Civ VI early game guide for the Decidedly Average (feedback welcome!)

[yung.carl.jung]

Haven't experimented much with Autocracy but I think it can be viable. CR was always my standard choice but might actually not be the preferred choice if you're warring a lot. I've often had trouble when I was upgrading units before T2 govt as I could not use both upgrade cards that come with mercenaries. For 100% peaceful play I still think CR is superior.

@yung.carl.jung I'm not sure I've played a game where Feudalism was researched at T55.

It's basically never going to happen unless you get lucky with early strategics, city-state envoys, choral music, or you're just playing a culture Civ. I don't really think early wonders are worth it, they're kind of a trap. I've only built Oracle once or twice and in both cases retrospectively I considered it a bad decision. I only get the Inspiration for building a wonder if I am building Pyramids early, tbh.

@yung.carl.jung
What about governors? I'm thinking between Early Empire, State Workforce, and the Gov Plaza, one could go Liang for the extra builder charges (huge in the early game), Magnus, then Magnus Provisions. The extra charges from Liang can help chop the settlers, chop an early wonder, get luxuries/strategics online, or at the very least build some farms for the Feudalism boost. Then Pingala can be prioritized. What do you think?

I think there are about three options. Let's limit us to always having Magnus with Provision, because you'll absolutely want that when settling more than 10 cities. I would never pick Magnus first unless you really need to chop early, I would do as you say: Get Liang first, then get Magnus double promoted. However, you can also pick Amani first and do a CS tour (get surezain then switch the same turn) for era score, or for an early suze-bonus, or you could even go Pingala first. In one of my recent games I went Pingala, promoted Pingala, and only then got Magnus. It made me build like 1 settler in the cap without provision, honestly no problem at all, and I get massive early culture from it. +6 culture from Pingala in the early game will be around a 50% boost, which is intense. Gets you Political Philosophy/Feudalism faster.

The more games I play the more important culture seems for SV. I had 2 recent games with Japan and Korea where I got a "late" Political Philosophy (around mid t50) and an even later second and third government, and it cost me like 20 or 30 turns problably. Every little bit matters when it comes to culture, while I find it easier to produce massive amounts of science. Also, culture is only worth it earlier in the game. As soon as you reach T4 govt culture is essentially worthless, so you better get there asap and then sell all GW.

 

[Alashiya]

I generally go for the Classical Republic when prioritising science, using the wildcard for a military option land or sea as required

Feudalism is usually my goal after Political Philosophy

Builders it sounds you manage this far better than me I usually get Pingala straight away, God-King gives me enough faith to get the growth pantheon with a free builder

 

[knighterrant81]

1. Ancestral Hall: When you have tons of free land available and are expecting to do well in culture (maybe you are Rome or Greece) to get a fast Feudalism, this might be the strategy to go for.
You want to get two Settlers out very early, either through building both or via the Settler Pantheon. Your first 2 expansions should have a decent amount of production, so hills are good, as are pastures. Strategics should also be a priority. You will probably want to start building settlers as your 2nd, 3rd or 4th build (requires some decent growth, you might want to purchase a tile). Having your cities down by around t30 is key. Get a builder first in both those cities and improve their production. Meanwhile, get the capital to at least 4 pop (one for your first district, four for the government plaza). Prioritize getting the Govt. Plaza, then Early Empire, then Political Philosophy, then Feudalism. As soon as you get Early Empire, when your Workers are finished, you start producing Settlers in your expo while still working on the Plaza/ Hall in your capital. It's fine, they'll have to walk around for a few turns anyway before plopping down. After AH is build you want to spam settlers for the next 20-50 turns in your capital depending on how much space there is. Make sure you have Magnus with Provision promoted, sitting in the capital, before that first Settler from the cap is built. Make sure you have your builder charge card in before you settle your later cities (you'll want Feudalism asap, t55-75 would be ideal, but not always realistic). It can be worth to wait one or even two turns with settling a city just for those 2 charges. Monumentality is almost a must.

I feel like the Ancestral Hall is a bit of a trap. If you can time everything to use it, it is (obviously) very powerful. I would caution newer players to not try to put off building Settlers/expanding until they've already built Ancestral Hall. Sometimes, you'll wall off the AI and have plenty of space and time to expand via AH. Sometimes, you will need to be a little faster about your Settlers and you can't wait until AH (or your AH was poorly timed for whatever reason). Sometimes, you'll just end up super cramped and you're likely to get very little value out of the AH. Warlord's Throne is a least as powerful as AH, again, given the correct circumstances (aforementioned situation where you are crowded in by the AI early would be good for WT).

What tier 1 government do you choose? Autocracy or Classical Republic? Classical Republic has a nice housing/amenity bonus and can run 3 economic cards, but the diplo slot doesn't seem useful to me except when slotting Diplomatic League for the extra envoy. Autocracy provides extra yields in the cap and eventually whichever city builds AH, and the military policies can be leveraged for building things for future eurekas (i.e. 3 heavy chariots, 3 archers, 3 warriors, harbors/encampment, etc.).

That depends, but a generalized way to go about it would be:

- Are you generally going to be fighting (especially with melee units)? Oligarchy (remember, mounted units don't get the combat bonus, but the experience boost is still nice for them)
- Are you generally going to expand peacefully and are only worried about defending yourself? Classical Republic
- Are you generally investing in Wonders and/or you aren't going to be using Diplomatic policies much? Autocracy

Autocracy is a bit sketchy because Military policies are rather situational. Autocracy rewards you for putting production into buildings and Wonders, not military, so again, better for strategies that focus on those things - maybe China, for instance. Oligarchy is a good default, and the best if you plan to be militarily aggressive. Classical Republic is great (say, for Science or Culture victories if your Civ has strong Ancient/Classical-era peaceful bonuses, like say Pericles or Korea) but tends to lock you into a defensive stance. Classical Republic is also better if you have been focusing on Districts early (because of the GPP bonus).

I'm going to continue to flesh out the "Magnus chop settlers while building AH but don't settle them until AH is done" strategy. They can at least arrive at their destination and get the free builder asap. Then the AH city can continue to build them once complete. I'm not sure I've played a game where Feudalism was researched at T55...I can see beelining it with chopping an early wonder like Oracle and throwing down some TSs around it and getting it around T65-70. Greece and Japan are especially good since they build them faster. I never get the games and recreation boost it seems and if not declared upon, the D tactics is failed as well.

I feel like I focused too much on this strategy when I originally wrote the guide. I tend to go for 3-4 cities before beelining the AH, and I tend to go for Warlord's more often than I used to.

What about governors? I'm thinking between Early Empire, State Workforce, and the Gov Plaza, one could go Liang for the extra builder charges (huge in the early game), Magnus, then Magnus Provisions. The extra charges from Liang can help chop the settlers, chop an early wonder, get luxuries/strategics online, or at the very least build some farms for the Feudalism boost. Then Pingala can be prioritized. What do you think?

I tend to go Pingala up to Conoisseur -->Magnus up to Provision --> whichever Governor best helps my mid- to long-term goals. I don't deviate very often from this but I'm certainly open to suggestions!

The more games I play the more important culture seems for SV. I had 2 recent games with Japan and Korea where I got a "late" Political Philosophy (around mid t50) and an even later second and third government, and it cost me like 20 or 30 turns problably. Every little bit matters when it comes to culture, while I find it easier to produce massive amounts of science. Also, culture is only worth it earlier in the game. As soon as you reach T4 govt culture is essentially worthless, so you better get there asap and then sell all GW.

This is very important to understand. Science Victory != ignore Culture. At least one strong Theater Square is almost necessary, while 2-3 are very doable without deviating too much from the Scientific path. There are plenty of Wonders that work well with a SV so getting a decent Adjacency Bonus shouldn't be too hard.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I would caution newer players to not try to put off building Settlers/expanding until they've already built Ancestral Hall.

Yeah, I tend to agree. I wasn't advocating for AH to be the go-to method, especially for new players, I specifically advocate for it when there is lots of space and fast culture. I think an Early Empire rush expand in 2 waves works just as well. You can actually secure key cities faster and counter loyalty better. You get your cities up faster which is crucial, because it takes time to get them online. AH simply wins out in value, the builders you get when settling more than ten cities w/ feudalism and 'mids are insane value.

 

[knighterrant81]

Yeah, I tend to agree. I wasn't advocating for AH to be the go-to method, especially for new players, I specifically advocate for it when there is lots of space and fast culture. I think an Early Empire rush expand in 2 waves works just as well. You can actually secure key cities faster and counter loyalty better. You get your cities up faster which is crucial, because it takes time to get them online. AH simply wins out in value, the builders you get when settling more than ten cities w/ feudalism and 'mids are insane value.

Yep. I wasn't really arguing against you, I just really feel like the AH can be a trap - because I know it was for me for awhile!

 

[riddleofsteel]

Nice work and a good general approach Knighterrant81! I'll add my grain of sand

I've lately been trying some different strategies for the early game, mainly peaceful ones as they're which I most enjoy.

Talking about governors, Magnus has always been a good opener, since he can help a lot with some really early builds (Oracle, Pyramids, settlers, etc.). He's essential if you're going for a classical era Monumentallity + Goddess of the Harvest combo. Liang is a good option as well. Her basic ability is strong enough itself, since you're probably building/buying a few builders before you reach feudalism, and that extra charge makes a difference. Which I've found to be particularly suitable in this kind of openers is Pingala. With one promotion he's gonna generate 4 or 5 culture on turn 30, which is actually A LOT. Couple him with two or three monuments and there you go, Political Philosophy on turn 50.

In my current game, I'm trying an early strategy based on him that's been proven to be succesful - at least for me Note that you need at least 3 - 4 chops in your first 3 cities to be really efficient.

Rush culture everywhere you can. Beeline Mysticism. Hire Magnus with Early Empire. Chop the Oracle - if you're lucky, chops can be saved for later wonders like Kilwa to give an example.

Transfer to second city, and plan there an Entertaiment Complex + Arena + Colosseum with Magnus (6 - 8 founded or projected cities in range is optimal).

Get State Workforce and Governmental Plaza in your third city. Hire and promote Pingala on your Oracle city. Grow this one to 7 ASAP.

Build ancestral Hall. Begin your 2nd wave of settlers - good timing here is essential, since you'll need Magnus with one promotion to make Ancestrall Hall reach its full potential.

Transfer Magnus and chop settlers as needed when he's finished Colosseum - or pair him with Agoge or Maneuver to quickly form an army if you need to.

At this point you should have reached feudalism, which will lead your empire in settling the cities you need, popping a 5 charge builder on each. Pre-place districts whenever available, as their cost will grow at an exponential rate at this stage, but don't build them. Have some monuments and granaries instead - again chopping becomes so useful to speed up things. You will find yourself managing a good number of initially well developed cities by turn 100, being them able to build your pre-placed and future districts at a good pace.

Monumentallity + Goddess of the Harvest is a very powerful combo, although I really prefer Divine Spark for these peacefully strategies to be honest. Personally, I find it more profitable in the long term since you can buy builders with gold or use the 30% discount policy to build them. It's interesting to note that a lot of Great People Points will have been and gonna be earned by this time - Pingala + Oracle + Divine Spark can generate 8 GPP per turn for campus and theatre, and 6 GPP for commercial hub and/or industrial zone. Only in ONE CITY. Powerful.

I consider this opener to be viable in both culture or science oriented games. You can be hitting around 200 culture per turn at T100, lots of GPP's and can also skyrocket your science if you feel it appropriate.

Well, I hope this can help someone, or just to be enjoyable for some Civ lovers like me

Cheers!

Edit: If you're really lucky with the map I think you can add the Pryramids into the opener, but it all depends on available chops. Otherwise it will slow you down enough to not to be worth it.

Another option would be to sacrifice Colosseum for them, but you'll really notice these +10/+14 culture and amenities not being there.

That's a lot of "plates" to have spinning in a given game. How do you get the timing down for transferring Magnus between cities to achieve specific things at specific times?