Military victory in civilization 5. Victory and defeat. Basics of the game in Civilization V. From Tenochtitlan to Medina we will build a highway

This is the second post in a half-copied series designed to saturate the blog of the new “Civilization” with at least some information. And this time its main theme

"How to take over the world"

As with any game in the "Civilized" series, Civilization V You can kill your enemies and achieve victory in several ways. This time you have 5 options at your disposal: conquest, cultural victory, space access, diplomatic victory, points victory. The territorial victory was abolished.

Conquest

The goal is the same as before - you need to destroy all rivals, but there is one “but”: now you do not need to capture city after city before the enemy is defeated, you just need to destroy/capture the capitals of states. This, of course, speeds up the game significantly, which is largely geared towards multiplayer.

Cultural Victory (Utopia)

Cultural victory in Civ5 is not related to cultural points, but to the main innovation of the new "Civilization" - public institutions. Having opened the required number of these institutions (at the expense of cultural points), work begins on the Utopia project (a la Construction of a spaceship). After its completion, you achieve a cultural victory.

Spacewalk

As before, you need to send a ship to Alpha Centauri, and therefore develop technologically for this, build the elements of the spaceship and send them on a flight to the target. No, no, no, no, no;) And then the developers made a small reform. Have you ever thought that your ship, flying into space, was in different cities, perhaps even on different continents, disassembled into parts? Necessary people thought about it, and now, before launching the unit into flight, we need to deliver all its elements to the capital. And along the way, you never know what will happen: the AI ​​also wants to win.

"How to take over the world" - victory conditions

"How to take over the world" - victory conditions

Victory on points

There seems to be no innovation here. The requirement is to have the highest number of points by 2050.

Diplomatic victory

Your task is to win the UN vote. It is still unknown what system the winner will be chosen by, but it is definitely established that each state will have only 1 vote, including city-states. Apparently, their location towards you will be important.

Conditions: from 2-6 nations, medium or large maps, with larger land area and GG

A month ago, an article “The ABCs of Network Play” appeared from Dmitry (Diman000), in which he briefly described the correct points when developing on a tiny/dueling map. The points described in that article are very important when playing on fast speed and a duel/tiny map, BUT with an average game speed and larger maps, a lot is different...

Aboutfast-games.
The first thing I would like to note is that the developers made the game for medium speed and therefore the game at other speeds is less balanced (the cost of science/production, etc. is only proportionally changed there). At fast speed, unique units of various nations become obsolete very quickly and simply are not even built (not to mention the fact that they often have no impact on the game). Therefore, when nations have a property or building instead of a unique unit, this is often preferable, since it has a more lasting effect on the nation. In addition, it often happens at fast speed that there is simply nothing to build in the city (everything has been rebuilt, and the science for new buildings has not yet been discovered), which also indicates a certain inconsistency in the balance of the fast game; at medium speed this happens extremely rarely. It is also important to note that by default, the time per move in a fast game is less than in a medium game (which often simply does not leave time to plan a game strategy, and sometimes just finish the move); and this, taking into account the huge production of cities (and, accordingly, units), a good fast-click has a strong influence (the volume of production per city turn is the same, both in medium and fast play; at the same time, the cost of objects/units at fast speed is significantly reduced - this is why there is often simply nothing to build in the city when playing at fast speed).

The only important reason why fast games are played is to be able to play the game without replaying "in one sitting", while playing at medium speed almost always requires a replay.
I myself have already played more than 50 network games at average speed (most of them are duels, but often with the addition of 1 to 4 computer players), and some games (with card sizes of standard or more) lasted a week and required up to 3-5 replays in the evening ( 3-5 hours). But if the game was equal (and it is often equal, since there is a way to determine the value of the opponent’s bonus for the game), then the final endings turned out to be especially interesting (I have not seen such endings at fast speed, since there the game is on, as a rule, in the forehead and is won simply due to more production/science, as well as a good fast click).
In addition, in almost half of the games I played, they started not from antiquity, but from a later era. It is strange that the beginning of the game is not used much by players since ancient times. When playing G&K, this greatly limited the choice to only one of three cultural institutions (and in fact will or tradition).

Principles of competent play at medium speed:

1. Selecting a capital:
Since playing on medium-sized maps quite often involves playing before atomic bombs and bombers, the choice of capital should be approached extremely carefully.

The main criteria when choosing a capital (approximately equal degree of importance):
- river (the capital must grow well, since it usually gives the most science and money)
- the presence of a miracle (of course, if it is possible to build 3 cells from a miracle of nature, then this must be done)
- on the open sea (now that there are merchant ships - this is extremely important, + additional possible wonders of the world)
Advice for beginners: If you place a city on the ocean, then provide it with either minimal shelling from enemy ships or control the sea (and also place the second city nearby and near the ocean, both to conquer the ocean and for sea trade routes between your cities)
- near the mountain (the increase in science from the observatory is very large + additional possible wonders of the world from the proximity to the mountain)

Less important are those factors that are extremely important on duel cards in a fast game:
- a city on a hill (at the same time I agree that at high speed and a small map - this is perhaps one of the main criteria)
- the presence of rare or strategic resources (the capital can increase the territory by 5 cells and reach an important resource, and happiness and resources can be taken from the main character)

I would also like to separately note the miracle of “Peter”. Sometimes it is worth building a city/capital for it, but in this case you should be almost sure that you will be the first to build it (I do not recommend building it if there are less than 3-4 petroholms). Cells with a desert with Petra give production as with a plain, so if you are not sure, take the capital away from the desert so that you don’t later regret that someone built Petra before you (and the capital ended up with a lot of lost desert cells). A more reliable option is to build Petra in the second city, which is maximally tailored for production (Petro-hills), after exploring the enemy’s territory at the expense of caravans or a great man.

2. Intelligence
If on quick games reconnaissance can be neglected, since the war begins (and often ends) before modern times (spies do not play a role), then for games on average speed/maps this is a more important factor.
Firstly, since capitals are often far from each other (from 15 to 25 cells, or even further), often illuminating the enemy’s capital (territory):
a) you can and should protect your own from being enlightened by the enemy (and this is a huge advantage and savings for science due to stolen technologies :)
b) know what he is building in the capital, and what potential resources there will be/are in his/nearby territory
c) plan military operations to seize/control/hold territory or resources and trade routes

3. Trade routes
After the appearance of trade routes between your cities, you need to try to make them safe (from barbarians and enemies) and build them as much as possible. At the same time, if you play through tradition (although the will is average/ large maps usually generally preferable), then still build a second city as early as possible, additional food, and later production is much better than if you send caravans to your neighbors for money. Only at later stages (not before industrialization) can they be transferred to the accumulation of money.

4. Interaction with GG
The role of the GG in the BNW has increased significantly, especially to compete for votes in Congress. With equal demographics, this factor usually reveals the winner of the game. Therefore, before the Middle Ages, try to determine for yourself those GGs that you are going to make allies on a permanent basis (you can also distinguish 2 categories of GGs: for capture, for collecting tribute).

5. Interaction with computer players (recommended PC game level: “immortal”)
Trade and war with computer states.
As for trading, everything is simple - you leave yourself a minimum of resources (happiness no more than 4-8), everything else is for trading with a computer player.
For war: As a rule, due to the starting bonus in units, until the Middle Ages the comp. the enemy is dangerous because he can go to war with decent forces, despite the fact that his troops good player will easily recapture, it will require time (including repairing the destroyed territory) and possibly production (walls/archer). Therefore, the ideal and painless option is to take out the enemy with frigates (which you will prudently receive after upgrading them from galleasses). But if the enemy’s cities do not have access to the ocean, then you can wait for artillery (go out first). Often, the moment of war is determined by the computer player’s desire to trade unfairly or by the presence of a special. unit (playing as Zulus, Songhai, Huns, etc.). At the beginning of the comp. the player is ready to give 5-6 coins per turn for rare resource and this needs to be used, as soon as he offers 3 for a rare resource, then the relationship with the computer is not very good... and you should think about capturing/destructing it.
Capturing a computer player: having an advantage in troops over the computer, and after capturing his city, offer him to give up his other city for peace for 10 turns. In this case, you will not only save money/time on capturing this city, but also get a city already slightly rebuilt by the enemy with a number of buildings. However, after being captured, it is better to immediately destroy some cities, because happiness is not rubber, and your cities and the captured capital of the computer will still grow. And most importantly, when taking out a computer player, don’t rush, and then you’ll take out your opponent without losses, and at medium speed it’s not as easy to quickly build units again as at fast speed.

6. Cultural institutions.
In most cases, it is correct to close a cultural institute as soon as possible and not spread yourself thin, since the final bonus that comes with closing is better than any opening of another cultural institute. Also in BNW the institutions are more balanced. With large maps (with a large number of GGs), you can not only open the “patronage” institution, but also close it (after all, we want to control the votes at the congress, and getting several great people will help a lot). Also on the map there are continents and the like (if almost all cities are near the ocean), it is very advisable to take travel/marine_infrastructure, because when cities multiply initial bonus+3 is a very strong bid for control of the ocean and all sea trade routes (+total production). The only thing, it seems to me, is that piety doesn’t look good in comparison with others, and I don’t even know in what cases it can be recommended, and you should only take/close aesthetics when playing for Venice or India.
If I remember anything else, I’ll add it, but I seem to have outlined the basic principles of playing at medium speed and on a rather large map.

Afterword. Providing a handicap (cash bonus) to a less advanced player.
Yes, I would also like to add: everyone’s level of play is different, some play stronger, some weaker. But there is a way in which any player, starting a game with a stronger opponent, would consider his chances of winning it decent, and the game would turn out to be equal and interesting. This can be done by changing the file with the difficulty level (in the game folder, the file is called CIV5HandicapInfos). I recommend giving a head start not in happiness, but in money to a weaker player, while leaving the level of development of the GG and the nations controlled by PCs at the level at which the host plays. By the way, the last 20 games with my regular opponent - this is how I play, and many games in this case lead to real strategic confrontations, where a fast-click does not affect the result at all, and the correct and timely direction of attack or control of a key point allows achieve final victory.
Let me explain the mechanism for providing a monetary head start for those who have a regular partner, but he plays weaker (and therefore there are no real memorable confrontations), but at the same time they want an equal and interesting game.
When independently changing the difficulty level, we set the same game/computer development parameters for all levels. Usually this is the difficulty level that the host plays on (for example, immortal), and for other difficulties (which less advanced players will play on) we make only one change - we add a cash starting bonus (everything else remains the same as at the immortal level). And then at the beginning of the game, after the foundation of the capital, weaker players who started the game on king difficulty or lower will have a certain number of coins that they can spend on purchasing workers/settlers or lower ones. I consider the following optimal receipt/distribution of initial money for different difficulties: 300 coins when playing on the emperor difficulty level, 500 on the king, 800 on the prince, 1200 on the commander, 1600 on the leader, and when playing as a settler, a beginner will receive 2000 coins immediately after the foundation of the capital.

Review in LKI: No. 11 2010

Sid Meier’s Civilization V offers us eighteen countries to choose from. Eighteen stern leaders look at us from the diplomacy screens. It’s easy to get confused in their differences, abilities, unique units and buildings. Which civilization to choose? And, most importantly, what to do with it later?

Calm, just calm! After studying this material, you will learn what is good or bad about each nation and how its characteristics affect overall strategy. Pacifists, hardcore hawks, builders, traders or diplomats - everyone will find a civilization to their liking.

It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire.

The main difference between civilizations is their “unique abilities” that strengthen one of the areas. Often it is this ability that determines the most profitable strategy for the development of our empire. It must always be taken into account. It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire. A peaceful China will lose all its advantages. And if you take India and build a dozen and a half cities, things could end badly. The second and usually less important difference is unique units or buildings. We will tell you about all this now.

For convenience, we have divided civilizations into several large groups - those that are suitable for playing “from diplomacy”, to military, construction, “money” or designed for the quick capture of territories. We gave each of them a rating from one to five. The higher the score, the more interesting and useful the feature of the civilization in its area. An average rating means that it is difficult to come up with uses for traits or units. On the other hand, you can choose any strategy for such countries, without any remorse.

And finally, at the end of the article, civilizations with the most useless and poorly understood abilities and units are collected. It’s worth playing for them only for other reasons not related to the choice of strategy. But we will start, of course, with the best of the best.

First thing's first - diplomacy!

Diplomatic civilizations

Diplomatic civilizations are designed to interact with city-states. The more of these small but proud settlements on the map, the better the life of the diplomatic civilization.

Siam (ruler - Ramkamhaeng)

Unique ability - "The father rules the children." The amount of food and culture received from friendly city-states has been increased by 50%.

“A strong friendship will not break -
Xia” - the capital of Siam has gorged itself heavily on gift grub and culture.

Unique building: wat (replaces university).

Unique squad: Neresuan elephant (replaces knights).

Who would have thought that Thailand, aka Siam, would be one of the best countries in the game? Thanks to the effective “exhaust” from relations with city-states, Thais can forget about farms and museums - there will be plenty of food and culture. The freed up cells and construction capacity should be used to make money, because friendship with city-states is not a cheap matter. However, the “Patronage” social policy branch will help here - develop it!

The abundance of food can become a problem if it leads to uncontrolled urban growth and increased discontent. But... everyone would have such problems, right? The “Piety” social policy branch will help compensate for dissatisfaction. It is not compatible with “scientific” social policies, but the Wat, a Khmer Buddhist temple, will help here. Wat provides not only science, but also a decent amount of culture, and costs a little less than a university - we recommend it. But with elephants things are not the same. Elephants are slightly stronger than knightly units and cope well with cavalry. But they will do little against the pikemen, and the low speed of the elephants exposes them to the danger of counterattacks.

Greece (Alexander the Great)

Fear the Danaans, Achaeans, Argives, Cretans, Mycenaeans and Mixolydians.

Hellenic Union. Influence on city-states decreases half as fast and recovers twice as fast.

Squads: hetaira (replace cavalry) and hoplites (replace spearmen).

We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

It’s not for nothing that we praised Greece so much in our review. The ability to negotiate with city-states for half the money is priceless, especially in combination with the Patronage branch. If Siam is worth choosing on maps where city-states are in short supply, so that two friends are worth three, then Greece is an ideal choice on extensive maps, where there are people to make friends with. We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

Alexander the Great, alas, did not have his own buildings. But the set of units provided by the developers is difficult to overestimate. Hoplites are a stronger version of spearmen. They are, however, more expensive, but they are excellent for waging early wars and repelling barbarian attacks. Macedonian cavalry is an excellent replacement for regular cavalry. Its advantages are numerous:

It is stronger than ordinary cavalry;

It does not require horses as a resource (this is not only great in itself, but also allows you to safely trade horses if you do have them);

Fighting Macedonian cavalry spawns great generals faster (priceless).

Economic civilizations

Here we will write down civilizations whose abilities allow them to earn a lot, a lot of money, which helps smooth out many problems in other areas.

Persia (Darius I)

Legacy of the Achaemenids. The Golden Age lasts 50% longer. During the Golden Age, units' attack power increases by 10% and speed by one.

The Persians are better than others at achieving the favor of the golden calf.

Building: courtyard of the satrap (replaces the bank).

Squad: immortals (replace spearmen)

What is the "Golden Age"? This is the period when cities are churning out buildings, units and Wonders of the World almost at double speed, and the treasury is bursting with gold coins.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age. Literally. In general, it is very pleasant when periods of well-being last longer than usual. But Persia is especially good if you use the "permanent golden age" strategy. As you might guess, it allows, with the help of simple manipulations with culture, Wonders of the World and the high-speed production of great people, to make the Golden Age, once started, didn't end. We will describe this strategy in more detail next time, but for now just know that it exists.

The satrap’s court can help with happiness - a special “motivating bank” that adds not only to the financial well-being of the country, but also to its happiness. The troops of the “immortals”, glorified in the battle at Thermopylae, will form an excellent army. Not only are they stronger than spearmen, but they also heal twice as fast, which is especially useful when playing defensively. Remember that accelerated healing (like many abilities of unique units in the game) remains after modernization - right up to motorized infantry.

Arabs (Harun al-Rashid)

Trade caravans.+2 gold coins per trade route and double oil output.

Building: bazaar (replaces the market).

Squad: archer on a camel (replaces the knight).

Arabia is a typical example of weak specialization. An extra two gold from each trade route (that is, at least from each city connected to the capital) is nice, but not enough for strategizing. “Trade caravans” are just a pleasant relief from financial problems. The same applies to doubled oil reserves. If you have a resource, it’s good, you can sell it. No, we won't cry. The Arabian Bazaar doubles the luxury resource if there is one near the city. There is only one point - to sell the surplus to the outside and make money.

The camel shooter is a unit of dubious quality. This is the "shooting" version of the knight. It cannot fight in close combat, but it is good for beating up the enemy from afar and escaping.

It turns out that Harun al-Rashid - in best case scenario"average". Of course, he will have a little more coins, than the hospital average, but compared to the Persian skills it pales.

Construction civilizations

As you might have guessed, they are the best builders. But it should be noted that construction is not always a useful thing, since almost all buildings place a burden on the country’s budget. Another thing is the Wonders of the World.

Rome (Caesar Augustus)

Roman glory.+25% to the speed of construction of buildings that already exist in the capital.

Squads: ballista (replaces the catapult) and legion (replaces swordsmen).

Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”

Roman cities are quickly rebuilt if the building they are building is already in Rome itself. Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”, because the speed of construction is not that great a big problem. It is much more difficult to find money to maintain extensive infrastructure. Of course, for rapid expansion it is very good when you can quickly build what you need in cities. But this approach provokes the construction of unnecessary buildings, which can become a big burden towards the end of the game. But you can’t destroy and sell extra buildings - sad, but true.

Things are quite sad with the troops in Rome. The Ballista is an unremarkable, slightly beefed-up version of the Catapult. Legionnaires are a stronger version of swordsmen (and they also consume valuable iron). Of course, legionnaires can build roads, which is funny. But when legionnaires are retrained to use long swords (and so on), this ability completely disappears.

Egypt (Ramses II)

Monumental construction.+20% to the construction speed of all Wonders of the World.

Building: tomb (replaces temple).

Squad: war chariot (replaces the archer on the chariot).

Barbarian settlements are a source of gold that should not be underestimated.

The Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

Miracles are not a big deal, and some of them are very important to build on time, ahead of other civilizations. For example, the Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

But this ability itself is worth a maximum of three. Tombs are what additionally helps the Egyptians! They replace temples. True, each tomb gives not three portions of culture, but two. But it additionally increases happiness by two units and saves two gold, since it does not require annual maintenance. It's hard to imagine a more useful building! Tombs are also useful when you are not playing as the Egyptians, but are fighting with them. Each captured city with a tomb gives double the amount of loot (the tomb itself is destroyed).

A war chariot is a good replacement for a regular one. It moves faster and does not require horses as a resource.

The most interesting thing about Egypt is that you can come up with your own strategy for the accelerated construction of the Wonders of the World, and the tombs will simultaneously support the economy, culture and happiness. Very comfortably.

Iroquois (Hiawatha)

Warpath. Units move through forests and jungles in friendly territory at the same speed as on roads.

Building: long house (replaces the workshop).

Squad: Mohawk (replaces swordsmen).

If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

The Warpath ability is not related to production. It allows troops to sneak back and forth through the forests, connecting cities with forests, obtaining trade routes and saving on roads. Naturally, this only works in wooded areas. However, there is no need to fear that the Indians will end up in the desert. If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

Mohawks (forest swordsmen) are also not involved in production. For us, only the long house, the Iroquois version of the workshop, is important. With its help, you can implement the unusual strategy of the “Factory City” - an Iroquois settlement surrounded by forests with a production power that other civilizations, in principle, cannot achieve. Only a properly developed Iroquois city can spit out troops and Wonders of the World at great speed. We will tell you more about the strategy of the “Factory City” another time, but its essence is to build a long house and all the production buildings, and fill the forests around with sawmills.

Without the longhouse, the Iroquois would not be worthy of attention at all. And so they can be safely classified as construction civilizations and given a solid C grade.

Expansionist civilizations

These civilizations are designed so that it is easier for them to seize lands and increase the territory of the country. The quality is good. There is never too much land, and the larger the territory, the easier it is to reach resources.

France (Napoleon)

Old order. Before the invention of the steam engine, each city provides an additional +2 crops.

Squads: French Musketeer (replaces Musketeer) and Foreign Legion (replaces Infantry).

An army without an escort in the ocean is very vulnerable. But there is a way to secure such movements.

France is, first and foremost, culture. And culture is the rapid discovery of social policies and accelerated growth urban areas. Both are used in the so-called “Strategy rapid development" Its essence is an attempt in the debut to take as much territory and social policies as possible with as few cities as possible.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations.

An increase in culture allows even a large empire to receive new social discoveries without relying on city-states. Thus, when playing as France, we have many opportunities to specialize if we do not miss early benefits.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations. This allows the tactics of "Rapid Gunpowder Development" to be used to wage wars of conquest during the Renaissance. However, no one is stopping you from using musketeers in defense. Another thing is the foreign legion, a replacement for infantry in the industrial era - it fights better outside of France, and this is also useful for those Napoleons who dream of conquests.

But detachments are a secondary matter. A huge increase in culture and the rapid seizure of territory is why we love France so much.

Russia (Catherine II)

Riches of Siberia. The number of horses, iron and uranium has been doubled. Other resources have been increased by one.

Building: fortress (replaces barracks).

Squad: Cossack (replaces cavalry).

When playing for Russia from its western
Uranus themselves will have no problem showing the barbarians such Kuzka’s mother.

In the modern era, uranium sells for good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

If you play for Russia, then by default you will not have any problems with nuclear bombs, cavalry and weapons in general. True, there is not very much oil, but from each field we get an additional portion, sufficient to build one plane or ship. The same applies to aluminum and coal. We will not be lost, but if something happens we will sell it, especially uranium - in the modern era, uranium fetch good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

But, oddly enough, the “resource curse” is not Russia’s main advantage. A fortress replacing barracks is what makes our country a good choice for expansionist development. Regular barracks cost gold every year and give each unit created in the city 15 XP, allowing you to specialize them immediately. The fortress gives all the same things with one tiny addition - it halves the amount of culture necessary for the city to capture each cell. The result is that the territory around Russian cities with barracks is expanding very quickly! And you already know why this is useful. Resources, resources and more resources!

As for the Cossacks, they have only one difference with cavalry - they are much more effective against already “knocked out” units. This “Uvarov-Platov” property is not very useful, but if there is already a war going on, and it is going on in the Renaissance, then it would be a sin not to take advantage of it!

Military civilizations

And even though today armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

To hell with culture, ballet and ceramics! Let the diplomats fail! Who is interested in these ancient pyramids? From time immemorial, “Civilization” has been a game about war and global domination! And even though today’s armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

Knowing this, the developers “sharpened” most civilizations for military action. True - with varying degrees of success. Even the best “fighting” qualities can hardly compare in usefulness with the best economic and even construction ones. Why? Yes, because war is an episodic affair, and economics, construction and culture are important from the first to the last move. If the country is protected by the Great Wall, if there is always gold in the treasury, there is no need to fear for the outcome of any war. Loot conquers evil! So don't be surprised that not a single civilization received the highest rating.

China (Wu Zetian)

Art of War. Generals appear faster and provide an additional +20% to unit strength.

Building: paper workshop (replaces the library)

Squad: Chokonu (replaces crossbowmen).

China is an ideal military civilization. Of course, if I were the Chinese, I would be offended that such ancient culture- and far from being the most militant - they were assigned to the “combat” category. But what can you do? That's what the developers decided.

Generals strengthen their units on campaigns. Generals build excellent defensive fortresses that strengthen the units around them. Finally, if there are a lot of them, then one or two generals can always be spent on the Golden Age. So there is no need to worry about China’s military power - it will repel an attack and, if necessary, conquer another state.

A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

The paper workshop replaces the library and, in addition to science, adds four gold per turn (count three if you subtract depreciation). Since war requires money, money and more money, the building is extremely useful.

Chokonu is the Chinese version of the crossbowman. He is slightly weaker than his alternative in battle, but he can shoot twice per turn. Do you understand what this smells like? Twice per turn! This is death to everything! A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

It is worth remembering that Chinese crossbowmen retain their ability when modernized. Riflemen, infantry, mechanized infantry... If they were not built from scratch, but were converted from chokon, they will be able to attack twice per turn. It’s a pity, though, that when upgrading, crossbowmen lose their ranged attack. But two attacks per turn against obviously weaker opponents is a high-speed blitzkrieg, which can be countered with little.

Germany (Otto von Bismarck)

Teutonic rage. When a barbarian settlement is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that the unit defending it will come over to your side and give you an additional 25 gold.

Squads: Landsknecht (replaces pikemen) and Panzer (replaces tank).

Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

Germany can recruit barbarians to its side. This is interesting because barbarians appear on the map in any era, as long as there are lands on the planet behind the fog of war (and they are almost always there). Recruitment occurs in half the cases. The barbarian detachment that came over to our side gives us 25 gold pieces in addition to the twenty-five that we already took from the camp we devastated. The “hunt for recruits” gives the best results, naturally, with the “Honor” branch open (an increase in strength against barbarians and operational information about each new settlement in the immediate vicinity).

There will always be barbarians - even if only in South Pole.

Landsknechts are not particularly strong
We are in battle. But there are always a lot of them.

Of course, it is sometimes useful to get a free unit without spending effort on creating it. But what do we need it for? It is by no means always possible to come up with a use for it, and the budget will suffer the very next move. What happens - the peculiarity of Germany is good only when conducting early wars of conquest? In general, yes. However, the barbarian can be sold for gold or donated to an ally, having been sold off. At least some benefit.

But the Landsknechts are an interesting troop from the medieval era. They are no different from pikemen, but their creation costs half as much. Thus, the Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

But the “Shushpanzer”, although faster and stronger than our “thirty-four”, is not very useful, like all the unique units of later eras. During the endgame period, one detachment cannot change the course of the war - in the industrial and modern eras, the economy is much more important.

Songhai (Askia)

River leader. Doubles the amount of gold from captured cities and barbarian settlements. While swimming, units can repel attacks.

Building: pyramidal mosque (replaces the temple).

Squad: Mandekalu cavalry (replaces knights).

Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery.

The Songhai are probably the strangest civilization in the game. The developers clearly couldn’t decide whether to make them merchants or cool warriors. As a result, the Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery. In short, lock the floors.

Songhai even looks strange. An unusual landscape for a trading river power, isn’t it?

At the very beginning of the game, the Songhai, having taken “Honor” for themselves and clearing barbarian settlements, can rise well. Fifty coins from each barbarian camp is not a bad addition to the budget. Later, wars of conquest can become a good source of income. As you can see, the developers really wanted the Songhai to fight and capture cities. They even provided for a replacement for the knights - the Mandekal cavalry, whose main difference was a special passion for capturing cities.

Against the backdrop of all this, the Songhai clay mosque looks unexpectedly interesting - not only does it not require repairs, but it also gives five units of culture instead of three. Cultured people, therefore!

One should not underestimate another amazing skill of the Songhai - the ability to defend themselves in swimming. Any Songhai detachment can load into boats and sail to the ends of the world to discover distant islands, without fear that the first pirate trireme they encounter will sink it. And how difficult it is to prevent the landing of Songhai troops - no need to say. At sea, this civilization is almost stronger than England, and this is strange - I have never heard of the Songhai being conquerors of the oceans (however, I have never heard of them at all).

It turns out that in general the Songhai are rather weak. But in the early game and in the seas, they can give their neighbors a light. Therefore, on island maps they deserve a solid three. Until then - two.

England (Elizabeth I)

The sun never sets.+2 to the speed of all ships.

Squads: longbowmen (replace crossbowmen) and a battleship (replaces frigate).

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”!

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”! This is what the developers decided, because apart from an accelerated fleet and a battleship (cheaper than a frigate, shoots more powerfully and can see further), England has nothing. However, no, I’m lying - there are still longbowmen. This unit is interesting because it shoots a square further than ordinary archers and crossbowmen. This is useful, especially in defense. But this ability disappears with the first modernization.

Plus two turns for each ship - this, of course, is nice. But battleships and archers will sooner or later become obsolete, and countries with stronger economies will be able to roll out a better fleet than the British one. So, if you are not going to fight early on the island map, it is better not to touch England.

Türkiye (Suleiman I)

Barbary corsairs. When a barbarian ship is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that the ship will come over to your side and give out 25 gold.

Squads: Janissaries (replace the musketeers) and Sipahis (replace the lancers).

Sailing the sea, sinking a barbarian trireme and having it at your disposal is not God knows what happiness. Of course, you can sell it later, but even taking this into account, the unique ability is one of the weakest in the game.

Sipahi are also boring - a cavalry troop that sees further, rides faster and can instantly destroy the outskirts of enemy cities, if such a need suddenly arises. At least somehow, only the Janissaries, the musketeers, who are treated (replenished) when they destroy the enemy squad, help Turkey out.

The war with Japan is a terrible headache even in ancient times.

On the one hand, the developers flattered the Japanese by making their units incredibly resilient. Their attack and defense parameters do not drop if the unit is damaged. Even if a unit is knocked out by nine-tenths, it will deal full damage and give the enemy a good beating before dying.

There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks.

On the other hand, the Japanese developers were slightly insulted because they didn’t give anything more. There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks. And, I’ll add, useless attacks, because the units in the game must be protected in every possible way.

The result is a strange situation. On the one hand, fighting the computer Nobunaga is still torture. On the other hand, if you play as him and play by the rules, bushido will not be useful at all!

With the Zeros, everything is clear - they are useless both on their own (the same fighters, just more effective against other fighters), and as a unique unit of our time. Samurai aren't very interesting either. They consume iron, and their only advantage is increased speed"production" of generals in battle.

Sacrifices. Increase in culture for each enemy killed.

Building: floating gardens (replaces the mill).

Squad: jaguars (replaces warriors).

Floating gardens are an interesting replacement for a mill and a good addition to food if there is a lake near the city. But you can’t build it everywhere, and lakes aren’t found everywhere. So we cross out floating gardens. We also cross out sacrifices. Getting an increase in culture only during wars (and successful wars) is a joke.

The only people of at least some interest are the jaguars - forest warriors who are healed by two units after destroying the enemy. But they are of any use only in the ancient era, which tends to end quickly.

India (Gandhi)

Population growth. Dissatisfaction from the number of cities is doubled, but dissatisfaction from the population as a whole is halved.

Building: Mughal fort (replaces the fortress).

Squad: war elephant (replaces chariot shooters).

The war elephant is just a slightly stronger and faster version of the chariot archer. The Mughal Fort is an awkward defensive structure that provides culture and costs an insane three gold per turn. True, after the invention of airplanes, the fort, on the contrary, begins to make a profit - but the damage to the budget has already been done.

Finally, the dissatisfaction of the population with the number of cities will not make it possible to make a large empire out of India. If there are few cities, the people will be happier than in other civilizations - but will this make the player happier? Hardly. While other countries provide opportunities, India limits. We cross it out.

Increases the field of view of units by one and gives a discount on the purchase of additional cells in cities.

Squads: Minuteman (replaces the musketeer) and the B-17 bomber (replaces the regular bomber).

Let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage.

And finally, let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage, since it’s difficult to do something like this on purpose.

Can the units see further? And what from this? They are destroyed in the same way as the less vigilant ones, and the mountains block their field of vision in the same way as for other units. Discounts for purchasing city territory? What are you talking about? Saving a couple of dozen coins to buy a cage that we will still get in ten years is incredibly valuable.

B-17 bomber? Really? An extremely useful thing in an era when victory is just a stone's throw away and the economy is a hundred times more important than all military units. And the Minutemen... they're a total laugh. These are such specific musketeers who, although they run briskly through the hills and forests, don't know how to use the roads!

This is what America is like in Civilization V—the weakest civilization of all. And her assessment is appropriate.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V offers us eighteen countries to choose from. Eighteen stern leaders look at us from the diplomacy screens. It’s easy to get confused in their differences, abilities, unique units and buildings. Which civilization to choose? And, most importantly, what to do with it later?

Calm, just calm! By studying this material, you will learn what is good or bad about each nation and how its characteristics affect the overall strategy. Pacifists, hardcore hawks, builders, traders or diplomats - everyone will find a civilization to their liking.

It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire.

The main difference between civilizations is their “unique abilities” that strengthen one of the areas. Often it is this ability that determines the most profitable strategy for the development of our empire. It must always be taken into account. It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire. A peaceful China will lose all its advantages. And if you take India and build a dozen and a half cities, things could end badly. The second and usually less important difference is unique units or buildings. We will tell you about all this now.

For convenience, we have divided civilizations into several large groups - those that are suitable for playing “from diplomacy”, to military, construction, “money” or designed for the quick capture of territories. We gave each of them a rating from one to five. The higher the score, the more interesting and useful the feature of the civilization in its area. An average rating means that it is difficult to come up with uses for traits or units. On the other hand, you can choose any strategy for such countries, without any remorse.

And finally, at the end of the article, civilizations with the most useless and poorly understood abilities and units are collected. It’s worth playing for them only for other reasons not related to the choice of strategy. But we will start, of course, with the best of the best.

First thing's first - diplomacy!

Diplomatic civilizations

Diplomatic civilizations are designed to interact with city-states. The more of these small but proud settlements on the map, the better the life of the diplomatic civilization.

Siam (ruler - Ramkamhaeng)

Unique ability - "The father rules the children." The amount of food and culture received from friendly city-states has been increased by 50%.

“A strong friendship will not break -
Xia” - the capital of Siam has gorged itself heavily on gift grub and culture.

Unique building: wat (replaces university).

Unique squad: Neresuan elephant (replaces knights).

Who would have thought that Thailand, aka Siam, would be one of the best countries in the game? Thanks to the effective “exhaust” from relations with city-states, Thais can forget about farms and museums - there will be plenty of food and culture. The freed up cells and construction capacity should be used to make money, because friendship with city-states is not a cheap matter. However, the “Patronage” social policy branch will help here - develop it!

The abundance of food can become a problem if it leads to uncontrolled urban growth and increased discontent. But... everyone would have such problems, right? The “Piety” social policy branch will help compensate for dissatisfaction. It is not compatible with “scientific” social policies, but the Wat, a Khmer Buddhist temple, will help here. Wat provides not only science, but also a decent amount of culture, and costs a little less than a university - we recommend it. But with elephants things are not the same. Elephants are slightly stronger than knightly units and cope well with cavalry. But they will do little against the pikemen, and the low speed of the elephants exposes them to the danger of counterattacks.

Greece (Alexander the Great)

Fear the Danaans, Achaeans, Argives, Cretans, Mycenaeans and Mixolydians.

Hellenic Union. Influence on city-states decreases half as fast and recovers twice as fast.

Squads: hetaira (replace cavalry) and hoplites (replace spearmen).

We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

It’s not for nothing that we praised Greece so much in our review. The ability to negotiate with city-states for half the money is priceless, especially in combination with the Patronage branch. If Siam is worth choosing on maps where city-states are in short supply, so that two friends are worth three, then Greece is an ideal choice on extensive maps, where there are people to make friends with. We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

Alexander the Great, alas, did not have his own buildings. But the set of units provided by the developers is difficult to overestimate. Hoplites are a stronger version of spearmen. They are, however, more expensive, but they are excellent for waging early wars and repelling barbarian attacks. Macedonian cavalry is an excellent replacement for regular cavalry. Its advantages are numerous:

It is stronger than ordinary cavalry;

It does not require horses as a resource (this is not only great in itself, but also allows you to safely trade horses if you do have them);

Macedonian cavalry fighting produces great generals faster (invaluable).

Economic civilizations

Here we will write down civilizations whose abilities allow them to earn a lot, a lot of money, which helps smooth out many problems in other areas.

Persia (Darius I)

Legacy of the Achaemenids. The Golden Age lasts 50% longer. During the Golden Age, units' attack power increases by 10% and speed by one.

The Persians are better than others at achieving the favor of the golden calf.

Building: courtyard of the satrap (replaces the bank).

Squad: immortals (replace spearmen)

What is the "Golden Age"? This is the period when cities are churning out buildings, units and Wonders of the World almost at double speed, and the treasury is bursting with gold coins.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age. Literally. In general, it is very pleasant when periods of well-being last longer than usual. But Persia is especially good if you use the "permanent golden age" strategy. As you might guess, it allows, with the help of simple manipulations with culture, Wonders of the World and the high-speed production of great people, to make the Golden Age, once started, didn't end. We will describe this strategy in more detail next time, but for now just know that it exists.

The satrap’s court can help with happiness - a special “motivating bank” that adds not only to the financial well-being of the country, but also to its happiness. The troops of the “immortals”, glorified in the battle at Thermopylae, will form an excellent army. Not only are they stronger than spearmen, but they also heal twice as fast, which is especially useful when playing defensively. Remember that accelerated healing (like many abilities of unique units in the game) remains after modernization - right up to motorized infantry.

Arabs (Harun al-Rashid)

Trade caravans.+2 gold coins per trade route and double oil output.

Building: bazaar (replaces the market).

Squad: archer on a camel (replaces the knight).

Arabia is a typical example of weak specialization. An extra two gold from each trade route (that is, at least from each city connected to the capital) is nice, but not enough for strategizing. “Trade caravans” are just a pleasant relief from financial problems. The same applies to doubled oil reserves. If you have a resource, it’s good, you can sell it. No, we won't cry. The Arabian Bazaar doubles the luxury resource if there is one near the city. There is only one point - to sell the surplus to the outside and make money.

The camel shooter is a unit of dubious quality. This is the "shooting" version of the knight. It cannot fight in close combat, but it is good for beating up the enemy from afar and escaping.

It turns out that Harun al-Rashid is, at best, “average.” He, of course, will have a little more coins than the average hospital, but compared to the Persian skills he pales.

Construction civilizations

As you might have guessed, they are the best builders. But it should be noted that construction is not always a useful thing, since almost all buildings place a burden on the country’s budget. Another thing is the Wonders of the World.

Rome (Caesar Augustus)

Roman glory.+25% to the speed of construction of buildings that already exist in the capital.

Squads: ballista (replaces the catapult) and legion (replaces swordsmen).

Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”

Roman cities are quickly rebuilt if the building they are building is already in Rome itself. Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”, because the speed of construction is not such a big problem. It is much more difficult to find money to maintain extensive infrastructure. Of course, for rapid expansion it is very good when you can quickly build what you need in cities. But this approach provokes the construction of unnecessary buildings, which can become a big burden towards the end of the game. But you can’t destroy and sell extra buildings - sad, but true.

Things are quite sad with the troops in Rome. The Ballista is an unremarkable, slightly beefed-up version of the Catapult. Legionnaires are a stronger version of swordsmen (and they also consume valuable iron). Of course, legionnaires can build roads, which is funny. But when legionnaires are retrained to use long swords (and so on), this ability completely disappears.

Egypt (Ramses II)

Monumental construction.+20% to the construction speed of all Wonders of the World.

Building: tomb (replaces temple).

Squad: war chariot (replaces the archer on the chariot).

Barbarian settlements are a source of gold that should not be underestimated.

The Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

Miracles are not a big deal, and some of them are very important to build on time, ahead of other civilizations. For example, the Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

But this ability itself is worth a maximum of three. Tombs are what additionally helps the Egyptians! They replace temples. True, each tomb gives not three portions of culture, but two. But it additionally increases happiness by two units and saves two gold, since it does not require annual maintenance. It's hard to imagine a more useful building! Tombs are also useful when you are not playing as the Egyptians, but are fighting with them. Each captured city with a tomb gives double the amount of loot (the tomb itself is destroyed).

A war chariot is a good replacement for a regular one. It moves faster and does not require horses as a resource.

The most interesting thing about Egypt is that you can come up with your own strategy for the accelerated construction of the Wonders of the World, and the tombs will simultaneously support the economy, culture and happiness. Very comfortably.

Iroquois (Hiawatha)

Warpath. Units move through forests and jungles in friendly territory at the same speed as on roads.

Building: long house (replaces the workshop).

Squad: Mohawk (replaces swordsmen).

If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

The Warpath ability is not related to production. It allows troops to sneak back and forth through the forests, connecting cities with forests, obtaining trade routes and saving on roads. Naturally, this only works in wooded areas. However, there is no need to fear that the Indians will end up in the desert. If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

Mohawks (forest swordsmen) are also not involved in production. For us, only the long house, the Iroquois version of the workshop, is important. With its help, you can implement the unusual strategy of the “Factory City” - an Iroquois settlement surrounded by forests with a production power that other civilizations, in principle, cannot achieve. Only a properly developed Iroquois city can spit out troops and Wonders of the World at great speed. We will tell you more about the strategy of the “Factory City” another time, but its essence is to build a long house and all the production buildings, and fill the forests around with sawmills.

Without the longhouse, the Iroquois would not be worthy of attention at all. And so they can be safely classified as construction civilizations and given a solid C grade.

Expansionist civilizations

These civilizations are designed so that it is easier for them to seize lands and increase the territory of the country. The quality is good. There is never too much land, and the larger the territory, the easier it is to reach resources.

France (Napoleon)

Old order. Before the invention of the steam engine, each city provides an additional +2 crops.

Squads: French Musketeer (replaces Musketeer) and Foreign Legion (replaces Infantry).

An army without an escort in the ocean is very vulnerable. But there is a way to secure such movements.

France is, first and foremost, culture. And culture means the rapid opening of social policies and the accelerated growth of urban areas. Both are used in the so-called “Rapid Development Strategy”. Its essence is an attempt in the debut to take as much territory and social policies as possible with as few cities as possible.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations.

An increase in culture allows even a large empire to receive new social discoveries without relying on city-states. Thus, when playing as France, we have a lot of opportunities to specialize if we don't miss out on early advantages.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations. This allows the tactics of "Rapid Gunpowder Development" to be used to wage wars of conquest during the Renaissance. However, no one is stopping you from using musketeers in defense. Another thing is the foreign legion, a replacement for infantry in the industrial era - it fights better outside of France, and this is also useful for those Napoleons who dream of conquests.

But detachments are a secondary matter. A huge increase in culture and the rapid seizure of territory is why we love France so much.

Russia (Catherine II)

Riches of Siberia. The number of horses, iron and uranium has been doubled. Other resources have been increased by one.

Building: fortress (replaces barracks).

Squad: Cossack (replaces cavalry).

When playing for Russia from its western
Uranus themselves will have no problem showing the barbarians such Kuzka’s mother.

In the modern era, uranium sells for good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

If you play for Russia, then by default you will not have any problems with nuclear bombs, cavalry and weapons in general. True, there is not very much oil, but from each field we get an additional portion, sufficient to build one plane or ship. The same applies to aluminum and coal. We will not be lost, but if something happens we will sell it, especially uranium - in the modern era, uranium fetch good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

But, oddly enough, the “resource curse” is not Russia’s main advantage. A fortress replacing barracks is what makes our country a good choice for expansionist development. Regular barracks cost gold every year and give each unit created in the city 15 XP, allowing you to specialize them immediately. The fortress gives all the same things with one tiny addition - it halves the amount of culture necessary for the city to capture each cell. The result is that the territory around Russian cities with barracks is expanding very quickly! And you already know why this is useful. Resources, resources and more resources!

As for the Cossacks, they have only one difference with cavalry - they are much more effective against already “knocked out” units. This “Uvarov-Platov” property is not very useful, but if there is already a war going on, and it is going on in the Renaissance, then it would be a sin not to take advantage of it!

Military civilizations

And even though today armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

To hell with culture, ballet and ceramics! Let the diplomats fail! Who is interested in these ancient pyramids? From time immemorial, “Civilization” has been a game about war and global domination! And even though today’s armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

Knowing this, the developers “sharpened” most civilizations for military action. True - with varying degrees of success. Even the best “fighting” qualities can hardly compare in usefulness with the best economic and even construction ones. Why? Yes, because war is an episodic affair, and economics, construction and culture are important from the first to the last move. If the country is protected by the Great Wall, if there is always gold in the treasury, there is no need to fear for the outcome of any war. Loot conquers evil! So don't be surprised that not a single civilization received the highest rating.

China (Wu Zetian)

Art of War. Generals appear faster and provide an additional +20% to unit strength.

Building: paper workshop (replaces the library)

Squad: Chokonu (replaces crossbowmen).

China is an ideal military civilization. Of course, if I were the Chinese, I would be offended that such an ancient culture—and far from the most warlike—was classified as “militant.” But what can you do? That's what the developers decided.

Generals strengthen their units on campaigns. Generals build excellent defensive fortresses that strengthen the units around them. Finally, if there are a lot of them, then one or two generals can always be spent on the Golden Age. So there is no need to worry about China’s military power - it will repel an attack and, if necessary, conquer another state.

A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

The paper workshop replaces the library and, in addition to science, adds four gold per turn (count three if you subtract depreciation). Since war requires money, money and more money, the building is extremely useful.

Chokonu is the Chinese version of the crossbowman. He is slightly weaker than his alternative in battle, but he can shoot twice per turn. Do you understand what this smells like? Twice per turn! This is death to everything! A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

It is worth remembering that Chinese crossbowmen retain their ability when modernized. Riflemen, infantry, mechanized infantry... If they were not built from scratch, but were converted from chokon, they will be able to attack twice per turn. It’s a pity, though, that when upgrading, crossbowmen lose their ranged attack. But two attacks per turn against obviously weaker opponents is a high-speed blitzkrieg, which can be countered with little.

Germany (Otto von Bismarck)

Teutonic rage. When a barbarian settlement is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that the unit defending it will come over to your side and give you an additional 25 gold.

Squads: Landsknecht (replaces pikemen) and Panzer (replaces tank).

Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

Germany can recruit barbarians to its side. This is interesting because barbarians appear on the map in any era, as long as there are lands on the planet behind the fog of war (and they are almost always there). Recruitment occurs in half the cases. The barbarian detachment that came over to our side gives us 25 gold pieces in addition to the twenty-five that we already took from the camp we devastated. The “hunt for recruits” gives the best results, naturally, with the “Honor” branch open (an increase in strength against barbarians and operational information about each new settlement in the immediate vicinity).

There will always be barbarians - even at the South Pole.

Landsknechts are not particularly strong
We are in battle. But there are always a lot of them.

Of course, it is sometimes useful to get a free unit without spending effort on creating it. But what do we need it for? It is by no means always possible to come up with a use for it, and the budget will suffer the very next move. What happens - the peculiarity of Germany is good only when conducting early wars of conquest? In general, yes. However, the barbarian can be sold for gold or donated to an ally, having been sold off. At least some benefit.

But the Landsknechts are an interesting troop from the medieval era. They are no different from pikemen, but their creation costs half as much. Thus, the Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

But the “Shushpanzer”, although faster and stronger than our “thirty-four”, is not very useful, like all the unique units of later eras. During the endgame period, one detachment cannot change the course of the war - in the industrial and modern eras, the economy is much more important.

Songhai (Askia)

River leader. Doubles the amount of gold from captured cities and barbarian settlements. While swimming, units can repel attacks.

Building: pyramidal mosque (replaces the temple).

Squad: Mandekalu cavalry (replaces knights).

Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery.

The Songhai are probably the strangest civilization in the game. The developers clearly couldn’t decide whether to make them merchants or cool warriors. As a result, the Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery. In short, lock the floors.

Songhai even looks strange. An unusual landscape for a trading river power, isn’t it?

At the very beginning of the game, the Songhai, having taken “Honor” for themselves and clearing barbarian settlements, can rise well. Fifty coins from each barbarian camp is not a bad addition to the budget. Later, wars of conquest can become a good source of income. As you can see, the developers really wanted the Songhai to fight and capture cities. They even provided for a replacement for the knights - the Mandekal cavalry, whose main difference was a special passion for capturing cities.

Against the backdrop of all this, the Songhai clay mosque looks unexpectedly interesting - not only does it not require repairs, but it also gives five units of culture instead of three. Cultured people, therefore!

One should not underestimate another amazing skill of the Songhai - the ability to defend themselves in swimming. Any Songhai detachment can load into boats and sail to the ends of the world to discover distant islands, without fear that the first pirate trireme they encounter will sink it. And how difficult it is to prevent the landing of Songhai troops - no need to say. At sea, this civilization is almost stronger than England, and this is strange - I have never heard of the Songhai being conquerors of the oceans (however, I have never heard of them at all).

It turns out that in general the Songhai are rather weak. But in the early game and in the seas, they can give their neighbors a light. Therefore, on island maps they deserve a solid three. Until then - two.

England (Elizabeth I)

The sun never sets.+2 to the speed of all ships.

Squads: longbowmen (replace crossbowmen) and a battleship (replaces frigate).

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”!

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”! This is what the developers decided, because apart from an accelerated fleet and a battleship (cheaper than a frigate, shoots more powerfully and can see further), England has nothing. However, no, I’m lying - there are still longbowmen. This unit is interesting because it shoots a square further than ordinary archers and crossbowmen. This is useful, especially in defense. But this ability disappears with the first modernization.

Plus two turns for each ship - this, of course, is nice. But battleships and archers will sooner or later become obsolete, and countries with stronger economies will be able to roll out a better fleet than the British one. So, if you are not going to fight early on the island map, it is better not to touch England. The children are sunk and will become ours. But it’s hardly worth playing for Turkey just for this reason. The war with Japan is a terrible headache even in ancient times.

On the one hand, the developers flattered the Japanese by making their units incredibly resilient. Their attack and defense parameters do not drop if the unit is damaged. Even if a unit is knocked out by nine-tenths, it will deal full damage and give the enemy a good beating before dying.

There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks.

On the other hand, the Japanese developers were slightly insulted because they didn’t give anything more. There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks. And, I’ll add, useless attacks, because the units in the game must be protected in every possible way.

The result is a strange situation. On the one hand, fighting the computer Nobunaga is still torture. On the other hand, if you play as him and play by the rules, bushido will not be useful at all!

With the Zeros, everything is clear - they are useless both on their own (the same fighters, just more effective against other fighters), and as a unique unit of our time. Samurai aren't very interesting either. They consume iron, and their only advantage is the increased speed of “production” of generals in battle.

Just civilizations

This list includes those civilizations that were frankly unlucky. Their skills are insignificant, useless and sometimes downright absurd - as they say, neither borscht nor the Red Army. Of course, they also have useful buildings and units. But even these are not enough to seriously consider playing for these countries for strategic reasons.

Aztecs (Montezuma)

Sacrifices. Increase in culture for each enemy killed.

Building: floating gardens (replaces the mill).

Squad: jaguars (replaces warriors).

Floating gardens are an interesting replacement for a mill and a good addition to food if there is a lake near the city. But you can’t build it everywhere, and lakes aren’t found everywhere. So we cross out floating gardens. We also cross out sacrifices. Getting an increase in culture only during wars (and successful wars) is a joke.

The only people of at least some interest are the jaguars - forest warriors who are healed by two units after destroying the enemy. But they are of any use only in the ancient era, which tends to end quickly.

India (Gandhi)

Population growth. Dissatisfaction from the number of cities is doubled, but dissatisfaction from the population as a whole is halved.

Building: Mughal fort (replaces the fortress).

Squad: war elephant (replaces chariot shooters).

The war elephant is just a slightly stronger and faster version of the chariot archer. The Mughal Fort is an awkward defensive structure that provides culture and costs an insane three gold per turn. True, after the invention of airplanes, the fort, on the contrary, begins to make a profit - but the damage to the budget has already been done.

Squads: Minuteman (replaces the musketeer) and the B-17 bomber (replaces the regular bomber).

Let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage.

And finally, let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage, since it’s difficult to do something like this on purpose.

Can the units see further? And what from this? They are destroyed in the same way as the less vigilant ones, and the mountains block their field of vision in the same way as for other units. Discounts for purchasing city territory? What are you talking about? Saving a couple of dozen coins to buy a cage that we will still get in ten years is incredibly valuable.

B-17 bomber? Really? An extremely useful thing in an era when victory is just a stone's throw away and the economy is a hundred times more important than all military units. And the Minutemen... they're a total laugh. These are such specific musketeers who, although they run briskly through the hills and forests, don't know how to use the roads!

This is what America is like in Civilization V—the weakest civilization of all. And her assessment is appropriate.

In the comments there are often requests to make a video on playing against the computer on maximum level difficulties, so I thought that readers would be interested in tips on how to win the “deity”. I note that this is not some kind of step-by-step guide or a comprehensive “scientific” analysis of strategies, but simply a set of small tips based on my personal experience games. I like to play on a huge 12-player map at the slowest speed, but most of these tips will work for a more standard 6-8 player, fast or medium speed setting. I decided to limit myself to considering peaceful options for victory, partly because I don’t like to fight (the reason I like the game is that you can win without fighting), partly because you can learn a lot about how to fight and how not to fight from a large number of videos from network games. I managed to win diplomatic and scientific victories more than once; I will also write some thoughts on cultural ones, although formally I did not win in this way on the “deity” and I think that this is the most difficult victory (let’s not call the defeat of all rivals and a formal victory against one opponent with one city). So let's get started.

Diplomatic victory

Scientific progress

I consider the diplomatic victory to be the easiest in the game because it is least dependent on scientific progress. It doesn't really matter what stage of development you are at when you vote for world leader at the UN. The “Globalization” technology, which is supposed to be needed for a diplomatic victory, is not at all important.

Great people

I usually focus on merchants, although this may not be that critical. It is better to store merchants until the end of the game and then send them out to city-states - firstly, you will receive 30 influence points, i.e. you will save some money, secondly, the amount of gold from a trade deal depends on the current era, so towards the end of the game you will simply receive more gold.

Public institutions

Open a trade for 25% of gold in the capital, and also accept the “Entrepreneurship” institute, which will increase the growth of merchants, and most importantly, double the amount of gold from transactions with city-states. Buying merchants for faith can help, but there are too many not very useful institutions in commerce, and there is never too much culture and it is better to spend it on development. It is also necessary to open a philanthropy where the institutions of “Consulate” and “Charity” will be accepted. I prefer to do this at the very end, since the bulk of the gold is given to the city-states the turn before the vote.

As for ideology, it is not so important what to take - choose based on specific conditions and what your rivals took, since ideologies significantly affect your relationship with the computer and it is better to quarrel with as few rivals as possible.

Money

The main thing when playing for a diplomatic victory is to accumulate as much money as possible to purchase city-states in the turn before the vote. Therefore, try to receive as much gold as possible and spend as little as possible. In most cases, I was able to save enough money to buy all the city-states.

Caravans

It is better to send most caravans to their cities, otherwise development will be too slow. In the second half of the game, send several caravans to those directions that bring especially a lot of gold.

Spies

Towards the end of the game, send diplomats to powers that treat you well. The computer sells its congressional votes surprisingly cheaply, and you can gain missing votes this way if you don't have enough money for all the city-states or too many city-states have been captured. During the game, you can steal technology or maintain relationships with city-states. If you lack money at the end of the game, you can try to organize coups in some city-states, but, in my opinion, it is better to buy them and send spies as diplomats to get the votes of your rivals.

Other

It is not necessary to strive at all costs to be allies of as many city-states as possible throughout the game. It is clear that bonuses from this will never hurt, but it is not worth spending too much money. Complete simple quests, but don't try too hard. Do not promise protection to city-states, otherwise you will constantly have to spoil relations either with them or with the powers that demand tribute from them.

Scientific victory

Scientific progress

In science, you will be catching up throughout the game, so you need to discover technologies that allow you to build scientific buildings as quickly as possible. Don’t delay with the national college - 2-3 cities at the beginning of the game and it’s better to build it already. Try to figure it out so that by the time philosophy opens, you are already ready to start building a national college.

Great people

Of course, as many scientists as possible are needed. Usually I put the first couple of scientists in the academy, but then it’s better to leave them until the end of the game. Let's make some small calculations: the academy brings 8 science, 10 after the discovery of nuclear physics, another 4 can be obtained if you accept the New Deal dogma in freedom. It’s good if this gives an average of 10 science per turn over the entire game. Taking into account the scientific buildings in the city and other bonuses, you can get a maximum of +175% science. But since these modifiers are accumulated gradually, we can assume that the academy will give about 20 science on average. You will get your first academy at medium speed on turn 100, somewhere around turn 300 the game will come to an end. Thus, the academy will bring 4000 science per game. When "burned" at the end of the game, the scientist will give the amount of science for the last 8 turns. The amount of science in use at that time will be around 1000, i.e. "burning" will bring 8000 science. Here, of course, it is worth considering that, firstly, the academy will contribute to the amount of science when “burning”, in addition, additional science in the middle of the game will bring you closer to discovering technologies that open scientific buildings. But still, it seems to me that the calculation shows that the vast majority of scientists should be saved until the end of the game.

Public institutions

Rationalism is everything when playing for a scientific victory, close it as soon as possible. Here is the increase in science (try not to go into the red by luck), and the acceleration of the generation of scientists, and the increase in science received from research agreements, and, finally, free technology and the ability to buy scientists for faith at the end. I don't think it's worth delaying closing rationalism to get more expensive technology for free, since it's impossible to leave relatively unclosed useless institution.

The ideology must be chosen from freedom and order, it is difficult to say unequivocally which is better, the main thing is to accept a dogma in both, which increases the rate of generation of great people. It is also a very good idea to accept “Working faculties”, which give an increase in science from factories. Buying spaceship parts or building them with the help of engineers will not be easy, and even if you succeed, there is no guarantee that you will have the money or engineers. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of building your strategy around one of these tenets, but I don't usually use them. In autocracy there is an excellent dogma “Industrial Espionage”, which doubles the speed of the theft of technology by spies, but there are too few other useful dogmas and, it seems to me, it alone does not outweigh the advantages of freedom or order in general.

Miracles

The most important miracles when playing for a scientific victory are the porcelain pagoda and the Hubble telescope. The first will increase the amount of science received from research agreements, and the second, not only will give two scientists, but also gives a free spaceship factory and a 25% acceleration in the construction of spaceship parts.

Spies

All spies are dedicated to stealing technology; this greatly helps to catch up with rivals in science. Don't steal technology from the leader - he probably keeps his spies at home. By the number of points for technology, you can find out which powers are significantly ahead of you in science. Plant spies for them in capitals or large cities.

Money

Be sure to make as many scientific agreements as possible, I believe this is the main thing you should use gold for when playing for a scientific victory. Many opponents will constantly spend their money, so you need to use this technique: give the computer gold for gold in a turn (you will lose a little on this, since it is unlikely to agree to an equal exchange - you will have to give more gold than you will receive in total during the contract ), and then immediately enter into a scientific agreement. It is extremely rare for a computer to refuse an agreement if it has the money to do so. Of course, you probably shouldn’t enter into an agreement with the leader, but try to do this all the time with everyone else.

Caravans

It is best to send caravans with food. We need as much science as possible, and basic science is provided by the population. At the end of the game, of course, as much as possible, send caravans with production to the cities where you will build spaceship parts.

Other

Try to accumulate as much faith as possible, i.e. At a minimum, it is necessary to build sanctuaries and temples in all cities. The more scientists you can buy at the end with faith, the better. It is, of course, not necessary to pursue the foundation of religion, especially since it is not so often possible to do this on the basis of a “deity”. They will still bring you religion, but you don’t need more to buy scientists.

Cultural victory

Scientific progress

Computer opponents will generate a lot of culture. Unfortunately, very important technology“Internet” is at the last level of the technology tree. Opening it in time, while focusing the game on culture and tourism, is quite difficult, which makes a cultural victory difficult to achieve. In addition, the sooner you discover technologies that allow you to build hotels and airports, the better. These buildings significantly increase the number of tourism points. For the rest, you need to go through technology in the same way as in the case of a scientific victory, i.e. try to discover technologies that allow you to build scientific buildings as quickly as possible.

Great people

The more “cultured” great people you have, the better. It is better to immediately use writers and artists to create masterpieces. Regarding musicians, I believe that most of the musicians that will be generated by your guild should also be used to create masterpieces, since, unlike scholars and merchants, a musician's power is fixed at the time of his appearance. Maybe the last one or two is worth holding on to, but it all depends on how many Tourism Points you have when they appear. Since you will have only one guild of writers, artists and musicians, it is important to build them all in one city on the river (so that you can build a garden) and place the national epic in this city.

Among the “uncultured” great people, I think it is worth choosing scientists. Engineers can help build some of the many useful wonders, but scientific progress is more important - no wonder will give you as much tourism as Internet technology.

Public institutions

For a cultural victory, it is simply necessary to close aesthetics. In general, a key aspect of a cultural victory is to buy as many musicians as possible with faith at the end of the game. Therefore, it is also very important to maximize the generation of faith points. It will be very good if you manage to go by piety, collect as many religious buildings (pagodas, mosques, monasteries, cathedrals) as possible and accept the beliefs of the reformation, which gives tourism points from these buildings. Although it is still more important to cover aesthetics, and most likely there will not be enough for all the cultures.

It is better to choose freedom as an ideology, since it has the “Media Culture” dogma, which increases tourism points by 34% in a city with a radio tower. A similar dogma in order - "Cultural Revolution" - increases tourism points by 34% in relation to powers that have also adopted the order, and it is unlikely that all your rivals will be so unanimous. The strategy with “Futurism” from autocracy, in my opinion, is useless in the game on “deity”.

Miracles

Perhaps the most necessary miracle when playing for a cultural victory is the Leaning Tower of Pisa; it should be built in a city with guilds. It will be very good if you can build the Eiffel Tower, which gives 12 tourism points per turn without any masterpieces. It will be very useful to build any miracle that produces a “cultured” great person: this is the Globe Theater, the Uffizi Gallery, the Louvre, Broadway. Wonders are also good, in which there are several cells for masterpieces, and, accordingly, the opportunity to receive a thematic bonus. This includes, in addition to the above, the Sistine Chapel and the Sydney Opera House. It is unlikely that you will build many of them on the “deity”, but if there is an opportunity, take advantage of it. Don’t forget also about the national wonders - the Hermitage and the information center. But the Alexandrian library and the Parthenon are not worth building - too much of a lag behind the computer in the early eras practically reduces the chances of completing them before your rivals to zero.

Money and caravans

Be sure to buy open borders from all rivals - it is relatively cheap and significantly increases the number of tourism points. It is also desirable that trade caravans be established with as many powers as possible. It doesn't matter who owns the caravan, so keep track of which rivals are sending caravans to you so you can send yours to someone else.

Spies

Use spies in the same way as in the case of a scientific victory. Try to steal as many technologies as possible, since scientific progress is very important here. After accepting an ideology, assign diplomats to powers with an ideology different from yours - this will level out the penalty to tourism points from ideological differences. There are not enough spies for everyone, so choose the most culturally developed powers.

Other

It is advisable to obtain as many artifacts as possible with the help of archaeologists. Start with the furthest dig sites, as the ones closest to you are easier to control. Occupy excavation sites with your units so that rival archaeologists cannot get ahead of you. You can dig up one artifact on the territory of your rivals; this will slightly worsen the relationship, but not critical. Make sure you have buildings ready to house artifacts: if you excavate outside your territory and have nowhere to place the artifact, you will be wasting an archaeologist. It is better to turn excavation sites located on tiles that your cities can process into monuments, since the hotel and the airport in total will give as much tourism as the culture the monument brings, in addition, you will also get culture, which needs a lot.

• Keep a small but competitive army. This will not protect you from attack, but it will allow you to fight back. As you know, the computer acts very poorly tactically, so even against numerically superior forces it is quite possible to defend yourself. If your nearest neighbor attacks you, you can take advantage of this and seize something; this will not be regarded as strong aggression and will not spoil relations with other rivals. Don't be upset if you've lost a city or two, the chances of winning back are still quite high.
• Try to sell all excess resources - both strategic and luxury resources. The computer doesn't use them well anyway. Of course, it is advisable to sell them not to the leader and not to the closest neighbors. Approximate prices at which the computer buys resources: strategic - 1.5 gold per turn per 1 unit, luxury resources - 7 gold per turn. The price may vary depending on your relationship with the purchasing party. Sell ​​resources to your friends for a lump sum - you never know what will happen to the resource during the term of the agreement
• Don't be aggressive. In each winning option, it is extremely useful to be friends with as many opponents as possible, and aggressive behavior can cause many of them to view you negatively.
• If you are attacked or feel someone is about to, negotiate with a couple of other powers to declare war on the attacker. Warlike leaders will agree to this for literally a few gold pieces per turn. This can divert some of your enemy's troops to another front or force him to make peace with you. In general, this technique can always be used - the more resources your rivals spend on wars with each other, the more profitable it is for you.

This is probably where my advice ends. I'm not saying that you'll win any game this way, because something can always go wrong, but using these tips, it's quite possible to win often on the "deity" difficulty level. Good luck with your games!