Wingspan European Expansion Review and Strategy Primer
Wingspan: European Expansion brings fresh new ideas and broadens existing ideas established in the Core Set. Here are 18 important facts to be aware of:
- In total, there are 81 new bird cards introduced.
- Seven new bonus cards are introduced (two of them are for Automa/Solo play).
- Behaviorist: Three points per column (vertical placement) with birds that have three different power colors.
- Bird Bander: Birds that can live in multiple habitats.
- Citizen Scientist: Birds with tucked cards.
- Diet Specialist: Birds with a food cost of three food.
- Ethologist: In any one habitat, two points per power color.
- Autwitcher: Birds that are worth three or four points (Automa/Solo play).
- RASPB Life Fellow: Birds that are worth five, six, or seven points. (Automa/Solo play).
- Ten new end-of-round goals are introduced (five two-sided tiles).
- Food In Supply
- Bird Cards In Hand
- Birds Worth More Than Four Points
- Birds With Zero Eggs
- Birds In One Row (Habitat; horizontal placement)
- Filled Columns (vertical placement)
- Brown Powers
- White & No Powers
- Birds With Tucked Cards
- Food Cost of Played Birds
- You get fifteen more eggs in a new color: purple.
- You get thirty-eight extra food tokes (mixed types).
- You get a new scorepad.
- You get a new bird tray.
- You get four new Automa cards for solo play.
- You get the European Expansion rule book and appendix (of course).
- A new power type, the “End of Round” Teal Power, is introduced, which gives you new and interesting options to passively generate more points and resources at the end of each of the game’s four rounds.
- Tucking strategies are taken to another level with the introduction of “Mass Tucking” powers that allow you to tuck multiple cards under one or more birds in the same habitat.
- Many new predator birds with “when played” powers allow you to ignore their food/egg cost if you meet alternative conditions.
- Five birds are introduced (Black-Headed Gull, Common Kingfisher, Eurasian Jay, Little Owl, and Red-Backed Shrike) that allow you to steal one piece of food from another player when activated (they then get to choose to replace that food with one from the birdfeeder). This is the first real “negative player interaction” in Wingspan.
- Three brown powered birds (White Stork, Black-Throated Diver, and White-Throated Dipper) are introduced that let you cycle the bird card tray and draw one of the new cards. Don’t underestimate this effect.
- Two birds are introduced (Coal Tit and Eurasian Nuthatch) that allow you to spend the seeds that are cached on them at any time.
- Bonus Card Birds have a new spin to them, only drawing one bonus card but then also letting you pick from various resources such as food, eggs, or bird cards.
- Four birds are introduced (Common Blackbird, European Roller, Grey Heron, and Long-Tailed Tit) whose “when played” power lets them be played sideways, covering two spaces in a habitat.
- Five new pink-powered birds are introduced: Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Common Cuckoo, Snow Bunting, and European Goldfinch.
What Do We Think of the Wingspan European Expansion?
The Wingspan European Expansion brings a welcome breath of fresh air to the core Wingspan experience. Check out our Core Set review here: Wingspan Board Game Review.
The European Expansion does not deviate in a dramatic way from the core experience but still manages to grow the game in new and interesting ways, such as introducing “end of round” teal powers. I believe that the Core Set plus the European Expansion currently provides us with the “definitive Wingspan experience” and is a must-buy. There are several new and powerful birds that expand and define the European metagame such as Black Headed Gull, White Stork, Bonelli’s Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, and Snow Bunting. If you’re on the fence about this expansion, it’s time to hop down and buy it!
I say this as someone who owns, plays with, and enjoys the Oceania Expansion as well as Wingspan Asia. I’ve read positive reports from others who play with all expansions combined, but they modify the Oceania rules in some fashion to reduce the impact of nectar. I’ve not tried this myself, but I can see the appeal. It’s a further evolution of the core experience without impacting the birdfeeder or the habitats in a major way (something the Oceania ruleset does).
Quite frankly, this Wingspan European Expansion review can be short and sweet. Our Core Set review digs deeper into what Wingspan is and what you can expect, and the vast majority of that applies to the European Expansion as well. This is a testament to how seamlessly this expansion fits into the core experience and improves gameplay.
Wingspan European Expansion Strategy Primer
Check out this directory/list of Wingsplain links (tailored for the European Expansion) to level up your game, win your next tournament or home game, and rule your roost:
“The Winning Edge” Advanced Wingspan Strategy Guide: 14 Pro Tips
Understanding Wingspan Metagames
Our Top 5 Wingspan European Expansion Cards
Understand How Tucking Improved with the Wingspan European Expansion
When do Birds Count as Double for Round Bonuses? What about Sideways Birds?
All 20 Wingspan European Expansion Teal Powered Birds Ranked
Discover What Makes a Top Tier Card in Wingspan
How to Beat Chihuahuan Raven, Common Raven, Franklin’s Gull, and Killdeer With Teal and Pink Powers
Wingspan European Expansion Pink Power: Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Wingspan European Expansion Pink Power: Eurasian Golden Oriole
Wingspan European Expansion Pink Power: Common Cuckoo
Wingspan European Expansion Pink Power: Snow Bunting
Wingspan European Expansion Pink Power: European Goldfinch
