Best Civ for Tall Culture?

[Klafus]

Hey all, longtime reader and CivUP/VEM fan. Decided to first post in the strategy section to ask for some tips.

I play with VEM and EEM for VEM. I am on Large/Epic/Emperor at the moment, but am having trouble winning on any condition. I'm inclined to Tall Culture or Tall Science. I like to get early wonders and usually go Liberty - Free Settler - Settler -Worker unless the capitol has high Production potential.

Usually I either get multiple DoWs or face runaway Civs and end up losing.

What are some good leaders for this playstyle and what are some early game tips I can use to beat Emperor?

Thanks!

P.S. Awesome mod and community...can't wait to see what you guys do with the xpac

 

[Hubay]

Well if you like tall Culture, you should really start with tradition. it might mean you have to wait longer to get your worker/settler, or that you have to buy them. Personally I usually just steal workers, unless there's no one nearby (it's harder to do than in vanilla, because CS start with more protection, but often the easiest way is to just get one that's been snagged by a barb).

Point is, as tempting as the free units are early game, you can do without them for a little while, especially so you can get the wonder-boosting policy in Tradition. That's pretty much a necessity to snag some early wonders unless you're ramses and you start with marble.

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The reason you're getting DoW'd is that you're attractive(lots of wonders) and probably defenseless if you're spending all your time building buildings or wonders. Anyways, if you want to keep this strategy (beeline early wonders, etc.) I might suggest getting a CS-focused civ like Siam or Alexander (some people might disagree with me, but in terms of the strategy you seem to like that might be easiest). try to get a militaristic CS on your side as soon as possible, as that'll keep you supplied with units while you focus on getting some wonders. Once you think you're safe, and some CS are in your pocket, the food and culture boosts will keep you going. Siam especially is powerful for culture, and the upside is if you're him, you don't have to play him.

My own strategy is to get the honor opener –unless there are absolutely no barb camps nearby – because I can usually use that to rush the next couple of Tradition policies by killing barbs. I'm not sure how efficient this is, but it always feels like the fastest way to get where I want to go. It also means if I'm suddenly facing down an AI rush I'm not ready for, I can grab another honor policy to protect myself (again, some long-term strategists may disagree. this depends on how comfortable you are at surviving the AI rush).

Ramses is great for early wonders, obviously, and his war chariots are good for fending off an early rush, or even for expansion. I don't like playing with him because I feel like it pigeonholes my strategy too much, but that's a personal preference.

What era do you start running into trouble, usually? And do you use the Ancient wonders DLC?

 

[black213]

Persia is a very good civ for culture now with the new UA.

 

[Txurce]

If playing for tall science, Babylon and Korea are probably the best bets, along with Siam for its CS bonuses. These give you the most science, so the question then becomes how to survive and maximize their strengths. Getting Archery early on protects you, and later one or two militaristic CS relationships should be all you need to maintain a good-enough defensive army. The key issue, I've found, is building a big enough population. That leads to more gold to pay for what you need while also racking up more science.

Lately I've been starting with the right-hand side of Tradition followed by Liberty's free settler and worker policies, and moving on to some of Patronage, then Enlightenment. But as Hubay said, starting with Honor in a barb-heavy environment can pay off while also being a lot of fun.

 

[Thalassicus]

try to get a militaristic CS on your side as soon as possible

Two years ago I thought I'd never see someone say this! They were so useless in the past... I'm thrilled militaristic citystates are now powerful enough to focus on now.

You might try to ally (declaration of friendship) with all the AIs around you as soon as possible. It usually discourages war, at least until the alliance wears off. Of course, that can backfire with an impulsive leader who denounces friends. I wouldn't recommend it against Montezuma.

The AI is much less likely to declare war if you do not settle cities closer to their capital than your capital. So if you're thinking of settling somewhere between your empire and a close neighbor, count the tiles to make sure you're closer to your capital. I tried finding a way to get the game to show this boundary visually, but I don't think we can do it with our current modding tools, so we just gotta count tiles.

Archers are the best defense against a rush. Build at least 1 archer and 1 extra warrior/spearman in the early game. It will also help protect against barbarians. Babylon has an advantage here because they now start with a Bowman.