blizzrd
Micromanager
If you think Monarch is hard (which it certainly is), you should try Emperor to see what real barbarian pressure is like.
Strategy discussion
- Thread starter Rhye
- Start date
If you think Monarch is hard (which it certainly is), you should try Emperor to see what real barbarian pressure is like.
Mali is hard, so I recommend that you try an easier civ first, but if you really want do play Mali here are some tips based on my last game with them:
1. Reload if you don't get at least one war elephant in the beginning, two is optimal.
2. Settle Timbuktu one tile southeast from the starting spot.
3. The other two settlers travel north each accompanied with one skirmisher, but do NOT settle any coastal cities before you have Sailing, dumbo goes north with them, leave three skirmishers to defend Timbuktu. (Check the city spots from the screenshot! And when you settle the ivory city whip a monument in it on the same turn, otherwise it will reduce to size 2 for nothing)
4. Switch to heditary rule and slavery, do NOT take a state religion
5. Research Fishing and get sailing and feudalism from either Spain or France, you'll meet them eventually, also Open Borders with them (give them cash if necessary); after sailing you will be running with 0% science rate.
6. Timbuktu whips market at pop 6 and runs with one merchant at pop 4 and with two at pop 5. You will get a GM around 1250, earlier if you gamble with an engineer.
7. Build a road from Timbuktu to the ivory city before the GM is born, meanwhile ivory city builds a galley and wheat city builds a settler
8. Take the GM to Amsterdam before 1300 and it is very likely that you get the first condition (You should have around 2500-3000gold)
9. The rest is easy by 1500 you should have about 6000-7000 gold and you can even get 20000 before 1700. Keep timbuktu and wheat city running with two merchants and you should get three more GMs. Ivory city builds units due to it's high production.
10. Keep in mind that you don't really need any other techs, allthough trading Divine Right around with some gold seems very tempting. Out of other techs Compass and Guilds (hard to get, since you need Machinery as well) are priorities.
Attachments
Wessel V1
Emperor
As second and third cities, I prefer Carthage and the city that can catch the sheep and the wheat. To get some culture, whip a monument on the turn the city is built, it will shrink otherwise. A worker or two and these cities quickly rise in power.
But then you don't get Iron (Axemen! and spearmen) and miss out one tradeable ivory source. Also getting wine online will take some time and you need culture buildings to battle for the tiles of Tripoli.
Wessel V1
Emperor
Yes, but you'll get lots of food in return, which means quick growth. Also, Timbuktu (though it is called something else on the spot I prefer, on the lake) only has to build a market, any other building is not needed. With two ivory, the city can have a reasonable production. Build some skirmishers and place them strategically on hills (with promotion if possible) and most danger is gone, or at least anticipated for quite a long time.
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- Mar 11, 2008
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- 25,112
Thanks for the info on the Mali scenario. Sounds helpful but not sure how you handle the military aspect, i.e., the barbs. Maybe it's the new patch, but they are major fierce from the start.
On another note, I'm playing Japan now and actually enjoying it a lot. I was surprised how well I'm doing with it. I'm curious about one thing though. I'm way ahead of other AIs as far as naval techs and discovered the New World first. Only Mayans at first, then Incan and Aztecs popped up later. However, I've not received a "Conqueror Event" with a set of troops. Is there some prereq to this event or is Japan not able to have this event?
On another note, I'm playing Japan now and actually enjoying it a lot. I was surprised how well I'm doing with it. I'm curious about one thing though. I'm way ahead of other AIs as far as naval techs and discovered the New World first. Only Mayans at first, then Incan and Aztecs popped up later. However, I've not received a "Conqueror Event" with a set of troops. Is there some prereq to this event or is Japan not able to have this event?
deanej
Deity
You can't make contact over sea. At least one land tile next to their territory must be known. Also, you have to be past a minimum date.
blizzrd
Micromanager
If you meet the American civs too early, you must actually lose contact with them and then make contact again after the required date.
I don't know what the required date for Maya is, but for Aztecs it is late 1200s AD.
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Yeah, I've past that date. I'm sure no other civ as reached the new world yet. Do I have to lose contact with all American civs? I think the Mayans built an embassy already.
Cosmos1985
King
I'm quite positive it's 1310 for everybody. (Mayas + Incas + Aztecs)
lymond, someone else must have reached them before you - if that's not the case I have no idea why it's not working out for you.
deanej
Deity
It could be that he made contact over sea. Rhye still hasn't fixed the workboat exploit.
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Just to be clear, I made first contact with caravels but well before this 1300 date, if that's the trigger for the Conquerors. No other AI was close to having Optics at that point. Only the Mayans were there at that point and then later Aztecs and Incans popped. I would continue exploring with my ships, losing contact, and then coming back but no Conquering Party. Meanwhile, the Mayans built an embassy which was odd since I don't think they had the techs for it - or maybe I did - don't remember exactly. Anyway, I'm in the 15th century now and don't believe the event occurred for anyone.
Magnificent One
Stetsons are cool.
Does anyone have an anti-Arabian strategies for the Romans or Persians? Like,on how to kill them before they get a chance to take Jerusalem or Sur.
If you just want keep Jerusalem and Sur, don't allow the flip and keep your troops in Sur or Bagdat unless Jerusalem is threatened. Then move 2-3 sprearman or war elephants in. Sur, Bagdat and Jerusalem all build spreamen, whip them when needed. When you have an attacking chance on their approaching troops, take it, but keep as many troops inside Bagdat and Sur as you can. It takes about 6-10 turns and then they want to make peace.
AnotherPacifist
Deity
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2007
- Messages
- 4,878
Better yet, just load some pikes/spears on a galley and park them just outside the flip zone, and have them wait until the camels show up. Roads are essential from Babylon to Jerusalem and Sur.
Magnificent One
Stetsons are cool.
Where exactly do i park the galley? I know outside the flip zone,but not exactly.
fattythefat
Chieftain
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2010
- Messages
- 39
Those Strategy Guides here http://rhye.civfanatics.net/wiki/index.php?title=Strategy_guides#Rhye.27s_and_Fall_of_Civilization needs update....
blizzrd
Micromanager
So why don't you give it a try yourself, instead of just posting that someone else should do so?
Sorry, but I'm tired of the number of posts that say the strategy guides should be updated. A wiki is only as good as the number of people who actively participate in updating it.
This strat takes a little work, and the exact right circumstances to work, but it applies to many civs. Own a city(undefended) near the spawning civ, and park a medium-size stack two squares from their spawn tile. when they spawn, dow, and hit them with a cat or two and one troop, then end your turn. The AI will USUALLY move all units except for the extra settler out of their city, and as long as your stack has a cav unit in it, you waltz in and raze their capital, eliminating their civ. They will respawn two turns later(flip turn) with somewhere around 1/2 their forces, you must now immediately get your stack out of the flip. park near your cities, and tag their units coming at you. This is already documented, and usually takes a few tries. For a specific example, search for metalalloyman's maya challenge thread, a good example is buried in there about page 3 IIRC. Give it a few tries, and enjoy wiping islam from the face of the earth.
Spain - 600 AD - Monarch - UNPATCHED version.
Part 1 : Settling and improving the Spanish Peninsula
Switch immediately civics to Hereditary Rule, Vassalage, Serfdom, Organised Religion, before you do anything else. Better to be in anarchy when your settler are moving than when you built your cities. Convert to Christianity and watch your cities become 25% more productive constructing buildings.
The choice of Serfdom over Slavery is done because 1) we want to work all the rich tiles in Spain ASAP, which require large cities and fast improvements, 2) IMO Serfdom contributes to a better stability because of a constant growth rather than yo-yo effect, 3) last but not the least is the relative lack of luxury resources in Spain which reduce Slavery efficiency.
Settle Lisboa 3 W of starting position as Capitol (Portuguese squatting), Lèon 1W3N of starting position and Barcelona 3E2N of starting position with the starting Settlers. Leaving the default tile ownership per city works just fine. Granada will be founded ASAP 2S from the Sheep in south of Spain.
Every tree in Spain should be shopped ASAP for an early boost in production. Initial Worker can be sent South of France to chop 2 Forest before French cultural border get it, that is 16+30 early for us rather than Louis XIV. Gets us the Monument and the Church online much faster in Barcelona.
Lisboa is garrisoned with a single longbow. The city build Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Harbor / Settler. Settler is sent 2S from the Sheep to found Granada. Lisboa keep growing. The city build Church / Forge / Library. Stop growth at happy cap, which let the city run 4 specialists. Lisboa will spawn your first
, most likely a Great Prophet, eventually a Great Engineer. Lisboa requires a bit of micromanagement to keep it below the happy cap and ensure optimal tile use. Mine the hill, Cottage the Grassland tiles, and of course improve every available resource.
Lèon is garrisoned with a single longbow. The city build Monument / Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Harbor / Church / Forge / Barracks. To ensure some larger border, 2 longbow are immediately sent to raze Lugdinum before it flips to the French. You should loose one, none if you are lucky. If you loose the battle you can consider a reload or a slightly harder game. Build Mines on every hill, and Cottage on Plain and Grassland tiles. Lèon grow rather fast too but do not require as much attention as Lisboa.
Barcelona built Monument / Church / Forge / Harbor / Lighthouse / Wall . Even if its very tempting, do not try to take Marseille, with the starting units, it will fail, leaving you without any military right when France spawn, which is not a good idea. Barcelona border will be challenged by French
from Marseille. The city cap will be lower due to the foreign culture. Don't' worry, French will be dealt with soon enough.
Part 2 : Rome, A path to Power
We want Rome. Christian shrine, Apostolic Palace, Coliseum, nuff said. Alas, we are not alone to want it. Marseille and Mediolanum (Milan) stand between us and the Eternal City. This mean we need to Open Borders with the French. Be nice with Louis XIV. Gift, Trade resources as necessary. You might even have to give him a tribute, whatever to get Open Border asap.
As soon as Lèon get the Barrack finished, build 2 catapults (CR II) and 2 Swordmen (CR II) join them with your initial 2 Swordmen and send them all to capture Rome. Hurry as a German stack is most probably also on its way to Rome. Most of the time, Milan will be French by this time. Don't worry about Rome borders, they will expand soon enough. If you see a crossbow in Rome, don't despair. You will eventually get Rome but it will take more time and effort (you might need to wait for Knights).
Rome serves 3 purposes. First it is our Elite unit production centre thanks to the Coliseum and settled GG. Second its our first source of income. If the Nativity 's Chapel is not prebuilt when you capture Rome, hopefully your first in Lisboa will be a Great Prophet. Third, Rome is your border against the German.
Once you capture Rome, take some time to build the infrastructure in the city
Food:, 
, Military buildings, 
, 
). You could also capture one worker in Rome. Obviously, tiles around Rome shall be improved to increase production.
Any GG, GP, GM we would later spawn will be settled in Rome.
Part 3: Dealing with troubles
From the start the Byzantine Galleys and Triremes are a nuisance. If you are (extremely) lucky, you will get a free Trireme when founding Lisboa or trigger the peace event with the Byzantines. If not the chances are good your sea resources in Lisboa will be pillaged. Built one Trireme / Caravel to deal with the Byzantine menace. Keep your Ship in a city to avoid retaliation. Sink something, retreat to a city, heal, rinse and repeat until Byzance treat is gone.
At some time the Portuguese will Spawn. Don't panic, wait one turn, they will soon be gone. Just don't forget to reallocate Lisboa tile production when your border close again. I actually prefer when the Portuguese relocate themselves in Ponta Delgado as having their stack in my borders make me nervous. Yet they often relocate in Lisboa and give nice Happiness bonus.
Soon after you conquered Rome, you might get struck by the plague. Move all your units out of the cities (yes, there will be unhapiness) until your city get plagued. When plague strike move your defending unit back in the city. The plague should not last long enough to kill your unit. Try to keep your Workers away from cities. As an example, last game I lost 1 worker out of 5 and no military unit at all as the plague first stroked in Amsterdam.
Sometime the Portuguese, French or German declare war. Just stay passive, built a second/third defender in exposed cities depending on the treat. Spearmen/Pikemen work wonder against the Ironless French. Crossbow and Spearmen/Pikemen are useful against German. Caravel / Galleon against the Portuguese. Beware a surprise naval attack from the Portuguese on Lisboa, specially if the plague leave the city undefended. The AP is also very useful to prevent other European civilisations to declare war on you or get an easy peace.
Part 4: Foreign Affairs
The soon to be dead : After the initial friendship with the French we will backstab them. Get the trades from the civs you will soon collapse (France, Dutch and England) without giving them key naval tech. You can also bribe them to attack each other to weaken them. Get as much as possible from them.
The long standing European rivals : Try to keep the Viking and the German pleased with you. Germany will most probably be your biggest challenger in the game. Antagonising Russia and Turkey is a good way to get both happy. Avoid giving them techs. Focus Spy points on them.
The vassals : Portugal, Khmer, Mali are all potential candidate. Be careful, they could also vassalise to Germany.
Middle East and Asia : More freedom here, just choose a side and stick to it. I usually align myself with the Khmer foreign politic if he vassalised to me and make friend with any country antagonising Turkey.
Part 5: Exploring the world
We didn't talked about research yet. We started researching Compass / Optic / Guilds.
By the time Lèon finish producing units to capture Rome we should be close to finish researching Guilds. Lèon built 1 explorer and 1 caravel.
Send this to explorer taking the Africa route. Don't forget to stop by Mali, say hello, open border and trade Divine Right. Follow African coast and pop a Hut in Mozambique. If you are lucky, you'll pop a Scout, load it on the caravel and keep exploring. Your explorer will then be able to explore the rest of Africa where 2 more huts can be popped. Your Caravel then head to India where there is another Hut to pop, then repeat in Indonesia, say hello to the Khmer, if possible trade some (luxury) resources. Your next stop should be Australia where you unload your Scout/Explorer. There are 2 Huts to pop in Australia. Send your Caravel to contact China if still alive and trade any (luxury) resource. Keep exploring, say hello to Tokugawa. Then head East in the vast Pacific Ocean until Easter Island for a last Hut. Then, wait until Gunpowder.
Right after the first, built a second explorer / caravel in Lèon and send it to pop Tribal Villages in America. There are 5 of them, 1 in NAm, 1 in Cuba, 1 in Central America, 2 along the SAm Atlantic Coast . At that time avoid meeting the Native American. We want to trigger the conqueror events, but not yet. Head toward the pacific Ocean and meet your second Caravel.
Congratulation, you just circumnavigated the globe while popping no less than 11 Tribal villages. The best thing that could happen to you is to pop Astronomy from a Tribal Village. Don't count on it, but cheers if it happens.
Part 6: Financing an Empire
We discovered a New World. What an opportunity to settle an vast empire! An empire that will cost a lot of money. Fortunately we are already pretty rich.
The Nativity Chapel in Rome, combined with market / grocery / bank is a nice income. If we were unlucky enough to capture Rome without it, hopefully our first was a Great Prophet.
If we were lucky, the Nativity Chapel was in Rome when we captured the city, and Lisboa produced a Great Engineer rather than a Great Prophet. As soon as we trade Divine Right with Mali, hurry the Spiral Minaret, preferably in Rome.
As soon as possible, we also trade Meditation and Engineering from the French. Built some Walls and Citadel in every city for the extra trade route. The citadel in Rome and Lèon won't hurt either
On a good case, we are running 100%
at this stage of the game and making a substantial benefit, accumulating a nice treasure.
Part 7: Settling the New World
After Guilds, we are researching Calendar / Astronomy
While our Caravel are exploring the world our cities are still building infrastructures. Nevertheless, we need to plan a bit ahead and divert the production to have 1 Settler, 1 Crossbowman, 1 Galley, 1 missionary, 1 caravel available the turn we finish Astronomy. We upgrade the Galley to a Galleon. Load the Missionary on the Caravel, the Settler, Crossbowman, Worker on the Galleon and sail toward the New World. Settle Caracas on the (still to be discovered) Oil resource.
Congratulation, you just achieve your first UHV condition.
Eventually, ship a further Settler / Crossbow / Missionary / Worker to Settle cities in North America. New Orleans (4E6N of Mexico), Chihuahua, Wichita, Detroit, New York are among my favorites.
Do not switch Civics to resettlement if you stick to your conquests. If you want to settle more cities in North America and/or South America then go for it. It is possible to settle quite a large empire that way. I personally got a lucky game with a 28 cities wide empire.
Part 8: Conquering the Natives Americans
The question is when to trigger the Adventurers event. I choose to wait for Gunpowder for Conquistadors and Cannons. After Astronomy we finally research Gunpowder. This is a gamble as we might get beaten to the natives by the Chinese, the Japanese or event the Byzantines. For this reason, it might be wise to declare war to them if you notice a foreign caravel in the pacific ocean, and of course sink the caravel.
Of course we never traded Compass / Optic / Calendar / Astronomy to any European civilisation so the chance are good they are still backward in term of naval tech. Still they will have Caravels. If you notice a caravel in the Atlantic Ocean, you know what to do ...
So we have just discovered Gunpowder and our 2 Caravels in the Pacific Ocean just made contact with the Inca and the Aztecs. We declare war of course and our mighty Conquistadors and Cannon will make quick work of their defences.
The Aztec Capital will be kept, all other cities razed. Settling cities in North America will act as buffer against the Dog soldiers. Once the Aztec are collapsed, send your Conqueror's take the Maya cities, keep one, raze the other (if any). If the Mayan cities are just not there, settle a city. Sooner than later, garrison one Conquistador in your northern cities for defence against the dog soldiers.
The Inca Capital and its Limatambo will be kept, Arequipa razed. Tucume should also be captured. Tucume, Caracas and the southern Inca city should get a Conquistador garrisoned in addition to the regular defender for dealing with the dog soldiers. They will never become great cities, but they provide some new luxuries ressources (whales, gold, dye, cotton) to our empire.
While your troops conquered the world, your core cities in Spain trained missionaries to spread the divine word to the pagans. Load them on your Galleon. Don't forget to bring the now unused cannons from America back in Europe where they will soon be needed.
Explore the North American Continent as there is still one hut to be popped.
If you prefer a safer way, contact the natives earlier and bring them down with knights and catapults. This work probably as good as Conquistadors and cannons.
Part 9: Defeating our European rivals (part 1)
War is coming. Lets prepare for it. That mean switching civic from Organised Religion to Theocracy and Vice-Royalty. If we could trade banking already all the best, lets add mercantilism to the change. We might consider also reverting to Slavery at that point (see later). Did I mention that at some point Mali, Portugal, Khmer will probably want to become our vassal?
Needless to say what Lèon and Rome are producing once we got Gunpowder. Cannons and Conquistadors, plus a Med II unit. Make a big stack of them (4 cannons / 4 conquistadors usually do the job) and crush everything Blue and Orange. Raze everything or keep Paris and/or Amsterdam that will become your cultural borders against both England and Germany. If you are lucky you can capture some nice wonders such as Notre Dame, Sankore, Sistine Chapel in Paris or Amsterdam. Once Netherlands and France have collapsed, any American city they could have settled will become independent.
Part 10: Defeating our European rivals (part 2)
England is the last power we need to keep at bay. Its also the most difficult to handle, mostly because of its insularity. Make everything possible to keep it busy. A war with the Viking is an excellent thing. Always keep an eye on the naval techs available to England.
Once you researched Gunpowder, start researching Chemistry then beeline toward Rifle.
Once you got that tech build frigates in your European cities. Use this "invincible armada" to blockade England and sink each and every ship with a red and white flag. Alternatively you can make a fleet of privateer but England will eventually tech chemistry. Or you can make a mix of the two.
If England has not researched Rifle yet, you can combine the blockade with an invasion of the British isles, specially if YOU got rifle. That will of course collapse them.
If in spite of all our efforts England survived and managed to get one or several cities in America, we must destroy those. Mexico is a nice unit production center in America. You can also ship your European elite units (upgraded CR III Rifleman do wonders). If they got Redcoats well, just bring more cannons. To save time, use Frigates to bombard the city defences.
1700 should soon arrive. Enjoy the Golden Age.
Part 11: Maintaining an Empire
Remember when we had 100% and a benefit? Well those days are gone. Our overseas cities are draining our economy. Ship most Workers captured in Europa to America as there is much land to be improved there and none left in Europa. Keep a couple Workers in Europa, to improve the newly spawned Corn resource near Lisboa and Paris for instance.
After Rifle, I usually beeline toward Biology (to chop the Jungles) and Medicine ('cause I hate Plague, unless I am immune, then I love it). Then you are probably done with, unless you want to keep playing afterwards. Then I suggest beelining to Assembly line, Democracy, Combustion, Industrialisation (what a peaceful tree tech !).
European cities should build some defences against Germany. Don't overdo units, Rome's elite units can keep you safe pretty easily. Focus on improvement. Paris should also emphasise . You might find yourself hard-pressed to build a unit in Rome because you also want buildings, buildings, buildings, Military buildings, :Culture: buildings, Wall street, Iron Works and Red Cross there
In the American cities, building Monasteries and wall are the highest priority as they will soon obsolete. Then Food, Production and Cash buildings come to mind. As we now got plenty of luxury resources, reverting to slavery become a real option for boosting our infrastructure.
In North America, 1 Crossbow per city is mandatory against the natives (they are better that Musketman). Also have 1 Conquistador per frontier city to prevent pillaging (your conquerors should be enough). A good road net and cleverly placed Conquistadors will ensure no pillaging.
South and Central America is much more relaxed. Have one city defender (anything will do) for happiness purpose and 2 conquistadors (1 in Limatambo, 1 on the Gold Resource north of Tucume) for dealing with the Natives.
Some Barbarian Privateer will appears in the Caribics, so have a couple Frigates there to deal with it.
Soon the date will be 1760 and we will achieve a UHV. The main danger would be a late respawn from the Aztecs or Inca but our stability should be solid, so no worries.
Shall you want to keep playing after the UHV, your 2 mains concerns will be Germany and America. Keeping military supremacy on land and sea should get you safely to the late game.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Feel free to make constructive suggestions, remarks or criticisms
Part 1 : Settling and improving the Spanish Peninsula
Switch immediately civics to Hereditary Rule, Vassalage, Serfdom, Organised Religion, before you do anything else. Better to be in anarchy when your settler are moving than when you built your cities. Convert to Christianity and watch your cities become 25% more productive constructing buildings.
The choice of Serfdom over Slavery is done because 1) we want to work all the rich tiles in Spain ASAP, which require large cities and fast improvements, 2) IMO Serfdom contributes to a better stability because of a constant growth rather than yo-yo effect, 3) last but not the least is the relative lack of luxury resources in Spain which reduce Slavery efficiency.
Settle Lisboa 3 W of starting position as Capitol (Portuguese squatting), Lèon 1W3N of starting position and Barcelona 3E2N of starting position with the starting Settlers. Leaving the default tile ownership per city works just fine. Granada will be founded ASAP 2S from the Sheep in south of Spain.
Every tree in Spain should be shopped ASAP for an early boost in production. Initial Worker can be sent South of France to chop 2 Forest before French cultural border get it, that is 16+30 early for us rather than Louis XIV. Gets us the Monument and the Church online much faster in Barcelona.
Lisboa is garrisoned with a single longbow. The city build Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Harbor / Settler. Settler is sent 2S from the Sheep to found Granada. Lisboa keep growing. The city build Church / Forge / Library. Stop growth at happy cap, which let the city run 4 specialists. Lisboa will spawn your first
, most likely a Great Prophet, eventually a Great Engineer. Lisboa requires a bit of micromanagement to keep it below the happy cap and ensure optimal tile use. Mine the hill, Cottage the Grassland tiles, and of course improve every available resource.Lèon is garrisoned with a single longbow. The city build Monument / Fishing Boat / Fishing Boat / Harbor / Church / Forge / Barracks. To ensure some larger border, 2 longbow are immediately sent to raze Lugdinum before it flips to the French. You should loose one, none if you are lucky. If you loose the battle you can consider a reload or a slightly harder game. Build Mines on every hill, and Cottage on Plain and Grassland tiles. Lèon grow rather fast too but do not require as much attention as Lisboa.
Barcelona built Monument / Church / Forge / Harbor / Lighthouse / Wall . Even if its very tempting, do not try to take Marseille, with the starting units, it will fail, leaving you without any military right when France spawn, which is not a good idea. Barcelona border will be challenged by French
from Marseille. The city cap will be lower due to the foreign culture. Don't' worry, French will be dealt with soon enough.Part 2 : Rome, A path to Power
We want Rome. Christian shrine, Apostolic Palace, Coliseum, nuff said. Alas, we are not alone to want it. Marseille and Mediolanum (Milan) stand between us and the Eternal City. This mean we need to Open Borders with the French. Be nice with Louis XIV. Gift, Trade resources as necessary. You might even have to give him a tribute, whatever to get Open Border asap.
As soon as Lèon get the Barrack finished, build 2 catapults (CR II) and 2 Swordmen (CR II) join them with your initial 2 Swordmen and send them all to capture Rome. Hurry as a German stack is most probably also on its way to Rome. Most of the time, Milan will be French by this time. Don't worry about Rome borders, they will expand soon enough. If you see a crossbow in Rome, don't despair. You will eventually get Rome but it will take more time and effort (you might need to wait for Knights).
Rome serves 3 purposes. First it is our Elite unit production centre thanks to the Coliseum and settled GG. Second its our first source of income. If the Nativity 's Chapel is not prebuilt when you capture Rome, hopefully your first
in Lisboa will be a Great Prophet. Third, Rome is your border against the German.Once you capture Rome, take some time to build the infrastructure in the city
Food:, , Military buildings, , ). You could also capture one worker in Rome. Obviously, tiles around Rome shall be improved to increase production.Any GG, GP, GM we would later spawn will be settled in Rome.
Part 3: Dealing with troubles
From the start the Byzantine Galleys and Triremes are a nuisance. If you are (extremely) lucky, you will get a free Trireme when founding Lisboa or trigger the peace event with the Byzantines. If not the chances are good your sea resources in Lisboa will be pillaged. Built one Trireme / Caravel to deal with the Byzantine menace. Keep your Ship in a city to avoid retaliation. Sink something, retreat to a city, heal, rinse and repeat until Byzance treat is gone.
At some time the Portuguese will Spawn. Don't panic, wait one turn, they will soon be gone. Just don't forget to reallocate Lisboa tile production when your border close again. I actually prefer when the Portuguese relocate themselves in Ponta Delgado as having their stack in my borders make me nervous. Yet they often relocate in Lisboa and give nice Happiness bonus.
Soon after you conquered Rome, you might get struck by the plague. Move all your units out of the cities (yes, there will be unhapiness) until your city get plagued. When plague strike move your defending unit back in the city. The plague should not last long enough to kill your unit. Try to keep your Workers away from cities. As an example, last game I lost 1 worker out of 5 and no military unit at all as the plague first stroked in Amsterdam.
Sometime the Portuguese, French or German declare war. Just stay passive, built a second/third defender in exposed cities depending on the treat. Spearmen/Pikemen work wonder against the Ironless French. Crossbow and Spearmen/Pikemen are useful against German. Caravel / Galleon against the Portuguese. Beware a surprise naval attack from the Portuguese on Lisboa, specially if the plague leave the city undefended. The AP is also very useful to prevent other European civilisations to declare war on you or get an easy peace.
Part 4: Foreign Affairs
The soon to be dead : After the initial friendship with the French we will backstab them. Get the trades from the civs you will soon collapse (France, Dutch and England) without giving them key naval tech. You can also bribe them to attack each other to weaken them. Get as much as possible from them.
The long standing European rivals : Try to keep the Viking and the German pleased with you. Germany will most probably be your biggest challenger in the game. Antagonising Russia and Turkey is a good way to get both happy. Avoid giving them techs. Focus Spy points on them.
The vassals : Portugal, Khmer, Mali are all potential candidate. Be careful, they could also vassalise to Germany.
Middle East and Asia : More freedom here, just choose a side and stick to it. I usually align myself with the Khmer foreign politic if he vassalised to me and make friend with any country antagonising Turkey.
Part 5: Exploring the world
We didn't talked about research yet. We started researching Compass / Optic / Guilds.
By the time Lèon finish producing units to capture Rome we should be close to finish researching Guilds. Lèon built 1 explorer and 1 caravel.
Send this to explorer taking the Africa route. Don't forget to stop by Mali, say hello, open border and trade Divine Right. Follow African coast and pop a Hut in Mozambique. If you are lucky, you'll pop a Scout, load it on the caravel and keep exploring. Your explorer will then be able to explore the rest of Africa where 2 more huts can be popped. Your Caravel then head to India where there is another Hut to pop, then repeat in Indonesia, say hello to the Khmer, if possible trade some (luxury) resources. Your next stop should be Australia where you unload your Scout/Explorer. There are 2 Huts to pop in Australia. Send your Caravel to contact China if still alive and trade any (luxury) resource. Keep exploring, say hello to Tokugawa. Then head East in the vast Pacific Ocean until Easter Island for a last Hut. Then, wait until Gunpowder.
Right after the first, built a second explorer / caravel in Lèon and send it to pop Tribal Villages in America. There are 5 of them, 1 in NAm, 1 in Cuba, 1 in Central America, 2 along the SAm Atlantic Coast . At that time avoid meeting the Native American. We want to trigger the conqueror events, but not yet. Head toward the pacific Ocean and meet your second Caravel.
Congratulation, you just circumnavigated the globe while popping no less than 11 Tribal villages. The best thing that could happen to you is to pop Astronomy from a Tribal Village. Don't count on it, but cheers if it happens.
Part 6: Financing an Empire
We discovered a New World. What an opportunity to settle an vast empire! An empire that will cost a lot of money. Fortunately we are already pretty rich.
The Nativity Chapel in Rome, combined with market / grocery / bank is a nice income. If we were unlucky enough to capture Rome without it, hopefully our first
was a Great Prophet. If we were lucky, the Nativity Chapel was in Rome when we captured the city, and Lisboa produced a Great Engineer rather than a Great Prophet. As soon as we trade Divine Right with Mali, hurry the Spiral Minaret, preferably in Rome.
As soon as possible, we also trade Meditation and Engineering from the French. Built some Walls and Citadel in every city for the extra trade route. The citadel in Rome and Lèon won't hurt either
On a good case, we are running 100%
at this stage of the game and making a substantial benefit, accumulating a nice treasure.Part 7: Settling the New World
After Guilds, we are researching Calendar / Astronomy
While our Caravel are exploring the world our cities are still building infrastructures. Nevertheless, we need to plan a bit ahead and divert the production to have 1 Settler, 1 Crossbowman, 1 Galley, 1 missionary, 1 caravel available the turn we finish Astronomy. We upgrade the Galley to a Galleon. Load the Missionary on the Caravel, the Settler, Crossbowman, Worker on the Galleon and sail toward the New World. Settle Caracas on the (still to be discovered) Oil resource.
Congratulation, you just achieve your first UHV condition.
Eventually, ship a further Settler / Crossbow / Missionary / Worker to Settle cities in North America. New Orleans (4E6N of Mexico), Chihuahua, Wichita, Detroit, New York are among my favorites.
Do not switch Civics to resettlement if you stick to your conquests. If you want to settle more cities in North America and/or South America then go for it. It is possible to settle quite a large empire that way. I personally got a lucky game with a 28 cities wide empire.
Part 8: Conquering the Natives Americans
The question is when to trigger the Adventurers event. I choose to wait for Gunpowder for Conquistadors and Cannons. After Astronomy we finally research Gunpowder. This is a gamble as we might get beaten to the natives by the Chinese, the Japanese or event the Byzantines. For this reason, it might be wise to declare war to them if you notice a foreign caravel in the pacific ocean, and of course sink the caravel.
Of course we never traded Compass / Optic / Calendar / Astronomy to any European civilisation so the chance are good they are still backward in term of naval tech. Still they will have Caravels. If you notice a caravel in the Atlantic Ocean, you know what to do ...
So we have just discovered Gunpowder and our 2 Caravels in the Pacific Ocean just made contact with the Inca and the Aztecs. We declare war of course and our mighty Conquistadors and Cannon will make quick work of their defences.
The Aztec Capital will be kept, all other cities razed. Settling cities in North America will act as buffer against the Dog soldiers. Once the Aztec are collapsed, send your Conqueror's take the Maya cities, keep one, raze the other (if any). If the Mayan cities are just not there, settle a city. Sooner than later, garrison one Conquistador in your northern cities for defence against the dog soldiers.
The Inca Capital and its Limatambo will be kept, Arequipa razed. Tucume should also be captured. Tucume, Caracas and the southern Inca city should get a Conquistador garrisoned in addition to the regular defender for dealing with the dog soldiers. They will never become great cities, but they provide some new luxuries ressources (whales, gold, dye, cotton) to our empire.
While your troops conquered the world, your core cities in Spain trained missionaries to spread the divine word to the pagans. Load them on your Galleon. Don't forget to bring the now unused cannons from America back in Europe where they will soon be needed.
Explore the North American Continent as there is still one hut to be popped.
If you prefer a safer way, contact the natives earlier and bring them down with knights and catapults. This work probably as good as Conquistadors and cannons.
Part 9: Defeating our European rivals (part 1)
War is coming. Lets prepare for it. That mean switching civic from Organised Religion to Theocracy and Vice-Royalty. If we could trade banking already all the best, lets add mercantilism to the change. We might consider also reverting to Slavery at that point (see later). Did I mention that at some point Mali, Portugal, Khmer will probably want to become our vassal?
Needless to say what Lèon and Rome are producing once we got Gunpowder. Cannons and Conquistadors, plus a Med II unit. Make a big stack of them (4 cannons / 4 conquistadors usually do the job) and crush everything Blue and Orange. Raze everything or keep Paris and/or Amsterdam that will become your cultural borders against both England and Germany. If you are lucky you can capture some nice wonders such as Notre Dame, Sankore, Sistine Chapel in Paris or Amsterdam. Once Netherlands and France have collapsed, any American city they could have settled will become independent.
Part 10: Defeating our European rivals (part 2)
England is the last power we need to keep at bay. Its also the most difficult to handle, mostly because of its insularity. Make everything possible to keep it busy. A war with the Viking is an excellent thing. Always keep an eye on the naval techs available to England.
Once you researched Gunpowder, start researching Chemistry then beeline toward Rifle.
Once you got that tech build frigates in your European cities. Use this "invincible armada" to blockade England and sink each and every ship with a red and white flag. Alternatively you can make a fleet of privateer but England will eventually tech chemistry. Or you can make a mix of the two.
If England has not researched Rifle yet, you can combine the blockade with an invasion of the British isles, specially if YOU got rifle. That will of course collapse them.
If in spite of all our efforts England survived and managed to get one or several cities in America, we must destroy those. Mexico is a nice unit production center in America. You can also ship your European elite units (upgraded CR III Rifleman do wonders). If they got Redcoats well, just bring more cannons. To save time, use Frigates to bombard the city defences.
1700 should soon arrive. Enjoy the Golden Age.
Part 11: Maintaining an Empire
Remember when we had 100%
and a benefit? Well those days are gone. Our overseas cities are draining our economy. Ship most Workers captured in Europa to America as there is much land to be improved there and none left in Europa. Keep a couple Workers in Europa, to improve the newly spawned Corn resource near Lisboa and Paris for instance.After Rifle, I usually beeline toward Biology (to chop the Jungles) and Medicine ('cause I hate Plague, unless I am immune, then I love it). Then you are probably done with
, unless you want to keep playing afterwards. Then I suggest beelining to Assembly line, Democracy, Combustion, Industrialisation (what a peaceful tree tech !).European cities should build some defences against Germany. Don't overdo units, Rome's elite units can keep you safe pretty easily. Focus on
improvement. Paris should also emphasise . You might find yourself hard-pressed to build a unit in Rome because you also want buildings, buildings, buildings, Military buildings, :Culture: buildings, Wall street, Iron Works and Red Cross there In the American cities, building Monasteries and wall are the highest priority as they will soon obsolete. Then Food, Production and Cash buildings come to mind. As we now got plenty of luxury resources, reverting to slavery become a real option for boosting our infrastructure.
In North America, 1 Crossbow per city is mandatory against the natives (they are better that Musketman). Also have 1 Conquistador per frontier city to prevent pillaging (your conquerors should be enough). A good road net and cleverly placed Conquistadors will ensure no pillaging.
South and Central America is much more relaxed. Have one city defender (anything will do) for happiness purpose and 2 conquistadors (1 in Limatambo, 1 on the Gold Resource north of Tucume) for dealing with the Natives.
Some Barbarian Privateer will appears in the Caribics, so have a couple Frigates there to deal with it.
Soon the date will be 1760 and we will achieve a UHV. The main danger would be a late respawn from the Aztecs or Inca but our stability should be solid, so no worries.
Shall you want to keep playing after the UHV, your 2 mains concerns will be Germany and America. Keeping military supremacy on land and sea should get you safely to the late game.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Feel free to make constructive suggestions, remarks or criticisms
