So...if there are banned combos for being too good, which ones are too bad?

[Shrinkshooter]

I've watched my friend play this game for a bit. I don't know all the ins and outs, but out of curiosity I felt like asking if there are any combos for character/build mat that are particularly not great. Just wondering. My buddy says he hates Rusviet Agri, although I'm still trying to figure out exactly what makes something strong or weak.

Though even for someone ignorant like me, Rus's ability to choose the same thing every round sounds pretty powerful in general.

[SimoonGryphon]

Seems like based on where you start with a particular faction can be a determining thing, since you need to either build a mine or get a mech with an ability to get you somewhere else (e.g. Riverwalk). The Nordic faction is a little bit more flexible since their workers start with Riverwalk (can go across wherever even), so they can at least get access to resources outside of their starting three hexes. And you can always trade as a top action: two resources (you pick) for 1 coin.

Since most of this game is about making the most efficient use of your turn, I imagine if you get a mat that has a bad combination of action + resource expenditure combined with your faction's limited access to resources...ya could have a hard time. But I think they did a fair job of not making it too broken.

Dunno if any of that makes much sense to ya.

[Gramarye]

Single player mode is good for practicing ways out of the starting bind.

In general, early actions will be Move & Produce. Most factions (Nords are the exception) start with 2 resources and a village on their home peninsula. So if you get a player mat that pairs Move and Produce with actions requiring resources you don't produce, you've got a slightly more difficult setup.

But since you can still Trade for those resources, you can at least get started, and you don't know what your first Encounter will give you, either.

Example: Agricultural Rusviet can have a bit of a rough start, but you can start:

1. Produce.
2. Produce. [You'll now have 5 workers and 2 metal.]
3. Trade. [Get 2 metal, use all 4 to build a mech in the village.]
4. Move
- if you built Riverwalk, your character can now move to the farm Encounter, and your mech can move your workers the farm or the tundra
- if you built Speed, your character can now move to the tundra Encounter, and your mech can divide your workers between the mountain and tundra any way you like.

You can decide between those based on things like who else is in the game, what the building tile bonuses are (remember an Encounter might let you buy a building, or give you wood to build one yourself on your own turn), what your Objectives are, etc.

Engineering Rusviet can incidentally do this same start, but the thumb on the scale for them is more clearly with moving workers to the tundra because then you're setting yourself up for an amazing series of Produce/Upgrade for as long as you've got the Power (and if you get a Recruit from your opening Encounter, you can prolong that indefinitely by getting the Upgrade Recruit).

Yes, it's still going to be frustrating as Agricultural Rusviet because you're not on a forest yet and so you won't be able to Produce/Build in the same turn for a while. But 5 workers actually deployed on resource tiles by turn 5 is still a decent start.

Agricultural Saxony is even more of a challenge because you don't start out in the village and you can't do the same action twice.

Industrial Crimea can be surprisingly hard even though Industrial is considered a strong board (balanced by low starting popularity and money). Crimea loves its Recruits (to generate combat cards for its faction ability in particular) and Industrial is the board that rewards Recruits the least. Also, because it has the lowest starting money, Trade takes a bigger relative bite out of your budget, and you can really have a hard decision to make if your first encounter's middle option is $3 or $4 for something you really want (e.g., $3 for a mill).

[ssvenn75]

How about agricultural Saxony, that's pretty bad. I can't seem to find a way to win with that combination.

[Shrinkshooter]

Originally posted by ssvenn75:

How about agricultural Saxony, that's pretty bad. I can't seem to find a way to win with that combination.

Since he let me borrow his account when he's busy, I've done a number of games and first impressions is that Saxony is kinda rough relative to the others. I have pretty decent success with pretty much anyone else, but Saxony gives me a tougher time regardless of strat, even though I do try to go military half the time.

I'm still not super experienced so take that with a grain of salt. I like their theme the best but they give me the hardest time.

[Saint Scylla]

Originally posted by Shrinkshooter:

I like their theme the best but they give me the hardest time.

I'm with you here. Access to an unlimited amount of stars from battles and for up to 2 objectives sounds like an epic skill, but so far I haven't been able to play this faction optimally, whichever Player Mat I got. It takes time to build their engine and move out of their base. Their Riverwalk also feels less useful than the other factions.