Ideas and observations from my first three games.

[Zeuxis]

Hi Everyone!

So, I have graduated up from Civ 4 Beyond the Sword and just played a single game as Russia on Civ 6 and then two more games on Rise and Fall. Here are a few impressions and some observations where I would be grateful for some strategy tips.

1) The end of the game is really underwhelming. After all the hours of thought, it would be just nice to have a big fanfare video with the other civs bowing down to you and your name in lights so to speak. So much thought has gone into the game but the end seems like an afterthought.

2) The same goes for the wonders. The videos way back in civ 2 were perhaps the best but it would be really nice to have more to ad to the sense of accomplishment. You could always click so you don't have to see them if you have seen them a million times before.

3) I miss a screen where I can see what all of the cities are producing and a sortable list of gold, faith, production, happiness and so on. This was really useful in Civ 4 and I find it irritating trying to find the best cities for wonder production and so on.

4) I also miss a screen where you can see where all your units are. I particularly have problems keeping track of my settlers without one as I play wide.

That said, I really enjoy the game and have found it pretty easy to win a cultural victory with Russia on a medium level - The Eiffel Tower, plus seaside resorts in addition to all the great people Russia gets is very powerful.

I have real problems, however, getting a science victory as I don't seem to be able to get production up enough. I was well in the lead in science but it takes me ages to make a spaceport and even longer to do the projects. I don't have Magnus chops left by this stage. I can get the great scientist that will give me production towards the space projects and that will get me the moon landing but I am trying to play catch up as another civ already has spaceports and satellites and I have neither.

I also seem to find it really easy to get Golden Ages at some points in the game but it seems hard to avoid Dark Ages at others. I went for the dedication that adds era points to artifacts just to try to avoid a Dark Ages but I need 40 more points with 20 turns to go and that seems like a big ask....

Comments, ideas, tips very welcome!

 

[BarbarianHunter]

For Russia, I'd go with a T3 Communist government and run the Collectivism policy card which will get you +4 food and +2 production in the city you concentrate all your trade routes in. This will not only add +2 production per route but get +4 food per route to what will likely be a food challenged city with some seriously underutilized production potential (Tundra hills) due to lack of food. The first step, of course, would be to concentrate all your trade routes into your spaceport city. Then you'd want to beeline for globalization for another +2 production per route.

 

[knighterrant81]

1) The end of the game is really underwhelming. After all the hours of thought, it would be just nice to have a big fanfare video with the other civs bowing down to you and your name in lights so to speak. So much thought has gone into the game but the end seems like an afterthought.

There is a video after every victory condition. However, the end of Civ games have always famously been rather tedious. The solution of course is to win more quickly. Find ways to earn your victories more quickly and efficiently.

2) The same goes for the wonders. The videos way back in civ 2 were perhaps the best but it would be really nice to have more to ad to the sense of accomplishment. You could always click so you don't have to see them if you have seen them a million times before.

This is mostly just opinion, but I think the videos aren't as good as some earlier Civ games. It doesn't really bother me. It does highlight some design decisions though. 1) Wonders aren't as strong as they have been in the past (probably because having anything tagged as a "wonder" is central to Theater Squares and Cultural Victories regardless of actual effect). 2) Civ VI is in general very concerned with how things are displayed on the main map. It looks like they prioritized "show the Wonder being built on the actual map" over "Make a cool video."

3) I miss a screen where I can see what all of the cities are producing and a sortable list of gold, faith, production, happiness and so on. This was really useful in Civ 4 and I find it irritating trying to find the best cities for wonder production and so on.

A lot of people find the Civ VI UI to be one of the worst parts about the game. It has gotten a lot better since Vanilla, but it is still pretty bad. My personal theory is that, again, the Civ VI design team overly prioritized showing information on the main map (as art assets too, not as actual, you know, INFORMATION) over things like useful, empire-wide menus and charts. It also has a lot to do with the game being designed to work on a tablet, which again means less menus accessed with tiny UI buttons or hotkey presses. However, there are nice UI mods out there that help with this, such as CQUI.

4) I also miss a screen where you can see where all your units are. I particularly have problems keeping track of my settlers without one as I play wide.

There actually is one. Click on a unit's name when it is selected and you'll see a dropdown menu of every unit in your entire empire. But again, see my earlier comment about the UI issues.

I have real problems, however, getting a science victory as I don't seem to be able to get production up enough. I was well in the lead in science but it takes me ages to make a spaceport and even longer to do the projects. I don't have Magnus chops left by this stage. I can get the great scientist that will give me production towards the space projects and that will get me the moon landing but I am trying to play catch up as another civ already has spaceports and satellites and I have neither.

Until you get more practiced with abusing chopping mechanics, you'll want to play more like the developers intended a Science Victory to work in most cases. Namely, you'll want 2-3 cities with large populations focused on production. One of those cities should have Magnus with the Vertical Integration promotion (then, surrounded by Factory cities). The other one can use Pingala with the Space Initiative promotion. You can also buy Spaceports with Reyna and the Contractor promotion. Internal trade routes can also add production to these cities.

I also seem to find it really easy to get Golden Ages at some points in the game but it seems hard to avoid Dark Ages at others. I went for the dedication that adds era points to artifacts just to try to avoid a Dark Ages but I need 40 more points with 20 turns to go and that seems like a big ask....

Remember, after you get a Golden Age, you will have to work harder for Era Score (because Golden Ages don't give you a dedication that earns you Era Score points). Here is the formula for Era Score thresholds:

• Normal Age Threshold = Points you start the era with +12 -5 for each Dark Age you've had +5 for each Golden Age you've had +1 for each city you control at the start of the era
  
  
• Golden Age Threshold = Normal Age Threshold +12

That means if you gain a lot of cities and Golden Ages your next threshold will also increase a lot. You need to plan for these threshold increases and lack of Era Score during Golden Ages. I tend to try and build my Wonders during Golden Ages to help with this a bit. Other than that, just learn the Historic Moments so you can earn the juiciest rewards. A Dark Age is not the end of the world either, since you get access to powerful Dark Age policies and an opportunity to earn a Heroic Age (three Golden Age dedications instead of one).

 

[Archaelicos]

Hi Everyone!
I have real problems, however, getting a science victory as I don't seem to be able to get production up enough. I was well in the lead in science but it takes me ages to make a spaceport and even longer to do the projects. I don't have Magnus chops left by this stage. I can get the great scientist that will give me production towards the space projects and that will get me the moon landing but I am trying to play catch up as another civ already has spaceports and satellites and I have neither.

Caveat: I'm not a high-skilled player, I win consistently on King, hit-and-miss at Emperor, but I have won two science victories on deity (the second one yesterday, in fact...).

I've always preferred trade routes + policy cards for production. Get commercial districts and/or harbors out there, get 10-15 trade routes, and then just send them to whever you get the best production return. In my last game, I had Hong Kong + I was getting anywhere from 7-8 production per trade route. I was able to finish moon landing, for example, in 3 turns.

Another option to look at is Royal Society in the government district, which will let you apply unused builder charges to finishing city projects (which is all of the science victory projects) faster. This used to work really well but now, in practice, I don't find it as help as it used to be. Still, if you're struggling, spamming out a bunch of late game builders can chop off a turn here and there. By the time I've got the exoplanet tech researched, I'm just clicking through the end game and spitting out builders to try to speed it up. I've used this strategy to outpace Korea before on Emperor.

The other thing I find crucial with a science victory is spying. I max out spies and send them around to sabotage other Civ's spaceports, and keep one at home to guard your own. I run the spying policy cards that give enemy spies -2 in your land and your spies +1 in theirs, and the card that reduces spy op time. The AI will spam out sometimes 5-6 spaceports, and while they're not all super productive, getting your spy moved, in place, gain sources, and carrying out the sabotage can chew up 20 turns. That's enough time. I try to get the upgrades that reduce establishment time and run the faster mission policy card so I can sabotage and move quickly.

Finally, keep enough military around your main spaceport (I usually build only one post-GS, the build order is more linear, it seems) to deal with opponents who recruit partisans. I usually have an aerodrome nearby, that helps. Science victory strikes me as the easiest, least randomized, and most predictable. If you can win a CV, SV should be a breeze.

 

[Zeuxis]

Thanks guys - looks like I have a few ideas to experiment with....

 

[Socrates99]

There is a reports screen that lists your cities and all their outputs. Unfortunately it isn't sortable, thatd be handy. I'll sometimes just drop tacks on all my high production cities to remind myself which ones are best for spaceports.

 

[Victoria]

I have real problems, however, getting a science victory as I don't seem to be able to get production up enough.

The Royal society is the only way to go. It changes a production gruelling endgame into a few turns. Better still the space parts are well spaced so if doing it right you finish one project before or at the same time as the next science project.
Science victory can be approached in 2 ways, a gruelling long production way or a highly planned out and complex faster victory which is way more fun and avoids a long end game.
Chop in/buy your first spaceport after beelining rocketry and chop in moon landing. If done right (you need to also be producing a lot of culture) you will get high enough in the culture tree to maybe even double your science.
Then it is about getting the rest.
Once you get used the the fundamental requirements you speed it up with more eurekas and inspirations.
It really is quite a strategic fun victory.
It does sound like you are finishing districts too soon, it is the noob mistake, place them but do not finish them until you get 5 charge builders.