MS Plays Civ6! (UPDATED 3/1 - MULTIPLAYER + NEW LET'S PLAY)

[GuyInFreezer]

Mali gold rush doesn't really kick off until midgame anyway.

Oh yeah Sweden is OP if you go culture too, not just diplo.
Automatic themes are great.

[Elbirn]

Mali gold rush doesn't really kick off until midgame anyway.

Oh yeah Sweden is OP if you go culture too, not just diplo.
Automatic themes are great.

I was wondering about that because it's only for building with 3 slots or more, but idk what that includes. Not the capital/palace, temples have a relic slot, and I think amphitheaters can hold two works of writing or art? So at what point this starts to work I have no idea

[brassherald]

Guys, bad news, I'm going to win the cloud game since my military power is unmatched. I got an archery advancement already

[Maestro]

Spoiler: @Elbirn, this got long - sorry

But yeah Maori/Mali are broken to the point I'd suggest exterminating them as soon as you meet.

Kupe is incredibly fun and unique. And super powerful if you combine bonuses correctly, for basically any victory type. I would think he technically leans Religion/Domination/Diplomatic about equally. He's one of the few Civs I might have fun doing a prolonged pacifist Religion game on, since you can expand before anybody else and pressure cities all over the world (having the ability to enter Ocean is very valuable).

Mali has a mind-bogglelingly weak early game, to the point where if I really wanted to assert myself on the Mali in a game I may think of actually starting the game at a later era. But yeah, after they get to Medieval or Renn. they can buy their way to almost any victory but would do really well at Religion or Science.

Inca is good but idk how to play them.

Pachacuti is super fun. The biggest choice (in the early game, mostly) is balancing the use of OP hills next to mountains for

1.

"Terrace Farms. Terrace Farms... everywhere"

or 2.

Godly districts thanks to the availability of mountains and (hopefully) Machu Picchu, which you should always-100%-of-the-time rush as the Inca. Or as close to rush as you feel you have to. For those who don't know yet, Machu Picchu may be the best new wonder in Gathering Storm, IMO. It basically gives every single district the same major adjacency bonus-next-to-mountains that the Holy Site and the Campus get, which, coupled with the Inca start bias, amounts to insane amounts of... anything. Whether it's Culture, Science, or Gold - Production and Food are already plentiful to the Inca because we get to put citizens on fucking mountains, and then boost those mountains with Terrace Farms. Also, keep in mind, no other Civ will be able to get the yields out of your cities that you can, because they can't work the mountains or build more of the

SUPER OP

Chapaq Nan, which is basically just a mountain tunnel except available only to the Inca, like... half a game earlier on the tech tree than the mountain tunnel. Ugh, the Inca are

SO

good and

SO

fun. Try them, please.

I feel like Sweden is secretly good if you care about Diplo victory and focus on great people but mostly I just like their colors.

She's done horrible disservice by the AI, so idk how to do shit as her. Would have to play a game.

Ottomans seem really good on paper but I need a really good game as them and it just hasn't happened yet. They actually seem kind of meh except for maintaining a really strong wide empire after you've earned it with your 99999 military related abilities, but there's nothing else in their kit that gives them an advantage aside from conquering everything in sight.

This. I think they're mainly a versatile "at any stage in the game you could switch to military and it would go fine" kind of Civ. I set up my own little Battle Royale that ran in the background for like, 3-4 hours while I was working yesterday, and at the end Suleiman had carved swaths out of every other Civ and almost won Domination. I think they probably ended up winning for score, but yeah. Not sure what to do with them, haven't looked into it much, might do that tonight and report back.

Also, I'm taking my turn now - let's get an online session in maybe? I'm around tomorrow after 8pm EST

[Maestro]

Guys, bad news, I'm going to win the cloud game since my military power is unmatched. I got an archery advancement already

I got the Bronze Working boost from a goody hut just now

[brassherald]

I just played like the first two ages of a game where I was Maori, talk about a military power coming online suddenly. Toa units are ridiculously good.

I just wanted a guy to back off of me and all of a sudden I knocked him out of the game.

[Elbirn]

Spoiler: @Elbirn, this got long - sorry

But yeah Maori/Mali are broken to the point I'd suggest exterminating them as soon as you meet.

Kupe is incredibly fun and unique. And super powerful if you combine bonuses correctly, for basically any victory type. I would think he technically leans Religion/Domination/Diplomatic about equally. He's one of the few Civs I might have fun doing a prolonged pacifist Religion game on, since you can expand before anybody else and pressure cities all over the world (having the ability to enter Ocean is very valuable).

Mali has a mind-bogglelingly weak early game, to the point where if I really wanted to assert myself on the Mali in a game I may think of actually starting the game at a later era. But yeah, after they get to Medieval or Renn. they can buy their way to almost any victory but would do really well at Religion or Science.

Inca is good but idk how to play them.

Pachacuti is super fun. The biggest choice (in the early game, mostly) is balancing the use of OP hills next to mountains for

1.

"Terrace Farms. Terrace Farms... everywhere"

or 2.

Godly districts thanks to the availability of mountains and (hopefully) Machu Picchu, which you should always-100%-of-the-time rush as the Inca. Or as close to rush as you feel you have to. For those who don't know yet, Machu Picchu may be the best new wonder in Gathering Storm, IMO. It basically gives every single district the same major adjacency bonus-next-to-mountains that the Holy Site and the Campus get, which, coupled with the Inca start bias, amounts to insane amounts of... anything. Whether it's Culture, Science, or Gold - Production and Food are already plentiful to the Inca because we get to put citizens on fucking mountains, and then boost those mountains with Terrace Farms. Also, keep in mind, no other Civ will be able to get the yields out of your cities that you can, because they can't work the mountains or build more of the

SUPER OP

Chapaq Nan, which is basically just a mountain tunnel except available only to the Inca, like... half a game earlier on the tech tree than the mountain tunnel. Ugh, the Inca are

SO

good and

SO

fun. Try them, please.

I feel like Sweden is secretly good if you care about Diplo victory and focus on great people but mostly I just like their colors.

She's done horrible disservice by the AI, so idk how to do shit as her. Would have to play a game.

Ottomans seem really good on paper but I need a really good game as them and it just hasn't happened yet. They actually seem kind of meh except for maintaining a really strong wide empire after you've earned it with your 99999 military related abilities, but there's nothing else in their kit that gives them an advantage aside from conquering everything in sight.

This. I think they're mainly a versatile "at any stage in the game you could switch to military and it would go fine" kind of Civ. I set up my own little Battle Royale that ran in the background for like, 3-4 hours while I was working yesterday, and at the end Suleiman had carved swaths out of every other Civ and almost won Domination. I think they probably ended up winning for score, but yeah. Not sure what to do with them, haven't looked into it much, might do that tonight and report back.

Also, I'm taking my turn now - let's get an online session in maybe? I'm around tomorrow after 8pm EST

Re: Inca and Macchu Picchu: the problem I have with Inca is that I love to settle by mountains for my campus/holy site yields early game and then cluster the other districts around them for maximum efficiency. And while this sounds like I should be having the exact opposite of a problem, the issue is that I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to...not always do that as the inca. I'm supposed to build terrace farms adjacent to my mountains. But I wanna build districts. But the game wants me to do both. But theres not enough space. Then I get cranky about adjusting my play style and give up on that game and start another. Like...I feel like I'm really supposed to play one of two ways, either macchu Picchu inca or terrace farm inca.

But on the topic of Machu pichu and new civs: I've started/abandoned a few games as Kristina, doing that thing where I'm really into a game but only for 100 turns or so and uh...her start bias seems to be just "the biggest mountain range available". And considering you'll want to get districts online everywhere asap, macchu Picchu is stupid strong for her. I'm working on a strategy for her and I always beeline oracle/Machu for her and its gr8

[GuyInFreezer]

I was wondering about that because it's only for building with 3 slots or more, but idk what that includes. Not the capital/palace, temples have a relic slot, and I think amphitheaters can hold two works of writing or art? So at what point this starts to work I have no idea

When you unlock art museum

[GuyInFreezer]

beeline oracle

This is true for many non-warring civs anyway

[Maruchan]

I have no idea what half of what you guys are talking about. I only ever make builders/settlers/scouts/turn1-era-light-infsntry-unit-things. All of my production otherwise goes into building e er building. This game I ran out of buildings (as korea) so I've built like 5 wonders. Im allied with everyone and have 10x more diplo points than anyone else. And i just stay 8th in dom victory for forever

[Maestro]

And you’re on like, Chieftain, right?
That’s basically all you have to do so you’re good

[brassherald]

So, either the Maori is super strong compared to both Canada and Hungary, or the difficulty settings may be a little off for the new expansion. My Maori playthrough was on Prince and it was really easy compared to the Warlord playthroughs I had for the other two to figure out new mechanics and what the fuck Canada does.

Conclusion on the Canada front: Play hockey, I guess?

[Maestro]

Hungary (like Sweden) feels like it's only really powerful in the hands of a player. The ultimate OP for Hungary is being able to upgrade levied CS units without paying Gold OR Strategic Resources, which is insane. As long as you've gotten Iron Working, you can mass armies of levied CS Swordsmen on another Civ by turn, like, 30 or 40, and just wipe them out completely. And I would think that's true of any large tech jump for military. Keep your actual empire and standing army adequate and bolster yourself for next to no cost whenever you need to.

Canada seems specifically suited for a hybrid Culture/Diplomatic victory because of their "Diplomatic Favor from tourism" thing (they could also go the Kandy-relic route), but they don't really get... any bonuses to... anything else. It's kinda sucky compared to other things, IMO. They get no production or early culture generation to stay on top of the wonders they need for Great Work optimization, they just get Ice Hockey Rinks. Yay?

[Maestro]

As long as you've gotten Iron Working, you can mass armies of levied CS Swordsmen on another Civ by turn, like, 30 or 40, and just wipe them out completely. And I would think that's true of any large tech jump for military.

Hungary gets a start bias towards CSes, btw, which inevitably means they basically have free armies in the early game that no other player can match. This jumps to an insurmountable lead if they happen to start with, like, Valletta or another good Militaristic CS that will have a large standing army.

[brassherald]

As long as you've gotten Iron Working, you can mass armies of levied CS Swordsmen on another Civ by turn, like, 30 or 40, and just wipe them out completely. And I would think that's true of any large tech jump for military.

Hungary gets a start bias towards CSes, btw, which inevitably means they basically have free armies in the early game that no other player can match. This jumps to an insurmountable lead if they happen to start with, like, Valletta or another good Militaristic CS that will have a large standing army.

The issue I had with Hungary was my first attempt spawned literally no City States on the same continent as me.

[Elbirn]

beeline oracle

This is true for many non-warring civs anyway

To be fair this "non-warring civ" thing you speak of is a foreign concept to me. I honestly never saw Oracle as being all that great and I really dont know why it takes civs with a great person focus for me to realize "oh wait I need to build this every game from now on dont I?"

[Maestro]

Well, maybe it has more value intrinsically to Sweden (and Brazil, etc.) but Oracle is just amazing overall if you plan on having any Faith, because sniping particular GPs from the AI is what you usually need to do to get the ones you want, on every difficulty higher than Prince or whatever.

EDIT: Also, yeah even Canada declares wars on higher difficulties. Every Civ can be a "warring Civ"

[brassherald]

Canada denounced me in my Maori play through. I might be at war with literally every other Civilization if I go back to it. I do like that the global diplomacy is better in that way

[GuyInFreezer]

To be fair this "non-warring civ" thing you speak of is a foreign concept to me.

Sorry I meant no war-focused civs. War-focused civs being things like Zulu Aztec.

[Elbirn]

To be fair this "non-warring civ" thing you speak of is a foreign concept to me.

Sorry I meant no war-focused civs. War-focused civs being things like Zulu Aztec.

Nono I got ya, I was making a funny because I generally like to kill things regardless of who I'm playing as.

But yes I can see that while I'd consider myself an intermediate skilled player, theres a lot I need to get better at. I hardly ever remember to focus on GP or patronizing them, I just build shit and act pleasantly surprised when my many campuses have finally yielded a great scientist. I've always tended to just spend gold asap on buildings or units and faith gets spent spreading my religion even if I'm not trying for a religious victory because I am horribly inefficient

[brassherald]

If it makes you feel better, Elbirn, I just don't use faith points like half the time. I'm bad at religious victory, considering I have been playing this game since before Rise and Fall came out IIRC, and have never gotten a religious victory (I get bored)

[Elbirn]

If it makes you feel better, Elbirn, I just don't use faith points like half the time. I'm bad at religious victory, considering I have been playing this game since before Rise and Fall came out IIRC, and have never gotten a religious victory (I get bored)

Honestly I just build enough holy sites to ensure I get a religion ASAP no matter what, mostly a defensive measure against civs going for religious victory + wanting good bonuses for myself, pick "religious colonization" so I dont even have to think about spreading my religion to my own cities, and then hopefully pick up some bonuses or whatever for spending faith on military/civilian units so they at least have a purpose. I've gotten one religious victory and it was an accident while going for a domination victory honestly

[brassherald]

If it makes you feel better, Elbirn, I just don't use faith points like half the time. I'm bad at religious victory, considering I have been playing this game since before Rise and Fall came out IIRC, and have never gotten a religious victory (I get bored)

Honestly I just build enough holy sites to ensure I get a religion ASAP no matter what, mostly a defensive measure against civs going for religious victory + wanting good bonuses for myself, pick "religious colonization" so I dont even have to think about spreading my religion to my own cities, and then hopefully pick up some bonuses or whatever for spending faith on military/civilian units so they at least have a purpose. I've gotten one religious victory and it was an accident while going for a domination victory honestly

Maybe that's how I'll need to get a religious victory, I remember my first cultural victory was by accident because I had planned to do scientific, then all of a sudden I was like 90% of the way to cultural.

[Elbirn]

Yeah literally go with a big league military civ, exterminate everyone except for 1 little civ, then throw missionaries at it. Religious/cultural victories are BS and they take too long

[brassherald]

Yeah literally go with a big league military civ, exterminate everyone except for 1 little civ, then throw missionaries at it. Religious/cultural victories are BS and they take too long

I never thought of doing it that way, I always tried the Gandhi route, which is so boring, I generally just decide to watch a movie instead.