Mr. Shadows
Nomad of the time streams
Over the summer I was playing the scenario Jadwiga's Legacy and started thinking of ways to use Winged Hussars on Deity in a regular game. They're a fearsome unit at 55 strength, 4 movement and a knock-back ability that can be used in lots of interesting ways. Poland is a very effective war-monger if you use them well. Granted you don't start with a killing machine that generates builders, it isn't 2 for 1 day at the vampyric horse farm and you don't get caffeinated archers, but they can be effective and they have a very unique path to vicotry. What makes Winged Hussars truly unique (as opposed to just a better knight) is their placement at Mercenaries on the culture tree. This means that the way to unlock them is by pushing culture; if you can leverage them you almost don't need science at all.
This strategy depends on founding a religion with Choral Music (hence the thread title) so your shrines (+2) and temples (+4) generate culture as well as faith. We have a large shopping list but this is the one truly critical element. Fortunately the ai doesn't seem to like Choral Music so it is reliably obtainable even at Deity. You have a wild card slot so it's worth it to pick up Mysticism so you can run the +2 Great Prophet card, but of course you still need to builld a Holy Site and run Prayers until you have your prophet. If you luck into Goddess of the Harvest it helps a lot, but otherwise +1 culture from pastures is still great, especially if you have a lot of pastures. For my second belief I like Defender of the Faith because it will keep you alive even if you don't have horses or iron. This has the advantage of letting you skimp on your military early on. An archer with one promotion and DoF attacks at +20 from inside a city. You could conceivably use Crusades, especially if you have Goddess of the Harvest and access to Yerevan. The problem is that you can spend so much on apostles that you can't afford Hussars. Tithe can be nice but the only real reason to evangelize is era score.
I won't spend too much time on the opening turns but I make sure to get my first city out and to build units to defend myself before reaching Astrology and building a Holy Site. Clearly you want to explore hoping to find a NW for the Astrology inspiration. If you luck into a relic in the opening turns it's a huge boost, but you can't expect that to happen. Initially you want to try for 6-7 cities, although it can be done with 5. If you have a nearby city-state you need to snatch it up. You want at least 4 fully realised Holy Sites but 5 is better. Remember they each produce +6 culture. You also want at least one encampment, for the eureka and so you can snag a medieval GG. I also recommend having a stable so your Hussars will get their first and second promotions faster. This is about the insta-heal which allows you to maximize your momentum when you start taking cities. After the HS and encampment come Commercial Hubs. If you have the hammers and location for the Coliseum you should prioritize it. The extra culture will pay off big time. Otherwise you want to unlock Theology asap after adopting Autocracy so you can build temples. You need a Govt. Plaza and The Warlord's Throne (the others won't help) in order to build the Grand Master's Chapel. The sooner you have it the better. On a bad day (four HS no Coliseum) I had it on turn 126 with enough faith for 8 Hussars. That was enough for a big expansion push, but if you can get it early enough it will be Hussars vs. Horsemen
Getting through the culture tree requires you to hit the eurekas. On Deity you probably will be attacked so Defensive Tactics is no problem, and you want an encampment so Military Training is covered. You may have to bite the bullet and build 6 farms though; you really need to maximize your Hussars' window of power. You should naturally pick up the eurekas for Mercenaries and Reformed Church.
Once you're ready to launch your attack be sure to bring inquisitors with you. Captured Holy Sites will contribute culture, and you immediately enjoy the +10 bonus from Defender of the Faith. Not only that it helps you control the territory by boosting loyalty. At this point two things will happen. One is that The Warlord's Throne will start generating a lot of hammers which can be very strong especially if you stack trade routes in a city with a Sukiennice. The other is that your culture will start to snow-ball enough to bee-line Nationalism and form corps out of your Hussars. If you can do this quickly your Hussars will hit extremely hard.
Throughout all this we've mostly ignored technology. Other than picking up common-sense techs the one thing you really need is Cartography, although Square Rigging can be a big help as well. With enough skill I'm pretty sure you can sweep the map. Pike and Shot are very bad news but if you pull this off well you should be able to have corps or even armies by the time you see ai Cavalry.
As an aside the culture bomb ability is very situational but loads of fun when you get the right chance. I was once able to steal three tiles and convert two cities with an encampment while at war for a +6 era score. It's not game changing but it can be helpful and it makes you feel clever when it works. However, Military Engineers aren't especially useful for this strategy because they come so late.
That wraps it up for now, although I'm sure I'll remember things I left out. I doubt I'm the first player to do this but as far as I know I'm the first to write it up. I hope all of you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to getting feed back. @megabearsfan I'm particularly interest in your thoughts because I've always enjoyed reading your strats. Let me know if you see a way to improve this strategy.
This strategy depends on founding a religion with Choral Music (hence the thread title) so your shrines (+2) and temples (+4) generate culture as well as faith. We have a large shopping list but this is the one truly critical element. Fortunately the ai doesn't seem to like Choral Music so it is reliably obtainable even at Deity. You have a wild card slot so it's worth it to pick up Mysticism so you can run the +2 Great Prophet card, but of course you still need to builld a Holy Site and run Prayers until you have your prophet. If you luck into Goddess of the Harvest it helps a lot, but otherwise +1 culture from pastures is still great, especially if you have a lot of pastures. For my second belief I like Defender of the Faith because it will keep you alive even if you don't have horses or iron. This has the advantage of letting you skimp on your military early on. An archer with one promotion and DoF attacks at +20 from inside a city. You could conceivably use Crusades, especially if you have Goddess of the Harvest and access to Yerevan. The problem is that you can spend so much on apostles that you can't afford Hussars. Tithe can be nice but the only real reason to evangelize is era score.
I won't spend too much time on the opening turns but I make sure to get my first city out and to build units to defend myself before reaching Astrology and building a Holy Site. Clearly you want to explore hoping to find a NW for the Astrology inspiration. If you luck into a relic in the opening turns it's a huge boost, but you can't expect that to happen. Initially you want to try for 6-7 cities, although it can be done with 5. If you have a nearby city-state you need to snatch it up. You want at least 4 fully realised Holy Sites but 5 is better. Remember they each produce +6 culture. You also want at least one encampment, for the eureka and so you can snag a medieval GG. I also recommend having a stable so your Hussars will get their first and second promotions faster. This is about the insta-heal which allows you to maximize your momentum when you start taking cities. After the HS and encampment come Commercial Hubs. If you have the hammers and location for the Coliseum you should prioritize it. The extra culture will pay off big time. Otherwise you want to unlock Theology asap after adopting Autocracy so you can build temples. You need a Govt. Plaza and The Warlord's Throne (the others won't help) in order to build the Grand Master's Chapel. The sooner you have it the better. On a bad day (four HS no Coliseum) I had it on turn 126 with enough faith for 8 Hussars. That was enough for a big expansion push, but if you can get it early enough it will be Hussars vs. Horsemen
Getting through the culture tree requires you to hit the eurekas. On Deity you probably will be attacked so Defensive Tactics is no problem, and you want an encampment so Military Training is covered. You may have to bite the bullet and build 6 farms though; you really need to maximize your Hussars' window of power. You should naturally pick up the eurekas for Mercenaries and Reformed Church.
Once you're ready to launch your attack be sure to bring inquisitors with you. Captured Holy Sites will contribute culture, and you immediately enjoy the +10 bonus from Defender of the Faith. Not only that it helps you control the territory by boosting loyalty. At this point two things will happen. One is that The Warlord's Throne will start generating a lot of hammers which can be very strong especially if you stack trade routes in a city with a Sukiennice. The other is that your culture will start to snow-ball enough to bee-line Nationalism and form corps out of your Hussars. If you can do this quickly your Hussars will hit extremely hard.
Throughout all this we've mostly ignored technology. Other than picking up common-sense techs the one thing you really need is Cartography, although Square Rigging can be a big help as well. With enough skill I'm pretty sure you can sweep the map. Pike and Shot are very bad news but if you pull this off well you should be able to have corps or even armies by the time you see ai Cavalry.
As an aside the culture bomb ability is very situational but loads of fun when you get the right chance. I was once able to steal three tiles and convert two cities with an encampment while at war for a +6 era score. It's not game changing but it can be helpful and it makes you feel clever when it works. However, Military Engineers aren't especially useful for this strategy because they come so late.
That wraps it up for now, although I'm sure I'll remember things I left out. I doubt I'm the first player to do this but as far as I know I'm the first to write it up. I hope all of you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to getting feed back. @megabearsfan I'm particularly interest in your thoughts because I've always enjoyed reading your strats. Let me know if you see a way to improve this strategy.
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