Civilization 5

[The Hound]

Typically I want to settle my city on a hill adjacent to a river. You get defensive bonuses and extra production for the hill plus fresh water access for the river. It's amazing if I can settle on copper, gems or silver for the extra gold per turn which is huge early game.

Tech wise I always start with pottery, then mining if my luxuries are mining, the wheel if I'm Aztec, animal husbandry if I'm stuck with trapping luxuries or I'm a Civ that gets horse units or archery if Attila / Aztec is my neighbour lol

Build wise I always go scout > start monument > switch the shrine when pottery is done > finish monument > granary > settler. The granary in to settler is pretty dumb since growth stagnates but there's nothing else to build usually.

I never build workers because you can just steal them lol I'll keep a perpetual war with a city state going and steal a few and I'll always steal from my neighbour. But keep the same war going because city states will get angry if you keep starting war and fags like Alexander are bitchy about city states

Rushing Impi tech is a pretty good idea for Zulu. I make sure to build the Ikanda first to get the special promotion so I rush bronze working or whatever it is, save my gold for upgrades at Impi then just shit on the world lol it's ridiculous how easy it is with the Zulu to stomp the world. And if you haven't conquered the world by the time they are obsolete they upgrade to riflemen lol

If you're Shoshone then it's a good idea to build 2 or maybe even 3 pathfinders immediately since you can choose your ruin upgrade. If I'm Ethiopia I also build the Stele before a scout which guarantees you first choice of pantheon unless the Celts are in the game.

Deity is pretty bullshit I don't like playing it because the AI just gets way too many bonuses and cheats. I stick with immortal. You basically just play catch up until the Renaissance then shit on the world when you get artillery

[The Hound]

I think my favourite Civ in 5 is Arabia.

You get double the oil, caravans have 50% longer range and put out twice as much religious pressure, the bazaar gives you an extra copy of every luxury you connect which means you trade/sell one and still keep the happiness and the camel archers are probably the best unique unit in the game and come at the perfect time. They're not OP as fuck like Poland, Babylon and Korea but you can go any victory type you want. Plus having a desert start bias means getting desert folklore which gives you a shit load of faith and if you're really lucky it means getting Petra which is easily the best wonder in the game

[HANZO]

I usually play on immortal to, i have won on deity only when i get a lucky start, whatever you do on deity your never gonna match the AI's production and science, the only way i have won is having a mobile army which can take cities quickly, once your stuck in a long war other civs just open a big lead.

My tactic is simple i go scout-shrine-scout, steal a worker from a city state. When i hit level 3 population i build 2 settlers and quickly build two cities to establish my outer borders, this isn't just about building cities but to block the AI closest to you from expanding into your region. I then build a few composite bowmen and spearman and hunt down a neighbour. I build a national college whenever I can early and go from there. Sometimes i like to rush Great Library and then National college so i can have a huge science lead early on.

[The Hound]

On deity you can end up catching the AI in science around the Renaissance but the problem is you really need to play it a certain way and go tradition with 3 cities while kind of rush prioritising your national college then settling your final city and still staying on your science half the tech tree. The biggest annoyance with deity for me is the extra settler they start with, that sucks so much when you have a close neighbour. I stay on immortal because of that.

The only time I've gotten the great library on Immortal is Venice. If you time things right you can get great library, use the free tech to colossus tech, hanging gardens and then colossus. That's an amazing start for Venice. It's definitely possible if you have marble, decent production and possibly even the wonder bonus pantheon. If you get the great library you get the rest. The only early wonder I go for is oracle, the AI doesn't prioritise it and the free social policy usually is tradition finisher.

[TSA]

I usually play on immortal to, i have won on deity only when i get a lucky start, whatever you do on deity your never gonna match the AI's production and science, the only way i have won is having a mobile army which can take cities quickly, once your stuck in a long war other civs just open a big lead.

My tactic is simple i go scout-shrine-scout, steal a worker from a city state. When i hit level 3 population i build 2 settlers and quickly build two cities to establish my outer borders, this isn't just about building cities but to block the AI closest to you from expanding into your region. I then build a few composite bowmen and spearman and hunt down a neighbour. I build a national college whenever I can early and go from there. Sometimes i like to rush Great Library and then National college so i can have a huge science lead early on.

I fast track to Great Library then trade technologies for money resources and maps basically have every civ possible paying you something per turn. Then shoot up my science budget to keep the lead.

Resources are underrated. If you have something ppl want and barter well you'll never fall behind technologically. I always get beat on diety though or reach the point where the gap is unbearable

[The Hound]

Civ 5 complete with all DLC is $2 on steam right now