Sid Meier’sCivilization 6is one of the strategy genre’s heavy hitters. It is an expansive historical strategy game that’s seen a lot of developer support over the years in the form of updates, new game modes, new leaders and civilizations to play, as well as other content, such as monthly challenge modes.
The Know Your Enemy Challenge tasks players with defending China from Genghis Khan’s Mongolia, and sees players take therole of Wu Zetianto work with Yongle and Qin Shi Huang to defend against Mongolia. The Know Your Enemy Challenge has a unique setup and play style that rewards a different kind of strategy than a typical game ofCivilization 6.
Enabling the Know Your Enemy Challenge Mode
The Know Your Enemy challenge can be selected from the game’s main menu. The challenge appears in the rotating menu on the main screen, and has two entries corresponding to thedifficulty levelof the challenge. Players looking for an extra challenge can choose the Emperor level Know Your Enemy Challenge, while players looking for a more standard challenge can choose the Prince level Know Your Enemy Challenge.
Know Your Enemy Game Parameters
The Know Your Enemy monthly challenge has a unique setup. The map is inspired by a section of land along the Great Wall of China. Here are the game parameters, which cannot be changed:
The game has 305 total turns, but begins at Turn 136, starting in the Medieval Era. This is a reasonably fast challenge to complete.
The Situation at Game Start
The player begins with one city, three military units, a spy, a builder, and a scout. Other players will be visible on the map at the start of the game, including the enemy, Genghis Khan. The player is given6 Governor Titles, available to be used immediately, and receives a handful of Eurekas and Inspirations. The player has use of Wu Zetian’s unique Leader Bonus, as well as the shared Chinese Dynastic Cycle Ability.
Dynastic Cycle Ability:
Victory Conditions for the Know Your Enemy Challenge
The route to Victory in the Know Your Enemy Challenge is quite simple: last until the turn timer runs out, or destroy Genghis Khan.
Tips and Tricks for theCivilization 6Know Your Enemy Challenge
Use the Governor Titles Effectively
A greatfirst choice of Governor is Magnus,who can allow the player to build Settlers without spending any Population in the city where he’s stationed. This is a massive help during the Know Your Enemy challenge since there aren’t that many turns and Population is a precious resource. He can also boost the Growth Rate of the city where he’s stationed, so it’s a great way to pump out Settlers and keep the population growing.
Another good choice is Victor, whose abilities are good bonuses to military and defense - one of his promotions can even prevent a city from being put into the Siege condition.Other Governorsare more situational, but Magnus and Victor are great choices for this challenge.
Expand Immediately
Expansion inCivilizationgames is always a must,but in this challenge particularly, it’s more necessary than ever. The friendly AIs will expand, and quite quickly too. Because the friendly AIs start quite close to the player, their expansion can block off players who are slow to expand, directly impacting the player’s ability to defend against Genghis Khan.
Resources aren’t particularly abundant on this map, so it’s also important to choosewhere to settlecarefully. Prioritize new city locations that give access to important resources.
Use the Spies
Wu Zetian’s Leader Bonus is heavily targeted to espionageand effectiveuse of spies,so it makes sense to use this bonus during the challenge. The player starts with a Spy who can be used to great effect, whether they choose tosteal Gold, damage enemy cities' Production capabilities,or reduce Loyalty. Successful operations will grant powerful promotions to the Spy unit, which makes subsequent spy operations even more successful and safe to carry out.
Use the World Congress Effectively
Although the World Congress can be safely ignored a lot of the time in games ofCivilization 6,in the Know Your Enemy challenge, it can be extremely useful. Because Genghis Khan is the sole aggressor, any opportunity to pass resolutions targeting his ability to trade, or to pass resolutions affecting his Grievance generation and so on, are really good ones to take.
It can also be veryworth using the Special Resolutionsthat pop up, especially if Genghis manages to take an allied city. This can grant a powerful situation with bonuses for players attacking Genghis Khan, which can really speed up conquest.
Use the Great Wall Improvement
The Great Wall improvement is unique to China, and it’s really helpful in this particular challenge because itgrants Gold productionas well as bonuses to military units on its tile. This can be helpful in defending against the Barbarians on the map as well as Genghis Khan.
