I’ve found that going for a Culture Victory by being aggressive isn’t just possible—it’s one of the most exciting and powerful ways to win. It does take a different way of thinking, though. Your army isn’t just for defense or conquest; it’s a key tool to shut down your cultural rivals and boost your own tourism. I’m going to share my step-by-step guide on how to win a Culture Victory through smart aggression, turning your military power into a machine for cultural domination.
A New Way to Play: Your Army as a Tourism Machine
Forget about the peaceful artist stereotype. With this strategy, your civilization is a cultural powerhouse with a strong army to match. The main job of your military isn’t to paint the map your color, but to carefully take apart the cultural giants that are in your way. You’ll be fighting targeted wars, pillaging for money and cultural advantage, and using what you gain from war to build a tourism empire that’s both feared and respected.
The main idea here is to suppress other cultures. I actively look for the civilizations that are getting the most domestic tourists—the main thing stopping you from winning a Culture Victory—and I systematically take away their ability to do that. I don’t do this by wiping them out completely, but with precise, planned military attacks that hurt their economies, destroy their campuses and theater squares, and in the end, make my civilization the best place for international tourists to visit.
The Early Game: Setting Up for Aggressive Culture
The early game is all about building a strong foundation. This means you have to balance early aggression with building up your own culture. You’re not just a warmonger; you’re a smart cultural predator.
Picking Your Civilization: Tools for the Aggressive Culturalist
The right civilization can give you a big head start. I look for leaders with bonuses that combine military strength with culture generation.
- Rome (Trajan): This is a classic choice for a good reason. Trajan’s Column gives you a free monument in every new city, which gives you a culture boost right from the start. This lets you focus on building military units and settlers early on without falling behind in culture. The Legion, a strong unique unit, is great for early wars.
- Greece (Gorgo): I think Gorgo is the queen of aggressive culture. Her “Thermopylae” ability gives you culture equal to 50% of the combat strength of any unit you defeat. This means every barbarian you kill and every enemy unit you beat adds directly to your culture. This creates a great cycle: the more you fight, the faster you unlock important cultural civics and governments.
- The Aztecs (Montezuma): Montezuma is another great choice for using war to help your economy and culture. His “Gifts for the Tlatoani” ability means luxury resources in his territory give an amenity to two extra cities. More importantly, his military units get +1 combat strength for each different luxury resource you have in your lands. This lets you build a powerful army that’s fueled by your growing empire. His Eagle Warriors can capture enemy units and turn them into builders, which is a huge help for building up your cities early on.
- The Ottomans (Suleiman): People often think of Suleiman as being focused on domination, but you can use his unique abilities for a culture victory. The Grand Bazaar replaces the Bank and gives +1 amenity and +1 strategic resource for each different luxury resource the city has. A happy empire is a productive one, and the extra strategic resources will help your war efforts. The Janissary, a powerful unique unit that’s cheaper and stronger than the Musketman, lets you make a strong military push in the mid-game. The key here is to conquer cities that are culturally important and then use your unique governor, Ibrahim, to stop rebellions and boost your own culture.
Early Game Goals: Settle, Scout, and Strike
Your first 50-75 turns are super important. Here’s what I focus on:
- Expand Quickly: Settle as many cities as you can in places that are easy to defend and have good production and access to luxury and strategic resources. I aim for at least 6-8 cities by the Classical or Medieval era.
- Scout Aggressively: You need to find your neighbors, especially the ones who are likely to be your cultural rivals. I look for civilizations that are building early wonders, growing quickly, or making a lot of culture early on.
- Build an Army Early: Get a standing army of archers and warriors. You don’t need a huge army, but you need enough to defend yourself and to start an early war with a weaker neighbor if you get the chance. This first war isn’t about conquering them; it’s about hurting a potential rival and getting valuable experience for your units.
- Pillage Smart: When you go to war, your main goal should be to pillage your opponent’s districts, especially their campuses and holy sites. This will slow down their science and culture, giving you an advantage in the long run. Pillaging also gives you a nice boost to your own resources.
The Mid-Game: The Art of the Planned War
The mid-game is where this strategy really starts to shine. You’ll go from small fights to planned, strategic wars that are designed to take down your cultural rivals and send your own tourism through the roof.
Finding Your Cultural Enemy
By the mid-game, it’ll be obvious who your main cultural competitors are. These are the civilizations that are leading in domestic tourism. You can see this on the Culture Victory screen. Your goal is to systematically destroy their cultural engine.
The Surgical Strike: A New Way to Fight
Your wars in the mid-game should be short, sharp, and to the point. You’re not trying to wipe them out. Instead, you’re going for what I call a “cultural decapitation.”
- Declare a Surprise War: In many strategy games, the penalties for a surprise war are smaller in the earlier eras. I use this to my advantage. A sudden, strong attack can catch your opponent off guard and let you get what you want quickly.
- Pillage Everything Important: Your main targets are your opponent’s theater squares, campuses, and commercial hubs. Pillaging these districts will not only hurt their cultural and scientific progress but will also give you a lot of gold, science, and culture.
- Capture Key Cities: You don’t need to take over their whole empire. I focus on capturing their capital and a few of their most culturally important cities. These are the cities that are likely to have wonders, great works, and large populations that are creating the most domestic tourism.
- Make Peace: Once you’ve done what you wanted to do, make peace. Take the cities you want in the peace deal, and then focus on strengthening your position. You don’t want to get stuck in a long, drawn-out war. The goal is to get in, do the damage, and get out.
Managing Grievances and Warmonger Penalties
Even though you’re being aggressive, you’re not a mindless warmonger. You need to manage your grievances and warmonger penalties so you don’t become an enemy to the whole world.
- Use a Casus Belli: Whenever you can, use a Casus Belli to declare war. This will greatly reduce the grievances you get. A “War of Liberation” or a “Protectorate War” are great options if you get the chance.
- Liberate Cities: If you capture a city-state that was taken over by another civilization, liberate it. This will give you a lot of positive grievances and can help balance out the negative effects of your aggressive actions.
- Focus on One Target: It’s usually better to focus your aggression on one or two rivals at a time. This will keep you from being at war with everyone and will make it easier to manage your grievances.
The Late Game: The Final Push for Cultural Dominance
The late game is about securing your gains and making the final push for a Culture Victory. You should have a powerful military, a large empire, and a tourism output that everyone else is jealous of.
The Power of Rock Bands
Rock Bands are a huge help for a late-game culture victory. They can bring in a ton of tourism, especially if you use them well.
- Choose Promotions Carefully: When your Rock Bands get a promotion, I choose the ones that will have the biggest effect. The “Goes to 11” promotion, which increases the tourism you get at all locations, is a must-have. The “Indie” promotion, which lets the Rock Band perform at any location, is also incredibly powerful.
- Target Your Rivals: Send your Rock Bands to perform in the territories of your cultural rivals. This will not only get you a lot of tourism but will also lower your opponents’ domestic tourism.
- The “Album Cover” Promotion: This promotion is especially good for an aggressive culture victory. It gives you tourism equal to 50% of the combat strength of the strongest unit in the target city. If you’ve been at war for the whole game, you’ll probably have a powerful military, which makes this promotion incredibly effective.
Seaside Resorts and National Parks: The Finishing Touches
Even though you’ve been focused on a more aggressive way to get culture, don’t forget about the more traditional ways to get tourism.
- Build Seaside Resorts: In the late game, you should have plenty of coastal cities. I build Seaside Resorts on any coastal tiles with an appeal of Breathtaking or better.
- Create National Parks: National Parks can bring in a lot of tourism. Look for diamond-shaped areas of four tiles that are all owned by the same city, have an appeal of Charming or better, and are all on land.
- The Eiffel Tower and Cristo Redentor: These two wonders are essential for a late-game culture push. The Eiffel Tower gives +2 appeal to every tile in your empire, which makes it much easier to build Seaside Resorts and National Parks. The Cristo Redentor increases the tourism from your Seaside Resorts by 100%.
The Final War: Getting Rid of the Last Obstacle
Even with all your hard work, you might find that one or two civilizations are still holding on, keeping you from winning a Culture Victory. If that’s the case, it’s time for one last, decisive war.
- Find the Final Hurdle: Look at the Culture Victory screen and find the civilization that’s getting the most domestic tourists. This is your final target.
- A War of Total Annihilation: Unlike your earlier wars, this final war is about completely wiping them out. You need to conquer their entire empire and remove them from the game. This will get rid of their domestic tourism and will almost definitely get you the Culture Victory.
- Use Your Tech Advantage: By the late game, you should have a big technological advantage over your rivals. Use this to your advantage. Modern Armor, Jet Bombers, and even Giant Death Robots can make quick work of your final opponent.
A Symphony of Destruction and Creation
Winning a Culture Victory without being a pacifist is a careful balance of creating and destroying. You have to be a master of both the sword and the brush, to be able to wage war and create works of art with equal skill. It’s a strategy that’s not for everyone, but for those who are willing to embrace the chaos of war and use it to dominate culturally. By following the ideas in this guide, you can build an empire that’s not only feared for its military strength but also respected for its cultural achievements—a true testament to the power of aggressive culturalism.