Highlights
- Starting on the Island map in Millennia can provide a safe learning environment for new players until shipbuilding is discovered.
- Country selection in Millennia is minor, with no significantly beneficial bonuses, allowing players to choose a country based on personal preference.
- Utilize the undo button in Millennia to correct mistakes, such as accidental combat initiation or moving an army onto the wrong map tile.
Millennia is a 2024 strategy game from Paradox Interactive, one that takes the concept of a 4X grand strategy game and aims to simplify it to make the genre more accessible to people who generally don’t play strategy games. Sadly, this means that, at first glance, the game looks and plays like a browser strategy game. This may put some players off at first, but Millennia is far from being a simple browser game. It offers deep strategic gameplay in easy-to-learn, bite-sized servings.
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Millennia is based on human history, progressing from the Stone Age to the predicted Age Of Singularity. This is what makes it an easy 4X game to learn. The player is introduced to new technology and gameplay options with each age, smoothly guiding the learning experience. Starting off on the right foot is vital to ensure that the player has the best possibility of completing the entire scenario, and as such, beginners would do well to heed these early-game tips.
10 Select The Island Map
A Private Island To Learn The Game
There are several maps included with Millennia. However, for players who are just learning the game for the first time, it is a good idea to choose the Island map. This means that every nation will spawn on its own small island, and the player is safe from attack until shipbuilding is discovered at a later stage.
The downside of playing on the island map, is that the player is limited by the resources on the island they start on until they can build ships. It is also worth choosing the medium-sized map to overcome reported performance issues with large map sizes.
9 Don’t Stress Over Country Selection
Nation Bonuses Are Minor
Unlike other 4X strategy games,Millennia doesn’t provide hugely beneficial bonuses to each country. There is no need to choose the country that players have reported as being the best, as there isn’t one.
Instead, choose a country that is appealing. Creating a custom country is also an option, by selecting one of the existing ones and renaming it. Overall, country selection is a minor consideration for players new to Millennia, and will only become a factor once they're much more familiar with the game's systems. The starting bonus is much more important, and this will be covered in the next section.
8 Choose A Good Starting Bonus
Consider Selecting A Regional Bonus
Starting bonuses are quite minor in Millennia. Some of them last only for the first few turns of this turn-based game, and others only apply to a single region, for example. A solid choice for a starting bonus is to choose the one that grants a free scout at the start of the game.
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However, a better option is to choose one of the permanent regional bonuses, such as additional food production. These last for the entire game, but only apply to the starting region. However, as the starting bonuses are minor, even though a good choice here can be helpful, a mistake won’t be a major problem.
7 Recruit A Scout First
Scouts Are Required To Explore
The very first thing players build in their starting city should be a Scout (unless they choose the starting bonus that gives them a free Scout). Scouts are used to explore the map, and they are the only unit that can examine landmarks that grant free bonuses.
The second thing that should be built is the Town Centre upgrade. This doubles how much Government XP is generated each turn. Government XP is used to level up the Government and unlock additional Government policies.
6 Research Trible Elders First
To Farm More Influence Points
When choosing the first technology to unlock, it is a good idea to select the Tribal Elders option. Choosing something else as an initial research project won’t become a huge problem, but Tribal Elders is a solid first choice for the Influence point bonus.
Influence points are used to extend territory control, and this is something that every player will want to do as soon as possible when starting a fresh Millennia game. So, Tribal Elders as the first research project will help set this up.
5 Choose Research Based On Region Resources
Helps Maximise Resource Production
Once Tribal Elders has been researched, it will be time to think about the next research project. This selection should be based on region resources and other factors, to use the available map squares as efficiently as possible.
For example, if there are plenty of organic resources close to the player’s position, then the Farming research projects would be a good choice to help with resource collection and management. Or, if there are a few bandit camps dotted around nearby, the Defenses research project would be appropriate. Take a look around the map, and decide which research project would help exploit nearby map resources the best.
4 Limit Research Projects In The Stone Age
Head Into The Bronze Age As Soon As Possible
All games start in the Stone Age. Players can progress to the Bronze Age by unlocking only three research projects. Don’t be tempted to stay in the Stone Age and research the last two projects, as they are available to research in the Bronze Age as well, but at a 10% reduced research cost.
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It is only the Stone Age that lets the player progress after just three research projects. From the Bronze Age onwards, it will take a minimum of four unlocked research projects to progress to the next age. As such, hurrying out of the Stone Age will also progress the Bronze Age more quickly as well.
3 Use The Undo Button
Mistakes Can Usually Be Corrected
The undo button is a really handy and infinitely useful feature of Millennia. This button can be used to reverse just about any action. It can only be used at a moment-to-moment level, meaning players can’t use it to step back in time, only to reverse immediate decisions. Even so, this can be a lifesaver at times.
The undo button is especially useful when the player accidentally moves an army onto the wrong map tile and initiates combat by mistake. Hitting undo will move the army back to the tile they were on before the erroneous command was issued.
2 Avoid Combat Until Prepared
Towns Are Protected By A Garrison
Players who started on the Island map will only face Barbarians as enemies in the early game. These can be left alone for a few turns whilst the player establishes themselves and is a little more stable. In most cases, Barbarians will not attack towns, but even if they do, the Town Garrison should be able to fight them off.
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Following this advice means that more resources are available to upgrade buildings and build farms, instead of spending those resources on armies at the start of the game. It's a wise move to hold off on combat until the player's nation is more established.
1 Tribal Camps Can Be Looted
Scout Them Down And Grab Their Loot
Tribal Camps (and also Barbarian Camps) can be raided for loot. Use a Scout to uncover the map and find out if there are any local Tribal Camps to loot. Don’t confuse Tribal Camps with Barbarian Camps. Tribal Camps are not defended, but Barbarian Camps are.
Once the player is somewhat established, they can begin recruiting armies and then start clearing the Barbarian Camps to remove Barbarians as a local threat, as once their camp is destroyed, no more Barbarians will spawn in the area. These are quite easy to overcome and can give some good loot.
