New challenge: earliest possible UHVs

[ambassoon]

I would love to see someone post an Ethiopia game here! Extra props if you can get a big ol' empire out of 'em

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Somebody posted the marvelous technique of generating a great artist and plopping him in the middle of south Africa enough to encompass all the tiles. Even though it's a terrible location for city placement (since you won't get to use all the iron and copper) it will decrease the amount of impis. I don't think it'll help with stability though (since that's based on how many tiles you occupy, not how many cities).

 

[Tigranes]

I have 2 GA in my game (one from Music) and I was going to do something like that... But Ethiopia's Stability is really an issue. I don't know what's going on: it's 1200s and I am shaking... Just got Gunpowder so landed in Peru with Cannons and don't even know what to do with all that troops...

 

[ambassoon]

To Tigranes: If you can change your civics sometime soon, that should help you out a lot. I found that after I switched to Free Speech/ Religion, my stability went from unstable to solid. If you take some American cities, put courthouses in there asap.

 

[AnotherPacifist]

To Tigranes: If you can change your civics sometime soon, that should help you out a lot. I found that after I switched to Free Speech/ Religion, my stability went from unstable to solid. If you take some American cities, put courthouses in there asap.

Better yet, bring your troops back home or give them away. Getting Inca as vassal hurt more than anything my economy. If you're unstable and switch your civics, you may very well lose a city to independence, but that's the risk you have to take.

It really is a shame that Ethiopia can't be the empire that it could potentially be due to mysterious food shortages. Even in the old versions I routinely get to liberalism/Taj Mahal first if I don't aim for the UHV, but inevitably collapse with economy being no.1 and first in score. Nobody AFAIK has done domination or conquest with Ethiopia.

 

[Tigranes]

I am also really confused about my Musketman in Chili. Why??? Where is my Oromo Warrior? When Arabs land in America they get Camels instead of Knights. I can't even train Musketman! Was this addressed before?

 

[ambassoon]

Quote Tigranes: I am also really confused about my Musketman in Chili. Why??? Where is my Oromo Warrior? When Arabs land in America they get Camels instead of Knights.

I know, I experienced that too! And Spain gets Conquistadors. Ethiopia always gets the shaft...

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Alright blizzrd, you've got to give me credit for the 3000BC Germany VV. What is needed is not more police state and conquest, but universal suffrage and massive influx of capital in the former English/Scandinavian and Russian cities, building jails, IAs and SBs. 3 x 10 cities = 30 points of stability. By the end I was solid even before the GA hit in 1873. The domination victory was made by mistake since Japan, Mali, Arabia and Mongolia all declared war on me, and I just did my part to reconquer the Middle East for Turkey. Russia respawned in their tiny Siberian cities which made 25% for land requirement (I was 25.02%). I was too trigger happy with my modern armor.

Spoiler :

 

[blizzrd]

Alright blizzrd, you've got to give me credit for the 3000BC Germany VV.

I'm suffiently convinced.

I was too trigger happy with my modern armor.

Must be that pacifist streak in you coming to the fore again.

 

[TDK]

Somebody posted the marvelous technique of generating a great artist and plopping him in the middle of south Africa enough to encompass all the tiles. Even though it's a terrible location for city placement (since you won't get to use all the iron and copper) it will decrease the amount of impis. I don't think it'll help with stability though (since that's based on how many tiles you occupy, not how many cities).

I have done something like that. Pic here.

 

[TDK]

AP, wow, an accidental Domination Victory!

 

[AnotherPacifist]

I am also really confused about my Musketman in Chili. Why??? Where is my Oromo Warrior? When Arabs land in America they get Camels instead of Knights. I can't even train Musketman! Was this addressed before?

Just another sign of Rhye not expecting Ethiopia to get conquistadors and collapse. The Chinese do get a Chukonu if they don't have gunpowder, and I think the Turks get their powerful UU too.

 

[Virdrago]

Again, if I had known Casablanca would count as Africa this game, I would have won three or four turns earlier. The save is from my turn before founding Rio de Janeiro.

Founded Oporto (should be Porto) and Faro. Beefed up my defenses (culture and units), as I've found Spain will build many units and DoW at some point. Thus two cities for more units if needed.

Culturally eclipsed Sevilla, founded Casablanca for resources, and blocked Spain from going near the New World. As it was, I destroyed them before ever founding a New World city, so that strategy was rendered moot.

Christian Holy City gone, one third of the world is Buddhist, Jewish, or Muslim. Jewish AP. Spain is Jewish. First religion I get is Islam.

Got maps by sailing around Africa and through the Mediterranean. Beelined to Optics, built carracks, bought maps, traded sometimes. Ethiopia knew a lot of the world.

First two GEs got me the Forbidden Palace and Wat Preah, giving me some culture against Spain.

Got all three conquistadore events, built five carracks, three to bring home the troops, two to explore (for OB). Needed three more at 1600. Switched to Islam, since I had OB with all Jewish countries (except Spain, who was already at -3). Couldn't get an OB with any of them, so I had to sell techs to English, Mongols, and Russians just for my 12.

Spain later (after my adventurers returned home) collapsed France, declared war on me and Germany, and was destroyed. It was smooth sailing from then, but I tried to keep my economy at 40-50% science, so I slowed my settler spamming a bit.

Egypt stayed stable or better all the way until the 1800's! They collapsed in the 1860's. Impressive for the AI. Turkey collapsed, rose up 60 years later, then re-collapsed four turns later.

The Great Mediator event is very useful just as you're about to be attacked in both Newfoundland and South Africa.

Hippo stayed barb throughout the game, and was never attacked. Moyale was given in a WC, and helped spawn Zanzibar (and a quicker win):

 

[Tigranes]

Game started nice. Buhen flipped with a settled Great Priest. I just focused to conquer Egypt very early with Mercenaries, razed Independent Jerusalem and teched Theology few turns before Greece did. So I was quite happy, but all my troubles where just ahead...

As I said before, this was my very first try with Ethiopia and probably will be my last one under this patch. I am not even going to try Emperor. Something really frustrating happens with Ethiopia's stability in Medieval period. I am usually very careful about stability, and tried everything -- teched Drama just to get extra happy faces via culture slider. Nothing helped -- I collapsed right before my 1500 AD golden age

Can you imagine a situation -- a country just fell into a civil war and lonely capital celebrating golden age? Entire golden age I was training Oromo Warriors and hiring Mercenaries. Two turns later Impies burned my break away Congo city which had 4000 culture -- what a waste of a GA! Arabia and Turkey both declared war after my 2nd UHV with Arabia taking from me the Egyptian capital just 1 turn after I took it back from Independents. All the glorious infrastructure I whipped there was lost in this turmoil, only lonely Stonehenge/Sphinx stood there when everything was over.

Civil war and Reconquest took good 200 years. I had no iron and thus no Cannons. So my Oromo Warriors been hopelessly fighting with Oromo Warriors who turned independent. France meanwhile went ahead in techs, I was even worried about Liberalism, but luckily I got it first. However I lost Physics race. Gifted all my troops to Incas and Aztecs, who vassalized to me few turns later. Mali was acting really stupid, allowing Dutch to found a city where Accra was supposed to be. I gave them Gunpowder, but they would still lose to Barbs, even their capital...

Basically everything that could go wrong in this game -- went wrong. I lost 6-7 important Wonders by 1-3 turns (mainly to Greece, Rome and Japan). Got 3 terrible Plagues, Egypt respawned. Impies burned my early Zanzibar. Switched to Emancipation without Representation and suffered from transitional period for 5-6 turns. The only luck I had was that I skipped somehow the Great Depression.

Arabia collapsed and at the end Makkah flipped to me with 4 Great Priests and 2 Great Generals settled there. Perhaps, when stability is no longer an issue (I finished solid), it's really worth to declare on Arabs just for Makkah.


I am also posting 1775 picture to show how nicely colonization went in this game. France even got her American UHV

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Probably could be easily beaten since I didn't go the "conquer China and stick to 10 cities" rule. Khmer, China, America and Inca were vassals, all of them voluntary. A bombed great artist in Denver provided a lot of room until the American encroachment, and it rapidly became my most productive city (even though it was only founded in the mid 1700's).
I also have shots from 1930 but my account is full, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Spoiler :

 

[Virdrago]

How would you clear your account, by the way? I'm about halfway, but I've always wondered how to do it.

 

[Tigranes]

How would you clear your account, by the way? I'm about halfway, but I've always wondered how to do it.

Spoiler :

Just go to "My Account" and select the very bottom link on the left, it says "Attachements". You can select and delete as many as you want, but others won't be able to click on your thumbnail after that. The thumbnail itself stays in your old post, but one can no longer enlarge it.

 

[TDK]

I attempted to play Mali and hire out mercenaries. The Skirmishers didn't really sell, but the War Elephants gave me a good income. I was trying to always have an extra elephant ready for hiring out in case the elephant already hired out died. I think building a Barracks in 1 city could actually pay off, as it would increase the cost of the elephant and ensure that the hammers invested pay off.

Other than that it was stansard Mali with 2 merchants to Iberia for the 1st UHV and 2 more later to Mecca and Amsterdam generated during 2/3 golden age.

(I think Tigranes' game above was wrongfully registered as 1575 instead of 1675)

 

[blizzrd]

(I think Tigranes' game above was wrongfully registered as 1575 instead of 1675)

Mmm, yes I see what you mean. The title of Tigranes' post had VV 1575AD but the screenshot does show 1675AD with the 16K gold.

 

[AnotherPacifist]

So it was interesting to see ALL the classical civs alive and kicking when I spawned: Greece and Rome were tops, Persia had built the Great Wall and had plenty of vassals, and China was OK. So first order of business was a great spy to steal everything from the Greeks, and as they were about to collapse, declare war. (Hence the tiny city south of Kiev, which would have otherwise flipped to the Turks) Got spontaneous vassals in Aztecs, Incans, Mali and then Turkey when they respawned. Germany of course collapsed under my culture (I tried very hard to be friendly to them so that their rifles won't capture Tallinn). Let's see if I can actually launch Sputnik by 1950.

Spoiler :

Addendum:
Actually my spaceship arrived in 1951, but historical victory trumped it. Also managed to research all techs first.

Spoiler :