Civilization VI - Bà Triệu of Vietnam

Firaxis is almost done with its New Frontiers DLC pass for Civilization VI. In January, they released a pack including the leader Bà Triệu of Vietnam. New Frontiers updates are planned through March of 2021, so I expect we'll see another pack with one or two new civilizations or leaders.

Patreon

With Firaxis wrapping up with New Frontiers leaders, I may go back and write guides for the new game modes. I'm especially interested in the Corporations and recently-released Barbarian game modes. I may put up a poll on my Patreon page to let my Patrons decide what guides to create next. I hope you'll consider supporting the creation of this content on Patreon, and exercising your voting power to help influence the content I create. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The state of Vietnam, located along the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula, has spent much of its existence under the rule or occupation of other states. Classical Vietnamese kingdoms existed as early as the 29th century BC. The borders of Vietnam shifted over the next couple thousand years while warlords fought each other for dominance of the region, before Vietnam was annexed by the Chinese Han Dynasty in 111 BC. After some short-lived independence movements from leaders such as the Trưng Sisters and Lady Triệu, the state finally gained full independence from the Chinese in 938 AD, but saw periods of Chinese, French colonial, and Japanese occupation in the following centuries before defeating the United States in 1975 and beginning the process of reunification under communist rule.

Civilization VI - Ba Trieu portrait

During the Three Kingdoms period of China during the third century, Bà Triệu lead an unsuccessful campaign to liberate Vietnam from Chinese occupation. Little is known about her life, and all of what is known comes from now-legendary Vietnamese sources. She is believed to have been an orphan who witnessed atrocities commited by the Chinese Wu Dynasty, and, as a teenager, raised an army in a secret military camp in the mountains. Her campaign saw two years of success at driving out Chinese occupations over the course of more than 30 battles. After the Chinese finally began taking her rebellion seriously, Lady Triệu held her ground for months before finally being defeated by the overwhelming forces of the Chinese. Some sources say she was killed in battle, while others say that she survived, but was so dismayed at her defeat that she committed suicide by throwing herself in a river (in the same fashion as the rebellious Trưng Sisters centuries earlier). While the Chinese records never bother to mention her name (or that the leader of the rebellion was a woman), she quickly became a legendary national hero among the Vietnamese, and began to take on exaggerated super-human qualities. The Ho Chi Minh army even recruited a large number of women soldiers during the American Vietnam War in keeping with the tradition set by The Trưng Sisters and Lady Triệu.

DISCLAIMER:
Civilization VI is still a "living game". Strategies for the game (and for specific leaders and civs) may change as Firaxis applies balance patches, introduces new features, or expands the game through further DLC or expansion packs, or as the Civ community discovers new strategies or exploits. As such, the following strategy guide may change from time to time. I will try to keep it up-to-date, and will make notations whenever changes are made. I'll also post links in the official 2K forums and CivFanatics, where I'll also report any changes made. If possible and practical, I will try to retain the original content of the strategy for posterity.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions that readers wish to offer. Feel free to post on the linked forums, or by posting a comment at the bottom of the page.

This guide is up to date as of the release of the "New Frontiers" January 2021 Update (ver. 1.0.9.9)

Bà Triệu is a highly defensive leader who can also be a potent threat in an offensive guerrilla war. Vietnamese cities and units all benefit from colonizing dense forests or jungles, as districts must be placed on these features.

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Civilization VI - Hammurabi of Byzantium

Firaxis will be releasing Civilization VI DLC packs with new game modes, new civilizations, and new leaders through March of 2021. November's update added a very unique leader to the Civilization VI roster: Hammurabi of Babylon. Both the Babylonian civilization and its leader Hammurabi have been playable in multiple past iterations of the Civilization series, but Hammurabi's leader ability is so unique and game-changing that I felt I had to cover it immediately.

Patreon

For future releases that include multiple leaders or civilizations, I may put up polls on Patreon to let my Patrons decide which civ or leader to cover first (if Firaxis gives enough advance notice). I may also put up polls asking if my Patrons would prefer that I make guides focused on the new game modes. So if you would like to vote on which content you would prefer to see sooner, I hope you'll consider supporting the creation of this content on Patreon.

The city of Babylon is one of the earliest cities ever built, having been settled between the 23 and 19th century B.C.. It was built along banks of the Euphrates River, south of modern-day Bagdad, with steep embankments in order to contain and utilize the river's seasonal floods. It is believed that Babylon was the most populous city in the world during the two heights of the Babylonian empire in 17th century B.C. and 6th century B.C., and it was the first city to reach a population of 200,000.

Civilization VI - Hammurabi portrait

Hammurabi is an ancient Babylonian king who ruled in the 18th century B.C.. He is famous for his Code of Laws that was long believed to be the first set of codified laws ever created. There were, however, earlier codes of laws, but Hammurabi's code differed from earlier codes by establishing the principle of the presumption of innocence for the accused, and that the accuser and accused must both provide evidence to establish guilt or innocence. It also limited the amount of retribution that the victim my inflict upon the guilty by prescribing set penalties for specific crimes. Though many prescribed punishments were brutal (such as disfigurement or execution), the code ensured that the victim of a minor crime would not respond by murdering the criminal. Hammurabi had his law transcribed (in the common language) onto a cylindrical stele and placed at the center of town so that every literate person could read it, presumably so that everyone would know what constitutes a crime and what the punishment for each crime is, so that the administration of justice would be seen as fair to the populace.

DISCLAIMER:
Civilization VI is still a "living game". Strategies for the game (and for specific leaders and civs) may change as Firaxis applies balance patches, introduces new features, or expands the game through further DLC or expansion packs, or as the Civ community discovers new strategies or exploits. As such, the following strategy guide may change from time to time. I will try to keep it up-to-date, and will make notations whenever changes are made. I'll also post links in the official 2K forums and CivFanatics, where I'll also report any changes made. If possible and practical, I will try to retain the original content of the strategy for posterity.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions that readers wish to offer. Feel free to post on the linked forums, or by posting a comment at the bottom of the page.

This guide is up to date as of the release of the "New Frontiers" November 2020 Update (ver. 1.0.8.4)

Babylon is a powerful technological force in Civilization VI, that acquires technologies primarily by completing eurekas. It also gets large food bonuses when settling adjacent to rivers, that allows its cities to grow quickly and grow large, and new districts get a head start in infrastructure.

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Civilization VI - Matthias Corvinus of Hungary

Civilization VI's second expansion, Gathering Storm released earlier this year and has added a handful of new civilizations and leaders. I am hoping to write a strategy for each of them, but I want to start with the civilizations and leaders who are completely new to the franchise. This time, I'll be writing about the last of the truly new civs and leaders: the kingdom of Hungary, lead by the Raven King Matthias Corvinus.

Hungary is a modestly-sized country that lies along the dividing lines between central and eastern Europe, known for its vast geothermal water cave network. It reached its political and military height between the 14th and 15th centuries, when it became a major player in European politics and history. When the Ottomans invaded Europe in the mid-15th century, they set their eyes on securing a valuable border fortress at Belgrade. A noble from Transylvania, named John Hunyadi, levied a mercenary army to defend Belgrade from the Turks and hold back the Ottoman army from successfully gaining a foothold in mainland Europe.

Civilization VI - Matthias Corvinus portrait

The golden age of the Hungarian Kingdom concluded with the rule of the Raven King Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi. His election made him the first noble to ascend to the throne without a dynastic background. He was a patron of arts and education, and was seen as a protector of the common folk. His Bibliotheca Corvinian was the second largest library in all of Europe in the 15th century, second only to the Vatican Library. Matthias' mercenary Black Army fought off invasions from the Ottomans (possibly helping to protect all of Europe from Ottoman rule), and also conquered parts of Austria and Bohemia. When Matthias died without an heir, the country fell into decline.

DISCLAIMER:
Civilization VI is still a "living game". Strategies for the game (and for specific leaders and civs) may change as Firaxis applies balance patches, introduces new features, or expands the game through further DLC or expansion packs, or as the Civ community discovers new strategies or exploits. As such, the following strategy guide may change from time to time. I will try to keep it up-to-date, and will make notations whenever changes are made. I'll also post links in the official 2K forums and CivFanatics, where I'll also report any changes made. If possible and practical, I will try to retain the original content of the strategy for posterity.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions that readers wish to offer. Feel free to post on the linked forums, or by posting a comment at the bottom of the page.

This guide is up to date as of the release of the Gathering Storm expansion's "June 2019 update" (ver. 1.0.0.328)

Hungarian cities in Civilization VI do best when founded on snaky rivers and near geothermal fissures. They can be a military force to be reckoned with thanks to a pair of light cavalry unique units and a leader who can use levied city state units to crush his foes.

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Cities: Skylines: Industries - title

Wow, Colossal Order is really popping out these Cities: Skylines expansions in rapid succession! I feel like this is the third or fourth expansion in the last year alone! ... Hold on, let me check ...

Expansion titleOriginal release
After Dark coverAfter Dark24 September 2015
Snowfall coverSnowfall18 February 2016
Match DayMatch Day*9 June 2016
Natural Disasters coverNatural Disasters29 November 2016
Mass Transit coverMass Transit18 May 2017
ConcertsConcerts*17 August 2017
Green CitiesGreen Cities19 October 2017
ParklifeParklife24 May 2018
IndustriesIndustries23 October 2018
* denotes a mini content pack, rather than full expansion.

... So, yeah; third full expansion in the last 12 months (give or take a few days). Fourth expansion in the last 14 months if you want to count the Concerts content pack. Colossal Order seems to have been following a pattern of two full expansions and a mini content pack each year since the game released. I guess that's one way to keep your game relevant. It has certainly kept me coming back every few months.

Never as robust as I would like

The problem is that the limited development time means that the content that is provided in these expansions rarely ever feels as robust or comprehensive as it should -- at least, not to me. As such, I feel like I'm getting diminishing returns from each new expansion. The amount of content that is already in the game means that each new expansion feels like relatively smaller drop of content into an already-large bucket. Each expansion feels like it gives us less to do, and has that much of a smaller impact on the overall gameplay experience.

Adding to the problem of diminishing returns: every single expansion has had some glaring omission or weakness that bothered me, and none of the later expansions have bothered to go back in and address the weaknesses and limitations of the previous expansion(s). After Dark failed to include zoneable public beaches and didn't really make the day/night cycle feel as meaningful as it should. Snowfall failed to include season cycles to go along with After Dark's day/night cycle, and completely dropped the ball with regard to mechanics like ski resorts. Natural Disasters probably felt like the most "complete" and well-rounded expansion (not to mention the most novel one), but still suffers from its content being random, and it neglected to introduce any winter-specific disasters to go along with Snowfall.

Industries follows a long-standing trend with Skylines expansions neglecting seemingly-obvious features.

Mass Transit brought the long-overdue ferry transit option, but neglected to revise cargo harbors to make cargo ship routes more practical, and didn't have any water-based city services (like a coast guard, for example) that would allow a true island economy to function without a network of bridges for freight and emergency services. Green Cities was maybe the laziest expansion, and it focused on pollution-management, but didn't bother to actually make pollution any more relevant or challenging to begin with. Lastly, Parklife granted a lot of player expression, but failed to incorporate the legacy parks into the new modular park feature and doesn't allow the camera to zoom in close enough to get a good look at your pretty decorations.

This isn't to say that all these expansions are "bad". I've liked them all (except maybe for Snowfall and Green Cities), but none of them have really wow-ed me with their content (except maybe for Natural Disasters). And the modular nature of each expansion means that it has limited-to-no impact on the core game systems, and limited-to-no interaction with the previous expansions.

The latest expansion, Industries follows suit. It promises to re-invent the way that your cities' industry functions, but kind of does it in an almost half-assed way. Much like the expansion before it, Parklife, Industries doesn't really incorporate the old legacy industry zones into the new industry mechanics. The new "Industry Area" paintbrush is virtually the same mechanic as the Park Area paintbrush from the last expansion. It isn't a replacement for the original industrial district specialization, so if feels like it's pretty much duplicating that content rather than re-inventing it.

You paint an area as an "Industrial Park", just like the parks in Parklife.

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Civilization VI - Amanitore of Nubia

With the first expansion for Civilization VI due out soon, I wanted to try to get one more pre-expansion game strategy out of the gates. This time, I will be covering another of the DLC civs that is making its first appearance in the Civilization franchise: Nubia. If you purchased the Deluxe Edition of the game, then you received this DLC (among others) for free when the DLC was released. If you do not own the Deluxe Edition, then this DLC costs $5 USD.

Egypt wasn't the only grand ancient civilization that made a home along the Nile River. Starting around 5000 BC, into the 1500's AD, Egypt's southern neighbor was one of the many Kingdoms of Nubia that rose and fell. The Nubians who settled along the river were expert archers, and the contemporary Egyptians (who traded for Nubian gold, ebony, and pottery) referred to their land as "Ta-Seti", or "The Land of the Bow". But the history of civilization in the Nubian region goes back to the Neolithic revolution that occurred in Africa around 5000 BC. Archaeologists have found rock reliefs and even an astronomical stone circle that predates Stonehenge by roughly 2,000 years!

Civilization VI - Amanitore portrait

Kandake ["Queen"] Amanitore co-ruled Nubia from her capital at the Gebel Barkal in Meroë starting around 1 BC. The Nubian civilization had a maternal rule, with the mothers of kings having authority over their sons, and sometimes even deposing them or ordering them to commit suicide if the mother believed them to be unfit as rulers. Amanitore's kingdom was wealthy and prosperous at this time, and Amanitore oversaw the construction and repair of multiple Temples to Amun throughout her kingdom, as well as the construction of Nubian Pyramids. She is regarded as one of the greatest builders in her people's history, and is believed to be buried underneath one of her Pyramids in Meroë.

DISCLAIMER:
Civilization VI is still very early in its life-cycle. Strategies for the game (and for specific leaders and civs) may change as Firaxis applies balance patches, introduces new features, or expands the game through DLC or expansion packs, or as the Civ community discovers new strategies. As such, the following strategy guide may change from time to time. I will try to keep it up-to-date, and will make notations whenever changes are made. I'll also post links in the official 2K forums and CivFanatics, where I'll also report any changes made. If possible and practical, I will try to retain the original content of the strategy for posterity.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions that readers wish to offer. Feel free to post on the linked forums, or by posting a comment at the bottom of the page.

This guide is up to date as of the Fall 2017 patch (ver. 1.0.0.194) (Southeast Asia DLC)

In Civilization VI, Nubia is a militaristic and religious civilization that specializes in rapidly developing city districts, especially in desert terrain...

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Welcome to Mega Bears Fan's blog, and thanks for visiting! This blog is mostly dedicated to game reviews, strategies, and analysis of my favorite games. I also talk about my other interests, like football, science and technology, movies, and so on. Feel free to read more about the blog.

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