My first campaign in MoH is an achievement run for "The Navigator", which requires Portugal to get a province in Africa, India and Indonesia before 1500. I finished the run in 1493, even though I have made a few sub-optimal plays. This post is intended to show the most important factors for getting this achievement.
First of all, here is a list of bonuses that are directly helpful to setting up the chain of colonies towards India.
Portuguese Colonial Growth (+50 settler growth, unique ability unlocked by splendor)
Exploration Ideas 1-4 (1 colonist, ability to hire explorers, +50% colonial range, and +20 settler growth)
Legacy of the Navigator (+25% colonial range, first Portuguese national idea)
Diplomatic tech 7 (+115 colonial range)
Colonial Enthusiasm (+25 settler growth, +5% settler chance, reward for several Portuguese missions)
To India by Sea (+25 settler growth, +20% colonial range, reward for several Portuguese missions)
Native Repression Policy (+20 settler growth, selected when you get the first colonist)
Grant New World Charter (+10 settler growth, interaction with the Burgher Estate)
Navigator advisor (+20% colonial range, can be hired after getting 1 colonist)
This is what your settler growth would look like towards the later years (though Colonial Enthusiasm and To India by Sea can be difficult to activate simultaneously):
Most of these bonuses are pretty straight forward, and only require simple things like completing a mission or pressing a button. The only complex part is to allocate resources efficiently for techs, ideas and splendor.
Next, I am going to talk about the opening moves. There are 2 starting objectives, admin tech 5 (for the first idea group slot) and 800 splendor (for +50 settler growth). Do not set any national focus, hire a discounted level 2 admin advisor from estates, do not get any diplomatic tech, and spend any excess diplomatic points (if any) to develop Lisbon after Renaissance fires. In terms of splendor, you only need 1 more objective fulfilled, as you have Present on Two Continents active from start. It is ideal if you can find a way to Humiliate Rival on a Berber state, but bumping your capital to 30 development also does the trick well enough. When I did this part, I thoughtlessly turned on military national focus, but it saved me when Castile fell to a PU under Aragon, and Morocco jumped on me while England was losing against France, since I could then abuse the temporary mil tech advantage the military national focus gave me. I completed these 2 objectives in 1464, but it is entirely possible to complete them by 1460.
After getting admin tech 5, the natural follow-up is to fill up the Exploration idea group. The 800+ diplomatic points saved up is enough for the first 2 ideas, allowing Cape Verde to be colonized. While the first colony is being completed, the third and fourth Exploration Ideas should be completed, giving extra settler growth and an extended colonial range. However, further diplomatic points should be used in techs instead, as the +115 colonial range from dip tech 7 (should be unlocked in around 1478) is much more useful for reaching India than the last 3 Exploration Ideas combined. The +2 admin advisor should be switched to a navigator or a +2 diplo advisor with 50% discount. Meanwhile, you should try to fish for those Portuguese missions giving either Colonial Enthusiasm or To India by Sea as a reward. Don't hesitate to kill all the natives in the way using military points, as the campaign would end by 1500. I ended up having Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Luanda, Lesser Namaqualand and Mauritius as the colony chain.
And finally, the destination. Diego Garcia counts as Indonesia, so it is the obvious choice for that requirement. There are 2 easy ways to get a province in India. "Vasco da Gama in India" is an event that gives you Goa with an MTTH of 12 months (meaning almost certain to happen in 5 years), and Maldives is an isolated Sunni OPM without allies. You can even get a claim on Maldives from Diego Garcia, as they share a neighbouring sea tile.
And that's it. The achievement is not difficult, as long as you have a solid plan and do not get distracted. I think it can be completed in 1485 if this plan was thoroughly followed, so there is no need to panic when something goes wrong. If you like time limiting achievements but think that they may be too challenging, this can be a good one to start with.
First of all, here is a list of bonuses that are directly helpful to setting up the chain of colonies towards India.
Portuguese Colonial Growth (+50 settler growth, unique ability unlocked by splendor)
Exploration Ideas 1-4 (1 colonist, ability to hire explorers, +50% colonial range, and +20 settler growth)
Legacy of the Navigator (+25% colonial range, first Portuguese national idea)
Diplomatic tech 7 (+115 colonial range)
Colonial Enthusiasm (+25 settler growth, +5% settler chance, reward for several Portuguese missions)
To India by Sea (+25 settler growth, +20% colonial range, reward for several Portuguese missions)
Native Repression Policy (+20 settler growth, selected when you get the first colonist)
Grant New World Charter (+10 settler growth, interaction with the Burgher Estate)
Navigator advisor (+20% colonial range, can be hired after getting 1 colonist)
This is what your settler growth would look like towards the later years (though Colonial Enthusiasm and To India by Sea can be difficult to activate simultaneously):
Most of these bonuses are pretty straight forward, and only require simple things like completing a mission or pressing a button. The only complex part is to allocate resources efficiently for techs, ideas and splendor.
Next, I am going to talk about the opening moves. There are 2 starting objectives, admin tech 5 (for the first idea group slot) and 800 splendor (for +50 settler growth). Do not set any national focus, hire a discounted level 2 admin advisor from estates, do not get any diplomatic tech, and spend any excess diplomatic points (if any) to develop Lisbon after Renaissance fires. In terms of splendor, you only need 1 more objective fulfilled, as you have Present on Two Continents active from start. It is ideal if you can find a way to Humiliate Rival on a Berber state, but bumping your capital to 30 development also does the trick well enough. When I did this part, I thoughtlessly turned on military national focus, but it saved me when Castile fell to a PU under Aragon, and Morocco jumped on me while England was losing against France, since I could then abuse the temporary mil tech advantage the military national focus gave me. I completed these 2 objectives in 1464, but it is entirely possible to complete them by 1460.
After getting admin tech 5, the natural follow-up is to fill up the Exploration idea group. The 800+ diplomatic points saved up is enough for the first 2 ideas, allowing Cape Verde to be colonized. While the first colony is being completed, the third and fourth Exploration Ideas should be completed, giving extra settler growth and an extended colonial range. However, further diplomatic points should be used in techs instead, as the +115 colonial range from dip tech 7 (should be unlocked in around 1478) is much more useful for reaching India than the last 3 Exploration Ideas combined. The +2 admin advisor should be switched to a navigator or a +2 diplo advisor with 50% discount. Meanwhile, you should try to fish for those Portuguese missions giving either Colonial Enthusiasm or To India by Sea as a reward. Don't hesitate to kill all the natives in the way using military points, as the campaign would end by 1500. I ended up having Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Luanda, Lesser Namaqualand and Mauritius as the colony chain.
And finally, the destination. Diego Garcia counts as Indonesia, so it is the obvious choice for that requirement. There are 2 easy ways to get a province in India. "Vasco da Gama in India" is an event that gives you Goa with an MTTH of 12 months (meaning almost certain to happen in 5 years), and Maldives is an isolated Sunni OPM without allies. You can even get a claim on Maldives from Diego Garcia, as they share a neighbouring sea tile.
And that's it. The achievement is not difficult, as long as you have a solid plan and do not get distracted. I think it can be completed in 1485 if this plan was thoroughly followed, so there is no need to panic when something goes wrong. If you like time limiting achievements but think that they may be too challenging, this can be a good one to start with.
I don't do no-cb wars - but yeah that would make it much easier.
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