Roman Forum (Market):
Wow, a UB that gives +25 GP birth rate!
This is likely to become a favourite. There are no philosophical Roman leaders, but running Pacifism with the Forum and National Epic would still give +225%, not too shabby. Actually, with the Parthenon, built by Industrious Augustus, you could have +75% GPPs with just the Forum, which makes him the closest thing to the elusive IND/PHI combo without having to run Pacifism (& w/out the cheap Unis).
Possible Synergies:
Julius Caesar is Organized and has -50% maintenance costs, but with this UB being much more attractive than a normal Market perhaps one builds it sooner and the +25% wealth in the city and the reduced maintenance costs really go together nicely much earlier in the game. In addition to his cheaper Lighthouse (extra food for GP farming with +25% GPPs), his cheap Factories give a nice late game production boost for military or spaceship ventures. Besides the Merchants assigned from the Forum, he has no cheap buildings which benefit from the extra GPP until Factories. Augustus is Industrious, so his cheap Forges could mean quicker GE production if that is your desire. This can be helpful in wonder or space races and so the extra GPP can go towards GEs or GSs.
Both Roman leaders are Imperialistic and have greater GG production and likely to help warmongering, but the Forum likely needs a SE while warmongering seems to necessitate CE. Perhaps you could passively lure your enemy into your Great Wall trap, meaning 200% GPP rate while you build your Forums and than, once your go out conquering you can collect GPPs faster than your enemies, especially when the AI starts whipping out defenders in desperation. Hmm, maybe the Forum's advantage is that a hybrid economy with Rome is still a better GP producer than other non-Philosophical civs.
The extra the GPs from the Forums could be used to founded religions or techbulb (TM
) you faster through the tech tree for more military/scientific advances. There is real flexibility for both the Roman leaders. They have the fast settler production to REX and set up an empire with the strength of their Praetorians pushing back the barbarians (er, that is, the other civs). Julius will have a better economy and ability to support his empire, while Augustus will churn out units and wonders and do the same using brute force. The GPPs can be used for whichever purpose is decided.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
The Forum is a real hybrid economy building and so you can either enjoy the events and quests which result in more income or you can enjoy the rewards of more food from things such as Horse Whispering or Rural Farmers. Really, other than more food for specialist support, there is nothing really synergistic with the Forum perhaps until late game with food Corporations. Oh, and even without extra food, the National Park gives
free specialists so a Forum is a
must in that city.
Possible Drawbacks?
Well, running a SE seems to be necessary to maximize this UB's bonus, but it is not vital and makes great use of events and things later in the game such as Corporations and the National Park. Polluted GPP pools might cause some disappointment for some, but that is something you usually watch more closely when you have a higher GPP production rate.
Summary:
In a game where GP production is a main focus for some players, this building is likely a candidate for having no drawbacks whatsoever, especially in BtS where the Golden Age requirements have changed a little bit from Warlords. You can get your first GP faster with a Forum and you only need one for your first GA. Regardless of victory goal, difficulty setting, map/terrain, resources, opponents or even your own leader selection, this UB is very useful and versatile, making it one of the best.
Russian Research Institute (Laboratory):
The Laboratory or Research Institute comes at a time in the game where technologies start to get much more expensive. Я люблю это здание! In addition to the +50% spaceship construction, +25%
, and assigning one citizen as a Scientist (and +1 unhealthiness), the Russian UB gives
two free scientists! This means you can remove forced scientists and change them to GAs for a cultural win (or border pop to keep your Aluminum and Oil) or Engineers for Space Race
or keep the Scientist and head for more Future Tech. Xорошо!
Possible Synergies:
Representation seems like a no-brainer here, but Russia is one of the only civs in the game that has three leaders and they each have two different traits so let's examine them more closely:
Eкатерина (Catherine): Creative and Imperialistic. She is able to quickly build settlers and the creative trait ensures quick access to BFC resources. I like her for domination wins for those reasons. Stonehenge can add to the culture growth as well as religions. Cheap Libraries can be used in conjunction with cheap Theatres to build to a cultural victory. It costs less to build Settlers and so fast expansion can lead to more cathedrals built. The extra Scientists will lead to faster techs and so if culture is not your thing, the Space Race gets a nice boost both for the UB's science
and part production. Might not be a high priority especially if near your health cap, but you will have used her traits to control most of the desirable land and resources and her Cossacks to take the rest, right?
Пэтр (Peter): Expansive and Philosophical. An excellent candidate for Space Race. His +2 health and cheap Granaries and Harbours will help offset pollution/unhealthiness from production buildings while cheap Universities and +100% GP birth rate means more Scientists and Engineers to help techbulbing and wonder building. Remember the faster production of Workers from any time in the game should make quite an impact too as they will be out to connect resources much sooner. So philosophical trait on free specialists, what needs to be said?
Иосиф Сталин (Josef Stalin): Aggressive and Industrious. In the few games I have played with Stalin, I have been impressed with his space race potential. Cheap Forges and beelining science helped. The UB really made a big impact I felt. Again cultural games leave this UB pretty much obsolete, but with Stalin, his wonder building boost leads to more research with wonders like GL, University of Sankore, Spiral Minaret, Oxford, etc. And then we have the Ironworks and GE produced wonders which are also helpful on the way. He can also be quite the military force early in the game and throughout making sure you have all the land and resources that you need/want.
What is the trade off between Peter's ability to generate GP quicker or Stalin's wonders appearing faster to giving GPPs much sooner? That is open for debate, but both seem great Cosmonauts. And I wouldn't rule out Cathy in that department either. With her cheap libraries, quick settler production for greater early expansion complemented by quick cultural border growth she could just as likely be able to use the UB and pull another Юрий Гагарин (Yuri Gagarin) or, make that Валенти́на Терешко́ва (Valentina Tereshkova)
.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
If you have a Research Institute (Laboratory) and are running the Free Speech civic, there is a chance for a research boost of 15% off the remaining tech cost. The Comet Fragment event requires an unimproved Forest Tundra tile under your control and the knowledge of Rocketry. The reward is a huge boost to your space program: an additional +5% Spaceship production
and +2 Research for every Research Institute. During the Cold War, that is huge boost to beat those capitalist American swine, Comrade. Да.
Possible Drawbacks?
Observatories are needed to build the Institute, and although you will already have that tech, they can be more expensive to build for all three leaders compared to cheap Libraries or Universities. Only Stalin with his industrious trait might have a quicker build given his cheap Forges and getter ability to settle GEs, although Peter might too. In Beyond the Sword, with the restructured modern age tech tree, it may require a slightly longer wait before one can build the Research Institute, plus the choices late in the game seem to be more complex and difficult than they were previously.
Diplomatic Victories would mean you research Mass Media instead of Computers and therefore the RS is not a factor. For cultural wins, you likely have the culture switch on at this point and these buildings therefore can be useful in giving back some lost research, but it will matter very little as you will be building culture one would assume. Mass Media gives Hollywood which is much more important in that case.
For being at war the research boost could be handy for building more advanced units, but likely if you need a research boost that badly you probably can't afford to be building RIs in all or most of your high production cities, likely only in your SCC which could also be your unit factory too. By the time you build it, you still have to research those new techs for the improved units. With a little planning it could work out in your favour.
Summary:
To quote Boney M, "Oh, those Russians!" It seems this UB is destined to help with the Space Race and help get Sputnik launched much sooner rather than any other victory, with a possible exception for Conquest. Depending on your usual teching order, you might make some adjustments to maximize the benefit of the Research Institute. Time/Score victory goals can be greatly helped by the accumulation of Future Tech via the free Scientists.
Spanish Citadel (Castle - double production for Protective leader):
Warlords made Castles more useful by giving them +1 trade route and -25% damage from bombardment from non-gunpowder units in addition to the +50% defense vs. non-gunpowder units and +1 culture. Cumulative with the prerequisite Walls, that means +100 defense from non-GP units and -50% from non-GP bombardment. In BtS, they also give an extra 25% espionage points. Maybe,
now players will build them!
The Citadel gives an additional 25% bombardment protection for a total of -75%
and gives 5XP to Siege Units produced in the city. From the +3XP barracks and the Citadel that is 8XP already, but Theocracy and Vassalage give 12XP from the start enough for 3 promotions. The bonus is applied to Trebuchets, Catapults and if you can avoid the obsoleting tech, Economics (which restores the lost trade route, & 1st to discover gets a GM) you can have Cannons, Artillery and even Machine Guns with this bonus as well.
Possible Synergies:
The strength of the UB lies in how one promotes their siege weapons most effectively. A warmonger or early-war-to-to-claim-land strategy uses it to it's full advantage, but just protecting your cities becomes much easier now too. In Beyond the Sword, there is a new system for siege weapons and they are not as powerful as before, but the Espionage Points are helpful too. For a detailed look at the leverage available from this truly unique UB, see
here.
As for synergy with the Conquistador, it is a knight with +50% vs. Melee Units. Many different civs have Melee units for their UU, which comes in handy. With a few correctly promoted Conquistadors and siege weapons the two should complement each other nicely. Don't forget to balance out your forces, using more than just these two.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
Any thing which gives you more EPs while you still have the +25% EPs going for you would be great until you reach the buildings further down the tech tree which give multipliers back.
Crisis in the Senate happens when you are in Representation civic and in the Renaissance Era. Your choices are to gain +2 Espionage points for all Barracks, gain 400 to 600 gold or 1 happy face in all cities. Castle or Citadel, I would chose the first one, but not many people build Castles. Some might be more likely to build Citadels and capitalize, but even then, one could just build them after this event after getting the extra incentive.
With the Best Defense quest, you have to build them, however. Until Rifling, Railroad or (surprise!) Economics, if you build the right number of Citadels (Castles) you can have all Melee Units gaining City Garrison 1, +3 Attitude with all AIs you have met
or if you control the Great Wall you can have +25 Espionage points for the Great Wall. Hmm, 25% of 25 is a leg up on the competition, but building the GW just got important for keeping it out of someone else's hands if
they finish this quest. But how could you turn down CG Melee units which can both conquer and defend cities?
Finally, if you do have a Citadel built somewhere before you reach the Modern Era and you are not running Emancipation, the High Warlord event can give you gold, 2 free Pikeman units or 1 free settled Great General. The events in BtS reward you for building a city improvement that you might otherwise skip in previous versions.
Possible Drawbacks?
This UB doesn't really do anything for the Expansive trait or the Spanish starting techs of Fishing and Mysticism, however being religious does offer advantages to being able to switch to new civics immediately and not waiting until others are discovered. A switch to Theocracy before you wait to get Vassalage could mean the difference between producing units with an extra +2 XPs and for the Siege Units with the Citadel, that is enough to put them over the top for a third promotion. The Citadel, like the Castle does expire rather early considering the value of the obsoleting tech and just like the Castle, the +25% EPs is also lost along with its XP bonus when you do reach Economics. The -25% damage from non-Gunpowder Unit bombardment does not disappear so I would imagine that the desire to pump out some sweet siege engines while you can, would mean Citadels in cities where you would not normally build castles and greater ability to protect them now. That should not be forgotten or underestimated, especially at higher difficulty levels. The paradox is that the UB can help you if you are a little technologically inferior, but the UU is better when you are technologically superior to your foes.
Summary:
If you want to avoid Economics, the obsoleting tech, you only really miss out on a Great Merchant.
You could conceivably hold out for some super Machine Gunners if you wanted, but you can always upgrade your Cats and Trebs into Cannons and then Artillery. I might recommend delaying Economics just long enough to produce some killer Cannons that will definitely survive to become Artillery and Mobile Artillery. Shell-shock those heretics into submission with those babies! This UB allows for some interesting warfare capabilities. Although it doesn't immediately lend it self to anything other than Conquest/Domination, the extra territory and cities gained or even the ability to better protect one's own cities and territory is nothing to take lightly.
Sumerian Ziggurat (Courthouse - double production for Organized leader):
While the Rathaus of the Holy Roman Empire gives a larger maintenance bonus, it takes just as long to build. Neither them, nor the Sumerians are Organized, but the Sumerian Ziggurat is 30
cheaper, only costing 90, meaning that it will be built more quickly even if not more powerful. I feel the quicker it is build the better; one of the reasons the Zulu Ikhanda is so effective as well (although for Zulu, it is both cheaper and quicker, but not as powerful). So throw in the fact that the Ziggurat is available with Priesthood and you have yourself a great REXer in Creative and Protective Gilgamesh. Also, just like the Rathaus, only four are required to build the Forbidden Palace, so Sumeria could have theirs
real early compared to other civs. And like any Courthouse in BtS, it also gives +2 espionage points and allows you to assign a citizen as a Spy
Possible Synergies:
Building the FP quicker, could help culturally for a victory, however it also means a faster expanding empire. Creative and Protective Gilgamesh will get culture boost from borders to help the Settlers claim land and the quicker and earlier built Courthouses will help keep the economy going
without waiting for CoL. Being protective as well, means maintaining the empire while under attack and not need as many units for defend or escort Settlers, which means more time devoted to things like Barracks, Granaries, Libraries, Workers, etc. Cheap Walls and Castles will make Sumeria a tough foe to topple.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
The Too Close to Call Event gives the player a choice of either +1 gold or +3 culture in all Courthouses. All you need to trigger it is to be into the Renaissance Era and running Universal Suffrage, so although the building comes fast, without the Pyramids this event comes kind of late to have a huge impact, but makes a nice little bonus none the less. It seems fitting that something as ancient as a Ziggurat could produce culture or money from the priests.
Possible Drawbacks?
This did not jump out as being a strong UB until I realized it comes with Priesthood. This is something I am sure some players will use it to maximum advantage. Really, a cheaper Courthouse is nothing to complain about and the fact that it comes so early is the icing on the cake!
Summary:
Priesthood is such a cheap tech, it could be beelined for maximum exploitation here. I love the prereq tech as it is both unique and very appropriate when you think about what Ziggurats really were. This UB is just oozing flavour and possibilities.
Viking Trading Post (Lighthouse - double production for Organized leader):
Another coastal UB for a financial leader, the Trading Post gives a free Navigation 1 promotion to ships build there in addition to the extra food in each sea tile.
Possible Synergies:
There is some definite synergies here, firstly the UB being required for the Great Lighthouse which gives all coastal cities +2 trade routes. Ragnar starts with Fishing and so the prereq tech, Sailing is not far away. As with the Carthaginian Cothon, it makes sense to build many coastal cities to maximize this affect. Now, it's true that not all your cities will be building ships
all the time, so it is your choice, but most, if not all, of them build it just for the food. Harbours and Colossus also add to the wealth, remembering that Ragnar is financial, coastal tiles are great if you have few FP cottages, gems, gold, silver or plantation resources around you.
So, the bonus itself, one extra movement for sea units does not include work boats. On a map with plenty of water this is helpful to let you discover other civs earlier and trade tech with them. Between your Financial coastal cities raking in money for a high research rate, you will also be trading for other techs of lower priority when you meet the others. From here you can go one step further and let the extra movement of your powerful navy work for you. Your navy would quite literally have an extra step, but there is more. The +1 movement also helps you to circumnavigate the globe faster and hopefully beat out other civs in doing so. Either you trade for maps as you meet new civs or you do it the old fashioned way. It might be tough with a lot of ocean, but as soon as you get ships which can enter the ocean you still have the +1 movement from navigation. The +1 movement from circumnavigating the globe
does apply to your work boats! Aggressive civs have cheaper cost for Drydocks (even if they come with Steel much later) and give your sea units an extra +4 XPs and are produced 50% faster. If they already have Nav I, you can devote the XPs to other needs.
On an archipelago map, most if not all of their cities will be coastal and that is what a Financial leader with the Colossus and GL wants right? The Civil Service or CoL slingshot might be harder to do, but if you concentrate on the money, research can go quicker for you, plus a GP could help you out along the way too. Keep in mind that you need Machinery for Berserks too, but they can be built with Copper or Iron, so if you have researched for Copper and have none, trade for IW or research it and try again. As soon as you got a few Berserkers, load them up in your Galleys with a few Trireme escorts and let the pillaging begin! The wait is not that bad if you need Astronomy anyway. You will have had Caravels scouting the prime targets vulnerable to your Berserkers and enough time to leverage the Trading Post's free Navigation I into an innate circumnavigation bonus for all Naval Units.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
There are plenty of great quests for the seafaring civ; they really can have a great game if the stars are aligned. For example, the Harbourmaster: You need Compass and a map that has at least 40% water tiles. It obsoletes near the Industrial Era, but if you build a certain number of Harbours and Caravels you get your choice of all Harbours gaining +1 gold or your choice of Combat I or Navigation I promotions for all Naval Units. Maybe, you take the extra income to help get to the Berserker techs and Astronomy quicker, but I think as a Financial warmonger you take the bonus for you Naval Units, and as Ragnar leader of the Vikings, you take the free Combat I to complement your TP's free Navigation I. Don't waste Navigation I anything, you already have it.
The Warships quest happens early if you have the Trireme prerequisite techs and at least 55% water tiles. Obsoleting with the Renaissance era, you build enough Triremes and they gain the Combat 1 promotion or if you control the Great Lighthouse then all harbors gain +2 commerce. If you were so lucky as to get both this and the Harbourmaster quest you will have had a chance for either +3 Commerce for the Harbours or Triremes with Combat I and the HMQ's +1 gold for Harbours. Furthermore, I reckon the best way to handle both quests or at least plan for the off chance that you
do get both, would be to take the +2 gold from Warships because only Triremes get the bonus, while with Harbourmaster,
all Naval Units get the CI bonus and it only gives +1 Harbour income. This way, more money and better overall promotions. Of course, if you don't have the Great Lighthouse, you don't have a choice and the reward is wasted if you did the HMQ already. If not, don't forget that Triremes do upgrade, so build a lot of them!
Finally, if you game has gone late enough, the Overwhelm Quest triggers with Flight, Industrialism and again, at least 55% water tiles. You have until Robotics to build an assortment of modern Air and Navy units. All those types of units can then receive Combat I promotions or all your Harbours will gain +5 Commerce, making them act essentially like the Portuguese Feitoria. That could be a total +8 gold from earlier quests, but this is very rare indeed. I imagine that +5 gold is more useful to support your large army and navy this late in the game then the gold bonus from earlier quests, but you still could choose to give all those units you just built plus future ones, the Combat I promotion. Obviously, if you have been lucky enough to have CI bestowed on your Naval Units previously, then you could take the +5 Harbour commerce or if you are really in a tight spot take the Nuke Ban resolution as your reward to ensure that you are around long enough to use those Naval Units.
Finally, the extra food in a water tile from the Lighthouse/Trading Post could be though of a half a specialist supported. There are some events or quests which will provide an additional +1 food to help you support specialists such as an Engineer to produce your Berserker troops faster or a Scientist to get you to Berserker techs or Astronomy, if you need them, much faster.
Possible Drawbacks?
On Great Plains, Oasis or other maps with little coastal tiles, this building is very useless. It really shines in the water maps although the Berserk can still be useful for attacking across rivers, but that is independent of the UB itself. Even on a Pangaea map the extra ship movement from the Trading Post, with or without the additional Circumnavigation bonus, could mean a quicker path to conquest on the other side of the landmass, with much less obstacles and making a better use of the UU.
Summary:
Whether for meeting tech trading partners earlier or wiping out some rivals early the Trading Post gives a nice bonus. One could go on to eliminate everyone rather quickly or if not take some prime real estate in other empty lands to help with a Culture/Space/Diplomatic victory. For full blown Conquest or Domination, this building can be helpful on the right map. It would be nice to see +10% trade route or Commerce in the city as well, but it still nicely complements the amphibious Berserk. If not on a archipelago or high sea level map, its value is greatly reduced however.
Zulu Ikhanda (Barracks - double production for Aggressive leader):
Barracks that act as a mini-courthouse by giving -20% maintnance costs. This means you can wait for CoL a little later and still expand reasonably quicker than your rivals.
Possible Synergies:
This building greatly complements the Expansive and Aggressive Shaka because he gets it with double production speed. He is one of two leaders (the other being Frederick) who gets their UB as if it was half the building cost. Now, Barracks cost 50
while the Ikhanda costs 60
so the double production bonus still a big factor. Like the Barracks, patched Warlords and BtS only gives +3 XPs.
REXing is aided with reduced costs and whether you warmonger or not it's a nice bonus. Shaka has both vertical and horizontal expansion capabilities. Couple it with the Courthouse and that is -70% maintenance costs, not bad at all. If taking over cities, this UB is cheaper to build than a courthouse (80
and don't forget its double production)
and it is available right from the start with no prerequisite tech! In a large, productive city taken from the enemy, this building will let it start contributing much sooner.
I would not put the Zulu as a Culture Victory contender with no cheap culture buildings to build, but Diplomatic, Domination, Space Race and Conquest all seem possibilities because the benefits of reduced maintenance can be used for any means. I have actually seen some comments that Cultural was easy with Shaka. Perhaps the extra maintenance reduction allows for more cities and therefore, more Cathedrals.
In Beyond the Sword, they have fixed the problem that the Ikhanda had in Warlords and now, like the Barracks, it also receives +2 happiness when running the Nationhood civic. So, quicker expansion and potential extra happiness from a building which is meant to produce units with +3 XPs. Remembering the synergy with Feudalism and Theocracy that is +8 XPs and while other civs get that and the Barracks happiness too, they do not get the lower maintenance costs while growing their empires through conquest.
Synergy with Corporations, Events or Quests?
Crisis in the Senate happens when you are in Representation civic and in the Renaissance Era. Your choices are to gain +2 Espionage points for all Barracks, gain 400 to 600 gold or 1 happy face in all cities. It is hard to say what Shaka is up to this relatively late in the game, but you can get +2 EPs for a building which already acts like a mini-Courthouse and you likely have in every city anyway, whether it is a unit producer or not. This adds fuel to an EE and the extra EPs are of course also great for sending in Spies to incite revolts, sabotage production, poison water, etc. no matter what your plans are at this point.
Also, it is well worth mentioning that the reduced maintenance costs will help with keeping Corporations lucrative in addition to running Free Market or even offset the penalties under Environmentilism.
Possible Drawbacks?
You might not build Barracks in every city, but this UB can pay dividends by being in every city by lowering maintenance too. You might only build Barracks in wartime, but the Ikhanda is so much cheaper to build than a Courthouse, why would wouldn't you build it first thing? I usually do.
Summary:
Probably a building best used to expand as quickly as allowed for Domination or Conquest or large number of cities to help with research/spaceship construction. How many times have you produced units only to learn some cities don't have Barracks? While the synergy with the Courthouse and Corporations can be nice, it will save you at times when you need to quickly whip/draft a unit in a city in which you would not normally have built a Barracks if you weren't playing as the Zulus. Those XPs can make a difference in that case. Finally, the extra money saved very early on can snowball into great tech leads either through research, espionage, or trading. The AI plays them well a lot of the time, I have found, so beware!
That is the rundown of the Unique Buildings. I would like to thank everyone for their input and support.
means you can war for longer after all....
