The Arabs, written by Zardnaar
The Prophet Muhammad united the Arabic people in the 7th century AD during the birth of one of the world’s great religions- Islam. Over the next 100 years the Arabs expanded from what is now present day Saudi Arabia to the Atlantic Ocean and present day Iraq. The battle of Poiters in the 8th century stopped Arabic expansion in Europe while in the east the Arabs defeated the Ottoman and Persian empires. Trade spread Islam further into parts of Africa, Central Asia and as far away as Indonesia. Numerous crusades were launched from Europe to liberate the holy land, which were eventually defeated. With the rise of the Ottomans and the discovery of America in the 15th century the Arabs went into decline.
In the game the Arabs are Expansionistic and Religious- traits perfectly matching their history. At first glance they have a pair of widely perceived so-so traits and yet another knight unique unit. First glances can be wrong. The Expansionist trait is one of the least popular in the game and one of the hardest to get full benefit from. You get pottery as a starting tech, which is all-important for the settler factory start and a scout. It also has little effect after the ancient age. However the trait is all about speed. You can scout with warriors but scouts do it faster. Expansionist civs often get an early tech lead due to free techs from huts. Although you can often trade for the required techs it’s just faster with the expansionistic trait- and you get to sell or trade them to the AI civs. If you manage to pop philosophy from a hut you get two techs for the price of none and it is possible to exit the ancient age before 2000 BC.
Other benefits include the ability to build extra scouts, and getting maps, gold, and additional settlers or cities and units from the huts. Even something like a conscript warrior can be used as military police in your capital saving you the 10 turns required to build on if you manage to get one early on near your capital- 10 turns you can use to build a granary. Another benefit is superior city location, and you should be among the 1st civs to make contact with AI civs and to find luxury and strategic resources. The drawbacks are that each hut is random and the trait has no immediate long-term benefit. However the game can often be won or lost in the ancient age and that’s what the trait is designed to do- an explosive start to carry you through the rest of the game.
The Religious trait gives you ceremonial burial as a starting trait and lets you build half priced temples and cathedrals - saving more time as well. It also reduces your anarchy time from changing governments from 5-9 turns to 2 turns. Although in most games you only change governments 1-3 times, the religious trait practically encourages you to change governments to suit the situation. Need to go to war? Switch to Monarchy or Communism/Fascism. Need to recover from a war? Republic or Democracy. It’s this versatility that is one of the religious traits greatest attractions- along with the time saved from anarchy. Put together with the expansionistic trait and you are looking at a potentially explosive start followed by a quick switch to republic/monarchy.
Arabic cities can be surprisingly productive for a non-agricultural/industrial civ as all the time saved can be used to build additional units or improvements. Which brings me to the Ansar Warrior, Arabia’s UU.
This "yet another knight unit" is possibly the best UU unit in the game and is comparable to the Immortal and Mounted Warrior. A 4/2/3 unit that replaces the knight and requires horses to build. The 3-movement is worth the weaker defense compared to normal knights, but it’s also cheaper at 60 shields instead of 70. Not only is it better than the unit it replaces (most UU are) its also cheaper. In civ speed kills. The 3-movement allows a large force of Ansars to quickly reach the AI cities. None of these move 1 or 2 squares through the AI civs cultural boundaries wait a turn then attack. Just go for the jugular right away as the extra movement allows you to move and attack the AIs cities straight away. Since it also triggers a golden age in effect you seem to have a never ending swarm of Ansars to hammer the AI cities, and they rarely can respond fast enough- especially if they only have spearmen due to having no Iron.
For the peaceful builder type Arabia can also be an excellent choice. Early temple building can add up to a lot of culture points for a cultural victory while the expansionist trait often helps your REX phase. The Ansar makes a surprisingly good defender as well. For any wars you get dragged into they can rapidly respond to any threatened area of your empire. On your road network they can move 9 squares to rapidly deploy to where they are needed. The reduced anarchy also makes it easy to switch governments and lets you get more culture if you're trying for a cultural victory. The timing of the Arabic golden age also helps here. Marketplaces and Universities are expensive to build in the early middle ages and several excellent wonders are available as well. A GA makes it that much easier to build these improvements. Overall a 1st tier builder/culture civ.
Sometimes however you just want to smash the AI senseless. Arabia is also a 1st tier warmonger civ due to the power of its UU and the speed of the civ. Most expansionistic civs stall once you leave the ancient age. For the Arabs a beeline to chivalry and a quick switch to monarchy gives you the Ansar and a wartime government to use it. For most of the middle ages you can crush the AIs in a series of rapid advances followed by a mass upgrade to cavalry. Once you enter the industrial age (assuming you haven't already won) a beeline to communism is usually more than any remaining AI civs can handle. The easiest win condition for the Arabs is usually a domination win. Those cheap temples will come in handy to get the required landmass win condition. A small downside worth mentioning is that with this civ it’s possible to overextend yourself - be careful and pay attention.
Overall I would rate the Arabs as a 1st tier civ although they're weaker on island makes due to the expansionist trait. A typical Arabic game has an explosive start, with an Arab dominated middle age which sets you up for the killing stroke in the industrial/modern age. The versatility and speed make them an excellent civ able to do most things well.
Side note: Ision rates this civ as 1st tier overall.
Below is the link to all the other civ reviews:
link to all the other civ reviews
The Prophet Muhammad united the Arabic people in the 7th century AD during the birth of one of the world’s great religions- Islam. Over the next 100 years the Arabs expanded from what is now present day Saudi Arabia to the Atlantic Ocean and present day Iraq. The battle of Poiters in the 8th century stopped Arabic expansion in Europe while in the east the Arabs defeated the Ottoman and Persian empires. Trade spread Islam further into parts of Africa, Central Asia and as far away as Indonesia. Numerous crusades were launched from Europe to liberate the holy land, which were eventually defeated. With the rise of the Ottomans and the discovery of America in the 15th century the Arabs went into decline.
In the game the Arabs are Expansionistic and Religious- traits perfectly matching their history. At first glance they have a pair of widely perceived so-so traits and yet another knight unique unit. First glances can be wrong. The Expansionist trait is one of the least popular in the game and one of the hardest to get full benefit from. You get pottery as a starting tech, which is all-important for the settler factory start and a scout. It also has little effect after the ancient age. However the trait is all about speed. You can scout with warriors but scouts do it faster. Expansionist civs often get an early tech lead due to free techs from huts. Although you can often trade for the required techs it’s just faster with the expansionistic trait- and you get to sell or trade them to the AI civs. If you manage to pop philosophy from a hut you get two techs for the price of none and it is possible to exit the ancient age before 2000 BC.
Other benefits include the ability to build extra scouts, and getting maps, gold, and additional settlers or cities and units from the huts. Even something like a conscript warrior can be used as military police in your capital saving you the 10 turns required to build on if you manage to get one early on near your capital- 10 turns you can use to build a granary. Another benefit is superior city location, and you should be among the 1st civs to make contact with AI civs and to find luxury and strategic resources. The drawbacks are that each hut is random and the trait has no immediate long-term benefit. However the game can often be won or lost in the ancient age and that’s what the trait is designed to do- an explosive start to carry you through the rest of the game.
The Religious trait gives you ceremonial burial as a starting trait and lets you build half priced temples and cathedrals - saving more time as well. It also reduces your anarchy time from changing governments from 5-9 turns to 2 turns. Although in most games you only change governments 1-3 times, the religious trait practically encourages you to change governments to suit the situation. Need to go to war? Switch to Monarchy or Communism/Fascism. Need to recover from a war? Republic or Democracy. It’s this versatility that is one of the religious traits greatest attractions- along with the time saved from anarchy. Put together with the expansionistic trait and you are looking at a potentially explosive start followed by a quick switch to republic/monarchy.
Arabic cities can be surprisingly productive for a non-agricultural/industrial civ as all the time saved can be used to build additional units or improvements. Which brings me to the Ansar Warrior, Arabia’s UU.
This "yet another knight unit" is possibly the best UU unit in the game and is comparable to the Immortal and Mounted Warrior. A 4/2/3 unit that replaces the knight and requires horses to build. The 3-movement is worth the weaker defense compared to normal knights, but it’s also cheaper at 60 shields instead of 70. Not only is it better than the unit it replaces (most UU are) its also cheaper. In civ speed kills. The 3-movement allows a large force of Ansars to quickly reach the AI cities. None of these move 1 or 2 squares through the AI civs cultural boundaries wait a turn then attack. Just go for the jugular right away as the extra movement allows you to move and attack the AIs cities straight away. Since it also triggers a golden age in effect you seem to have a never ending swarm of Ansars to hammer the AI cities, and they rarely can respond fast enough- especially if they only have spearmen due to having no Iron.
For the peaceful builder type Arabia can also be an excellent choice. Early temple building can add up to a lot of culture points for a cultural victory while the expansionist trait often helps your REX phase. The Ansar makes a surprisingly good defender as well. For any wars you get dragged into they can rapidly respond to any threatened area of your empire. On your road network they can move 9 squares to rapidly deploy to where they are needed. The reduced anarchy also makes it easy to switch governments and lets you get more culture if you're trying for a cultural victory. The timing of the Arabic golden age also helps here. Marketplaces and Universities are expensive to build in the early middle ages and several excellent wonders are available as well. A GA makes it that much easier to build these improvements. Overall a 1st tier builder/culture civ.
Sometimes however you just want to smash the AI senseless. Arabia is also a 1st tier warmonger civ due to the power of its UU and the speed of the civ. Most expansionistic civs stall once you leave the ancient age. For the Arabs a beeline to chivalry and a quick switch to monarchy gives you the Ansar and a wartime government to use it. For most of the middle ages you can crush the AIs in a series of rapid advances followed by a mass upgrade to cavalry. Once you enter the industrial age (assuming you haven't already won) a beeline to communism is usually more than any remaining AI civs can handle. The easiest win condition for the Arabs is usually a domination win. Those cheap temples will come in handy to get the required landmass win condition. A small downside worth mentioning is that with this civ it’s possible to overextend yourself - be careful and pay attention.
Overall I would rate the Arabs as a 1st tier civ although they're weaker on island makes due to the expansionist trait. A typical Arabic game has an explosive start, with an Arab dominated middle age which sets you up for the killing stroke in the industrial/modern age. The versatility and speed make them an excellent civ able to do most things well.
Side note: Ision rates this civ as 1st tier overall.
Below is the link to all the other civ reviews:
link to all the other civ reviews
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