Basics of the game in the latest expansion for the sixth “Civilization”
Sid Meier’s Civilization 6: Gathering Storm is a global expansion for the popular turn-based strategy game Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 , dramatically changing the gameplay of the original game. The add-on touches on many of the old mechanics, and also adds new ones such as cataclysms, climate, congress and many others.
The original Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 is in itself a very complex and confusing strategy, and after the release of the new expansion, even fans of the series may have difficulties. Therefore, if you want to speed up the learning of the game and reduce the number of campaign restarts due to stupid mistakes, then you should read the tips below.
Before the game starts
- Define your goal. There are six types of victory in the game: diplomatic, military, scientific, cultural, religious, as well as a victory by points, which can only be won if no other victory has been won in the time allotted for the game. Each of these options has its drawbacks. For example, a military victory requires a huge number of units and resources, but it is achieved much faster than a scientific victory, which requires less resources, but more time. Therefore, in order to accelerate the achievement of any of the victories, you must choose a civilization corresponding to your strategy. So, the Zulu will find it much easier to win a military victory because of their bonuses to the army, and Sweden will find it easier to get a scientific or cultural victory.
- Customize the game for yourself. If you play on a large map and start to get lost in the number of objects, then try changing the game interface. In the lower left corner of the screen, you can change the display of the map, as well as activate some cell filters (religion, loyalty, prestige, etc.). A strategic look can also help owners of weak computers increase frame rates.
Strategically view
Also you can speed up all animations and the general progress of the game. To do this, when creating a game, in the “Game speed” item, select the appropriate parameter.
- Explore the characteristics of other nations. The game features 46 civilizations, each of which has a set of unique bonuses. Having studied their features, you will always know what to expect from the enemy, as well as all his strengths and weaknesses.
After starting the game
- Choose your allies carefully. In the early stages of the game, you will practically not receive any benefits from alliances, so in the early eras it is better to hold neutrality, otherwise you risk making yourself a lot of enemies. By the time the later eras come, you will already clearly see which civilizations are very weak and which are dominant. If a strong civilization prevents your victory, then unite against it with its opponents. If she does not pose a threat, then make an alliance with her to receive many bonuses.
- Start by focusing on quantity. The more territories you explore and conquer early in the game, the easier it will be in later eras. It is also important that the lands are different and have different characteristics (deserts, tundra, mountains, etc.). This is especially easy to do when playing as civilizations like Maori or Phenicia, since they have bonuses to mobility.
- Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the units. The characteristics of units are influenced not only by the bonuses of civilizations and the technologies studied, but also by the landscape, as well as which unit you are attacking. For example, spearmen show themselves terribly in attack, since they have very few movement points, and the damage done is comparable to that of swordsmen. However, in defense, they show themselves much better. Especially if the attacking unit is cavalry. It is also important to consider the order of attack of units, as some troops do more damage if the target is injured.
Some units can fight both in close combat and at a distance. If such a unit does more damage in close combat, then this does not mean that it should always be sent to the front. It will be much more useful to put a squad with a large amount of health in front of the enemy so that he takes all the damage on himself, while a less strong unit attacked the enemy from afar.
- Trade more often. Some strategic resources that you have in abundance may be severely deficient in another civilization. Take advantage of this and exchange a small portion of your resources for those you lack or don’t have at all. If you cannot or do not want to exchange some strategic resources for others, then buy them for points of world influence (but do not abuse the waste of influence, as it will come in handy at the Congress). Also in the trade window, you can make a gift (transferring something in the trade window from your side, without receiving anything from the civilization with which you are trading), which will improve your relationship. The more valuable the gift, the better your relationship will become.
Gift example
- Choose the best places to build cities.A city that stands on level cells without features, although it is protected from natural disasters, still loses a lot. For example, landlocked, you will not have the opportunity to build a harbor, as well as receive bonuses from water cells. And if you build a city away from the mountains, you will lose the bonus to science and protection. However, this does not mean that you always need to build your cities close to unusual cells. By building a city near a volcano, you run the risk of losing many inhabitants and improvements during an eruption. The ideal solution would be to build a city at an average distance from the volcano. So, after its eruption, you will receive a science bonus from the formed volcanic cells, and if the city was built too far away and its territory does not cover volcanic cells, then you just need to buy the necessary cells for gold or religion points.
- Combine government bonuses with research trees and civilization traits. Depending on your goal, choose the government that brings you the most benefit and then do research to complement it. For example, if you want to win a military victory, then choose the governments shown in the screenshot, and in the trees of social institutions and technologies, first of all, conduct research that reduces the cost of the army or increases its efficiency.
It is especially worth noting the “Mercenaries” in the tree of social institutions. This research reduces the amount of resources and gold required to upgrade your units by 50%.
Forms of government for military powers
- Don’t leave cities unattended. Do not get too carried away with military campaigns. Having spent all the resources on the army, you will not soon recoup them. Try to focus in the beginning on the arrangement of cities and only then on the army. It is also important to always leave a couple of units to defend the city (anti-cavalry and ranged units are ideal).
- Don’t be lazy to read the descriptions. After a quick reading of the description of a unit, improvement, research, or anything else, you risk losing sight of some of the nuances, and later regret creating or learning something. It will also help you better understand what certain units / buildings / research are needed for and what is better to combine them with.
- One more move. Like all turn-based strategies, civilization can pull you in, so that you won’t even notice how quickly several hours have passed. Prolonged sessions can reduce your attention and concentration, and this will inevitably lead to strategic mistakes. Thus, you will not only harm your health, but also lose progress in the campaign. Take short breaks to avoid this.
Tips for new civilizations
Ottomans
Features of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottomans are one of the most powerful military civilizations. She receives a production bonus when creating siege units, and also receives many bonuses that contribute to the capture of foreign cities. While playing for her, try to first destroy the weaker civilizations in an open clash, and capture the stronger ones with the help of a unique governor.
Hungary
Features of the Hungarian Empire
Hungary is a civilization with a very strong cavalry, as well as the ability to quickly capture city-states. In the early stages of the game, your army will be very difficult to resist. Use this to get a lot of rare resources, or to eliminate competitors.
Also, when playing for Hungary, it is very important to build cities on or near rivers, since then, areas built on the opposite bank from the city center will bring 50% more production.
Another nice bonus for Hungary is associated with mercenaries. So, hiring troops in any city of the state, you automatically send your ambassadors to this city. By repeating this procedure several times, you can easily become the overlord of this city.
Mali
Features of the Malian Empire
Mali is a civilization whose lack of bonuses to science and production is compensated by many bonuses to gold mining. The best option when playing for Mali is either a cultural or military victory. The latter option requires a lot of alliances in the early stages of the game, since trade will become the main source of strategic resources.
Also worth noting is the Riders of Mandekala. The unit not only perfectly protects your trade routes, but also allows you to earn some gold. Therefore, it is worth building at least 1 squad of riders specifically to finish off enemy units.
Maori
Features of the Maori empire
Maori is a rather difficult civilization to master. The settlers of this civilization start the game at sea, with the “Navigation” and “Shipbuilding” already learned. Thanks to this, you can settle anywhere on the map, which means you can choose the most favorable positions for your cities.
The disadvantage of this civilization is that it cannot get great writers at its disposal, as well as collect resources from the earth.
The Incas
Features of the Inca Empire
Incas – have a strong alternative to skirmishers, as well as the ability to quickly move around the map, thanks to the unique improvement, Kapak Nyanu.
Vorak’ak – the unit replaces the skirmishers. Unlike skirmishers, it has slightly improved characteristics, as well as the ability to attack twice in one turn. This feature makes the Inca troops one of the most powerful in the first eras, which means that it is during this period that you can conquer many territories.
Phoenicia
Features of the Phoenician Empire
Phenicia is one of the most powerful marine civilizations. All naval units on the territory of the city of Phenicia, in which there is a coton, restore 100 health units per turn.
A special sea unit, bireme, does not allow plundering trade routes within a radius of 4 cells, and is also very mobile (6 movement points). All this, coupled with the recovery bonus from cities with cotons, allows these units to resist enemy attacks from the sea well.
Also, all cities built near the water or on the mainland on which the capital of Phenicia is located receive double loyalty. This bonus further motivates the player to explore and populate territories by sea.
Canada
Features of the Canadian Empire
Canada is a civilization that can earn a lot of cultural and tourism units, which means it can win a cultural victory faster than others.
The main source of culture and tourism will be stadiums and hockey rinks. Separately, these buildings will not bring much benefit, but if you build skating rinks on cells with snow or tundra, and build stadiums nearby, then you will receive a significant bonus to the growth of culture and tourism. But do not spam with these buildings, as just one blizzard can severely wear / destroy all these improvements. To avoid losing all buildings at once, build them separately, or appoint the governor of Liang (with the “fortified materials” ability learned) to the city where you plan to build ice rinks and stadiums.
Sweden
Feature of the Swedish Empire
Sweden – just like Canada, can win a culture or points victory faster than others. However, Sweden needs to build not stadiums and skating rinks, but open-air museums, and not on the tundra or snow, but in places where different types of cells intersect. The more different cells there are near the museum, the more it brings loyalty, culture and tourism. However, unlike Canada, you rarely get a bonus, since there are very few places with many different cells on the map.
The main source of culture and tourism for Sweden could be the congress, namely three unique competitions that only appear if Sweden is still in the game.
Dominating Congress can also be helped by the extra influence that Sweden gains for every Great Person it receives, so build universities and factories as often as possible, as well as other buildings that earn Great People Points.
England / France (ruled by Alienora)
Alienora Aquitaine’s ability
England and France under the direction of Alienor of Aquitaine are also mentioned separately. All bonuses of these civilizations remain the same, but the leader’s ability changes.
So, if there is any masterpiece in your city, and an enemy city is within a radius of 9 cells from it, then each turn it will lose 1 unit of loyalty, and when it completely loses all loyalty, it will instantly become available for joining your civilization.
In practice, the ability shows itself in different ways. For example, if a city has little or no loyalty bonuses, and you still managed to build your city nearby, then after some time you will receive an enemy city almost free of charge. This process can be accelerated by further reducing the city’s loyalty in other ways. If you are unlucky and the city is well defended, then the ability becomes almost useless.
When playing in multiplayer against strong players, prepare for the fact that this ability will almost always be of no use, as the living player will quickly understand why his city began to lose loyalty, and then either increase the influx of that city’s loyalty, or attack your city. In a single player game, you can use this trick much more often and more efficiently, since the computer is much more likely to place its cities in favorable places.
This concludes the guide. Follow the tips presented and you will learn how to play civilization much faster, as well as understand all the intricacies of the gameplay.
