Civilization 5 Babylon - Leader: Nebuchadnezzar II
Civ Bonuses, Strategies, Unique Units and Buildings
Civilization Name: 
Babylon
Civ Leader: Nebuchadnezzar II
Civ Bonus: Ingenuity:
Free Great Scientist upon researching Writing. Great Scientists are born 50% faster. This free Great Scientist and the rate they'll gain them later make Babylon an obvious choice for a Science Victory. If you pursue other goals with them, there's a leader better-suited to your goals than Babylon, although they can of course take advantage of their Scientific advantage in the Mid-game if you elect to play aggressively.
Unique Unit: Bowman:
Requires Archery, Upgrades to Crossbowman. Obsolete with Machinery
The Babylonian Bowman replaces the standard Archer and gets +2 ranged Combat Strength and Defensive strength compared to its plain counterpart at the same cost. This makes the Bowman nearly as good at defending as a Warrior, while possessing powerful attacks. Get this soon after Writing so that you can defend your Cities from attack and go on the Offensive against Barbarian encampments to both protect your lands and do quests to earn valuable City-State Alliances early in the game.
Unique Building: Walls of Babylon:
Requires Masonry
The Walls of Babylon are superior to a normal wall in every way. Instead of providing +50 HP to a City, they give +100. The +6 defense is also better than a standard Wall's +5. They also cost 10 fewer hammers to produce. Deploy them on border Cities and those likely to be attacked by Barbarians, as it'll strengthen the City's attack. Walls are situational, and these are good but not Babylon's strongest point.
Strategies/Ideas:
There are a lot of opening Strategies that can work well for Babylon, but all focus on getting Writing early and using the Great Scientist to build an Academy near the Capital. I prefer Grasslands or Plains that are not situated next to Rivers, as those plots will give +1 food with Civil Service and allow Cities to grow larger. You may want to lock the tile on the Academy to prevent your Governor stopping work on the tile if you switch the City's focus through Citizen Management.
Tradition is the best Social Policy for Babylon. Because you'll probably end up putting all your Academies near the Capital, it having a high population is important and Tradition provides Growth, Food for the Capital, and free Aqueducts to aid growth in your first Cities. It will also help if you decide to go for a Wonder. Get the free Monuments (do not waste production making a Monument) and then get both Capital-boosting policies unless you're rushing to make a Wonder like the Great Library on an easier difficulty. The Great Library is certainly appealing there, for it gives Great Scientist Points, but it's just too hard on a high difficulty.
Use two Scouts as you would with most other Civilizations, and make them the first things you build, then get a Worker. You have a really good chance your Scouts get upgraded to Bowmen and let you save some production, properly protecting your Capital and giving you a great unit for eliminating Barbarians for distant City-States. I'd go straight for Writing as you will be able to pick up the techs you need to gather Luxuries faster with the Academy. You can use your starting Warrior to ensure the Worker's not interrupted. Don't bother at all going for The Great Library on Immortal or Deity, you can instead use The Oracle to get Great Scientist points in early-game to get more Academies as it's far less coveted by the AI and does help a lot with its +Culture and free Social Policy. You have a decent chance at The Great Library on King or below, but otherwise it's better to just get a Library out asap with Babylon, found more Cities, then try for the Oracle or go with the Hanging Gardens to get explosive growth and have the production you need.
You can even skip founding a City, use the Academy to help you research Philosophy, and build a National College then found your second city in a favorable spot. You would do this because of the time it takes to make Libraries in your expansions and a Library is required in every city to make the National College - if the Capital is all that exists, one is all you need. Your Scouts should let you know if this will be viable, for the other Civs will deploy Settlers by the time you're about halfway done with the National College. You'll have the highest Science very quickly, but be behind in terms of land control. You want at least three Cities on most maps, because population is your primary source of Research. Having fewer Cities and less land control cripples you later, for Jungle tiles with Trading Posts can give +2 Food, +3 Science, and +2 Gold later in the game and Specialists of any kind will produce +2 Science.
If you want to maximize Science, you should stick all three Guilds (Artists' Guild, Writers' Guild, and Musicians' Guild) in the City that has your National College and later build a Hermitage - this City will get more Science out of All Specialists and Generate more culture to help your Civ adopt Ideologies in the late-game to further increase Science. I say this because Babylon will be so busy focused on Science in the early game that they can later catch up in Policies when they've reached the Renaissance or Industrialized. Remember, Social Policies cost more with each you unlock, so if you wait until later and play catch-up you can avoid wasting too many policies on things you don't need for your Scientific victory.
Babylon should generally try to avoid war, because that disrupts their ability to grow and generate more Science, although they are certainly capable with a technological edge. The AI looks at your Military Strength before determining war, and you can see this on the Demographics screen. That score is determined by the strength of your Units, so if you have higher-strength modern units you do not need as many to deter an attack. I have certainly used Bowmen in the early game to take over City-States in my way and even pick on other Civs, for they will forget as the Centuries pass if you only take one City. If you find yourself cramped, you gotta do what you gotta do. Later on, it becomes much easier if you have a strong economy to afford to pay to upgrade units over time, so make sure you get your Cities Connected, use Trade Routes with Brave New World to get gold, and preserve all Jungle tiles to place Trading Posts when they are available.
| Sid Meier's Civ 5 is a deep strategy game. I created these individual Civilization Guides to highlight the strengths of their specials and unique units. If you have an opener or tip for playing this Civ that you would like to share with other readers, please use the comments form below. Some Guides are in need of update and will be improved to a new standard of quality or altered to reflect gameplay changes in G&K and Brave New World. | ||||||
| America | Arabia | Assyria | Austria | Aztec | Babylon | Brazil |
| Celts | China | Dutch | Egypt | England | France | Germany |
| Greece | The Huns | Inca | India | Indonesia | Iroquois | Japan |
| Korea | Maya | Mongolia | Morocco | Ottoman | Persia | Poland |
| Polynesia | Portugal | Rome | Russia | Shoshone | Siam | Songhai |
| Venice | Zulu | |||||
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21Also do Denmark guide please :)
