Rhye's and Fall of Civilization - English strategy

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Contents 1 A not-so-expert guide (Monarch level) 2 Early-Game Guide 3 Guide to the UHV 3.1 Opening Moves (before Astronomy) 3.2 Research and Overseas Expansion 3.3 Potential Problems 3.4 Other Stuff

A not-so-expert guide (Monarch level)

by Pacifist

As my penname implies, I tried not to declare war and played the isolationist that England should be (at least for the UHV it's easier). The three goals are:

• Be the first to circumnavigate

You must be the first to circumnavigate the World. To achieve this goal you need knowledge of the map spawning "one circle" around the globe. This needs you to either trade maps or send out Caravels, the first vessel that can travel Oceans on a Magellan Voyage.

• Found at least 3 cities in every continent by 1730 AD

You must build at least 3 cities in every continent (North America, South America, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Africa), by 1730 AD. You need to build 3 cities on every of 5 continents for the total sum of 15 cities. You have to build them, conquering them can't be an option.

• First to enter Industrial and Modern era

You must be the first Civilization to research any Industrial era technology and eventually any Modern era technology.

Note that you must locate your cities in the right area (otherwise they may not count)--see the updated atlas.

Having played this first on Viceroy (and won by 1670) I knew that the tough part is the 2nd goal--especially finding land in Asia and getting there in time...see below.

You start out in England which is reasonably strong in resources. Found London, Plymouth, Manchester and Dublin. Switch to slavery and hereditary rule. (Alternatively, open borders with France and Spain and send one settler to South Africa right away) The Vikings may declare war on you when Inverness flips; don't worry, this is good news, as you'll get 4-5 extra troops and you already start out with 3 galleys. I took Gothenburg and promptly made peace with the Vikings who became my best friends thereafter. Use your galley to go to the very northern part of Asia until you hit ice (this counts towards your circumnavigation eventually).

You need to switch to organized religion (by this time you're Christian) and civil service as soon as possible to get your infrastructure in place (library, Christian temples and monasteries). Trading techs in Monarch is close to impossible so don't do it until you have significant lead. Bureaucracy is a must. Hanging Gardens are nice because they boost your health and pop from 2 to 3 (I built that instead of Sistine chapel--who cares about culture). I also got Leaning Tower which helps with great scientists and engineers. Around 1200 I switched from organized religion to Pacifism and double my great men production (got close to 10 by 1600).

After civil service, get compass, optics and astronomy so that you get your first caravel. You need to be the first to locate the Inca and Aztecs and circumnavigate. I built 2 just in case and sent them down south, east and west. You probably won't have gunpowder yet so do not declare war on the American civs (all you'll do is get a small city or 2 and these will drag down your economy). Rather, station your troops where you will build your cities in North and South America (so that your galleons will be able to carry just workers and settlers). Eventually they may offer to be your vassals which is fine (don't do too many vassals as it will just drag your economy down).

You can easily get Astronomy as early as 1200-1300. The trick is to research paper as one of your first techs, and with all the scientists you're assigning, you're bound to get a great scientist or 2 which will bulb you philosophy and education, both prerequisites for liberalism. You can choose Astronomy as your free tech as long as you've done compass, guilds and optics, so keep a GS around until you have all these. So the research path for me is:

• paper (build Univ of Sankore if you want)
• meditation (prerequisite for philosophy) (interrupt paper if religion spreads to you early or buy it from another civ)
• CS
• philosophy (bulbed) --switch to bureaucracy and pacifism together
• Calendar (trade for it)
• compass (before guilds, since other Europeans like the Dutch and Portuguese) will have guilds later, lessening your research cost)
• guilds
• optics
• education (bulbed)
• liberalism and get astronomy as free tech

You need to start building settlers relatively early (I built my first around the early 1400's) because you only have so many turns to get them to where they need to be. Switch to resettlement around 1400. I colonized in this order:

Philadelphia and Topton (which is in Canada I think), from where I built my 3rd settler for somewhere in Canada with fur and copper) (the North American cities will be your powerhouses until the Americans arrive, whereas all the others you will eventually give away for free to your vassals or friendly neighbors because once you reach your 2nd goal you want to concentrate on science and economy) Guard your American cities with at least 2 troops (Macemen or musketeers) because the native dog soldiers come 3 at a time.

2 in South Africa and Madagascar (the former I defended with 2 musketeers which are more than enough for the impi, that latter because the impi can't get to the island), and from South Africa I built my 3rd settler for South-west Africa

3 in South America (I got all three of them in one trip because I left my adventurers in strategic locations, so I was able to bring 3 settlers at once) Asia is the tough one--southeastern India, Philippines and the very tip of northeastern Siberia are the only logical choices (elsewhere either you have jungle or you don't have running water to build a city). You certainly do not want a city in the middle of Asia where Mongols and Arabs vie for supremacy. Do Asia early (maybe even before Africa) because it takes forever to get there (even with the circumnavigation

3 cities in Australia (Perth, Sydney and one in north Australia) (you can do Australia late as most of the civs don't colonize there until late with the exception of the Netherlands, and I vassalized them. Make sure you have enough time to reach it though (usually at least 5-6 turns from England)

I just made the Siberian city in time (had to whip a poorly producing Singapore which I got from a conference after switching to Slavery for 10 turns). Count your settlers closely! (in fact London for most of the 1600's made nothing but settlers, 2-3 turns each).

Once you get your triumphal arch, you need to give away your cities (so that you can concentrate your economy on science). By this time all the civs are friendly to me (even fanatical Spain). I had Khmer, Aztec and Inca as my vassals (one too many it seems), and I couldn't resist when India spawned and wanted to be my vassal. When you hit your golden age, switch immediately from resettlement to viceroyalty, mercantilism, caste system and free religion: the first because it will boost your stability, the last 3 because you need all your scientists and the extra 10% science helps. I gave my southern Indian and African cities (except for South Africa) to India, Philippines to Khmer, the tip of northeastern Siberia to Japan (Mongolia hated me), all my south American cities to Inca. Nobody wanted my Australian cities. (It's kinda ironic that I kept all the historical English colonies.) I kept my North American cities until America spawned, and then only I gave them away because France (who was friendly to me all along) decided to reenact history with the French and Indian war (or Seven years war) around 1740 and declared war on the Aztecs (I was their master). Rather than pay for a war which I can't win, I just kept the largest non-coastal Canadian city.

It's easy to get to being first with Industrial age as long as you get Liberalism first for your free tech; I chose chemistry. Build observatories and universities and throw everything you have to get radio which is the earliest Modern tech you can get (beeline to Electricity). Being the pacifist I sued for peace as soon as possible (and traded my older techs for military tradition and rifling which I DIRECTED my vassals to research, especially Netherlands--you do not want them to stab you in the back with getting the first modern tech). You don't need to go Constitution or Democracy (usually the other civs research them) but it would be nice to switch if you're in Golden Age. Don't build anything within 15 turns of your victory (just convert all production to research). I hit Radio in 1763 and got a Shaka Zulu score in the mid 9000's (could have been higher if I didn't give away my American cities but what the heck).

Early-Game Guide

by Gooblah

Assuming you want to hit the Unique Historical Victory, here are the conditions:

1) Be the first to Circumnavigate the Globe,

2) Found 3 cities in each continent, and

3) Be the first to enter the Industrial and Modern Eras.

This can be relatively hard if your early game is somewhat screwed up. You begin with 3 Galleys, 2 Work Boats, 4 Longbowmen, and 4 Settlers. Take 3 Settlers and 3 Longbowmen and put them into the Galleys. Settle the 4th Settler and Longbowman to form London. Get Louis XIV to Pleased, then enter his territory with the Galleys. Next, send your 'navy' south to Spain. Repeat the process with Isabella. I recommend placing your 3 African Cities on the North Coast, bordering the Mediterranean. Resources there include Wine, Ivory, Iron, and Sheep. The next turn, Inverness will revolt to the English Empire, and the Vikings will declare war. Build 2-3 Triremes to defend the coast as you build up. You'll also receive 3 Workers. Use these as you see fit, however, emphasize commerce and research. **Teching is a priority here. Hitting Liberalism first, choosing an Industrial tech as your freebie, and getting Astronomy early will ensure continued success. Calendar will also center the world map, making naval commands towards other continents easier.** I also suggest taking over the Independent City on Ireland, razing it, and settling Dublin to get your 3rd European City (Plymouth works as well). As soon as you reach Optics, upgrade a few Triremes to Caravels (or build them), and set 1 to each continent. Your Galleys should be auto-exploring the African Coast. Meeting Mansa Musa early on, and giving him a free tech will get him Pleased. If it is an option, make Mansa Musa your vassal before Arabia. As you reach each continent, begin building Galleon-Settler-Longbowmen combos to settle. Prime locations in South America are on the Atlantic coast, similar to that of North America. In Asia, I suggest hitting East Russia, India, or Indonesia. Australia's resources are mostly on the North and South coasts, so go there.

Guide to the UHV

by Norton II

First, let’s consider the conditions:

1. Be the first to circumnavigate the globe. No challenge here—you can even research Calendar before beelining Optics. The AI puts zero priority on circumnavigation and just stumbles into it eventually if you don’t do it first.

2. Settle at least three cities on every continent. This one’s a little tougher, especially if you want the good city sites. In particular, there aren’t many decent spots in Asia or Africa, so if you don’t want junk cities in the tundra or desert, you need to move relatively quickly.

3. Be the first to enter the Industrial and Modern Ages. This isn’t too difficult, but if you want to do it as quickly as possible, you really have to focus. Also, this goal is in conflict with the second goal since your tech costs increase as your civ gets larger.

Thus, if you want to win as early as possible, you must focus completely on your UHV goals, ignoring anything that doesn’t help your research or your expansion. In particular:

1. No wonders. For UHV purposes, there’s not a single wonder that’s worth the cost in hammers or turns, and you shouldn’t pop any Great Engineers, either—most of your specialists should be scientists and merchants.

2. No vassals. Vassals cost money. Given the huge maintenance and upkeep costs you’ll have to pay anyway, why force your science slider down even farther?

3. No unnecessary buildings. Any building that doesn’t speed up your research, improve your economy, or let you assign or feed more specialists shouldn’t be built.

4. Minimal military, and no conquests. You should have enough units to keep the sheeple from wetting themselves and to defend your African and American colonies from natives armed with dry grass. Anything more than that will slow you down. As for conquests, what’s the point? You need to settle three cities on each continent. Conquered cities just increase your maintenance and upkeep and decrease your stability.

So now that you know what you shouldn’t do, let’s discuss what you should do.

Opening Moves (before Astronomy)

Settle London, Plymouth, Manchester, and Dublin (Dublin should be 1 W of the sheep to claim all the land tiles and both fish). Revolt immediately to HR and slavery. You can also revolt to OR and vassalage—the extra anarchy turn won’t hurt much at this point, and OR may help if Christianity doesn’t spread quickly. Beeline Astronomy. The Vikings usually have Inverness; if they declare when it flips, no big deal—you’ll usually (though not always) get some extra units, and they might sink one of your galleys. In my games, they don’t even pillage my fishing boats!When your workers show up, have them improve all the resource tiles, starting with the ones near London. Your two workboats should go to the fish tiles near Manchester and Inverness.

London, Manchester, and Inverness should whip libraries and markets ASAP, but Manchester should whip a worker first, Inverness should whip a granary first, and both cities should build harbors as well (but not London—no seafood tiles). Have Plymouth whip a workboat, library, and harbor, then whatever you want. Have Dublin whip a worker first, then a library, two workboats, a market, and a harbor (build the workboats before the library if Christianity spreads to Dublin early enough).

As soon as Christianity comes in, convert. Squeeze in missionaries to get it to all five cities if necessary. Every city except Plymouth should assign its first two citizens to food tiles, then its next two as scientists once libraries are built. Plymouth should work the crabs and the stone, then assign two scientists.When Optics comes in, start caravels in the first two cities to finish their current builds. After you’ve got your libs, markets, and caravels, you can start settlers in London, Manchester, and Inverness (also be sure to assign merchants once you’re working enough food tiles). Time the settlers to finish one turn after Astronomy, whipping them if necessary. As long as every city has two scientists whenever it can, you should have Astronomy in 1190.

During this time, you should generate two Great People. The first one will almost certainly be a GS; use him to lightbulb Paper. If the next one is a GS (hopefully it will be), lightbulb Philosophy after trading for Meditation (you might have to research it; if so, it’ll only take one turn). If it’s a GM, you can either lightbulb Guilds or settle him in Dublin. Once you have Philosophy and Astronomy, or a little after if you want to get the settlers out first, revolt to pacifism and resettlement. Upgrade at least one galley to a galleon (trade for the cash if necessary), load your settlers the following turn, and set off for Asia. Upgrade the other two ASAP.

Research and Overseas Expansion

Your galleon should head for Singapore, which will be unclaimed by Khmer at this point (about 1300). Drop off one settler there, then take the other two over to the Philippines and settle two cities there—one in the north, one in the south. Don’t bother with India; any cities you settle there will flip if India respawns. Each of these cities should whip a longbow first, then a library, then a courthouse (courthouses can come first if Christianity spreads fast enough), then markets, etc. Singapore should whip a workboat after its borders pop. Once your workers finish improving Britain, send three of them in a galleon to your Asian settlements.

Back home, London, Manchester, and Inverness should follow this build order, whipping every so often (though you shouldn’t abuse the whip—you need those specialists): observatory, crossbow, settler, university, crossbow, settler, crossbow, settler, settler. You can deviate from this order to get the last settlers out faster if needed, or build something between the last two settlers to let your population grow back. Meanwhile, Dublin should build a grocer and a Royal Exchange once you have Guilds and Banking, followed by the science buildings, a temple, a lighthouse, and a courthouse.

Research order: Civil Service, Education, Nationalism, Constitution, Printing Press, Scientific Method, Physics, Electricity, Radio. Lightbulb any of these techs that you can; also lightbulb Banking with a GM if possible. Once you have Constitution, switch to representation and bureaucracy. I finished Radio in 1635.

There are plenty of places you can settle, but here are the sites I chose and the order in which I settled them:

Africa: Port Nolloth, Cape Town, Durban (send crossbows first, ditto for the Americas)—1430-1435 North America: St. John, New York, Annapolis—1530-1535 South America: Georgetown, 3 W of Georgetown, near the eastern tip of the continent, 2 N of the gems—1590-1595 Australia/Oceania: Wellington, Christchurch, Sydney. I could have founded one more city in New Zealand, but I was careless and had already moved the galleon toward Australia when I realized this. Sydney was settled in 1645.

Your cities should start with workers or workboats, then build libraries, courthouses, and markets (you’ll probably win before your American and Australian cities build all that stuff, though).

As mentioned before, you’ll generate a fair number of Great People, mostly merchants and scientists. You should use them to lightbulb useful techs—i.e., anything along the tech path mentioned above, or anything that helps your economy. If they can’t lightbulb anything useful, either settle them or build academies.

As far as foreign relations go, you don’t need to suck up to everyone a whole lot—just don’t needlessly antagonize anyone, and you should be fine. Sign open borders whenever you can, give in to tribute demands and requests for help as long as they’re remotely within reason (e.g. don’t give away Astronomy the turn you discover it), and just generally keep the other Christian civs pleased or cautious if possible. Most of the time, you won’t run into anything worse than a phony war with a distant civ.

Potential Problems

1. Plague. England has a pretty high health surplus, especially after you make a few trades and grab a few resources overseas, so the plague might not hit you at all. If it does, it shouldn’t last long. If you didn’t get extra units earlier, you might have to whip a few, but other than that it won’t hurt you very much.

2. War. As I mentioned above, you may have the occasional phony war, but rarely anything else. If you do end up in a serious war before your last settlers are on the way to Australia, you can probably forget winning before 1700. Hasn’t happened to me yet, though, so I can’t say for sure.

3. Christianity spreading late. Sometimes, Christianity takes its time spreading to you. If you don’t have it by 1100 or so, maybe earlier, it’s probably best to restart—you need those extra GPs from pacifism.

4. World Congresses. If a Congress convenes before you win, you might get screwed out of a city or two. If you’re close to victory, just defy the Congress and hope you don’t get dogpiled (I didn’t).

Other Stuff

• Assign as many specialists as you can. In most cities, assign scientists first, then merchants, then others if you have enough food. Dublin’s a good money city, so after Astronomy, start with merchants there.
• In Africa and the Americas, you might consider whipping an extra crossbow to protect your workers.
• It might be better to go for Constitution before Education, provided you can still get Education before the second batch of settlers is done. I haven’t tested it yet, though.
• If you get the conquerors event, gift the units to the Aztecs or Inca so they don't cost you money.