These guides are designed to help players who are new to Civ but still interested in Vox Populi, familiar with Civ but new to Vox Populi, or even those well versed in Vox Populi who just want to see if there's anything they didn't know about a particular civilization. I am actually a big fan of Zigzagzigal's Civ guide series, and it really helped me learn a lot about the game, and I wanted to bring a similar experience for fans of the Vox Populi or Community Balance Patch modpack. For those interested in the modpack it can be downloaded here[forums.civfanatics.com]

Anyways, without further ado, onto the Swedish!

Before I go into depth with this guide, here's an explanation of some terminology I'll be using throughout for the sake of newer players.

Beelining - Focusing on obtaining a technology early by only researching technologies needed to research it and no others. For example, to beeline Bronze Working, you'd research Mining and Bronze Working and nothing else until Bronze Working was finished.
Finisher - The bonus for completing a Social Policy tree (e.g. +33% Great Scientist rate and +25% growth in all cities from rationalism.)
GWAM - Great Writers, Artists and Musicians. These are the three types of Great People who can make Great Works, a major source of tourism for cultural Civs.
Opener - The bonus for unlocking a Social Policy tree (e.g. +25% Great Person Rate and +100% construction of guilds in Artistry)
Tall Empire - A low number of cities with a high population each.
UA - Unique Ability - the unique thing a Civilization has which doesn't need to be built.
UB - Unique Building - A replacement for a normal building that can only be built and used by one Civilization.
UI - Unique Improvement - A tile improvement that can be made by workers that doesn't replace any other improvement that can only be made by a single civilization
UU - Unique Unit - A replacement for a normal unit that can only be built by one Civilization or provided by militaristic City-States when allied.
Uniques - Collective name for Unique Abilities, Units, Buildings, Tile Improvements and Great People
Wide Empire - A high number of cities with a low population each.
XP - Experience Points - Get enough and you'll level up your unit, giving you the ability to heal your unit or get a promotion.

Sweden does not have a start bias. This is fine as none of their uniques rely on terrain


Land melee units have +20% when attacking

Siege units have +1

Units gain +15xp and are fully healed whenever a great general is born. The great general bonus is increased by 15%




A melee unit



Negative Changes

• Has no air strike defense

Positive One-Off Changes

• Higher combat strength (41 instead of 38)
  
• Obsoletes at Combined Arms rather than Replaceable Parts

Positive Stay on Upgrade Changes

• -15% when defending. Heals every turn, even if the unit performs an action(March)
  
• When this unit advances after killing an enemy unit, all newly adjacent enemy units take 15 dmg(Grenadiers)

Negative Changes

• No base yield(Down from 3)

Positive Changes

• 1 per(Up from 1 for every 4)
  
• 1 per 3
  
• 5 maintenance(Down from 6)
  
• 800 build cost(Down from 1000)

These scores are merely my personal opinions from playing and examining this Civ, you may find other uses for the Swedish uniques that make you disagree with a certain ranking


Sweden is one of the best domination civs in the game, with several powerful offensive bonuses. These bonuses still translate fairly well into giving Sweden a good defense.
Sweden's UB does give them some culture, but it isn't a large amount, and it is the latest UB outside of America's modern national wonders, so this will be a minimal impact on your game
Compared to the culture output however, the Swedish UB gives a surprisingly large amount of science, propelling you forward into the late game
Sweden lacks any bonuses to gold or diplomacy
While an obligate domination civ, Sweden likes to build up a bit before their first war, giving some opportunity for a religion.

On my first initial read of the Swedish UA, I assumed that the 20% combat bonus while attacking only applied to the actual classification of 'melee' units. This meaning warriors, the spear and sword lines, tercios, and all gunpowder units. This was an incorrect assumption, which should've been apparent as gunpowder units are in fact a different classification in their own right





Scout units, and even mounted units get +20% combat strength when attacking. As long as they are on land and fight in melee, they get this bonus. This gives Sweden a very wide array of options for their army comp. Of course, in most scenarios, you cannot just use melee units. You are going to need some sort of ranged, preferably siege, to take out cities. Sweden has you covered on that front too



All Swedish siege units have +1 movement. This is an absolutely massive deal for siege units. Siege units(except rocket artillery) have a trait which makes moving in enemy territory cost 1 extra movement. This makes it very slow to get siege units into position unless the city has been slow in growing its borders. Sweden's +1 movement effectively negate this penalty. A siege unit can move two flat tiles in enemy terrain, or 1 and still be able to shoot. This makes siege units much less clunky to use, while still providing their great power against cities. Of course the extra movement has its expected uses too, allowing the siege units to get to the battlefield faster, moving onto neutral/friendly rough terrain and firing, etc.


It seems the news from Stockholm of a new general has revitalized the troops

Great Generals are a vital part of warfare, but for Sweden they are doubly so. Whenever a great general is born, all land units are fully healed, and all units gain +15 xp. The xp is given to naval units, but they are not healed. This means that your units can push hard immediately, possibly with an extra promotion under their belt. Keep an eye on your great general progress so you can be prepared to take advantage of it when they spawn.



Last, but certainly not least of Sweden's UA, they steal a page out of vanilla China's book and make their generals give an extra 15% combat bonus for a total of 30%. Keep your generals safe, and your army will be fighting stronger then pretty much anyone else

The Venetians have counter citadeled. Soon we will march, and they will pay

The Carolean is a very strong unit that should push Sweden rapidly towards the conquest of the rest of the world. Along with all the benefits of the Swedish UA, and higher combat strength, they come with two strong promotions



The first promotion is Grenadiers. This makes it so whenever Caroleans advance after killing a unit, they deal 15 damage to all surrounding units. Perfect to soften up the rest of an army for further attacks


Combine Caroleans with the Fountain of Youth for extra great results!

The other promotion they get is March, making it so they heal at the end of every turn, even if they take an action. This makes it much easier to keep Caroleans on the offensive. Do note that this does also reduce your combat strength while defending, so you'll want to make extra sure you are the one pressuring the enemy, not the other way around.

• -15% when defending. Heals every turn, even if the unit performs an action(March)
  
• When this unit advances after killing an enemy unit, all newly adjacent enemy units take 15 dmg(Grenadiers)

You're about to get Skoled

The Skola comes with two major and one minor benefit. The first, and in my opinion actually most impactful bonus, is one you might not immediately notice. The Skola is cheaper to build then it's generic counterpart. Getting up Skolas faster means you are getting its science outputs faster. Public schools are a fairly expensive building too, so this is doubly welcome.

The other major bonus is that instead of giving 1 science for every 4 citizens, the Skola gives 1 science per citizen. This is a massive boost in its science output. It gives another scaling by citizen bonus of 1 culture per 3 citizens, but I consider this more minor. Especially considering how late the Skola comes, this won't be a large amount, but the science certainly is


An impressive amount of science

I believe I had 15 cities at this point. With an estimated (but perhaps lowball) average population of 15 per city, this means the Skola is giving 225 science across my empire. Public Schools would only be giving about 90 science in a similarly sized empire.

Sweden should go the typical domination policy route. Authority into Fealty and finishing with Imperialism


Opener: Little bit of production to help early unit and building construction, plus easier barbarians and some culture out of them and any other units you kill to boot

Dominance: Get some science out of your kills too, plus the healing will allow your units to stand a bit of a chance at surviving a followup attack after defeating another unit

Tribute: Some extra yields as you expand your empire

Imperium: You're bound to be conquering a lot of cities, so this will probably add up to several techs and a few policies

Discipline: Sweden may have strong units, but they lack bonuses to the other struggles of warfare. This will help

Honor: A few free units to keep things going, can't complain

Finisher: Free Companies, Foreign Legions and Mercenaries all benefit from the Swedish UA, so are definitely quite good.


Opener: Monasteries are a solid building, definitely build them where you can, but it's going to be hard to build them in every city considering how much you're likely to conquer

Nobility: Faster armories and castles is exactly what you want

Divine Right: Reduces unhappiness by a very large amount, plus if you actually manage to keep your happiness up for any length of time, enjoy a nice bit of culture

Serfdom: You're bound to have plenty of pastures somewhere at this point. Make them better

Burghers: You're bound to be conquering lots of resources and getting plenty of We Love the King Days, so get some production out of them.

Organized Religion: Not very useful if you didn't found a religion, but is still somewhat useful to get monasteries and industrial era great people a bit faster.

Finisher: Whether you've founded your own religion or had one spread to you, some extra yields never hurt


Opener: Your Great Generals can actually keep up with your melee units now. Plus if you need to conquer someone overseas, faster navies can help with that.

Colonialism: You'll have lots of monopolies by now, get some more use out of them.

Regimental Tradition: Your great generals spawn faster, now give a massive 40% combat bonus, and do so in a 3 tile radius. Terrifying

Martial Law: You'll definitely have plenty of puppet cities, and conquered ones too. Both of them will be less of a burden now.

Exploitation: Some extra yields on almost every tile of the empire, and the expanded upgrade positions has some niche use

Civilizing Mission: Gold from conquering cities, and production in said conquered cities, everything you need to push the front line.

Finisher: A stronger navy, and a new way to use air units to help manage unhappiness.

To probably no ones surprise, Sweden excels with Autocracy


Elite Forces: Your units are better, both old and new.

New World Order: Sweden need every bonus they can get to reduce unhappiness, and this is a big one

Military-Industrial Complex: Cheaper unit upgrades are nice for those last expensive, bulk upgrades


Lightning Warfare: Most civs really only benefit from either the gun or armor bonuses. You benefit greatly from both, as well as the general bonuses too

Martial Spirit: An amazing bonus to clean up your last conquest or two, but it is a temporary boost. If you still have more then two civs to conquer, it might be better to postpone this, but it is always worth getting when the moment is right.


Air Supremacy: Free Airports in every city means that you almost don't need a navy as long as you have a city on every continent. Also makes air units quicker to build if you need to.

Pyramids: A quick second city to get your empire ready for war

Statue of Zeus: Not necessary for your first conquest, but it certainly helps


Great Wall: While yes, denying the defensive bonuses of the Great Wall to an enemy is nice, you're here for the free general

Oracle: A bunch of science and culture, great for anyone

Terracotta Army: You'll be killing plenty of units, might as well get some more yields out of it


Alhambra(Authority Only): Sweden absolutely can use mounted units to great effect, and this makes it even greater


Leaning Tower of Pisa: Can't say no to a free general

Red Fort(Fealty Only): Put this in a city near the front lines and the city will be able to support your advance


Brandenburg Gate: A free general yes, but also more xp across the empire

Neuschwanstein: A big boost to happiness, which is very welcome for you


Prora(Autocracy Only): Speaking of happiness, this is more of that


Pentagon(Imperialism Only): More, faster, stronger air units. Great for the postmodern battlefield


CERN: Cleans up the rest of the tech tree, to get those final powerful units

Sweden is a fairly simple domination civ, but there are still mistakes to be done


Sweden's military strengths may be almost universally towards land units, but naval units can prove very useful. In fact, unless you have a pangea or otherwise minimal water map, having at least a decent navy will probably be necessary for a domination victory


While it is probably more natural to go melee units as Sweden considering their unique unit is one, Sweden's bonuses do help mounted melee units. While you absolutely can just use melee/gun units and do quite well, mounted/armor units can be very effective, considering they can attack and retreat in the same turn, avoiding an easy counter attack


Your army is best when it is attacking. If you aren't being aggressive with your army you lose out on a lot of Sweden's bonuses.


Hopefully this shouldn't become a big problem as your large amount of land from conquest should make this a non-issue, but iron is very important to Sweden. Early on swordsman are very strong, and cannons and later siege units need them. You don't necessarily need a massive amount of siege units, but still, running out of iron will kill your effectiveness

Sweden has a strong, versatile, and unrelenting army, and they aren't reliant on one type of unit like some powerful conquerors. However, Sweden lacks other strengths until later in the game, and even then, they aren't insanely strong after that outside of conquest. If you can contain Sweden, they pose no threat


Sweden is strongest when attacking, but many of their strengths are irrelevant on the defense. If you push back against Sweden's advance, they are going to have a much harder time. Don't rely on defensive enclosures, push back into Sweden and they'll start to fall apart.

Their Siege units may be faster, but they still have somewhat limited movement, and horrible defense. Even a single mounted unit in the Swedish backlines can wreak havoc, and without their siege, Sweden will struggle to take out a city

A Great General birth can give the Swedish army new life, basically putting you back at square one. Two things to note about it though. 1 is that, with the exception of a few circumstances Sweden can't control when they get a great general, and those few circumstances aren't guaranteed for them. 2 is that Sweden will only rarely get great generals, most likely no more then once per war. So while it is annoying, it is beatable.

Finally, Swedish Great Generals are crazy powerful. Focus all efforts on killing a great general, and Sweden will have much less strength


Caroleans are very strong, but they share most of the Swedish weaknesses, namely that they are much stronger attacking then they are defending. Focus on attacking them rather then defending against them and with enough force they will crumble


The Skola is a powerful science generator, but it is mostly a catchup for Sweden. The Skola makes sure that they stay up to par on unit tech. Considering Sweden lacks growth bonuses however, it only helps if they have lots of cities, which they most likely only have if they've been conquering, which most likely means they are already doing well. If you've been able to counter Sweden so far the Skola won't matter, and if you haven't, Sweden will already be plenty difficult to fight. Just do what's been recommend above


Early-Game Warmongers: Keep up the pressure on Sweden, if they are forced into the defensive they will struggle, especially as they have likely not generated any generals yet

Mid-Game Warmongers: Focus on taking out Swedish generals, and keep on the offense. Mounted units will do well at avoiding Swedish attacks. A naval attack may prove effective if possible as well

Late-Game Warmongers: Air Units will do stellar against Swedish units, as they can't be attacked back.

Scientific Players: Early on, your tech advantage should prove enough to keep the Swedish at bay, but later on they might start catching up. Be prepared for their late game strength

Diplomatic Players: Global Peace Accords will wreck Sweden's economy. An embargo will also hurt them a lot.

Cultural Players: Defensive wonders like Great Wall can help, but otherwise, just use the tips above

These guide cover every civ in the game, and can be used as a quick reference

• Civ Summaries

• America (Domination/Science/Culture)
  
• Arabia (Culture/Science)
  
• Assyria (Science/Domination)
  
• Austria (Diplomacy/Culture)
  
• The Aztecs (Domination/Science)
  
• Babylon (Science)
  
• Brazil (Culture)
  
• Byzantium (All)
  
• Carthage (Domination/Diplomacy)
  
• The Celts (Domination/Culture/Science)
  
• China (Domination/Culture)
  
• Denmark (Domination)
  
• Egypt (Culture)
  
• England (Domination/Diplomacy)
  
• Ethiopia (Science)
  
• France (Domination/Culture)
  
• Germany (Diplomacy/Science)
  
• Greece (Domination/Diplomacy/Culture)
  
• The Huns (Domination)
  
• The Inca (Science/Domination)
  
• India (Science/Culture)
  
• Indonesia (Domination/Culture/Science)
  
• The Iroquois (Domination)
  
• Japan (Domination/Culture)
  
• Korea (Science/Domination)
  
• The Maya (Science/Domination)
  
• Mongolia (Domination)
  
• Morocco (Culture/Diplomacy)
  
• The Netherlands (Diplomacy/Domination)
  
• The Ottomans (Domination/Science)
  
• Persia(Domination/Culture)
  
• Poland (Domination)
  
• Polynesia (Culture)
  
• Portugal (Science/Diplomacy)
  
• Rome (Domination/Science)
  
• Russia (Science/Domination)
  
• The Shoshone (Domination/Science/Culture)
  
• Siam (Diplomacy/Science/Culture)
  
• Songhai (Domination)
  
• Spain (Domination/Culture)
  
• Venice (Diplomacy/Culture/Domination)
  
• The Zulus (Domination)