Conquering The New World of Civ 3 (Conquests)

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Conquering The New World of Civ 3, or, An Examination of the Civilizations At The Time Of Conquests For Multiplayer [/u]

Author’s Note: This guide is intended for use/instruction in multiplayer. While much of what is discussed here may hold true in single player, not all of this information may be accurate for that environment. Further: this guide assumes you are playing a normal, ancient start Civ game – not QuickCiv, or any of the era starts. Further still: This guide assumes you are playing a “typical” MP game – the type generally seen in the largest MP community at www.myleague.com/civ3players . These games are tiny/small/standard pangeas.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 1: The Conquerors, or “Civs That You Should Cringe At Seeing”

Celts Religious/AGRICULTURAL, Gallic Swordsman, 40 shields (iron) for 3/2/2
No one will ever laugh at the pants on a Gallic again….

The Good: It’s amazing what a little cost change can do. The formerly MIL/REL 50-shield Gallic Celts are now the AGR/REL 40-shield Gallic Celts, and they can inflict a whole WORLD of hurt for the difference. Instead of having “not quite a granary” cost units, they have something that is only 10 shields more than the normal sword – but with the 1 extra movement for retreating that makes the Gallic so dangerous. Even without iron, the Celts are now the “Point grabber” Civ for those types of multiplayer games – capable of expanding rapidly on their bonus food, and setting up temples in new towns in no time. Celtic Golden Ages are very likely to come exactly when the Celt player wants them – and that is likely to be right when Gallic production is at its highest. Even without iron, the ancient era has several opportunities for a Celtic GA.

The Bad: The Celts could still potentially fall victim to a choke; cutting off their iron can really hurt, particularly with the increase in upgrade costs. If pressured, the Celts would still have to work hard to get settlers out with proper escorts – but if the terrain is at least average and rivers or lakes can be found, the Celts will probably manage it.

The Bottom Line: The Celts are probably the most improved Civ in Civilization 3: Conquests. While a few other civs got improvements in C3C, none will shake the MP world quite like this. Without iron, they are an expansionist threat; with iron, they could expand…. or drive you into the ground…. or both!

Egypt Industrial/Religious, War Chariot, 20 shields (horses) for 2/1/2 (Wheeled)
Cleopatra is still the queen to beat, despite both her traits being nerfed….

The Good: Her workers may move a little slower, and her people may take a little longer to get used to new governments, but for all that, Cleopatra is still a force to be reckoned with and then some. Capable of finding the resource for her UU in less than 10 turns, her workers are also more than capable of hooking it up that quickly. While Chariots are limited in mobility and are still merely archers on the attack, Cleopatra’s cities can build so….MANY… of them. Cleopatra can pretty much pick and choose the timing of her Golden Age, either by building the Pyramids (or any of the myriad other Industrial and Religious wonders of the first two eras) or ramming 50 chariots down your throat.

The Bad: Without horses, Cleo is a little more limited than in her PTW days. She can still build and expand aggressively, but relying on IND and REL alone won’t get you as far as it used to take you. For all that, there isn’t much “bad” to Cleo’s reign. Watch out for Egypt unless you have a lot of jungle and mountains between you…

Bottom Line: While slightly less powerful than her PTW days, Cleopatra is still very dangerous – particularly with horses – and will remain a very common sight in the MP scene.

Hittites Commercial/Expansionist, Three Man Chariot 30 shields (horses) for 2/2/2 (wheeled)
There’s a new guy in town, and you don’t mess around with Slim….

The Good: The first C3C civ to make the top tier (but not the last) the Hittites bring a very interesting unique unit to the table: a War Chariot with 1 more defense, for 10 more shields. The typical weakness of Cleopatra’s chariots – being counterattacked, especially by horsemen – is gone with this UU. The downside of being 33% more expensive is well worth the doubled durability of the unit. If it strikes your fancy, the 3-Man even makes pretty solid pillager – 2 defense and the ability to retreat (Impis, anyone?) and also the ability to attack incoming archers, and warriors with a good chance of success! The Hittites also claim the civ traits formerly held by England – Com/Exp – which means that a large empire is not a problem for the Hittites, and their scouts will probably find you (and the horses they need) relatively quickly.

The Bad: The Hittites are probably more land-dependent than any of the other Tier 1 civs. Without horses and with average-or-worse food, and random barbs coming up “none,” the Hittites can be seriously dead in the water. Granted, that’s a pretty specific set of circumstances, but in that situation, the Hittite player will have to work hard to locate iron or try to bend their commercial nature into some empire building.

The Bottom Line: The Hittites will be popular with those who like War Chariots, but some will find the IND/REL to COM/EXP trait change too much for their liking. Fans of fast-moving, spread-out empires will probably like the Hittites quite a bit. The real question: Do you build spears, or not?

Maya Agricultural/Industrious, Javelineer, 30 shields for 2/2/1 Enslavement
The Aztecs are the kings of the Americas no longer….

The Good: The Maya are arguably the most dangerous of the new C3C civs for the multiplayer world, simply because there are so many options available to them! As an IND/AGR civ, the Maya can very easily play “big builder” and can either build spears to defend themselves, or their Javelin Throwers to make aggressive opponents pay the price. If building doesn’t suit the Mayan player’s fancy, a stack of Javelin Throwers (with or without swords) can really drive an opponent crazy – enslavement can mean your former units are now building the fortresses, barricades, and outposts that the Mayan player will use to defeat you! Pillager players will love the fact that these fellows have defensive bombardment and 2 attack in addition to their defense and enslavement.

The Bad: Not much of one – Javelin Throwers are archer-based units, so a sorely pressed Mayan player can whip up some spears to defend their holdings. AGR/IND means that someone who properly understands worker usage can be a tremendous threat with this civ. The one caveat: The Mayans are NOT a civ for beginners, who would build too few workers and nothing but Javelin Throwers, which are a touch too expensive for “all around” use.

The Bottom Line: Get used to seeing Mayan blue, and seeing it a lot. The Mayans are a very solid civ for any style of player.

Sumeria Agricultural/Scientific, Enkidu Warrior, 10 shields for 1/2/1
Giving a whole new name to ‘swarm rush,’ Sumeria enters the scene threatening to open up an entirely new “major threat” in MP tactics.
The Good: Simple and to the point: the Sumerian UU is a spear for the cost of a warrior, which they can build from day one as a scientific/agricultural. That trait combination works well for them, too- with defense pathetically easy to set up, Sumeria can explode across every river basin and lake for a long way, and then wall themselves up into research islands until they feel like coming to get you. In the short game where seats of higher learning may be unwise, you can expect Enkidu Warriors to run rampant over your lands, be escorting swordsmen, you name it.

The Bad: Sumeria’s largest weakness is that Enkidus upgrade to Pikes, meaning no “super upgrade” tactics for them. Since upgrading is more expensive now, that’s not as major a hit as it could be. Like the Aztecs, the Sumerians will get a very early Golden Age.

The Bottom Line: Sumeria will be very popular in MP. Swarms of Enkidus escorting catapults could actually be a new and very dangerous tactic – after all, if you can build 15 cheap and run them around with 5 catapults (especially with the new bombardment code) you could easily bring every opposing city to a size 1 rubble heap in no time…. and no empire can stand long with that.

Zulu Military/Expansionist, Impi, 20 shields for 1/2/2
Yellow Fever is still going strong, and the choke is just as dangerous as it used to be.

The Good: The Zulu are unchanged in Conquests. Although they may not be the coolest spear in town anymore (The Enkidus probably get that honor) they are still amongst the most dangerous. Capable of taking the retreat capability away from many popular units (War Chariots, Gallic Warriors, Mounted Warriors, 3-Man Chariots) while still performing as a regular spear at the regular cost, the Impi can defend cities as well as (some might argue better) Hoplites and Numidians. On the offense, Impis still perform the “pillage and disrupt” routine better than anyone, and little has changed in Conquests that makes the “Zulu Choke” any less dangerous.

The Bad: The Zulu still have all their old limitations too. Chokes hate catapults, flat terrain, large stretches of jungle between home and the target, and so on. Impis may move fast, but they don’t survive swords attacking their towns any better than anyone else. The Zulu still tend to develop slowly (particularly because many Zulu players overbuild Impis early) and can be “outgrown and overcome” later on, when swatting Impis becomes less problematic. Zulu Golden Ages still come largely when your opponent decides they will – which usually means very early.

The Bottom Line: The Zulu are still a very potent force, but they have company in the big leagues now. You might not see them as much as you used to – but skilled hands moving Impis are just as much a threat now as ever.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 2: The Warlords, or “Civs That Can Be Very Dangerous In The Right Situations

Aztecs Military/AGRICULTURAL, Jaguar Warrior, 15 shields for 1/1/2 The Green Machine took a well-deserved hit, but don’t count them down or out…
The Good: The Aztecs are now MIL/AGR, which means that while they may not throw together temples as quickly as they used to, they can probably get new towns down a lot faster. More towns mean more unit support, usually the bane of Aztec players. Since the Jaguar Warrior is now based off Warrior Code (don’t panic, the Aztecs start with that, remember?) the Aztecs can build regular warriors… which means the Aztec Golden Age can now occur when the Aztec player wants with a lot more predictability.

The Bad: The Jag got a 50% cost increase to slow down the green tide that was ruining a lot of PTW games. This doesn’t make the unit any less useful, it just means that the threat of being super-swarmed early has gone down somewhat. A determined player utilizing the AGR trait could actually put together MORE jags in the long run, but the immediate “cheese rush” threat is nearly gone.

The Bottom Line: Mindless zombie Jag Rushers are finished. Crafty, sneaky ones who use jags as scouts and watchers while building up towns and huge armies are hurt, but might be able to turn the “nerf” of the Aztecs to their advantage. The Aztecs are a much smaller threat early, but a noticeably larger threat later now.

Babylon Scientific/Religious, Bowman, 20 shields for 2/2/1 (defensive bombard: 1) One little tweak makes all the difference – how do you like Hammurabi’s bows now?
The Good: The Babylonians really have seen only one change: the Bowman is now a 2/2/1 for 20 shields with a defensive bombardment value of 1, range 0 – meaning that when you attack them, they get one free “warrior swing” at you. That minor change makes a world of difference, particularly against the UU of Egypt and Iroquois. A stack of 5 Baby Bows will suddenly get 5 warriors swipes at an attacking unit before it gets to attack – forcing opposing players to bring a big stack (or a sacrificial spear) to throw at Baby Bow forces. (Baby Bows are now the escort of choice for sword stacks as well!) On the offensive, that bombardment value may not mean a heck of a lot, but it’s still something.
The Bad: Babylon still is a REL/SCI civ, which makes them the kings of culture; unfortunately, culture doesn’t mean much in typical MP. As a result, Babylon will expand a little slower than others might. Baby Bows are much nicer defenders now, but are still just archers if you’re forced to go on the offensive with nothing else – although they’re archers that counterattacking is decidedly unwise!

Carthage Industrial/SEAFARING, Numidian Mercenary, 30 shields for 2/3/1 Giving up commerce for the sea may not have been the best move for Hannibal’s future….
The Good: Carthage’s change from IND/COM to IND/SEA at first seems subtle, but it changes the nature of the civ quite a bit. Despite the weakening of IND, Carthage is still capable of playing “Big builder” but is also capable of fairly rapid exploration via curraghs (SEA means starting on or near the coast.) Numidians are still a force to be reckoned with as pillagers or war party escorts. Typically, a Carthage player can pick and choose their Golden Age, as long as they don’t go exploring with their Numidians too early and meet a suicidal warrior.

The Bad: Since Industrial workers are slower, that may affect Carthage’s ability to get Numidians built quickly. Carthage was always the slow-but-steady juggernaut, with powerful defenders guarding quick workers. Worse, the likely starts near coast may increase corruption in portions of Carthage’s empire, which may slow them even further.

Bottom Line: Carthage is still a power player, but is probably no longer the Civ for new players who want to hide behind Numidians. Carthage is now the civ of the skilled builder only.

Inca Agricultural/Expansionist, Chasqui Scout, 20 shields for 1/1/2 (ignore hills/mountains) It’s hard to respect a guy in a pink tutu, but the Inca can expand like no one else in the biz…
The Good: The Inca hold the civ trait combination of EXP/AGR, which means that you can count on them to do one thing very quickly: grow! Sturdy scouts checking out the land, the threat of an early granary, the possibility of free food from fresh water cities, the total lack of fear of desert starts (indeed, a desert start with a floodplain beside it could be everyone else’s worst Inca nightmare!) make the Inca a force to be respected, particularly if left alone in the early going.

The Bad: The Incan Chasqui Scout is downright embarrassing, and I’m not just talking about the fact that he’s wearing a pink faerie outfit, complete with wand. At 1/1/2 (hills/mountains as grassland for movement) and 20 shields, this guy is possibly the weakest UU in Conquests. His only upside is that you needn’t worry about losing them to a passing barbarian. That’s really not worth doubling the cost of the scout, though – particularly when you consider that the Incan golden age will be TOTALLY unpredictable; who can say whether your scout will win or lose when it stumbles across someone? Unless you don’t mind building several and attacking with them….

The Bottom Line: The Inca probably will get the title of “Most Consistent” civ. Unless you bury them in jungle (and even then, they have a chance if there’s fresh water around) the Inca can handle pretty much any terrain – desert doesn’t slow them down at all. The Chasqui Scout is badly underpowered/overcosted, but scooting over hills and mountains means the Inca player will find what there is to find pretty quickly. Players looking for a relatively dependable civ who don’t rely on a UU (former America/Egypt players, perhaps) might like the Inca a lot.

Persia Industrial/Scientific, Immortal, 30 shields (iron) for 4/2/1 Persia’s addiction to iron is as strong as ever, but with more defensive uniques in Conquests and the weakening of Industrial, Xerxes may see less playing time than he used to…
The Good: The Persian Immortal is still a 4/2/1, the mightiest 30-shield unit around and the only Medieval Infantry you’ll ever see in the Ancient Era. Persia always decides when to trigger their Golden Age, and the IND trait is still nothing to sneeze at – and with the emergence of the Scientific Leader, SCI isn’t as bad as it could be. Starting with Bronze Working means – iron allowing – Immortals will appear early and often.

The Bad: The Persian Expendable is still a 4/2/1, and an archer can still cut them down. Persia tends to be played by people who really love Immortals, and even though Persia isn’t bad (not great, but not bad) even without iron, the disappointment of not finding iron nearby can cause Persian players to play more poorly, even if they know there is life without iron. With four civs now capable of very real pillaging (Sumeria/Zulu/Aztec/Hittite) and two moderate pillagers (Greece/Carthage) any civ that is dependent on a resource is vulnerable – and none want a resource so badly as Persia.

The Bottom Line: Persia will still have her fans, and will still get playing time, but Xerxes’s personal guards are not the best choice for most civvers anymore.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 3: The Pillagers, or “Civs With Futures That Are Uncertain”

America Industrial/Expansionist, F-15 for… oh… who really cares? Manifest Destiny is now unclear – can the “no UU” civ with the “best MP traits” survive the nerfing of IND, or will the elite civver turn elsewhere?

The Good: America is all about the traits: IND/EXP. In PTW, having fast workers and an early granary while knowing everything about the land around you could be devastating in the right hands. America always had something on the other guy – EXP civs could keep up in free town/tech/gold potential, but America’s workers would out produce and overrun. IND civs could keep up in production, but would find themselves groping for resources or land that America already knew about, and researching things the Americans had “hut-researched” some time ago.

The Bad: America’s time could be over. With huts no longer giving free cities (settlers, but not cities) in elimination and the weakening of the Industrious trait, the lack of a Unique Unit that matters could now be too much. It takes a lot of skill to utilize vanilla units against Impis, War Chariots, Enkidu Warriors and Numidian Mercenaries – and now, in Conquests, it takes even more.

The Bottom Line: America’s popularity is very uncertain. Sure, the F-15 may now have lethal bombardment, but can America’s traits carry her through the three eras you need to get to F-15s, particularly with the Inca (another powerful growth/exploration) civ around?

Arabia Religious/Expansionist, Ansar Warrior, 60 shields (horses/iron) for 4/2/3 With the Iroquois no longer the point fiends, the Muslim Jihad is looking a little better.

The Good: Like America, Arabia is now all about the traits: REL/EXP. With the revamping of the Iroquois, Arabia now holds the premier “I want to hold lots and lots of land and do it NOW!” position. If you make it to Chivalry, Arabia has the “Poor Man’s Rider” with the same speed but less defense – and less cost – which can be used to trigger a Golden Age at a very good time for lots of reasons.

The Bad: Unlike America, Arabia’s reliance on its civ traits requires that the land be at least halfway decent. Being able to build a granary right off, scout out all the good land, and throw temples down at bargain prices is great, but if you start out in hot/humid or hot/dry, you could still be in real trouble.

The Bottom Line: With the fall of the Iroquois from grace, Arabia will see more playing time for major point fiends…. but probably not TOO much more.

Byzantines Scientific/Seafaring, Dromon, 30 shields for 2/1/3 (naval-coast) (bombardment of 2, range 1, transport 2) Civ’s hottest leader guides a civ that may be the next big thing, or the next big flop.

The Good: The seas aren’t safe for galleys anymore… and neither are your coastal tile improvements. The Dromon is the “archer of the seas” as a galley with 2 attack and 1 bombardment, which means that naval invasions against the Byzantines are a pretty risky operation. The Byzantines also have the monopoly on coastal bombardment for a LONG time (although with only 1 strength bombardment, they won’t do much other than smash tile improvements.) The trait combination of SEA/SCI means that if left alone, fishy-commerce libraries could make the Byzantines quite the research junkies.

The Bad: Any naval UU is naturally going to have a difficult time triggering a predictable Golden Age – if your opponent refuses to give you a target, you can’t very well trigger one! Since pangea is predominant in MP, the Dromon might not get as much time to shine, but if you have coastline resources or there’s a bottleneck you’re trying to hold, a fleet of Dromon might be quite a problem for you.

The Bottom Line: If you’re a naval invasion junkie or the map has a lot of water (even pangeas with 60% land could provide lots of Dromon possibilities) than the Byzantines are definitely for you. The Byzantines may see some playing time, but research junkies and naval invaders are a minority in Civ – so Theodora’s pretty face won’t be around as much as most.

China Military/Industrious, Rider, 70 shields (horses, iron) for 4/3/3 The Dynastic Cycle dictates that the fall of the Chinese emperor is near…

The Good: China can still claim to be the big “Warbuilder” civ with the ideal traits for building up a big military and beating on you with it – MIL/IND still deserves respect. The Chinese Rider is still a pretty imposing foe – knights with three movement can really get around. Being able to trigger your Golden Age in the early Medieval (or whenever you want with the Great Wall) is awfully handy for all kinds of purposes.

The Bad: IND isn’t what it used to be, and neither is the Chinese Rider. With the improvement of the Musketeer, the arrival of the Swiss Mercenary, and the improvement of the War Elephant and Keshik, the Chinese Rider has pretty decent competition in the “early Medieval unit” department.

The Bottom Line: China is still to be respected, but like America, they’ll take a little more skill than they used to, and as a result will probably slide that much further into oblivion.

Greece Scientific/Commercial, Hoplite, 20 shields for 1/3/1 Alexander’s “Big Green” and his hoplites just can’t cut it anymore.
The Good: Greece is the archetypical “builder civ” and is still pretty decent at it. Hoplites are a real pain to break through, and a commercial/scientific civ can do pretty well if left alone, which is what happens to the Greeks often enough. With the arrival of the Mausoleum wonder, a non-unit Golden age becomes a real possibility for Greece, but still unlikely – SOMEONE will rush a Hoplite.

The Bad: Greece was the answer to the super-early rush, or was the “I want to slowly pillage you to death” civ. The problem is, there’s a better civ for that now: Sumeria. 2 Enkidu Warriors are better than 1 Hoplite if you crank through the math, and the cost is the same. Both civs are scientific, but Sumeria’s growth is almost certainly preferable to Greece’s commercialism.

The Bottom Line: Greece will probably fade into the sunset now, only arriving when Sumeria is already picked. An okay civ, but standing directly in the shadow of a new giant.

Iroquois AGRICULTURAL/COMMERCIAL, Mounted Warrior, 30 shields (horses) for 3/1/2 Hiawatha bears the most unpleasant honor of being “Most badly nerfed civ” in Civ3 Conquests, dropping from Tier 1 to Tier 3….

The Good: Well, you can look at the re-assigning of Iroquois stats from EXP/REL to COM/AGR one of two ways. On one hand, the days of the Iroquois as a military power are pretty much over, but on the other, COM/AGR can be a pretty impressive builder’s civ traits. The Mounted Warrior is still a pretty impressive unit at 3/1/2- but now the Gallic has one more defense for only 10 shields more.

The Bad: The Iroquois, who need horses like Persia needs iron, are now no better than Persia at finding them – they’re forced to grope around in the dark with warriors. Worse, their workers can’t move as fast as Persian workers to hook them up. While COM/AGR may make for sturdy, productive cities, it won’t make for the insane point expansion that the Iroquois are known for.

The Bottom Line: It will be rare indeed to sight Mounted Warriors in MP. Sadly, Hiawatha’s days may be numbered in anything less than an epic-length game. (There, however, the Iroquois might still be pretty threatening.)

Netherlands Agricultural/Seafaring, Swiss Mercenary, 30 shields (iron) for 1/4/1 The House of Orange boasts what may be the most powerful trait combination in Conquests….

The Good: The Netherlands gain more benefits from the land than any other civ, being SEA/AGR as they are. Give them a river or the coast (and odds are they may find both) and you’ll find the Dutch cranking away with solid cities. The UU comes at Feudalism, but if you get it, you can rest easily until the era of Cavalry – knights don’t like Swiss Mercenaries, particularly behind walls. No gunpowder required!

The Bad: The Netherlands may have great traits, but they still lack a UU for a large part of most MP games. If the land happens to be such that the traits aren’t effective, the Dutch can be a sitting duck, nearly as bad as the other orange-colored civ.

The Bottom Line: If left alone or with the right land, games going into the early Feudal could turn into your worst nightmare if the Dutch get rolling….. or the Dutch could expire with little more than a squeak.

Rome Military/Commercial, Legionnaire, 30 shields (iron) for 3/3/1 Et tu, Brute?

The Good: IF you get iron, and IF you are left alone to develop with your non-development civ traits, and IF you manage to get a good-sized stack of Legionnaires rolling, you’ve got a Golden Age whenever you want it, great defenders for your towns, and a very hard to stop army.

The Bad: If anything goes wrong, you’ve got the most unwieldy ancient Civ out there, in close competition with the New Iroquois Nation. A choke is Rome’s worst nightmare, and so is not having iron – which they need two researches to find. MIL/COM is neither a handy combination for warmongering (MIL/IND, MIL/EXP) and not a good combination for building (no IND, no REL, no AGR.)

The Bottom Line: Now that Babylon has moved up, Rome wears the mantle of “worst Ancient civ.” There are far too many good choices to justify ever playing Rome for anything other than personal favoritism. Sorry Caesar, even Rome has to fall eventually.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 4: The Marauders, or “Civs that won’t be major players, but still have something going for them.”

France Industrial/Commercial, Musketeer, 60 shields (saltpeter) for **2/5/1** Now the only IND/COM civ, France is probably one of the builder civs of choice….but IND isn’t what it used to be. Oh well, at least they’re not the only pink civ anymore….

The Good: The French have the monopoly on industrial/commercial again, and with the improvement of the musketeer to 2/5, you have a unit that is actually a pretty darn formidable defender that comes in an era where warmongering is usually very prevalent, although the GA may be a touch too late to snatch up some wonders.

The Bad: Well, aside from wearing pink and having unique units that give a strange laugh while fighting, once again, Industrial isn’t the trait it used to be. France will have to work a bit harder to ensure they’ll survive to get to Musketeers, and produce a few more workers as well.

The Bottom Line: If you plan on playing a game this long, and really want to go nuts building, France might be for you…. but that’s about it.

Germany Military/Scientific, Panzer, 100 shields (rubber, oil) for 16/8/3 (Blitz) Second verse, same as the first – nothing new here..

The Good: Germany’s trait combination – MIL/SCI – makes them ideal for “vanilla rushes.” By researching iron working while building their cheap barracks, Germany can field a sword force (in an ideal world) faster than anyone, even Persia. Barring that, like any military civ, they can archer rush, and they already have spears taken care of for defense.

The Bad: Archer rushes don’t work in MP against anyone with a brain. If Germany’s iron isn’t remarkably close by, slow workers means they won’t really get a jump on anyone. Germany’s best early chances are unlikely situations and foolish opponents – not a recipe for a good civ. In the late game, MIL doesn’t measure up to IND or COM for scientific competition, and faster unit promoting just doesn’t make up for that.

The Bottom Line: Look for Germany in the hands of an unorthodox or gutsy player, but not much else.

Japan Military, Religious, Samurai, 70 shields (iron) for 4/4/2 The land of the Rising Sun has a neat UU, but not too much else going for it…

The Good: Japan is now the only MIL/REL civ, which makes it pretty ideal for warmongering while avoiding those pesky culture flips. They’re only the second civ to get a 4-defense unit (Dutch get one earlier) with the Samurai at Chivalry. The Sammy is actually a pretty great UU; knight movement with extra defense and no horses required. The Sammy’s arrival at that time is great for triggering a Golden Age that can only lead to MORE sammies coming down at you.

The Bad: You still have to get to Chivalry alive to enjoy the Samurai, and MIL/REL isn’t exactly a developer’s combination. Having iron by this point isn’t too hard to do, but no horsemen upgrading will happen here. Japan has to focus VERY heavily on bringing cities into heavy production mode early on to ensure proper numbers of Samurai when the time comes.

The Bottom Line: Japan will always have a few players (particularly with the Sengoku scenario gaining new Japan enthusiasts) and left alone until Chivalry, Japan could be an holy terror – but the solution there is simple: get in Japan’s face before then and make sure their production and development is stunted. Japan might see some time, but it isn’t terribly likely.

Ottomans Industrial/Scientific, 100 shields (horses, saltpeter) for 8/3/3 The terrible Sipahi are no less intimidating, but many MP games are decided long before Cavalry take the field….

The Good: The Ottomans have a good solid pair of Civ traits: IND/SCI, excellent for early development and strong research. They have a very frightening UU: cavalry with 8 attack in an era where 4 defense is probably the norm, and 6 defense will be the best around for some time after that. What’s not to love?

The Bad: Persia has the same traits and a UU you can leverage much earlier (in fact, a UU that can be used right up until the guns that mark the coming of the Sipahi appear.) Sipahi require two resources, just as knights do, but gunpowder is more rare than iron. The Ottoman UU-Golden Age is poorly timed; Leonardo’s, the Sistine, Adam Smith’s… at least the first two are almost certainly done by now, and Universal Suffrage at the start of the next era is by no means a mighty wonder. Unfortunately, by this point in the game things are usually coming to a close, so the Cossack isn't likely to change things. Final problem: Cossacks don't suck as much as they used to, so there are other cavalry options now.

The Bottom Line: Ottomans, if they properly leverage their civ traits until the time of Cavalry, and the game is still in balance, and they get the proper resources, can completely upset the balance and take it all home before infantry appear. Unfortunately, there were three “if” statements in that last sentence, and that’s just too many for a Tier 1-3 civ. The Ottomans are probably the best of the Tier 4 civs, however – call them 3.5.

Portugal Seafaring, Expansionist, Carrack, 40 shields for 2/2/4 (naval-ocean) (transport 3) The Civ of the great explorer Prince Henry has the traits to explore with, but exploration alone might not get it done.

The Good: With scouts and seafaring curraghs, there isn’t much you won’t find with Portugal. If your suicide galleys and curraghs haven’t cleared the map by Astronomy, you have at least an 8-turn head start (maybe more, depending on research speed) on clearing what’s left and finding what is still out there. The boat might even have some limited military application as well.

The Bad: Contact is an easy thing to get in MP when two players are using suicide boats. Portugal’s UU-Golden Age is awkwardly timed (see the Ottomans, above) and requires someone to provide you a boat aggressor or target. The Colossus is probably a better GA-trigger. Portugal can explore like a champ, but exploration alone probably won’t amount to much.

The Bottom Line: Unless someone finds a way to leverage exploration into a brutal MP strategy, Portugal will be a great SP civ that just doesn’t quite cut it in the MP world, although some die-hard “see the entire map and direct my teammates” player might scoop them up.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 5: The Raiders, or “Civs That Really Have Only One Gimmick, If That”

India Commercial/Religious, War Elephant, 70 shields for 4/3/2 ***+1 hp to all ranks*** Gandhi only has one thing going for him, but it weighs two tons and has sharp tusks….

The Good: With the coming of Conquests, the only change on the boards for Gandhi was to his War Elephants: they were given one more hit point. Regulars have 4, veterans 5, and elites 6! Speaking from experience, let me tell you that fear is seeing 30 Elite War Elephants coming out of India and headed straight for you. That additional hit point makes veterans sturdier and therefore more likely to become elite (mostly because they’ll live more often) as well. Gandhi’s Golden (or should we say Ivory?) Age comes at a good time, as well.

The Bad: Gandhi’s traits are great for peacetime building – but unlike IND/COM or AGR/COM or whatever, REL/COM really just CAN’T be leveraged into wartime building easily. Gandhi’s empire is one designed from the ground up for peace – and even though Conquests (ironically, perhaps, given the name) gives the builder better footing versus the warmonger, history and civ both still acknowledge the exploits of the general over the architect.

The Bottom Line: Elephant armies can be very intimidating, but that’s about the only intimidation factor that Gandhi has going for him. Still, left alone long enough (perhaps the rear player in a team game) the man who promotes vegetarian curry could suddenly give you one big pain in the trunk.

Korea Scientific/Commercial, Hwach’a, 40 shields (saltpeter) for 0/0/1, bombard 8 **LETHAL**, range 1 (wheeled) Back with newly tinkered Hwach’as, Korea can blow you to bits with them…. if they get the chance….

The Good: Korea’s UU got a very much-needed improvement in Conquests; lethal bombardment. You heard right: the Korean unique can now KILL with its bombardment, making it the only land artillery capable of doing so. To compensate for this, its attack value was lowered from 12 back to 8 (same as cannon.) That means Korea can now get a unit-based Golden Age (which you can obviously trigger whenever you want it, though you may want to wait a bit from the time in which you finish Metallurgy) and you get to see the pretty spiffy back flip animation the cart-driver of the Hwach’a does when he promotes.

The Bad: Unlike Greece, which has the Hoplite to defend their COM/SCI ways, Korea is pretty wide open for a large portion of the game. Sure, Korea can research brilliantly – but survival until the age of the cannon is by no means assured. Once they DO get Hwach’as, their cities are suddenly solidly defended, but projecting power with the Hwach’a is no easy task – you have to bring a LOT of them to kill opposing units in large numbers, and you still need a decent set of defenders to protect your artillery pieces. The entire army is slow moving in an era where cavalry zoom around. By the time you have two or three Hwach’a-and-musket superstacks, your maintenance is through the roof and you suddenly wonder why you bothered to do this at all. Toss in the old “by this point in the game, most MP games are resolved clause” and suddenly Korea is looking pretty rough indeed.

The Bottom Line: In SP, Korea will be very hard to stop with Hwach’a stacks against the computer’s typically piecemeal attacking nature. In MP, however, even provided a game goes this long, Korea will finally be able to protect itself very well at Metallurgy, but still have difficulty on the attack. Perhaps infantry-and-Hwach’a stacks would work, but infantry can withstand the Hwach’a pretty well, and tanks aren’t too far off by that point.

Mongols Military/Expansionist, Keshik, 60 shields (horses) for 4/2/2 (ignore mountains/hills) Nope. Despite a tweak, the Mongolian horde still sucks, and still won’t strike fear into anyone’s hearts.

The Good: The Mongols have one of the best trait combinations for warmongering – MIL/EXP – and have a chivalry UU that now scoots across hills just as fast as they have always scooted across mountains. It’s a cheaper unique unit, too – 10 shields less than a knight and no iron required.

The Bad: The Keshik is effectively a Persian Immortal on horseback – they lack the defense of a knight still. This is partially compensated by the fact that they can scoot around on hills and mountains like grassland, but the world isn’t made up of just hills and mountains. A 1/7th reduction in cost compared to a Knight just doesn’t compensate for that. Perhaps at 50 shields, you could have a truly swarming Mongolian horde, but as it is, the Mongols are simply very unimpressive. (And does anyone else find it ironic that the Keshik doesn’t require iron – but moves quickly through the terrain iron can be found in? Put iron back in the requirements and make it a 50 shield UU, and you might have something.)

The Bottom Line: Grasping at straws here: a skilled player who can warmonger with vanilla units who wanted the traits but didn’t like Impis or didn’t expect war until the Medieval could grab the Mongols and do alright with them – but why not just take China if you’re expecting medieval war and build aggressively until then?

Russia Scientific/Expansionist, Cossack, 90 shields (horses, saltpeter) for 6/3/3 ***BLITZ*** Catherine’s revamped Cossacks might give Russia new life…but don’t bet on it.

The Good: The new Cossack is definitely better than the old – gone is the useless extra point of defense, and now Cossacks have an ability previously restricted to tanks – blitz, the ability to attack more than once in a single turn. With a large group of Cossacks, you could do some pretty significant damage. Catherine’s traits are a “scientist’s gamble” of sorts – EXP/SCI means that if you can snatch up lots of huts early, you could get a big lead in tech. If you managed to “hut” your way out of the Ancient very quickly, you could enjoy exclusive chances at scientific leaders for some time to come, which as a scientific civ, holds lots of promise for the Russians.

The Bad: Like any gamble, you can lose – no barbarian huts or lots of expansionist opponents means Russia’s chances for that early science explosion are pretty poor. Without the technological jump that can sometimes come from being expansionist, Russia can move a bit slowly – SCI is a great trait for research, but you need something backing it up. The “Blitzing Cossack” is certainly spiffy, but as soon as Rifles come around, you can expect that Cossacks won’t be attacking more than once a turn… and living through it anyhow. At least you can steal multiple workers or something.

The Bottom Line: If you like gambling big or see no other expansionists in your game, and it’s a nice large map with barbarians on, you might pull off a big win with Russia. Otherwise, steer clear. The UU’s improvement alone isn’t worth it.

Scandinavia Militaristic/SEAFARING, Berserk, 70 shields for 6/2/1 (amphibious) Hairy Breeches and his companions got the trait they always should have had, but it may do as much harm as good….

The Good: Surprise surprise – the Vikings are now MIL/SEA, as if anyone didn’t expect that very logical change in traits. Faster boats that sink less of the time are exactly what the Vikings can use more of – when the Berserkergang starts, it will come faster than ever before. A UU that comes at a nice time for Leonardo and with an attack that no one can match for several techs to come means that the Vikings will get the respect they deserve once Invention comes around.

The Bad: Stripped of expansionist and the scouts that come with it, the Vikings are pretty much forced to stay near the coast when developing or suffer their lack of “build” traits. Build is what the Vikings must do – both to be able to produce Berserks later and the boats they’ll need to properly use them, and just to get to Invention in one piece. Since pangea is the dominant landmass for ladder games, most of the time a Viking player will only be able to bite off outside cities – fine for Elim, but not much else. A unit with such high attack and such low defense is a sitting duck marching across dry land without pikes – particularly given the knights and longbows of that era.

The Bottom Line: The Vikings are pretty straightforward now – they will own the coasts, but suffer badly on dry land. If you play archipelago, the Vikings jump up to Tier 2. Continents, Tier 4, but the typical MP pangea – Tier 5.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Tier 6: The Victim, or “One Guy Always Has To Come In Last, Right?”

Spain SEAFARING/Religious, Conquistador, 70 shields (horses) for 3/2/2 A classic case of “what works on the computer doesn’t work on humans,” Isabella’s civ is utterly without redeeming values in MP.

The Good: Spain’s traits – SEA/REL – are both good, but they don’t connect particularly well. The Conquistador is a fast little unit- capable of striking from nowhere at a moment’s notice.
The Bad: The Conquistador is available at Astronomy, which has a whole host of problems – too late to make a difference, and the fact that gunpowder is around means muskets and longbows will be in abundance to keep the Conquistador from making a difference anyhow! Longbows will cut them down, and they’ll bounce like wrens off patio doors if they attack musket-held towns. The “snipe resources” trick you can use in SP won’t work here, and you might get workers once or twice, but then that trick will dry up too. The Conquistador is also terribly expensive for his usefulness – compare his cost to a Rifle or a Knight!

The Bottom Line: While Spain might be fun in SP, they are utterly bad in MP, offering not a single gimmick or trick as a possible angle for winning.

England SEAFARING/Commercial, Man-o-War, 65 shields (Iron, saltpeter) for 4/2/5 (Naval-Ocean), Bombard 4 range 1 (Enslave) Jolly old England still has nothing to be jolly about….

The Good: England’s traits work a little better than Spain’s, since you can expand and plant your cities more efficiently. In the very brief Age of Sail, the Man-O-War reigns supreme.
The Bad: The Age of Sail is short, even with ironclads made an optional tech – don’t forget that railroads are what ruins the Age of Sail for real; naval invasions against railroads are nearly impossible until you have planes to cut rail lines. The Man-O-War, therefore, isn’t terribly useful despite being an improved boat – humans aren’t dumb enough to throw boats in your way, even in the short era when these boats are useful.

The Bottom Line: See Spain, and repeat this mantra: “Fun SP civ, terrible MP civ, I’m gonna go choose random.”


I sincerely hope you found this information useful, and feel free to add your own comments and feelings on the subject. I write these articles only to advance MP theory for everyone, and the only poor writing is the un-critiqued writing.

Enjoy!

[Onan]

Hey Fried, (did you guess I might reply to this? )

Very good work, nice job!!! Can't say I've read quite all of it, but glad to see some of my thoughts verified. Still waiting to get the chance to test them (as in play), since Conquests isn't available in New Zealand for another few days.

Some really interesting stuff there--I've always liked and done well with Celts, there's only one drawback to seeing them at the top of your list: lots of people will want to play them now (especially with the Ag/Rel combo making them highly successful point builders as well). Babs could already mount a highly successful very early bowman rush for the beatdown, even before becoming more effective on defense, among their other possibilities. The Maya are another I'm eager to try, looks like a lot of possibilities there, especially for the builder type (which was me before PTW forced me to dabble in warmongering too!). Sumeria as well, on both counts. And so on.

And, judging by posts by a couple of others (SPM & Motown I think) you're gonna have an argument on your hands about the faerie in the pink tutu (Chasqui Scout). But that argument is best settled on the field (in game).

Sigh, to be without Conquests and without a computer. Life is rough for Onan.

Enjoy all and seen you soon! Thanks Fried! ;D

[Rob]

FriedrichPsitalon said:

A stack of 5 Baby Bows will suddenly get 5 warriors swipes at an attacking unit before it gets to attack –

Fried, I'm almost positive that's not how 0-range bombard works. I think that for each defensive unit AND each attacking unit, you can have at MOST one pot shot (meaning at most one attempt, not at most one successful pot shot). In other words, 5 bowmen being attacked by 1 swordsmen get 1 pot-shot attempt; 5 bowmen being attacked by 5 swordsmen could get as many as one attempt per attacker (assuming none of the bowmen gets killed before they get to use their pot-shot), and 5 bowmen getting attacked by 10 swordsmen can get up to 5 swipes (at 5 different attackers, assuming as before none of the bowmen dies before getting the chance)

[Mo D]

Well, if this works the same way as with catapults, then Fried's version is correct. Obviously, for any of this to work, you need to have at least 2 Bows in a stack. I don't think that was made clear in what I've read here.

Mo

[Mo D]

By the way, great job Fried. I agree with probably 90% of your analysis. But, yes, you are going to have an argument on your hands about the Pink Fairies.

They have arguably the best trait combo in the game and have a unit that is identical to the jag (except for an extra 5 cost and the Chasqui crosses over hills and mountains much easier). Is it a great UU? Probably not. Is it overpriced? A little. But "downright embarrassing"? I beg to differ. The Chasqui will not usually be a game-breaker but will prove to be a very useful unit. Besides, your cities will grow quickly, so that 20 cost is more like 15 with a non-agricultural civ. ;D Also, consider this: You'd like to try the infamous "double-move" on your opponent with a stack of Chasqui. Oh darn, there are hills or mountains in the corner squares of his city. Your surprise double-move is no longer a surprise, right? Wrong! You glide over the hills like they're not even there. You can hit your opponent from any direction or any angle. A civ with a UU that is better than the admittedly watered-down, but still dangerous jag with the best trait combo in the game? Where do I sign up?

The Incas definitely deserve to be in Tier 1 (move the Hittites to Tier 2).

Pink Fairies? Be afraid, my friends, be afraid.

Mo

[Swissy]

I think there is one major change that may take the Zulu from tier one to tier one and a half. The removal of animation from combat means a stack of twenty swords attacks in the time one did in PTW. No being saved by units outside of a city being attacked. This religates the Impi to being a well defended pillager. Without the ability to reinforce a city during attack, the Zulu are faced with defending their cities just like everyone else. This means less Impi to put on the choke, making it less effective.

The removal of combat animation makes the double move infinitely more devestating in Conquests. So units with 2+ movement become that much more deadly. Not only do you hit a player out of nowhere, but even if there are reserves to rush to the crisis area they will make it there to late.

[Mo D]

Wow Swissy, I don't remember that from the testing (although I wasn't there much at the end). That must have been a late addition. Could this be true? If it works like you say, that is a terrible change.

If true, it does make my previous post about the Incas even more convincing though.

Mo

[FriedrichPsitalon]

It's true- it was done so that 50-stack fights didn't take three turns and effectively give the defender two free heals for all their barracked units.

The solution is easy enough- have a sentry net out to prevent such a double-move threat. This is even easier to do now that Watch Towers are fixed and working properly (range 2, 3, 4 respectively.)

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Rob said:

Fried, I'm almost positive that's not how 0-range bombard works. I think that for each defensive unit AND each attacking unit, you can have at MOST one pot shot (meaning at most one attempt, not at most one successful pot shot). In other words, 5 bowmen being attacked by 1 swordsmen get 1 pot-shot attempt; 5 bowmen being attacked by 5 swordsmen could get as many as one attempt per attacker (assuming none of the bowmen gets killed before they get to use their pot-shot), and 5 bowmen getting attacked by 10 swordsmen can get up to 5 swipes (at 5 different attackers, assuming as before none of the bowmen dies before getting the chance)

Rob - that's a SP vs MP difference; in MP, all bombarding units fire immediately until an attacking unit is at one health. Thus, 5 swipes at unit one unless the first two make it to one health - in that case, 2 at attacker one, 3 at attacker two, and so on.