Board game Sickle Promotion! "Sickle" - an alternative history of Europe on your table! What's in the box.

In an alternative reality, after the First World War, several new states were formed in Eastern Europe, which continue to quarrel with each other. The long war gave impetus to scientific thought, which made it possible to create unprecedented weapons, similar to giant robots. Having secured the support of their citizens, the five leaders are ready to start a new round of war and win it.

Scythe stands out, first of all, for its excellent design by Polish artist Jakub Rozalski. Rich and detailed illustrations on tablets and cards look like real paintings, made in the spirit of socialist realism. Although this realism is somewhat specific - next to the peasants in the arable land or the lumberjacks at the edge of the forest, huge robots are depicted, as if migrated from the Battletech tabletop. The miniatures of the faction characters and robots are also made at a high level.

Five factions will fight for military glory and new territories in the game Scythe: the Northern Kingdom, the Saxon Empire, the Republic of Polania, the Crimean Khanate and the Rusvet Union. By choosing one of the factions, players receive all the components corresponding to it. The faction leader is placed on the field in starting position. Each faction and its leader have unique abilities and starting resources.

In the Sickle game there is no division into rounds or phases: players simply take turns and each on his turn performs one or two actions indicated on his personal field. It is in the players' fields that the key mechanics of the Scythe game are focused. The player's field is divided into 4 parts, each of which has a top action and a bottom action. First, the player selects the desired part of the field, and then declares which action he will perform - top, bottom, or both.

Having paid the required price (coins, resources) to the bank, the player can: move a character or robot on the field map, accumulate military forces (marked on the corresponding track), buy resources (food, wood, metal, oil), produce a resource or a new worker, increase popularity among the population (marked on the corresponding track), build a robot or building, and more.

If, after moving a robot or character, they find themselves in enemy territory, a battle occurs. Let's say right away that combat plays a very small role in the Scythe game. Players secretly spend accumulated power points (marked on a special dial) and add battle cards with additional power points to them if desired. By comparing the values, players determine the winner.

If, after moving, a character ends up in the same space as an encounter token, he draws an encounter card and chooses one of the game effects. When a character reaches the central square of the "Factory" field, he can receive the corresponding card, which will give a new unique action, in addition to those indicated on the player board.

The goal of the Sickle game is to collect as many more coins. In addition to receiving coins during the game, they are awarded for accumulated resources, controlled field cells and star tokens, which the player receives for achieving various results during the game, for example, for building all four robots, for receiving 16 power points, for fulfilling conditions on the map goals, for victory in battle, and so on. Moreover, stars, resources, and controlled territories will bring more coins, the higher the level of popularity of the faction. After the final scoring, the winner is determined.

Equipment:

• playing field;
• 5 hero figures;
• 20 robot figures;
• 5 double-layer player pads;
• 5 nation tablets;
• 80 resource chips;
• 80 cardboard coins;
• 12 accumulation tokens;
• 12 adventure tokens;
• 6 quest bonus tokens;
• 2 power discs;
• 146 cards;
• 40 worker figures;
• 5 action chips;
• 5 popularity chips;
• 5 power chips;
• rules of the "Auto" module;
• 30 star chips;
• 20 building chips;
• 20 recruit chips;
• 30 technology cubes;
• memo;
• list of achievements;
• rules of the game.

The sickle game is no longer new, it was released not so long ago (2016), but the noise from it does not subside to this day. It would seem that everything has already been said a long time ago. Reviews, articles and various opinions over the 2 years of life of perhaps the most high-profile project in the history of board games were enough to understand the game even before starting the process itself. However, as a person who is familiar with the game from the very beginning, and without hesitation bought both add-ons for it, I want to note how the game developed, and what you can expect from it both in the basic configuration and with the latest kits: the “Invaders from distant lands" and "Sky Gambit".

All to the base!

The base box is powerful, weighty, and meets with a pleasant design and beautiful paintings by the famous Polish artist Jakub Rozalski. But we don’t judge a book by its cover, so we rather rush to explore its inner world. He, in turn, demonstrates an equally exciting picture: there is simply no room for air in the box! The miniatures are carefully stored in a plastic organizer, hundreds of wooden components barely fit into zip bags, a special holder conveniently organizes player and nation boards inside, and the whole thing is decorated with a luxurious massive playing field. The components are made at the highest level: the wood is brightly painted, the miniatures are replete with details, and the cards have nice-looking paintings by the same artist. In general, they did not skimp, and did it with special love, which is in the spirit of “Stonemaier games”.

You can only fit it all on a large enough table, but reverse side The map also offers an enlarged version of the playing field.

A short introduction to the story on the first pages of the rule book tells us why we ended up here in the first place, and how all these extravagant leaders with their unusual animals and huge walking robots ended up in one place at the same time. And the conflict of history is very simple: the very center of the table is occupied by a certain Factory, which once closed its gates. In the past, it was here that all these monsters of local engineering were produced. Now it is believed that whoever owns the factory owns all its secrets and will be able to create the most powerful and technologically advanced weapons. The leaders of the five nations (Polania, Russvet, Northern Kingdom, Saxony and the Crimean Khanate) are here to lead their country to prosperity and dominance over everyone. However, each of them has their own personal motives (which is also described in the rule book).

Leaders and their faithful companions.

Sickle's genre isn't hard to guess - it's definitely strategy. However, many unusual and interesting mechanics were introduced into the game. Firstly, each player has his own personal tablet. At first glance, they are all similar to each other, but digging deeper, you realize that they are all completely different. The fact is that on his turn the player selects one of the columns and can perform one or both actions in it. The top actions are the same in all tablets, but are positioned differently. The lower ones are always located in the same place, but have different prices and rewards. In addition to this, the player is given one of five asymmetric nations, which together with the player’s tablet gives a colossal number of different combinations and their variations.

Moreover, these same tablets are the main engine of your strategy. All components are located on them in special compartments. Over the course of the game, you move these components (buildings, upgrades, workers, and recruits) either within the board itself or on the board.

Meanwhile, while the players are fiddling around with their tablets, the main action is unfolding on the field. This is where Area control comes into play, and it’s very interesting and dynamic. The field can contain your workers, robots, leader and buildings. Workers are busy gathering resources when you select the appropriate action on your tablet. By the way, this is where one of the features of the Sickle comes in - all these resources are placed and stored on the field. This means that they can come to you and simply take them away and drive the workers away. However, such profit is not encouraged, because the militarist immediately loses popularity among the local people. Robots both pose a military threat to all your opponents and are an excellent means of transportation. Massive machines will easily carry your workers and precious resources on their backs. And the heroes, in addition to participating in battles, take on the role of researchers. After all, only they can enter into various meetings and open special technologies Factories.

Familiar heroes can also be found on encounter maps. It's funny to see them in such situations.

All this in combination reveals a large-scale strategy, where it is important to plan, capture, build a working economic machine and fight. Yes, yes, any collision inevitably ends in a battle, otherwise why are all these healthy walkers here? However, the game is not rooted in cut-throat wargaming or Ameritrash. Once the battle is resolved, the winner will receive their reward in the form of a military achievement, and the loser will be forced to retreat to the starting base. This element gives the battles in the Sickle a cold calculation. Each battle, players privately choose how much military force they should use. So you should carefully plan your options, because if you win now, you open yourself up to a counterattack or become a convenient target for other players. This is more reminiscent of the Cold War, where the demonstration of force is more important than the use of it. This is why the rules strictly state that you may see fewer battles than expected. From my own experience, I will say that since each game of Sickle is unique, it can end with either a couple of small conflicts or large-scale wars of attrition.

At the end of the game you should become the richest among the other players. Throughout the game, you save and spend coins to gain an advantage and develop your strategy further. The game will end when one of the players completes their sixth achievement and places a star on the corresponding track. It is worth considering that there are 10 achievements available, so completing them will determine your tactics for the entire game. You can focus on production and customize buildings, robots and improvements, you can become a local “farmer” and try to capture as many territories as possible, having the highest popularity among the people, or be a conqueror, not letting enemies down and capturing all strategically important places. The game encourages all playstyles, but is not forgiving if you make a lot of mistakes.

Immediate advice to beginners: do not try to do everything at once. It’s better to immediately decide what you need and concentrate on your 6 tasks.

The most successful player is not the one who played the last star. At the end of the game, everyone receives additional coins depending on how high they are on the popularity track. The calculation takes into account the coins you accumulated during the game, the territories occupied, achievements completed, unused resources and other special conditions.

The basic version is enough to keep players engaged for a long time, especially since there is a well-thought-out version for playing with one player against artificial intelligence. I want to try each nation with all the tablets, develop new tactics for them, try out the confrontation of certain sides, because they are all unique. After a game you often remember when and where you could have done better, acted differently, or maybe even chosen a different strategy. During a game, you often turn to your neighbors - the enemy is not asleep! And most of the information lies on the surface. Special conditions for storing resources require constant protection of your territory, and you must not forget about the properties of other players and make sure that you are not suddenly attacked from the flank by northerners who have just mastered navigation.

In the first games, it will probably be difficult for you to play against Russvet and Crimea, but with experience, thoughts about the imbalance will disappear. You're more likely to use them weaknesses, and see the strengths of others. After five games in the game, downtime (the time players wait) practically disappears; even the rule book describes the possibility of starting your turn after the player sitting to your right performs the top action. Every time you have to come up with new tactics and adapt to the tactics of your opponents, so you won’t get bored soon.

However, it was not without its drawbacks. For me, there are only a couple, and those, to put it mildly, are controversial - the ending and the combat. Yes, finishing the game can surprise you and, more often than not, even unpleasantly. Most often, the ending is unpredictable and does not allow your plans to come true. At first, this is even upsetting, because as soon as someone puts out the last star, the game immediately ends. This minus is controversial rather because, firstly, it simply drowns in all the positive aspects of the game. Secondly, it's more a matter of taste. My company is also used to having a timer in a game, when you know the game is coming to an end, you have a set amount of time and you should use it wisely. In Sickle you can think through a couple of moves ahead and here you have it. However, there are those who frankly like this approach to completing the game.

The combat system, too, is probably simply not what you expected when you saw all these military miniatures. In the basic box, most games play out with only 4-6 encounters in the entire game. Most of the time, as I pointed out earlier, it is more of a show of force than an exercise of it. However, for me, this is more thematic and fits into reality: no one wants war, but everyone is arming themselves to the teeth. And believe me, as soon as the first battle comes, a full-scale war will follow. It just doesn't happen as early as many would like. After all, the Sickle combines economics, logistics, control of territories and resources, it is not surprising that war here is associated with a certain risk. And no one wants to risk what they have acquired.

Just recently we received a surprise from Jamie Stegmire (Sickle designer) - a couple of additions: Invaders from Distant Lands and Sky's Gambit.

Let's talk about add-ons

We won't talk much about the first one. These are two new nations and two new player mats. I’ll just tell you why they are special.

Firstly, these are quite exotic nations: Scotland and Japan. Considering, of course, the setting is 1920s Eastern Europe. But that’s why they are invaders from distant lands.

Secondly, this is why the strategy of playing for them is radically different. These are the first nations to receive special tokens that only they can place on the board. The invaders Scots plant flags on the conquered lands, and the cunning Japanese control their territories with traps. The basic five nations, being in close proximity, adopted some features from each other. Therefore, their robots can cross rivers (after the appropriate upgrade), although each in a different way, and can also unlock the acceleration upgrade.

Perhaps, being on isolated small islands, the technology of the new two nations did not allow them to develop such acceleration, or there was no great need for it. But both nations were well prepared for the assimilation and conquest of new lands. Therefore, their robots are not so fast, they can take only 1 step, but instead they can instantly react to any encroachment on their territories, therefore they can teleport to traps and flags from anywhere on the map.

In general, the addition consists of two interesting, unique nations and a couple of new player tablets, diluting the gameplay with new combinations. Everything is done at the highest level - the miniatures are still very detailed, the cardboard and wooden components are pleasing to the eye.

New heights!

But the second addition is more interesting, because it introduces two modules that significantly changed the game - huge airships and resolution tablets. Remember those two controversial disadvantages that I mentioned in the analysis base game? Forget about them. These two modules, if not completely, then significantly help get rid of them.

Resolutions are randomly selected game ending conditions. Most of them require the fulfillment of certain conditions during the game, and also change some in-game rules and mechanisms. You are also allowed to simply enter your favorite resolution or play without them at all. There are many resolutions that change the conditions for ending the game. And taking this fact into account, the ending ceases to be so unpredictable. One of the resolutions explicitly limits the game to 20 full rounds.

To be honest, when this module was announced, I was simply delighted and was looking forward to it even more than the airships. For the vast majority of my friends, who noted the sudden end of the game as a negative, the introduction of resolutions became an outlet. The module is definitely great and brings variety to the game. And some even actively change tactics for individual nations. But what I didn't expect was that airships would have a much bigger impact on the game.

Huge! Flying! But in themselves they are harmless airships. Stegmaier, in my opinion, did an amazing job on airships. They have such a strong and direct impact on the gameplay that you don’t want to play without this module as much as you do with it. Moreover, they do very simple things, but happiness lies in the details. The airships themselves have two properties randomly selected: peaceful and aggressive. Peaceful determines the ship's movement reserve and has interesting feature, directly affecting the main purpose of the ship. Aggressive gives the ship the ability to transport either up to 3 resources or up to 2 workers. But the peculiarity of the airship is that from the very start of the game it can cross any rivers and lakes, while remaining essentially a neutral figure (it can cross enemy territories and stop at them). The airship almost never directly takes part in battles, but its resources provide bonuses to its owners if they are spent during them. But what’s most interesting is that now there are practically no borders for nations at the start. Polyania cannot produce robots at starting location? It doesn’t matter, because now you can transport workers to the nearest mountains. Overproduction in the industrially oriented Russvet? Load it onto the ship, we'll find a use in battle!

Airships (when selecting certain properties) can build, fight, prevent enemy troops from passing, earn coins and whatnot! When I was waiting for this expansion, I was waiting for resolutions. And I thought airships were something that would justify the price tag, and also introduce a couple of interesting moments into the gameplay. What a surprise I was that everything turned out to be completely the opposite! I want to fight with this module. I want to invent new tactics and use their capabilities to the fullest! According to personal feelings, there are more battles. The game began to encourage aggression, but at the same time maintained balance and peaceful development. A platform has appeared for maneuvers with the transfer of resources and workers, as well as their safe movement across the field as passengers. It was with this addition that Serp, in my opinion, lost those dubious disadvantages that were in the database.

If you're ever faced with a choice of which expansion to an already great game to pick up first, Sky's Gambit is without a doubt number one.

Happy meetings and epic battles to everyone! We'll meet you at the Factory gates!

In an alternative reality, after the First World War, several new states were formed in Eastern Europe, which continue to quarrel with each other. The long war gave impetus to scientific thought, which made it possible to create unprecedented weapons, similar to giant robots. Having secured the support of their citizens, the five leaders are ready to start a new round of war and win it.

Scythe stands out, first of all, for its excellent design by Polish artist Jakub Rozalski. Rich and detailed illustrations on tablets and cards look like real paintings, made in the spirit of socialist realism. Although this realism is somewhat specific - next to the peasants in the arable land or the lumberjacks at the edge of the forest, huge robots are depicted, as if migrated from the Battletech tabletop. The miniatures of the faction characters and robots are also made at a high level.

Five factions will fight for military glory and new territories in the game Scythe: the Northern Kingdom, the Saxon Empire, the Republic of Polania, the Crimean Khanate and the Rusvet Union. By choosing one of the factions, players receive all the components corresponding to it. The faction leader is placed on the field in the starting position. Each faction and its leader have unique abilities and starting resources.

In the Sickle game there is no division into rounds or phases: players simply take turns and each on his turn performs one or two actions indicated on his personal field. It is in the players' fields that the key mechanics of the Scythe game are focused. The player's field is divided into 4 parts, each of which has a top action and a bottom action. First, the player selects the desired part of the field, and then declares which action he will perform - top, bottom, or both.

Having paid the required price (coins, resources) to the bank, the player can: move a character or robot on the field map, accumulate military forces (marked on the corresponding track), buy resources (food, wood, metal, oil), produce a resource or a new worker, increase popularity among the population (marked on the corresponding track), build a robot or building, and more.

If, after moving a robot or character, they find themselves in enemy territory, a battle occurs. Let's say right away that combat plays a very small role in the Scythe game. Players secretly spend accumulated power points (marked on a special dial) and add battle cards with additional power points to them if desired. By comparing the values, players determine the winner.

If, after moving, a character ends up in the same space as an encounter token, he draws an encounter card and chooses one of the game effects. When a character reaches the central square of the "Factory" field, he can receive the corresponding card, which will give a new unique action, in addition to those indicated on the player board.

The goal of the game Sickle is to collect as many coins as possible. In addition to receiving coins during the game, they are awarded for accumulated resources, controlled field cells and star tokens, which the player receives for achieving various results during the game, for example, for building all four robots, for receiving 16 power points, for fulfilling conditions on the map goals, for victory in battle, and so on. Moreover, stars, resources, and controlled territories will bring more coins, the higher the level of popularity of the faction. After the final scoring, the winner is determined.

We, the Crowd Games team, are glad to meet you on the page of our 10th project. This time - delivery within a month and a half after collection - in March, unique price and components. Only on Boomstarter, only until January 31, 2017! Meet me.

In less than a year, the game became a legend and took 7th place in the world ranking of board games. Scythe first appeared on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform and immediately became a hit: $1.8 million was raised in just a month! In Russia, of course, we will collect no less :-)

The game “Sickle” is talked about so much and often that a real board gamer feels uncomfortable without it in his collection of board games. How can you not form your own opinion about her? On boardgamegeek.com The game has already been appreciated by almost 9,000 players, and 750 test games were played during the development of the game. What are we talking about? All scenarios and conditions have been verified and there is no chance of receiving an unfinished version with bugs.

The Russian version will be printed in the same printing house as the original. This means that the quality of the components will be the same as anywhere else in the world.

Players will have to take control of one of the factions in the alternative history of Europe in the 20s of the last century and lead it to wealth and prosperity that will be the envy of its neighbors!

A unique hero, huge mechanisms and... peasants with sickles will become a reliable support on the path of conquest.

In pursuit of power, you will need to explore territories, extract resources, hire new workers, build structures and mechanisms of overwhelming size. Along this path, players will encounter sudden encounters and unexpected discoveries. The main thing is not to forget: neighboring countries are also looking for ways to victory, and sooner or later the paths will cross and the strongest will win.

The game world was created by Jamie Stegmaier and artist Jakub Rozalski.
Jamie is famous in tabletop world as the author of the games Viticulture (a winery simulator) and Euphoria (which also plays on utopian plots). He releases all his games through his own publishing house, Stonemaier Games, and raises money for the release through Kickstarter.

Jamie is sure: “Serp” simply needed Russification! Why? Watch the video message from the author of the game’s artistic world to the Russians:

No, you heard right: the game scenarios use a fictional history of Russia in an alternative history setting. The most powerful Red nation, participating in the capture of a strategically important city of a state inhabited by robots, is called “Russvet”.

You understand, a direct translation of "Scythe" by the scythe would not be entirely correct from the point of view of cultural perception (the scythe should not be on the stone!). And it simply does not quite correspond to the image of the most powerful Red Nation. Our expertise in desktop hits Community Crowd Games, with whom we regularly consult on the topic of names and translations of gaming terms, confirmed.

The sickle can be either a peasant's tool or a melee weapon, which perfectly reflects the two main aspects of the game: resource gathering and military action. In addition, the alternate history takes place during the First World War, when the sickle was not only a tool, but also the most important symbol of the Red Movement.

And now - closer!

Big field made of thick cardboard depicting the areas around the Factory.

5 plastic miniaturesheroes with their animal companions. The height of the miniatures is from 36 to 58 mm.

5 types of robots(mechanisms) - 4 of each color. Plastic miniatures are unique for each faction.

Individual tablets for each faction with a hero image, special ability and starting military conditions.

5 player boards, each of which is divided into 4 sections.

About 140 different cards, influencing the course of the game.

Uncountable number wooden figurines resources, buildings and meeples.
Cardboard tokens, circles of power and a lot more interesting things!

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the photo shoot of “Sickle” made by Denis Basyrov.

: If these impressions were not enough to capture the emotion of the artistic world of the game and wish it at home, we suggest taking a look at the video from the Funagain Games channel - it clearly shows what is expected inside the box.

Yes, we have provided unique cards in case we manage to collect no less than what happened on Kickstarter :)

"Sickle" is a complex game, with asymmetrical factions (each faction has different characteristics and paths to victory). Playing a game for five people, you will be immersed for 2.5 hours in an atmosphere permeated with a huge number of interesting decisions and unusual situations within fictional world. The person who can accumulate the most money will win, and like any complex game, Sickle has plenty of ways for players to achieve this goal.

At the beginning of the game, each player randomly receives a faction sheet and a player sheet (they are also all slightly different). Actually, the player’s tablet will become the “control panel” in the game.

Player board divided into 4 sections, each of which has 2 actions: top row and bottom row. On your turn, you can activate one of the sections and perform all the actions available on it, but you cannot activate the same section on the next turn (unless you are playing for Russvet).

Top Row Actions will allow you to perform basic operations: moving workers, mechanisms and the hero along playing field, strengthening military strength, gaining resources and increasing popularity (it greatly depends on how much money will be earned at the end of the game).

Bottom Row Actions serve to strengthen the empire. To complete them you will have to spend the resources received. For oil you can improve the actions of the top row and reduce the cost of performing the actions of the bottom row, for metal you can bring a mechanism to the field, for wood you can build a structure, and for food you can receive one-time and permanent bonuses. Removing mechanisms and constructing structures unlocks new abilities and bonuses.

The actions of the top and bottom rows are grouped differently for each player. In combination with unique abilities factions, they form unique scenarios for each new party.

There are few battles in the game, and the winner's bonus, as well as the loser's penalty, is not very significant. Moreover, if a player wins two battles, winning the next one will not bring him anything useful (unless you are playing for Saxony).

They also serve to create a special atmosphere random encounter cards. They allow you to receive one-time bonuses, and the player always has 3 options to choose from.

Our permanent information partner is a video blog about board games "Two in the Cube". At our request, Alexey Zuikov, the author of this blog, reviewed the game:

This short video story nevertheless gives a complete picture of the layout and process of the game:

Rodney Smith's tutorial video explains the mechanics of the game in detail. on his video channel.

For those who want to delve even deeper into the fantasy world of Jamie and Jakub, we offer all the additional items that accompanied the original Kickstarter campaign:

80 metal coins, created specifically for Serp.

Since all the units and resources in the game are on the field, the issue of space is very important. Expansion of the playing field from 624*818 mm to 818*936 mm will allow you to accommodate much more resources on the hexes of your empire!

80 realistic resource tokens(20 tokens of each type) for everyone who wants food to look like food and metal to look like metal.

100-page, full-color art book(on English) in hardcover for those who want to dive even deeper into the original history of this world!