Hey guys, just wanted to say the underpass mech strategy is still undertested so I would recommend trying it if you want, but not thinking that it is a surefire thing that works. If you do go for it, plan on moving to steel and food, not steel and oil, once you get your 5 workers.
Hey Rain, Thank you for these videos; they really are the best Scythe videos on YT. I do have one question though: Why would an opponent lose -4 minimum in a fight on a tunnel when you have Disarm? The Disarm ability applies once per the fight, not once per Mech, right? So wouldn't at maximum they only lose -2 on a given tunnel?
Have you considered getting Underpass first, taking a worker (or several workers) onto the forest tunnel (or the forest hex adjacent to Factory from either mountain or tundra tunnel) to produce wood resources, then race to Factory space (ideally ahead of Rusviets) with AT LEAST one mech, one worker, and enough wood resource to then build a Mine on the Factory? Then get Disarm at your leisure and bring Saxony character to Factory at your leisure to claim Factory card. I suspect Factory control with Underpass/Mine/Disarm combo will skew game heavily in Saxony favor if they succeed in doing this.
Having the factory with your tunnel on it and the Disarm mech is really strong, since you probably will never get Tier 3 pop and controlling the factory means 3 less territories to any contender. It could easily mean nobody else gets a factory card.
what do you mean with "immediately move them back to the (home)mountain"? you cant move after combat, so it would take two turns until you could move back again, right? someone please explain
I guess he uses 2 moves: 1 move of a mech to kick the workers out of the hex and another one to get in with a second mech, pick the resources, then use Underpass to go back to your base. But you should consider if leaving 1 mech alone in enemy territory is a good idea.
So I'm late to this but I don't think Sax having 1 power is a flaw. It's like Crimea having 0 combat cards to start. Saxony advantage is multiple combat stars, so giving them 3 or 4 power to start would make them more overwhelming then they already can be, right? The player needs to find a way to leverage and exploit the factions abilities, that's part of the fun.
Followed you advice re: the speed, underpass, and riverwalk mech's. I was able to move both mech's over to the mountain tunnel in front of Polania to block. I had some good combat cards and was able to move into their territory and swipe their food! But they attacked me and put me back to my base. I then went back with my two mechs and blocked them from leaving Polania's island for awhile. Polania could have built their mine to get out onto the board but my spouse did not think of that. I finally won but only by 3 points for a 2-player game. I'm wondering if this technique works when there are more players. Hoping to learn more ways to 'punish the other players' for their mistakes...
I tend to play saxony without using the farm at all. My enlists ideally come from a factory card, and otherwise 2-3 trades plus stealing food from opponents
thank you for the instructional video, do you have any advice for Saxony Engineering? I played this combo and it was challenging, and just ended badly for me... Any tips would be helpful
This video series is great! I haven't been able to play nearly as much as I'd like so I have a question. Is it worth taking the popularity hit to get resources? In your example with Polania, knocking their workers back even if you dont win the battle seems really good. But is there a rule of thumb for deciding if it's worth taking the popularity loss?
ONLY if you keep getting hit before getting hearts. 2 pop is not death, and you can't fall below 0, so as long as you don't start raising your popularity, you can kick all the workers you want with total impunity (as Saxony can get all the combat stars he wants, this is totally viable).
Thanks for the guide! I had a quick question about underpass--I thought the ability only works between mountains *you control* and tunnels. So the strategy of sneaking into someone else's mountain surprises me. Am I misinterpreting the rule or anything you said? Thanks!
Okay, I listened closely and answered my own question--the swooping in requires Speed + Riverwalk + Underpass. Underpass allows for the retreat from a mountain, but getting to the mountain the first place still requires moving.
I'm late to the party but at 5:30 can't you just leave 1 worker on steel, move the oil guy to the village. Double produce and a trade to get to 5 workers and enough steel for a mech. Deploy the underpass mech in the village. Next move 1 worker can go to oil and the mech can take the other three to the mountain hex. From there on you can do another produce for 4 steel to get a 2nd speed mech and the next move can take the underpass to the village.
If you have 2 pop, it's 7 steel for just 2 pop. AND you delay another player at least 2 or 3 rounds. Saxony is the best faction for low/no pop strategies because you can get 3+ stars with combats.
