Duel Track: Military and Science Supremacy, Counted

This is the second Duel track lesson for Level 3, and the last lesson of the level.

Duel can end on any turn. One red card and the pawn reaches a capital. One green card and a player holds six different symbols. A sudden win is often visible a turn or two before it lands, to a player who is counting. This lesson turns both wins into numbers you can track.

Rules here come from the 7 Wonders Duel rulebook.

Military: the shield gap

The board has 19 spaces. The pawn starts on the middle one, so each capital is 9 spaces away.

Each shield moves the pawn one space toward the opposing capital, and the pawn moves both ways. That means its position is simply the difference between the two players’ shields. If you have built 7 shields and your opponent 3, the pawn sits 4 spaces toward their capital.

So keep one number: the shield gap. At a gap of 9 in your favor, you win.

Shields come from three places:

• Red cards. Count the shields printed on each.
• Three Wonders. The Colossus has 2; Circus Maximus and the Statue of Zeus have 1 each.
• The Strategy token. Each red card built after you take it gives 1 extra shield. It does not affect Wonders.

Military: how close is close?

Each turn, look at the accessible red cards and at any unbuilt shield Wonder either player could pay for. Add up the most shields each player could gain in one turn. Remember that a play-again Wonder can turn one turn into two.

If your opponent can close the gap to 9 with what is in reach, you must act now: take or block the red card, or build shields of your own to push the pawn back. The pawn moves back with your shields, so defense and attack are the same move.

Two side effects to keep in view:

• Military tokens. As the pawn enters certain zones, the player it moves toward loses coins: 2 for the tokens nearer the middle, 5 for those nearer the capital. Each token works once. Losing 5 coins at the wrong moment can leave you unable to buy the card that saves you.
• Points at the end. If the game reaches the end of Age III, the pawn’s zone scores 0, 2, 5, or 10 for the player it leans toward. A pawn deep on one side is points even without a win.

Science: the count to six

The game has 7 different science symbols, six on green cards and one on the Law token. Six different symbols win at once.

Keep one number per player: how many different symbols they hold. Matching pairs earn Progress tokens, but for the sudden win, only different symbols count.

At 4, a player needs two more. At 5, one more ends the game.

Science: what can still come

Not every green card is a threat. Ask, for each accessible or soon-accessible green card: does it carry a symbol this player does not have yet?

Then widen the view. The rulebook’s card lists show every green card in each Age, so you know which symbols are still to come and in which Age. Each deck also loses 3 unseen cards at setup, so any one card might be missing. A player waiting on one specific symbol is never sure it is in the layout.

When to block

Blocking costs you a turn’s value, so do it at the right time:

• A gap of 9 or a sixth different symbol in reach this turn: block now, with whatever card stops it. Take it, sell it, or tuck it under a Wonder.
• Two moves away: watch which cards your pick will open. Do not uncover the card that finishes them.
• Further away: keep building, but count again every turn. A play-again Wonder or Theology can turn “two turns away” into “now.”

A blocked card is not wasted. Selling gives coins, and tucking builds a Wonder.

Using the threat

The same numbers work for you. A pawn 6 or 7 spaces toward your opponent’s capital forces them to spend picks on shields. A count of 4 different symbols makes them watch every green card. Even if you never finish, the threat bends their game, and each card they spend on defense is a card not spent on points.

That is the end of Level 3 for both tracks: card memory and hate-drafting in 7 Wonders, layout control and supremacy counting in Duel. Level 4 takes all of it to the tournament table.