Ides of March (Civ6)

Ides of March is the fifth challenge of the month in Civilization VI, running from March 12 to April 9, 2024.

Intro[]

The Fall of Rome is imminent! As Caesar, can you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? You've conquered much of the world, but every remaining civilization now unites against you, and your armies are stretched too thin to defend your empire.

You have difficult choices to make between now and April 9 when this event ends. Attacking enemies demand your attention, but you can't ignore the threats posed by barbarians, famine, and natural disasters.

Game parameters[]

Mode: Secret Societies
Difficulty: Prince / Emperor
Victory: Any except Score
Speed: Epic
Player Leader: Julius Caesar
Map Type: Custom
Map Size: Standard
RuleSet: Gathering Storm
Start Era: Classical
Resources: Standard
World Age: Standard
Start Position: Standard
Temperature: Standard
Rainfall: Standard
Sea Level: Standard

Strategy[]

This isn't an overly difficult challenge, but it takes a long time to complete. As Julius Caesar's Rome, you start with 12 cities and several Legions under your control on a map that encompasses southern Europe, northern Africa, and parts of Asia. You're up against eight opponents - Byzantium (under Basil II), China (under Mandate of Heaven Qin Shi Huang), Egypt (under Ptolemaic Cleopatra), the Gauls, Greece (under Gorgo), Macedon, Nubia, and Phoenicia - all of whom are on a team. This means that declaring war on one opponent puts you at war with all of them, and if you're seeking a Domination Victory in this challenge (which is the fastest and easiest way to win), you're going to be at war for the rest of the game. Once you're ready to start your conquest, you need to stay committed to it until you capture the last opponent's Capital.

In the opening turns of this challenge, your priorities are to get your empire's economy in order and your units in position. Train Builders in resource-rich cities, then improve the strategic and luxury resources to get some extra Gold and Amenities. Cities that have few resources should instead build Monuments for extra Loyalty and Culture, and frontier cities should either start training Archers or building Ancient Walls for protection from invaders. You should also start researching Celestial Navigation (to unlock the Harbor) and Political Philosophy (to unlock Oligarchy). Send four of your Legions toward Gallic territory (gathering them around Aduatuca) and four toward Macedonian territory (putting two to the north and two to the south of Pella), but keep the others close to their starting positions for now.

Barbarians will start spawning on Turn 2. Be ready to send any spare Legions you have nearby to clear them out, but always make sure you raid their outposts before dispersing them - you won't get any Gold otherwise, and you'll need it to buy buildings and units. You may discover the Sanguine Pact while hunting Barbarians, and they're probably the best of the Secret Societies to join in this challenge: their Vampires give you additional military might, and there are lots of choice places to build Vampire Castles for extremely rich yields.

Once you've got your units moving into position, take a look at Mediolanum in the east. It can be stabilized with some effort - first, assign Victor to it as Governor. Slot Ilkum as your Economic Policy, then send your Legion to chop a nearby Woods tile in order to instantly train a Builder. You can then use your Gold to purchase the nearby Wheat tiles, which your Builder can harvest to boost Mediolanum's Population to the point where it is no longer losing Loyalty. This will significantly hamper Alexander's ability to push into your territory, and will benefit you greatly down the road.

You should be ready to declare war on your opponents no later than Turn 15; immediately after doing so, move Legions into the empty hexes to the north and south of Pella to put it under siege and have the Legions around Aduatuca converge on it. If you have any Archers nearby, send them along to support your Legions and whittle down enemy units and cities. You should be able to defeat Ambiorix's Gaesatae easily and wipe him out quickly, then send your forces south toward Ugarit to capture it. Pella should also fall pretty quickly, at which point you should recapture Mediolanum if necessary, then let your forces heal and train a Battering Ram and/or 1-2 siege units before pushing into Byzantine territory. If Dido starts sending her Biremes to attack Rome before it's done building Walls, purchase an Archer and a Galley to fight them off.

You'll need to research Shipbuilding to get the units that captured Ugarit into Africa, where you can take Carthage and then push east to attack Egypt and Nubia. Meanwhile, the units on the eastern front should wipe out Byzantium (being wary of their Dromons' attacks) and then push south to capture Tyre and rendezvous with the units from the western front in Nubian territory, which will leave only China and Greece (and possibly a weakened Phoenicia) for you to deal with. Focus on building a navy to attack Greece and Phoenicia, settling in areas that have new or important resources, and upgrading your units as you research technologies that unlock stronger ones. Building Harbors and Commercial Hubs in your cities will allow you to create a Road network with Trade Routes, and your defensive militia should be more than capable of handling any Barbarians that appear. After they've earned a few Promotions, you can assemble them in the northeast, found a city on Qin Shi Huang's doorstep to use as a staging point, and push toward Xi’an as soon as you're ready.

One way to simultaneously combat Loyalty issues in newly-captured cities and raise a powerful military in this challenge is to appoint Victor and give him Embrasure. Assign him to a city you've just captured and wait for him to get established, use your Gold spoils to buy one or two units there (each of which will start with a free Promotion), then move him to the next city you capture and repeat.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Beware_the_Ides_of_March… — Beware the Ides of March…

Ides of March teaser

External links[]

Civilization VI Challenges of the month [edit]
Age of Abundance Seven Seas Robot Revolution The Head of Cyrus Ides of March Three Stars Each Reach for the Heavens Terra Incognita Live Yongle Reaction Rotating Reduxes Know Your Enemy Cleopatra, Lich Queen of the Nile King of the Wonder Civpocalypse One More Turn