Byzantium First Impression - Civ 6 - New Frontier Pass 

"I'm actually glad that I built the Venetian Arsenal" - Potato McWhiskey, Sept 11 2020.

Dev manager talking to team: "Ok... very funny guys... Who gave Byzantium holy steroids?"

You missed where the Hippodrome's awarded free heavy cavalry units don't have a resource cost. Need a tank but don't have any oil? Byzantium just shrugs it off and build another entertainment district/building.

It’s like the Spider-Man Meme: Basil II and Philip II are pointing at each other, but one is a high-definition rendition of Spider-Man while the other is a Spider-Man someone drew in MS Paint.

0:34 legit thought they said “Byzantium’s unique ability is called taxes” for a second, the first time I watched it

The Gregorian chant at the beginning in the background isn't Greogorian, it's actually a Byzantine chant dedicated to the Virgin Mary called "Ti Ipermaho" ('Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ in Greek) which could be translated into "To the defender" in English, still sung by the Orthodox Christians to this day, that's what makes it so cool :) What's even cooler is the true meaning and origin of the song: It was sung after successful battles or during wars to ask and thank for the devine protection given by God intermediated by the prayers of the Virgin Mary as she was seen as the one protecting and praying to God for Constantinople. Wherefrom the title "The defender" given to her. So they nailed the style of the background music but also the context :) Really cool.

Potato's Analysis: "They are insane".

Crusade: The Civ

Potatomcwhiskey: wow thats rlly op, thats also op, thats insane! Thats an incredible ability! The spiffing brit: *takes notes*

"You can't go back to Constantinople, so how will you lead Byzantium?" Best Line

To make the hippodrome even stronger, they had it provide 3 amenities. Thats freaking insane when considering the recent amenities changes

the saxy gamer brought up a good point that I agree completely with, that quads need to be range 2, that range 1 is so useless in the early game it's not even funny. especially if the ai's city only has room for one ship to attack.

The only thing I think you missed was that the unique Knight is unlocked with Divine Right, so you need a Culture push to get the Knight quickly.

0:42 that is actually one the of the most beautiful psalms in orthodox christianity called "τη Υπερμάχω Στρατηγώ" translated to "To you, invincible champion" adressed to Holy Mary. It is also called Akathist Hymn meaning a hymn where you're not sitting down because, well, we don't sit down during the chanting. It has great significance to the orthodox church and honestly the history behind it is really cool and you should look it up!

_The Following is from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged_ : Anderson: "Ah, I See! So this... is a *CRUSADE!!!* " Maxwell: "No, No, no-no-no-no! We don't say that anymore; we're calling it... ah, D*, what do the American cow say?" Anderson: *Peacekeeping?*

Just a straight up better Spain

Damn, the op civs are all in the frontier pass.

So basically, all of this civ's military units function as apostles? Also, now that Constantinople is in the game, I now have even more reason to listen to Istanbul (the song)

“You can take away my city but you can never take away my faith!” Byzantine: “Think I just did. Both.”

Basil II "You get a holy war, and you get a holy war and you get a holy war!!!"

this civ seems like a nightmare to play against. an absolute nightmare.

Video lists OP ability: Me: What!?! Potato: What?!? 😆 I can't wait to see you play this Civ, Potato! ❣️

At this point ..... they’re not going to add me.

Basically b line straight to your unique horses, when you get them build encampments and entertainments districts , and then obliterate everything.

Tagmas are literally Cataphracts but generals

I was wondering if there are two civs Ottoman and Byzantium in one game, there are actually a Constantinople city and an Istanbul city, that's like two parallel universes fallen into one.

Looks like a great civ, can’t wait for more videos. Keep up the great work

Porphyrogennetos means "born in purple", it comes from expensive purple dye and purple stone porphyry, both are symbols of Byzantine line of emperors. It can be used also to describe kids who were born after their parents came to the title of king\queen, thus making them born royalty, thus "born in purple"

There's a new Daddy in the game.

Just imagine pumping out tanks in the modern era with this civ and not even needing maintenance!

They pretty much made the "we will take Jerusalem" meme into a Civ

Another detail mentioned about the Tagma in their write-up (But not the video) is that the Tagma is unlocked with Divine Right instead of Stirrups (Which to my knowledge makes it the only Military Unit unlocked via Civics instead of Technology)

First time potato reacts this much for a civ impression video. Can totally relate to that

Nice that the last shot you ended on was Basil force choking the viewers.

Man I'm so happy they added byzantium to the game. That's literally the only civ I really wanted in the game. It felt werid that gran Colombia, a nation that only existed for 2 decades, was in the game but the successor to the roman empire wasn't. The only other one I can think of is Austria (maybe with charlesV being an alternate Spanish leader as well) they also look like Mongolia 2.0 rushing the entire map with cavalry units within 100 turns

"There's not much analysis to be made other than 'they're going to be insane'".

Hi potato

This civ is my new favorite but way too strong

I can't tell you how entertaining it was to listen to you exclaim every time their abilities got better.

I'm here for the eventual Byzantium Vampire playthrough....

While the civs get increasingly well designed and unique to play over time, I also feel like there is a form of power creep to sell extra DLCs there...

I expect we're going to end up calling him Byzanty Claus...

I love the "cant go back to Constantinople" reference

A lot of people are saying the Hippodrome is overpowered since it gives Calvary, but I disagree. Firstly, entrainment buildings are very rarely available, you get Arena, and then it's left abandoned for centuries until Zoos and Stadiums get unlocked ages later. Secondly, entertainment complexes are easily among the least useful and least sought after districts, so this is a welcome buff. If you're constructing hippodrome buildings, you're using time that could instead be spent working on far more useful districts like campuses and harbours, so it's a trade off. That's what I think anyway.

The dromon is "skewed towards early game" but that 2 range is going to make the +1 range promotion so much easier to get early on, so it's not exactly negligible on later units if you manage to actually use your dromons.

Basil II is best known as "Basil the Bulgar-Slayer." After the Battle of Kleidion in 1014, he gathered up his 15,000 Bulgar POWs, split them into groups of 100, and blinded 99 of them by gouging out their eyes. The 100th Bulgar in each group had one eye blinded and the other kept so that he could lead his men back home. The Bulgarian Emperor Samuel is said to have been so horrified by the sight that he had a heart attack and died shortly afterwards. The Greeks consider him a national hero right up there with Alexander the Great. Three guesses as to how Bulgarians view him.

so... good luck to those who want to try to get a religion on deity when they spawn on a map with Byzantium and Arabia!

Hilariously OP. Going to have to give these dudes a run.

"The Byzantines look unstoppable" *Ceddin Deden starts playing in the distance*

I love these first impressions - you can explain all the features and abilities so well.

"WHAAAAT?? That's Ridiculous!" I feel like this should've been the title to the video! 😂

This seems OP, will be interesting to watch your play through with them. I always struggle on deity when going for a religiony/domination victory with crusade and warrior monks etc and this civ will definitely make that much easier!

They need to make The Ottomans be this civs kryptonite.

This seems like a powerful civilization. but there are things you can do to slow them down if you know they are in your game. 1. Start your own religion and get Crusade before they do. Easier said than done, but this would really hurt them. Really, this might just be a necessary defensive move in all games unless you know for sure that Byzantium is not in your game. 2. Focus your conversions on taking holy cities already converted to Byzantium's religion. 3. If they did get Crusade, start an inquisition and park an inquisitor in every border city so that you can zap them back to the true faith as soon as they are converted. This is a good tactic against any enemy with crusade, not just Byzantium. 4. Like when playing against Scythia, invest heavily in anti-cavalry units. This is trickier with random tech trees. You will need to have 2 crossbowmen to get the eureka to reveal the tech and know how to beeline for Pike and Shot. But this is something you will likely always have, anyway. Eureka for Knights requires Feudalism in the civics tree. Depending on how the random trees are laid out, this could take much longer or much shorter. Implementing these would at least slow them down, a lot. I'm not sure the AI is smart enough to do all of this against a player Byzantium though. In particular, Crusade should always be the first choice of the AI when founding a religion for the reasons detailed above.

Hey I love your videos, I really enjoy watching you play and I feel like I'm learning to play myself just by watching you, keep on going:3

Byzantines were a really pleasant surprise. I was resigned to having Georgia be the game's defacto diet-Byzantium in terms of style, their emphasis on walls, and the music, but now that the true Greek led successor to the Roman Empire has entered the game, I'm so excited. This is just begging for a Byzantium/Ottoman scenario where you either try to recreate the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, or rewrite history by repelling the invaders. I'm also super curious to hear how they're going to do Gregorian chant (Phos Hilaron again perhaps?) for the Atomic era, the music Firaxis does for this series continues to amaze me. One of the few games I joyfully play at full volume.

Any new Civilization: _is released_ Potato McWhiskey: *THAT'S RIDICULOUSLY POWERFUL*

PotatoMcWiskey, the WHAT reaction video. Glorious! Can Gaul top that? Will they add a nod to a certain French cartoon? We can only hope!

Just remember boys: if you've a date in Constantinople she'll be waiting in Istanbul.

Unless the cap on districts allowed to build is removed, one thing is that if you want to keep cranking up religious output (coz that's how you buy apostles), building the holy site and religious wonders becomes more necessary so one can easily neglect other equally important districts like science, commercial and culture.

They picked on of the most interesting Byzantine Emperors, as well as my personal favorite. Basil II is perhaps most known for defeating the Bulgarian army and capturing 15,000 of them. He blinded 99 out of every 100, and half-blinded the rest so they could lead their blind fellows home. Upon seeing his army return in such a sorry state, the Bulgarian emperor Samuel had a stroke and died 2 days later, and his empire was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire. It will be interesting to see what kind of shenanigans Basil II will get up to.

It is a good year for old Basil. He's featured prominently in the CK3 867 start date and now he's a new leader in Civ 6.

As a Latin Catholic working for a Greek Orthodox organization, let me tell you I laughed with glee when the first type of chant you thought of was our marvelous Gregorian chant and not their weak Byzantine Chant. But actually their chanting style is unique and very good. So happy they put it in the soundtrack for this game :)

Byzantine Chant is actually a choral tradition original to the Eastern Orthodox Churches which have their roots in the church tradition of the Byzantine Empire. Its tonal system actually dates back to the Ancient Greek one. Also it is basically in its core the predecessor of the Gregorian chant that came much later although the harmonics have slightly evolved over time. The differences to the Gregorian should be notable. There are many examples for this over the internet most notably the ones of the monks of the Mount Athos monasteries.

1:32 I love how the city state that was converted there was Vatican City.

calling it thats getting nerfed a bit hell all you need are city states that x combat strength

It happens exactly as expected and feared: New dlc civs being super op.

I bought the Gaul/Byzantium Pack from the PS Store but I'm having so much fun playing Gaul, I haven't even tried out Basil II yet.

I think something a lot of people overlook is that you get faith per extra great prophet point after you get a religion. So just having more fath overall is a decent plus too

Such an OP civ. This is going to be pretty close to Gran Colombia in strength in single player. In multiplayer, they might get killed early but should be a mid game powerhouse (but will be nerfed in the mod I'm sure).

I guess what's supposed to slow them down is that their bonuses force you to lean into faith generation and production simultaneously, making the other yields potentially suffer. Science might fall behind, for example, when that's super important for conquest gameplay. Meanwhile, you are encouraged to use a district slot on the Entertainment Complex. No time for theater squares, either, but that probably matters less.

Did you see at the top where it mentions the new Knight unit is unlocked by the Divine Right civic and not the usual one on the tech tree? This is kind of like the Brazillian unique battleship.

I was hoping for a religious/turtling kind of civilization with huge focus on defense (maybe with the theodosian walls replacing walls), as the byzantines were a really tough nut to crack.

Ranklist for every civ theme (every era)

Interesting that they give them a bonus for getting a religion. In Civ V The Byzantines were a strong religious Civ, but very difficult to get a religion on Deity (especially depending on who else was in the game).

the powercreep, ooof I thought columbia with the movement bonuses was already insane xD

Kaloyan of the Bulgarian Empire Leader Ability: Romanslayer Kaloyan gains double Grievances against Civilizations he is at war with or he has denounced. Capturing an Enemy City provides you with a burst of Gold and Science double the amount of Grievances you have against the former City’s Owner. Civilization Ability: Zlatan Vek When in a Golden Age, +50% Great Person Points from Campus and Theatre Square Buildings, and +5 Loyalty to all Bulgarian Cities. During a Golden Age, Bulgaria gains an extra Economic Policy Slot. Unique Unit: Shtitnostzi Bulgarian Unique Ancient Era Anti-Cavalry Unit that replaces the Spearman. Has a Ranged Attack. + 7 Combat Strength when defending against Ranged Attacks. Production Cost: 60 Gold Cost: 260 Gold Maintenance: 1 Movement Points: 2 Combat Strength: 25 Ranged Strength: 22 Unique Infrastructure: Literary School Bulgarian Unique Building that replaces the Ampitheater. Provides Science equal to the adjacency bonus of its Theatre Square. +3 Loyalty to Cities within 6 tiles of a Literary School. +2 Culture +1 Citizen Slot +1 Great Writer Point +2 Great Work of Writing Slots Leader Agenda: Vengeful Will declare war and avenge on Civilizations with whom he has Grievances against. Likes Civilization with whom he has low or none Grievances against, but loathes those whom he has high Grievances against. Greeting: Kneel before me, Kaloyan, Tsar of the Bulgarians, and Romanslayer. If you do not induce any feuds between our nations, I shall prove a valuable ally. Agenda Approval: It is good that there is no tension between our peoples. I would hate to go to war with such an opulent nation. Agenda Disapproval: You continue to offend our nation through your vile misdeeds and provoking insults. Halt these misguided actions, or nothing will be able to stand against my fury and vengeance. Attacked: You do not know the wrath and weeping you have brought upon your people! Declares War on You: You have insulted my people for the last time! My fury and vengeance shall sweep away your armies and lay waste to your lands. Defeated: It appears that my temper has become the end of me. So I shall bite my tongue, and let you become the next Tsar of the Bulgarians.

“What!!” -Potatomcwhiskey September 17th 2020

The default colour scheme for the Byzantine civ looks a bit too much like the Roman empire. It could become confusing.

Mongols could flip the knights back on them with their ability. Only Civ that I could see doing anything in the Medieval Era vs. these guys

They also get +3 combat strength per holy city following their religion, including their own holy city. So you just get a free +3 combat strength very early in the game

A fun challenge would be a “religious victory without missionarys or apostles”

I can think of a half a dozen civs out of my head that can deal with this no problem, don't know what the fuss is about. Great new civ :)

the most borkne thing about them is that the tagma (their unique unit) is unlocked by getting divine right, not stirrups

sneaky, "born in the purple"

Honestly, they are nailing it with these new civs. Each one has been a joy to play with.

Did anyone else catch the Istanbul (Not Constantinople) reference at the end?

The frontier pass Civs are just getting more and more fun looking!

The entertainment complex thing...do you get a free guy for EVER building within that complex or only one when you have the district and it’s buildings

One this I do wish is that buildings and units cost a little less production, I just dont have enough time to train lots of units before they become obsolete while still managing the city upgrades

ROFLMAO -- Free HC, Knight replafements add combat and religious strength, converting based on battles, ranged early game naval units. Add in Porphyrogennetos, mix in some vampire units .. and presto quick and easy domination win lol. I can see such a player running around with vampire units with 140 strength quite easily

Hey potato. Can you plz make a video 'how to make war' and explain how war mechanics and tactics work? Flanking,healing ,taking citys,loyalty. Ty :)

I wonder, now that the Hippodrome encourages building one in every city, and the Theater Square gains adjacency off of it, if there’s a way to do a MAXIMUM CULTURE grid system, like the MAXIMUM PRODUCTION Industrial Zones

I can imagine the best counter to this military is anti-Calvary and ranged (maybe)

This sounds so fun, so glad they did the frontier pass

Byzantium: Alright This is called, death *Pulls out Minigun that fires explosive armor flame rounds with 6x scope and can shoot thru dimensions*

Saxy on thursday: Wow!? What??? Potato on friday: Wow!? What???

I would love more Native American nations. That would be so cool. If I could pick any tribes they would be Blackfoot, Wenatchee, crow or snake. I’m not native but I love their cultures

The hippopotamus drone!?!?!

I wish more civs had this synergetic type of gameplay like this.