CIV7 anyone? - Page 2

Threadfin · 03-27-25, 01:41 PM

To wit.... started a new run as Gandhi, who I have never played, I don't think, in any of the Civ installments. He's a faith leader, mainly, so I'm going all in. As mentioned, I rush for a religion every game, but here it especially powerful. There are a number of good religious civs -- Russia, Kmer, Ethiopia and more -- but I've already done all of those haha

Gandhi has a neat ability where if a religion is present in any of your cities, even just one pop out of many, you get the bonuses from that religion. So usually I am playing defense, trying to keep my cities pure Mojo. I always make a custom religion called Mojo using the same icon.

But with Gandhi I want to let some other religions seep in to gain their bonuses. This is quite powerful indeed.

I'm focusing on faith, generating good output. By taking certain policies, or building certain buildings, or reaching a golden age, my India is able to purchase land military units, civilian units (settler, trader, builder, etc), and cultural and science campus buildings with faith. These are instantly popped out. Strong. That frees your production lines for other stuff.

And beyond that, having high faith stockpiles means you can patronize great people often, which can also be done with gold, to be fair. So if another civ is going to beat you to Rockefeller, or Einstein or whomever you have your eyes on, you can steal them by paying for them. Not only can this make your civ stronger, but you can more easily deny these assets to your competitors.

Most people I know that play this game seem to ignore religion, or don't consider it all that strong, but it is indeed.

Threadfin · 03-27-25, 02:12 PM

And something else I wanted to mention -- and we are talking Civ 6, not 7, at the moment for anyone clicking on to this page -- is that I played barbarian clans mode for the first time in the last run.

I wish I had done so earlier. In this mode, barbarians are mechanically different. They can still raid you and hassle you. But the civs have additional options. You can pay them not to attack, you can levy units from them, and raid them. Over time, the barbarians camps can transform in to city states.

In my Babylon run I tried it. I put eight city-states on the map to start. By the end of the game there were over 30. It's pretty cool, and I like it much better than the standard barbarian mode. Barb camps can still be dispersed if you want, or you can let them live to become trading or military partners later on.

Platapus · 03-27-25, 04:38 PM

I have to admit that I seldom put much into religion. I would like to learn more about the mechanics of religion. Need to hit CivFanatics more often.

The barbarian mod is pretty interesting and fun

I am in my second game as Babylon. Quite the different game play. Not sure I like it, but my second game is going well.

I normally pay little attention to the tech boosts, especially the ones that require me to make something I don't want to make or to take an action that I don't wanna.

Also you have to plan to get the Great Library as that seems to be important. Fortunately, I like the espionage aspects of the game and that really gives boosts.

Threadfin · 03-28-25, 07:14 AM

Great Library is good yes, and obviously if you are going for science victory it helps you, and you've denied it to a competitor. So win-win. At higher levels it is one of the most competitive wonders, so it's not all that often I get it. And I usually find cultural victories come easiest.

Yes, as Babylon you want to read what the requirements are for your eureka and then go and get them.

The barbarian clans is a mode, not a mod, just to be clear. It's a default setting you can toggle on or off. Like Secret Societies or Corporations mode, if you have the expansions, Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm. I do find it preferable in the long run.

If you need any advice about religion I'm happy to help. I always go for one as mentioned. But the basics are like this

Early on you want to generate faith to get a pantheon. There's an early policy card that grants one faith per turn. Or you can get lucky and hit a tribal village that yields faith and boom, there's your pantheon.

Build a Holy Site. We will need a temple shortly.

Generate great prophet points. Policy card and holy site. Or Stonehenge

Once you have the great prophet you send him to your holy site and use the option to start a religion.

Use your faith to buy apostles. These can 'evangelize' your beliefs. You do this a couple times until you've selected all your beliefs (bonuses) and its done and dusted.

Civ is a game of opportunity costs, and by building a Holy Site you are not building a campus or whatever. But over the long run it pays off in a big way I think.

Platapus · 03-29-25, 04:50 PM

Good tips.

I need to read up on religious combat mechanics in the game.

Threadfin · 03-31-25, 07:06 AM

I just finished another run, this time as Gandhi, and religion was central to the playthrough. The only units that can do combat are the apostles, and each time you recruit one you can select one promotion. One of these is stronger combat and it's useful to have one or two with this promotion to defend your lands. Gurus act as medics for you religious units. Missionaries only spread religion.

Gandhi gets the bonuses from any religion present in his cities, so unlike other civs, here I wanted to let some seep in, and therefore did less religious combat. I had to keep an eye on my cities and not let them flip, but a couple pop is fine.

This was one of the hardest wins I've had. I've had harder losses, but this time i found the other civs were up for a game and ran me close. In the end I got a science victory, which I pursued even though I was going for culture. The culture 'defense' the other civs had just kept dragging that one out until science won eventually.

These other civs did so well that I actually saw them at war with each other, and having giant death robot battles near my borders. Don't think I even saw this before from the AI. It took until turn 460 to win, and game's over at 500.

Platapus · 04-01-25, 05:11 PM

I always disable the turn limit. I like to play until I either win or get my butt kicked.

Skybird · 04-03-25, 07:13 PM

Threadfin · 04-04-25, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

I always disable the turn limit. I like to play until I either win or get my butt kicked.

It's also possible to set a custom turn limit. I always have this on, but I can't recall ever reaching it before victory or defeat came. At 460 turns there, I was getting close though.

Started a new run as Black Queen Catherine and am fully in to her spies and subterfuge mojo. I use spies, but usually defensively on my most important districts. But this run I'm all in on the espionage.

Platapus · 04-04-25, 05:13 PM

I use spies most offensively.

Especially if another civ is racing me to a space victory.

Oh so sorry, don't know what happened to your space port.

Threadfin · 04-05-25, 07:39 AM

It was functioning just a minute ago....

Must have been that Gandhi guy

Platapus · 04-06-25, 04:05 PM

In playing Babylon, one of the perks is that when you first build a district, you get an automatic lowest level building in that district. Not a bad perk.

But in my games, when I build an encampment, instead of getting a barracks, I always seem to get the Alloy Forge, which has an expensive upkeep of 5 gold.

Does anyone else's game do this instead of the barracks.

Not only is this an expensive building that you can't get rid of, in most of the games it is not needed as there are iron mines.

Threadfin · 04-07-25, 08:12 AM

Maybe it a translation thing, but I have no alloy forge in my game. Encampment district can build barracks, stable, armory and military academy

Black Queen Catherine run is done and dusted, right on turn 400. Like I've done in my past few runs I was simultaneously going for both culture and science. I thought it would end up culture, because I was using my spies to steal all the world's great works haha. It was easy, but it kept dragging out until once again my space projects overtook it and won the game.

In the middle game one of the civs kept raising partisans in my capital, which sucks because they pillage a number of tiles which slows down your production while you repair everything. It kept saying the one doing it was unknown, but eventually I caught one of the spies and it was Cree (Poundmaker). I suspected it was him. From that point I used my spies to just ruin his days. Sabotage his dams, his production, partisans, steal gold, steal great works. He must have been livid haha. FAFO

I think I'll do another run, and I had an idea to disable every victory type except for score. There would be nothing to work toward, just get the most points. Maybe make turn limit 400 and have a score race to the finish line.

Platapus · 04-07-25, 05:14 PM

I think I solved my "mystery"

It was a mod that I forgot I enabled.

It is a handy mod and one well balanced. Just in this case it pops before barracks.

Oh well, my fault.

Threadfin · 04-09-25, 07:00 AM

Yes, I suspected such a thing

I did indeed start one more run, this one as Pericles, and I disabled all victory types other than score. I did however forget to change the turn limit derp. But I drew such a good map that I stuck with it. Had eight cities planted by turn 200, so it's all going very well. The last 150 turns will drag by haha

Pericles gets +5% culture per city state that he is suzerain of. With barbarian clans mode on we end up with like 40 city states, so this is a powerful bonus.

03-27-25, 01:41 PM	#16
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	To wit.... started a new run as Gandhi, who I have never played, I don't think, in any of the Civ installments. He's a faith leader, mainly, so I'm going all in. As mentioned, I rush for a religion every game, but here it especially powerful. There are a number of good religious civs -- Russia, Kmer, Ethiopia and more -- but I've already done all of those haha Gandhi has a neat ability where if a religion is present in any of your cities, even just one pop out of many, you get the bonuses from that religion. So usually I am playing defense, trying to keep my cities pure Mojo. I always make a custom religion called Mojo using the same icon. But with Gandhi I want to let some other religions seep in to gain their bonuses. This is quite powerful indeed. I'm focusing on faith, generating good output. By taking certain policies, or building certain buildings, or reaching a golden age, my India is able to purchase land military units, civilian units (settler, trader, builder, etc), and cultural and science campus buildings with faith. These are instantly popped out. Strong. That frees your production lines for other stuff. And beyond that, having high faith stockpiles means you can patronize great people often, which can also be done with gold, to be fair. So if another civ is going to beat you to Rockefeller, or Einstein or whomever you have your eyes on, you can steal them by paying for them. Not only can this make your civ stronger, but you can more easily deny these assets to your competitors. Most people I know that play this game seem to ignore religion, or don't consider it all that strong, but it is indeed. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

03-27-25, 02:12 PM	#17
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	And something else I wanted to mention -- and we are talking Civ 6, not 7, at the moment for anyone clicking on to this page -- is that I played barbarian clans mode for the first time in the last run. I wish I had done so earlier. In this mode, barbarians are mechanically different. They can still raid you and hassle you. But the civs have additional options. You can pay them not to attack, you can levy units from them, and raid them. Over time, the barbarians camps can transform in to city states. In my Babylon run I tried it. I put eight city-states on the map to start. By the end of the game there were over 30. It's pretty cool, and I like it much better than the standard barbarian mode. Barb camps can still be dispersed if you want, or you can let them live to become trading or military partners later on. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

03-27-25, 04:38 PM	#18
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I have to admit that I seldom put much into religion. I would like to learn more about the mechanics of religion. Need to hit CivFanatics more often. The barbarian mod is pretty interesting and fun I am in my second game as Babylon. Quite the different game play. Not sure I like it, but my second game is going well. I normally pay little attention to the tech boosts, especially the ones that require me to make something I don't want to make or to take an action that I don't wanna. Also you have to plan to get the Great Library as that seems to be important. Fortunately, I like the espionage aspects of the game and that really gives boosts. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

03-28-25, 07:14 AM	#19
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Great Library is good yes, and obviously if you are going for science victory it helps you, and you've denied it to a competitor. So win-win. At higher levels it is one of the most competitive wonders, so it's not all that often I get it. And I usually find cultural victories come easiest. Yes, as Babylon you want to read what the requirements are for your eureka and then go and get them. The barbarian clans is a mode, not a mod, just to be clear. It's a default setting you can toggle on or off. Like Secret Societies or Corporations mode, if you have the expansions, Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm. I do find it preferable in the long run. If you need any advice about religion I'm happy to help. I always go for one as mentioned. But the basics are like this Early on you want to generate faith to get a pantheon. There's an early policy card that grants one faith per turn. Or you can get lucky and hit a tribal village that yields faith and boom, there's your pantheon. Build a Holy Site. We will need a temple shortly. Generate great prophet points. Policy card and holy site. Or Stonehenge Once you have the great prophet you send him to your holy site and use the option to start a religion. Use your faith to buy apostles. These can 'evangelize' your beliefs. You do this a couple times until you've selected all your beliefs (bonuses) and its done and dusted. Civ is a game of opportunity costs, and by building a Holy Site you are not building a campus or whatever. But over the long run it pays off in a big way I think. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

03-29-25, 04:50 PM	#20
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Good tips. I need to read up on religious combat mechanics in the game. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

03-31-25, 07:06 AM	#21
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	I just finished another run, this time as Gandhi, and religion was central to the playthrough. The only units that can do combat are the apostles, and each time you recruit one you can select one promotion. One of these is stronger combat and it's useful to have one or two with this promotion to defend your lands. Gurus act as medics for you religious units. Missionaries only spread religion. Gandhi gets the bonuses from any religion present in his cities, so unlike other civs, here I wanted to let some seep in, and therefore did less religious combat. I had to keep an eye on my cities and not let them flip, but a couple pop is fine. This was one of the hardest wins I've had. I've had harder losses, but this time i found the other civs were up for a game and ran me close. In the end I got a science victory, which I pursued even though I was going for culture. The culture 'defense' the other civs had just kept dragging that one out until science won eventually. These other civs did so well that I actually saw them at war with each other, and having giant death robot battles near my borders. Don't think I even saw this before from the AI. It took until turn 460 to win, and game's over at 500. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

04-01-25, 05:11 PM	#22
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I always disable the turn limit. I like to play until I either win or get my butt kicked. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-03-25, 07:13 PM	#23
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,598 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	__________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

04-04-25, 05:13 PM	#25
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I use spies most offensively. Especially if another civ is racing me to a space victory. Oh so sorry, don't know what happened to your space port. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-05-25, 07:39 AM	#26
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	It was functioning just a minute ago.... Must have been that Gandhi guy __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

04-06-25, 04:05 PM	#27
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	In playing Babylon, one of the perks is that when you first build a district, you get an automatic lowest level building in that district. Not a bad perk. But in my games, when I build an encampment, instead of getting a barracks, I always seem to get the Alloy Forge, which has an expensive upkeep of 5 gold. Does anyone else's game do this instead of the barracks. Not only is this an expensive building that you can't get rid of, in most of the games it is not needed as there are iron mines. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-07-25, 08:12 AM	#28
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Maybe it a translation thing, but I have no alloy forge in my game. Encampment district can build barracks, stable, armory and military academy Black Queen Catherine run is done and dusted, right on turn 400. Like I've done in my past few runs I was simultaneously going for both culture and science. I thought it would end up culture, because I was using my spies to steal all the world's great works haha. It was easy, but it kept dragging out until once again my space projects overtook it and won the game. In the middle game one of the civs kept raising partisans in my capital, which sucks because they pillage a number of tiles which slows down your production while you repair everything. It kept saying the one doing it was unknown, but eventually I caught one of the spies and it was Cree (Poundmaker). I suspected it was him. From that point I used my spies to just ruin his days. Sabotage his dams, his production, partisans, steal gold, steal great works. He must have been livid haha. FAFO I think I'll do another run, and I had an idea to disable every victory type except for score. There would be nothing to work toward, just get the most points. Maybe make turn limit 400 and have a score race to the finish line. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

04-07-25, 05:14 PM	#29
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I think I solved my "mystery" It was a mod that I forgot I enabled. It is a handy mod and one well balanced. Just in this case it pops before barracks. Oh well, my fault. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-09-25, 07:00 AM	#30
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Yes, I suspected such a thing I did indeed start one more run, this one as Pericles, and I disabled all victory types other than score. I did however forget to change the turn limit derp. But I drew such a good map that I stuck with it. Had eight cities planted by turn 200, so it's all going very well. The last 150 turns will drag by haha Pericles gets +5% culture per city state that he is suzerain of. With barbarian clans mode on we end up with like 40 city states, so this is a powerful bonus. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?