A general strategy for Robert the Bruce of Scotland

[MegaBearsFan]

Hi all,
in anticipation for the new Gathering Storm expansion, I wanted to try to get out *at least* one more strategy guide for Rise & Fall before the new exp makes landfall. The strategies that I've written so far have focused on the civs who are new to the series (civs that have never before appeared in a Civ game). It just so happens that Scotland was the last of the new Rise & Fall civs for me to review, so I guess it worked out...

Please check out the full guide at:
http://www.megabearsfan.net/post/20...VI-Strategy-Robert-the-Bruce-of-Scotland.aspx

I welcome any feedback.

I've found the Bannockburn ability to be exceedingly difficult to use, to the point of being a borderline-worthless ability. The requirements for declaring a War of Liberation are so strict, that I've rarely been able to use that casus beli, especially since that casus beli doesn't seem to apply if the civilization you want to liberate has been completely eliminated (has no cities remaining). This completely rules out city states from being eligible. Bannockburn (to me) is a completely trash ability, especially compared with Australia's similar ability that applies any time Australia liberates a city -- casus beli or no.

In summary, I've found that it is not productive to plan a strategy around using Bannockburn. If you have an opportunity to use it, by all means do! But it's just icing on the cake.

Fortunately, Scotland's national ability is much better: Scottish Enlightenment grants a percentage bonus to production and science whenever your cities are happy, and a slightly larger bonus if the cities are ecstatic. Science and production bonuses are good in the Civ series in general, and Scotland gets both!

So try to acquire a diverse set of luxuries via colonization, trade, or conquest, and invest in Entertainment Complexes and Water Parks earlier than you might otherwise do so. Also keep an eye out for any wonders, great people, or city states that provide free luxuries or amenity.

Just be careful not to let your tech progress outpace your infrastructure and economic development. Build lots of units early so that you can upgrade them over the course of the game. You don't want to land yourself in a situation in which you've unlocked advanced units, but don't have the means to train them fast enough to defend yourself from barbarians or a surprise war.

Any other strategies, advice, or tips for playing as Scotland? I'd love to hear your tips. Feel free to comment on the blog post as well. If anybody comes up with anything that I missed (or was wrong about), I'd be happy to update or correct the strategy.

Happy New Year, and Happy Civ-ing!

[Lemurian1972]

War of Liberation works fine for City States if you were Suzerain when they were taken. That being said, I've had little issue using Bannockburn. It's mostly a matter of making friendships and alliances as quickly as possible so when someone takes a friend's city you can smack them down.

War of Liberation is even bugged so that it remains a valid Casus Belli even after the qualifying city has been liberated, giving you the benefit of being able to declare it on the original aggressor for the rest of the game.

[MegaBearsFan]

That's odd. I had a situation in which I was the suzerain of a city state, it was conquered by another civ, and I wasn't able to use the Liberation casus beli...

Maybe I'll have to play around with it some more. Thanks for the feedback! :)

[MegaBearsFan]

@Lemurian1972: So, I tried doing a test game in Hot Seat on a duel map with Scotland and Khmer. As Scotland, I became suzerain of Jerusalem and researched the Defensive Tactics civic (should unlock Wars of Liberation). As Khmer, I conquered Jerusalem.

When Scotland's turn came around again, I attempted to declare a War of Liberation, but the option was disabled. The tooltip said I had to first denounce Khmer. So I did. Then it said I had to wait 5 turns. When Scotland's turn came around 5 turns later, I attempted to declare War of Liberation again. Formal War was enabled, but War of Liberation was still disabled. The tooltip said Khmer did not meet the criteria (had not captured a city belonging to my current friend or ally).

I took screenshots and posted them on Steam:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1628668298
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1628668888
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1628669352

Either city states don't count for Wars of Liberation, or the game is currently bugged. :/