To be honest, the green science cards have usually been burned for the easy coin, as much from ignorance as apathy. They seem expensive in the first Age, patchy to find and almost always at odds with more urgent war, victory points, money or resource demands. The First Age is the enemy of greens to new players, the following Ages are where they show their true power, but often the horse has bolted. Play the long game with science cards and by extension progress tokens and you can reap enormous rewards.
I like the greens, but have been disappointed by them often, which I put down to lack of commitment and understanding. Learn how powerful these combinations can be when employed in the right context and at the right time. Meg has not bothered with them yet, so I may have a small window of advantage.
The biggest point of confusion here is do you go for the science victory (6 different cards, but there are two “wilds” available) or the benefit of the progress tokens (pairs of the same token)? I would advise, if tempted to look at these at all, to go for the tokens (they really are powerful), depending on what is on offer and keep one eye out for the science win, which will get easier to achieve the more science cards you have. A victory is also a lot more likely if the two “wilds” of the Law token and Ishtar in play, but this is also be an obvious move to your opponent.
Getting progress tokens.
Progress tokens are gained by pairing any two science cards (also using a “wild” token Law or God Ishtar to make a pair), building The Great Library Wonder, getting a re-draw from the discards or through the Green God cards (Enki lets you pick from 2 and Nisaba lets you “borrow” a symbol from your opponent).
Science Cards (I will ignore the cost and VP on the cards as they are incidental)
Mechanics/Engineering Age I and Age II then linked to Astronomy/Science Age III
Transport/Herbalism Age I and Age II then linked to Astronomy/Science Age III
Writing/Knowledge Age I linked to Age II
Chemistry/Alchemy Age I linked to Age II
Education/Academics 2x Age III
Pairing any two gets you a progress token, collecting all 6 gets a win.
The patterns are tricky. Early on, I got frustrated by the missing cards each round until I checked out the card layout in the back of the book. Some cards are only available early, some later, some only in one Age. Some are linked, some not, but most are not too expensive. They do still to get ignored, but the power of the tokens is awakening (A new, green Age?).
More advanced players look at all elements equally, choosing their path as opportunity presents, so my tip here is don’t railroad yourself down one path. Be open to other ways and look for sympathetic combinations from all sources. The strongest civilisations favoured all areas of endeavour, the ones that were masters of one, soon perished.
With the Pantheon expansion there are 13 progress tokens on offer. We have made up little quick reference cards to help us with the array of symbols. We both feel this is important because the power of these cannot be underestimated, so one player getting an edge here will sway the game until the other player gets on board with them. Can you win without them? Absolutely, in fact the jury is still out on them with us, but like Gods, Wonders and all other elements of the game, in the right place at the right time, they can swing the game.
Strategy. An extra shield every warfare card or effect played. If you get this early, a military victory is always a threat especially if you are ahead at the start of the Third Age. Playing a three shield card and Mars in the last Age can net 7 shields in 2 turns!
Poliorcetics. Your opponent loses a coin for every war track space lost. Already a drain, warfare now becomes a coffer killer. The cost of war normally is a one off, but now it becomes a constant drain (how would it feel to lose 8 coin in one turn?). If Meg employs this against my play style I am usually dead, or as often I don’t care because I am already broke! If I try it against her, it is a minor annoyance.
Architecture. Building Wonders costs you 2 resources less of your choice. A really powerful card if taken early, this one makes up for a lot of missed resources (the ones you likely missed while taking science cards!) and may even net you some.
Masonry. Building blue civil cards costs two resources less. A bit of a sleeper, this one makes grabbing those 7 point Civil builds in the last Age much easier and makes many of the cheaper ones free, possibly opening up linking chains for even more free points. Like the Architecture token above it is best taken early, but unlike that token, it has more chances of coming off.
Urbanism. Gain 6 coin and 4 more for every linked cost build. Again a great one to have earlier, the number of linked builds (18) can drain the coin reserve! Add this to Engineering below and linked builds become a game breaker.
Engineering. Any card with a linked symbol can be built for 1 coin. Again 18 chances in the game if you get this early! There is a reason some the better cards are not linked. Most civil, war and science builds are linked. Match this with Urbanism and you are being paid to build these cards.
Economy. Your opponent pays you for purchased resources when building. Particularly nasty if you have cornered the market on a needed resource. If taken early enough it could net you a lazy dozen or more coin, or as importantly, make your opponent cash in desired cards rather than pay you.
Theology. All future Wonders built have the “repeat turn” symbol. You can see a pattern here of taking some of these early, but this one can be a good late starter also. The Wonders all come in at about 9 VP or the equivalent, some with t repeat turn as part of their offer. With this you could have 4 of the more powerful ones and the repeat ability, chaining several of your builds in one turn. If taken for only one Wonder it is not great value, unless that Wonder opens up others or pushes a win. Use this with Architecture to potentially build 4 in a row (with RA, maybe even 5!).
Mysticism. Gain 2 VP for all unused Offering or Mythology tokens. Sometimes you end up with most of the offering and mysticism tokens, but do not get to them, or chose not to spend them. I have personally had all 5 mythology tokens and not been able to afford one useful God. Getting a full 16 points is highly unlikely (pointlessly wasteful), but a handy 8-10 can be some reward for missing out on Aphrodite :) and these are always in play.
Philosophy. 7 VP. Cannot get much simpler (or philosophical?) than that. Only 2 Civil builds, 1 Wonder and 2 Gods can match it.
Agriculture. 6 coin and 4 VP. Less game winning than Philosophy, Agriculture can be a welcome boon. There are few other ways short of a Wonder to get this much return in one place. These last two tend to be the ones new players grab and on balance they are two of the better options late game.
Mathematics. Gain 3 VP for each progress token you have. The bonus prize for hoarding all those green tokens regardless of their effect. I recently got a lazy 15 VP out of this token and only bothered with it because it was the best option Enki coughed up.
Law. This is a “wild” Icon used for making a science card pair or a winning set. Identical to and doubly powerful because of Ishtar, you now have 2 “jokers” in the game. If this comes up on the starting track, a science win instantly comes to mind. If Ishtar is also in play, (for me) it goes front and centre. You may not pull off the win, but you do get free pairs for more tokens regardless.
Getting too many progress tokens in their own right without any plan is often a waste of resources, because most work in concert with other possibly under developed elements.
The (unlikely) Science Victory
A science victory (I have had 5, Meg 0) is now vastly more probable thanks to the Pantheon expansion. Before this the chances of getting 1 of each of the 6 science cards was too easy to predict and never guaranteed, which often resulted in a waste of 4-5 builds for little return. The Law token helped, but again taking it often telegraphed your intent. It is also reasonably easy, even automatic for your opponent to “burn” your hopes right in front of you.
Switching late in the game to chasing tokens could help mitigate your pain, but not often by much and many progress tokens are better taken early, not later. The card spread is interesting with 2 chances at 2 different symbols in the Third Age, 1 of each of the others in the First and Second Ages, chasing pairs early, then a science win later is actually built in.
With Ishtar adding a second “wild”, Nisaba allowing you to take an opponent’s card icon for your own set and Enki adding a third token dispenser, science has opened up a lot more. Remember also the two re-draw options (Hades and the Mausoleum), which let you trawl through those long forgotten discards.
If you have a couple of science builds mid to early Second Age, 1 or 2 green Gods available, Law is in play, you have the Great Library Wonder or a possible re-draw you are in a reasonable position to gain some tokens and regardless, you are getting closer to a possible science victory.
To be honest chasing a science victory from the get-go rarely works out (far less often even than a military victory). It is something that may present itself and then you can go for it, but more likely you will end up with a decent progress token, which is usually worth while and maybe another couple of middling value or a sympathetic pairing.
Like all things in 7WD, balance and flexibility are the key.
Our experience with science cards and tokens is a bit one sided. I am the only one who really gives them a go, often to my cost and have only pulled off 5 science wins (4 since the Pantheon expansion and 2 in one night). If Meg decides to chase a certain few when they appear, she may be a scary powerhouse in her preferred fields of endeavour (war, civil builds and finance), while I may be able to reverse my predictable short comings. I hope we both get more confident with the green wonders sooner rather than later.
