Design your own Civ VI civ

[Knightfall]

England - Oliver Cromwell - Alternate Leader

• Leader Ability - New Model Army - Whenever a land unit is upgraded, a full-strength copy of said unit is spawned on a tile next to it. Can recruit the Ironside unique unit.
• Unique Unit - Ironside - Heavy cavalry unit unlocked with the Reformed Church civic. Stronger and more expensive to produce than a Knight, but weaker and cheaper to produce than a Cuirassier. May be purchased with Faith, regardless of government type. Does not replace anything.
• Agenda - Lord Protector - Likes other civs that share his state religion and have powerful armies. Dislikes co-religionists with weak armies.

 

[Knightfall]

Germany - Otto von Bismarck - Alternate Leader

• Leader Ability - Three Hurrahs for Germany - Can annex city states using Diplomatic Favor once any civ researches Diplomatic Service. Cost of annexation goes up based on city state population but goes down based on the number of envoys Germany has in that city state. Diplomatic annexation can still trigger City State Emergencies, though it is less likely to do so. Can recruit the Krupp Gun unique unit
• Unique Unit - Krupp Gun - Artillery unit that replaces Artillery. Unlocked by Military Science instead of Steel. Slightly more expensive to produce than Artillery, but gains an extra combat bonus against City Centers, Encampments, and fortified units.
• Agenda - Iron Chancellor - Likes civs that have a lot of city state allies, or who have conquered city states. Dislikes civs who do not interact with city states.

 

[Kimiimaro]

I've been playing with the thought of more Ottoman Sultans other than Mehmed II or Suleiman the Magnificent (or Osman)...

Selim I the Grim

Leader ability: First Ottoman Caliph
- Killing enemy units gains faith equal to enemy unit's combat strength. Ottoman Empire can buy land units with faith regardless of government. Unlocks the Janissary unique unit.
Leader agenda: Conqueror of the Holy Cities
- Likes leaders with high faith gain and who conquer enemy cities. Dislikes leaders who don't conquer enemy cities and who have a weak faith gain.

A bit overlooked (the Sultan after him was Suleiman the Magnificent), but nevertheless impressive - Selim the Grim was known to be possibly the greatest Ottoman conqueror. In mere nine years of his reign, he managed to crush the Safavid Persia in a war, and defeat and annex entirety of Mamluk Sultante, one of the greatest rivals of the Ottomans. He managed to conquer Eastern Anatolia, Mecca and Medina, the holy cities of Islam, the entirety of Egypt, greatly expanded into Levant and annexed Algiers. He was the first Ottoman Sultan to proclaim himself a Caliph.

Mahmud II

Leader ability: Abolishment of the Janissaries
- Upgrading obsolete Ottoman units is 75% cheaper. If a military unit gets disbanded in an Ottoman city, the city gains +10 loyalty and production equal to 25% of production cost of the unit.
Leader agenda: Reorganisation of the Army
- Likes armies that consist of modern units, and will attempt to upgrade his units whenever possible. Dislikes armies with many obsolete units.

Even though he was not a perfect ruler - under his reign, the Ottoman Empire lost Greece (which was something that cost the Ottomans their navy because of Mahmud's reluctance to end the conflict, bringing European powers to support the Greeks), its grip over Serbia was weakened and the Egyptians were quite rebellious, too, he aknowledged the fact that the Ottomans are greatly behind in comparison to the Europeans. He also knew that Sultan's position was week, with the Sultans often getting deposed, arrested and murdered, most often by the Janissaries, who had become a powerful and influential privileged class. He himself experienced an overthrowing of reformist Sultan Selim III by them and radical clergy (and later killed). After gaining power by getting rid of Mustafa IV, Mahmud managed to strenghten powers of the Sultan by patiently placing competent people loyal to him on his position, eventually strenghtening his power enough that he managed to strip the Janissaries of their support of the clergy, branding the rebellious Janissaries traitors, justifying their abolishment in the eyes of Ottoman society. Those who didn't surrender then lost to Mahmud's reorganised armies. Sipahi were abolished as well, but they remained loyal and joined the new armies. He also paved the way for Ottoman modernisation and westernisation.

Abdülmecid I

Leader ability: Tanzimat
- For each specialised district in an Ottoman city, the city center generates +1 yield in addition to the respective district's yield. This is further increased with buildings (Ottoman city center gives +1 science for Campus, +2 from Campus with library, +3 from Campus with library and university, +4 with Campus with library, university and lab).
Leader agenda: Dolmabahçe Palace
- Will try to build an exquisite capital city with high population, districts, improvements and wonders. Respects others who build great capitals.

Mahmud II's successor. He continued the Ottoman westernisation in many ways, by building the new imperial palace, giving equal rights and religious liberty to all Ottoman subjects, reformed finances of the Empire, improving the education system by building new schools and universities, and issuing many other things. He also managed to forge friendly relations with the West - British and French Empires. This brought him victory when Nicholas I of Russia attacked the Ottomans and started the Crimean War. His efforts led to the Ottoman Empire being recognised to belong among the European countries.

 

[Rafalaf]

Poland - Jan III Sobieski - Alternate Leader
Leader Ability - The Great Crown Hetman
- All units receive +5 combat strength when fighting in your own territory. Gain great general points whenever a winged hussar kills an enemy unit. Gain great general points whenever any unit with a great general in range kills an enemy unit.
Leader Agenda - Relief of Vienna
- Takes emergencies very seriously. Participates in as many emergencies as possible. Dislikes nations targeted by emergencies and those that don't participate.

 

[Rafalaf]

Poland - Stefan Batory - Alternate Leader
Leader Ability - The Father of the Chosen Infantry
- Unlocks the chosen infantry unit at gunpowder. +3 loyalty in conquered cities. +.5 loyalty to a city for each chosen infantry it built/purchased.
Unique Unit - Chosen Infantry
- Replaces musketmen. Slightly stronger. If you disband this unit in the territory of one of your cities, it receives +1 amenity.
Leader Agenda - Jure Uxoris
- Likes nations with extranational authority (allied to city-states or forced demands on other nation). Tries to demand tribute from other nations. Returns conquered cities for peace and tribute.

 

[Rafalaf]

Poland - Casimir III the Great - Alternate Leader
Leader Ability - Jagiellonian University
- Universities provide +2 more science. Immediately receives a university in the nation's first campus district upon the invention of education.
Leader Agenda - Meeting of Kings
- Likes nations that establish embassies. Tries to establish embassies in every nation.

 

[SlySlySly]

England - Alternate Leader:
Mary I Tudor
Leader Ability - Bloody Mary
--- Inquisitions are 20% more effective and have have a chance to affect nearby cities either within or outside England. Melee units gain 5 attack power when within the borders of cities that don't follow Mary's majority religion.
Leader Agenda - Anti-Reformation Efforts
--- Dislikes civilizations with cities that don't all follow the same religion. Utilizes inquisitors as much as possible to create a homogenous religious following across England.

 

[Pitohui]

Napoleon of France

LUA:Grande Armée
Can move up to two units on the same tile.Units on the same tile gain 7% of the other units combat strength as a bonus.

Agenda:Code Civil

Tries to keep his Cities happy and hates Civs that have unhappy cities,especially if they have a different government type than him.

 

[Foxiron]

The Franks

Leader: Clovis I
(Charlemange, though a famous frankish king, has felt a bit overdone, and was also Holy Roman Emperor, so I would like to leave him a a dual leader idea.)
Leader Unique Ability: First Frankish King
+7 combat vs free cities, and capturing one grants a free melee unit and -20 loyalty to other civs cities within 9 tiles.
Unique Ability: The Most Pious Kingdom
Converting another civ's religion to yours causes -20 loyalty in that city. Having your worship building in your city causes 20% percent more effect loyalty pressure to other cities of that same religion and having your worship building in others cause -20% less loyalty pressure.
Unique Unit: The Francisa Axeman
Is cheaper than the the swordsman and requires no resources to be built, but receives -5 combat strength versus more experienced units.
Unique Building: The Abbey
Replaces the temple, and generates 0.5 influence points per turn.

 

[1Josh96]

I think an interesting addition to the Civilization gameplay would be the introduction of colonies that could later be granted independence, dominion or even rebel from their parent nation with a possible nations as:

Mexico
Leader: Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph or Lazaro Cardenas

Canada
Leader: Wilfrid Laurier

Australia
Leader: John Curtin

Brazil
Leader: Dom Pedro II

Vietnam
Leader: Tran Hung Dao

Philippines
Leader: Jose Rizal

Taiwan
Leader: Chiang Kai-shek

I intentionally did not put any: Infrastructure, Building, Unit or Agenda as I was interested to see if people thought they should just merely inherit the abilities from their parent nation (who ever founds the nation) or if they themselves should have unique abilities. Another interesting idea is to make the Barbarians a little more formidable against the players and A.I. as they Barbarians have always been able to steal a countries settler why not allow them to found their own city and make a Barbarian country I.E. Norway with Harald Hardrada, Mongolia with Genghis Khan, Tunis with Abu Zakariya, and the Boers with Paul Kruger.

I would appreciate any and all feedback with my suggestions/ideas.

 

[Kimiimaro]

What would be a French Civ without Napoleon? I've asked this question myself, and for this I designed Napoleon. In fact, two of them.

Napoleon I

Leader Ability: Napoleonic Warfare - Ranged Class units' penalty to damaging cities is removed for Napoleon. Ranged class units gain +1 movement point.
Agenda: Napoleonic Code - Will try to have as advanced form of government with as many policy slots as possible. Dislikes Civs with government forms inferior to French government, respects those equal to him or better.

Everyone knows Napoleon Bonaparte. Brilliant military mind, great leader even today celebrated in France as national hero, son of a Corsican noble who began his career as an attendant of a military academy and peaked as the Emperor of the French who brought most of Europe under his knee, before being defeated in Russia by Tsar Alexander I and exiled on Elba, only to return to France, almost unbelievably regaining rule over France. The Napoleonic Code became the basis for most European constitutions.
I based Napoleon's ability purely on his genial use of artillery, represented in game by field cannons rather than bombards. All the way from Siege of Toulon to Waterloo, Napoleon was known for quick movement of his cannons and devastating use of them, being able to use them effectively for any range he wanted.

Napoleon III

Leader Ability: Renovation of Paris - Every district grants +1 bonus housing to the city it was built in. Districts and buildings are built 25% faster in regular French cities and 50% faster in French capital. French capital gains 20% production towards wonders.
Agenda: Bonapartism - Will try to build a loyal society enforced by powerful armies. Will respect leaders who do not threaten his empire with greater armies near his Empire. Will dislike leaders who threaten France with large armies.

Living in shadow of his uncle, Napoleon III is often forgotten when talking about French history. And if he's mentioned, mostly his failure in French-Prussian War is remembered. However, while Napoleon III's external policy was unsuccessful (even though he successfully helped the Ottoman Empire against Nicholas I in the Crimean War, and managed to greatly expand French colonial holdings), his internal achievements are rather impressive. The renovation of Paris ended the era of city with narrow medieval streets, and turned it into the exquisite city of wide boulevards we know today, and generally worked on infrastructure and cities of his French Empire to become modern. This also included great expansion of French railroads. He managed to hold both French Royalists and Republicans at bay, keeping internal peace and stability in France until his capture in Battle of Sedan. The era of the Second French Empire was also an era of immense economic growth.
His ability reflects his internal successes in France. I wanted to call his ability "Franco-Prussian War" first, but naming it after his greatest failure felt strange, so I went with Bonapartism. It reflects his grip over France, and his tensions with Prussia.

 

[Foxiron]

What would be a French Civ without Napoleon? I've asked this question myself, and for this I designed Napoleon. In fact, two of them.

Napoleon I
View attachment 539055

Leader Ability: Napoleonic Warfare - Ranged Class units' penalty to damaging cities is removed for Napoleon. Ranged class units gain +1 movement point.
Agenda: Napoleonic Code - Will try to have as advanced form of government with as many policy slots as possible. Dislikes Civs with government forms inferior to French government, respects those equal to him or better.

Everyone knows Napoleon Bonaparte. Brilliant military mind, great leader even today celebrated in France as national hero, son of a Corsican noble who began his career as an attendant of a military academy and peaked as the Emperor of the French who brought most of Europe under his knee, before being defeated in Russia by Tsar Alexander I and exiled on Elba, only to return to France, almost unbelievably regaining rule over France. The Napoleonic Code became the basis for most European constitutions.
I based Napoleon's ability purely on his genial use of artillery, represented in game by field cannons rather than bombards. All the way from Siege of Toulon to Waterloo, Napoleon was known for quick movement of his cannons and devastating use of them, being able to use them effectively for any range he wanted.

Napoleon III
View attachment 539054

Leader Ability: Renovation of Paris - Every district grants +1 bonus housing to the city it was built in. Districts and buildings are built 25% faster in regular French cities and 50% faster in French capital. French capital gains 20% production towards wonders.
Agenda: Bonapartism - Will try to build a loyal society enforced by powerful armies. Will respect leaders who do not threaten his empire with greater armies near his Empire. Will dislike leaders who threaten France with large armies.

Living in shadow of his uncle, Napoleon III is often forgotten when talking about French history. And if he's mentioned, mostly his failure in French-Prussian War is remembered. However, while Napoleon III's external policy was unsuccessful (even though he successfully helped the Ottoman Empire against Nicholas I in the Crimean War, and managed to greatly expand French colonial holdings), his internal achievements are rather impressive. The renovation of Paris ended the era of city with narrow medieval streets, and turned it into the exquisite city of wide boulevards we know today, and generally worked on infrastructure and cities of his French Empire to become modern. This also included great expansion of French railroads. He managed to hold both French Royalists and Republicans at bay, keeping internal peace and stability in France until his capture in Battle of Sedan. The era of the Second French Empire was also an era of immense economic growth.
His ability reflects his internal successes in France. I wanted to call his ability "Franco-Prussian War" first, but naming it after his greatest failure felt strange, so I went with Bonapartism. It reflects his grip over France, and his tensions with Prussia.

I like those ideas, especially Napoleon's Leader Ability since he was known to aggressively deploy artillery in the battlefield. However, I think this focuses quite heavily on ranged units, which puts him a lot like Nubia. Napoleon III seems a bit op, you might want to tone it down a bit, but I like his leader Idea

 

[SlySlySly]

I've been thinking...
German Alternate Leader
Leader - Frederick Wilhelm III
Ability - Schlieffen Plan
When in a joint war, all military land units gain 2 more movement for 10 turns after war begins. Additionally will gain double alliance points while in a joint war with an ally and trade routes between war allies give both civilizations 2 production. When declaring war against a city state generate double grievances.
Agenda - Weltpolitik
Will prioritize a strong military and often settle more aggressively. Respects civilizations that trade with Germany and clear barbarian encampments. Dislikes civilizations that settle close to them.

Now for my reasonings...
For the ability I wanted to represent the famous Schlieffen Plan. I chose to prioritize the quick movement and mobilization that was planned prior to WWI. I chose joint war because that pretty decently reminds me of the scenario in which it was useful. The alliance points and production bonuses for trade ties in with the central powers that were formed as an alliance. To balance it out a bit I added the grievances, which references how the move into the Low Countries gave Great Britain a causes belli to enter the war based on the Treaty of London.
The agenda being about Weltpolitik is in relation to the shift from Realpolitik that happened during Wilhelm III's reign. It emphasizes growing into a great power.

 

[Pitohui]

Winston Churchill(England)

LUA:Finest Hour

When fighting in a war,gain +1 Combat Strength and Diplomatic Favor per 75 Grievances you have towards your enemies and 1 CS and DF per 150 Grievances your allies have towards your enemies.Do not generate war weariness when Fighting aginst someone yu have at least 200 Grievances against.

Agenda:Never Surrender

Does not like civilizations with a Government which provides a lot of Military policies.Likes civs who dont have a lot of Military Policy Cards.

 

[TahamiTsunami]

Mississippi
Technically centered on Quigualtam's polity of Natchez but made into more of a Mississippian blob to add more cities to the city list.

Unique Ability: Southeastern Ceremonial Complex - Hill tiles and Mound improvements provide a minor adjacency bonus to districts while rivers provide a major adjacency bonus.
Leader: Quigualtam - A powerful Mississippian chieftain who defied Hernando de Soto's demands and whose great river fleet sent the Spanish expedition running downstream.
Leader Unique Ability: Message to de Soto - Declaring war on the Mississippians causes their river cities to exert extra loyalty pressure. Even more so with a governor in the city. Also adds the River Canoe as another UU, a ranged naval unit available at the very start of the game. Restricted to shallow water tiles but has +7 attack against injured units.
Leader Agenda: Cacique of the Mississippi - Likes having river tiles and civs who leave river tiles to him.
Capital City: Quigualtam (either he was named after it or it was named after him)
Other Cities: (includes other Mississippian cities and not just the ones under Quigualtam's domain) Huhasene, Cahokia, Atahachi, Mabila, Spiro, Towosahgy, Etowah, Ocumulgee, Kincaid, Aztalan, etc.
Unique Unit: Falcon Warrior - Warriors dressed as Falcons and armed with axes and clubs. Medieval era unit that replaces the Swordsman. Cheaper to build or buy with faith if the city is next to a river and earns faith from kills.
Unique Improvement: Mound - Since Cahokia becomes a Mississippian city and the Cahokia city-state is replaced with another trade city-state, this civ gains that improvement. +3 Gold, +1 Food, +1 Amenities, and +1 Housing. Additional +1 Food, Amenities, and Housing for each 2 adjacent districts. +1 Faith and Culture if adjacent to both the City Center and a river.

Edit: IF enough cities could be found for a complete city list, then Quigualtam's civ could be deblobbed from Mississippian (which would be kinda like having a Christendom civ) to the more specific Natchez.

Pueblo (with Hopi focus)
It would be tempting to call this a Hopi civ but, like the Mississippians above, it can be considered more of a Puebloan blob to fill up the city list.

Unique Ability: Puebloan Sky Cities - Cities founded by the Pueblo create hills on its tile and on adjacent tiles. Pueblo units on these tiles gain +10 combat strength. Farms can be built on desert tiles next to hills, mountains, and aqueducts. Farms also provide +1 faith in addition to their usual yields.
Leader: Lololoma - The village chief of Orayvi (aka Oraibi) from the 1880s to 1901 or 1902 who's visit to Washington inspired him to allow European education and religion among the Hopis despite the criticism he received from the more conservative populace like his rival Lomahongyoma.
Leader Unique Ability: Orayvi Split - There will always be at least 1 person in each Pueblo city following the Pueblo's religion. Domestic trade routes add +2 faith, +1 culture, and +1 great prophet point while foreign trade routes add +3 science and +1 diplomatic favor.
Leader Agenda: Kikmongwi - Means village chief. Likes civs who keep their religion as the majority in their cities while embracing other religions. Dislikes civs who've embraced other religions without keeping their religion as the majority or who don't have other minority religions in their cities.
Capital City: Orayvi
Other Cities: (contains other Puebloan cities instead of just the Hopi ones) Kykotsmovi, Hotvela, Paaqavi, Walpi, Munqapi, Sitsomovi, Yuuwelo Paaki, Shongopovi, Musangnuvi, Awatovi, Sipawlavi, etc.
Unique Unit: Qaleetaqa - Means warrior. Actually an archer replacement armed with painted bows. Gains extra movement and experience near natural wonders or desert tiles. Can use "condemn heretic" on any religious units even when not at war. I had considered have a Kachina Dancer being a unique apostle but I wasn't sure if that would treading too much on Hopi sacred religious practices.
Unique District: Kiva - Unique district that replaces the Government Plaza. Natural Wonder tiles can be bought with a significant faith discount and cities with natural wonder tiles gain a 50% Production discount to constructing wonders.

Edit: Same thing as above where, IF enough cities can be made for a full city list, Lololoma's civ can be deblobbed from Pueblo to of course Hopi.

 

[Knightfall]

These have probably been done already, but here's my take on some World War II leaders.

Leader: Franklin Roosevelt
Civ: America
LA: New Deal-When at peace, all Neighborhood districts provide +1 Amenity. Build Dams, Canals, and Aerodromes 25% faster. (Rename the "New Deal" Policy Card to something else, like "Welfare State").
Personality: Good Neighbor-Seeks peaceful trade relationships with other Civs and City-States. Likes Civs that do the same, and dislikes Civs who bully or extort other Civs or City-States.

Leader: Winston Churchill
Civ: England
LA: Finest Hour-When in a defensive war, accumulate War Weariness 100% slower, and can Levy allied City-State units for free (must still pay maintenance and resource costs). Can build Spitfire UU.
LUU: Spitfire-Replaces Fighter. Gets a 50% chance to Intercept when stationed on the same continent as the Civ capital.
Personality: Never Surrender-Likes Civs who hold out for a long time in wars, and dislikes Civs who surrender quickly. Will never cede territory in a defensive war unless his original capital has been captured by the aggressor Civ.

And also, a brand new Civ.

Civ: Soviet Union
CA: Five-Year Plan-Mines, Quarries, and Lumbermills generate +2 Production, and Farms generate +1 Production. Mines generate -50% Gold, and Farms generate -1 Food.
UU: Katyusha-Replaces Rocket Artillery. Available in the Atomic Era with Rocketry. Costs less than normal Rocket Artillery and does not suffer a damage penalty against Units, but has less Bombard Strength and does less damage against District Defenses.
UD: Cosmodrome-Replaces Spaceport. Grants a 25% speed bonus to any Build Nuclear Device and Build Thermonuclear Device projects in the city it is part of.
Leader: Josef Stalin
LA: Great Purge-Can sacrifice 1 Population in a City to lock City Loyalty at maximum for 10 turns.
Personality: Socialism in One Country-Will generally avoid making treaties with other Civs unless such treaties are clearly one-sided in his favor, but will aggressively try to gain influence over City-States. Dislikes Civs that compete with him for City-States, but likes Civs that give him gifts.

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

England - Alternate Leader:
Mary I Tudor
Leader Ability - Bloody Mary
--- Inquisitions are 20% more effective and have have a chance to affect nearby cities either within or outside England. Melee units gain 5 attack power when within the borders of cities that don't follow Mary's majority religion.
Leader Agenda - Anti-Reformation Efforts
--- Dislikes civilizations with cities that don't all follow the same religion. Utilizes inquisitors as much as possible to create a homogenous religious following across England.

Should this be her father? (Henry VIII)

 

[SlySlySly]

Should this be her father? (Henry VIII)

I mean... Henry VIII did change the religion of England but it wasn't necessarily remembered for being particularly bloody. He did liquidate church lands but his religious change was mainly political. It was Mary who was devoutly religious and enforced it harshly

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

^ Cromwell did the same as well. he even has Ironside cavalry that's tied to Puritanism and will not hesitate to kill Catholic civilians.

 

[SlySlySly]

^ Cromwell did the same as well. he even has Ironside cavalry that's tied to Puritanism and will not hesitate to kill Catholic civilians.

Cromwell would be interesting but I would give him different bonuses. Maybe 10% off inquisitors? And perhaps each city needs 1 less amenity if it has the founded religion, 2 less amenities needed if a unit is stationed in the city?