1 Consul: one expensive card for the printed cost only. Hold Diplomat to copy it if you missed it. One at 2p, three at 4p.
Concordia: Strategy Guide
Base-game Concordia on Imperium or Italia, 2 to 4 players. Build a board, buy cards that score it, and empty the market.
The plan
- Cards multiply a board. Every personality card you own scores a god. Buy cards that match houses and colonists you already have. A thinner map with the right cards beats a pretty map with a thin hand.
- Default shape, every game: one house per province, one house of each good, non-brick cities, colonists from Tribune. Take Consul and Farmer when they appear. Senator only for two cards. Finish by emptying the market.
- Do not reverse it. Do not buy Weaver or Vintner and then hunt those cities. Build first. Then buy the card that scores what you built.
Easiest missions
- 1. Mercurius. One house of each of the five goods. Easiest cap in the game (10). Do this every game.
- 2. Saturnus. One house per province. You want this for production anyway. A second house in the same province adds nothing here.
- 3. Jupiter. Non-brick houses. This is the main city score. Skip extra brick unless the Mason is yours.
- 4. Mars. Colonists from Tribune (food + tools into Roma). Do not force a Colonist-card mission. Most colonists still come from Tribune.
- 5. Farmer, then Mason. Cheapest specialists. Food cities are common and useful. Mason only if you are filling brick; those houses skip Jupiter without it.
- 6. Smith, Vintner, Weaver. Only if you already live in those cities. Cloth and wine are scarce.
- 7. Vesta. Leftover coins and goods. You have one Vesta card (Senator). Not a plan.
Opening
- Before you play: look where cloth and wine landed. First-in is cheap coins plus Mercurius. Distant ones are a race.
- First turn: Architect a cheap city, usually brick (1 food + 1 sestertius). If they Architect first, Diplomat-copy that Architect.
- First Tribune: pay food + tools for a Roma colonist. That extra movement beats a one-card Senator.
- Senator: only when you can buy two cards. Do not spend it early on one leftover food.
The engine
- Architect: two houses unless you are snatching one city. Movement equals colonists already on the board.
- Prefect: produce in provinces other people will also flip. Cash around 8+ when you need coins or every province back on. That reset helps the table, not only you. Cash keeps Praefectus Magnus.
- Mercator: buy two types you lack, or sell a cloth or wine pile. Skip this if a Prefect would pay more.
- Senator: two cards or wait. Consul takes one expensive card and skips extras.
- Tribune: when the rest of the hand cannot build, buy, or produce. Pay food + tools for a Roma colonist if you can.
- Diplomat: copy their Senator, Consul, Architect, or a Praefectus Magnus Prefect. You cannot copy Diplomat or Tribune.
What to buy
Buy the card that scores the board you already have.
2 Farmer: cheapest specialist to max. Food builds brick, food cities, and colonists, and those houses still count for Jupiter.
3 Architect / Mercator: a second Architect or a 5-sestertii Mercator is another full cycle after you Tribune.
4 Colonist: usually take the money (5 + 1 per colonist on the board). Do not let one player collect every Mars card.
5 Mason: only if you are filling brick. Brick houses skip Jupiter without it. Pairs with Farmer as a cheap-house engine.
6 Diplomat: copy Senator, Consul, Architect, or a Praefectus Magnus Prefect. Worth more at 4p (three targets).
7 Prefect: more production, not a must-buy. At 4p, live where others flip. At 2p you often have to flip your own.
8 Smith: same 3 VP as Farmer, fewer cities. Buy if you already have tool houses.
9 Weaver / Vintner: buy if you already live there. Cheap denial if the cloth or wine player would max it.
On the board
- First house in a city is cheap. Second and third pay 2× and 3× coins. That tax hits earlier at 4p.
- Spread. One house per province (Saturnus), one of each good (Mercurius), non-brick for Jupiter. One doubled-up province early is fine for production. A private farm nobody else will flip is slow.
- Share Prefect production. Sit where other people will flip. Play your own when you hold Praefectus Magnus, when you need the bonus good, or for the cash reset at 8+.
- Cloth as a bonus, not a first house. Any province with a cloth city bonuses cloth. An early cloth house often sits un-Prefected. Get a wine source by midgame so you are not buying wine to buy cards.
2p vs 3p vs 4p
The plan stays the same. The market is smaller at 2 and 3, so Consul and Farmer are more contested.
2 players
One Diplomat target: hold it for their Senator, Consul, or Architect. Contest the single Consul. They may never flip your province, so produce it yourself. The 15-card market empties fast; Concordia 7 VP is a big slice.
3 players
Two copy targets, two Consuls. Do not Prefect into both opponents. Board crowding and 2× coins start to matter.
4 players
Three copy targets, so extra Diplomats get used. Pay first-in or pay 2×/3× later. Share production. Deck IV Diplomat scores Mercurius, not Saturnus.
Endgame
- Empty the market. That is the usual finish, not 15 houses. Concordia is 7 VP you take and 7 they do not. Finishing is often correct.
- If someone is about to end it, set up a last Architect or a two-card Senator. You still get that turn if you did not trigger the end.
- If you are racing 15 houses, do not leave one sitting so the table can prepare.
Mistakes that cost games
- Buying one card with Senator.
- Skipping the first Tribune colonist, or Tribuning while useful cards remain.
- Building the second house in a city because it is nearby, and paying 2× coins.
- Prefecting a province that fills opponents more than you, or cash-Prefecting at 2–4 coins.
- Buying Weaver or Vintner before you live in those cities.
Game statistics
Maps, scoring, goods, and the market. Skip this until you need a number.
Maps
| Italia | Imperium | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 2–4 | 3–5 |
| Buildable cities | 25 | 30 |
| Provinces / Saturnus | 11 | 12 |
| Cities per province | 2 or 3 | 2 or 3 |
| City tokens | 25: 7 A, 8 B, 10 C. Five D boxed | 30: 7 A, 8 B, 10 C, 5 D |
| Goods on cities | 7 brick, 6 food, 5 tools, 4 wine, 3 cloth | 8 brick, 7 food, 6 tools, 5 wine, 4 cloth |
| Token setup | Box D. Shuffle A–C face up, match letters, flip | Shuffle A–D face up, match letters, flip |
| Province bonus | Most valuable good (cloth 7, wine 6, tools 5, food 4, brick 3) | Most valuable good (cloth 7, wine 6, tools 5, food 4, brick 3) |
| Bonus marker reverse | 2 sestertii, cloth 1. Cash Prefect takes that sum, then flips all back | 2 sestertii, cloth 1. Cash Prefect takes that sum, then flips all back |
| Houses | 15 | 15 |
| Colonists | 3 land + 3 sea | 3 land + 3 sea |
| Storehouse | 12 slots. Colonists off the board occupy slots | 12 slots. Colonists off the board occupy slots |
| Starting seven | 7 cards. P1 5 sestertii, +1 later seats. Last: Praefectus Magnus | 7 cards. P1 5 sestertii, +1 later seats. Last: Praefectus Magnus |
| Cards / Concordia | 30 for sale (I–V), display 7. Concordia 7 VP | 30 for sale (I–V), display 7. Concordia 7 VP |
| Goods types | 5 | 5 |
Scoring
Play one personality card per turn. At the end, every card you own (hand + discard) multiplies its god.
Vesta
1 VP per 10 sestertii (coins plus leftover goods: brick 3, food 4, tools 5, wine 6, cloth 7).
No house-style cap. One card in the game (Senator).
Jupiter
1 VP per house in a non-brick city.
Max 15. Brick houses need the Mason.
Saturnus
1 VP per province with at least one of your houses.
Max 12 Imperium / 11 Italia. A second house in the same province adds nothing.
Mercurius
2 VP per goods type your houses produce. Count each type once.
Max 10. Salt is not in the base game.
Mars
2 VP per colonist on the board (land or sea).
Max 12 (3 land + 3 sea). Starting two in Roma already count.
Minerva
Mason 3 (brick), Farmer 3 (food), Smith 3 (tools), Vintner 4 (wine), Weaver 5 (cloth).
Each specialist is its rate × houses of that type. They do not multiply each other.
Whoever buys the last market card, or builds their 15th house, takes Concordia (7 VP). Everyone else gets one last turn. Ties go to Praefectus Magnus, or the tied player who would receive it next.
The five goods
You cannot discard goods. Storehouse is 12 slots. Architect coins for food / tools / wine / cloth are 2 / 3 / 4 / 5, multiplied by houses that will be in the city after you build. Senator pays extras under the slot. Consul ignores extras. After a buy, cards slide left; extras stay, so the right stays expensive.
| Good | Used for |
|---|---|
 Brick (bank 3) | Non-brick cities: 1 brick + that city’s good + coins. Brick cities: 1 food + 1 sestertius. Mason 3. Brick houses skip Jupiter without it. |
 Food (bank 4) | Pays brick cities. Colonists: 1 food + 1 tool each. Farmer 3. Printed on Colonist, Mason, Farmer, Diplomat III and V. |
 Tools (bank 5) | Other half of the colonist cost. Tool cities: 1 brick + 1 tool + 3 coins. Smith 3. Printed on Architect, Smith, Diplomat I and IV. |
 Wine (bank 6) | Wine cities: 1 brick + 1 wine + 4 coins. Vintner 4. Printed on Prefect, Mercator, and Vintner. Scarcer cities. |
 Cloth (bank 7) | Cloth cities: 1 brick + 1 cloth + 5 coins. Weaver 5. Printed on Consul and Weaver. Extra under the right-hand slots. Fewest cities. |
Starting seven
Tribune, Architect, Diplomat, Mercator, two Prefects, Senator. No Consul, no Colonist. Goods: 2 food, 1 each of brick, tools, wine, cloth. Four unused colonists plus those 6 goods leave 2 empty storehouse slots. Start player has 5 sestertii; each later player gets +1. Last player starts with Praefectus Magnus.
Click any card to enlarge it.
The colored banner is the scoring god. The number is the rate (Jupiter 1, Mars 2, Mercurius 2, Vesta 1 per 10).
How the cards work
- Architect: movement points = colonists already on the board. Then build in adjacent cities. Brick: 1 food + 1 sestertius. Other cities: 1 brick + that city’s good + 2/3/4/5 coins for food/tools/wine/cloth. Coins multiply by houses that will be in the city after you build. Never two of your houses in one city, never in Roma.
- Prefect: flip one active province (bonus good for you, then every house there produces) or take the cash: each flipped bonus marker pays 2 sestertii (cloth 1), then flip every marker back. A province does not need a house on it.
- Mercator: 3 sestertii on the starting card, 5 on a purchased one, then trade up to two types of goods. You cannot discard goods, and you cannot trade with other players.
- Senator: up to two cards, paying the printed cost plus extras under the slot. Consul: one card, extras ignored.
- Tribune: take everything back. 1 sestertius per recovered card past 3, counting the Tribune. Optionally pay 1 food + 1 tool for one colonist in Roma only.
Diplomat copies the face-up card on an opponent’s discard. You cannot copy a Diplomat or a Tribune. Praefectus Magnus doubles only the province bonus good. It passes right after a production Prefect; a cash Prefect keeps it. You must use it on production.
Cards for sale
Start and market
Start is your seven, not for sale. 2p, 3p, and 4p are the shared market. Add Start to a player-count column for the most copies of that god you can hold if you bought every copy. No Mercator in deck IV. No Diplomat in deck II. Deck IV Diplomat is Mercurius. Deck V Diplomat is Mars (5p only).
| God | Start | 2p | 3p | 4p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vesta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jupiter | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Saturnus | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Mercurius | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Mars | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Minerva | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 7 | 15 | 21 | 26 |
| Card | God | Start | 2p | 3p | 4p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Vesta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Architect | Jupiter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Diplomat (start) | Jupiter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Consul | Jupiter | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Prefect | Saturnus | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Diplomat I, III | Saturnus | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Diplomat IV | Mercurius | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mercator | Mercurius | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Tribune | Mars | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colonist | Mars | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Farmer | Minerva | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mason | Minerva | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Smith | Minerva | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vintner | Minerva | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Weaver | Minerva | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Starting Diplomat is Jupiter. Market I and III are Saturnus; IV is Mercurius (4p). V is Mars (5p only). Deck V is 5-player only.
Market size
| 2p | 3p | 4p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards for sale | 15 (I–II) | 21 (I–III) | 26 (I–IV) |
| Consuls in the market | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Market Diplomats | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Starting money | 5 / 6 | 5 / 6 / 7 | 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 |
All five specialists are in decks I–II, so they exist at every count. Last player always starts with Praefectus Magnus.
References
- Concordia rules, Rio Grande English 1.1
- Overview for all cards of Concordia, PD-Verlag
- How can you win this game?, BoardGameGeek
- When to Prefect for money, BoardGameGeek
- Tools and Smith, BoardGameGeek
- Skipping the Senator, BoardGameGeek
- Concordia strategy guide, Legendary Tactics
- Concordia Strategy, r/boardgames