Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings

Overview

Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings is the first expansion pack for Civilization V, and was released June 19, 2012 in America and June 22, 2012 internationally. It primarily adds religion and espionage mechanics, which were not present in the base game. 9 new civilizations, 27 new units, 13 new buildings, 9 new wonders, new technologies, and a slightly reworked combat and diplomatic system were added to the game. Rounding out the package are 3 new scenarios: Fall of Rome, Into the Renaissance, and Empires of the Smoky Skies.

New Additions

Religion

Religion is the main addition in Gods & Kings. A new resource, Faith, is used to generate Great Prophets, which are used to found religions and build Holy Sites. Civilizations first start with a Pantheon, which is formed when they first start earning Faith points. They can then advance their Pantheon into a full religion when they get their first Great Prophet. Players can choose up to 5 religious beliefs (6 for the Byzantines), which will provide bonuses to both their civilization and all those who adopt that religion. New religious units like the Missionary and the Inquisitor can also help to spread religion and prevent the spread of rival religions respectively. There are a limited number of religions available in a game (depending on the map size), and not all Civilizations can found a religion in a given game.

Religion also will affect how other civilizations and city-states treat the player. Civilizations with the same religion will be friendlier to each other, while those with different religions will be more hostile. City-states will also be more friendly to those civilizations with the same religion and will occasionally issue quests to convert them. Religion will become less important diplomatically as the Industrial Era dawns, but Faith can still be used to buy units, buildings, and Great People.

Espionage

The second major addition to Gods & Kings is the espionage system. Unlike in Civilization IV, spies are not units on the field, but instead ordered about through the espionage menu. The first spy appears when a civilization enters the Renaissance, and each civilization gains an additional spy every time it enters a new era. Civilizations can also increase their number of spies by building the new National Intelligence Agency National Wonder. Spies earn experience by stealing technologies and killing other spies, but can be caught and killed, and civilizations will have to wait a few turns before a new spy is trained.

Spies can be sent to both rival civilizations and city-states, with different effects. Spies sent to rival civilizations can be used to sniff out troop movements and steal technology, while spies in city-states will influence that city-state to be friendlier to the player. Players can tell other civilizations if their rivals are planning an attack to boost their relations, and AI civilizations will occasionally do the same too. Spies can also be assigned to the player's cities to provide counter-intelligence against enemy spies, and the Constabulary, Police Station, the National Intelligence Agency, and the Great Firewall World Wonder will reduce the chance of technology stealing.

New Buildings and Wonders

Gods & Kings adds 13 new buildings and 9 new wonders to Civilization V. 4 new buildings are Unique Buildings for the new civilizations, and many of the new buildings provide bonuses to faith and espionage. The 13 new buildings and 9 new wonders are:

Cathedrals, Mosques, and Pagodas can only be built if a civilization has a religion that allows it, and can only be purchased with faith. Monasteries from the base game have also been reworked to the same system. Also, many Great Wonders from the base game has been reworked and their position in the tech tree adjusted. Religious Great Wonders will now provide Faith points instead of Culture points like other Great Wonders.

Gods & Kings also adds 4 new Natural Wonders to the game, all religious features that produce additional Faith points for the civilization. They are:

• Mt. Kailash: 6 Faith, 2 Happiness
• Mt. Sinai: 8 Faith
• Sri Pada: 2 Food, 4 Faith, 2 Happiness
• Uluru: 2 Food, 6 Faith

Changes

Combat Improvements

Combat mechanics has been reworked in Gods & Kings. The biggest change is the increase in unit health, from 10HP to 100HP. All units in the game has also been rebalanced, and units are now harder to kill, prolonging battle and diversifying tactical options. Naval combat has been reworked, with a new class of unit, melee naval units, and the new Great Admiral unit providing naval combat bonuses similar to Great Generals. Embarked units are now able to defend themselves and stack with military naval units. 27 new units, including the Machine Gun, the Composite Bowman, the Triplane, and the Privateer were also added. In addition, the combat AI was improved, and takes less time to organize an invasion and position units better.

Diplomacy

Gods & Kings adds a new option to diplomacy: establishing embassies. This action, only available from the Classical Era onwards, uncovers the capital cities of the two civilizations. It will also allow the two civilizations to open their borders and start research agreements. Diplomatic deals has also been streamlined as players can now automatically renegotiate their deals on the turn it expires.

Diplomatic AI was also improved in Gods & Kings. AI civilizations will no longer penalize the player for trying to win the game the same way as them. Also, the AI is more forgiving of previous grievances and will no longer blame the player for fighting in wars they did not start. While religion plays a large part in diplomacy in the early eras, as civilizations reach the Industrial Era, the Social Policies that civilizations adopt will begin to matter more. Civilizations can choose between 3 camps: Freedom, Order, and Autocracy, and the AI will be friendlier to those who share their beliefs.

City-States

Two new types of city-states were added to Gods & Kings: Religious and Mercantile. Religious city-states provide faith points similar to Cultural city-states, while Mercantile city-states provides happiness and produces additional Luxury Resources which is given to it's allies. Militaristic city-states will now also provide a Unique Unit of a civilization that is not in the game, which will be available when the civilization researches the technology needed for that unit.

The city-state influence system has also been reworked. Gold is now less important in influencing city-states, and the quest system has been reworked to give it more importance. City-states now offer multiple quests, with more varied objectives. There are also global quests that involve all civilizations, and the winner of that quest will receive a boost in influence. Spies can also subtly influence city-states or organize a coup to bring the city-state to a civilization's side.

On the other hand, city-states can be threatened for gold, by displaying a show of force and demanding tribute. This will lower the standing between the threatening civilization and the city-state, and other city-states will become more wary of that civilization. City-states will also no longer declare permanent war against a warmongering civilization, but the influence resting point of all city-states will drop the more a civilization declares war against city-states. This will make it harder for that civilization to befriend other city-states.

Great People

In addition to the 2 new Great People, the Great Prophet and the Great Admiral, the other Great People were also rebalanced. Gone are the mini Golden Ages that all Great People could start; instead, only the Great Artist could start a Golden Age, replacing their Culture Bomb Ability. Great Scientists now give a certain amount of Science (based on the civilization's Science output in the last 6 turns) instead of a free technology, Great Merchants grant more gold from their Trade Missions, and Great Generals now only provide a 15% combat bonus. The Great General's Citadel now claims all tiles around it similar to the Culture Bomb, and the Science output of the Great Scientist's Academy has been greatly increased, to +8 at base and additional +2 at Scientific Theory and Atomic Theory.

Great People can now be purchased with Faith, if the civilization has opened certain Social Policy Trees. Commerce allows purchase of Great Merchants, Rationalism allows Great Scientists, Freedom allows Great Artists, Autocracy allows Great Generals and Admirals, and Order allows Great Engineers. Great Prophets will stop being automatically generated after the Industrial Era, but can still be purchased with Faith.

Technology Tree

The technology tree in Gods & Kings has been reworked, with many new technologies added and old technologies adjusted. The positions, prerequisites, and cost of many technologies has been changed to minimize bee-lining into later eras. Also adjusted are the technology eras, with a new era, Atomic Era, and the Future Era replaced by the Information Era. The Classical Era has also been extended with several new technologies, and the post-Medieval eras has been completely reworked. Some tile improvements and diplomatic options also had their position in the technology tree changed. For example, Open Borders are now available only at Civil Service and Trading Posts only at Guilds.

Civilizations

Gods & Kings introduces 9 new playable civilizations to the game, each with their own unique traits and units. In addition, Spain (previously available as a DLC) is included in the expansion for free.

In addition, several civilizations from the base game have had their Special Abilities changed.

Scenarios

Fall of Rome

This scenario follows the fall of the Roman Empire in the 6th century. Externally, barbarians like the Goth, the Celts, and the Huns pressure the Roman Empire, while internally, the empire is forced to choose special negative Social Policies that gives them penalties rather than bonuses. Players can play as Eastern or Western Rome, Sassanid Persia, or as one of the barbarian tribes invading Rome. The barbarian tribes are always at war with the Romans, and can win by conquering the Roman cities, while the Romans and the Persians win by managing to survive for a set number of turns.

Into the Renaissance

Designed by lead designer Ed Beach and the main inspiration behind this expansion, this scenario depicts Europe in the Late Medieval Era, as it enters the Renaissance. Religion will play a large part in this scenario, as civilizations fight religious wars like the Crusades and the 30 Years' War. The Mongol invasions and the rise of the Ottoman Empire will also affect the politics and warfare in the scenario. Victory is based on the score after 200 turns, and additional points are awarded through special actions like controlling Holy Cities, discovering the New World, or winning the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Empires of the Smoky Skies

Inspired by steampunk alternative histories and designed by Firaxis designer Anton Strenger, this scenario forgoes history for fancy monocles and steam machinery. Players play as one of 5 Steam Barons, looking to achieve Titles awarded by the League of Empires. Titles are awarded based on achievements like having the most wonders or the most income, and must be researched before attempting to get it. Steampunk units like airships and and steam-powered landships feature prominently, and the technology tree diverges greatly from the base game. The player wins if he holds 3 or more titles for 3 to 5 years in a row.

Steam Achievements

System Requirements