For the Civilopedia entry on the Mongols, click here.
Have you ever wanted see Bismarck humbled, Catherine beg for mercy, and even Caesar himself paying tribute gold for fear of his life? Is there a streak of the tyrant in you, a desire to wreak havoc and throttle all those that stand in your way? Is your vision of the perfect empire a vision of, “.a boot stamping on a human face – forever”? If you answered yes there is a solution to your desires – the Mongols. The very name of the CIV itself conjures up images of huge empires, horseback warriors, and feared rulers.
Expansionist and Militaristic, the Mongol traits are tailor made for the warmonger. The access to scout units gives the Mongol a large advantage in locating crucial resources and luxuries. On average the Mongol will locate and map-out his rival CIVs at an accelerated pace. Added to this are the expansionist advantages with goody huts. A typical Mongol game will see you with an early tech lead and possibly even a free settler. This early tech lead translates out to giving the Mongol a variety of early strategies unavailable to many CIVs. Along with this, the Mongol-starting tech of Pottery gives him instant access to granaries and the resulting benefits of faster settler creation. The Mongol is very commonly the largest and most sprawling of the Ancient Age empires. The Mongol CIV is also good for getting Wonders. No, you don’t build them – you take them from others! For governments, no need to haggle with congress and such, straight Monarchy followed by a switch to Fascism/Communism is always a good strategy with this CIV.
The expansionist trait works on the militaristic trait by allowing that CIV an early cushion in research, superior terrain knowledge, and the faster creation of new towns. This in turn allows the Mongol to create an effective military force far faster than most of his rivals. The early access to cheap barracks and archers gives the Mongol the option of launching an ultra early archer rush on his nearest neighbor. The Mongol can alternate his early settler creation with early wars, thus expanding his empire both internally and at the expense of his neighbors. A quick beeline to horseback riding may give the Mongol an early mobile force that few CIVs can withstand at such an early stage of the game. God forbid the Mongol pulls off 3 or 4 early MGLs! You may find yourself with a domination or conquest win in record time! Those cheap early barracks allow a steady stream of veteran combat units – usually pouring out from a steady stream of newly created/conquered towns that are far more numerous than all the other Civs. You really can re-create a huge sprawling Middle Age empire that mirrors their actual history!
On the downside is what I consider to be mediocre UU. The Keshik is a 60 shield 4-2-2 knight level UU, with ‘zero’ range bombard and also has a terrain advantage on hills and mountains. Of all the Knight level UUs available with Chivalry, the Keshik is the weakest. Barring an unusually mountainous map, the unit simply does not have the same impact as the Japanese Samurai or Chinese Rider. Even the Indian War Elephant with its extra hp and no resource advantage is a better deal. That said, the unit is 10 shields cheaper than the standard knight, and the terrain bonus can be handy at times. It can still be used quite effectively. The second downside is the most obvious. The Mongol traits are totally geared towards speed and war; their infrastructure building is slow and expensive. I suppose if you’re enough of a masochist, you could use this CIV for a builder strategy, but why bother. Those players that enjoy a more flexible approach in their games are better served elsewhere. The Mongol is for the serious warmonger.
So how do the Mongols fare with C3C? After playing a few games with Mongols again, I have come to the following conclusions:
The expansionist trait is more valuable now, that combined with the greater power of armies accentuate the warmonger traits of the Mongol even more. Among Civs to warmonger with, the Mongols are certainly a top tier choice. Better than most, but outclassed by many. The superior UUs of many of the other CIVs used for warmongering are a minus for the Mongols. Also, most of the better warmonger CIVs lend themselves more easily to a builder/peaceful style if need be. The Mongols are far more constrained in their options.
Summary:
The Mongols are a solid warmongers Civ with great appeal to the historically minded. However, while a top tier CIV for warmongering, they are on the bottom end of that tier. This combined with their poor performance as a builder/peaceful Civ choice places them among the bottom 10 (3rd tier) in overall performance.