Witches

Witches (Forests) - Preferred faction when playing against:

Alchemists

Darklings

Chaos Magicians

Giants

Fakirs

Nomads

Cultists

Halflings

Ability

Get 5 additional Victory points when Founding a Town.

Stronghold

After building the Stronghold, take an Action token. As a Special action (once per Action phase), you may build 1 Dwelling on an unoccupied Forest space. Neither pay 1 Worker, nor 2 Coins for this Dwelling. For this build only, ignore the Adjacency rule. You may build on any free Forest space as long as it has been Forest at the beginning of this Action (Witches’ Ride). (Thus, you may not transform a Terrain space beforehand.) Use the Action token to keep track of using this Special action.

Story

Witches live in the woods, but they also dominate the air. Riding their brooms, they fly from place to place. This is why a forest that has never seen a Witch before all of a sudden may become full of Witches. Witches are sociable, so they gladly join up in large Witch towns, where they keep trading love potions and portable curses with each other.

Common Strategy: Base strategy on available Round Scoring Tile in the early rounds. A Stronghold can be good on the early round of the game. Additionally, advance on your shipping to expand quickly to the available terrains near the river. Developing spades in round 3 and 4 can be very powerful, especially when the Spade-relevant Round Scoring Tile is in these rounds. Use Witch-ride (special ability) before upgrading and developing your towns. Develop at least 2, and preferably 3 towns using the “6 Town-Size” Favor tile.

Notes:

Green tile + Combo Green/Red tile = preferred starting dwelling positions

Red tile + combo green/red tile = Alternative starting dwelling positions