What Is Special Orlanth in The Gods War?
Special Orlanth is a standalone miniature expansion for Glorantha: The Gods War, a translucent sculpt of the storm god Orlanth sold on its own for $24.99. It's not a full game box, just a single-figure add-on for collectors who already own The Gods War and want a distinct version of one of the game's central deities on the table.
Here's the part most shoppers skip past: while the core Gods War box and several of its bigger expansions have been in and out of stock, Special Orlanth has stayed available as its own small SKU. That makes it one of the easier ways to add something genuinely different to a Gods War collection without waiting on a restock of the whole game.
Are There Rare or Exclusive Miniatures for The Gods War?
Yes. Arachne Solara, priced at $24.99 alongside Special Orlanth, is listed on the Petersen Games store as "a Petersen Games EXCLUSIVE" and adds a new win condition tied to the Great Compromise, according to the product description. That's a specific, on-page claim, not marketing fluff: the goddess of the Great Compromise gets her own miniature and her own mechanical hook into the game.
Both Special Orlanth and Arachne Solara sit in the same small-figure category. Neither is a full expansion box. Both are the kind of purchase a completionist Gods War collector makes almost on autopilot once they know it exists, and the kind a casual buyer walks right past because it doesn't show up next to the core game listing.
What Does the Elder Races Expansion Add?
The Elder Races expansion adds twelve new mercenary allies, each with unique abilities, for 32 miniatures total, according to the Petersen Games product listing. It's priced at $99.99. As of this writing the English-language edition shows as sold out on the Petersen Games store, though the French edition (Elder Races VF) is currently in stock at the same price.
This is the piece that actually earns the name "Allied Races." Where Special Orlanth and Arachne Solara add single figures tied to specific gods, Elder Races expands the roster of mercenary forces any empire can bring into a match. BoardGameGeek's listing for the Glorantha: The Gods War - Elder Races expansion covers additional community-documented detail on how the allies play, if you want a second read beyond the store's own description. The Petersen Games listing itself doesn't publish an exact race-by-race breakdown, so this guide won't guess at names it can't confirm on the product page.
What Allied Races Can I Add to The Gods War?
Two tiers, in practice. The Elder Races box ($99.99, twelve mercenary allies, 32 miniatures) is the dedicated allied-forces expansion, though buyers should check current stock since the English edition is sold out at the time of writing. The second tier is the single-figure line: Special Orlanth and Arachne Solara, both $24.99 and both currently in stock, which add specific named deities rather than a roster of mercenaries.
If your table already owns The Gods War and you're deciding where to put the next $25 to $100, that's the real choice: one big allied-races box when it's back in stock, or the smaller god-specific figures that happen to be available right now.
What Else Is in The Gods War Expansion Ecosystem?
Bigger than most buyers expect. Beyond the allied-races and single-figure miniatures, Petersen Games has released The Buildings ($79.99, 73 plastic buildings to upgrade your building tiles), The Empires ($139.99, adds four new empires plus a map that expands the game up to 8 players), and three separate Monsters expansions (Dragons, Chaos Monsters, and Cosmic Monsters, each $39.99). At the time of writing, most of these show sold out in their English editions on the Petersen Games store, with several available in the French VF editions.
That spread matters for the "most collectors miss" angle here. A buyer who only checks the core box and moves on never sees that Petersen Games built out a full expansion ecosystem around The Gods War, the same approach the studio takes with Cthulhu Wars. Stock waves in and out across the whole line, and the small figures tend to survive those waves longer than the big boxes do.
Why Do So Many Collectors Miss These?
Stock status is the honest answer. The Gods War core box currently shows sold out in its English edition on the Petersen Games store (the French edition, The Gods War VF, is in stock at $129.99). Elder Races is sold out in English too. When a collector checks the store, sees the headline game unavailable, and moves on, they never scroll down to the smaller SKUs sitting quietly in stock underneath.
That's a real gap. Special Orlanth and Arachne Solara are both purchasable today at $24.99 each, no waiting required. For a Gods War collector, picking up either (or both) now is a way to keep building the collection while the bigger boxes cycle back through inventory. Nerdly's review of Glorantha: The Gods War covers the wider expansion wave, buildings, elder races, and monsters included, and gives a sense of how deep this line runs once you start looking past the core box.
Who Built the World Behind These Miniatures?
Sandy Petersen designed The Gods War, but the world it's set in belongs to Greg Stafford. Glorantha started as an original fantasy setting Stafford introduced through the 1975 board game White Bear and Red Moon, later expanding into RuneQuest, HeroQuest, and decades of Chaosium-published lore, per Wikipedia's entry on Glorantha. Petersen Games licenses the setting for this game. It doesn't own Glorantha outright, and figures like Orlanth and Arachne Solara carry decades of published mythology behind the sculpts.
That history is part of why these smaller miniatures matter to collectors who know the setting. Orlanth isn't a generic fantasy storm god invented for a board game. He's a figure Glorantha fans have read about for fifty years, now rendered as a translucent tabletop sculpt.
Should You Buy Special Orlanth?
If you already own The Gods War, yes, this is a low-friction way to add something distinct to your faction lineup. At $24.99 it's priced well under the game's bigger expansion boxes, and it's in stock right now while several other pieces of the line are not.
You can check current availability and order Special Orlanth directly at petersengames.com/products/special-orlanth. In-stock orders process within 48 hours (2 business days, Monday through Friday), then ship USPS Ground Advantage to the US in 2 to 5 business days or DHL Ground to Canada in 3 to 7 business days. Rates are calculated at checkout based on destination and package weight; there's no standing free-shipping offer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Special Orlanth and the Allied Races Line
What is Special Orlanth in The Gods War?
A standalone, translucent miniature of the storm god Orlanth, sold separately from the core game for $24.99. It's an expansion figure for collectors who already own Glorantha: The Gods War.
Are there rare or exclusive miniatures for The Gods War?
Yes. Arachne Solara ($24.99) is listed by Petersen Games as a Petersen Games exclusive and adds a new win condition tied to the Great Compromise. Special Orlanth is a separate single-figure add-on at the same price.
What does the Elder Races expansion add?
Twelve new mercenary allies with unique abilities, for 32 miniatures total, priced at $99.99. The English edition currently shows sold out on the Petersen Games store; the French edition (Elder Races VF) is in stock at the same price.
What allied races can I add to The Gods War?
The Elder Races expansion is the dedicated allied-forces box, when it's in stock. Special Orlanth and Arachne Solara are smaller, currently-available single-figure add-ons that bring specific named deities to the table rather than a mercenary roster.
Where can I buy Special Orlanth?
Directly from Petersen Games at petersengames.com/products/special-orlanth for $24.99. In-stock orders process within 48 hours; shipping rates are calculated at checkout.
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