Because I can play longer games soon (more time and better computer), I decided to play a quicky, as the Norse. Three goals before 1066AD, this could be a hard one. Did it in three attempts: first I quit when I got exceptionally bad combat results (lost all three melee units before I got York). Second attempt was better, but somehow I didn't realize that Iceland can trade with Lund, so I thought that I had to build Vinland in Iceland.
It would have been a close call, probably I could have made it. But, I started, and this third try did it.
So, let's begin where it all starts. Of course, don't build Roskilde. Choose Lund as your capital and a city in Denmark that catches all valuable resources there. Lund can grow quickly and has enough production which is important to get the settler to Iceland ASAP. This is the earliest goal, and might cause some trouble. Vinland has to be completed by 1009AD, and can be produced in about 7 to 10 turns. It also takes a few turns to get there, so make sure you start can send the settler away around 950AD (put a worker in stead of a military unit in the ship too) and you should be fine. Part 1 done.
Part 2 involves some planning. You have to declare war on Cordoba and France. Cordoba because you need to get to Sicily and France because you need Normandy. I'd advise to pack all melee units and go straight for York. Lübeck seems tempting but is not worth the trouble. Stability IS going to be hard in this game so any unstable expansion should be avoided. The city sucks by the way, it can produce workers and that's it. Give it to Germany if you feel like conquering it (counts to goal 3) but keeping it gives trouble. I admit that I did just this because it was too close to my spawn location to not take it
, but if you're having trouble with stability, let it be independent. So, after York go straight to Sicily. If you still have three units left, excellent. Two might be okay (probably city raider 2?), one probably not. Whenever you take a new far away city, capture workers and pillage improvements that you don't want to keep. For example, Palermo usually builds cottages on the marble, destroy it for money and goal three. After Palermo, just keep the units around, the sea has plenty of things to offer. As I said before, you have to declare war on France. Prepare some city raider Berserkers, put them on a ship and conquer the city in Normandy. France might have Armored Lancers already so bring a few. Make peace if you can, France is not the place to plunder. Don't forget Novgorod, Edinburgh and Ireland, and this goal two shouldn't cause much trouble.
Goal three is I think the one that might seem the hardest especially because of the early date, but with some smart planning it is pretty doable. Some Skirmishers are going to destroy every town and Forts in Europe. Remember those barbarians that come out of nowhere and destroy valuable improvements? Yes, this is the time to repay. You won't even have to declare war on civs, many towns are in nobody's land. Germany have some, the Balkans have some, Austria has a few. Another sweet place is Tunis. The archer can't do anything about it and there is much to destroy. Florence is nice too. Barcelona is an option. Don't go too far away if you're shaky or below, Sicily might declare itself independent. Work boats are very cool too, these count as ships and there are surprisingly many of them. If stability gets really low, settle some cities in Sweden. Those areas are solid and give a small boost.
With proper management, all three can be achieved at almost the same time. I guess a skilled player can get them as early as 950AD, I had to wait unit 1014AD, because I had to build culture in the Islandic city first to catch the Atlantic access, and I forgot that I had to conquer in stead of settle Novgorod, which both took me 10 or 15 turns.
Small note about civics: what set to pick and when? I'd say just after Feudalism, pick the first four, 2 turns of anarchy. The others aren't worth the extra turn of anarchy, a dangerous period. After all, Vikings + anarchy = worse than Sparta, so keep it rare.
General remarks:
Not many obviously, 1014AD is too early for something special to happen. Next time I'll take a look around in the WB.
Civ specific remarks:
- Solid Normandy actually isn't beneficial to Norse, stability hits them a lot when France settles it. Could be lowered to OK I think.
- Shrine of Uppsala isn't coded yet. Would help a lot, culture is one of the things I have to build in newly conquered cities.
- Some improvements don't seem to count on destruction, what are the exact criteria?
- Berserkers are very cool, Naval assaults are actually useful once. Haven't seen this often. Attack, and send the ship to friendly or ocean territories. Interesting.