America UHV

[Milky-Way]

I have some problems with the American UHVs. I am playing on the easiest difficulty. My Rhye's and Fall experience is limited - I got the historical victory once with the Netherlands and Germany.
I have read the strategy guides, but some things develop differently...

I read it is preferable to use the 3000 BC unlocked scenario?

My first problem is that, oftentimes, no-one or maybe one nation declares war on me and I don't get many troops. Is there anything I should do to provoke them?

After one or two rounds, it's usually only two cities that flip (to the North of Washington), is that what should happen?

Sometimes, someone founds Philadelphia instead of New York, but then Washington and Philadelphia will share quite a few tiles, which is not good (and a reason to restart?).

Somewhat similar with Detroit: is the overlap with Washington really acceptable? I usually found it South of the cow.

My general strategy:
Build a theater in each city for cultural expansion, then barracks where necessary, then start with troops. I use Washington (with bureaucracy) for the Statue of Liberty. If found Detroit and Kansas City, after a while another city just East of the Rocky Mountains (Denver or to the North).
I use the troops I have to take the cities in the South (usually Spanish Tampa and French New Orleans), but I have to declare war myself.
After those cities, I try to go for Cuba and the one-tile island where the Spanish have two more cities, hoping to get peace with them afterwards. However, the one-tile is difficult:
I get a penalty for attacking from the sea and can't really bombard because the Spanish would sink my ships.
After a while, nations start to get machine guns, and I can't really get enough cavalry to get all the Canadian cities before 1930.
Getting peace with the Spanish is also tricky: they usually want a city back. I guess I would have to put pressure on there cities, but I don't have the troops for that...
I try to trade with those civs that are not in North America. (if I trade with England and the like, they are not able to declare war on me, right?) I usually trade Nationalism to get my way to the Pentagon quicker. The statue is not a big problem to build, but e.g. Germany often gets the Pentagon first (sometimes even before I can start building it).

Do I really have to get all "European" cities in NA (also in Canada)?


It would be nice if you had some advice for me and could tell me what I should change about my strategy.

 

[DrCron]

Hi,

I've just achieved an American UHV in Monarch. It was an odd game that I had actually started trying to achieve the UHV with England. Here's how it went:

INTRO (how was it after my game with England):

In 1730 I had 3 cities in every continent except Asia (only 2 cities in India), so I decided to keep playing and try with America. My 3 American cities were 2 I had taken from the Aztecs and San Antonio. I granted all 3 of them indepence in my last English turn to make it easier (this didn't turn out exactly as expected, see below). So in the territory of US and Canada there were only 3 French cities: Jacksonville, New Amsterdam and Montreal. Spain had Havana and that was it, no more European cities in NA or Central America.

As England I was taking turns in the first scoring position with Arabia. France was 3rd, quite close. My last action before changing to America was declaring war to France (this DID turn out as expected, England and France kept each other busy almost all game long).

STARTING AND GENERAL STRATEGY:

- First expansion: Jacksonville and New Amsterdam turned to me immediately. The French took Jacksonville again but they only had 1 unit left after that, so I took it back easily. I also took Montreal from them with mi initial units. I spread them with all my initial settlers (had some musketman and pikeman which I upgraded with my initial gold) to found Detroit, Omaha, Grand Fork and Santa Fe (locations picked based on the resources). I also conquered San Antonio from the Independent.

At this point I had enough cities to develope, but I needed more armies (I had roughly one unit per city).

- Civics: I played all the game with Representation + Caste System, for a strong SE (thanks to having many luxury resources I could avoid swaping to Emancipation). I also had Free Speech + Free Religion (for cultural expansion and getting a technology lead) all game long. I started the economy with Mercantilism (for the free specialist) but swaped to state property later on. About the expansion, I didn't change from subjugation until I was almost about to win.

- Diplomacy: I always had one ally and one enemy among the 2 main European civs (started fighting against France with England as my ally, and swaped later). The Inca civ was still alive and last in score, so I kept very good relations with them to sell them old techs every now and then. Eventually they became my vassals. I had a bad relation with Arabia during all the game.

- Cities: Jacksonville was my science city (most of my GP were GS that I established here after building the academy). Washington and New York produced a lot of units. Washington also made the first wonder (statue of liberty) and eventually became a gold city. Santa Fe was also a gold city.

- Tehcnology: I traded Democracy at the very beinning (Mali had it) to start building the statue of liberty (a lot of chopping around Washington here). I B-lined to Assembly line (for the Pentagon and some early infantry units) and later to Mass Media (for the UN and some other wonders that could give more happinness resources). Later on I went for combustion (for oil and good ships) and after that, Industrialism (Navy SEAL and tanks solved my last war).

FIRTS AND SECOND GOAL:

There was always one city building one of the needed wonders. At some point around 1800 Havana went independent from Spain, which made things easier. But a bit later the English used the troops they had in America (the ones I had in Mexico when I was playing with the British) to re-conquer the Mexican cities. So I had to declare war to England. I destroyed Coyuca but kept Mexico city, just to make sure no other European civ established a colony around there. After this I improved my diplomacy with France, since England was, from then on, my enemy.

In any case, the 2 first goals were easily secured (keep in mind that South America is not relevant for the second goal, so I didn't care about the French cities there). Now, the oil thing...

10 OIL RESOURCES

There were 3 Oil resources in my NA territory (one close to Calgary, which I also founded), and I conquered Chichen Itza to secure the one in the Mexican gulf. I sent some workers to build roads to Alaska (eventually I founded Wainwright) for that 5th oil.

But obviously the only way to get the remaining Oil was invading Arabia. After getting combustion I started building my navy (about 6 transports and another 6 destroyers to travel with them) and started building some infantry. By the time I had built some ships I had also discovered industrialism, so I started building lots of Navy SEALs (to invade from the sea) and some tanks.

Egypt had got independendt from Arabia, and I made it my vassal to have an ally in the region. I also bribed Turkey to declare war on the Arabs (they didn't help much because they were busy fighting with the Germans, but at least I stopped them from turning against me while I was fighting Saladin).

By the time I got to Arabia with a decent amount of troops the Arabs still hadn't discovered Assembly line, so they didn't even had infantry. Their riflemen were crushed by my Navy SEALs (with some tanks and airship support, and bombers a few turns later). Conquering the whole Arabic peninsula turned out to be easier than expected. I had it by 1940.

I thought I would have to go for Baghdad to get more oil (the Turks had it, so I still expected another war), but it wasn't necessary. After conquering the whole of Arabia (including the two holy cities, Makkah and Jerusalem), the Arabs were so crushed that they accepted being my vassals. The same about Mali (which was an Arab vassal before the war). So, with 3 more oil resources in my power and another 2 secured by my vassals (in Africa), I got the needed 10 and won the game.

 

[blizzrd]

I have some problems with the American UHVs. I am playing on the easiest difficulty. My Rhye's and Fall experience is limited - I got the historical victory once with the Netherlands and Germany.
I have read the strategy guides, but some things develop differently...

I read it is preferable to use the 3000 BC unlocked scenario?

That takes a LONG time to load up. Not worth the wait in my view. My experience has been that the game is more unbalanced by the time of US spawn with 3000BC than with 600AD. By that, I mean that there is usually one superpower already in existence (England/France/Turkey/Germany are all common) who has teched way ahead of where they should historically be up to.

My first problem is that, oftentimes, no-one or maybe one nation declares war on me and I don't get many troops. Is there anything I should do to provoke them?

Not in my experience. They either DOW you because of the flip or they don't. I've never found my actions in those first couple of turns to make any difference.

After one or two rounds, it's usually only two cities that flip (to the North of Washington), is that what should happen?

The flip occurs on your third turn, always. The American spawn zone (i.e. area which flips cities on your third turn) is defined as certain tiles along the eastern seaboard, plus a few tiles inland too. You can view it here.

Sometimes, someone founds Philadelphia instead of New York, but then Washington and Philadelphia will share quite a few tiles, which is not good (and a reason to restart?).

Somewhat similar with Detroit: is the overlap with Washington really acceptable? I usually found it South of the cow.

I find that the ability to win the UHV (or not) is not generally limited by the initial city locations (as founded by the AI before your spawn). It is possible to win the UHV regardless of which locations have been pre-settled for you. Sure, some locations are more convenient and have less overlaps, but this comes down to personal preference about efficiencies rather than strictly preventing you from winning the UHV.

My general strategy:
Build a theater in each city for cultural expansion,

Unnecessary to prioritise this. Build Culture once until borders pop (culture = 10).

then barracks where necessary, then start with troops. I use Washington (with bureaucracy) for the Statue of Liberty. If found Detroit and Kansas City, after a while another city just East of the Rocky Mountains (Denver or to the North).
I use the troops I have to take the cities in the South (usually Spanish Tampa and French New Orleans), but I have to declare war myself.

I think you should prioritise getting some additional workers. The ability to improve a lot of terrain quickly is more important than conquering another city somewhere along the coast.

After those cities, I try to go for Cuba and the one-tile island where the Spanish have two more cities, hoping to get peace with them afterwards. However, the one-tile is difficult:
I get a penalty for attacking from the sea and can't really bombard because the Spanish would sink my ships.

These locations shouldn't be a priority at all, they suck in terms of what they will do to your overall research rate and don't contribute any production whatsoever. I always settle the west coast before I worry about the Caribbean.

After a while, nations start to get machine guns, and I can't really get enough cavalry to get all the Canadian cities before 1930.

Whoah, you're taking way too long to get going if this is occurring. See my point above about improving terrain more quickly. It is the key to stimulating your economy and thus your research rate and thus your ability to out-tech the opposition.

Getting peace with the Spanish is also tricky: they usually want a city back. I guess I would have to put pressure on there cities, but I don't have the troops for that...

You may just have to war with them (and lose fishing boats) for a bit. I usually find one of England/Spain hates me for quite some time and tears up my fishing boats for many turns before I am eventually able to break out some peace.

I try to trade with those civs that are not in North America. (if I trade with England and the like, they are not able to declare war on me, right?) I usually trade Nationalism to get my way to the Pentagon quicker. The statue is not a big problem to build, but e.g. Germany often gets the Pentagon first (sometimes even before I can start building it).

Mali is your best bet for trading, hopefully they are still alive. Trading techs does not prevent a civ from declaring war on you. Entering a deal of some kind (e.g. resources for cash or resources for resources) will force both nations to sign up to 10 turns of peace. But this can be broken on the 11th turn, if either side wants to.

Do I really have to get all "European" cities in NA (also in Canada)?

Short answer: yes. See the link to the atlas, it also shows the area which applies to the UHV condition, in a roundabout way. The English UHV areas show the definition of continents, including North and Central America (which are considered to be the same continent for RFC).

It would be nice if you had some advice for me and could tell me what I should change about my strategy.

Good luck, hopefully some of those thoughts are of assistance to you.

 

[Milky-Way]

Thanks a lot, I finally managed the last couple of days.

I did use the 3000 BC start, and after two or three tries got a start that worked out fine. The Dutch had the cities that flipped and did not declare war on me. France was instable when I started and collapsed after I took 2 cities from them. That left me with plenty of time and units to go for the British, who had 3 cities in Eastern Canada and were a little behind tech-wise. Japan had founded Vancouver and San Francisco, but I got those two in early conferences without even declaring war. Spain held Santo Domingo with only one unit left after a plague, so easy enough to take.
For the wonders I needed, it was not too difficult. Germany was too big to be up in tech, I guess.

The only nuisance for UHV was Dutch Mexico within the Aztec area. But the Actecs were Englands vassl, to I managed to walk through their territory in times of war.

Overall, the game seemed a little strange, with China vassaling half the world (Arabia, Khmer, Egypt, France,...) and Portugal in the tech-lead. Getting the oil was easy in the end as Arabia was still using riflemen. Did start a world war though, but no troops ever attacked me back.


A couple more questions:
1) Sometimes cities were not renamed when I conquered them (the Japanese San Francisco and Vancouver, Spanish Santo Domingo) although "American" names exist Did I do something wrong?
2) is there any way to turn marshes into usable tiles? I thought that should be possible with some tech...
3) How exactly does the Internet wonder work? I thought all nations (including me) would get all technologies that at least two other nations have. But that was not the case

 

[blizzrd]

A couple more questions:
1) Sometimes cities were not renamed when I conquered them (the Japanese San Francisco and Vancouver, Spanish Santo Domingo) although "American" names exist Did I do something wrong?

I don't think so. Could be a bug.

2) is there any way to turn marshes into usable tiles? I thought that should be possible with some tech...

Nope, at least not in RFC.

3) How exactly does the Internet wonder work? I thought all nations (including me) would get all technologies that at least two other nations have. But that was not the case

I think only the nation that builds the Internet gets the free catch-up techs.

 

[Milky-Way]

About the internet, do I continue to get new techs or is it a one time, whatever exists when I finish building it?

 

[NoShameD]

AFAIK, with Internet, you automatically learn each tech discovered by 2 of your opponents, so it's continuous (I actually experienced it, but may have misunderstood).

 

[blizzrd]

About the internet, do I continue to get new techs or is it a one time, whatever exists when I finish building it?

The effect is ongoing. As soon as two civs know a tech that you do not, it will trigger and gift you the tech.

 

[rfcfanatic]

The 3rd UHV is very difficult. When I saw Arabia finishing the Manhattan Project in early 20th century, I basically gave up. As I learned from the mod review, the Middle Easterners will get very aggressive in the late game and are more than willing to use nukes.

Played this on Viceroy. I guess I happened to have an unfortunate start where the AI got way too advanced. For example, I saw Spanish infantry in modern era Miami in 1860s. That's way too advanced for an easy difficulty level as Viceroy is.