Board 8 > An attempt at beating civ 5 with every civ

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I just had this idea, dunno how long I'll keep up with it, but I figured it would be a good way to knock out some chievements on steam and maybe people will care! And it will also make me use civs i have never thought about using before. Beating it with sweden can only be fun for so long.

What I'll do is I'll start with a random civ that I haven't beaten it with yet using random.org, and I'll try to give recaps of each session I do, like a log of sorts. Kind of like someone whom I forget had a series where they tried to qualify for the world cup with every team in FIFA? I like to play civ on regular pace rather than fast pace, so each game may take me a while, but hey, maybe if I do this right this will be a fun little adventure.

CIVS I'VE BEATEN WITH ALREADY BEFORE I GOT THIS IDEA:
Sweden (i've played a LOT of sweden, I like what I like okay?)
Poland
Netherlands
Maybe some others?

I'll RNG when I get home to boot up a game, and then I can look at which civs I've beaten the game with for certain.
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What difficulty?

I been working on This for years

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Uh, well I guess if you guys want to see a specific difficulty you can pick? I've def been playing on harder than Prince (normal) but I don't remember what difficulty I've been on. I was thinking maybe if I feel I can handle a higher difficulty I could try bumping it up mid-project.
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Emeraldegg posted...

Uh, well I guess if you guys want to see a specific difficulty you can pick? I've def been playing on harder than Prince (normal) but I don't remember what difficulty I've been on. I was thinking maybe if I feel I can handle a higher difficulty I could try bumping it up mid-project.

Nah, was just a curiosity, both because I wanted to know what level you were at and because there's a lot more value in doing it at the highest difficulty you can play (which, you are) vs bumping it to Prince or lower just to make sure you can do it without too much difficulty.

Well I would certainly like it to be a challenge. The level I play at now, just last night I finished up poland's run and one civ was pretty close to a victory condition (space, we were both at 5/7 parts). So maybe the next level up would be like the breaking point to where I could start losing some games

Also I def haven't been at the literal highest difficulty, just higher than prince. Dunno if that makes a difference. I doubt I could handle that though maybe I'll give it a try sometime.
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Alright so I'm home, and we can add GERMANY to the list of civs I have beaten the game with apparently. Regarding difficulty, I have been on King (Hard) so I'm going to experiment and bump it up to Emperor (Very Hard).

I picked maps/player number beforehand so I don't get influenced to pick a map that might be suitable to my character. I may random it up at some point but for now, gonna stick with the ever simple CONTINENTS map, as well as the standard 8 players/16 city-states option. Special modifiers, none really except I am disabling time victory cause **** that.

So who will I be playing as first? Random.org has granted me MONTEZUMA, of the Aztec Empire.
Passive: Gain culture for killing an enemy unit (I assume this counts barbarians as well)
Special units: Jaguar (replaces the Warrior), Floating Garden (replaces the Water Mill)

Well this will be a challenge. I have certainly never played a civ that wants to aggro early. I like being friends with people unless they wrong me first. I guess we'll see how this goes!
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Topic inspired me to re-install and give it a try.

I have no idea what's going on and I wish you best of luck in your endeavors!

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I won't be detailing every little thing that happens in each game, but I will try to get major events, both myself and other civs as I become aware of them.

We start with no oceans in sight (I love coastal cities) but I do spy a river to the west over some hilly terrain, so I hold off on settling right away until I can found the city next to that sweet sweet freshwater. Not bad in terms of resources right off the bat around me, this city that I know of so far will get me nanners, truffles, wine, and deer. 2 Luxury resources is not bad at all.

TENOCHTITLAN FOUNDED
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Tag for Aztecs

also iirc Sweden was kinda fun

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I came close to this back during my Civ 5 phase. Probably only 3-4 or so that I didn't finish a game with.

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Count me as one of those guys who vastly prefers Civ4 to 5.

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Things are a bit tough going early on, as although there is lots of jungle south of my capital, my immediate area is mostly hills, which means it's tough getting food. I have incorporated bananas but I'm still getting low food thus far.

In the meantime, we've scouted quite a bit of the area. We found the ocean to the west, SIAM is to the north, POLYNESIA is to the south, and GERMANY is somewhere to the east of me. There's also a couple of city states on the continent for good measure. Siam has asked that we be friends! Sure, why not. There's a barb encampment right in between us, but thus far they aren't threatening. For my next city I am hoping to either grab the coastal land to the west, or the rather fertile area to the east. Siam has already founded a 2nd city so the north is no good.
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So after some more exploring, turns out Germany is to the northeast, across a desert and some tundra. They have so much salt my goodness I want some of that.

Me, Siam, and Polynesia are all friends so that's nice. Unfortunately, in dark red letters under germany's relations: "They covet lands you currently own!" That's not good. Luckily there's some distance between us. Me and Polynesia teamed up on some barbarians, and i'm currently working on clearing another encampment for that city-state favor. Having Almaty as a friend would be great cause they're smack dab in the middle of me and germany. I've also been contemplating turning on Siam as their capital is very fertile and not well defended. Polynesia already has spearmen so I can't take them yet.

On the city development side, food production is ramping up thanks to the borders now encompassing some plains I could make into farms. I've become able to get mines so the capital is a pretty well-diversified city. There's still vast jungles to the south I may try to settle. Also, I got a settler, and although polynesia scared me briefly as I saw a settler of theirs, they decided to go east of them across the river, so I had time to march my settler across the way and get that fertile land. Spices, Cattle, more nanners, tons of jungle. TEOTIHUACAN founded!

Edit: Whoops and Polynesia is rather upset that I settled there. It is a bit close but their capital should still get their 3 hexes of development in every direction so I dunno what they're so pissed about. Whatever.
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My favorite in Civ 5 was the Shoshone. That early land and their UU being their scout. Caters to my early game tendencies.

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PYRAMIDS BUILT

I got to found a pantheon, so I went with sacred paths (+1 culture for each jungle tile) cause man there's lots of jungle. Siam sent a settler down to the coast west of me and was looking to settle, so I emptied my treasury and quick-bought a few tiles to sort of cut them off from the rest of the coast line. Then they did a stupid and settled there anyway so they have like...4 tiles of land and the rest is gonna be water with no resources. Good job there Siam.

Almaty continues to be MVP, granting me military units, which is good because I think I've made up my mind that I'm going to attack Polynesia at some point. They have a coastal city, which I desperately need as I have explored this continent to its completion. I could settle the previously mentioned jungles south of me, as that is on the coast, but it would be so close to my capital that I'd not be getting good value in terms of new territory, it would mostly be water. Polynesia is also rich in iron and other resources and far away from everyone else, so there'd be no interference. I'm even allies with La Venta city-state and they have a couple units as well, so they'd have nowhere to go. I do need to build up more forces though, I'm sitting at 3 jaguars and a spearman, that's not gonna be enough to take down a capital at this point.

Germany scares me. I had a scout up north and they already have swordsmen, and just settled their 3rd city (though its placement is questionable, bordering some tundra and desert.) Gonna keep my eye on them. If Siam is willing to overlook my eventual conquest of their friend Polynesia, we are well positioned map-wise to team up and take Germany down.

Edit: Yep, Polynesia just sealed their own fate, I didn't realize they just settled in the exact coastline I was contemplating. And after complaining about settling near them? They're going down.
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I like Korea the best.
It's also stupidly op.

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Tag

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Last update for the day I think, made it to turn 102, and I completed another World Wonder: MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS. Several city states wanted me to build this so this was a good way to curry favor with them. Additionally, I completed the Liberty social tree, which grants me a free Great Person! I chose Scientist, as I've got decent faith income to be able to get a great prophet, and one city state wanted me to get a scientist anyway. Science tile improvements are boss, and I need science as I'm tied for last in techs researched right now.

Both the capital and my 2nd city are starting to ramp up in both population and production. I was in dire straits with money for a few turns, because I was building a rather long road for a city connections. But after a slight trimming of the already thin military and a 2nd trade route, I lasted until the road was complete and now I'm 2nd in GNP.

My goals for the immediate future are ramp up my military production and take Honolulu from the Polynesians. Germany no longer covets my land but now Poly SUPER covets my land (the warning is in bright red, meaning it's a big deal to them), so much that they turned from friendly to neutral even as they offered friendship (which I accepted as it will be a bit longer before I can muster the might to destroy them.) Once I have their port city I can start exploring the rest of the world.

Also a side note, I discovered a little half-desert, half-plains peninsula to the east of Poly's 2nd city border, where there were 2 city states and ample land. If something goes terribly wrong or I decide to not try to take Honolulu, I can go down there as a last resort for a coastal city.
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Kinglicious posted...

I like Korea the best.
It's also stupidly op.

Korea was another one of my favorites. Good science civ and had unique crossbows.

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Tag.

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I like how your write-ups evoke the Civ/leader you are playing

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City states are so dumb.

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Tag

Aztecs are one of my favorite civs to play. Jaguars are super fun, and they keep all their good traits after upgrading.
Floating Gardens are borderline broken as a unique building with their +10% to food. I always try to get Hanging Gardens for a city that keeps growing every 5 turns or so, all the way until endgame.

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Picking up where we left off yesterday, we succeeded in fortifying our military and sending a force near honolulu's border. However, we decided to hold off on attacking immediately as that would require breaking our oath of friendship. While we couldn't care less about how it affects our relationship with Polynesia, we are worried what Siam and perhaps Germany would think if we did so, so we decided to hold off for a while.

In the meantime, we decided to send a scout overseas to see if we can find a landmass, since it our coastal production schedule has now been delayed (due to not having Honolulu yet). Nothing so far. We also managed to acquire a 2nd truffles to trade to germany for that delicious salt. Just in time, as our civ's happiness had started to stagnate.

Oh, we also founded Protestantism! Siam is the only other civ on our continent with a religion, and I'm sure they will be under our heel soon enough.

Finally, after about 25 turns, our friendship has expired with Polynesia, so we proceeded to march into their territory, which was guarded by a mere pikeman and a great general. WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED.
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Honolulu was under seige for several turns. A neighboring spearman came over to assist Polynesia against our invasion. Our siege started quickly enough, with a couple of composite bowmen providing covering fire while pikemen and swordsmen advanced, their great general Sargon made it quite difficult for us to overtake Honolulu completely. However, with our forces dwindling and down to our last melee unit (though another pikeman was en route, though I doubt he'd have made it in time) our swordsman valiantly managed to conquer Honolulu.

HONOLULU IS OURS.

All 3 of Honolulu's defending units were slain in the battle, so they possess no means with which to immediately take their city back. A courthouse is in the process of making Honolulu an official part of our empire. There is much work to be done, as our soldiers were forced to pillage what would soon be our land in order to survive the city's vicious assault. But when all is said and done, we will have a tremendous port city, with a great lighthouse already built to boot! I believe we will negotiate peace with Polynesia for now, to give us a chance to rebuild our army. It's in shambles from the invasion right now, and we have left our own capital undefended (Though Siam is no threat to us, their cities are pitiful, and we have a scout monitoring Germany's army far away.)

Edit: Also, Germany has reached the Renaissance era, so we have a spy now. We have assigned them to one of Germany's cities, and they have determined that Germany is building an army to attack Siam. If that comes to pass, it will almost certainly come down to us and Germany battling for control of the entire continent.
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Made it to turn 201, from 103 last session. Here's where we stand:

Honolulu has been fully incorporated into our empire, providing much needed luxury resources and coastal production. I made researching Astronomy a priority so I could explore the ocean, and immediately purchased a caravel and sent it east. After several turns of open water, I happened upon another continent! This map therefore appears to be 2 main continents, as I ran into Russia, England, Poland, and Ethiopia in quick succession. England appears to be not very well liked at all, as Russia immediately tried to proposition me for a war on them. Poland declared war on them soon after, and Polynesia and Ethiopia have denounced them. I will probably join in the hating of England just to curry favor with other civs. I was also able to establish a couple of cargo ship routes with those overseas civs, and that has been a boon for the empire's treasury. We have a moderate purse upon which we can draw should we be drawn into conflict earlier than we would like.

Poland and Germany appear to be the main players, as they are tops on the scoreboard right now. Speaking of Germany, they continue to scare me. They have not made any advances yet, but Siam warned me of a German plot against me, and vice versa, and they have advanced into the industrial era. Our scout in the region has detected several musketmen and longswordmen in the area. It also worries me that they are competing for the favor of the militaristic Almaty. I would much prefer to keep them as allies as their gifts of units are most welcome, but I can't risk a confrontation with Germany right now.

City wise, all 3 of my cities have flourished, my 2nd city had unemployment issues for a while because there's so much food. With tons of food and not much production, Teotihuacan will surely become a breeding ground for many of the great minds that will go down in the empire's history. My capital meanwhile has been bolstering the military, as well as housed the remnants of the Honolulu campaign as Siam has produced war elephants the likes of which we've never seen before. We grew wary of a potential attack and sent the forces over there just in case (although I was kind enough to return a missionary to them). Honolulu, meanwhile has been creating a navy, with which I plan to attack and subsequently raze the city of Samoa. It is rather close to me, and getting rid of it would ensure Honolulu's safety. Those idiot Polynesians have built another fledgling city right next to a desert, and next to a barbarian camp no less. They will not be long for this world. My navy will take Samoa, while my army will march south and take their remaining 2 cities, neither of which are well armed or fortified. It will be a trivial matter with my superior science level and number of soldiers, and after Polynesia is gone, I can focus on both re-settling the area in more advantageous positions, and cutting Germany down to size--with or without Siam's help.

Finally, in terms of research, I have been slowly making up ground. My spy has stolen 2 technologies from those foolish Germans with them none the wiser, and in addition I built Oxford University for another free tech. I now have musketmen of my own, and the secrets of fertilizer have boosted my output significantly empire-wide. My main need right now is culture--our borders have not been expanding very quickly, and I need to up our culture for down the line so we don't get forced into an ideology we don't want when the time comes.
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you be willing to drop us a screenshot or so while working on these playthroughs?

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I was just thinking of that, I might play again later tonight for a bit, but whenever I do end up booting it up next I will grab a screen first thing, and try to keep it updated regularly
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https://imgur.com/FmtpWhk

https://imgur.com/YB4qMBQ

So Samoa is the city the Polys founded at the same time I settled Teotihuacan, after which they were like "hey don't settle near us!" I said sure, okay. Tonga is the city that p much cockblocked me from founding a reasonable coastal city. Nuku Hiva is the city they just founded. My plan is to take Samoa by sea, Tonga and NH by land, raze all 3, then possibly settle just north of Samoa. Alternatively I could just keep Samoa as another port city.

As you can see, Germany is some distance from me but that army is fearsome. Poor Almaty sitting right in the middle of a potential 3 way war, although what I would ideally like to do is get Siam to march on Germany's west border while I come in from the south. Good luck getting the AI to do what you want though, the more likely scenario is I march northwest and take Sukhothai, and then probably just keep a brisk border force between me and Germany, it will be quite a while before I can take them in a straight fight. And Siam right now can put up just enough of a token resistance that I'd be a sitting duck if Germany swept in to finish me off.
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It sounds like England are following their historical self so far in how other countries feel about them!

I forgot to mention that not many turns later, poland and england ceased hostilities, so england must have given poland a helluva good deal cause a few turns after the ceasefire I uncovered an english city that had like half health from what was likely a polish onslaught
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Tag, Aztecs are a very good civ.

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Only been a few turns since the last update, but quite a lot has happened politically. We decided to denounce England since everybody's doing it. That resulted in friendships with both Russia and Poland.

Russia decided to end their war with England...but soon after, Poland propositioned us for a renewed war against England. They can't catch a break, for good reason as a look at the Global politics says that at some point they backstabbed Ethiopia. Even us Aztecs did not break our vow of friendship earlier, even though it would have been advantageous to do so! Despicable.

Additionally, we managed to be the first to discover every civ in the world, which means we get to be host to the World Congress! For our first proposal, we went ahead and proposed an embargo to England, I'm sure everyone will be happy except for England but tbh, **** England.

Edit: Also, one of our spies uncovered a German plot against us, so I'm keeping heavy watch on their military.
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The western continent has erupted in war. Russia and Ethiopia have declared war on England, while Russia is plotting war against Poland as well.
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POLYNESIA IS NO MORE

With a potential German threat looming (they finally caught me stealing a tech, though they remain friendly for now), and Poly's cities terribly undefended and weak, I decided to launch my offensive now so I could focus my efforts elsewhere. Samoa fell in 3 turns before my naval might, and it was promptly razed to the ground. I marched about half of my units (3 musketmen and 2 crossbowmen) down from the capital to Tonga, where they promptly invaded the city. I decided to keep this one as its position makes it easier to access the eastern side of the western continent. Finally, the fledgling Nuku Hiva was bombarded by the Galleases from the Samoa campaign, with my scouting caravel coming in to help finish the job. None of the other countries cared about my campaign, so my relations with them remain intact.

I acquired a great general, Sitting Bull, from the Polynesian War, so I have marched him up into the vast plains above Teotihuacan and built a citadel. I plan to line the border in that area with forts to help against a potential german invasion (though they have not yet marched soldiers into the area.) I am not yet decided on whether or not to try and build forces and take germany head on, or if I should go ahead and try to conquer Siam, as their cities, while they have a sizable army around them, are as poor in defense as the Polynesians were.

Meanwhile, Russia and Poland appear to be on very good terms, as they both declared war on Ethiopia soon after declaring war on England. The English city of Nottingham appears to be under constant siege from the Russians, I don't know how long they'll last.
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Ethiopia is not long for the world, his only other city besides his capital has been captured by Poland.

Germany has finally declared war on us. Fortunately, I anticipated this move and shifted my forces over to the desert that separates us, so there will likely be a great battle there. I have also upgraded my navy to Frigates, so I have the naval advantage. You will regret crossing me, Germans.
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Ethiopia has fallen before Poland's might, and it appears Poland is not done as they have just asked me to go to war with them against Russia. Poland is now the strongest country in the world.

Our war with Germany is going fine, we have had some interference from their ally La Venta, but we are simply steering clear of them and only attacking their troops if they get too close to us.
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Much has happened. England declared war on me and, despite being on another continent, has troubled me a lot, with a lone privateer destroying a great admiral and hounding Honolulu's crab resources. They will pay.

Poland turned on me in a hurry, claiming that because I am friends with Russia that is grounds to turn hostile to me. They will pay.

Germany has been beaten back. I have taken one of their coastal cities, frankfurt, and razed it to the ground. Essen, their other coastal city further up in the tundra, will soon follow. I also managed to take Munich under a relentless assault of cannon fire. Many soldiers gave their lives for this conquest, but they will be rewarded in the afterlife. This new territory comes with salt and silk, which will do wonders for my happiness. However, they did manage to sneak a moderate amount of soldiers through Siam's territory to siege my capital. Little did they know that Tenochtitlan is the most fortified city in the world, so between that and diverting some of my forces from the Munich campaign over to the capital, I am in the process of repelling those forces. I also have military tech superiority over them, having upgraded to riflemen while they are still using musketmen. Soon they will beg for mercy.

Lastly, I managed to complete the commerce policy tree, giving me +2 happiness for each luxury resource.
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Those German curs withheld some of their forces in Berlin, and they pulled back the rest of their forces from my capital in order to retake Munich. They succeeded, unfortunately. I need to regroup my forces, as they are scattered. At this point, I need to end this war as I have already stricken a grave blow to them by destroying frankfurt.

Also russia hates us now for some reason? "Civs they like more than you have denounced you" they obviously don't know poland is coming for them. Idiots.

Edit: At last, a boon. Siam, the only country that doesn't hate us, has declared war on Germany. Hopefully that will give us a breather.
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At last, the wars are over. I succeeded in razing Essen to the ground, and apparently that was enough to have germany open to negotiation. I got them to throw in some luxuries in addition, I think they were starting to run low on troops, while I have been busy training a new batch of soldiers. On the English side, they for some reason became open to peace as well, so now I need to focus on rebuilding my army so I can finish Germany off. I also need to bolster my navy so I can start taking the fight to Poland if necessary. Finally, I need to reopen trade routes, as that pesky England destroyed 3/5 of my overseas trade routes, leaving me a bit low on income.
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So the civs play differently enoughfrom each other to keep it interesting?

I was never amazing at civ, but i enjoyed aloha centauri

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I'm enjoying these.

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Some time has passed since the end of the German war, and Siam actually took the fight to Germany and even tried to invade Berlin! Germany now has the lowest army in the world due to the constant fighting. Almost as soon as the peace treaty expired, we declared war on Germany this time, having had our army surrounding their city of Munich for some time.

The 2nd Battle of Munich was much smoother for us than the last, it was still recovering in defense from the last seige, and it had no units immediately around it. Germany tried to send in reinforcements from Berlin, but I cut them off and pounded Munich with gatling gun and cannon fire. MUNICH IS OURS, for good this time. That was enough to break Germany, as they immediately agreed to another cease fire.

Meanwhile, on the Western Continent, England came out of nowhere to have the largest army in the world for a time, and promptly declared war on Poland...which resulted in their capital of London being taken by the Polish. A resounding defeat has left England hurting badly. Poland and Russia still dislike us because they believe us to be warmongers...and they are correct. We will come for them soon enough. For now though, I think it is best to develop the other aspects of our nation. We have made great strides in the field of science, but we need to generate more culture, and gold.
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banananor posted...

So the civs play differently enoughfrom each other to keep it interesting?

I was never amazing at civ, but i enjoyed aloha centauri

I'd say they do, yeah. Each civ has a certain thing they're really good at. Some civs are geared toward science, some culture, etc. Some civs have more specific benefits, such as Netherlands allowing you to retain happiness even after trading away your last copy of a luxury resource, or Venice being unable to settle more than 1 city, but instead using special Venetian merchants to purchase City-States as new cities instead.
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In 5 and 6 yes, before that not so much.

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Anagram posted...

I'm enjoying these.

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Bout to start another session, but figured I'd give a sort of, deep dive on the state of the world at this point:
Siam and Aztec are friends
England and Germany are friends
England hates everyone else but us, neutral towards us
Poland hates everyone but Russia (not sure what happened to their plot of war against russia)
Poland has the most City-state allies
Poland leads every category except approval (Siam leads that)
We rank 2/3 in everything but approval and soldiers
Poland is currently host of the world congress
England currently has an embargo
Ethiopia and Polynesia are gone

Score ranking:
Poland
Aztecs
Germany
Russia
Siam
England
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https://i.imgur.com/jWfy498.png

https://i.imgur.com/u4PBa3W.png
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Big nut move by Siam settling right in the middle of your territory