[GS] Power Ranking the Civs (Gathering Storm)

[MarigoldRan]

As India you trample your neighbors with elephants.

 

[Vahnstad]

Eleanor is good if you know what you're doing. I didn't had Oracle or used Bread & Circuses, but I apparently did flip a Nubian city (which i lost almost immediately back, because the other Free City flipped to Nubia). Two Free cities bordered each other.

I was going to flip Vancouver until Canada came into a heroic age and i in a normal age, and they quickly went to full loyalty back. I however UNEXPECTEDLY flipped a city state, and after the age ended, i was still able to flip Vancouver like five turns before i won a CV with Eleanor.

 

[OmegaDestroyer]

The Maori are a very strong civ and I'm almost stunned at how fast they can run away with science and culture.

Or it could be due to playing them after Canada, which is a total slog.

I also tried out Phonecia and I am not really sure what to make of them. It's another seemingly strong, no victory-bias civ, like the Cree.

 

[Pietato]

The Maori are a very strong civ and I'm almost stunned at how fast they can run away with science and culture.

Or it could be due to playing them after Canada, which is a total slog.

I also tried out Phonecia and I am not really sure what to make of them. It's another seemingly strong, no victory-bias civ, like the Cree.

Yeah, comparing to Canada is...fun. Maori have king culture, but science can actually be hard.

 

[Ziad]

I also tried out Phonecia and I am not really sure what to make of them. It's another seemingly strong, no victory-bias civ, like the Cree.

Economic victory ftw

 

[Martinus]

Wouldn't it be fair to say that Diplomatic victory is actually a victory for "generalistic" civs? Sure, a couple of civs get bonuses for that, but it really requires you to be an all-rounded civ, with some military, gpp and production, as well as not too much warmongering?

 

[Victoria]

Wouldn't it be fair to say that Diplomatic victory is actually a victory for "generalistic" civs? Sure, a couple of civs get bonuses for that, but it really requires you to be an all-rounded civ, with some military, gpp and production, as well as not too much warmongering?

Warmonger civs, take everyone else out of the game bar one, win all the emergencies against you, own all the CS and then just outvote the last player. Sad but true.

 

[kb27787]

Welp... tell you what. Load up a deity Russia. Beeline astrology and get 2 lavras up quick. Be one of the first 3-4 to get a belief and religion. Take the food from shrines/temples. Don't be afraid to settle (but don't ignore non-tundra).

Don't ignore building your shrines and temples! The +food is massive. Try to get autora, or river goddess.

Get the gov building that gives a settler discount, and beeline the governor for no population loss.

Forget martyrs. You don't need them. Stress those shrines and temples! All tundra cities get a lavra as their first district, shrine up fast!

Try for Oracle.

And now the world is yours. Pick your great people, pop settlers builders every few turns, whatever.

The 2 big mistakes people make with the food civs (yes, Russia is a food civ) is going for a religious victory, and not stressing the holy sites + holy buildings. when they are not. The power comes from the faith + food synergy.

If you don't get aurora, river goddess is a good choice. That way the district pays for itself.

Difference is that Peter gets faith from working tundra tiles (including city center) so he is almost always first to pantheon.

That, and his UD is half price. Food on faith buildings is bad for everyone else, but for Peter it is Ok (since that means your pop can work the faith tundra... actually at higher pop earth goddess will outpace dance of the aurora). Russia is strong.

Khmer on the other hand... two relics/temple sound nice (as long as the AI cooperates since your missionaries cannot initiate combat) but when your missionaries start costing a heft 800 faith it is simply not affordable nor worth it. If you are sending them out so much you risk losing reliquaries belief in your cities once the AI actually sends apostles across. I've played them and they are clearly two tiers below Russia.

 

[AsparustheSaiyan]

Difference is that Peter gets faith from working tundra tiles (including city center) so he is almost always first to pantheon.

That, and his UD is half price. Food on faith buildings is bad for everyone else, but for Peter it is Ok (since that means your pop can work the faith tundra... actually at higher pop earth goddess will outpace dance of the aurora). Russia is strong.

Khmer on the other hand... two relics/temple sound nice (as long as the AI cooperates since your missionaries cannot initiate combat) but when your missionaries start costing a heft 800 faith it is simply not affordable nor worth it. If you are sending them out so much you risk losing reliquaries belief in your cities once the AI actually sends apostles across. I've played them and they are clearly two tiers below Russia.

The only issue with Tundra is the snowstorms/blizzards damaging tiles. Russia is immune to it damaging units but not tile improvements sadly as far as I know. What do you think of this?

What do you think to Russia in GS if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah Peter gets an instant kick start to faith, the thing is, that kick start is permanent too as long as you keep working tundra tiles, which, if you are like me, you always will. It doesn't seem much, but it adds up.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Cree is godly atm, at least until they fix the pillaging.

Just a few Okihtcitaw swooping in and doing mass pillage. Run off and find another target. Use Mekewaps to grow and take advantage of Pingala. Mass expand and don't even worry about districts early on. If you managed to get Ambush, you'll have even more fun with raid and skirmishers. Your 2 trade routes take care of yoursekf easily. Bad production, no food it's all irrelevant in the face of more traders and mekewaps.

It's not exactly war cart levels of stupidity, but it's still up there.

 

[BarbarianHunter]

Can I rank Canada with a negative? This is the first game I've lost for quite some time (other than being rolled early game). By 1535AD I had 10 cities. My capital had 24 production and my 10 cities COMBINED had 86.7 production (that's an average of 8.67 each).

Spoiler :

I finally declared on Curtin and Khmer hoping they would put me out of my misery quickly. They wouldn't even oblige that!

 

[Archon_Wing]

Yea, as you might have noticed, the tundra ability is pretty useless and in fact will make you lose. It's probably better to ignoire it altogether, and yes, that would just mean that you are playing a civ with no abilities and a bad start bias.

Canada is a worse version of Georgia! I'd rather play Georgia with one of their abilities removed.

 

[MarigoldRan]

The Incan UU can shoot twice, pillage, and move all on the same turn.

 

[Casualty of war]

I'm starting to appreciate Canada because with them a single Iron or Horse tile in the tundra can feed a timely early Swordsman or Horseman rush. Even on Deity, especially with how slowly Civs build Walls now. You could probably also trade that ample Horse and Iron away for overwhelming Diplomatic favor, but I haven't tried that yet.

 

[acluewithout]

Okay, so I haven’t played them, but Canada look “fine” to me.

My beefs with them are more about how they are visualise. Specifically, (1) Canada doesn’t actually have farms in the tundra, so this ability is silly (2) no surprise wars is also silly, (3) Canada had to have a mountie unit but how this is implemented is terrible, and given Canada’s contributions in WW1 and 2 it should have also been given a proper military unit like Australia (even if that would have been a bit repetitive).

...er.

So, I guess not fine?

I guess I just meant “the hokey rink is okay”.

 

[kb27787]

The only issue with Tundra is the snowstorms/blizzards damaging tiles. Russia is immune to it damaging units but not tile improvements sadly as far as I know. What do you think of this?

What do you think to Russia in GS if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah Peter gets an instant kick start to faith, the thing is, that kick start is permanent too as long as you keep working tundra tiles, which, if you are like me, you always will. It doesn't seem much, but it adds up.

Russia is strong as always... GS doesn't change them that much. Your tundra tiles are plains with one faith bonus so working tundra forest hills work fine for me as long as I have food somewhere else.

Volcanoes are nice since they can provide high yield tundra tiles and that eyjkajohgchhdgc whatever NW is even more insane with Russia now that it can actually erupt and increase yields to insane levels.

 

[Archon_Wing]

So, I guess not fine?

Their tourism to favor ability I thought could be have been their strongest asset, but it's got to be the worst ability in the game. Even Dharma probably does more.

Like originally I thought they gained 1 favor for each 100 tourism they generated. That'd be cool! But no, you get 1 favor/turn for each 100 tourism/turn and this is pathetic. Basically, it does nothing until you get 100 tourism/turn (so maybe around printing?), and even when you do it's very little. With computers being nerfed I'm finishing games with 400-500 tourism..... Basically to take advantage of it, you need to have won the game. This means even Workshop of the World look good by comparison. At least that might help you win one turn faster, lol.

I honestly want to believe it's a typo.

 

[Pietato]

Canada suck.
England suck.
Norway suck.
Georgia still suck but not as much as they did.
Egypt are still bad.
Dutch leader sucks.

Firaxis are barely trying.

 

[Stavangerchj]

Can I rank Canada with a negative? This is the first game I've lost for quite some time (other than being rolled early game). By 1535AD I had 10 cities. My capital had 24 production and my 10 cities COMBINED had 86.7 production (that's an average of 8.67 each).

Spoiler :

View attachment 518986

I finally declared on Curtin and Khmer hoping they would put me out of my misery quickly. They wouldn't even oblige that!

I can only imagine the degree of self-loathing you must have had to decide to settle Quebec City in that frigid corner of the world.

 

[Chocolate Pi]

I am finding Eleanor to be quite a bit better than comments here lead to believe. Her assimilation game is true terror in the mid-game. Just play to outlast and absorb all your neighbors. I had a game where I absorbed the entire continent of higher-level AI largely by accident.

Edit: However, Eleanor is hard-countered by civs with extreme +Loyalty or +Pop mechanics. Dido is an obvious one, but humble Georgia also nullifies most of her power. The Ottomans and Zulu are also uniquely resistant to her gimmick.

Victoria is probably underrated; it's just her dream of inter-continental sprawl is very sink-or-swim. Ren Heroic age is still bonkers on her.

England in general is underrated by virtue of everyone focusing on bonuses that aren't having a half price Harbor. Guys, with the city state bonuses being added, Harbors are definitively the best general purpose district in the game. Half price Harbors are amazing!

Dutch needs some meaningful climate change related bonuses slapped on as a freebie.

Canada is the hardest to tune, because of how disjointed their bonuses are. Unlike other civs or units or buildings, you can't just change the numbers and fix them. There really has to be something new added that specifically makes starting in the worst possible places acceptable, like a hardy bonus to Tundra cities or such.