Scythe was my first experience with a heavy euro and it remains one of my most played games. The table presence is extraordinary. The factory mechanic creates a natural climactic midpoint. The faction and player mat asymmetry makes setup feel like character selection. The Automa is one of the best solo implementations for any game in the category.

My main criticism is that the game is more mechanical than it first appears. The theme is gorgeous but the actual play is about optimizing action efficiency, not narrative. Players who come expecting a war game will be surprised by how little combat occurs. Players who expect a pure engine builder will be surprised by how much the threat of combat shapes the game.

Invaders from Afar adds two excellent factions and is worth adding immediately. The Wind Gambit adds airships, which change the board geometry in interesting ways. Rise of Fenris is a legacy-lite campaign that adds narrative weight to the experience — it is worth completing if your group is committed to the game.