Civilization V Guide

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Guide for Sid Meier's Civilization V.

Includes DLC and the Gods and Kings and Brave New World expansions.
Created by used2bcool
January 14, 2014
Version 1.0
Table of Contents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Introduction
1.1 Legalities
1.2 Versions
1.3 Corrections/Contributions
1.4 Disclaimer
1.5 How to Read
2. Civilization Overviews
2.1 America
2.2 Arabia
2.3 Assyria
2.4 Austria
2.5 Aztects
2.6 Babylon
2.7 Brazil
2.8 Byzantium
2.9 Carthage
2.10 Celtica
2.11 China
2.12 Denmark
2.13 Egypt
2.14 England
2.15 Ethiopia
2.16 France
2.17 Germany
2.18 Greece
2.19 Huns
2.20 Inca
2.21 India
2.22 Indonesia
2.23 Iroquois
2.24 Japan
2.25 Korea
2.26 Maya
2.27 Mongols
2.28 Morocco
2.29 Netherlands
2.30 Ottomans
2.31 Persia
2.32 Poland
2.33 Polynesia
2.34 Portugal
2.35 Rome
2.36 Russia
2.37 Shoshone
2.38 Siam
2.39 Songhai
2.40 Spain
2.41 Sweden
2.42 Venice
2.43 Zulu
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Remember you can use CTRL+F (find) to search for specific civilizations if you
don't want to go through the whole guide. Use the section numbers when you are
searching.
1. INTRODUCTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.1 LEGALITIES
* A big thank you to Death_by_Smiley's guide for giving me a template to make
this part easier.
* Everything in this guide relates to Sid Meier's Civilization V and its
expansions, developed by Firaxis Studios. This game is copyrighted 2010 by 2K
Games and Firaxis Studios. Any copyrights and trademarks used herein are held
by these parties.
* This guide is designed for gamefaqs.com. If you wish to reuse this guide in
some form, I ask that you properly credit me when re-publishing the guide.
* The content in this guide was produced by me unless noted otherwise. Please
do not copy this content and claim it as your own. If you would like to post
this guide elsewhere, please credit me properly.
* This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.2 VERSIONS
Version 1.0 (1/14/14): Contains all 43 Civs up to BNW.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.3 CORRECTIONS/CONTRIBUTIONS
* If you wish to correct some information contained herein or contribute towards
this guide, please drop me a line at neeraj.angal@gmail.com. Please include
something in the subject line so I know it has to do with this guide. If your
information is relevant, I will update the guide and credit you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.4 DISCLAIMER
* This guide is not intended to be a cover-all-bases, all-encompassing
encyclopedia of Civilization V and its expansions
we have Civilopedia for
that. This is meant to be more of a set of dos and don ts to follow in order
to ensure success with the various civilizations. I haven t gone too deep in
the mechanics of the game, again choosing to provide an easy-to-read overview.
It might mean that this is not the best resource for you if you re playing
Civilization for the first time, because some familiarization with terms is
needed. I would suggest reading over the Game Concepts section of the
Civilopedia to get a basic understanding of the terms used. This guide uses
information from said Civilopedia and is inspired by Zephyr s fantastic
Handbook for Despots and Dictators over at the 2K Games Forums.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.5 HOW TO READ

* I ve given each Civilization a 4-paragraph blurb
a paragraph each for their
unique ability, unique unit, unique building/unique tile improvement/unique
great person/other unique unit, and preferred victory condition. Please keep
in mind that this is intended to describe the most conventional way of playing
that Civilization in my opinion. The depth of the game is such that any
Civilization can win any victory based on skill, luck, and a number of in-game
factors, but I have tried to keep the discussion focused on the most likely
route to success. The following format is used:
Civilization Name (Leader)
Unique Ability
Description of Unique Ability
Overview of Unique Ability, its implications, some of the ways of using it to
your advantage.
Unique Unit (Era when available
unit it replaces)
Differences between base unit and unique unit, usually given in percentages.
*All characteristics of the base unit not mentioned here can be assumed to have
carried over in the unique unit.
Overview of the Unique Unit, its offensive and defensive potential and some of
the ways of using it to your advantage.
Unique Entity (Era when available what it replaces)
Differences between the Unique Entity and base entity.
*All characteristics of
the base entity not mentioned here can be assumed to have carried over to the
unique entity.
This may be a building, great person, tile improvement, or unit. This is an
overview of what this Unique Entity is, and how it is advantageous to your
Civilization.
Victory Discussion of which kind of victory is preferred when playing as this
Civilization and how to go about achieving it. These are only rough guidelines,
not a step-by-step procedure. Keep in mind that a lot depends on maps and game
conditions, so these are not set in stone. Any Civilization can make a
realistic stab at any victory condition
this overview is for the type of
victory with the largest probability of success. For some Civilizations, more
than one type of victory applies, and if so, that too is mentioned.
2. CIVILIZATION OVERVIEWS
2.1 AMERICA
America (Washington)
Manifest Destiny
+1 Sight for land military units; -50% gold costs for expanding borders
Manifest Destiny is clearly aimed at making early expansion very easy. You
should not have to fight for prime land since you should get to that land well
before any of your rivals. If you and a neighbor are closely crowded together
and you need to have a particular tile, go ahead and buy it
it costs you half
of what it normally does. Manifest Destiny actually allows you to use Warriors
as Scouts, and ensures that you should never have an unpleasant surprise
waiting for you in the form of barbarians. Strategic city placement can net
you bonus luxury resources really cheaply

the cost of your first few tile
grabs is covered by clearing just an encampment or two.
Minuteman (Renaissance Era Musketman)
No terrain movement cost; +15% Combat in rough terrain (Drill I)
An upgraded Musketman, the Minuteman is the mid-game scourge of civilizations
that like to be near rough terrain, so the Celts, Brazilians, Inca, and
Iroquois really need to watch out for your armies. They work well on defense,
but even better on offense because they take away the defensive advantages a
rival civ has when it settles on rough terrain. They can demolish opposition
armies almost singlehandedly in rough terrain, and pairing them up with some
Cannons or Crossbows will usually spell doom for rival cities.
B-17 (Atomic Era Bomber)
+8% Combat; +25% Combat against cities (Siege I); +50% Combat against
Interception (Evasion)
The B17 comes a little too late to make a grand impact, but its emergence
can be the event that triggers your bid for late-game world conquest. The B17's
inherent protection against interception means you don't need to worry about
building Fighters or dealing with opposition Mobile SAMs. Their Siege I
promotion makes them city destroyers. Provided you have completed the Honor
tree by now (and you should have), you will get the next Siege promotion after
a couple of bombing raids. If you tech to Flight quickly enough and have
ensured a supply of Oil, you can build B17s before most civs have the
resources required to deal with them.
Victory - Domination seems like the intuitive choice, and America has the
mid- and late-game weapons to do it. Early expansion should lead to enough
science and production to keep you in top shape to raise a world-conquering
army as soon as the unique units become available. With your potential for
grabbing extra luxuries, you should not have to worry about unhappiness caused
by your cities or population. Liberty s Republic and Citizenship will help
set up a strong production base, and Honor s Discipline and Warrior Code will
facilitate your schemes for mid-game aggression. Late game domination is easy
with the B-17s. Your wide expansion should net you tons of beakers and gold,
so a spaceship or diplomatic victory isn't out of the question either.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.2 ARABIA
Arabia (Harun al-Rashid)
Ships of the Desert
+50% Range on Caravans; double religious pressure from Trade Routes; double
quantities from Oil tiles
The bonuses to trade here are pretty substantial. Extra range on the Caravans
allows you to reach more far-fetched destinations to net more gold and more
influence (especially over distant city-states). The religious influence might
come handy later when it's time to choose a World Religion and get more
delegates at the World Congress. Oil tiles give you double quantities, which
means you should have a surplus of one of the most crucial late-game strategic
resources, which you can then trade for even more gold. Fighting wars isn't
the best idea with Arabia, since Ships of the Desert pushes you to win through
your incredibly strong economy.
Camel Archer (Medieval Era Knight)
Ranged unit: 21 Ranged combat, Range 2, -15% Combat, no melee attack; No combat
penalty against cities (not -33%)

The Camel Archer turns the Knight into a Crossbowman on steroids, and any
Crossbow with 4 Movement is a scary proposition. It is an effective medieval
weapon against rivals plotting cities too close to your lands or on prime
terrain that you covet. The Camel Archer is a mounted archery unit, so make
sure enemy Pikes don t reach them. You might miss your Knights on offense,
but you certainly won t on defense. Along with some melee units, Camel Archers
can make up the core of a fantastic defensive army that will prevent anyone
from disturbing your peace-time economy.
Bazaar (Medieval Era Market)
+1 gold; +2 gold from Oil and Oasis tiles; Additional stock of luxuries near
the city
The Bazaar is all about boosting gold outputs from your cities. The additional
stock of luxuries provided by the Bazaar can be traded away for extra happiness
or even more gold. The bonus to Oil and Oasis tiles is less useful simply
because those tiles are very rare.
Victory - With the amount of gold at your disposal, you would be remiss not to
go for a diplomatic victory. Adopting Commerce policies will gain you bonuses
on top of your already bulging economy, and you can invest all that gold into
city-states, who will not only provide votes in the World Congress, but other
luxuries or additional food that you might need. The Bazaar gives you extra
gold during the critical transition from the early to mid-game. As your
religion spreads, you can look into getting beliefs like Tithe, Religious
Unity, and Charitable Missions for even more gold and influence. Because
you ll likely be settling near plenty of desert tiles, make sure you grab
Petra and turn that arid terrain into premium tiles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.3 ASSYRIA
Assyria (Ashurbanipal)
Treasures of Nineveh
Steal a rival civilization s technology after conquering a city that belongs
to them
This ability is pretty much begging for you to go to war with nearby
civilizations that do not have a strong (or competent) army in the Classical
era. The catch is that Treasures of Nineveh is only activated if your rivals
have techs that you do not, so it might be a better idea to tech only one side
of the tree if you're far superior in early science than your nearest rivals.
You can sacrifice some Science infrastructure to build a few more units. Once
your army is ready, march on your neighbors - especially if you have scientific
ones like Babylon or Korea nearby.
Siege Tower (Classical Era Catapult)
Melee siege unit: no range, +42% Combat strength, can only attack cities; +33%
Combat against ranged attack (Cover I); +50% Combat against cities for nearby
units (Sapper); +1 Sight
The Siege Tower is a frightening unit that makes taking over rival cities
absurdly easy. If they're paired with an Archer or two to ensure that the enemy
melee units don't get to them, a rival city stands little chance of
withstanding your assault. Since the Tower is a melee unit, it can actually
conquer the city by itself. Keep in mind that everyone around the Siege Tower
gains a ridiculous 50% boost against cities, so even your escorting Archers
are on steroids. It really is too easy.

Royal Library (Ancient Era
Library)
1 Slot for Great Work of Writing; +15XP to all military units once the Great
Work slot is filled
Royal Library's special function doesn't come into the picture until you have
some Guilds producing Great Writers, so until then be content to use them as
regular Libraries. Once you have that Great Work slot filled, it gives a free
promotion to all military units. Combined with the technologies you might gain
from Treasures of Nineveh, this should ensure military superiority well into
the late-game.
Victory - Treasures of Nineveh asks you to go into an early war with your
ridiculously powerful Siege Towers, and if you maintain military superiority
through the Medieval era, there is no reason for you not to have an expansive
civilization and a lead in technology. With the new cultural victory no longer
requiring a small number of cities, this leaves you in a position to decide on
any type of victory. Your vast territory (and the gold being produced there) can
lead to a diplomatic win, or your inherent technology lead can propel you
toward a spaceship win. If there s a choice when using Treasures of Nineveh,
take those technologies that will keep your forces from getting out-teched.
This will help keep your army on track to world domination. Remember that
Treasures of Nineveh (and you, by proxy) is most effective during the early
stages of the game, so have some infrastructure built as you advance through
the eras.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.4 AUSTRIA
Austria (Maria Theresa)
Diplomatic Marriage
Pay gold to Marry an allied city-state
This is a pretty straightforward ability - though ironically it does not do
much for your aspirations of a diplomatic win. 'Married' city-states cease to
exist as far as the World Congress is concerned, and since you can only marry
allied city-states, you're just taking your own votes off the table. On the
other hand, city-states are great for gaining food, gold, culture, faith,
military units, and happiness through luxuries, so stockpile (and save up on)
gold and take city-states strategically. You can buy yourself an army this way,
but look out for unhappiness because a married city-state's population counts
against you.
Hussar (Industrial Era Cavalry)
+1 Movement; +15% Combat for each flanking unit (not 10% - Enhanced Flanking);
+1 Sight
If you go the culture route with your married city-states, then you need an
army to ward off mid-game invaders, and the Hussar is a great start. With its
extra movement and enhanced flanking, you should be aiming to surround enemies
from three sides for a 45% boost in combat. The Hussar works great in teams,
and even units with bonuses against mounted units don't stand much of a chance
against this supercharged Cavalryman.
Coffee House (Renaissance Era
Windmill)
Does not need open terrain; +5% Production (overall, not 10% when constructing
buildings); +25% Great Person generation
The Coffee House gives you a general production boost, which means you can
crank out buildings faster than your rivals - since you don't really need to
crank out many units (get them through marriages instead). The more interesting
boost is to Great Person generation, which can be put to use towards getting
more gold or culture. The choice is yours.
Victory - Austria's unique ability leaves the door open for practically any
victory type, except perhaps diplomatic. A domination victory is possible getting some troops from a city-state in a strategic location to go along with
Hussars can help you dominate mid-game and set up a vast empire to push for
world conquest. Since you add cities through marriage, your science output will
also receive a boost, and the Coffee House gives you an additional production
boost that can be used towards a spaceship win. Picking up cultural and
religious city-states helps push for a tourism victory - the Coffee House's
Great Person boost is particularly helpful.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.5 AZTECS
Aztecs (Montezuma I)
Sacrificial Captives
Gain a one-time culture boost from destroying enemy units
Sacrificial Captives is probably one of the most fun unique abilities in the
game, and it leaves you with a clear directive of what to do in the early game.
Take your Jaguars and start cracking skulls. With Honor policies, killing
barbarians gives you gold on top of double culture, so creeping is the way to
go. Don t wipe out those encampments entirely, though, because the more units
they produce, the more culture you will get. Once the barbarians are largely
wiped out, start warring with a nearby rival. If you re not killing someone,
you re wasting your unique ability. You might even net an early domination
victory out of it all.
Jaguar Warrior (Ancient Era
Warrior)
No terrain movement costs in jungles or forests (Woodsman); +33% Combat in
jungles or forests; Heal 25 HP after destroying an enemy unit
The Jaguar is an early-game terror for enemies hiding in the woods. Since the
Aztecs start out in the woods and Honor policies give you anti-barbarian
bonuses, the Jaguar is your main barbarian killer and thus your main culture
source. Remember that they heal a little after making a kill, so you can take
more risks with your attacks. There is no reason not to go actively hunting for
enemies, and promoting your Jaguars; they retain their unique traits even
after they are upgraded.
Floating Gardens (Ancient Era Water Mill)
Can be built on a Lake; -1 Maintenance; +15% Food; +2 Food from lake tiles
This is the reason the Aztecs would covet settling next to rivers. Floating
Gardens allow Lakes, too, but those are pretty rare. But the end result is a
lot of food for some early population growth, and that (and the reduced
maintenance cost) is sure to help your economy and grant you a nice production
boost to start building that all-conquering army. As with any building that
boosts population, keep an eye out for happiness. With your extra population
added to the conquering you re likely to be doing, there s a chance your empire
gets seriously unhappy.
Victory Sacrificial Captives lays out two clear victory paths. You have all
the tools needed to be an early aggressor
a dominant and cheap unique unit,
and a building to give you the extra population to support the building of an
army. With all of these opening up in the Ancient era, you have a real shot at
an early domination win. If that doesn t pan out, don t stop being aggressive.
As units (yours and your rivals ) get progressively stronger, you get more
culture by wiping them out. Don t be afraid to fight territorial wars, the
very least you will gain is a fair bit of bonus culture. Keep skirmishing and
build on that early culture lead you established by wiping out barbarians
a
tourism victory shouldn t be far away (as long as the entire world isn t angry
at you).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.6 BABYLON
Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar II)
Ingenuity
+50% Great Scientist generation; Free Great Scientist after researching Writing
This is a unique trait that is clearly geared towards science, and Babylon as
a civilization is also geared up for a spaceship victory. It s all about Great
Scientists for you, so grab buildings that allow for scientist specialists and
Great Scientist points. Early scientific wonders are a big help, too, so shoot
for the Great Library and later the Porcelain Tower. Don t forget to build your
National College and Oxford. Since science also has to do with land (not just
population), choose carefully where you settle Universities boost jungles in
a big way. Speaking of Universities, remember you need them as fast as
possible, so make teching to Education a priority. When shooting for science,
it is important to tech unevenly to get the infrastructure in place.
Bowman (Ancient Era
Archer)
+40% Combat; +28% Ranged combat
The Bowman is an early-game Archer that also boasts decent melee strength.
Since you should not really be looking to conquer anyone in the Ancient era
(unless absolutely necessary), the Bowman is designed to be a Warrior and an
Archer rolled into one. It s a fantastic defensive unit and along with your
special Walls, it should keep all early invaders out and leave you to
concentrate on building that scientific base.
Walls of Babylon (Ancient Era
Walls)
-13% Cost; +1City Strength; +50 City HP
These special Walls are a perfect complement to the Bowman, and designed for
the same purpose as the Bowman. The added city-strength and city HP should
ensure that early aggressors like the Mongols, Greeks, or Huns stay out your
cities. The combination of your unique unit and unique Walls should grant you
the peace of mind required to gain an early science and infrastructure lead,
which will pay its dividends throughout the mid-game.
Victory There is a clear choice for which victory path you should be
following science. With your infrastructure in place in the early game,
you should have a handful of Great Scientists by the time the mid-game rolls
around. Rushing techs is all about upfront benefits while Academies are
long-term investments, and you can choose which way you want to go. Churning
out lots of Science requires a large empire, so don t be afraid to go to war
to gain cities and prime territory once your army has a significant tech
advantage. Remember to invest your spies in guarding your advanced technology
and build some Constabularies. When building improvements, look to build as
many trading posts as you can
Rationalism s Free Thought gains you science
yield from trading posts. When it s time to choose an ideology, look at what
you have stockpiled

Freedom s Space Procurement allows you to buy spaceship
parts with gold, while Order s Spaceflight Pioneers allows Great Engineers to
rush spaceship parts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.7 BRAZIL
Brazil (Dom Pedro II)
Carnival
Double tourism and +50% generation of Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers
during Golden Ages
Carnival s huge boosts to tourism and Great Artist/Musician/Writer generation
during golden ages make it easy for you to decide which victory to pursue. It
also means that you should build the respective Guilds as soon as possible, so
develop those techs at the cost of others. You need happiness to cause golden
ages, and wide expansion is usually the enemy of happiness, so it might be
wise to stay small and tall. Once you have the infrastructure in place, you
could be on your way to have a continuous golden age, which will help you
produce even more Great People and Great Works.
Pracinha (Modern Era Infantry)
Gain a one-time happiness boost from destroying enemy units
The Pracinha is an Infantryman who gains a happiness bonus from killing
enemies. This seems a counterproductive ability, since it requires you to go to
war (and leave your cultural pursuits aside for the while being) in order to
boost happiness. One situation in which it does make sense is when shooting
for a city with prime tourism infrastructure in place
the unhappiness you
will incur from that city s population can be offset in the short term by the
happiness generated by the Pracinha wiping out the rival army.
Brazilwood Camp (Tile Improvement
Medieval Era Machinery)
+2 Gold from jungle tiles; +2 Culture from jungle tiles after researching
Acoustics
This Medieval era tile improvement may actually dictate your expansion policies
in the middle game. The gold and culture yield from Jungle tiles is very
lucrative, so be prepared to fight for some prime pieces of land. Remember,
scientific civs also want Jungle tiles for their Universities, so they might
be your biggest competitors. Once you have your Camps in place, start teching
towards Acoustics.
Victory
Brazil s unique trait pushes you towards a tourism victory through
golden ages, and to that end you must strive to have a very happy empire all
the time. Don t be afraid to give away gold to gain luxuries, or you can invest
in mercantile city-states to get those unique luxuries. Aesthetics policies
should ensure your cultural lead, and eventually you will be producing Great
Artists and the likes with great speed. Freedom s Avant Garde and Media Culture
provide further boosts, so that s the ideology to choose. Grabbing wonders
like the Taj Mahal (immediate golden age), Chichen Itza (duration of golden
ages increases by 50%), and the Leaning Tower (boost to Great People
generation) can only help.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.8 BYZANTIUM
Byzantium (Theodora I)
Patriarchate of Constantinople
Gain a bonus belief when founding a religion
This is a powerful unique ability that still leaves the door open for several
types of victories. Faith is a bit like gold, you can do a variety of things
with a surplus of faith. Byzantium has access to an additional belief, and
with Piety s Reformation and Religious Tolerance, you might be enjoying the
bonuses of up to seven beliefs, which makes for some serious theological power.
You must focus and make a decision as to which victory path you want to follow
before you get to that point though, muddled beliefs make for a muddled game.
Cataphract (Classical Era
Horseman)
+25% Combat; -1 Movement; -25% Combat against Cities (not -33%); gain defensive
bonuses
At first glance, the Cataphract might seem like a great offensive weapon, with
its ability to fortify and its reduced penalty against Cities, but don t get
caught into that web. The reduced movement hurts your ability to maneuver and
avoid anti-mounted units, and that reduction to the city penalty is pretty
meager. Instead, the Cataphract is an excellent defender capable to warding
off stronger units and running over invading Archers. Since it s stronger than
attacking Swordsmen, it also reduces your dependence on Iron.
Dromon (Ancient Era Trireme)
Ranged naval unit: Range 2, Ranged combat 10, -20% Combat, cannot melee
attack; +50% Combat against naval units
The Dromon is also a flawed unit. One the one hand, it has unparalleled naval
ranged strength for its era, and can shoot down invading Triremes with ease
and harass enemy cities on the coast. On the other hand, it replaces the only
melee naval unit you can get until the Caravel, so your chances of leading a
coastal conquest are seriously dampened. It s best to use the Dromon as a
coastal defender and let your cities produce copious amounts of faith.
Victory
The Byzantines don t have spectacular offensive units, so that takes
domination out of the picture. Faith can lay the basis for pretty much any
other kind of victory, however. Based on your Pantheon and Founder beliefs,
you can move towards science, culture, or diplomacy. Beliefs like Tithe and
Church Property can lead to a ton of gold that can be invested in city-states,
while Interfaith Dialogue and later Jesuit Education uses faith towards
scientific advancement. Policies from Rationalism no longer cancel out those
from Piety, so there is added incentive to go that way. There are many, many
bonuses to culture and tourism (World Church, To the Glory of God) if you
choose to go that way; you can pick Sacred Sites as the reformation belief and
push for World Religion when the congress comes around.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.9 CARTHAGE
Carthage (Dido)
Phoenician Heritage
Free Harbor in all coastal cities; Units pass through Mountain tiles after
first Great General
This unique ability pushes you towards the coast, and with free Harbors in all
coastal cities, there is little need for you to have to build many (if any)
roads. Look for Pearls, Crabs, or Whales to guide you towards which coasts to
settle and then expand along the coastline to make the best use of this
ability. Don t skimp on seaside infrastructure; Exploration s Merchant Navy
and Naval Tradition net you extra gold and happiness from your Harbors,
Lighthouses, and Seaports. The other aspect of the unique ability is to go
over mountains. This makes previously unattainable cities attainable since
your troops can easily cross over one of the best natural defenses a city can
have. Civilizations who like to settle near mountains to take advantage of
their scientific benefits will have to watch out for your armies.
African Forest Elephant (Classical Era
Horseman)
+33% Cost; Does not need Horses; +17% Combat; -1 Movement; -10% Combat for
adjacent enemies (Feared Elephant); Has Great Generals II (promotion)
And those armies are made quite formidable with the African Forest Elephant.
It gives adjacent enemies a combat penalty, and combined with the Great
Generals that you re sure to have around, it is the basis of a swift army
killing force. Combined with some ranged units, you can use the AFE to easily
lay waste to large invading or defending armies. However, it is useful to
remember that the African War Elephant is essentially a slower, more expensive
Horseman and thus not particularly good against cities.
Quinquereme (Ancient Era
+30% Combat
Trireme)
Since you are likely to want control of the most prime coastal areas, you need
to have an early water-dominating force. The Quinquereme is the solution. This
souped up Trireme can lay waste to early-game navies and along with some ground
ranged support can make up an expansion army that is the bane of coastal
cities. Since other civilizations are not as likely to attack you over water
as you are likely to attack them, it s best to use the Quinquereme in an
offensive capacity, though it can prove to be an able defender if someone
makes the mistake of embarking on a naval campaign against you.
Victory While the combat bonuses afforded to you through the AFE, the
Quinquereme and the resulting Great Generals seem to point to a domination
victory, a closer look might change your mind. Carthage s unique units come
early, and neither of them keeps their special abilities as promotions when
upgraded. So with no late-game war benefits and neither of the ideologies
offering any specific bonuses to naval warfare, it makes more sense for
Carthage to engage in early and mid-game warring to set up those productive
coastal towns. Then go crazy with sea trade routes Commerce and Exploration
policies will eventually leave you swimming in gold. With your superior
economy and production, you can move towards a spaceship victory or a
diplomatic victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.10 CELTICA
Celtica (Boudicca)
Druidic Lore
+1 Faith from cities next to one unimproved forest tile; +2 Faith from cities
next to three unimproved forest tiles
With its bonuses to Faith generation, Druidic Lore is there to make sure that
you re the first to establish a Religion. But in order to get there, you need
to know your surroundings, because you ll be choosing a Pantheon in the first
few turns. The surplus of early Faith should set you on your way to the middle
game, and by that time you should have enough Faith infrastructure (and Wonders
like Stonehenge and Notre Dame) to absorb the hit when you start using your
Forests for production. Unfortunately Druidic Lore s usefulness as a unique
trait runs out about halfway into the game, so ensure that you have buildings,
beliefs, and policies in place to retain your place as the primary religious
powerhouse throughout the rest of the game.
Pictish Warriors (Ancient Era
Spearman)
Gain a one-time faith boost from destroying enemy units; +20% Combat outside
friendly territory; No movement cost for pillaging; No bonus against mounted
units (not +50%)
The Picts are your early-game best friends when it comes to generating even
more Faith. Their one-time Faith bonus means that you need to start tracking
down those heathen Barbarians and send them to their gods. Keep in mind that
even though the Picts replace Spearmen, they have no bonuses against Mounted
units, so don t go taking on rival Horsemen. On the other hand, the Picts gain
a boost outside friendly territory, so they re great for harassing neighbors
for territory and Gold (from your no-penalty pillaging). The Picts are strong
enough to go up against next-era melee units outside your borders, and they
retain their combat bonus through upgrades, so there s no reason not to
prioritize them early on.
Ceilidh Hall (Renaissance Era
+3 Happiness
Opera House)
After you ve expanded and become a theological force, the Ceilidh Hall comes
along to give you a serious Happiness boost. You can expand more than you
might ve with others simply because you know the Ceilidh Hall is coming and
you can absorb some of that excess Unhappiness from your sprawling population.
It serves to direct your Faith towards culture and tourism.
Victory
A Faith-based civilization usually has many options as to which
victory they want to pursue, but the Celts have that decision made slightly
easier with the Ceilidh Hall. That boost to Happiness should steer you towards
peaceful means of victory, and if you chose the correct beliefs (World Church,
Religious Art, Sacred Sites), you should be on your way to becoming a
culture/tourism force. The extra Happiness should net you more Golden Ages,
and those are always a big help for culture-based empires.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.11 CHINA
China (Wu Zetian)
Art of War
+50% Generation of Great Generals; +30% Combat bonus from Great Generals (not
+15%)
As the name of the trait suggests, China is built for rapid expansion through
warfare. Art of War not only soups up your Great Generals but also ensures that
you ll have one around almost all the time. Don t forget to plop down Citadels
on key strategic tiles to protect your far-flung empire. Since the Great
General bonus doesn t stack, it s best to have one travelling with your forces
and while the others build Citadels to steal tiles or reinforce your position.
Chu-Ko-Nu (Medieval Era
Crossbowman)
-22% Ranged Combat; Can attack twice
The Chu-Ko-Nu is the only ranged unit in the game that can hit twice (without
earning the Logistics promotion) from the get-go and thus should be a priority.
Tech to Machinary as soon as possible and have plenty of Archers ready to be
upgraded. Art of War and the Chu-Ko-Nu work in a perfect symbiotic
relationship Great Generals restore the Chu-Ko-Nu s depleted strength to
that of a Crossbowman, while the Chu-Ko-Nu gain twice as much XP toward Great
General generation because they attack twice per turn. Together, they form a
lethal combo capable of wiping out opposition armies and cities without much
need for any other kind of support.
Paper Maker (Ancient Era
Library)
0 Maintenance (not 1); +2 Gold
The Paper Maker is China s ticket to a dominating economy, as long as you can
keep expanding. It has the twofold benefit of adding to your gold output and
having no maintenance costs, meaning you should be netting a large amount of
gold even in the early game.
Victory It s pretty easy to take China to a domination victory, provided you
take care of the unhappiness that you will surely incur by growing huge. There
are a couple of ways to go about doing this
growing wide and large means that
you should be producing a ton of gold through the Paper Maker, and all that
gold can be spent on wooing Cultural City-States (to ensure you don t fall
behind in getting to those policies that ensure Happiness) or Mercantile ones
(for their unique luxuries). Adopting Order gives you access to tenets like
Young Pioneers and Academy of Sciences, which provide a nice boost to Happiness.
If you don t get too big for your own good, you should maintain the economic
and technological might required for world conquest. If you re the peaceful
type, you can invest all that excess Gold into City-States and pursue a
diplomatic victory instead.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.12 DENMARK
Denmark (Harald Bluetooth)
Viking Fury
+1 Movement for embarked units; No movement cost for disembarking; No movement
cost for pillaging for land melee units
Viking Fury is strange in the sense that while it incentivizes storming beaches
and attacking across oceans, it gives you no naval boosts. It does make your
ground troops exceptionally effective at destroying coastal cities, so civs
like the Carthagians and the English need to watch out for you. Disembarking
doesn t cost you any movement, and your melee units pillage tiles for free, so
you can amass your forces near a coastal city, and then land and ransack the
landscape in swift fashion. There is no reason for you to even come within the
enemy s sight before you launch your beach invasion.
Berserker (Medieval Era
Longswordsman)
+1 Movement; No combat penalty for fighting across rivers or oceans (Amphibious)
The Berserker perfectly complements Viking Fury. A speedy Longswordsman that
takes no penalty attacking amphibiously, it can take out softened coastal
cities without the need for any other support. The Berserker s Amphibious
promotion makes it a decent defensive unit if positioned properly around cities
built near rivers, but that is not its purpose. The Berserker, and Denmark
in general, is designed to attack and pillage.
Norwegian Ski Infantry (Industrial Era Rifleman)
+25% Combat in snow, tundra, and hills tiles; Double movement through snow,
tundra, and hills tiles; No combat penalty for fighting across rivers or oceans
(Amphibious)
The Berserker eventually upgrades to the Norwegian Ski Infantry, and though it
loses the extra Movement, it keeps the Amphibious promotion. NSI have a
movement bonus of their own, in Hills and snowy tiles. While there isn t too
much snow on a typical map, the Hills bonus can help you lay waste to the many
civs that like to settle near hills. Since the Amphibious promotion is carried
over, there s no reason to stop targeting the coastline. The NSI are doubly
deadly that they can more than hold their own on the ground once the coastal
cities are taken.
Victory
Viking Fury points towards domination via coastline takeovers, and
that s exactly what your unique units help you achieve. Exploration s opener
gets you added speed on the seas, and eventually the policies from that tree
will help mitigate the unhappiness generated by your wide empire. Stick to the
coastline and destroy anyone foolish enough to plant cities there, but make
sure you don t extend too much. Your unique units are actually ground troops
with naval bonuses, so conquering inland cities shouldn t be too difficult,
especially once the NSI come into prominence. You will have to jump continents
to find new coastlines to ravage though, so have infrastructure and policies
(and some great tenets from Autocracy
Militarism, Fortified Borders, Police
State) in place to ensure a happy empire.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.13 EGYPT
Egypt (Ramesses II)
Monument Builders
+20% Production when building national or world wonders
Do you like building Wonders? If the answer s yes, then Egypt is the
civilization for you. The boost to Wonder production that Monument Builders
grants you should mean that no one can beat you to any wonder as long as you
don t get out-teched. The powers of your wonders will leave the game wide open
for you to pursue any kind of victory. It s all about making that decision
early enough, and then focusing your efforts on getting the required
technologies, policies, and wonders. Efficiency is the name of the game for
Egypt.
War Chariot (Ancient Era Chariot Archer)
Does not need Horses; +1 Movement
The War Chariot is your chief defender against early aggressors or neighbors
who are jealous because you re snapping up too many wonders that they want. In
order for them to be effective, however, you need to have infrastructure in
place. Make sure you ve got roads where you need your Chariots to go they get
hammered in Rough terrain. Their additional movement means you don t need too
many to defend your cities (and you don t need horses either), but be sure to
attack while defending. The Chariots have a pathetic 6 melee strength, so if
Spearmen get their hands on them, it means instant death.
Burial Tomb (Classical Era Temple)
0 Maintenance (not 2); +2 Happiness; Double gold pillaged from this city if
conquered
This Temple replacement provides additional Happiness at no maintenance cost,
helping both your economic and cultural ambitions, so there s no real reason
not to build one in every city you have. Remember that they provide an extra
incentive to your opposition cities with Burial Tombs yield double Gold when
pillaged. But the boost to Happiness will allow you a period of early and wide
expansion.
Victory
Your choice of Wonders will dictate what victory you will pursue, but
consider a couple of facts Egypt have no late-game unique units, and no
bonuses to science or production to ensure late-game military superiority. On
the other hand, all Wonders provide Culture and Burial Tomb s excess Happiness
should keep your empire on the verge of Golden Ages most of the time. You would
be remiss not to pursue a Culture victory after some early warring and
expansion. If you can ensure reasonable technological parity, you can shore up
your defense with the appropriate wonders (Kremlin or Red Fort) and turn your
focus towards producing Tourism.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.14 ENGLAND
England (Elizabeth I)
Sun Never Sets
+2 Movement for naval and embarked units; Gain extra Spy at the Renaissance
England s unique ability requires you to be near the sea, so that should be
the focus when expanding. If you don t start at the coast, try to get there as
soon as possible. Since early naval units don t pack a considerable punch, it s
best to lie in wait until your unique units come into the picture, beginning
with the medieval era. The extra movement does make exploration of archipelago
maps and maps featuring long coastlines very easy, and you can get a fair
amount of gold just by being the first to discover city-states and natural
wonders. This early exploration will be especially handy if you meet all other
civs before anyone else, meaning you ll be the first host of the World
Congress. Your extra Spy often means you don t have to make a choice between
protecting your technologies and peddling your agenda (as a diplomat or in a
city-state) worldwide you can do both at the same time.
Longbowman (Medieval Era
+1 Range
Crossbowman)
This long-range Archer can be the basis of your offensive or defensive

forces it can bombard enemies before they can actually see you. The Longbows
are a fearsome proposition when marching on cities, because they can hit
cities from where cities cannot hit them. Mounted units are the Archer s bane,
so protect your Longbowmen with Spears and Pikes. Those melee units will come
handy when conquering cities, because while your Longbowmen can lay cities to
waste, they cannot actually land the killing blow. If you re faced with
aggressors marching on your cities, plant some Longbowmen in and behind your
city and watch them reduce the opposition to rubble. They re that good. You
can then switch modes, follow the trail back to the aggressor s cities, and
teach them a lesson or two. A Pike and Longbow army pretty much eliminates the
need for Swordsmen, saving up valuable Iron for your Ships of the Line.
Ship of the Line (Renaissance Era
Frigate)
+8% Cost; +20% Combat; +25% Ranged combat; +1 Sight
The Ship of the Line, available in the Renaissance, is actually far more
powerful than any naval unit of its era. That makes it nigh unbeatable on the
seas, and it can form the basis of an embarked invasion force that can
terrorize opposition coastal cities. Being a Frigate replacement, it needs
Iron, but that can come from your Swordsmen being upgraded to Muskets. Be
careful once the Industrial Era and the Ironclad roll around, though. The Ship
of the Line doesn t upgrade until one era later, and left one-on-one, Ironclads
will demolish your ships, so keep a numbers advantage, surround them, and send
them to the sea floor.
Victory
England s ability dictates domination by way of oceans, and you can
achieve that easily on archipelago-type maps. On continent-type maps, you need
ground support, and that s where your Longbowman comes into the picture.
England actually have a fantastic two-pronged invasion force to play with when
the Renaissance comes around, so save up money and build some extra Archers.
Make sure you beeline to Machinery so you have Longbowmen before anyone knows
how to deal with them. You can expand on the back of your superior ground
forces in the Medieval era, and when the Renaissance arrives, you can dominate
the coasts with the Ship of the Line. As long as you don t get out-teched, your
wide empire should provide the economic and technological base for late-game
superiority and world domination.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.15 ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia (Haile Selassie)
Spirit of Adwa
+20% Combat when fighting an enemy that owns more cities than Ethiopia
An underdog civilization s friend, this unique ability gives Ethiopia a combat
bonus when fighting against a civilization with more cities, meaning that in
order for you to avail it in the late game, you must remain narrow and tall.
That also means being choosy about where you settle
look for prime tiles and
luxury resources and avoid the coast if possible. Going on the offensive is
counterproductive with this ability, unless you plan to raze everything you
conquer to the ground. Spirit of Adwa is meant to be used in a defensive
capacity to make your empire nigh impregnable.
Mehal Sefari (Modern Era Rifleman)
-11% Cost; +15% Combat in rough terrain (Drill I); Variable combat bonus when
fighting near the capital (distance-dependent, maximum +30% when inside capital)
The Mehal Sefari is a cheaper Rifleman with bonuses for fighting near the
Capital. This bonus is a whopping 30% when the Mehal Sefari is in the capital,
so there s no reason not to garrison one in Addis Ababa. If nearby neighbors
march on your cities, place the Mehal Sefari strategically to force the
opposition onto Rough terrain, and watch their inherent Drill I promotion
combine with your bonus from Spirit of Adwa to wipe out invading armies.
Stele (Ancient Era
+2 Faith
Monument)
The Stele is a unique Monument designed to combine the power of culture with
that of faith. With a couple of Steles in place, you can compete with
religion-centric civs like the Celtics to be the first to form a Pantheon.
Since having to make a choice of a Pantheon so early requires at least some
knowledge of the surrounding tiles, make sure you have a scout roaming around.
Victory
Culture and Faith go hand-in-hand with a tall, defensive empire like
Ethiopia, and should eventually lead to a Tourism victory. Policies from Piety
and Aesthetics will boost both outputs, and the Piety finisher nets you extra
Culture from Holy Sites. Make sure you grab World Church, the only founder
belief that helps Culture, and spread your religion with zeal as that will mean
even more culture. In the late game, your troops may find themselves fending
off jealous neighbors, so have a standing army and some defensive infrastructure
in place. Picking up Freedom s Their Finest Hour should make your cities
(especially Addis Ababa) a serious test for any aggressor. Once you ve sent
the invaders packing, get back to churning out Tourism. Remember not to fall
behind on Science, though, later technologies leading to Hotels, Airports, and
the Internet boost your Tourism dramatically. To that end, it might be a good
idea to be allied to a couple of city-states and pick up Patronage s
Scholasticism.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.16 FRANCE
France (Napoleon Bonaparte)
City of Light
Double theming bonuses for tourism in the capital
Since City of Light s bonus is very specific, and tourism in general requires
at least a few key wonders, France will live and die by the wonders they build.
This makes City of Light one of the more difficult unique abilities to take
advantage of, as it forces you to turn your Capital into a wonder-producing
powerhouse, and use other cities in a supporting role. A few puppets (or
city-state allies) will help, too. Double theming bonus does not seem like
much, but once policies, tenets, and infrastructure multiply your base
tourism, its true power is apparent and you will find yourself on an inexorable
march to a tourism victory.
Musketeer (Renaissance Era
+17% Combat
Musketman)
The Musketeer is the joint-strongest land unit of the Renaissance era, and if
you can build enough of them, there s no reason they can t simply overpower
opposing forces of your neighbors. They come at a critical time in the mid-game
when you might ve exhausted your natural resources and started looking
outwards for more. If you invest in some early siege units, your Musketeers
will be all you need to successfully invade a neighbor or two. Once you puppet
a couple of cities, stick your Musketeers there to stuff your neighbors if they
launch a foolish counterattack.
Chateau (Tile Improvement
Medieval Era Chivalry)
+2 Culture and +1 gold from luxury-adjacent tiles; +1 Gold and +2 culture to
tile yields after researching Flight
Once you research Chivalry, you can immediately start setting down Chateaux
around your luxuries. This tile improvement does require you to plan early, when
you re settling cities
make sure they re around a few luxuries, so you can
take advantage of your chateaux later. With some planning and luck, you can
set down two chateaux next to each luxury for a +4 Culture and +2 Gold swing.
And the Chateau is the gift that keeps giving
after Flight, you get an
additional +1 Culture and +2 Gold from those tiles.
Victory You need to achieve a tourism victory, but getting there requires a
different methodology than other, purely cultural civilizations like Ethiopia
or India. Since you need Paris to be grabbing wonders like Hanging Gardens,
Globe Theater, and the Louvre, you need to focus your early game towards
building a population and production in your Capital. To that end, you can
send some production or food to Paris from your other cities and carefully
balance between Tradition (Aristocracy, Landed Elite) and Liberty (Republic)
policies to start. Once the Renaissance rolls around and your Musketeer army
is ready, harass some neighbors and take their lucrative cities to provide
gold, science, and luxuries for your empire. Make sure you grab the Eiffel
Tower (and its +12 Tourism) and put yourself in the best position to construct
late-game culture wonders like Cristo Redentor and the Sydney Opera House.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.17 GERMANY
Germany (Bismarck)
Furor Teutonicus
-25% Maintenance costs for land units; 50% Chance of converting a defeated
barbarian within an encampment to your side and gaining 25 gold
This German ability gives you the tools you require to build an early force
capable of conquering your neighbors while grabbing some handy gold as well.
Actively hunt for Barbarians and turn them to your side. With a little bit of
luck and skill, you might be able to Zerg Rush a civilization that s too
close to you and wipe them out before they ever become a factor. The additional
gold from clearing encampments will come handy; because your military s large
size cannot be otherwise handled by your early-game economy. Grab a couple of
cities from your neighbors; the gold you pillage from them should keep you
out of the red while you build infrastructure for your economy.
Landsknecht (Medieval Era
-50% Cost
Pikeman)
The Landsknecht is a Pikeman built at half price, and with no weakness. That is
not a typo. It s about strength in numbers, and no unit gives you strength in
numbers like the Landsknecht. When the Medieval era starts, mass produce these
guys (you can disband your earlier barbarian units if the cost gets too much)
and march on your nearest neighbors. Civilizations with unique mounted units,
like Byzantine, Mongolia, or Songhai, have no chance against you. As long as
you can afford to pay their maintenance cost, there s no reason to stop
producing these guys. Remember that conquering opposition cities will boost
your economy as well. So just make a couple more Landsknecht and march onto
the next city.
Panzer (Atomic Era Tank)
+14% Combat; +1 Movement
The Panzer is a sight to behold in the late game. These super-powered and
superfast Tanks can zoom around in the atomic era and lay waste to opposition
armies with ease. While atomic era units all come a little too late to have a
major impact, the Panzer is still a force to be reckoned with. Keep in mind
that you must be on the attack
a defending Panzer gets no terrain bonus and
is a sitting duck for air strikes or anti-tank guns. Have a couple of Mobile
SAMs around to take out those pesky Bombers, and speed around the map
demolishing anything stupid enough to stand in your way.
Victory
Germany is built for world conquest, and its unique ability and units
give you options for when you want to push for domination. The early Barbarian
units you flip to your side might help you take out a neighbor or two by the
classical era, and your massive Landsknecht army can help destroy a capital or
two through the middle game. By the late game, you should have a vast empire
producing plenty of beakers to keep your military superior to others, and your
Panzers can get to work wiping out whoever is still left standing. Keeping a
healthy economy early on is crucial, so make finishing out the Honor tree a
priority. Commerce and Rationalism policies should gain you military
superiority and later Autocracy s Lightening Warfare (making your Panzers even
faster) and Clausewitz s Legacy will give you the push needed to make late-game
conquest absurdly easy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.18 GREECE
Greece (Alexander the Great)

Hellenic League
Diplomatic relations with city-states degrade 50% slower and recover 50% faster
The benefits from Hellenic League don t come into view until about the mid-game,
but they are substantial. It makes maintaining your city-states allies much
less of a burden on your economy, freeing up crucial gold for other pursuits.
Since you can t befriend city-states you haven t met, one of your focuses in
the Ancient and Classical era should be to invest in Scouts and Triremes to
find as many city-states you can. This will have the added advantage of you
meeting every other Civ before anyone else, which gives you the host seat for
World Congress (and with it, extra delegates), the first step towards a
diplomatic victory.
Hoplite (Ancient Era
+18% Combat
Spearman)
The Hoplite is a stronger Spearman that will help you harass your neighbors and
expand early. Though it is slightly weaker than the Swordsman, it won t be
overrun by them, and with a Great General nearby, it can take the fight to
them. Since the Hoplite is still relevant in the Classical Era, it will form
the basis of your invasion force along with the Companion Cavalry.
Companion Cavalry (Classical Era Horseman)
+17% Combat; +1 Movement; Has Great Generals I (promotion)
Unlocked in the Classical Era, the Companion Cavalry is second only to the
Byzantine Cataphract when it comes to strength in its era. However, it moves
much faster than the Cataphract and so is a suitable invader along with the
Hoplites. The Companion Cavalry s bonus to Great General generation helps your
Hoplites fight off any Spears or Swordsmen who might try to stall your advance.
With these two units working in synchronization, the Classical era is your best
chance for some rapid expansion via conquest.
Victory
Greek unique units have the potential to be dominant in the early
game, and so you should be aggressive to start with, before settling down by
the Medieval era. By then, you should ve established contact with most of the
city-states on the map, and now you can let Hellenic League take effect.
Patronage s Philanthropy and Merchant Confederacy will further ease the
economic investment you have to make in city-states, so put that gold into
defensive infrastructure to keep out jealous neighbors ticked off by your
diplomatic advancement. The only time you should seriously consider going to
war is to liberate a city-state one of your rivals has conquered, because that
will lock down future delegates for the rest of the game. Freedom and Autocracy
offer hefty diplomatic bonuses, but they are through third-level tenets that
take a while in being unlocked. Instead try to pick the ideology that is
likely to be adopted by a majority, and then push for World Ideology to gain
even more delegates.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.19 HUNS
Huns (Attila)
Scourge of God
Animal Husbandry is already teched; +1 Production from Pastures; Raze conquered
cities at double speed
Everything about the Huns, including this ability with all sorts of upfront
bonuses, is asking you to go to war as soon as possible. Since you have Animal
Husbandry researched and need pastures, you know exactly where to expand. Get
your second city down, build some Pastures, and that s all you really need to
produce that early army. As you keep warring in the mid-game, it might be that
happiness becomes an issue when you re taking down opposition cities
the
Huns ability solves this problem to an extent. You can raze down cities in
half the time, so if a conquered city doesn t offer you anything that you
particularly need, burn, baby, burn!
Battering Ram (Ancient Era Spearman)
Melee Siege Unit: +34% Cost, -9% Combat, no bonus against mounted units (not
+50%), limited visibility, can only attack cities; +33% Combat against ranged
attack (Cover I); +300% Combat against cities; -33% Combat when defending
The Battering Ram replaces the Spearman but is nothing like the Spearman in
function. It has a ludicrous 300% bonus against Cities and can defend itself
from City attacks, but it does nothing else. The missive is made simple for
you, protect these things with the rest of your army (more on that later) and
watch them demolish opposition cities for fun. Keep in mind that the Ram has 10
Melee strength and a defensive penalty so they re no-hopers if opposition
units get to them.
Horse Archer (Ancient Era Chariot Archer)
Does not need Horses; +17% Combat; +15% Combat in open terrain (Accuracy I); No
movement penalty in rough terrain
The responsibility of keeping your Rams up and running falls on the Horse
Archer. The Battering Rams are fragile, defenseless, and need a unit to clear
the path for them, and the Horse Archer carries out all of these functions. A
slightly stronger Chariot Archer that doesn t need Horses, it s the perfect
hit-and-run artist capable of taking the fight to ancient-era units. The Horse
Archer can stampede all over the map with impunity because it has no rough
terrain penalty, and if your opposition s forces have the misfortune of being
on open terrain, they will be swiftly destroyed. Build HAs to outnumber the
opposition, surround them using your superior speed, wipe them off the face of
the earth and leave your Rams free to do their thing against the cities.
Victory
The Huns are designed to be one of the game s primary early
aggressors, and to that effect you can you use your ancient era units to
conquer your neighbors before everyone is out of Classical era. Puppet the
cities that are useful and burn the rest down, then move onto the next
civilization. If there are multiple continents, your push will require some
naval support so don t ignore those technologies. By the time the mid-game
rolls around, you should have a vast empire, but it will come at the cost of
diplomatic relations the world will think of you as a warmongering menace,
so don t expect too many friends or good deals. Make sure you pick up policies
that control the amount of unhappiness you will generate and invest excess
gold in Mercantile city-states for their unique luxuries. Focus on science to
keep your military technology up-to-date, because once you get to the
industrial era, Autocracy s tenets will give you the final push you need to
take out whoever is still left standing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.20 INCA
Inca (Pachacuti)
Great Andean Road
No movement cost on hills tiles for any unit; -50% Maintenance on Roads and
Railroads not built on hills; No maintenance on Roads and Railroads built on
hills
This ability makes the Inca stacked for the Hills and nothing special if no
Hills are in sight, so move to the Hills if you don t start there. So dependent
are the Inca on Hills that it makes virtually no sense to settle anywhere
else even if that means settling cities far apart from each other. Since you
pay very little for roads (and nothing if roads are on hills), this is actually
not an economic burden. If your opponents get to the hills before you do, that
means taking them out. It helps that your units ignore all terrain costs on
hills, even if those tiles have Forests or Jungles, making them perfect for
tripping up rival forces.
Slinger (Ancient Era
Archer)
-20% Combat; Can retreat one tile automatically if attacked at melee
The Slinger is an odd little nugget. This weakened Archer has the ability to
automatically withdraw from a Melee attack, meaning it can live to fight
another day in most situations. The Slinger is nothing special as an aggressive
force and is unlikely to win you any cities on its back, but it makes for a
good defender and counterattacker. Lure in aggressors with Slingers, and when
the opposition moves in for the kill, sidestep them, leaving them open for an
ambush from your super-speedy forces (since you re likely to be settled on
Hills). Once you ve laid waste to an attacking force, don t just twiddle your
thumbs follow the retreating army and lay siege to their cities.
Terrace Farm (Tile Improvement
Classical Era
Construction)
+1 Food to hills tiles; Another +1 food to tile yields for each adjacent
mountain tile
Since your cities are likely to be settled on and surrounded by Hills, you can
reach a point where you have a serious food shortage and stagnation. The
Terrace Farm solves this problem by netting you food from those hills, with
bonuses if you re near mountains, and more bonuses after you research Civil
Service or Fertilizer. Your cities will be growing very tall by the time the
mid-game rolls around, allowing you to reap some cultural benefits from your
many specialists.
Victory With a bonus to movement and the inherent production boost you will
receive by being near so many Hills, the initial instinct would be to push for
domination or science, converting that production into plenty of units or
spaceship factories and spaceship parts. However, the Inca have no special
mid- or late-game units to facilitate world conquest (their one unique unit is
a better defender than aggressor) nor do they have any scientific benefit. It
seems the best strategy is to grab the prime hilly areas on the map early on
(peacefully or through war), let your cities grow tall, and push culture and
tourism. Since your cities should be production powerhouses, you should have
no trouble picking up the variety of cultural Wonders that become available
through the ages. Your units can zoom around hills, so anyone invading your
territories will be swiftly dealt with, leaving you to look after your artistic
pursuits.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.21 INDIA
India (Gandhi)
Population Growth
Unhappiness from number of cities is doubled; Unhappiness from population is
halved
This unique ability pushes you to settle only a limited number of cities but
grow them very tall. With Population Growth, you can have a large population
kept happy as long as there aren t too many cities. This means settling in
places that give you the best bang for your population buck, so be picky since
you re likely going to be settling no more than four cities. Excess population
also means you can have a virtual army of specialists doing their thing without
having to worry about happiness or (with Freedom s Civil Society) food supply.
War Elephant (Ancient Era Chariot Archer)
+25% Cost; Does not need Horses; +33% Combat; +10% Ranged combat; -1 Movement;
No movement penalty in rough terrain
With a tall empire, you are not likely to be embarking on large conquests,
instead focusing on defending your lands. The War Elephant is perfect for this
purpose. A Chariot Archer that can both hold its own in Melee and hit harder,
it s a great defender. Since it s slow and expensive, it s not given to be a
part of a large invading force, but it should form the basis of your standing
army. Its inherent lack of speed is actually offset by the fact that it doesn t
get tripped up by Rough terrain.
Mughal Fort (Medieval Era
Castle)
-6% Cost; +2 Culture; +2 Tourism after researching Flight
Continuing the theme of defense, the Mughal Fort adds to the security of your
cities. As your cultural ambitions grow and your influence starts to spread,
you re likely to encounter your share of jealous neighbors who might decide to
march on your cities, so have one of these in each of your cities to support
your defensive army in repelling them. The Culture and (later) Tourism boost
is handy, too.
Victory
India is stacked for a Tourism win, but you can t afford to be
completely lazy about your army. Being a cultural powerhouse but having no
means of defending yourself is begging for trouble, so invest some time in
maintaining a standing army and defensive infrastructure. While you will want
to open with Tradition policies, it might be a good idea to get started on
Honor, as the opener nets you bonus Culture for taking out barbarians,
Military Caste nets you extra Culture and happiness, and Professional Army
cuts down the cost of upgrading your units throughout the game. You can cozy
up to a militaristic city-state for some extra units, especially if you find
yourself falling behind on military technology. Once your lands are secure,
you can push towards culture and tourism with your production-oriented cities
and their tens of specialists and fight for every cultural wonder from the
Renaissance onwards. Freedom tenets will give you the final push, and other
civs will be wearing your blue jeans and listening to your pop music in no time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.22 INDONESIA
Indonesia (Gajah Mada)
Spice Islanders
Gain the unique luxuries Nutmeg, Cloves, and Pepper from your first three
cities settled on foreign landmasses
Spice Islanders grants you three unique luxuries for your first three cities
settled on foreign landmasses, so you need to get to the coast and push for
Compass so you can send settlers across waters. You need to be a maritime
empire to really enjoy this ability, so look for coasts to settle on and build
harbors for city connections. Since you are forced to settle on islands far
away from each other, invest in at least a standing navy and some defensive
infrastructure lest your coastal cities fall victim to naval aggressors. You
get two of each unique luxury, so trade away the extra copy for gold or
happiness.
Kris Swordsman (Classical Era
Swordsman)
Gain random unique promotion after first battle (Mystic Blade)
The Kris Swordsman comes with the chance to be a game-changer or be a total
waste. You would think that a Swordsman that gains a random promotion after
its first combat would always be helpful to your cause but that s not the
case the promotion can actually be a hefty penalty. This takes any strategy
out of creating Kris Swordsmen and makes the process truly random and
inefficient. Creating heaps of them and then deleting the ones with the bad
promotions also seems like a giant waste of resources. When you get the
Ambition or Restlessness promotions, the Kris Swordsman is one of the best
unique units in the game; if you get Evil Spirits, it s one of the least useful.
The Mystic Blade promotions of the Kris Swordsman are as follows: Ambition
+50% Combat when attacking, -20% Combat when defending; Enemy Blade -20HP if
unit ends the turn in enemy territory; Evil Spirits -10% Combat when attacking,
-30% Combat when defending; Heroism +15% Combat for adjacent friendly units;
Invulnerability +30% Combat when defending, +20HP when healing; Recruitment
Heal 100 HP after destroying a non-barbarian enemy unit; Restlessness May
attack twice, +1 Movement; Sneak Attack +15% Combat for each flanking unit
Candi (Medieval Era
Garden)
+2 Faith; Additional +2 faith for each religion present in the city
The Candi gains you excess Faith from the presence of other religions in your
cities, which seems counterproductive at first. But with the presence of a
couple of religions on top of your own, you will be producing so much faith
that your religion (and your cities religion by proxy) will never be under
any real threat. Remember that your trade routes can also bring foreign
religions to you, and in this case that s a good thing. Try hooking up with
city-states following a different religion
you get the bonus from the Candi,
and the influence is never strong enough to threaten your presence.
Victory
A maritime civilization with no bonuses to any warfare, Indonesia can
be a tough civilization to play, but there are a few ways to win with them.
Some things you should always do get a religion going, get some cargo ships,
and build a navy. Since the Cargo Ships will form the basis of your economy,
your navy s main purpose will be to act as envoys. The Cargo ships will also
bring in the foreign religious influences that your Candi needs. You can
direct your excess Faith to a variety of causes
get some Holy Warriors to
defend your lands in the mid-game or choose Tithe to gain some extra gold.
Your unique luxuries and profitable sea trade routes (boosted by Exploration s
Treasure Fleets) can be the basis for a strong economy, and with some luck your
Kris Swordsmen might give you a chance to go after some lucrative neighboring
cities. It s best to push gold and diplomacy, however, since that is the most
likely way to win with the Indonesians.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.23 IROQUOIS
Iroquois (Hiawatha)
The Great Warpath
Gain a movement bonus equal to that of a Road in friendly forest or jungle
tiles; Friendly forest and jungle tiles act as though a Road is built on them
after researching the Wheel
Similar to the Incan bonus from Hills, the Iroquois get a ton of benefits from
being near Forests or Jungles. The Iroquois have to worry about something the
Inca don t, however
rivals can remove your forests. Having so much stacked on
a particular type of terrain means that early settling decision are easy, and
you can settle in far off locations as you pay next-to-no maintenance on roads.
It helps you defend your turf better too, provided you maintain the forests,
since your units can zoom through the terrain while your enemies will get
tripped up.
Mohawk Warrior (Classical Era
Swordsman)
Does not need Iron; +33% Combat in forest or jungle tiles
Need to conquer some forest/jungle filled territory that a neighbor usurped
from under your nose? The Mohawk is the answer. A Swordsman with no need for
Iron, this is a unit with serious mass-production potential. The Mohawk is
great for offensive or defensive purposes. Have your neighbors grabbed a piece
of land you really wanted? Send the Mohawks in to get what belongs to you. Has
a foolish rival decided to invade your territory? Buckle down with the Mohawks,
protect your forests, and teach them a lesson. Since its emergence in the
Classical era usually coincides with attempted expansion (by you or by your
rivals), it s always good to have a few Mohawks ready for service. To that end,
you can build surplus Warriors early and have some gold stockpiled, and you re
good to go.
Longhouse (Medieval Era
Workshop)
-17% Cost; +1 Production from forest tiles (not +10% to overall city Production)
Since you re likely to be around plenty of Forests, getting your production
numbers up might be a problem. The Longhouse, a cheaper version of a Workshop
that grants production yield from forest tiles, is designed to fix this issue.
You should rush to tech Engineering and then have one of these up in each of
your cities, and you ll be a production powerhouse in no time.
Victory With so much stacked on forests and jungles, the Iroquois need to be
ferocious when it comes to protecting their territory or grabbing new lucrative
forested areas. That means having a competent army early on, aided by your
Mohawks, and that can easily lay the basis of a domination victory, especially
if enough of the map is covered in forests. Your units treat Forests as roads,
so you gain a lot of speed over your opposition. If domination doesn t pan out,
you still have a bunch of high-production cities. Once you have Universities,
your jungles will also start yielding ridiculous amounts of Science, so push
in that direction. Starting with Honor and Liberty is a good idea. Later,
Order s Five-Year Plan and Worker s Faculties provide further bonuses to your
production and science, and should facilitate a spaceship victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.24 JAPAN
Japan (Oda Nobunaga)
Bushido
Wounded units fight at full strength
One of the game s most frightening abilities, Bushido builds Japan for warring
success like no other civilization. Your units give much more bang for the buck
with the ability to fight at full strength until their last breath. Attacks
risky for other civilization hold no demons for you and you d be surprised just
how much of an advantage this ability is every time you go to war. Many
civilizations pack a punch when they invade, but no one can sustain invasions
like Japan. Remember that naval units benefit from Bushido as well, so early
exploration is a safer prospect as Barbarians have a far smaller chance of
sinking your ships.
Samurai (Medieval Era
Longswordsman)
+15% Combat in open terrain (Shock I); Has Great Generals II (promotion)
A Longswordsman with an inherent promotion in open terrain, the Samurai is a
fantastic invader. The bonus to Great General generation means that your
Samurai can be in the company of one most of the time, and with Bushido, a few
Samurai can take out entire civilizations, especially if your rivals have the
misfortune of being in or around open terrain. The Samurai can make for an
excellent defender as well, but these guys were not made to sit around and
twiddle their thumbs until someone invades. Go out on the attack and make your
neighbors pay!
Zero (Atomic Era Fighter)
+33% Combat v Fighters
The Zero is very good at its function, but
you ll find yourself not using the Zero in
and the only reason to build one is if you
your Bombers; its bonus in dogfights means
bombing strikes.
that function is so specific that

most games. It comes in too late,
see opponents running sweeps for
it ll be clearing the skies for your
Victory
With two unique units and an ability that gives a bonus for all kinds
of warfare, the preferred victory condition for Japan is a no-brainer. Since
your Samurai become available mid-game, you can focus your early game towards
building infrastructure and completing the Honor tree. Building cities near
Hills or Forests (get some Lumber Mills going) is probably a good idea because
of the production boosts you get out of them. Opt for the richest trade routes
possible (if they re too far away, give your Caravans an envoy) so you have the
gold needed to upgrade existing units. You need Iron to make Samurai and if
you don t have any, that means war with a neighbor. Once the Samurai get into
action and start producing Great Generals, you re on your way to world
domination. If you manage your resources carefully, you should be able to
finish off your rivals before you ever need to build an aerial unit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.25 KOREA
Korea (Sejong)
Scholars of the Jade Hall
+2 Science from Specialists; +2 Science from all Great Person improvements;
Gain a tech boost (equal to that of a Research Agreement) after completing a
science building or science wonder in your capital
One of the rare abilities purely geared towards Science, Scholars of the Jade
Hall gives you plenty of tools to get technologically ahead. With bonuses to
Specialists, a lot depends on your cities and their excess population, so
settle the cities in food and production-rich areas to maximize population.
After Rationalism s Secularim, each Specialist nets you +4 Science, so work on
that population. If a city isn t as big as you d like it to be, don t hesitate
to send a caravan or cargo ship full of food its way. Academies net you an
obscene +10 Science, but don t forget to boost Great Person generation in
general and build as many Landmarks and Customs Houses as you can.
Hwach a (Medieval Era
Trebuchet)
-8% Combat; +86% Ranged combat; does not have limited visibility; no bonus
against cities (not +200%)

The Hwach a is a Siege unit only in name. A Trebuchet with no bonuses against
Cities but almost double the strength, it hits harder than anything else in the
medieval era. That makes it perfect for defending your cities and coasts
a
few Hwach a can waste incoming armies with incredible ease. They re not too
shabby as a coastal defender, either. Since their base strength is so high, it
makes sense to take them on an offensive campaign once they gain some anti-city
promotions or a Great General. Keep in mind the Hwach a has a lower Melee
combat strength that the Trebuchet, so it must be well-protected.
Turtle Ship (Renaissance Era Caravel)
+80% Combat; No extra Sight; Can retreat automatically if attacked at melee;
Cannot enter the deep ocean
The Turtle Ship continues the theme with the Korean unique units
it s far
stronger than the Caravel it replaces, but cannot be used for deep Ocean
exploration. As a result, the Turtle Ship has one purpose
defending your
coastline and it s better at its job than anything else in the Renaissance.
British, Carthagian, or Danish naval offensives have no chance against you. If
you add a Hwach a or two in your coastal cities, that makes them virtually
impregnable.
Victory
With fantastic defensive units and a powerful scientific ability,
Korea s path to victory is pretty obvious. The Great Library is the only early
Scientific wonder, so make sure you have it. Later don t forget to build your
National College and Oxford. All three trigger your ability, which is further
boosted by Rationalism s Scientific Revolution and the Porcelain Tower. Being
friendly with your neighbors and having enough gold saved will make sure you
can always have a Research Agreement or two in place. It is important to guard
your lands and coasts against invaders, however, so invest in a standing army.
With the Hwach a and Turtle Ship being such amazing defenders, you don t need
too many units anyway. Order is the ideology with the most benefits to a
science-based civilization, so that should be your choice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.26 MAYA
Maya (Pacal)
Long Count
Gain a Great Person of choice at the capital every Baktun (394 years) after
researching Theology, but each type of Great Person can be chosen only once
This strange ability comes into the picture only after researching Theology,
so that should be the early goal. Once that is teched, Long Count provides a
free Great Person of choice once every Baktun (your calendar is in Baktuns,
approximately 394 years). You have to choose each type of Great Person once, so
choose wisely according to your early needs Great Merchants and Artists can
probably wait until later. Remember that years pass more slowly (fewer years
per turn) as the game progresses into later eras, and this affects your Great
Person generation so don t depend too much on having a production line of Great
People ready at your disposal.
Atlatl (Ancient Era Archer)
Unlocks with Agriculture (not Archery); -10% Cost
A cheap Archer that unlocks at the beginning of the game, the Atlatl actually
makes Archery pretty obsolete, though you need to get to the Wheel and other
technologies. Since you will be the first to have Archery units, you can mount
a very early rush at a nearby city-state sitting on a valuable resource or a

rival civ settling a city too close to your lands. Once a bit of early
exploration (and expansion) is complete, the Atlatl can be a great defender,
especially since it s easy to always have more of them than any attacking force.
Pyramid (Ancient Era
+1 Faith; +2 Science
Shrine)
An Ancient-era Shrine producing extra Faith and Science, the Pyramid has the
potential to give your empire a serious up-front boost. +2 Science doesn t
seem like much, but in the Ancient era, planting a couple of Pyramids can give
you a hefty technological edge crucial when building early Wonders which are
always highly contested. The excess Faith you generate can be turned to the
victory type of your choice.
Victory
The Mayans get a cheap unique Archer and a Faith/Science boost, both
in the Ancient Era. These benefits point towards an early expansion effort,
followed by settling in and protecting the technological lead you have built.
Science is dependent on having both premium land and infrastructure, so start
with Liberty and fight for jungles or mountains if they are nearby. Your
warring efforts should occur early on while you maintain numerical superiority
with your Atlatls. The additional faith your Pyramids generate can be turned to
Science with beliefs like Interfaith Dialogue and the Rationalism opener allows
you to buy Great Scientists with Faith. In the mid-game protect your
technological lead using spies and anti-espionage buildings and keep a standing
army to deter others from attacking you. Since you should have technological
superiority over your rivals by then, follow a quality over quantity approach
so it is not too much of a burden on your economy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.27 MONGOLS
Mongols (Genghis Khan)
Mongol Terror
+30% Combat against city-states and their units; +1 Movement for mounted units
The Mongols have the ability to throw a serious wrench in anyone s plan for a
diplomatic victory. A whopping 30% combat bonus against city-states is
essentially begging you to conquer any that you come across, but be careful. By
the mid-game, city-states have powerful allies that will not hesitate to
declare war on you, and it is never a great idea to open up on multiple fronts,
especially since your combat bonus applies only to city-states. The other
aspect of the ability is giving all Mounted units an additional movement point,
making you a particularly potent invading force across virtually any terrain.
Keshik (Medieval Era Knight)
Ranged mounted unit: -25% Combat, Ranged Combat 16, Range 2, Cannot melee
attack, No penalty against cities (not -33%); +2 Movement (after Mongol Terror);
Double experience from combat (Quick Study); Has Great Generals I (promotion)
A reworked Knight, the Keshik is the master of the hit-and-run. Being a mounted
archery unit, it is essentially a slightly weaker crossbow on some serious
wheels. With the movement bonus from Mongol Terror, the Keshilk has 5 Movement,
which is not only unparallelled in its own era, but more than any non-unique
unit from the next era. It s that fast. Conquering cities is made easy by the
fact that you can move after attacking. Just have a couple of melee units
around to do the dirty work after your Keshiks have brought a city to its
knees. Don t get arrogant and keep moving - the Keshik is still a mounted unit
and gets crushed by Pikes. Keshiks gain promotions twice as fast, so after a
couple of raids, you may have an army of super-powered Keshiks that will
outmatch anything else produced in the medieval era.
Khan (Replaces Great General)
+3 Movement (after Mongol Terror); Adjacent friendly units heal +15HP per turn
The Khan is a Great General capable of keeping up with your superfast raiding
party. The bonus from Mongol Terror applies to it as well, and it is as fast
as the Keshik. The Keshik and Khan form a fearsome combination
the Keshik has
a promotion that speeds up Great General generation, and the Khan makes the
Keshik nearly unstoppable, especially in open terrain. To make things even
better, the Khan heals 15 HP in adjacent units after each turn!
Victory
Your serious combat promotions make a domination victory the prime
choice. Mongol Terror s most useful application is in the early game, and it
should gain you a couple of city-states located on prime terrain and probably
sitting on key luxury or strategic resources. Your only other focus in the
early game should be to seek out Horses and tech to Chivalry with all possible
haste while filling out Honor policies. Once your Keshiks are ready for war,
send out raiding parties to conquer some neighbors. It s easy to be
overaggressive with the Mongols but try to avoid it trying to gobble up too
many city-states at a time might open up an undesirable multi-front war.
Remember that the last mounted units appear in the Industrial era so that s
when your movement advantage runs out. If you can t conquer the world by then,
have a plan B ready because your angry neighbors will be looking to teach you a
lesson or two in diplomacy via the World Congress and its sanctions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.28 MOROCCO
Morocco (Ahmad al-Mansur)
Gateway to Africa
Gain +3 Gold and +1 Culture for each international Trade Route made with a
different civilization of city-state; Rivals gain +2 Gold from each Trade
Route sent to Moroccan cities
Morocco s ability, similar to that of Arabia, gives them the tools to build a
dominant economy. You get a major boost from opening up trade routes with other
civs and city-states, so get your scouts out there and meet everyone. A happy
side effect of this is the ability to form world congress and have those extra
delegates from being the host. The culture you gain from your international
trade routes can save you some money on cultural buildings early on without
affecting your policy progress. It might be worth it to build a far-flung
empire just to have access to more cities for those lucrative trade routes. In
the classical era, having two trade routes gives you a crucial +6 gold boost
per turn.
Berber Cavalry (Industrial Era
Cavalry)
+50% Combat in desert tiles (Desert Warrior); +25% Combat in friendly territory
(Homeland Guardian)
A Cavalryman stacked for the desert, the Berber Cavalry is a great defender of
your lands. With a huge bonus in the desert tiles that you re likely to be
around and another bonus for fighting in friendly territory, they make
successfully invading your terrain a serious challenge. With its bonuses, the
Berber Cavalry not only makes short work of anything in its own era, but it
can take the fight to the Great War Infantry of the next era! The 50% boost in
desert tiles may make them lucrative for an offensive carried out against a
neighboring desert city as well, especially if you happen to have a Great
General handy.
Kasbah (Tile Improvement
Medieval Era
Chivalry)
+1 Food, +1 Production, and +1 Gold from desert tiles
The Kasbah is a tile improvement to boost the many deserts you will be settling
around. The food, production, and gold boost will help your desert cities with
virtually everything they need. These miniature versions of the Petra also
have the same defensive terrain bonus for your units as Forts, making them very
useful when holding a line or perimeter against an invading force, especially
after you have some Berber Cavalry for defense.
Victory With the huge bonuses to economy and a unique unit that is an able
defender, you would want to attempt a diplomatic victory. Settling near
deserts is actually a boon for you, with your Kasbahs turning them into very
productive tiles. Having Petra in one of your cities is an absolute must, so
make that a priority. You want to expand in order to set up the possibility of
maximum gain from your trade routes, so starting with Liberty is a good idea.
Getting some religious infrastructure will yield you more gold as you convert
your trade partners to your beliefs. Piety s Theocracy gets you gold from
Temples, and Patronage s Merchant Confederacy and Commerce s Wagon Trains will
net even more gold from the trade routes, making you an economic powerhouse.
Make sure you have an army capable to defending your rich cities from jealous
neighbors and to that end have some surplus Horsemen that will eventually
upgrade to the Berber Cavalry. If you re short on something, invest into the
appropriate city-state, and you re all set to be World Leader.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.29 NETHERLANDS
Netherlands (Willem of Orange)
Dutch East India Company
Gain 50% Happiness from luxuries that have been traded away
This is a great unique ability with far-reaching implications. The upfront
benefit is the ability to build a wide (and populous) empire without having to
worry about the unhappiness issues that such an empire creates. You have
incredible trade flexibility because you can carry out one-to-one luxury trades
or trade away a few luxuries to bolster your economy. After Commerce s
Protectionism, you ll be picking up the full +4 Happiness from each traded-away
luxury anyway. Since you will be largely unconcerned with Happiness, you can
save a ton of coin by avoiding investment in infrastructure like Colosseums and
puppet conquered cities with impunity.
Sea Beggar (Renaissance Era
Privateer)
+40% Combat v coastal cities and +66% of damage dealt stolen as gold (Coastal
Raider II, not +20% and +33%); Can heal outside friendly territory (Supply)
A Privateer with an additional bonus against cities, the Sea Beggar poses a
double threat to rival coastal cities. Not only can it attack the city, but it
can also turn ships guarding the city to its side (if it defeats them in
combat). The danger involved in having to physically attack cities (being a
naval melee unit) is offset by the fact that Sea Beggars can heal outside
friendly territory. A fleet of promoted (Coastal Raider III) Sea Beggars paired
with a Great Admiral can take a coastal city all by itself. Remember that the
Sea Beggars gain gold for inflicting damage
use that to buy more of them!
Setting some in front of your cities can even net you a free navy from the
barbarian ships that wander by.
Polder (Tile Improvement

Medieval Era
Guilds)
+3 Food from marsh or flood plains tiles; +1 Production and +2 gold to tile
yields after researching Economics
A tile improvement to boost Marsh or Flood Plain tile yield, the Polder doesn t
come into prominence until you have researched Economics. After Economics, the
Polder gives you +1 Production and +2 Gold on top of the +3 Food, adding up to
a ludicrous +8 tile yield on a Flood Plains tile. This kind of gain is too much
not to make a conscious effort towards settling near rivers, since that s
where you will find those flood plains.
Victory
The Dutch ticket for victory is not really stamped with any
particular type, giving you the choice of which victory you want to pursue. A
wide empire has benefits towards science, gold, and cultural production, so all
three types of victory can be explored. With all the luxury trading you ll be
doing, you will generate a ton of diplomatic favor, which is handy when
pursuing peaceful victories. As you ll likely have an empire with many coastal
cities, policies from the Exploration tree are a must, as are some key naval
wonders like the Great Lighthouse and the Colossus. You should ensure that your
cities are kept safe from naval invaders with a competent navy
this job is
easier when you have Sea Beggars to turn invaders to your side; when they
upgrade to Destroyers, they lose the Prize Ships promotion. Your choice of
ideology and tenets will be dictated by your choice of victory but be sure
to get Order s Dictatorship of the Proletariat if you re attempting a tourism
victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.30 OTTOMANS
Ottomans (Suleiman)
Barbary Corsairs
-67% Maintenance cost for naval units; Gain the Prize Ships promotion for all
naval units
Barbary Corsairs is great for netting a huge navy without too much trouble.
Since all naval units gain the Prize Ships promotion, there s a chance of
turning every ship you defeat to your cause. In the early game, that means
building a navy out of defeating the many barbarian ships foolish enough to
come near your coastal cities. Since you only pay a third of the usual
maintenance on naval units, it s not a burden to have a huge navy. By the time
the mid-game rolls around, you are likely to be in control of the seas,
opening up lucrative foreign coasts for expansion. Remember, your ability
kicks in only if you get to the coast, so be on the lookout for other naval
powers like Carthage, Britain, or the Danes, since they re likely to be in
competition for the same land that you want.
Janissary (Renaissance Era Musketman)
+25% Combat when attacking; Heal 50HP after destroying an enemy unit
A souped-up Musketman, the Janissary is your ticket to making a genuine effort
of world conquest during the renaissance. If it lands the killing blow on an
enemy, it heals up half its health afterwards, so there s no point defending
with Janissaries. They get a bonus while attacking, so put together a few
squads and go shooting. Janissaries are equally effective against coastal
cities, as long as you can protect them while embarked. Once they re on the
ground, they re a swift killing force, especially when combined with your other
renaissance unique unit.
Sipahi (Renaissance Era
Lancer)
+1 Movement; +1 Sight; No movement cost for pillaging

A speedier Lancer, the Sipahi s greatest attribute is the fact that it shows
up in the same era as the Janissary. While the Sipahi has no bonuses to actual
fighting, it has superior speed, and equally importantly, extra sight. That
sight will come handy when the Sipahi is part of an amphibious invasion, as it
will make sure that your Janissaries are not walking into a death trap laid out
on a beach. The Sipahi s function is to clear out resistance (in the form of
mounted units or cannons) and pave the way for your Janissaries to conquer
enemy cities.
Victory With your bonuses to naval strength and the fact that both your
unique units come in the same era, there s no reason not to make a push for
world conquest in the renaissance and industrial eras. Your early game focus
should be to get to the coast and build up your navy; by the mid-game no one
should be in a position to challenge the numerical superiority of your naval
forces. Make sure you have Honor filled out and opened Exploration (+1 Movement
and Sight for naval units) before you go to war in the renaissance, and rival
coastal cities have no chance against your amphibious invasion. If you work
your Sipahi and Janissary divisions in cohesion, conquering cities is a snap,
especially since your navy will be busy bombing them into submission. Keep in
mind that the window for world conquest is pretty small, though. If you can t
win by the industrial era, make sure you re so far ahead in terms of territory
that you can push for any kind of victory (probably scientific or diplomatic).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.31 PERSIA
Persia (Darius)
Achaemenid Legacy
Golden Ages are 50% longer; +1 Movement and +10% Combat for all units during a
Golden Age
Achaemenid Legacy is a versatile and useful ability as long as you can keep
your empire happy. That means playing a careful game between controlling your
population without falling behind your rivals. To that end, you must look to
invest in buildings like the colosseum, circus, or stone works. Grabbing the
correct policies is essential Tradition s Aristocracy and Monarchy are great,
but if you re the militaristic kind, Honor s Military Caste is also appealing.
Speaking of military benefits, not only do your golden ages last longer, you
get a combat boost to all units while in a golden age. This makes invasions
easy if timed correctly.
Immortal (Ancient Era Spearman)
+9% Combat; Heals at double speed
A stronger version of the Spearman, the Immortal gives you an opportunity to
crack some neighboring skulls in the ancient era and grab some premium cities.
The extra strength and double healing rate makes Immortals good defenders, but
their primary purpose is to wage offensive campaigns. The Immortals are built
to do more with a fewer number of units, and paired with a great general on top
of one of your golden ages, them an unstoppable force in the early game.
Satrap s Court (Renaissance Era
+1 Gold; +2 Happiness
Bank)
A Bank that provides both gold and happiness bonuses, the Satrap s Court is
perfectly synched with your unique ability. With no maintenance of its own and
extra gold production, it will pay for a lot of the happiness infrastructure
you require. Its own extra happiness will produce even more golden ages for
you.
Victory
Persia s victory is conditional to being in a golden age for as many
turns as possible and timing golden ages with offensive campaigns. If you can
spark a golden age when your Immortals are in play, you should be able to wage
an early war that gets you all the premium terrain you need. Since happiness
cost rises with both population and the number of cities, it s best to stay
small and pick up key wonders and policies. Having a religion can provide you
a serious happiness boost with beliefs like Goddess of Love, Peace Loving, and
Peace Gardens. The Chichen Itza, which lengthens your golden ages even further,
is an absolute must, so tech to Civil Service but remember that this also
makes your Immortals obsolete. Ultimately diplomacy goes hand-in-hand with
happiness, with unique luxuries coming in from mercantile city-states luxuries that can be boosted by Patronage s Cultural Diplomacy and Commerce s
Protectionism. Golden ages raise gold production significantly, and that can
be your ticket to a diplomatic victory once the world congress is upon you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.32 POLAND
Poland (Casimir III)
Solidarity
Gain a free Social Policy when advancing to a new era
Solidarity gives you a free social policy at the turn of each era, getting you
a significant leg-up on the competition in terms of the policies that you can
pile up. Keep track of which technologies trigger which era, so if you need a
policy really badly, you can prioritize certain technologies so your unique
ability kicks in. Since your early-game policy generation is not particularly
dependent on culture, you can save some money by choosing to build cultural
infrastructure later. Don t be a stickler for completing entire policy trees
either, pick and choose the ones you need for your development. Opening up both
Honor and Liberty might be a great idea for early expansion.
Winged Hussar (Renaissance Era
Lancer)
+17% Combat; +1 Movement; +15% Combat in open terrain; Force enemies to retreat
one tile if receiving less damage than damage dealt while attacking (Heavy
Charge)
A stronger Lancer with a special ability to push back enemy forces, the Winged
Hussar is great at breaking up enemy lines. The WH can be an effective
offensive or defensive force it pushes back enemies when it deals more damage
than it receives, and it ll be doing that almost all the time as it s the
strongest land unit of its era. Its extra movement means it can usually get a
flanking bonus on enemies, and if you trap someone in a corner from where they
cannot retreat, they take extra damage. When defending, your opposition will
have a tough time getting past your perimeter and your ranged units can have a
field day. While attacking, your rivals will be literally brushed aside as you
march towards their cities. Being a mounted unit, the WH is not built for
taking out cities, so you will still need support, but the Winged Hussar will
make sure you meet very little resistance.
Ducal Stables (Classical Era Stables)
+1 Gold from Pastures; +15XP to mounted units
A Stable with an economic boost, the Ducal Stables give your mounted units a
nice edge. On top of the production boost to mounted units, the DS provides an
XP bonus like the Barracks, so your horsemen are produced with an inherent
promotion. Ducal Stables produce Gold from Pastures, so if your city can have
a couple of pastures within its borders, your early economy will get a good
hike. As you will be likely building towards Winged Hussars in the renaissance,
there s no reason not to have the DS in every city that has a Pasture nearby.
Victory
The ability to gain policies makes you incredibly versatile; you re
not tied down to any particular type of victory. Your choice of policies will
dictate the direction you go in you can choose Honor and prepare for world
domination in the renaissance and industrial era, for example. Poland has no
reason to want to stay small, so early expansion is warranted. Since you get
gold bonuses from Pastures and need Horses to field an efficient army, go where
the animals are when settling. If your neighbors don t have any unique
horsemen, a little bit of medieval warfare for some land is not completely out
of the question. When the renaissance rolls around, give your Winged Hussars
the company of a few Cannons and go skull-cracking. If you prefer peaceful
means, you can go in that direction too. Commerce is a useful policy to
complete, boosting your economy and giving you a gold base to launch your bid
for any kind of victory. Keep a few WH handy to defend your lands, push Great
People generation, and you re on your way.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.33 POLYNESIA
Polynesia (Kamehameha)
Wayfinding
All units can embark and cross oceans immediately; +1 Sight for embarked units;
+10% Combat to adjacent friendly units from Moai
Wayfinding is a perfect example of an ability that has a huge upfront benefit
but fades as the game wares on, but the upfront benefit that it does give is
formidable. All your units are able to embark and cross oceans from the get-go,
meaning you re unbeatable when it comes to early exploration. On an archipelago
map, that means knowing where the best terrain is, and not having to fight for
it! With luck, you can always find a resource-rich island that no one else can
reach until the renaissance. No one should beat you to forming the world
congress and you should be the first one to meet most city-states. The problem
with Wayfinding is its lack of benefits after the world catches up with your
advanced technologies, but by then you should ve had enough time to consolidate
your position.
Maori Warrior (Ancient Era Warrior)
-10% Combat to adjacent enemies (Haka War Dance)
A Warrior that strikes fear in the heart of its opponents, the Maori Warrior
shows up at the wrong time to be of great use. Its combat penalty to adjacent
enemies is a great ability in wartime, but you re unlikely to want to do too
much warring in the Ancient and Classical eras as you ll be too busy exploring
and finding prime spots for your cities. In case someone takes offense to you
settling too close to them, the Maoris are great at defending your lands,
especially coastal lands once you re in the classical era and have some Moai
up.
The combat bonus from Wayfinding does not stack with multiple Moai or with the
combat penalty from the Maori Warrior. The combat penalty does not stack with
multiple Maori Warriors.
Moai (Tile Improvement
Classical Era
Construction)
+1 Culture from coast-adjacent land tiles; +1 Culture to tile yields for each
adjacent Moai; +1 Gold to tile yields after researching Flight
A tile improvement with the ability to seriously boost your cultural output,
the Moai becomes available in the Classical era and has to be built along the
coastline. In a way, it forces you to settle coastal cities so you can take
advantage of the potential of +4 Culture from each land tile next to a coast.
It helps that the Moai also provide a late-game gold boost. Part of your unique
ability is a combat bonus to adjacent friendly units from your Moai, making
them particularly useful when defending your many coastal cities. With some
Moai nearby, your Maori Warrior affects a 20% combat swing, making it extra
hard for invaders to overwhelm you.
Victory
While the entire world is essentially at your feet as to where you
want to settle, it s a good idea not to stretch out too thin when playing as
Polynesia. Grab the coastal areas richest in resources or settle on a remote
landmass where no civilization can bother you for thousands of years the
choice is yours. Polynesia is not really geared towards war, and the unique
unit comes very early when there s no reason for you to be at war, so a
peaceful means of victory is more rewarding. Having a competent navy is a must,
however. Since you ll found most of your cities along the coast, you might run
into production and science problems, so build the appropriate infrastructure.
Your far-flung coastal empire lends itself to lucrative cargo ships, but make
sure they re well-protected, especially in the early-mid game. If someone
attacks, your Moai are perfect for a coastal defense campaign. Your maritime
pursuits will yield a fair amount of gold that can get you a diplomatic victory.
Otherwise, you can go in the cultural direction
your Moai churn out a ton of
culture, and it s not very difficult to turn that into a tourism victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.34 PORTUGAL
Portugal (Maria I)
Mare Clausum
Double gold from the resource diversity bonus on international Trade Routes
Portugal is another civilization that can build a burgeoning economy out of
trade routes. Since the resource diversity bonus is doubly beneficial for you,
you need to be slightly picky in deciding who you trade with. Not all trade
routes are created equal
if a neighboring civilization has the same things
you do, look for someone else. You want to make the most of the trade routes
you establish, especially early on. Since trade routes over water are more
lucrative and likely to reach more civilizations, it s a good idea to settle
the coast. Once you have your cargo ships on the seas, protect them with your
navy, especially in the early-mid game, when seafaring barbarians are most
active.
Nau (Renaissance Era Caravel)
+1 Movement; Can perform a one-time
gold and experience (Exotic Cargo)
Trade Mission
with a foreign city for
A Caravel with a movement bonus and a special ability, the Nau is perfectly
in-synch with your economic ambitions. The Nau gains a lump of gold from
performing a one-time trade mission, and the bonus is higher the more
distance you cover. The Nau is built to cover vast distances quickly, so if
you re in no danger of being attacked, there s no reason not to reach out to
far-off civilizations for a nice boost. You can even build a Nau, conduct a
trade mission, then delete it it s inefficient, but the gold boost can be
worth it. If you have maintained friendly relations with your immediate
neighbors, every Nau you produce can conduct a trade mission without too much
trouble. Remember that they get an XP boost too (so get the Boarding Party I
promotion), and once they return from their mission to your coasts, they re
effective defenders against anything else in the renaissance.

Feitoria (Tile Improvement
Medieval Era
Navigation)
Gain access to luxuries of city-states (as though allied) if built inside the
borders of a city-state
While your ability doesn t incentivize city-state relations, the Feitoria most
certainly does. Since you don t need to be allied or even friendly to build a
Feitoria in a city-state s territory, you just need to find as many city-states
as you can. To that end, you have a lot to gain from building an extra scout
or two early on to discover all city-states. The luxuries from the Feitoria
are virtually free, since you re spared the gold investment in city-states
usually required to get to an allied or friendly level. Having a spare Worker
dedicated to traveling and building Feitorias is also great. Remember though
that if the Feitoria is pillaged, it s an act of war against you, so you might
find yourself in an accidental war you want no part of. But once you re at
peace again, go and repair your Feitoria, and everything is back to normal.
Victory The excess Gold that Portugal generates makes it suited for a
diplomatic victory. The extra luxuries you gain from your Feitorias can make
sure that you can grow wide without having to worry too much about unhappiness,
and you can trade away the leftover luxuries for more gold. A happy side effect
of growing wide is the opening of several more sea trade route opportunities,
and those cargo ships will return even more with Exploration s Treasure Fleets.
Liberty is a good way to open, and having the extra Worker from the Pyramids on
hand is useful when you need to build your Feitorias. You want those
luxury-based benefits as early as possible, so teching to Navigation should be
a priority. With your Nau returning you even more gold, a diplomatic victory
should be within grasp as you progress to the late eras.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.35 ROME
Rome (Caesar Augustus)
Glory of Rome
+25% Production when constructing buildings already built in the capital
This bonus to infrastructure is unique in the game, and if nothing else it
means that all new buildings should be built in Rome first. That also means
that the burden of producing your army and protecting your capital has to be
borne by other cities. On the other hand, you can raise new cities or rebuild
conquered ones faster than any other civilization. This ability lends itself to
periods of rapid development and growth interspersed between relative lulls, so
teching unevenly to grab key buildings can be good idea, especially once you
decide what kind of victory you want to pursue. While Glory of Rome helps your
satellite cities, it does nothing for Rome itself, so make sure you re
up-to-date on any infrastructure that helps Production in the capital,
especially Ironworks.
Ballista (Classical Era
Catapult)
+14 % Combat; +25% Ranged combat
A Catapult that can both hit harder and withstand melee combat a little better,
the Ballista is designed to be a one-man (one-unit?) wrecking crew. Your
Ballista can actually handle Warriors in melee, but don t be arrogant and take
on Spears
you ll get trashed. If you protect your Ballista, they will make
quick work of neighboring cities. The trick is to get to Mathematics and build
them before your opponent gets to the Classical era and the stronger units it
presents the Ballista has no chance against Swords or Horsemen.
Legion (Classical Era

Swordsman)
+21% Combat; Can build Roads and Forts
Your super-powered siege weapon is more effective when paired with the Legion,
which is a stronger Swordsman. The Legion is good at clearing the path for your
Ballista with its brute strength it has the highest base strength of any
Classical-era unit. Especially if you ve managed to out-tech your opponent,
you will find that destroying their army is absurdly easy. The other aspect of
the Legion is the ability to build roads; a city-state demanding connectivity
should never be a challenge to you. When the Legion is building roads, it gets
all the tile improvement bonuses that your workers benefit from.
Victory
With Rome, the Classical Era is crucial because what you do in that
era will determine which victory you want to pursue. Since both your unique
units are offensive juggernauts and happen to be available in the same era,
there s no reason not to go invade some neighbors. In fact, you probably want
the Classical Era to come as early as possible, so tech Iron Working and
Mathematics at the cost of other techs. Don t worry so much about developing
infrastructure in your second and third city, because raising them up later
will be a snap as long as you have the right infrastructure in Rome. You need
Iron for your Legions, so that should guide where you place your second (and
possibly third) city. After you re done conquering, assess what you ve gotten,
and where you can go with that. All doors of victory are still open to you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.36 RUSSIA
Russia (Katherine the Great)
Siberian Riches
+1 Production from strategic resource tiles; double quantities of Horses, Iron,
and Uranium
This ability is a ticket to get much more out of the land you have than others.
You get double quantities of Horses, Iron, and later Uranium, so you do not
need to push as hard for early expansion as most other civilizations, giving
you the chance to build up your existing cities instead of fighting wars of
expansion. Since you get additional production from strategic resource tiles,
your cities have the potential to boast some serious infrastructure. Remember
that you do not know where all the strategic resources are so prioritize
those technologies that reveal them on the map. Having double Horses and Iron
can lead to a large army by the renaissance, but it comes with a time stamp
you don t get extra Coal, Aluminum or Oil, the key resources of the industrial
and modern era.
Cossack (Industrial Era
Cavalry)
+33% Combat against damaged units
A Cavalryman with a bonus against wounded units, the Cossack works great as a
team player. On its own, the Cossack is just another Cavalryman, but when
paired with some ranged units (like a Gatling Gun) or some ranged siege units
(Artillery), it becomes a real handful. Let your ranged units get the first
shot in, and then use the Cossacks to overrun the damaged units.
A Cossack-Gatling army can demolish cities and anything that protects them with
ease. Remember that the Cossack suffers from the same issues as any other
Cavalry units, so follow some guidelines don t get caught defending, watch
out for enemy Lancers, and don t go attacking cities.
Krepost (Ancient Era Barracks)
-25% Culture and gold cost for expanding borders
The Krepost goes hand-in-hand with your unique ability. Its special function of
helping cultural expansion is particularly useful early on, when there is
likely to be intense competition for land. It also makes outright buying out
tiles more economically viable
and you might want to buy some tiles,
especially if they contain strategic resources and you don t want to risk
giving up your monopoly. The Krepost is originally a Barracks, so you have the
added benefit of gaining a promotion to all your land units if you have one in
each of your cities.
Victory The Russian unique ability and unique building combine to offer
threefold benefits the production bonus from strategic tiles, the double
quantities of certain resources, and a larger scope for cultural expansion. You
can grow wide and tall, provided you enact the right policies to stay abreast
of the growing unhappiness. Liberty s Meritocracy helps, as do the Chichen Itza
and Notre Dame. After a period of natural expansion, you should be ready to
field an impressive army by the time the renaissance rolls around, especially
if you have a Krepost (and you should) in each city. Having spare strategic
resources means you should be an active trader, either swapping your resources
for gold or making trades to gain some luxuries. If you crave some more land,
the time to strike is the Industrial era, when your Cossack becomes available
just make sure you don t piss off everyone so much that they don t want to
trade with you. With your wide, productive empire and your trade-bolstered
economy, you can push for either a spaceship victory or a diplomatic victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.37 SHOSHONE
Shoshone (Pocatello)
Great Expanse
Gain 8 extra tiles inside the borders of newly-founded cities; +15% Combat for
all units inside friendly territory; Start game with a Pathfinder (not Warrior)
Great Expanse is a way to get more out of fewer cities, at least in the early
game. Newly founded cities gain an extra ring of tiles around them, so your
cities have the potential to take care of their own population issues by
incorporating more luxuries in their territory. Remember that extra land is of
little use without the population to work it, so focus on food sources. Since
your empire gains land in a natural way through the formation of cities,
there s no need to start expansion wars; instead you can focus on
infrastructure. On the flipside, be sure to calculate exactly which tiles your
new cities take up as you don t want to incur the wrath of an angry neighbor
against an undefended city. Place your cities carefully; being near grasslands
will be helpful in building population.
Pathfinder (Ancient Era
Scout)
+80% Cost; +33% Combat; Choose from five randomly-choses bonuses when exploring
Ancient Ruins (Native Tongue)
A reworked Scout, the Pathfinder is a tricky little unit. Its unique promotion
means that you can choose which bonus you want from an Ancient Ruin, and so you
want to build quite a few of them so as to reach every possible Ruin. The
problem is that they re almost twice as expensive as a Scout but this is
offset by the cultural boundary expansion made through Great Expanse as it will
save you the time required to build Monuments. Use that time to build more
Pathfinders instead. It also has an increased combat strength, and with the
Honor opener, it can take on and defeat barbarians without any other kind of
support. As an emergency measure, your Pathfinders can act as a defensive force
against an invasion, but don t be too dependent on that. If your opponent has
progressed to the Classical era, your Pathfinders are no match for their units.
Comanche Rider (Industrial Era
Cavalry)
-11% Cost; +1 Movement (Full Moon Striker)
The Comanche Rider, a cheaper, faster Cavalryman, is perfect for zooming around
and defending your vast swathes of land. Mass-producing Comanche Riders is a
good idea if you re anticipating an invasion from one of your warlike neighbors
they re great at flanking and destroying incoming slow-moving siege and
ranged units. The Comanche Rider s additional movement is from a promotion
called Full Moon Striker, and that promotion endures with the unit through
upgrades. The Comanche Rider is an average offensive force it s easy to have
a numerical superiority over the opponent, but there s no bonus to actual
combat and they still get hit badly by Lancers.
Victory Early bonuses to expansion are likely to bloom through the eras to
provide you various advantages and you can choose what kind of victory you want
to pursue. Place your cities carefully to gain the most mileage out of your
ability. You might find yourself swimming in luxuries or a critical strategic
resource. Going to war is usually not your strong point, so sell that Iron to
someone who wants to invade (hopefully not you). Be careful not to tick off
your neighbors early on (when you re most vulnerable), especially if they are
Hunnic, Greek, or Assyrian. You need to have food in your cities to get the
most from the land, so invest in maritime city-states and focus your religion
to that need. Opening Tradition just to have access to the Hanging Gardens
might be worth it. Your neighbors might feel threatened by your expansion, so
keep a standing army at hand to defend your lands. Your vast empire gives you a
better chance of being in possession of Coal/Aluminum/Oil, so trade those away
for a price to warmongering nations. Invest the gold in city-states or
scientific infrastructure, the choice is yours.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.38 SIAM
Siam (Ramkhamhaeng)
Father Governs Children
+50% Culture, Food, and Faith gifts from city-states
One of the few civilizations with direct bonuses to diplomacy, Siam has a lot
to gain from befriending as many city-states as possible. Friendly city-states
give you 50% more stuff, be it food, faith, or culture. There s no help towards
getting to be friendly with these city-states, though, so save up all the gold
you can. To that end, you can skimp on some religious or cultural
infrastructure to save some coin once you ve got a city-state pumping that out
for you. The challenge is to have the gold required to keep up the relations
so if you ve got spare resources, trade them away and don t build up a huge
army and waste coin in maintenance.
Naresuan s Elephant (Medieval Era
Knight)
Does not need Horses; +25% Combat; -1 Movement; +50% Combat against mounted
units
A reworked Knight, the Naresuan s Elephant is a strong defender. Its superior
strength means it can handle anything that the medieval era throws at it. Enemy
Pikes aren t strong enough to wreck them in one go, and if there are mounted
units around, the Naresuan s Elephant will crush them. The huge bonus against
mounted units means that rival Knights and their equivalents (Songhai s
Mandekalu Cavalry and Spain s Conquistadore) have zero chance against you.
As a bonus, Naresuan s Elephant doesn t even need horses! It s slow and it s
useless against cities, so the best use of the NE is for defending your lands.
Wat (Medieval Era
+3 Culture
University)
This unique University is geared towards making you a cultural powerhouse. The
Wat does everything that a University does, but adds a culture boost. A good
trick is to remember that the Wat counts as a cultural building, and so
Tradition s Legalism can build free Wats for you. You need to build
Amphitheaters and Libraries and then take the policy to get a big boost to
your science and culture per turn. (Credit goes to Zephyr for this idea, from
his excellent Handbook for Despots and Dictators on the 2Kgames Forums).
There s really not much else to the Wat
once you have them up in all your
cities, you can take a call on whether you want to go science or culture.
Victory Siam has the option to pursue any of the peaceful types of victory,
but a cultural victory seems most likely. In order to maintain your
highly-beneficial city-state relationships, you need a ton of gold, so start
building for that in the early game. Tradition s Monarchy nets you a bunch of
gold in the capital, so that s a good place to start. Overseas trade routes
are very lucrative, so don t let them get blighted by barbarian galleys.
Commerce policies are great in keeping your gold output at high levels. You
get faith bonuses from your city-state friends, so it s good to have a religion.
It gives you an extra avenue for gaining influence, and you can focus your
religion towards generating gold (Tithe), culture (World Church), or science
(Interfaith Dialogue). If you re going the science route, keep in mind that
your city-states can t produce any for you until you enact Patronage s
Scholasticism. As the eras go by, the economic burden of city-states becomes
lighter while their boosts to your empire increase the critical period is the
early game. Get through that and you re on your way to a spaceship or tourism
victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.39 SONGHAI
Songhai (Askia)
River Warlord
Triple gold from pillaging cities and clearing barbarian encampments; +1 Sight
and +100% Combat for embarked units; Gain the Amphibious promotion for all land
military units
This misleadingly-named ability actually has nothing to do with rivers, but it
does have some powerful bonuses. You get tons of gold from conquering cities,
and your units incur no penalties for attacking across bodies of water. Your
embarked defense and amphibious promotion also makes your units great beach
stormers, in case a coastal city needs to be taken care of. Since you need to
be on the warpath to take advantage of your ability, it s good to build your
cities on productive terrain and keep your production infrastructure updated.
Another aspect is getting triple gold from clearing barbarian encampments, so
have a couple of early Warriors and Archers dedicated to this task
the
additional gold will ease the burden that your economy will be under from
maintaining your army. Starting with Honor is pretty much a given since you
plan to be warring most of the game - Honor policies will do much to improve
the efficiency and mitigate the economic impact of your military.
Mandekalu Cavalry (Medieval Era
Knight)
-8% Cost; No combat penalty against cities (not -33%)
A cheaper Knight with no penalty against cities, this unit is tailor-made for
rushing across the map and laying opponents to waste. If you manage your gold
correctly, you should be able to raise an army of Mandekalus ready to conquer
your neighbors by the Medieval era. If you build enough and don t care about
the losses you take, you can even run an inefficient but successful invasion
with just the Mandekalu Cavalry. They re great hit-and-run artists, and can be
the lynchpins of a more organized invasion force, supported by ranged units or
some Trebuchets.
Mud Pyramid Mosque (Classical Era
0 Maintenance (not 2); +2 Culture
Temple)
A Temple replacement that doesn t cost you anything, this is a great building
that your puppets can build without bankrupting you. The culture boost from the
Mud Pyramid Mosque makes a compelling case for trying a tourism victory,
especially as they have no maintenance cost. Even if you choose not to go in
that direction, extra culture never hurts because it translates into more
social policies.
Victory
In order to take full advantage of the Songhai unique ability, you
pretty much need to be warring with someone at all time, and so the rest of the
world will denounce you as a warmongering menace. That s not a major problem if
you re bent on conquering them anyway, but if you plan to go the cultural
route, it will be a major hindrance because no one wants to be your friend.
Since puppet cities do not add to policy costs, it s best to conquer your
neighbors and puppet them, but don t wipe them out completely
you can always
use the extra gold from pillaging any other cities they might plop down. Since
you re likely to be building Mud Pyramid Mosques everywhere, it would be
worthwhile to found a religion and pick up Holy Warriors or Guruship. Choose
your attacking spots carefully
there is no benefit from getting into a
situation where multiple leaders want to wage wars against you at the same time
or if another civilization can exploit a weak flank. Your prosperity is
directly linked to how much time you spend on the offensive, so wasting time
having to defend your lands is not ideal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.40 SPAIN
Spain (Isabella)
Seven Cities of Gold
Gain 100 Gold when discovering a natural wonder (500 Gold if discovering it
before others); Double happiness and tile yields from natural wonders
This is a very interesting ability that incentivizes fast exploration. You get
a huge gold boost from discovering natural wonders, especially if you re the
first to do it, making extra investments in Scouts worthwhile. Several wonders
are found in the sea or off the coast, so there s serious money in building a
fleet of Triremes and sending them out on coastal explorations. When you have
Caravels, you ll get more cash from finding natural wonders overseas. It s
important to be the first one to have Triremes out on the seas, so rush
towards Sailing at the cost of other technologies. Remember that you get twice
the tile yields from natural wonders, so if you find Solomon s Mines
(+12 Production), Lake Victoria (+12 Food) or Cerro del Potosi (+20 Gold),
don t hesitate in plopping a city down next to it. The single tile yield pretty
much pays for the city. Since you get double happiness from discovering
wonders, population shouldn t be a concern either.
Conquistador (Medieval Era Knight)
+12.5% Cost; +2 Sight; Double defense when embarked; No combat penalty against
cities (not -33%); Can settle cities on a landmass other than the one with
your capital
During your exploration, you will discover new landmasses which you might want
to settle. The Conquistador is built to make this task easy. A reworked Knight,
it has extra Sight and can defend itself when embarked. It s a little expensive
but this is offset by the fact that it has no penalty when attacking cities.
The Conquistador can also build a city on a foreign landmass, just like a
Settler. If you already have a Galleass or two bombing a coastal city, there s
really little your opposition can do to stop your Conquistador from swooping in
and taking over. And then they can just move on and found their own cities on
that continent.
Tercio (Renaissance Era Musketman)
+7% Cost; +8% Strength; +50% Combat against mounted units
A stronger Musketman, the Tercio will be the defensive mainstay of your army.
Once your Conquistadors have done their work and taken some coastal cities,
your Tercio s job begins. One of the stronger units of the renaissance, the
Tercio also has a promotion against mounted units, meaning that opposition
Lancers and their equivalents (like the Ottoman Sipahi or Polish Winged Hussar)
will have a tough time conquering your lands. The Tercio can hold his own
against other special units of his era, but be sure not to fall behind
technologically
your defense will be no match for the attacking Riflemen of
the Industrial era.
Victory Since your bonuses incentivize quick exploration and your Conquistador
facilitates settling different landmasses, you re likely to wind up with a
far-flung, coastal empire. This kind of empire can lead itself to a scientific
or diplomatic victory, depending on how you play it. When playing Spain,
it s always good to have a strong navy and tech the naval technologies at the
cost of others. Once your Caravels have discovered a natural wonder or two on
foreign continents make it an aim to get there and plant a city next to it by
the time you have Conquistadores. This might mean that you ll be warring for
much of the medieval and renaissance eras, so it s a great idea to have a
couple of high-production cities ready to churn out those units. Both the
Conquistador and the Tercio are more expensive than the units they replace,
so this is doubly important. If you happen to stumble across Mt. Kailash or Mt.
Sinai, use it to get yourself a religion with Holy Warriors and Just War,
which will go a long way in helping produce Conquistadors and taking over enemy
cities. Your overseas trade routes from your coastal empire should be netting
you a fair amount of gold by then, so invest that into extra Tercios to defend
your newly-won lands from counterattacks. Once the dust settles down, take a
look at what is being produced in your empire, and you can choose to go for a
scientific, diplomatic, or even tourism victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.41 SWEDEN
Sweden (Gustav II Adolf)
Nobel Prize
Gain 90 Influence by gifting a Great Person to a city-state; Gain 10% bonus to
Great Person generation from each Declaration of Friendship (rival civilization
also gains this bonus)
Here is an ability that will become more important and more productive as the
game goes on. Staying in everyone s good graces is especially important to you,
since your bonus from Declarations of Friendship stacks. Even on a small map
with only 5 rivals, you can easily get a whopping 30% boost to Great Person
generation, which will help no matter what victory condition you choose to
pursue. The other aspect of this ability goes hand-in-hand with your hordes of
great people, since you re likely to be able to spare a couple to gift to
city-states and gain a bunch of influence. The 90 Influence that you gain from
your gift can turn a city-state you just met into an ally or snatch a friendly
city-state from another civilization and turn it into your ally. The gold
you d otherwise invest in your diplomatic pursuits can be routed to something
else, making you doubly efficient.
Hakkapeliitta (Renaissance Era
Lancer)
+15% Combat when sharing a tile with a Great General; +2 Movement for Great
Generals sharing a tile with the Hakkapeliitta at the beginning of a turn
A Lancer who works especially well with Great Generals, the Hakkapeliitta can
be a great offensive or defensive unit. The catch is that the double bonus
from the Great General is limited to only one unit (the Haka that shares the
tile with the GG at the beginning of that turn), so it might be worthwhile to
save up a couple of Generals. Both the Honor and Liberty trees have policies
that net you free Great Generals, and if you have a couple of Declarations of
Friendship in place by the Renaissance, that will further help your great
person prospects. With luck, you can have three Hakas on the frontline with a
+30% boost to combat, and they re a real handful, especially once the Carolean
is also active.
Carolean (Industrial Era
Heal each turn (March)
Rifleman)
The Carolean gives the Swedish army some teeth once it arrives in the
Industrial era. A Rifleman with the ability to heal each turn, the Carolean is
built to last. Once you have Barracks and the Heroic Epic, your Carolean will
have access to three promotions off the bat: the promotion from the Barracks,
Morale from the Epic, and March as an inherent promotion. That makes it a
powerful enemy for your neighbors, especially paired with the Hakas and the
Great Generals you re likely to have. If you re feeling the land pinch in the
mid-game, the Carolean and Hakas can make short work of your neighbors and gain
you some cities.
Victory The Swedish ability is built for a diplomatic victory, although a
tourism victory is also a possibility now that it is so dependent on Great
Person generation. You also have two powerful unique units that should allow
you to conquer some neighbors by the mid-game, so it s useful to prepare for
that during the early game. Starting with Honor is not a bad idea, especially
due to Warrior Code s bonus to Great General generation. You need Horses for
Hakas, so settle accordingly. Trying to be friends with everyone can sometimes
spring nasty surprises
especially if your rivals hate each other
so follow
the winds of change and be dynamic in your friendships. Your aggressive
diplomacy is likely to anger other civilizations (especially those that you
replace as allies of city-states) so be prepared for an invasion or two.
Remember to have spies in city-states so another civilization doesn t snatch an
ally from you by way of coup. By the Industrial era, you should have the army
to conquer at least a neighbor, but don t annex their cities
puppet them
instead so they don t raise your culture costs. With infrastructure in place,
you can choose to go tourism (with your bonus to great person generation,
especially once you have guilds and Freedom s Avant Garde), or diplomacy
(gift away all the Great Artists/Musicians/Writers from your guilds for some
easy influence).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.42 VENICE
Venice (Enrico Dandolo)
Serenissima
Cannot build Settlers or annex cities; Purchase units and buildings in puppet
cities; double the number of available Trade Routes; Gain free Merchant of
Venice after researching Optics
This ability actually takes a lot of the early-game choices out of your hand.
Since you cannot settle new cities, there s no decision to make about where to
send Settlers. That doesn t mean you can skip Scouts, though
you need to meet
a bunch of city-states to take advantage of your extra trade routes. Since
you ll have double the usual number of trade routes, you never have to choose
between an internal/international trade route
you can have both! Even though
you can only puppet cities, it s important to remember that you can purchase
units/buildings in those cities. Defending your puppets from invasions is
firmly your responsibility. Since you can only build Wonders in your capital,
you have to ensure that there s plenty of population and production
infrastructure in place. It doesn t hurt to have a couple of trade routes
dedicated to bringing food and hammers to Venice, especially if there are no
lucrative alternatives.
Great Galleass (Medieval Era Galleass)
+10% Cost; +12.5% Combat; +15% Ranged combat
The Great Galleass, a stronger, more expensive Galleass, is designed to be the
anchor of your navy. You should already have a navy (acting as envoys) by the
time it becomes available, but getting the Great Galleass gives your navy a
nice bite. Apart from protecting your overseas trade routes, the Great Galleass
can also defend your coasts, and on occasion take out a coastal city. Don t get
arrogant though
even though the Great Galleass is stronger than any naval
unit of its era, it has a difficult time conquering a well-defended city. Don t
go taking on the Chinese (Chu-Ko-Nu), English (Longbows), or the Koreans
(Hwach a); that will only end in tears. But if you have some land support, the
Great Galleass gives you the naval edge to take a coastal city by surprise.
Merchant of Venice (Replaces Great Merchant)
Expend to Buy a city-state
Since you cannot settle cities, the Merchant of Venice is there to make sure
that you have more than one. Since you don t need to be allied (or even
friendly) with a city state in order to puppet it, there s no investment
required. The trick is choosing which city-states to grab with your Merchants.
Maritime and Cultural city-states tend to have the best bang for your buck, so
target those. Don t forget to protect your early MoVs from barbarians as they
travel to far-off city-states.
Victory
Venice is interesting, because their MoV and unique ability push you
towards a peaceful victory, but neither type of victory is made straightforward.
Science and culture outputs of city-states are curtailed because they are
puppets, and a city-state that you puppet ceases to exist from a diplomatic
point of view. Still, a cultural victory is probably the way to go. Since you
only have one city to manage, starting with Tradition is a no-brainer, although
Liberty s Collective Rule nets you a free MoV. When choosing your first couple
of city-states to grab, make sure you get one with coastal access, especially
if Venice is not on the coast. This is because there s far more to gain from
overseas trade routes than from overland trade routes. Militaristic city-states
are best left alone and allied with, since they will supply you with the
standing army required to guard your lands. Your early navy s sole purpose
should be to clear the path for your vast network of Cargo Ships. Later, you
can surprise a coastal city with your Great Galleass, but don t take on
anything that has Trebuchets posted on the coast it won t end well. Make
every effort to turn Venice into a production powerhouse, and you should be
churning out cultural wonders that will put you ahead in the tourism race.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.43 ZULU
Zulu (Shaka)
Iklwa
-25% Experience needed for unit promotion; -50% Maintenance cost for melee
units
Very few civilizations have the direct benefits to warfare that Iklwa provides
the Zulus. Your unit maintenance cost is slashed in half and your unit
promotions need less experience than usual. Combined with Honor s Military
Tradition, this second trait means that your units gain promotions lightning
fast. An overlooked side effect of this is that you ll also have a powerful
navy should you need to conquer overseas. Iklwa goes hand-in-hand with Ikanda s
unique promotions, which will make your early melee units nigh unstoppable.
What s more, since you re paying next to nothing on maintenance, you can also
field a huge army that s quality and quantity, and it s a fearsome
combination. The only thing to worry about is unhappiness from all the
conquering you ll be doing, so take care of it by taking over opposition
capitals as they re bound to be built in luxury-rich areas.
Impi (Medieval Era Pikeman)
Strike twice when attacking
first at range, then melee (Spear Throw)
This Pikeman replacement gets a free ranged hit before melee combat, making it
a truly unique unit. It s still considered a melee unit, so it reaps the
benefits of the Ikanda s unique promotions. The Impi is a devastating invader
and army killer, but its Spear Throw cannot be performed against cities. That
doesn t really matter, since your archers and siege elements can destroy cities
with relative ease, especially after the Impi has taken care of all resistance.
Using the Impi for defense can work but it is a terribly inefficient idea
akin to using a sword to dice an onion.
Ikanda (Ancient Era
Barracks)
Gain unique promotions for pre-Gunpowder melee units
A Barracks with access to a range of unique promotions, the Ikanda adds quality
to your already large army. Its series of Buffalo promotions turns your melee
units into powerhouses. A melee unit with all three Buffalo promotions gains a
staggering range of bonuses: +10% combat in open terrain, +1 Movement,
+10% overall combat, +75% flanking, and +30% combat against ranged attacks.
That bonus against ranged attacks makes them especially effective against
cities, too. The extra movement and huge flanking bonus can probably persuade
you to skip building any mounted units at all.
The Ikanda s unique promotions are as follows: Buffalo Chest +10% Combat in
open terrain, +25% Flanking bonus, +10% Combat against ranged attacks; Buffalo
Horns +1 Movement, +25% Flanking bonus, +10% Combat against ranged attacks;
Buffalo Loins +10% Combat, +25% Flanking bonus, +10% Combat against ranged
attacks.
Victory There s really only one mode of victory here, and it is domination.
Your serious wartime prowess should mean that you can overwhelm your rivals
with your numerical and skill-wise superiority. Since you need to be productive
to field a large army, your initial cities should be built in high-hammer
areas. Honor is the only way to start, and since you gain promotions
super-quick, it pays to blood your early units in combat against nearby

barbarians (especially once you have constructed your Ikandas). When the
barbarians run out, train your eye on your neighbors and demolish them. Early
wonders like the Terracotta Army, Temple of Artemis, and Statue of Zeus can
only help. Especially Statue of Zeus. Keep an eye on happiness, and your
economy will take care of itself through your gains from conquering your
opposition. If you re not bothered about anything other than happiness, it may
make sense to pillage everything in sight (except improved luxuries, of course).
The problem with all this is that it comes with a time stamp. Your special
promotions don t apply to post-gunpowder units, and the Impi loses its ability
when it upgrades. By the time the renaissance rolls around, your powerful
military bonuses no longer have any effect. If conquest doesn t work out by
then, you need a plan B, otherwise you ll be in trouble as the survivors line
up to take shots at you through the World Congress.

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Guide for Sid Meier's Civilization V.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.5 HOW TO READ

you bonus luxury resources really cheaply

penalty against cities (not -33%)

are on steroids. It really is too easy.

you have stockpiled

This long-range Archer can be the basis of your offensive or defensive

Greece (Alexander the Great)

that function is so specific that

against cities (not +200%)

a very early rush at a nearby city-state sitting on a valuable resource or a

Polder (Tile Improvement

+1 Movement; +1 Sight; No movement cost for pillaging

with a foreign city for

effective defenders against anything else in the renaissance.

Legion (Classical Era

super-quick, it pays to blood your early units in combat against nearby

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