Epic Monarchs - going through the UHVs

[Strijder21]

I am going through the UHVs by order; this thread serves as an AAR compilation.

Egypt - 13082 - 170 AD
Babylon - 12690 - 170 BC
Harappa - 41375 - Turn 113
China - 7332 - 1744 AD
Greece - 62180 - 330 BC
Phoenicia - 36021 - 200 AD
Polynesia - 12858 - 1000 AD

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Egypt
Finish date: 170 AD
Score: 13082
Attempts: 2
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Difficulty: 2/10 - luck based, but the same tried and true strategy works for every game

Goals:

• Valley of Kings: Have more than 750 Culture in 850 BC
• Monuments on the Nile: Build the Pyramids (1950 BC), the Great Library (610 BC), and the Great Lighthouse (410 BC) by 100 BC
• The Ptolemaic Dynasty: Have more than 7500 Culture (13130) in 170 AD

Internal affairs:
I went Masonry first, and put hammers into Militia until reaching size 2, after which I switched to a worker. This gives you you first worker exactly at the point you get Masonry. Beelining is crucial - go Masonry (Pyramids) - Mythology (Sphinx) - Divination (Oracle), and then Literature (tech trading) - Philosophy (TGL) and Navigation (other TGL).

In terms of cities, I settled in place, founded Alexandria SE of the Dye in 1425 BC, and Kumma west of the Ivory in 1095 BC.

The culture goals are both trivially easy. You should get both The Pyramids and The Sphinx, in that order (if Babylon steals one, restart); by focusing on these wonders right at the start you meet the first goal handily. Don't forget that wonder culture doubles after 1000 years, so be sure to optimise your initial construction order if you have trouble with this. For the wonders, your main competitor is Greece; this is why it is essential to snag the Oracle from them (they start with Divination); this slows their tech speed significantly.

You'll get either a great engineer or a great prophet from your first two wonders; the great Engineer can be used to speed up one of your wonders (probably the Great Lighthouse, as Alexandria will have less production), whilst a Great Prophet can bulb Calendar. Later Great People can be settled or used for bulbing; you do not need great artist in order to achieve the UHV.

Using Commerce for Culture is on the required tech tree for the wonders, and it is possible to get double the culture (i.e. 15000) for the last goal with some optimisation. In my game, I started teching again and built some additional wonders once it became apparent I'd meet the goal, but none of these are essential to the UHV.

Foreign affairs
Getting Literature ASAP can help you to get unessential techs which can still be very useful (for example Smelting for the Sinai Copper, or Construction for Walls). Both Greece and Rome get conqueror events against you; the Greeks get two stacks consisting of a Companion Cavalry, two Hoplites and a Catapult whilst the Romans get two Legions and a Ballista. As it happens, your UU is an excellent counter against all of these units, so connect the horse and use excess production to get War chariots. A barracks is worth the investment for the amount you will need. They're also capable of cleaning up the nubian Archer spawns in the south, despite their bonus against Light Cavalry.

Spoiler :

[\SPOILER]

Spoiler :

[\SPOILER]

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Babylon
Finish date: 170 BC
Score: 12690
Attempts: 10? 11? I don't even know
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Difficulty: 8/10 - The tech path is an intricate puzzle which allows little choice, and the AI inevitably outtechs you on harder difficulties unless you get lucky or harass them.



Goals:

• Hammurabi's Code: Be the first to discover Construction (1170 BC), Arithmetics (1545 BC), Writing (1950 BC), Calendar (1545 BC) and Contract (1335 BC)
• The Fertile Crescent: Make Babylon the most populous city in the world in 850 BC
• The Tower of Babel: Make Babylon the most culturally advanced city in the world by 700 BC

Unique Unit: Asharittu Bowman - Completely irrelevant as you should not come into conflict before the finish date
Unique Building: Edubbe - The extra research and reduced cost are crucial to finish technologies on time. Rush writing.
Unique Power: The Cradle of Civilization - Receive a free technology for the first five technologies you research - Absolute crucial in achieving the UHV.

Internal affairs:
There is very, very little leeway for errors here. Civilizations spawn with technologies you need for the first goal, and the only one which is more or less uncontested is Contract - the rest should be acquired as quickly as possible in a set order. The tech order which worked for me was

Mining - (Masonry) - Mythology - (Property) - Ceremony - (Writing) - Sailing - (Divination) - Tanning - (Smelting) - [Arithmetics] - [Calendar] - Leverage - Construction - Contract,

with (bracketed) technologies being free through your UP, and [square bracketed] technologies being Oracled. Start with a worker, who can improve the Stone, the Sheep and Marble as soon as trained. After finishing the technologies, the other two UHVs are an afterthough - just run Redistribution, finish the Hanging Gardens at your leisure and build Militia with Monarchy for happiness.

Running two Scientists as soon as you get your library up in conjunction with the Pyramids might net you an earlier GE (if you get lucky!) and a Construction bulb, which could provide a non-cheese way to get Construction early (although you will rely on RNG).

India is your competitor for Calendar, Greece for Arithmetics and China for Construction. The Harappans might occasionally also get one of these technologies early on, in which case you'll have to restart.

In order to reach the Culture Goal, you'll have to snag the Pyramids from Egypt, otherwise Memphis might outperform you. Getting the Oracle as your second wonder is also a must to finish your teching on time.

Foreign affairs
Send your starting militia to China straight away, and ideally collect goodie huts and get Woodie II along the way. Harass China as much as possible in order to win the Construction race - ideally snag their starting worker, but razing a city might also suffice (they leave them undefended surprisingly often). Just declaring, squatting a forest hill and forcing their worker to sit idle may also suffice.

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[rmontaruli]

Very interesting!
You should move this thread in GamePlay Strategy section, and specify verson number of the mod you played, because there are some changes between different versions.

 

[Strijder21]

Very interesting!
You should move this thread in GamePlay Strategy section, and specify verson number of the mod you played, because there are some changes between different versions.

No idea on how to move the thread, but I'll make sure to include the version number in subsequent posts!

 

[HighFunctioningAlcoholic]

No idea on how to move the thread, but I'll make sure to include the version number in subsequent posts!

@Strijder21 @Leoreth Asking about moving the thread, since you don't already do enough free labor.

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Harappa
Finish date: Turn 113
Score: 41375
Attempts: 2
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 3/10 - Early build and settle order leaves no room for frivolities, but is straightforward. Very little randomness involved.



Goals:

• Trade Networks: Establish a trade route with another Civilization by 1600 BC.
• Architecture: Build three Reservoirs, two Granaries and two Smokehouses by 1500 BC
• Urban Planning: Have a total population of 30 by 800 BC

Unique Unit: City Builder - cheap settler which gives extra population for a new city. Absolutely crucial for the UHV.
Unique Building: Reservoir - Cheap bath which does not require Aquaduct. Needed for the UHV.
Unique Power: The Power of Sanitation: Positive health contributes to city growth during the Ancient era. Helps with the third goal.

Internal affairs:
There is only one trade route you can reasonably establish: a sea route to Babylon. You need Seafaring for this, as soon as possible, although there is time to research Pastoralism for pastures before beelining it.

City Builders are extraordinarly cheap, and new cities can contribute their hammers and food to building workers (and more city builders). Therefore, I recommend building two city builders in the capital (SIP) before switching to another build. Do not be concerned with settling cities right next to each other - this will be a short game.

Crucial for the second and third goal is actually getting enough cities out - building three cities and getting the buildings in all of them is not viable. You do not need any commerce beyond breaking even afer researching Seafaring and Masonry. Despotism and Monarchy can help you with respectively the second and the third goal, although whipping for the second goal obviously hinders the third. Settling cities right before the deadline in foreign territory can give you two additional population per city builder.

Foreign affairs
Make sure to explore up the Persian coast up to the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates with your initial Militia, and leave them there to maintain contact with Babylon.

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: China
Finish date: 1744 AD
Score: 7332
Attempts: 2
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 6/10 - All three goals are sufficiently challenging; their long timespan offers some breathing room for economic development initially.



Goals:

• Mandate of Heaven: Build 2 Confucian Cathedrals and 2 Taoist Cathedrals by 1000 AD
• The Four Great Inventions: Be first to discover Compass, Paper, Gunpowder and Printing
• Ten Thousand Years: Experience four golden ages by 1800 AD.

Unique Unit: Firelancer: Weaker Arquebushier which inflicts collateral damage. Useful against the Mongols.
Unique Building: Taixue: Library with additional Scientist and Statesmen slot. Statesmen sync will with Meritocracy.
Unique Power: The Power of Myriads: Extra 25% saved after city growth. Useful passive economic buff; helps with recovering from plagues (cough).

Internal affairs:
Calendar is absolutely crucial early game. Your land is littered with Plantation resources, which provide not only happiness but also much needed . Most of them are forested over, so be sure to quickly follow up with Smelting.

After getting those two techs and Property for cottages, beeline Construction in order to get the Great Wall up. Horse Archers start to spawn right before the Korean spawn (50 BC), so you'll definitely feel sorry if you haven't got it up by then. Make sure to extend your border as far north as possible before finishing the wonder (read as: conquer Simyan Hoton before doing so).

Next up are Dujiangyan and The Great Canal. A city in the centre of China will take ideal advantage of both (no reason to not build them in the same city). Neither obsoletes within the span of your UHV. Continue with beelining Paper, Compass, Gunpowder and Printing in that order. Later on, the Forbidden Palace can save you tens of per turn, while the Porcelain Tower's effects are tailor-made for your civilization.

Said city will make a great capital with Centralism and Regulated Trade. That said, Meritocracy is also tailor-made for China and comes much earlier within the legitimacy civic category. Slavery syncs well with your tile improvements, with Caste System being an alternative more friendly to generate more . Monarchy is crucial for getting happiness early game and really has no competitor throughout the UHV (except Despotism if you are running late with the temple goals).

Note that for the first goal, you'll need at least 8 cities (and ideally 9 or 10) with some production to speak of. Staying within China proper, this will mean some overlap between your workable tiles. By settling three cities in your core, you do however have the option to expand further - conquering Korea, settling Manchuria, settling Hanoi on the grassland hill (does not flip to the Khmer or Thai!) or even grabbing an Indian exclave are all viable options. Manila is also only a stonethrow away and has copper for production, although you will have to defend it against the Spanish later.

The third UHV goal requires nine Great People, as you get one free Golden Age through achieving the first two goals. This is tough - and you are partially luck-dependent on generating the right GP so you can fire golden ages with them. In my game, I realised I would not meet the goal, but switching to Islam for five turns and GE building the Taj Mahal did the trick. Keeping a lucky GE on hand can help with this strategy.

Foreign affairs

Simyan Hoton (Shenyang) spawns some turns before the Korean spawn. It is not a very impressive city foodwise, but has enough production to get two temples going by 1000 AD. Be aware that it flips to the Mongols, but reconquering it with

Korea, Japan, Khmer and Tibet spawn on the fringes of your empire; only the former is decent at teching (and might actually compete with you for the second goal).

Agressively trade your technologies away for gold to fund your teching, especially after achieving your second UHV. Remember that many civilizations are not really competing you for the position of tech leader. Getting Cartography early can help you establishing contacts to further this goal.

The Mongolian invasion army is rather impressive, and consists mainly of 10 Keshiks. Ideally you counter these with Firelancers and Knights; Cho-Ko-Nu's also do the job, although slightly worse. Siege units are not needed thanks to your two UUs. Having an army of about 30 up-to-date units should suffice to eliminate the Mongol threat.

Mainland China:

Spoiler :

Chinese Manchuria:

Spoiler :

The Chinese Indies:

Spoiler :

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Greece
Finish date: 330 BC
Score: 62180
Attempts: 1
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 4/10 - Needs some luck with military victories in the beginning and generated GP, but eliminating your competition makes the last two goals a breeze.


Goals:

• The School of Hellas: Be the first to discover Mathematics, Literature, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Medicine
• Alexander's Empire: Control Egypt, Phoenicia, Babylon and Persia in 330 BC.
• Wonders of the Aegean: Build the Parthenon, Colossus, the Statue of Zeus and the Temple of Artemis by 250 BC.

Unique Unit: Hoplite: Strong Spearman. Do the job at all your military needs in conjunction with Catapults.
Companion: Strong Horseman, but Riding is not in your teching path.
Unique Building: Odeon: Theatre with extra happiness. Useful as is hard to come by early game.
Unique Power: The Power of Great People: GP are generated quicker in the Classical era.

Internal affairs:
In terms of teching, you have your work cut out: get Literature first, and get Mathematics by the time the Romans spawn; follow up with Philosophy and end with Medicine and Aesthetics.

Settle Korinth on the Marble, and settle a core city near the copper. Your core is really extensive and allows four decent cities, so be sure to follow up with a city in Anatolia and near Byzantion once you get some Hoplites up for safety.

Your GPs are crucial to achieving all the goals in time, but they are somewhat unpredictable, through the plethora of wonders you have. Some trial and error may be required. Bulb with all great persons, except possibly for Engineers (which can be used to rush a wonder if needed) and Great Merchants (which, if gotten early, may yield more value from a trade mission than their technologies).

Republic is not a great civic this early on in the game; both Despotism and Monarchy outperform it. Consider switching.

Foreign affairs

Rush Egypt with your starting Hoplites and galleys. They should have built the Pyramids already; if not, restart. The developed lands there will kickstart your economy, and eliminate a competitor for wonders.

It's also possible to follow up with taking Babylon out of the game, although your Hoplites will have quite some work in defeating the Anatolian chariots on both sides of the map.

Persia can be defeated with solely Hoplites (no need to get Companions) and Catapults. Despotism is not needed, but helps.

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[black213]

Did you use your prophets to build shrines, or saved them for GAs in your China game?

 

[Strijder21]

Did you use your prophets to build shrines, or saved them for GAs in your China game?

I built shrines, but if you want to pop three golden ages with GP (and not the Taj), you should save them. You probably also shouldn't fire your first GA after getting two great people - saving them up for later makes it easier to determine which of your GP are 'rare' and which are not.

 

[black213]

Getting the Ishtar Gate is possible as China, provided that Construction is beelined. The early specialist slots are delicious, helps a lot with the early economy struggles. Would this be a less optimal move than beelining Calendar (and Alloys)? I can't say.

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Phoenicia
Finish date: 200 AD
Score: 36021
Attempts: 3
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 8/10 - While the first goal is borderline trivial, if a little luck-dependent, and the second goal is doable, the last goal is the hardest I had to tackle so far.


Goals:

• New Tyre: Build a Palace and the Great Cothon in Carthage by 300 BC (530 BC)
• The Punic Wars: Control Italy and Iberia in 100 BC
• Traders in Purple: Have 7500 gold in 200 AD

Unique Unit: Sacred Band: Spearman with extra city Strength and Amphibious. Not really useful, as your other unique unit, the...
Numidian Cavalry, is downright the strongest UU of the classical era. They receive a +50% bonus against melee units, and start with Disengage I, so with a sStable
Unique Building: Glasssmith. Market which increases trade yields. Always make the calculation if this building will pay itself back by 200 AD, as opposed to its indirect 100 gold cost!
Unique Power: Can always gold-buy units; pays half the cost and no extra upkeep for hurried units. Extremely useful to spam out Numidian Cavalry in a city with a Barracks and a Stable.

Internal affairs:
Beeline straight for Currency, but keep sufficient gold in reserve for rushbuying units. Do not research any technology not on this beeline path. Currency is needed to make use of the free Merchant slot Republic gives.

Settle Sur in place, and send a settler, worker, workboat and garrison unit on their way to Carthage. Build three settlers in Sur to get Rusadir on the Dye, an Iberian city near the silver and a Moroccan city south of the camel ASAP. Garrisons can be built afterwards by this city, as barbarian activity is initially non-existent.

Start off with a Baalist temple in Carthage, followed by eight turns of putting hammers into a harbor, the Great Cothon, the finishing touches to the harbor and the Palace. Follow up with a Barracks and a Stable. The Great Cothon will generate GM points for a Great Merchant.

I was Collapsing for the last fifteen turns of the game. Incentivizing growth in your core cities may be a good idea.

The Temple of Zeus may be worth it if you receive Cement from the Romans. Shaving off ten turns of revolt time can easily pay back 65 gold in the right city.

Foreign affairs

After getting your Barracks and Stable up in Carthage, buy Numidian Cavalry every two turns in the city, supplemented by bought and built Galleys, Archers and Sacred Bands. About eight should suffice to finish Rome off - note that Rome has a tendency to leave its capital defended with only two archers, so declaring early with only six units to cut off their iron access may work for you too.

If Rome declares war on you before you invade them, they will get conqueror stacks of two legions and a Ballista each against your North African cities. While Numidian cavalry easily dispatch them, there is no reason to allow them free units, so do not delay the Italian invasion.

Rome will also get conqueror stacks against Athens and other Greek core cities, and Egypt; you can use this to your advantage to swoop in to take these weakened cities, either from Rome or their original owner.

I found grabbing Athens essential to achieving the last UHV in time. You have to hope the Greeks build two out of the Temple of Artemis, the Colossus and the Great Lighthouse in there (or in another city), and no other wonder. Note that these all give Great Merchant points. Generate your second Great Merchant from this city.

Spoiler :

Empire in 200 AD

Spoiler :

Getting my last GM in position one turn before the third goal

 

[1SDANi]

For Egypt you can settle Pi-Ramesses so you don't have to rely on the Great Engineer. That one desert hill plus the quarry is usually enough to get it out on time.
EDIT: Oh wait this is on epic monarch, yeah maybe not possible there.

EDIT2: Settling a city 2 North of the Shenyang Wheat prevents the Simyan Hoton spawn and ensures the Mongols won't flip it, though that means you'll need to protect it too.

EDIT3: Maybe only settle Carthage in your core. Your population is treated as double for the purposes of stability if you only have 1 core city, and the bonus increases with the era IIRC. Carthage is a civ which has a large core, but so much of it is so barren that you may as well only settle the Capital. Also, IIRC Rome only gains stacks in your Core, though I may be wrong on that.

 

[Regulas021]

I have no input except to say these are excellent and highly appreciated. Keep it up!

 

[Strijder21]

For Egypt you can settle Pi-Ramesses so you don't have to rely on the Great Engineer. That one desert hill plus the quarry is usually enough to get it out on time.
EDIT: Oh wait this is on epic monarch, yeah maybe not possible there.

EDIT2: Settling a city 2 North of the Shenyang Wheat prevents the Simyan Hoton spawn and ensures the Mongols won't flip it, though that means you'll need to protect it too.

EDIT3: Maybe only settle Carthage in your core. Your population is treated as double for the purposes of stability if you only have 1 core city, and the bonus increases with the era IIRC. Carthage is a civ which has a large core, but so much of it is so barren that you may as well only settle the Capital. Also, IIRC Rome only gains stacks in your Core, though I may be wrong on that.

• Getting the GE is not crucial to my strategy; I was merely describing what you should do with the great person you get. SIP has enough production to build all the early wonders; where is Pi-Ramesses again?
• That's a good point. You can also raze Shenyang and settle one east right before after Korean spawn. The city there basically just has to build the temples, and has no further uses; it's expendable during the Mongol spawn.
• Rusadir connects the desert horse. You can potentially also get horses from Iberia.

I have no input except to say these are excellent and highly appreciated. Keep it up!

Thank you very much!

 

[1SDANi]

• Getting the GE is not crucial to mystrategy; I was merely describing what you should do with the great person you get. SIP has enough production to build all the early wonders; where is Pi-Ramesses again?
• That's a good point. You can also raze Shenyang and settle one east right before after Korean spawn. The city there basically just has to build the temples, and has no further uses; it's expendable during the Mongol spawn.
• Rusadir connects the desert horse. You can potentially also get horses from Iberia.

Thank you very much!

Pi-Ramesses is on the coast on the grassland surrounded by rivers 2W of the desert hill connecting Africa to Asia

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Polynesia
Finish date: 1000 AD
Score: 12858
Attempts: 2
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 2/10 - The nature of this UHV allows you to plan it out from start to finish, with only a few sparse random events introducing uncertainty.


Goals:

• Oceanic Navigators: Settle two out of four of the following island groups by 800 AD: Marquesas, New Zealand, Easter Island and Hawaii.
• The Polynesian Triangle: Settle four out of four of the following island groups by 1000 AD: Marquesas, New Zealand, Easter Island and Hawaii.
• Rano Raraku: Build the Moai Statues by 1200 AD.

Unique Unit: Waka: Cheap Galley with five :movement: which can build coastal improvements. Note that these are cheaper than Work Boats themselves; never build the latter!
Unique Building: Mala'e: Monument with 4 and an Artist slot.
Unique Power: The power of Navigation: No penalties for cultural Expansion over Ocean tiles.

Internal affairs:
The tech path is easy: Beeline Ceremony (UB), Shipbuilding (harbours), Navigation (the Moai Statues) and Masonry (Stone + Quarry at Rapa Nui).

Switch into Deification as soon as possible; Monarchy may be useful if you have unhappy citizens.

Settle in place, improve the clams and build a settler. Settle the easternmost island (the path to Easter Island is your top priority this game). Start building a Pagan Temple on the easternmost island.

After researching Ceremony, start building Mala'es in two cities, and run an Artist in them until you generate a Great Artist there; you will need two, to culture bomb Tahiti and one of the two cities on the way to Hawai. In every city which is indicated as 'settle ASAP' on the attached map, continue this pattern (run a citizen, build a Mala'e, run an artist until your borders expand as desired).

Note that new cities are initially a money drain; in order to get Navigation and Masonry as soon as possible, delay settling the last of your cities until the UHV date is near.

The Moai Statues should be built on Easter Island; while not the only city with 20 water tiles in your empire, it easily has the largest production once you research Masonry.

Spoiler :

Foreign affairs

What's a foreigner?

By settling New Zealand in a spot where you can bridge to Australia with your second ring, you could reach Indonesia and trade with them, netting some extra commerce; this is, however, not necessary.

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: India
Finish date: 1200 AD
Score: 29916
Attempts: 3
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 7/10 - The infrastructure goal puts on a lot of pressure but allows some creativity; the last goal needs some luck.


Goals:

• The Dharmic Religions: Control the holy shrines of Hinduism and Buddhism in 100 BC.
• Land of Temples: Build 20 temples by 700 AD.
• Sacred Rivers: Control 20% of the world population in 1200 AD

Unique Unit: Patiyodha: Cheap, early and weak longbowman which can enter jungles, has extra bonuses in woody terrain and starts with Formation. Practically made to snipe War Elephants in jungles.
Varu: Expensive, slow elephant Lancer which has two extra and a bonus against heavy cavalry. Comes too late and at the wrong spot in the tech tree to impact the UHV.
Unique Building: Edict: Monument which comes with a -10% maintenance cost and allegedly reduces expansion stability (although I have never seen any impact).
Unique Power: The Power of Purity: one extra for every three excess . Really useful - allows you to convert the abundant into more rare when growing your cities in the end stretch.

Internal affairs:
First goal
Found 3E of Delhi; I also considered founding Dhaka first. For the first goal, focus on getting a Hindu temple up in Delhi as soon as possible, in order to run a Priest Specialist to generate a Great Prophet to found the Vishanawath in Pataliputra. Then proceed to run three priest specialists there to generate your second great person.

Second goal
After this, focus solely on building units, workers, settlers, monasteries, missionaries and temples. The Nalanda university is useful, but if you delay it, it will probably get built by the Tamils, from you can simply conquer it. Note that there are regular barbarian spawns of Swordsmen, Axemen and occasionally war elephant in Central India, and of Horsemen in Kashmir. Be prepared!

Bloomery should be a focus early on, in order to counter said barbarians. The plains hill city 1W of the iron, Bhopal, can provide a lot of production; this is also true for the city you settle on the Afghani-Pakistani border. Hanoi has good resources, but often gets blocked by the Chinese founding Kunming. Prioritize those sites first.

Don't be afraid of tightly settling. It is not recommended to stop at only ten cities, the bare minimum to get your temples up and running; I ended up with 15 and still would have been helped with more. In particular, note that while Buddhism has northern India as a core region, the south is not even considered periphery; spreading Buddhism there will be hard, and it will frequently disappear.

Despotism may help you if you get in time trouble, but RFC heavily penalises whipping stability-wise, and Monarchy is better in the long run, so only use it as a last resort.

Third goal
Once it becomes apparent you will reach twenty temples in time, get your lagging economy in order. Key techs and wonders are Politics - Prambanan, Civil Service - Angkor Wat and Kharujaho; Ethics - Shwedayon Paya counts as a 'nice to get', although notably only for the third goal, not the second - you will need the production to churn out settlers instead of making it cheaper to build temples in those cities.

Once nearing the finish point, convert all your cottages into farms and run the culture slider; the generated happiness converts into through your unique power.

Note that the more cities you control outside of India, the easier the goal becomes; this greatly depends on which civilizations collapse and leave easy targets behind.

Foreign affairs

Having contact with as many Civilizations as possible will help you with tech trades. Try to get a mounted unit to Rome, to act as an emissary over there. China should also be a stable trading partner over the course of your game.

Persia has a tendency to collapse; nabbing a city there allows you to get access to Zoroastrianism and more population, but be cautious of the geopolitical situation, as this will put you at odds with the Seljuks.

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[Strijder21]

Civilization: Persia
Finish date: 350 AD
Score: 111727
Attempts: 9
Settings: Monarch - Epic
Version: 16.3 SVN
Difficulty: 8/10 - Despite the difficulty, easily my favourite civilization so far. The amount of historical territory you have is simply ungodly, and your civilization unit discount bonus allows you to field huge armies.


Goals:

• The First Empire: Control 7% of the world by 140 AD (30 AD)
• Seven wonders of the world: Control 7 world wonders by 350 AD (130 AD)
• Land of religions: Control 2 holy shrines in 350 AD.

Unique Unit: Immortal: Cheap Spearman which starts with March and has a +100% attack bonus against archers.
Savaran: Early, cheap and weak Lancer which has no city penalties.
Unique Building: Apothecary: Early Pharmacy which gives bonus food on Incense, Silk and Spices. Did not build a single one - there are simply more important things to research than Medicine.
Unique Power: The Power of Satrapies: Additional stability for recently conquered cities.

Internal affairs:
In order of priorities, the first goal is the only you should be worried about: the third is doable with some planning, and the second almost automatically comes after fulfilling the first goal.

Settle in place. Start off with a Work Boat in your capital, followed by the Apadana Palace; then follow up with a Barracks and an infinite stream of units (settle your great generals here). Settle Bakh between the Horses and the Cotton in northern Iran. Send your army off to Babylon. Use your workers to improve the deer, and then the iron in your capital's BFC. Beeline Mathematics for catapults, and then Generalship for conquest and Savarans. Nobility is useful for Vassalage, Currency alleviates your money issues, and Medicine unlocks your UB.

You'll need a lucky start: Babylon has the annoying tendency to produce Skirmishers instead of Archers, and those beat all of your units during a city assault. If they have two, you may win if you roll very lucky; if they have three, just plain out restart. The flip in Shushan also provides highly varying results; my favourite has to be the army of Militia which the AI builds up, which can be very cheaply promoted into Immortals.

After conquering Babylon, get to work on building a temple and run a priest specialist there to generate a great prophet as soon as possible. More often than not, the AI has built the Oracle by the time you conquer the city.

Raze the crappy city in the north which Babylon inevitably founds and found Rasht 1NE of the copper in your core; you will need all the core population you can get.

Conquer Sur and Jerusalem and turtle up. It is a race against the time against their conqueror event; you do not have a single unit available which counters Phalanxes. Holding your cities against the Greek conquerors is not impossible - stack them with cheap Immortals - but unpleasant at the very least. Do not build walls; this delays the time you're stuck defending your cities and cannot launch your offensive campaign. Conquering Egypt is optional - it gives you extra cities, production and commerce, but you will also need to defend against the Greek conqueror stacks there.

Simultaneously, prepare 4 Immortals on your western border and conquer Delhi (this can be done by 600 BC if you flip Militia in Shushan). The city is great for churning out workers, provides extra land and has some good resources. It also allows you to found cities in your contested area in Pakistan at your leisure. I don't recommend completely taking over India - it strains your stability and means you will have to defend against the barbarian stacks spawning there.

Once the conqueror stacks are dealt with, barrel onwards into Anatolia and Greece, hopefully with some Catapults you have by now produced. The Greek cities should be filled with wonders, helping you along with your second goal. After reaching Athens, consider continuing into Rome; you will be at odds either way thanks to their conqueror stacks, and provide extra land area. India is also a target you can consider, and will probably be considerably weaker after you conquered Delhi.

In terms of GP spawned, you should generate a GP in Babylon as soon as possible. Founding the Temple of Solomon first is worse for your economy, but allows Jerusalem to take over prophet-duty, working three priests and the fish. After this, generating a Great Artist works wonders, but is very luck dependent; most notably on the Parthenon location. Try to get a weaver in there. You may also find the Ishtar gate somewhere. If you fail to generate two great prophets, India may save you by building a shrine themselves.

Stability wise, it is actually possible to stabilise your empire; I achieved a core population of 90 by the time of my victory, exactly enough to balance out against the periphery. However, it is essential you cram your core chockful of cities in order to achieve this. I had six, but a seventh is possible on the grassland hill 2N of Balkh. Your empire will be likely be in dire straits during your conqueror run, and you will need some luck to prevent it from collapsing. Focus on getting your core cities as large as their food allows, and do not grow your periphery beyond their best tiles.


Foreign affairs

Getting to know China can be lucrative; conquering Samarqand in the north usually leads to this.

Greece is your toughest opponent. Phalanxes are really horrible to deal with, and the only favourable match-up you have is catapults attacking them in a city on flatland. You do have the production advantage though, as all your units are dirt-cheap as Persia.

Egypt is a push-over, as Immortals counter both their archers and War Chariots; the only thing they can field against you is Skirmishers.

Rome will provide little trouble, surprisingly - by the time their conquerors spawn, you should have Savarans, which when properly promoted eat Legions alive on flatland.

India has the lovely tendency to garrison Delhi exclusively with archers early on. Take advantage of this.

Barbarian spawns in Kazakhstan are mostly annoying, as long as you keep your northern cities garrisoned by at least two Immortals; they will pillage everything in sight regardless.

The Eastern Roman Empire will likely not flip your cities; I do not know the exact spawn rule, but they probably only flip cities which were at some point Roman. In either case, the only two cities which are crucial to hold in 350 AD are Jerusalem and your capital.

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