I have decided to do a review on each CIV. My intention is to encourage debate and hopefully to help others (and myself) in their game play.
The Mayans
There are 31 civs to choose from in C3C, and each and every one has its adherents to varying degrees. The pros and cons of each civ are debated on the forums to no end, with little consensus or unanimity of opinion among players. If there is one exception however, it is the Mayans. Its detractors are few, while those that sing its praises are legion. What follows is a review of the most feared and respected of all civs.
Agricultural and Industrious gives the Mayans the single most synergistic and complimentary of trait combos. The production system of CIV 3 is designed around 2 concepts; shield output and population growth. Any slight increase (bonus) in either of these and you will have a built-in bonus that compliments (to varying degrees) every other aspect of the game throughout nearly the entire game. The results of pairing these 2 traits is so dominant that many have argued it is an overpowered trait combo. The agricultural bonus of 1 extra food in every base city square (that borders a river) gives the Maya that slight edge in early growth that can be so pivotal in maintaining pace with the early expansion of the AIs. Add to this the ability to produce 2 foods from irrigated deserts and half priced aqueducts. That slight Agri advantage is then accentuated even further by the addition of the industrious trait. Industrious provides workers that work 50% faster than regular workers. The result is an advantage in the rate at which roads and terrain improvements are completed. The end result over time is an incremental advantage in overall commerce and shield production. Agri provides the higher pop to more quickly produce those industrious workers and settlers, industrious provides the higher shield output to more quickly complete whatever the agri city populations are building. Together the incremental advantages of these two traits merge perfectly into a single trait that can result in an unequaled production powerhouse!
As a builder the Mayans can compete with the best of them. While the Maya posses no half-priced bonus in the creation of any culture buildings, the typically higher population of Mayan cities combined with their typically higher shield output mitigates against this greatly. Unlike other non-religious or non-scientific civs, the Mayans do not have to rely solely on having a significant total city advantage in order to compete as a peaceful builder. This more easily can cast them into the role of a true peaceful builder content with a mid-sized empire that can still compete well in a Space Race or Culture victory option. As a straight Republic to Democracy civ, once again the typically higher pop and larger road network can result in quite the commercial success, adding cash rushing to their already formidable advantages in building speed. On water maps the agri half-priced aqueducts and the ever-useful industrious workers make for a solid civ bested only by those specifically designed for this environment (Seafaring civs) and on par with the better runner-ups.
As a warmonger civ the Mayans can be an absolute terror. In CIV nothing kills as efficiently as speed. The powerful Mayan REX allows for it to throw up a large and dangerous early military far more quickly than most other civs. Add to this an ultra-early UU that acts as a beefed up archer, and you have the makings of a wonderful always at war civ. A few forced labor rushed barracks in early Despotism will find those high shield/high growth cities churning out veteran units as good as anyone. Those veteran units will travel along paths quickly roaded by both Industrious Mayan workers and slaves alike. A Mayan committed to world conquest will never cease to marvel at the speed in which he can crank out units and connect his empire. This is a process that has no end point for the Mayan from the Ancient Age through the Middle Ages all the way until his Communist Industrial age, the Industrious/Agri trait combo will pay the blood soaked dividends! The Mayan warmonger can quickly see a Domination victory without ever having built a single Cathedral, University or Great Wonder.
The 30 shield archer class 2-2-1 UU (Javelin Thrower) available with Warrior Code, while pricey can often help pay for itself with its unique ability to enslave (turn into slave-workers) barbarians or defeated enemy units. Given a sufficient number of these free slave-workers the savings on using your own population for workers and the 10 shields per worker can quickly make the 30 shield JT seem far cheaper. In simple terms the JT has a 1 in 3 chance of enslaving any barb or enemy unit it defeats in battle. The JT can be used well in a tactic called barb-farming (slave-worker creation). Intelligent use of the map with an isolated landmass containing a barb town, can be quickly transformed into a worker gold mine by a few JTs. Essentially they cut off the area, avoid taking the barb town itself, and attack the barbs that emerge from it in the hopes of creating a worker hence the term farming. That said, this does require quite a bit of micro-management, is not possible on all map types or given a high number of aggressive neighbors, and the fact that the standard Mayan industrious worker works 3 times faster can many times leave you wondering if all that effort was worth it! The JT plays uniquely among the UUs and adds an option and fun-factor that are hard to measure. It is difficult to rate this UU because its worth is so directly tied to the success or failure in providing slave-workers. As a pure combat unit however, it is no more than high priced Babylonian Bowman that has lost the advantage of the BBs low cost. The JT therefore is a boon or bust UU, a super expensive archer or a more than paid for itself Bab Bowman only the unfolding of the game can answer which one.
Summary: Name any number of categories and you will find that the Mayans can compete at the highest level in all of them. One can argue that they may or may not be, THE best in any particular category but what is inarguable is their ability to do nearly everything well. The Mayans are an across the board top tier CIV as a builder or warmonger. On any map size and at every level of difficulty, the Mayans are easily an overall 1st tier civ arguably the best all-around civ in the entire game.
below is the link to all the other civ reviews:
link to all the civ reviews
The Mayans
There are 31 civs to choose from in C3C, and each and every one has its adherents to varying degrees. The pros and cons of each civ are debated on the forums to no end, with little consensus or unanimity of opinion among players. If there is one exception however, it is the Mayans. Its detractors are few, while those that sing its praises are legion. What follows is a review of the most feared and respected of all civs.
Agricultural and Industrious gives the Mayans the single most synergistic and complimentary of trait combos. The production system of CIV 3 is designed around 2 concepts; shield output and population growth. Any slight increase (bonus) in either of these and you will have a built-in bonus that compliments (to varying degrees) every other aspect of the game throughout nearly the entire game. The results of pairing these 2 traits is so dominant that many have argued it is an overpowered trait combo. The agricultural bonus of 1 extra food in every base city square (that borders a river) gives the Maya that slight edge in early growth that can be so pivotal in maintaining pace with the early expansion of the AIs. Add to this the ability to produce 2 foods from irrigated deserts and half priced aqueducts. That slight Agri advantage is then accentuated even further by the addition of the industrious trait. Industrious provides workers that work 50% faster than regular workers. The result is an advantage in the rate at which roads and terrain improvements are completed. The end result over time is an incremental advantage in overall commerce and shield production. Agri provides the higher pop to more quickly produce those industrious workers and settlers, industrious provides the higher shield output to more quickly complete whatever the agri city populations are building. Together the incremental advantages of these two traits merge perfectly into a single trait that can result in an unequaled production powerhouse!
As a builder the Mayans can compete with the best of them. While the Maya posses no half-priced bonus in the creation of any culture buildings, the typically higher population of Mayan cities combined with their typically higher shield output mitigates against this greatly. Unlike other non-religious or non-scientific civs, the Mayans do not have to rely solely on having a significant total city advantage in order to compete as a peaceful builder. This more easily can cast them into the role of a true peaceful builder content with a mid-sized empire that can still compete well in a Space Race or Culture victory option. As a straight Republic to Democracy civ, once again the typically higher pop and larger road network can result in quite the commercial success, adding cash rushing to their already formidable advantages in building speed. On water maps the agri half-priced aqueducts and the ever-useful industrious workers make for a solid civ bested only by those specifically designed for this environment (Seafaring civs) and on par with the better runner-ups.
As a warmonger civ the Mayans can be an absolute terror. In CIV nothing kills as efficiently as speed. The powerful Mayan REX allows for it to throw up a large and dangerous early military far more quickly than most other civs. Add to this an ultra-early UU that acts as a beefed up archer, and you have the makings of a wonderful always at war civ. A few forced labor rushed barracks in early Despotism will find those high shield/high growth cities churning out veteran units as good as anyone. Those veteran units will travel along paths quickly roaded by both Industrious Mayan workers and slaves alike. A Mayan committed to world conquest will never cease to marvel at the speed in which he can crank out units and connect his empire. This is a process that has no end point for the Mayan from the Ancient Age through the Middle Ages all the way until his Communist Industrial age, the Industrious/Agri trait combo will pay the blood soaked dividends! The Mayan warmonger can quickly see a Domination victory without ever having built a single Cathedral, University or Great Wonder.
The 30 shield archer class 2-2-1 UU (Javelin Thrower) available with Warrior Code, while pricey can often help pay for itself with its unique ability to enslave (turn into slave-workers) barbarians or defeated enemy units. Given a sufficient number of these free slave-workers the savings on using your own population for workers and the 10 shields per worker can quickly make the 30 shield JT seem far cheaper. In simple terms the JT has a 1 in 3 chance of enslaving any barb or enemy unit it defeats in battle. The JT can be used well in a tactic called barb-farming (slave-worker creation). Intelligent use of the map with an isolated landmass containing a barb town, can be quickly transformed into a worker gold mine by a few JTs. Essentially they cut off the area, avoid taking the barb town itself, and attack the barbs that emerge from it in the hopes of creating a worker hence the term farming. That said, this does require quite a bit of micro-management, is not possible on all map types or given a high number of aggressive neighbors, and the fact that the standard Mayan industrious worker works 3 times faster can many times leave you wondering if all that effort was worth it! The JT plays uniquely among the UUs and adds an option and fun-factor that are hard to measure. It is difficult to rate this UU because its worth is so directly tied to the success or failure in providing slave-workers. As a pure combat unit however, it is no more than high priced Babylonian Bowman that has lost the advantage of the BBs low cost. The JT therefore is a boon or bust UU, a super expensive archer or a more than paid for itself Bab Bowman only the unfolding of the game can answer which one.
Summary: Name any number of categories and you will find that the Mayans can compete at the highest level in all of them. One can argue that they may or may not be, THE best in any particular category but what is inarguable is their ability to do nearly everything well. The Mayans are an across the board top tier CIV as a builder or warmonger. On any map size and at every level of difficulty, the Mayans are easily an overall 1st tier civ arguably the best all-around civ in the entire game.
below is the link to all the other civ reviews:
link to all the civ reviews
, personally, maya has become my favorite expansion pack civ. The industrial and agri traits are indeed the greatest combo.
. Though
, they sound like a power-
.
