I'd like to show some appreciation for the achievement Around the World in 80 Years. Custom nation achievements are usually fun, and so are timed achievements. One of my favourite ones before this was The Navigator, so it was nice to have that one made even more epic.
It gets you to think about lots of different parts of the game, from colonisation, to combat, to expansion. I think what I like most is that you're given a roughly blank slate, allowing you to choose the national ideas yourself gives you a whole lot of freedom to plan a strategy.
I managed to get the achievement in 79 years. I know people have done that in less than half my time, but I was enjoying myself taking it slow. I colonised Panama, and then Darien to reach San Francisco (well, the province next to it, I don't think the devs know where San Francisco is). I did some no CB's in the med to get to the Mamluks (who I had played the day before to get the Levant Turnaround and Hard Bargaining). I managed to finish expansion ideas to give me CB's on trade company land and won the battles in India very easy. I was even conquered Aden, Muscat, Zanzibar, and Mogadishu while I waited for colonial range.
I was then starting to fill in my third idea group when I suddenly noticed the date! I realised it was nearly 1520 and I hadn't attacked Ming. I didn't really consider how long it would take to get my entire land forces all the way to China (I had a base in Taiwan). Just as I attacked I had a pretender spring up, and Ming entered a golden age, giving them a few bonuses.
I took Canton and then made my way to Hainan, and I took my eye off the screen for a second only to look back to see a 70k stack Ming army had caught one of my smaller stacks! Curse you non-discovered land! I managed to get them to retreat and got to Hainan and built mercs after mercs after mercs. I got Ming to peace out and made it to Japan. I had about 2.5 years to get Japan to peace out to get the achievement. I was just barraging and assaulting as much as I could. I even almost lost an army when Japan attacked me after I had just assaulted. But I did it, 13 April 1524!
Thanks for this achievement, it was a rush right at the very end, but I really enjoyed it. For others doing this achievement, don't waste your time on unnecessary things like me and just concentrate on the objectives!
It gets you to think about lots of different parts of the game, from colonisation, to combat, to expansion. I think what I like most is that you're given a roughly blank slate, allowing you to choose the national ideas yourself gives you a whole lot of freedom to plan a strategy.
I managed to get the achievement in 79 years. I know people have done that in less than half my time, but I was enjoying myself taking it slow. I colonised Panama, and then Darien to reach San Francisco (well, the province next to it, I don't think the devs know where San Francisco is). I did some no CB's in the med to get to the Mamluks (who I had played the day before to get the Levant Turnaround and Hard Bargaining). I managed to finish expansion ideas to give me CB's on trade company land and won the battles in India very easy. I was even conquered Aden, Muscat, Zanzibar, and Mogadishu while I waited for colonial range.
I was then starting to fill in my third idea group when I suddenly noticed the date! I realised it was nearly 1520 and I hadn't attacked Ming. I didn't really consider how long it would take to get my entire land forces all the way to China (I had a base in Taiwan). Just as I attacked I had a pretender spring up, and Ming entered a golden age, giving them a few bonuses.
I took Canton and then made my way to Hainan, and I took my eye off the screen for a second only to look back to see a 70k stack Ming army had caught one of my smaller stacks! Curse you non-discovered land! I managed to get them to retreat and got to Hainan and built mercs after mercs after mercs. I got Ming to peace out and made it to Japan. I had about 2.5 years to get Japan to peace out to get the achievement. I was just barraging and assaulting as much as I could. I even almost lost an army when Japan attacked me after I had just assaulted. But I did it, 13 April 1524!
Thanks for this achievement, it was a rush right at the very end, but I really enjoyed it. For others doing this achievement, don't waste your time on unnecessary things like me and just concentrate on the objectives!
