Through the Ages – Broard View of History Achievement Guide

A guide to completing the 18 Historical Triplet achievements from the base game and expansion.

How to Obtain Broard View of History Achievement

All credit goes to Fidget!

Requirements

Broard View of History

• Accomplish all Historical Triplets achievements, both from the base game and the expansion.

General Comments

The following sections list the eighteen Historical Triplet achievements for the base game and expansion of Through the Ages, including the in-game text for each. The final three achievements require a combination of cards only available by playing with a random mix.

The one common requirement for completion of all of these achievements is that you must win the game. With some of the more complicated achievements, it’s easy to get drawn in and forget the big picture, so try to remember the golden rule: it’s not the taking part that counts, it’s the winning!

One thing to keep in mind when attempting to complete these achievements is that there’s a measure of luck involved in each of them. Don’t be put off if you fail a few times because of circumstances beyond your control. Opponents are very good at snatching cards that you need before you have the opportunity to claim them yourself. A card may also arrive too late to be of use, foiling your attempt through simple luck of the draw. Keep an eye out for opportunities to complete these achievements during normal play if you can, but if you decide to focus fully on completing them, be ready for some very frustrating games.

Most of these achievements are straightforward, once you know what’s required. However, there may be hidden requirements of which I am not aware. Unfortunately, due to their very nature, once you have these achievements, there’s not much you can do to verify what may or may not have been a factor in completing them. So be forewarned, there are no guarantees!

Whenever an achievement requires you to Play a specific wonder, you need to build it too. Don’t panic if such a wonder is subsequently destroyed by Ravages of Time. It happened to my Roman Roads, but I still got the achievement.

When a specific tactics card is required, I have assumed that the troops required to gain a strength bonus from that tactics card are also required, but I could be mistaken. I suggest aiming to build the appropriate troops, but feel free to experiment without them if you’re feeling lucky.

Base Game Achievements

• Start two wars and play Cold War (Age II Military Card).

• Play Democracy, Fast Food Chains, and Professional Sports (all from Age III).

• Build the Great Wall, then successfully play Aggression: Raid with Genghis Khan as your leader.

• Play William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill. Finish the game with the most colonies in play.

• Play Taj Mahal and Mahatma Gandhi. You must win the Impact of Population event (by having the most content workers), but it doesn’t matter who plays that event.

• Play Cartography, Michelangelo, and St. Peter’s Basilica (all from Age I).

• Play Joan of Arc, Maximilien Robespierre, and Eiffel Tower. You must play Engineering Genius when constructing Eiffel Tower.

• Play Kremlin, Transcontinental Railroad, and Communism.

• Play Alexander the Great, Library of Alexander, and Riflemen. Have three Riflemen in play at the same time.

Expansion Achievements

• Play Machu Picchu, Statue of Liberty, and Empire State Building.

• Play Jan Žižka, Alfred Nobel, and Manhattan Project. Play a tactics card requiring artillery while Jan Žižka is your leader.

Note: This can be frustratingly difficult to achieve, as Žižka is an Age I leader, but artillery doesn’t arrive until Age II. You may need to keep Nobel in your hand while you wait for an appropriate tactics card to arrive, hopefully before Žižka leaves play.

• Play Cleopatra, Suez Canal, and Nelson Mandela.

• Play Himeji Castle, Swordsmen, and Movies. Have seven Swordsmen in play at the same time and sacrifice one of them using Himeji Castle while defending against an attack.

• Play Conquistadors, Isabella of Castile, and Antoni Gaudi. Spend six resources during colonization with Isabella, and score five culture points in a turn with Antoni.

Note: Even if you don’t draw Conquistadors yourself, you might be able to copy it from another player. When you win the auction for a colony with Isabella, you can use her ability to spend resources even if you don’t need to. To complete Antoni’s part of the achievement, you need to have at least one of each of the five types of urban building in play at the same time, at the end of your turn, while Antoni is your leader.

• Play Hippocrates, Marie Curie Sklodowska, and International Red Cross.

Random Mix Achievements

• Play Julius Caesar, Roman Roads, and Legion. Use Caesar’s ability to perform two political actions and play a successful aggression card with the second action.

Note: Though simple in theory, this achievement can be incredibly difficult to pull off. Firstly, you need to draw Caesar and Roman Roads in the same game, then get to them both before the opposition. You can always spam resign and restart to solve that problem though. The real difficulty is putting everything in place before the end of Age I, when Caesar will disappear. Even assuming you get lucky with card drops, there’s always a chance that your opponent(s) will develop their military early too, making a successful aggression virtually impossible. It doesn’t matter which card you play for your first political action, but if possible, I recommend playing two aggression cards, to strip your opponent of defensive cards before playing the card that matters.

• Play Johannes Gutenberg, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Marlene Dietrich.

Note: I can’t confirm it’s necessary, but the achievement text suggests that you need to score culture points with each of these leaders. This should happen as a matter of course, but if you have a very quick rotation of leaders, one of them might not be in play long enough to score anything.

• Play Hanging Gardens, Isaac Newton, and Steve Jobs.