I did the French and Dutch UHVs this weekend--both are unsurprisingly much easier on this map than they were on the smaller one (except France UHV 2). These were Regent/Normal, so it may not be applicable to the harder difficulties most people here play.
Dutch--Every start had me founding Protestantism, though it didn't really have an effect on the UHV, since I didn't get a Prophet for All Saints' until after the UHVs were done. The biggest thing for me was getting the Aztec Conquerors--Tenochtitlan was really valuable for the two spice resources, a lot of other good resources, and its good production being helping me get the troops needing for the second goal.
UHV 1 (Settle 4 Great Merchants in Amsterdam in 1745): Nobody discovered Economics before I did, so I got my first two GMs on the same turn. I didn't need to switch to Free Enterprise because of that, or build the Bourse to get the goal. I stayed on Clergy as well. While this could have been done faster, there wasn't any need to rush. If the general tech rate of Europe gets fixed, I imagine I'd need to do something to get the GMs faster, but the one from Economics really took the pressure off of this goal.
UHV 2 (Conquer 4 European Cities outside of Europe by 1745): I was a little worried about where the cities would come from, until Portugal helpfully started settling in Brazil around 1700. Musketeers and a couple Bombards vs. Arquebusiers, took four cities in NE Brazil with minimal losses, and Portugal capitulated.
UHV 3 (Obtain 10 Spice Resources by 1775): Two from Tenochtitlan, two from Amapa, two from the Tamils after building the Trade Company, and four from Portuguese cities in Indonesia that I traded for after they capitulated.
All three goals were met within a handful of turns of each other. One thing I've always liked about the Dutch game is that it's so condensed (even though it lasts a decent number of turns) that you win slowly and then all at once. Now that Indonesia is better represented, I wouldn't mind some goal that really forces the Dutch to go there instead of the more New World game I did, but ultimately Portugal's 3-Spice city was necessary for the victory, so I can't say I didn't need control over the area.
French--Lucky start here with Catholicism pre-founded in Paris. Rome didn't collapse until a few turns in, so I had some help with the initial barbarian wave in the south and east. Celts didn't found any city in Brittany (and I never did either, so other than some English culture at the end of the game it remained unclaimed). All in all a dream of a start. Paris has gone from being really starved for hammers to a powerhouse.
UHV 1 (Have Legendary Culture in Paris by 1700): In the past, I'd have to spend significant time at 0% Science to hit this. No longer. I did it like normal and after about 5 turns realized that it was laughably overkill. Paris was legendary before 1600.
UHV 2 (Control 40% of Europe and 40% of North America in 1800): I don't know if modifier balancing is enough to save this goal. The problem is that it's not hard, but a player who can achieve it has a dominant position long before the deadline and will have to keep playing past the point where there's any kind of fun or challenge. At the end of the game, I held France, Iberia, Italy, the Western Balkans, and southern and western Germany, after a Dutch respawn a few turns prior. In North America, I had to settle a couple cities outside my historical area to get the 40%, since the Americans were pressuring me culturally east of the Mississippi, but really there was no challenge or strategy there either, since the natives couldn't beat Riflemen and the other European colonizers weren't strong enough to do anything. I understand why this is an "in" goal to ensure that Prussia and America spawn before the goal is complete, but it felt like the last stretch was about not being careless more than actually achieving anything.
UHV 3 (Build Notre Dame, Versailles, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Metropolitan in Paris by 1900): Easy. I finished the Metro in 1761. Europe is just so rich that when you conquer as much of it as you need for UHV 2, your tech rate skyrockets. Paris is now a production powerhouse with Nationalism Towns, but even before then I had enough hammers in the city that I didn't worry about building the wonders.
