Which Civ/Victory type should I go for next?

Choosing my leader and victory type is usually a big part of the game for me. Given the amount of time a typical game takes, I'm going to be with them for a while so I don't want to play an uninspiring civ. Note that I haven't actually achieved a science victory as of yet, and I'm probably play on King difficulty for a two or three games before upping it to Emperor.

Here is who I've played as previously:

Elizabeth I (Vanilla): Domination, 295 turns, Earth/Small/Cheiftain/Standard, 11hours 43 minutes
Alexander (Vanilla): Domination, 259 turns, Pangea/Small/Warlord/Standard, 10 hours 28 minutes
Wu Zetian (G&K): Diplomatic, 376 turns, Continents/Standard/Warlord/Standard, 13 hours 4 minutes
Darius I (G&K): Domination, 349 turns, Continents/Huge/Warlord/Standard, 20 hours, 33 minutes [note by the end of this game I controlled 86 cities, see image below]
Napoleon (G&K): Cultural, 375 turns, Continents/Huge/Prince/Standard, 11 hours 12 minutes
Casimir (BNW): Cultural, 301 turns, Continents/Large/Prince/Standard, 9 hours 36 minutes
Maria I (BNW): Diplomatic, 398 turns, Continents/Large/Prince/Standard, 12 hours 6 minutes



Unfinished Games

Korea (G&K): Science, 290 turns, Continents/Large/King/Standard

My first foray into science victories and king difficulty didn't go well. This game was after Napoleon. I was isolated on the same continent as Greece and didn't take him out early so I got into a protracted war with him with no real end in sight. I wasn't losing the war, but I wasn't winning it either and the war was distracting from my science goals. I was tech leader but my lead was slipping. I was in a very difficult position since even if I beat Alexander, Russia had a continent to herself and had grown huge

Mongolia (G&K): Domination, 175 turns, Continents/Large/Prince/Standard

This game was after Korea. Exams meant I had little time for civ. By the time I was done BNW was on the horizon and I didn't really care to go back to a G&K game to finish it off. I was in a very strong position though, this would have been an easy win, I had already dominated my continent and I was tech leader

Venice (BNW): Diplomatic, 138 turns, Earth/Large/Prince/Standard

Awful starting position where venice was too far away to build trade routes so I never really managed to develop a strong position on the game. Possibly winnable but would have been a massive chore and probably would have had to go domination. I was tech leader

The main thing about BNW is there is no need to decide what form of victory you are going after on turn 1. If you emphasize science you'll be in a good position to win whichever form of victory you were after. Seeing how it goes and starting to think about it in Industrial age and deciding in the Modern era works well.

(And even in G&K and Vanilla; the only one that required different behavior in turn 1 was Cultural.)

joncnunn said:

The main thing about BNW is there is no need to decide what form of victory you are going after on turn 1. If you emphasize science you'll be in a good position to win whichever form of victory you were after. Seeing how it goes and starting to think about it in Industrial age and deciding in the Modern era works well.

(And even in G&K and Vanilla; the only one that required different behavior in turn 1 was Cultural.)

Click to expand...

True, the main point is that whatever victory condition you are pursuing you can't really neglect everything else.

You still want to boost your culture, or you'll be in a lot of troubles later, you still want to maximize your science output, because the late game techs are necessary for your plans. You still want to be a dominant diplomatic power, else some resolutions will end up hurting your plans.

Even so a bit of pre-planning doesn't hurt. If you are aiming for a cultural victory you should fill up aesthetic and spend a policy to open Exploration.
If you are aiming for science you can't really miss Rationalism.
If you are aiming for a diplomatic victory you should at least open Patronage and build the forbidden palace as a priority.

A lot of wonder choices are dependent on your aims too.