You’re sitting there, three hours into a session of Vlaada Chvátil’s masterpiece, and your civilization is starving. It happens to the best of us. Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is a beast of a game. It’s not just a board game; it’s a math problem wrapped in a historical epic. But if you want to actually win—not just survive—you have to understand how the through the ages strands of development weave together. Most players treat science, military, and culture as separate silos. That is a massive mistake. In reality, they are tightly interconnected threads that can snap at any moment if you pull too hard on just one.
Strategy isn't about doing everything. It's about balance.
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Why Your Civil Rights Strand is Killing Your Military
Let’s get real about the "Civil Rights" card and the government transition. In the digital version of the game, or even the physical tabletop edition, players often rush for a Constitutional Monarchy. It feels good. You get those extra civil actions. But there is a hidden cost to these through the ages strands of progression. If you spend all your science on a new government, you’re basically a sitting duck for anyone who decided to invest in Knights or Cannon.
I’ve seen games lost in Age II simply because a player had five civil actions but zero military strength. They get hit with a "Raid" or "War over Territory," and suddenly those extra actions don't matter because they have no population left to work the mines. You have to sync your tech growth with your defensive capabilities.
Think about the interplay between your food production and your urban buildings. If you've got a lot of Philosophy but you’re still using Bronze mines, your economy is going to bottleneck. You're basically trying to run a modern university out of a mud hut. It doesn't work. You need to upgrade your mines to Iron as fast as humanly possible, usually by the middle of Age I, or you’ll find yourself unable to afford the very wonders that provide your culture.
The Science Bottleneck
Science is the currency of change. Without it, your civilization stays stuck in the dirt. But there's a trap here. Many people think they need to grab every science-boosting leader they see. Leonardo da Vinci is great, sure. But if you take him and then fail to build the actual labs he boosts, you’ve wasted a turn.
Experienced players on platforms like Board Game Arena often talk about the "Science Threshold." Basically, you need enough science to stay current with the Age cards coming out of the deck. If Age II starts and you’re still generating 2 science per turn, you might as well pack it up. You won't be able to afford the military upgrades needed to fend off aggressors.
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The Cultural Strand: When to Pivot
Culture is how you win, but it’s often the last thing you should worry about. Sounds counterintuitive? Kinda. But it’s true. If you start building theaters in Age I, you’re losing. The through the ages strands of culture only really start to matter toward the end of Age II and throughout Age III.
Timing Your Wonders
Wonders are the big flashy pieces of the game. The Pyramids. The Eiffel Tower. The Internet.
- Don't build the Hanging Gardens if you don't have the food to support the extra population. It's a waste of stones.
- The Library of Alexandria is a mid-tier wonder at best unless you are struggling for science early.
- St. Peter’s Basilica is a game-changer if you’re going for a high-happiness build, but it requires a specific leader synergy like Michelangelo to really sing.
Honestly, the best wonders are the ones that give you "Yellow" actions or "Blue" cubes. The Taj Mahal is nice for culture, but the Transcontinental Railroad? That changes your entire economic engine. It’s about building a foundation before you start decorating the house.
Military is Not Just for Bullies
A lot of people hate the military aspect of Through the Ages. They want to play a peaceful "sim" game. Sorry, but that’s not how this works. Even if you never plan on attacking anyone, you need a military strand that is respectable. If you are more than 5 or 6 points behind the leader in strength, you are inviting an "Aggression."
An Aggression isn't just a loss of points. It’s a theft. Your opponent takes your grain, your science, or your workers. This sets you back two turns, while it pushes them ahead two turns. That’s a four-turn swing. You can’t recover from that in a competitive game.
The Impact of Tactics
Tactics cards are the secret sauce. You draw them, you keep them secret, and then you play them to give your army a massive boost. If you have two Infantry and one Cavalry, and you play the "Phalanx" tactic, your strength might jump from 3 to 7 instantly.
Always look at what tactics are available in the common pool. If your opponent grabs a "Napoleonic Army" tactic and you don’t have a way to match that strength, you need to start praying to the RNG gods for a defensive card.
Managing the Population Strand
People are your most valuable and most annoying resource. They eat food, they get unhappy, and they refuse to work if you don't entertain them. This is the through the ages strand that requires the most micromanagement.
In Age I, you’re mostly focused on just getting enough grain to keep the lights on. By Age II, you need to be looking at "Selective Breeding" or "Mechanized Agriculture." If you are still using "Irrigation" by the time the Age III deck hits, you’re going to spend all your civil actions just trying to prevent a famine.
Corruption is another silent killer. If you hoard too many blue cubes (resources), the game punishes you. It’s a brilliant mechanic because it forces you to spend. You can’t just sit on a mountain of iron. You have to turn that iron into buildings, soldiers, or wonders. If you see that red "Corruption" warning on the digital app, or you count your empty resource spots on the board and see you’re losing resources, fix it immediately. Build a stage of a wonder. Upgrade a mine. Do anything to get those cubes back onto your board.
Leaders and Their Lifespans
Leaders come and go. It’s one of the most thematic parts of the game. You might have Moses leading you out of the wilderness in Age A, but he’s not going to help you much when the Industrial Revolution hits.
- Age A Leaders: Joan of Arc is a defensive powerhouse. Don't underestimate her.
- Age I Leaders: Genghis Khan is terrifying if you can get the cavalry to support him.
- Age II Leaders: Napoleon is the gold standard for military, but Cook is incredible for expansion.
- Age III Leaders: Bill Gates or Sid Meier can generate absurd amounts of culture or science in the endgame.
The trick is knowing when to let go. Don't hold onto an Age I leader just because you like their ability. If an Age II leader appears that fits your current needs, grab them. The transition costs one civil action, and it’s almost always worth it.
The Late Game: Culture Bombing
When you hit Age III, the game shifts. All those through the ages strands you've been nurturing—science, economy, military—they all need to be liquidated into culture. This is the pivot. You stop building mines. You stop researching tech unless it directly gives you culture or strength for the final wars.
Impact cards are the "final exams" of the game. Throughout the game, you’ve been tucking these into the deck. These are things like "Impact of Technology" or "Impact of Government." At the very end, these cards are revealed, and players get bonus culture based on their progress in those areas.
If you’ve been ignoring your military, you might get hit by a "War over Culture" in the final rounds. This is the most devastating move in the game. An opponent can take 30, 40, or even 50 culture points from you in a single blow. It’s the ultimate "checkmate" move. Always keep an eye on the military strength of the person to your left and right.
Handling the "New Story" Expansion
If you’re playing with the New Story of Civilization expansion cards, the balance shifts slightly. Some of the older, "broken" leaders like Aristotle were toned down, and newer leaders like Eleanor of Aquitaine were added to give more flexibility. The core strategies remain, but the paths to victory are wider. You can now win with a heavy focus on "Yellow" cards (the action cards) if you play your leaders right.
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Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
If you want to stop losing and start dominating the through the ages strands, follow these specific tactical shifts:
- Prioritize Iron over Philosophy: You can buy science with actions (by taking cards), but you can't buy resources easily. Get your mines up to Level 2 by the end of Age I.
- The Three-Action Rule: Never end your turn with more than three civil actions left over if you can help it. If you find you have too many actions and nothing to do, you haven't taken enough cards from the row.
- Military Parity: Check the military board every single turn. If you are the weakest player, you are the target. Period. Build one unit, play one tactic, or grab one leader to get out of the "last place" spot.
- Don't Fear the Revolution: Sometimes, spending a whole turn on a Revolution to change your government is better than spending the science points. If you have a high-happiness civilization, the "anarchy" penalty is much lower.
- Watch the Blue Cubes: If you have more than 2 resources lost to corruption, your economy is failing. Build something. Anything. Even a sacrificial warrior is better than losing resources to the void.
The through the ages strands are messy. They are complicated. They will frustrate you when a specific card you need doesn't show up in the row. But mastering the tension between them is exactly what makes the game one of the highest-rated titles in history. Stop looking at your board as a collection of buildings and start looking at it as a living, breathing organism that needs to grow, defend itself, and eventually, leave a legacy behind.