Best Civilization For a Newb at Domination Victories?

jungleman3955 said:

I would suggest Arabia to ween yourself off of just going for science victory every game (or cultural/diplo). I used to just get 4 city start and then push straight for a SV every game. I would suggest Arabia because in my experience you will revert to turtling out of habit and they are are strong civ for that with there economic advantages so you're not shooting yourself in the foot for picking say the mongols and turtling with them.

Another fun strategy I've been doing lately is playing Carthage on Pangaea and only making coastal cities and literally just puppeting every coastal city the AI puts up. Maybe not optimal on pangaea but when you've played hundreds of games as I have, weird strategies makes the game interesting.

One game I decided to roleplay like the AI. I assumed an aggressive, religious attitude toward my diplomatic relations with other nations. So I went heavy religion and militaristic. Any nation that would not adopt my religion I would act hostile towards and any nation that did adopt I was peaceful with. Just different ideas to make the game more fun for you.

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I did the same, one of the best games I ever had. A Game to unite all CS's with Austria is awesome too.

I would suggest ethiopia or france.

Ethiopia is has the stele to help get an early religion which is important in domination.

France can quickly finish liberty tree to preferably rush build the great wall which would most likely be the one thing that slows you down most when attacking an AI with it. They also have strong ren era units so your army stays strong when xbows start losing power.

Just because this seems like a decent thread to revitalize, as I am personally going through the process of getting into Domination and playing "the real way," two that I didn't see a lot of love for:

Japan
Aztec

If only because both are based towards Domination Victories while giving culture bonuses that start on Turn 0, thus negating the feeling for those used to other victory types that they are being neglectful of their cultural duties.

Assyria is kinda similar in this regard, because the Royal Library contains slots for great writings, which often gets overlooked, but that's not a Turn 0 thing and is more about allowing Assyria a Cultural Victory chance overall. Anyway, N00bs like me, Aztecs and Japan might be a good starting point for you!

I'd use Moriarte's Liberty Domination strategy with either England or China, so the CBs that take the first capital or two get a huge boost at Machinery.

You could also look at Peddroelm's Honor-Commerce-Autocracy guides which pretty much fly in the face of conventional wisdom, at times. But I've made them work, and I'm not a very good player.

Liberty is easier to learn, though.

As controversial as this seems, I'd ignore anyone here who tells you to use tradition for a Domination victory

I am playing a Zulu dom game at Emperor at the moment and it's a blast. I actually started with a 2-city-Tradition start, beelined to Civil Service (Impis) and after that to Composite Bows. Army composition so far is 6 Impis, 2 Catas and 3 Bows. And I am pouring through my enemies like a knife through hot butter.

I don't get the focus on Liberty while going Domination. There are exactly 2 techs that help you out: the -33% cultural costs and the bonus to city connections. Well, i got Tithe now so money is not an issue. I deal with happiness by razing, religion and a little focus on happiness buildings. So far, it is no big deal (England + Shoshone annihilated, Brazil + Poland left on my continent).

On the bright side, Tradition + trade routes gave me a pop 20 capitol before rennaissance. I am not convinced that Liberty is better.

If you want to learn / master basic warfare, pick some relatively normal civ. Dont lean to hard on the horse archer crutch.

Aztecs are solid. thier UA, UB make it easier to ignore culture for a bit, solve some growth issues. The jag is a *great* unit, keeps promotions.

Egypt / Huns : Great for mastering the "clear your continent early" technique.

Babylon : great for early artillery rush or flight rush. Any strategy relying on a tech lead.

special civs: these guys do things no one else can. these are not "easier" just different.
Vikings : everyone hates them, but they do things no other civ can. mobility is king in battle. I love these guys for dom. land artilery on a beach, set up, shoot all in one turn!
America : sight +1, minutemen, air power.
the huns, mongols, arabia : powerful UU's
The ottomans : best for archi maps, snowballing navy via prize ships.
Russia : Nuclear domination. they can have more uranium than anyone. Same applies for iron (frigates)

Liberty is better for domination because you can expand more quickly, planting cities that will start to produce more units. For Republic you get a crucial hammer boost. It also means you can grab more luxuries and boost your economy.

Using Liberty it's not uncommon to have 3 capitals by T100. Much harder to do that with Tradition.

I rather go with a monstrous capital / production monster I guess. 1 production for every city... That's it? The settler is useless, I conquer and do not settle. The worker is pretty much useless, I already started deleting them after I conquered my first enemy because I caught too many.

This leaves +1 and +1 happy face per city + 1 golden age. I am only keeping capitals and cities with new unique luxuries, so happiness isn't a big issue. So 1 production... Well, I'll rather take my 20 pop capital and push out military like there's no tomorrow there.

I am pretty sure Liberty works well, I am just more confident with Tradition. It just gives me a crucial good start into the game.

DocRock, if you can finish DCL #16 (China) faster than Acken by going Full Tradition, then I will be converted

consentient said:

I'd use Moriarte's Liberty Domination strategy...

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Which is at:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=503931

I'm in for the fun of playing and I by far do not play efficiently. I only say on Emperor, a tradition based domination victory is pretty easy. i am at turn ~150 with 2 enemies down and Warsaw already in range of my cannons. No happiness or gold issues so far. Works fine.

I would personally recommend the Zulus there special ability is really good for domination victory and will help your units get better and more promotions that will help throughout the entire game they also have an amazing unit (the impi) that replaces pikeman and can destroy mounted units and all other units their unique buildings really help for pre gunpowder warfare

I'm a domination player, and going by my name, you know one of my choices. Here are my top 5
1. England, Only if you are playing in archipelago though.
2. Rome, Try get some Iron.
3. America, It worked for me.
4. Germany, Those barbarians can be mercs.
5. Japan, Units at 1 health fight like they have full health, gotta love them samurais.

Actually:

1. Mongolia. Super powered Keshiks cannot be stopped
2. Arabia. See 1.
3. England. You DO NOT have to be on Archipelagos because the Longbow really is that strong.
4. China. See 3.
5. Huns. Yeah that's all, Huns
6. Zulus because their Impis clear out the enemy carpets quickly leaving only your power hitters (likely Crossbows at the time) to burn down cities. Zulus are not in G&K derp
7. Persia. Probably should be ranked higher but their UA makes all kinds of conquest trivial

I'd say Polynesia is the strongest civ on Archipelago. Get all the ruins, meet all AIs and CSs quicker than anyone else can, then crush everything with Galleasses.