RFC 3000BC Egypt

[Waraddict]

Hello,

I am currently playing RFC scenario 3000BC with Egypt on Monarch. I usually acheive the UHV but keep running the same game heading for a cultural victory later on. My personal challenge is to acheive cultural victory without moving the culture slider (yes i know i am a bit masochist).

I could use some insight about playing this.

1st problem : Iron.
Egypt got no Iron in its Core area. This become a problem in the medieval era and later when i lack frigates, knights and pikes. Anyone can propose a way to solve this problem? I capture Athenai for its iron supply but it flips back as an independant state due to shaky stability problems. AI wont trade Iron except at exorbitant prices (eg 1 iron vs all your ressources). Vassals i usually control (Incan, Mayan, Aztecs, Mali) don't get Iron either.

2nd problem: Stability
Past the early years, overall stability is at best stable or shaky. I learned how to increase cities, civics, economics and foreign stability but never managed to find how to influence Expansion stability (it just remain *** all the time). It might be the key i lack to further improve my stability and solve many of my problems.

I do not war a lot but combat victories are almost always mine. I conquer few cities (0-5 per game, keeping only 1 or 2, razing the other). I tried to limit Egyptian empire to 6-7 cities in the core area. I also tried to expand up to 10 cities, Nevertheless, whenever i expand outside of the core area (namely Athenai for the Iron supply and Aksum for sheep/cow) the cities flip back whenever i got shaky stability.

Problem 3: Loosing leadership
Which i believe is a consequence of problem 2. Around 1500 AD, whereas i focus on economic/civic/science techs largely neglecting military techs, i tend to loose leadership in both point and tech. I find myself outteched, military weak, so my survival exclusively depend on diplomacy, which sometimes prove ... hmmm unreliable, specially when you have nothing to bribe the AIs into mutual wars. I strongly suspect that my small empire reach its limits while AIs keeps expanding, gaining advantage through volume. My own expansion is stability limited.

Any suggestions? Any help would be appreciated.

Btw, feel free to ask about playing RFC 3000 BC as Egypt on Monarch. I develloped a few tips over those presented in the strategy guides (which are GREAT help btw, thanks to their writters). I will gladly help if i can.

 

[Zagoroth]

Considering that Egypt will naturally get really bad stability it might be best not to raze cities. Why did you need to raise them?

Edition: Not that I care but just so you know this is the wrong location for this thread. This sub forum is for RFC mod mods, this belongs in the regular RFC sub forum.

 

[Waraddict]

Thanks for reply,

I usually raze Aksum to build Asyut 1S of Aksum location. Its a great location with 6 resources in BFC and it gives some breathing room to my own city Abdus build on the desert hill in front of Makkah.

I also razed a couple cities, remnants of the Ethiopian Empire. I guess I should have avoided this. There was no specific reason why to do it.

I should also delay Asyut foundation after the switch to the democraty, free speech, emancipation, free religion when Egyptian's stability become stable rather than shaky.

PS: Sorry for the wrong location, feel free to move the thread

 

[Wessel V1]

Another thing that lowers you stability is a bug that will be resolved in the next patch: the awful foreign stability that gets lower all the time. There is a post that shows how to solve it, I believe it is around page 92/93 in the Q&A thread.

Good luck on your cultural victory by the way. What strategy are you using?

 

[Waraddict]

I initially found 3 cities, Niwt-rst 1N of starting location, Per-Wadjet 1W of wheat, Yebu 1W3S of Niwt-rst while doing the classic Stonehenge Pyramids. (UHV 1/3)

I tech sailing, BW and AH, mathematics and construction. I build Hanging Garden, Coliseum and Great wall in Niwt-rst. When i feel adventurous i also squeeze the Oracle after the pyramids but this generally leads to 2 early GPs when i would need GEs.

Then I capture Yerushalayim (Haaru-Hetep) and further expand Egypt: Sena 2E2N of Niwt-rst and Abdus 3E1S of Niwt-rst. In the meanwhile I build or hurry (GE) the Great Lighthouse in Per-Wadjet and hurry the Great Library in Yebu (GE). (UHV 2/3)

The GA from music is usually settled in Abdus where i badly need long term culture to gain control of sea resources and cultural victory (no 3/3 UHV). I also build Leaning Tower and Parthenon in Niwt-rst.

Then I prepare for war against emerging Arabia and backstabbing Ethiopia. Once Arabia is contained and boxed (it took me a couple failed attempts to figure how to do this) I make peace and go crushing Ethiopia. I raze Aksum to give some breathing room to Abdus on the south. This is usually enough to collapse Ethiopia. I later on hurry the Sistine Chapel in Abdus, Solomon's Temple and eventually Nativity Chapel in Haaru-Hetep.

Then I head for optic, grab the circumvolution, the conqueror event and a couple pre-Columbian vassals. I send an explorer meet Mali who will eventually vassalize.

After this i turtle and tech toward economics/civics and sciences techs. Niwt-rst reach legendary before i know. Second culture city is Abdus. The third Haaru-Hetep receives the cathedral building. I choose Haaru-Hetep over Yebu or Per-Wadjet for strategic reason rather than pure cultural : i need to repel cultural borders much more at Haaru-Hetep than Yebu or Per-Wadjet.

I also found Asyut (1S of razed Aksum) a bit later in the game, as well as Imu in the Sahara to gain control of Uranium and Oil.

If i got lucky i will have 2 (if Haaru-Hetep is christian Holy city) or even 3 different religions (when Asyut or Imu converts to Islam) in the late game, allowing for more cathedral buildings.