Civ 6 | This Sultan Start Is NOT For The Faint Hearted!!! (#1 Deity Saladin Sultan Civilization VI)

In this game of Civ 6, we’ll be playing as Arabia under Sultan Saladin. The mission? To play a game where we show off the super interesting support and flanking bonuses introduced with this civ.
Well that was the plan. This game went wrong. Very wrong. Like everything went wrong. It was terrible. It’s either an attempted masterclass in disaster recovery or a perfect lesson in things to avoid doing. Either way, it’s not a start for the faint hearted!
All maps, mods and tech support on getting these games to work are available on my discord, so swing by! If you want to help plan this series, consider becoming a channel supporter using the links below.
Find the full playlist here: • Caesar Is Better Than ...
00:00 - Welcome! And Game Explain
02:55 - Turn 1
05:42 - The Hawk Of War
12:32 - The Hawk Strikes
20:04 - MVP Scout
26:48 - Strapped For Cash, We Make A Plan
34:22 - Hunting For Victory Points
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[@Unimportant]

I commend you for sticking with this game. I would have quit from demoralization.

[@UrsaRyan]

I was very, very tempted. But alas I annoyingly decided to stand on the hill of "play every game" so here we go!

[@oscarbaum6836]

@@UrsaRyan honestly an inspiration

[@SourceOfBeing]

£217 - Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi, commonly known by the epithet Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria.1187 marked a turning point against the Crusaders' efforts against the Muslim, as the Ayuubid army captured the University of Sankore during their decision win at the Battle of Hattin.

[@niallreid7664]

Does somebody mind explaining the University of Sankore joke for me please? I'm new here.

[@SourceOfBeing]

@@niallreid7664 Long story short, the above comment is the 217th comment I've made mentioning the University of Sankore. Somewhere along they way of the last 7 months of Sankore comments, it became a running joke/meme.

[@niallreid7664]

@@SourceOfBeing right thanks that is funny. Why the £ symbol?

[@SourceOfBeing]

@@niallreid7664 I used to use the # symbol to track the number, but those comment were getting autodetected as spam. So I decided to the £ instead.

[@niallreid7664]

@@SourceOfBeing I just thought it was a surcharge but this makes more sense.

[@littlefitzy96]

If there is one thing (among many) that keeps me watching Ursa's letsplays it's that he never gets too angry when the game doesn't go as planned. Frustrated and probably wanting to pull his hair out with a game like this, but always seems to take it on the chin and laugh about it (unlike some other KZbinrs who seem to get immediately pissed off when their strategy does not play out as planned). It always makes viewing so pleasant and not feel alienating!

[@bhess1212]

And me sometimes... :-)

[@UrsaRyan]

Cheers Paul = ) Yeh I like these games, they are a mental challenge and I feel I actually learn the game when they happen!

[@hueanao]

Damn, what a godly water mill start.

[@lawlussmusic]

It's so rare for Ursa to miss a heroic age. Curtain is definitely going to die now

[@UrsaRyan]

It's written in the starts now

[@oscarbaum6836]

@@UrsaRyan he may be a curtain, but you are an open window

[@MFD8724]

I would have rage quit after missing that heroic age. Looking forward to seeing this play out.

[@UrsaRyan]

Haha - never surrender!

[@johncarlisle3176]

Been watching all.the top.civ streamers since marbozir's civ 5 classics. You are now my favourite Ursa. Love your work

[@UrsaRyan]

Thanks so much, really appreciate it! = )

[@Zak6959]

17:37, I don’t know about goose chase, I’ve seen some KZbin videos and apparently geese chase people quite aggressively, I guess when they’re around their goslings.

[@UrsaRyan]

Geese are very protective and territorial yeah - I watch them chase people in the Lake District all the time and it's hilarious

[@tdawgluxor1060]

welcome to the starts that all of us have :D

[@UrsaRyan]

I do get them as well! Australia and Korea, blimey

[@drjonritz]

I agree, it'll be the most satisfying thing!

[@lylaburmeister8076]

This start calls for my favourite button in the game: The "Restart" button

[@UrsaRyan]

Never restart!! XD

[@beosor4234]

With a Sultan Saladin in the game now, there really needs to be a Richard Lionheart as well 😬

[@jacobdhall]

Mistakes/bad luck can be overcome for resilient bears!

[@UrsaRyan]

Early bears always get the cream!

[@seasand6705]

what a fun start!

[@AdamPeeGuerra]

That mention of "Balanced Start" positions was quite foreboding come to think of it.

[@2gtomkins]

I have a request for the next installment. Please overexplain exactly how the flanking and support bonus mechanics work using at least a few attacks and defenses as the game progresses. I have played a fair amount, but haven't really paid flanking and support much attention, because other factors tend to be more important in dictating where I position units. Overall, you tend to mass units anyway. Well, Sultan Saladin's doubling of those bonuses clearly promotes flanking and support bonuses into a range that deserves more attention because more likely to make a big difference. There are all sorts of details that I can't find settled in the wiki. The biggest one I have is the wiki reference to "stacks" of units. Does this mean that a battering ram stacked with a warrior makes that stack confer a +4 bonus (+8 for Saladin!) rather than only +2 because only the combat unit in the stack counts?

[@UrsaRyan]

Yeah I'll come back to this mechanic more often in the future!

[@Maren617]

Waiting for the save file - it would be fun to try different approaches to this difficult start (or even better: watch Ursa try different ways)!

[@UrsaRyan]

It's all up now!

[@Maren617]

@@UrsaRyan Thank you! 🙂

[@timelesscr]

Hello Ursa, I have been trying to find your modlist, did you have one at steam? Awesome videos as well, hugs from Costa Rica!

[@UrsaRyan]

Cheers! No steam list but I keep a full list of all the mods I use on discord, take a look there = )

[@bhess1212]

Finally! Finally! you couldn't figure out how to get to a golden age! You are human after all.

[@UrsaRyan]

I feel humbled!

[@bhess1212]

@@UrsaRyan I used to just get what I get with the eras. You've made me challenge it the way you do and I will also panic a few turns from the end.

[@megamax898]

Maybe the domination came a bit early in this game. Your capital definitely could grow super huge where it is, and by the time you finally built farms your river flooded.

[@0_Body]

Ryan: I am down I am beaten but nah am I out

[@UrsaRyan]

Never surrender, no step back!

[@daltywalty94]

great video, its pronounced VIZ EAR btw :)

[@kartoffelsalat0]

Ahh Arabia. You are not the only one who has bad luck with them. Hyper focus when playing them or you end up getting not enough done ive found.

[@Jawu523]

This feel like a normal deity game for me

[@gamergary2148]

Of all the new civs I’ve been struggling very hard to play this one right does anyone have any tips? I usually go for a swordsman rush but it never works out well.

[@wickedlysyckk]

Have you tried mamluks?

[@hurtchain5844]

Go for cavalry and anticav. Light cav can double their flanking bonus and anti cav can double their support bonus. Heavy cav turn into mamluks which are great for a blitz. Also Arabia lends itself well towards science and faith. You get the madrasa in the classical Era instead of the university in the medieval Era. So an early game science rush into a mid game army push should usually be viable as Arabia. Swordsmen are a bit too early to fully take advantage of Arabias abilities. Men at arms and musketmen should work better with Arabia.

[@leandroTRA]

playing like a ''land norway'' have been going well with a army of light calv to pillage and then peace out to repeat again later

[@MEanPenguin908]

What a brutal game...

[@kazimahtab5438]

what is this UI on unit and top right? if i hover i dont see what ur see

[@UrsaRyan]

I keep a full list of UI mods on discord, come have a look, I use about 3 dozen

[@MicrophoneAssassin13]

This is hard to watch. Mainly because I, like many others, would have quit soo many times. Commendable perseverance

[@UrsaRyan]

Haha - yeah it's a tough one. I like the games where we are behind though, they can be fun!

[@paulgaofei]

What is it about your Saudi Arabia games and them not starting off the way you hope?

[@UrsaRyan]

I seem to just get terrible starts with them! One day, one day!

[@Nukacola38]

Must say… I’d have hit the ol restart button after that start!

[@UrsaRyan]

Never restart! XD

[@niallreid7664]

Reminds me of my first game with Sultan Saladin. I hate rerolling normally but I made an exception because I got terrrrible starts. Anyway, I started next to nubia who declared a forever war on me. And OF COURSE the support bonus doesn't apply when they are shooting you with their fancy archers. Anyway, gave up due to being too badly hammered. I seem to have terrible starts with Saladin, the game I played after went a bit better but I still gave up after conquering my neighbour as I was too far behind. Frustrating.

[@UrsaRyan]

Some games just seem to be like that! If you can win the early war you have a bunch of cities to play with but often the cost can be awful

[@niallreid7664]

@@UrsaRyan Yup. I love the emphasis on flanking and staying in formation though. I had my warrior maul a man- at- arms who attacked him when my warrior was surrounded by buddies. Cool stuff, I agree he isn't a boring leader.

[@nachexrocker]

Last night I tried to play with Sultan Saladin 3 times and got wreaked exactly like this no matter what I did

[@UrsaRyan]

Arabia gets some nasty starts

[@Jusdro]

Definitely would have trashed the game and all save files after missing that Heroic Age. I can’t wait for you to smite Australia

[@UrsaRyan]

Judgement may be distant but it will be satisfying

[@portland573]

This is a tough start for sure.

[@UrsaRyan]

Yeah a head scratcher!

[@witticisms]

These tough games are the best. I try not to critique play too much but I really disagree with using your warrior to attack their warrior at 13:58. That’s not to say the outcome would necessarily have been better if you injured their slinger but it was probably the safer option.

[@JacksonOwex]

17:41 "The best defense is a good offense!", or was it the other way around?! ;)

[@UrsaRyan]

If you flail in every direction at once noone can tell!

[@keyofamajor]

I had some really rough experiences with saladin because with no starting bias, he has some god awful starts. People talk about a crusade mamluk rush, but the reality is that it takes a lot of tempo, since getting both districts up is quite demanding on your early game; if your neighbor is doing better than you at either, your strategy can start to fall apart. For dom games my best strategy has been to go early science or early unit rushes to conquer a civ with holy sites, making up for the lack of early faith gen. Going holies first seems like committing to get a religious victory.

[@UrsaRyan]

Yeah, this is so true - I should have backed out of the war ASAP and gone full science but even then Australia going for me like that was tough! Oh well, we all get these starts from time to time!

[@excancerpoik]

What is the mod that shoes buildet and apostle charges

[@UrsaRyan]

Discord!!! XD I keep a list there (honestly don't remember sorry)

[@excancerpoik]

@@UrsaRyan no its not the list hasnt been updated for 2 years

[@BenvanAssema]

🖖

[@Margarine69]

Does it bother anyone else that all the new Leader Pass leaders all have tiny heads in the upper right hud photos?

[@UrsaRyan]

Haha - yes! I've actually seen mods fixing this XD

[@eduardo3652]

Finally! Daily comment IRL.

[@UrsaRyan]

Well done!

[@vincent06]

Am I the only one who like the fact that the leader abilities are simpler than previously? Some leader abilities feel like a wikipedia article and I often involuntary neglect some aspect (doesn't prevent me from winning at the immortal difficulty)

[@neetfreek9921]

They’re already pretty simple…

[@vincent06]

​@@neetfreek9921 Did you play older titles of Civilization franchise? :) By complex abilities I mean the ones for Kupe or Victoria for instance

[@neetfreek9921]

@@vincent06 Only 5, 6, revolution, and beyond earth. I guess if you’re trying to min max them it is a lot of math. But I wouldn’t really call that complexity, just a bunch of added busy work. For civ to have complex leader abilities they need a new one for each era. Having unique abilities that interact with one another adds exponential complexity. And I’m so tired of playing vanilla civ for 75% of the game cuz your civ’s power spike is over. It’s like you only play the game while your advantage is online then autopilot through the rest hoping you built up a large enough lead.

[@gaelanmccann6686]

I love how Civ allows you to create scenarios that would never happen in real life. Such as a bunch of people from Sydney attacking Arabs without provocation. So unlike real life.

[@UrsaRyan]

Yeah weird right. The other day I was playing as America and I declared this silly war just to claim some oil, it was wild!

[@megamax898]

Or stealing Egypt's relics and artifacts as France. Horning in on their antiquity sites.

[@ProtonCannon]

0:17 Yes, Sultan Saladin''s ability is "boring" that is true but hell it is "effective." It demonstrates so well that just a little tweak in some minor numbers can change soo much! Ursa do you know how does it stack with units that have specific promotions for the same bonuses bonuses? Like the eternal meme, Warrior Monks have the first promotion of "Double flanking" bonus with "Shadow Strike". How do interact with Saladin's ability? Could it be we finally found a leader that can make Warrior monks "not terrible"? Can it be true? There are also Anti cavalry have "Double support" bonus with "Square" promotion Light Cavalry have "Double flanking bonus" with "Envelopment" promotion.

[@UrsaRyan]

I believe the bonuses add rather than multiply but I shall report back when I know!

[@MH-hu5pi]

Could have bought ancient wall or windmill

[@drjonritz]

You didn't just RAZE Sydney?!?!? Is this really Ursa playing this game?

[@UrsaRyan]

You know I very rarely raze cities, I always think "what a waste" XD

[@drjonritz]

@@UrsaRyan Oh, good! So, it IS you. Phew. (Love your play style!)

[@carterpropson8792]

I'm on console so I dont get him or abe. :(

[@UrsaRyan]

Sad noises = (

[@doctormeatball7618]

Inb4 University of Sankore or Jebel Barkal are built........

[@t_xxic8814]

I say *YES* to the University of Sankore. Hands down the *BEST* wonder in the game. 🥸

[@sev9957]

Korea had 102 science you had 6

[@UrsaRyan]

5 more than I needed

[@chrizzie1]

This game exemplifies everything that sucks about the AI declaring an early war on you. Horrible setbacks in infastructure and settling, which leads to poor science, culture, etc., which puts you further behind the AI in techs and civcs, leaving you more vulnerable to further "bullying" from the AI. If there were any AI's on the other side of Arabia to Australia, they probably would've heavily forward settled, thus removing many opportunities to settle cities yourself, making it harder to catch up, given the fewer cities you'd have to work with. Not a problem for Arabia, but this kind of setback can also mean missing out on having your own religion, especially in the higher difficulties.

[@UrsaRyan]

Yeah a tough start this one. Riding out this sort of stuff though is how you get better at the game!

[@t_xxic8814]

*Petition to build the University of Sankore in this game:* (like for yes, dislike for no)

[@Sue_Smabeet]

'SourceOfBeing' likes this

[@rommayo]

Algorithm 38