UHV Guide Babylon 1.16

[Enyavar]

So, I'm testing Babylon yet again.
To make sure to not screw it up on the first time, I did it on Regent Difficulty and Normal Speed, which are the standard settings.

I cleared the first UHV with a big stroke of luck and no idea how to do it without being lucky:

The tech puzzle goes for me as follows:
Mining, get free Masonry --> the first build order is a Worker, who only can improves the Stone and Marble if this is researched
Mythology, get free Ceremony --> further build order is Militia, Ziggurat, Monument, the latter two only possible if this is researched. Switch to Slavery and Deification asap.
Sailing, get free Divination --> to Start Oracle, but not finish it yet
Tanning, get free Calendar --> to build Hanging Gardens aqap (t45).
Leverage, get free Property --> Now finish Oracle (t47) and get Free Writing and Arithmetics, and it's still well before t50, which is the deadline from Greece for these two techs. Switch to Monarchy(!) and Redistribution.

Now, which techs are left? It's Smelting and Construction, and the deadline from China is turn 60, upon which they reach Construction. In my first run (different with 4th tech Leverage->Calendar and Tanning->Property) I'd have finished Construction in t62, but that was a losing strategy, even when I thought it was pretty shrewd.

So, from the beginning, I let my starter Militia explore huts. By now, I can list the applicable ones by heart: Persia, Turkey, Balkans, Middle Europe, Spain, Russia and Scandinavia. In Regent, more than 50 gold is good, scouts for quicker and better exploration are good. I saveloaded and never settled for warriors, maps, experience or that stuff.

ONE technology hut was vital for my success here, and I got smelting without having invest even one beaker in it. The strategy of popping a great person to reach the goal, is no longer viable, because only the Edubba (built around turn 48 in my case) is available for Great People, and that's decidedly too late. After having Construction, Contract was a walk in the park. Now, LAW would have been another challenge, and one where a great person would have been necessary.

Still, after the Oracle, I built the Edubba, the Granary, the Barracks, then some Bowmen to last out for the final goals. Of course, the Ishtar gate.

Because Egypt eventually got 12 population in Nwt-Rst, I had to have at least the same amount in Babilon, which meant that whipping would have been fatally to the strategy. In 850, UHV goal 2 (most populous city) was done, and for "most cultural" I just needed to withstand the Persian invasion, which started in that exact year.

Spoiler With an Engineer I finished the Temple of Artemis right before winning. I had even room for a fifth wonder. :

Now, are there strategies not depending on tribal huts?

 

[1SDANi]

Build order was Babilu to Worker to Granary to Whipped Edubba to Ziggurat to Oracle free Calendar and Arithmetics and Anarchy for Deification and Redistribution to Anarchy for Monarchy and Bowmen until happy to Ishtar Gate
Tech order was Mining free Masonry to Mythology free Property and Anarchy for Despotism and Slavery to Ceremony free Writing to Sailing free Divination to Tanning free Leverage to Smelting to Construction to Contract

After that setup I'd win as long as I kept bringing out Bowmen for Happiness and made sure to prioritize food when I'm on an odd pop and 1 away from unhappiness (sometimes cities avoid food because they don't seem to take the even pop Monarchy happiness into account)

That's how I beat it a little while back. Edubbas and Cottages are way too good to wait until after researching sailing and divination. I never popped a single goody hut.

 

[Mxzs]

My strategy is almost identical to Enyavar's, but I tried intimidating China out of racing for Construction.

UHV Goals
1. Be first to discover Writing, Arithmetics, Construction, Calendar, and Contract.
2. Babilu has the largest population on Turn 84.
3. Babilu has the most culture on Turn 94.

The third goal is the easiest, as the Wonders and buildings necessary to realizing the first two goals will guarantee you the third victory. Spoiler: They are the Oracle, Hanging Gardens, Edubba, and Ziggurat.

The second goal can be a little trickier, as Nwt-Rst can give you a hard run for biggest population. It seems to vary game by game, though. In one test game I failed this condition because NR outpaced me to 12 pop; in another test game, NR became mired at 7 pop and never got past it. But close management of growth—prefer food to hammer production—will almost certainly carry you over this line. The Hanging Gardens are a must to meet this condition, and a Granary wouldn't go amiss either.

The first goal requires you to get Writing and Arithmetics before the Greeks spawn, and to reach Construction before the Chinese. The first is doable with Babylon's Unique Power (five free Techs) and the Oracle, but the second is very chancy; I've seen the Chinese discover Construction on Turn 53, about seven turns before I could manage it. But I think there's a way of scotching them (see below).

There is also a tricky bit at Turn 49 when some Hittite chariots spawn in Anatolia. There is a good chance they will leave you alone, but you can buy yourself protection in case they don't without sacrificing the UHV.

Techs
The first five techs you discover will each bring you a freebie of your choice, so it makes sense to research cheap techs first and use them to grab more expensive techs. These freebies will also take you closer to the buildings you need for your victory conditions. In order:

* Mining --> Free tech: Masonry [for Quarries]
* Mythology --> FT: Ceremony [for Monarchy, and prereq for Divination]
* Sailing --> FT: Divination [for Oracle]
* Tanning --> FT: Property [prereq for Writing]
* Leverage --> FT: Arithmetics [to preempt the Greeks]

Between Tanning and Leverage you should be able to build the Oracle, giving you two more free techs: take Writing (for the Edubba and to preempt the Greeks) and Calendar (for the Hanging Gardens).

After researching Arithmetics, you can bee-line Contract (Smelting --> Construction --> Contract) and forget the Tech tree.

Builds
Your first build should be a Worker to improve the landscape. Next, a Militia to garrison your city because you will have sent your starting unit east. There will then be a hiatus during which you cannot build anything immediately useful; use this time to accumulate hammers for the Barracks. But after the Militia, your next completed build should be the Oracle, followed by an Edubba.

Then complete the Barracks and build a Bowman. If you've timed it right, that Bowman should appear just as the Hittites do. If the Hittites wander away, terrific; you haven't lost anything by building the Bowman. If they charge in at Babilu, the Bowman and the Militia should be enough to defeat them. (But bad rolls do happen.)

After that, a Granary will speed up growth to keep you ahead of the Egyptians, and Hanging Gardens will turbo-charge it by removing the health affects of Flood Plains. A Ziggurat (in conjunction with the Deification civic) will help manage happiness. Walls are not necessary, but you can build them if it will make you feel better. After that, spam Bowman and/or Skirmishers for protection against hostile Persians.

Civics
The four necessary civics are Slavery (for production), Monarchy (for happiness), Deification (for Wonder building and happiness) and Redistribution (for growth). You can switch to each of these as they become available, or save some pair for a single turn of anarchy. I prefer to change to Slavery and Deification on gaining the latter, and switching to Monarchy and Redistribution when the second become available.

China
As soon as you build Babilu, send your starting Militia up through Turkestan and east until you find the Chinese; you should arrive just as they spawn. (But note that Barb Warriors like to wander thru those regions, and you might have reload a couple of times until you find a safe way thru.) You will be forced to make peace with China, but on Turn 41 (the earliest opportunity) declare war on them. Your militia need do nothing but camp out inside their borders (preferably on a wooded hill) to menace them. In three test games I found that this apparently caused them to switch their teching away from Construction.

Summary
* Techs: Mining (Masonry), Mythology (Ceremony), Sailing (Divination), Tanning (Property), Writing and Calendar (Oracle), Leverage (Arithmetics), Smelting, Construction, Contract.

* Builds: Worker, Militia, Oracle, Edubba, Barracks, Bowman, Granary, Hanging Gardens, Ziggurat, Walls (optional), Bowmen and Skirmishers.

* Civics: Slavery, Monarchy, Deification, Redistribution.

* Improvements: Marble, Stone, Sheep, Farms, Hill-Mine (optional)

* Tricky bits: Send first militia to China, declare war on Turn 41. Build first Bowman before Turn 49 to meet Hittites.

 

[HighFunctioningAlcoholic]

Is it not 4 free techs now?

 

[Logoncal]

My Take on the updated Babylon gameplay. It was, a *****.

Instead of China, now its Harrapa who you need to worry, but thankfully Harappa sometimes collapses before getting construction, so when that happens, you can take Calendar-Writing-Arithmetics thru free techs and Oracle instead.

 

[Logoncal]

By the way, i am still salty as hell because of that gold spawn

 

[Andrrew]

Strategy on Monarch difficulty level

I sent my starting Militia to Harappa, going around anti-clockwise until arrived next to the Wheat tile. Once the worker showed up, I declared war and captured it (switched to Slavery on the same turn)! This ensures Harappa can't interfere researching Construction too early; in addition, your BFC will develop faster with 2 workers!

Worker sent back to Babylon, Militia went to China. Declared war on China immediately when possible (as others suggested), and camped on eastern forested hill within their BFC. It is important to block them founding their second city for as long as possible by moving around a bit and blocking their preferred tiles.

Build order: Worker, Granary, Militia, Pyramids, Oracle, Edubba, Hanging Gardens, Smokehouse, Archers.
Once Edubba is done, I was running 2 scientists to race towards Construction.
I like Pyramids as it gives you Engineer GP points (I actually got a GE in turn 63 which could have bulbed Construction but I was 1 turn away anyway, so just went with rushing Hanging Gardens).

Civics: I deferred switching to Monarchy/Redistribution until Construction was done as didn't want to lose a turn.

Techs: Mining (Masonry), Mythology (Ceremony), Sailing (Divination), Property (Leverage), Writing and Arithmetic (Oracle), Tanning (Calendar), Smelting, Construction (got in turn 64), Contract.

Workers: Marble first (to maximize commerce), then Stone, Pasture, Mine, Farms everywhere.

Frankly the main challenge is to get Construction in turn 63/64 without China beating you; once that's done you can always (i) build an army of Militia and Archers for happiness and defense vs. Persia; (ii) put a farm on every tile quickly with your 2 workers so you'll win the population game; and (iii) with 3 wonders cultural win is a given.

 

[Just an idea]

Has anyone managed to complete Babylon's UHV on Monarch without raiding China? I've decided to try completing UHVs on Monarch and Egypt went rather smoothly, but now I'm already stuck. Playing on Epic speed earliest I've managed to get Construction is turn 94 and China usually finishes it around turn 90. I guess I could raid them but that just feels historically too implausible.

 

[Hickman888]

Has anyone managed to complete Babylon's UHV on Monarch without raiding China? I've decided to try completing UHVs on Monarch and Egypt went rather smoothly, but now I'm already stuck. Playing on Epic speed earliest I've managed to get Construction is turn 94 and China usually finishes it around turn 90. I guess I could raid them but that just feels historically too implausible.

I was able to do it on Marathon (I think I may have just gotten lucky), but I gave up after several tries on Normal, w/o raiding China.

 

[Just an idea]

Managed to do it. (Monarch, Epic, Develop version. Not sure how much difference it make for Babylon compared to 1.16.) Built worker in Babylon and captured additional one from Harappa. Workers started with Stone, then Marble, then Farms everywhere. (I got free pasture from random event. Not sure if it would have been possible without.)

Babylon's build order was Worker--Militia*2--Sphinx--Granary--Edubba--Oracle--Bowman--Hanging Gardens--Extra Bowmen and Skirmishers+ anything that gives Happines. Ones in bold went to top of queue as soon as they were available. Edubba was whipped when city population would not drop bellow 3. Ran two scientist after that except when building the Oracle, until I got Great Scientist.

Tech path was Mining (Masonry), Mythology (Property), Ceremony (Writing), Sailing (Divination), Tanning (Leverage), Oracle got me Arithmetic and Smelting, Great Scientist bulbed Calendar (Prophet would have also worked), Construction, Contract and after that didn't really matter. Oracle should complete on same turn as Tanning. I got my Great Scientist one turn before Indian spawn.

Civics: Slavery after worker was ready. Despotism when available. Monarchy, Deification and Redistribution after Construction and Calendar have been discovered.

Tech goal was the tricky part. Population goal was matter of building Hanging Gardens and Farms and keeping Babylon happy. Culture goal was achieved by wonder required for first two goals.

 

[FraggleJock]

An alternative Monarch/Normal Strategy

Babylon: Worker, Ziggurat, Edubba(rush last turn to dump hammers on Oracle),Oracle, Militia(when needed), Oracle(rush to complete on turn you finish researching Tanning), granary, defence or wonders depending on your war status

Tech: Myth(prop), Ceremony(write), Sail(Divination), Leverage(Arithmetic), Mining(Calendar), Masonry, Tanning, Oracle (Smelting+ Construct), Contract ......
The current target dates seem to be arithmetic t48 Harappa, writing t50 greece, calendar t54 India construction t59 China you need to either interfere with harappa or have them collapse before they get construction early

Civics: Despotism+Deification when sailing done. Monarchy+Distribution after Oracle

Worker: cottage stone and marble, pasture the sheep, then farm the floodplains make sure those cottages are worked at all times as absolute priority

Very Important point is have any unit on the Dye and the hill above it on turn 48 then run back to Babylon when the Hulganni spawn next to you don't autopath to babylon or the hill unit just may get you killed when it moves into the dye forest. the spawn for the phoenecian spawn may need the same treatment but it's more forgiving

I send the start militia to the huts in anatolia and the balkans to deny them to greece then go home if you get experience in a hut you can take woodsman II and grab the hut in spain and make it back before turn 48 to perform the border patrol duties

 

[Hickman888]

An alternative Monarch/Normal Strategy

Babylon: Worker, Ziggurat, Edubba(rush last turn to dump hammers on Oracle),Oracle, Militia(when needed), Oracle(rush to complete on turn you finish researching Tanning), granary, defence or wonders depending on your war status

Tech: Myth(prop), Ceremony(write), Sail(Divination), Leverage(Arithmetic), Mining(Calendar), Masonry, Tanning, Oracle (Smelting+ Construct), Contract ......
The current target dates seem to be arithmetic t48 Harappa, writing t50 greece, calendar t54 India construction t59 China you need to either interfere with harappa or have them collapse before they get construction early

Civics: Despotism+Deification when sailing done. Monarchy+Distribution after Oracle

Worker: cottage stone and marble, pasture the sheep, then farm the floodplains make sure those cottages are worked at all times as absolute priority

Very Important point is have any unit on the Dye and the hill above it on turn 48 then run back to Babylon when the Hulganni spawn next to you don't autopath to babylon or the hill unit just may get you killed when it moves into the dye forest. the spawn for the phoenecian spawn may need the same treatment but it's more forgiving

I send the start militia to the huts in anatolia and the balkans to deny them to greece then go home if you get experience in a hut you can take woodsman II and grab the hut in spain and make it back before turn 48 to perform the border patrol duties

Good guide, it worked for me, after a couple of fails. (Egypt building Oracle, Harappa/China beelining Construction). I hope this civilization gets looked at, at least for monarch difficulty. It was mostly just hoping that the AI wouldn't do certain things, and that's not too fun.

 

[Romanyoni]

I sent my starting Militia to Harappa, going around anti-clockwise until arrived next to the Wheat tile. Once the worker showed up, I declared war and captured it (switched to Slavery on the same turn)!

>> That's is mega chad move!
Free worker strategy

... Militia went to China. Declared war on China immediately when possible (as others suggested), and camped on eastern forested hill within their BFC. It is important to block them founding their second city for as long as possible by moving around a bit and blocking their preferred tiles.

>>

As i understood, it is almost unreal to discover Construction before China without this historical unrealistic war between Babylonians and Chinese?

 

[Buffalo Solider]

I managed to win on monarch without thinking too complex theories, tho it took some tries

I started with worker + mining->masonery. Then started with quarry on marble (stone is worse, you need $ it's number1 priority!). (I actually tried building worker after reaching size 2, but.. I don't know, it didn't worked for me.. Maybe delaying those quarries for 6-8 turns is net loss, compared to building worker with city that has 1$ 1Prod 1food more to work with..)

Then I made research in pretty random combination (I started with cheapest researches, to get tier2 researches for free, but I would change few things if I played again)
I wanted to get libraries and cottages, but it turned out my worker was busy for quite few turns anyway and babylon was also busy building oracle and hanging gardens, so none of these 2 techs were holding me back.

Only thing that mattered later on is that I spammed cottages on all flood plains, while building enough soldiers to keep city happy (and growing! (and safe... damn Persians)) The moment I built library, I turned 2 people into scientists (getting city-size UVH2 condition isn't really that hard, so you can afford slowing growth.

video

I don't know why, but in video my Grece had no arithmetic at start. Maybe I got some old version of mod. That's why it was stright up easy on that version I was playing.
Now trying it for real and in 1.17.

 

[Rafaelito]

Been trying on 1.17 Paragon/Epic but it's virtually impossible on this difficulty.

I even cheated by reloading combats, huts and everything to my favor but nothing seems to work, the deadline is just impossible to meet on this level.

At some game I killed harappans with 2 militias (lured one defender outside when capturing his worker) and rushed the neighboring independent city susha or so and had 4 workers in total but was unable to get writing/arithmetic before the greeks or construction before chinese.

I also sent one militia to harass China and slow them down but still there is no way to get the enough science for all the techs