add something genuinely different.
Budget-minded collectors get an extra win here too. Three sculpted miniatures for under thirty dollars is one of the better per-figure prices in the whole Cthulhu Wars catalog, and the Great Race of Yith and Quachil Uttaus are two of the more distinctive names in the wider Mythos. For a display shelf, that is real variety for not much money.
Who Are the Great Race of Yith and the Dhole in the Wider Mythos?
Worth knowing before you assume Petersen Games invented these creatures: it did not, and does not claim to. Both entities come from the public-domain tradition H.P. Lovecraft and his circle of collaborators built together nearly a century ago. Petersen Games owns its own miniature sculpts, card designs, and game rules for these entities, not the underlying fiction itself.
The Great Race of Yith originates in Lovecraft's own writing, a species known for projecting its consciousness across time and space into other bodies. The Dhole traces back to the same Clark Ashton Smith-era branch of the Mythos that produced Quachil Uttaus, part of the wider shared cosmology that Wikipedia's overview of Cthulhu Mythos deities covers in more depth. Sandy Petersen has drawn on that same well of source material since his original Call of Cthulhu RPG work, decades before Cthulhu Wars existed. Collectors curious how the miniature line stacks up against player opinion can also check the Cthulhu Wars community on BoardGameGeek, which has extensive player-authored notes on how each expansion plugs into the base game.
None of it is exclusive to Petersen Games. The Mythos has been shared, public-domain fiction for close to a century, which is exactly why so many designers, Petersen included, keep finding new angles on it.
Ready to see the Great Race of Yith and the Dhole next to the rest of your collection? Check the Cosmic Terrors product page for current stock and price, or browse the full Cthulhu Wars collection to see how it fits next to the faction expansions and Great Old One packs already on your shelf. In-stock orders process within 48 hours, with US shipping via USPS Ground Advantage (2-5 business days) and Canada via DHL Ground (3-7 business days); rates are calculated at checkout.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Great Race of Yith do in Cthulhu Wars?
It is one of three Terrors in the Cosmic Terrors expansion ($29.99). Petersen Games has not published detailed ability text for the miniature on the product listing, so exact in-game mechanics come from the rulebook insert in the box, not the sales page.
What is the Dhole in Cthulhu Wars?
The Dhole is the second Terror in the Cosmic Terrors pack, described on the official product page as "the massive Dhole." It is a distinct unit type from Great Old Ones and faction armies, with specific stats printed in the pack's rulebook insert.
Are Terrors different from Great Old Ones in Cthulhu Wars?
Yes. Terrors are their own unit type, separate from both Great Old Ones and playable factions. The Cosmic Terrors product page describes the contents as "new unit types for CW, the terrors," and the pack includes zero Great Old Ones and zero faction units.
Is the Cosmic Terrors pack worth it?
For collectors who already own the base game and want variety without learning a new faction, yes. At $29.99 for three miniatures, it costs less per figure than most Great Old One packs and adds a genuinely new unit category to the table.
Do you need the Cthulhu Wars base game to use Cosmic Terrors?
Yes. Cosmic Terrors is an expansion pack with no board, gates, or Doom track of its own. You need the Cthulhu Wars base game, currently the O4 Edition, before the three Terror miniatures have a game to plug into.
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