Conquering Civilizations As Austria In Civ 5

Austria is a strong civilisation in Civ 5, with a unique ability that allows players to spend gold to annex or puppet a city-state that has been their ally for five turns. This ability is called Diplomatic Marriage and is superior to the similar feature of the Venetian Merchant of Venice, because players can either Puppet or fully Annex the City-State, and also because they don't need a unit to do this. However, players should use this ability sparingly, because city-states acquired this way will lose their status as a city-state, and players will also lose all benefits from alliances such as Culture, Faith, or Food boosts per turn. In addition, they'll also take a big hit in Happiness due to the extra Citizens.

Austria's unique building is the Coffee House, which gives a considerable boost to Great Person generation in addition to its Production bonus and can be constructed everywhere (unlike the Windmill, which can only be built in cities on flat land). Along with their unique Industrial Era unit, the Hussar, it gives players a boost in the middle game and the possibility for expansion.

Use the 'Diplomatic Marriage' ability to buy city-states

City-states can be very useful in a game of Civ 5, and Austria's unique ability, Diplomatic Marriage, can be used to great effect to buy them. Here are some tips on how to use this ability:

• Marry city-states that are close to you as soon as possible. This will give you a lot of units, which you can use as garrisons in your cities, and will also help you defend a new city.
• If you have a happiness problem, consider puppeting the city-state first and then annexing it later. This will allow you to take advantage of the city-state's resources and strategic location without incurring the unhappiness penalty right away.
• Use the Honor policy tree to get a 33% discount on upgrading the units you gain from the city-state. This is especially useful if some of those units are outdated.
• If you are low on happiness or if the city-state is far away, it might be better to delay using your Diplomatic Marriage ability. You can still benefit from the city-state's bonuses in the meantime.
• If you are going for a domination victory, focus on buying city-states that are in strategic locations or that have a lot of units. This will give you a significant advantage when attacking other civilisations.
• If you are going for a cultural victory, focus on buying tall city-states in resource-rich regions. This will give you more cities with slots for great works and museums, which are key to a cultural victory.
• If you are going for a scientific victory, focus on buying city-states with Universities and Observatories. This will give your science output a significant boost.
• If you are playing against Austria, try to ally with as many city-states as possible before they can use their Diplomatic Marriage ability. You can also try to invade and capture city-states that Austria has married—just be aware that you won't be able to liberate them back into city-states.

Build tall in the early game

Building tall in the early game is a good strategy for Austria in Civ 5. This means focusing on developing fewer cities to a greater extent, rather than spreading yourself too thin across many cities.

Tradition Tree

Take the Tradition tree, which will help you prepare for Coffee Houses and leave you with spare happiness for supporting conquests and purchased City-States. Oligarchy will save you money in unit maintenance and help a little if you're attacked, while Legalism will save you time and money in building culture buildings. Landed Elite will benefit tall cities by increasing your capital's gold output as it grows. Monarchy will ensure that your capital's growth won't strain your empire's happiness too much. Aristocracy provides a production bonus to wonder-building, which is useful for Austria. The Tradition finisher will help all your first four cities grow faster, which is especially beneficial for tall cities.

National College

Try to get the National College up early—by turn 100 on a normal-speed game if possible. This will give you a scientific edge when you release your Hussar/Artillery army later in the game. It's also good for pursuing a cultural or scientific route to victory.

Annexing City-States

Annexing City-States can be difficult in the early game as it's expensive and you may not have enough gold. Destroying Barbarian encampments can help you secure an alliance, but getting over 500 gold (in a normal-speed game) for the marriage is a challenge. Even if you can afford it, wait until you have the National College up and running first. That will give the City-State time to develop, while also allowing you to annex the city without making the National College harder to build.

Coffee Houses

Coffee Houses are Austria's unique building, and they offer much more than a Great Person bonus. They can be built anywhere—they don't have the flat land restriction of Windmills, which they replace. This means you can bring the production bonus to all your cities, and cities on hills will be harder to capture. Coffee Houses also offer a 5% production bonus to everything, which will help you build up your army faster.

Wonders

Austria is rather good at building wonders, thanks to the production boost from Coffee Houses, the free armies from annexing City-States, and the extra gold from City-State alliances. Here are some wonders that are particularly useful for Austria:

• The Leaning Tower of Pisa: This wonder will give you a free Great Person, and all your cities with Coffee Houses will have a 50% bonus to Great Person Points.
• Forbidden Palace: This wonder will give you two free delegates, which will give you control of the World Congress until the industrial era. It also means that any non-occupied cities will create 10% less unhappiness from the population.
• Globe Theatre: This is a theming bonus wonder that provides two Great Writing slots, which get rarer beyond the classical era.
• Sistine Chapel: Another theming bonus wonder, this provides two uncommon pre-industrial Great Art slots.
• Big Ben: This wonder will help cut the costs of buying City-States on other continents and buying Airports and aircraft to airlift units in.
• Brandenburg Gate: With a Military Academy, this wonder brings new units to three promotions. With the Alhambra in the same city as well, that's four promotions, and enough to get to March or Blitz. It also provides a free Great General.
• Eiffel Tower: The Eiffel Tower provides 12 tourism, equal to three Great Works with a Hotel and Airport, or two with a National Visitor Centre. It also offers five points of global happiness.
• Neuschwanstein: Castles now become sources of gold, culture, and maintenance-free happiness. This wonder is particularly good when combined with Autocracy's Fortified Borders.
• Statue of Liberty: The Statue of Liberty offers a very powerful bonus—production on every specialist. You also get a free Social Policy.

Focus on the 'Tradition' tree

The Tradition social policy tree is a great way to start as Austria in Civ 5. It helps you prepare for Coffee Houses and leaves you with plenty of spare happiness for supporting conquests and purchased City-States.

The Tradition opener will help you with fast border expansion, which is good for ensuring your cities can reach good tiles sooner. Better tiles will often mean taller cities, and hence more specialists, more Great Person Points and more synergy with Coffee Houses. Oligarchy will save you a little cash in unit maintenance and help out a little if you're attacked. Legalism gives free culture buildings, which means you'll save time and have more cash ready for allying with and marrying City-States later. Landed Elite will help your capital grow tall, which will be great for maximising production, gold and specialist potential. Monarchy will ensure that your capital's growth won't strain your empire's happiness, and growing your capital will now provide a helpful boost to gold output. Aristocracy gives a production bonus to wonder-building, making it a fair bit more likely you'll be able to pick up some wonders. The Tradition finisher means that now all your first four cities will grow faster. It's a good idea to spread out tasks between your cities (Great Person generation, wonder-building, unit-building, etc.) to avoid overstretching your capital.

If you're aiming for a cultural victory, go to Aesthetics as soon as the Tradition tree is done. The opener will be particularly useful as Coffee Houses are key to an Austrian cultural victory route. The cultural line of buildings takes quite some time to work through, so building them all faster will save a considerable amount of production. Fine Arts will give you a small boost to culture. Flourishing of the Arts gives a strong culture boost to cities containing wonders. Artistic Genius will give you one Great Artist, which will be needed for the strong finisher. The finisher will double theming bonuses, meaning a strong boost to tourism output.

If you're aiming for a domination victory, you can carry on with Tradition into Patronage, which will make it easier to ally with City-States. The opener will make it cheaper to obtain alliances. Consulates will make alliances even cheaper. Philanthropy will stretch your money even further. If you're aiming for a scientific victory, you can go into Commerce after Tradition to ensure you have plenty of cash at hand for diplomatic marriages. The opener will add a gold multiplier to your capital. Wagon Trains will be useful for increasing your gold output.

Remember that you will need the policies from the Commerce tree, which afford more gold and greater ability to buy Influence from City-States.

Get 'Economics' before 'Military Science'

Get Economics Before Military Science

The Coffee House is a unique building that replaces the Windmill and requires Economics to build. It gives a 25% Great Person Points bonus and, unlike the Windmill, can be built in any city without a flat terrain requirement. This bonus is huge and will offset the possibility that you use Great Merchants instead of continually seeking Great Scientists.

The Coffee House also gives a 5% production bonus to all construction projects, including the training of units. This means that getting Economics before Military Science will allow you to benefit from the Coffee House bonus for longer, which will be especially useful if you are pursuing a scientific or cultural victory.

If you are pursuing a domination victory, getting Economics before Military Science will still be beneficial, as the Coffee House's production bonus will help you build up your army.

In addition, getting Economics before Military Science will allow you to build the Leaning Tower of Pisa wonder, which will give you a free Great Person and boost your Great Person Points generation in cities with Coffee Houses by 50%.

Tips for Playing Austria

• Build tall in the early game and get the National College before you start annexing City-States.
• Warmongers should buy City-States for strategic reasons; other players should focus on the best-developed City-States.
• Don't go overboard with buying City-States; it's better to buy too few than too many.
• Get Economics before Military Science to make use of Coffee Houses.
• Research Dynamite and build some Artillery before you launch a war.
• You can buy City-States on new continents and build Airports in them to avoid having to build a navy.

Research 'Dynamite' and build Artillery

Researching Dynamite and building Artillery is a key part of a domination victory as Austria. Dynamite is a technology in the Industrial Era that allows for the creation of Artillery, a unit that is a game-changer in ground warfare. Artillery has a three-range capacity and can fire upon a city without being hit back by it, making it perfect for sieges.

Artillery is a powerful unit that can be used both offensively and defensively. When attacking, Artillery can be used to capture cities, especially when combined with Riflemen who can act as meat shields. Defensively, Artillery can be used to halt invasions and defend coastlines by firing upon embarked units.

When playing as Austria, it is important to build tall in the early game and take the Tradition tree. This will help you prepare for Coffee Houses and ensure you have enough happiness to support conquests and the purchasing of City-States. After the early game, you should focus on getting the National College up and running and then head towards Education and Economics. Economics will give you access to Coffee Houses, which are crucial for a domination victory as they provide a 25% Great Person Points bonus and act as a second Workshop and a second Garden in the same building.

Once you have Coffee Houses, focus on getting Military Science and building Military Academies. You will also need gold and happiness, which can be obtained through the Commerce Social Policy tree. After Military Science, research Dynamite and build some Artillery to go with your Hussars. Now you are ready to start launching wars and working towards a domination victory.

Frequently asked questions