Mandika (Marathon Speed)
UHV1: GM great trade at Holy City by 1350 AD
UHV2: Uni of Sankore built and GP settled by 1500 AD
UHV3: 15k gold by 1500 AD and 45k gold by 1700 AD
Civics: Starting civics are fine. There is a case for Citizenship but I was good without it. Switched to Monasticism once Sankore was built.
Techs: Beeline Sankore tech, then 0% science.
Cities: I decided not to overthink, and put down my capital on spot, second city 2S of Stone, and third 2N of Crabs. Later on built 2 more Settlers, 1 for 3W of capital, 1 for 2W1N of Cow. Advanced Start money was spent on Gold mine and Camel hut (buildings are too expensive on Paragon).
Capital started on Market (2 merchant specialists ASAP), then Islamic church and Theater (to accelerate great person generation). Stone city built 3 workers, although I prioritized Monument after the first 2, then Mint. Coastal city built Monument (no Islam here), Work Boat, Worker. With 6 Workers in total I focused on developing the land, in particular Sheep, Copper, Cotton, Gold/Gem Mines, Cottages. Ivory only later as Natives attack from the East. Stone city can build a few UU defenders if too many lost. Later game all cities built Markets and Wealth.
Early game defense can be painful, but Natives are not that bad, many attackers are only Warrior or Archer, and the UU is good against Impis as well. The painful ones are the Barb Camel Archers from the NE, which can kill your UU, so better to defend.
I stationed 2 (later 3) UUs at each of the Eastern cities, and ideally zero/1 at Capital.
Quickly established contact with Morocco, gifted them some gold to OB, then stationed a Slave in North Africa to maintain contact with Civs and trade. Late game I was getting 29 gold / turn of foreign income. It was also helpful to trade for e.g. Wheat with someone given poor Health in my cities.
UHV1: Reached Makkah in 1303 AD.
UHV2: Arabs collapsed from Mongol attacks, not sure how lucky that is. Important for Stone city to expand Culture early on (Islam + Monument was a bit slow, so also built a Library) to hook up Stone. Once fully developed, it is a very good production city. Built the Uni in 1399 AD and got the GP (from capital) in 1455 AD.
UHV3: Reached goal in 1660 and won. Late game I was reaping over 300 golds / turn. Selling slaves to Europe also helped (each can fetch 150-200 gold). Importantly, the 1300s great plague didn't spread to me (maybe a late civ benefit).
Stability: No issues as decent economy and limited expansion
UHV1: GM great trade at Holy City by 1350 AD
UHV2: Uni of Sankore built and GP settled by 1500 AD
UHV3: 15k gold by 1500 AD and 45k gold by 1700 AD
Civics: Starting civics are fine. There is a case for Citizenship but I was good without it. Switched to Monasticism once Sankore was built.
Techs: Beeline Sankore tech, then 0% science.
Cities: I decided not to overthink, and put down my capital on spot, second city 2S of Stone, and third 2N of Crabs. Later on built 2 more Settlers, 1 for 3W of capital, 1 for 2W1N of Cow. Advanced Start money was spent on Gold mine and Camel hut (buildings are too expensive on Paragon).
Capital started on Market (2 merchant specialists ASAP), then Islamic church and Theater (to accelerate great person generation). Stone city built 3 workers, although I prioritized Monument after the first 2, then Mint. Coastal city built Monument (no Islam here), Work Boat, Worker. With 6 Workers in total I focused on developing the land, in particular Sheep, Copper, Cotton, Gold/Gem Mines, Cottages. Ivory only later as Natives attack from the East. Stone city can build a few UU defenders if too many lost. Later game all cities built Markets and Wealth.
Early game defense can be painful, but Natives are not that bad, many attackers are only Warrior or Archer, and the UU is good against Impis as well. The painful ones are the Barb Camel Archers from the NE, which can kill your UU, so better to defend.
I stationed 2 (later 3) UUs at each of the Eastern cities, and ideally zero/1 at Capital.
Quickly established contact with Morocco, gifted them some gold to OB, then stationed a Slave in North Africa to maintain contact with Civs and trade. Late game I was getting 29 gold / turn of foreign income. It was also helpful to trade for e.g. Wheat with someone given poor Health in my cities.
UHV1: Reached Makkah in 1303 AD.
UHV2: Arabs collapsed from Mongol attacks, not sure how lucky that is. Important for Stone city to expand Culture early on (Islam + Monument was a bit slow, so also built a Library) to hook up Stone. Once fully developed, it is a very good production city. Built the Uni in 1399 AD and got the GP (from capital) in 1455 AD.
UHV3: Reached goal in 1660 and won. Late game I was reaping over 300 golds / turn. Selling slaves to Europe also helped (each can fetch 150-200 gold). Importantly, the 1300s great plague didn't spread to me (maybe a late civ benefit).
Stability: No issues as decent economy and limited expansion
