Subscribe to download
Better Bad Civs

The following are civs that I don't like rolling in random games. Some of their bonuses are useless or marginal at best, and some are worse than no bonus (I'm looking at you Iroquois!). This mod makes minor edits to these civs' weakest bonuses to make them more competive and therefore more fun to play. Note that I almost always play on Immortal (sometimes Emperor or Deity) and changes are geared towards that difficulty.

You can remove any one of these changes by deleting the appropriately named file in the mod folder.


Assyria
To get any value out of Assyria's trait you have to go to war, which is usually a very bad idea early game. But their UU is an early game siege unit that is very weak to enemy walls, spearmen and comp bows. My changes provide Assyria with a more productive start, and allow them to go for a very early rush. Their UB will now provide a consistent bonus, allowing cities with a Military Academy to pop triple promoted units without Brandenburg or Alhambra.

Start Bias: Plains
Siege Tower: Available at The Wheel
Royal Library: Land units trained in the City receive 15 XP (Great Work not required).

Brazil
The problem with Brazil is the jungle start bias, which is good for mid-game (Universities/Free Thought, Brazilwood Camps) but terrible early game. Brazil is almost always behind on units and infrastructure, and they are also inflexibly funneled toward a tourism victory. My changes allow Brazil to get some early production, while keeping the more flexible and powerful part of their trait.

Trait: Earn Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers 50% faster during Golden Ages. +1 Production on unimproved jungle.

Carthage
Carthage's bonuses don't work well together, making it neither a strong war civ nor an econ civ. The ablity to cross mountains after the first GG might be useful once every 20 games. My changes allow Carthage to consistently pursue purchasing strats (Big Ben, Mercantilism) regardless of their start, and also allows for an early game naval rush that easily transitions to mid game naval domination.

Trait: All coastal Cities get a free Harbor. +10% Gold in all cities.
Quinquereme: Changed to a ranged unit (1 Range). Upgrades to Galleass.

France
France's trait guarantees you two tourism over the course of a full game -- arguably the worst "bonus" ever conceived. To get anything out of this trait you must build Great Work Wonders in the capital, which will require engineers, which means you have to run engineers instead of scientists, which means you'll be beaten to the wonder techs anyhow. My change guarantees France 4 happiness, 2 gold and 15% wonder production very early in the game. If you go early Aristocracy and chop like crazy, France has a shot to build Halicarnassus, and later to hard build Uffizi, Sistine or Globe.

Trait: Museum and World Wonder theme bonuses are doubled in their Capital. Begin with Marble in the Capital.
Chateau: Added +1 Production.

Iroquois
The Iroquois trait doesn't allow adjacent forests to act as river bridges, so you have to build roads anyhow. And why keep forests when you can chop them for production and get a farm or mine? The UB is even worse because it doesn't give the 10% bonus to production that a regular workshop does. My changes allow Iroquois to spearman rush, and grants them excellent mobility until mid-game when forests have been chopped and roads placed.

Trait: Land units receive a 33% combat bonus in, and move twice as fast through, forests and jungles.
Longhouse: Same bonuses as workshops, but also grants +2 culture and requires no maintenance.
Mohawk Warrior: Replaces spearman (+2 combat strength, no anti-mounted bonus)

Japan
Japan's trait does not make it a good culture civ, because atoll starts are very rare and fishing boats are almost never prioritized early game. Fighting at full strength when damaged is not nearly as good as it sounds, mostly because you tend to run red units away from battle. Their UUs are replacements for little-used or quickly obsolete units. My changes almost guarantee Japan a good culture start and synergize with early game GP plants. An early Samurai means never having to waste hammers on fishing boats. Prioritizing Flight can translate into battlefield dominance with oil-less triplanes.

Trait: Great Person Improvements and Strategic Resources provide +2 culture. Air units begin with the Air Repair promotion.
Samurai: Replaces Swordsman (+4 combat strength, retains the Samurai's build fishing boats ability)
Zero: Replaces Triplane (retains the Zero's range, no oil req)

Netherlands
Netherlands' trait is marginally useful on lux-for-lux trades if you can trigger a We Love the King day. And their UI is marginal because of its marsh requirement. My changes allow Netherlands to take advantage of their amazing UI, and to run GW specialists without hindering growth or economy. By the early industrial era, Netherlands should be a growth and economic powerhouse.

Trait: Artist, Writer and Musician specialists generate +2 Food and Gold.
Start Bias: River
Polder: +2 Food, can be built on grassland and flood plains tiles adjacent to rivers.

Ottomans
The Ottoman bonuses make them neither a good naval war civ nor a good land war civ. My changes grant the Ottomans superior land mobility from the mid-game on, and allow them to puppet rather than raze captured cities.

Trait: Gun and Siege units have +1 Movement. Conquered cities receive a free Colosseum.
Sipahi: Replaces Cavalry (retains all the Sipahi's abilities, including anti-mounted)

America
America is the best of the bad, and while their purchase tile bonus is nice, it can't take full advantage early game. My changes allow America to go Liberty for fast settlers, which combined with tile purchasing should allow them to take the best land early game.

Trait: 50% discount when purchasing tiles. Unhappiness from number of Cities reduced by 25%.
B-17: Begins with Bombardment rather than Siege.