Albion Strategy

Update: Although most of our former Albion strategy was sound, we made a few tactical changes after getting a bit more familiar with playing them. If you’ve read this article before, the main additions you can scroll down to are Mech Abilities, Combat, and Overall Strategy.

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

If ever there was a quote to sum up Albion as a faction, this would be it. Clan Albion is the silent power, the humble tacticians, and the calculated underdogs. In the right hands they can be totally underestimated, and – seemingly out of nowhere – steamroll opposing factions to take over the Scythe board.

Clan Albion

Albion Breakdown

There’s a lot to breakdown here so we’ll take it one thing at a time and try not to cross over too much. However, that’s one of the great things about Albion, their abilities actually work together!

Exalt

The Exalt faction ability is extremely powerful when used to it’s fullest potential. Anywhere Connor & Max go, a flag token can be placed, and these are some powerful flags! For one, they count as an additional territory for scoring if you have a unit on that hex. This is huge, as Albion has a difficult time gobbling up territory due to their slow movement, so we can essentially double our territory score by occupying four hexes with flag tokens on them.

A second, and potentially even more effective benefit, flag tokens can basically be teleported to once the Rally Mech is deployed. Now, each hex with a flag token can be treated like a Tunnel for any Albion unit anywhere on the map – even if it’s occupied by an opposing faction! But more on Rally below.

Mech Abilities

As with any faction, Albion has some unique mech abilities. Unlike other factions however, Albion doesn’t have a Speed or Riverwalk Mech. A lot of players find this unappealing and consider it strong evidence of Albion’s inability to win games. But we want to suggest that though Albion may not have these overtly powerful abilities, it has four totally unique mech abilities that when working in concert, make Albion a very scrappy and formidable force. And while being a scrappy fighter may not seem as dignified, when it comes to getting in a rough street brawl, it can often be the tougher contender.

Burrow.

Move across rivers to/from an adjacent tunnel territory.

Nothing to excite the casual observer, just a more limited variant of Riverwalk, right? Nope. Actually, Burrow is far better than Riverwalk in our opinion. Consider this: a typical Riverwalk ability for any faction has about 23 points of ingress / egress over the entire map with their hex limitations. With Burrow, Albion has 26. Three more, not a big deal, right? Well, to get more technical, that’s 26 points around the central map (within two hexes of the Factory). If we were to consider the same for say Rusviet, we’d actually only have 12 points of ingress / egress.

Additionally, Albion can thrive on Tunnel hexes as it encourages their movement, and it works handily with their other mech abilities.

Rally.

Move to any territory where you have a worker or flag token.

Other factions have abilities to essentially teleport. Rusviet has Township where they can traverse between any controlled Village hexes and the Factory. Togawa has Shinobi where they can traverse to any hex with a trap token on it. Saxony has Underpass where they can traverse between any Mountain hexes they control and Tunnels. But none of these factions has the vast openendedness that Rally consists of. With Rally, a mech or Hero unit can cross the entire map in a move to get to the hex a worker is on, or anywhere Connor and Max have been to and placed a flag token.

The possibilities don’t just stop there. This also means anywhere we carry a worker, we can transport other units to. Let’s say we’re Albion on the Tunnel Mountain and we move a mech and worker to combat with Crimea on the S. Tunnel Tundra. The moment we land on that combat hex, we can now move other units there to aid in our fight. Even if our units were on our base hexes across the map.

Add in an Upgrade to give us an additional unit move and we can essentially slingshot units two hexes. Let’s say we’re on the same Tunnel Mountain hex and we have a mech and a worker. Take the worker with the mech to the Factory Forest hex, then move the worker to the Factory, then Rally our Hero to the Factory. Place a flag token after we get our Factory Card and the Factory is now accessible to our Hero and mechs for any move action the remainder of the game.

Shield.

Before combat where you are defending gain 2 power.

This may seem a bit underwhelming, but consider it like getting a free Bolster action anytime an opposing faction attacks us. Suddenly, getting attacked has a reward!

Let’s put this into a practical application. We’re Albion and we have no Combat Cards (because we don’t start with any) and no Power. To everyone on the map, this is a free fight, but we have Shield out, so as we get attacked, we get the 2 Power. Now, there’s little to no way we’ll ever win a fight with 2 Power, but suddenly, the attacking player has to actually pay to win. We bid 1 Power and as we lose we get a Combat Card. We just went from 0 Combat Cards and 0 Power to having 1 Combat Card and 1 Power.

And if another faction decided to attack, suddenly we have 1 Combat Card and 3 Power; and can repeat the process forcing our opponents to spend more to defeat us each time. This may not seem groundbreaking or all that impressive, but if you consider getting a 4 or a 5 Combat Card, we just went to potentially 6 overall combat power from nothing.

An even more practical use is to have Shield to discourage early game attacks. Decently experienced players will check what mechs we have out, and just having Shield will make many of them question the worth of attacking – especially Saxony and Polania who can get to us pretty quickly in the early game.

Some frosting on this cake is this ability is PER combat. Meaning, if say Rusviet attacks us on two different hexes on a turn, it’s plus 2 Power on each combat.

Sword.

Before combat where you are attacking opponent gets -2 power.

Minus 2 Power to whoever we attack? That’s not bad. Suddenly any faction at 7 Power or less can take a dent from us advancing on them, and potentially lose their winning edge.

Practical uses? Yes, several. Aside from the general attack method, Albion thrives with this ability when used in concert with Rally. Take our previous “Shield Mech” examples and add in the potential to retaliate on our next move action by Rallying units back to that hex AND taking 2 Power away from our opponent. We potentially just turned an early game derailment into a Combat Star.

As with Shield, we gain the same PER combat benefit with Sword. We want to Rally back and attack Rusviet on the same couple hexes they beat us on? Sure thing. Force them to lose 2 Power in each combat? Well, if you insist.

In summation, Albion’s mechs aren’t something to trifle with. Sure, they don’t seem at first glance as glorious as other factions, but get those mechs out in a game and you’ll discover there aren’t many players capable of rooting out the Mean Green Phalanx Machine, much less stopping their consistent forward progression. These mechs work harmoniously from start to finish.

Additionally, below in “Combat” I’ll go into more tactical and strategic detail to make the most of Albion’s mechs.

Starting Zone

Albion starts on and around some hexes that definitely give it some advantages. Our workers start on a Mountain and a Farm, and with a single move, we can hit a Village and a Tundra. Also take into account that Enlisting and Deploying Mechs are widely considered the strongest Bottom Row Actions in the game, and it makes for some solid production starts.

Additionally, Albion has two Encounters available in their four base hexes. This is a good advantage, though I believe it’s also a balance for Albion to be able to inject some forward momentum into any game they can reach both (easily possible with Rally), in order to contend with stronger faction / mat combinations.

A downside to Albion’s starting position is the Village hex. For one, without Rally or Burrow deployed, it’s a tough spot to get out from. And perhaps even more difficult is the Nordic Kingdom’s potential to use their Swim ability to have their workers pop over. This latter issue is especially prevalent with Industrial Nordic where they have a strong strategy that not only blocks Albion from the Village, but can quickly deploy a mech on that spot and force an early combat or run rampant through Albion’s workers.

Aside from that, like Togawa, Albion doesn’t have any rivers to contend with crossing on its way to the Factory, so if a player was adamant about getting to the Factory quickly, there are some methods of getting there as early as Round 7 if a rush strategy is in the cards.

Combat.

Getting Albion Combat Stars is difficult. Our slower movement often impedes our ability to make swift attacks that catch an opponent off guard. Traditionally, we’d love to be able to march right into combat with Sword deployed, but oftentimes seasoned players are wary of being in any hexes adjacent to Albion.

One beneficial method I’ve found and watched seasoned players do is to lure other factions into attacking Albion in the mid to late game in order to close the gap of spending several Move actions to chase a faction down. This actually feels counter-intuitive to Albion’s early game where we want to beef up fast and prevent attacks, and it certainly isn’t a shared tactic of other factions. Let’s face it, getting attacked is often highly inconvenient, and can feel like a kick to our pride. But when we set it up on our own terms and maybe even make it look like a mistake, it can work in our favor.

A lure can be as simple as leaving a single mech or Hero unit on a hex surrounded by other hexes with multiple units. Or it can be as complex as having a series of flag token Rally points on lightly defended hexes. Regardless, it has to look like a winnable combat for our opponents (hence the single unit defender).

Losing.

It’s tough to lose, but sometimes a loss can benefit us more in the long run; and if it’s on our terms, we gain easier future combats and boosts to our Power and Combat Card reserves.

• We want to gain Power from being attacked, thus we need Shield deployed.
• Gaining a Combat Card from our loss is a must, thus we need to bid 1 Power or 1 low power Combat Card.
• We want to be able to retaliate to that same position, thus we want a flag token on that hex or units surrounding it.
• Draining as many resources as we can from our attacking opponent will only benefit us.

Winning.

Deep down, we want to win. We want nothing more than to call the attacker’s bluff and have them lose a combat that they initiated. If there were a perfect combat situation for Albion, our attacker losing would be it. We save an entire Move action of combat and now can use it for something else that gets us closer to victory – including a follow up Combat Star.

All that being said, we don’t want to win at the cost of making ourselves destitute and vulnerable to further attacks. And just the same with planning on losing, we want winning to be on our terms:

• We want to retain enough Power and Combat Cards to defend against future attacks.
• Retaining enough Power and Combat Cards also helps to pounce on any opportunity where we have the chance to attack another faction.
• We want our opponents to spend as many resources as possible, but if they don’t we want to ensure we don’t waste too much on our win.

Once attacked, it’s as simple as deciding what our win or lose margins will be. As in, “How much do we want to guarantee our opponent has to spend in order to win – and how much are we willing to lose?” Typically there’s a tipping point.

Combat Example One.

Say we’re getting attacked by a Saxony mech and they have 4 Combat Cards and 7 Power. Let’s say we have 5 Combat Cards and 2 Power. How much do we want to bid to ensure them winning takes as many resources as possible without leaving us totally defenseless? Well, if we have Shield out, we just got 2 Power for free. Could it be worth bidding that 2 Power and a 3 Power Combat Card to ensure our attacker doesn’t win a combat by throwing a 2 Power Combat Card?

Combat Example Two.

Now say we’re being attacked by Saxony again with the same 4 Combat Cards and 7 Power. While we have the same 5 Combat Cards and 2 Power. This time though, Saxony brings two mechs.

Textbook combat likes to make us think they’re going to use two Combat Cards and likely anything we put up is going to be lost. But, we have to think of this like Albion, the scrappers and brawlers of the rough Scythe streets. If we lose, we want them to lose enough so we can retaliate, so the cost of their win needs to meet our expectation: they need to throw two Combat Cards or they lose.

So we bid our 2 Power gained from Shield again, but maybe this example we throw in a 4 power Combat Card. Now they have to beat 6 Power overall. So they have to put down two 3 Power Combat Cards or some equivalent or they lose.

Combat Results.

Now, if the stars align and they throw the max Power of 9 that we can hypothetically achieve from this combat, then all the better. We just burned them for the maximum amount of resources for their victory and they are that much easier to retaliate against.

If on the other hand, the stars align and they throw 2 and 3 Power Combat Cards (which is actually very typical), we just won by hardly spending anything AND we were just saved a turn of seeking a combat.

In either case, we get something we want out of it.

Combat Strategy Step by Step.

Overall Albion Strategy.

All told, there’s a lot that goes into winning any specific game of Scythe, and Albion is no different. As with other factions, Albion has some unique attributes that change the strategy of their gameplay, of which we’ll try to cover here.

Flags.

Remember to put them down when moving the Hero. Beyond that, try to put them in places that you intend to occupy by the end of the game. 4 occupied hexes count for a minimum of 8 in scoring and even more if you’re in Tier 2 or 3 Popularity.

Enlists.

Albion always needs at least one Enlist for the Combat Card bonus as they start with zero – which makes them a favored target early game. Beyond that, Albion works amazingly getting all it’s enlistments, so consider that early on in your Star planning.

Score Leading.

Albion is sure to get swept away by the momentum of other factions in the game if it doesn’t stay relevant in score. Score relevance is typically determined by coin, controlled territory, and popularity. If Albion remains in the lead, or in a close second, they stay more in control of the momentum of the game.

• COIN – Trying to net the most coin by choosing the bottom row actions that pay out the most on each mat, as well as enlisting the Deploy option early, and being frugal when it comes to making Encounter choices.
• HEXES – Making strong moves, planting flag tokens, and guarding occupied territories with a enough mechs, Power, and Combat Cards.
• POPULARITY – Trying to get 7 Popularity or above, which brings scores into Tier 2. Once here, all Stars, Hexes, and Resources count for more in scoring. Getting Popularity takes planning, but can be done by Enlisting the Build action when neighbors are building, choosing the Popularity reward when Enlisting, choosing to gain Popularity on Encounters, being careful not to chase too many workers away during movements and combats, and choosing to Trade for Popularity during Trade actions.

Turtling.

This term is used by players to describe Albion’s tendency to crowd a hex with a bunch of mechs – as it resembles a turtle shell! Could also be called forming a phalanx, but it’s purpose is to dissuade opponents from attacking while moving in unison to additional hexes.

Movement.

Albion being turtle-like isn’t just because of crowding hexes, it’s also because they’re slow. It’s the biggest cliche, but that doesn’t make it false. Because they’re slow, they need every boost and benefit possible to add to their movement. So, when available, try to Upgrade their Move action. And in the event it’s possible, get to the Factory for a Factory Card.

Mechs.

We’re sure Albion can survive a game without mechs, but we can’t imagine that would be anything short of a major challenge. Albion’s mechs generally make the game possible to win, so don’t waste too much time getting them out there.

Mat Combination Albion Strategy.

Looking to take your game to the next level? Having trouble understanding a certain player mat’s beneficial synergy with Albion? Look no further! Check out what we have below:

• Agricultural
• Engineering – Coming Soon!
• Industrial – Coming Soon!
• Innovative- Coming Soon!
• Mechanical
• Militant
• Patriotic

In Conclusion

Albion, just like other factions has tactics and strategies that appeal to certain players and not to others. In our opinion, Albion is an enjoyable challenge that frequently breaks away from textbook strategy and takes a lot of mental fortitude to play with any efficiency. Some players may find this terribly daunting, while others will love the challenge it presents and find ways to thrive. Either way, as part of this marvelous game, we believe it to fit right into it’s own unique niche.

If you’re new to Scythe, check out our Quick Tips and Strategy post! Additionally, if you can peruse through our Strategy Archives for more detailed strategy.

If you haven’t purchased Invaders from Afar, we highly recommend it, and you can find it on Amazon here. This is an affiliate link.

And that’s it for our Scythe Albion strategy. We hope this gives you some insight into Clan Albion and perhaps makes some of your games with them more successful. Happy gaming and let us know what you think in the comments below!

• Norman & Jacob