Proof positive that no strategy guide can give truly definitive advice. Theres always ways to play around with new approaches once you can foresee the risks and rewards
That feeling of having a suited move that you reaaallly wish weren't there. Managing that turn after turn is the mark of a really skilled Birds player. Kudos for starting with a battle before recruit, you Madman!!!
And late next year, we can truly have an ALL-BIRD Root game! Eyries, Corvids, the Adventurer, and the upcoming Goose Vagabond! AND CUTE DUCK HIRELINGS. I originally came here just to write the above, and then discovered the 2nd half of the vid was Wingspan. How convenient, as tomorrow I plan to play it for the "first time" tomorrow (I did play a practice game of 2 rounds yesterday). So this was a nice primer before I actually go find the PDF of the rules. So thanks for the serendipitous help! Even if I don't win tomorrow, as long as I get the Blue Jay, I'll have a good time. But after I saw with my own eyes how BIG the Bird deck is.... pray for me. Only reason I'm even playing Wingspan is because it has been brought to the game board group I go to, so, many, times. Figure I finally try it. I predict I'll only play it once though, as I tend to stick my nose up and snub "multiplayer solitaire" games. I THRIVE on interplay, those are "real" games to me. And messing with my opponents is fun.
@@Nevakanezah_ You mean the crows, right? I won my first ever full game :). The hosts also brought out the expansion that had nectar (and a crapton more birds). No Blue Jay for me, that they placed a little Blue Jay statuette to placate me :P. I played very well. The big point generator for me was a bird that let me tuck birds behind every other bird in the same row. That took awhile to setup for big profits.
Great video, glad to see Wingspan getting some airtime! I can confirm that looking at Wingspan memes is a sure fire way to make you better at the game 😉
So, assuming you’re playing with experienced friends and know how they might police you, would you open with Birb Despot again? In what scenario would you advise doing this, anyway? Asking…for research :) (btw, my husband loves playing lizards so much. How would you cope or counter Lizards converting everything?)
Despot's still a solid pick for the majority of games, it's just that you're going to suffer if opponents start taking out a lot of warriors. Against some of my more aggressive friends, I'd make sure to get 3-4 bird recruits and maybe some battles in place as fast as I'm able, and try to be the first one applying pressure to the high-reach factions. If you're on lake or winter map where people have some travelling to do to reach you, then you can be a bit greedier. My favourite despot strat however is to use it to set up for charismatic. Open with double-build despot, hit 5 or so roosts so you get extra (bird) card draw, and turmoil yourself on build. This sets you up with the roosts that charismatic can struggle to set up, gives you a lot of cards if you didn't start with any birds, and creates a point cushion to mitigate the cost of turmoil. Then you just put a bird card into build for Charismatic, and spend the rest of the game beating the crap out of anyone and everyone.
Oh-- As for lizards converting everything: It's tempting to think that lizards just need acolytes in order to convert (and thus, that fighting back is self-defeating), but secretly lizards also need one other thing: They need to be in a situation where they have nothing better to do. The only conspiracy that actually breaks even on acolyte cost is converting a hated outcast, and it's only worthwhile if you've got acolytes to burn or the stars align. Thus, the vast majority of conspiracies spend more acolytes than they gain. Anytime I'm in a situation where a lizard player is getting cheeky about converting my stuff or competing for rule in my space, I commit to the effort of destroying some gardens; especially if i can avoid setting up a hated outcast with it. Not only does this create a huge problem for the lizard player to solve in a hurry, possibly without hated outcast, but it also kneecaps their hand (esp valuable to stop recruits,) while messing with the outcast suit as they discard cards. Sure they get acolytes they can use against you, but odds are good they won't have more than 3-4 lizards on that new garden by the end of their turn, and you can turn right around and remind them why that was a bad idea too; as they'll have spent almost all of the acolytes you gave them trying to recover. This kind of tempo loss forces the lizards to re-prioritize stability over being able to fight you, buying you a lot of time to return to your own goals.
One of the biggest differences i noticed b/w the root and ws communities was how WS's strategy and theorycrafting was so well-documented. Full kudos to you for being a large part of that!
![Winning a wargame without killing anyone. [Playthrough analysis]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FLTKNld8HLA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Winning a wargame without killing anyone. [Playthrough analysis]](/img/tr.png)
![Eclipseptor's Playthrough: Echoes: The Second Life (Stage 6) [Mediocre]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T_ElM8xgzus/mqdefault.jpg)
![You Otter not skip this video! [Playthrough analysis]](/img/1.gif)
this video was literally made for me
You put a card into battle before recruit, and a suited card to recruit right after, you are absolutely without fear and I love it 🤣
Proof positive that no strategy guide can give truly definitive advice. Theres always ways to play around with new approaches once you can foresee the risks and rewards
That feeling of having a suited move that you reaaallly wish weren't there. Managing that turn after turn is the mark of a really skilled Birds player. Kudos for starting with a battle before recruit, you Madman!!!
Pay no attention to the suited recruit that should've gotten me absolutely destroyed.
And late next year, we can truly have an ALL-BIRD Root game! Eyries, Corvids, the Adventurer, and the upcoming Goose Vagabond! AND CUTE DUCK HIRELINGS.
I originally came here just to write the above, and then discovered the 2nd half of the vid was Wingspan. How convenient, as tomorrow I plan to play it for the "first time" tomorrow (I did play a practice game of 2 rounds yesterday). So this was a nice primer before I actually go find the PDF of the rules. So thanks for the serendipitous help!
Even if I don't win tomorrow, as long as I get the Blue Jay, I'll have a good time. But after I saw with my own eyes how BIG the Bird deck is.... pray for me.
Only reason I'm even playing Wingspan is because it has been brought to the game board group I go to, so, many, times. Figure I finally try it. I predict I'll only play it once though, as I tend to stick my nose up and snub "multiplayer solitaire" games. I THRIVE on interplay, those are "real" games to me. And messing with my opponents is fun.
Honk, ban the power 4, honk.
@@Nevakanezah_ You mean the crows, right?
I won my first ever full game :). The hosts also brought out the expansion that had nectar (and a crapton more birds). No Blue Jay for me, that they placed a little Blue Jay statuette to placate me :P.
I played very well. The big point generator for me was a bird that let me tuck birds behind every other bird in the same row. That took awhile to setup for big profits.
The power 4 is all the cards that give you 2 of something from a different biome. iirc it's ravens, killdeer, and one of the gulls.
Suited recruiting is what gives me life. Most fun faction by far, not close, thank you very much
Great video, glad to see Wingspan getting some airtime! I can confirm that looking at Wingspan memes is a sure fire way to make you better at the game 😉
It's the only hope I've got.
These are my two favorite board games. Amazing.
And youre one of my favourite root factions
woah wild! These two specific games are the ones I've been playing a lot lately! Finally, content for me!!!
Great, now I'm gonna have to check out this Wingspan game!
Ah, birds, I am that target audience
Despot just chews up the woodland alliance, they have no choice but to feed it all the cardboard it wants
Crowpium lmao these videos only get funnier
I gotta give credit to Polyphemur on the woodland warriors discord for the original drawing
So, assuming you’re playing with experienced friends and know how they might police you, would you open with Birb Despot again? In what scenario would you advise doing this, anyway? Asking…for research :)
(btw, my husband loves playing lizards so much. How would you cope or counter Lizards converting everything?)
Despot's still a solid pick for the majority of games, it's just that you're going to suffer if opponents start taking out a lot of warriors. Against some of my more aggressive friends, I'd make sure to get 3-4 bird recruits and maybe some battles in place as fast as I'm able, and try to be the first one applying pressure to the high-reach factions. If you're on lake or winter map where people have some travelling to do to reach you, then you can be a bit greedier.
My favourite despot strat however is to use it to set up for charismatic. Open with double-build despot, hit 5 or so roosts so you get extra (bird) card draw, and turmoil yourself on build. This sets you up with the roosts that charismatic can struggle to set up, gives you a lot of cards if you didn't start with any birds, and creates a point cushion to mitigate the cost of turmoil.
Then you just put a bird card into build for Charismatic, and spend the rest of the game beating the crap out of anyone and everyone.
Oh-- As for lizards converting everything:
It's tempting to think that lizards just need acolytes in order to convert (and thus, that fighting back is self-defeating), but secretly lizards also need one other thing:
They need to be in a situation where they have nothing better to do.
The only conspiracy that actually breaks even on acolyte cost is converting a hated outcast, and it's only worthwhile if you've got acolytes to burn or the stars align. Thus, the vast majority of conspiracies spend more acolytes than they gain. Anytime I'm in a situation where a lizard player is getting cheeky about converting my stuff or competing for rule in my space, I commit to the effort of destroying some gardens; especially if i can avoid setting up a hated outcast with it.
Not only does this create a huge problem for the lizard player to solve in a hurry, possibly without hated outcast, but it also kneecaps their hand (esp valuable to stop recruits,) while messing with the outcast suit as they discard cards. Sure they get acolytes they can use against you, but odds are good they won't have more than 3-4 lizards on that new garden by the end of their turn, and you can turn right around and remind them why that was a bad idea too; as they'll have spent almost all of the acolytes you gave them trying to recover.
This kind of tempo loss forces the lizards to re-prioritize stability over being able to fight you, buying you a lot of time to return to your own goals.
Entertaining video!
One of the biggest differences i noticed b/w the root and ws communities was how WS's strategy and theorycrafting was so well-documented. Full kudos to you for being a large part of that!
@@Nevakanezah_ Thanks, I appreciate that.
loved this video
Once again subpar opponents. I find the bird heavy decree strategy quite effective
Don't knock novice opponents; they let me get away with much more interesting bullshit. I enjoy the high-level play ofc, but it's highly academic.
*B I R D U P*
[Anxiety-inducing synth jingle]