Brazil is an interesting UHV because the 1st and the 3rd goal are quite easy to achieve and give you lots of room for error, whereas the 2nd one is a major pain in the ass and requires a mix of very good micromanagement, tactical research choices and luck. I have only completed it once but at least I have found a general strategy that would allow me to beat it again consistently if the luck was on my side. So without further ado, here is the general idea on how one might beat the Brazilian UHV.
General strategy:
- You really want the Portuguese to declare war on you on your third turn to get the bonus units. You need to invest almost all your hammers into infrastructure to be able to catch up technologically so building additional military units to conquer Argentina will probably set you too far behind
- Buy the eight slaves from Congo right away. I have tried several starts as Brazil and the AI Congo always had at least eight slaves to trade us, so I am guessing it is scripted for that
- Rush Argentina as soon as you can manage it in a safe way. That will get you the necessary pastures in order to complete the 1st condition and additional cities to boost your economy (especially Buenos Aires which is a total powerhouse)
- Get to friendly with America as soon as possible and keep them at friendly until you are sure to score the Itaipu Dam and Cristo Redentor without further tech trading needed from them. They will probably be your best tech trading partner. Egalitarianism is a much more powerful civic choice for Brazil as you will have many specialists and almost no cottages (and it gives you double engineer slots which you want as many as possible) but Roosevelt's favorite civic is Individualism and since you probably can't win the UHV without trading extensively with America I recommend staying with Individualism until you no longer need the Americans. Then switch to Egalitarianism and watch your economy really take off.
- Race to Radio because the most likely wonder to lose is the Wembley. England or Netherlands are your biggest competitors (I have had the Dutch build it in 1904 in one game, faster than I could ever get to Radio), but Prussia and America could also randomly build it so do not count them out.
- If you build the Wembley (preferably with a great engineer rush, no sense in taking chances) you will be in a good position to build the other two first. I went for Cristo Redentor first and Itaipu Dam last.
- At some point, ideally not too late (probably around 1900 or 1910 at the latest) start setting up nature reserves
on all the tiles that you do not need. For me that was all the rainforest and jungle tiles around Goiania and Belem and then further out west. If you are feeling confident you will make it in time you can chop the tiles around Goiania and Belem to build cottages but whether you win or lose the tech race is usually decided by the time you get into preserves in my experience.
- Build the National Park in Rio de Janeiro. Alternatively build it in Goiania after moving the palace there to actually benefit from all those preserves. I got a bad case of very late plague and Goiania's population went down to 1 so it didn't have the production to build both the Palace and the National Park in time. Ultimately the choice is yours based on the situation and what you want to do.
- If you switch to Democracy early and build Factories, Railway Stations and Industrial Parks early you will likely generate lots of great engineers. I recommend using all of them for wonder rushing. Bell Rock Lighthouse, Statue of Liberty, Palace of Nations, Crystal Palace, Golden Gate Bridge, Wembley, Cristo Redentor and Itaipu Dam are your best choices in my opinion
Early game:
- The early tech trades vary greatly because of the many turns of autoplay. Also some civilizations are quite fickle and will trade certain technologies one turn and not the next. The general research path I like:
Metallurgy (I use the first great engineer to rush Bell Rock Lighthouse which is awesome for Brazil)
Machine Tools (for Factories for production and the second Engineer slot)
Engine (for Coal Plants and much needed production boost)
Labour Unions (unlocks Madereiros and is highly tradeable)
Civil Rights (unlocks Secularism, Nature Preserves and the Palace of Nations and is highly tradeable)
Radio (for Wembley)
Social Services (for Cristo Redentor and Electrical Grids)
Electronics (for Itaipu Dam)
- Your best tech trading partners are probably going to be America, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and maybe Austria and Prussia. Try to safely get ships to these countries and park them there before big wars break out. Use caution and don't trade too much with the Dutch as they are your main competitor for Wembley but sometimes getting ahead of the rest is just as important as slowing down the Dutch.
- Buy the slaves from Congo right away and improve your plantations into slave plantations
- Try to score a defensive pact with America at the end of your second turn so when Portugal declares war on your third turn they are automatically dragged into this. Ideally you want them at friendly as soon as possible. Trade resources with them, give them gifts if they ask, mutual military struggles, shared civics, defensive pacts, whatever it takes to get them to friendly as soon as possible. I recommend you keep this defensive pact alive until you are sure you won't need the American's help anymore (for me that was around 1935)
- During the course of the early game you can also sign defensive pacts with other nations if you think it makes sense to create massive global chaos if you go to war with Spain and France (I always do because I want Cayenne and you don't want the French demanding Belem in congress, same with Spain demanding Argentinian cities)
- Train about 8-10 workers and some additional settlers before building other infrastructure
- I like to settle Porto Alegre south of Sao Paulo, Goiania on the rainforest inland and Bahia on the core tile southwest of Recife to have as large a core population as possible. After Argentina is out of the game I also like to settle Viedma next to the sheep. The last two cities I settle are two in the Amazon towards the end of the game.
- When you think it's tactically sound wipe out Argentina and take their three cities
- Build infrastructure everywhere. Priority order for me was Factory, Coal Plant, Post Office, Wharf, Customs House, University, Observatory, Laboratory. If you get to Civil Rights early you can build the last three with the Secularist discount
- Ironworks in Sao Paulo
- Great engineers are so good for Brazil because there are so many great wonders to be rushed that I actually ran citizens in some cities when I couldn't hire more engineers so as not to pollute the GP pool. You can however run a few merchants. A great merchant trade mission to a holy city will possibly enable you to run 100% science for most of the game if you sell away technologies for cheap to backwards civilizations and civilizations like Spain and Portugal that are not your tech competitors
Middle stage:
- When Argentina is out of the game I recommend going to war against France to take Cayenne. They often have a defensive pact with Spain so you can get both of these involved in massive wars. Best case scenario would be that the Dutch have a defensive pact with them too and you have one with Prussia. That way the Prussians will likely take Amsterdam, collapsing your biggest tech competitor. But don't rely on that, it doesn't happen often. Have Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires build a few Torpedo Boats to defend your shores
- There is not much need to build military units but I built some extra ships and some ground troops in Goiania just to keep my military score not too low
- Full espionage spending on America, you really want to know what they are researching so you can research something else for tech trading purposes
- In 1882 I recommend a civic switch to Democracy and Individualism. As soon as you get Civil Rights you can also switch to Secularism and Nationhood which will probably stay your final civic setup unless you tech like a god and manage Multilateralism before the end of the game
- If you have a Great Engineer on hand when you research Civil Rights and are sure to generate another before you get to Radio, I highly recommend rushing the Palace of Nations if nobody has build it yet. This will prevent Spain and France from claiming your cities and you may even get some for free. I got Georgetown from England and La Paz from Spain after building the Palace of Nations
- Build Railway stations and Industrial Parks as early as you can for additional great engineer slots
- Keep building infrastructure everywhere, anything that gives you extra science. Don't bother with Banks and Warehouses, you will likely need to run your science as high as possible in order to get to Radio on time. You can build a Bank and Warehouse in Buenos Aires though if Argentina build the Guadalupe Basilica before you killed them. Build a few cultural multiplier buildings like Theatres, Estates and Civic Squares in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo to ensure that they can build several wonders each
- National College in your most productive science city (for me it was Rio de Janeiro)
- Use a Great Engineer to rush Wembley. You are not likely to build it in time so rushing is recommended
End game:
- Settle two more cities in the Amazon somewhere and build Nature Preserves
- Rebuild all your cities into the global era with settlers to save some gold and gain extra espionage (not really necessary but you can use to check which wonders your tech competitors are building)
- Build the National Park in your capital
- Keep saving engineers and use them to rush both Cristo Redentor and Itaipu Dam
If all goes well and you get lucky with tech trading and the way the rest of the game plays out you may just win the Brazilian UHV. It was one of the most difficult I have done so far but it was highly satisfying because you can end up with a massive empire stretching from Tiera del Fuego up to the Caribbean that can boast incredible production and is also one of the most advanced in the world.
General strategy:
- You really want the Portuguese to declare war on you on your third turn to get the bonus units. You need to invest almost all your hammers into infrastructure to be able to catch up technologically so building additional military units to conquer Argentina will probably set you too far behind
- Buy the eight slaves from Congo right away. I have tried several starts as Brazil and the AI Congo always had at least eight slaves to trade us, so I am guessing it is scripted for that
- Rush Argentina as soon as you can manage it in a safe way. That will get you the necessary pastures in order to complete the 1st condition and additional cities to boost your economy (especially Buenos Aires which is a total powerhouse)
- Get to friendly with America as soon as possible and keep them at friendly until you are sure to score the Itaipu Dam and Cristo Redentor without further tech trading needed from them. They will probably be your best tech trading partner. Egalitarianism is a much more powerful civic choice for Brazil as you will have many specialists and almost no cottages (and it gives you double engineer slots which you want as many as possible) but Roosevelt's favorite civic is Individualism and since you probably can't win the UHV without trading extensively with America I recommend staying with Individualism until you no longer need the Americans. Then switch to Egalitarianism and watch your economy really take off.
- Race to Radio because the most likely wonder to lose is the Wembley. England or Netherlands are your biggest competitors (I have had the Dutch build it in 1904 in one game, faster than I could ever get to Radio), but Prussia and America could also randomly build it so do not count them out.
- If you build the Wembley (preferably with a great engineer rush, no sense in taking chances) you will be in a good position to build the other two first. I went for Cristo Redentor first and Itaipu Dam last.
- At some point, ideally not too late (probably around 1900 or 1910 at the latest) start setting up nature reserves
on all the tiles that you do not need. For me that was all the rainforest and jungle tiles around Goiania and Belem and then further out west. If you are feeling confident you will make it in time you can chop the tiles around Goiania and Belem to build cottages but whether you win or lose the tech race is usually decided by the time you get into preserves in my experience.
- Build the National Park in Rio de Janeiro. Alternatively build it in Goiania after moving the palace there to actually benefit from all those preserves. I got a bad case of very late plague and Goiania's population went down to 1 so it didn't have the production to build both the Palace and the National Park in time. Ultimately the choice is yours based on the situation and what you want to do.
- If you switch to Democracy early and build Factories, Railway Stations and Industrial Parks early you will likely generate lots of great engineers. I recommend using all of them for wonder rushing. Bell Rock Lighthouse, Statue of Liberty, Palace of Nations, Crystal Palace, Golden Gate Bridge, Wembley, Cristo Redentor and Itaipu Dam are your best choices in my opinion
Early game:
- The early tech trades vary greatly because of the many turns of autoplay. Also some civilizations are quite fickle and will trade certain technologies one turn and not the next. The general research path I like:
Metallurgy (I use the first great engineer to rush Bell Rock Lighthouse which is awesome for Brazil)
Machine Tools (for Factories for production and the second Engineer slot)
Engine (for Coal Plants and much needed production boost)
Labour Unions (unlocks Madereiros and is highly tradeable)
Civil Rights (unlocks Secularism, Nature Preserves and the Palace of Nations and is highly tradeable)
Radio (for Wembley)
Social Services (for Cristo Redentor and Electrical Grids)
Electronics (for Itaipu Dam)
- Your best tech trading partners are probably going to be America, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and maybe Austria and Prussia. Try to safely get ships to these countries and park them there before big wars break out. Use caution and don't trade too much with the Dutch as they are your main competitor for Wembley but sometimes getting ahead of the rest is just as important as slowing down the Dutch.
- Buy the slaves from Congo right away and improve your plantations into slave plantations
- Try to score a defensive pact with America at the end of your second turn so when Portugal declares war on your third turn they are automatically dragged into this. Ideally you want them at friendly as soon as possible. Trade resources with them, give them gifts if they ask, mutual military struggles, shared civics, defensive pacts, whatever it takes to get them to friendly as soon as possible. I recommend you keep this defensive pact alive until you are sure you won't need the American's help anymore (for me that was around 1935)
- During the course of the early game you can also sign defensive pacts with other nations if you think it makes sense to create massive global chaos if you go to war with Spain and France (I always do because I want Cayenne and you don't want the French demanding Belem in congress, same with Spain demanding Argentinian cities)
- Train about 8-10 workers and some additional settlers before building other infrastructure
- I like to settle Porto Alegre south of Sao Paulo, Goiania on the rainforest inland and Bahia on the core tile southwest of Recife to have as large a core population as possible. After Argentina is out of the game I also like to settle Viedma next to the sheep. The last two cities I settle are two in the Amazon towards the end of the game.
- When you think it's tactically sound wipe out Argentina and take their three cities
- Build infrastructure everywhere. Priority order for me was Factory, Coal Plant, Post Office, Wharf, Customs House, University, Observatory, Laboratory. If you get to Civil Rights early you can build the last three with the Secularist discount
- Ironworks in Sao Paulo
- Great engineers are so good for Brazil because there are so many great wonders to be rushed that I actually ran citizens in some cities when I couldn't hire more engineers so as not to pollute the GP pool. You can however run a few merchants. A great merchant trade mission to a holy city will possibly enable you to run 100% science for most of the game if you sell away technologies for cheap to backwards civilizations and civilizations like Spain and Portugal that are not your tech competitors
Middle stage:
- When Argentina is out of the game I recommend going to war against France to take Cayenne. They often have a defensive pact with Spain so you can get both of these involved in massive wars. Best case scenario would be that the Dutch have a defensive pact with them too and you have one with Prussia. That way the Prussians will likely take Amsterdam, collapsing your biggest tech competitor. But don't rely on that, it doesn't happen often. Have Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires build a few Torpedo Boats to defend your shores
- There is not much need to build military units but I built some extra ships and some ground troops in Goiania just to keep my military score not too low
- Full espionage spending on America, you really want to know what they are researching so you can research something else for tech trading purposes
- In 1882 I recommend a civic switch to Democracy and Individualism. As soon as you get Civil Rights you can also switch to Secularism and Nationhood which will probably stay your final civic setup unless you tech like a god and manage Multilateralism before the end of the game
- If you have a Great Engineer on hand when you research Civil Rights and are sure to generate another before you get to Radio, I highly recommend rushing the Palace of Nations if nobody has build it yet. This will prevent Spain and France from claiming your cities and you may even get some for free. I got Georgetown from England and La Paz from Spain after building the Palace of Nations
- Build Railway stations and Industrial Parks as early as you can for additional great engineer slots
- Keep building infrastructure everywhere, anything that gives you extra science. Don't bother with Banks and Warehouses, you will likely need to run your science as high as possible in order to get to Radio on time. You can build a Bank and Warehouse in Buenos Aires though if Argentina build the Guadalupe Basilica before you killed them. Build a few cultural multiplier buildings like Theatres, Estates and Civic Squares in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo to ensure that they can build several wonders each
- National College in your most productive science city (for me it was Rio de Janeiro)
- Use a Great Engineer to rush Wembley. You are not likely to build it in time so rushing is recommended
End game:
- Settle two more cities in the Amazon somewhere and build Nature Preserves
- Rebuild all your cities into the global era with settlers to save some gold and gain extra espionage (not really necessary but you can use to check which wonders your tech competitors are building)
- Build the National Park in your capital
- Keep saving engineers and use them to rush both Cristo Redentor and Itaipu Dam
If all goes well and you get lucky with tech trading and the way the rest of the game plays out you may just win the Brazilian UHV. It was one of the most difficult I have done so far but it was highly satisfying because you can end up with a massive empire stretching from Tiera del Fuego up to the Caribbean that can boast incredible production and is also one of the most advanced in the world.
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