Nomads

Nomads (Desert) - Preferred faction when playing against:

Alchemists

Darklings

Mermaids

Swarmlings

Auren

Witches

Dwarves

Engineers

Chaos Magicians

Halflings

Ability

You start the game with 3 instead of 2 Dwellings. Place the third one after all players have placed their second ones (but prior to Chaos Magicians' only Dwelling).

Stronghold

After building the Stronghold, take an Action token. As a Special action (once per Action phase), you may transform a Terrain space directly adjacent to one of your Structures into your Home terrain (Sandstorm). On this space, you may immediately build a Dwelling by paying its costs. (This ability is not applicable past a River space or Bridge.) Use the Action token to keep track of using this Special action. (The Sandstorm is not considered a Spade, therefore do not count in bonuses)

Story

Nomads are a horse people of the desert. They used to be living in tents and always on the move. Even today, they build their dwellings using plain and light materials. This way they can populate large areas really quickly. Nomads only dwell in deserts, and their hordes of horsemen can cause a sand storm that may propagate to neighboring landscapes.

Common Strategy: Aim for a Stronghold as early as round 1 or alternatively, a Temple along with 2 Trading Posts. Also, pick resource rendering Bonus Cards to compensate for the lack of base income compared to other factions. Focus on building a Temple early in the game and pick the “+2 victory per built Dwelling” favor tile as your faction can easily expand. Additionally, get the “6 town-size” favor tile and try to put up three towns in the game. The sandstorm special ability can be used to strategically mess with your opponents’ strategy. Try to maximize expansion to secure the highest rewarded victory points for land expansion.

Notes:

Green tile + Combo Green/Red tiles = Preferred starting dwelling positions

Red tile + Combo green/red tiles = Alternative starting dwelling positions