Introduction
Hammurabi is the ideal civ for those looking for early game snowballing into whatever victory you choose. There are some nuances to the civ that might deter newer players, so this guide is designed to give some tips for those looking to try out Hammurabi.
(Disclaimer, this is my first guide)
Strengths and Weaknesses
The major paths to victory with Hammurabi will be either a science or a domination victory. The ability to jump through the tech tree as fast as he does will result in getting advanced units able to easily defeat neighboring city-states and neighbors. -50% science is a big penalty, but if you’d normally be producing 1000 science due to captured cities, it’s not too big of a deal.
Culture is a viable path to victory, but only due to the earlier access to major culture wonders and techs such as computers. There are no passive bonuses to culture or great works, so a lot of tourism is going to be from the wonders you’re able to make.
I wouldn’t recommend a religious path, there are just better civs to use if you’re looking for that type of victory. The only time I would shoot for religion is to get the religious tourists if going the cultural route.
First 100 Turns
The whole idea of Hammurabi is to get as many eurekas as possible, since the passive ability for him is that eurekas unlock the tech instead of the usual 50%. More so than normal, the focus will be on exploration and culture (I’ll break down both). You’ll still want to have two cities by turn 30 or so, so here’s an example building order:
Scout
Unique Unit/Settler (Depending on the pop)
Builder
Monument
1) Exploration
The possibility of getting a huge start over the other players largely depends on how fast you can kick-start the process of unlocking eurekas. For this reason, tribal villages, barb settlements, and other civs become even more important to find. Tribal villages have a chance to give you a eureka, barb settlements give your units a chance to kill barbs (3 units killed will unlock bronze working), and other civs will immediately give you writing.
2) Culture
Culture is something that typically gets neglected with a more domination-focused civ, but valuable eurekas (e.g. feudalism) and wonders crucial to Babylon will be ignored if culture gets abandoned. Two big wonders not to miss:
Oracle:
A huge source of eurekas will be supplied through great scientists, and for this reason great people points will be a top priority. Oracle in any city with Pingala’s great person boost (assuming you have a campus built) will ensure that a good amount of great scientists join your civilization.
Great Library:
THIS IS THE #1 WONDER FOR BABYLON
Not only does this unlock every single tech in the ancient and classical era once built, but every time another civ recruits a great scientist you get a free tech. This is absolutely a must, no matter what victory you choose to pursue.
In summary, rush culture for the early portion of the game to get Great Library and Oracle. If this happens, the game is practically yours.
Tips
- Don’t sleep on builders, they are a major source of early-game eurekas.
- It is possible to jump-start your production with an industrial district as your first district build within the first 40 turns (Have a builder build 3 mines).
- The unique unit is great for dealing with pesky barb horsemen.
- The palgum is a great upgrade from the water mill, giving +2 production (great in ancient era) and +1 food for any adjacent tile to fresh water, allowing fast city growth.
- Babylon is able to get envoys with each completion of a district after the first, so it might be prudent to save city-states instead of conquering them.
- Don’t feel rushed in placing your first city as you can easily catch up on the tech tree.
- Your first techs researched should always be animal husbandry, pottery, and mining (in any order). These are the only techs that cannot be unlocked by eureka. After that always research towards the tech you think is least likely to be unlocked by eureka.
Thanks for reading!