The Polania strategy is quite a bit different than the other factions. Nestled at the heart of their tactics is an encouraging desire to take advantage of every possible opportunity. As such, it’s tough to keep still when playing Polania. I mean, there’s an entire board to explore and seek adventure on!
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
On the other hand, more opportunities don’t always translate to a victory. As such, it’s easy to stumble into the pitfalls of the adventurous life Polania offers. For me, it’s like every successive turn can become an exponential paradox of choice, and if I’m not careful, the late game shows up and I have nothing accomplished.
But do not fear, I’ve made these mistakes enough for all of us! So, let’s dig in and see how we can make the most of the Polania strategy.
Republic of Polania.
Mech Abilities.
Deploying a mech will open up one of it’s abilities to all deployed mechs and our Heroine / Bear – Anna and Wojtek. Now, Polania has some run of the mill mechs just like every base faction, but they have two very unique mechs as well. The four mech types are:
- Camaraderie – In combat, do not lose popularity hen forcing an opponents worker(s) to retreat.
- Riverwalk – Move across rivers to Farms and Villages.
- Speed – Plus one hex per movement.
- Submerge – Move to / from Lakes and move from any Lake to another.
Riverwalk and Speed are the typical mechs every base faction has, and they’re pretty self explanatory. So, let’s look at our unique mechs and see what kind of fun can be had with their abilities.
Camaraderie Mech.
In the game of Scythe, you may have noticed that perhaps half of combats may take place with workers on the same hex. As such, it’s tough when you’re working on keeping a Tier-2 Popularity or higher and need to get some combats in. You have opponents within reach, but can’t engage in a winning combat without also dropping your Popularity down. Obviously, this is a tactic players employ somewhat often.
Luckily for Polania, these problems are solvable. With the Camaraderie Mech, we no longer have to worry about wasting our much needed Popularity. As such, combat with solitary fighting units pans out much the same as combats with 8 of your opponents workers on a hex.
This is fantastic news for Polania, who at the very least wants to spend their Popularity on Encounters, but might also want higher tier Popularity scoring. Because of this, it’s pretty common for Polania players to go for Tier-2 Popularity and higher in any giver game.
However, it should be noted that this ability doesn’t allow you to bump workers who are alone on a hex. It only pertains to workers in combat. Kind of an unfortunate setback, but if kicking workers off hexes were free, then this mech ability would truly be broken in my opinion.
Submerge Mech.
Our Polania strategy wouldn’t be complete without singing the praises of the Submerge Mech. This ability is really the crowning grace of what makes Polania great. First, we can move onto and from Lakes, which is a rare ability only two other factions can do. Second, we can occupy Lakes as territories for end game scoring. Lastly, and most importantly, we can transport from any one Lake to another anywhere on the map in a single move.
Wait, what?! So Lakes are like Tunnels for this mech ability?
I’m super glad you asked that; and yes, that is totally correct. This ability is solely Polania’s alone. While Nordic and Togawa factions have the ability to move onto and from Lakes, Polania uses them as their own teleport system. Let’s just consider the implications of that for a moment. With a Speed Mech and a Submerge Mech, we can hop into the Lake next to our base hexes and cross clear over to the Lake between the Rusviet and Togawa starting area. In only one move.
What are the practical applications of this? Well, one tactic of seasoned players is to use early Move actions to place combat units in Lakes. This does a couple things. One, it protects us from being attacked by mechs that don’t access Lakes (all but us and two others). They can’t reach us, can’t attack us, nothing. Two, with a Speed Mech as well, it allows us to go to another Lake and have an additional move to get to a hex on the shore.
This second option is extremely valuable for Polania. It means every hex surrounding a Lake is fair game. Ever noticed how a lot of Rusviet players just leave their one worker on their base Mountain to Produce Metal unguarded? That’s because almost nobody can reach them. Well, wait for them to Produce their third Metal and we can pop right over and take it from them.
For hard to reach combats, this works amazingly well. Sometimes when opponents are at their weakest and need to strengthen up, they try to hide in places they think the can’t be reached. But Polania’s Submerge Mech ability can almost always get us to where our opponents don’t want us to reach.
Here’s our final example of the Submerge Mech ability’s usefulness. Encounters. We’ll get into Encounters more in this Polania strategy, but suffice it to say Polania thrives with Encounters and this ability helps us cross the map to get them. Add in a Factory Card’s built in bottom row additional Move, and we can almost always find an Encounter within reach of where our Heroine is presently at.
Faction Ability.
Meander: Pick two options per Encounter card.
Let’s discuss Polania’s faction ability as it really sets the tone for our game play. Like other factions, we can play Encounters, but unlike other factions, where they only get one choice per Encounter, we get two. To any newer player, this may seem utterly unremarkable. But after playing a while, we all begin to see the potential of benefits Encounters give. And to get two options, basically can set us up for several turns of bottom row actions.
Because of this benefit, most Polania strategy centers around trying to get more Encounters than other factions. This creates a lot of “rush” playstyles where players focus less on building their economies. As such, Polania is typically a fast moving faction, and one where stealing resources from other players is a viable structure to winning.
The Pitfalls of Meander.
But we’re going to pump the brakes a bit and look at the practicality of this ability. Because here is where our Paradox of Choice issues start coming into play. The biggest pitfall to this ability is not knowing when to stop hunting Encounters. Getting resources for free or super cheap is an appealing notion, but there’s a point in each game when it becomes a hindrance.
For example, the more we use the Move action, the less we’re using other rows to complete actions necessary to get our Stars. We can Move literally every turn if we also have a Factory Card, but we can only ever get at most 4 Stars with moving. Combats (x2), a move based Objective, and whatever our bottom row action to Move is. This means, for all the resources we have, we’ll never even be able to use them all and we’ll eventually plateau our progress. And someone else will win the game.
Additionally, the more Encounters we get, the more this Paradox of Choice grows. For instance, a lot of Encounters offer a particular resource, and it’s rare to get multiple Encounters in a row that offer the same resources. As such, the more resources we get, the more we’re going to feel compelled to use them. This means we lose focus on only one or two bottom row actions and suddenly are trying to do them all to make the most of our resources. To newer players, this may feel like success, but all it’s doing is slowing down the progress of the rows they should be focusing on.
Because I can’t help myself, and because some people understand better through an active example, here’s a glimpse of four turns starting after we’ve reached the Factory:
- MOVE: Hero to Encounter.
- Encounter 20: We pay $2 for 3 Popularity, then 2 Popularity for 4 Lumber.
- FACTORY CARD MOVE: Hero to Encounter.
- Encounter 36: We gain 2 Oil and 1 Pop, then pay $4 to deploy 1 mech.
- MOVE: Hero to Encounter. BUILD: Mill (3 Lumber).
- Encounter 6: We gain $2 and 1 Popularity, then pay 2 Popularity for 4 Food.
- FACTORY CARD MOVE: Hero to Encounter.
- Encounter 22: We gain $2 and 1 Popularity, then pay $2 for 4 Metal.
Let’s say in this example we have the Industrial Player Mat. Because of that, we were able to at least use our Build action once after a Move action.
However, at the end of this sequence we still have 1 Lumber, 2 Oil, 4 Food, and 4 Metal. Also, only two bottom row actions have happened netting us one structure and one mech. Now, we have enough resources to complete two of our four bottom row actions, three if we Trade for Oil when we Enlist, but that’ll take an additional 3 turns. And though we’ll get some benefits for that, after 7 total turns, we haven’t managed to close the gap on any Stars other than our Mech Star. Considering Polania can get to the Factory by turn 7 with a decent Encounter, we’re now at turn 14 with maybe our Mech Star, but only a fourth of the way to any others.
To put that in a mathematical perspective, even if we got our Objective Star and 2 Combat Stars with our previous moves, we’re still short 2 Stars and we still have at minimum five more turns to complete our others. That means round 19, and in a competitive game, someone typically has their 6th Star before Round 18. Following our example, here’s a breakdown of the most optimal turns we could have at that point:
15. MOVE: Workers and combat units to optimal places. BUILD: Monument.
16. PRODUCE: 2 Workers and 3 Lumber (with Mill).
17. MOVE: Optimal places again. BUILD: Armory.
18. PRODUCE: 3 Workers and 3 Lumber (with Mill). [Worker Star].
19. MOVE: Optimal places again, gaining territory. BUILD: Mine. [Build Star].
Now, that’s assuming we’ve gotten our other Stars, that we’ve set our workers up in the right hexes to Produce those actions, that an opponent didn’t attack us and steal resources or bump our workers. A lot of “ifs” and we still only have the best case scenario of ending on Round 19.
All that to say, we can’t stay relevant in a competitive game when we go off the rails chasing Encounters. So, to circle all the way back around, for Polania, it’s best to work in utilizing what we receive from Encounters, and know what resources aren’t going to be useful to us once we’ve narrowed our focus to a couple bottom row actions.
Polania Strategy.
Starting Zone
At the center of every Polania strategy, the question as to how fast we’ll leave our base hexes comes up. Because Polania has the Meander faction ability, it typically seems best to start moving quickly. That being said, Polania’s starting zone is perfectly placed to continue making the most of our explorations. For instance, with just a Speed and Submerge Mech we can get to the Factory in two move actions. Should we end up getting a mine and a Speed Mech instead, we’re a single Move action from getting one of two potential Encounters outside our base hexes.
Aside from that, as Polania we start with a Farm, Forest, and Village hex in our base. This typically lends itself the potential to Enlist, Build, and grow our economy quickly with additional workers. As well, we have a Lake hex to the North off our Forest and one to the East off our Village. This is helpful when we have our Submerge mech out for quick access to the Factory or the rest of the map.
One tough part of Polania’s placement is getting quickly to a Tundra or Mountain hex. The latter being more of a concern as, well, this is Scythe and 48 time out of 49 we want to deploy mechs. Though this could be a positive for us as we might benefit from building a Mine for fast access. However, without a Mine, the downside is we have to spend one of our first mechs to deploy Riverwalk. Not terrible in and of itself, but in a land where we have to Trade or depend on our first Encounter for Metal, it’s not the most ideal of choices.
Polania Strategy Overview.
- How fast are we playing?
- Make a concerted decision as to whether or not we’re planning on playing a “rush” strategy. I.E. getting to the Factory asap, and emphasizing Encounters.
- If so, we need to get to our first Encounter by Round 3. Then we need Metal and/or mechs from our the Encounter, barring that a Mine on the Village.
- Make sure we avoid that Paradox of Choice.
- This means we need to work on utilizing our Encounter resources in between Encounters and know when they no longer help us.
- Utilizing our mech abilities.
- Use Submerge to get those hard to reach Encounters, combats, or to spread the Republic of Polania far and wide.
- We can also use Submerge to stay out of our opponent’s reach or to claim more territory on Lakes.
- Use Camaraderie to get combats and disrupt our opponents productions.
- Taking advantage of Popularity.
- Polania has the rare opportunity to use Popularity as currency on Encounters or to gain more with Encounters.
- With Camaraderie, we are less likely to lose it.
- Add in the potential and benefit to Build, Polania has an easy time getting into Tier-2 Popularity or higher for sscorings.
Mat Combination Polania Strategy.
Looking to take your game to the next level? Having trouble understanding a certain player mat’s beneficial synergy with Polania? Look no further! Check out what we have below:
- Agricultural
- Engineering
- Industrial – Coming Soon!
- Innovative
- Mechanical – Coming Soon!
- Militant – Coming Soon!
- Patriotic – Coming Soon!
If you need some additional Scythe tips, check out our Quick Tips strategy posting! If you don’t own the game, check it out at Stonemaier Games or find the Digital Edition on Steam. It’s 100% worth whatever you spend on it!
Thanks for taking a read of our overall Polania Strategy! Feel free to comment below with any thoughts or critiques or successes you have had with Polania!
Happy Gaming!
- Norman and Jacob