Civilization VI Stories: Sumer

Hello dear readers and welcome to Shoot the Rookie! Today I’m starting what will hopefully become a regular feature on the blog, Civilization VI Stories, so come join me to find out what it’s all about!

I’ve written about Civilization quite a bit recently as I’ve journeyed back into the series after many years away from it. The thing with Civilization and blogging is that it is very difficult to convey in one post just how varied each outing of the game can be. Therefore I’ve decided to try writing a post about each game I complete, giving a bit of detail about how the game went and what I learned from the experience.

In this first post I’m going to be talking about my recently finished game of Civ VI, in which I took on the role of Gilgamesh leading the people of Sumer. But how would his epic tale unfold with me at the helm? Well read on to find out!

Note: If you are able to identify all the stupid references to Australian TV in this article then you get a prize.

Game Setup

Difficulty: Warlord

Map Size: Small

Map Type: Small Continents (apparently, although that wasn’t actually what it looked like!)

Barbarians: Clan Mode

AI Civilizations: 5

The Beginning

Starting in a lovely location with lots of rivers, I focused initially on expanding and grew to four cities quickly. As I had wanted to go after a science victory, the Ziggurat improvement which is unique to Sumer was particularly useful as it adds science points to the land it is built on. My intentions of focusing on science were soon derailed however by a large, constant and advanced Barbarian onslaught from more than one direction. I had to throw everything I had into my military to ensure they did not run rampant across my beautiful lands and pillage and destroy the hard work of my citizens.

In terms of other Civilizations, my closest neighbours were Australia, and although I found some of their actions mildly irritating, we managed to build a pretty good relationship. But could good neighbours become good friends? Let’s find out!

The Middle

Well as it turns out, me and Australia didn’t get closer each day. In fact John Curtin ended up literally throwing his hat at me. Apparently I’d gotten too good or something and he went round the twist. A lot of the other Civilizations didn’t really like me either, particularly Persia. Cyrus said it was because I had an alliance with his enemy, but secretly I know it was because he was jealous of my friendships with Cleopatra and Tomyris. What can I say? Gilgamesh was an impressive dude!

Back to the important stuff, I continued to grow my empire and swayed between going for a science victory or a culture victory. For quite some time I was seriously behind in both areas and thought culture might be the easier one to catch. That was until I learned that in Greece they had pretty much every great work ever made and were surely close to a culture victory themselves. Learning that turned the tide and I focussed heavily on two key areas: science and production.

I managed to climb my way back up the tech tree but remained aware that others, particularly Australia, were also chasing a science victory. By this point I’d grown my empire to about ten cities, most of which were pretty useful and one of which was a cute little tundra city with a national park. My original four cities were still the most productive and therefore I decided to focus three of them on the space race for the science victory and the other on building the Eiffel Tower. Because why not? But could I beat the Australians to Mars or would I end up on, er, heartbreak highway?

The End

Well, yeah, I won. Although it was in doubt for the majority of the game, once I’d maximised production in my three space-focused cities (of which I actually only needed two), I just had to wait and no one made any moves to stop me or beat me to the line. A couple of other Civs did build a space project or two, but in the end I think my earlier efforts to increase production are what made the difference. This was my first science victory in Civilization VI and I was super proud to achieve it!

Final Thoughts and Observations

Each game of Civilization is its own story and has its own personality. Each player plays in their own way as well, and I was particularly pleased to have been able to get this victory whilst still putting a lot into culture, maintaining a religion and establishing a national park, as those are things I find important in the game, regardless of the type of victory I aspire to.

I learned that for a science victory I should go for two or three cities with high enough production to build a space port, and that whilst I kinda hate maximising production because of the real-world environmental connotations, it is sometimes necessary. Additionally I learned that I will never play Barbarian clans mode ever again as it totally screws up the City State dynamic. Also, next time I’m going to crank up the difficulty as in the end it was a bit too easy to get the win.

On a cultural level I’ve always enjoyed learning independently about the civilizations featured in the game, and after this game I spent a long while learning about the history of Sumer and actually bought the Epic of Gilgamesh!

I also gained the ability to recite Waltzing Matilda note for note, but let’s not talk about that.

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So there we have it! The story of my most recent foray into the world of Civilization, leading Gilgamesh and Sumer to a brilliant science victory. But what’s been happening in your Civ games recently? Do you favour military victories over science? Let me know your thoughts below and don’t forget to join me next time for more video game and anime chit chat!

Thanks for reading,

Pix1001 x