Through the Ages - demo game and rules explanation

[rho21]

Round 12



Still not drawn a colony, and now it's too late: the age is about to end. Columbus will go unused due to my earlier stupidity.

Anyway, nothing to be done about it. If you're thinking it's not very long since the last age ended, well it's normal for the ages to speed up: they have the same number of cards, but we have progressively more civil actions. This game's running slightly quicker than average though.

I'm now weakest, as mentioned, so I don't really want to play an event (not to mention that the one I've drawn links to strength, so might bite me later). I have drawn an excellent pact though: Scientific Cooperation, which I offered to CH (who accepted).



Constitutional Monarchy is still in the row, as expected. I could consider not playing it at once and hoping for an early Age III government. I also have a choice of leaders:


Newton would be a good choice for helping out my science. Bach would be a gamble, on being able to draw and afford Movies early in the next age. He was definitely a leader I was thinking about when I picked up the Basilica. My choice was Robespierre, though. Whichever leader I go for, he can't be expected to last long as there will be Age III leaders before long. Like Columbus, Robespierre is designed as a bit of a one-shot leader, which is ideal here, and his ability will save me a lot of science as I can revolt immediately. On the minus side, using all my military actions means I won't be able to do much about my strength disadvantage this turn, and I won't get to draw any military cards (just before the end of the age is the best time for this, though). What a difference it could have made if these leaders had been early in the age.

Anyway, that was my choice: I took and played Robespierre, picked up Constitutional Monarchy and had a revolution (saving two science thanks to Scientific Cooperation). I would have liked to get Journalism in play too, to compete with chumchu's new culture, but I suspect I will need a lot of resources for military very soon. Instead I picked up Revolutionary Idea for a bit more science (and I don't want this going to CH to let him play an extra tech at the cost of my science), took Reserves for some extra resources, increased population (before it becomes more expensive when I lose two yellow tokens at the end of the age) and upgraded my final farmer.

That ends the age, so finally CH and chumchu's open borders agreement expires (with nary a backstab, very disappointing).
Predictably, this turn I did suffer from events due to not increasing my strength: first Foray and then Reign of Terror. Oh well, that was the chance I was taking, and the blows weren't crippling.


Cheater Hater spent the entire turn improving production and setting up for a big military push (built a cannon, picked up Riflemen and Strategy). Uh oh.

chumchu took Newton, and decided to play scientific method as well. Expensive in science, but it pays off quite quickly with Newton.

[Quagma Blast]

>chooses Robespierre as a leader
>suffers a Reign of Terror

Seems legit.

[rho21]

Fair, guess I deserved it.

[rho21]

Age III wonders and leaders

With the game entering its final phase, it's time to take a look at the wonders and leaders available in Age III. Unsurprisingly, they're mostly focused on scoring points.



First the wonders. They reward you for having built up a thriving civilization in one of a number of ways: science, population, culture and urban growth.

• First Space Flight is the star of the show here. It's generally worth at least 20 points; if you've had a lot of science over the course of the game, and continue to push it into Age III it can be worth over 30. That's a lot of points for only 16 late game resources.
  
• Fast Food Chains is also a solid choice. It will usually score 20 to 25 points or so.
  
• Hollywood and Internet are much more situational (to score large numbers of points, anyway). On the plus side, that does mean that there's unlikely to be much competition for them so it's worth considering specialising your civilization to take advantage of their requirements. The biggest problem with them is the amount of resources you need to be able to build both the wonder and the buildings that make it valuable.
  

The leaders are more of a mixture.

• Sid is a culture king if you get him early enough and can also play computers.
  
• Einstein is a solid choice as he can produce a surprising amount of culture late on. The only one of the leaders who is still strong late in the age.
  
• Chaplin is worth a medium amount of culture. His happy faces are usually irrelevant, but can be very helpful if you've been relying on theatres for happiness.
  
• Churchill is a good all round leader, providing you with useful bonuses to support your military or a medium amount of culture if you don't need them.
  
• Gates can produce some extremely useful production; like Sid an excellent choice early on if you can also get computers or have Scientific Method. Can be instrumental in affording some culture buildings and a late wonder.
  
• Gandhi is the probably the weakest of the bunch. His ability looks helpful, but it's often ineffective: aggressions cost few military actions anyway, and players with high strength often have enough military actions to largely ignore him. At his best, he might prevent a war being declared on you, mostly he's pretty much strictly worse than Churchill.
  

[Cheater Hater]

Why is Sid good? Turning your labs into Libraries doesn't seem great, as Libraries seem much less contested than the Computers line (though you obviously need help early). If you do have Computers, both Einstein and Gates seem better: Einstein makes you want to develop techs, which you often want to do anyway for lots of Impacts (while crucially saving your production for military if necessary), while Gates gives you enough production to get Wonders and/or military, even if you haven't fully invested into mines.

Also, how reasonable is it to get two Age III wonders? In my game that just completed, I almost got both FSF and FFC (one action away turn before last, and while it was still available to take on the last turn somehow, I had already used some of my hammers I would have needed), and while I didn't need it, it would have been good.

[rho21]

Why is Sid good?  Turning your labs into Libraries doesn't seem great, as Libraries seem much less contested than the Computers line (though you obviously need help early).  If you do have Computers, both Einstein and Gates seem better: Einstein makes you want to develop techs, which you often want to do anyway for lots of Impacts (while crucially saving your production for military if necessary), while Gates gives you enough production to get Wonders and/or military, even if you haven't fully invested into mines.

Late on in the game, libraries are by far the superior building (culture, culture, culture). However you will very often be heavily invested into labs and unable to afford libraries, what with all the other uses for your production and science. I have often seen Sid change a strong science position into a slightly weaker science position and +9 culture for the last 4 turns. That's more than a wonder will produce (without even spending any resources) and can be a game winner.

That's not to say anything against Einstein and Gates who can both work extremely well. Neither has the potential to produce as much culture (even indirectly) as Sid can in ideal circumstances, but they're much more flexible and their value drops off far less as the age progresses.

Also, how reasonable is it to get two Age III wonders?  In my game that just completed, I almost got both FSF and FFC (one action away turn before last, and while it was still available to take on the last turn somehow, I had already used some of my hammers I would have needed), and while I didn't need it, it would have been good.

Pretty rare in my experience. You need enough actions to take and build them, enough production to afford them, the urban buildings to benefit from them (not so much in the case of FSF and FFC) and, most importantly, the opportunity to take them. These cards will often be highly contested by your opponents, indeed it's not unusual to see them taken for denial purposes when they can't be built.

[rho21]

Round 13

It's a new age, so let's have a look around again.

Cheater Hater is first under the microscope:

• Food: On the low side, but it can be easily improved.
  
• Resources: Very solid position. Perhaps a bit late to upgrade the final bronze (it takes a while to pay back), but it can always be disbanded and the pop used elsewhere.
  
• Science: 4 is mediocre for this stage in the game. Could be something of a priority to upgrade. Scientific Cooperation may help a lot.
  
• Military: In a strong position, and with the techs to improve further. Needs a better tactic, and may well be holding one. Napoleon is really strong.
  
• Technologies: Behind on urban building techs but otherwise in a strong position.
  
• Culture: A competitive total, but no income to speak of.
  
• Hand: Strongly positioned to upgrade military and food.
  
• Other: The Kremlin is a bit of a problem here. Needs it out of the way ASAP, but has other important calls for resources.
  

A pretty good position. It looks as though CH's plan will be to build military and steal the stuff of whoever looks least likely to be able to defend themself. I'd probably better make sure that's not me. Will need to be able to turn military into points, because I don't currently see another source of them.

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Chumchu's progress:

• Food: Poor, and not easy to upgrade. Would be in some trouble if it weren't for the extra yellow tokens from the Vast Territory.
  
• Resources: Same as CH, also very solid.
  
• Science: Excellent; Netwon is really helping out here.
  
• Military: Not too bad, thanks only to the Great Wall. Will need to find a good way to improve if CH's war machine gets rolling.
  
• Technologies: Solidly positioned except in military and food.
  
• Culture: Back of the bunch, but with an excellent income.
  
• Hand: Nothing of particular interest. The Reserves might be best used for food.
  

Well poised. The high science means that chumchu could dominate the endgame. Would love to get First Space Flight or Movies. Military is the biggest potential problem and needs addressing.

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And me:

• Food: Solid position, albeit with an extra population employed producing food than might be ideal. Short on spare population, though.
  
• Resources: Also solid, though with no expectation of further upgrade.
  
• Science: Pretty reasonable, and a fair bit in the bank thanks to the revolution. Scientific Cooperation again providing a useful boost.
  
• Military: Very weak, but well positioned to improve. Of course, it helps that I know what tactic I'm holding.
  
• Technologies: Reasonably positioned except for military, but could use a culture building.
  
• Culture: Good total thanks to a number of turns with the Basilica (yes, it produces culture too!).
  
• Hand: All the required military techs ready to go. A few yellow cards that will hopefully prove useful.
  

I appear to be somewhere between the other two players in most categories. A lack of big weak points (once the army is upgraded, anyway) is nice, but I don't have any particularly strong points either. Need to find a source of culture and the time to exploit it. First Space Flight or Fast Food Chains would be ideal. Looking for a good leader to replace Robespierre ASAP.

---

Mentioning First Space Flight, it's right there, one of the first cards in the age. If I don't take it now, I'm probably never getting another chance, but it's 5 civil actions.

In the end, I decided I couldn't afford to grab it: there are other actions that are just more urgent. Instead, I played both Cannon and Cavalrymen and built one of each. In order to do that, I had to use my reserves card for food, increase population and also disband a swordsman. Ugh, it's always a bad sign when you have to start disbanding useful things in order to keep your military competitive. I played Napoleonic Army too, but while it's good for me, CH is in an even better position to exploit it so perhaps I should have held onto it for as long as possible.

With my remaining actions I picked up Architecture and Mechanized Agriculture; both are cheap to play and may prove useful. By this stage in the game it can be worth being a bit speculative with the cards you pick up, as civil actions are rather less limited.

So, was I correct to build military so precipitously, and at such an opportunity cost? I got something of an answer straight away as the wheehorns sounded (figuratively anyway): CH declared a war over technology on chumchu! This is the weakest of the wars, but you work with what you have. It still has the potential to be a big swing to CH, particularly as it bolsters a weaker area. I might well have been the target without that timely military push.

To help the war along, CH discovered Riflemen, upgraded two warriors, built a knight and played Classic Army (Age II, 8 strength for 2 each of infantry and cavalry). Total strength: 28. CH also picked up Fundamentalism and Rockets.

This put chumchu in a tough situation, especially as none of the Age II tactics were yet available to copy. In this situation, it is worth considering the option of ignoring the war: all it can steal is science and blue techs and excellent science income will help the recovery. This would let military be improved more efficiently later, while picking up useful cards. The risk of a nasty aggression immediately after the war has to be concerning though, and maybe there are nasty events in the pile.

However, chumchu chose to improve military as much as possible by discovering Cavalrymen and building a couple, then adopting Phalanx. Total strength: 24. chumchu was also able to pick up Air Forces and Military Build-Up (a stronger version of Age II's Wave of Nationalism), so should be fairly secure militarily from now on.

Phew, everything happened on that turn.

[rho21]

Age III Events (Impacts)

The Age III events are all about gaining culture and there's a special rule for them: all Age III events that have been seeded and not yet resolved will be resolved at the end of the game. (Without this, you'd see about one per game.) They're often known as impacts because their names all start with "Impact of".

There are 15 in total and they cover all aspects of your civilization, rewarding points dependent on your development in their area. Agriculture, blue techs, urban buildings, military, science, population: you name it, there's an impact covering it. The only question is which ones will be seeded.

Here's a selection to consider:


Some of them tend to produce larger point swings than others, of course, but unless you're way behind in development there will probably be some that benefit you. Conversely, if you've got a very developed civilization but are well behind in culture, the impacts will be almost universally a net positive for you and can really swing things back in your favour.

It's incredibly important to get as many military card draws as possible in Age III to maximise how many you see. Even if you end up drawing ones that are bad for you, it's still very valuable just to know they aren't going to be scored this game. Predicting which ones are likely to have been played and (where possible) improving your civilization in those areas right at the end of the game is an important skill and can swing a close game.

[rho21]

Round 14



Well, that war means I'm back to weakest again, so I choose to skip seeding an event. That's not to say you should never play an event while weakest, just that it's quite a risk, so you need to be reasonably sure it'll be worth it. Here, I've drawn Impact of Wonders, which is better for me than the others. There are a few turns left to play it in though, and perhaps I can get stronger first.

But no complaints about the war: chumchu was unable to find the time to grab First Space Flight, so I took the opportunity to nab it for just 3 civil actions (the extra cost for completed wonders can really hurt!). I also picked up Air Forces as they make for a relatively efficient way to upgrade my military. I am hurting for population right now, and the first Air Force is worth 12 strength. Moreover, it would be a really bad idea to let the final Air Forces go by: CH is in the perfect position to go up to an obscene military score by building a couple of them.

I'm feeling rather vulnerable militarily, so I played Air Forces and built one immediately. Sadly, again I had to disband a swordsman to do so. A big nuisance as I really want to be heading towards two armies right now, not one. Nothing to be done though, I can't afford to lose a population from anywhere else, I can't use my final spare population as it's unhappy, and I can't grow a new population for it as it would also be unhappy... need to do something about that soon. Leading on strength now with 29; hopefully that will be enough to hold my own for the time being.

Lastly, I grabbed computers in the hope of getting the most out of First Space Flight (I strongly considered revolutionary idea instead). Could have really used more actions here.

The war resolved at the start of CH's turn; the 4 strength difference was used to steal masonry (which goes straight into play for CH) and one point of science. I think I might have taken 4 science here instead.

CH continued the aggressive play with a Raid on chumchu. This is an aggression that can really wreck its target's position. At only 4 strength difference, it was probably a mistake though: chumchu was certain to be able to defend at the cost of some military cards and CH wants to draw as many cards as possible in the hope of a good war for later. As it happens, chumchu was able to defend with just a single bonus card (not a surprise to me: it's not as if I drew any of them).


As feared, CH adopted my Napoleonic Army and built a cannon to have two of them, going up to 37 strength (thank goodness that's not about to be 61 with a couple of Air Forces). The rest of CH's turn is all about improving production, both upgrading a bronze miner to coal and taking Bill Gates. Presumably the plan is to turn this into more military with which to launch a new war. Alternatively, it could be used for a late push into culture-producing buildings or a wonder.

chumchu discovered Air Forces, adopted CH's Classic Army tactic, and used Military Build-Up for the resources to build an Air Force. Now 39 strength, and putting me back to rather dangerously low. chumchu also collected Sid and picked up 4 more yellow cards.

[rho21]

Cultural Development

So most of the game has been spent building the economy and being rather suspicious of this culture stuff: if I'm getting culture from something, I'm paying for that culture; surely something else would be more efficient. But culture is how you win, so as soon as possible in late Age II / early Age III, it's time to get going on producing as much of it as possible.

Let's have a look at the various sources of culture in the game, broadly categorised:

Seeding events
A source of a small trickle of culture throughout the game. Not an insignificant boost for being relatively strong (or willing to take the risk if weakest).

Early yellow cards

Not great: even the minimal cost of 2 actions (1 to take, 1 to play) could almost certainly be better used elsewhere.

Temples and early wonders
Both temples (built for happiness) and various early wonders e.g. Great Wall, St Peter's Basilica (built for their main effect) nonetheless produce a trickle of culture. Over the 10 or so turns they will be active for, that can add up to a fair number.

Age I leaders

Genghis Khan and Joan of Arc both produce a small amount of culture. Michelangelo, by contrast, is by far the biggest source of culture early on. It's entirely possible to build up a 50-point lead by the time he pops his clogs at the end of Age II, particularly if you have St Peter's Basilica and Theology. So why is he not an automatic pick? The trouble is holding onto that lead: all that investment in unneccesary happiness has no economic pay-off, so it becomes more and more difficult to hold your own in all the other areas of the game as time passes.

Printing Press and Drama
The early culture-producing buildings, certainly when played in Age I, are mostly a trap.

Mid-game wonders

By the mid game (i.e. early Age II), a culture-producing wonder can be a worthwhile investment, producing perhaps 30 culture by the end of the game. You need plenty of spare production to be able to afford one though. Continuing to invest in your economy is often a better plan.

Age II leaders

Age II leaders are still mostly economic, but a few can produce some relevant culture. Cook rewards a heavy focus on colonies earlier in the game with a fair number of points. Bach has nice powers to aid with converting your economy to producing culture from theatres. The big culture leader though is Shakespeare... the only trouble is that he's really hard to make good use of. Getting libraries or theatres is a good plan in Age II. Getting both is generally beyond what you can afford in both science and resources, even with Shakespeare's bonuses.

Age I events and colonies

There aren't many Age I events that produce culture, unsurprisingly. Cultural influence provides a little bonus to building early culture and is lovely for Michelangelo. The first historic territory is one of the worst of the colonies.

Journalism, Opera and beyond
Moving towards the late game (i.e. late Age II onwards), culture-producing buildings go from undesirable to extremely valuable, assuming you can afford them. Journalism can be valuable even early in Age II, as you may need to improve science then anyway. You can expect only 12-16 points or so from a late game culture building, but that's not a bad return for an investment of late game resources.

Aggressions and Wars

The second really big source of culture comes from military action, not least because scoring culture for yourself takes it away from your target. Even something as easy to land as an Armed Intervention can be worth 14 points relative to one of your rivals. A war with a large strength difference, while harder to pull off, can easily swing the game.
Other aggressions can be effective at preventing a rival generating their own culture, and the mere threat of an attack can force your opponents to spend resources in military they'd rather be spending in culture.

Age III leaders
As recently discussed, all the Age III leaders can produce at least a little culture. Sid, when he works well, can result in a very high culture income, albeit for only a few turns.

Age II events and colonies

The Age II events tend to pop in Age III, by which time cultural benefits are rather more sought after. The events that produce culture, while more numerous, still only have a relatively small effect. Historic Territory II provides a really nice amount of culture though. If it shows up right at the end of the game it will frequently attract very large bids.

Age III wonders
A potentially huge source of culture, in exchange for not all that many resources right at the end of the game. Getting a good one can make your game; it can also make you the target of an attack.

Age III events
Last up, the impacts. Almost invariably your largest total source of culture for the game, though not necessarily the largest difference relative to your opponents.

Edit: oops, forgot Age II leaders. Fixed now.

This will be the last of my little interludes. Not many turns left, so time to get right on with the denouement of the game.