I am no expert, but I do have a reasonable grasp on 7WD duel and have had enough experience to have done or have had done to me most of the ways of winning the game.
I am not talking about the 3 winning pathways, but the ways of getting there.
Civil Builds
It is possible to get a winning horde of points without many Gods or Wonders.
For this, Blue cards are the easiest path.
All those wreaths.
Victory points are the core of the game*, but looking at the cards on offer, almost all are a pathway to points, not points straight up.
Blue cards however, are effectively “minor” wonders and the best continuous supply of points in the game.
They offer;
A total of 67 points (if my quick math is correct), more than any other single resource type.
The 3 First Age builds are free or nearly so, and all are linked.
Remember that 3 coin = 1 VP, so even the First Age ones are effectively worth 9 coin, some later ones are equal to 21.
4 builds are equal to or better than many Gods, progress tokens or wonders in VP .
So, lets look at ways of getting them.
Age I
In the First Age, taking the free or near free, 3 point cards is never a bad idea. All 3 are linked and on balance are the most points you will likely milk out of the First Age, unless you manage an early wonder.
Age II
The Second Age brings the possibility of the linked cards from the First Age bearing fruit and maybe acquiring some progress tokens if you have made good early choices.
Masonry is the obvious one, reducing the cost of all blue cards by 2 resources. This is especially good in the Third Age where the unlinked 7 pointers come up, but it will also make some cheaper blue’s free to even a resource poor player. If you get this early in the Second Age it can be used on potentially 11 cards.
Engineering has the potential of making the 4-6 point linked cards cost 1 coin for each investment (also good for reds and greens). My favourite token at the moment, it can be a little disappointing if you take it late in the game and luck runs against you, but with some cards falling your way, it can be brutal. To be honest I cannot see a scenario where it does not at least pay it’s way.
Urbanism is an ideal mate to Engineering, effectively making building blues (or reds, or greens) a money making venture.
Age III
The Third Age offers a game winning 36 points in blues (still equal to or greater then any other points resource), but unless you have made some sound investments before hand, it can be the “Age of the Blues” in a bad way.
Both unlinked 7 point cards are as expensive as wonders to build and the 5 and 6 point cards are linked, but if bought unlinked, are similarly expensive. Points are better than coin, so even a 10 coin, a 5-7 pointer is probably worth it (unless your opponent has the Economy token), but it is still surprising how many of these get burned in the last Age.
If you are using the just the base game, the Third Age may cough up the Magistrates Guild. This is more a reward for chasing blue cards than a winner in it’s own right. 1 VP and 1 coin each blue for this guild card may seem a little tame (as most are to be honest), but if you are already chasing blue’s it might realistically net you up to 7-10 of each.
*
Can you win with just Civil builds?
Probably not, but you can come close and ignoring them is often worse and more insidious than ignoring a war savvy enemy. A solid base of blue cards can take the urgency out of building wonders, winning wars and chasing Gods, allowing you to pick your best and easiest builds.
Meg regularly and effortlessly seems to amasses 30+ points in blue cards, starting off the scoring tally with a consistently depressing thud. I often blame card sleeves for my losses. The glare have under lights sometimes hides Meg’s cards from me across the table. Not convinced? Me neither ;).
*In the basic game military and science victories are very hard to get. Like Tic-Tac-Toe, with a little experience the 7WD core game makes it pretty easy to see both coming and kill them off easily enough, but with the Pantheon expansion, this is harder to do by possibly up to half as much.