The best leaders in civilization 5. Brief description of the most powerful and interesting civilizations

Unique skill “Manifest Destiny”: Increases visibility of units and gives a discount when purchasing cells.

Unique units: Minuteman (replaces the musketeer), B-17 bomber (replaces the bomber).

The United States of America is a world superpower, which means that if it wants, the United States can destroy the entire planet. This is a relatively young state: it was created in late XVIII century, practically self-destructed in the middle of the 19th century and became the most powerful military, economic, technological and cultural force in the 20th century. Who knows what awaits the United States in the twenty-first century?

Leader: George Washington (1732–1799 AD)

George Washington was one of the outstanding people who lived in the American colonies at the end of the 18th century. He was less militant than John Adams, less imaginative than Benjamin Franklin, and less brilliantly minded than Thomas Jefferson. Nevertheless, Washington was a true leader in both war and peace. Under his leadership, the Continental Army was victorious against an extremely powerful rival, and this triumph brought independence and freedom to the United States. Washington faced adversity with great strength and courage, and for his sake people were ready to die.

Interesting fact: American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon. This happened on July 20, 1969.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “The sun never sets on the empire”: +2 XP for all naval units that can move across the ocean.

Unique units: English archer (replaces the crossbowman), battleship (replaces the frigate).

England is located in Great Britain, on a “green and pleasant” island off the western coast of Europe. It is the largest part of the political entity known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As a seafaring nation, the British have spent the last 500 years extending their power not only in Europe, but throughout the world.

Although the island nation lost most of its colonies after the First and Second World Wars, its inhabitants have not lost their pride. And today, in beginning of XXI century, Great Britain remains one of the leading powers in Europe and the world.

Leader: Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603)

Elizabeth I was an amazing woman who lived in an amazing time. Her unmistakable survival instinct, ability to “go over the head,” personal charm and cruelty put her on a par with the most powerful rulers in history. No words can describe her better than her own: “I know I have a body, and it is the body of a weak and helpless woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.”

Interesting fact: Before the invention of the mechanical clock in the 14th century, the most advanced and complex device in Europe, and perhaps in the whole world, was the organ in Winchester Cathedral in England. It was created around 950 AD. and consisted of 400 pipes. Air was pumped using 26 bellows, which required 70 people to operate.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Trading caravan”: Gold +2 from each trade route.

Unique unit: archer on a camel (replaces the knight).

Unique building: bazaar (replaces the market).

The Caliphate (Arab Kingdom) arose after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. It was founded by the disciples of Muhammad, who developed the political foundations laid down by him. During its existence, the caliphate grew greatly, absorbing Spain, North Africa, Middle East, Anatolia, Balkans and Persia. The Arab lands were comparable to the lands of the Roman Empire at the zenith of its power, and perhaps even surpassed them.

Leader: Harun al-Rashid (763–809 AD)

Harun al-Rashid, or Harun the Just (reigned 785–809) was the fifth caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. At this time, the caliphate stretched from Spain in the west to Anatolia in the north and India in the east - it was the largest and most powerful political force in the world. Harun was an excellent ruler, and his reign became an era of scientific and cultural advancement of the country and prosperity of his subjects.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Sacrifice of prisoners”: For each enemy unit killed, the empire receives culture points.

Unique unit: jaguar (replaces warrior).

Unique building: floating gardens (replaces the water mill).

The Aztec Empire was a powerful civilization that existed in Central Mexico for about a hundred years (in the 15th–16th centuries). The Aztecs reached incredible heights in cultural development. Nowadays, the Aztecs are often mentioned in connection with their bloody religious rituals. The incredibly sudden death of their civilization as a result of a collision with an external threat still causes a lot of controversy.

Leader: Montezuma (1397–1469 AD)

A mighty warrior and leader, Montezuma I raised the Aztec power to the heights of glory and greatness. He should not be confused with his unfortunate grandson Montezuma II, who helplessly watched the destruction of his empire by the Spanish conquistadors. Montezuma expanded the borders of his empire, personally leading his troops from victory to victory. He worked hard to improve the lives of his subjects. Under Montezuma's rule, the Aztec Empire truly flourished.

Interesting fact: The Aztec calendar consisted of two cycles that were counted in parallel: the Xiupoualli - a civil cycle of 365 days, and the Tonalpohualli - a sacred calendar of 260 days. Every 52 years, the completion of these cycles coincided, marking the end of one century and the beginning of the next.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Teutonic Fury”: When destroying a barbarian camp, there is a 50% chance of receiving 25 units. gold and a barbarian unit that will join you.

Unique units: Landsknecht (replaces the pikeman), “Panzer” (replaces the tank).

Various Germanic tribes have inhabited northern central Europe for several millennia, but the modern political entity called Germany is quite young: it was formed by the brilliant Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck about 140 years ago. During the short period of its existence, Germany had a great influence on the history of mankind. After the First and Second World Wars, which became a disaster for the country, Germany established a strong alliance with its former rival, France, and concentrated its efforts on restoring the industrial, scientific and technical potential of the country. Thanks to these efforts, Germany once again became one of the leading European powers.

Leader: Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) Otto von Bismarck, nicknamed the Iron Chancellor, was probably the most significant figure in German history. During its long political career Bismarck unified Germany and laid the foundations of an empire. As a result, Germany transformed from a weak and loose confederation of states into a powerful country that occupied a dominant position in continental Europe.

Interesting fact: It’s not for nothing that Germany is known as a “beer country.” On its territory there are almost 1,300 breweries, which brew almost 5,000 types of beer. Germans consume an average of 140 liters of beer per year per person and are second only to the Irish and Czechs in this indicator.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Hellenic League”: the impact on policies decreases twice as slowly and is restored twice as quickly.

Unique units: hetaira (replaces the horseman), hoplite (replaces the spearman).

This country has had a truly enormous influence on Western culture and history. Classical Greece produced many of the world's greatest artists, philosophers, scientists, historians, playwrights and generals. The warriors and colonists of this state spread their culture throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East, from where it began its victorious march throughout the world.

The Greeks are credited with an incredible number of discoveries and cultural achievements. They were the first to hold sports competitions, write poems and build buildings specifically for theatrical productions. When it comes to politics, the Greeks gave the world the concept of democracy and republic. The influence of this country is still felt everywhere: modern doctors take the Hippocratic oath, and architects are guided by classical ancient Greek proportions. Western civilization can largely be said to be a continuation of the civilization of classical Greece.

Leader: Alexander the Great (356–323 BC)

Alexander the Great is undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders of all times. In just 13 years, he victoriously led his army through Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, conquering all the civilizations along the way. His conquests allowed the Hellenic culture to spread throughout the known world, Greek became the language of culture, science and art for the next few centuries in many states.

Interesting fact: The Greek national anthem consists of 158 verses. At present, no Greek knows them all.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Monument Builders”: miracle creation speed +20%.

Unique unit: war chariot (replaces the chariot archer).

Unique building: tomb (replaces monastery).

Few civilizations have left such a deep mark on human history as the Egyptian one, which arose on the banks of the Nile about 5,000 years ago. No wonder it is considered one of the most ancient on our planet. It was in Egypt that writing was invented. This happened around 3000 BC. In addition, using complex mathematical formulas, Egyptian priests calculated the movement of planets across the sky with great accuracy. And, of course, the Egyptians were the greatest architects of antiquity. They created majestic monuments and temples, which we still look at with reverence to this day.

Leader: Ramesses the Great (1303–1203 BC)

Ramesses II is considered the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of Egypt. Having ascended the throne at the age of twenty, he ruled the country for more than sixty years. Ramesses is remembered for his military talents, as well as for the extensive construction program. He also erected new capital- Per-Ramesses.

Interesting fact: There are many versions of how the famous Great Sphinx lost its nose. The most popular one attributes the damage to the sculpture to a French cannonball that hit the Sphinx in 1798. However, according to the notes of the Danish traveler Norden, in 1737 the statue was already damaged. The medieval Cairo historian al-Maqrizi accuses the Islamic fanatic Saim al-Dakhra, who was lynched in 1378 for vandalism, of a crime against culture.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Population Growth”: people's dissatisfaction with the number of cities doubles, and discontent with the total population decreases by half. (Build fewer cities, but let their population grow!).

Unique unit: war elephant (replaces the archer on the chariot).

Unique building: Red Fort (replaces the castle).

The Republic of India is the second most populous and largest democratic state. India is a land of contrasts, a land of astonishing wealth and appalling poverty. Developed modern cities Here they coexist with backward villages, beauty with ugliness, hope with despair. This is the cradle of one of the most ancient civilizations on the planet. Today, India is again striving to take its rightful place among the world's greatest powers.

Leader: Gandhi (1869–1948)

Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian patriot who led the nonviolent movement for Indian independence from British imperial rule in the mid-20th century. He became the founder of "satyagraha", or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, which had a huge impact on the struggle for Indian sovereignty.

Interesting fact: The Indian film industry is called Bollywood. More films are shot there every year than in the US, France, Italy and China combined.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Warpath”: Units can move through forest and rainforest as if they were roads in friendly territory.

Unique unit: Mohawk warrior (replaces swordsman).

Unique building: long house (replaces the workshop).

The Iroquois League formed around 1579 AD. It was an alliance of five (later six) American Indian tribes. The Iroquois are an amazing people: their population probably never exceeded 20 thousand people, they had no written language and no industrial base, and yet for two centuries they held off the onslaught of the French, English, Dutch and later American colonists.

Leader: Hiawatha (born c. 1450)

Hiawatha (or Aionventa) is the legendary leader of the Onondaga Indians, who, together with the no less legendary Deganavida, created an alliance of Iroquois tribes. Little is known about Hiawatha. He taught his people agriculture, navigation, medicine and art. Hiawatha was also considered a talented speaker: it was he who managed to persuade five tribes - Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Mohawk - to form the League of Hodenoshi, that is, an alliance of tribes.

Interesting fact: In 1772, near the settlement of Elizabethton, the first constitution written by Europeans in America was adopted. It was based on the code of laws of the Iroquois League, or the “Great Law of Peace,” formed by an alliance of Indian tribes almost 200 years earlier.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “The Art of War”: The effectiveness and speed of emergence of great commanders increases.

Unique unit: zhuge nu (replaces the crossbowman).

Unique building: paper workshop (replaces the library).

The history of China goes back about six thousand years. Modern man has inhabited this region for at least 18,000 years. The Chinese have always been distinguished by their hard work and inquisitive mind. They gave mankind many inventions, including paper, gunpowder, the compass, and typesetting printing. China has survived centuries of colonial conquest and imperialism to emerge as a powerful, independent industrial nation once again.

Leader: Wu Zetian (625–705 AD)

Like most civilizations, China has been predominantly male-dominated throughout its history. Until very recently, women had practically no rights, and the direct path to power was completely closed to them. It was practically impossible for a woman to achieve the title of emperor and become the most powerful person in China. This has happened only once in the entire history of the Celestial Empire. The exception to the rule was Wu Zetian, one of the most outstanding rulers the world has ever seen.

Interesting fact: Almost four thousand years ago, in the second millennium BC, an exotic dessert was invented in China, later called ice cream. The recipe for a delicacy consisting of snow, ice and pieces of fruit was brought to Europe by the traveler Marco Polo only at the beginning of the 14th century.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Barbarian Corsairs”: When a barbarian naval unit is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that it will defect to your side and give you 25 units. gold.

Unique units: Janissary (replaces the musketeer), sipah (replaces the uhlan).

The Ottoman Empire was formed in Anatolia, in the territory of modern Turkey, in early XIII centuries and lasted for six centuries. Having grown, it extended its power to three continents. At the height of her power, she challenged all of Europe and won. The Ottoman Empire conquered the Middle East, Egypt and North Africa, not to mention the Balkans. She swept away the Byzantine Empire from the face of the earth. Without a doubt, it can be placed on a par with Great Britain, the Arab Caliphate and the Roman Empire.

Leader: Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566)

Suleiman I, known by his nicknames the Magnificent, the Lawgiver and the Great Turk, was an Islamic caliph and sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He ascended the throne in 1520 and reigned until his death in 1566. During this time, Suleiman significantly expanded the territory of the Sublime Porte to the fear and envy of the leaders of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. By the time he passed away, he was known all over the world. In Europe, everyone envied his incredible wealth, and his magnificent treasury contained so many unprecedented values ​​that no one else in history had. He was admired for his military skills and respected for his fair treatment of non-Muslims. Everyone - both Muslims and Christians - agreed that Suleiman was worthy of the title “Magnificent”.

Interesting fact: Even in modern Turkey, the traditions of hospitality are very strong. Any stranger met on the doorstep of a house is considered a “guest from God” for at least three days.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Achaemenid Legacy”: Golden Ages last 50% longer. Units receive bonus movement and +10% attack and defense during the golden age.

Unique unit: immortal (replaces the spearman).

Unique building: courtyard of the satrap (replaces the bank).

Formed in 559 BC. After a successful uprising against the Medes, under the Achaemenids, the Persian Empire lasted about two hundred years, and all this time it was surrounded by enemies on almost all sides. At the height of its power, Persia controlled lands from India to Egypt and the Balkans. Its territories spread across three continents, and its subjects spoke dozens of languages. At best, the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty were legislators who dealt mercifully and fairly with the peoples under their rule and tried not to interfere in the internal affairs of the provinces unless they caused them trouble. Unfortunately, they were destined to clash with Alexander the Great.

Leader: Darius I (550–486 BC)

The son of the satrap (ruler) of Parthia, Darius I came to power as a result of a conspiracy after the death of Cambyses II in 522 BC. An administrative genius, during his reign Darius reorganized the vast Persian Empire, greatly increasing its power and wealth. In addition, he erected many great structures in Persia. He built roads, changed the system of government of the empire, defended the borders of his power and generally treated his subjects much better than other rulers of his time. Darius was not an outstanding military leader, but he led many successful campaigns against internal and external enemies.

Interesting fact: The Caspian horse is one of the oldest breeds of miniature horses in the world and may have been developed by the Persians.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Glory of Rome”: +25% bonus to production when constructing buildings (in another city) that have already been built in the capital.

Unique units: ballista (replaces the catapult), legionnaire (replaces the swordsman).

The Roman Empire is the most prominent and longest lasting public education in the West. Rome was founded in the 8th century BC, and parts of the collapsed empire lasted until the 14th century AD. Its inhabitants were a warlike people. At the height of its power, the Roman Empire conquered most of England, all Western Europe, North Africa, Egypt, Greece, Middle East. It was Rome that laid the foundations of Western culture, legislation, art, architecture, religion, language and military affairs.

Leader: Octavian Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD)

Given the name Gaius Octavius ​​at birth, Augustus became the first Roman emperor. It ended the hundred-year civil war in Rome and ushered in the two-hundred-year Pax Romana ("Peace of Rome"), the golden age of Roman literature and culture. During the long reign of Augustus, Rome prospered like never before, and the empire became the most powerful force in the Mediterranean. The reforms carried out by Augustus allowed Rome to rule over everything for almost two hundred years known world without major wars and conflicts. Few leaders in history can boast such success.

Interesting fact: Ancient Rome famous for its cooks. It was they who first invented a dish reminiscent of modern hamburgers. By the way, after dinner parties in Rome it was customary to take leftover food with you in special bags.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Motherland”: Resources give +1 to production, and stocks of horses, iron and uranium are doubled.

Unique unit: Cossack (replaces the cavalryman).

Unique building: prison (replaces barracks).

Winston Churchill once said: “Russia is a mystery within a puzzle.” It is located partly in Asia, partly in Europe, but does not identify itself completely with either one or the other. Russia is fabulously rich natural resources, but the Russians themselves have lived in abject poverty since time immemorial. Russia survived the invasions of the Goths, Huns, Tatar-Mongols, French and Germans without losing national character. Russia has been at the zenith of glory and on the verge of collapse; the monarchy gave way to a communist dictatorship, which gave way to democracy - and all in just a hundred years! Undoubtedly, Russia is one of the most mysterious and amazing powers in history.

Leader: Catherine the Great (1729–1796 AD)

Catherine the Great ruled Russia in the second half of the 18th century. During her reign there was a significant expansion Russian Empire: tens of thousands of square kilometers were included in its composition, both peacefully and by force of arms. A beautiful and intelligent woman, Catherine made her court one of the centers of the European Enlightenment. German by birth, she became one of the greatest rulers in Russian history.

Interesting fact: During the reign of Peter the Great, every Russian nobleman who wanted to wear a beard had to pay a special tax.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Father of Nations”: +50% to food and culture, which are given by friendly policies.

Unique units: Naresuan's war elephant (replaces the knight).

Unique building: wat (replaces university).

Siam, now called Thailand, is located in South-East Asia. It borders Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Over its rich history, this mysterious land of dark forests and ancient mountains has seen occupation and revolution, flood and famine, the birth and collapse of empires. The West has a rather idealized view of Siam, based largely on the entertaining but wildly inaccurate film Anna and the King. However, reality is more interesting than the sweet fantasies of the English governess. In fact, the fact that Siam is the only state in all of Southeast Asia that has never fallen under the rule of Western powers can be considered a unique achievement of the Siamese government.

Leader: Ramkamhaeng (1240–1298)

In 1279, a prince named Ramkamhaeng ascended the throne of the small kingdom of Sukhothai. Over the next twenty years, his military genius and subtle diplomatic sense allowed him to expand state borders, making Siam the most influential power in Southeast Asia.

Interesting fact: Throughout history, beautiful representatives of Thailand have twice been awarded the title of Miss Universe. Apasra Hongsakula won the competition in 1965, and Portnip Nakirunkanok in 1988.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “River Pirate Leader”: receive twice as much gold for destroying barbarian camps and sacking cities. Units on board can defend themselves.

Unique unit: mandekalu horseman (replaces knight).

Unique building: clay mosque (replaces the temple).

The Songhai Empire, located in West Africa, reached its peak at the end of the 15th–16th centuries AD. The homeland of the Songhai is the Gao region, which was under the rule of the Mali Empire. At the beginning of the 14th century, Songhai regained independence from Mali, expanded its sphere of influence over the course of two centuries, and eventually became the most powerful empire in African history. Like the Aztec Empire, Songhai fell to relatively few invaders with much more advanced weapons. This is an important lesson for all Civilization players: “Don’t go out with a knife against the machine gunners. Find a machine gun and a bomber."

Leader: Askia (1440–1538 AD)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Toure, also known as Muhammad I Askiya (reigned 1493–1528), transformed the central region of Western Sudan into a single Songhai Empire, the largest in African history. And although he led many military campaigns, he is remembered primarily for the transformations that brought stability and prosperity to Songhai. His reign marked the golden age of religion and science in West Africa.

Interesting fact: According to legend, the Songhai people long years lived under the rule of the Spirit of the Waters until a stranger who came from Yemen defeated the monster. He became the first ruler of the empire and the founder of the Dya dynasty.

Peculiarities

Unique skill “Old Order”: Culture +1 in every city before the invention of the steam engine.

Unique units: foreign legionnaire (replaces the infantryman), French musketeer (replaces the musketeer).

France borders six (or seven, depending on how you count it) countries, the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea and has long played an important political, military and cultural role in the Western world.

The country reached the zenith of military power under Napoleon Bonaparte, after the cataclysms of the Great French Revolution. For ten years France fought single-handedly against all the nations of Europe, and her armies won many great victories. Although it was ultimately defeated, the Napoleonic Wars still provide many examples of brilliant tactics and strategy.

Today France is one of the leading countries of the European Union. It remains one of the important cultural centers of the world. French wine, cooking and art conquered the whole world, something that Napoleon was never able to achieve.

Leader: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821)

It is impossible to overestimate the military genius of Napoleon Bonaparte. He moved his armies with amazing speed, and always knew exactly where to strike to cause the greatest damage to the enemy army. In domestic affairs, he was an excellent and gifted ruler, under whom France prospered, reaching the peak of its influence in the world (until constant wars exhausted the strength of the people and their will to fight). Always focusing on the army, Napoleon was unable to create a combat-ready fleet, which did not allow him to challenge England's supremacy at sea - in the end, this was his undoing. If Europe and England were connected by land, French would probably be spoken in Piccadilly.

Interesting fact: Every summer, more than a hundred of the world's best cyclists gather in France to compete in the world's most prestigious race, the Tour de France. The total length of the route ranges from 3–4 thousand kilometers, and the duration of the race is 21 days.

Peculiarities

Unique skill "Bushido": the original attack and defense indicators are preserved even for a wounded unit.

Unique units: samurai (replaces a swordsman with a long sword), “Zero” (replaces a fighter).

For most of its history, Japan was a multitude of small principalities that spent all their energy fighting each other. Betrayal, deception, backstabbing and murder were common methods of achieving goals in the politics of those times. Violence led to the emergence of the samurai, a class of professional fighters. The wars only stopped after Oda Nobunaga and his heirs unified the country in the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the 20th century, Japan experienced the catastrophic consequences of World War II, the atomic bombings and occupation by Western powers. Today this country is one of the economic and cultural centers of the world.

Leader: Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582)

Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese feudal lord of the 16th century, was an excellent commander and cunning politician, as well as an adherent of new technologies. Nobunaga managed to achieve power over almost half of the territory of feudal Japan. His two comrades - Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Izyasu - completed the work Nobunaga began and united all of Japan. Living in cruel times, Nobunaga was a merciless man. But by helping to unify Japan, he ended the wars that had devastated the country for more than a century.

Interesting fact: Japan is home to the longest suspension bridge in the world, Akashi-Kaikyo, connecting the cities of Kobe and Awaji. It was opened in 1998 and is 3911 meters long. Akashi Kaikyo is one and a half times longer than the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and four times longer than the Brooklyn Bridge.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V offers us eighteen countries to choose from. Eighteen stern leaders look at us from the diplomacy screens. It’s easy to get confused in their differences, abilities, unique units and buildings. Which civilization to choose? And, most importantly, what to do with it later?

Calm, just calm! After studying this material, you will learn what is good or bad about each nation and how its characteristics affect overall strategy. Pacifists, hardcore hawks, builders, traders or diplomats - everyone will find a civilization to their liking.

It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire.

The main difference between civilizations is their “unique abilities” that strengthen one of the areas. Often it is this ability that determines the most profitable strategy for the development of our empire. It must always be taken into account. It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire. A peaceful China will lose all its advantages. And if you take India and build a dozen and a half cities, things could end badly. The second and usually less important difference is unique units or buildings. We will tell you about all this now.

For convenience, we have divided civilizations into several large groups - those that are suitable for playing “from diplomacy”, to military, construction, “money” or designed for the quick capture of territories. We gave each of them a rating from one to five. The higher the score, the more interesting and useful the feature of the civilization in its area. An average rating means that it is difficult to come up with uses for traits or units. On the other hand, you can choose any strategy for such countries, without any remorse.

And finally, at the end of the article, civilizations with the most useless and poorly understood abilities and units are collected. It’s worth playing for them only for other reasons not related to the choice of strategy. But we will start, of course, with the best of the best.

First thing's first - diplomacy!

Diplomatic civilizations

Diplomatic civilizations are designed to interact with city-states. The more of these small but proud settlements on the map, the better the life of the diplomatic civilization.

Siam (ruler - Ramkamhaeng)

Unique ability - "The father rules the children." The amount of food and culture received from friendly city-states has been increased by 50%.

“A strong friendship will not break -
Xia” - the capital of Siam has gorged itself heavily on gift grub and culture.

Unique building: wat (replaces university).

Unique squad: Neresuan elephant (replaces knights).

Who would have thought that Thailand, aka Siam, would be one of the best countries in the game? Thanks to the effective “exhaust” from relations with city-states, Thais can forget about farms and museums - there will be plenty of food and culture. The freed up cells and construction capacity should be used to make money, because friendship with city-states is not a cheap matter. However, the “Patronage” social policy branch will help here - develop it!

The abundance of food can become a problem if it leads to uncontrolled urban growth and increased discontent. But... everyone would have such problems, right? The “Piety” social policy branch will help compensate for dissatisfaction. It is not compatible with “scientific” social policies, but the Wat, a Khmer Buddhist temple, will help here. Wat provides not only science, but also a decent amount of culture, and costs a little less than a university - we recommend it. But with elephants things are not the same. Elephants are slightly stronger than knightly units and cope well with cavalry. But they will do little against the pikemen, and the low speed of the elephants exposes them to the danger of counterattacks.

Greece (Alexander the Great)

Fear the Danaans, Achaeans, Argives, Cretans, Mycenaeans and Mixolydians.

Hellenic Union. Influence on city-states decreases half as fast and recovers twice as fast.

Squads: hetaira (replace cavalry) and hoplites (replace spearmen).

We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

It’s not for nothing that we praised Greece so much in our review. The ability to negotiate with city-states for half the money is priceless, especially in combination with the Patronage branch. If Siam is worth choosing on maps where city-states are in short supply, so that two friends go for three, then Greece is an ideal choice for extensive maps, where there is someone to make friends with. We distribute money to everyone; as a result, an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.

Alexander the Great, alas, did not have his own buildings. But the set of units provided by the developers is difficult to overestimate. Hoplites are a stronger version of spearmen. They are, however, more expensive, but they are excellent for waging early wars and repelling barbarian attacks. Macedonian cavalry is an excellent replacement for regular cavalry. Its advantages are numerous:

It is stronger than ordinary cavalry;

It does not require horses as a resource (this is not only great in itself, but also allows you to safely trade horses if you do have them);

Macedonian cavalry fighting produces great generals faster (invaluable).

Economic civilizations

Here we will write down civilizations whose abilities allow them to earn a lot, a lot of money, which helps smooth out many problems in other areas.

Persia (Darius I)

Legacy of the Achaemenids. The Golden Age lasts 50% longer. During the Golden Age, units' attack power increases by 10% and speed by one.

The Persians are better than others at achieving the favor of the golden calf.

Building: courtyard of the satrap (replaces the bank).

Squad: immortals (replace spearmen)

What is the "Golden Age"? This is the period when cities are churning out buildings, units and Wonders of the World almost at double speed, and the treasury is bursting with gold coins.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age.

Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age. Literally. In general, it is very pleasant when periods of well-being last longer than usual. But Persia is especially good if you use the "permanent golden age" strategy. As you might guess, it allows, with the help of simple manipulations with culture, Wonders of the World and the high-speed production of great people, to make the Golden Age, once started, didn't end. We will describe this strategy in more detail next time, but for now just know that it exists.

The satrap’s court can help with happiness - a special “motivating bank” that adds not only to the financial well-being of the country, but also to its happiness. The troops of the “immortals”, glorified in the battle at Thermopylae, will form an excellent army. Not only are they stronger than spearmen, but they also heal twice as fast, which is especially useful when playing defensively. Remember that accelerated healing (like many abilities of unique units in the game) remains after modernization - right up to motorized infantry.

Arabs (Harun al-Rashid)

Trade caravans.+2 gold coins per trade route and double oil output.

Building: bazaar (replaces the market).

Squad: archer on a camel (replaces the knight).

Arabia is a typical example of weak specialization. An extra two gold from each trade route (that is, at least from each city connected to the capital) is nice, but not enough for strategizing. "Trade caravans" are just a pleasant relief financial problems. The same applies to doubled oil reserves. If you have a resource, it’s good, you can sell it. No, we won't cry. The Arabian Bazaar doubles the luxury resource if there is one near the city. There is only one point - to sell the surplus to the outside and make money.

The camel shooter is a unit of dubious quality. This is the "shooting" version of the knight. It cannot fight in close combat, but it is good for beating up the enemy from afar and escaping.

It turns out that Harun al-Rashid is, at best, “average.” He, of course, will have a little more coins than the average hospital, but compared to the Persian skills he pales.

Construction civilizations

As you might have guessed, they are the best builders. But it should be noted that construction is not always a useful thing, since almost all buildings place a burden on the country’s budget. Another thing is the Wonders of the World.

Rome (Caesar Augustus)

Roman glory.+25% to the speed of construction of buildings that already exist in the capital.

Squads: ballista (replaces the catapult) and legion (replaces swordsmen).

Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”

Roman cities are quickly rebuilt if the building they are building is already in Rome itself. Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”, because the speed of construction is not that great a big problem. It is much more difficult to find money to maintain extensive infrastructure. Of course, for rapid expansion it is very good when you can quickly build what you need in cities. But this approach provokes the construction of unnecessary buildings, which can become a big burden towards the end of the game. But you can’t destroy and sell extra buildings - sad, but true.

Things are quite sad with the troops in Rome. The Ballista is an unremarkable, slightly beefed-up version of the Catapult. Legionnaires are a stronger version of swordsmen (and they also consume valuable iron). Of course, legionnaires can build roads, which is funny. But when legionnaires are retrained to use long swords (and so on), this ability completely disappears.

Egypt (Ramses II)

Monumental construction.+20% to the construction speed of all Wonders of the World.

Building: tomb (replaces temple).

Squad: war chariot (replaces the archer on the chariot).

Barbarian settlements are a source of gold that should not be underestimated.

The Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

Miracles are not a big deal, and some of them are very important to build on time, ahead of other civilizations. For example, the Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.

But this ability itself is worth a maximum of three. Tombs are what additionally helps the Egyptians! They replace temples. True, each tomb gives not three portions of culture, but two. But it additionally increases happiness by two units and saves two gold, since it does not require annual maintenance. It's hard to imagine a more useful building! Tombs are also useful when you are not playing as the Egyptians, but are fighting with them. Each captured city with a tomb gives double the amount of loot (the tomb itself is destroyed).

A war chariot is a good replacement for a regular one. It moves faster and does not require horses as a resource.

The most interesting thing about Egypt is that you can come up with your own strategy for the accelerated construction of the Wonders of the World, and the tombs will simultaneously support the economy, culture and happiness. Very comfortably.

Iroquois (Hiawatha)

Warpath. Units move through forests and jungles in friendly territory at the same speed as on roads.

Building: long house (replaces the workshop).

Squad: Mohawk (replaces swordsmen).

If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

The Warpath ability is not related to production. It allows troops to sneak back and forth through the forests, connecting cities with forests, obtaining trade routes and saving on roads. Naturally, this only works in wooded areas. However, there is no need to fear that the Indians will end up in the desert. If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.

Mohawks (forest swordsmen) are also not involved in production. For us, only the long house, the Iroquois version of the workshop, is important. With its help you can implement unusual strategy"City-factory" - an Iroquois settlement surrounded by forests with a production power that other civilizations, in principle, cannot achieve. Only a properly developed Iroquois city can spit out troops and Wonders of the World at great speed. We will tell you more about the strategy of the “Factory City” another time, but its essence is to build a long house and all the production buildings, and fill the forests around with sawmills.

Without the longhouse, the Iroquois would not be worthy of attention at all. And so they can be safely classified as construction civilizations and given a solid C grade.

Expansionist civilizations

These civilizations are designed so that it is easier for them to seize lands and increase the territory of the country. The quality is good. There is never too much land, and the larger the territory, the easier it is to reach resources.

France (Napoleon)

Old order. Before the invention of the steam engine, each city provides an additional +2 crops.

Squads: French Musketeer (replaces Musketeer) and Foreign Legion (replaces Infantry).

An army without an escort in the ocean is very vulnerable. But there is a way to secure such movements.

France is, first and foremost, culture. And culture means the rapid opening of social policies and the accelerated growth of urban areas. Both are used in the so-called “Rapid Development Strategy”. Its essence is an attempt in the debut to take as much territory and social policies as possible with as few cities as possible.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations.

An increase in culture allows even a large empire to receive new social discoveries without relying on city-states. Thus, when playing as France, we have a lot of opportunities to specialize if we don't miss out on early advantages.

The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations. This allows the tactics of "Rapid Gunpowder Development" to be used to wage wars of conquest during the Renaissance. However, no one is stopping you from using musketeers in defense. Another thing is the foreign legion, a replacement for infantry in the industrial era - it fights better outside of France, and this is also useful for those Napoleons who dream of conquests.

But detachments are a secondary matter. A huge increase in culture and the rapid seizure of territory is why we love France so much.

Russia (Catherine II)

Riches of Siberia. The number of horses, iron and uranium has been doubled. Other resources have been increased by one.

Building: fortress (replaces barracks).

Squad: Cossack (replaces cavalry).

When playing for Russia from its western
Uranus themselves will have no problem showing the barbarians such Kuzka’s mother.

In the modern era, uranium sells for good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

If you play for Russia, then by default you will not have any problems with nuclear bombs, cavalry and weapons in general. True, there is not very much oil, but from each field we get an additional portion, sufficient to build one plane or ship. The same applies to aluminum and coal. We will not be lost, but if something happens we will sell it, especially uranium - in the modern era, uranium fetch good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).

But, oddly enough, the “resource curse” is not Russia’s main advantage. A fortress replacing barracks is what makes our country a good choice for expansionist development. Regular barracks cost gold every year and give each unit created in the city 15 XP, allowing you to specialize them immediately. The fortress gives all the same things with one tiny addition - it halves the amount of culture necessary for the city to capture each cell. The result is that the territory around Russian cities with barracks is expanding very quickly! And you already know why this is useful. Resources, resources and more resources!

As for the Cossacks, they have only one difference with cavalry - they are much more effective against already “knocked out” units. This “Uvarov-Platov” property is not very useful, but if there is already a war going on, and it is going on in the Renaissance, then it would be a sin not to take advantage of it!

Military civilizations

And even though today armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

To hell with culture, ballet and ceramics! Let the diplomats fail! Who is interested in these ancient pyramids? From time immemorial, “Civilization” has been a game about war and global domination! And even though today’s armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!

Knowing this, the developers “sharpened” most civilizations for military action. True - with varying degrees of success. Even the best “fighting” qualities can hardly compare in usefulness with the best economic and even construction ones. Why? Yes, because war is an episodic affair, and economics, construction and culture are important from the first to the last move. If the country is protected by the Great Wall, if there is always gold in the treasury, there is no need to fear for the outcome of any war. Loot conquers evil! So don't be surprised that not a single civilization received the highest rating.

China (Wu Zetian)

Art of War. Generals appear faster and provide an additional +20% to unit strength.

Building: paper workshop (replaces the library)

Squad: Chokonu (replaces crossbowmen).

China is an ideal military civilization. Of course, if I were the Chinese, I would be offended that such an ancient culture—and far from the most warlike—was classified as “militant.” But what can you do? That's what the developers decided.

Generals strengthen their units on campaigns. Generals build excellent defensive fortresses that strengthen the units around them. Finally, if there are a lot of them, then one or two generals can always be spent on the Golden Age. So there is no need to worry about China’s military power - it will repel an attack and, if necessary, conquer another state.

A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

The paper workshop replaces the library and, in addition to science, adds four gold per turn (count three if you subtract depreciation). Since war requires money, money and more money, the building is extremely useful.

Chokonu is the Chinese version of the crossbowman. He is slightly weaker than his alternative in battle, but he can shoot twice per turn. Do you understand what this smells like? Twice per turn! This is death to everything! A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.

It is worth remembering that Chinese crossbowmen retain their ability when modernized. Riflemen, infantry, mechanized infantry... If they were not built from scratch, but were converted from chokon, they will be able to attack twice per turn. It’s a pity, though, that when upgrading, crossbowmen lose their ranged attack. But two attacks per turn against obviously weaker opponents is a high-speed blitzkrieg, which can be countered with little.

Germany (Otto von Bismarck)

Teutonic rage. When a barbarian settlement is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that the unit defending it will come over to your side and give you an additional 25 gold.

Squads: Landsknecht (replaces pikemen) and Panzer (replaces tank).

Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

Germany can recruit barbarians to its side. This is interesting because barbarians appear on the map in any era, as long as there are lands on the planet behind the fog of war (and they are almost always there). Recruitment occurs in half the cases. The barbarian detachment that came over to our side gives us 25 gold pieces in addition to the twenty-five that we already took from the camp we devastated. Best results“Hunting for recruits” gives, naturally, with an open branch of “Honor” (an increase in strength against barbarians and operational information about each new settlement in the immediate vicinity).

There will always be barbarians - even at the South Pole.

Landsknechts are not particularly strong
We are in battle. But there are always a lot of them.

Of course, it is sometimes useful to get a free unit without spending effort on creating it. But what do we need it for? It is by no means always possible to come up with a use for it, and the budget will suffer the very next move. What happens - the peculiarity of Germany is good only when conducting early wars of conquest? In general, yes. However, the barbarian can be sold for gold or donated to an ally, having been sold off. At least some benefit.

But the Landsknechts are an interesting troop from the medieval era. They are no different from pikemen, but their creation costs half as much. Thus, the Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.

But the “Shushpanzer”, although faster and stronger than our “thirty-four”, is not very useful, like all the unique units of later eras. During the endgame period, one detachment cannot change the course of the war - in the industrial and modern eras, the economy is much more important.

Songhai (Askia)

River leader. Doubles the amount of gold from captured cities and barbarian settlements. While swimming, units can repel attacks.

Building: pyramidal mosque (replaces the temple).

Squad: Mandekalu cavalry (replaces knights).

Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery.

The Songhai are probably the strangest civilization in the game. The developers clearly couldn’t decide whether to make them merchants or cool warriors. As a result, the Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery. In short, lock the floors.

Songhai even looks strange. An unusual landscape for a trading river power, isn’t it?

At the very beginning of the game, the Songhai, having taken “Honor” for themselves and clearing barbarian settlements, can rise well. Fifty coins from each barbarian camp is not a bad addition to the budget. Later, wars of conquest can become a good source of income. As you can see, the developers really wanted the Songhai to fight and capture cities. They even provided for a replacement for the knights - the Mandekal cavalry, whose main difference was a special passion for capturing cities.

Against the backdrop of all this, the Songhai clay mosque looks unexpectedly interesting - not only does it not require repairs, but it also gives five units of culture instead of three. Cultured people, therefore!

One should not underestimate another amazing skill of the Songhai - the ability to defend themselves in swimming. Any Songhai detachment can load into boats and sail to the ends of the world to discover distant islands, without fear that the first pirate trireme they encounter will sink it. And how difficult it is to prevent the landing of Songhai troops - no need to say. At sea, this civilization is almost stronger than England, and this is strange - I have never heard of the Songhai being conquerors of the oceans (however, I have never heard of them at all).

It turns out that in general the Songhai are rather weak. But in the early game and in the seas, they can give their neighbors a light. Therefore, on island maps they deserve a solid three. Until then - two.

England (Elizabeth I)

The sun never sets.+2 to the speed of all ships.

Squads: longbowmen (replace crossbowmen) and a battleship (replaces frigate).

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”!

Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”! This is what the developers decided, because apart from an accelerated fleet and a battleship (cheaper than a frigate, shoots more powerfully and can see further), England has nothing. However, no, I’m lying - there are still longbowmen. This unit is interesting because it shoots a square further than ordinary archers and crossbowmen. This is useful, especially in defense. But this ability disappears with the first modernization.

Plus two turns for each ship - this, of course, is nice. But battleships and archers will sooner or later become obsolete, and countries with stronger economies will be able to roll out a better fleet than the British one. So, if you are not going to fight early on the island map, it is better not to touch England. The children are sunk and will become ours. But it’s hardly worth playing for Turkey just for this reason. The war with Japan is terrible headache even in ancient times.

On the one hand, the developers flattered the Japanese by making their units incredibly resilient. Their attack and defense parameters do not drop if the unit is damaged. Even if a unit is knocked out by nine-tenths, it will deal full damage and give the enemy a good beating before dying.

There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks.

On the other hand, the Japanese developers were slightly insulted because they didn’t give anything more. There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks. And, I’ll add, useless attacks, because the units in the game must be protected in every possible way.

The result is a strange situation. On the one hand, fighting the computer Nobunaga is still torture. On the other hand, if you play as him and play by the rules, bushido will not be useful at all!

With the Zeros, everything is clear - they are useless both on their own (the same fighters, just more effective against other fighters), and as a unique unit of our time. Samurai aren't very interesting either. They consume iron, and their only advantage is the increased speed of “production” of generals in battle.

Just civilizations

This list includes those civilizations that were frankly unlucky. Their skills are insignificant, useless and sometimes downright absurd - as they say, neither borscht nor the Red Army. Of course, they also have useful buildings and units. But even these are not enough to seriously consider playing for these countries for strategic reasons.

Aztecs (Montezuma)

Sacrifices. Increase in culture for each enemy killed.

Building: floating gardens (replaces the mill).

Squad: jaguars (replaces warriors).

Floating gardens are an interesting replacement for a mill and a good addition to food if there is a lake near the city. But you can’t build it everywhere, and lakes aren’t found everywhere. So we cross out floating gardens. We also cross out sacrifices. Getting an increase in culture only during wars (and successful wars) is a joke.

The only people of at least some interest are the jaguars - forest warriors who are healed by two units after destroying the enemy. But they are of any use only in the ancient era, which tends to end quickly.

India (Gandhi)

Population growth. Dissatisfaction from the number of cities is doubled, but dissatisfaction from the population as a whole is halved.

Building: Mughal fort (replaces the fortress).

Squad: war elephant (replaces chariot shooters).

The war elephant is just a slightly stronger and faster version of the chariot archer. The Mughal Fort is an awkward defensive structure that provides culture and costs an insane three gold per turn. True, after the invention of airplanes, the fort, on the contrary, begins to make a profit - but the damage to the budget has already been done.

Squads: Minuteman (replaces the musketeer) and the B-17 bomber (replaces the regular bomber).

Let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage.

And finally, let's talk about America. The developers managed to make this country the most useless in the game. I suspect sabotage, since it’s difficult to do something like this on purpose.

Can the units see further? And what from this? They are destroyed in the same way as the less vigilant ones, and the mountains block their field of vision in the same way as for other units. Discounts for purchasing city territory? What are you talking about? Saving a couple of dozen coins to buy a cage that we will still get in ten years is incredibly valuable.

B-17 bomber? Really? An extremely useful thing in an era when victory is just a stone's throw away and the economy is a hundred times more important than all military units. And the Minutemen... they're a total laugh. These are such specific musketeers who, although they run briskly through the hills and forests, don't know how to use the roads!

This is what America is like in Civilization V—the weakest civilization of all. And her assessment is appropriate.

Preface

It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire.
The main difference between civilizations is their “unique abilities” that strengthen one of the areas. Often it is this ability that determines the most profitable strategy for the development of our empire. It must always be taken into account. It is useless to play as the Greeks on a map where the city-states cannot be found during the day with fire. A peaceful China will lose all its advantages. And if you take India and build a dozen and a half cities, things could end badly. The second and usually less important difference is unique units or buildings. We will tell you about all this now.
For convenience, we have divided civilizations into several large groups - those that are suitable for playing “from diplomacy”, to military, construction, “money” or designed for the quick capture of territories. We gave each of them a rating from one to five. The higher the score, the more interesting and useful the feature of the civilization in its area. An average rating means that it is difficult to come up with uses for traits or units. On the other hand, you can choose any strategy for such countries, without any remorse.
And finally, at the end of the article, civilizations with the most useless and poorly understood abilities and units are collected. It’s worth playing for them only for other reasons not related to the choice of strategy. But we will start, of course, with the best of the best.
First thing's first - diplomacy!

Diplomatic civilizations

Diplomatic civilizations are designed to interact with city-states. The more of these small but proud settlements on the map, the better the life of the diplomatic civilization.

Siam (ruler - Ramkamhaeng)

Siam (ruler - Ramkamhaeng)

Unique ability - "The father rules the children." The amount of food and culture received from friendly city-states has been increased by 50%.
Sid Meier's Civilization V, screenshot, 311KB
Unique building: wat (replaces the university).
Unique unit: Neresuan elephant (replaces knights).
Who would have thought that Thailand, aka Siam, would be one of the best countries in the game? Thanks to the effective “exhaust” from relations with city-states, Thais can forget about farms and museums - there will be plenty of food and culture. The freed up cells and construction capacity should be used to make money, because friendship with city-states is not a cheap matter. However, the “Patronage” social policy branch will help here - develop it!
The abundance of food can become a problem if it leads to uncontrolled urban growth and increased discontent. But... everyone would have such problems, right? The “Piety” social policy branch will help compensate for dissatisfaction. It is not compatible with “scientific” social policies, but the Wat Khmer Buddhist temple will help here. Vat provides not only science, but also a decent amount of culture, and costs a little less than a university - we recommend it. But with elephants things are not the same. Elephants are slightly stronger than knightly units and cope well with cavalry. But they will do little against the pikemen, and the low speed of the elephants exposes them to the danger of counterattacks.

Greece (Alexander the Great)

Greece (Alexander the Great)

Hellenic Union. Influence on city-states decreases half as fast and recovers twice as fast.
Units: hetaira (replace cavalry) and hoplites (replace spearmen).
We distribute money to everyone; as a result - an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.
It’s not for nothing that we praised Greece so much in our review. The ability to negotiate with city-states for half the money is priceless, especially in combination with the Patronage branch. If Siam is worth choosing on maps where city-states are in short supply, so that two friends are worth three, then Greece is an ideal choice on extensive maps, where there is someone to make friends with. We distribute money to everyone; as a result - an improvement in the nature of diplomatic relations and a wonderful appetite.
Alexander the Great, alas, did not have his own buildings. But the set of units provided by the developers is difficult to overestimate. Hoplites are a stronger version of spearmen. They are, however, more expensive, but they are excellent for waging early wars and repelling barbarian attacks. Macedonian cavalry is an excellent replacement for regular cavalry. Its advantages are numerous:
It is stronger than ordinary cavalry;
It does not require horses as a resource (this is not only great in itself, but also allows you to safely trade horses if you do have them);
Macedonian cavalry fighting produces great generals faster (invaluable).

Economic civilizations

Here we will write down civilizations whose abilities allow them to earn a lot, a lot of money, which helps smooth out many problems in other areas.

Persia (Darius I)

Persia (Darius I)

Legacy of the Achaemenids. The Golden Age lasts 50% longer. During the Golden Age, units' attack power increases by 10% and speed by one.
The Persians are better than others at achieving the favor of the golden calf.
Building: satrap's courtyard (replaces the bank).
Squad: immortals (replace spearmen)
What is the "Golden Age"? This is the period when cities are churning out buildings, units and Wonders of the World almost at double speed, and the treasury is bursting with gold coins.
Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age.
Who are the Persians? These are the guys who suffer from a chronic Golden Age. Literally. In general, it is very pleasant when periods of well-being last longer than usual. But Persia is especially good if you use the "permanent golden age" strategy. As you might guess, it allows, with the help of simple manipulations with culture, Wonders of the World and the high-speed production of great people, to ensure that the Golden Age, once started, does not end. We will describe this strategy in more detail next time, but for now just know that it exists.
The satrap’s court is able to help with happiness - a special “motivating bank” that adds not only to the financial well-being of the country, but also to its happiness. The troops of the “immortals”, glorified in the battle at Thermopylae, will form an excellent army. Not only are they stronger than spearmen, but they also heal twice as fast, which is especially useful when playing defensively. Remember that accelerated healing (like many abilities of unique units in the game) remains after modernization - right up to motorized infantry.

Arabs (Harun al-Rashid)

Arabs (Harun al-Rashid)

Trade caravans. +2 gold coins per trade route and double oil output.
Building: bazaar (replaces the market).
Squad: archer on a camel (replaces a knight).
Arabia is a typical example of weak specialization. An extra two gold from each trade route (that is, at least from each city connected to the capital) is not bad, but not enough for strategizing. “Trading caravans” are just a pleasant relief from financial problems. The same applies to doubled oil reserves. There is a resource - good, you can sell it. No, we won't cry. The Arabian Bazaar doubles the luxury resource if there is one near the city. There is only one point - to sell the surplus to the outside and make money.
The camel shooter is a unit of dubious quality. This is the "shooting" version of the knight. It cannot fight in close combat, but it is good for beating up the enemy from afar and escaping.
It turns out that Harun al-Rashid is, at best, “average.” He, of course, will have a little more coins than the average hospital, but compared to the Persian skills he pales.

Construction civilizations

As you might have guessed, they are the best builders. But it should be noted that construction is not always a useful thing, since almost all buildings place a burden on the country’s budget. Another thing is the Wonders of the World.

Rome (Caesar Augustus)

Rome (Caesar Augustus)

Roman glory. +25% to the speed of construction of buildings that already exist in the capital.
Units: ballista (replaces the catapult) and legion (replaces the swordsmen).
Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”
Roman cities are quickly rebuilt if the building they are building is already in Rome itself. Accelerated construction is, of course, “Super!”, but not “Super-super-super!”, because the speed of construction is not such a big problem. It is much more difficult to find money to maintain extensive infrastructure. Of course, for rapid expansion it is very good when you can quickly build what you need in cities. But this approach provokes the construction of unnecessary buildings, which can become a big burden towards the end of the game. But you can’t destroy and sell extra buildings - sad, but true.
Things are quite sad with the troops in Rome. The ballista is an unremarkable, slightly enhanced version of the catapult. Legionnaires are a stronger version of swordsmen (and they also consume valuable iron). Of course, legionnaires can build roads, which is funny. But when legionnaires are retrained to use long swords (and so on), this ability completely disappears.

Egypt (Ramses II)

Egypt (Ramses II)

Monumental construction. +20% to the construction speed of all Wonders of the World.
Building: tomb (replaces the temple).
Squad: war chariot (replaces the archer on the chariot).
Barbarian settlements are a source of gold that should not be underestimated.
The Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.
Miracles are not a big deal, and some of them are very important to build on time, ahead of other civilizations. For example, the Egyptians always have a head start when it comes to building a pyramid or two or a UN building.
But this ability itself is worth a maximum of three. Tombs are what additionally helps the Egyptians! They replace temples. True, each tomb gives not three portions of culture, but two. But it additionally increases happiness by two units and saves two gold, since it does not require annual maintenance. It's hard to imagine a more useful building! Tombs are also useful when you are not playing as the Egyptians, but are fighting with them. Each captured city with a tomb gives double the amount of loot (the tomb itself is destroyed).
A war chariot is a good replacement for a regular one. It moves faster and does not require horses as a resource.
The most interesting thing about Egypt is that you can come up with your own strategy for the accelerated construction of the Wonders of the World, and the tombs will simultaneously support the economy, culture and happiness. Very comfortably.

Iroquois (Hiawatha)

Iroquois (Hiawatha)

Warpath. Units move through forests and jungles in friendly territory at the same speed as on roads.
Building: long house (replaces the workshop).
Squad: Mohawk (replaces swordsmen).
If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.
The Warpath ability is not related to production. It allows troops to sneak back and forth through the forests, connecting cities with forests, obtaining trade routes and saving on roads. Naturally, this only works in wooded areas. However, there is no need to fear that the Indians will end up in the desert. If there is a forest or jungle on the globe, then the computer will put the Iroquois there first.
Mohawks (forest swordsmen) are also not involved in production. For us, only the long house, the Iroquois version of the workshop, is important. With its help, it is possible to implement the unusual strategy of the “Factory City” - an Iroquois settlement surrounded by forests with a production power that other civilizations, in principle, cannot achieve. Only a properly developed Iroquois city can spit out troops and Wonders of the World at great speed. We will tell you more about the strategy of the “Factory City” another time, but its essence is to build a long house and all the production buildings, and fill the forests around with sawmills.
Without the longhouse, the Iroquois would not be worthy of attention at all. And so they can be safely classified as construction civilizations and given a solid C grade.

Gating 3 out of 5

Expansionist civilizations

These civilizations are designed so that it is easier for them to seize lands and increase the territory of the country. The quality is good. There is never too much land, and the larger the territory, the easier it is to reach resources.

France (Napoleon)

France (Napoleon)

Old order. Before the invention of the steam engine, each city provides an additional +2 crops.
Units: French Musketeer (replaces the musketeer) and Foreign Legion (replaces the infantry).
France is, above all, culture. And culture means the rapid opening of social policies and the accelerated growth of urban areas. Both are used in the so-called “Rapid Development Strategy”. Its essence is an attempt in the debut to take as much territory and social policies as possible with as few cities as possible.
The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations.
An increase in culture allows even a large empire to receive new social discoveries without relying on city-states. Thus, when playing as France, we have a lot of opportunities to specialize if we don't miss out on early advantages.
The French d'Artagnans are noticeably stronger in battle than their counterparts from other civilizations. This allows the tactics of "Rapid Gunpowder Development" to be used to wage wars of conquest during the Renaissance. However, no one is stopping you from using musketeers in defense. Another thing is the foreign legion, a replacement for infantry in the industrial era - it fights better outside of France, and this is also useful for those Napoleons who dream of campaigns of conquest.
But detachments are a secondary matter. A huge increase in culture and the rapid seizure of territory - that’s why we love France so much

Russia (Catherine II)

Russia (Catherine II)

Riches of Siberia. The number of horses, iron and uranium has been doubled. Other resources have been increased by one.
Building: fortress (replaces barracks).
Unit: Cossack (replaces cavalry).
When playing as Russia with its uranium reserves, there will be no problems in showing the barbarians such a Kuzka mother.
In the modern era, uranium sells for good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).
If you play for Russia, then by default you will not have any problems with nuclear bombs, cavalry and weapons in general. True, there is not very much oil, but from each field we get an additional portion, sufficient to build one plane or ship. The same applies to aluminum and coal. We will not be lost, but if something happens we will sell it, especially uranium - in the modern era, uranium fetch good money and political concessions (especially if it is delivered in the warheads of nuclear missiles).
But, oddly enough, the “resource curse” is not Russia’s main advantage. A fortress replacing barracks is what makes our country a good choice for expansionist development. Regular barracks cost gold every year and give each unit created in the city 15 XP, allowing you to specialize them immediately. The fortress gives all the same things with one tiny addition - it halves the amount of culture required for the city to capture each cell. The result is that the territory around Russian cities with barracks is expanding very quickly! And you already know why this is useful. Resources, resources and more resources!
As for the Cossacks, they have only one difference with cavalry - they are much more effective against already “knocked out” units. This “Uvarov-Platov” property is not very useful, but if there is already a war going on, and it is going on in the Renaissance, then it would be a sin not to take advantage of it!

Military civilizations

And even though today armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!
To hell with culture, ballet and ceramics! Let the diplomats fail! Who is interested in these ancient pyramids? From time immemorial, “Civilization” has been a game about war and global domination! And even though today’s armies are no longer so large, but war, gentlemen, is... war!
Knowing this, the developers “sharpened” most civilizations for military action. True - with varying degrees of success. Even the best “fighting” qualities can hardly compare in usefulness with the best economic and even construction ones. Why? Yes, because war is an episodic affair, and economics, construction and culture are important from the first to the last move. If the country is protected by the Great Wall, if there is always gold in the treasury, there is no need to fear for the outcome of any war. Loot conquers evil! So don't be surprised that not a single civilization received the highest rating.

China (Wu Zetian)

China (Wu Zetian)

Art of War. Generals appear faster and provide an additional +20% to unit strength.
Building: paper workshop (replaces the library)
Squad: Chokonu (replaces crossbowmen).
China is an ideal military civilization. Of course, if I were the Chinese, I would be offended that such an ancient culture - and far from the most warlike - was classified as “militant”. But what can you do? That's what the developers decided.
Generals strengthen their units on campaigns. Generals build excellent defensive fortresses that strengthen the units around them. Finally, if there are a lot of them, then one or two generals can always be spent on the Golden Age. So there is no need to worry about China’s military power - it will repel an attack and, if necessary, conquer another state.
A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.
The paper workshop replaces the library and, in addition to science, adds four gold per turn (count three if you subtract depreciation). Since war requires money, money and more money, the building is extremely useful.
Chokonu is the Chinese version of the crossbowman. He is slightly weaker than his alternative in battle, but he can shoot twice per turn. Do you understand what this smells like? Twice per turn! This is death to everything! A couple of crossbowmen - and any invading army is immediately mowed down on its approach.
It is worth remembering that Chinese crossbowmen retain their ability when modernized. Riflemen, infantry, mechanized infantry... If they were not built from scratch, but were converted from chokon, they will be able to attack twice per turn. It’s a pity, though, that when upgrading, crossbowmen lose their ranged attack. But two attacks per turn against obviously weaker opponents is a high-speed blitzkrieg, which can be countered with little.

Germany (Otto von Bismarck)

Germany (Otto von Bismarck)

Teutonic rage. When a barbarian settlement is destroyed, there is a 50% chance that the unit defending it will come over to your side and give you an additional 25 gold.
Units: Landsknecht (replaces pikemen) and “Panzer” (replaces tank).
Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.
Germany can recruit barbarians to its side. This is interesting because barbarians appear on the map in any era, as long as there are lands on the planet behind the fog of war (and they are almost always there). Recruitment occurs in half the cases. The barbarian detachment that came over to our side gives us 25 gold pieces in addition to the twenty-five that we already took from the camp we devastated. The “hunt for recruits” gives the best results, naturally, with the “Honor” branch open (an increase in strength against barbarians and operational information about each new settlement in the immediate vicinity).
There will always be barbarians - even at the South Pole.
Landsknechts are not particularly strong
We are in battle. But there are always a lot of them.
Of course, it is sometimes useful to get a free unit without spending effort on creating it. But what do we need it for? It is by no means always possible to come up with a use for it, and the budget will suffer the very next move. What happens - the peculiarity of Germany is good only when conducting early wars of conquest? In general, yes. However, the barbarian can be sold for gold or donated to an ally, having been sold off. At least some benefit.
But the Landsknechts are interesting - a detachment of the medieval era. They are no different from pikemen, but their creation costs half as much. Thus, the Landsknechts are a kind of “instant” medieval army.
But the “Shushpanzer”, although faster and stronger than our “thirty-four”, is not very useful, like all the unique units of later eras. During the endgame period, one detachment cannot change the course of the war - in the industrial and modern eras, the economy is much more important.

Songhai (Askia)

Songhai (Askia)

River leader. Doubles the amount of gold from captured cities and barbarian settlements. While swimming, units can repel attacks.
Building: pyramidal mosque (replaces the temple).
Unit: Mandekalu cavalry (replaces knights).
The Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery.
The Songhai are probably the strangest civilization in the game. The developers clearly couldn’t decide whether to make them merchants or cool warriors. As a result, the Songhai can earn good money - but only through robbery. In short, lock the floors.
Songhai even looks strange. An unusual landscape for a trading river power, isn’t it?
At the very beginning of the game, the Songhai, having taken “Honor” for themselves and clearing barbarian settlements, can rise well. Fifty coins from each barbarian camp is not a bad addition to the budget. Later, wars of conquest can become a good source of income. As you can see, the developers really wanted the Songhai to fight and capture cities. They even provided for a replacement for the knights - the Mandekal cavalry, whose main difference was a special passion for capturing cities.
Against the backdrop of all this, the Songhai clay mosque looks unexpectedly interesting - it not only does not require repairs, but also gives five units of culture instead of three. Cultured people, therefore!
One should not underestimate another amazing skill of the Songhai - the ability to defend themselves in swimming. Any Songhai detachment can load into boats and sail to the ends of the world to discover distant islands, without fear that the first pirate trireme they encounter will sink it. And how difficult it is to prevent the landing of Songhai troops - no need to say. At sea, this civilization is almost stronger than England, and this is strange - I have never heard of the Songhai being conquerors of the oceans (however, I have never heard of them at all).
It turns out that in general the Songhai are rather weak. But in the early game and in the seas, they can give their neighbors a light. Therefore, on island maps they deserve a solid three. Until then - two.

England (Elizabeth I)

England (Elizabeth I)

the sun never sets. +2 to the speed of all ships.
Units: long archers (replaces crossbowmen) and a battleship (replaces a frigate).
Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”!
Oh, Britain, mistress of the seas! Own your seas, keep your head down and listen to “Valenki”! This is what the developers decided, because apart from an accelerated fleet and a battleship (cheaper than a frigate, shoots more powerfully and can see further), England has nothing. However, no, I’m lying - there are still long archers. This unit is interesting because it shoots a square further than ordinary archers and crossbowmen. This is useful, especially in defense. But this ability disappears with the first modernization.
Plus two turns for each ship - this, of course, is nice. But battleships and archers will sooner or later become obsolete, and countries with stronger economies will be able to roll out a better fleet than the British one. So, if you are not going to fight early on the island map, it is better not to touch England.

Sipahi are also boring - a cavalry troop that sees further, rides faster and can instantly destroy the outskirts of enemy cities, if such a need suddenly arises. At least somehow the only ones who help Turkey out are the Janissaries - the musketeers who are healed (replenished) when they destroy the enemy squad. There is no point in playing for the Land of the Rising Sun, unless you are a fan of suicidal attacks.
On the other hand, the Japanese developers were slightly insulted because they didn’t give anything more. And, I’ll add, useless attacks, because the units in the game must be protected in every possible way.
The result is a strange situation. On the one hand, fighting the computer Nobunaga is still torture. On the other hand, if you play as him and play by the rules, bushido will not be useful at all!
With the “Zeros” everything is clear - they are useless both on their own (the same fighters, just more effective against other fighters), and as a unique unit of our time. Samurai aren't very interesting either. They consume iron, and their only advantage is the increased speed of “production” of generals in battle.

Just civilizations

This list includes those civilizations that were frankly unlucky. Their skills are insignificant, useless and sometimes downright absurd - as they say, neither borscht nor the Red Army. Of course, they also have useful buildings and units. But even these are not enough to seriously consider playing for these countries for strategic reasons.

The only people of at least some interest are the jaguars - forest warriors who are healed by two units after destroying the enemy. But they are of any use only in the ancient era, which tends to end quickly. Finally, the dissatisfaction of the population with the number of cities will not allow making India big empire. If there are few cities, the people will be happier than in other civilizations - but will this make the player happier? Hardly. While other countries provide opportunities, India limits. We cross out. Can the units see further? And what from this? They are destroyed in the same way as the less vigilant ones, and the mountains block their field of vision in the same way as for other units. Discounts for purchasing city territory? What are you talking about? Saving a couple of dozen coins to buy a cage that we will still get in ten years is incredibly valuable.
B-17 bomber? Really? An extremely useful thing in an era when victory is just a stone's throw away and the economy is a hundred times more important than all military units. And the Minutemen... they're a total laugh. These are such specific musketeers who, although they run briskly through the hills and forests, do not know how to use the roads!
This is what America is like in Civilization V - the weakest civilization of all. And her assessment is appropriate.

Conclusion

Sid Meier’s Civilization V offers us eighteen countries to choose from. Eighteen stern leaders look at us from the diplomacy screens. It’s easy to get confused in their differences, abilities, unique units and buildings. Which civilization to choose? And, most importantly, what to do with it later?
Calm, just calm! By studying this material, you will learn what is good or bad about each nation and how its characteristics affect the overall strategy. Pacifists, inveterate "hawks", builders, traders or diplomats - everyone will find a civilization to their taste.

Civilization- that rare case when there is no need to write empty introductory words about a game of this genre and scale. Even people who are very far from computer games have heard about “a grand strategy in which we need to manage civilization from the invention of the wheel to space flights.” And in our country, where “Civilization” appeared twenty years ago on the first IBMs in late Soviet research institutes and within a couple of years was distributed to almost all computers in the country, the game has developed a truly cult status. But before we begin to explain in detail why Civilization 5 has such a rating on the next spread, allow me one small but important observation.

Here's a new twist

For the last ten years, the global turn-based strategy series Civilization has had one serious problem: for anyone who did not grow up on the hardcore of the nineties, it took many hours to get into the essence of what was happening in this game. In the era of five-minute tutorials and intuitive gameplay, few people were willing to spend hours just to learn all the rules and prepare for a normal game.

At some point, it began to seem that the authors had become hostages of their own fans, who, as you know, usually want everything to be “bigger” and “more complicated” from the sequels of their favorite game. In the second, third, and fourth parts of Civilization, the basic concept of this ingenious strategy became more and more complicated: the number of types of troops increased several times, units gained experience, and cities gained cultural boundaries, religion arose, the opportunity for diplomatic victory, trade in strategic resources, economic wars and other complex geopolitical things... In the end, in the most recent edition, Civilization 4 (hung on top with two add-ons and a re-release) was so densely stuffed with little things and details that in the later stages of the game each move could take several tens of minutes, and wars dragged on for long hours. The tactics lost all meaning and boiled down to reorienting the economy towards war, quickly recruiting an army of fifty tanks and rolling out all the enemy’s cities with caterpillar tracks.

Not to say that the authors themselves did not understand that “Civilization” is from a strategy that was literally played in the early nineties All, began to turn into marginal entertainment. Two years ago in Civilization: Revolution- a special version of "Civilization" for consoles - an attempt was made to once again return to the mass player. The basic concepts of the game were simplified, the interface, which was no less complex than a program for analyzing stock quotes, was almost completely relegated to hot keys, and even the longest game did not drag on for a day, and the fate of the world was decided in a maximum of five to six hours. However, all undertakings were killed by the extremely intractable AI, which sooner or later still declared war (despite all the diplomacy and your numerical superiority), and “Civilization” in this version was more like a simplified wargame with beautiful graphics.

In this entire context, the main achievement of today by Firaxis and Sid Meier is that in Civilization 5 they were not afraid to follow the path of Revolution, at the core they left the concept of that very first “Civilization”, and remade everything that they had come up with over the past twenty years.

1. Three main parameters and main colors that describe the state of affairs in our civilization. Blue - increase in science points per turn; With science, everything is simple, the more your cities generate it, the faster you research new technologies, open access to new buildings, units and social paradigms. Yellow is the color of money; gold is the most important resource in Civilization 5; in this game, almost everything that cannot be captured or researched can be purchased. Purple - the number of “culture” points per turn. The more cultural our society is, the faster the boundaries of cities grow and new social doctrines open.

2. In most cases, the importance of a city can be determined by eye - megacities look noticeably larger than towns. However, just so you know, the large number next to the city name indicates the number of inhabitants, the green number is the number of turns remaining until the next population increase, and the red number is the number of turns until the completion of the selected building. Finally, the most important number drawn next to the shield icon - this is the level of thickness of the city walls and protection from enemy attacks.

3. Comprehensive information about the currently selected unit. The main parameter that you need to know about any troops in Civilization 5 is the strength of their attack (or defense - everything is simpler in the fifth part). Small pictograms indicate all the “perks” of the selected unit, which it earns by gaining experience in battle: bonuses to attacks from various types of landscapes, bonuses to the restoration of “health,” etc.

4. State border- a very important thing in the fifth part of Civilization. The proximity of two ambitious powers to each other automatically gives rise to unhealthy tension, and a “cultural race” aimed at expanding the borders of their cities can easily turn into a military operation.

5. Access to strategic and commodity resources is key to ensuring peace and contentment for your population. A timely plantation built in a banana grove or nets stretched in fish spawning areas provide not only an increase in “happiness” in cities, but also commercial benefits.

6. In the fifth part of Civilization, the game interface finally got rid of its fanfare office pomp. 90% of all useful information is provided using drop-down message icons, and three buttons at the top make it easy to manage all culture, science and diplomacy. For those who like to look at beautiful graphs and meditate on numbers - all the “hardcore” menu items are hidden under a small icon with a scroll in the upper right side of the screen.

It works now

As before, the game begins with the choice of a civilization that you will have to bring over the next 6,000 years from the stage of a tribal settlement to the status of a nuclear superpower. As usual, each nation has its own characteristics: for example, the Indians receive a huge bonus to population growth in cities, the British - improvements in naval troops, the Russians - the Cossack cavalry unit and the Krepost building, etc.

Most games in Civilization take place on randomly generated maps (as before, before starting the game, you can literally configure everything: from the size of the planet to the climate and landscape features). As before, the action of one classic game takes 500 moves and covers the period from 4000 BC. until 2050. Starting with the founding of your first city, the invention of the wheel and your first skirmish with the barbarians, you will lead your civilization through the centuries into the age of the Internet and nanotechnology... if, of course, you manage to share the planet with other civilizations.

Serious changes have also occurred with the tactical part of the game. In the fifth part, the need for maintaining huge armies and waging endless hundred-year wars finally disappeared. Keeping a garrison of a dozen units in cities is not only unnecessary, but also impossible - only one unit can be present in one settlement (and indeed in any cell on the map) at a time.

This seemingly small thing radically changes the entire gameplay. And if earlier the war in “Civilization” sooner or later began to tire, then in Civilization 5 you will suddenly find that for the first time in many years you are moving soldiers around the map with wild interest and bombing cities with artillery. Settlements, even without a garrison, are not so easy to capture, but even an army of five detachments in capable hands can greatly frighten the enemy. For the first time in the entire history of Civilization, such things as unit experience gained in battle, terrain features, and similar little things suddenly In fact begin to significantly affect the game. When building cities, it is important to take into account the defensive advantages of the terrain: a fortress sandwiched between rocks may not have the most favorable economic position, but in one turn it can only be attacked by one enemy unit.

Such thoughtfulness is characteristic of literally every small element of this game. The funny thing is that all those mechanisms that were supposedly laid out in Civilization 4, five years later, finally started working for real.

For example, the incredible happened: in the fifth part you can actually go through the entire game and never enter the war. Economics and diplomacy - essential elements games. The biggest innovation in the classic Civilization concept is independent city-states. In addition to you and rival civilizations, a dozen or so “free cities” are scattered across the islands and continents. Unlike “big” civilizations, single-industry towns do not expand their sphere of influence and do not fight outside their borders.

So, simply taking and conquering these appanage principalities is far from the smartest policy. By developing the economy and properly pumping up local princes with money, you can get not only a decent increase in trade and culture, but also a good ally in case of war with another civilization.

In addition, AI has become much more flexible in matters of diplomacy. And if earlier during the war the enemy would negotiate only when the last native huts were already burning down, and your armies were approaching his capital, then in Civilization 5 such situations are possible when your peaceful kingdom is attacked by an obviously stronger enemy, but after several unsuccessful offensives easily agrees to a truce and even some kind of indemnity.

And no too religion

The abolition of religion in Civilization 5 as one of the key game concepts was perceived by the most radical fans as almost the main reason to once again start scandals and cries on the Internet on the topic of rendering. In fact, it is important to remember that in the previous, fourth “Civilization,” religions were almost the main object of jokes. Firstly, religions were equalized in terms of the power of “penetration” into the masses, and the rapid development of technology in the middle of the game made Christianity or Islam practically meaningless - according to the mechanics of the game, by the time they were invented, earlier Hinduism or Confucianism had already managed to penetrate almost everywhere. Secondly, practically no one used missionary units spreading your state religion - it took a long time, was ineffective, and also tedious. Finally, thirdly, in the Middle Ages, diplomacy between two countries with different religions usually boiled down to the remark “die infidel!” - which, as you understand, somewhat hampered trade and cultural expansion.

Cultured people

In general, fighting in the fifth “Civilization” is expensive, unprofitable and risky, and why fight when almost any issue can be solved with gold? Your neighbors on the planet are terrible traders, and they will gladly offer you to purchase or exchange various resources, conclude an agreement in the field of scientific and technical cooperation, and they can sell you entire cities for good money.

However, there is no need to have dozens of cities in Civilization 5. The last major innovation of the fifth part: the successful growth of your settlements is possible only if your subjects are happy with life. That is, if earlier in “Civilization” the level of “luxury” gave only minor bonuses, now the satiety of the electorate and its access to entertainment is a direct key to the successful development of the country.

In the fifth part, the mechanics unobtrusively force you to somehow, at a certain stage, reorient your barbarian nation into something more or less cultural. Without temples, colosseums and shamanic temples that increase the “cultural level” of cities, the borders of your country will not grow, and growing borders mean constant access to new resources for a growing population... It turns out a vicious circle: one way or another you have to more or less harmoniously develop your civilization, and all your favorite cheating tactics like “quickly invent gunpowder and by 600 AD. take out everyone on the planet" suddenly stop working.

Civilization 5 is polished and balanced in a way never dreamed of in any previous part of the series, and the mechanics are freed from all (let's be honest) unnecessary elements. For example, social policy is now implemented as, if you will forgive the comparison, pumping up “talents” in an online MMORPG like World of Warcraft. There are several “branches” with different social models of society. Each turn, all cultural buildings and wonders built in your cities produce a conditional “culture” that accumulates over time and allows you to choose the next “perk” for your civilization.

From the very beginning, you can direct your civilization along the path (“tree”) of the traditional patriarchal or republican model of development, and over time (by studying new technologies) religious and socialist, commercial and technocratic branches of development will open up. To put it very simply, in practice, once every N moves, depending on the level of “culture” of the sponsored nation, you receive a pleasant economic, social or military bonus.

* * *

Finally, the fifth Civilization also looks very decent - on powerful configurations the game displays lush topographical landscapes with neat unit models, natural fog and pyramids of yellow dunes in the deserts. Of course, with all the details included, the game will sooner or later begin to slow down in the later stages (when literally every free cell is either built up or occupied by a unit), but there are no surprises in this - “brakes after the start of the industrial revolution” have been considered for twenty years now a signature feature of all games in the series without exception.

Civilization 5 is the pinnacle of classic Civilization mechanics. Newest part This great strategy turned out to be not just a remake with modern graphics stuffed with details and hundreds of new units, but the first serious rethinking of the entire series in many years. All the key elements of the game (economy, culture, city building, combat) have been eliminated from tedious details and balanced with the greatest precision. Everything unnecessary has disappeared from the game, which for so long has irritated hardcore players and bothered newcomers. Twenty years ago, the Civilization formula turned out to be closer to ideal than ever.

Replay value-Yes

Cool story- No

Originality-Yes

Easy to learn- Yes

Meeting expectations: 90%

Did you wait? Never in its 20 years and five episodes of history has the Civilization series changed so radically. If you have never played Civilization before, and global strategies seemed complicated and abstruse to you, now is the time to start breaking this stereotype.

"Fabulous"

Rome:
Excellent logistics due to automatically built roads, fast initial advancement in cultural topics due to a free monument in each city, a good unique bathhouse building (replaces the aqueduct and gives +1 content), usually I try to do without aqueducts, but I almost always use Rome, firstly, the construction itself is cheaper, and secondly, contentment is never too much. A good unique unit is Legion, a kind of universal soldier, a very powerful warrior +4 compared to an ordinary swordsman, in addition, it can be used for purely civilian purposes =). He has a unique opportunity: firstly, he can repair looted improvements, and secondly, he can (one-time) cut down a forest and drain a swamp. By the way, he carries this ability through all upgrades.
Options for victory: in principle, any, but early military dominance is preferable due to a strong unique unit and good logistics.

Russia:
A huge territory when a city is founded is simply a HUGE plus, as a rule, all the most interesting cells are captured, it saves a lot of money due to the fact that you don’t have to buy up interesting cells.
Trade routes to other civilizations give +1 science or culture for every 3 technologies if you are behind in science or culture. It’s an average ability, but you can use it, focus on culture if there is a highly cultured neighbor nearby, like Rome or Greece, and at first steal culture from them.
+1 faith +1 production in the tundra, just a good ability.
A unique building - the Lavra, replaces a sacred place, is cheaper to produce, . Gives points to prophets, writers, artists, musicians. Nice building. Religion, if you strive for it, you will take even the most difficult deity second. Russia is one of the few civilizations where it makes sense to embrace religion and use it.
Unique unit: Cossack. Didn't use it =)
Victory options: the easiest way is religious on small maps (up to 6 civ). Cultural, ordinary through the rapid receipt of writers, artists due to the unique Lavra and theater square. Also interesting is the option of an early cultural victory through the belief of Power and the apostle-martyrs, but it has its own subtleties.

Greece:
Additional universal card political course. It's hard to come up with something more useful. Helps enormously, especially in the early stages of the game.
Victory over the enemy gives culture (the ability of the leader Gorgo). A very strong ability both at the early stage of the game and at a later stage, a good war in the Middle Ages-Renaissance Era can advance us from a Merchant Republic to a Democracy =). The unique ability of Pericles (+5% to culture for each overlord of the city of the state) is IMHO much weaker.
A unique building - the Acropolis, replaces the theater square, and is cheaper to produce. Only Russia and the Congo can create a strong building, a good bid for a cultural victory, and competition in the struggle for great writers and artists.
A unique Hoplite unit, an ultimate against Cavalry, but in a real game against the computer it is of little use; it is not often that the computer (except for the Scythians) builds masses of horses.
Options for victory: the easiest way is cultural.

Germany:
Additional military course card. Good ability. Worse than the Greek one, but also good, especially in the early stages of the game.
Cities are able to build 1 district more than the population allows. A German city with a population of 4 is capable of building 3 districts.
Unique building - Hansa (replaces the industrial zone), cheaper to produce, +1 production for an adjacent resource!! +2!! production for the neighboring center of commerce. The best, in my opinion, unique building, capable of creating very decent production even in areas poor in hills; with dense buildings, Hansa is capable of producing +6 or more production; Industrial zones can only dream of such production.
A unique unit is the submarine. Didn't build it =). Must be good.
Option for the development of Germany - definitely with all our might into apprenticeship, we build up with Hanse markets, study the Civil Service, take meritocracy + 1 culture for the built area, study Guilds, take artisans + 100% of production from the Hansa neighborhood. And... We get a huge production for the Middle Ages, further according to taste, set up the troops and demolish everyone, complete the campuses and go into space, complete the theater theaters and go into culture. Space and military victory are the most simple options victory. With this set of abilities, I believe that Germany is the strongest nation in the game.

Briefly about the rest.
Congo:
Double points for writers, artists, merchants, musicians. Computers even on the deity are quietly resting from great people. Congo has it all. Congo is the #1 contender for cultural victory.

England:
She is strong when everyone is weak =). If the map consists of small islands where one city is crowded and everyone has the same situation, England is able to survive and build due to the unique Shipyards of the Royal Navy. Shipyards (a building in the Royal Navy Shipyard zone) of England built on another continent give 2 production for no reason (other nations do not have such a feature), so due to unique Shipyards and virtually double the number of routes, England is able to organize a relatively powerful trade on islands poor in production - industrial empire. I once came across such a card and played it as a trade. accepted wild civics all for + gold from trade routes, drove all caravans to another continent and accepted colonial taxes (+25% to gold on another continent. My income rose to +500 per turn (without banks and exchanges) and the buildings I'm in I simply bought my own cities, since production in them was weak. In general, the nation is interesting, but situational. Options for victory - IMHO cultural or naval if possible. Of the maps, archipelagos are preferable.
PS: The patch killed England.

China:
Sort of average. Eurekas tear off 60% of the tech instead of 50%, this is probably the case, but it feels weak. The workers are of course very nice. It makes sense to build the Great Wall after the opening of the castles (it begins to give culture), but this is not the most interesting direction. A well-built wall can give 3 gold, 3 crops. After the opening of Aviation, the wall also begins to produce tourism, but you will not achieve a cultural victory with the wall alone.

Scythians:
By far the most powerful nation for military victory. Keep in mind that it has a bonus for building light cavalry until the end of the game. Build a helicopter and you get 2.

Arabs:
Another nation for which religion is necessary and useful. Strong with early universities, 10% buff to science and culture if your religion is in the city. At the same time, I would not get carried away with religious victory. Through early universities, rush into science and go to the stars, or at least early modern tanks overwhelm everyone.

Sumerians:
A very strong scientific nation. Zikurat is the most useful unique territory improvement. +2 science +1 culture without technical requirements, this is VERY cool. Due to this, we quickly become leaders in science at any level of complexity. The unique unit is also very good. Inexpensive to produce, very strong for the early stage, with good mobility, does not require maintenance. The options for victory are military, due to more technologically advanced military units, or space.

Poland:
Strong nation. Jadwiga's ability to turn a military course card into a universal one is very cool. In my opinion, this ability is even more useful than the additional German card. This ability makes Poland one of the top contenders for quickly gaining religion.
Unique structure - Cloth stalls (replaces the market) give +4 gold to domestic trade routes, +2 production for international trade routes. The most powerful building in the game.
The unique unit is very good, although it may be difficult to quickly produce it.
Relics give +2 faith, +2 culture, +4 gold. An additional incentive to go to religion, mediocre ability. The remaining features of the nation are, to put it mildly, nothing =).
The cultural seizure of cells by forts - camps (you cannot squeeze out a cell that has already been captured by cultural influence) is simply irrational; it is easier to simply buy the necessary cells.
Options for victory - religious, military.

Aztecs:
A very strong military-expansive nation. The nation does not have any bonuses to the type of victory other than military, but it is able to deliver 50% more cities without losing contentment.
Luxury resources provide food for 2 additional cities, +1 to the strength of military units. A very powerful ability. It contains all the power of the Aztecs. The fastest, aggressive early expansion to luxury resources and their instant processing, a very early war and the capture of slaves by eagle warriors is the key to victory.

Brazil:
I didn't understand this nation. In theory, Brazil's strength lies in its endless expansion. Brazil, due to its unique region, is capable of placing any number of cities with a population of 8 without losing contentment, but I don’t see any benefits to the type of victory.

India:
Complete rubbish and confusion. It would be interesting to listen to the comments of those who gave India national bonuses and what its strength is. All the characteristics of a nation are based on religion, but it can only acquire religion if it is lucky. A unique improvement makes it possible for cities to grow quickly, but where can they get enough for them?

Perhaps I described everything a little clumsily. If something needs clarification, ask, or criticize, objective criticism is always useful.