Civ 6 Australia Guide: John Curtin Strategy (Domination & Science)

This guide delves into the strategic depths of playing as John Curtin, offering a comprehensive roadmap to achieving both Domination and Science victories. We will explore the nuances of Australia’s powerful abilities, from the early game land grab to the late-game military and technological ascendance. According to the player community, mastering Australia is not about brute force, but about calculated positioning, strategic patience, and the art of turning the enemy’s aggression into your greatest advantage.

Understanding Australia’s Unique Abilities

To lead Australia to victory, a deep understanding of its unique abilities is paramount. These abilities synergize in powerful ways, creating a civilization that can pivot between peaceful development and explosive warfare with remarkable ease.

• Land Down Under (Civilization Ability): This is the cornerstone of Australia’s adaptability.
  • Coastal Cities: Gain a crucial +3 Housing in all coastal cities. This early-game boost allows for rapid population growth, which is the engine of any successful empire.
  • Pasture Culture Bombs: Building a pasture on a resource like Sheep, Cattle, or Horses triggers a “Culture Bomb,” instantly claiming all adjacent tiles for your empire. This is an incredibly powerful tool for expanding your borders, grabbing valuable resources, and even stealing land from unsuspecting neighbors.
  • Appeal-Based District Bonuses: This is where Australia’s potential for high yields truly shines. Campuses, Commercial Hubs, Holy Sites, and Theater Squares receive a +1 yield bonus on tiles with “Charming” appeal and a staggering +3 bonus on tiles with “Breathtaking” appeal. Careful city planning and appeal management are therefore not just aesthetic choices, but critical strategic decisions.
• Citadel of Civilization (John Curtin’s Leader Ability): This is the heart of Australia’s military and productive might.
  • Defensive Bonus: When another civilization declares war on Australia, you receive a monumental 100% production bonus in all cities for 10 turns. This can turn a surprise attack into a golden opportunity to build a powerful defensive force and then launch a devastating counter-offensive.
  • Liberation Bonus: When Australia liberates a city, you receive the same 100% production bonus for an even longer duration of 20 turns. This encourages a “world police” playstyle, where you are rewarded for defending the sovereignty of city-states and other civilizations.
• Digger (Unique Unit): This unique Modern Era unit replaces the Infantry and is a formidable fighting force.
  • Combat Bonuses: The Digger receives a +10 combat strength bonus when fighting on coastal tiles and a +5 bonus on neutral or foreign territory. This makes them incredibly effective in amphibious assaults and offensive campaigns.
  • No Oil Requirement: Unlike the standard Infantry unit, the Digger does not require oil, freeing up a strategic resource for other late-game units and buildings.
• Outback Station (Unique Improvement): This unique tile improvement, unlocked with the Guilds civic, is the key to turning Australia’s vast, arid lands into productive heartlands.
  • Yields: The Outback Station provides Food, Production, and Housing.
  • Adjacency Bonuses: It gains bonus Food for each adjacent Pasture, and bonus Production for each adjacent Outback Station. This encourages the creation of large, interconnected clusters of Outback Stations, transforming otherwise barren terrain into a source of immense growth and production.

Early Game Strategy: Foundations of an Empire

The early game for Australia is all about laying the groundwork for future success. Your primary focus should be on strategic settlement, maximizing your unique abilities, and preparing for the mid-game pivot.

• Coastal Settlement: Your first city, and indeed most of your early cities, should be settled on the coast. The +3 housing from “Land Down Under” is a significant advantage, allowing your cities to grow larger and more productive much faster than your inland counterparts.
• The Appeal Game: From the very beginning, you must be thinking about appeal. Use the appeal lens to identify areas with high natural appeal – tiles adjacent to mountains, woods, rivers, and natural wonders are your prime real estate. These are the locations where you will eventually build your high-yield districts.
• Pasture Power: Don’t underestimate the power of the pasture culture bomb. Use it to aggressively expand your borders, claim strategic resources, and even block off potential settlement locations for other civilizations. A well-placed pasture can be more effective than an early-game military unit in securing your territory.
• Early Research and Civics: Your research path should prioritize Writing to unlock the Campus district as early as possible. For civics, focus on unlocking the policy cards that boost production and growth, and make your way towards Guilds to unlock the Outback Station.

Mid-Game Pivot: Unleashing the Production Engine

The mid-game is where Australia truly comes into its own. Your early-game planning will begin to pay off as your high-appeal districts start generating significant yields, and you can begin to leverage your “Citadel of Civilization” ability to devastating effect.

• District Development: Continue to build Campuses, Commercial Hubs, and other districts in high-appeal locations. The stacking bonuses from appeal and standard adjacency can lead to incredibly high yields, propelling you ahead in science, culture, and gold.
• The Art of the Bait: Many professional gamers suggest a “bait and switch” strategy to trigger your production bonus. By maintaining a seemingly small military, you can often entice an aggressive AI into declaring war on you. When they do, you can use the 100% production bonus to rapidly build a formidable army and turn the tables on your unsuspecting foe.
• The Liberator’s Path: A more noble, and often more effective, way to trigger your production bonus is through liberation. Keep a close eye on the world’s political landscape. When a city-state is conquered, you have a golden opportunity. Declare a liberation war, free the city-state, and you will be rewarded with a 20-turn production bonus that can be used to fuel a major military campaign or a massive infrastructure boom.
• The Outback Engine: The Outback Station becomes available in the mid-game, and you should start building them as soon as possible. These unique improvements are the key to unlocking the full potential of your empire, providing the food and production necessary to sustain a large population and a powerful military.

The Path to Domination: A Two-Pronged Assault

A Domination Victory with Australia is a game of strategic patience and explosive power. Your goal is to use your production bonus to create an unstoppable military force and overwhelm your opponents. There are two primary paths to achieving this:

• The Defensive Counter-Offensive: This strategy involves intentionally provoking a war to trigger your production bonus.
  • The Setup: In the early to mid-game, focus on building a strong economic and scientific foundation. Keep your military relatively small to appear as a tempting target.
  • The Trigger: Once an enemy declares war, your production bonus will activate. Immediately begin churning out your most advanced military units.
  • The Assault: Use your newly formed army to repel the initial attack and then immediately go on the offensive. Your goal is to capture as many enemy cities as possible while your production bonus is active.
• The Liberator’s Crusade: This strategy focuses on using liberation as a catalyst for conquest.
  • The Watchful Peace: In the early to mid-game, focus on peaceful development and building a strong technological base. Keep an eye on global conflicts and wait for a city-state to be conquered.
  • The Liberation War: Declare a liberation war on the aggressor. Your goal is to recapture the city-state and return it to its original owner.
  • The Conquest: With your 20-turn production bonus active, you can then turn your attention to the aggressor’s other cities. The Digger, with its coastal combat bonus, is particularly effective in this role, allowing you to launch devastating amphibious assaults.

The Path to the Stars: A Scientific Blitz

A Science Victory with Australia is a race against time, and your production bonus is the key to winning that race. Your goal is to build a powerful scientific and industrial base, and then use your production bonus to complete the space race projects in record time.

• The Scientific Foundation: From the very beginning, your focus should be on maximizing your science output. Settle near mountains and other high-appeal locations to create powerful Campuses. The Rationalism policy card is a must-have, as it will provide a significant boost to your science output.
• The Industrial Engine: While science is your primary focus, you must also build a strong industrial base. Industrial Zones and factories are essential for building the late-game wonders and space race projects.
• The Timed Push: The key to a successful science victory with Australia is to time your production bonus to coincide with the construction of the spaceport and the space race projects. The best way to do this is to liberate a city-state just as you are about to begin construction on the final, most expensive projects. The 20-turn production bonus will allow you to complete these projects in a fraction of the time it would normally take.

Synergies and Wonders: Maximizing Australia’s Potential

To truly master Australia, you must understand the powerful synergies between its unique abilities and the various wonders, city-states, and policy cards available in the game.

• Wonders:
  • Eiffel Tower: This wonder is a must-have for any Australia game, as it increases the appeal of all tiles in your empire, further boosting the yields of your districts.
  • Ruhr Valley: This wonder provides a massive production boost to the city in which it is built, and when combined with your “Citadel of Civilization” ability, it can lead to truly staggering levels of production.
• City-States:
  • Scientific City-States: Suzerainty of scientific city-states like Geneva and Babylon can provide a significant boost to your science output.
  • Industrial City-States: Suzerainty of industrial city-states like Brussels and Toronto can provide a significant boost to your production.
• Policy Cards:
  • Rationalism: This policy card is essential for a science victory, as it provides a significant boost to the science output of your Campuses.
  • Military Policy Cards: When pursuing a domination victory, be sure to use the policy cards that boost the production and combat strength of your military units.

Conclusion: A Legacy of Power and Innovation

Playing as John Curtin’s Australia is a unique and rewarding experience. It is a civilization that rewards careful planning, strategic patience, and the ability to turn adversity into opportunity. Whether you choose the path of conquest or the path of scientific discovery, Australia’s powerful abilities will provide you with the tools you need to forge a lasting legacy. By mastering the art of the defensive counter-offensive, the liberator’s crusade, and the timed scientific push, you can lead the Land Down Under to its rightful place as a dominant force on the world stage. The player community agrees that Australia is a top-tier civilization, and with the strategies outlined in this guide, you will be well on your way to achieving a decisive and satisfying victory.