Civilization VI

When you start, you have the choice to begin with one of 4 large empires: the Dutch, English, French, or Spanish colonies. All colonies will start with a Caravel ship (the Dutch get a Merchantman instead), a Colonist with tools and Soldier. The English get two free colonists instead, a pioneer and a soldier. The Spanish get a normal pioneer and Veteran Soldiers, and the French get Hardy Pioneers and normal soldiers.

There are two leaders for each nation, who each have a different trait that will alter how their empire is run. There is also a trait for the empire in general, the Dutch are more enterprising, while the Spanish are a bit more warlike.

The Dutch

Special Trait - Mercantile: Market prices are less sensitive. This is a useful trait because market prices are a massive source of income. This trait prevents prices from dropping too quickly when you sell a lot of goods back to Europe.

Leaders

Peter Stuyvesant - Industrious

Bonus: +25% Hammer Production in all Settlements. This is useful for producing buildings and generating Founding Father points faster.

Note: The production bonus is enhanced when combined with Founding Fathers who also increase hammer production, like Alexander Hamilton.

Andiaen Van Der Donck - Charismatic

Bonus: +100% Time between Tax Increases. This makes the time needed for your home nation to tax your colony longer, helping to preserve profits.

The English

Special Trait - Tolerant: -25% Crosses needed for Immigration. This trait helps get more free units at docks in Europe, but you don't control the type of units you receive.

Leaders

George Washington - Disciplined

Bonus: -50% Soldier Equipment required. This is useful for the final push for independence, as it reduces the cost of arming soldiers, normally 100 of each item, by 50.

John Adams - Libertarian

Bonus: +25% Liberty Bells Generation in all Settlements. This is one of the best traits as it helps generate Rebel sentiment and increases production. You need at least 50% Liberty Bells to declare independence.

The French

Special Trait - Cooperative: Natives are more tolerant towards territory encroachment and -50% time spent Living Among Natives to Learn a new skill. These traits are useful for expanding territory without angering natives and for learning skills like Fur Trapping and Cotton Farming faster.

Leaders

Samuel De Champlain - Enterprising

Bonus: +100% Conversion Rate from Missions. Missions are a good way to get converted natives for field skills, though experts are generally more useful.

Leaders:

Louis de Frontenac - Militaristic

• Free Promotion (Grenadier I)
• Applies to: Mounted Units, Gunpowder Units

While the additional damage from your units is welcome, other leader traits may offer more practical benefits for your colonies. However, for the fight for independence, this promotion can be useful.

The Spanish

• Special Trait - Conquistador: +25% Attack against Natives

This trait reflects the historical context of conquest in South America. It is useful, though it does not specify benefits against other Spaniards during a declaration of independence.

Leaders:

Simon Bolivar - Determined

• +100% effect of Liberty Bells on Rebel Attack

This leader ability significantly boosts your units' damage when attacking, especially when you have a large generation of Liberty Bells, which is common during the push for Independence.

Jose De San Martin - Resourceful

• -50% XP Needed for Unit Promotions

This trait is beneficial for creating a highly skilled, albeit potentially limited, ground force. It allows your ground units to reach their full potential quickly, which is crucial when fighting for independence. Given that fighting natives provides limited experience, maximizing promotions is key.

Reader Theovenon Vivien offers an alternative perspective on San Martin's trait:

“This trait is also extremely useful with a very large but totally untrained ground force. This trait makes all your soldiers gain their first promotion with only 1 experience point. Just one fight and they get promoted. Even better: Use a great general in a spot where you just put 20 free colonists freshly turned into soldiers. You will get 20 promotions. Although there are many uses for this, one of my favorites is doing this right after getting the last military founding father, Dom Pedro. You can then give all those new soldiers the second level of Minuteman. In seconds, 20 soldiers with +45% settlement defense! Also, this leader trait is your best bet if you want to get the high level promotions. It makes aiming for level 6 Veteran with more than one unit realistic. I often end up with a group of 5 to 8 dragoons with Veteran VI, 4 power +75%. Extremely powerful, can take over entire empires remarkably fast, as well as quickly get rid of the fearsome royal artillery (the only thing that can really kick your ass even if you have one extremely well defended colony).”

[2.03] The Right Place

When establishing your first colony in Civilization VI, look for land with bonuses such as cotton, wheat, or fur, as these resources are valuable for manufactured goods. Since your first city should ideally be port-based, prioritize locations with access to fish or crabs for your European fishermen to harvest, providing a good food source.

Maintain a safe distance from native villages. While they may initially be peaceful, they will eventually attack if you encroach on their tribal lands. Failure to pay for land use can result in fines or conflict.

Finally, choose a location that allows for easy ship control to and from England, as ships carrying reinforcements will likely arrive there upon declaring independence.

[2.04] Building a Nation

As you establish more colonies, ensure secure food access. Wagon Trains can be used to supply food to colonies in need. Your accumulated gold is vital for hiring specialists from Europe, purchasing new ships and cannons. However, increased trading leads to higher taxes from the king. Refusing to pay taxes and initiating a

Alright, let's talk about getting your empire to really stretch its legs! You've got your coastal cities down, but to truly dominate, you'll need to push inland. This means getting your hands on those sweet, sweet Muskets and making sure your soldiers are well-equipped. Don't forget about your Pioneers – they're crucial for building roads that connect your inland cities to your ports. This is how you'll get all those valuable goods out and sold, which is super important for keeping your economy booming. And while you're at it, make sure to build up those improvements to make your land as productive as possible. That's the basic recipe for a massive empire; how you cook it up is all you!

Now, about Independence (section [2.05]). This is a big deal! Once at least half your population in all your colonies is feeling rebellious (that 50% rebel sentiment mark), you can declare your independence. Be warned, though: this is a risky move. The King isn't going to take it lying down and will send in his troops, and they'll likely be overwhelming. Winning at this stage is tough, and I'll detail how to pull it off in its own section because it's that complex. At least you get to draft a constitution, which is pretty neat.

Let's dive into setting up your colonies, specifically in section [3.01]. Keep in mind, this isn't quite like the original Civ 4. Here, you're limited to harvesting from just 9 tiles around your city, no matter how much culture you have. Culture mainly just defines the land you control. Resource gathering is fundamentally different too. You can only harvest one type of resource per tile, and you don't assign people to each one like before. Instead, you've got various resource collectors, each with unique abilities. Servants and criminals aren't the most efficient, while regular colonists are your average workers. Converted natives are better in the field than colonists but worse in manufacturing, and Experts are amazing at their specific jobs, giving double productivity over a colonist. However, if you put an Expert in a job they're not specialized in, they'll act like a regular colonist.

Also, unlike Civ 4, you'll build structures where colonists can refine resources. Every turn, you'll get resources from your tiles based on your colonist's production. So, if a colonist can produce 5 tobacco, you add 5 tobacco to your stockpile. Many buildings will turn raw materials into valuable goods that fetch a better price in Europe. For instance, Iron Ore is turned into tools, which your colonies use, and those tools are then used to make Muskets. It's really in your best interest to settle near areas with resource bonuses. Seeing a resource on the map gives a significant boost to harvesting, meaning more money for you. You'll want to develop and build new buildings, starting with a warehouse to increase your resource storage capacity. Then, depending on what resources you have, focus on more efficient processing buildings. Think bigger lumber mills and coat factories – they not only use more raw resources (reducing waste) but also transform more raw materials into those high-value manufactured goods.

Now, let's talk about Import/Export in section [3.02]. At the start, you'll be tight on cash, but you need money to buy Experts and, more importantly, military gear from your mother country. They don't seem to suspect your hiring of Dragoons and thousands of horses and muskets as a military buildup, do they? Anyway, you need to be able to buy and sell goods to your mother country. First, you need a colony, and with your limited starting funds, you'll obviously need to export something to make money. This is why settling near resource sources is so vital – you can harvest those resources and sell them raw back to Europe for cash. When you load items onto your ship, remember it needs to be in port to load and then sail back to Europe. Depending on the map, this might take a while, but it's good downtime to build up your resource stockpile. Pay close attention to the selling prices of goods. Food, Lumber, Horses, Tools, and Muskets usually sell for less than 5 gold each. Raw items like Tobacco, Cotton, Fur, Sugar, and Ore typically go for just a bit over 5 gold. Processed goods such as Rum, Coats, and Cigars sell for around 10 gold, and the rarest item, Silver, can fetch nearly 20 gold initially. The game uses supply and demand: over time, prices for goods will rise as demand increases. However, if you flood the mother country with too many of your goods, the price will drop, though you'll always be able to sell them for some amount. As you send more goods, you'll need more ships as your colonies expand. You have two main choices: Ships of the Line are a solid option with 4 cargo slots and 4 movement, while the Galleon offers slightly more carrying capacity but less movement. A balance between the two is probably a good idea.

Finally, let's touch on Building in section [3.03]. As you expand, you'll need to establish more and more colonies. You can't have them all on the coast, though; eventually, you'll need to venture inland. If you do, you'll need a couple of key things. First, you'll need Pioneers to build more roads for faster travel. And what are those roads for? Well, you'll need wagon trains to transport goods to your port cities.