Emperor UHV Strategies

[Andrrew]

Franks

UHV1: 1 Catholic Cathedral, 4 Catholic Missionaries by 750 AD
UHV2: Control Charlemagne's empire in 700 AD
UHV3: No Islam in Europe in 800 AD

Civics: Early on Monarchy, State Religion, Tyranny (until needed for happiness; then Serfdom), Market Economy. Slavery helpful to improve German lands and whip key buildings out quickly. Later on switched to Theocracy (to avoid a random Islam spread), Oligarchy, Militancy.
Techs: Traded for ~10 techs early on, then tech'ed towards Monastery and Cathedral techs (but no real time pressure). Later on tech'ed towards free GP techs to start GAs.
Cities: Founded capital 1NE of cow. Later on founded 2 more cities in core (next to Clam and next to Wheat/Deer). Cities built 1-2 Spearmen for cheap happiness, Church, Manor, Monastery, Market, Library, Taxation. Top 3-4 cities with good production built a ton of Swordsmen/Heavy Cavalry. I also built 5-6 Catapults as N Italy was heavily fortified.
Conquests: Starting units captured Dye city, then went for 2 German indy cities. At opportune times (when their main army was far) I declared war on Visigoths twice, capturing each of their French cities, then making peace immediately before their main army arrived back. When Lombards spawned, I prepared my massive stack of CR-promoted Swordsmen and captured all of N Italy. At that point Ostrogoths collapsed so I could also capture Rome.

UHV1: As above; plenty of time to build these.
UHV2: As above.
UHV3: Around 700 AD Visigoths collapsed. I sent a massive stack of Heavy Cavalry/Swordsmen near Cordoba. In 711 AD the Moors show up; I immediately declared war on them, and quickly captured all of Iberia. Their starting stack was big (I guess it is dependent on the number of defenders in the Indy cities, who had a big stack of Spearmen/Catapults in one of the cities...) but ultimately they were no match to my superior and promoted troops.

Stability: Stable all the way; good economy, OK civics, modest overextension.

 

[Andrrew]

Arabia

UHV1: Control the Umayyad Empire by 750 AD
UHV2: Be #1 in tech in 800 AD
UHV3: Spread Islam to 30% by 850 AD

Civics: Theocracy (although it doesn't work - random religions kept appearing in my cities; what's worse, even the persecution-upon-conquest function doesn't work...), Tyranny early on (until needed for happiness; then Serfdom), Market Economy, Slavery, State Religion.
Techs: Chain Mail (Heavy Cavalry), then various science techs (e.g. the +1 trade route tech), Jurisprudence, and the free GP techs.
Cities: Founded capital on spot, and built Work Boat, Royal Mint there. All cities should build Islamic Church, Bazaar, Market, then Courthouse, Monasteries, Library, Observatory, Taxation. Top 3-4 production cities built Heavy Cavalries, Islamic Missionaries, and Marksmen to defend conquered cities.
Conquests: Starting units focused on Egypt / North Africa, except for a smaller stack of Ghazis which captured Sassanid capital, after which they collapsed. Then I used these Ghazis to mop up indy Persia out to Bactria. Once N Africa was done, I made peace with Byzantion who vassalized (which meant I can spread Islam to all of their cities). I built Galleys and attacked Visigoths, capturing the 2 South Iberian cities. At this point they unfortunately vassalized to Franks so I halted. Franks OB'd with me early on for a tech, so I was able to spread Islam to all of their cities too. Once done, just before the deadline I declared war on Franks and captured the 2 Iberian cities, then made peace. Later on captured Sindh, Kabul, Peshawar, Bukhara as well from indy.

UHV1: As above.
UHV2: Building all the science/commerce buildings and taxation means that my economy was quite powerful, running at ~90% science, which ensured a very comfortable tech lead. I sparesly traded some techs but overall not really required.
UHV3: 2 good production cities, supported by Slaves, built the 2 Islamic world wonders ASAP (they automatically spread Islam). In addition, starting GP also built the Shrine. As above, I spread Islam to every single Frank and Byzantine city; same for Lombards who also OB'ed early on for a tech. Gokturks, Kazars also OB'd so I started to spread Islam to them, as well as to Gupta (however Chalukyan cut me off from accessing most of their cities). I also focused on generating Great Priests in Alexandria and Babylon, and generated 3 by 785 AD. Using them to spread Islam around India was enough to hit 30% in 787 AD!

Stability: Unstable given aggressive expansion and not the best civic combo; had to avoid techs with new civics to avoid anarchy.

Note that – similar to some of the other late civs – the game is buggy as it didn't register UHV1. All the regions' were ticked but still after 750 AD it showed FAIL. Conversely, UHV2 acted like "by" as opposed to "in", and was ticked before 800 AD, thereby triggering my UHV2-3 GA in 787 AD.

 

[Andrrew]

Sri Vijayan

UHV1: 7 cities in 700 AD
UHV2: 11 luxury resources by 840 AD
UHV3: #1 in population in 800 AD

Civics: Tyranny (for early happiness), Paganism (No state religion means others will be friendlier and more likely to trade resources), Market Economy, Slavery (switched off in late game to remove the -1 food Slave specialists). Did not need to use Agrarianism but that is another lever to boost late-game food.
Techs: Focused on food/health techs such as Engineering, Plough, Sanitation, Medicine. Did not trade away these techs to ensure I'm #1 in population.
Cities: Founded capital on spot, second city in Burma with Pearls and Lumber in BFC. Later on founded 2 more cities in core (next to Tea and Clam/Lumber in BFC), as well as another in Malay peninsula adjacent to Copper/Clam, 2 more in Burma (with Fish/Copper and next to Clam), and one in Philippines with Fish/Gem. All cities built Work Boat as needed, Port, Market, Aqueduct, Public Bath, Library, Monasteries, etc.
Conquests: A Heavy Spearman and a Marksmen flipped to me; I added in 2 more Archers and sailed north to attack Thailand and Vietnam. I captured the Pig/Rice city, then the 2 south Vietnamese cities (eliminating the Vietnamese civ), then went for the city north of the Pig/Rice city with Lumber. However at this point I realized a really odd feature: whenever the yellow Thai civ collapsed, they immediately respawned with a massive bonus unit stack next to each of their 3 core cities. Hence I was afraid of actually capturing their Lumber city, with the risk of making them collapse and then immediately respawn. Even without that, they automatically collapsed/respawned so I had to defend my Pig/Rice city. Afterwards I killed off almost all their bonus units with my experienced units without losses, and at this point they agreed to vassalize to me and gave me the Lumber city. I don't think there is any other way to deal with them as they'd just keep respawning with massive stacks of attackers.

UHV1: As above, I ended up with 13 cities by ~715 AD.
UHV2: This is easier than it looks, as plenty of civs are keen to trade, including Arabia, China, and the various Indian civs. I had 5 luxuries in my cities (didn't even have to build Settlers to go for the Hemp or the Sugar), and was able to trade for 7 more fairly early on, triggering my GA.
UHV3: With all the relevant techs researched, Farm on every single flat tile, maximizing food with every citizen, and trading for a couple of health resources, all my cities got to 9-12, with the Pig/Rice city 17! This was enough for #1 position, at a healthy 10%+ advantage vs. the #2.

Stability: Became unstable in late game given aggressive expansion and not the best civic combo, but not a big issue.

 

[Andrrew]

Tamils (Chera)

UHV1: 9 Temples in Tamil Nadu by 50 BC
UHV2: Settle 2 Great Artists and 2 Great Saints by 50 AD.
UHV3: Have more culture in Tamil Nadu than in rest of India combined in 100 AD

Civics: Not critical here, but I switched to Empire and Trade Economy during the first GA, and then later also to Vassalage.
Techs: Literature, Crop Rotation, Monasticism (via Philosophy) are priorities. Key to bring a Galley to meet the successor kingdoms and trade techs aggressively. It is also important to trade for Health resources to ensure your cities can grow.
Early game: Initial objective is to conquer the indy cities around you. I started building a large army of Spearmen immediately; first captured the indy Kerala city (only 1 Spear defender). This city also built Spearmen, then later on Work Boat and Galley. Once I had 4-5 units I started to move them around in stacks of 1, with the plan to lure out the defenders behind the walled cities. They indeed attacked out, so I was able to gain experience mopping them up. With only 2 Spears and 1 Archer defender left in each, I attacked with 6 units and was able to capture one of them. Shortly thereafter the other one had a revolt, so it was much easier to mop it up. All 3 Tamil cities captured by ~210 BC. With my veterans I also captured Sri Lanka city and indy Dye city to the NE, and also put down a Settler between Dye and Pepper later on.

UHV1: Apart from building a few extra Workers, 1-2 Axemen, 1-2 Archers, and 2-3 Galleys for defense, the Tamil cities focused on building the Temples. Buddhism had to be spread around so that was the first priority. I achieved this condition well ahead of the deadline (pre 100 BC).

UHV2: I used the first Great Artist to build the National Epic in the capital. The capital also built the Great Library - this gives you the wrong GP points but still helps a bit so on balance it's worth it (but not a must).
My capital generated all but one Great Persons; it can run 3 specialists at pop 5. I achieved the condition pre 50 BC. If you get a wrong GP, you can always start a Golden Age and that will significantly accelerate the next one.

UHV3: Once I put 3 Theaters and 3x3 Monasteries in the 3 cities, as well as built some of the mid-game wonders in my capital (incl. Grand Anicut which supercharges your production), this was an easy goal. Without any culture bombs I got to 36k+ culture vs. India at ~11k. I also got a massive tech lead in the final (uneventful) 150 turns.

Stability: No issues as didn't expand into unstable regions.

 

[Andrrew]

Tang

UHV1: Control Tang Empire territories in 800 AD
UHV2: Have 2 vassals in 840 AD.
UHV3: First to discover Printing Press, Alchemy

Civics: I ran on Empire and Trade Economy from the start. I kept Religion on Paganism given the confluence of all different religions. Civic stability was -2 unfortunately, even after switching to Bureaucracy, Free Relegion, Serfdom.
Techs: My focus was Manufactured Trade (commerce boost), Education, Printing Press, Alchemy. I was casually trading techs when I thought my lead was robust.

UHV1: Starting troops are very advanced and plenty. Basically starting troops are enough to conquer all of the territories (I also had 2 horses and 2 Cats flip). I gradually conquered core China and by 670 was more or less done. I kept the Korean city (unstable) and the NW region last, for 700-720. Then you just have to defend from barbs (choke-points are NE, Hemp city, Tibet). Handan was my military city with all those Workshops.

UHV2: Gokturks friendly-vassalized but they annoyingly collapsed in 825 AD (might be scripted). I joined Chenla against their war with their neighbors (Champa), captured their 2 cities, liberated 1. That was enough for Chenla to friendly vassalize. Capitulation on Champa was not working... Then in the end I also got to friendly-vassalize Tibet, after being very nice to them, not trading with their Worst Enemy, giving them resources and techs for free, etc.

UHV3: Easy one as long as you develop your cities with Cottages etc.

Stability: At some point mid game I became unstable, but there wasn't any anarchy. GAs helped in the end

 

[Andrrew]

Gupta

UHV1: Control India in 500 AD.
UHV2: Build the Iron Pillar, Nalanda University, and Dhamek Stupa.
UHV3: Have 3 GAs by 510 AD.

Civics: Empire / Vassalage / Caste System / Decentralization / State Religion (Trade Economy tends to destabalize).
Techs: Beeline for the Wonder techs: Nalanda, Pillar, Stupa. Fine to trade techs as long as you have a lead.

UHV1: The unique Marksmen unit is weak, but cheap. So I just built a lot of them, and let them die occassionally (once they are promoted to Combat I + anti-archer, they are formidable). I had most of India by ~370 AD. Kushan units spawn around 405 AD in NW India, so better not to conquer no NWernmost cities until then. Barbs will attack constantly around Lahore.

UHV2: Cottages + trading with Europe for Health resources + Nalanda + GAs means your economy will be powerful, so it should be an issue. Hammer-boosting wonder should be priority for capital right after spawn.

UHV3: WIth UP, you only need 4 GPs to start 3 GAs. Pick 3 cities and really push them, some of them can work 4 specialists easily, and they count double during GAs.
I'm not sure the 2UHV auto-GA in 500 AD counts or not, but it is easy to get there without. One thing to remember, you need to let each GA period before starting the next one, otherwise the counter won't register it.

Stability: Stable given strong civic combo + later lot of GAs and extra happiness.

 

[Andrrew]

Goguryeo

UHV1: Control 6 provinces by 300 AD.
UHV2: Be the first East Asian civ to adopt Buddhism.
UHV3: #1 in Culture in 400 AD.

Civics: Monarchy / Tyranny initially. Later on Empire / Vassalage / Patronage / State Religion.
Techs: Priorities are Literature, State Religion, Philosophy (free tech), Monasticism. I was trading techs when possible as no need to have a real tech lead for the UHVs. Even gifted cheap techs to OB.

UHV1: Starting units conquered 4 Han cities in Buyeo, Yan, and Zhao provinces. They had 1 marksman defender in each, so with 1 unit sacrifice you can usually capture them. Then I rested a bit, improved the cities, then attacked again and captured the eastern Qin city (great production city). I rested again, then around 80 AD also captured the western Qin city which triggered the 6 province requirement; this city is not that useful and my economy was getting weak so I gifted it away. The mongols attack all your Chinese cities around 100 AD with big stacks of HAs; you will need Walls and strong defenders of at least 6-7 troops each (Heavy Spear / Marksmen / Spearmen).

UHV2: I did it "the hard way", by sending a Galley with a Pilgrim to North Vietnam, then had the Pilgrim cross the jungle to get to Buddhist holy city, then back to spread it to my capital. Once I had State Religion tech, I switched to Buddhism, triggering GA. As soon as I could I switched to Confucianism and spread it to all my cities.

UHV3: I emphasized culture buildings, culture national wonder, and Artist speacialists from early on. The GA culturebomb only adds 4k culture, which is not that much given the marathon timescale. But nevertheless I did 3 culture bombs. I also put my culture slider to ~50-70% once I had the required tech. Rome is the only risk but they will lag behind once Eastern Rome breaks away, so I had a comfortable 2x lead by 400 AD. The Jin spaws will flip your Chinese cities; I moved my troops out of the cities and then declared war and reconquered them. I also conquered 2 Qi cities after as I had strong military (Heavy Spear + Marksmen) and my stability was Ok after putting Courthouses everywhere.

Stability: Initially stable; then unstable but relatively manageable given Courthouses + extra happiness from the Culture slider.

 

[Andrrew]

Jin (Northern)

UHV1: Control China by 300 AD.
UHV2: 6 luxury resources by 350 AD.
UHV3: First to discover Stirrup.

Civics: Empire / Tyranny / Agrarianism initially. Later on Vassalage / Decentralization.
Techs: Just beelined Stirrup.
Cities: All cities should start with a Spearman (so that you can relieve your Marksmen defenders from central cities), then Worker (improve luxuries, than cottages everywhere), then good production cities should build more military, then Market / Courthouse / Library / Taxation.

UHV1: As the Northern kingdom you have a formidable starting force. I started with SW becaues of luxuries; captured most Zhao cities with acceptable losses. Then recharged, and attacked the green player as well. Over time my forces prevailed, especially once I get to a few CR2/CR3 special spearmen. Then I waited until ~280 AD to capture the 2 northern cities missing. One food-rich city should build a Settler for the empty province.

UHV2: You will get 7 if you capture and hold UHV1 territories.

UHV3: 2UHV GA + another GA started by the first GP meant that my economy was super strong during the late 200s / early 300s. As long as you defend from barb attacks there is not much else to do. I reached Stirrup in 336 AD.

Stability: Stable all along thanks to Courthouses, happiness, and strong economy.

Note that, similar to some other civs, the game did not register my UHV3 (remained "Not Yet" even after discovering Stirrup.

 

[Andrrew]

Maurya

UHV1: Control Maurya Empire by 200 BC.
UHV2: Build 10 Edicts by 200 BC.
UHV3: Spread Buddhism to all cities of India by 150 BC.

Civics: Despite the UP being that State Religion is available, I switch over to Paganism, as on Emperor you are lacking Happiness in the initial phase and you have too many religions around. I also switched to Tyranny, also for Happiness reasons. Later on I switched to Empire and State Religion.
Techs: No real tech is needed; I put my science to 0% and only increased once my economy was comfortably managing my massive army and empire. Most useful tech is Code of Laws to switch to Empire. Important to meet Seleucids relatively early so that you can OB and trade (commerce) plus swap techs as well.
Cities: Capital builds Elephants ad nauseam. All other cities start with Worker, then Edict or Spearmen as needed for defense. Later on, top 3-4 production cities build Buddhist Temple and Buddhist missionaries / Pilgrim, plus a few more Elephants. For context, I finished the game with 11 Elephants and 13 Spearmen.

UHV1+2: Starting units (2 Elephant + 1 Axe) conquered Kalinka capital. Then Elephants moved towards the 2 Northeast Indian cities, and then down on the Indus river to conquer the 2 productive (flood plains + workshops) cities. Then the 2 indy cities in Saurashtra (and the new indy city next to capital). Then around 210 BC I finished the job by building a settler for Deccan, conquering the Kerala and Andhra indy cities, and the Persian indy city (the Kerala and Persian cities I gifted to Tamils / Seleucids quickly).

Key thing is to defend against indy / barb attackers. Deccan Axemen are the worst (needs promoted Archer / Axemen defenders or Elephants), but also Javelinmen from East / Northeast / Northwest (needs Archer or Elephant defenders). Newly conquered cities should have at least an Elephant or 2 Spearmen defenders.

UHV3: When Satavahana appeared, I attacked them with Elephants and then quickly made peace, gifted a tech, and they OB'd so I could just spread Buddhism peacefully. Tamils were also OB with me. There was 1 more Indy city in the south without Buddhism so I quickly captured, gifted to Tamils, and then went there with a Missionary. Victory achieved in 177 BC!

Stability: Initially stable; post GA I became unstable but by that point I had enough Happiness resources to manage.

 

[Andrrew]

Tocharians

UHV1: 5 OBs by 100 AD.
UHV2: Access to Incense and Silk by 100 AD.
UHV3: Spread Buddhism to 5 Chinese / Korean cities by 200 AD.

Civics: For whatever reason, as long as I stayed on Despotism I maintained a +1 stability effect from Civics. So I didn't switch away from Despotism. After the initial couple of turns I switched to Tyranny (happiness boost) and once possible Trade Economy.
Techs: The most important tech is Organized Religion, for UHV3. The second most important one is Sailing, to ensure maximum possible trade route access to other civs. Others are relatively optional.
Cities: I founded capital on spot. Later on I founded the following cities: Ferghana city (1S of Fur) in 175 BC, third core city with Silver and Fur in 150 BC, fourth core city 1W of Sheep in 115 BC. Cities balance Workers and defenders (initially Spearmen, later on Archers and eventually a couple of Horsemen as well), but otherwise prioritize Special Market and Taxation.

UHV1: Important to send an Spearman towards east to China, and another towards West (preferably going around Samarkand so that no war is triggered). I set my research to 0% initially, and gifted 30-75 gold (or even a tech) to everyone I encountered to OB; condition achieved in the first 30 turns or so. So this was easy. Eventually my western Spearman made it to Rome and met all other civs in the area, although this was challenging and I had to go around the Black Sea (Ptolemy didn't OB as I had to gift money to Seleucid who was their worst enemy). Later on I also sent an explorer Spearman to India to meet everyone there.

Initial conquest: I moved my starting Archers towards indy cities in Gansu and in Mongolian Steppe. The Xiongnu will appear shortly. I had a situation whereby I was able to capture their Mongolian Steppe city with my Archers, and also their freshly conquered but undefended Xianyang in China with my explorer Spearman! Afterwards they made peace with me and even offered another Chinese city (Taiyuan in Zhao) to me as part of the peace treaty. The 2 Chinese cities are great production centers; they built a couple of Spearmen and Workers, Market, some more military, and then Caravans to boost economy. Later on the Xiongnu declared war on me and I lost the Mongolian Steppe city but that was subsequently razed by Barbs so I didn't mind. Once I had a couple of Mercenary horses and a few more Archers / Spearmen, I finally also conquered Xiongnu's Gansu city thereby eliminating them.

Defense: Saka and Parthia might declare war occasionally, but by that point you should have a decent stack of defenders (or mercs if nothing else). Always tried to broker peace ASAP as Parthia in particular "breaks" the OB with Rome etc. and hence severely hurts your economy. Barbs will attack mainly in Samarkand/Ferghana and Gonsu; these cities need at least 3-4 defenders.

UHV3: I was monitoring Samarkand, and once it had only 2 defenders as a result of barb attacks (or them moving out their defenders towards the south), I conquered them with a stack of 3-4 Spears/Archers and 2-3 mercenary horses. I mined the Iron and ASAP built a Buddhist temple and a missionary, with the missionary making its way to Xianyang (hastened by the silk road that my bored Workers actually built) which was my best production city. Later this city spread Buddhism to Han cities. Condition achieved some time before 1 AD.

UHV2: This one is completely nuts. Silk you can get almost immediately from Han. But only Saba has more than 1 Incense, and they will never trade with you as they have the Incense Corporation and they don't want to lose their bonuses. As a result, I prepared a stack of a couple of Mercenary / own Horses, and made my way to Saba... They only had 1 city, with a couple of Spear and Javelin defenders. It was a painful fight, but in the end I managed to conquer their capital with 1 Horse surviving... Then I just waited 20 turns for the culture to expand and achieved victory in 23 AD!

Stability: Stable all along, despite 9/10 cities, thanks to +1 from Civics, happy cities (growth limitation is health and lack of food), and 4 core cities (although empire had a -2 or -3 penalty). Close to the end, I started a GA with a GM, which was prolonged by the 2UHV GA.

 

[Andrrew]

Bactria

UHV1: Build a Palace and a Royal Mint in Taxila by 100 BC.
UHV2: Control 3 Indian provinces by 50 BC.
UHV3: Have 3 cities with both Buddhism and Hellenism, and settle 1 GP/GS in each by 50 AD.

Civics: Switched to Tyranny early on; later switched to Empire.
Techs: You don't really need any techs. Very unlikely to reach Mathematics first for the GS. Organized Religion I got from India, as well as Horticulture (less important).
Cities: I founded capital on spot. Second settler founded Sogdiana city 1N of Horse (great production site, gets you Horse quickly, has Salt, good defensive chokepoint against Barbs, and outside of target regions of Saka). Capital starts with Catapult, then Hellenic Temple and 2 Hellenic missionaries; second city builds Barracks and Horsemen and later once you have Iron Heavy Spears.
Later on also put down a second core city 1S of Sheep although arguably it may not be important.
Civs: as usual, worthwhile sending 1 merc horseman to China and another to Egypt/Antigonids, gift as necessary to OB, and trade resources and techs aggressively.

Initial conquest: The luckiest starting roll is when Maurya has Taxila (with nicely improved land) but weakly defended. Same for Seleucids and the Arachosia and Margiana cities. I was able to quickly hire Horse Archer mercs and conquer all 3 cities. Then I continued south to capture Punjab city and Sindh city as well. Quickly made peace with everyone once possible. Samarkand needed a Cat to break down defenses. Conquered cities build 1-3 Spears as necessary for happiness or to defend against barbs/indies, then Barracks, and Heavy Spears. I captured a ton of Workers so was able to quickly max out the land (focused on Production i.e. Workshops) and build roads to support defense against barbs.

UHV2: As above, achieved quite quickly, around 190 BC.

UHV1: Once conquered, Taxila beelined for Palace and Royal Mint, finished around 135 BC. I did not bother with the Gold as it is in a very poor location.
Annoyingly, there was a bug in the mod and my GA did not trigger...

Defense: Saka gets 2 rounds of auto unit spawns to attack you. Assuming you can conquer the cities as above, this UHV is really about surviving Saka.
Round 1: 114BC, units spawn next to each city in the following provinces: Sindh, Margiana, Arachosia.
Round 2: 91 BC, following provinces: Sindh, Punjab, Bactria, Arachosia.
The number of units spawn scales with the number of defenders in each city... so best is to move your troops next to the city but only leave 1 actual defender inside the city. This case they get 3 HAs, 1 Spear, and 1 Archer next to each city in the target provinces.
I pursued "active defense" meaning I attacked their troops immediately before them having a chance to attack me. I built up a big stack of merc HAs, Horsemen, and Heavy Spears. The first round was easy, then between the first and second rounds I also got some barb spawns between Taxila and Punjab, which weakened my troops. Eventually I managed to second round with moderate troop losses, but then had to conquer their southern Arachosia city to make peace.

UHV3: Margiana city had Buddhism so I rushed a Temple there (supported by Laborer as production is abysmal) and built a Missionary who spread it to Taxila and later on Taxila spread it to my Horse city. GP generators are Margiana city, initial capital, and Taxila. Initial capital and Taxila builds Temples and Library accordingly, and emphasizes specialists as much as possible. Taxila also built the Grand Anicut as that also adds +1 GP point. Victory achieved in 22 BC!

Parthia: they can amass huge stacks so best is to placate them, accept and tribute demands, occasionally gift them a tech to make them Pleased (then ask for 10 Golds as a favor to trigger Peace Treaty), etc...

Stability: I became unstable around mid-game due to the conquests. Happiness was not an issue, but by late game I was not able to discover any techs without anarchy / seccessions, so I just avoided discovering techs...

 

[Andrrew]

Han

UHV1: Control the Han Empire territories by 100 BC.
UHV2: Discover Paper by 100 AD.
UHV3: 2x population vs. the #2 in 150 AD.

Civics: Switched to Tyranny early on and switched away from Slavery; later switched to Empire, Bureaucracy, and Trade Economy once possible.
Techs: Beelined for Paper. Afterwards, prioritized Health Building techs / Food techs / military techs (although Heavy Spear is as good a unit as you want to have and Lancers are too expensive to build).
Cities: I founded capital on spot. Your big stack of troops should focus on former Qin capital (ideally indy), and then Shu and Chu provinces, and eventually Nan Yue's 2 provinces. Do NOT attack Zhao province as the Steppe civ will auto spawn shortly; attack them a bit later once you have a couple of nice CR2/3 Heavy Spears.
Linzi starts with 3 Galleys to defend vs piracy. Handan is the military city (workshops everywhere), starts with Cat (to conquer walled indy Ji in Yan province) and then Barracks + Heavy Spears. Extra Settler founded Hofei (Fish/Iron/Timber adjacent; great production powerhouse) who can also produce military. Generally cities should emphasize Spears or Worker if needed, Market (your economy is initially in the toilet), then Library, then Observatory, border provinces Walls as well.
Central/South China provinces will need plenty of defenders (Archers and Heavy Spears) against barbs. Yan cities need Heavy Spears against barbs.
Civs: as usual, worthwhile sending 1 Caravan to the West, gift as necessary to OB, and trade resources and techs aggressively.

UHV1: As above, by 150 BC I was only missing the Stone city, the NE Yan city, an empty province in Ba province (build a Settler), and the Gansu / Tarim provinces. By 100 BC I conquered Gansu and the Stone city and made peace with the Khanate. Around 90 BC I conquered the missing Yan city. Eventually my Heavy Spears made their way to Tarim as well (built roads with workers) and the UHV was fulfilled around 80 BC. Immediately afterwards I gifted away the Tarim and Gansu cities as they were just a drag to my economy with no food around.

UHV2: I emphasized Cottages. Plus traded for Health, which means my cities were able to grow big. I also filled up the nice empty space with several cities (Rice/Copper city, Dye/Silk/Cow city, Gem/Sorghum/Hemp city, Citrus/Dye/Fish city, Wu city 2S of Pig, Sheep/Cow/FloodPlain city, Rice/Tea city). Reached Paper by ~10 BC.

Defense: The Khanate gets 2 rounds of auto unit spawns to attack you, around 90 AD and 100 AD. First round only affects Gansu I believe, while the second round all their border provinces (Qin Zhao Yan etc).
The number of units spawn scales with the number of defenders in each city... so best is to move your troops next to the city but only leave 1 actual defender inside the city. This case they get 4 HAs, 1 Spear, and 1 Archer next to each city in the target provinces.
I pursued "active defense" meaning I attacked their troops immediately before them having a chance to attack me. I built up a big stack of Heavy Spears (7-8 per affected city).

UHV3: With the above I had 25 cities, all bar 1-2 can grow to ~10-11 or even 12 if pushing into unhealthiness. All cities prioritized the 3 lategame health bonus buildings. My population was 1.35m in 150 AD vs Rome ~0.5m.

Stability: I became unstable around UHV1 fulfillment due to the conquests; once I managed to launch a GA with a GP I got stable again and remained stable till the end game.

 

[Andrrew]

Qin

UHV1: Build the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall by 215 BC.
UHV2: Control the Qin Empire territories by 210 BC.
UHV3: Control 9 provinces in 100 BC.

Civics: Tyranny/Slavery/Paganism initially (even though the Unhappiness penalty is brutal), until you are done with UHV1 with the support of slave rushes. Then turn off Slavery.
Techs: You will be losing money at 0% tech for most of the game, so doesn't matter that much, but the key tech is Horticulture (happiness) which I got from Gojoseon once half tech'ed (previously had to gift another tech to them to make them Cautious).
Cities: This UHV is a grind. All your cities will be just building Spearmen or Taxation. Capital should build the Terracotta and then the Great Wall, then Market otherwise you go bankrupt... Late game your cities can build Market but there is not much else. Han flipzone should not build Market given you will lose it. You will also need a dozen of Workers or so, so build them if you didn't manage to conquer them. I did not bother with Bronzeworks much although it helps on the margin with the happiness boost. First GP (GE) rushed the Royal Mint which saved me from bankruptcy. Next GP started GA and helped with stability. The Iron city should build a Catapult to capture the walled cities ASAP.

UHV1: This is the easy one with the support of the Slaves. Finished by 280 BC.

UHV2: All cities build Spearmen... Over the course of the game I built 56 Spearmen... There is no money for mercs unfortunately.
My conquest path was Luoyang, Handan, Linzi (by 295 BC), Qufu, Ying, Ji, Shouchun (by 270 BC), Wuxi, Shangsha, Jinpyeong, Panyu (by 250 BC).
If impatient to get the Cats to the walled cities, you can also lure out defenders one-by-one with a single weak approaching attacker.
Annoyingly, there was another bug in the mod and my GA did not trigger...

Defense: The Khanate only attacks Taiyuan around 210 BC; by that time you have a big stack of nicely promoted Spears for active defense (stationed outside of the city to ensure Khanate gets minimum number of troops).
Nan Yue shows up in 200 BC. I let the southern city go as it is a too distant province with too frequent barb attacks, plus the Nan Yue attacks with Axes so it is a bit of a meatgrind to beat them when I also need to fight the Han. Pearls is not a big loss as you don't even have the Galley tech to defend your naval resources.

UHV3: The Han show up in 210 BC, with an INSANE stack of Archers in their capital, and a distant huge stack of Spears and Chariots. I amassed a crazy stack of CR2/3 Spears and unleashed my forces on them. Despite huge losses, I prevailed... Reconquered the flipped provinces between 210 BC and 160 BC (with an initial Peace Treaty and then multiple rounds of Cease Fire peaces, as I needed time to heal and produce more Spears).
Han has conquered Min Yue city and put down 2 more cities in Wu, so in total I ended up with 15 cities. This is not great from stability perspective but I did not collapse, and only had 1 anarchy turn once when Gojoseon declared war on me.
I did not put down a Settler for Ba (or any other unoccupied province that may exist somewhere afar); if you are really struggling with Han/stability you could let them have the 4-city Han province and just put down a city in Ba.

Stability: I became unstable around UHV1 fulfillment due to the conquests; once I managed to launch a GA with a GP I got stable again and remained stable till the end game.

 

[Andrrew]

Gojoseon

UHV1: Kill 20 Chinese units and conquer 3 Chinese cities by 100 BC.
UHV2: First to discover Marksmanship.
UHV3: Never lose a city by 50 BC.

Civics: Tyranny/Dynasty Cult (you'll have religions but the special Monument will counter-balance).
Techs: I beelined for Marksmanship. Once done, it doesn't really matter but you can get Alphabet and then trade with everyone to catch up.
Cities: I built my second city next to Sheep, with Timber and Fur in BFC. Around 250 BC I founded a South Korean city (on top of Hill so that you can build 2 adjacent cottages). Cities build Workers as needed, a couple of Spearmen for defense and Happiness, Capital churns out a handful of Horsemen, then everyone builds Observatory and then Tribute. Once available, I also built a couple of Heavy Spears to support my northern forest/hill defenses against barbs.

UHV1: The nice Horsemen made their way to China, and started picking up stray units in the open terrain to gain experience. I was able to quickly capture Taiyuan (~280BC) from Qin; later on also Walled Jin (~260 BC) with limited losses (only 2 Spear defenders + I had Flanking promoted Horse). Finally Qin former capital (now indy) was captured around 170 BC.

UHV2: With the above build order, and effective defense vs. barbs in the north, I got Marksmanship around 115 BC (boosted by a GA in the end as I got my first GS).

UHV3: As above, the only risk is barbs. The Khanate attack is not very strong (3 Horses / 1 Archer / 1 Spear) around 210 BC. Han was friendly to me.

Stability: I became unstable around mid-game, but no anarchy / secessions, and after GA I was stable again.

 

[Andrrew]

Sassanids

UHV1: Control Darius's empire by 450 AD.
UHV2: Build 3 Zoroastrian cathedrals by 600 AD.
UHV3: Have a city with Legendary culture.

Civics: Empire/Vassalage/Slavery/Patronage/State Religion. Best 2 production cities should prioritize building missionaries early on.
Techs: You don't need any techs; your UP allows you to build State Religion cathedrals. I set my slider to 0% (was thinking of putting the % on culture but UHV3 was very quick actually). At some point Jin was willing to trade Bridge Building and another tech with me which was a nice to have.
Cities: I didn't build cities, only conquered. Capital focuses on Market and then culture buildings, Royal Mint, and Mausoleum. Almost every single Slave I brought back to the Capital (most conquered land was already nicely improved) so this supercharged production speed. Later on 1-2 best production cities built Cataphracts, while other cities built Spearman, Worker if needed, Zoro Temple, Market, Theater, Library.

UHV1: I mopped up Parthia post flip, and then focused on Rome (Levant, Egypt priority) and in the eastern front Kushan. I was cautious and attacked, conquered a couple of cities, and then made peace/ceasefire to heal. By 300 AD I had most of what was needed, except for Gandhara (foreign core). I balanced progress with defense against barbs as needed. Around 320 AD I conquered Gandhara as well.

UHV2: Once you hooked up all the resources across your empire, your cities can grow nicely. It is fairly easy to build the temples and a cathedrals quite early on. I was done with this around 300-310 AD.
Annoyingly, there was another bug in the mod and my UHV2 did not register...

UHV3: I emphasized artist specialists in the core GP candidate cities (capital, Babirush, Gondeshapur, Alexandria). I got 2 GAs by 322 AD, at which point my capital reached Legendary culture (each GA is +4000, and organically you can generate over 100 culture per turn).
Annoyingly, there was another bug in the mod and my UHV3 did not register...

Stability: I became unstable around mid-game, but no anarchy / secessions, and I was not researching any techs in any case...

 

[Andrrew]

Kushan

UHV1: #1 in trade route income in 200 AD.
UHV2: #1 in culture in 250 AD.
UHV3: #1 in land area in 300 AD.

Civics: Monarchy/Tyranny/Slavery initially; later on switched to Vassalage, and to Trade Economy once possible.. Stayed Pagan given the mixture of religions.
Techs: Plenty of techs I was able to trade or partially trade (sending 2 Caravans to east and west asap), including Fishing, Sailing, Calendar, Siege Engines, Crop Rotation, Code of Laws, and many others. Early priority is Bulk Trade and then Manufactured Trade as UHV1 can be tight. I got the latter in 197 AD...
Early conquest: Post flip, you can split your army in 2 and expand both in India and in Iran, by quickly conquering Multan, Lavapuri, Artacoana, Merv, Qandahar, Pattala, and Hecatompylos (by ~60-65 AD). This is a nice and productive base to develop over the next 50-70 years.
Cities: I waited to flip. You can put down a few more Core cities once your economy is strong, such as the gold city (starting spot), Bukhara with Horse and Cotton, northern core city with Sheep and Sorhhum. But actually your first settler should go to the Fur resource in Ferghana quickly as you will need happiness. All cities built Spearman, Worker if needed, Market, Fairground once possible, culture buildings (Library, Theater), Courthouse once possible. Taxila built Grand Anicut, Royal Mint, Royal Mausoleum (rushed by Slaves). Samarqand and Taxila built HAs, and Multan Heavy Spears as needed.
Second wave of conquests: I conquered Dwarka and Palitana in 109 AD, and then around 140 AD I really restarted conquests (Indraprashta, Kannauj, Varanasi, Pataliputra, Bhodgaya, Bharuch, Ujjain).

UHV1: I had 24 cities, most of them with Fairgrounds. Importantly, I had 9 OBs including Rome, Ptolemy, and Armenia (who was Huge). The UHV screen said I had a trade value of 187, it did not say where the #2 was but I had a comfortable lead (the demographics screen said my net exports is 41 vs. #2 at 25).
Annoyingly, there was another bug in the mod and my UHV1 did not register...
The counter continued to show the value until around 250 AD when it said I failed. At that point it seemed Rome was ahead of me (counter saying me at 220 vs Rome at 320).

UHV2: I only culture bombed with one GA, otherwise I had a comfortable lead given my number of cities.

UHV3: After 200 AD, I continued with conquering rest of India except for the 2 Tamil cities, finished by ~250 AD. I defended successfully against the two Indian auto-spawns as well, for which you need a lot of defenders.
Rome was really crushing it, expanding in all directions. I was thinking of building a bunch of settlers and populating the steppe, but then I decided it will be easier to just attack Rome (I had OB with Sassanids who were at war with Rome). I conquered 4-5 Levant cities which was more then enough to push them into #2, and achieving victory in 300 AD!

Stability: Interestingly I was stable all along; probably the fact that I had no Foreign Core provinces helped. The Huge happiness bonus is also good (across the empire I had 14 happiness resources plus the various bonuses the buildings add). I actually switched in the very late game to Empire but I think both Empire and Monarchy are OK.

 

[Andrrew]

Parthia

UHV1: Palace and National Epic in Ctesiphon by 50 BC.
UHV2: 5% of land area by 50 AD.
UHV3: Kill 20 Roman units.

Civics: Monarchy/Slavery, rest on first row.
Techs: Initially you can get a bunch of techs via trading (Horticulture, Fishing, Siege Engines, Astronomy, Calendar, Sailing). You need Literature for your UHV and I did not manage to trade for that one, so had to organically tech it. You want to limit your expansion a bit until you get to Literature, which I got in 82 BC with 18 cities.
Cities: Capital on spot; second settler founded Aspadana; third settler a bit later founded another core city in the NW (next to grassland and flood plains, with Claims in BFC). All cities build Spearman or Worker if needed, Market, Library. You can often rush these with Slaves. Top 4-5 production cities build Stable and Horse Archers. Ctesiphon builds Palace and Royal Mint (rushed by excess Slaves). Babylon starts with rushed Library so that it can work an Artist specialist quickly, and then a second specialist switching between Scientist and Merchant to maximize GA chances.

UHV1: As above, done in 82 BC.

UHV2: Initially waited for flips, then conquered Sousa, Babylon, Seleukeia, Damascus, Antioch, Arbela, Tsor, Jerusalem, Charax, Artashat (by 115 BC). Waited for Saka declaration, then conquered Margiana and made peace. Waited for second Saka wave, then declared war on them a bit later with a huge stack of HAs, and conquered Samarqand, Balkh, Artacoana, Ai-Khanoum, Qandahar, then made peace in exchange for Multan (by 80 BC). I healed and regrouped in the west, and declared war on Antigonids and captured Ankara, Tarsos, Byzantion, then made peace (by 67 BC). Then finally declared war on Rome, and conquered 7 of their cities in Greece / Balkans / Northern Italy, which got me above 5% around 58 BC.

UHV3: As above, the final Roman push got me the 20 units (workers / slaves count) in 54 BC, achieving victory!

Stability: Interestingly I was stable all along; trading for extra happiness resources (Gold, Pearl) helped. Also I did not really have cities in Foreign Core and had plenty of Core cities.

 

[Andrrew]

Rome (Empire)

UHV1: Control the Med by 75 BC
UHV2: Roma #1 in population in 50 AD
UHV3: Control greatest extent of Roman Empire by 175 AD

Civics: Oligarchy, Bureaucracy, Slavery, Paganism. Once my empire was sizable, switched to Empire. Also switched to Trade Economy once possible.
Techs: Not crucial here, but I went for Horticulture (traded), Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy (91 BC, bulb Jurisprudence; put Courthouses everywhere asap), Bridge Building (easier to defend), etc.
Cities: I founded Rome on spot, and Venice city with Cow, Lumber, Crab in BFC. All cities prioritized Forum, Library, Fishery, apart from 1-3 Spear defenders and Wealth. You won't need to build a lot of Workers as you'll get plenty of Slaves. The best production cities also built Barracks and Legions, and later on as needed almost all cities can produce Legions. Also important to build plenty of Galleys for defense and transport. I stacked up ~5 GPs and started a perpetual GA around 30 BC.
Early Conquests: indy Dye city, two indy Iberian cities (one with Silver), Egypt (by 240 BC), Athens/Pella/Epidamnos (by 210 BC).

UHV1: As above, what's missing is Carthage areas, Sicily, Asia Minor, Levant. Carthage collapsed, so it was easy. I waged a multi-front war, opportunistically attacking weak Indy target cities or weak civs with CR3+ veterans. I waited for Judea to spawn before conquering that province. All target provinces got by ~120 BC.
UHV3: With the continued mass production of Legions, you can gradually conquer all required provinces. Mesopotamia was bloody for me, as both Seleucids and Parthians had insane stacks, but my numbers eventually prevailed. I got the condition by ~3 AD. The only settlers needed were for Britain and Portugal. I gifted away the Britain and Crimea cities but kept the rest. Key thing is to defend against the insane stacks of barbs attacking from all directions; early game chokeholds are Iberian Silver city (Javelinmen - defend with 2 Javelinmen and 1 Legion), Dye city (1 stray Spear/Javelin - defend with 1 Javelin and 2 Spears), Venice city (Axemen/Spearmen - defend with starting Archer and Spearmen, later on Legions), Pella (Horsemen mainly - defend with Spearmen and later on 3 Legions in case Axemen show up), Egypt and Africa (Spears and Horses - defend with Spears). Late game, the numbers get brutal esp. in Illyricum but also in Egypt and most of North Africa (stacks of 4-6 or even more) so you will need huge stacks of Legions defending.

UHV2: As above, the last 50 turns was just defending against barbs. Rome can go up to 10 or 11 or so, which is well above anyone else.

Stability: Stable all the way, helped by good civic combo, strong economy, and perpetual golden age in the last 100 years.

Stats:
Finished with 52 cities
Built: 65 Legions, 56 Spearmen, 11 Galleys
Killed: over 600 units...