Note: Sean J. is a part of the Burnt Island Team and is able to bring a sneak preview of the upcoming Endeavor: Age of Expansion Kickstarter. We’ll be sharing a number of articles in the coming weeks examining this project. Art in these images is not final.

The anchors have been lifted, the main sails have been hoisted, and by now, the countdown to launch is well and truly underway. Endeavor: Age of Expansion is the new addition to the world of Endeavor, designed by Jarratt Gray and coming to Kickstarter on June 18 at 9AM EST. His goal was to add more of the elements that made Endeavor: Age of Sail such a hit, while retaining the gameplay and experience that everyone loved from the base game.

Endeavor: Age of Expansion introduces new Asset cards for all the different regions of the world that are explored throughout the game. They have a similar feel to the cards from Age of Sail, but introduce some new concepts like Merchant Fleets and Subsidies, but we’ll take a deeper look at those in a future article. 

Last time, we examined the new Level 1 Buildings in the game including the Naval Yard, the Bridge, and the Wharf. You can check out that article here. Today, we are discussing the Level 2 Buildings in Age of Expansion and how they can be used to your advantage.

Trading Post

The Trading Post gives you something everyone can use more of: Money! It allows you to move up one space on the Wealth track. Not quite as powerful as the two spaces the Bank will grant you in Age of Sail, but the Trading Post also has an action space. Taking an action at the Trading Post will allow you to either Occupy a new city on the board, or Draw an Asset card. Gaining that kind of flexibility early in the game can be helpful, especially when you’re unsure what the future rounds have in store for you.

Royal Navy

As you might expect, the Royal Navy is the first Building that gives you the opportunity to make an aggressive stance on the high seas, but that’s not all. Along with giving you the ability to Attack another player who may be getting too big for their own good, the Royal Navy gives you the opportunity to take a Ship action. This is a  powerful combination of abilities, especially available fairly early in your quest for control of the known world. The key for using the Royal Navy effectively, will be having the population needed to use it to its full extent. Later in the game, it should be less of a problem, but if players can get it going early, they should be a force to be reckoned with.

Fort

The Fort is another Level 2 Building that can be very powerful when used effectively. It introduces the new concept ‘Fortify’. When you get this ability, you can place a Fortification token under one of the Cities you currently control. Attackers have to lose two casualties instead of the normal one to take over that City with an Attack action. It makes your Cities on the board a much less desirable target. The Fort also gives you the ability to Occupy a City on the board. Using the Occupy and Fortify on the same City can immediately give you a strong foothold in a region. Oh, and if it wasn’t already tempting enough for you, the Fort allows you to advance one space on the Influence track as well. Not bad for Level 2.

You’re probably starting to see the potential of all these new Buildings from Age of Expansion. You might even be starting to form strategies in your mind. Stay tuned. We have many more articles coming up exploring the new Buildings and Asset cards.