Piye of Nubia Stands the Test of Time(?)

[dostillevi]

Nubia: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/mc-and-lites-nubia-for-vp.647918/

Nubia is a versatile civilization that benefits from early warfare, targeted warfare against wonder-spammers, and early construction of Royal Pyramids to drive faith and culture production. Domination is likely the preferred victory path for Nubia, with a cultural victory as a backup.


UA: Ta-Seti

• Archery Units cost +15% less Production
• +2 and +10% Production in cities with a Garrison.
• Gain +500 Golden Age Points and +5XP for all Units for each World Wonder in a newly conquered City.

The Nubian UA has straight forward bonuses to Archer production and an additional production bonus to cities with a garrison. Whether at war or at peace, Nubia always wants a large (and ideally cheap) standing army. The bonus from conquering cities with World Wonders is thematic to Nubia and should encourage Nubia to conquer civs that are focusing on wonders for their own cultural or scientific victories. Golden Age Points and a minor bump to unit XP aren't likely to be major factors driving Nubia to war, but they do help Nubia sustain war both through gold from Golden Ages and increased XP for newer units built to sustain Nubia's army.


UU: Apedemak Archer (Archer)
60
Unlocked at Trapping
6 CS, 8 RCS
2 Moves
2 Range
Volley Promotion
Mercenary - Does not cost Gold Maintenance (lost on upgrade)
Naval Inaccuracy

This UU is notable for starting with the volley promotion (kept on upgrade), and for requiring no gold maintenance. The lack of maintenance synergizes strongly with the UA, encouraging Aedemak's to be city garrison units well into the mid and even early late game. The volley promotion makes the UU valuable for early assaults, with well promoted Apedemaks upgrading into powerful composite bowmen able to capture most cities prior to the introduction of castles. For a domination Nubia, building as many Apedemaks as possible and getting them as experienced as possible early on is key.


UI: Royal Pyramid
Unlocked at Construction
Buildable on flat Desert, Plains, and Grass and not adjacent to each other
Removes features
+1, +2
+1 at Mathematics
+1/ at Architecture
+3 at Archaeology
+1/ for each Era between the Era the pyramid was constructed and the current Era
An Antiquity Site has a chance to be placed below any Pyramid on construction. Antiquity Sites are of the same era as when the Pyramid was originally constructed.

The Royal Pyramid provides Faith, Gold, and Culture. Unlike most other improvements, each Royal Pyramid counts the number of eras passed since it was built, so building them early means increased culture and faith in later eras. Locked behind Construction, this UI is challenging to focus early since it conflicts with a focus on Temple of Artemis (synergizing with the UA), Pyramids (early settling) and Statue of Zeus (synergizing with the Apedemak). I'm curious how the Enlightenment mod will affect the era count and importance of this UI. The key aspect of the Royal Pyramid for a cultural victory is the chance for an Antiquity Site to be generated beneath it. Otherwise, a Domination Nubia may make landmarks to support a wide late game empire.


UU2 (4UC) - Medjay (Unique Mercenary)
200
Gold Purchase Only
Can move after Purchase
no Purchase cooldown
Does not require Iron
Unlocked at Iron Working
15
2 Moves
Shock I
Temple Guard - +15%CS in friendly Territory, -5% to all Needs in City when Garrisoned
If Nubia is in a game, all players that have an Embassy with Nubia can purchase Medjay. Nubia gains 75 whenever any player (including Nubia itself) purchases a Medjay

The Medjay is a unique unit available to buy for all civilizations as long as Nubia is in the game. It unlocks at Iron Working but does not need iron. It is slightly weaker than the Swordsman, but is significantly cheaper to buy, especially for Nubia who is refunded 75 gold on purchase. The Medjay is an excellent garrison unit with increased combat while within friendly territory. Note this also includes friendly territory of newly captured cities, so a quick capture by Apedemaks followed by defense from Medjays should be a viable strategy. Nubia may also get income from other civilizations purchasing the unit. Of note, a gold-focused Nubia should be able to buy Medjays well above the normal unit cap for a temporary military surge without worrying about the production penalty. A cultural Nubia can instead benefit by having many embassies with other players and potentially by encouraging wars between them (Hence the common trope of the Nubian arms dealer /s).


UB (4UC) - Cenobium (Workshop)
350 Production OR 300Faith
Can Purchase with Faith
Unlocked at Civil Service
No Gold Maintenance
332
+25% resistance to conversion
+25% City Strength
+1 Production for every 5 Citizens in the City
+1 Production and +1 Gold to Forest
Allows Production to be moved from this city along Trade Routes inside your civilization
+4 Production to Production Internal Trade Routes from this city

The Cenobium helps Nubia fortify it's holdings. After early warfare, a cultural Nubia will need to survive the wrath of civs in the mid and late game, and this building helps both with religious conversion resistance and with increased city strength. Overall this is likely to have only a small impact on Nubia's strategy, but it is a welcome additional defensive structure for border cities and the lack of gold maintenance synergizes with garrisoned unit's extra production. There's no reason not to build this if there's nothing better to focus on.

I use a lot of mods, some of the more impactful are listed below:

Enhanced Air Warfare
Leugi's Barbarian Immersion Enhancements (modified by TwoPodRay)
Barbarians Evolved (modified by TwoPodRay)
City States Evolved
Unique City States
Enlightenment Era
Even More Resources
4UC
Enhanced Naval Warfare
Lategame War Rebalance
Logistics Skirmishers
New Beliefs
Pineapple Dan's Unit Tweaks
Permanent Pantheons

Configuration Notes:
I play on a modified huge map (150x100) at epic speed with 17 AI players.

The Barbarian leader from Barbarians Evolved is disabled. Raging barbarians is off (not needed) but GG/GA Points are on for barbarians, who are numerous and challenging.

City States have two new properties. Each city state has a unique bonus given to allies, and they may also settle new cities and establish trade routes.

Religion is modded to support 10 total religions, and pantheons are always kept even when adopting a foreign religion.

Game Setup (note increased starting visibility):

Piye wants to do a lot of everything in the early game, so picking one or two focus areas is very important. Spread out that focus too much and Piye can be quite weak in the Classical and Medieval eras, with little hope of recovery. While early Royal Pyramids may pay late game dividends, a cultural Nubia cares more about the antiquity site, while a Domination Nubia cares more about building up a military. My overall plan is to expand as much as possible, conquering if appropriate, within the ancient and early classical eras. By the end of the classical era, I want to have many workers focused on building Royal Pyramids. I may delay advancement into the Medieval era to leave more time for construction. Given map settings and Nubia's domination leanings, Authority is the best choice for the first policy tree. A case could be made for Progress only if Nubia is isolated, however Nubia doesn't have any cultural victory synergies beyond extra antiquity sites, so failing to use Nubia's military advantages to attack wonder spammers would likely leave other civs, especially powerhouses like Brazil, to run away in the late game.

This is my first Journal. So, here we go!

 

[dostillevi]

Reserved.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 1:

Spoiler Starting Location :

Cocoa aligns with the Royal Pyramid for even more culture gain, and it's a fairly strong undeveloped resource. However this location doesn't have a great deal of production. Nubia has no particular reason to want a coastal start, but this location is easy to defend. I'll settle on the starting plot. There may be sheep or horses nearby and there is enough flat terrain to build many Royal Pyramids. Nubia wants to work a lot of tiles, so I'm hoping there are fish for additional growth.

Garrisoning my starting warrior makes a huge difference in early production. I'll start with a monument so I can get Authority as quickly as possible to benefit from (and survive) the barbarian hordes. Garrisoning one of my starting units cuts down on early exploration and probably will cost me a few huts.

A pantheon is founded (Goddess of Purity). Hello India.

Turn 2: I pop a hut and get gold, which I'll use to rush the monument. It'll be done by turn 7, a respectable start that will help me grab the other chocolate quickly.

Turn 3: I run into Shaka to the north. Even on such a large map, my neighbor is very close. Shaka will be very dangerous in the mid game, so it would be to my advantage to conquer him early.

Turn 6: I find a barbarian encampment to the west along with a second hut, granting land around the city. I now have 3 great tiles and 3 decent tiles to work. Hopefully I don't get this hut again.

Turn 7: I finish my monument and opt to build a second pathfinder. I'm researching the wheel to see if I can make Stonehenge happen, but I'm willing to pass it up if I need to focus otherwise. Religion isn't that important, but promoted pathfinders (ideally upgraded to scouts) can hold their own against barbarians and should help with Authority bonuses and early warfare.

Turn 8: The first scout gets Trailblazer 1, which is essential to escape from early barbarians and grab huts. Survival will come later. Popped a third hut, giving supplies to my city and completing the second pathfinder. I meet Alexander of Macedon, an early warmonger who is not to be trusted.

Turn 9: I pop a fourth hut granting an extra pop. It defaults to a 3 food tile, but I move it to a 2 food 2 hammer tile instead.

Turn 10: I meet Riga to my immediate southeast. Riga is nautical with an additional food bonus. Extra food means more worked tiles, but I'm not good at being friendly with city states. I will likely bully and then capture this city if it has a decent location.

Spoiler Turn 10 Overview :

Turn 13: I pop a 5th hut and my Pathfinder upgrades to a scout. This is very powerful for an early warmonger so I'm happy to see the upgrade. I see a comet and take the golden age points (what good is happiness this early?)

Turn 14: I meet Surrey, directly south of Riga. Surrey is Militaristic and gives a late game bonus to fighters and bombers. Potentially useful for late game defense. I might keep Surrey around, but I have no strong feelings right now.

Turn 15: I finish the wheel and pop a 6th(!) hut giving production to my city. This finishes the shrine I was building, and some of that production should carry over. I'll start Stonehenge and see if I can grab an early pantheon, extra culture, and a free council. Barbarians are getting more numerous and I'm glad of the Scout upgrade. They hold their distance for now.

Trapping is next, both to get Pitati (renamed from Apedemak perhaps?) and to work towards the temple of Artemis.

Spoiler Barb barb barb :

Turn 17: I've found Macedon due south, to the southeast of Surrey on the edge of a desert. They're definitely close enough to be a problem. and will likely expand north since they have coast to the south.

Spoiler Macedon :

Turn 18: 8th hut and I finally get a tech, Animal Husbandry. I have horses in one of the plains tiles. Not the best outcome, since I wanted a Royal Pyramid there.

Spoiler Horses :

Turn 22: 9th Hut and I get even more land around my city. Pretty useless to get this twice. I've also found a large mountain range to the west along with China. There isn't a lot of room to expand. Who's trapped here with whom? 9 turns to completing Stonehenge.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 23: 10 hut! I get a view of Japan far to the southwest:

Turn 24: 10 hut again! (I miscounted from 6 to 8). This time I get gold. The AI did not scout huts very well. I invest in Stonehenge, because the early AI is very swingy with wonder production due to bonuses they get. 3 turns to go.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 25: Another hut, for 11 total. This one gives more production, which finishes off Stonehenge. I managed to finish Stonehenge before my second tech, so I will drop a few hammers into a worker while waiting for my UU.

Turn 26: Time crumbles everything.. and I get to pick a pantheon. Nubia likes to be wide and likes to work a lot of open tiles. It also plays well with many small garrisoned cities. It will be some time before I can get Royal Pyramids up, but I'll be settling a lot in the near future. There are also a lot of plantation resources nearby. Nubia commonly spawns in dense forest, but I will be taking after Saruman and chopping them all down to make room for pyramids.Goddess of Springtime is tempting, but I'll take Tutelary Gods for it's immediate production bonus and gold for army upkeep. I'll count on science from combat to keep up in techs.

Turn 27: 12th hut for a 3rd boost to land around my city. Completely useless. I found Beijing far to the west, on the other side of the mountain range. They do not have a lot of room to expand into.

Spoiler China :

Turn 33:13th hut, foretelling the coming of a prophet. Eventually. Some day. Someone started building the pyramids.

Turn 34: 14th hut. That second pathfinder really paid off. I get mining.

Turn 36: 15th hut giving me another pop. I complete my first Pitati. I'm 2 techs behind the leader and 1 tech behind most AIs.

Turn 38: I spot the Zulu with a settler immediately to my north. Go ahead, settle a city for me. I produce a Pitati every 4 turns. He settles on my doorstep:

Turn 39: The barbarians are at the gates:

I also meet Korea and Japan. Surrey wants me to capture Umgungundlovu. Sure.

Turn 42: Japan settles Osaka on top of a barbarian encampment, and they are not too happy about that.

Spoiler Barbs :

Turn 55: Krakau is the first city state to fall to barbarians. I've been making a literal killing though, and I'm 6 turns from the Temple of Artemis. I'm now teching towards the Terracotta Army for the extra unit cap and culture. I'll get Royal Pyramids along the way.

Turn 58: Macedon wants to be friends and settled to their south, so that means I can focus on the Zulu. Someone entered the classical era so barbarians have evolved to Raiders and will start fielding more advanced units.

Turn 61: I complete the Temple of Artemis and get my third policy. I desperately need to expand, and I need to slow the Zulu. I build a barracks and then more Pitati.

Turn 62: I meet Poland.

Turn 65: Someone I haven't met builds the Statue of Zeus. This is fairly late. I could have had it myself, but the Temple of Artemis was probably the better choice anyway. I start positioning troops to attack the Zulu.

Turn 73: I declare war on Shaka with an army of Pitati and supporting units.

Turn 75: A Great General, Gwanggaeto the Great, is born.

Spoiler War Progress :

Turn 77: Umgungundlovu falls, and Nubia's top linguists start thinking of shorter names.

Turn 88: Ulundi falls, and I have my first capital. I will probably raze Nobamba. Poland denounces me.

Spoiler State of my world :

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 105: The Zulu are nought but dust, which is also what their last city will be in a few turns. I'm not sure what caused them to settle this, but it isn't good. Now I'm turning focus to infrastructure and settling. I also met Canada a few turns back.

Spoiler Nobamba no more :

Turn 106: I complete the Terracotta Army, which will help me rapidly build out my tile improvements while also aiding in the war effort. Poland is to the north, and I'll be scouting them out shortly. With Japan, China, and Poland in the near vicinity, there is a lot of potential for mid game wars. Macedonia will almost certainly go to war once they get their feet under them, but they've been expanding towards Korea and I'm completely happy with that.

Spoiler State of the world :

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 123: I've been upgrading my seasoned Pitati to Composite Bowmen while building replacements to serve as garrisons. I've added several new cities, and finished razing Nobamba. Barbarians are becoming an issue as I try to build and protect infrastructure, so I'm focusing on eliminating nearby camps. At the same time, a barbarian city and camp are the perfect proving ground for a scout I've affectionately named Neo. He's wracking up barbarian kills for me.

Spoiler Neo :

Spoiler State of the world :

Turn 125: Someone entered the medieval era. Presumably another continent is doing a bit better than we are, since I'm still 2.5 techs away from medieval. Barbarian Raiders have turned into Criminals. I need to be careful or I'll be in trouble. Eliminating nearby camps is a priority. Some time ago China lost Guangzhou to barbarians and hasn't been able to recover it.

Spoiler highly defensible barbarian city :

Also the great library has just been built. I didn't try for it, but am instead focusing on the Parthenon for the supply cap and so I can start working towards great works. Domination is extremely hard on such a large map, so I need to be prepared to win with culture while focusing my combat on leading competitors.

Incidentally I don't yet have Iron Working.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 133: I met Jerusalem, we became friends, and then they decced Poland. Jerusalem is north of Poland, so this should redirect Poland's army and interests to the north, away from me. I'm building the Parthenon and continuing to struggle with barbarians. Macedon demanded some chocolate, which I handed over. Too many barbarians to get involved in a land war with Alexander right now.

Spoiler Jerusalem :

Spoiler China is also struggling with barbarians :

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 138: Toronto has fallen to criminals.

Spoiler See all that CRIME? :

Turn 139: Neo discovers Ironworking while single-handedly taking down a barbarian swordsman. Time to research philosophy so I can integrate the Zulu.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 142. I found, with 4 religions remaining. I found Kachina, with Tutelary Gods, Holy Law, and Dar-e Mehr. The Dar-e Mehr will take a while to get going, but I should have decent faith output once the Royal Pyramids come online shortly. With it in place, I should get a decent boost to faith which in turn can be used to purchase more Dar-e Mehr and to spread my religion to get more benefit from Holy Law. Whether or not I go for a cultural victory, I will have a strong culture game and these policies will turn that culture into science and gold. If I do go for a cultural victory, I should have an aggressive religion backing it up.

Spoiler Kachina :

I've cleared two nearby barbarian camps, clearing out the center of the continent. I need to settle it quickly before anyone else (Canada) does.

I also finished the Authority branch a few turns back.

Turn 150: Quebec City has fallen to the criminals. Canada is under siege somewhere in the fog. I have completed the Parthenon.

It's time to bully some city states.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 157: The army that ended the Zulu only intimidates Surrey by 75%. I guess no one takes archers seriously.

Spoiler Our arrows will blot out the sky :

I also had the good fortune to get a Great Engineer just as I started building the Oracle. Rushed the wonder, 3 turns to go. Pretty excited to grab this after the Parthenon.

I've upset Canada by bullying Surrey. Now I need to go recapture Quebec City from the Raiders and decide whether to return it or not. It's too close to leave to the Raiders, and it does have one of the few Iron sources in my area...

Turn 158: My culture is now exotic to Japan and Poland. Just getting started.

Turn 159: I complete the Oracle. I'm slow rolling through the classical era to get as many Royal Pyramids built as possible, but I only have two techs to go.

Spoiler The Northeast is a land of savagery :

Turn 162: Alexander has lost Aigai to Raiders, who now control 5 known cities in my vicinity. I intentionally left a Raider camp alive near Macedon. Maybe they should buy some Medjay? No one has so far.

One of the more interesting aspects of having dangerous barbarians is the real difficulty they add to exploration. I still only have a very limited view of the continent I'm on, whereas I'd normally have it fully mapped and then some by now. I also haven't met any of the traditional "explorer" civs like Hawaii. They might not be out there, or they might just not be able to make it through the pirate infested waters.

 

[dostillevi]

Turn 164: Canada isn't making any effort to recapture their cities. I suspect a coding issue here. Do Civs prioritize recapturing lost cities? Major civs don't often lose cities to Barbarians so perhaps there's room for improvement in this area, or maybe there's a mod conflict.

Spoiler Eh? Sorry! :

Turn 171: Alexander founded a city to the northwest of his capital, but lost a city to the south. I will capture Quebec City shortly. But alas, I forgot to bring a melee unit.

Turn 174: It's time to choose between Fealty and Artistry. Artistry has synergies with the many antiquity sites I'll likely have access to. I don't know the spawn chance for these, so it's a bit of a gamble as to how strong this will be, but regardless I'll end up with more than any other Culture civ. On the other side I have a ton of Royal Pyramids to work, so I won't have a lot of food or population left over to work as specialists. Fealty, on the other hand, would be the normal path for a Domination victory, and would likely provide more happiness than Artistry, which I'm struggling with a bit since Royal Pyramids don't give great food or hammer output. Domination should be a viable path for me, but the map size is prohibitive. I've only met 9 of the 18 civs in play, and I know at least one I haven't met yet is more advanced than I am. I have no bonuses to naval combat so crossing an ocean to fight a land war in the new world is risky.

Whichever path I take, there's a good chance I'll win culturally only because I'll have eliminated anyone who resists. Anyone have thoughts on this? I'll make a decision next time I play.

 

[dostillevi]

There seems to be a bug with other civs not buying Medjays, so I'm putting this on hold while Pineappledan looks into it.