Capital Cities in "Civilization VI" Quiz

Nidaros is the old name of the Norse city Trondheim, in real history founded in 997 AD. At the end of the middle ages, Nidaros was renamed Trondheim.

The leader of the Viking Civilization (Norway) is Harald Hardrada, Thunderbolt of the North. He has as perk to build naval units faster than any other Civilization, and as the Last Viking King he is usually friendly to other Civilizations with a big, strong navy. One of the Unique Units of Norway is the Longboat, an early naval unit which replaces the Galley but can also pillage shore tiles.

In the True Earth Location map, Harald starts with a double handicap. First of all, his Capital City is far to the north, which reduces the possibilities for harvesting Food and thus allowing the expansion of the city. Secondly, Norway is in the overpopulated continent of Europe, competing with many other Civilizations.

The closest competitors can be Russia to the east, Germany to the south and England to the west, and you may need to conquer the Capital City of one of these Civilizations in a very early stage.

In real history, Harald Hardrada ruled the Norse kingdom between 1046 and 1066 AD, when he was killed in battle a few weeks before the well-known battle of Hastings.
It may help to discover the Hidden Agenda of your computer-controlled adversaries.

Each Civilization has a (more or less randomly assigned) Hidden Agenda, which predicts up to a certain level how the computer-controlled character would respond to certain situations. For instance, a Hidden Agenda of Wonder Obsessed would indicate the character tries to build as many World Wonders as possible, and is displeased with anyone competing for this title. I should admit that I could title myself as Wonder Obsessed.

In "Civlization VI", Pokrovka is the Capital City of the Scythian Empire led by Queen Tomyris. Tomyris is titled Killer of Cyrus, and this title has two advantages for the Scythian military units: their battle strength against wounded adversaries increases, and when they eliminate an enemy military unit, they automatically heal up to a certain point. The Scythian Unique Unit is the Saka Horse Archer, which combines the swift movement of any cavalry unit with the ranged effect of an Archer - you can attack without occupying the same tile. According to the game, Scythia benefits of the perk "People of the Steppe": train (not buy) any light cavalry unit and get one for free.

So far the description of the game specifications for Scythia. But historians have probably frowned many times at the text of the previous paragraph. First of all, Scythians were nomadic people - they probably did not have any capital city. There is a settlement Pokrovka at the site where the game would pinpoint the Capital City of Scythia on the True Location Earth map, but the real Pokrovka near Volgograd is only a few streets with less than 1,000 inhabitants in 2010 - not really something to call a capital city.

The real Queen Tomyris was Queen of the Massagetae, a tribe vaguely related to the Scythians (but as different of the Scythians as nowadays are the Dutch and the Flemish). She would have ruled her people until about 520 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus told the story that Tomyris would have defeated Cyrus the Great of Persia and then personally beheaded his corpse to drown the severed head in a sack filled with blood. A fine story, but even Herodotus himself (known to later historians as someone who mixed truth with any intriguing story he was told) admitted there were different accounts of the death of Cyrus.

While historians agree the Scythians had famous light cavalry and mounted archers, the name Saka refers to another tribe of the Eurasian steppes - once again related to the Scythians, but probably the Saka and the Scythians did speak different dialects.

Anyway, if you happen to play Tomyris, you can use the perk "People of the Steppe" to obtain a vast military advantage over surrounding Civilizations.

Washington is the Capital City of the American Civilization led by Theodore Roosevelt (in real history President of the USA from 1901 until 1909). On the True Location Earth map, America has to compete for the North American continent only with the Aztecs (if they play - the Aztec Civilization was not included in the original version of "Civilization VI") and one or two City States. So Roosevelt starts out with a vast tract of land to build an impressive Empire, and it helps that the Roosevelt Corollary increases the strength of any American military unit fighting on the same continent as the city Washington.

When you play Roosevelt on the True Location Earth map, your first concern could be the northeastern corner of the continent. Unless occupied by the City State Toronto, this corner can rapidly be invaded by especially the English or Norse Civilizations as soon as they develop the Cartography technology.

Every Civilization can create (sooner or later) one or two Unique Units and a Unique Building, and the leader has a special perk and two agendas. The American Civilization is one of the very few with two Unique Units: a P51-Mustang fighter plane and a Rough Rider.

Roosevelt has as official agenda the Big Stick Policy: he hates everyone who ventures in war against one of the Civilizations or City States on his starting continent.

Xian is the Capital City of the Chinese Civilization, led by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. As Qin was (according to "Civilization VI") the First Emperor, the Chinese Builders can use an extra charge (making four improvements rather than three as any other Builders). Furthermore, a Chinese Builder can make contributions to World Wonders of the Ancient and Classical Era. And every World Wonder built by China, triggers a Boost for a random technology of that era - this is the Dynastic Cycle perk.

For this reason, Qin Shi Huang's official Agenda is the Wall of 10,000 Li - he loves to build World Wonders and holds a grudge against anyone who tries to outsmart him in building World Wonders. And when Qin also has the Hidden Agenda of Wondrous Obsessed, this trait becomes even worse - he might declare a Surprise War against anyone competing with him as to the most World Wonders.

So if you play Qin, you may train as many Builders as possible during the Ancient and Classical Eras to contribute to the World Wonders such as Stonehenge, the Oracle, the Colosseum...

What do historians think of the description in the paragraphs above? Well, Xian was indeed one of the early capitals of a Chinese dynasty. Qin Shi Huang (which literally means First Emperor), born as Ying Zheng or Zhao Zheng (sources differ) ruled the Qin dynasty form 221 BC to 210 BC. The Qin dynasty had as capital Xianyang, what we nowadays could call a suburb of Xian. And Qin Shi Huang was one of the first to link the fortifications in Northern China to the Great Wall.

As for the World Wonders available in "Civilization VI", they come from all over the world, and there are only a few that are situated in real-life China: the Terracotta Army, the Forbidden City and the Potala Palace. But "Civilization VI" allows you to build the Forbidden City in North America, the Eiffel Tower in Africa or the Great Library (of Alexandria) in China.

Queen Gorgo was selected as leader of the Spartan Civilization. As one of the two possible Greek leaders in "Civilization VI" (the other being Pericles as leader of Athens), she has a quite valuable perk: Plato's Republic, which allows to have an extra slot for Wildcard Policies (building up points to recruit Great Persons).

As we would expect from Sparta, it is a Civilization that favours war. The perk Thermopylae grants extra Culture points for winning any battle. And Gorgo's official agenda is the well-known expression "With Your Shield or On It", a farewell Spartan women used when their husbands went to war: they should return either with their shield (and thus alive, probably unhurt) or on it (the Spartans traditionally brought home their mortally wounded or deceased soldiers on their shields).

In real history Gorgo was the wife of King Leonidas, who died at Thermopylae in 480 BC after holding out for three days against a Persian majority.

Uruk is the Capital City of the Sumerian Civilization, led by Gilgamesh. Although the Sumerians do not receive any penalty for joining in a War started by another Civilization (perk: Adventures of Enkidu), Gilgamesh is a quite peaceful character. His official agenda Ally of Enkidu makes him prefer long lasting friendships and alliances, even for the complete term of the game (4000 BC - 2065 AD in standard setting). The perk Epic Quests grants the Sumerians who destroy a Barbarian Outpost not only a sum of Gold, but also a Tribal Bonus (the reward for entering a Tribal Village as first non-religious unit of any Civilization). This Tribal Bonus could take the form of an amount of Gold or Faith, a free unit (mostly a Scout or a Builder), extra Experience or healing for a military unit, or a Boost for a Technology or a Civic.

On the True Location Earth map, Uruk has the advantage of being a City on the Shore, thus Boosting the research of Sailing. But Uruk is not the only Capital City with this advantage: so are London, Kyoto, Rio de Janeiro, Nidaros, Saint Petersburg, Athens... When I play Gilgamesh and I notice Gandhi is not a player, I find it very inviting to extend the Sumerian Empire to the east via India and Vietnam and then crossing over to Australia, which I always find a very interesting continent.

There are people who think Gilgamesh was only a fictive person, as he is known almost only from the myth known as "The Epic of Gilgamesh". Historians agree however that there has been a real king Gilgamesh of Uruk, but the timeline is quite vague. Most estimate the reign of Gilgamesh as a period of a few dozen years somewhere between 2800 BC and 2500 BC. In any case, Gilgamesh is the most ancient Leader you could encounter in "Civilization VI" while his potential neighbour Gandhi is the most recent one.

Delhi is the Capital City of the Indian Civilization, led by Mahatma Gandhi. In real history Gandhi did not take up office as India's head of state or Prime Minister, but the real Gandhi (1869-1948) was a source of inspiration for those who did take office in the Indian government.

"Civilization VI" lists as official agenda for Gandhi Peacekeeper - a title the real Gandhi would have appreciated. But the hidden agenda can be Nuke Happy - someone eager to develop nuclear weapons and using them on who dares to disagree.
India's Unique Unit is a Varu - a mounted war elephant. The Stepwell is the Unique Building for India - as there still are many in India in real life.

India's Civilization is marked by the Satyagraha (earning extra Faith) and Dharma (a bonus for every follower of the religion founded by Gandhi's Civilization). So it comes as no surprise that in the game a computer-controlled Gandhi usually tries to win a Religious Victory.

One of the unique benefits of Delhi as the Capital City is that it is quite near to Mount Everest (a Natural Wonder) in the True Location Earth map. So one can own this Natural Wonder already in a very early stage of the game, and turn it into a National Park (attracting Tourists) as soon as one develops the Conservation Civic.

To me playing Gandhi has a big advantage (as also do some other East-Asian Civilizations): it is relatively easy to expand into South-East Asia and from there, it takes only Shipbuilding to cross over to Australia - a continent which most computer-controlled characters tend to forget in the easiest settings.

Tenochtitlan was chosen as Capital City of the Aztec Civilization (not present in the basic "Civilization VI", but one of the popular add-ons). In real life Tenochtitlan has disappeared, but its remnants form the historic centre of Mexico City.

The Aztec leader is Montezuma, in real history the last of the Aztec kings before the invasion and conquest by the Spanish. The real Montezuma (official name Moctezuma Xocoyotzin) ruled between 1502 and 1520 AD.

Tenochtitlan is a good starting point in North America, close to South America. Montezuma has only to deal with Theodore Roosevelt (America) in the north and Pedro II (Brazil) in the south, besides a few City States and of course several Barbarian Outposts. Until the Civilizations from other Continents have developed Cartography, they form no threat whatsoever.

As the Tlatoani (religious title of Montezuma), his Civilization benefits from every Luxury Resource the Citizens exploit, in two ways: every different Luxury Resource grants an Amenity (something to keep the Citizens happy) and each different Luxury Resource increases the battle strength of the Aztec military units. Luxury Resources close to Tenochtitlan in the True Location Earth map include Jade, Coffee, Cocoa and Tobacco, and a bit further Cotton, Furs and Silver.

One of the perks I like most about Montezuma is the Legend of the Five Suns: it allows you not only to obtain Builders at a cheaper price (less Gold or less turns), but they can also contribute to the construction of any Specialized District (anything but a World Wonder). Indeed: one can use two Builders to complete any District (including a Spaceport) in six turns, where other Civilizations may have to spend over 100 turns for the same District.

Ra-Kedet (written as Rhacotis in Greek) is one of the ancient names of Alexandria and thus the Capital City of the Egyptian Civilization, led by Cleopatra. As Mediterranean's Bride Cleopatra benefits more from trade routes, and her perk Iteru grants extra benefits for all cities founded on the shore of a river. Cleopatra is also called Queen of the Nile and as such she prefers to seek the friendship (later on an alliance) with Civilizations disposing of a large army.

One of the main weaknesses of Egypt in the True Location Earth map, is the proximity of a few Civilizations that usually compete for the same territory: Rome and either Athens or Sparta to the north, Kongo to the south, and especially Arabia to the east - the true location for the Arabian Capital City (Cairo) is just across the Nile, next to Ra-Kedet. So be prepared to fight out wars in a very early stage, starting with only a Warrior bearing bludgeons.

In real life Cleopatra VII was Pharaoh of Egypt between 51 BC and 30 BC, and she leaned strongly on the Roman Republic - at that time the population with the largest and best trained army of the Mediterranean and perhaps of all the world, even the regions unknown to Cleopatra. Egypt flourished because of its central position on several trade routes, and it supplied also several resources to whoever could pay the price.

When Cleopatra VII ruled Egypt, the Egyptian capital was already named Alexandria, and the name Ra-Kedet or Rhacotis was only a vague memory. But the location of Egypt's capital was immediately at the end of the Nile delta, not at the start of the delta as in "Civilization VI".

On hearing "Kongo", you should directly think of Africa south of the Sahara. But unlike you probably expected, Mbanza Kongo is not one of the real life capitals lying across the river Congo (today's Kinshasa and Brazzaville). "Civilization VI" points to the Angolan provincial capital M'banza Kongo, situated in the northwest of present-day Angola.

Mbanza Kongo in the game is the Capital City of the Kongo Empire led by Mwemba a Nzinga. This name is the indigenous name for the real-life ruler better known to western historians as King Afonso I of Kongo, ruler between 1509 and 1542 AD.
One of the qualities of Mwemba a Nzinga in the game is Religious Convert: the Kongo Civilization can't build a Holy Site, nor earn a Great Prophet, nor found a Religion. And thus Kongo can never obtain a Religious Victory. It seems a serious drawback, but because you can't do all these things, you have more time to build other specialized Districts such as a Campus, a Theatre Square and an Entertainment Centre - each gaining extra Science or extra Culture. Kongo also benefits from the Nkisi perk: more points towards Great Artists and Great Musicians, and more revenue from any sculpture, Relic or Artefact.

The official agenda of Mwemba a Nzinga is Enthusiastic Disciple: he befriends the Civilizations who have founded a Religion and have sent Missionaries or Apostles to Kongo in order to spread their Religion. On the other hand, if you happen to have founded a Religion but do not have sent any Missionaries or Apostles to Kongo, Mwemba a Nzinga will begrudge you and possibly declare a Surprise War on you.