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The lands of the Greek, Persian, Assyrian empires were vast and plentiful. They had impressive fortifications and imposing armies. But rumours abounded that a formidable foe from lands above the Black Sea was spreading. Fierce & skilled warriors, both male and female, came on horseback brandishing sword, axe and bow. However, these were not mindless savages simply come to raid and plunder, but rather artisans that could craft detailed trinkets made out of gold. They still came to raid and plunder, however. They were known as the Raiders of Scythia.
Raiders of Scythia is a worker placement game where players will gather resources, assemble a crew and raid various settlements to gain resources and gold. Players can train animals such as horses and eagles, complete quests and gather provisions and wagons to aid them. A certain strength of crew is needed to perform a raid. Your raiding strength is based on your crew, horses, eagles and then a dice roll. Your total strength will determine how many victory points you receive and how many wounds you may or may not take. Each settlement is populated by a random set of cubes drawn from a bag at the beginning of the game, so the resource allocation will be different with each game.
Not your Worker
The hook in Raiders of Scythia is that the workers don't belong to anyone in particular and you only have a single worker. On your turn, you place a worker and perform an action (all pretty standard stuff). However, you then pick up a worker and perform the action of the space the worker was on. Also, there are certain spots that only different coloured workers can go to and some spots that give you different rewards depending on the worker colour. A certain colour of worker may be needed to raid certain settlements.
Points are awarded for completed quests, animals, and gold. The player with the most points is the winner.
Raiders Of Scythia - Overall Thoughts
I love worker placement games, it is probably the most represented genre in my collection. But is there room for another one? Does Raiders of Scythia have enough twists to set it apart and earn its place in my collection? Well, read on to find out.
The rule set is very simple for this game. Place a worker, perform an action, pick up another worker and perform another action. This mechanism is, in a word, fantastic. It was originally seen (at least by me) in Raiders of the North Sea. Raiders of Scythia is effectively a re-implementation of North Sea with some of the expansion bits added in. The iconography is pretty clear and easy to understand.
Worker Placement with a Twist
As a worker placement fan, this simple twist on the standard mechanisms is refreshing. It can also make for some very interesting combinations and difficult choices. Not only do you need to think about where you are placing but where you are picking up. Add into the mix that there are different coloured workers that do different things and you have a very compelling, interesting and engaging game. You always need to be aware of what colour worker you are placing and what colour worker your opponent may need. Some of the coloured workers are needed for raiding the tougher settlements so you want to ensure you are not giving your opponents the opportunity to pick up these workers.
The game also has a nice ebb and flow. You will start off building up your crew and resources, then go and do some raiding. Then spend some time building up again and healing your crew to go raiding again and so on.
Assemble Your Crew
The crew you assemble have special abilities or bonuses as well as a power rating. The raids can add an element of push your luck, as the combat is based on your crew's power plus any Kumis used and then a dice roll. So you can play the odds and hope that you get lucky with the roll or play it safe and take a stronger crew to guarantee you have enough power. The interesting thing is that you always win a raid, it will just depend on how bad or well you win. How many wounds you take or how many points you gain.
Raiders of Scythia also has a very good solo mode. It is simple to execute, doesn't involve a lot of admin, various difficulty levels and emulates another player very well by raiding settlements and taking animal cards. It is so smooth and simple and works a treat.
There is a heck of a lot to like in Raiders of Scythia. The twist on the standard worker placement, the ebb and flow of gathering and raiding, the crew abilities, animals to gather and a great solo mode. To answer my original question, yes, this is a game that totally deserves a place on my shelf.
