Category Archives: Scythe

Bottom Action!

game night, Scythe

Friday evening saw me get my favourite game of all time Scythe to the table with two good friends. What more could you want of an evening?

Whilst I was setting up Colin arrived. So I gave him the tough decision of which of the three Triumph tracks to use. Yes I had forgotten the fourth option of the random set up. But it was probably for the best. The other three are a lot easier to explain. You can see which way Colin went in the setup section below.

Once Marcin arrived we went straight into randomly choosing a player mat, followed by choosing our faction.

Whilst making our choices we enforced the banned combo rule for player and faction mats.

So this is how after randomly selecting a player board and then choosing a faction things ended up:

  • Saxony/Patriotic (Colin)
  • Rusviet/Innovative (Marcin)
  • Fenris/Industrial (Me)

I’m sure Marcin hate drafted my beloved Rusviets to spite me. There was a cheeky grin from him when I bought the subject up. It looked like I had no choice but go to my other favourite faction, Fenris.

One day I should branch out and play some of the others. But haven’t I already by choosing Fenris?

The rest of our set up…

We used the Modular board that once the home base tiles had been randomly placed had two tiles removed. Giving us a much more enclosed map encouraging interaction. No turtling here.

Obviously we used Airships. Plus any additional tiles or cards that the expansions added, along with all the promo cards.

Triumph Track: War

Resolution Tile: Factory Explosion

Airship Tiles: Hero/Bounty

Structure Bonus: Number of structures not adjacent to other buildings (your buildings or opponents’ buildings).

Poorly written summary of the game

I got off to a blinding start. Which was helped greatly by having an encounter token so close to my home base. Turn two I had my first mech out giving me leap. A handy ability to have as I was able to avoid the first conflict and blockade by Marcin.

I had all my mechs out so early. I was moping up encounter tokens to fuel my engine.

Sadly Marcin beat me to the factory and held it for a good time. I wasn’t in a position to challenge him.

I was using my factions tokens to pen Marcin in. I didn’t think it was fair to pick on Colin so early on in the game.

Eventually my engine just ran out of juice and I wasn’t able to stop Marcin stealing what little resources I had or amassing forces on and around the factory tile.

Without the resources I wasn’t able to use my factory card that I’d finally got. Even my plan to get the final encounter token and also use a resource on that tile controlled by Colin. Failed. Colin spent the resource before I got there, and also nabbed the token.

I did trigger the end of the game. But the first of my final two turns was a none turn as I couldn’t do anything. But I did end up with a couple of battles to try and cut down on the territory Marcin controlled. I was fifty percent successful on that front.

Final scores

It was a fantastic evening of gaming.

Oh why the blog post title? Well as Marcin was explaining/helping Colin throughout the game he kept saying “bottom action”. Which had my childish, mind in the gutter side in stitches.

Expeditions – Scythe Sequel Announced

news, Scythe

Last night Stonemaier Games announced a new game that is a sequel to my favourite game of all time Scythe called Expeditions.

Being a sequel obviously it’s set in the Scythe 1920’s alternate history Europe. However the events in Expeditions take place after those told in Scythe.

Expeditions is described as “a competitive, card-driven, engine-building game of exploration. It is designed to evoke similar feelings to Scythe even though the mechanisms are different.”

Stonemaier did this cool summary image about the game. Which I’ve embedded below. There is no point me repeating the info it contains.

I’m pretty excited about this announcement. We all know how I feel about Scythe. So a chance to revisit the world of Scythe, and that amazing art of Jakub Rozalski. Who wouldn’t be excited?

Encounters Teaser Trailer

I think this is one of the very few times that I regret this blog is not more popular and that I don’t do reviews. But that’s the sacrifice I make to be able to just write what I feel like or am currently interested in.

You can preorder Expeditions now. It should be noted that this isn’t the usual Stonemaier preorder. The game won’t actually be shipped until July. Production has started on the game. But the number of copies being made in this initial print run is governed by preorders plus an additional amount for those that might want it in July.

There is the difficult decision about which version to go for. There are two versions. A retail with plastic mech minis, or an ironclad version with metal mech minis. Which is the main difference.

Along with Expeditions releasing in July there will be the now obligatory Rolling Realms promo pack (also available as a preorder).

In the Facebook livestream Jamey did also say we will see another three promo realms for Rolling Realms around May time. But obviously those details will be announced nearer the time.

Another preorder you can do is a red tinted 5 value metal coin. Plus the new Scythe/Expeditions metal coin pack which contains said coin.

Here is the Expeditions link to preorder or get more info.

There was a second announcement, which sees Tapestry getting some love with a third and final expansion, Fantasies & Futures.

This new expansion gives us “10 new civilizations, 6 advanced capital city mats, 38 new tapestry cards, and 12 new tech cards”, plus “a comprehensive rulebook that organizes all rules for Tapestry and the 3 expansions in one place (as well as a few replacement cards from previous expansions: 3 landmark cards, Oil Paint, and Migration).”

There is also a “new “charm” mechanism that provides one-time bonuses”.

Fantasies & Futures is coming in an envelope type package.

Along side this expansion is an folded space insert that uses the core game box to store the core game plus all expansions.

These will go on preorder on 1st March.

Yeah I’m getting these two. Get everything in one box, plus more content. No brainer for me as a fan of the game.

Here is the Fantasies & Futures link.

Wait I’ve just realised I’ve gone the whole post without saying…

How did that happen?

Games Played Last Couple of Days

Fenland Gamers, Game day, game night, Scythe

Friday evening was once again a club night. Attendance was more pre-pandemic numbers than post. Whether that’s due to illness, time of year (it is the busy run up to Christmas) who knows?

Our first game of the evening was the classic, destroyer of relationships, Survive Escape from Atlantis.

This is such a fun game, and a members favourite.

Despite being victimised by the others (it’s so easy to make that claim in this game) I didn’t come last. I only got one survivor to safety but it was enough to put Marcin into last place with his lower scoring two survivors. At the other end of the survivor safety spectrum (more than three getting to safety) Ben managed to pip Colin to the winning line by a single point.

Our second and final game of the evening was Last Will.

Ben was declared the winner of this game. We still had a round to play. However with our hosts wishing to close up we had to finish the game.

The deciding factor in declaring Ben the winner was he needed one more action to trigger the end of the game, whilst the rest of us required more than that.

A fun evening, lots of banter.

Saturday afternoon saw me playing a two player game of Scythe with Charlene.

It was meant to be a three player game but illness meant the third player had to drop out at the last moment.

I was going to use the Automata as a third player. But I need to read the rules on running the Automata first before doing this.

We did use the modular board and that was the best idea of the afternoon.

Additional rules used

After randomly placing the faction markers round the board (all but one go out if using the Fenris factions as well, I removed that remaining faction from those that can be chosen), Charlene and I randomly chose player boards. Despite having the higher board I let Charlene chose first.

This will amaze folks but I did not go with my one of my favourite factions. Instead I gave Vesna a try.

Factions played

After choosing our factions we removed two of the modular boards. That was why using the modular boards was a great decision.

I had previously played Scythe two player with Jeff but that was with the “regular” board. Which isn’t best for a two player game. You can be on opposite sides of the map, never bump into each other.

With the modular board removing two of the boards shrinks the map so you are closer together, and you are more likely going to have to battle it out with the other player for spaces.

The way the map tiles were the Vesna river walk was useless and an early mistake for me. I should have built the tunnel first not the mech. Charlene had an easier time and was able to access more of the map without having to do either!

Timelapse of game of Scythe

I liked the resolution tile Deja Vu. It was fun. And how our end game was triggered. If Charlene hadn’t triggered the end of the game this way I would have triggered it on my next go by placing out my sixth objective star.

After the dust settled and money counted, I won.

If I play Scythe two player again it will only be with the modular board.

We finished off the afternoons gaming with a game of Splendor Duel.

I hadn’t played Splendor Duel before, nor had Charlene.

This is a two player only version of Splendor. Yes Splendor can be played two player. But sometimes like 7 Wonders Duel, the two player version gives you the same experience as the original but just takes it to another level.

I really like this as a two player game. Like it’s bigger brother it appears I’m not very good at it. I haven’t won a game of Splendor in a long time. And this two player experience was no exception and continued my losing streak.

I can see this being added to the collection to play with Nathan. Or on the rare occasion I get to play a two player game with Jonathan.

That was my gaming over the last couple of days.

It’s back to work for me now, and gaming when it can be fitted in.

What Scythe Expansion Do I Get?

Scythe

This post is the result of watching a video by “Board of it” on YouTube where they did a buyers guide for Scythe.

I liked the video. It was interesting to hear their opinions/review of each of the expansions at the end after they explained all the expansions.

Now I think everyone knows how I feel about Scythe by now. But just incase you don’t I’ll state it again here. For the record and umpteenth time, I love it. It’s my favourite game of all time.

So what I’m going to do in this post is assume you have the base Scythe game and then provide suggestions based on possible reasons why you might want to add an expansion.

I’ll give a SPOILER WARNING now for Rise of Fenris. I’m not going to spoil the game but for one of the answers I have to talk about a specific part of the game. I’m sorry. I can’t answer the question without revealing the little bit of info I have to spoil.

I want to play more than 5 players

To play more than five players you need more factions. There are two expansions that offer more factions.

If you only want more factions and nothing else then your only option is the Invaders from Afar expansion. This adds two new factions Clan Albion and Togawa Shogunate. Fortunately their faction symbols are already on the games board!

If you want more factions and have other game play options then you should get Rise of Fenris. Like Invaders from Afar, Fenris adds two new factions to Scythe. Plus you get the campaign and modular options.

I want more factions

This question is slightly different to the previous one because it doesn’t assume you want to play more than five players. But more that you are playing with up to five players and want more variety in the factions you play.

The answer is basically the same with the addition of get both for the ultimate in maximising your faction options.

I want to play a Scythe campaign

There is only one option here, as there is only one campaign expansion for Scythe, and that is Rise of Fenris. This is an eight game campaign that can be reset and replayed. Plus it can be used as just modules to change things up with the core game.

I want more of the same

This screams out the small box Scythe Encounters expansion that adds thirty two new promo encounter cards to the game. Which reminds me you can also add in the original promo packs that Stonemaier sell. These original promos were part of the Kickstarter I believe. They add more encounters, factory cards, and objectives.

I want to change things up

Obviously all of the above replies do this to some degree. However other expansions might be up your street too.

For starters The Wind Gambit introduces airships to the game, which are given an aggressive and non-aggressive ability randomly at the start of each game. But a bigger game changer are the resolution tiles that change how the game ends.

Or you could get the modular board that means the map and faction locations are different every game! Plus it introduces a new drafting element to setup, and tighter maps at lower player counts.

Finally as pointed out in another response above the Rise of Fenris can be used as modules allowing you to change elements of the game, like have a more aggressive game. So even if you don’t want to play the campaign it’s worth getting to use as modules. Plus it also includes a way to play Scythe as a co-operative with the Desolution module.

The Complete Rulebook has a couple of unofficial variants (team play, and a tweak to the end of a game). But these barely make up half a page.

I want to pimp out my copy of Scythe

There are a lot of third party accessories that can be bought to pimp out Scythe. However for this post I’m only going to cover the official ones.

Currently Stonemaier sell the following to pimp out your copy of Scythe:

  • Metal coins
  • Metal mech miniatures
  • Realistic resource tokens
  • Board extension – so the larger hex side of the board can be used
  • Neoprene playmat
  • Complete rulebook
  • Legendary Box to hold the core game and expansions in one single box.

I hope this “guide” helps.

Scythe Rise of Fenris Campaign Episode 8

Game day, Rise of Fenris, Scythe

So for the last time (“thank feck for that” I hear you say) I’ll be saying the following.

SPOILER ALERT! The following post contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.

I wasn’t expecting Ben for this final showdown. Having checked in with him afterwards he has been having a rough time health wise. I know I speak for all of us that know Ben and don’t, that we wish him a speedy recovery. He has been missed during our campaign, and we all look forward to when we can game with him again.

Now onto the bit everyone who has been following this has been waiting for.

Episode 8 – The Final Episode – TESLA’S MADNESS

So here we are episode 8, the final episode of the Rise of Fenris campaign. The only episode that counts in deciding the winner of the campaign.

With our failure to rescue (or is it recapture in the case of the Fenris faction?) Tesla in the previous episode, this episode had the title of Tesla’s Madness.

This meant that the Tesla mini started on the Factory space and would move around the board based on a die roll and a Mad Tesla tile, attacking anyone he moved into the same space as. Tesla would be the last to take a turn. So in our game between Shane (last) and Jeff(first). Jeff was given the duty of controlling Tesla.

I will say it was confusing in the rules when it referred to using the blue and orange dice with Tesla. The dice aren’t coloured that way. They were black and brown! Then it clicked with Jeff the rules were referring to the colour of the numerals on the dice! Why?

The rules allowed players to chose their player mats this episode. Naturally the combo restrictions for Rusviet and Crimea applied. The order of choice was based on total wealth at the start of this episode. Which meant Jeff chose first, then Shane, and finally myself. Here is our final faction and player mat setup.

  • Vesna & Voltan/Industrial (Cyan) – Jeff
  • Rusviet Union/Patriotic (Red) – Shane
  • Fenris/Militant (Orange) – Me

Once again we were given the option to use the Wind Gambit expansion, and the Backup Plan/Doomsday Clock resolution tiles. So naturally we were going to have in play the airships. However I went with this being the “classic” end of game condition. Besides we also had the defeat Tesla end game condition.

Airship rules and structure bonus for the game.

Jeff started off the game with a bit of shock and awe, using a factory card and an infrastructure mod he completed one of his objective cards and had a star out on the triumph track. Plus had an encounter!

The first actions of Shane and myself were not as impressive. Although I did thanks to my infrastructure mod have a mech out on turn one unlocking my leap ability.

I was definitely aiming to have Rasputin out and roaming the board putting out those influence tokens right from the start.

Tesla roaming around the board threatened to attack on several occasions. But I was the first to take Tesla on and win. I did have death ray at that point plus the mod that could add +2 to my attack.

I did take an early lead getting stars out but kinda ran out of gas towards the end for doing that. Jeff was getting close to ending the game, so I was hoping that either Tesla would get him off the factory tile or I could get to him and kick him off. However Tesla was unable to defeat him (twice) and I was unable to get there in time.

Our final Triumph Track

Although Shane got more stars out than me, and was threatening to end the game. I did feel he was not “aggressive” enough with my beloved faction. He did seem penned in to his home area for much of the game. He could have had a factory card and control of more tiles.

Jeff had chosen two Vesna mech abilities to do with lakes. The first allowed him to teleport between lakes. The second gave him +1 for each location he controlled that was a lake. Add in the fact he had control of the Factory at the end, the territory he controlled gave him the victory. He got 48 odd points from this. It basically accounts for the point difference between us.

Our final scores for episode 8

So congratulations to Jeff on his victory and on winning the campaign.

I hope Jeff enjoyed his chicken dinner. Obviously Shane and I didn’t get a one.

Thoughts on Rise of Fenris

We had a blast playing this campaign. Some great twists and turns.

The great thing is we can now use the expansion as modules to a regular game, as well as getting two more factions. Add in the modular board, the two unofficial variants (in the complete rulebook) and wow talk about variability and replay ability.

For example the triumph track now can be the “classic” no change, or you could use either the war or peace tracks, or have it totally random using the tiles from Tesla!

You can focus more on conflict or down grade it’s importance. Basically tailor the game to the style of play you enjoy the most, or feel like on the day.

And then there is the Desolation module that’s adds a co-op mode to the game.

Plus you can replay the campaign. Ok you won’t have the surprise element to the campaign as it unfolds. But that doesn’t matter. It might change how you approach each episode.

You don’t have to play the campaign to start with and can just use it as modules for the game. But why wouldn’t you play the campaign first?

This is an amazing expansion that offers fantastic value for money.

I might even say this may be my favourite and the best expansion for Scythe. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the other expansions. Especially the Wind Gambit and what it adds to the game. But Rise of Fenris just blows them away.

This is the moment

Rise of Fenris, Scythe

This Saturday sees episode 8 aka the final episode of our play through of the Rise of Fenris Campaign for Scythe.

I can’t believe just how excited I am about it.

The following quote from the Jekyll and Hyde musical seems very appropriate.

I’ve won two out of the previous seven episodes. With Jeff taking the other five victories.

As the Metallica song goes “And nothing else matters.”

It’s all down to this final episode. “The winner takes it all!”

“The winner of the campaign is the winner of the final episode.” That’s the rules!

So whilst Jeff has the bragging rights of the most wins. I’ve quietly been building up the triumph log ready for this moment.

The FA Cup/League Cup/Champions League Final for our Rise of Fenris Campaign.

Saturday can’t come quick enough for me.

I’ll finish the post with another cheesy quote, this time from the WWE.

“Your time is up, my time is now
You can’t see me, my time is now”

Scythe Rise of Fenris Campaign Episode 7

Game day, Rise of Fenris, Scythe

I know it’s not as if this blog has a huge readership that I can afford to have some go away and read something else. But I have to say the following. I don’t want to spoil the Rise of Fenris campaign for anyone.

SPOILER ALERT! The following post contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.

Right if you are still here and read previous posts in this campaign log,I think it’s a log, you know what’s coming up next.

It was unlikely that Ben was going to turn up. His major life event was having complications. So I set up for three players but had Ben’s stuff to hand if he felt able to come along.

Sadly

Episode 7

The special setup rules for this episode saw the twelfth encounter token being used. This went on the factory space.

We also used the side of the Triumph Track not used in episode 2. Which meant this time it was…

This also meant we could have Rivals in this game too!

Setting up rivals was simple you “…declare “rivals” by placing 1 or more of your stars on other players’ home bases. You may place up to 4 of your stars this way, and you may place multiple stars on the same home base. All players do this simultaneously.”

I placed 2 stars on both Jeff and Shane’s home bases. Sharing the “love”.

This meant while Jeff and Shane had one of my stars on their home base they were a rival. Which also meant if I defeated them in combat I’d not only place one of those stars on the triumph but also get $5. The draw back for me was I could only place these stars on the triumph track by winning a combat.

Our goals were to win the game or find Tesla.

To find Tesla one player had to collect five encounter tokens (the number required changes with the player count).

The question I had was if I the Fenris player found Tesla did that mean he had been recaptured?

Our faction/player board match ups for this episode were as follows after randomly drawing the player boards.

  • Vesna & Voltan/Mechanical (Cyan) – Jeff
  • Rusviet Union/Innovative (Red) – Shane
  • Fenris/Patriotic (Orange) – Me

Once again we were given the option to use the Wind Gambit expansion, and the Backup Plan resolution tile. So naturally they were going to be in play.

Airship Rules, structure bonus, and resolution tile used in episode 7

Opening turns saw us utilising our infrastructure mods to get that initial boost. I obviously unlocked my mech leap ability, and built my windmill, and doubled my initial produce action. Followed by an early recruit to get me three combat cards.

Naturally I wanted to get a good hand of combat cards to go with the soon to be unlocked death ray (ULAH!).

I did get the eight combat cards star on the Triumph track, and was now ready to start being aggressive and winning those combats.

Whilst I was doing all this slowly Jeff and Shane were getting encounter tokens.

I needed to start moving and getting rid of those influence tokens.

Slowly I started placing them around the board to try and slow down the other two. Whilst doing so I was able to win a combat or two and gather an encounter token or two.

Then I got my dream encounter card. I had just won a combat against Shane, and got $5 for my spoils. So I had the money (I did anyway) to pay for the option to copy an opponent’s faction ability for the rest of the game. This was in addition to my own.

As you can see I did a short Instagram video of my reaction to getting the Rusviet faction ability.

How how I miss this ability. It was time to abuse the move action to get out my remaining influence tokens.

If I hadn’t tied up four of my stars for rivals and combat I had got to the point where I had five stars out, and a possibility to get a sixth out without combat. However I had no option but to build up some bolster points to attack the weakest of my opponents to get that final star out.

With a 5 value combat card in hand, I got a single bolster point more than Shane. It was all I needed. Getting to this point had been costly. I had lost a combat against both of them. I had been hoping to keep their stars on the Triumph track to a lower count.

The end of the game was triggered. Then that Backup Plan resolution tile bit me in the butt. I hadn’t won. However that extra round enabled Shane and Jeff to knock me off two tiles and reduce my final score.

However I earnt enough to buy a mod at the end. Which was the important bit.

Final scores for episode 7

I also had three wild card stars to use on the triumph log. So I was able to complete more columns and rows putting me in a good end of game position for episode 8.

Ok Jeff has been winning the battles (well most of them) but the war/campaign is won at the end of episode 8.

Tesla wasn’t found. So we still got to open the last box, revealing a rather cool Tesla mini. But boy is he pissed apparently that we didn’t.

I can’t wait until our final game and find out what Tesla brings to the game.

Scythe Rise of Fenris Campaign Episodes 5 and 6

Game day, Rise of Fenris, Scythe

SPOILER ALERT! The following post contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.

Ben messaged me saying he was not up to joining us today. I called him to check he was ok. But his life event is taking it out of him at the moment.

You know the drill by now. I get there early and set up.

Episode 5

I setup the changes for episode 5 which saw box D being placed on the Factory. An amazing bit of theatre. Then some influence tokens were placed on each tunnel and on each of the three land territories adjacent to the Factory. These would be worth -$1 for each one collected at the end of the game.

Our faction/player board match ups for episode 5 were as follows after randomly drawing the player boards. (I remembered to record them this session.)

  • Vesna & Voltan/Industrial (Cyan) – Jeff
  • Nordic Kingdoms/Militant (Blue) – Shane
  • Rusviet Union/Engineering (Red) – Me

We were allowed the Wind Gambit expansion again so airships were back on the map. This episode we went with the Backup Plan resolution tile. I’ve never played with this resolution tile. It looked interesting with its extra turn if the player triggering the end of the game does not have the highest score.

The two airship tiles drawn were Bombard and Reap. Reap was going to be especially useful for ramping up production.

My beloved Rusviet were having to use the alternative Township mech tile this game.

True to form I made a dash to the Factory, whilst the other two did their “going to complete achievements and get points thing”!

Getting to the Factory got me two influence tokens for my efforts. Aka -$2 at the end of the episode. Was it worth it?

However once there I got to open the mysterious box D.

Inside the box was an Annihilator mini that I had to fight. Victory would trigger the end of the game. Defeat, a major set back and humiliation.

I rolled the two dice.

Double 3.

I had a total combat score of 17.

The Annihilator had a base power of 3, plus the total of the top 3 cards from the combat deck. Well that’s what the expansion rule book said. However the complete rule book said it was the top 4. After a quick debate I went to the Scythe FAQ. It was indeed the top 4 cards. Bugger. There was a misprint in the expansion rule book.

Any card 4 or less and I win. I drew the fourth card, it was a 3. I had defeated the Annihilator and triggered the end of the game.

Sadly I hadn’t won.

So there was one more round. Which saw Shane steal the Factory from me and reduce my score even more. Jeff was the run away victor.

Episode 5 Final Scores

My reward for defeating the Annihilator was to get to play a new faction Fenris, lead by Rasputin.

Episode 6

After moving to another part of the community centre (there was a booking that evening, and they needed to setup where we were). We commenced with episode 6 considering the previous episode had been over so quickly.

Our faction/player board match ups for episode 6 were as follows after randomly drawing the player boards.

  • Vesna & Voltan/Innovative (Cyan) – Jeff
  • Nordic Kingdoms/Industrial (Blue) – Shane
  • Fenris/Agricultural (Orange) – Me

The Wind Gambit was still in play, and we decided to stay with the Backup Plan resolution tile. Our airship tiles for this episode were Negotiate and Toll.

There were no special rules this episode. It was to be just a “normal” game of Scythe!

It was so odd playing without the Rusviet faction ability. How do others do it?

The Annihilator mech has such a War of the Worlds Martian vibe.

I need a sound board app to play that ulah next episode.

No river walk needed with the Annihilator mech, it gets leap! Plus a really cool mech ability called Death Ray! ULAH!

Death Ray is sooooo cool. It allows you to play as many combat cards as you want in combat as long as they are all the same value. So amassing combat cards is a necessary thing to do. Which I did.

One drawback of Fenris is it starts with -$16! However Rasputin (the Fenris Commander) gets to place one influence token on the tile he moves to. Plus one more on an unoccupied tile. These are great fun as they mean -$1 to an opponent if they land on a tile with one on.

I did trigger the end of the game. And I won by a single point much to Jeff’s annoyance. That one point was the influence token he had to take! Plus there was extra salt in his fresh wounds because he might have won if he’d remembered to collect the oil resource at the start of his turns.

Episode 6 Final Scores

Afterwards players were given the chance to swap faction. I decided to stay with Rasputin and Fenris. It was a hard decision. Jeff decided to keep the “broken“ Vesna faction. But Shane couldn’t wait to abandon the Nordic faction, who let’s remember had fought tooth and nail for him in this campaign. Shane wanted to take my beloved Rusviet.

I’m so looking forward to the penultimate episode, episode 7.

Scythe Rise of Fenris Campaign Episode 4

Game day, Rise of Fenris, Scythe

Behind The Scenes or BTS – 4/26/22 aka Alien Day: Why this post is only now appearing. This post has been written over several days. I started it Sunday. However I’ve been a bit tired or as I like to put it “bloody knackered”. So I’ve been writing a little bit of it each day before tiredness kicked in.

Look if you want to ruin the surprises that await you as you play the Scythe Rise of Fenris expansion then ignore the following warning. Otherwise please pay heed to it.

SPOILER ALERT! The following post contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.

Yesterday it was time to get Scythe and the Rise of Fenris expansion back to the table to play the next episode in the campaign.

First thing I did was to call Ben and see if he was well enough to join us. We left it that he’d call me at around 11:30am and let me know if he wasn’t.

I grabbed my bag with “everything” in and left for the Community Centre. As I was picking up the bag I distinctly remembered thinking to myself how nice it was to be able to just pick up a single bag and go. Knowing everything was in that bag.

Sadly that wasn’t entirely true.

It wasn’t until I got to the Community Centre, got out the car, took out the bag, and started walking from the car to the Community Centre, that I realised I’d left the neoprene playmat at home!

No worries we could use the regular board. Which changed to we will use the big board set up.

Whilst setting up Ben arrived.

This episode allowed the Wind Gambit expansion to be used. So naturally we were going to play with the airships. We were also allowed to use either the Doomsday Clock or Backup Plan resolution tiles. Of course we went with the Doomsday Clock. I’d played using that before (it’s the only resolution tile I’ve played with so far, but then again it’s only the second time I’ve played with them) and really enjoyed it. I really do like how the focus changes. It’s much more focused and pressured.

I got Ben to draw the two airship tiles, and we ended up with Toll and Hero. Ben also drew the structure bonus for this episode (see below).

We also got to open the little box marked B. Inside eight little orange meeples! These were Fenris agents. Two went on the Factory tile, and each of the six tiles with a tunnel on them also got a single Fenris agent.

By the time setup was finished, which included leaving the factory cards not drawn for the game to one side for Jeff to finish his Vesna faction setup once he arrived. We still had a little time left before the others were due to arrive.

With my setup bonuses and purchasing the perk for 2 more popularity my starting popularity for this episode was 6.

Our goals for episode 4 were to subdue the Fenris agents, and win the game (in 20 turns).

If there is one flaw I have in this campaign it’s going for the shiny new things like influence tokens, or as in this episode Fenris agents over trying to get objectives completed.

I did manage to get five of them, and there was that alluring promise of unimaginable riches at the end of the episode. Riches that translated to setup bonuses. Which felt a little disappointing when it was revealed at the end of the episode. Although I know that at the start of the next episode I will appreciate their benefit.

One of my tactics this game was a land grab trying to be in control of as many tiles as possible. I was able to utilise my airship as a way to lockdown the factory tile under my control. If you remember we had Toll as one of the airship tiles. Which meant to move through or into a space with an airship you had to pay a toll.

I only managed to get three objectives completed this episode before the Doomsday Clock ran out. So far out of the four episodes played the only objective I haven’t completed is the recruit one. So I need to complete that one next episode to complete a line across the Triumph Track. That’s $25 in the final episodes end scoring.

Jeff romped home with the victory and more than enough cash to buy two of the newly unlocked mech mods.

Shane also was able to purchase one. Whilst Ben and myself could look in the shop window but not buy anything. Maybe next episode.

I’m looking forward to our next game in 3 weeks time and the surprises it brings.