Togawa Strategy

The Togawa strategy is difficult to appreciate if you’re looking at them through the same lens as the standard factions. This tends to begin with their lack of quick mobility, and continues with their apparent lack of overpowered faction and mech abilities. However; at the core of their being is a resilience masked by layers of deception. Because of this, they’re often underestimated until suddenly they’re in the upper ranks of end game scoring.

“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In contrast to that, there’s a great deal of chance to play inefficiently as Togawa. Many players have found them to be not only difficult to play, but also slow and weak. And to that point, there are some chinks in Togawa’s armor that makes them feel more susceptible to defeat. For example, they’re the only faction to start with zero Power, and they still only get 2 Combat Cards.

But take all that with a grain of salt, because once you understand the Shogunate, you’ll have fun with them. So, without further blathering, let’s dig into this Togawa strategy!

Togawa Shogunate.

Togawa Strategy Mech Abilities.

Deploying a mech will open up one of it’s abilities to all deployed mechs and our Heroine Akiko and her monkey ally Jiro. Unlike the standard factions, Togawa has no Speed or Riverwalk mech to speak of. Thus, all four of their mechs are unique. The four mech types are:

• Ronin – Before combat where you have exactly one unit, gain 2 Power.
• Shinobi – Move to any territory with a trap token, you may arm that trap.
• Suiton – Move to / from Lakes; in combat on a Lake, you may play one additional Combat Card.
• Toka – Move across a river (minimum one character or mech per turn).

Ronin Mech.

This Togawa strategy would be worthless without mentioning one of the most tactical mech abilities in the game, Ronin. On it’s surface, this ability seems decent, but maybe not earth shattering. I mean, gain 2 Power before a combat with a single unit? That’s incredibly situational and feels overly vulnerable to leave a single combat unit on the board. And it seems to break protocol of bringing multiple units into combat when able.

To be objective, yes it seems to promote an incredibly counter-intuitive strategy. However, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. The biggest reason Ronin is so powerful is because it basically turns each combat unit into a walking Bolster action. Every time a single unit is in any combat, whether attacking or defending, it gains Togawa 2 Power.

Let’s put that into a practical example. An opponent attacks us because we have a single unit on the board. But we gain 2 Power from it before bidding, and now instead of having say 3 Power, we have 5. That was free Power for us, so we could easily burn it in this combat and now our opponent needs to bid 2 Power higher to be sure to beat us. Or we can just take the Power and accept the loss, and our opponent may still believe they have to bid high if they want to guarantee victory.

Additionally, with an upgraded Move action, we have the potential to attack three different times with three different units. Even if we have no intention to win, we could swing a gain of 6 Power in a single turn. Where else in Scythe is that possible?

Shinobi Mech.

Another amazing mech ability is Shinobi. Though, a touch similar to Albion’s Rally mech ability, Shinobi has some variances. It allows us to basically teleport our combat units around the board wherever there’s a trap token in a single move. Additionally, if an opponent tripped that particular trap, we can arm it again as part of our move.

In a lot of ways, Shinobi helps make up for Togawa’s lack of speed. With it, we can traverse all the places our Heroine has laid trap tokens, which can make getting around the board much easier. As such, things like losing combats and late game worker spreading aren’t as difficult.

Suiton Mech.

While the prior two mech abilities are must haves, Suiton is less so. That’s not to say it’s useless, but it typically isn’t as useful as the others. It comes down to fringe cases where it’s okay, but not as good as say Polania’s Submerge ability. Additionally, without the benefit of a Speed Mech, it can’t be as useful as Nordic’s Seaworthy ability.

Because of this, the best circumstances for Suiton seem to be defense oriented. The first, when seeking protection from combat. The second, throwing up road blocks for other Lake using factions. In the former case, it can be useful when we feel like an easy target and want to avoid the loss of resources. In the latter case, blocking off factions like Polania from popping ashore to gain easy combats or stealing resources makes Suiton quite desirable.

Toka Mech.

The final mech ability in the Togawa arsenal is Toka. While it’s a bit similar to other factions’ Riverwalk mechs, it has the advantage of crossing any river. However; that comes with the drawback of only one unit crossing per turn.

As such, Toka is useful; but similar to the Suiton mech, it’s more situational. Because of this, Toka is typically only a bit more appreciated than Suiton. Yet in the right circumstances, it can be very powerful.

For instance, with Toka, Togawa is the best equipped to disrupt Crimea during the early game. We can either steal their Encounter, or attack them, or just get in their way. Also, Rusviet doesn’t escape us with Toka. As early as Round 7 we can be crossing into their Tundra to cause friction.

Faction Ability.

Maifuku: After moving your character, you may place a trap token on its territory.

Let’s touch base on Togawa’s faction ability. Maifuku on the surface doesn’t seem all that amazing, but it has some depth and practical use. Suprisingly, it has multifaceted uses, so let’s check those out.

As a Trap.

In it’s simplest incarnation, these trap tokens cause our opponents to lose something valuable. Also, the very nature of each trap being an unknown variable adds to the suspense. Because of this, a lot of opponents will delay attacking Togawa or avoid us altogether.

• Power loss of 3.
• Coin loss of 4.
• Popularity loss of 2.
• Combat Card loss of 2.

Each trap can be more beneficial against specific factions, and because of that, using traps tactically is important. In such cases, we consider which factions are in the game, and who’s likely to cross paths with our traps or attack us.

1. Saxony benefits from early combat with weaker opponents and can get on the board fast. Hitting a Minus 2 Power trap early in the game can devastate their ability to use the Produce action thereafter. As well, can also upset their chance at combat victory.
2. Crimea often looks to Togawa for a Combat Star. They also like to leave their base hexes through the S. Tunnel Tundra hex. In both cases, a well placed Minus 2 Combat Card trap could derail their plans as their Coercion ability requires Combat Cards.
3. Polania likes to steal combats and resources with their Submerge Mech ability. However, a Minus 2 Popularity trap could hurt them a lot as they may need it for Tier-2 scoring or for Encounters.
4. All factions are hurt by the Minus 4 Coin trap, but especially those already low on coin. I can’t even begin to tell you how many games have been won by 4 Coins or less, and this trap can make that difference. Additionally, if an opponent is dropped down to 0 Coin during the game, they no longer can Trade, Bolster, or possibly even Produce.

For Shinobi.

In addition to the Maifuku trap tokens being used as traps, we can use them for moving with Shinobi. As stated before in the mech ability, Shinobi allows us a single move to get to a hex where our trap token is placed. This helps in so many ways including losing combats and retaliating. Additionally, they can’t be removed, so later in the game when scrambling for combats or board position, they’ll always be an option.

For End Game Scoring.

Didn’t know tokens counted toward endgame scoring? Now you do. The best part is we don’t have to occupy the hexes with any other unit for it to count. Therefore, we can set them and forget them! The only caveat to this is the traps must be armed to count. Traps that get tripped by opponents and are left disarmed won’t be counted.

Togawa Strategy.

Togawa Starting Zone.

At the core of every Togawa strategy, the question comes down to how best to utilize our positioning on the board. Unfortunately for Togawa, the starting zone for us is considered one of the worst in the game. And the reasons are numerous.

First, lack of reachable Encounters. Every other faction in the game has at least two or even three they can reach in two move actions. Not the case for Togawa. For us, the second potential Encounter can’t be reached until our 4th Move action. And even then, either of those 2nd Encounter options are in Crimea or Rusviet’s base hexes.

Second, Togawa is sandwiched between the two most efficient and powerful factions in the game. Both of whom may find us to be a tempting first combat.

Third, and lastly for this list, Togawa has only one effective route to access the board. And that can be easily bottle-necked and outright blocked by opponents. Every other faction either has a mech ability or alternate route out of their base hexes. For Togawa, our only alternatives are invading opponent’s bases.

Aside from that, Togawa actually has the advantage of starting their workers on good resource hexes. Additionally, their starting zone has all five primary terrain types. This makes planning bottom row actions a good deal easier. And one added benefit, they have a second Village on the Tunnel hex. This makes for good use when getting the Worker Star and spreading out.

With all that considered, we want to be aware of what resources we’ll need, and aside from those, try not to linger. Our best bet will always be moving further toward the center of the board.

Togawa Strategy Overview.

• Making moves.
  • We want to ensure we’re maxing out the benefit of our trap tokens. As such we won’t want to wait too long to start getting our Heroine out onto the board.
  • Togawa can only benefit from reaching the Factory. So, try to get there!
• Tactically using those traps.
  • What factions are in the game and most likely to attack us needs to factor in.
  • Where we want to travel to later in the game is important.
  • Moving off our traps near the end game to get additional scoring is a must.
• Utilizing mech abilities.
  • We need to use Ronin to lure opponents in and build our Power up.
  • Make sure Shinobi comes out by mid game so we’re benefiting from the bonus movement.
  • Deploy Toka and/or Suiton as needed. There may be cases where it’s important to use them earlier.
• Staying relevant in score.
  • It can be easy for us to get swept away as Togawa, so we need to make choices that grow our coin or popularity. This keeps us in the game against the setbacks of not being as fast as other factions.

Mat Combination Togawa Strategy.

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

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

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 Togawa Strategy! Feel free to comment below with any thoughts or critiques or successes you have had with Polania!

Happy Gaming!

• Norman