Mercenary82
King
Somtimes an independent settler from Shush or Samarkand might settle, the city being given a random barb name, but thats supposed to be fixed in newest version.
Persian UHV Working
- Thread starter HoriujiMan
- Start date
NitroJay
Warlord
Yeah, I've never seen anything like that either... Is that with the newest version? I thought that the independants couldn't build settlers anymore... Maybe it was a goody hut... Weird.
I just finished another game as Persia, missed the 8% yet again... Still trying though... I'm not going to let this beat me...
I just finished another game as Persia, missed the 8% yet again... Still trying though... I'm not going to let this beat me...
NitroJay
Warlord
I FINALLY FINISHED THE PERSIAN UHV ON MONARCH!!!
I've been playing the Persians twice a day for nearly a month now... (Yeah, no life here…
And if I knew how to take a screenshot, I'd be all about bragging... But instead, let me just share how it can be done so you can post your own…
The Historical Victory Conditions
-Control 8% of world territory by 600AD
-Control 7 world wonders by 700AD
-Control 2 holy city shrines in 700AD
You'll have the MOST trouble with the first condition, controlling the 8% of world territory by 600AD... To put this in world map terms, to give yourself a safe margin of error, you need to conquer Babylon, India, Egypt, and Greece as well as settle all of the Indian peninsula, and (just to be on the safe side) also go after Rome or Carthage, whichever is weakest.
That's a lot to do in only about 2 1/2 hours of game play... So here's how it's done:
Opening Moves
You begin the game right up against Babylonia. Now, I’ve played tons of games as Persia, and each time, I let the game auto play from the start. I’ve seen many different openings… However, the typical starting situation is Babylonia controlling Slush to the west. Don’t attack Babylonia right away, Slush will flip to you on the 3rd turn. Besides, if Babylon is controlling it, there’s a 50/50 shot they’ll declare war over the flip and you’ll get a few extra starting immortals…
But I’m getting ahead of myself… I settle Parsa right on the starting plot. Why not go one square south to found my capital on the ocean? One word: PLAGUE. Now that the earliest plague has been removed, it’s not much of an issue anymore, but should the plague ever come back to the early turns, isolationism from other civs is a plus. I’m sure the starting placement of Parsa isn’t really an issue anymore, so do your own thing if you want. As for me, I stick with a historically accurate location.
Your second settler should be sent north to the horse resource. Even though the square one plot to the north of the horse resource is a much more defendable position against the barbarians hordes, you need to begin building immortals immediately. Seriously, there’s just no time to waste building a pasture… Found your second city right on top of the horses. When your workers arrive on turn three, send them after the second settler with a road. Connect your cities to the horse resource and start pumping out immortals…
Send one of your archers a few squares north of the horses to check out the goody hut. Once in a while it’ll still be there with a fortified barbarian warrior guarding it with his life. Use your free barbarian attack to snag it. (Ignore the combat odds, you’ll win.) It’s usually good for a few pieces of gold or, at the very least, a nice promotion for the lucky archer.
Before you end your first turn though, it’s important to switch civics. Might as well get the revolution over with while you still only have one city… Switch to hereditary rule and slavery. Even though you have access to a religious civic, you have no religion. Don’t give yourself a second turn of anarchy for no reason…
Technology
What is the most important technologies to have when playing Persia, going for the UHV? I’ve tried a bunch of different combinations, and I’ll tell you what works best… I was against this at first, but now I know that it’s essential: CONSTRUCTION. You need to go through mathematics to get to it, but you need that too, so it all works out. The only other tech you need is Currency. Let me explain why this is the way to go…
MATHMATICS:
CONSTRUCTION:
CURRENCY
Now for some ass kicking…
TARGET #1: BABYLONIA
A few people have mentioned that going after India first is the way to go. Sure, India is the weakest at the start, but trust me, they’ll still be weak once you’re done with Babylonia… Babylonia however, will only get stronger… They MUST be first. How your first attacks go with Babylon will dictate whether you win or lose the UHV. There have been a few games where, at spawn, Babylon had already collapsed. This isn’t the norm though. Chances are, Babylon will declare war on you on turn three when they lose a city to you. This is what you WANT to happen. You get the extra immortals this way…
Babylonia can be a hard nut to crack. About 80% of the time, they have bronze working and have already mined the bronze to the northwest. Pillage this mine immediately! If you don’t, you’ll have more spearmen to deal with than you can handle. You MUST take Babylonia down with ONLY your starting units, which is why the immortal boost with Babylonia declaring war on you is so helpful. If you get into a long, drawn out conflict with Babylon, you’ve lost.
Check each city before you attack. You’re already at war, so roam free through their territory and scout them out. If one or two of their cities are already defended with spearmen, don’t get your panties in a knot, it’s okay. Go after the cities only defended with bowmen first. I figure, on average, it takes about 2 immortals to kill a bowmen at full fortification. Since most Babylonian cities will only have one or two, you should be fine. Take the promotions as they come, but make sure you promote toward the vs. shock improvements. You’ll need this if you’re going to go up against the spearmen.
If you’re lucky, after taking the easy Babylonian cities, they’ll collapse. If this happens, DON’T DECLARE WAR ON THE INDEPENDENTS YET! Let them live happily ever after, for now. If you manage to capture all or most of the Babylonia cities, good job. Either way, make sure Babylon is dead before you move on. If there was a tough defender you never got to, don’t worry, the independents can never keep a good defense going for long, by the time we come back to them, it’ll be easier.
TARGET #2: INDIA
While you were killing the Babylonians, your three core cities should have been pumping out immortals. You’ll need about 6-10 immortals to conquer India. Bring a few vets over from the remnants of Babylon and supplement them with the new recruits. Declare war on India and roll right in.
At the very worst, Delhi is defended with three archers, usually less. Six immortals can whip through 3 archers like butter. Send another immortal 3 squares south of Delhi. If there is a mine on the hill there, it could mean that they have iron working and have the iron necessary to build spearmen. Pillage that sucker to save your ass. I think in all the games I’ve played though, India only had iron twice. It’s a rare occurrence.
India typically has 3-4 cities. They’ll probably collapse after you take two though. Finish them off. You need all of India’s core cities early. Delhi should immediately begin building both temples, for Hinduism and Buddhism. Hire two priest and then start pumping out settlers. You need to colonize all of the Indian peninsula. India’s other cities can either help you with the settlers or build workers for you. Either way, the production values of their cities, in addition to their distance from where the majority of the next fights will take place, make them horrible for producing military units. Delhi on the other hand is excellent for producing wonders. Once you have the maximum amount of priests going for your great prophets, it may be wise to grab any wonders still not built.
When the prophets do show up, have them build the Hindu and Buddhist shrines in Delhi. There you go. Keep Delhi around until 700AD and your set with one goal. Don’t forget the settlers though, get all of India in your culture.
TARGET #3: THE INDEPENDENTS
Now it’s time to mop up the rest of Babylonia. Have you built the great wall yet? If not, you need to get on it. China will get to that Great Wall pretty quick and you need to beat them to it. As I said before, the Great Wall is essential.
While battling it out with India, it’s a good idea to get a mix of catapults and immortals lined up for your attack on the Independents. With Judaism founded in an Independent city, the culture defense is pretty high sometimes. You’ll probably need the catapults. Also, if there are spearmen left over from Babylonia, the catapults are invaluable. All in all though, the Independents shouldn’t prove too much trouble.
Once you’ve got the Jewish holy city in your possession, it’s a good idea to send one of your great prophets from India to build a shrine there. Make sure you have both shrines in Delhi first though, as Arabia will fight pretty hard later in the game for Jerusalem. The money from the Temple of Solomon will be a HUGE bonus.
This is another good time to switch to Judaism as your religion and adopt the organized religion civic if you have time to build some stables or barracks. The building time bonus is nice, but not required. Most of your cities won’t be too big to where you’ll need the happiness from the religion, but it’s never a bad thing.
TARGET #5: GREECE
Again, if you’re lucky, Greece will be playing a sloppy game. I’ve found that, most times, they choose to defend their cities primarily with archers rather than their more expensive phalanxes. However, don’t be intimidated if you roll up on Greece to find a heavily defended city stocked with phalanxes, you have catapults. Attack with your catapults for the collateral damage. Even if you lose some catapults, it’ll weaken the phalanx/archer defenders enough to where your immortals will do some serious shredding.
Right about this time your economy is in the toilet. You have tons of worthless cities all over Iraq and India that are doing nothing but wasting away your money. Have some of the non-military producing cities start producing wealth to slow the decline. Your science is probably at 0% by now and you’re still losing money. Make sure all of your cities are only defended with one archer, if that, and get rid of any excess military fat. This is another reason the Great Wall is essential. You can slack on defense. No civ is going to mess with the immortal horde, barbarians are a different story though.
Greece shouldn’t be too hard, unless you have an ULTRA STRONG Alexander, but I’ve never seen it.
Target #6: EGYPT
About half way through my assault on Greece, I begin my attack on Egypt. Especially if the Plague hits. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of the plague if Egypt comes down with it. Egypt differs in attack strategy slightly… By this time, elephants are a good idea. They are a lot more expensive to produce, but when heading into Africa, it’s worth it.
I wait to attack Egypt until now because of barbarians and natives. By now, Egypt is getting clobbered by camel archers from the west and natives from the south. They are usually pretty weak from this dual fronted assault. Of course, go straight for pillaging their copper to the east of their capital. The elephants are nice because, even if you get caught in some barbarian/native crossfire, the elephants can usually hold their own. Catapults are again, essential.
Once you’ve captured Egypt (and Greece), you’ll thank yourself for building that Great Wall. Barbarians will build up at the northern borders of Greece and the western border of Egypt. The natives are a different story though. You’ll have to build 2-3 axmen and have them fortify your southern most Egyptian cities. The natives walk straight through your borders even with having a Great Wall.
Check your progress!
If the victory screen shows you shy of that 8% land area, you have one of two options. You can switch gears and start building up your culture, or you can keep the ball rolling and go after Carthage (usually collapsed in Independents/Barbarians by now) or Rome. I go with whichever I have more troops near… You probably don’t have calendar yet, so you have no idea how close you are… If you see the Vikings spawn, you pretty much have no time left. However, with Babylon, India, Greece, and Egypt in your hands, you should be doing alright. Build an Elephant in India and send him to conquer Pagan… Why not? 
Once you’ve passed 600AD and you’ve got that little 1/3 going on next to your name, you’re home free. Start fixing up your economy some, disband some units. Not everything though… Here comes Arabia…
You can probably last 100 more years. You should have two religious shrines in Delhi, probably another one in Jerusalem, but when Arabia spawns, they’ll probably take it from you. You’re probably sick of war by now, so a little peace would do you good. Give in to the city demands of Arabia. You’ve already got the 8%. Let Ur drain on Arabia’s economy for a while… Kiss Arabia’s ass. The last thing you need right now is another fight on your hands.
As for the 7 world wonders goal, start counting. Chances are, with all of your conquests, you’ve made it to seven wonders. The Lighthouse and Pyramids in Egypt, the Parthenon and Temple in Greece, Oracle in Delhi, Stonehenge from Babylon, and your very own Great Wall is 7 right there… China typically builds the Hanging Gardens, so you can forget about that, but hey, you’ve got a 100 years left to run some elephants through the jungle if you’re getting desperate…
And there you have it. It may sound easy, but a lot of this UHV is based on luck, specifically with the combat odds and the first few attacks on Babylon… If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying… Although I don’t recommend the month’s worth of two games a day… It’s put a huge strain on my relationship…
I've been playing the Persians twice a day for nearly a month now... (Yeah, no life here…
And if I knew how to take a screenshot, I'd be all about bragging... But instead, let me just share how it can be done so you can post your own…The Historical Victory Conditions
-Control 8% of world territory by 600AD
-Control 7 world wonders by 700AD
-Control 2 holy city shrines in 700AD
You'll have the MOST trouble with the first condition, controlling the 8% of world territory by 600AD... To put this in world map terms, to give yourself a safe margin of error, you need to conquer Babylon, India, Egypt, and Greece as well as settle all of the Indian peninsula, and (just to be on the safe side) also go after Rome or Carthage, whichever is weakest.
That's a lot to do in only about 2 1/2 hours of game play... So here's how it's done:
Opening Moves
You begin the game right up against Babylonia. Now, I’ve played tons of games as Persia, and each time, I let the game auto play from the start. I’ve seen many different openings… However, the typical starting situation is Babylonia controlling Slush to the west. Don’t attack Babylonia right away, Slush will flip to you on the 3rd turn. Besides, if Babylon is controlling it, there’s a 50/50 shot they’ll declare war over the flip and you’ll get a few extra starting immortals…
But I’m getting ahead of myself… I settle Parsa right on the starting plot. Why not go one square south to found my capital on the ocean? One word: PLAGUE. Now that the earliest plague has been removed, it’s not much of an issue anymore, but should the plague ever come back to the early turns, isolationism from other civs is a plus. I’m sure the starting placement of Parsa isn’t really an issue anymore, so do your own thing if you want. As for me, I stick with a historically accurate location.
Your second settler should be sent north to the horse resource. Even though the square one plot to the north of the horse resource is a much more defendable position against the barbarians hordes, you need to begin building immortals immediately. Seriously, there’s just no time to waste building a pasture… Found your second city right on top of the horses. When your workers arrive on turn three, send them after the second settler with a road. Connect your cities to the horse resource and start pumping out immortals…
Send one of your archers a few squares north of the horses to check out the goody hut. Once in a while it’ll still be there with a fortified barbarian warrior guarding it with his life. Use your free barbarian attack to snag it. (Ignore the combat odds, you’ll win.) It’s usually good for a few pieces of gold or, at the very least, a nice promotion for the lucky archer.
Before you end your first turn though, it’s important to switch civics. Might as well get the revolution over with while you still only have one city… Switch to hereditary rule and slavery. Even though you have access to a religious civic, you have no religion. Don’t give yourself a second turn of anarchy for no reason…
Technology
What is the most important technologies to have when playing Persia, going for the UHV? I’ve tried a bunch of different combinations, and I’ll tell you what works best… I was against this at first, but now I know that it’s essential: CONSTRUCTION. You need to go through mathematics to get to it, but you need that too, so it all works out. The only other tech you need is Currency. Let me explain why this is the way to go…
MATHMATICS:
All the immortals in the world aren’t going to allow you to conquer a city with 2 or more spearmen defending it. You need something to break down the walls and do some collateral (softening up) damage.
CONSTRUCTION:
1.The Great Wall is a necessity! I didn’t think so, at first, since the barbarians that come down from the north can easily be defeated with a few fortified spearmen, but this isn’t the whole of the issue. You’ll be conquering wide amounts of territory in a Persian game, and you simply can’t defend your massive borders from ALL of the game’s barbarians… The Great Wall will ease the pressure a great deal and allow your focus to remain on attacking rather than defending…
2. Elephants are fun! They take a while to build compared to the immortals (which are quicker than archers), but the elephants do some serious damage. When you think Persia, you think elephants, enough said.
2. Elephants are fun! They take a while to build compared to the immortals (which are quicker than archers), but the elephants do some serious damage. When you think Persia, you think elephants, enough said.
CURRENCY
Immediately after construction, you need to get to currency. At some point, your coffers will be empty and you’ll be forced to drop your science down to about 10% (or even 0%), but you need to get currency before this happens… IF you can only get one other tech, currency is it. You can use currency to build “wealth” in your cities to support the massive army you must build and currency also allows you to extort your neighbors for gold (before you kill them). Money will be one of your biggest headaches…
Now for some ass kicking…
TARGET #1: BABYLONIA
A few people have mentioned that going after India first is the way to go. Sure, India is the weakest at the start, but trust me, they’ll still be weak once you’re done with Babylonia… Babylonia however, will only get stronger… They MUST be first. How your first attacks go with Babylon will dictate whether you win or lose the UHV. There have been a few games where, at spawn, Babylon had already collapsed. This isn’t the norm though. Chances are, Babylon will declare war on you on turn three when they lose a city to you. This is what you WANT to happen. You get the extra immortals this way…
Babylonia can be a hard nut to crack. About 80% of the time, they have bronze working and have already mined the bronze to the northwest. Pillage this mine immediately! If you don’t, you’ll have more spearmen to deal with than you can handle. You MUST take Babylonia down with ONLY your starting units, which is why the immortal boost with Babylonia declaring war on you is so helpful. If you get into a long, drawn out conflict with Babylon, you’ve lost.
Check each city before you attack. You’re already at war, so roam free through their territory and scout them out. If one or two of their cities are already defended with spearmen, don’t get your panties in a knot, it’s okay. Go after the cities only defended with bowmen first. I figure, on average, it takes about 2 immortals to kill a bowmen at full fortification. Since most Babylonian cities will only have one or two, you should be fine. Take the promotions as they come, but make sure you promote toward the vs. shock improvements. You’ll need this if you’re going to go up against the spearmen.
If you’re lucky, after taking the easy Babylonian cities, they’ll collapse. If this happens, DON’T DECLARE WAR ON THE INDEPENDENTS YET! Let them live happily ever after, for now. If you manage to capture all or most of the Babylonia cities, good job. Either way, make sure Babylon is dead before you move on. If there was a tough defender you never got to, don’t worry, the independents can never keep a good defense going for long, by the time we come back to them, it’ll be easier.
TARGET #2: INDIA
While you were killing the Babylonians, your three core cities should have been pumping out immortals. You’ll need about 6-10 immortals to conquer India. Bring a few vets over from the remnants of Babylon and supplement them with the new recruits. Declare war on India and roll right in.
At the very worst, Delhi is defended with three archers, usually less. Six immortals can whip through 3 archers like butter. Send another immortal 3 squares south of Delhi. If there is a mine on the hill there, it could mean that they have iron working and have the iron necessary to build spearmen. Pillage that sucker to save your ass. I think in all the games I’ve played though, India only had iron twice. It’s a rare occurrence.
India typically has 3-4 cities. They’ll probably collapse after you take two though. Finish them off. You need all of India’s core cities early. Delhi should immediately begin building both temples, for Hinduism and Buddhism. Hire two priest and then start pumping out settlers. You need to colonize all of the Indian peninsula. India’s other cities can either help you with the settlers or build workers for you. Either way, the production values of their cities, in addition to their distance from where the majority of the next fights will take place, make them horrible for producing military units. Delhi on the other hand is excellent for producing wonders. Once you have the maximum amount of priests going for your great prophets, it may be wise to grab any wonders still not built.
When the prophets do show up, have them build the Hindu and Buddhist shrines in Delhi. There you go. Keep Delhi around until 700AD and your set with one goal. Don’t forget the settlers though, get all of India in your culture.
TARGET #3: THE INDEPENDENTS
Now it’s time to mop up the rest of Babylonia. Have you built the great wall yet? If not, you need to get on it. China will get to that Great Wall pretty quick and you need to beat them to it. As I said before, the Great Wall is essential.
While battling it out with India, it’s a good idea to get a mix of catapults and immortals lined up for your attack on the Independents. With Judaism founded in an Independent city, the culture defense is pretty high sometimes. You’ll probably need the catapults. Also, if there are spearmen left over from Babylonia, the catapults are invaluable. All in all though, the Independents shouldn’t prove too much trouble.
Once you’ve got the Jewish holy city in your possession, it’s a good idea to send one of your great prophets from India to build a shrine there. Make sure you have both shrines in Delhi first though, as Arabia will fight pretty hard later in the game for Jerusalem. The money from the Temple of Solomon will be a HUGE bonus.
This is another good time to switch to Judaism as your religion and adopt the organized religion civic if you have time to build some stables or barracks. The building time bonus is nice, but not required. Most of your cities won’t be too big to where you’ll need the happiness from the religion, but it’s never a bad thing.
TARGET #5: GREECE
Again, if you’re lucky, Greece will be playing a sloppy game. I’ve found that, most times, they choose to defend their cities primarily with archers rather than their more expensive phalanxes. However, don’t be intimidated if you roll up on Greece to find a heavily defended city stocked with phalanxes, you have catapults. Attack with your catapults for the collateral damage. Even if you lose some catapults, it’ll weaken the phalanx/archer defenders enough to where your immortals will do some serious shredding.
Right about this time your economy is in the toilet. You have tons of worthless cities all over Iraq and India that are doing nothing but wasting away your money. Have some of the non-military producing cities start producing wealth to slow the decline. Your science is probably at 0% by now and you’re still losing money. Make sure all of your cities are only defended with one archer, if that, and get rid of any excess military fat. This is another reason the Great Wall is essential. You can slack on defense. No civ is going to mess with the immortal horde, barbarians are a different story though.
Greece shouldn’t be too hard, unless you have an ULTRA STRONG Alexander, but I’ve never seen it.
Target #6: EGYPT
About half way through my assault on Greece, I begin my attack on Egypt. Especially if the Plague hits. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of the plague if Egypt comes down with it. Egypt differs in attack strategy slightly… By this time, elephants are a good idea. They are a lot more expensive to produce, but when heading into Africa, it’s worth it.
I wait to attack Egypt until now because of barbarians and natives. By now, Egypt is getting clobbered by camel archers from the west and natives from the south. They are usually pretty weak from this dual fronted assault. Of course, go straight for pillaging their copper to the east of their capital. The elephants are nice because, even if you get caught in some barbarian/native crossfire, the elephants can usually hold their own. Catapults are again, essential.
Once you’ve captured Egypt (and Greece), you’ll thank yourself for building that Great Wall. Barbarians will build up at the northern borders of Greece and the western border of Egypt. The natives are a different story though. You’ll have to build 2-3 axmen and have them fortify your southern most Egyptian cities. The natives walk straight through your borders even with having a Great Wall.
Check your progress!
If the victory screen shows you shy of that 8% land area, you have one of two options. You can switch gears and start building up your culture, or you can keep the ball rolling and go after Carthage (usually collapsed in Independents/Barbarians by now) or Rome. I go with whichever I have more troops near… You probably don’t have calendar yet, so you have no idea how close you are… If you see the Vikings spawn, you pretty much have no time left. However, with Babylon, India, Greece, and Egypt in your hands, you should be doing alright. Build an Elephant in India and send him to conquer Pagan… Why not? 
Once you’ve passed 600AD and you’ve got that little 1/3 going on next to your name, you’re home free. Start fixing up your economy some, disband some units. Not everything though… Here comes Arabia…
You can probably last 100 more years. You should have two religious shrines in Delhi, probably another one in Jerusalem, but when Arabia spawns, they’ll probably take it from you. You’re probably sick of war by now, so a little peace would do you good. Give in to the city demands of Arabia. You’ve already got the 8%. Let Ur drain on Arabia’s economy for a while… Kiss Arabia’s ass. The last thing you need right now is another fight on your hands.
As for the 7 world wonders goal, start counting. Chances are, with all of your conquests, you’ve made it to seven wonders. The Lighthouse and Pyramids in Egypt, the Parthenon and Temple in Greece, Oracle in Delhi, Stonehenge from Babylon, and your very own Great Wall is 7 right there… China typically builds the Hanging Gardens, so you can forget about that, but hey, you’ve got a 100 years left to run some elephants through the jungle if you’re getting desperate…
And there you have it. It may sound easy, but a lot of this UHV is based on luck, specifically with the combat odds and the first few attacks on Babylon… If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying… Although I don’t recommend the month’s worth of two games a day… It’s put a huge strain on my relationship…
Lord Apolon
Warlord
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2002
- Messages
- 131
All Hail NitroJay, megabasileus. Truly you are Cyrus come again.
It really sounds to me like it all comes down to Babylonia. The problem I had last few times I tried was when Babil itself had 1 spearmen and 3 or so bowmen. I couldn't take it, even with everything. And even if I took all their other cities and they collapsed, those cities remained useless because of Babil's massive culture. And by the time you get math, I've usually found it's too late.
You've inspired me to give it another try, though. PS use the print screen button to take a screenshot and then paste it into paint. I want to see.
Congratulations! You should play out the rest of the game and accomplish the OLD goal of 20% of world territory.
It really sounds to me like it all comes down to Babylonia. The problem I had last few times I tried was when Babil itself had 1 spearmen and 3 or so bowmen. I couldn't take it, even with everything. And even if I took all their other cities and they collapsed, those cities remained useless because of Babil's massive culture. And by the time you get math, I've usually found it's too late.
You've inspired me to give it another try, though. PS use the print screen button to take a screenshot and then paste it into paint. I want to see.
Congratulations! You should play out the rest of the game and accomplish the OLD goal of 20% of world territory.
Jet
No, no, please. Please.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
- Messages
- 2,431
Awesome! Rock on.
botur2young
Warlord
You can also see which turn you are on in the victory conditions screen.
NitroJay
Warlord
Okay, Here's my screenshot! (Thank you Lord Apolon for telling me how to do it.)
After going through the saves, I found this one. It's a few turns before the first goal and a few turns before everything went to hell... In this game, I followed my guide above, however, after destroying Greece and while I was still at war with the Egyptians, Rome declared war on me. Since I had troops right there, since they declared war ONE TURN after Greece was destroyed, I went in after Rome. The addition of Rome's, Greece's, and Egypt's cities all at once, with no time do build them up, KILLED my economy. This turn is the turn before all the unit disbanding began. Due to the disbanding, I lost the two southern most cities in Egypt to the natives (but it was just after the 600AD goal... Lucky for me... as this map is about 8.06% of world area.) HOWEVER, once the Pyramids got built (I was shocked to be the one building them; Egypt had a bad game), I jumped up to around 10% with all the monuments' culture boost, since I will NEVER get to Calendar... Arabia spawned shortly afterward, and although I told them they could have the 4 cities they wanted, they never flipped. But I saw the reason for this on another thread. It was no big deal though, as I had all the wonders and shrines I needed in other cities.
Although this may look impressive, it took me over a month to figure out how to get this far. The Persian UHV is based entirely on luck that Babylonia is having a really bad game and your combat rolls are nearly always in your favor... SEVEN percent of world area would be hard enough, but still attainable consistantly if you went for it.
biggamer132
King
That is a very impressive guide, Nitro. The thing is, what if you're playing on Vanilla and the Great Wall doesn't exist? I personally think that Persia has one of the biggest barbarian problems in the game (they come from both Central Asia and the Caucasus).
NitroJay
Warlord
You know, when I was trying for so long to get finish the Persian UHV, I often thought about trying it on vanilla. I actually think it might be a little easier, you just have to go about it in a different way.
Without Babylonia, you can send your starting units straight to India. I would hold one or two immortals back, or even use my archers, to attack the barbarian cities where babylonia and the independents are in warlords. With the 5 or so free attacks vs. barbarians, I would capture the cities where the combat odds are >1% in the barbarian's favor. The free victory would give you HUGE bonuses in experience... Add this to the experience you would get from your other units attacking India, you could have a pretty well trained military in just the first few turns. I would think you'd be able to attack Greece and Egypt much earlier, giving you more time to build up defenses against the barb attacks.
Without having to rush out so many early immortals in the first few turns, you could afford to settle your first city (other than Parsa) one square to the north of the horse resource. This is a much more defendable position than directly on top of the horses since the barbs will be forced to either attack that city, or spend a couple turns moving through the forest, where they are open to attack. I would still go for construction for the elephants and the ability to build fortresses (is that still with construction?) A fortress in the forest manned by a couple spearmen and a few spearmen in the northern city, would stop the barbarian horse archers in their tracks.
Defending the cities in Egypt would be a little more complicated. Since you'd be invading them earlier, you'd have a little more time to build up their defenses before the barbs arrive. A few axemen in the southern cities and spearmen in the West would defend against the barbs there.
Greece would be the hardest. Axemen/archer combos in the cities would probably be best, but I think you're hardest fights against the barbs will be there... Since you have greatly promoted immortals from the first few turns, I figure you could afford to build less of them for attack and build more defensive units in your core cities for use in defending Greece's captured cities...
It would really be a challenge... I'd give it a try myself, but I'm working this week and only have one day off before Saturday... (My one day off will be spent getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist and doing a long list of hoursework my girlfriend left for me...) Civ4 runs too slow on my laptop to really work on it at work... I might give it a try this weekend though if I have some time, so let me know how it goes for you. Without having the Great Wall, it may seem impossible, but I think it's balanced out by not having babylonia/independents to deal with...
Without Babylonia, you can send your starting units straight to India. I would hold one or two immortals back, or even use my archers, to attack the barbarian cities where babylonia and the independents are in warlords. With the 5 or so free attacks vs. barbarians, I would capture the cities where the combat odds are >1% in the barbarian's favor. The free victory would give you HUGE bonuses in experience... Add this to the experience you would get from your other units attacking India, you could have a pretty well trained military in just the first few turns. I would think you'd be able to attack Greece and Egypt much earlier, giving you more time to build up defenses against the barb attacks.
Without having to rush out so many early immortals in the first few turns, you could afford to settle your first city (other than Parsa) one square to the north of the horse resource. This is a much more defendable position than directly on top of the horses since the barbs will be forced to either attack that city, or spend a couple turns moving through the forest, where they are open to attack. I would still go for construction for the elephants and the ability to build fortresses (is that still with construction?) A fortress in the forest manned by a couple spearmen and a few spearmen in the northern city, would stop the barbarian horse archers in their tracks.
Defending the cities in Egypt would be a little more complicated. Since you'd be invading them earlier, you'd have a little more time to build up their defenses before the barbs arrive. A few axemen in the southern cities and spearmen in the West would defend against the barbs there.
Greece would be the hardest. Axemen/archer combos in the cities would probably be best, but I think you're hardest fights against the barbs will be there... Since you have greatly promoted immortals from the first few turns, I figure you could afford to build less of them for attack and build more defensive units in your core cities for use in defending Greece's captured cities...
It would really be a challenge... I'd give it a try myself, but I'm working this week and only have one day off before Saturday... (My one day off will be spent getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist and doing a long list of hoursework my girlfriend left for me...) Civ4 runs too slow on my laptop to really work on it at work... I might give it a try this weekend though if I have some time, so let me know how it goes for you. Without having the Great Wall, it may seem impossible, but I think it's balanced out by not having babylonia/independents to deal with...
NitroJay
Warlord
yes, i think they do. I personally never make forts, I just use the forests as defensive positions... but i think a fort has a better defensive value than the trees, so if the barbarians are causing problems, it might be worth the effort.
NitroJay
Warlord
Well, then forget what I said about the fort... The place I'm talking about defending above, is right above the horse resource north of the Persian start... Put the city on or one square above the horses and place 2 or 3 spearmen (I'd have one with a medic promotion) in the forest to fortify and the same in the city. Barbs will no longer be a problem for the core of the Persian empire...
botur2young
Warlord
You don't have to chop down a forest to make forts.
botur2young
Warlord
You get +25%, plus any terrain bonuses, plus any bonuses that unit has for defending cities. So a fort in a forest gives +75%, even more if its defended by a unit like an archer or longbow that gets city defense bonuses.
fearuin
Born to be Warlord
I'm nearly to win in Vanilla the Persian UHV on Monarch. It has been easy, but not too much, either. I think I shouldn't talk before it's done, but as an advance, I'll give some hints about how I've done.
1.- There zounds of barb cities. Don't mind if you're economy is stalled. I'm actually running at 20% research to go after currency., at a -15 to -20 GPT, but I've got more than 900 gold. That's a reserve for 45 -50 turns. India it's conquered, the same all Middle East from India to Yerushalayim. An Egyptian city making the Suez channel joined me. In 50 turns, Greece should be destroyed, and currency will come in 20 turns or so. So no problem for money.
2.- I went for the barbs, first. The only remaining barb city in the area is Afrosiab, and will fall on 5-6 turns due to my swords. Swords are expensive, but in the middle run, I'm able to build them in 3 turns on most cities, so let it be.
3.- I've never been less than Stable. The Persian UP it's wonderful for this. Curiously, the interior advisor tells me 5 stars in expansion, and 4 stars in economy!
4.- I have Stonehenge (conquered to barbs
), the Pyramids (built by me ), and I have half built the Great Lighthouse in Artacoana ). I know that Rome has the Leaning Tower and the Oracle, so after Greece, I'll go for them. I'm confident about the Greeks having the Parthenon, and the Colossus has to be elsewhere, probably in Greece or Egypt (hope the first one, Egypt is my friend, and I want to delay my betrying on them). That makes the seven world wonders. The Hanging Gardens are on China (or Japan), but it doesn't seem like an option.5.- Thanks to Stonehenge in Ur, in eight turns I'll have my first GPP. The second one is half on the way in Delhi. The shrines will come in a little while.
I'm on the turn 125, aproximately. Don't know if I have too much time left, but I guess not. I've seen barb camel archers wandering on Egypt a turn before saving, so I guess I'm on 200-300 AD. That's not too much time to conquer Greece, Rome and Egypt; plus settling two or three cities on India, but I think I can make it.
I'll give you report about how I'm doing...
