Unusual (I think) world conquest strategy

[unmerged(3902)]

I've been playing too much EU. So much too much, that I started making up my own subgames, like "how soon can you conquer the world".

I've done it as turkey or russia, but each time it dragged on into the 1780s as I slogged through the colonial empires of Spain/England.

So, new strategy I thought; I'll conquer the world as France.

Oddly enough, worked far better than as Turkey or Russia, mainly because I was close to Spain/England to start with. World conquest achieved by October 26, 1695.

Basic stategy:

1) Take out Spain by 1500. Easy enough to do b/c the AI is pretty dumb.

2) I spent until 1550 working on trade, infrastructe, and other economic issues. I needed a solid cash flow. I had a couple BB wars with Austria and the German states. Basically they ended in a draw. I also picked up The aztecs and incas.

3) Take out portugal. Just keep an eye on her expansoin and take her out before she gets a colonial city. That way you only have to take out the european provinces. I conquered her in like 1550 or something. Added bonus for letting her live that long is you get decent maps off of her and a string of trading posts.

4) England has to go by 1600 otherwise you'll have a nasty colonial empire to conquer later. Fortunately, its easy enough to do.

5) After that, its all mop up. My order of kills was :

North Germany
Italy
North Africa
Venice
Austria
Poland/Lithuania
Russia
India
Uzbeks/Sibry
Persia
Turkey
China
Sweden

If I had it to do over again, I'd take out Sweden earlier. That winter is annoying. Realistically, I could probably have shaved about 25 years off the total as well if I had been more willing to deal with rebellions, but I tried to keep my wars under 2 years and that meant I had to nibble at Turkey instead of taking it in one big gulp.

Anyway, if you're looking for an earliest possible conquest date, I thing France has a lot to recommend it, specifically the ability to take out Spain and Britain fast. It worked out far better than I expected.

 

[unmerged(1235)]

Originally posted by pcasey
new strategy I thought; I'll conquer the world as France.

Oddly enough, worked far better than as Turkey or Russia, mainly because I was close to Spain/England to start with. World conquest achieved by October 26, 1695.

Basic stategy:

1) Take out Spain by 1500
2) I spent until 1550 working on trade, infrastructe, and other economic issues
3) Take out portugal...letting her live that long is you get decent maps off of her and a string of trading posts.
4) England has to go by 1660
5) After that, its all mop up. My order of kills was :

I'd agree, but would expect that moving Turkey up the list (perhaps Austria to create the direct route) would make it easier... get it before it's swallowed too much (Malemuks, Persia, NAfrica).

One question... after taking Spain at the beginning of the game, didn't you have BB wars from the get-go?

Cheers!

 

[unmerged(3902)]

Yeah, I had like 50 years of BB wars from about 1500 --- 1550. I still had them after that date, but it was actually sort of convenient b/c by then I had the cash flow to manage them.

I lost and gamed the various provinces in the low countries a number of times, but I don't think I ever ended a war with less provinces than I started. Actually, not true. Austria pried Hainot outof me, but that turned out to be a godsend later on since it was a free CB against her.

Anyway, yeah, the BB wars were bad, but I basically bought off most of my oponents and avoided their armies and seiging their provinces. It mostly worked, but since my land tech was lagging (all research was going into economic techs), it was very dicey.

As for Turkey, she was already big in my game by 1550, and I didn't have a land route to get to her. I figured she was safe to leave for last b/c her tech generally stagnates. As it turns out I was mostly right. She was big, but didn't have lvl 5 fortresses.

 

[nalivayko]

I think it would be even easier with Spain- take out France and Portugal first and never let Dutch to become independent. England would follow and then it's your order of business.

 

[unmerged(3902)]

I thought about Spain, but the French have cheaper units and better mid/end game leaders, so I went down that road instead. If I get motivated, I may do it again as Spain, but I doubt I'll do another complete world conquest anytime soon. Its really sort of tedious after 1600.

 

[unmerged(3424)]

I am in agreement

I came close with Russia and the Netherlands (World conquest that is), but much like Civilization (The game) once you know you are going to win the game it becomes very tedious to play.

 

[unmerged(3902)]

Yeah, from 1600 on it was pretty dull. The thing that kept me going was the goal of doing it by 1700. Its the sort of motivator that only works once though.