Rate the Tenets - part II: Autocracy Tenets

[sendos]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. I think I have seen its effect but it's not very noticeable.
5 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Combine with commerce and cha-ching!
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. A bit situational but very useful if the CS gives you good UU's.
3 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Decent if aiming for culture victory. Combine with aestethics, lots of faith and arts funding for greater effect. Also I think the ability works when they're expended not born.
4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. Great if you're behind in tech. Make sure you park your spies in the tech leader's 2nd to 3rd best cities though.
2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Ok if you have a wide empire.
0 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. I usually have a wide empire with autocracy so it's not a good idea to get this.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. A must have T2 tenet to maintain happiness.
2 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Varies, depending on map and the number of tanks I use.
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. Essential for domination victory to get emergency happiness.
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Must have to sustain gpt.
1 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. Pointless if you have a wide empire. The additional food and science in capitol also seems late, weak and pointless.
4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Decent tenet. Combine with Brandenburg and obviously, all the military buildings to boost this tenet. Great for training bombers to get air repair instantly.

Level 3 tenets
2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Too situational but if the situation is just right, it works well. That situation usually involves most AI choosing autocracy and following your lead.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. A great way to win a diplomatic victory. Has greater range of effect than freedom's treaty organisation but less reliable. PTP's, other allies can prevent you from using this tenet effectively.
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Best reserved for coup de grace or early rush with artilleries and bombers. It's decent but only good if you're active and expanding. Much like the Nazis in WWII, it might make you a bit cocky in wars though.


Overall, autocracy is a solid tree (grade B compared to Freedom's A grade imo). In MP, I have never used it, although I could have come close to using it once in one MP game. In SP, I've used it 4 times, 3 of them successfully, all on emperor level. It's important to have decent culture and tourism, as well as being the first to get this ideology. None of the tenets really contain any internal development opportunities. My suggested buffs to autocracy would be:

elite forces: +33% more damage dealt by your wounded units
Lightning warfare: add a free great general
Police State: add +1 happiness (or -1 unhappiness) per constabulary and police station.
Futurism: increase mini tourism bomb to 300 tourism per GWAM born/expended.
Fortified Borders: add +1 happiness from walls and maybe resistance to enemy citadel bombing in your territory or +3 production and +3 culture from citadels.

 

[Laurwin]

Level 1 tenets
3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. (good policy in my opinion because it is a warfighting bonus, though I suspect it would be better with the Japanese bushido)
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. (I rarely rush buy units myself, all my gold goes to maintenance costs anyway - my cities can produce units with hammers usually. The positive synergy with big ben is cheap-ish rush buy nukes)
0 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. (you need to taylor your own army and military city states give wrong units so what's the point really?)
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.(I rarely go culture victory - I have won culture victory but only because I nuked everybody else, and took their wonders - so everybody else's culture dropped and mine increase)
4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. (your spies should be doing this thing all the time in an ideal world, stealing techs)
5 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. (remember guys, this policy is MAINTENANCE FREE HAPPINESS together with city defense benefits. Good synergy with Neuschwanstein wonder)
2 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. (ok-ish but it's same policy as in order, and it's not that good in the first place)

Level 2 tenets
4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. (very cheap maintenance happiness - if you need it. +6 happy for 3 gold maintenance per city)
4 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. (this is excellent warfighting boost to your tank units - provided that you fight in open terrain)
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. (surprisingly good policy in that you get extra happiness for these formerly conquered cities)
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. (warfighting costs money, and this policy gives you ALWAYS benefit, because you always have a cheaper army with this policy)
3 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. (I have enough strategic resources already from the lands of my vanguished enemies - unit maintenance costs are usually the first stumbling block on the road to conquest in my opinion)
3 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. (it's not necessary - other choices are taken before this policy)

Level 3 tenets
1 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. (I don't bother with tourism - I just kill everybody and take their land)
1 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.(I don't bother intimidating city states very often because they are allied to me, or to the enemy. I just kill the enemy civs and spare the lives of my own allied city states so it provides marginal benefit to me.)
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. (extra warfighting boost is always nice to have for that final push to victory)

 

[Majestic Emu]

Level 1 tenets
3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. Every little boost helps, might as well get it on your way to level 2 tenets.
4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Get a decent economy going, combine with Nationalism, and gold can go a long way toward winning that war.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. Meh, if they'd stop gifting lancers and AA guns...
0 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Tiny boost in an Ideology you are not taking for CV.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. Really the only science boost you get with Autocracy, helps catch up/keep up with other Civs.
2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Might be too strong if it included Walls, but weak without them.
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. Might need some quick happiness if you're already warring when you reach Modern Era.

Level 2 tenets
4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. Now this is how you do a happiness tenet, you're gonna have these buildings if you went Autocracy anyway... tempted to give it a five.
2 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Maybe it's better, maybe I just don't use tanks well, or enough. Feels like there's just too many better options.
5 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. You probably plan on conquering a fair number of cities if you went Autocracy, this makes it a much, much nicer process.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Saves a ton of gold, allows for bigger army, just do it.
3 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. You want to do a Russia impression? The food/science bonus seems like a tiny bribe to pick this... All joking aside, fairly useful in a resource-tight map.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. What more could you want in a Domination tenet!?

Level 3 tenets
2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. It's been said already; great when it's on, but it's rarely on. And again, Autocracy is not for the CV-minded
3 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Why not build some influence as your army rolls by a CS.
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. 50 turns can be longer than it sounds; obviously meant for the final push to victory.

 

[GhostSalsa]

Level 1 tenets3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. (good policy in my opinion because it is a warfighting bonus, though I suspect it would be better with the Japanese bushido)

There's no extra bonus when combining Elite Forces and Bushido. The highest possible damage based on health is "as if at full health." Bushido guarantees that damage amount at all times so Elite Forces does nothing, iirc.

Bushido and Elite Forces probably do their best work on AI calvary and air when they are teaming up for hit-and-run on your front line units, increasing how much damage they take back and quickly they have to stop and heal.

----

Regarding Gunboat Diplomacy, I just played a game (Immortal continents standard) where I used Autocracy despite a strong tech and culture lead, and this tenant is much more impressive when in first place on army strength the whole time. Because I was conquering actively my army was everywhere; there were a lot of moments when I was getting the gunboat boost on all but two city-states.

It also has a lot more kick with Patronage open since it is calibrated based on turn-by-turn decay, obviously. I won over every one of Alexander's allies and only spent $1500 in the end. Because of vote timing I had to wait until turn 313 but still it was the easiest Diplo victory I've had since the patch.

 

[Brettapod]

Level 1 tenets

1 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.

4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.

2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.

2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.

4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.

2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.

2 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Level 2 tenets

4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.

5 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement
and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.

4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.

3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.

4 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.

5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Level 3 tenets

2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.

4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.

4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

 

[kaspergm]

Level 1 tenets
1 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. Just not useful enough to make an impact. Need an additional effect.
4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Very good. I normally don't buy that many units with gold, but this definitely makes it worthwhile.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. Very dependant on map, but can be decent, otherwise skip.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. I guess this suffers from the way tourism system is created. The bonus is not bad, but problem is that you generally earn 90 % of your tourism in the last 10 % of the game, and at this point, the cumulated tourism from this policy will not have a major impact.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. Good on higher levels. I rarely steal techs, but on diety definitely must be a lifesaver.
3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Good. Happiness from maintenance free buildings is always nice, but should have walls also.
2 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. Will generally net you less happiness than Fortified Borders. Very wide empires don't favor national wonders.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. Best happiness policy in game, and very much needed when going domination.
4 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Overall very useful.
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. Great, if not as good as the free courthouses in Order, still very nice.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. While generally not my major economic post, this is obviously perfect for militaristic empires.
2 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. While good on paper, the strategic resources are generally much more of a problem in early game, so this would be better in Honor. But still, if you're in a tight spot for Aluminum or Oil, this can be a help.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Excellent. The production bonus is very useful, and the ability to pump out units with 3 promotions is very strong.

Level 3 tenets
2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. +50 % is a huge bonus, but there are just way too many things that have to align to make it really have an impact for this to be dependable.
5 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Great. Can easily give you alliance with most city states by parking a handful a units around them if they are clustered.
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Good, if often not necessary bonus. The time limit most often doesn't matter too much, as you'll often have enough time to do what needs to be done to win the game.

 

[Teproc]

Level 1 tenets
3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
Pretty strong, although combat bonuses are not what you're looking for at that point in the game generally.

4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
Now this is what you're looking for (along with happiness). Combined with Big Ben, helps getting a air force going ASAP.

1 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with common foe.
I like the concept, but it's just not good enough. Maybe if it worked with every CS ?

2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. 250 is really not that much by that point in the game

4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
I like this, although it happens a little late in the game. Still, when going Domination there will often be a science runaway (Korea, anyone ?) so you'll be able to make good use of this.

3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
If there's anything a warmonger needs, it's happiness. Building defensive buildings is annoying, but at least it works with Neuschwanstein too.

4 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.
Again, warmongers need happiness. This will usually be +6 happiness, which isn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but you'll take it regardless.

Level 2 tenets

5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
There we go. This is very, very strong, because you'll have Barracks and Armories in all your core cities if you're warmongering, which means this is a huge boost, and happiness is really what you need the most at that point in the game.

3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
I haven't used this ever, but it seems strong theoretically. Just not what you need the most at that point.

4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
Very good actually. While part of your conquests will be puppets, you'll definitely annex some, especially the early ones, so this is a fairly substantial happiness boost.

4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
Not much to say here, very strong gold boost.

2 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
Seems a bit random. Mostly it's too little, too late. The strategic resource could maybe save you if you don't have enough oil or aluminium, but that seems very situational.

4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.
Very strong if you have enough happiness to afford the opportunity cost. I rarely do, but you still have to respect the power level in this tenet.

Level 3 tenets

2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
Whatever. If you're going Domination/Culture, sure, but even there it's not that great for a level 3 tenet.

1 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
Booo. What are your units doing just sitting next to City-States ?

4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.
This does give you a late game push to get the job done. Not insane, but very solid.

 

[GhostSalsa]

1 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
Booo. What are your units doing just sitting next to City-States ?

Defending your cities / Conquering someone else's? Everywhere your units go on the map they are near a city-state. Even when behind on the military power rankings it's hard not to get gunboat bonus on at least 3 CS's just while doing your thing.

 

[GoStu]

Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
Booo. What are your units doing just sitting next to City-States ?

While staging for an attack, buy Friends status with your next victim's city-states if you don't have it. Then have your faster units park in his city-state allies until they're your allies. Then attack.

Alternately, after you've mashed a leader into the dirt you can assign your military to police up his former allies into your allies, instead of letting the rest of the board have a go at them.

 

[Vidszhite]

Level 1 tenets
3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.

Most noticeable with Air units, which are the bread and butter of endgame wars. It reduces the penalty they get for attacking while damaged, so they can last much longer before having to stop for repairs.​

3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.

Outstanding when paired with Commerce and Big Ben. Decent otherwise.​

0 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.

Terrible. Autocracy should be building its own elite units. Militaristic CS gifts often have no promotions, and are often SAM Sites. They do nothing but cost you money. Turning off militaristic CS gifts is the first thing you should do once you get Militarism or Total War.​

3 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.

MUCH better than it used to be, but needs to be taken early, if not first, to have any real effect. Lets you slack on tourism early and still get proper influence.​

4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.

One of the crowning tenets of Autocracy. Gets better the higher your difficulty. It can actually make you steal much faster than double speed.​

2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.

It's all right. Makes puppets happy.​

3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Better for tall empires. Can add up to a substantial amount. All Ideologies get this, though, so it's not unique.​

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.

THE tenet to get when hitting Tier 2. Military buildings are cheaper than standard happiness buildings in all ways, and as a side effect, your new units will be insanely strong.​

4 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.

Another winner. No good if you don't have oil or aluminum, but this makes your armor units into a steamrolling force of nature. You might not even need bombers with this.​

2 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.

If you're annexing a lot, you might as well get some extra happiness out of the deal. Not as effective as other happiness tenets, though.​

3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.

Can add up to a substantial amount. Allows you to field a much larger army than your empire otherwise could.​

2 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.

Great if you got dealt a bad hand and need to catch up, or if you just want to build ALL the Death Robots.​

5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Free Brandenburg gate in every city. This is amazing and makes some units capable of starting with self-healing (particularly UUs).​

Level 3 tenets
4 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.

Easier to use and much more powerful than you'd think, especially if you bribe civs for war. It can stack on itself and increase your influence exponentially.​

5 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.

Ally with ALL the city states! Tribute radius is massive, so it often works on multiple CS. If you get high enough, you can demand tribute and still stay allies.​

3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

It speeds up your victory. Very noticeable with air units.​

 

[GhostSalsa]

I'm surprised to see all the references to puppetting. In BNW it's easy enough to just annex everything after ideologies (either instantly with Order or after revolt with Autocracy), and beneficial since you are paying science penalty on every puppet anyway - anex them and they will quickly be on par with science.

Puppets are a drain. They don't make gold anymore and they cost science. And even backwater AI cities tend to have useful buildings like hydroplants and radio towers and airports after turn 310 on Immortal, they turn into good cities very quickly.

 

[joncnunn]

I'm surprised to see all the references to puppetting. In BNW it's easy enough to just annex everything after ideologies (either instantly with Order or after revolt with Autocracy), and beneficial since you are paying science penalty on every puppet anyway - anex them and they will quickly be on par with science.

Puppets are a drain. They don't make gold anymore and they cost science. And even backwater AI cities tend to have useful buildings like hydroplants and radio towers and airports after turn 310 on Immortal, they turn into good cities very quickly.

Annexed cities:
1. Bring building of new national wonders to a halt until a copy of the building is built (unlike puppets)
2. Slow down cultural policy acquisition (unlike puppets)

Puppets are still locked on gold focus in BNW just like G&K.

 

[Sagax]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. It's....okay. Really, that's about it. Don't see too much of its impact because I focus-fire enemy units and they go down anyway.
4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. It fits my playstyle, which is rolling in cash and rush-buying whatever the situation requires. You can never have too much money.
1 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. Normally I am already allied with a military CS, and the units they occasionally provide is already enough.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Kinda nice, but if you go for Autocracy you are probably conquering the tourism centers anyway. The only time this tenet rocked was when I was constantly in DoF with Sweden and had Arts Funding active.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. Good if you need to catch up, not that necessary if you are already ahead in tech.
1 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. None of these buildings are a top-priority on your production list. Unless you have Neuschwanstein.
4 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. Happiness may be a problem, and I have most of the National Wonders built in my games, so it always helps.

Level 2 tenets
2 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. I can see it working, but with my Prora rush and Police State getting this tenet is usually an overkill.
2 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Good, but I am usually in need for other second-tier tenets.
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. Helps those captured capitals come online faster.
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Same reason as Mobilization. It's even better long-term because it affects GPT.
5 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. This one is HUGE. In so many games I was frustrated by having only 1 tile of strategic resource available, which makes my all-out conquest impossible. But everything changes as soon as this tenet is taken, not to mention its bonus to your capital.
3 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Pretty straight-forward and effective.

Level 3 tenets
1 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. As the warmonger you are unlikely to team up with many civs to make this tenet roll.
5 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. A finisher for my "Buy Your Army" approach. By late game I can ally with all the CS without putting much effort into it.
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. The effects are good, but I always have a bad timing for going to conquest and adopting this policy. Having only Gunboat Diplomacy is usually enough.

 

[Arachnofiend]

Remember: Autocracy is the ideology for someone that's losing. I will judge the tenets from that perspective.

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. It's a neat idea, but it really doesn't effect all that much.
5 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Phenomenal. Combining with Mercantilism and Big Ben makes grabbing an instant army to wipe out your neighbors hilariously effective.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. City-states can't be relied on to pump out the units you like and Militaristic CS's are usually the last on the priority list to ally. Still, you can think of it as free gold/influence based on how you discard the junk unit.
3 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Decent, but nothing special. It's nice for those guys that you aren't wiping out and can help your game ending concert tours push things over the edge more easily.
5 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. It's good and you're definitely going to want it since puppets prioritize these buildings and a conquered empire needs all of the happiness it can get but it gets outshone by its tier 2 brother.
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. See Fortified Borders opinion.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. Might be the best happiness tenet in the game. Let me put it this way: building all three experience buildings costs 535 hammers. Building all three happiness buildings costs 800 hammers, and the only benefit you get from them is the happiness. Synergizes beautifully with Total War, too.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Nice for a strategy that isn't exactly optimal. Good for goofing off with Russia or the Shoshone.
2 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. I usually don't want to build up cities at this stage in the game so its all puppets for me.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Do I even have to justify this?
4 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. You'll probably need the doubled oil to keep your war machine going. Also means more nukes!
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Brandenburg Gate in every city. 'Nuff said.

Level 3 tenets
4 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Criminally underrated. It's all about wiping out Ramesses while ramping up your cultural influence on Shaka.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Wasn't too terribly good before the last patch. Now it's a bonus you can rely on and it's great!
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Not going to help you win the game, but it will help you win faster.

 

[Ronza149]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.
1 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
4 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
2 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
4 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
3 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

 

[bcaiko]

I'm surprised to see all the references to puppetting.

Puppets are a drain. They don't make gold anymore and they cost science. And even backwater AI cities tend to have useful buildings like hydroplants and radio towers and airports after turn 310 on Immortal, they turn into good cities very quickly.

Ah, but unpuppetting still increases Social Policy Costs and the costs of Golden Ages. I may rarely get a natural golden age going domination, but I like to complete my Social Policy trees. I don't fear unpuppetting a city, per se, but I still tend to have several puppets by the end of my domination victories for this reason.

 

[GhostSalsa]

Ah, but unpuppetting still increases Social Policy Costs and the costs of Golden Ages. I may rarely get a natural golden age going domination, but I like to complete my Social Policy trees. I don't fear unpuppetting a city, per se, but I still tend to have several puppets by the end of my domination victories for this reason.

It increases costs, but also increases raw culture generation - puppets only generate a trickle of culture. Aggressive annexing can be part and parcel of using conquest to overcome ideology pressure - a wide empire generates more raw culture than even the best narrow one after a point. This can reduce the amount of policies you need to throw away on happiness bonuses. It depends.

But generally I blitz my ideology policies with Hermitage and World Fair before annexing anything, and then go crazy. Annexed cities give me more science, more gold*, more raw culture, more units. Both Autocracy and Order are very very well tuned for this strat, with the easy-build happiness barracks in the first case and with Iron Curtain in the second.

*someone mentioned that puppets are still set to gold focus. With what gold tiles? The age of gradual conquest all game long is pretty much over, so you tend not to have anywhere near the amount of trading posts around your puppets as before BNW. Dedicating workers to convert all those tiles in late game is a huge drain on unit maintenance with little payoff (trading posts are more profitable the earlier they are build). And as we all know, no more river tiles. Puppets don't make you money anymore, not like pre-BNW.

 

[joncnunn]

But generally I blitz my ideology policies with Hermitage and World Fair before annexing anything, and then go crazy. Annexed cities give me more science, more gold*, more raw culture, more units. Both Autocracy and Order are very very well tuned for this strat, with the easy-build happiness barracks in the first case and with Iron Curtain in the second.

*someone mentioned that puppets are still set to gold focus. With what gold tiles? The age of gradual conquest all game long is pretty much over, so you tend not to have anywhere near the amount of trading posts around your puppets as before BNW. Dedicating workers to convert all those tiles in late game is a huge drain on unit maintenance with little payoff (trading posts are more profitable the earlier they are build). And as we all know, no more river tiles. Puppets don't make you money anymore, not like pre-BNW.

Going conquest or diplomatic, the above is fine if you've also already built Oxford; but if going for the Autocratic cultural victory, you also need National Vistor's Center built (unless you want to cash buy a lot of hotels)

The gold focus setting is still there; it's just that there's no free gold. Trade posts in every generic tile is still the best thing to do with a puppet which will give you 2 gold like before; (just not the 3rd gold from river nor any fresh an empty water tile.) The setting itself is a bit smarter than G&K; if there's no good gold tile to work and it already has all merchant specialists it will now also fill other specialist slots.

 

[baptismbyfire]

I love autocracy and have a great time with it. As everyone says, it is situational, as are which tenets are best. If I'm nowhere near a culture victory, I might as well go for it. I'm using it as Portugal currently. Given my glut of money, I have enough to prevent an embargo and that power keeps going up the more enemies I eliminate. So certain of the policies, such as unit cost, aren't really an issue for me either since my trade routes make tons of money. The happiness is really where it is at for me and, combined with feitorias and select wonders, I'm pumping out golden ages, even while conquering the entire world.

 

[bcaiko]

It increases costs, but also increases raw culture generation - puppets only generate a trickle of culture. Aggressive annexing can be part and parcel of using conquest to overcome ideology pressure - a wide empire generates more raw culture than even the best narrow one after a point. This can reduce the amount of policies you need to throw away on happiness bonuses. It depends.

Yeah, it definitely does depend. I'm often wary of un-annexing in the early or mid game, because it always seems to be poorly timed to crunch me into unhappiness or bilk that social policy goal I'm about to reach. And rebuilding a puppetted city takes time. Sometimes it's just not worth the effort when all I was interested in was the territory and its resources.