Fall of Rome Spec Ops: The Huns Deity Strategy

The Huns[en.wikipedia.org] were nomads, living in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia between the 4th and 6th century AD. First reports indicate they were living east of the Volga River. By 370 AD, the Huns had moved towards the Volga. Within 60 years, by around 430 they had established a vast dominion in Europe, conquering the Goths[www.kalle-online.net] and other Germanic peoples. Most of these had been living outside of Roman borders and were caused to flee into Roman territory. Especially under Attila[en.wikipedia.org] the Huns made frequent raids into the Eastern Roman Empire[en.wikipedia.org]. In 451 they even managed to invade Gaul, a Western Roman province. There they defeated a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, looting Gaul afterwards. In 452 they even invaded Italy (which will be hard in this scenario at least on Deity difficulty). Attila died in 453 and the Huns ceased threaten Rome significantly.

The Huns surely have contributed to the Great Migration[en.wikipedia.org] thus slowely but surely leading to the downfall of the Western Roman Empire.

The strategy hugely differs depending on level of difficulty. On lower difficulties you might treat things differently, engaging the Sassanids in open combat. On deity however, the AI starts with immense production capacities and a huge army to start with. Engaging this, you'll stay busy fighting units instead of capturing cities, while only the latter grants Victory Points.

Obviously in this military scenario we'll go straight for the military side of the Barbarian Social Policy tree:

• Willing Recruits (turn 15), +50% Production when training combat units
  
• Wily Veterans, Military Units gain +100% Experience from combat
  
• Destiny’s Army (turn 56), +50% combat strength for military Units which have another military Unit in an adjacent tile
  
• Native Coercion, build Courthouses 150% faster
  
• Tribal Bloom, +5 Production in every City
  
• Kingdom Come, +2 Food, Production, Gold and Culture per City

• Turn 00 - Granary (3)
  
• Turn 03 - Worker (6)
  
• Turn 09 - Stable (4)
  
• Turn 13 - Monument (1)
  
• Turn 14 - Aqueduct (3)
  
• Turn 17 - Market (2)
  
• Turn 19 - Heroic Epic (6) --- Capital has 8 Pop by now
  
• Turn 25 - UNITS from now on

Turn 07 - Artaxata
Turn 14 - Singara

Turn 20 - Ctesiphon (Sassanid Capital)
Turn 29 - Singara liberated by Sassanids
Turn 30 - Palmyra (Eastern Roman city #1)

Turn 32 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 35 - Artaxata (2)
Turn 36 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 37 - Artaxata (3)
Turn 37 - Singara (2)
Turn 38 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 39 - Artaxata (4)
Turn 40 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 41 - Artaxata (5)
Turn 41 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 42 - Artaxata (6)
Turn 43 - Artaxata liberated
Turn 44 - Artaxata (7)
Turn 45 - Nisibis
Turn 47 - Anium
Turn 47 - Nisibis liberated
Turn 48 - Nisibis (2)
Turn 51 - Anium liberated
Turn 52 - Anium (2)
Turn 52 - Anium liberated
Turn 53 - Anium (3)

Turn 56 - Amida
Turn 59 - Thospia
Turn 59 - Theodosiopolis
Turn 62 - Trebizond (Eastern Roman city #2)
Turn 63 - Melitene
Turn 65 - Edessa (Eastern Roman city #3)
Turn 65 - Amaseia (final Sassanid city)

Turn 67 - Sinope (Eastern Roman city #4)
Turn 67 - Iconium (Eastern Roman city #5)
Turn 67 - Antioch (Eastern Roman city #6)
Turn 69 - Damascus (Eastern Roman city #7)

It's impressive and a continuous failure of the Civ5-AI how the smallest army in the game can achieve the highest score, by purely using it right. Most of Eastern Romes force sit idle in the Black Sea: Dromons with nothing to do.

Anatolia under Hunnic rule at the end of the game looks amazing. Also here's a view of Attila's Court at the end of the game. A huge production powerhouse pumping out horsemen and horse archers every other turn.

While searching through old save games and screenshots for writing this guide, I found the game I played in 2014, always remembering vaguely how far I got playing the Huns on Settler difficulty. Checking on the games, taking some screenshots I realized: That was actually a first Deity game!

Here's what's possible, pushing the Huns to the limit:

Who would have thought: The Huns not only almost exterminated the Eastern Roman empire, but also march on the capital of the Goths, fulfilling their historic role in driving the Goths into the Roman Empire.

Playing the Huns makes several things easier: First and foremost you only have one city. This means much less micromanaging production, deciding where to build what etc. Just straightforward one city challenge. Surprisingly the whole match was 3:29, so only ~15 minutes shorter compared to the Franks[www.kalle-online.net] or Goths[www.kalle-online.net].
I was surprised how different this game can be depending on factors unknown. In 2014 playing the Huns I encountered almost no resistance from the Sassanids and thus was able to march via Constantinople all the way to the Goths capital. This time, 6 years later it was an overwhelming victory, but since Sassanid resistance was fierce I didn't even reach the walls of Constantinople.

Compare both playthroughs in fast forward:

Bottom line one can still say: With or without resistance, it's fun to play the Huns. Even though as can be seen in the score, they are way too overpowered in this scenario. Their fast movement combined with siege-craft allows conquering cities faster than with any other civilization. Their horse-archers, especially as veterans, not only crush enemy units, but also outmaneuver them. Fun. Imbalanced, but fun.

For more strategy guides, follow me here on Steam.
For more Fall of Rome strategy guides check out the ones below:

• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2142341852
  
• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2230506916
  
• Fall of Rome: Franks Deity Strategy[www.kalle-online.net]
  
• Fall of Rome: Goths Deity Strategy[www.kalle-online.net]
  
• Fall of Rome: Vandals Deity Strategy[www.kalle-online.net]