I thought opening a thread about that was better then to discuss it in other topics.
So here it goes: Byzantine UHV3: Be the Richest Empire in the World in 1453
To achieve this you need more then 5000 gold at 1453, as the Pope has something between 5000 and 6000 gold, so if you have 6000+ you won the game. No one can get to what the Pope has, or I've never seen it (and I've played this game since lots of betas ago, and this was always true - just one bugged exception that arabia had something around a million and seventy thousand gold, something they couldn't get as they needed to have an income of thousands of gold since their initial turn, and they were dead for some time because I killed them).
You are the Byzantines and until 1453AD you faced the worst horrors anyone in this game could see:
1 The Sassanid Persian Lancers (7str) since the beggining until the Bulgarians if I'm not mistaken, when you can only make Skirmishers (2str) of the Mounted Combat tree;
2 The first plague that only the Byzantines face (and the Pope, but that doesn't matter) around the late half of the VI century and first half of the VII century;
3 The arabs (635AD) and their huge spawn of Horse Archers just after the Plague, at the same time the provinces of Lebanon and Jerusalem fall to OK provinces and Egypt to Unstable (all from Solid, turning you to Shaky or Unstable) and not forgetting the Flip;
4 The Bulgarians (680AD), that normally appear when you are still at War with Arabia, and on the opposed side of your big Empire;
5 The Selyuq Turks (~1070AD), that gave you enough time to build your forces, and win the first UHV (Constantinople the Biggest and most cultured city in 1025AD), but that come with a 13str as a Heavy Cavalry when your best counter are the few Tagmata and Varangian Mercenaries (8str each), your Arbalestiers (6str) holed on walls and castles, the guisarmier (6str, almost useless, cannon fodder I would say) and the few Cataphract (10str) that you trained since you have just discovered the techs needed for them. Spawns inside your territory with 3 or four of them (one or two spawns at the same turn, up to 8 units at the same turn), and it lasts until something around 1130AD. If you lose a city, most of the time it loses the Orthodox religion, and it always gains islam;
6 Treacherous crusades, normally around the historical fourth crusade (~1200AD), if Jerusalem is not christian. This is the most threatening of your problems;
7 The Mongol Invasion (~1240AD), not as hard as the Selyuq one, but that comes in two stages with the Keshik (12str, light cavalry): first around 1240 until sometime near the UHV2 (Controll all Anatolia in 1282AD) and then after the Ottoman spawn until ~1400AD. It functions similar to Selyuq, spawns inside your borders, this time going farther on your land, 3 to 4 keshiks on the same spawn, one or two spawns at the same turn;
8 The Ottomans (1359AD), with a huge stack of overpowering units for your standards just under Constantinople, flipping 3 cities of your Core (Hadrianopolis, Nicaea and Smyrna).
So after all this if you managed to survive and fulfill UHV1 and UHV2 there is only a single thing you must do to win whatever happened to your treasure, diplomacy, territory: Steal the Pope's gold. The Pope has one city, something around 5500 gold at the limit year (1453AD) and he produces almost 0 Espionage Points. With a 50% stationed spy at Rome, you need something around 5000 EPs on him to steal his gold (10000 if you don't wait for the 50% discount). Aiming at him all your Espionage Points since the beggining of the game, without increasing it with commerce, you are easily able to do this. If you do increase, you only has to do it a few times, since you are a Byzantine Empire with all Anatolia in 1282. A single steal gets you enough gold to pass the Pope and make you the richest empire, the Pope the second richest and all the others behind you two.
That's why I think this UHV is too easy for the Hardest Civ of RFC Europe.
So here it goes: Byzantine UHV3: Be the Richest Empire in the World in 1453
To achieve this you need more then 5000 gold at 1453, as the Pope has something between 5000 and 6000 gold, so if you have 6000+ you won the game. No one can get to what the Pope has, or I've never seen it (and I've played this game since lots of betas ago, and this was always true - just one bugged exception that arabia had something around a million and seventy thousand gold, something they couldn't get as they needed to have an income of thousands of gold since their initial turn, and they were dead for some time because I killed them).
You are the Byzantines and until 1453AD you faced the worst horrors anyone in this game could see:
1 The Sassanid Persian Lancers (7str) since the beggining until the Bulgarians if I'm not mistaken, when you can only make Skirmishers (2str) of the Mounted Combat tree;
2 The first plague that only the Byzantines face (and the Pope, but that doesn't matter) around the late half of the VI century and first half of the VII century;
3 The arabs (635AD) and their huge spawn of Horse Archers just after the Plague, at the same time the provinces of Lebanon and Jerusalem fall to OK provinces and Egypt to Unstable (all from Solid, turning you to Shaky or Unstable) and not forgetting the Flip;
4 The Bulgarians (680AD), that normally appear when you are still at War with Arabia, and on the opposed side of your big Empire;
5 The Selyuq Turks (~1070AD), that gave you enough time to build your forces, and win the first UHV (Constantinople the Biggest and most cultured city in 1025AD), but that come with a 13str as a Heavy Cavalry when your best counter are the few Tagmata and Varangian Mercenaries (8str each), your Arbalestiers (6str) holed on walls and castles, the guisarmier (6str, almost useless, cannon fodder I would say) and the few Cataphract (10str) that you trained since you have just discovered the techs needed for them. Spawns inside your territory with 3 or four of them (one or two spawns at the same turn, up to 8 units at the same turn), and it lasts until something around 1130AD. If you lose a city, most of the time it loses the Orthodox religion, and it always gains islam;
6 Treacherous crusades, normally around the historical fourth crusade (~1200AD), if Jerusalem is not christian. This is the most threatening of your problems;
7 The Mongol Invasion (~1240AD), not as hard as the Selyuq one, but that comes in two stages with the Keshik (12str, light cavalry): first around 1240 until sometime near the UHV2 (Controll all Anatolia in 1282AD) and then after the Ottoman spawn until ~1400AD. It functions similar to Selyuq, spawns inside your borders, this time going farther on your land, 3 to 4 keshiks on the same spawn, one or two spawns at the same turn;
8 The Ottomans (1359AD), with a huge stack of overpowering units for your standards just under Constantinople, flipping 3 cities of your Core (Hadrianopolis, Nicaea and Smyrna).
So after all this if you managed to survive and fulfill UHV1 and UHV2 there is only a single thing you must do to win whatever happened to your treasure, diplomacy, territory: Steal the Pope's gold. The Pope has one city, something around 5500 gold at the limit year (1453AD) and he produces almost 0 Espionage Points. With a 50% stationed spy at Rome, you need something around 5000 EPs on him to steal his gold (10000 if you don't wait for the 50% discount). Aiming at him all your Espionage Points since the beggining of the game, without increasing it with commerce, you are easily able to do this. If you do increase, you only has to do it a few times, since you are a Byzantine Empire with all Anatolia in 1282. A single steal gets you enough gold to pass the Pope and make you the richest empire, the Pope the second richest and all the others behind you two.
That's why I think this UHV is too easy for the Hardest Civ of RFC Europe.
