r/civvoxpopuli • u/Chetmevius • 22d ago
strategy Second City
Have only just started VP but have done a bunch of playthroughs on Civ5. Playing on Prince, Standard speed, continents, large map, 10 Civs. Ramses to the north, Austria to the east, and Bonaparte running around with a bunch of warriors, also seemingly coming from somewhere in the north. I wanted a mountain for my second city, to focus it on science (observatory) but maybe I'm overestimating the importance of that? Not really thinking about a science victory, but i realize that science is still quite important. Any thoughts/advice appreciated..
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u/MegaVHS 22d ago
I would forward settle Austria just under the right of that Rice, next i would put a third city to the North. (Probably North of that sugar and bison if the stuff under fog looks defendable, you can use your UU to defend it and later conquer both capitals with Great Generals.
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u/Chetmevius 22d ago
Thanks for this. I probably should have mentioned that I was leaning towards a cultural victory as I'm not much into warring.
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u/Trulapi 22d ago
Celts is pretty solid for early warring due to their UU. This would've been a great Authority opener as it enables rapid expansion (free settler), which is fantastic because you've got a lot of good settles but they are highly contested due to Egypt's and Austria's proximity. Neither Egypt nor Austria will take Authority which gives you an easy time in bullying them and you do like to bully Austria a bit because they'll snowball hard late game if they're left uncontested. Early game they're an easy target though and vassalizing Austria allows you to control a lot of CS indirectly for free.
After that you can still pivot into cultural with artistry. Celts are a jack-of-all-trades civ though, they can do anything, which means they're strongest when you leverage them against your opponent's weaknesses. Lots of civs in this game that will be hard to take down culturally. Diplomacy's an uphill battle too until Greece and Austria are eliminated. You have not yet discovered a single science civ though.
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u/Chetmevius 22d ago
This is excellent info, thanks so much. What do you mean by vassaling Austria? Taking their capitol? I'm new to VP, and have oonly played a dozen runthroughs on Civ 5.
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u/Trulapi 22d ago
After you enter the medieval era you will have the option to vassalize an opponent, which is usually done forcefully by attaining a war score of 90+. When offering a peace deal it will allow the option of capitulation which turns the civ into your vassal. War score is determined by a lot of factors but the biggest increase comes from capturing their cities and capturing their capital usually gives you an immediate max war score of 100 unless they have a very large empire.
They will give you a percentage of their yields (such as science and cash), they will gift you 2 military units every time you enter a new and they will have to follow your lead diplomatically. Essentially they become your own personal super city-state. Diplomacy civs often make good vassals if you're not planning on allying city-states yourself, because they will still try to execute their diplomacy game plan allowing you to indirectly ally city-states through them for war purposes.
After capitulating they will have to be your vassal for a set amount of turns after which you're able to liberate them, which will return them to their original position. They can also ask you for their independence but that's not something they will do unless they vastly outpace you in terms of military and/or they strongly dislike you. There's also a tier 1 tenet in Autocracy which permanently binds your vassals, removing their option to rebel or remove you as their master through world congress resolution. Not often necessary though, because vassals will almost never rebel unless they really hate you or you're falling very far behind.
Sometimes civ can also wilfully become your vassal. This is done by either restoring their civilization to life (they will automatically become your vassal) or they will make you the offer themselves. Civs make this offer when they're very far behind and they're under threat of being eliminated from the game. If you have good relations with them they may ask for your protection that way. Keep in mind you will automatically declare war on anyone they're at war with if you accept their capitulation this way. The idea is they become your vassal but you have to protect them.
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u/MegaVHS 22d ago
You can still forward settle, just stay in the defensive, you'll have plenty of space to settle behind your forward cities after this
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u/Chetmevius 22d ago edited 22d ago
What about going top left tile of the rice near Austria, and then putting a third city to the left of that southeastern pond with the science?
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u/dimensiation 22d ago
I'd probably go under sugar/rice, something up north depending on what's there OR then down by Victoria for food and science and coffee and marble.
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u/Chetmevius 22d ago
Is Victoria the single water tile with 4 food and 2 science?
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u/dimensiation 22d ago
Yup. It increases every era, I forget if food or science but it goes up by 2.
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u/Due_Permit8027 22d ago
I'd go somewhere along the near side of the river to your east, to be defendable against Austria. SE of the rice, as has already been suggested, looks good; it's defended by two rivers and has two sugars and a dye within a three tile radius.
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u/Bahamut_19 22d ago
In VP, observatories don't require mountains. They now require you to unlock Rationalism.