Greeks is a Civilization that focuses heavily on culture and becoming suzerain over city-states. I will explain how to win a game of Civilization 6 as Greeks with Pericles as leader. What are the civ's strengths, strategies and win conditions? This guide is focused on the Gathering Storm expansion.
Become suzerain of as many city-states as you can because Pericles Greeks have a 5% culture boost for every city-state, and to synergize with that the Acropolis (Theater Square replacement) grants 1 envoy once it is built. Easiest victory is cultural. However, you can achieve other victories through being way more advanced in the civics tree and having the most city-state bonuses.
Greece, led by Pericles or Gorgo, is a civilization in Civilization 6 that excels in cultural and diplomatic victories. With their unique ability "Plato's Republic," they gain an additional Wildcard policy slot, providing flexibility in their government and policy choices. Greece's unique unit, the Hoplite, is a powerful early game unit that can gain combat bonuses when adjacent to other Hoplites. Their unique building, the Acropolis, boosts their culture output and provides additional Great Writer, Artist, and Musician points. With a focus on generating culture, building Wonders, and accumulating Great Works, Greece strives to become a cultural powerhouse and influence other civilizations through their tourism and diplomatic prowess.
Gain an additional Wildcard policy slot in all Governments
"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you"
+5% Culture per city-state Greece has Suzerainty over
Unique district of the Greek Civilization. It replaces the Theater Square and can only be built on Hills.
Research
Base Cost
Maintenance
Pillage Yield
Location requisites
Required to build
Drama and Poetry
27
1
Gold
Must be built on hills
None
Additional information
Greek unique anti-cavalry unit. It replaces the Spearman and has a bonus for Combat Strength when adjacent to another Hoplite.
Cost
Upgrades to
Resources needed
Strength
Movement
Bronze Working
65 or 130 or 260
Pikeman
-
28
2
Common abilities:
Special abilities:
Special traits:
Strategy
The Hoplite is an early game unit that must attack in pairs for the +10 bonus, making them a bit cumbersome in some strategies. Nonetheless, Hoplite is a great unit due to not requiring a strategic resource and a quick tech path to get them. With the +10 bonus the matchup against a Swordsman favors the latter by only 2 Combat Strength. However, the swordsman has a way higher cost in production and resources. If you're going for an early game strategy with the greeks, then you must take Oligarchy, making it possible for the hoplite to have a combat strength of 42
Greece exhibits a tier 3 start bias towards desert hills, grass hills, plains hills and tundra hills. This is in order to increase the odds that you will be able to construct an Acropolis.
In my personal strategy for playing as Greeks, I prefer an expansive approach. I prioritize policies and governors that accelerate settler production, allowing me to quickly establish settlements on coastal tiles and expand to other continents.
Pericles is not as good as Gorgo at domination victories. The only advantage in this regard is the Hoplite in the early game, which is a strong and easy to amass unit. However, I would recommend going the domination path early only if you get the suzerainty of military city-states with good bonuses such as Akkad, which makes it so your Hoplites attacks do full damage to city walls.
Greeks don't really have an advantage when going for a science victory, unless you use the additional policy cards properly at the beginning in order to get great scientists or science bonuses. The rapid civics advancement will also help with technology boosts.
Cultural victory is the best path for Pericles. The Acropolis not only gives you additional Great Writers, Artists and Musics; but it also gives you an envoy upon construction, which synergizes pretty well with Plato's republic (+5% culture per city-state Greece has Suzerainty over).
Greece have an advantage early game thanks to the wildcard allowing them to pick the Revelation policy before most civs, thus making it possible competing for a prophet even in the maximum difficulties. If you get religious city-states due to rng, then a religious victory is a pretty good path for greece. Even more so if playing the secret societies mode with the Voidsingers, a secret society that will help you both in culture and religion.
Diplomacy is one of the better paths for the greeks. Having extra envoys will help gain suzerainty and favor (+1 Diplomatic Favor/turn per city-state you're suzerain of). Achieving a diplomatic victory for both votes and using the policies to build wonders faster.
An excellent array would be Acropolis+Industrial Zone+Aqueduct.
The Industrial Zone should be in the middle of all other districts for maximum productivity.
The extra productivity should be used to win over the Statue of Liberty (awards 4 points toward diplomatic victory).
Build some Army for deterrence.
5% culture is a bonus that starts small in the early game, but then snowballs out of control, simply because there are many civics that give you envoys, and envoys themselves give you suzerainty, which end up in culture and extra civics again.
In order to get this virtuous cycle going you have to settle (adjacent to hills) as many cities as possible early on. Neighboring civilizations won't be happy, but you can defend yourself pretty efficiently with archer and hoplites, as the latter are very cheap for the combat strength you get. Having 1 archer and 2 Hoplites is enough to defend most attacks if you play a chokepoint properly.
Build as many Acropolis as possible and remember to alternate the Diplomatic League (The first Envoy you send to each city-state counts as 2 Envoys) policy card whenever convenient. This means: Don't put your envoys on city-states with 0 envoys if you don't have Diplomatic League on your policies. Unlike Diplomatic League, the Charismatic Leader policy card must be on your government permanently.
The Hoplite is a cheap unit intended to be used efficiently for defending, the only drawback is that they must be accompanied by other Hoplite in order to make use of their bonus, making them ideal for defending while trying to get a victory other than military. Hoplites require no resources, their production time is very low and they have a strength equivalent to that of a swordsman if they are adjacent to another hoplite.
Expanding in the early to mid game in order to get more Acropolis going will make your neighbors mad, they will most likely declare war on you. A good choke-point with 1 archer and 2 Hoplites, and a walled city, will make it so you can chew through an entire army without spending a lot of production on war.
Hoplites will outperform most early game units. However, caution is needed when facing civilizations like Maya, Gaul or Vietnam, as they have formidable units or bonuses. In those cases training more Hoplites and utilizing policies like Oligarchy will be necessary, if played properly it still won't affect your cultural or diplomatic victory that much.
Playing Greeks in Civ 6 is pretty simple, spam acropolis, in order to do this you need to:
Settle as many cities as possible in the early game, settle them adjacent to hills for maximum culture bonus .
The Acropolis gains +1 Culture per adjacent District and +1 additional Culture if next to a city center (+2 from city-center adjacency as it counts as a district). +3 Culture from Entertainment Complex and +2 Culture from Government Plaza.
If you consider building a wonder early on, then go for the Oracle as it boosts Drama and Poetry, making it easier to unlock the Acropolis.
This ability is incredibly strong, providing Greece with an early Wildcard slot that remains valuable throughout the game. It allows for powerful combinations like using God King and Urban Planning simultaneously for a fast pantheon. Greece can also secure a Great Prophet by slotting Revelation before researching Political Philosophy. While lacking direct Faith generation bonuses, Greece's high Cultural output makes them surprisingly competitive in the religious game. The extra Wildcard slot benefits Greece offering flexibility for diplomatic or military strategies. Ultimately, this ability can be utilized in various ways, so adapt it to suit your needs.
I chose to play a game on Emperor difficulty to strike a balance between challenge and enjoyment, although I was confident I could succeed on Deity as well. My objective was to have a fast-paced gameplay experience where I could fully immerse myself. To enhance the gameplay, I enabled the Secret Societies and Monopolies and Corporations game modes.
I'm most likely to go for a cultural victory, but depending on the city-state bonuses I receive I might change my strategy. My game should look like this:
We are trying to achieve the following things in the early game:
Greeks starting build order:
Later on you will face the wrath of neighboring civilizations, if things are going according to the plan they will call you an expansionist, and they will be right. In order to defend yourself from the unavoidable war you will need to have an archer and 2 hoplites in the city that is most likely to get attacked. Your neighbors will attack you, but make sure of allying with other civilizations so they don't join the war against you. Defending 2 fronts is pretty expensive even for the efficient Hoplites.
You should be transitioning to mid-game with some cities, and suzerainty over 2 or more city-states. The direction of your game will depend heavily on the bonuses from those city-states.
In the mid-game you should construct lots of acropolis and surround them with other districts. You will get to new ers with many possibilities for golden or dark ages:
Dedications:
If going for a cultural victory, Greeks will work pretty much like most civilizations, with the exception that you will be suzerain of a lot of city-states.
Great Works and Tourism: Acquire Great Works of Writing, Art, and Music to fill your Theater Squares and Museums. These will generate Tourism, which is essential for a cultural victory. Use Archaeologists to uncover artifacts and build Archaeological Museums to display them, further boosting your Tourism output.
Theming Bonuses: Pay attention to the theming bonuses of your Great Works. Organize them in a way that maximizes their bonuses, as this will significantly enhance your Tourism generation.
National Parks: Utilize Naturalists to create National Parks in breathtaking locations within your territory. National Parks generate substantial Tourism and can be key in pushing your cultural influence.
Wonders: Construct cultural wonders that provide bonuses to your Tourism and culture, such as the Eiffel Tower, Broadway, and Sydney Opera House. These wonders can give your cultural output a significant boost.
Rock Bands: In the late game, deploy Rock Bands to perform concerts in other civilizations' cities. This action can rapidly spread your Tourism and increase your chances of winning a cultural victory.
Cultural Policies: Select policies that enhance your Tourism output, such as the Aesthetic policy tree. Also, consider policies that provide extra Great Writer, Artist, and Musician points to generate more Great Works.
Diplomacy: Establish good relationships with other civilizations and aim for open borders and trade routes to increase the exchange of Tourism. Make use of cultural alliances and trade routes that provide additional Tourism bonuses.
International Projects: Participate in projects like International Games and World's Fair to boost your culture and Tourism output on a global scale.
Influence other civilizations: Use your accumulated Tourism to influence other civilizations' populations and eventually become influential over them. Focus on civilizations with high levels of Tourism resistance to ensure your influence spreads effectively.
Cultural Victory Projects: In the late game, invest in projects like the World's Fair and the World Congress's International Culture competitions to accumulate Tourism and increase your chances of winning a cultural victory.
To counter the Greeks in Civilization 6, you can employ several strategies to limit their cultural dominance and hinder their progress:
Military Conquest: Greece tends to focus heavily on cultural and diplomatic victories, often neglecting their military strength. Exploit this weakness by launching military campaigns to weaken their cities and disrupt their cultural infrastructure. Capture or raze their Theater Squares, Museums, and Wonders to impede their cultural progress.
Cultural Defense: Prioritize your own cultural development to compete with Greece. Focus on constructing Theater Squares, generating Great Works, and building Museums and Wonders to bolster your own Tourism output. This will help prevent Greece from achieving cultural dominance.
Tourism Resistance: Increase your civilization's Tourism resistance by developing a strong culture and accumulating Great Works. This will make it more difficult for Greece's Tourism to influence your population and reduce the likelihood of them achieving a cultural victory over your civilization.
Espionage: Utilize Spies to gather intelligence on Greece and perform various espionage activities. Sabotage their Theater Squares, steal their Great Works, or disrupt their diplomatic alliances to hamper their cultural progress.
Diplomatic Alliances: Forge alliances with other civilizations to counter Greece's cultural influence. By collaborating with civilizations that possess a strong culture and Tourism output, you can collectively resist Greece's cultural dominance.
Archaeological Excavations: Send your own Archaeologists to uncover artifacts and construct Archaeological Museums. This will allow you to display your own Great Works and generate Tourism, competing with Greece for cultural influence.
Great People Generation: Prioritize generating Great People, especially those with cultural bonuses. Use them strategically to enhance your own cultural output or deny Greece from obtaining them.
Cultural Policies: Select policies that enhance your own Tourism output and provide resistance to foreign Tourism. Choose policies that increase your Great People generation or boost your culture, allowing you to stay competitive against Greece's cultural advancements.
City-State Influence: Develop alliances and establish suzerainty over cultural City-States. This will grant you additional culture, Tourism, or Great People points, strengthening your own cultural standing and hindering Greece's progress.
Time Victory Conditions: If Greece appears to be on the path to a cultural victory, consider alternative victory conditions such as domination, science, or diplomatic victory. Focus your efforts on these paths to secure victory before Greece can achieve their cultural goals.
By implementing these strategies, you can effectively counter Greece's cultural prowess and increase your chances of outperforming them in Civilization 6.