Rhye's and Fall of Civilization - Japanese strategy

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The Japanese (UHV)

by Ryry

If you are new to Rhye's (which I am), I think Japan is a good UHV to try first. You don't have to watch your back, as their are no Barbarians to worry about (you start on a small island), and no Civs will threaten the homeland for quite a while (again, island!), and if you can get the first UHV condition met you are pretty much sure to get the next two.

You need to be the most powerful Civ in 1500, if you can swing that you will surely meet #2, no foreign culture on the main island by 1700 with out trying. The last one can be a little tricky cause it takes so long to get to, and you might have over extended back trying to meet the first goal: never lose a city by 1850.

NOTE: I lost cities to instability (they became independent), but no other Civ conquered them, and I still got the UHV. (I lost 2 cities. One I recaptured before 1850, one I did not and it was still independent in 1850). I assume that it does not count as a loss as long as they are not taken by another civ.

OK. So the main thing is to be the most powerful Civ in 1500. How to do that? Well, conquer the other most powerful civ from way back then: China.

Basically you need to follow these strategies:

1) Expand on the Asian mainland by conquering China

2) Build up the home islands (really just one island on this map)

3) Prepare for the Mongols to spawn, and be ready to defend against them

The most urgent is #1. You can do #2 as you have time, it is not a priority beyond the first two cities. Place your first city where the settler spawns and the other as you choose, but I prefer on the east coast just above the rice. Later you can place a city in the north on or around the silver and then another in the far north, which is the island of Hokkaido, but is not a seperate island on this map. You can place a 5th on the gold in the south, or where I prefer is the little island (which I guess is Okinawa) just south of the gold.

But again, the main point is China! You need a city on the Korean peninsula. You can either establish one (which I do) or wait for Seoul to spawn and take it over one way or another. Sooner or later China will get the Plague. Hope they get it worse than you and that it causes some of their cities to go independent. Then you can pick off these cities when the plague ends. Depending on your military situation you will probably only be able to capture one or two cities. But that is fine. You can wait to attack China directly if you are weak, just prepare. Probably China will collapse around 800-950 AD, or you can spur it on around 900 assuming you have enough forces.

Now this whole time you are of course racing your tech to get Samurai (Code of Laws). I usually do not have Samurai by the time I start marching through China, but you need to get them to hold China. After that your goals should be Engineering (pikeman to defend against Mongolia) and Gunpowder.

Be careful! You need to be most powerful by 1500, but you also need to never lose a city. When you start getting down south near the Khmer and Indians you need to ask yourself if you will be able to defend the cities you are taking. Going too far past Hanoi, for example, could be asking for trouble. (Though hopefully India will later collapse, the Khmer will probably hang around as a threat.) If you go south past Hanoi, plan to completely wipe them out, but then you gotta hold all those cities till 1850! NOTE: Catapults cannot go through the Jungles even with roads, be prepared for that.

Another note: I take Bejing but leave the other Chinese city up north alone (north of Bejing, A-something). Let the mongols have it. The mongols will spawn around 1000 and start attacking up north; the less cities you have up there, the better. If you take it, the citizens will keep asking to join Mongolia, and you have to say no, and then mongolia will attack there and Bejing.

Final note: It is a long way from Hanoi to Bejing, and you will need to get units back up there sooner or later to deal with the mongols. So keep that in the back of your head as well.

Once you take over China you'll need a while to stabilize the economy, just keep racing for pikemen and gunpower as best you can. If the Khmer are still around in the south expect them to attack sooner or later, probably in conjunction with with Mongols. The Khmer are pretty weak though, especially if you took a few of their cities.

You may end up in a race between India for most powerful in 1500 (or Arabia), it will probably be tight. Just take as many Chinese cities as you feel safe holding (go into Tibet!), try to get some wonders out, and keep that Tech as high as you can, with extra scientists where you can spare them.

If you can get that first UHV condition met, you are probably set. Keeping culture out of the main islands is pretty much automatic, so you are just waiting for 1700 and a free Golden Age (which you get when you reach 2/3 conditions).

Your two biggest problems after 1500 are:

1) Economy (keeping the tech up around 50%+ can be hard)

2) Mongolian invasion

The Mongols will come for you sooner or later. They have 10HP Keshiks. You have 8HP Samurai. The good news is you just need to DEFEND! Pikemen with upgrades and Samurai with the "Mounted Units" promotion will be adequate if they are fortified in cities, but be careful on the open plains where you can get hit by multiple Keshiks from out of nowhere.

Plus the Mongolians are rushing for Gunpowder as well, and Cannons plus Keshiks are lethal, unless you have cannons and some musketmen. Once you get gunpowder cannons are a good bet because one or two of them can basically shut down a Mongolian advance. And again, you just need to hold on . Sooner or later Mongolia will be at war with one or two other Civs, and if you have enough defenders you may be able to go on the offensive. But you just need to hold what you have, so I suggest trying to make peace with Mongolia as soon as they will accept without cost, rather than taking over more cities which you will then be obligated to hold.

The Europeans will start to over take you, and colonize around South Asia around 1700 or so, but they should not be a threat to you before 1850, especially if you have gunpowder. But making a run for Military techs is still good insurance. But if you can hold off the Mongols, you should be OK.

Final note, you can get a good military city from either the 1st or 2nd city on the main island by completing the Maori Statues wonder, this wonder will help a lot! Combine with a military academy, barracks etc... and you will be able to create units with 2-3 promotions in 1 or 2 turns by the time you are at war with Mongolia. Helpful!

Pacifist strategy (monarch)

by...who else? Pacifist

Taking over China is all well and good, but you can easily be first in score if you get your science well developed. Korea must be captured early as above, but after that I played essentially a fully peaceful game (China was friendly to me until they collapsed) and exchange techs with all the civs you know (because you cannot develop enough techs on your own). Expand to the Philippines, Australia and the Spice Islands. Keep a strong force on the mainland (Kisi and Korea) which serves as a deterrent to the Mongolians. (You can get to Physics before the Mongolians; just bomb away and they will not bother you). With BTS, the Europeans will eventually demand your cities and war is inevitable, so that is one way to avoid losing any cities.

Another alternative (monarch)

by granadino

As Pacifist noted, you can be the first in score thanks to science, which in my opinion is a far better strategy than just begin an insane militar campaign through Asia. That was indeed the backbone of my strategy.

But I also happen to think one of the most enjoyable parts of any Civilization game is building Wonders, I try to do it even if it doesn't help the UHV. In this case, it does. Next to your scientific advances, wonders will increase a lot your score.

For that you need to have in mind Japan's conditions. All your core cities will be in the coast, and it's best to concentrate most production in one. I chose Kyoto, the capital, and I built all my wonders before 1500 there. Namely, Colossus, Great Lighthouse, Parthenon, Leaning Tower, Shwedagon Paya. Even built Statue of Liberty after 1500.

First two are crucial thanks to your coastal nature. I would have liked to build Moais also, but someone made them first. Didn't matter. I think money is more important, as you'll have production in Kyoto no matter what with mines in the sorroundings.

Next two are because I just love great people. I don't think they have any effect in the score, but you'll need them to enhance your scientific rate. Really, you'll need a lot of advances before 1500 to be sure to meet that UHV.

And Shwedagon is important also. With a lot of coastal cities, you'll get a lot of money from trade routes, which you'll keep if you know a lot of civs and are in good terms with them (europeans will even trade you resources and techs, though beware never to give techs to someone near your current score). Build some caravels as soon as you can.

I even brought my first galley all the way to Europe in the 3000 BC start.

Now, if you were smart enough to take Seoul as it appeared in Korea, and you have as much wonders in Kyoto, it will be impossible for the chinese to have culture in your main island.

Just with that, you would be able to reach the first two UHVs, and the third (don't lose any city before 1850) would be just to sit back with no stability problems. Which isn't challenging at all.

So, you can think as if there were another UHV, to control China also. It is possible, sometime past your Middle Ages. If you built enough Samurais, they will be unstoppable when upgraded to Fusiliers (which you should get before anyone else with your scientific boost) thanks to their free promotion (two if you count city defense). China will collapse as you take Beijing if it hasn't already. Raze everything in its core area except Beijing and Luoyang, they'll be powerful production sites, Beijing may even have two wonders. Keep also Macau in the south. Then mongols will have to be next, and they also tend to collapse very fast after taking their capital. Easy with those unparalleled fusiliers.

Try not to have too many cities. As I said, raze some in China. Only take two or three from Mongolia before their collapse. Build also Davao in the Philippines, and that should be it.

Before I forget, it's quite easy to get incas and aztecs as vassals if you build caravels soon enough. Khmer is another useful pawn. They'll increase your score.

For me Japan has the most interesting RFC game after Spain (in which strategy guide I collaborated, BTW), if you do as me and try to take China even if it's not necessary (but not too soon, first assure your highest score). With a lot of money and great people, and scientifically advanced, it should be easy to maintain stability.

BTS 1.186 UHV (monarch)

By The_K

This is just a small update since the historic victory conditions have changed. 1. No foreign culture on your main island - easy, just build 3 cities and don't allow anyone to take them.

2. Be the first in score in 1930 AD. Easy. Play as you would normally play a civ game (I'm always first in score, aren't you?). Just watch your stability. Take a look at the stability maps for more info on where to expand. You can also expand to china but, again, watch your stability. A good idea is to be the first to discover America. Vasalise the Inca, Maya and Aztecs and run Viceroyalty for stability. Khmer can be vasalisied (make them capitulate) for additional stability. When the mongols appear (1200 AD) just have pikeman or war elephants. Destroy them and make them capitulate for even more stability.

3. Be the first to finish the tech tree. Ummm, aren't you always? Well, this is easy or should be. Make sure to get liberalism first for an extra tech. Also, build the internet.

I started doing UHVs in order and, so far, Japan is one of the easire, if longer, ones.