Trickster7135 Civilization 5 GuideBy Humungus

TABLE OF CONTENTS01. Civilization Analysis02. National Wonders03. World Wonders04. Buildings05. Social Policies06. Religion07. Terrain and Features08. Military Units09. Promotions

VERSION INFORMATION3.08 09/24/12 - Expanded civilization analysis section3.07 07/25/12 - Added articles section and link to Empire Management article3.06 07/07/12 - Rewrote promotions section3.05 07/05/12 - Rewrote military units section3.04 07/04/12 - Rewrote terrain and features section3.03 06/28/12 - Rewrote buildings and social policies sections, wrote religion section.3.02 06/25/12 - Rewrote nation wonders and world wonders sections.3.01 06/22/12 - Begun a massive revision due to the release of Gods and Kings expansion. Rewrote civilizationanalysis.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this guide to provide all of the information for the game in a text only format, to make it easier toread and compare. While there are other places for this information, those who don't want to have to click menusin game or in websites can simple ctrl-f and find anything you need quickly and easily. I will also provide mycommentary about what I think are the best strategies and tactics, although most of these opinions are not whollymy own: I rely upon the civfanatics forums to supplement my ideas and give this guide more credibility.

ARTICLES

EMPIRE MANAGEMENT : details strategies for tall versus sprawl empires, as well as victory conditions andchoices of civilizations, social policies, religious beliefs, and wonders.

01. CIVILIZATION ANALYSIS

CIV NAMEAbility Name – ability description.Unique Unit - name of unit replaced, modifications to the base unit.Unique Building - name of the building replaced, modifications to the base building.Start Bias - terrain civ starts on the map.Victory Preference - which victory types best suited for.Empire Strategy - how to best manage this civ's empire.

This space will give additional information about the civilization. This is just an example as to the format forhow to read the information here. The unique units and buildings are interchangeable, as some civs have twounique units, and others even have unique improvements. More information on empire strategy and victoryconditions can be found in the Empire Management article.

AMERICAManifest Destiny – All land military units have +1 sight. 50% discount when purchasing tiles.Minutemen - Replaces musketman, ignores movement terrain penalties, free drill 1 promotion.B17 - Replaces bomber, free Evasion and Siege 1 promotions, +5 ranged combat bonus.Start Bias - noneVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The American civilization is one who wants to play aggressively. Manifest Destiny combines two mediocreabilities into one, with neither of them having game changing impacts on how to play America. Increasing landunit sight is especially useful for scouting early in the game, but quickly loses its luster once the world has beenmapped. It is still helpful while engaging in offensive wars, but only really shines by giving extra sight range forsiege units. This still isn’t a terribly good use of the ability though, since it can only be taken advantage of byunescorted siege units, which is always a risky gamble. The discount for tile purchases is nice, but isn’t usuallyeasy to take advantage of. Considering how important culture is for social policies, building at least one or twoculture buildings will negate the need to purchase tiles with gold. The main use of this ability is to block offterrain and gain access to resources quickly after building a new city. These two abilities are both at their bestwhen playing aggressively and building a sprawling empire – but are still useful for a tall peaceful empire aswell. The unique units support this aggressive playstyle, with the Minutemen able to push through neutral andenemy terrain where you can’t take advantage of roads, and the B17 functioning as an improved late-game citydestroyer.

ARABIATrade Caravans – +1 gold per trade route, double oil resources.Bazaar - Replaces market, provides an additional copy of each luxury resource found in the city, +2 gold onworked oil and oasis.Camel Archer - Replaces knight, replaces standard knight attack with 21 ranged combat and 17 melee combatscores.Start Bias - DesertVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any but especially ICS.

The Arabian civilization is one with conflicting bonuses. Trade Caravans provides an excellent bonus per traderoute, which is best taken advantage of in a sprawling empire. The doubled oil resources are nice, but come latein the game and are best taken advantage of by a tall empire, who has much less terrain to accumulate resourcesin. The Bazaar again supports a tall empire for much the same reasons as the oil bonus. Luxury resources in thisgame tend to be clumped together, so a tall empire usually desperately needs to trade resources. The gold bonuson oil and oasis is a nice but negligible bonus. Camel Archers are an unusual unit that functions more likechariots than the knights they replace. Camel Archers provide good support for offensive maneuvers, harassingenemy units from a distance and quickly moving through terrain.

AUSTRIADiplomatic Marriage – Can spend gold to annex or puppet an allied City-State.Coffee House - Replaces windmill, +5% production bonus and +25% great people generation.

Hussar - Replaces cavalry, +1 movement, +1 sight, +50% flank attack bonus.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - culture or science.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The Austrian civilization is one with a game changing ability like no other. Diplomatic Marriage is an interestingability – one that lets you expand your territory without using military and without affecting diplomatic relationswith other civs or city-states. This non-hostile takeover comes at a cost though, reducing the number of city-states available for a diplomatic victory. It also seems superfluous if you intend to win via conquest, since youwould then simply use your military to gain control of the city-states. That leaves a science victory and a culturalvictory types to best take advantage of it. The Coffee House supports this, as it will increase the generation ofgreat scientist and artists. Also keep in mind that using Diplomatic Marriage to take over city-states gives you allthe military units they had as well, allowing you to neglect the militaristic technologies as well as devotingproduction to buildings and wonders. The Hussar is nice but only provides a minor upgrade to a midgame unitused primarily for harassment and proactive defense by taking out enemy units that may be rolling to your gates.

AZTECSacrificial Captives – Gains culture for each enemy killed.Jaguar - Replaces warrior, +33% combat bonus in jungles and forests, heals 25 health whenever it kills a unit,free woodsman promotion.Floating Gardens - Replaces watermill, reduced maintenance, provides +15% food bonus as well as +2 foodbonus from worked lake tiles.Start Bias - JungleVictory Preference - domination or culture.Empire Strategy - tall.

The Aztecan civilization is one of the few civilizations focused on a building up large population cities as well asconquest. Sacrificial Captives provides a great boon to culture generation, and even allows a backup of culturalvictory if the conquest route stalls, or to focus on a cultural victory itself while still playing aggressively. Goingtall in the early game followed by an extensive puppet empire afterwards brings cohesion with the FloatingGardens. The Floating Gardens greatly increases food generation which leads to an increase in populationgrowth as well. The Jaguar is an interesting unit. It replaces the warrior, but functions much more like a scoutearly in the game. Thankfully it is not simply a unique scout, as its special abilities carry over through upgrades,and it would be in great interest to produce a great number of these units early in the game. The Jaguar,especially when combined with the opener for Honor, can generate an amazing amount of culture andpromotions early in the game by camping barbarian huts, while being able to maintain pressure from the healthregeneration. A special note for the Aztecs, in that they have a start bias for jungle, which is simply the best tilein the game once all relevant bonuses and social policies are taken.

BABYLONIngenuity – Receive free great scientist when discovering writing. Earn great scientists 50% faster.Bowmen - Replaces archer, +2 ranged and melee combat bonus.Walls of Babylon - Replaces walls, 10 production cheaper, +1 city defense, +50 city health.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - science.Empire Strategy - any.

The Babylonian civilization is one that is heavily focused to a science victory. Ingenuity is one of the bestabilities to generate great scientists with. Of course, science is useful for everyone, but great scientists inparticular will almost never be generated when going for culture – artists are too important. Diplomatic can usescientists, but is usually more focused on gold and merchants. Domination, however, can definitely takeadvantage of Ingenuity. The Bowmen make a defensive unit even better, although archers aren’t bad for takingcities very early in the game. The Walls of Babylon are fairly useless though, and will matter far more in thehands of the AI than a human player.

BYZANTIUMPatriarchate of Constantinople – Choose one more belief than normal when you found a religion.Cataphract - Replaces horsemen, +3 combat score, -1 movement, reduced city attack penalty, gains defensivebonuses from terrain.

Dromon - Replaces trireme, 11 production more expensive, -2 combat score, gains 10 ranged combat score with2 tile range.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any.

The Byzantium civilization is one with a lot of flexibility. Patriarchate of Constantinople makes generating areligion that much better, and the belief chosen will depend on what you plan to do during the game. Obviously,Byzantium wants to focus on religion, but what you do from there – and which victory type you go for – are allup to the player. The Cataphract is an interesting unit, as it provides city-taking and defensive bonuses to an anti-unit unit. This makes Caraphracts an all-around useful unit that can be used for any purpose at this stage in thegame. Once again, this is increasing the flexibility of Byzantium. Dromon, however, are simply an overallupgrade to the trireme, allowing Byzantium to rule the seas in the early part of the game. Land or sea, theByzantium is prepared for any sort of engagement.

CARTHAGEPhoenician Heritage – All coastal cities get a free Harbor. Units may cross mountains after the first GreatGeneral is earned, taking 50 health damage if they end a turn on a mountain.African Forest Elephant - Replaces horseman, 25 production/50 faith more expensive, +2 combat bonus, -1movement, -10% combat to enemy units that are adjacent, greatly increases great general generation.Quinquereme- Replaces Trireme, +3 combat.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Carthaginian civilization is one devoted to the sea. Phoenician Heritage primarily provides an exceptionalbonus to a sprawling coastal empire, especially an ICS empire on a watery map. The second bonus is minor butmay come into play a few times a game. An unusual map with many, many mountains may find the ability gamebreaking, however. African Forest Elephant make great support units for ranged units when attacking enemycities. The Quinquereme is the most straight forward unique trireme, and arguably the most inconsequential. Thebonus isn’t a game changer for naval combat like the Dromon’s can be, but they still help provide a navaldefense for an aquatic empire.

CELTSDruidic Lore – +1 faith per city with an adjacent unimproved forest, +2 faith per city with 3 or more adjacentunimproved forests.Ceilidh Hall - Replaces opera house, +3 happiness.Pictish Warrior - Replaces spearman, +20% combat bonus outside friendly territory, no movement cost topillage.Start Bias - ForestVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Celtic civilization is one that will nearly always be the first to a religion. Druidic Lore allows the Celts tofocus on other matters while still guaranteeing a religion. Later in the game it becomes inconsequential, but onhigh difficulties, it can be the difference between being first or last to a religion, and thus getting the pick of thebeliefs. Ceildh Hall provides a strong bonus to an uncommon building. Cultural victories will obviously bebuilding it, but most others neglect the later cultural buildings, at least a first. Buildings with happiness usuallyallows sprawling empires to flourish, but the fact that it comes later in the game and is an uncommon buildingbuilt in wide empires makes it a toss-up as to how useful it actually is. Pictish Warrior turns the defensivespearmen into offensive powerhouses. The Celts don’t need iron to go to war.

CHINAArt of War – The great general combat bonus is increased by 15%, and their spawn rate is increased by 50%.Paper Maker - Replaces library, +2 gold and no maintenance cost.Chu-Ko-Nu - Replaces crossbowman, may attack twice per turn, -4 ranged combat penalty.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Chinese civilization is one that wants to sprawl and play aggressively. Art of War improves all your troopsby a great general, as well as increasing their generation rate. China is a top tier civ for playing aggressivelybecause of this, and makes great use of citadels due to the excess of great generals. Paper Makers push China tosprawl, and makes China a great civ for an ICS strategy. Chu-Ko-Nu turn the defensive crossbowmen intopowerhouses, being nearly as effective as siege units at taking cities do to their double attacks, as well asdecimated enemy units.

DENMARKViking Fury - Embarked units have +1 movement, moving from sea to land only costs 1 movement point, meleeunits pay no movement cost to pillage.Berserker - Replaces longswordsman, +1 movement, free Amphibious promotion.Norwegian Ski Infantry - Replaces rifleman, double movement in snow, tundra, or hill; increased combat scorein snow, tundra, or hill without forests or jungles.Start Bias - OceanVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any.

The Danish civilization is one who loves aquatic maps. Viking Fury makes Denmark a hit and run specialist.Ordinary melee units move much faster while embarked, and can target remote settlements, pillaging terrain orrazing the city. Denmark has little to gain from fighting defensively, so it’s important to keep the skirmished onenemy terrain. The Berserker plays into the Viking Fury play style by excelling at hit and run tactics, althoughtheir quick path to upgrade means they won’t be seen for as long as they could. Meanwhile, the Norwegian SkiInfantry move the hit and run tactics to land. Denmark isn’t given bonuses to engage in constant warfare, so aconquest victory may not be the best choice for Denmark. Using military strategically to weaken the enemywhile going for another victory type suits Denmark much better.

EGYPTMonument Builders – +20% Production towards Wonder construction.War Chariot - Replaces chariot archer, +1 movement, doesn't require horses.Burial Tomb - Replaces temple, no gold maintained, +2 happiness, double gold from being pillaged.Start Bias - Avoid Jungle and ForestVictory Preference - culture.Empire Strategy - any but especially ICS.

The Egyptian civilization is one with bonuses working in opposite directions. Monument Builders can be thedifference between building a wonder and not at higher difficulties, and definitely supports a tall empire. BurialTombs, however, is simply fantastic for a sprawling empire, especially while going ICS. It is almost necessary togo into the Piety social policy tree for this strategy to work with ICS though. The War Chariot may be one of thefew reasons to invest in the chariot archer. Since horses are not needed to build them, they can easily bespammed and used to quickly take down enemy units or cities with their high ranged attack score.

ENGLANDSun Never Sets – +2 movement for all naval units, 1 free spy.Longbowman - Replaces crossbowman, +1 ranged.Ship of the Line - Replaces frigate, -15 production cost, +5 melee combat bonus, +7 ranged combat bonus, +1sight.Start Bias - OceanVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any.

The English civilization is one that is deceptively flexible. Sun Never Sets provides a bonus to naval explorationand warfare, as well as a free spy. Espionage in this game can do many things in this game, from maintainingtech parity to finding who is planning to backstab you. The Longbowman have a simply fantastic bonus,allowing you to pile on ranged damage on units or cities, and it is a bonus that stays with upgrades. Two rangeGatling Guns are nothing to scoff at. The Ship of the Line, meanwhile, will allow England to dominate the navalworld during the age of exploration.

ETHIOPIASpirit of Adwa – +20% combat bonus when fighting a civilization with more cities.

Mehal Sefari - Replaces rifleman, -25 production cost, free Drill 1 promotion, +30% combat bonus whenfighting in the capital (bonus reduces as the unit gets farther away)Stele - Replaces monument, +2 faith.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any.

The Ethiopian civilization is one with conflicting bonuses. Spirit of Adwa is obviously fantastic for a tall empirewith only a few cities, although it depends on how much warfare you will engage in while playing for a peacefulvictory. Mehal Sefari are interesting, in that they gain a strong defensive bonus near your capital. The realbenefit from them is the reduced production cost and free promotion though, as melee units aren’t the best forgeneral defense. The Stele, meanwhile, is an exceptional unique building for a sprawling or ICS empire. For atall empire trying to take advantage of the Spirit of Adwa, though, the Stele will provide a much reduced benefit.Tall empires usually struggle to generate faith though, so it’s still more useful than it appears.

FRANCEAncien Regime – +2 culture per turn per city before Steam Power.Musketeer - Replaces musketman, +4 combat bonus.Foreign Legion - Replaces great war infantry, +20% combat bonus outside friendly territory.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - culture or domination.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The French civilization is one whom dreams of world domination. Ancien Regime is best taken advantage of byquickly settling cities early in the game, especially for a sprawling or ICS empire. Unlike most civs that are goodfor ICS though, France has no immediate bonus like extra happiness or gold per city. Instead, France is lookingto the long term by being able to accumulate more policies than most other civs while sprawling. It also will fillliberty the fastest, so it’s not completely at a loss in the early game. Musketeer is a straight forward butappreciable unique unit, giving France a strong siege unit defending and city taking unit. The Foreign Legiongains a bonus that is even more obvious in its intentions. If you’re not trying to conquer the world while playingFrance, you’re not playing France to its best abilities.

GERMANYFuror Tuetonicus – 50% chance to gain free barbarian unit and 25 gold whenever you defeat one in theirencampment, -25% maintenance cost of land units.Landsknecht - Replaces pikeman, -45 production cost/ -90 faith cost.Panzer - Replaces tank, +10 combat bonus, +1 movement.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - tall.

The German civilization is one with its eye to war. Furor Tuetonicus provides a fun way to easily and quicklycreate an army early in the game, but the long term benefit of reduced maintenance for land units may be thestrong part of its ability. The Landsknecht isn’t much to write home about. The reduced production cost is nice,but Germany most likely has it’s fill of basic melee units by taking advantage of barbarian camps with FurorTuetonicus. The Panzer is very powerful, however, allowing Germany to have domination of the battlefield inthat particular era.

GREECEHellenic League – City-State influence degrades at half-rate and recovers twice as quickly.Hoplite - Replaces spearmen, +2 combat bonus.Companion Cavalry - Replaces horsemen, +2 combat bonus, +1 movement, increased great generalgeneration.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - diplomatic.Empire Strategy - any.

The Greek civilization is one of the best civs to win diplomatically. Hellenic League is the most straight forwardbonus for diplomacy, but it effectively allows Greece to have twice as many city-states as allies compared toother civs. The Hoplite is a powerful upgrade to the basic spearmen, and allows Greece to completely ignore

swordsman. The Companion Cavalry provide another powerful upgrade, and is available not long afterspearmen. Combined, these units allow Greece to dominate warfare before the middle ages, which can easilysnowball into becoming a superpower.

HUNSScourge of God – Raze cities at double speed. Borrow City names from other in-game Civs. Start with AnimalHusbandry technology. +1 production per pasture.Horse Archer - Replaces chariot archer, +1 melee combat bonus, rough terrain no longer consumes allmovement, free Accuracy 1 promotion, does not require horses.Battering Ram - Replaces spearman, +19 production cost/ +38 faith cost, -1 combat penalty, free Cover 1promotion, +300% combat bonus versus cities, no defensive terrain bonus, -33% defending penalty, -1 visibility,may only attack cities, no bonus versus mounted units, upgrades into trebuchet.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - any.

The Hunnish civilization is one with a rather straight forward focus on war. Scourge of God provides only onereal bonus, the free tech. The bonus to pasture production is notable early in the game when every tile workedmakes a difference. Interesting, the Horse Archer doesn’t require horses, but is a superb unique unit. HorseArchers, along with Horsemen, will form the backbone of the military for the Huns until the middle ages. TheBattering Ram is interesting, in that it is effectively a siege unit that replaces a melee unit. This has both pros andcons. It will allow taking cities easier in the early game, but Battering Rams are terrible defensively and willneed protection. Unfortunately, without Spearmen, this duty falls on the lackluster Warriors or the laterSwordsmen. It may be best to keep a large field of Horse Archers and Horsemen to clear an enemy city outbefore bringing in the Battering Rams.

INCAGreat Andean Road - Units ignore terrain costs when moving into any tile Hills. No maintenance costs forimprovements in Hills; half cost elsewhere.Slinger - Replaces archer, -1 melee combat penalty, may withdraw from melee attack.Terrace Farm - Unique improvement, +1 food and +1 food for each adjacent mountain, can only be built onhills.Start Bias - HillsVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Incan civilization is one with a deceptively powerful ability. Great Andean Road allows units to quicklytraverse through hills, which allows Incan units to easily remain on defensive terrain while attacking enemy unitsand cities. The reduced maintenance is simply fantastic for sprawling or ICS empires who want to mitigate thehigh gold cost for all the roads. The Slinger is an interesting ranged unit in that it needs no protection as long aspositioning is taken into account while moving them. They are especially powerful when withdrawing into densehills, as they can move and shoot the next turn while the enemy units are stuck moving only a single tile a turn.The Terrance Farm is interesting, functioning as a farm that can be built on any hill. In addition to the foodbonus per mountain, they also scale with Civil Service and Fertilizer. On certain maps with a high density ofmountains, it can be a game changer.

INDIAPopulation Growth – Half unhappiness from number of citizens, double unhappiness from number of cities.War Elephant - Replaces chariot archer, +16 production cost/ +28 faith cost, +3 melee combat bonus, +1ranged combat bonus, -1 movement, entering rough terrain no longer consumes all movement, doesn't requirehorses.Mughal Fort - Replaces castle, -10 production cost, +2 culture, provides gold after flight is researched.Start Bias - GrassVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - tall.

The Indian civilization is one who wants to go tall, more than any other civs. Population Growth will ensurehappiness will never be a problem for tall empires, and it is one of the few abilities with a built in disadvantage ifyou go against its strategy. India can go wide though, but expansion comes slower, especially in the early game,and ICS is nearly impossible. The War Elephant is basically a more powerful archer, and does very well on

defense. Through rough terrain though, it can out move a traditional chariot archer. The Mughal Fort provides aminor bonus, and is a building only a tall building would want to build. The start bias for grass ensures that Indiawill have excellent terrain to grow populations with.

IROQUOISThe Great Warpath – Forests and Jungles function as roads for unit movement and trade routes within friendlyterritory.Mohawk Warrior - Replaces swordsman, +33% bonus in forests or jungles, requires no iron.Longhouse - Replaces workshop, -20 production cost, gives +1 production on worked forest tiles.Start Bias - ForestVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Iroquois civilization is one with a similar ability to the Inca. The Great Warpath will greatly reduce thenumber of roads needed to be built, and makes it a good ability for going wide or ICS. It is limited to friendlyterritory only though, compared to the Great Andean Road. The Mohawk Warrior gain a considerable bonus inforests and jungles, but the real power comes from the no iron requirement, allowing these units to be spammed.Swordsman are the most powerful units in their era, and the Iroquois can field an almost unlimited number ofthem. The Longhouse, meanwhile, gives a potent production bonus, although it may take some time to kick in tofull effect. Workshops may not be built in most cities when going wide, but that changes depending on theterrain for the Iroquois. Tall empires, of course, will take full advantage of the extra production.

JAPANBushido – Unites fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged.Samurai - Replaces longswordsman, greatly increased great general rate, free Shock 1 promotion.Zero - Replaces fighter, +33% combat bonus versus fighters.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - any.

The Japanese civilization is yet another civ focused solely on war. Bushido is in the running for most powerfulability for war, and with good reason. Weakened unit do much reduced damage, but that is not a problem for theJapanese. In fact, sacrificing weakened units to take out enemy units is a legitimate strategy for the Japanese,depending on the situation. The Samurai come in the midgame, but provide an excellent free promotion for newunits. The Zero will ensure aerial superiority in the late game, although that tends to be too far to matter much.

KOREAScholars of the Jade Hall – +2 science for all specialists and for all Great Person tile improvements. Receive atech boost each time a scientific building or wonder is built in the capital.Turtle Ship - Replaces caravel, +16 melee combat bonus, cannot enter deep oceanHwach'a - Replaces trebuchet, -1 melee combat penalty, +12 ranged combat bonus, no limited visibility, loses+200% combat bonus versus cities.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any but especially science.Empire Strategy - any.

The Korean civilization is one focused on science, but in a way that can support any victory condition. Scholarsof the Jade Hall provides a steady science bonus per specialists and great tile improvement, which makes ituseful for scientists, artists, merchants, and engineers. The tech boost are nice and appreciable no matter thestrategy. Every victory type needs science to get to the end game and win, which is why Korea is equally usefulno matter what. The Turtle Ship provides a strong melee bonus against ships and cities… but sacrifices the mostimportant aspect of caravels – the ability to enter deep ocean. Depending on the map, this can be more of aliability than a bonus. The Hwach’a is another unit that has both bonuses and penalties. The extra ranged damageeffectively makes it a powerful archer-type unit, but replaces a siege unit instead. This can make taking citiesslightly more difficulty in the middle ages. However, catapults that are upgraded to Hwach'a keep the combatbonus versus cities, making them the most powerful siege unit of the era.

MAYAThe Long Count – After researching Theology, receive a free great person every 394 years.Atlatist - Replaces archer, -4 production cost/ -16 faith cost, does not require Archery technology

Pyramid - Replaces shrine, +1 faith, +2 science.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Mayan civilization is one with a lot of flexibility. The Long Count will provide free great people, and afairly large number of them if it is unlocked early in the game. These free great people do come at a cost though,as they raise the cost for any great people build via specialists as well. To take full advantage of the Long Count,it is best to not focus on specialists at all. Delaying unlocking the Long Count to generate several great peoplevia specialists can work, but sacrifices much of the power the ability overall. Keep in mind, as well, that thegreat people are unlocked based on in game years, not turns. Atlatist allow the Mayan to quickly field a strongdefensive force, especially if it focuses on unlocking Theology before any military techs. The Pyramid has afairly powerful bonus that grows much stronger in sprawling or ICS strategies.

MONGOLIAMongol Terror – +30% combat strength when attacking city-states and their units. Mounted units gain +1movement.Keshik- Replaces knight, replaces standard knight attack with 16 ranged combat and 15 melee combat scores,+1 movement, increased great general generation, +50% experience earned.Khan- Replaces great general, 5 movement per turn, heals adjacent units 15 health per turn.Start Bias - PlainsVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - any.

The Mongolian civilization is hands down the best civ for mounted warfare. Mongol Terror provides a nicebonus against city-states and their units, although the real boon here is the bonus to movement speed for allmounted units. Speed is the main advantaged of mounted units, and Mongolia simply makes all mounted unitsfaster across the board. The Keshik replaces the knight with a powerful variant of the chariot archer. The Keshik,with its ranged attack and exceptional movement speed, should easily be able to pepper enemy units withoutever taking damage. The Khan is incredibly powerful, especially when coupled with mounted units. The onlygreat general able to keep up with mounted units early in the game, it also heals minor damage to units everyturn.

NETHERLANDSDutch East India Company – Retain 50% of happiness benefits from a luxury resource if your last copy wastraded away.Sea Beggar - Replaces privateer, free coastal raider 2 and supply promotionsPolder - Unique improvement, requires Guilds technology, +3 food on flood plains or marsh.Start Bias - GrassVictory Preference - any except for domination.Empire Strategy - tall.

The Netherlander civilization is one focused on going tall. Dutch East India Company gains in power the lessluxuries you have in total, as well as having the most trading partners, which favors a tall, peaceful empire. Wideempires can gain a far larger number of total resources as well as having soured relations with other civs due tosize and clashing borders. The Sea Beggar makes the most game changing naval unit, the privateer, even betterat what it does best. The Polder provides extra food on the already good flood plains, as well as the normallymarginal marshes. Considering the grass start bonus, this gives the Netherlands an exceptional boon to building atall empire.

OTTOMANSBarbary Corsairs – All melee naval units have the Prize Ship promotion, -67% naval unit maintenance.Janissary - Replaces musketman, +25% combat bonus on the attack, heals 50 health when it kills an enemy unit.Sipahi - Replaces lancer, +1 movement, +1 sight, can pillage at no movement cost.Start Bias - OceanVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - tall.

The Ottoman civilization is one which can easily dominate the seas. Barbary Corsairs provides a strongmaintenance reduction for naval units, but the free Prize Ship promotion is what is really powerful. The

Ottomans can easily have the largest naval military, and if they don’t, they eventually will even if they neverbuild another ship. The Janissary has very powerful bonuses for playing aggressively. The Sipahi make asomewhat marginal unit better, but not enough to be anything more than a nice upgrade.

PERSIAAchaemenid Legacy – +50% Golden Age length, units get +1 movement and +10% combat bonus during agolden age.Immortal - Replaces spearmen, +1 combat bonus, heals at double rate.Satrap's Court - Replaces bank, +2 happiness, +2 gold.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - any but especially ICS.

The Persian civilization is one with a powerful and game changing ability. Achaemenid Legacy, with the correctmanagement of great artists and wonders, can easily chain golden ages for nearly the entire game. The bonus tocombat and movement isn't to be ignored either, as it allows siege units to move, setup, and fire all in one turn.The Immortal are a strong early unit that can make playing aggressively easier because of their fast recoveryrate. The Satrap’s Court, meanwhile, provides a powerful bonus, especially for a sprawling empire. ICS mayhave a harder time taking advantage of it since it is a midgame building.

POLYNESIAWayfinding - Can embark and move over oceans immediately. +1 sight while embarked. +10% combat bonus ifwithin 2 tiles of a Moai.Maori Warrior - Replaces warrior, causes enemy units to be at -10% combat strength if next to this unit.Moai - Unique improvement, +1 culture and requires construction, provides gold after flight is researched.Moai gain an additional +1 culture for each adjacent Moai. Can only be built on coast.Start Bias - OceanVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The Polynesian civilization is one who can explore the high seas before any other civ even launches their firsttrireme. Wayfinding allows for quick exploration, trade partnerships, and the ability to claim land and remoteislands before any other civ. Maori Warriors have a small bonus associated with them, which is most helpfulagainst barbarians and playing defensively, since it does not affect enemy cities. The Moai is a fairly weakimprovement, providing only a small culture bonus. This bonus increases the more adjacent Moai that are nextthem. Since they can only be built on the coast, Moai can be built in lines where the inner Moai provide +3culture and the outer Moai provide only +2 culture. A single Moai provides only +1 culture and is fairlyworthless. In rare terrain formations where many coastal tiles are next to each other, Moai can reach +5 or +6culture per Moai, making them very powerful in rare situations. The combat bonus to nearby units is modestlyhelpful, so building Moai in otherwise unused terrain is worthwhile if the workers have nothing else to do.

ROMEThe Glory of Rome – +25% production to any building already built in the capital.Legion - Replaces swordsman, +3 combat bonus, can construct roads and forts.Ballista - Replaces catapult, +1 melee combat bonus, +2 ranged combat bonus.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The Roman civilization is one that does nothing different than any other civ, it is just that what it does do, it doesbetter. The Glory of Rome is powerful as long as the capital builds or buys any relevant building. Sprawlingempires will take advantage of this best, since they usually have many small cities with poor production and inneed of the basic infrastructure. The Legion is a powerful unique swordsman, and has a lot of staying power. Theability to construct roads and forts is a small but humorous ability for when your armies have some down time.The Ballista is much like the Legion, a no nonsense upgrade to an important military unit.

RUSSIASiberian Riches – +1 production on all strategic resource, double quantities of iron, horse, and uranium.Krepost - Replaces barracks, reduces culture and gold cost of acquiring new tiles by 25%.Cossack - Replaces cavalry, +33% combat bonus against weakened enemies.

Start Bias - TundraVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - any.

The Russian civilization is one focused on war, but wins by numbers. Siberian Riches provides a small but niceproduction bonus, but the main boon is the doubled resources. Russia will nearly always be able to field a largequantity of the top units in any era. The Krepost is fairly weak – it may be the weakest unique building in thegame. Barracks are rarely built except in the main production cities, and the bonus it provides is fairly smalloverall. High production cities usually have time to produce the culture buildings they need to expand theirterritory anyways. The Cossack has a strong bonus to pick off enemy units, which is the main role of mountedunits. The start bias for Tundra is notably poor – it limits expansion in at least one direction, while forcing poorterrain on the civ outside river tiles.

SIAMFather Governs Children – +50% food, culture, and faith from city-states.Naresuan's Elephant - Replaces knight, +5 combat bonus, -1 movement, +50% combat bonus versus mountedunits.Wat - Replaces university, +3 culture.Start Bias - Avoid ForestVictory Preference - diplomatic.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The Siamese civilization is one focused on diplomatic victories, although city-states can be useful no matter thevictory type. Father Governs Children can be very powerful, although it limits just which types of city-states aregiven a bonus. Notably, mercantile and militaristic city-states give no extra resources. Naresuan’s Elephant turnsthe knight into a strong defensive unit, able to defend borders or siege units with ease. The Wat provides culturefrom a building that does not normally give it. The culture bonus is small for a cultural victory, but can be fairlylarge for those not focusing on building culture buildings. Universities are an important building no matter thevictory type.

SONGHAIRiver Warlord – triple gold from barbarian encampments and pillaging cities. Land units gain War Canoe andAmphibious promotions.Mud Pyramid Mosque - Replaces temple, no maintenance, +2 culture.Mandekalu Cavalry - Replaces knight, -10 production cost/ -20 faith cost, no penalty attacking cities.Start Bias - Avoid TundraVictory Preference - domination.Empire Strategy - sprawling or ICS.

The Songhai civilization is one that excels at naval assaults with land units. River Warlord provides a large goldbonus early in the game from popping barbarian huts, while the bonus promotions to land units support navalassaults with land units. Mud Pyramid Mosques suite a sprawling empire well, providing extra culture andreduced building maintenance. The Mandekalu Cavalry excel at taking out remote island cities with poordefenses. A small army of these units can perform surgical strikes and either raze or take over and sell enemycities that aren’t properly defended. Keeping these cities may be difficult since these units make poor defenders.

SPAINSeven Cities of Gold - Gold bonus for discovering a Natural Wonder. Culture, happiness, and tile yields fromNatural Wonders doubled.Tercio - Replaces musketman, +10 production cost/ +20 faith cost, +2 combat bonus, +50% combat bonusversus mounted.Conquistador - Replaces knight, +15 production cost/ +30 faith cost, no penalty attacking cities, +2 sight,double combat score when embarked, may found cities on foreign continents not connected to capital.Start Bias - OceanVictory Preference - any.Empire Strategy - sprawling.

The Spanish civilization is one well suited for exploration on large maps. Seven Cities of Gold greatly enhancesthe bonuses of natural wonders, but can be very swingy when actually playing. The Tercio are a defensiveupgrade to the musketman, keeping the combat bonus versus mounted the pikemen had. The Conquistador is

actually the most interesting aspect of Spain. Functioning as a combination of knight, scout, and settler, this unitcan be allowed to explore landmasses by itself, and settle empty terrain where it sees fit.

SWEDENNobel Prize - Gain 90 influence with a great person gift to a City-State. +10% great person generation forSweden and anyone who they've declared friendship with.Hakkapeliitta - Replaces lancer, great generals gain movement bonus if stacked with this unit, +15% combatbonus if great general is stacked with this unit.Carolean - Replaces rifleman, free March promotion.Start Bias - NoneVictory Preference - any except for domination.Empire Strategy - any.

The Swedish civilization is one with an unusual mixture of abilities. Nobel Prize allows easy influence with city-states, while also providing a bonus to great person generation when allied with other civs. These bonusesdepend on keeping friends, and require Sweden to avoid harsh diplomatic penalties such as warmonger tomaximize its abilities. The Hakkapeliitta is a powerful lancer, functioning as an excellent escort for greatgenerals. Lancers in general are rather weak units, however. The Carolean are very good though, giving thecommon rifleman one of the best promotions for a melee unit, March. Both of these unique units are best suitedfor continuous warfare, which requires making long-term enemies to use effectively. It is important whenplaying Sweden to pick your enemies carefully, because you want to make sure you keep the same friends - andenemies - all game.

02. NATIONAL WONDERS

Circus Maximus - +5 happiness, +1 culture.Requirements: Horseback Riding tech, 125 production, must have built a colosseum in every city.

Hermitage - +5 culture, +50% culture in this city.Requirements: Architecture tech, 125 production, must have built an opera house in every city.

Heroic Epic - All newly trained units in this city receive the Moral promotion, increasing combat strength by15%, +1 culture.Requirements: Iron Working tech, 125 production, must have built a barracks in every city.

Ironworks - +8 production in this city, +1 culture.Requirements: Machinery tech, 125 production, must have built a workshop in every city.

National College - Science output in this city is increased by 50%, +3 science, +1 culture.Requirements: Philosophy tech, 125 production, must have built a library in every city.

National Epic - +25% great people generation in this city, +1 culture.Requirements: Drama and Poetry tech, 125 production, must have built a monument in every city.

National Intelligence Agency - +1 spy, 15% reduction in enemy spy effectiveness.Requirements: Radio tech, 125 production, must have built a police station in every city.

National Treasury - +8 gold in this city, +1 culture.Requirements: Guilds tech, 125 production, must have built a market in every city.

Oxford University - 1 free technology, +3 science, +1 culture.Requirements: Education tech, 125 production, must have built a university in every city.

03. WORLD WONDERS

ANCIENT ERA

Temple of Artemis - +10% growth in all cities, +15% production when building ranged units.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.

Requirements: Archery tech, 185 production.

Stonehenge - +5 faithBonuses: +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Calendar tech, 185 production.

The Great Library - +3 science, one free technology, provides a free library to the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great scientist point.Requirements: Writing tech, 185 production.

The Pyramids - Worker construction speed increased by 25%, provides two free workers.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Masonry tech, 185 production.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus - gain 100 gold each time a Great Person is expended, +2 gold per marble orstone worked in this city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Masonry tech, 185 production.

Statue of Zeus - +15% combat strength when attacking cities.Bonuses: +1 cultureRequirements: Bronze Working tech, 185 production.

CLASSICAL ERA

The Great Lighthouse - All military naval units receive +1 movement and +1 sight, provides a free lighthousein the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Optics tech, 185 production, city must be built on the coast.

The Hanging Gardens - +6 food, provides a free garden in the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great artist point.Requirements: Mathematics tech, 250 production.

Terracotta Army - +6 culture.Bonuses: +1 great artist point.Requirements: Construction tech, 250 production.

The Oracle - 1 free social policy.Bonuses: +3 culture, +1 great scientist point.Requirements: Philosophy tech, 250 production.

Petra - City must be built on or near a desert. +1 food, +1 production, +1 gold for all desert tiles worked by thiscity. +6 culture with archaeology tech. Provides a free amphitheater in the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Currency tech, 250 production.

The Great Wall - Enemy units must spend an additional movement per tile moving in your territory. Upondiscovery of Dynamite, becomes obsolete. Provides a free wall in the city.Bonuses: +3 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Engineering tech, 250 production.

The Colossus - +5 gold, +1 gold from water tiles worked in this city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Iron Working tech, 185 production, city must be built on the coast.

MEDIEVAL ERA

Great Mosque of Djenne - +3 faith, all missionaries born in this city can spread religion three times. Providesa free mosque in the city.

Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Theology tech, 300 production.

The Hagia Sophia - +3 faith, provides a free great prophet, provides a free temple in the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great artist point.Requirements: Theology tech, 300 production.

Chichen Itza - Length of golden ages increased by 50%.Bonuses: +4 happiness, +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Civil Service tech, 300 production.

Machu Pichu - +2 faith, +5 gold, +25% gold from trade routes.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Guilds tech, 300 production, city must be built within two tiles of a mountain in your territory.

Angkor Wat - Culture and gold costs of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great engineer point.Requirements: Edducation tech, 400 production.

Alhambra - +20% culture generation in this city. All newly-trained non-air units in this city gain free Drill 1promotion. Provides a free castle in the city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great artist point.Requirements: Chivalry tech, 400 production.

Notre Dame - +4 faith, +10 happiness.Bonuses: +1 great merchant points.Requirements: Physics tech, 400 production.

RENAISSANCE ERA

Sistine Chapel - +25% culture in each city.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great artist points.Requirements: Acoustics tech, 500 production.

The Forbidden Palace - -10% unhappiness from population in non-occupied cities.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great artist point.Requirements: Banking tech, 500 production.

Leaning Tower of Pisa - +25% great people generation in all cities. Provides a free great person of yourchoice.Bonuses: +1 culture, +1 great artist point.Requirements: Printing Press tech, 500 production.

Himeji Castle - +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory, provides a free castle in the city.Bonuses: +3 culture, +2 great engineer points.Requirements: Gunpowder tech, 500 production.

The Porcelain Tower - +50% more research generated from research agreements. Provides a free greatscientist.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great scientist points.Requirements: Architecture tech, 625 production.

Taj Mahal - Immediate starts a golden age, +4 happiness.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great artist points.Requirements: Architecture tech, 625 production.

The Kremlin - +12 city defense, Defensive buildings in all cities are +25% more effective.Bonuses: +3 culture, +1 great scientist point.Requirements: Metallurgy tech, 625 production.

INDUSTRIAL ERA

The Louvre - Two great artists appear when this wonder is built.Bonuses: +4 culture, +2 great artist points.Requirements: Archaeology tech, 750 production.

Big Ben - +4 gold, Cost of gold purchases reduced by 15%.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great merchant points.Requirements: Industrialization tech, 750 production.

Brandenburg Gate - +15% XP for all units built in this city, provides a free great general.Bonuses: +3 culture, +2 great scientist points.Requirements: Military Science tech, 750 production.

MODERN ERA

Eiffel Tower - +5 happiness, +1 happiness for every 2 social policies.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great merchant points.Requirements: Radio tech, 1060 production.

Statue of Liberty - Specialist give +1 production.Bonuses: +1 culture, +2 great engineer points.Requirements: Replaceable Parts tech, 1060 production.

Neuschwanstein - +3 gold, +2 culture, and +1 happiness per castle.Bonuses: +4 culture, +6 gold, +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Railroad tech, 1060 production.

Cristo Redentor - Cost of adopting policies reduced by 10%.Bonuses: +5 culture, +2 great artist points.Requirements: Plastics tech, 1250 production.

ATOMIC ERA

Pentagon - Gold cost of upgrading military units reduced by 33%.Bonuses: +3 culture, +2 great merchant points.Requirements: Combined Arms tech, 1250 production.

Sydney Opera House - 1 free social policy, +50% culture in this city.Bonuses: +2 great artist points.Requirements: Ecology tech, 1250 production, city must be on coast.

Great Firewall - 99.9% reduction in effectiveness in enemy spies in the city in which it is built. All other citiesget 25% reduction in enemy spy effectiveness.Bonuses: none.Requirements: Computers tech, 1250 production

INFORMATION ERA

CN Tower - +1 population and +1 happiness in all cities, provides free broadcast towers in all cities.Bonuses: +1 great merchant point.Requirements: Telecommunications tech, 1250 production

Hubble Space Telescope - Provides two free great scientists, a free spaceship factory in the city, and +25%production when building spaceship parts.Bonuses: +1 great scientist point.Requirements: Satellites tech, 1250 production

04. BUILDINGS

RELIGIOUS

CATHEDRAL - +1 happiness, +3 culture, +1 faithCost: 200 faith.Specialists: +1 artists.

MONASTERY - +3 culture, +2 faith, each source of incense and wine worked by this city produce +1 faithand +1 culture.Cost: 150 faith.Specialists: none.

MOSQUE - +1 happiness, +2 culture, +3 faithCost: 200 faith.Specialists: none.

PAGODA - +2 happiness, +2 culture, +2 faithCost: 200 faith.Specialists: none.

ANCIENT ERA

BARRACKS - +15 XP for all units.Prerequisites: Bronze Working.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

CIRCUS - +2 happiness.Prerequisites: Trapping, city must have improved horses or ivory.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

GRANARY - +2 food, +1 food on worked wheat, banana, and deer tiles.Prerequisites: Pottery.Cost: 60 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

LIBRARY - +1 science for every 2 population.Prerequisites: Writing.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

MONUMENT - +2 culture.Prerequisites: none.Cost: 40 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

SHRINE - +1 faith.Prerequisites: Pottery.Cost: 40 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

STONE WORKS - +1 happiness, +1 production, +1 production on worked marble and stone tiles.

Prerequisites: Calendar, city must not be on plains, city must have either marble or stone improved with a quarry.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

WALLS - +5 city defense, +50 city HP.Prerequisites: Masonry.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

WATERMILL - +2 food, +1 production.Prerequisites: The Wheel, city must be built by a river.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

CLASSICAL ERA

AMPHITHEATER - +3 culture.Prerequisites: Drama and Poetry, monument.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: +1 artists.

AQUEDUCT - 40% of food is carried over after a new citizen is born.Prerequisites: Engineering.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

COLOSSEUM - +2 happiness.Prerequisites: Construction.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

COURTHOUSE - Eliminates unhappiness from an occupied city.Prerequisites: Mathematics, annexed city.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 4 gold.Specialists: none.

LIGHTHOUSE - +1 food from ocean tiles, +1 food from worked Fish tiles.Prerequisites: Optics, city must be built on coast.Cost: 75 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

MARKET - +2 gold, +25% gold.Prerequisites: Currency.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: +1 merchant.

MINT - +2 gold per gold or silver resource worked.Prerequisites: Currency, city must have improved gold or silver.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

STABLE - +15% production for mounted units, +1 production on worked horse, sheep, and cattle tiles.Prerequisites: Horseback Riding, city must have improved horses, sheep, or cattle.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

TEMPLE - +2 faith.Prerequisites: Philosophy, shrine.Cost: 100 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

MEDIEVAL ERA

ARMORY - +15 XP for all units.Prerequisites: Steel, barracks.Cost: 160 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

CASTLE - +7 city defense, +25 city HP.Prerequisites: Chivalry, walls.Cost: 160 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

FORGE - +15% production for land units, +1 production from worked iron tiles.Prerequisites: Metal Casting, city must have improved iron.Cost: 120 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

GARDEN - +25% great people generation rate.Prerequisites: Theology, city must be near river or lake.Cost: 120 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

HARBOR - Forms a trade route with Capital over water, +1 production on sea resources.Prerequisites: Compass, city must be built on the coast.Cost: 120 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

UNIVERSITY - +33% science, +2 science from worked jungle tiles.Prerequisites: Education, library.Cost: 160 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: +1 scientist.

WORKSHOP - +2 production, +10% production.Prerequisites: Metal Casting.Cost: 120 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: +1 engineer.

RENAISSANCE ERA

ARSENAL - +9 city defense, +25 city health.

Prerequisites: Metallurgy, castle.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

BANK - +25% gold.Prerequisites: Banking, market.Cost: 200 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: +1 merchant.

CONSTABULARY - Reduce enemy spy stealing rate by 25%.Prerequisites: Banking.Cost: 160 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

OBSERVATORY - +50% science.Prerequisites: Astronomy, city must be built next to a mountain.Cost: 200 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

OPERA HOUSE - +4 culture.Prerequisites: Acoustics, amphitheater.Cost: 200 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: +1 artist.

SEAPORT - +1 production and +1 gold per worked sea resource, increases naval unit production by 15%.Prerequisites: Navigation, harbor.Cost: 250 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

THEATRE - +3 happiness.Prerequisites: Printing Press, colosseum.Cost: 200 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

WINDMILL - +2 production, +10% production for buildings.Prerequisites: Economics, city must not be built on hills.Cost: 250 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: +1 engineer.

INDUSTRIAL ERA

FACTORY - +4 production, +10% production.Prerequisites: Industrialization, 1 coal resource, workshop.Cost: 360 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: +2 engineer.

HOSPITAL - +5 food.Prerequisites: Biology, aqueduct.Cost: 360 production.Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

HYDRO PLANT - +1 production per worked river tile.Prerequisites: Electricity, 1 aluminum resource, city must be built by a river.Cost: 360 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

MILITARY ACADEMY - +15 XP for units.Prerequisites: Military Science, armory.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

MUSEUM - +5 culture.Prerequisites: Archaeology, opera house.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: +2 artists.

POLICE STATION - Reduce enemy steal rate by 25%.Prerequisites: Electricity, constabulary.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

PUBLIC SCHOOL - +3 science, +1 science for every 2 citizens.Prerequisites: Scientific Theory, university.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: +1 scientist.

STOCK EXCHANGE - +33% gold.Prerequisites: Electricity, bank.Cost: 360 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: +2 merchant.

MODERN ERA

BROADCAST TOWER - +3 culture, +33% culture in this city.Prerequisites: Radio, museum.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

MILITARY BASE - +12 city defense, +25 city HP.Prerequisites: Replaceable Parts, arsenal.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: none.Specialists: none.

RESEARCH LAB - +4 science, +50% science.Prerequisites: Plastics, public school.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: +1 scientist.

STADIUM - +4 happiness.Prerequisites: Refrigeration, theatre.Cost: 500 production.

Maintenance: 2 gold.Specialists: none.

ATOMIC ERA

MEDICAL LAB - 25% of food is carried over after a new citizen is born. Stacks with Aqueduct.Prerequisites: Penicillin, hospital.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

NUCLEAR PLANT - +5 production, +15% production.Prerequisites: Nuclear Fission, 1 uranium resource, factory.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

RECYCLING CENTER - Provides 2 aluminum, maximum of five of these buildings can be built in yourempire.Prerequisites: Ecology.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

SOLAR PLANT - +5 production, +15% production.Prerequisites: Ecology, city must be built near desert and not contain a nuclear plant.Cost: 500 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

ATOMIC ERA

BOMB SHELTER - Reduces population loss from nuclear attack by 75%.Prerequisites: Telecommunications.Cost: 300 production.Maintenance: 1 gold.Specialists: none.

SPACESHIP FACTORY - +3 production, +50% production for space ships.Prerequisites: Robotics, 1 aluminum resource, factory.Cost: 360 production.Maintenance: 3 gold.Specialists: none.

05. SOCIAL POLICIES

TRADITION

TRADITION - cultural border expansion discount for all cities and +3 culture bonus in capital.Prerequisites: None.

ARISTOCRACY - +15% wonder production, +1 happiness for every 10 citizens in a city.Prerequisites: Tradition.

OLIGARCHY - Garrisoned units cost no maintenance and cities with a garrison gain +50% ranged combatstrength.Prerequisites: Tradition.

LEGALISM - Provides a free culture building in your first four citiesPrerequisites: Tradition.

LANDED ELITE - +2 food and 10% population growth in the capital.Prerequisites: Legalism.

MONARCHY - +1 gold and -1 unhappiness for every 2 citizens in the capital.Prerequisites: Legalism.

FINISHER - +15% food growth and a free aqueduct in your first four cities.

LIBERTY

LIBERTY - +1 culture in each city.Prerequisites: None.

REPUBLIC - +1 production in each city, +5% production in cities constructing buildings.Prerequisites: Liberty.

CITIZENSHIP - Worker construction rate increased by 25% and a free worker appears near the Capital.Prerequisites: Liberty.

COLLECTIVE RULE - +50% settler production in the Capital and a free settler appears near the capital.Prerequisites: Republic.

REPRESENTATION - Reduces the increased culture cost for new cities by 33% and starts a golden age.Prerequisites: Citizenship.

MERITOCRACY - +1 happiness for each city that has a trade route with the capital, -5% unhappiness fromcitizens in non-occupied citiesPrerequisites: Citizenship.

FINISHER - free great person of your choice appears by the Capital.

HONOR

HONOR - +33% combat bonus against barbarians, as well as auto-detection of barbarian encampments, freeculture from killing barbarians.Prerequisites: None.

WARRIOR CODE - +15% production when training melee units, provides a free Great General.Prerequisites: Honor.

DISCIPLINE - +10% combat bonus for melee units next to another unit.Prerequisites: Honor.

MILITARY TRADITION - Military units gain 50% more experience from combat.Prerequisites: Warrior Code.

MILITARY CASTE - Garrisoned cities increase happiness by 1 and culture by 2.Prerequisites: Discipline.

PROFESSIONAL ARMY - Gold cost of upgrading units reduced by 33%, +1 happiness for walls, castle,arsenal, and military base.Prerequisites: Military Caste.

FINISHER - free gold for each enemy killed.

PIETY

PIETY - Halves build time for Shrines and Temples.Prerequisites: Classical Era.

ORGANIZED RELIGION - +1 faith from shrines and temples.Prerequisites: Piety.

MANDATE OF HEAVEN - 50% of excess happiness added as culture.Prerequisites: Piety.

THEOCRACY - +10% gold in cities with temples.Prerequisites: Organized Religion.

REFORMATION - +33% culture in cities with a wonder, immediately enter a golden age.Prerequisites: Organized Religion.

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE - Reduces the culture cost of future policies by 10%.Prerequisites: Reformation and Mandate of Heaven.

FINISHER - -20% faith cost to purchase religious units and buildings, and Holy Sites provide +3 gold and +3culture.

PATRONAGE

PATRONAGE - -25% influence degradation rate with city-states.Prerequisites: Medieval Era.

PHILANTHROPY - +25% influence from gold gifts with city-states.Prerequisites: Patronage.

AESTHETICS - Minimum influence with city-states is 20.Prerequisites: Patronage.

SCHOLASTICISM - Allied city-states provide science bonus based on 25% of what they produce forthemselves.Prerequisites: Philanthropy.

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY - Quantity of resources gifted by city-states increased by 100%. Happiness fromgifted luxuries increased by 50%.Prerequisites: Scholasticism.

EDUCATED ELITE - Allied city-states occasionally gift great people.Prerequisites: Scholasticism and Aesthetics.

FINISHER - Other player's influence with city-states decreases 33% faster.

COMMERCE

COMMERCE - +25% gold output in capital. May purchase great merchants with faith.Prerequisites: Medieval Era.

NAVAL TRADITION - +1 movement and +1 sight for naval units. A great admiral appears, and +2movement for all great admirals.Prerequisites: Commerce.

TRADE UNIONS - -33% maintenance cost for roads and railroads, +1 gold per harbor and seaport.Prerequisites: Commerce.

MERCHANT NAVY - +3 production in coastal cities.Prerequisites: Naval Tradition.

MERCANTILISM - -25% gold cost for gold purchases in cities, +1 science from every mint, market, bank, andstock exchange.

Prerequisites: Trade Unions.

PROTECTIONISM - +2 happiness for each luxury resource.Prerequisites: Mercantilism.

FINISHER - +1 gold per trading post, and double gold from great merchant trade missions.

RATIONALISM

RATIONALISM - +15% science while the empire is happy. May purchase great scientists with faith.Prerequisites: Renaissance Era.

SECULARISM - +2 science per specialist.Prerequisites: Rationalism.

HUMANISM - +1 happiness per university, public school, and observatory.Prerequisites: Rationalism.

FREE THOUGHT - +1 science per trading post worked, +17% science from universities.Prerequisites: Secularism.

SOVEREIGNTY - +1 gold from science buildings.Prerequisites: Humanism.

SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION - +50% science gained from research agreements.Prerequisites: Free Thought.

FINISHER - 2 free technologies.

FREEDOM

FREEDOM - +25% great person generation rate. May purchase great artists with faith.Prerequisites: Industrial Era.

CONSTITUTION - +2 culture from each wonder.Prerequisites: Freedom.

UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE - +33% combat strength of cities.Prerequisites: Freedom.

CIVIL SOCIETY - Specialists consume only half the normal amount of food.Prerequisites: Freedom.

FREE SPEECH - 8 units are maintenance free.Prerequisites: Constitution.

DEMOCRACY - Specialist population only produce half the normal amount of unhappiness.Prerequisites: Civil Society.

FINISHER - Double yield from great person improvements, +50% golden age length.

AUTOCRACY

AUTOCRACY - -33% unit maintenance, receive 10 culture for each point of culture produced in capturedcities. May purchase great generals and admirals with faith.Prerequisites: Industrial Era.

POPULISM - Wounded units deal +25% damage.Prerequisites: Autocracy.

MILITARISM - -33% gold cost for purchasing units.Prerequisites: Autocracy.

FASCISM - Quantity of strategic resources doubled,+2 movement for all great generals.Prerequisites: Populism and Militarism.

POLICE STATE - +3 happiness per courthouse, -50% production cost to build courthouses. Reduces theeffectiveness of enemy spies by 25%, your counterspies are 25% more effective at catching enemy spies.Prerequisites: Populism and Militarism.

TOTAL WAR - +25% production when building any military unit, all units starts with +15 experience.Prerequisites: Fascism and Police State.

FINISHER - +25% attack bonus for all units for 50 turns.

ORDER

ORDER - +1 happiness per city. May purchase great engineers with faith.Prerequisites: Industrial Era.

UNITED FRONT - Military city-states gift units twice as often when you are at war with a common foe.Prerequisites: Order.

PLANNED ECONOMY - Factories increase science by +25%, -50% production cost to build factories.Prerequisites: Order.

NATIONALISM - +15% attack bonus when fighting in friendly territory.Prerequisites: Order.

SOCIALISM - Building gold maintenance reduced by 15%.Prerequisites: Planned Economy.

COMMUNISM - +2 production per city, +1 production for mines and quarries.Prerequisites: Planned Economy.

FINISHER - +2 food, +2 production, +2 science, +2 gold, +2 culture per city.

06. RELIGION

PANTHEON BELIEFS

ANCESTOR WORSHIP - +1 culture from shrines.

DANCE OF THE AURORA - +1 faith from tundra tiles without forests.

DESERT FOLKLORE - +1 faith from desert tiles.

FAITH HEALERS - +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city.

FERTILITY RITES - +10% population growth.

GOD OF CRAFTSMEN - +1 production in cities with 3+ population.

GOD OF THE OPEN SKY - +1 culture from pastures.

GOD OF THE SEA - +1 production from work boats.

GOD OF WAR - Gain faith if you win a battle within four tiles of your city.

GODDESS OF FESTIVALS - +1 culture and +1 faith for each win and incense.

GODDESS OF LOVE - +1 happiness from cities with 6+ population.

GODDESS OF PROTECTION - +30% city ranged combat score.

GODDESS OF THE HUNT - +1 food from camps.

MESSENGER OF THE GODS - +2 science in cities with a trade route.

MONUMENT TO THE GODS - +15% production of ancient and classical wonders.

ONE WITH NATURE - +4 faith from natural wonders.

ORAL TRADITION - +1 culture from plantations.

RELIGIOUS IDOLS - +1 culture and +1 faith for each gold and silver.

RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENTS - +15% faster border growth.

SACRED PATH - +1 culture from jungle tiles.

SACRED WATERS - +1 happiness from cities on rivers.

STONE CIRCLES - +2 faith from quarries.

FOUNDER BELIEFS

CEREMONIAL BURIAL - +1 happiness for each city following this religion.

CHURCH PROPERTY - +2 gold for each city following this religion.

INITIATION RITES - +100 gold when each city first converts to this religion.

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE - Gain science when a missionary spreads this religion to cities of other religions.

PAPAL PRIMACY - +15 influence resting point with city-states following this religion.

PEACE LOVING - +1 happiness for every five followers of this religion in non-enemy foreign cities.

PILGRIMAGE - +1 faith for each foreign city following this religion.

TITHE - +1 gold for every four followers of this religion.

WOLD CHURCH - +1 culture for every five followers of this religion in other civilizations.

FOLLOWER BELIEFS

ASCETICISM - Shrines provide +1 happiness in cities with 3+ followers.

CATHEDRALS - May use faith to purchase Cathedrals.

CHORAL MUSIC - Temples provide +2 culture in cities with 5+ followers.

DIVINE INSPIRATION - Each world wonder provides +2 faith.

FEED THE WORLD - Shrines and temples provide +1 food.

GURUSHIP - +2 production if a city has a specialist.

HOLY WARRIORS - May use faith to purchase pre-industrial land units.

LITURGICAL DRAMA - Amphitheaters provide +1 faith in cities with 3+ followers.

MONASTERIES - May use faith to purchase monasteries.

MOSQUES - May use faith to purchase mosques.

PAGODAS - May use faith to purchase pagodas.

PEACE GARDENS - Gardens provide +2 happiness.

RELIGIONS ART - Hermitage provides +8 culture.

RELIGIOUS CENTER - Temples provide +2 happiness in cities with 5+ followers.

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY - +1% production for each follower (max +15%).

SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES - +15% growth per city if not at war.

ENHANCER BELIEFS

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH - +20% combat score near friendly cities that follow this religion.

HOLY ORDER - Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less faith.

ITINERANT PREACHERS - Religion spreads to cities 30% further away.

JUST WAR - +20% combat score near enemy cities that follow this religion.

MESSIAH - Prophets are 25% stronger and cost 25% less faith.

MISSIONARY ZEAL - +25% Missionary conversions strength.

RELIGIOUS TEXTS - Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press tech).

RELIGIOUS UNITY - Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate.

RELINQUARY - Gain 50 faith each time a great person is expended.

07. TERRAIN AND FEATURES

TERRAIN

COASTTerrain Type: waterTile Yield: 1 food, 1 goldResources: oil, fish, whales, pearls, crabCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

DESERTTerrain Type: openTile Yield: noneResources: iron, oil, aluminum, uranium, sheep, gold, silver, gems, marble, cotton, incense, copper, saltCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

GRASSLANDTerrain Type: openTile Yield: 2 food

Resources: iron, horses, coal, uranium, cattle, sheep, stone, gold, gems, marble, cotton, wine, copper, citrusCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

HILLTerrain Type: roughTile Yield: 2 productionResources: sheep, iron, coal, aluminum, uranium, sheep, deer, stone, gold, silver, gems, marbleCombat Modifier: +25%Movement Cost: 2

MOUTAINSTerrain Type: landTile Yield: noneResources: noneCombat Modifier: +25%Movement Cost: impassable

OCEANTerrain Type: waterTile Yield: 1 food, 1 goldResources: noneCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

PLAINSTerrain Type: openTile Yield: 1 food, 1 productionResources: iron, horses, coal, aluminum, uranium, wheat, sheep, stone, gold, gems, marble, ivory, cotton, wine,incense, copper, salt, citrusCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

SNOWTerrain Type: openTile Yield: noneResources: iron, oil, uranium, stone, copperCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

TUNDRATerrain Type: openTile Yield: 1 foodResources: iron, horses, oil, aluminum, uranium, deer, stone, silver, gems, marble, furs, copper, saltCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

COMMON FEATURES

ATOLLTerrain Type: waterTile Yield: 1 food, 1 productionResources: noneCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

FALLOUTTerrain Type: openTile Yield: -3 food, -3 production, -3 goldResources: none

Combat Modifier: -15%Movement Cost: 2

FLOOD PLAINSTerrain Type: openTile Yield: 2 foodResources: wheat and sugarCombat Modifier: -10%Movement Cost: 1

FORESTTerrain Type: roughTile Yield: 1 food, 1 productionResources: uranium, deer, furs, dyes, silk, trufflesCombat Modifier: 25%Movement Cost: 2

ICETerrain Type: ImpassableTile Yield: NoneResources: noneCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: 1

JUNGLETerrain Type: roughTile Yield: 1 food, -1 productionResources: oil, uranium, bananas, gems, dye, spices, trufflesCombat Modifier: 25%Movement Cost: 2

LAKETerrain Type: waterTile Yield: 2 food, 1 goldResources: noneCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: impassable

MARSHTerrain Type: openTile Yield: -1 foodResources: oil, uranium, sugar, trufflesCombat Modifier: -15%Movement Cost: 3

OASISTerrain Type: openTile Yield: 3 food, 1 goldResources: noneCombat Modifier: -10%Movement Cost: 1

RIVERTerrain Type: landTile Yield: 1 goldResources: noneCombat Modifier: 0%Movement Cost: all remaining points

NATURAL WONDERS

CERRO DE POTOSI - Tile Yield: 10 gold

EL DORADO - Tile Yield: 5 culture, grants 500 gold to the first civilization to discover it

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH - Tile Yield: 10 happiness, all units next to it heal for double health for the rest of thegame

KRAKATOA - Tile Yield: 5 science

MT. FUJI - Tile Yield: 2 gold, 3 culture, 3 faith

MT. KAILASH - Tile Yield: 6 faith, 2 happiness

MT. SINAI - Tile Yield: 8 faith

OLD FAITHFUL - Tile Yield: 2 science, 3 happiness

ROCK OF GIBRALTAR - Tile Yield: 2 food, 5 gold

SRI PADA - Tile Yield: 2 food, 4 faith, 2 happiness

THE BARRINGER CRATER - Tile Yield: 2 gold, 3 science

THE GRAND MESA - Tile Yield: 2 production, 3 gold

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF - Tile Yield: 2 food, 1 production, 1 gold, 2 science

ULURU - Tile Yield: 2 food, 6 faith

08. MILITARY UNITS

ANCIENT ERA

ARCHERCost: 40 production or 80 faithCombat Type: archerCombat: 5 melee, 7 rangedRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attackPrerequisites: archeryObsolete: constructionUpgrade: composite bowman

CHARIOT ARCHERCost: 56 production or 112 faithCombat Type: archerCombat: 6 melee, 10 rangedRange: 2Movement: 4Resources: horsesAbilities: may not melee attack, rough terrain penalty, no defensive terrain bonusPrerequisites: the wheelObsolete: chivalryUpgrade: knight

SCOUTCost: 25 production or 50 faithCombat Type: reconCombat: 5 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: ignores terrain costPrerequisites: noneObsolete: scientific theoryUpgrade: none

SPEARMANCost: 56 production or 112 faithCombat Type: meleeCombat: 11 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: bonus versus mounted units (+50%)Prerequisites: bronze workingObsolete: civil serviceUpgrade: pikeman

TRIREMECost: 45 productionCombat Type: naval meleeCombat: 10 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: noneAbilities: cannot enter deep oceanPrerequisites: sailingObsolete: astronomyUpgrade: caravel

WARRIORCost: 40 production or 80 faithCombat Type: meleeCombat: 8 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: noneObsolete: metal castingUpgrade: swordsman

CLASSICAL ERA

CATAPULTCost: 75 production or 150 faithCombat Type: siegeCombat: 7 melee, 8 rangedRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack, bonus versus cities (+200%), no defensive terrain bonuses, must set up to rangedattack, limited visibility (-1 visibility)Prerequisites: mathematics

Obsolete: physicsUpgrade: trebuchet

COMPOSITE BOWMANCost: 75 production or 150 faithCombat Type: archerCombat: 7 melee, 11 rangedRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attackPrerequisites: constructionObsolete: machineryUpgrade: crossbowman

HORSEMANCost: 75 production or 150 faithCombat Type: mountedCombat: 12 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: horseAbilities: no defensive terrain bonus, can move after attacking, -33% penalty attacking citiesPrerequisites: horseback ridingObsolete: chivalryUpgrade: knight

SWORDSMANCost: 75 production or 150 faithCombat Type: meleeCombat: 14 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: ironAbilities: nonePrerequisites: iron workingObsolete: steelUpgrade: longswordsman

MEDIEVAL ERA

CROSSBOWMANCost: 120 production pr 240 faithCombat Type: archerCombat: 13 melee, 18 rangedRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attackPrerequisites: machineryObsolete: industrializationUpgrade: gatling gun

GALLEASSCost: 100 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 16 melee, 17 rangedRange: 2Movement: 3Resources: none

Abilities: cannot ender deep ocean, may not melee attackPrerequisites: compassObsolete: navigationUpgrade: frigate

KNIGHTCost: 120 production or 240 faithCombat Type: mountedCombat: 20 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: horseAbilities: no defensive terrain bonus, can move after attacking, -33% penalty attacking citiesPrerequisites: chivalryObsolete: military scienceUpgrade: cavalry

LONGSWORDSMANCost: 120 production or 240 faithCombat Type: meleeCombat: 21 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: ironAbilities: nonePrerequisites: steelObsolete: gunpowderUpgrade: musketman

PIKEMANCost: 90 production or 180 faithCombat Type: meleeCombat: 16 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: bonus versus mounted (+50%)Prerequisites: civil serviceObsolete: metallurgyUpgrade: lancer

TREBUCHETCost: 120 production or 240 faithCombat Type: siegeCombat: 12 melee, 14 rangedRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: ironAbilities: may not melee attack, bonus versus cities (+200%), no defensive terrain bonuses, must set up to rangedattack, limited visibility (-1 visibility)Prerequisites: physicsObsolete: chemistryUpgrade: cannon

RENAISSACE ERA

CANNONCost: 185 production or 370 faithCombat Type: siegeCombat: 14 melee, 20 ranged

Range: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack, bonus versus cities (+200%), no defensive terrain bonuses, must set up to rangedattack, limited visibility (-1 visibility)Prerequisites: chemistryObsolete: dynamiteUpgrade: artillery

CARAVELCost: 120 productionCombat Type: naval meleeCombat: 20 meleeRange: 2Movement: 4Resources: noneAbilities: withdraw before melee, extra sight (+1 sight)Prerequisites: astronomyObsolete: steam powerUpgrade: ironclad

FRIGATECost: 185 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 25 melee, 28 rangedRange: 2Movement: 5Resources: ironAbilities: may not melee attackPrerequisites: navigationObsolete: electronicsUpgrade: battleship

LANCERCost: 185 production or 370 faithCombat Type: mountedCombat: 25 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: horseAbilities: formation 1 (+33% combat bonus versus mounted units), no defensive terrain bonus, can move afterattacking, -33% penalty attacking citiesPrerequisites: metallurgyObsolete: combined armsUpgrade: anti-tank gun

MUSKETMANCost: 150 production or 300 faithCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 24 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: gunpowderObsolete: riflingUpgrade: rifleman

PRIVATEERCost: 150 production

Combat Type: naval meleeCombat: 25 meleeRange: noneMovement: 5Resources: noneAbilities: Coastal Raider 1 (+20% combat versus cities, steal 33% of damage as gold versus cities), Prize Ships(defeated enemy naval units join your side)Prerequisites: navigationObsolete: combustionUpgrade: destroyer

INDUSTRIAL ERA

ARTILLERYCost: 250 productionCombat Type: siegeCombat: 21 melee, 28 rangedRange: 3Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: no defensive terrain bonus, may not melee attack, indirect fire, bonus versus cities (+200%), must setup to ranged attack, limited visibility (-1)Prerequisites: dynamiteObsolete: noneUpgrade: rocket artillery

CAVALRYCost: 225 productionCombat Type: mountedCombat: 34 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: horseAbilities: no defensive terrain bonus, can move after attacking, -33% penalty attacking citiesPrerequisites: military scienceObsolete: combustionUpgrade: landship

GATLING GUNCost: 225 productionCombat Type: archeryCombat: 36 melee, 36 rangedRange: 1Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attackPrerequisites: industrializationObsolete: ballisticsUpgrade: machine gun

IRONCLADCost: 250 productionCombat Type: naval meleeCombat: 50 meleeRange: noneMovement: 3Resources: 1 coalAbilities: double movement in coasts, +33% bonus versus citiesPrerequisites: steam powerObsolete: combustion

Upgrade: destroyer

RIFLEMANCost: 225 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 34 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: riflingObsolete: replaceable partsUpgrade: great war infantry

MODERN ERA

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNCost: 375 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 50 meleeRange: 2Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: interception (100%), bonus versus aircraft/helicopters (+100%)Prerequisites: ballisticsObsolete: rocketryUpgrade: mobile SAM

BATTLESHIPCost: 375 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 55 melee, 65 rangedRange: 3Movement: 5Resources: oilAbilities: may not melee attack, indirect fire, +33% bonus versus citiesPrerequisites: electronicsObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

CARRIERCost: 375 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 50 meleeRange: noneMovement: 5Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack, can carry 3 cargoPrerequisites: electronicsObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

DESTROYERCost: 375 productionCombat Type: naval meleeCombat: 55 melee,Range: noneMovement: 6Resources: noneAbilities: can see submarines, interception (40%), bonus versus submarines (+100%), withdraw before melee

Prerequisites: combustionObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

GREAT WAR BOMBERCost: 325 productionCombat Type: bomberCombat: 50 rangedRange: 6Movement: basedResources: oilAbilities: nonePrerequisites: flightObsolete: radarUpgrade: bomber

GREAT WAR INFANTRYCost: 320 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 50 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: replaceable partsObsolete: plasticsUpgrade: infantry

INFANTRYCost: 375 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 70 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: plasticsObsolete: mobile tacticsUpgrade: mechanized infantry

LANDSHIPCost: 350 productionCombat Type: armoredCombat: 60 meleeRange: noneMovement: 4Resources: oilAbilities: no defensive terrain bonus, can move after attackingPrerequisites: combustionObsolete: combined armsUpgrade: tank

MACHINE GUNCost: 350 productionCombat Type: archeryCombat: 60 melee, 60 rangedRange: 1Movement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack

Prerequisites: ballisticsObsolete: noneUpgrade: mechanized infantry

SUBMARINECost: 325 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 35 melee, 60 rangedRange: 3Movement: 5Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack, is invisible (submarine), can see submarines, may enter ice tiles, +100% bonuswhen attackingPrerequisites: refrigerationObsolete: telecommunicationsUpgrade: nuclear submarine

TRIPLANECost: 325 productionCombat Type: fighterCombat: 35 rangedRange: 5Movement: basedResources: 1 oilAbilities: interception (50%), air sweep, weak ranged attack, air recon, +150% bonus versus bombers/helicoptersPrerequisites: flightObsolete: radarUpgrade: fighter

ATOMIC ERA

ANTI-TANK GUNCost: 300 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 50 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: +100% bonus versus tanksPrerequisites: combined armsObsolete: noneUpgrade: helicopter gunship

BOMBERCost: 375 productionCombat Type: bomberCombat: 65 rangedRange: 10Movement: basedResources: oilAbilities: nonePrerequisites: radarObsolete: noneUpgrade: stealth bomber

FIGHTERCost: 375 productionCombat Type: fighterCombat: 45 rangedRange: 8

Movement: basedResources: oilAbilities: interception (100%), air sweep, air recon, +150% bonus versus bombers/helicoptersPrerequisites: radarObsolete: noneUpgrade: jet fighter

HELICOPTER GUNSHIPCost: 425 productionCombat Type: helicopterCombat: 60 meleeRange: noneMovement: 6Resources: aluminumAbilities: no defensive terrain bonuses, unable to capture cities, all tiles cost 1 move, hovering unit, +100%bonus versus tanksPrerequisites: computersObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

MARINECost: 400 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 65 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: amphibious, extra sight while embarked, embarkation with defensePrerequisites: penicillinObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

MOBILE SAMCost: 425 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 65 meleeRange: 2Movement: 3Resources: noneAbilities: interception (100%), +150%bonus versus aircraft/helicoptersPrerequisites: rocketryObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

PARATROOPERCost: 375 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 65 meleeRange: noneMovement: 2Resources: noneAbilities: may paradropPrerequisites: radarObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

ROCKET ARTILLERYCost: 425 productionCombat Type: siegeCombat: 45 melee, 60 ranged

Range: 3Movement: 2Resources: aluminumAbilities: indirect fire, bonus versus cities (+200%), may not melee attack, no defensive terrain bonuses, limitedvisibility (-1)Prerequisites: rocketryObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

TANKCost: 375 productionCombat Type: armoredCombat: 70 meleeRange: noneMovement: 5Resources: oilAbilities: no defensive bonuses, can move after attackingPrerequisites: combined armsObsolete: noneUpgrade: modern armor

INFORMATION ERA

GIANT DEATH ROBOTCost: 425 productionCombat Type: armoredCombat: 150 meleeRange: noneMovement: 5Resources: uraniumAbilities: can move after attacking, no defensive terrain bonusesPrerequisites: nuclear fusionObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

JET FIGHTERCost: 425 productionCombat Type: fighterCombat: 75 rangedRange: 10Movement: basedResources: aluminumAbilities: interception (100%), air sweep, air recon, +150% bonus versus bombers/helicoptersPrerequisites: lasersObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

MECHANIZED INFANTRYCost: 375 productionCombat Type: gunpowderCombat: 90 meleeRange: noneMovement: 3Resources: noneAbilities: nonePrerequisites: mobile tacticsObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

MISSILE CRUISERCost: 425 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 80 ranged, 100 rangedRange: 3Movement: 7Resources: noneAbilities: interception (100%), may not melee attack, indirect fire, can carry 3 cargo, can see submarines, +100%attack versus submarinesPrerequisites: roboticsObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

MODERN ARMORCost: 425 productionCombat Type: armoredCombat: 100 meleeRange: noneMovement: 5Resources: aluminumAbilities: no defensive terrain bonuses, can move after attackingPrerequisites: lasersObsolete: noneUpgrade: giant death robot

NUCLEAR SUBMARINECost: 425 productionCombat Type: naval rangedCombat: 50 melee, 85 rangedRange: 3Movement: 6Resources: noneAbilities: may not melee attack, is invisible (submarine), can see submarines, can carry 2 cargo, +100% bonuswhen attacking, may enter ice tilesPrerequisites: telecommunicationsObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

STEALTH BOMBERCost: 425 productionCombat Type: bomberCombat: 85 rangedRange: 20Movement: basedResources: aluminumAbilities: evasion (100%), air reconPrerequisites: stealthObsolete: noneUpgrade: none

09. PROMOTIONS

SHARED PROMOTIONS

Heal Instantly - no requirements, Heal this unit by 50 HP

Cover 1 - requires Drill 1 or Shock 1 or Accuracy 1 or Barrage 1, +33% defense against ranged attacks

Cover 2 - requires Cover 1, +33% defense against ranged attacks

Sentry - requires Drill 1 or Shock 1 or Targeting 1 or Bombardment 1, +33% defense against ranged attacks

Formation 1 - requires Drill 2 or Shock 2 or Accuracy 2 or Barrage 2, +33% combat strength against mountedunits

Formation 2 - requires Formation 1, +33% combat strength against mounted units

Siege - requires Drill 2 or Shock 2 or Accuracy 2 or Barrage 2, +50% combat strength cities

March - requires Drill 3 or Shock 3 or Accuracy 2 or Barrage 2, unit will heal every turn

MELEE PROMOTIONS

Drill 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength when fighting in rough terrain

Drill 2 - requires Drill 1, +15% combat strength when fighting in rough terrain

Drill 3 - requires Drill 2, +15% combat strength when fighting in rough terrain

Shock 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength when fighting in open terrain

Shock 2 - requires Shock 1, +15% combat strength when fighting in open terrain

Shock 3 - requires Shock 2, +15% combat strength when fighting in open terrain

Amphibious - requires Drill 1 or Shock 1, eliminates combat penalty for attacking from the sea of over a river

Medic 1 - requires Drill 1 or Shock 1 or Scouting 2 or Survivalism 2, all adjacent units are healed 5 HP per turn

Medic 2 - requires Medic 1, all adjacent units are healed 5 HP per turn, this unit is healed 5 HP per turn outsidefriendly territory

Ambush 1 - requires Drill 2 or Shock 2, +33% combat strength against armored units

Ambush 2 - requires Ambush 1, +33% combat strength against armored units

Charge - requires Drill 2 or Shock 2, +33% combat strength against wounded units

Blitz - requires Drill 3 or Shock 3, 1 additional attack per turn

Woodsman - requires Drill 3 or Shock 3, double movement through forests and jungle

Repair - requires Drill 3 or Shock 3, unit will heal every turn

RANGED PROMOTIONS

Accuracy 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength against units in open terrain

Accuracy 2 - requires Accuracy 1, +15% combat strength against units in open terrain

Accuracy 3 - requires Accuracy 2, +15% combat strength against units in open terrain

Barrage 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength against units in rough terrain

Barrage 2 - requires Barrage 1, +15% combat strength against units in rough terrain

Barrage 3 - requires Barrage 2, +15% combat strength against units in rough terrain

Bombardment 1 - no requirements, +33% combat strength against land units

Bombardment 2 - requires Bombardment 1, +33% combat strength against land units

Bombardment 3 - requires Bombardment 2, +33% combat strength against land units

Volley - requires Accuracy 1 or Barrage 1, +50% combat strength against fortified units and cities

Logistics - requires Accuracy 3 or Barrage 3 or Targeting 3 or Bombardment 3, 1 additional attack per turn

Mobility - requires Accuracy 3 or Barrage 3 or Targeting 1 or Bombardment 1, +1 movement

Range - requires Accuracy 3 or Barrage 3 or Targeting 2 or Bombardment 2, +1 range

NAVAL PROMOTIONS

Boarding Party 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength against naval units

Boarding Party 2 - requires Boarding Party 1, +15% combat strength against naval units

Boarding Party 3 - requires Boarding Party 2, +15% combat strength against naval units

Targeting 1 - no requirements, +15% combat strength against naval units

Targeting 2 - requires Targeting 1, +15% combat strength against naval units

Targeting 3 - requires Targeting 2, +15% combat strength against naval units

Coastal Piracy 1 - no requirements, +20% combat strength against cities, steal gold equal to 33% of thedamage inflicted on the city

Coastal Piracy 2 - requires Coastal Piracy 1, +20% combat strength against cities, steal gold equal to 33% ofthe damage inflicted on the city

Coastal Piracy 3 - requires Coastal Piracy 2, +20% combat strength against cities, steal gold equal to 33% ofthe damage inflicted on the city

Supply - requires Targeting 2 or Bombardment 2 or Coastal Raider 2 or Boarding Party 2, may heal outsidefriendly territory

SCOUTING PROMOTIONS

Survivalism 1 - no requirements, +5 HP healed per turn outside friendly territory and +25% defense

Survivalism 2 - requires Survivalism 1, +5 HP healed per turn outside friendly territory and +25% defense

Survivalism 3 - requires Survivalism 2, unit will heal every turn and attempt to withdraw when attacked frommelee

Scouting 1 - no requirements, +1 visibility

Scouting 2 - requires Scouting 1, +1 visibility

Scouting 3 - requires Scouting 2, +1 movement

AIR PROMOTIONS

Mobility 1 - no requirements, +1 movement

Mobility 2 - requires Mobility 1, +1 movement

Dogfighting 1- no requirements, +33% combat strength when performing an air sweep

Dogfighting 2- requires Dogfighting 1, +33% combat strength when performing an air sweep

Dogfighting 3- requires Dogfighting 2, +33% combat strength when performing an air sweep

Interception 1- no requirements, +33% combat strength when intercepting enemy aircraft

Interception 2- requires Interception 1, +33% combat strength when intercepting enemy aircraft

Interception 3- requires Interception 2, +33% combat strength when intercepting enemy aircraft

Siege 1- no requirements, +33% combat strength against cities

Siege 2- requires Siege 1, +33% combat strength against cities

Siege 3- requires Siege 2, +33% combat strength against cities

Air Ambush 1 - requires Interception 1 or Dogfighting 1 or Siege 1 or Bombardment 1, +33% combat strengthagainst armored units

Air Ambush 2 - requires Air Ambush 1, +33% combat strength against armored units

Range - requires Interception 1 or Dogfighting 1 or Siege 1 or Bombardment 1, +2 operational range

Sortie - requires Interception 2 or Dogfighting 2, 1 extra interception per turn

Air Repair - requires Interception 2 or Dogfighting 2 or Siege 2 or Bombardment 2, unit will heal every turn

Evasion - requires Siege 2 or Bombardment 2, reduces damage from interception by 50%

Logistics - requires Siege 2 or Bombardment 2 or Air Ambush 2 or Mobility 2, 1 additional attack per turn

EMPIRE MANAGEMENT

Empire Management is a huge facet of Civilization 5, and learning how to do so correctly is one of the primarytests of skill that allows you to play at higher difficulties more effectively. Empire Management is a rather broadterm though, as it governs not only how you run your empire, but the choices you make in regard to yourcivilization, social policies, religion, and wonders. Effective empire management allows all your choices to becomplementary. There are two main choices to make even before you start your game, and those are: are youplanning to win peacefully or by conquest, and do you want to build fewer larger cities or many smaller cities?Winning peacefully doesn't mean playing peacefully, however. If you plan to win peacefully but find an enemyAI settling cities close to your start position, it is usually a good choice to take them out early to give yourselfbreathing room and space to settle yourself. Large cities have high populations and are typically excellent atbuilding wonders and units, while small cities generate science and gold more effectively. Even when choosingto have many small cities, you will still have a couple of large cities where you focus production, although to alesser extent than choosing to make all your cities large cities. There are a total of five different empiremanagement strategies, one for each combination of those two choices, as well as a fifth outlier that seemssimilar but behaves very differently from the rest.

Tall and Wall : a peaceful empire that focuses on a few large cities. Tall and Wall is the easiest type of empire tomanage, and is the best for producing wonders and units. It does suffer when producing science and gold, asthough it will quickly build buildings that modify those resources, it has the slowest population growth.

Sprawl and Wall: a peaceful empire that focuses on many small cities. Sprawl and Wall will quickly grow itspopulation to meet its happiness, and produces science and gold very effectively. It certainly takes more effort tomanage though, and depends on specializing cities to produce wonders and units.

Tall and Maul : an aggressive empire that focuses on building a few large cities before warmongering. Tall andMaul shares many of the advantages of Tall and Wall, with little of the downside, as the initial cities you settlewill grow to have high populations and excellent production for wonders and units. Where Tall and Wall suffersfrom slow population growth, Tall and Maul simple takes the populations along with the cities, meaning it alsohas excellent science and gold. The main drawback in this strategy is that it can by picky with which cities tokeep and which to raze or sell, as it's usually only interested in keeping well placed cities.

Sprawl and Maul: an aggressive empire that focuses on many small cities. Sprawl and Maul starts off similarlyto Sprawl and Wall, where you quickly settle territory and then specialize a few for production. It can then startconquering cities, and it does this especially well. It is the most aggressive strategy, and will readily keep nearlyany city is conquers, and keep settling where it find room. It suffers in production though, as even with a fewspecialized cities, unspecialized tall cities will exceed it.

Insane City Sprawl: the outlier of the group, and by far the most reliant on micro-management. Insane CitySprawl (ICS) starts off similarly to Sprawl and Maul, but focuses on maximizing synergies and minimizingwaste. It has the potential to far exceed any of the other strategies in generating resources such as science andgold.

After you decide which strategy you are going to employ, then you must get into the nuts and bolts of it. It isvery important to make choices that are synergetic to your empire, and those choices will include whichcivilization to play, which social policies to pick, and which religious beliefs to choose. There are more choicesthan for these specific strategies, as many civilizations, social policies, and religious beliefs can be good for anystrategy. This article doesn't factor in unique units though, as every civ has them and they are all generallyuseful. Not to say that some aren’t better than others, but that is a decision for military strategy, not empiremanagement.

CIVLIZATIONSThese civilizations provide excellent benefits all strategies can take advantage of, such as benefits to science orgold, or they provide different bonuses that all strategies can take advantage of.

Arabia : Trade Caravans synergizes with all strategies except for Tall and Wall, while Bazaar particularlysynergizes with Tall and Wall, and to a lesser extent, Sprawl and Wall.

Babylon: Ingenuity benefits science, which is something every civ needs. You may not run science specialists inevery game, but that's a decision that's independent of how you manage your empire. Walls of Babylon mightslightly skew Babylon to Tall and Wall, but defensive buildings in general are mediocre for human players.

Denmark: at first glance, Demark seems to be strictly a militant civ. Viking Fury, however, works best whenusing it for quick strikes and proactive defenses. You can play peacefully and still engage in war, as long as youdon't keep cities civs other than the one you're fighting generally won't mind very much, especially once the waris over. If the leading civ is sprawling around the world, using quick strike tactics to pillage and raze remotecities can be a good way to keep them in check without engaging in all out war. Of course, it's still a goodmilitant ability for watery maps.

Egypt: Monument Builders definitely favors the tall strategies, who will be building the most wonders. BurialTomb is the opposite though, as it benefits sprawling.

England: Sun Never Sets doesn’t synergize with any strategy at all, but can be very nice depending on whichmap you play on.

Ethiopia: Spirit of Adwa will only be taken advantage of with a Tall and Wall empire, but Stele synergizes withthe rest.

Greece: while those going for conquest aren’t trying to win diplomatically, they can still take advantage of city-states, and Hellenic League is excellent in that regard.

Korea: Scholars of the Jade Hall benefits science, in two different ways. The bonus to specialists slightly favorsprawling empires, who can field more total specialists. The bonus from wonders built favors tall empires, whowill be able to build more wonders.

Persia: Achaemenid Legacy provides a bonus to golden ages, which peaceful strategies will have to most ofsince they usually have higher excess happiness, while the minor combat bonus during golden ages and Satrap'sCourt benefit sprawling empires instead.

Russia: Siberian Riches provides two bonuses: the increase production from strategic resources benefitssprawling empires who want to only work the best tiles with their smaller populations, while the doubledresources benefits tall empires who may only have limited qualities in their territories. Krepost is similar but in aless useful way: sprawling empires won't build barracks in all their cities while tall empires will be able to pushtheir culture borders easily anyways.

Siam: Father Governs Children increases food from maritime city-states, something sprawling empires can takeadvantage of moreso, while the increase to faith and culture matters more to tall empires who are limited in howmany buildings they can build to generate those resources. Wat provides a flat increase that favors sprawlingempires, but the fact that it is a midgame building and would take awhile to build in small cities favors tallempires, making it a wash.

SOCIAL POLICIESMost social policies obviously favor particular strategies over others. There are only a few that don't.

Piety: this social policy tree has an even mix of policies that favor some strategies over others. The opener,organized religion, and the finisher favor sprawling empires. Mandate of heaven, theocracy, and reformationfavor tall empires. Reformation provides equal benefits to all strategies.

Patronage: city-states are useful for all strategies, although this obviously favors diplomatic victories. It makesfor a good backup plan when warmongering if you come to a stalemate, though.

Rationalism: much like patronage, most policies benefit all strategies equally. Unlike patronage, science isalways useful no matter what your plans are, and this policy should always be picked up if piety is not.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSThere are a lot of religious beliefs, from pantheon, founder, follower, and enhancer. There are far, far too manyto go over them individually, but some general tenants hold. If the belief provides a flat bonus per city or per tile,it usually favors sprawling empires. If it provides a percentage increase or bonus based on population/followers,

it generally favors tall empires. A good example of this is to compared Church Property (+2 gold per cityfollowing religion) and Tithe (+1 gold for every four followers). In order for those two to be equal, a city wouldneed to have 8 followers (not population, mind you), and would need 12 population for Tithe to exceed ChurchProperty.

The beliefs that don’t favor any specific empire management strategy would be: faith healers, goddess ofprotection, sacred path, religious settlements, papal primacy, and defender of the faith.

WONDERSWonders can be a lot of fun to build, or very frustrating if you're competing with against other civs to see whofinishes one first. Tall strategies will generally be able to build more wonders compared to sprawling strategies,but building key wonders can be important no matter how you develop your empire. The following wonderswould be considered useful for both tall and sprawl.

Circus Maximus: national wonders are usually difficult for sprawling empires to build, but since this one comesearly when there are few cities, requires one of the most important buildings to be built for sprawling empires,and provides happiness, a crucial resource for sprawling empires, makes this an excellent nation wonder to build.Tall empires will of course be able to easily be able to build this, and will enjoy the happiness just the same.

National College: much like Circus Maximus, this is an early national wonder that depends on a very importantbuilding to be built. Unlike the Circus though, this one is so powerful is can be worth delaying mass sprawling toget this one built. Tall empires will easily build it, usually right after building the Great Library.

National Epic: tall empires will enjoy the benefit this provides, and sprawling empires won't have muchdifficulty being able to build it since it requires only monuments. Sprawling empires tend to focus their greatperson generation in only a few cities, magnifying the benefit of this.

Oxford University : a free tech is always useful, which is good because while universities will be prioritized insprawling empires, it can still take a lot longer than for tall empires to get them up in every city. The greaterbeakers gained from late game techs tends to even out the +3 base science this building provides if you build itearly.

The Great Library : this powerful wonder is much like Oxford University, but is available very early in thegame, and can be worth bee-lining to build. Tall empires that open with tradition should be able to get thiswonder regularly even at higher difficulties, although sprawling empires might have to skip it unless they playEgypt or get Monument to the Gods early. Building this to lead into Philosophy and then National College is acommon early game strategy, although expansion must be slowed to do that.

Petra: this wonder usually isn't built quickly, and you can factor it while placing cities. An otherwise rubbishdesert location with just a few useful resources like iron or copper can definitely enjoy this wonder. For Tall, itjust means an otherwise lackluster area can be worth building a city on, while for sprawling, this wonder is onlyworth building if you want that city to be one of your core production cities. It is quite nice when there are a lotof desert hills as well.

Notre Dame: the faith is great for tall, the happiness is great for sprawl.

Taj Mahal : a free golden age and some extra happiness is very, very useful. Better when combined withChichen Itza, although sprawling empires probably won't find that worth building since golden ages are harder tocome by. They will get more mileage out of the happiness, though.

Statue of Liberty: taking advantage of specialists can be a very important aspect of the game, and the extraproduction can work wonders for both tall and sprawl empires.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Before I go into the specifics for each empire strategy, I'd like to speak about how the different victoryconditions can change your empire. I'm not including conquest/domination victories here, as they change thestrategies so much to require their own section. This section isn't really very in depth as it could be, but really

just to attempts to relate how your choices of a victory condition change your other choices to how you run yourempire.

CULTURALCultural victories primarily focus on two things: artist specialists and wonders. The basic culture buildings willnever generate enough culture quickly enough to win. Tall and Wall has an easier time with culture, althoughSprawl and Wall can do it as well, they just have to focus on getting as many artists working as possible. Farmsare very important to support the large specialist population, and focusing on building Cathedrals in your citieswith faith is very important when sprawling. Piety is very important to fill, which means skipping Rationalism.For tall the final policy should be Freedom of course, while sprawl might still prefer Order. Being able topurchase great engineers with faith allows sprawling empires to quickly finish wonders soon after unlockingthem. While nothing else in the tree specifically benefits culture, the general bonuses per city can help youemphasize culture otherwise, as well as support your economy and protect your borders. Because culture insprawling takes longer to accumulate, you have a higher chance to need to play aggressively near the end of thegame to prevent another civ from winning peacefully. Puppet cities are only modestly helpful for a culturalvictory, as while they don't increase the culture cap, they don't emphasize culture and won't invest in artistspecialists.

DIPLOMATICDiplomatic victories really only need one thing: gold. How you generate gold usually would be trade posts, butmerchant specialists are another way to go, especially for tall empires. Unlike the other peaceful strategies,diplomatic victories require more presence in world politics. City-states must be defended against large civstrying to attack them, so a non-defensive military presence is important, especially a highly mobile one.Patronage is very important for diplomatic victories, but any of the other ones are fine to compliment it.Commerce does have more synergy than others since gold is so important, but is really only worth filling out ona watery map, especially for tall. Diplomatic is a good fallback for an aggressive empire who comes to astandstill, as long as you left those city-states alone when you went on the warpath.

SCIENTIFICScientific victories require the least investment of all the victories, as science is already very important for allempires. You will need a few production cities to build the parts, but the only empire that might have troublewith that is ICS. It is the fallback victory condition if you go to war with both civs and city-states, and reach astalemate near the end of the game. The only social policy that really matters is Rationalism, but even thatdoesn't matter if you can maintain the tech lead. Since Piety will usually be skipped, faith isn't as important,especially for tall empires who will have the weakest faith generation.

TALL AND WALL

Tall and Wall settles only a few cities over the course of the entire game, mostly in the early phases. It takesadvantage of the free buildings provided by tradition to the first four cities founded. lt is able to build nearlyevery building desirable in their cities, and almost all cities will have the production to build wonders. Thepopulations will be very large, and the culture borders will extend very far. It benefits from percentage increasesto resources the most, as it has the highest populations per city and thus the highest base resources beinggenerated. Since the empire is small, the army needed to defend it is small as well, so there is little emphasis onbuilding military buildings or units, giving this strategy even more time to build wonders. Tall and Wall istypically the only strategy to actually build defensive buildings such as walls and castled in all its cities. Thisempire usually maintains the best relations with other civs, and will get the best trading opportunities. It is alsothe easiest to defend because the power is so centralized. Playing a one city challenge would also fall under thiscategory, and tends to be the most extreme form of Tall and Wall. Since this is a peaceful strategy, the type ofvictory will be either cultural, science, or diplomatic.

CIVILIZATIONSThe best civilizations for Tall and Wall are those that support small, centralized empires.

India : There is no civ more focused on Tall and Wall than India. Population Growth is fantastic for growingyour population, while Mughal Fort would only ever be built in this strategy.

Netherlands: Dutch East India Company makes your already good trade deals even better, when you can tradewhat few luxuries you have for luxuries you don't have, and come out better for it. Polder is basically a betterfarm, which you will want a lot of to boost population growth.

Sweden: Nobel Prize requires having declarations of friendship to have any effect, which can be difficult if notimpossible with aggressive strategies. The extra influence to city-states really helps diplomatic victories.

SOCIAL POLICIESFor Tall and Wall, the choices for social policies is rather simple. In addition to the general ones listed above, theTradition and Freedom policy trees are the best choices. Honor and Autocracy usually aren’t worth investing in,as you simply won't get into that much combat with this strategy. Most of the bonuses for Liberty, Commerce,and Order scale per city, which makes them poor choices when you only have so few cities in total.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSFaith is something that can be difficult for Tall and Wall to accumulate. Since there's no late game faithbuildings, you are forced to build wonders that generate faith to accumulate it quickly. Also due to themechanics of how faith spreads, you will heavily rely on missionaries and great prophets to spread it.

Dance of the Aurora, Desert Folklore, Goddess of Festivals, One with Nature, Religious Idols, StoneCircles, Divine Inspiration, Monasteries, and Reliquary: Sprawling empires typically only want to work thebest tiles, and half of these beliefs boost rather poor tiles. The other half boost rather rare tiles, which can beplentiful in small groups but rare overall. These are all heavily dependent on your start, of course, but you canusually pick up one of them. Boosts to faith are much more useful for tall empires since it is much more difficultto accumulate.

Fertility Rites and Swords into Plowshares: maximizing population growth is very important for Tall andWall, and you will try to keep on good terms with other civs.

Monument to the Gods: this strategy will build the most wonders of all of them, and this belief helps you pickup some of the less important but still useful ones.

Interfaith Dialogue, Holy Order, Messiah, and Missionary Zeal: since you have so few cities and thus spreadreligion passively very slowly, bonuses to missionaries and great prophets are extremely useful.

Tithe: since this belief scales per follower, compared to Church Property which scales per city, it is a bettermeans to generate gold for a tall empire.

Peace Loving, Pilgrimage, and World Church: only peaceful strategies can take advantage of beliefs thatdepend on foreign cities.

WONDERSTall and Wall is definitely the best strategy for wonder spamming, especially when going for a cultural victory.Having multiple high-production, high-population cities coupled with bonuses to wonder production results innearly any wonder being worth building. High difficulties will demand choices though, although still allowswonder spamming in some fashion. All national wonders would be considered good wonders to build in thisstrategy, and the following world wonders would be considered best of the many choices.

Temple of Artemis: wonders in the early areas tend to be very competitive to complete, as you don't haveenough time to solidify a tech lead in order to gain access to them first. Of the wonders recommended here, thiswould be the lowest priority, but still very valuable to tall and wall. The extra growth is excellent, as is the bonusproduction for ranged units - the best defending units in the game.

Stonehenge: if you want to found a religion while playing tall, this wonder is how you do it. Since you won't bebuilding very many shrines or temples, generating faith relies primarily on wonders for empires with only a fewcities. This is the first and most direct means of doing so, and is well worth bee-lining to as a starting strategy. Itdoes mean giving up the Great Library, but that can be a worthwhile trade.

The Hanging Gardens: the bonus food is amazing this early in the game, and is still greater than what a hospitalprovides. Definitely an amazing wonder for a one-city challenge, it is still very good for a more typical tall andwall emipre.

The Colossus: when combined with the opener for Commerce social policy and built in the capital, this may beyour entire solution to gold when going tall and wall. With a lighthouse built, the only tiles that beat this in food

and gold production are riverside farms or trade posts. Sprawling will generally get much less mileage out ofthis, since they rely on their many trade post cities to generate gold, and prefer to focus the capital on production.

Great Mosque of Djenne: considering the heavy reliance on missionaries for tall empires to spread theirreligion, this wonder is almost mandatory if you plan to convert the world.

The Hagia Sophia: any wonder which provides a decent amount of faith is usually worth building when goingtall and focusing on religion, and this one provides quite a lot. Assuming you've already enhanced your religion,the holy site combined with the base faith results in an amazing +9 faith from just one wonder!

Chichen Itza: Tall and Wall usually has more excess happiness than it knows what to do with, which results infrequent golden ages. Increases the length by 50% makes this an excellent wonder with good timing.

The Porcelain Tower: the free great scientist is good, but the bonus to research agreements is better. Only apeaceful empire will be able to take full advantage of this wonder.

SPRAWL AND WALL

Sprawl and Wall settles many cities through the game, first clustered near the starting position, but eventuallybranching out into remote sections of the world. If the land has a few resources and/or some workable terrain, it'sworth settling a city there. This strategy attempts to play peacefully, although it is more difficult than Tall andWall, as many civs find land grabs threatening. It's key to maintaining good relations with civs to not grab landnear their borders, or you'll end up in constant war for the rest of the game if you do. Sprawl and Wall usesbonuses that provide per city bonuses, such as those in Liberty. It's important to have a few productionspecialized cities, most likely the capital, where you emphasis farms and population growth along with minesand mills. The other cities are allowed to grow slowly, and are mostly filled with trading posts. Wonders can stillbe useful in Sprawl and Wall, and you'll build more of them than in Sprawl and Maul since you aren’t buildingsuch an extensive military. Even the tall cities won't be as tall as those in true Tall and Wall cities though, sinceyou will lack much of the growth modifiers. Since this is a peaceful strategy, the type of victory will be eithercultural, science, or diplomatic.

CIVILIZATIONSThe best civilizations for Sprawl and Wall are those that support large, dispersed empires.

Austria : Diplomatic Marriage is one of the best ways to expand peacefully even when there's no more room todo so. You don't take a diplomatic hit as you would for taking out a city-state either. You should still be cautiousabout taking a city-state that borders a civ, as they will incur clashing borders and build resentment. CoffeeHouse is icing on the cake, although typically will only really benefit your production specialized cities.

Carthage: Phoenician Heritage is very powerful in watery maps, less so for continents, and only moderatelyuseful for pangea. It is still excellent regardless, as it lets you set up trade route income instantly as well asremoving maintenance to support it.

Celts: the faith per forest from Druidic Lore is nice at first, allowing you to quickly set up a religion withouteven building a shrine. Its usefulness wanes as time passes though, but Ceilidh Hall is exceptional for asprawling empire, as happiness can be a real issue when you still have room to expand.

China: Art of War won't get much use in a peaceful game, but Paper Maker is great. Gold can be a real issueearly in the game, especially before you research trade posts. With China, that's not much of a problem.

France: Ancien Regime is a really fantastic early in the game, and you can completely ignore culture buildingsuntil you have finished your initial setup phase. It's better in pangea type maps where steam power is lessimportant.

Inca: Great Andean Road will save you a lot of gold in maintenance, and allows you to move between citiesmuch easier with workers. Terrace Farm will rarely be built, but when it is it can be ridiculous in itseffectiveness. With the Inca, the number of locations you can drop a city that can support itself is certainlyhigher than for most civs.

Iroquois: The Great Warpath will save you a lot of time building roads, as well as maintenance to support atrade network. Longhouse ensures your production cities will really be producing a lot while still having the foodto support population growth.

Maya: The Long Court is nice, but the synergy comes from Pyramid, which will ensure every city will beproducing a lot of faith and science almost immediately.

Polynesia: being able to explore and settle remote islands immediately can be very powerful when playing asprawling empire, as it allows you to sprawl even if you're closed off by neighbors on land. Make sure not tooverextend though, as those remote cities will need defending. Moai is decent for a cultural victory, as itprovides 1/3 of an artist specialist which can feed itself.

Rome: The Glory of Rome, despite being a percentage increase, is actually more suited for a sprawling empirethan a tall one. The reason being is that by specializing your capital for production, you ensure it builds buildingsquickly which then allows all the trade post cities to gain the benefit from it.

Songhai: River Warlord isn't much for this type empire, although the extra gold from barbarian huts can be niceat times. Instead, it is Mud Pyramid Mosque that is useful, providing a maintenance and free culture from anearly game building.

Spain: Seven Cities of Gold is marginal but can be useful if you get lucky. Sprawling empires typically put moreeffort into exploration, and some of the bonuses provided by natural wonders can be very useful. Conquistador isalso perfect for this kind of empire though, as it functions as a settler and scout combined with a knight toquickly explore new territory and settle cities without needing an escort.

Sweden: Nobel Prize requires having declarations of friendship to have any effect, which can be difficult if notimpossible with aggressive strategies. The extra influence to city-states really helps diplomatic victories.

SOCIAL POLICIESFor Sprawl and Wall, the choice for social policies is rather simple, much like with Tall and Wall. Since youhave a sprawling empire, you'll want to pick up Liberty and Order, as they both provide excellent bonuses forthis play style. Honor and Autocracy aren’t worth it if you're playing peacefully, and the general ones are goodchoices as well. Sprawl and Wall does have an additional choice in Commerce, which plays well with a tradepost empire, and even more so if you have a lot of coastal cities.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSCompared to Tall and Wall, this strategy has a much easier time developing faith through shrines and temples,especially with Organized Religion. It is also much easier to passively spread religion, so missionaries and greatprophets aren’t as important. Instead, the focus on beliefs should center on increasing the returns per city. Thefree great person from liberty is also a great way to found a religion, and can be well worth it if you want to getyour religion up and running quickly.

Ancestor Worship, God of Craftsmen, Goddess of Love, Messenger of the Gods, Sacred Waters,Ceremonial Burial, Church Property, Initiation Rite s, Asceticism, Choral Music, Feed the World,Guruship, Liturgical Drama, and Religious Center: these beliefs all scale per city, and are a great way toincrease your returns without having to worry about tiles.

God of the Open Sky, God of the Sea, Goddess of the Hunt, One With Nature, and Oral Tradition : thesebeliefs all scale per tile, and they are all common tiles to be working. Since the population per city is generallylow, you will only want them to work the best tiles, and these beliefs make the best tiles even better.

Peace Loving and World Church: only peaceful strategies can take advantage of beliefs that depend on foreigncities.

Itinerant Preachers, Religious Texts, and Religious Unity : these beliefs all enhance your passive religionspreading, allowing you to not even bother with missionaries except for remote cities. Religious Texts is the bestof the three, especially after Printing Press.

Cathedrals, Mosques, and Pagodas: these buildings are excellent for a sprawling empire, as they help to createa snowball effect with faith. Say you have ten cities, each with a shrine and temple as well as Organized

Religion. That right there is +5 faith per city, and adding just one of these adds another +2 or +3. You're lookingat +70 or +80 faith per turn without even building a single wonder!

WONDERSSprawl and Wall won't be building nearly as many wonder as Tall and Wall, although it will probably build asmany as Tall and Maul - but completely different ones. Only one or two cities will probably have to productionto build wonders, although all you really need is a high-production capital and either marble or Monument to theGods to be competitive. This strategy will eventually be able to build all the nation wonders, although it maytake much longer than usual to do so.

Machu Pichu: trade routes are a major source of income for any sprawling empires, and increasing it by such alarge amount can be a large increase to gold generated per turn.

The Forbidden Palace: considering you are playing peaceful, all your cities will be considered non-occupied.Happiness can be a major issue for any sprawling empire, so wonders that address it specifically are usuallyworth investing in.

The Porcelain Tower: the free great scientist is good, but the bonus to research agreements is better. Only apeaceful empire will be able to take full advantage of this wonder.

Big Ben: considering that production is usually low but gold income is usually high, the wonder meshesperfectly with a sprawling empire.

Eiffel Tower: more happiness is always welcomed, even if you're not going for a cultural victory.

Neuschwanstein: surprised to see this here? Castles aren't that difficult to build once your expansion periodslows down and you start building up populations. Bonuses per city this high is very powerful.

CN Tower: the extra population and happiness will be a major boost when you control a dozen or two cities, andthe free broadcast towers are useful even if you're not going for culture.

TALL AND MAUL

Tall and Maul starts off like Tall and Wall, settling a few cities and developing the population and infrastructure.Tall and Wall uses this time to build wonders, while Tall and Maul is preparing for war. It may still build a fewkey wonders, and will be better at it than the sprawling empires, but it's main focus is on the troops. This type ofconquest focuses on building a strong base to continuously churn out units in war time. Since the number ofcities is smaller, it will have to go through periods of peace to continue developing the infrastructure as techs areunlocked. When conquering cities, it's important to only keep the good ones - capitals and any city placed ingood terrain with resources. Small cities that can't support themselves are just a drain on the resources, and notworth keeping around - raze or sell and move on. The cities that are captures can either be turned into trade postcities to generate gold for the massive armies, or developed into true tall cities by building their population andproduction. City-states are usually let alone or allied, as other than a luxury resource or two, they are pretty oftenin crappy terrain. Generally, Tall and Maul will need much more trade post cities than production cities, as itdoesn't have the high free unit maintenance that sprawling empires do, although the maintenance for buildingsand roads will be much less of a problem. It will never be as wealthy, although the science and population willbe comparable once you start warmongering. The production will always be better in this empire, and wondersand units are much easier to build from scratch.

CIVILIZATIONSThe best civilizations for Tall and Maul are those that support aggressive, centralized empires.

Aztec: Sacrificial Captives can be a lot fun, and plays perfectly for warmongering. Floating Gardens is also goodfor this strategy, as rivers make great places to settle cities anyways, and the AI favors them as well.

China: Art of War is great for aggressive play, although you won't get much use out of the Paper Makerscompared to a sprawling empire.

Germany: Furor Tuetonicus is at its strongest in this kind of empire, as unit maintenance is highest here. Thefree units are just icing on the cake.

Inca: unlike sprawling empires, the gold saved from maintenance isn't the real value here - it's the ability tomove troops through hills quickly, maintaining defensive positions while moving through enemy terrain. TerraceFarm is nice but will very rarely be built, although it works well with high population cities and observatories.

India : despite being perfect for Tall and Wall, India does reasonably well with this kind of strategy. Whenplaying India aggressively, it's even more important than usual to not keep weak and pathetic cities, as the drainwill be higher thanks to Population Growth. Mughal Fort can be completely ignored, but it's not like it was veryimportant for Tall and Wall either.

Japan: Bushido is all about fighting. Not much more to say than that.

Ottomans: for a continent map Barbary Corsairs is good, for anything with more water it is awesome. Much likewith Germany, unit maintenance will be a large drain on the coffers.

Rome: The Glory of Rome won't be much of a factor in the initial cities you settle yourself, but will allow thecities you conquer to quickly build the infrastructure you desire.

SOCIAL POLICIESFor Tall and Maul, the choice of social policies depends on whether you want to focus on your empire or yourmilitary more. The first choice is either Tradition or Honor, although I would suggest Tradition to help youquickly develop your cities, since you generally delay warmongering until you've got a strong group of corecities. Piety, Patronage, and Rationalism are all fine choices. Commerce can be useful on watery maps, but mostof it just isn't synergetic enough to justify investing it. The final choice will be either Autocracy, Freedom, orOrder. Freedom has several weak policies, such as Universal Suffrage and Constitution, while Order's bonusesmight not be much since the total number of cities you control won't be terribly high. Planned Economy isdefinitely the best policy in Order, although it might not be worth investing in other policies just for it. Mysuggestion: Autocracy, and have fun with it!

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSTall and Maul will have trouble building faith early in the game, unless you go for a faith wonder. The numberof cities will be low, and since they are spread out, you will need missionaries and great prophets to spreadreligion. Basically, this strategy uses the same beliefs as Tall and Wall, with a few key differences.

Dance of the Aurora, Desert Folklore, Goddess of Festivals, One with Nature, Religious Idols, StoneCircles, Divine Inspiration, Monasteries, and Reliquary: Much like for Tall and Wall, boosts to faith aremuch more useful for tall empires since it is much more difficult to accumulate compared to sprawling empires.

Fertility Rites : maximizing population growth is very important for Tall and Maul.

Monument to the Gods: this strategy may build a decent number of wonders, especially in the early gamebefore mass conquest commences.

Interfaith Dialogue, Holy Order, Messiah, and Missionary Zeal: since you have few cities which are fairlyspread out, and passive religion spreading is very slow, bonuses to missionaries and great prophets are extremelyuseful.

Tithe: since this belief scales per follower, compared to Church Property which scales per city, it is a bettermeans to generate gold for a tall empire.

Just War: well this is always fun. Spread your religion via missionaries, then declare war and reap a sweetcombat bonus.

WONDERSTall and Maul has two main reasons to go tall before conquest: high production for units and for wonders. It maynot be a bad strategy to delay mass conquest until you build a few critical wonders to take advantage of. Ofcourse, you still retain the ability to build wonders later in the game, but by then you should be focusing more onunits to continue your conquest than wonders. National Wonders will be easy to build, especially the ones thatcome early before you begin your major conquest efforts.

Temple of Artemis: wonders in the early areas tend to be very competitive to complete, as you don't haveenough time to solidify a tech lead in order to gain access to them first. Of the wonders recommended here, thiswould be the lowest priority, but still very valuable to tall and maul. The extra growth is excellent, as is thebonus production for ranged units - excellent for both offense and defense.

Stonehenge: if you want to found a religion while playing tall, this wonder is how you do it. While you willeventually be able to build many shrines and temples, your early game will most likely mimic tall and wall infaith generation. This is the first and most direct means of doing so, and is well worth bee-lining to as a startingstrategy. It does mean giving up the Great Library, but that can be a worthwhile trade.

Statue of Zeus: this wonder allows taking down cities to be an easier process, although clearing out enemy unitsis usually the greater burden. This works very well the archer units since the bonus is additive, not multiplicative,with the bonus siege units get against cities.

Great Mosque of Djenne: considering the heavy reliance on missionaries for tall empires to spread theirreligion, this wonder is almost mandatory if you plan to convert the world.

The Hagia Sophia: any wonder which provides a decent amount of faith is usually worth building when goingtall and focusing on religion, and this one provides quite a lot. Assuming you've already enhanced your religion,the holy site combined with the base faith results in an amazing +9 faith from just one wonder!

Alhambra : the culture is nice, as is the castle. The real bonus is the free promotion, which is especially useful inyour main unit production city. If you have a period of peace during the time this is unlocked, it can be wellworth building.

Brandenburg Gate: this wonder is much like the Alhambra, but more flexible as it gives all units their firstpromotion free. Stacking it's effects with the Alhambra, the Heroic Epic, and the regular barrack-type buildingscan result in some seriously high-level troops being produced.

Pentagon: large armies and fewer cities can result in high unit maintenance, and upgrading them all can be aserious problem for your pocketbook. While this wonder is powerful, it comes very late for the effect, so onlyconsider building it if it looks like it will take you all the way to the Information Era to win the game.

SPRAWL AND MAUL

Sprawl and Maul starts off like Sprawl and Wall, quickly building settlers and claiming the surrounding terrain.Depending on how close your neighbors are, this phase can end very quickly. The next step is to quickly build apassable military, usually relying on a tech advantage or unique unit to give the power to begin conquest.Unlocking swordsman, catapults, or horsemen will usually quickly usher in this second phase. The third, andmost likely final phase, is a continuous series of aggressive campaigns. Moreso than tall and maul, sprawl andmaul has the ability to continuously put pressure on enemy civs. Tall and maul relies on several high-productioncities, which means it usually must go through periods of light warfare to build infrastructure after researchingseveral techs. Sprawl and maul usually only has one core production city - the capital - at least early in the game,but is less reliant on it overall. Sprawling empires have two main advantages over tall ones: higher populationleads to higher science, and more gold generated from non-core cities, mostly thanks to that higher population.The higher city count reduces total unit maintenance (although this is partially countered by higher buildingmaintenance) coupled with the greater income from trade routes and trade posts means gold purchases are farmore relevant. It is still a good idea to designate a few high-production, high-population cities for wonders andunit production.

CIVILIZATIONSThe best civilizations for Sprawl and Maul are those that support aggressive, dispersed empires.

America: Manifest Destiny has two parts - increasing sight for land units, which can be useful at times,especially for siege units, but not very strong overall. The second part cuts the gold cost of buying tiles in half,which can save you a lot of gold when building a sprawling empire, as it lets you focus on what sprawlingempires do best (generate gold) and downplay what they do worst (generate culture, especially if not puppets).Neither half of Manifest Destiny are very strong, but if you manage an empire than can take advantage of both ofthem, then America can actually be an excellent choice.

Carthage: Phoenician Heritage is very powerful in watery maps, less so for continents, and only moderatelyuseful for pangea. It is still excellent regardless, as it lets you set up trade route income instantly as well asremoving maintenance to support it. Being able to move units through mountains allows you penetrate defensiveterrain easily and makes taking enemy cities easier.

Celts: the faith per forest from Druidic Lore is nice at first, allowing you to quickly set up a religion withouteven building a shrine. Its usefulness wanes as time passes though, but Ceilidh Hall is exceptional for asprawling empire, as happiness can be a real issue when you still have room to expand. It is a midgame buildingthough, and may take awhile for puppets to build. This is a shame since it is a cultural building.

China: Art of War won't is a powerful military ability, while Paper Maker can be powerful for sprawlingempires. Gold can be a real issue early in the game, especially before you research trade posts. China is very wellsuited for this kind of empire.

France: Ancien Regime is a really fantastic early in the game, and has strong synergy with puppets, giving you astrong backup plan to win cultural if domination becomes a stalemate. It's better in pangea type maps wheresteam power is less important.

Germany: Furor Tuetonicus is strong in any empire with fields a large army, although a sprawling empire canhandle a large army easier than a tall one due to how unit maintenance is calculated.

Huns: Scourge of God is unique suited for this kind of empire. Starting with Animal Husbandry allows you toquickly enter the warmongering phase, while the extra production to pastures is excellent for sprawling citieswho only want to work the best tiles anyways.

Inca: Great Andean Road will save you a lot of gold in maintenance, and allows your military units to maneuverthrough enemy terrain easier as well as maintain stronger defensive positions. With the Inca, the number oflocations you can drop a city that can support itself is certainly higher than for most civs.

Iroquois: The Great Warpath will save you a lot of time building roads, as well as maintenance to support atrade network. Longhouse ensures your production cities will really be producing a lot while still having the foodto support population growth.

Japan: Bushido is all about fighting. Not much more to say than that.

Maya: The Long Court is nice, but the synergy comes from Pyramid, which will ensure every city will beproducing a lot of faith and science almost immediately.

Mongolia: the main benefit of Mongal Terror is the boon to mounted movement speed, but Sprawl and Maul canhandedly take advantage of the bonus when attacking city-states, who usually have the highest defense cities aswell a large number of units protecting it nearby.

Ottomans: for a continent map Barbary Corsairs is good, for anything with more water it is awesome. Much likewith Germany, unit maintenance is a large cost, although not as much of a bother as for tall empires.

Rome: Much like Sprawl and Wall, your capital will be a major production city, while the majority of your othercities will have low production and focus on trade posts. The Glory of Rome will ensure any cities you fromconquest will be productive that much quicker.

Songhai: River Warlord can be very nice when playing aggresivly, although it still a small boon. It does becomemuch better on aquatic maps. The Mud Pyramid Mosque also has great synergy, providing a maintenance freeand extra culture from an early game building.

SOCIAL POLICIESFor Sprawl and Maul, the choice for social policies is complex, depending on whether you want to focus moreon the militant or economic aspects of your empire. The first choice is Liberty versus Honor, and this decision isbest made in regard to how much room you have for peaceful expansion. If you don't have any neighbors nearby,Liberty will let you expand quickly and efficiently, as well as give you a free great person (most likely to found areligion). If you find your neighbors to be nearby or sprawling themselves, going Honor and immediatelybuilding an army of warriors and archers is a workable strategy. Commerce is another policy that can be useful,

but usually only if you're on a watery map. The final choice will be Order versus Autocracy. If you findmanaging your empire easy at this late point in the game (perhaps by spreading a religion with good bonuses),choosing to improve your military might be the better choice. Going into Order will make managing your empireeasier, as well as increase your science to help out tech your enemies.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSMuch like Sprawl and Wall, spreading religion will be easy with many close cities, although you will have toinvest in inquisitors for the cities you take over, especially the capitals. Otherwise, faith is easy to generate andthe focus on beliefs should center on increasing the returns per city. The free great person from liberty is also agreat way to found a religion, and can be well worth it if you want to get your religion up and running quickly.

Ancestor Worship, God of Craftsmen, Goddess of Love, Messenger of the Gods, Sacred Waters,Ceremonial Burial, Church Property, Initiation Rite s, Asceticism, Choral Music, Feed the World,Guruship, Liturgical Drama, and Religious Center: these beliefs all scale per city, and are a great way toincrease your returns without having to worry about tiles.

God of the Open Sky, God of the Sea, Goddess of the Hunt, One With Nature, and Oral Tradition : thesebeliefs all scale per tile, and they are all common tiles to be working. Since the population per city is generallylow, you will only want them to work the best tiles, and these beliefs make the best tiles even better.

Itinerant Preachers, Religious Texts, and Religious Unity : these beliefs all enhance your passive religionspreading, allowing you to not even bother with missionaries except for remote cities. Religious Texts is the bestof the three, especially after Printing Press.

Cathedrals, Mosques, and Pagodas: these buildings are excellent for a sprawling empire, as they help to createa snowball effect with faith. Say you have ten cities, each with a shrine and temple as well as OrganizedReligion. That right there is +5 faith per city, and adding just one of these adds another +2 or +3. You're lookingat +70 or +80 faith per turn without even building a single wonder!

Holy Warriors : Sprawl and Maul doesn't have the production that Tall and Maul does to create units, especiallyearly in the game. Usually, this lack of production is compensated with the increased gold generation buypurchasing units with gold. This belief adds another facet to this dynamic: using faith to buy units, which isanother resource sprawling empires are excellent at generating.

WONDERSOf all the main empire strategies, Sprawl and Maul will have the most difficulty building wonders, as yourproduction cities will focus on units as well. Of course, you will be take wonders over through conquest, butthat's not really something you can plan out ahead of time. This strategy will most likely never be able to buildall the nation wonders, or at least not the later ones.

Statue of Zeus: this wonder allows taking down cities to be an easier process, although clearing out enemy unitsis usually the greater burden. This works very well the archer units since the bonus is additive, not multiplicative,with the bonus siege units get against cities.

Machu Pichu: trade routes are a major source of income for any sprawling empires, and increasing it by such alarge amount can be a large increase to gold generated per turn.

Alhambra : the culture is nice, as is the castle. The real bonus is the free promotion, which is especially useful inyour main unit production city. If you have a period of peace during the time this is unlocked, it can be wellworth building.

Brandenburg Gate: this wonder is much like the Alhambra, but more flexible as it gives all units their firstpromotion free. Stacking it's effects with the Alhambra, the Heroic Epic, and the regular barrack-type buildingscan result in some seriously high-level troops being produced.

Big Ben: considering that production is usually low but gold income is usually high, the wonder meshesperfectly with a sprawling empire.

Eiffel Tower: more happiness is always welcomed, even if you're not going for a cultural victory. Probably onlyworth investing in with a puppet empire, as otherwise you just won't have enough social policies.

CN Tower: the extra population and happiness will be a major boost when you control a dozen or two cities, andthe free broadcast towers are useful even if you're not going for culture, especially for puppet empires.

INSANE CITY SPRAWL

Insane City Sprawl (ICS) is a heavily micro-management empire that requires a lot of effort, but can provideexcellent gains in return. It is essentially a specialized version of Sprawl and Maul, that focuses on min/maxingevery aspect of the empire. Unlike Sprawl and Maul, you don't just settle cities in decent locations, you settlethem everywhere. For example, let's say you explore your nearby area after starting the game. With traditionalSprawl and Maul, you'd pick the best spots to settle now and a few more that might be good if a resource isrevealed there. With ICS, you analyze the maximum possible cities you can fit in that area, even if several are inotherwise terrible locations. While resources and good tiles are important, maximizing synergies is even moreso.ICS requires capping population to continue expansion, and must micromanage each one to maximize efficiency.Initially, each city placed should be placed three tiles away and with the populations capped at three as well. Thiscauses the trade route income to balance out the road maintenance. Once you get a few happiness bonuses(coliseums, religion, etcetera) you can slowly increase the population for all cities, although you won't be able toget to six population or higher until you can build theatres. Of course, you will still want one or two high-production cities to build wonders and units. Because of the need to heavily micromanage all your cities, youwill never maintain a puppet empire. It may even be worthwhile to raze and resettle the area.

CIVILIZATIONSThe best civilizations for ICS are those that maximize efficiency per city.

Carthage: Phoenician Heritage is perfect for ICS on watery maps, as trade route maintenance will be one ofyour biggest expenses. The ability to penetrate mountains is just an added bonus.

Celts: ICS is limited by happiness like no other strategy, so any civ that provides happiness on a unique buildingwill work well with ICS. It is unfortunate that the building is a rather low priority one otherwise.

China: One of the best civs for ICS, as you need military strength to continue expansion, and libraries aretypically the first building built in any new city.

France: Ancien Regime is another ICS friendly civs, allowing to you quickly gain social policies, especiallysince you won't be maintaining puppets.

Huns: Even moreso than Sprawl and Maul, Scourge of God works very well in ICS, for much the same reasons.ICS though will want to raze and resettle sometimes, and halving the time it takes to do that can pay dividends inhow much total gold and science you generate per turn.

Inca: Great Andean Road will save you a lot of gold in maintenance, and allows your military units to maneuverthrough enemy terrain easier as well as maintain stronger defensive positions. Terrance Farms may be the onlysource of food in some city locations, which lets the Inca ICS in certain terrain much easier.

Iroquois: The Great Warpath will save you a lot of time building roads, as well as maintenance to support atrade network. Longhouse ensures your production cities will really be producing a lot while still having the foodto support population growth.

Maya: The Long Court is nice, but the synergy comes from Pyramid, which will ensure every city will beproducing a lot of faith and science almost immediately. When a city only has three population and a library,adding +2 science will increase total science generated by about a third!

Mongolia: the main benefit of Mongal Terror is the boon to mounted movement speed, but ICS will definitelybe taking city-states to maximize city placement.

Ottomans: for a continent map Barbary Corsairs is good, for anything with more water it is awesome. Unitmaintenance isn't really as much of a problem for ICS as other strategies though.

Rome: For the same reasons as Sprawl and Maul, Rome will increase your production in the cities that need itmost.

Songhai: River Warlord can be very nice when playing aggressively, although it still a small boon. It doesbecome much better on aquatic maps. The Mud Pyramid Mosque also has great synergy, allowing you to gainsocial policies quickly.

SOCIAL POLICIESFor ICS, the choice for social policies is actually much simpler than for Sprawl and Maul. Because the focus isto maximize synergies with having many small cities, starting with Liberty and ending with Order are really thebest choices overall. Honor can be picked up after Liberty to complement it, but Commerce should be givenpriority over it, as the synergies it provides overwhelm those in Honor. For example, Sprawl and Maul may havethe time and resources to build walls for extra happiness, but ICS never will. ICS is the most focused ongenerating resources from cities, such as faith, gold, and science, and should choose social policies to maximizethat focus. It will also have the most difficulty generating culture, considering it will have an overwhelmingnumber of cities and no desire to puppet them. More than any other strategy, cherry picking specific policiesfrom trees instead of taking a few weak ones to fill it out can be a good choice. Liberty and Order are both worthcompletely filling out. The only really good policies in Honor for ICS are Discipline and Military Tradition; forPiety that would be Organized Religion and Theocracy; Commerce is worth filling out on a watery map,otherwise only the right side is worth investing in. Rationalism can be difficult to take advantage of, as you maystruggle with happiness, and find your cities taking a very long time to build any science buildings. Secularismand Free Thought are the best policies in the tree. Scientific Revolution is pretty much worthless, as that far inthe game you most likely won't have a single friend after all the warmongering.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFSICS has the easiest time generating faith and spreading religion compared to any other strategy. It may struggleinitially to found a religion, which is what makes the free great person from liberty so valuable in ICS. While inany other strategy, I'd say you could safely ignore religion and still win the game, ICS really depends on certainbeliefs. The beliefs here are similar for Sprawl and Maul, although there are a few key differences. Beliefs thatenhance certain tiles are generally not useful, since you may have a single tile in range of multiple cities, andonly one can work it.

God of Craftsmen, Messenger of the Gods, Ceremonial Burial, Church Property, Initiation Rites,Asceticism, Feed the World, Guruship, Liturgical Drama: these beliefs scale the best per city for ICS, andspecial note should be made about Messenger of the Gods and Guruship, which are both by far the strongestbeliefs for ICS.

Itinerant Preachers and Religious Texts: these beliefs both enhance your passive religion spreading, allowingyou to not even bother with missionaries except for remote cities. Religious Texts is the best of the two,especially after Printing Press.

Pagodas: this building can make or break ICS, as adding two happiness per city for zero production is incrediblypowerful. While you can still ICS without it, you will have to make up the happiness deficit in other ways.

Holy Warriors : ICS will generate faith by the bucket-load, especially if you invest in Organized Religion.While Pagodas are an excellent investment for that faith, this is a viable alternative if your civ or other beliefscan make up for the lack of happiness.

WONDERSICS doesn't really build wonders. It may want to invest in one or two, but even then that's stretching resourcesvery thinly. The wonders it would want to build are all pretty much the same as Sprawl and Maul. I would saythat the best wonders to build would be Machu Pichu and Big Ben.