LS Civ Set II: Jerusalem (V2)

With a focus on anti-religion and warfare, the Jerusalem civ embodies the spirit of the Crusades. Featuring economic advantages, and benefits against certain foes, Jerusalem powers through on a bed of gold.

Introduction

The first in the second set of the LS civs, Jerusalem is another warmonger-style civ that shares its pack with a religion player and an expansionist. In direct contrast, it plays against religion and tends to expand only after eating up its neighbors.

Dropbox Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2extxscqq4lcfhn/LS%20Civilization%20Sets%2027%2009%202014.7z?dl=0
Steam Workshop: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=187817936

History

(The whole history of Jerusalem is far too long to recite, so I've decided to shorten it down to the parts around Baldwin's rule)

In 1099, the Christian people of Jerusalem were kicked from the city, prompting the Crusades; a series of battles called upon by the pope in order to reclaim "the Holy Land" for the Christians. In the various Crusades, Jerusalem was eventually retaken and a number of the people were kicked out again, leaving the cities practically barren. People were taken from various parts of Europe and moved into the abandoned cities, once again bringing life ot the desert.

In 1187 (a couple of years after Baldwin IV), Salah ad-Din fought the Christian armies to a loss. The treaty signed insured that the Jews and Muslims would be allowed back into the city, making it once again a city of varied culture and religion. Despite this, the middle-eastern jewel fell into the sands, as the inter-racial and inter-religion conflict caused it to deteriorate after the law enforcement from Europe fell apart.

First Impressions

Jerusalem is clearly a war-mongering civ, though they have to wait a while before their ability comes to fruition. With a UU that supports the war, and a UB that supports the reconstruction, Jerusalem can swing from one war to the next, crashing through the middle game like a Timurid Terrorbringer.

UA: Crusade

It's well established in civ that having a religion puts you ahead of your opponents. A couple of civs, namely Ethiopia and the Celts, even have bonuses to them. They allow you to get around the gaping holes in any civ's play style. Lacking in gold? Tithe. Happiness? Pagodas.

But very few civs are anti-religion. Some are more tolerant, like Indonesia' candi, but no core civ focuses on eliminating religion. Here enters Jerusalem:

• Found a religion if you conquer a Holy City
  
• +1 trade route available for every conquered Holy City

Early on, it can be frustrating to build up enough faith to start up a religion, and the number of ones available dwindle left and right, so it can apply a fair amount of pressure on the player to found one. It is much easier (and safer) on higher difficulties to invest in military tech rather than the pottery->philosphy route. A Composite Bowman rush on your religious neighbor can not only allow you your own faith, but removes your local competition.

Trade Routes, a major change from G&K, are one of the few ways of making any money to support your massive forces. And having more of them means more money, so having more is good. As you gain more cities, either by conquering them or building them, there's a max amount of buildings you can support, even if you have plantations and markets for miles. Having more trade routes raises that amount, or allows you to pour it into more units.

But what about the actual war? And what if my trade routes are so-so because I killed all my neighbors?

UU: Crusader

As for the actual war part, your ability doesn't give you anything to help with war, unlike the Goths, who can run down your roads like hell on wheels. Instead, it gives you the Crusader, a Longswordsman replacement who gains a +33% combat bonus when in proximity to a Holy City.
As seen in the picture above, the bonus does not apply near cities that follow a religion, only the Holy City, so it's not a cake-walk. It does, however, mean that taking out the Holy City will be easier once you've reached it.

Replacing the Longswordsman, the Crusader is a mid-game unit, right up with the Beserker in terms of point-of-the-game use. It does require iron, so have a source or two of that on hand or it'll be useless to you. As usual, melee units, while necessary to conquer a city, are terrible against cities and need ranged support, so make sure to back them up, especially if you get them in the actual mid-game rather than the early mid-game. It's lower cost (-25% production) makes them easier to churn out in offence or defense.

UB: Templar House

I'm not 100% sure if it's true, but the Templars seemed to be a greedy bunch by how the building represents them:

• Replaces Bank but available at Chivalry
  
• Cargo ships and Caravans originating from this city cannot be destroyed.

As mentioned priorly, war can be a pain, especially when it comes late game and declarations can come from anywhere. This makes it so that what was once a thriving economy can instantly be crippled by pillaging and sinking. But fear no more, as the Templar House ensures the survival of all of your trade vessels. You can have them up and running the turn after losing them, meaning you never have to fear about losing them. This helps stabilize the economy when you really need it.

Strategy: Burn All the Temples, Mosques, Pagodas and More

Early in the game, a quiet, defensive tech'ing is probably the best idea. Instead of flexing your muscles early on, build them up. Make a few city state friends, as they'll be useful once everyone else on your continent is dead. Focus on snaking up the bottom of the tech tree, snagging Colossus if you can for the aforementioned bonuses. Try to keep an eye on pantheons that people are snagging and if a religion is formed, since those will be your prime targets. Once someone has founded a religion, try to rush them to ensure you can have your own religion going, preferably with a fair amount of faith already built up from not having to spend on a prophet.

Mid-game, you're ready to go. A nice like combo has been built up by the tech tree. Snagging Steel has gotten you Iron Working, and possibly the Colossus. Grabbing Chivalry has put you ahead of the war curve in offense and defense, and is one tech from the first spies and spy resistance buildings.. At this point, a powerful war maching won't be hard to put together, if not already constructed. Having trade routes, especially with those city states you made friends with early on, you can support a larger army than the "I neglect city states" warmonger can. The thing about the middle of the game is to not stop. Your unit will obsolete with Gunpowder, a tech not far from Steel, so there will be a short window in which your units will be more powerful, or equal to, other units.

Late game, you should probably own a number of the religions, if not all, and therefore, the culture game will be harder for the remainders, considering you can go into cities with inquisitors you leeched off the latent faith of captured cities and destroy all religion, or be the king of all the symbols in the known world. Without the 25% (or 40%) boost to tourism, culture civs will have trouble with your control of all the different artwork to prevent theming.. Diplomatic civs will cower in fear of the immense piles of gold you've captured. Even Venice might feel its gold powers threatened with the number of trade routes possible. And late game warmongers will be envious of the glowing economy, and power of the Holy Land. The only real weak spot for Jerusalem is science. It doesn't grow tall due to its spread, and it has no bonuses save gold. So make sure to kill not only the preachers but the scientists or you'll be left to rule the planet while they search the stars.

Thanks

Once again, I'd like to thank:

• Zigzagzigal for inspiring me to do guides.
  
• LS for making the civs
  
• And you for reading

Honestly the lot of you are all more worthy of praise than I am, so if you liked anything in this review, go tell Zigzagzigal that he's a great guide writer or LS that he's good at mods. I'm just the guy who writes these so you can enjoy them!

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[-$54.48]

My friend is going to fucking love me when I send this to him.

[plutooo]

Fair enough :P

[The Shadow Chancellor]

@{SKVR} Pirate Captain Dom

The popular conception is that Crusaders were greedy, and in some parts, that is true. There will always be people who represent the worst in any group. I was referring more to the nature of their habit of reclaiming holy relics from non-Christian cities in the process of conquest. It was called for by their faith, and they undoubtedly saved many christian lives, but for every pro there is a con.

[plutooo]

No, they aren't greedy. Crusaders had special millitary units that protected pilgrims/christians, or defended hosptials that treated pilgrims *takes off history nerd glasses*

[The Shadow Chancellor]

@LuLz. Squidified

I do appreciate the base game of civ, but I also do appreciate the efforts on behalf of modders to represent these unique cultures, and I only feel that a WELL DONE mod adds to the game, rather than subtract. I'm more partial to modded civs rather than modded changes to the system, as it feels more true to the source material.

[Samsiel]

Ah, I'm not too into modding in civ 5 because I like it how it is.

I see what you mean

[The Shadow Chancellor]

@Lulz. Squidified

I'm actually not the man who made this mod. I just make guides based on my observations about these mod sets. LS is the man who made these, so you'd have to suggest that to him. IMO, however, a bonus like that would be too powerful. That's a 33% bonus in too far of an area. It'd be like having Musketmen a tech earlier (A Crusader's strength is about 27.93 and a Musketmen is about 25, so you'd actually have a unit stronger than a Musketmen.)

[Samsiel]

You should make the Crusader have a combat bonus in the proximity of a city following a different religion instead of a holy city IMO.

[The Shadow Chancellor]

@kirill
I'm afraid I on't entirely understand what "O_o" is supposed to mean. I hope it's good though. ^^

[Reinard]

O_o