Civilisation
Building is the core concept of 7WD, but the easiest route to victory points, especially in the first Age is through the blue Civil build cards.
Age I
In the first Age there are 9 VP up for grabs over three cards, costing a grand total of 1 resource and all of them are linked to future builds (2 linked again to even better builds). To put this into perspective, the Pyramids and Aphrodite at 9 VP are the single highest points sources in the game and cost considerably more with no flow on effect.
I have a habit of letting these little ones get away, much to Meg’s delight and future benefit.
Age II
In Age II there are 22 VP on offer over 5 cards. All but one of these are linked from, or to other cards so prudent building in the First Age and some luck can really snowball here. Again for context, 50 points for us can often win a game (top tier players likely hit 80+ regularly?), so just sticking to blue cards can get us a fair way there.
If you can get any of the Urbanism, Masonry or Engineering Progress tokens, blue card accumulation can be an even easier road to victory and put a lot of pressure on your opponent.
Age III
In Age III blue cards total no fewer than 36 points! Half of these are linked, so they are potentially free, but the better ones (7 points each) are resource reliant only, nearly as hard to build as many Wonders unless you have a good Progress token.
It is not uncommon for Meg to hit me with a game winning 30+ points from blue cards. This is a habit I have to break and to be honest and if I win on points it is often because I pay more attention here. Gaining is also denying in 7WD so 5 points taken is a 10 point swing. Even 5 points “burned” is better than nothing.
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War
Warfare (red cards and Gods) was and is part of civilisation (contradictions abound) and it plays no less a role in 7WD. The War track gives each player 10 spaces of “life” to preserve or conquer and wars cost coin to fight even if you don’t take a pro-active role. This can seem daunting and a grind (the Pantheon mixes it up a little more), but even the first move to war has an effect.
Most of our half dozen military victories have been Megs (2 in one night!). You can try to ignore it, but it does not go away, believe me.
The two counters don’t come painted and plenty have been done better.
Age I
Age I offers 4 single shield tokens. If they are all played, the lucky war minded player can actually strip their opponent of 7 coin and gain a potential 5 VP (for the cost of 0 to 6 coin), while also shaking their opponents confidence a little. Of these, 3 are linked, one to a third age build.
Meg often starts out with a single attack as soon as she can, just to strip me of 2 coin. One of my habits is to“burn” war cards, especially in the first Age. This rarely works out for me. The best deterrent for a war minded opponent is a little counter attack.
Age II
The second Age gets more aggressive, especially with the Pantheon expansion. Wonders can supply 4 shields over 3 cards, the Gods 2 on 1 (Mars) with Neptune hurting & helping financially, Minerva defending and the Age build deck has potentially 8 shields on offer. It is possible, but unlikely that you could win a military victory, or be close to it, in the Second Age.
Even if you are not war minded, you may need to fight back just a little. Remember each push back denies your opponent a potential push forward so 1 shield back is technically worth 2 to your attacker. Even “burning” the odd card has some benefit, but warfare unlike any other element of 7WD is an ongoing effect, so fighting back is stronger than discarding.
Sleepers here for us were the war oriented progress tokens. Strategy adds 1 shield to all attacks, potentially adding 10 or more to the game (enough to win on their own) and Poliorcetics strips even more coin from your opponent and keeps doing so unlike the initial arming costs, maybe up to 7-10 if taken early. These cards make warfare more than an annoyance to the unlucky defender. Employing both tokens early in the game could potentially cripple an opponent.
I have a long history of war gaming, but in 7WD, my record is poor. Meg is often pushing hard by now, not always with the win in mind, but knowing there are points, coin losses and psychological benefits. Recently I lost a game on the first card taken in the last Age. Ouch.
Age III
The third Age can be telling on the war track. 12 shields are on offer over 3 linked, 2 shield cards and 2 expensive and unlinked 3 shield cards. Wonders and Gods may still also be in play for potentially no fewer than 18 total shields (26 with Strategy).
If you want to go to war, even from scratch or if slightly behind, it is still possible to win or at least distract your opponent greatly in this Age.
If you are defence minded, placing Minerva on your side of the God track can save the day in the Third Age and is best played later in the game as she nullifies any single war card regardless of shields.
A tip here is getting the Engineering progress token, which allows you to buy any linked cost (white symbol) card for 1 coin. That could potentially be 8 shields for 5 coin! Add in Urbanism and Poliorcetics and you can also earn coin while taking it from your opponent!
Just mean really.
Recently Meg won a military victory starting from nothing at the start of the third Age. Being broke and chasing Temple points (I was a little in front there already), I gave her enough space to creep within striking distance, then clever buying of Gods (a good way of turn skipping and adding other effects) and a little luck got her over the line.