Help with Japan UHV

[SheaferDaDawg]

Once again everybody, I have come crawling back to ask for help with an UHV, and this time it's Japan. Now, I have always thought that their UHV would be pretty fun to play if I could make it past the culture goal, as it seems like a combination of Technology, Infrastructure and Warfare make up the stages past that, and the AI is really bad at the last and very important element. However, I have a great deal of trouble completing the first goal, rarely making more than half the required amount of culture. So far, I have concluded that it is fairly vital to obtain Borobudur for artists, and to beeline Drama/Calendar, but apart from that I have no idea how this is achievable. Is it easier on epic? Anyhow, any help would be appreciated.

 

[dzdydx]

Once again everybody, I have come crawling back to ask for help with an UHV, and this time it's Japan. Now, I have always thought that their UHV would be pretty fun to play if I could make it past the culture goal, as it seems like a combination of Technology, Infrastructure and Warfare make up the stages past that, and the AI is really bad at the last and very important element. However, I have a great deal of trouble completing the first goal, rarely making more than half the required amount of culture. So far, I have concluded that it is fairly vital to obtain Borobudur for artists, and to beeline Drama/Calendar, but apart from that I have no idea how this is achievable. Is it easier on epic? Anyhow, any help would be appreciated.

The culture goal is hard, but gets easier once all the tools of generating culture are used

1. Monasteries, temples and cathedrals - buddhism is obvious, with copper available you should build the cathedral asap. Other religions are possible: confucianism and taoism by auto-spread, hinduism by conquering the Kmer

2. Wonders - Borobudur and Himeji castle - both synergize with stone, and there are 2 stones within reach. Going for China is risky, so I would recommend going for the Khmer, whose capital is often lightly defended and can be taken early without siege.

3. Artists - synergizes with borobudur and certain civics. You should spawn at least 2 Great Artists by 1600

4. Culture slider - Start around the time the Thais spawn and all the necessary techs are researched (music especially, I also would recommend Guilds for the extra and from Grocers)

Once you use all 4 you will find you can achieve the culture goal without much sweat. I would even recommend conquering a city or 2 in Korea during the culture push if you can, as the Great Artists can become even more useful by bombing rioting cities.

 

[iOnlySignIn]

On 3000 BC it depends a lot on whether China has built all the Buddhist Wonders or not. If you loose the Borobudur or even Himeji Castle to them you might as well restart.

Other than that spam Theatres asap. Run max Artists + Scholasticism. Do not bomb your Great Artists until right before the Culture UHV date, because:

(1) Culture Bombs now give higher culture boost the later the era. You should enter Renaissance first before you bomb.

(2) Culture Bombs are very useful in your later conquest of China & Korea.

Speaking of (2), ideally you should coordinate your first attacks on China with the Mongol invasion. Launch your navy to assault China's southern coasts while the majority of its army is tangling with the Mongols in the north.

The more cities you have, the higher your Culture output (tech rate scales down with city numbers, culture rate does not). Conquering Chinese cities early is especially important due to their high population (which translates to more Artists) and good infrastructure (which translates to more Culture buildings).

If you wait till after 1600 to invade China it will make your Culture goal much harder - I don't even know if it's winnable.

 

[Barbuesque]

I agree with the 2 posts above, with a difference: You do not absolutely need the wonders.

I just started a 3000 BC japan game, and Borobudur was finished a few turns after I spawned. However, by going Aesthetics-drama-philosophy, and switching to scholosomething, I was able to squeeze out 4 great artists before the time limit, with a 5th from getting to patronage first. If you reach renaissance before culture bombing (you should, even though it will be tight), you should be able to make it through with only 4 great artists.

In answer to IOSI, invading china was not necessary for the culture goal, even though I did conquer the southern half by timing my invasion with the mongol's.