The Persian UHV is challenging yet rewarding: control 7% of the world, 7 world wonders, and 2 religious shrines. It's my favorite one I've played so far.
The challenge: large scale conquest starting from an impoverished undeveloped core.
The tools at hand: rich and weak neighbours, cheap archer destroying immortals, and the best cavalry in the ancient world.
Overview:
Early game:
Adopt conquest when available.
Mid game:
Research priorities: Nobility (Vassalage) and Engineering (faster roads). Later go for Law (jails) and medicine.
The challenge: large scale conquest starting from an impoverished undeveloped core.
The tools at hand: rich and weak neighbours, cheap archer destroying immortals, and the best cavalry in the ancient world.
Overview:
- Exploit rich and weak neighbours through pillage and worker abductions.
- Apadana Palace accelerated workers develop resources to fuel the economy.
- Use armies of catapults and Immortals to defeat Greek invaders.
- Income from the Silk route, the Zoroastrianism shrine, and capturing cities funds expansion.
- Immortals conquer the East and defend against barbarian cavalry.
- Persia's superior cavalry demolish the Mediterranean infantry in the West.
- Try to avoid building workers until the mid-game conquests. Abduct workers from your neighbors early and often.
- Barbarians invade from north-central Persia. Prepare the Northern core city appropriately.
- Generate great prophets ASAP by running 2 priests in Babylon.
- Research priority is Mathematics (catapults), Currency (Merchant Trade & Silk Route) and Generalship (Conquest & Savarans).
- Parsa is the commercial hub - builds infrastructure and immortals/missionaries.
- Other core cities will be Savaran factories. Barracks, stables, and settled generals.
- Armenian city(ies) will produce catapults - lots of production and close to the western front.
- Early game: Despotism and slavery to whip buildings and capture workers
- Switch to merchant trade, conquest, and vassalage as soon as available.
- Mid-late game: Monarchy and manorialism.
- Settle Parsa upon spawn.
- Change civics to Despotism and slavery.
- Turn off science slider (need gold to upgrade milita).
- Send missionary, horsemen, and settler north to found city near horse resource.
- I suggest tile North of horse - Neyshabur.
- Send 2 archers to defend Neyshabur.
- Independent Shush will flip to Persia.
- Send Immortals and War elephant to Shush.
- Workers to improve deer, then mine the iron.
- Parsa to build / whip workboat.
- Use horsemen to steal workers from independent Samarqand and India. Pillage as desired.
- Can capture & sack cities if desired - let cities be retaken it for more workers later.
- When iron is connected, upgrade the militia from Shush into Immortals.
- Workers to start connecting cities and improving resources.
- Use initial armies of Immortals to conqueror Babylonia. Try to steal all the workers.
- Sack Babylon. Hopefully when it is out of revolt, luxury resources will keep it happy.
- Research mathematics towards currency.
- I recommend only razing cities settled upon resources.
Early game:
- Continue worker abductions when possible.
- Core cities to build granaries, monasteries, and missionaries.
- Parsa to build Apadana Palace when marble is available.
- Babylon to build / whip Jewish and Zoroastrian temples. Run 2 priests when possible.
- Shush & Neyshabur build barracks and stables.
- Armenian cities build barracks.
- High production cities build catapults. Other cities build immortals & skirmishers to prepare for Greek invasion.
- Build walls as desired.
- Barbarian horsemen will spawn in north-central Persia. Keep a few immortals in the area.
- Build / whip a market in Parsa when available. Build Zoroastrian shrine when possible.
- Research Generalship.
Adopt conquest when available.
Mid game:
Research priorities: Nobility (Vassalage) and Engineering (faster roads). Later go for Law (jails) and medicine.
- Shush & Neyshabur build Savaran non-stop. Armenian cities build catapults / immortals.
- Send 1-2 Immortals North to take Samarkand.
- Send 6-8 Immortals East to conquer India and defend against barbarians.
- Send catapult and Savaran armies West to conquer the Syria, Greece, and Egypt.
- Civ switch to monarchy and manorialism. Switch to vassalage when possible.
- Vassalize India if possible.
- Parsa builds harbour and pharmacy UB for additional core population.
- Turn off research and use culture slider to increase borders for UHV1.
- Build settlers in Babylon and Samarqand if required. Suggest settling remaining historical area near resources.
- Build jails when possible for stability & lower maintenance costs.
- Finish building great Mausoleum wonder before UHV golden age.
- Can build Al-Khazneh wonder in Jerusalem. +1 trade routes in all cities
- Continue conquering the world.