The next civ I'm playing is Egypt. I'm still in the early to mid game but wanted to post my game plan thus far and see how others might differ:
Egypt - Ramesses II
Monument Builders
+20% Production towards Wonder construction, +40% during Golden Ages. Artifacts gain +5 Science and Culture, and Landmarks gain +5 Gold and Tourism.
War Chariot, replaces Chariot Archer.
Does not require horses. +1 Combat and Ranged Combat, and Movement. Receives Gift of the Pharaoh Promotion (Receive Production in the Capital when you defeat an enemy unit).
Burial Tomb, replaces Caravansary.
1 Faith. 1 Great Work of Art of Artifact slot. Receive a free unique Egyptian Artifact when constructed. When a Land Trade Route originating here and targeting another Civ is completed, receive a Tourism boost with the Civ based on your recent Culture and Tourism output. Land Trade Routes gain +50% range and +2 Gold. Merchant Specialists in this city gain +1 Gold. +1 and +1 for every 2 Tundra or 2 Desert Tiles worked. Nearby Truffles provide +2 Gold, Cotton +1 Production and +1 Culture, and Furs +1 Gold and +1 Production.
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Gameplan
My general plan is to achieve a culture victory by leveraging Egypt's bonus production toward wonder construction and bonuses toward archaeology. I play standard/standard/immortal (only VP) and for me wonders aren't always all that easy to grab so playing Egypt and focusing on wonders is a nice change of pace. Wonders are the most critical when going for a culture victory typically so that seems to fit into Egypt's kit.
In terms of warfare I likely won't go out of my way to conquer cities unless I feel that doing so is necessary for security, but being at war and defensively killing off units with war chariots (or their upgraded lineage, as the 'gift of the pharaoh' promotion sticks) would be ideal to keep pumping my capital with production.
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Policies
Tradition seems pretty obvious as the natural choice here. A big strong capital is ideal for wonder construction as well as getting an early engineer out of the free engineer specialist. I imagine it's possible to go progress and use their science boosts to hit the techs sooner for unlocking wonders as well but a progress capital is typically weaker than a tradition capital so you might just have fewer hammers in the one city you really need them. Authority would seem a strange choice as you likely need to spend your early hammers on units and not knocking out wonders which means you aren't using your UA all that much. You might be using your UU quite a bit in that case but in the early game the hammers you get from killing units with the war chariot are fairly small- often a fraction of your per-turn production in your capital.
In the Renaissance Artistry seems like, again, the obvious choice. It has synergy with golden ages which aid your UA and has lots of synergy with archaeology via revealing hidden sites and unlocking the Louvre. I have a hard time seeing Fealty or Statecraft comparing for Egypt.
For the Industrial age it might be a little bit more open between the 3 trees. I'd assume Rationalism would be ideal to keep competitive in technology for the wonder race but maybe this age has the least obvious tree to go for.
And for Ideologies I would again say things are probably fairly open. My preference might be Freedom because I plan to stay relatively small/tall but all 3 have bonuses available for tourism. If one plays Egypt a bit more aggressively even Autocracy could work well.
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Religion
Goddess of Beauty seems almost made for Egypt (though many civs can take advantage of it, of course). It's usually a fairly strong pantheon when combined with tradition and early wonder building and can typically found a religion pretty easily in those circumstances. If your starting location lends itself to another pantheon I could see going something else, though- especially if it's a pantheon that adds production or science to aid in the wonder race early on.
For a founder I think they are generally generic enough that almost anything will work. I especially like Council of Elders, though, which can be strong when you time a spread to a new city with a wonder in your capital to knock it out faster.
Followers are also generic enough to where most of them are useful and you might have to just pick from what is available.
For an enhancer I think Iconography might be a preferred choice but nearly any of them would be useful. Same with reformation beliefs- there are a couple of them with some clear Egypt synergy but nearly any of them will be useful especially if you reform late and are choosing from what's left.
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Early Game
I think your tech order is rather critical for Egypt as you typically have to beeline a wonder's technology in order to give yourself the best chance to get it, or at the very least ensure that as soon as your have the necessary policies to build the wonder you've already researched its tech. As soon as the wonder is available you should begin building it to avoid missing out- this often means you need to fit any other important buildings/units between wonder projects. I tried to knock out a few war chariots early on and hunt barbarians with them for some free production- their high mobility can be very useful for doing so, at least in non-rough terrain, and you need at least a few units early on to ward off attack. It's also critical to get an early worker out to help your capital improve and I typically like to use my first gold purchase to that end.
In my game I started with Pottery (while building a monument) in order to immediately rush Stonehenge for its combo with Goddess of Beauty. After that I researched The Wheel followed by Calendar in order to grab Pyramid for another wonder and a free settler. Next is Animal Husbandry->Military Theory at which point it is possible to still build the Temple of Artemis even though it wasn't beelined- I got it in my game anyway, likely with a great engineer via Goddess of Beauty and the free engineer specialist from tradition. The next Wonder I am aiming for now is Hanging Gardens, however I will not have the policies unlocked to build it yet so instead I divert to Mining->Construction in order to build mines/quarries for additional production in my capital before hitting Mathematics for Hanging Gardens. At this point I have 4 wonders (3 of which are probably fairly easy to consistently get).
The next important tech is Currency which we are already somewhat beelining toward- we want to unlock our UB ASAP as the +5 culture/science from the free artifact is quite strong at this stage of the game. I suppose one could also try to get Angkor Wat at this point- I did not opt for it as it doesn't seem all that strong for my general game plan. Having gone this route in the tech tree wonder like Mausoleum and Great Library are probably already built and we likely can't unlock the techs for Oracle or Parthenon in time to get them, either. The next viable wonder is likely Sankore after completing the tradition tree and I was able to get it in my game just fine.
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Mid and Late Game
From here on out I would focus on the top of the tech tree and grabbing wonders whenever possible, at least the ones that directly feed your victory condition. The next critical technology should be Archaeology in order to start working on those landmarks/relics and grabbing the Louvre. After that the game should play out somewhat like a typical culture victory and gunning for all of the same wonders any tall/tradition culture victory would aim for.
Egypt - Ramesses II
Monument Builders
+20% Production towards Wonder construction, +40% during Golden Ages. Artifacts gain +5 Science and Culture, and Landmarks gain +5 Gold and Tourism.
War Chariot, replaces Chariot Archer.
Does not require horses. +1 Combat and Ranged Combat, and Movement. Receives Gift of the Pharaoh Promotion (Receive Production in the Capital when you defeat an enemy unit).
Burial Tomb, replaces Caravansary.
1 Faith. 1 Great Work of Art of Artifact slot. Receive a free unique Egyptian Artifact when constructed. When a Land Trade Route originating here and targeting another Civ is completed, receive a Tourism boost with the Civ based on your recent Culture and Tourism output. Land Trade Routes gain +50% range and +2 Gold. Merchant Specialists in this city gain +1 Gold. +1 and +1 for every 2 Tundra or 2 Desert Tiles worked. Nearby Truffles provide +2 Gold, Cotton +1 Production and +1 Culture, and Furs +1 Gold and +1 Production.
--------------------------------------
Gameplan
My general plan is to achieve a culture victory by leveraging Egypt's bonus production toward wonder construction and bonuses toward archaeology. I play standard/standard/immortal (only VP) and for me wonders aren't always all that easy to grab so playing Egypt and focusing on wonders is a nice change of pace. Wonders are the most critical when going for a culture victory typically so that seems to fit into Egypt's kit.
In terms of warfare I likely won't go out of my way to conquer cities unless I feel that doing so is necessary for security, but being at war and defensively killing off units with war chariots (or their upgraded lineage, as the 'gift of the pharaoh' promotion sticks) would be ideal to keep pumping my capital with production.
--------------------------------------
Policies
Tradition seems pretty obvious as the natural choice here. A big strong capital is ideal for wonder construction as well as getting an early engineer out of the free engineer specialist. I imagine it's possible to go progress and use their science boosts to hit the techs sooner for unlocking wonders as well but a progress capital is typically weaker than a tradition capital so you might just have fewer hammers in the one city you really need them. Authority would seem a strange choice as you likely need to spend your early hammers on units and not knocking out wonders which means you aren't using your UA all that much. You might be using your UU quite a bit in that case but in the early game the hammers you get from killing units with the war chariot are fairly small- often a fraction of your per-turn production in your capital.
In the Renaissance Artistry seems like, again, the obvious choice. It has synergy with golden ages which aid your UA and has lots of synergy with archaeology via revealing hidden sites and unlocking the Louvre. I have a hard time seeing Fealty or Statecraft comparing for Egypt.
For the Industrial age it might be a little bit more open between the 3 trees. I'd assume Rationalism would be ideal to keep competitive in technology for the wonder race but maybe this age has the least obvious tree to go for.
And for Ideologies I would again say things are probably fairly open. My preference might be Freedom because I plan to stay relatively small/tall but all 3 have bonuses available for tourism. If one plays Egypt a bit more aggressively even Autocracy could work well.
--------------------------------------
Religion
Goddess of Beauty seems almost made for Egypt (though many civs can take advantage of it, of course). It's usually a fairly strong pantheon when combined with tradition and early wonder building and can typically found a religion pretty easily in those circumstances. If your starting location lends itself to another pantheon I could see going something else, though- especially if it's a pantheon that adds production or science to aid in the wonder race early on.
For a founder I think they are generally generic enough that almost anything will work. I especially like Council of Elders, though, which can be strong when you time a spread to a new city with a wonder in your capital to knock it out faster.
Followers are also generic enough to where most of them are useful and you might have to just pick from what is available.
For an enhancer I think Iconography might be a preferred choice but nearly any of them would be useful. Same with reformation beliefs- there are a couple of them with some clear Egypt synergy but nearly any of them will be useful especially if you reform late and are choosing from what's left.
--------------------------------------
Early Game
I think your tech order is rather critical for Egypt as you typically have to beeline a wonder's technology in order to give yourself the best chance to get it, or at the very least ensure that as soon as your have the necessary policies to build the wonder you've already researched its tech. As soon as the wonder is available you should begin building it to avoid missing out- this often means you need to fit any other important buildings/units between wonder projects. I tried to knock out a few war chariots early on and hunt barbarians with them for some free production- their high mobility can be very useful for doing so, at least in non-rough terrain, and you need at least a few units early on to ward off attack. It's also critical to get an early worker out to help your capital improve and I typically like to use my first gold purchase to that end.
In my game I started with Pottery (while building a monument) in order to immediately rush Stonehenge for its combo with Goddess of Beauty. After that I researched The Wheel followed by Calendar in order to grab Pyramid for another wonder and a free settler. Next is Animal Husbandry->Military Theory at which point it is possible to still build the Temple of Artemis even though it wasn't beelined- I got it in my game anyway, likely with a great engineer via Goddess of Beauty and the free engineer specialist from tradition. The next Wonder I am aiming for now is Hanging Gardens, however I will not have the policies unlocked to build it yet so instead I divert to Mining->Construction in order to build mines/quarries for additional production in my capital before hitting Mathematics for Hanging Gardens. At this point I have 4 wonders (3 of which are probably fairly easy to consistently get).
The next important tech is Currency which we are already somewhat beelining toward- we want to unlock our UB ASAP as the +5 culture/science from the free artifact is quite strong at this stage of the game. I suppose one could also try to get Angkor Wat at this point- I did not opt for it as it doesn't seem all that strong for my general game plan. Having gone this route in the tech tree wonder like Mausoleum and Great Library are probably already built and we likely can't unlock the techs for Oracle or Parthenon in time to get them, either. The next viable wonder is likely Sankore after completing the tradition tree and I was able to get it in my game just fine.
--------------------------------------
Mid and Late Game
From here on out I would focus on the top of the tech tree and grabbing wonders whenever possible, at least the ones that directly feed your victory condition. The next critical technology should be Archaeology in order to start working on those landmarks/relics and grabbing the Louvre. After that the game should play out somewhat like a typical culture victory and gunning for all of the same wonders any tall/tradition culture victory would aim for.
