a guide to winning with eleanor of aquitaines loyalty pressure

A Guide to Winning with Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Loyalty Pressure

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I’m sharing my guide on how to conquer empires not with the sword, but with the subtle yet overwhelming force of personality and cultural influence. With Eleanor of Aquitaine in Civilization VI, you can do just that. Her “Court of Love” ability turns the Loyalty mechanic into a powerful offensive weapon, letting you peacefully take over entire cities and civilizations. This guide is a deep dive into mastering Eleanor’s loyalty pressure, turning your cultural hubs into engines of expansion for a victory that’s as elegant as it is dominant.

The Heart of the Matter: Understanding Eleanor’s “Court of Love”

Eleanor’s entire strategy revolves around her unique leader ability, the Court of Love. What it does is simple but incredibly powerful: Great Works in Eleanor’s cities each cause -1 Loyalty per turn to all foreign cities within a 9-tile radius. This is the cornerstone of your game. It’s not just a passive bonus; it’s an active debuff you’ll use to make your opponents’ empires crumble from the inside out.

Here’s the breakdown:

  • The 9-Tile Radius: This is a huge area. A single, well-placed city with a Theater Square packed with Great Works can put pressure on several enemy cities at once. You have to constantly visualize this radius when you’re settling new cities and picking your targets.
  • -1 Loyalty Per Great Work: This is where Eleanor’s power really scales up. One Great Work is a pinprick. But a city with a fully decked-out Theater Square—Amphitheater, Art or Archaeological Museum, and maybe a wonder like the Bolshoi Theatre—can hold a ton of Great Works. Imagine a city with six of them; that’s a constant -6 Loyalty every turn to all foreign cities in range. If you have a couple of cities like this overlapping their influence on a single enemy city, the effect becomes absolutely devastating.
  • Stacking Pressure: The loyalty pressure from all Great Works in a city stacks. On top of that, the pressure from multiple cities stacks too. If two of your cities, each with five Great Works, are in range of an enemy city, that city is going to be hit with a massive -10 Loyalty penalty per turn just from your Great Works. And that’s before any other loyalty factors in the game.

The Two Eleanors: English or French?

Eleanor is the only leader who can lead two different civilizations: England or France. Your choice will change your strategy’s flavor, though the core of flipping cities with loyalty stays the same.

  • Eleanor of France: France’s “Grand Tour” ability gives you a +20% production bonus for wonders from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Industrial eras. This syncs up perfectly with Eleanor’s strategy, since many of the best wonders for Great Work slots (like Apadana, Bolshoi Theatre, and Hermitage) are in those eras. France also gets extra tourism from wonders, which helps with a Culture Victory—a common path for Eleanor. The Garde Impériale is also a solid unique unit for defense if a neighbor gets any funny ideas.
  • Eleanor of England: England’s “Workshop of the World” ability gives you extra resources and strong Industrial-era buildings. The Royal Navy Dockyard is the main attraction here, giving your ships extra movement and generating gold. More importantly, England can build a Dockyard on any coastal tile, even without a city center next to it. This lets you strategically place cities to project loyalty across oceans and on continents with tricky coastlines. The Sea Dog is a great unique naval unit for controlling the seas and warding off invasions.

My take: For a pure loyalty-flipping game, France is usually the stronger pick. That production bonus toward wonders is just too good to pass up when your main goal is to get as many Great Work slots as possible. But on maps with a lot of water, England’s naval advantages and flexible Dockyards can give you a serious edge.

The Symphony of Subversion: A Step-by-Step Game Plan

Winning with Eleanor is all about patience, planning, and precision. You’re not a warmonger; you’re a cultural puppet master, pulling the strings of loyalty until cities just fall into your lap. Here’s how to approach the game, era by era.

The Ancient Era: Laying the Foundation

Your early game is all about setting the stage for your mid-game cultural boom. You’re vulnerable early on, so you need to be careful.

  • Initial Settling Strategy: Your capital placement is everything. Look for a spot with good production (hills, woods) and food. Being near a wonder that gives a Great Work slot, like the Oracle, is a huge plus. Your first few cities should be placed with that 9-tile radius in mind. Settle them fairly close together (4-5 tiles apart) to create overlapping zones of pressure later. This “cultural core” will be the engine of your expansion. Make sure you settle towards your first intended target.
  • Early Tech and Civics: Go for Writing first to unlock the Campus and get on the path to Drama and Poetry. Then, grab Bronze Working to see where Iron is. In the Civics tree, rush Foreign Trade for the extra trade route, then make a beeline for Drama and Poetry. This unlocks the Theater Square, the absolute heart of your strategy.
  • First Governor: Pingala is your guy, no question. His Librarian promotion (+15% Culture) is a great early boost. But his later promotions are where he really shines for you.
  • Early Wonders: The Oracle is a top-tier wonder for this strategy. The +2 Great People points it gives will help you get Great Writers, Artists, and Musicians much faster. The Hanging Gardens can also be great for city growth, which means more districts and citizens.
  • Defense is Key: You are not an early-game aggressor. Build a small but credible army (a few Slingers upgraded to Archers) to keep opportunistic neighbors from rushing you. Your goal is to survive and set up.

The Classical and Medieval Eras: The Crescendo Begins

This is where your strategy starts to come alive. Your cultural core should be in place, and you should be actively generating your first Great Works.

  • Theater Square Dominance: Build a Theater Square in every single city, starting with your capital. Get Amphitheaters built in them as soon as you can. This is your first source of Great Writer slots.
  • The Power of Bread and Circuses: The Entertainment Complex is crucial. The amenities it provides give you a positive loyalty boost. More importantly, it unlocks the “Bread and Circuses” city project. When you run this project, your city puts out an extra +2 Loyalty pressure on foreign cities within 9 tiles. This is a key tool for pushing a wavering city over the edge.
  • Governor Assignments: Keep promoting Pingala. His Connoisseur and Curator promotions are great, but the real prize is his final promotion, Grants, which gives you a burst of Great People points. Amani, the Diplomat, is your other essential governor. Her Prestige promotion, when she’s in one of your cities, adds +2 Loyalty pressure on other civs’ cities within 9 tiles. Moving Amani to a forward-settled city or a freshly flipped one is a key tactic.
  • Wonder Construction: The Medieval and Renaissance are your golden eras. If you’re playing as France, this is where your production bonus really kicks in. Focus on these wonders:
    • Apadana: Grants two Great Work slots and gives you envoys when you build other wonders, helping you control city-states.
    • Mont St. Michel: Gives your Apostles the “Martyr” promotion, which creates Relics (a type of Great Work) when they die in theological combat.
    • Bolshoi Theatre (Renaissance): A must-build. It gives you four Great Work slots (two writing, two music) and a free Great Writer and Musician.
  • Targeting Your First Flip: By the end of the Medieval era, you should be ready to flip your first city. Look for a vulnerable target—a city that is on your border, recently settled, has low amenities, or follows a different religion. Once you have your target, start applying pressure. Move Amani to your closest city. Run the “Bread and Circuses” project. Make sure your Great Works are in cities that are in range.

The Renaissance and Industrial Eras: The Cascade

Now your loyalty machine goes into overdrive. If you’ve played your cards right, you can start a cascade of loyalty flips, absorbing whole empires without declaring war once.

  • Maximizing Great Work Slots: Keep building Theater Squares and their buildings. You’ll have to choose between the Art Museum and the Archaeological Museum in each city. Archaeological Museums are great if you have antiquity sites nearby to excavate.
  • The Power of Rock Bands: In the Gathering Storm expansion, Rock Bands are a game-changer. Their “Indie” promotion makes the city they perform in lose 40 Loyalty. This is a huge, instant drop and can be the final push you need.
  • Strategic Use of Spies: Your Spies are critical now. The “Foment Unrest” mission can drop a city’s loyalty by 20-40 points, instantly turning a loyal city rebellious. The “Neutralize Governor” mission is also perfect for taking out an enemy governor who is boosting loyalty.
  • Policy Cards for Loyalty: Look for these policy cards as you advance through the civics tree:
    • Praetorium: +2 Loyalty for cities with a Governor.
    • Limitanei: +2 Loyalty for cities with a garrisoned unit.
    • Communications Office: +1 Loyalty for cities with a Trading Post.
  • The Domino Effect: Once the first city flips, the others will start to fall. The new city will immediately start projecting your influence. This creates a chain reaction. Move Amani into each newly acquired city to stabilize it and increase pressure on the next target.

The Modern, Atomic, and Information Eras: Sealing the Deal

By the late game, you should be a cultural titan. Your focus now is on either finishing a Culture Victory or achieving a peaceful Domination Victory.

  • Culture Victory Synergy: This strategy naturally leads to a Culture Victory. Your huge collection of Great Works and wonders will be generating tons of tourism. Build Seaside Resorts and National Parks to boost it even more.
  • Peaceful Domination: You can absolutely win a Domination Victory without ever declaring war. As you absorb cities, your opponents will get weaker and weaker. Eventually, you might even flip their original capital, which eliminates them from the game. It’s the ultimate expression of Eleanor’s power.
  • Managing a Sprawling Empire: As you expand, make sure you manage your new cities. Assign governors, connect them with trade routes, and keep their amenities up.

Advanced Tactics and Nuances

To really master Eleanor, you need to get creative. Here are a few more advanced tips:

  • The Religion Angle: Don’t sleep on founding a religion. Spreading your religion to a target city before you start applying loyalty pressure can make it flip much faster.
  • Golden Ages and Dark Ages: Use your Golden Age dedications to boost loyalty. And when a neighbor enters a Dark Age, that’s your prime time to strike. Their cities will already be struggling with loyalty, making them easy targets.
  • The Art of the Trade: Don’t be afraid to trade your Great Works. If an opponent has a piece that completes a theme in one of your museums, trading for it can be worth it for the tourism boost.
  • Countering Eleanor: Now, if someone tries to pull an Eleanor on you, fight back! Use your own governors (especially Victor), loyalty-boosting policy cards, and keep your amenities high. Stationing a military unit in a city also helps. A Cultural Alliance will completely stop another civ’s loyalty pressure.

Conclusion

Playing as Eleanor is one of the most unique and rewarding experiences in Civilization VI. It forces you to shift your mindset away from war and towards a more subtle, insidious form of domination. By mastering the dance of loyalty pressure, placing your cities strategically, and building a cultural renaissance, you can watch empires crumble before you, their cities flocking to your banner not out of fear, but out of sheer attraction to your civilization. Embrace the power of the Court of Love, and you’ll find that the pen, the paintbrush, and the lute are mightier than any sword.