Prussia

[Monk]

Prussia is one of the 12 major factions available for play.

played in v 1.0

Prussia - Estimated HARD

Prussia's campaign is for those who like to think fast, talk fast, and move fast. You start with two provinces, unfortunately they are both seperated by Poland-Lithuania's lands. Isolated as they are they can only offer each other limited support, building your empire will be increasingly hard in such a position, and waiting only makes it worse. Poland could easily be replaced by Austria, and then you will be forced to contend with a powerful southern neighbor. Therefore your first move is clear. Take West Prussia. Doing this, however, will bring you into direct conflict with not only Poland, not only Poland-Lithuania's two protectorates (Saxony and Courland), but also Russia who is allied to Poland.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/Startingposition.jpg

You start with two decent sized armies, one in Berlin and one outside Konigsberg, they might not look like much but you've got the treasury to bloat those stacks with some Line infantry right of the bat. You're going to need to use troops wisely if you want to have a chance at destroying Poland and doing it quick. Spend two turns building up your forces and don't forget to take your cannons into the fray when the time is right.

Start researching military technologies, with the ultimate goal of achieving ring bayonets ASAP. Prussia starts with Plug bayonets already so this won't take too long. You have a single school and a gentlemen, put them to use! Destroy something over in East Prussia and build a school there as well. This will come in handy later.

Before you strike, you're going to need an ally. Poland is too large an adversary and has too many protectorates for you to go into this thing alone. I suggest Austria, but getting her on your side won't be easy. Well, actually it is if you have the money. Save up 5000 gold and send the Austrian king a state gift. A thoroughbred Horse. Right after he recieves it, offer an alliance. Feel free to sweeten the deal with plug bayonets, they'll need them. Austria is going to be your shield in this war, they will soak up a lot of heat allowing you to pick off Saxony and Courland before delivering the Coup de grace. Be sure to smile as you shake the Austrian King's hand... you've just signed the death warrant for half his army.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/War1.jpg

Don't be fooled by the weak moniker, they have the potential to levy mass amounts of troops, enough to overrun you if you're not careful. Once you've got your ally feel free to declare war at any time. The sooner the better as giving Poland time to build up only hastens the possibility that their "weak" will turn to "strong". Your army in east Prussia should immediately hit West Prussia, laying siege to Gdarisk. The garrison is small and the towns people will rise up to defend, but they should be no match for you. If Austria entered the war with you (your relations should be good enough that they did) Poland won't attack you outright, they will see Austria as the bigger threat and try to deal with them on their way to you. You should be much more concerned about Saxony and Courland.

Ah yes, Saxony. You're going to need to knock them out fast or else you'll be fighting a multi-front war. Don't underestimate them, while their main army is filled with militia they can put up a serious fight. Immediately after you take Gdarisk you should push on Dresden and force Saxony into an open confrontation with the army stationed near Berlin. This will force the Ai on the defensive and not give it time to maneuver in the province. Siege Dresden and cut the head off of the snake. Auto-resolve if you don't feel like a battle, your line infantry numbers beat Militia's by a mile.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/1701.jpg

Turn 3 and you've already knocked out Saxony, Protectorate of Poland-Lithuania. They are not going to be happy about that. You have two options here. You can either sue for peace from Poland, or do so from Russia. Be advised, however, that Courland is still alive and is very much at war with you due to their protectorate status from Poland. If you make peace with Poland they may just turn and declare war again. I chose to make peace with Russia. If they refuse at first send a state gift and give them some tech, that should pretty much ensure they are at least "indifferent" to you. If they still refuse, give them a few turns and a few more gifts.

With the sleeping giant out of the way and Austria and Poland fighting savagely along my southern border I turned my attentions to Courland. Your best bet is to leave an Army near Berlin/West Prussia and send one of your stacks up to deal with Courland on its own. It should be enough, but be advised that Courland had numerous artillery batteries in my game against them and proved far more dangerous than Saxony. Still, I was able to win a number of modest victories and eventually pushed on their capitol. If Courland is raiding your towns and you can't seem to pin down their main army, it's likely that they are devoting all assets to try and raid you. I noticed the Ai wasn't keeping an army between me and its city so I snuck around them and captured their capitol a few turns later. That was the end for them.

Alternatively you can prolong the destruction of Courland a few turns and build your army up while keeping yourself between them and Konigsberg. This is the best plan as you'll have combat power in hand for the next step.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/courland.jpg

If Russia did not accept your call for peace a few turns ago, continue building relations and trying for peace. They won't be able to resist after a few china sets. Remember that stack that we had near West Prussia that we were building up? Well now its time to put it into action. We needed it in hand for our next step, which is absorbing the Polish counter-attack. You didn't think it would be that easy did you? :laugh4: Position it near Konigsberg and have them wait. While they sit quietly on the home front, bring the army who sacked Courland down and take Vilnius. Depending on how much the Polish have thrown at the Austrians, this can be either easy or downright bloody. In my recent play through of this stage the Polish had commited huge resources to fighting the Austrians and i was able to take it no problem.

Keep your defense stack in place, if you move it you can expect Poland to come walking in and take Konigsberg! Exempt Vilnius from taxes and leave a few militia behind as you push on to Minsk which secures your eastern flank. As before, Exempt Minsk from Taxes and march back to Vilnius and station your troops there.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/Lithuania.jpg

You may notice in the screenshot i've lost Konigsberg, that is because i didnt have the defense stack ready and in place! I had the money but just didn't have them moved up. The result was I lost two provinces and effectively traded my homelands for Poland's. If this happens you may find yourself bogged down and in a very dangerous spot, hence why I suggest keeping that army between you and them. :yes:

The last objective is Warsaw, but don't underestimate your enemy. It's a powerful war-factory and can crank out Line infantry quickly. Try to position your Armies in a way that the enemy will be forced to march through them to attack, then wait. If no attack seems forth-coming then feel free to move in from either side (using either your defense army or the veterans of the Lithuanian campaign) to trap the Polish in a vice. In my experience, moving the defense army across the Polish border was enough to provoke an attack. I was able to defeat them in a bloody battle and break the power of Poland-Lithuania. Then all I had to do was move in the Lithuanian Campaigners and besiege Warsaw. Auto-resolve, done.

Poland-Lithuania now has a final settlement and you should have quite the growing kingdom. It's up to you now whether to destroy them, or make them your protectorate. I chose the latter. They could come in handy as a buffer between the Ottomans.




After blitzing and breaking the power of Poland-Lithuania, you're going to have to spend a few turns concentrating solely on building up your new provinces. Warsaw is the hardest of the four provinces to keep that you've acquired from Poland, with Vilnius coming second and Minsk giving relatively no trouble at all. Try to destroy a factory in Poland and replace it with a threater, as well as exempting the region from taxes and keeping a huge garrison. All of this, however may not be enough and Poland could rise up in a loyalist rebellion.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/revolt.jpg

If you've kept a large garrison, however, this will be easily put down. Crush the rebels and let not one survive, your entire empire will take note and public order should improve. You should still maintain a large garrison in Warsaw, or perhaps build a few wooden forts in the area. After you've crushed the rebellion and made your new subjects understand their lot in life, you should focus energy upon building up your infrastructure. Up to this point I had been going all for broke with military techs and was noticing cash was getting hard to come by, it's a good idea to research the tech 1 farming techniques ASAP.

I destroyed a workshop or two and converted them into schools to help my research to help in this matter as well. I took a short-term drop in cash but the long term payoff has been worth it. Basically, I have six school spread among my provinces ensuring I am at the forefront of the technological curve. It's paid off and had an interesting side-effect. With this much tech power you can actually influence wars. An example of this is the war for Scandinavia that has been raging since turn 3. Sweden couldn't seem to take Denmark no matter how hard they tried, so I loaded them up with military techs and two turns later they had conquered the entire north! It didn't last, but it was humorous to see. Give it a try some time, playing the arms-dealer is surprisingly fun.

Once you've researched the first level of agriculture you'll be able to upgrade the many farms that your provinces are filled with. This is perhaps the smallest but the most important step in your campaign. Upgrading your farms ensures that even if trade is cut off you have a large portion of your economy still going. :yes: When you get the chance, upgrade the factories that you didn't destroy in your technology blitz. You need them working just as much as you do your farms.

It took around four or five turns until I could finally start taxing my new conquests and could enjoy the benefits of the early wars I'd fought. From this point you can pretty much approach the situation how you see fit. The route I chose was a land grab against some of the smaller provinces. My initial target was Hanover, to test myself against their huge armies but Bavaria had otehr plans and attacked me right out. Of course, when Bavaria attacked me it gave me an interesting chance to start chipping away at Austria's diplomatic strength. It should be noted that every game I've played as Prussia (i've played three thus far) Bavaria has declared war on me shortly after we shared a border. In the games where I did not build relations with Austria this was particularly painful.

Austria is sitting right on your southern flank and will need to be dealt with before long. They are just too strong to leave alone. The path to killing Austria that I took was a divide and conquer one. When Bavaria attacked me it forced Austria into a choice. Support Bavaria or support me? I had spent the entire game building relations with Austria so it was no surprise when they sided with me against the small state.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x301/swcsalha/bavaria.jpg

Unfortunately, Bavaria is a powerful state, despite its small size. I recommend no less than one and a half stacks to deal with them simply because they are going to mob you if you don't commit your forces.

Be meticulous in your battles against them, be persistent, and you'll remove them from the diplomatic picture. Never, ever let them have a force behind you. Don't try to push on to their capitol for a quick kill, take your time. Invading from Dresden leaves you a narrow corridor of advance that is very easy for Bavaria to defend. You're walking into the dragon's maw, the last thing you need to worry about is forces at the rear. If you're careful and patient, you can remove Bavaria from the picture with a few tough battles. They were the most dangerous ally of Austria and are now out of the way. The others will only stop trading with you, which if you've developed your farms up will not be a problem in the least.

At this stage I was making around 7-9k a turn and could finance huge armies to be levied, therefore it was my conclusion that I could really do whatever I wanted and that's my suggestion to you. If you are going after Austria then build up and look for targets of opportunity, a War with Austria will be rough. Right before declaring war, side with the Ottoman Empire and build relations with them. Once you've got an alliance and are friendly then it's time for war!




That concludes a first look at Prussia, and it should be enough info for you guys who are struggling. :bow:

Turns played 1-30 played on H/VH

[Hengist]

Hi!

I started Prussia last night and picked the same enemy, made a nice discovery however.

Dont declare war on Poland but on SAXONY. The Reason is Poland will help Saxony, as it is their Protectorate, BUT the other allies/protectorates of Poland, Russia and Courland dont enter the war automatically.

Russia just needs to honor the alliance if his ally Poland is attacked but it seems this way it counts as Poland declaring war on ME, so they are not obliged to help Poland.

I dont know if they will always stay out of the fight, but this can work.

I ended with war against Saxony and Poland, but not Russia and Courland.

[Monk]

Hi!

I started Prussia last night and picked the same enemy, made a nice discovery however.

Dont declare war on Poland but on SAXONY. The Reason is Poland will help Saxony, as it is their Protectorate, BUT the other allies/protectorates of Poland, Russia and Courland dont enter the war automatically.

Russia just needs to honor the alliance if his ally Poland is attacked but it seems this way it counts as Poland declaring war on ME, so they are not obliged to help Poland.

I dont know if they will always stay out of the fight, but this can work.

I ended with war against Saxony and Poland, but not Russia and Courland.

Indeed, but Poland can still ask Russia for help as they declare war. There's a chance that Russia will enter the war on Poland's side anyway, a very good tip regardless. :2thumbsup:

You should also take care if Courland enters the war. They proved much tougher than Saxony and were able to out-maneuver me quite effectively for two turns. I had to trade one of my villages for their capitol city in the end, it was worth it though. :yes:

[Callahan9119]

I agree, I just used that strategy and its working great. After I attacked saxony, poland declared but russia did not. I then sent them a gift of a horse and now they are very friendly towards me. :sweatdrop:

[Eusebius86]

I've decided to take a more passivist role as Prussia (gassp!). I made an alliance with saxony, and friendships with every single neighbor except Austria. I'm doing this because I want to avoid navies for now and focus on land, Austria being a natural enemy and good target. Once I finish my 2 full stacks I'm invading. I'm at year 1715 and have researched ring bayonets, the first firing drill, utilitarianism, bought canister shot (from Gb for $10k), and bought the grenade tech (from sweden for $4k). We'll see how my strategy works in the long run...

[Alsn]

I would like to warn people that even though it is quite easy to steam roll Poland and capture Warsaw in turn 2 or 3 you get a massive 18 turn penalty to public order in Warsaw(meaning, it starts at -18 and goes towards 0 by 1 per turn).

I suspect this is because it is a capital city and as such the game simulates the population to be more unruly towards invaders than other cities. Even when exempting them from tax completely and filling up the city completely with troops the public order was in the red for both nobles and workers.

[A Very Super Market]

Use.... DRAGOOOOOONS

Ahem, yeah.


I started my game on H/H and managed to defeat Courland completely, annihilate Saxony's army (I couldn't afford enough men to garrison it :P) and take Gdansk and Lithuania.

I gave Courland to Britain for an alliance, and traded Lithuania to the Austrians for Silesia. Smooooth sailing. Eventually, I got my trade up and running, and had Indiamen off both coasts of Africa, and trade partners with all the other Protestant nations. So I picked a fight with Saxony again, which brought Poland into a war, but not Russia. I took Dresden easily, and now I have a large garrison in Warsaw that is constantly being harrased by Polish half-stacks that simply run away before I get close enough.

It is pretty hard.

[Monk]

Latest additions to Prussia's strategy has been added.

These are approx turns 1-30. I think i may have went over a turn or two and ended up +/- 2. Any questions or comments, please post them in the comment thread or PM me. Thanks. :bow:

[Polemists]

Curious,

Installing game so don't know but I am curious....(and not because I am playing Austria and plan to destroy Prussia...I just like..to know :idea2:)



Since you only start with two provinces? What kind of industries are you looking at? Farming? Wine? Or are you just saying heck and focusing soely on military?


Secondly, both your provinces (from what I can tell) are on the baltic? Do you build up a navy? Does it matter?

[Monk]

Curious,

Installing game so don't know but I am curious....(and not because I am playing Austria and plan to destroy Prussia...I just like..to know :idea2:)



Since you only start with two provinces? What kind of industries are you looking at? Farming? Wine? Or are you just saying heck and focusing soely on military?


Secondly, both your provinces (from what I can tell) are on the baltic? Do you build up a navy? Does it matter?

1. Your infrastructure as prussia is heavily reliant on farms. I waited way too long to research the lower tiered agriculture stuff, I should have done it much sooner. You start with plug bayonets researched.

2. You could, but you only have a single port with the ability to build ships. Ports develop like towns do and must be build up in the same way. Sweden can easily triple your build capabilities, luckily they are so preoccupied with fighting Russia and Denmark they ignore you as long as you don't give them reason to attack. In the early game, navies as Prussia do not matter.

[Eusebius86]

Stupid question, how do I go back and edit previous responses I've made?

Also, Monk, as Prussia, which Agricultural tech do you think are absolutely necessary early game? I might just buy them off of allies...

[Monk]

Stupid question, how do I go back and edit previous responses I've made?

Also, Monk, as Prussia, which Agricultural tech do you think are absolutely necessary early game? I might just buy them off of allies...

Common Land Enclosures is a must have early on. As soon as you can spare a school get this ASAP. It allows you to upgrade your farms to the next level and since many of them are in need of upgrade from turn one this is needed. It takes 3 turns with a gentleman to research with a school.

Animal Husbandry can be put off until you've got 2+ schools. It gives a simple base wealth coefficient but nothing else. Definitely nice to have though.

Four Field Crop Rotation allows another farm upgrade but takes a long time to research. Put this one off until you have a college.

You should have at the very least one gentleman in each school/college. If you want, even put two in some to really speed up your research.

[RZST]

holy :daisy: monk. we have the save exact strategy as prussia....only i didnt ally with anyone and took on pol/lith by myself...and i took warsaw RIGHT away and made peace with pol/lith.
thing is, after a few turns courland & bavaria DoWd me. i had a loyalist rebellion at warsaw and my main army is securing warsaw, my backup is fighting off bavaria and i am barely holding on to konigsberg!

i was hoping to turtle up at this point and expand to india...somehow XD guess that wont be happening since for a while

[ironanvil1]

A sneaky way to avoid fighting Courland (who seem to be massively overpowered at times) is to grab an extra territory off the Poles over what you want to keep then trade it back for them becoming a protectorate.

This gives you their former protectorates as well.

[peacemaker]

well, as Prussia, I kinda just sat there building my army. Courland declared war on me, my allies joined the fight, Pol/Lithuania didn't join, I marched my built-up army and crushed Courland in one turn. I then marched and took 2 swedish settlements and two pirate towns in America, and it's only 1710. That's fast paced for me:grin:

[dopp]

Playing on very hard I find the Turn 2 blitz very difficult to pull off, as all of Europe will declare war on you. Also, your two starting provinces are extremely rich so you don't actually need to expand that fast to make decent income.

Instead, I wait around 20-30 turns to develop my economy a bit and get both rank firing and some 6-pdr horse artillery. I build another university in East Prussia. More importantly, Poland and Austria usually go to war by this time and if you're lucky Britain and Holland will break their alliances with Austria too. Sweden will probably be busy with Russia.

When you do strike try to have at least 30k in the bank to replace losses and repair damaged buildings or your offensive will stall. Strike Saxony and West Prussia before knocking Poland and Courland out of the war. Then wait a bit before taking the Austrian territories and swing west to snap up the other minor German and Italian states. The Rhineland is extremely rich and you can also pick up Holland in passing. After that you can basically do whatever you want.

[Squints]

My first step was to take Sweden. I allied with Hannover and Denmark, then crossed the water to attack their mainland. Sweden has no allies, so it was basically 3-on-1.

I don't think my allies did anything, other than watch my back for any funny business from France. I destroyed Sweden entirely, and since then have been trying to trade regions so I could get West Prussia.

Hannover outlived it's usefulness, so I stopped my alliance with them, cut my trade, then declared war. I took them without much trouble; their first move was to bring up a huge stack that I simply marched around and bowled over their capital. Then I took Reitchland (I forget what minor nation that is?) and sprung my technology tenfold with 3 schools and about 7 gentlemen.

UP offered me their Indian province for Reitchland,which I accepted since I was planning war against them anyway, and it would be much easier to take Reichtland again instead of going all the way to India.

I built up a good naval force carrying half a stack, and went over to Trinidad and Tabago to get an American trade going (Sugar!) Since then I have been struggling to get a foothold on the America's mainland, as the Cherokee and Plains minor nations have at least 2 full stacks by this time. T&T is also small, so I can't really build up a good force there.

By this time my economy was soaring, about 9K a turn. I pretty much started the first World War by declaring war on Austria after building up my forces. Austria brought the UK into it, and I brought Russia and Poland. France was already at war with the UK, and an enemy of an enemy is my friend. Spain is allied with France, so I assume they are over there helping - at least in the sea.

I took 2 cities from Austria in a few turns due to large stacks (I love Grenadiers), then they counter-attacked and took one back. And that's where I am now. Also, the UK is raiding my trade routes because I don't have a strong navy.

[dopp]

One problem with the Rhineland is that countries will spam you with offers to buy it. I got around the problem by buying Flanders and Alsace-Lorraine for about 100k each and then taking out Holland and Hannover so it was completely surrounded by my own territories. The Rhineland is one of the richest provinces on the map, only capital regions like Brandenburg, England and France earn more.

[Squints]

Rhineland, right. Yeah, Ceylon was too good of an offer to pass up, and UP got pulled into this World War of mine, so I just took it back.

On the other hand, I almost lost Ceylon to a rebellion there. I managed to quell it just barely with the small stack I had, and have since been able to keep the peace.

[katank]

Lots of good tips in this thread. Just thought I'd add my two cents by sharing my experiences so far.
VH campaign. H battle


Prussian Breakdown
Advantages: sizeable starting army, including ability to build top notch line inf.

Disadvantages: starting regions aren't very rich, all your neighbors hate you.

Overarching strategy: aggressive early land push, bow down to no one.

Blitz:

Turn one:
Declare war on Saxony, assault Dresden w/ army in Berlin. Assault West Prussia with army in East Prussia. Note: leave one unit of inf, militia, and arty back in East Prussia and hire a new general. Send him with this force against a Polish arty fort across the border. This force can be left in the east later on. West Prussia is weak and can be taken with the other units just fine.

This brings you into war with Saxony and Poland which immediately turns into war against just Poland.

Exempt taxes everywhere necessary.

Turn two:
Start marching Dresden army East.

Assault Warsaw with army that took West Prussia. You can't keep it from rebelling so don't bother, let it riot. Just move on and take other things with your army.

Turns three and four:
Press attack the attack in Lithuania, etc. Poland eliminated by turn four. Poland made a few attempts at East Prussia. My firelocks saw them off. They only send one militia to take the walls which are beat back by my four firelocks.

Austria declares on me during turn three. Move Dresden army back to counter by taking Silesia and then Bohemia. Beat off raiders and wait for Eastern army to move on Vienna and Hungary.

Turn five:
Poland reemerges with a stack in Warsaw. Four cannons and five militia. Easy mauled by my veteran line infantry. Now if you crank out militia, it's actually possible to hang onto this due to the recent crackdown bonus.

Eastern army keeps moving west. Courland declares war. Hannover declares war.

Courland takes a crack at East Prussia. My firelocks see them off.

Turn Six:
Assault Vienna and Hungary. Very tough battle with their crown Prince. A whole unit of exp 2 line inf totally annihilated. However, we succeed on taking both. Now all Austria has left is Croatia and Transylvania. Not worth the effort. I got a peace and alliance with them and forced them to send me 5k as well.

Raising up a new army in East Prussia and Warsaw.

Turn Seven:
Venice declares war. Courland assaults East Prussia with a force consisting of 5 units of cav, 2 militia, a pikeman, and a cannon. My four firelocks managed to beat off the two militia on the walls and then proceeded to camp in the buildings near the square. My game seems to be bugged in that my arty on the walls seem to rarely fire. Their cannon busted down my wall. My firelocks shot from the buildings and killed many of the invaders but soon ran out of ammo. They charged the town square in melee and managed to resent the countdown timer twice. Alas, I lost the countdown by ~30 seconds. If I didn't choose 60min battles, I wouldn't have lost this.

I immediately counterattack by promoting a general and taking East Prussia back by emptying out Warsaw (I had 6 units of militia there plus a pikeman and two newly minted line inf). In a bloody and melee heavy assault, I took back East Prussia. Courland also left their capital relatively unguarded as beside this force to assault east Prussia, they also had two marauding half stacks. I used my small force stationed in the east to assault and take their capital. Courland eliminated.

Agent activity:
My rake ran around stabbing people nonstop. He killed a general in Saxony, two Austria generals and helped gather intel. I got a six star gentleman Leibniz who ran around stealing techs including common land enclosure (vital to get your farms up) and canister shot.

Battle strategy:
Your line infantry are the best in the area bar none. Alas, you won't be able to afford many of them, esp. if you are also trying to build up some infrastructure. Supplement with militia.

Set up in long thin lines and try to get enfilade fire positions. Against a force heavy in firelocks and miltias (what you'll likely be facing), don't shy away from melee. Their morale holds up far longer in a shooting match. Give them a volley and charge in with bayonets.

Use cav to flank/rear attack. While cav is no longer capable of breaking infantry frontally (at least not without severe casualties), it's still enough to make most units rout if you hit them from the back. I got out a unit of Uhlan lancers from Warsaw and they are lovely. They can break line infantry with a single charge to the back.

Techs:
I went for ring bayonet right away though it didn't make a difference in the war against Poland as I wiped them out before I got the tech. It sure helped against Austria though. Most factions don't have bayonets yet. Having plug and then ring bayonets means that you can win most melee fights.

Summary:
As it stands, at the end of 7 turns I have conquered a total of 14 regions. My military prestige is well past 200. I only have one ally, Austria who I forced into it at swordpoint. Still at war with Venice and Hannover but doing well otherwise.

Make em fear your world conquering armies!

[Squints]

Wow, a very interest blitz tactic. I will have to try it out.

I guess I'm weary of leaving my cities undefended, I'm used to there not being a "mob" that can help out, even as feebly as they do.

[Monarch]

Definately reccomend making friends with Austria. The year is currently 1711 in my campaign and Poland and Courland no longer exist. Embarassingly, I've forgotten about Saxony. I'm playing on Hard, they've not attacked me yet so like I said, until reading this thread I forgot about them :help: I have been directing my armies East to invade Russia. But perhaps best to send some to finish of Saxony :inquisitive:

Oh, and I also suggest sending a gift (maybe two) to secure trade rights and a friendly relationship status with Sweden. Could be quite annoying to see off an invasion from the Swedes.

I've carved out a nice empire alot faster than my British campaign. Money is definately an issue though, I managed to get the first farming tech for free from Poland though which helped, when they had 1 province left I offered them peace in exchange for them giving me the tech. I of course took the tech and stabbed them right in the back :2thumbsup:

Edit: Now further in...the alliance with Austria is going strong. They're even chosing me when one of their other allies declares war on me (Bavaria, Wutturmberg etc). Prussia is certainly more interesting because of the age old German problem...fighting on multiple fronts. In my British campaign is was able to focus on America, then mainland France, then Spain, then India etc. But now as I'm trying to focus on Russia, these goddam German states keep declaring war. Still, I'm doing well. Getting fire by rank makes you unstoppable until other factions get it, you shred armies apart.

Edit 2: My efforts to be friendly with the Swedes were all for nothing, they claimed my throne and a War of Succession erupted. Wasn't ready for it whatsoever, so I got peace from Russia and turned my full attention to Sweden. I've taken St Petersburg, Stockholm and Finland. Had money issues due to raising large armies, so up went the taxes and down went the public order. So ye, be weary of those backstabbing Swedes.

[Eusebius86]

Well. I just finished my first ETW short campaign, N/H. I was passive the first 15 years, focusing just on trade and technology. Poland ended up being a major thorn in my side as they took over half of Austria, and took out all but 2 of Sweden's territories. By 1725 I had all the major military techs I wanted, so I basically steamrolled through Saxony, Courland, several of Polands territories, and even a couples of Austria's (which put me at odds with a couple of my major trade partners). I never once faced any rebellions, thanks to dragoons, and a couple well placed missionaries. I won't bore you with the details of my conquerings, as I was mainly focused on testing the gameplay and campaign/battle ai. Here are some of my observances however:

- Campaign AI. Poland is very aggressive and will expand if given the opportunity. Deal with her early and do not let her gain power. She is very difficult to deal with later, and will raid your territories non-stop if given the chance. Austria should be viewed as an ally early on and not as an enemy, pursue friendly relations with them early on. Also, Sweden, though enemies with Poland will NOT ally with you no matter what. I offered them everything from techs to teritory. However, if you sell them techs it can help them deal with Poland and Russia early on...

- Naval campaign AI. Enemy factions were quick to raid my trade routs, but never once tried to remove my ships raiding theirs. Kind of odd.

- Economy. Trade is a must. Marathas and the trade nodes (Africa) were my best means of income. By 1725, I was averaging $9k a turn from trade alone. Modest, but very helpful. Also, get the first couple farming techs, this is very helpful in the long run (thanks Monk!).

- Techs. The two most important techs are bayonet and the first firing drill. You will absolutely own Poland (and everyone else for that matter) once you get the first firing drill.

I never once lost a battle on hard. On the open field the AI generally came straight at me, and was predictable, but not stupid. When evenly matched (manpower) I normally lost around 30/35% of my forces. In RTW I almost never lost more than 15% of my forces. That rarely happens to me in ETW unless I vastly outnumber the enemy. They just don't rout as quickly...

I think I might try Austria next. I'm just don't feel ready to deal with OP'd galleons and pirates right now...

[clikarbar]

I choose the long campaign.

I started of by deciding who to ally with to take Saxony and Poland. I decided that I should choose Austria since Austria can keep Poland busy while I fend off Saxony and rush to Warsaw. My desire was to ally with Russia as my goals are not that Far East and my intentions are to invade west and Italy, however Russia is busy with Sweden and ally to Poland and hate Austria. I allied with Hannover as well to help with any surprise attack from the west and Scandinavia.

I planed my research and converted Potsdam and another town in East Prussia to schools to have 3 schools in total. I targeted Military and farming. I secured trade with my friendly neighbors through land trade. Seeing that GB was the best at that time and had allot of American soil I started to trade as well with Ottoman and Martha for luxury trade. I also secured good relations with Sweden for later use. Built up that 2 armies for 2 turns and upgraded the farms. Tax policy is set on 4/5 for nobility and 2/5 for worker.

So let the game begin....

I attacked Saxony and as expected Austria and Hannover are at war with Poland and Saxony. I took Dresden in 1 turn that Hannover did not have a chance to attack it. In the meantime the army in East Prussia was still defending Konigsberg as the army in the fort in Lithuania will attack. Austria will be busy defending its lands rather than attacking Poland as Poland concentrates more on Austria as it feels that it’s a bigger threat. Russia will not even interfere as it is busy destroying Sweden and defending it land from the Ottomans.

I slowly built up the army to a full stack to attack Lithuania while moving the army that took Dresden to West Prussia and then Warsaw. I took Warsaw in 4 turns and had to stay there for some time to stabilize the population while recruiting a small militia with a general to garrison it while moving to Galicia as the polish made it as the new capital(in my game). Meanwhile I moved the army in East Prussia on offensive and take Lithuania.

I had to secure Courland as I felt it was increasingly turning unfriendly and tried to improve relations by making a trade agreement with 3k payment. With Galicia and Lithuania secured Poland was left with Minsk. I decided that I should secure Courland as it was still not that friendly and building up forces so I took the forces that took Lithuania and attacked their capital which I had to stabilize for 2 turns, while the forces that attacked Galicia attacked Minsk. Poland was history.

Guess what! In My game while I was doing all this Russia was defending itself from the Ottomans and attacking Sweden that it annihilated Sweden. Courland took Riga as well that I had to take it from them after I secured Courland itself. Austria did not gain any lands from this war as it was busy defending from surprise attack from Poland and constant Ottoman attempts. By 1718 I had all of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Riga and Saxony. By 1720 Sweden had been taken back by the Swedish rebellion and secured it. Russia has been busy trying to retake Sweden now with the help of Denmark.

While all this was going on I decided that Hannover is no longer needed so I attacked with a new army that I built in Berlin and Dresden while securing Poland and Courland in the east. France is at war with me for attacking Hannover but till now there was no threat as I have Austria as an ally and GB is also attacking France. I made allies with 2 minor nations for future use in mind that is Bavaria and Portugal, to help me fight the French and Austria later on, while making good relations with Spain. Russia is very friendly but as yet does not want to ally since I destroyed Poland and still an ally with their enemy, Austria!

I then decide to do the unexpected from any nation...I attack Sweden by transporting the army that took Minsk leaving the 2nd east army in the fort in Lithuania to make sure Austria or Russia stay within their borders, while leaving the army that secured Hannover in a fort in Hannover as to the west the German nations, as well as the Dutch are getting influenced by the French to attack me. Preparing for war while researching like crazy. I am sieging Stockholm and Denmark is raiding towns in the south and Russia raiding in the north of Sweden.

The situation so far....

Its 1725 I have taken just Hannover since 1718 (7 years - 14 turns), however I am 650 prestige at moment while GB is 350. 16k per turn income. Trade with everyone you can. I have 3 commercial basins and 1 drydock. My final goal is to destroy the Danish, Dutch, German States, Austria and France. France is hated by GB and Austria. Austria is hated by GB and Russia and France. Ultimately I need Russia to be an ally and I know they need Sweden so my plan is...

I will take Sweden, cancel alliance with Austria, and ally with Russia with an offering for Sweden (hopefully they will not rebel again). Get friendlier with France. With Bavaria and Portugal as allies and getting Spain as ally I can fight the Dutch and Danish at the same time with the army at Hannover and with the 2nd rate naval fleet I have to help in the sea battles against the Dutch and GB as it is an ally with Holland. However I would have Portugal and Spain on my side. While I can move 2 armies to attack Austria with the help of Russia and Bavaria. I have to keep up and monitor the German states as I will move in slowly.

After Austria, the two D nations, German States are dealt with I will have an empire from Copenhagen to the Alps, From Minsk too Amsterdam. If time permits my extended goal is all the way to Sicily, Malta, Barbary States and France itself and maybe who knows GB as well. While making good relations with the Ottomans since they always wanted to expand westward.

N.B:
Build a church school in every province that you take from Poland during the invasion it will help you. Also build coaching inns at least till the population is no longer under protest. Invest in Farming and Philosophy and obviously in military and naval technology. Your navy can be one stack but make sure its 1st or 2nd rate.

[clikarbar]

Hi its clikarbar again.

I am updating my post above. I have taken Sweden and gave it to Russia for an alliance. I have stopped alliance with Austria and prepared for war with them. My plan earlier was to use one army to take the Danish and Dutch and 2 armies to take on Austria. However there were complications!

I had the Dutch allied with GB and the Danish were allied with Russia and had been since turn 1 therefore I would have Russia against me if I attack Denmark although Russia is now an ally with me...I know I tried it! Not a wise plan if your goal is to take on Austria. It’s far better to get help from Russia. In my game Portugal was taken from Spain so I no longer had an ally that can keep France busy as they do not want to make peace with me for attacking Hanover so I decided to get on the good side of the Dutch rather then attacking them for now. I allied with Holland. With that Rhineland also got in favor of me and allied with me as well. It was time.

Sweden was under Russia's rule for good. No rebellion so far for many turns. I moved the army I head in Sweden to Galicia to attack Transylvania, I had a army stationed in Hanover moved it to Saxony to attack Prague and then Vienna and another army in West Prussia to backup the Dresden army and to take Silesia all the way to Hungary.

I had established a great naval fleet ranging from 2nd rate to 6th rate. I used the fleet to stop France's trade with the help of the Dutch fleets who were in war with them before they allied with me due to GB's war with France and managed to cripple the production of naval vessels...no French ships in sight. Then I moved my fleet to the Adriatic sea to cripple Austria's only sea trade route...however I had a small problem. The Straits of Gibraltar were crawling with Morocco’s Galleys and blocked passage inside the Mediterranean. I decided that Morocco is great land to conquer later on so I decided to attack the galleys and there were like 18x3 of them but they did not stand a chance...I enjoyed seeing them helpless against my 2nd & 3rd rate ships. That was quickly dealt with and my concern was that if I was going to get my fleet to attack in the Adriatic it will leave my trade route of the coast of Portugal open for attack from Morocco so I split the navy in 2. Leaving only brigs, 6th & 5th rate ships to battle galleys, while bigger and powerful ones are heading to Croatia. My goal was reached but found an Austrian fleet guarding the trade route which is my current position.

While I was sailing the seas I started the war on land with Austria. With the three armies I managed to reach Vienna in 2 turns. I had all my Allies (Russia, Bavaria, Holland, Rhineland & Savoy) helping me, while Wurtberg supported Austria. Bavaria and Holland managed to be in battle with me during the siege of Vienna, while Savoy and Rhineland were busy fighting Wurtberg.

Tax and trade income doubled to 30K that I felt I could make my people happy and reduced taxes for nobles from for 4 to 3 and no taxes (1) to workers from 2.Tax income went down to 18K, however Everywhere is partying with the newly conquered cities well adapted to the new rulers. Allowing me to remove the armies and place them into new locations. My only last territory left to take is Croatia and Austria will be history.

My plan to finish off Austria from land and sea, then move into Venice as it has no allies, then Rome to see if there is something that can happen if you over throw the Catholic seat. Then I plan to take on France’s motherland, Genoa, Savoy, Malta, Morocco and Barbary States (Ottoman Empire might be problem but can have Russia by my side). To finish the long Campaign I have to take Denmark (I have to deal with Russia), Bavaria, Wurtberg, Rhineland and Strasbourg (I have to deal with France and careful not anger Spain). I am still year 1736.

[clikarbar]

Hi all. I am at Year 1760 at the moment and I have almost all of Europe under my belt. South East America and the Caribbean are under my control as well.

After I have destroyed Austria, Venice, Rome (nothing happened), Malta, Barbary States & Morocco, Ottoman & GB started to turn unfriendly. Russia & Denmark also began to worry. Spain started to realize that I had a clear path into their territory via Gibraltar and Rome to Naples. In Berlin people started to get angry due to high taxes I have inflicted on them to upgrade all towns and ports. They called for a revolution and I sided against the government and won the fight for Berlin turning the empire into a republic (The flag also changed into the current German flag) although the name is still Prussia but I call it Germany.

Spain really wanted Morocco secured so they wanted to trade it for New Mexico, Florida, and Gibraltar & Lombardy. I accepted. Later on I had GB turning hostile and really did not want a fight with GB and so I secured an alliance by giving them Tripoli. I found myself in the Americas with Florida and New Mexico. These provinces were really backward and I started Florida to develop it into a great province to start my conquest. Allied with the Pueblo by giving them Gibraltar and New Mexico. I had to secure Upper and Lower Louisiana as it was French. Spain wanted Algiers and gave me Cuba, Sardinia and Flanders for it. With Cuba and Florida I managed to get 2 armies to move into Louisiana and take it from the French. I allied with the Iroquois nations by using payment.

Later on the game I was already producing 1st rates and steamships while my German ally states started a war together allowing a war to start with half of my allies and the other half. I sided with the side of Bavaria against the side of Rhineland and Savoy while Denmark, GB & Russia did not take part. However the Dutch and the French were the problem here. I quickly offered Flanders to ally again with the Dutch. Allowing the Dutch to fight of the French since now they share a border. I quickly sent my army in Rome to Turin and another Army that was stationed near Stuttgart to destroy Wartburg and then destroy Cologne. I finally done it, I have all objectives except Copenhagen (allied with Russia) and beyond.

My next conquest was Liguria & Corsica with the army I had taken Savoy. Then it was time to prepare for the invasion of Paris....meanwhile I am building 2 armies and 2 fleets in the Americas. In the Americas I had some problems with French raids but nothing big. While I was moving my 2 armies into France and the other one from Liguria to Alsace I sent all my protestant missionaries to Moscow to maybe create unrest but nothing happened so far (anyone knows the exact reason for these. In M2TW they increased that religion type but it does not seem to work. Do I need to put them inside a church school?). I also prepared 1 army next to the border of Denmark and the other near Minsk to attack Moscow as although allies and presenting gifts the relationship is increasingly turning unfriendly. I decided to infect prepare for war with them and help the ottoman by giving them technology.

I taken Paris and France have fallen. During the war in France I managed to take control of the Louisianans. Than there were Emerging factions of Mexico at New Spain and Quebec at Canada. I Allied with Mexico by payments and allied with Quebec by giving them upper Louisiana. Acadia, Newfoundland & Guyana went rouge. At this point in the game I had all the land in Europe from Estonia to France except Southern Italy, Southern Balkans, Iberia, and Holland & Belgium. It was time to fortify my positions in Europe and expand in the Americas. I started by building 3 Star Forts in France at the openings of the Pyrenees, 1 in Tunis border with Algeria, & 1 near Minsk. Placed an army in each new fort while having an army in old forts such as the ones near Kiev and Hanover.

I invaded the Cherokee taking all 3 territories. I invaded all 3 pirate islands and got my hands of Fluyts and Galleons, which I used to start my late trade post colonies with. Since I started to play in the Americas I tripled my trade income (currently I have 112K per turn) Exportation is booming!

The setting is all set for a total war setting once more. I declared war on Spain while anticipating Russia's movements...However Spain is hated more then me cause ever ally declared on them. They have Mexico and pueblos in the Americas. Holland, Russia, Denmark, GB and Germany at war with them…they are losing. I have 4 armies in Spain. 1army in Rome moving on Naples. 1 Army in Prussia-Denmark Border. 2 armies in the Prussia-Russia Border. 1 Army moving from Tunis to Morocco and Algiers (Current position taken Morocco & Algiers again, moving to Gibraltar). Spain has large armies in near Madrid. I found 5 full stack armies Guarding Madrid. I have 4 moving in slowly I am waiting for Holland’s 3 full stacked armies to move in as well....if ever they decide to and my Army from Gibraltar after I finish off the encountered Spanish army at Gibraltar, Move the army by sea after I invade Naples.

Meanwhile my America’s 2 full stacked armies are busy with Quebec as they declared war on me despite being an ally and have taken one of my once Cherokee provinces. GB & Iroquois is helping me with the fight there in Acadia as Quebec quickly seized control of Acadia and Newfoundland and I giving them upper Louisiana quickly found themselves with 4 provinces. I had to ally with the Inuit’s as well. The Current position there is that I have gained control of the lost territory and going offensive. 1 army attacking Upper Louisiana and another one moving through British lands all the way up to Quebec City itself.

[clikarbar]

Oh I forgot to mention that After the Allied wars I attacked bavaria to finish it off and only have Holland, Denmark and Russia to war about Allies going rogue on me.

[geala]

I'm in the year 1790 on m/h. First I did nothing, as usual. Searched only for tech (military and industrial) and built my economy. I allied with Russia on the first opportunity. Then I made a mistake (it was 1715 or so), I joined Hanover in her war against Sweden (both my allies). I thought that Sweden had attacked Hanover but it was the other way round. To complete the mistake I also started war with Hanover to get Denmark from her. The next turn Poland invaded me. Fortunately Russia remained on my side. To my great luck Sweden declared peace (they had nearly ruined my economy with blockades). I destroyed Hanover with great problems (really huge army) and took Gdansk and Warsaw from Poland. Some turns later they accepted my sue for peace. Courland remained at war despite my pleading for peace, so I got rid of her.

After this a long peaceful time followed. Then I attacked Saxony and Austria declared war but did nothing ever since. I invaded parts of India and allied with Maratha. In 1755 I declared war on the UK (my Indian sepoy army conquered London) to free Scotland and see highlanders after Scotland would have rebelled against me (they did but highlanders never appeared; are highlanders other than Black Watch in the game?). I invaded Morocco and the Pueblo Indians and some German states, mostly from boredom. And so on. I could have easily conquered Europe but why should I?

The only problematic situation was during my war with Sweden, Hannover and Poland, mostly due to own stupidity and greed.

The best moment was when my people rebelled and I managed to get rid of the repressive and authoritarian Prussian monarchic government.

[Ordani]

I was under the impression Prussia was going to be hard, but felt like being reckless and simply went to war with Saxony and Poland immediately. I did make peace with Poland again, but by 1712 I had almost all of my victory conditions and all the German states had declared war more or less one after the other; it got a little hairy when Austria joined in and I couldn't afford any building upgrades until 1710, but I was destroying a stack or two of opposing armies a turn for a while there. Other than the constant razing of my schools it wasn't all that bad.

Presumably as a consequence of the expansion modifier to public opinion, knocking over each province made one of its neighbors declare war, so by the end of it I had two full armies of rank 3+ line infantry and 8 star generals carving their way to the Rhine. Hannover put up a really good fight -- better than Austria!

[MadKow]

I followed (have been following, im not over yet) a pattern of quick conquest than sue for peace. So i took Saxony, that leads to war with Poland, but only Poland, and from there i could reunite west Prussia. As the polish were kind of annoyed, i took Warsaw, and then took a break from hostilities. Coureland declared war, but i built a fort at the border and stationed 2 line infantry units there, and they held all they threw at me, which was never a lot. By the way, those two units got 5 and 4 experience levels, They became the Koenigsberg 1st and 2nd.
Eventually i conquered almost all the required regions for the long campaign. Hannover and Westfallia are still independent but i made a small detour to conquer Venice, which didn't destroy the faction as they still hold a piece of Greece.
At this point (over 70 turns in) i have yet to sail to any of the Indies, but research on land techs is almost done, and thats one of the reasons i took my time, as i wanted to try the more advanced troops. At this point though my main army is stll relatively standard, based on regular (veteran) Line infantry and only a couple Courassiers and light infantry for flavour (and of course some artillery).

At least on M/M (n/n) Prussia can be quite easy, if you balance your act and try to have only enough wars at any given time. Money can be tight, but will be enough if your neighbours don't all gang up on you and force you to build a too large army.

[thurjack_mahr]

My first Prussian campaign just drew to a sad conclusion.


I was trying for victory on a short campaign, and my initial land grabs during the first few years went well enough. I kept an eye on converting the provinces that I took from Catholicism to Protestant and was actively building church schools to keep the conversion going along and the population happy.

The years has started to creep by and I had three provinces left to take, and since you have to hold them for until 1750 I thought it would make sense to make my final series of attacks - against Sweden, France, and a stronger then normal minor power (it had grabbed a few provinces and knocked out the United Provinces lol!) towards the end of the game so that I only had to hold them for a few turns.

I had three armies on the borders, just waiting for the right time to strike (I thought to hit around 1745, figure a few years for moving and seiging, and then just hold out and wait). My neighbors all around me had been battered into submission on my other fronts and it seemed that all I had to do was win these three battles in order to cinch a victory. A pretty promising position, all things considered...

Then there is a warning message as one of my universities finishes researching one of the later Philosophy techs.... human rights? Something along the lines of "there is going to be a revolution soon due to some newfangled ideas at the university"

So, feeling like a proper tyrant, I burn down the university. All of them, actually. And all the schools. I've come too far to risk a revolution at this stage, with victory right at hand in just a few scant turns...

Flags are waving! Gates are crashing down. There's a massive uprising and I'm asked to side with the government or the rebels. Of course I want to side with the government - I am the government!

So I make some attacks at the rebels scattered across the country. It's looking like I should be able to knock out the rebellion in short order - and just possibly have enough time to get my troops back into position to launch those final three attacks that get me all my victory conditions and win me the campaign....

...when a stack of rebels that I had failed to account for that turn captures Berlin, and the game suddenly ends! I'm shown the defeat screen, my soldiers bodies draped ignoblely over the cannons.

It was a really great learning experiance though, and a lot of fun. :)

[Eusebius86]

My first Prussian campaign just drew to a sad conclusion.


I was trying for victory on a short campaign, and my initial land grabs during the first few years went well enough. I kept an eye on converting the provinces that I took from Catholicism to Protestant and was actively building church schools to keep the conversion going along and the population happy.

The years has started to creep by and I had three provinces left to take, and since you have to hold them for until 1750 I thought it would make sense to make my final series of attacks - against Sweden, France, and a stronger then normal minor power (it had grabbed a few provinces and knocked out the United Provinces lol!) towards the end of the game so that I only had to hold them for a few turns.

I had three armies on the borders, just waiting for the right time to strike (I thought to hit around 1745, figure a few years for moving and seiging, and then just hold out and wait). My neighbors all around me had been battered into submission on my other fronts and it seemed that all I had to do was win these three battles in order to cinch a victory. A pretty promising position, all things considered...

Then there is a warning message as one of my universities finishes researching one of the later Philosophy techs.... human rights? Something along the lines of "there is going to be a revolution soon due to some newfangled ideas at the university"

So, feeling like a proper tyrant, I burn down the university. All of them, actually. And all the schools. I've come too far to risk a revolution at this stage, with victory right at hand in just a few scant turns...

Flags are waving! Gates are crashing down. There's a massive uprising and I'm asked to side with the government or the rebels. Of course I want to side with the government - I am the government!

So I make some attacks at the rebels scattered across the country. It's looking like I should be able to knock out the rebellion in short order - and just possibly have enough time to get my troops back into position to launch those final three attacks that get me all my victory conditions and win me the campaign....

...when a stack of rebels that I had failed to account for that turn captures Berlin, and the game suddenly ends! I'm shown the defeat screen, my soldiers bodies draped ignoblely over the cannons.

It was a really great learning experiance though, and a lot of fun. :)

Wow, just wow. Way to go Prussia. See what happens when you let those scholars get out of hand and study all of that stupid enlightenment stuff? They take the rug right out from under you, and put your head under a guillotine!

Now I have learned from your mistakes, and will always keep a couple extra troops on my capital, just to account for the unexpected. It's unexpected things like this that make for fun campaigns though, even if they are campaign ending...

[gauch0]

My Prussia campaign was going along a similar track, in that I had only about three provinces left to conquer, and my government had been fairly stable, but unrest was building. The three provinces belonged to Austria, whom I was at peace with. Because I suspected that I was not going to be able to avoid unrest during the time it would take to conquer Austria, I emptied out my home province, which had a couple of universities, and sure enough, rebellion followed quickly. I sided with the rebels, quickly defeated the establishment, and within two turns my new constitutional monarchy began to annex the once-mighty Austrian state.

[satchef1]

My first Prussian campaign just drew to a sad conclusion.


I was trying for victory on a short campaign, and my initial land grabs during the first few years went well enough. I kept an eye on converting the provinces that I took from Catholicism to Protestant and was actively building church schools to keep the conversion going along and the population happy.

The years has started to creep by and I had three provinces left to take, and since you have to hold them for until 1750 I thought it would make sense to make my final series of attacks - against Sweden, France, and a stronger then normal minor power (it had grabbed a few provinces and knocked out the United Provinces lol!) towards the end of the game so that I only had to hold them for a few turns.

I had three armies on the borders, just waiting for the right time to strike (I thought to hit around 1745, figure a few years for moving and seiging, and then just hold out and wait). My neighbors all around me had been battered into submission on my other fronts and it seemed that all I had to do was win these three battles in order to cinch a victory. A pretty promising position, all things considered...

Then there is a warning message as one of my universities finishes researching one of the later Philosophy techs.... human rights? Something along the lines of "there is going to be a revolution soon due to some newfangled ideas at the university"

So, feeling like a proper tyrant, I burn down the university. All of them, actually. And all the schools. I've come too far to risk a revolution at this stage, with victory right at hand in just a few scant turns...

Flags are waving! Gates are crashing down. There's a massive uprising and I'm asked to side with the government or the rebels. Of course I want to side with the government - I am the government!

So I make some attacks at the rebels scattered across the country. It's looking like I should be able to knock out the rebellion in short order - and just possibly have enough time to get my troops back into position to launch those final three attacks that get me all my victory conditions and win me the campaign....

...when a stack of rebels that I had failed to account for that turn captures Berlin, and the game suddenly ends! I'm shown the defeat screen, my soldiers bodies draped ignoblely over the cannons.

It was a really great learning experiance though, and a lot of fun. :)

This is me right now, minus the defeat. Revolution is a turn or two away, the capital is happy, but most of the other provinces aren't. Every other turn i find myself fighting off a rebellion! I'm chasing after Sweden in Scandinavia and trying to ready for an attack on Austria (my allies, but i have 5 years left to take the provinces i need, and they hold the last three). I can see the population breaking in to full-scale revolt as soon as i betray Austria. The populace already hate me and the Austrians are well liked.

After calling this game easy (which it was for the first 35 years of the game, and still is in some respects) i'm actually beginning to struggle. Financially i've got no issues, especially now the Swedes are out of the way (having my neighbour raiding the trade routes of my trading partners is not helpful). I'm struggling with Civil Unrest though, and my armies are stretched very thinly. I've got a feeling a war with Austria will end my campaign, my border with them is huge, and i haven't got the finances to fortify all of it whilst chasing Sweden and putting down rebels :wall:

My only hope lies in using the Turks, who i've been funding for the past 20 years in preparation. If they remain my allies and join me in the war then hopefully they'll push north and give the Austrians something else to worry about.

[Skott]

I'm playing a world domination Prussia campaign at the moment. My first time with Prussia too. First I took 3 years to build up some. I spent 5,000 on Austria for an alliance on turn 1. Then beginning in 1703 I took out Saxony and then Poland-Lithuania after that. Courland went down just before I cpatured my last Polish-Lith territory in 1711. Once these three nations are kaput the game allows you time to breathe and take your time to build up and go as fast or as slowly as you want. At least thats how it is for my campaign on N/N. The Russians never went to war with me so I've stayed friendly to them. Sweden fell next. Then Denmark. Britain was the only nation that gives me some trouble. Mostly trade blocking. I got caught up in that war of succession and they got involved against me.

I knew at this point I needed to either get the lowland countries or go for Austria. I decided Austria could wait since they remained loyal to me. I took out Hannover, United Provinces, and then the Rhineland. I then took out Wurttemburg and Bavaria. Each time Austria sided with me. Keep Friendly or Very Friendly with Austria and she'll stay loyal to you it seems.

At this point I had to decide wether Austria was worth keeping as an ally or not again. I decided I didnt want to have a nation in my way of traveling south despite having military access permisson. Not good having a potential future enemy inside my borders. So Austria fell after a few turns. Then I moved against the Ottomans. This is when I made an alliance with Russia. They stayed friendly to me and traded but refused an alliance until I went to war with the Turks. I took the rest of the Balkans. As I was marching through Anatolia the Turks decided a peace agreement was in their best interest. So we made peace.

So far in every campaign I have played the Ottomans seem nothing more than a paper tiger. They send in small raiding armies but have no large armies to throw at you even after you invade them. At least this has been my experience so far. They seem to invest more into ships and a navy than any armies.

Anyway, next I took Venice in one fight. Their western Greek territory will fall to me next. I didnt have time today to fight the battle. I'll finish it tonight. Next I'm going after the Italian states and then probably Genoa and then Savoy. I have no real desire for Asia Minor and The Middle East yet so I'll leave the Turks alone as long as they keep the peace which i expect they will considering how weak they act.

Great Britain is still refusing to make peace so after I clean up the Italian nations its either invade GB or go after the French or Spain. I havent had any rebellion problems. I build a church in every region and I been keeping one or two dragoon units in my conquored regional capitals so maybe thats why? I'm in the mid 1750s so far. Only income is through land trade and taxes. I havent spent a penny on India Men. Dont need to as Prussia. I'm making about 20,000 each turn to use for troops building and economy building. Its not a huge sum but it its enough to field three armies constantly and invade where I like and still build wherever I conquor. :hmg:

[aimlesswanderer]

I decided to build up for a few turns, but the Austrians declared war on me, and attacked me with err, 1 unit of militia. I quickly took their provinces, but finances were tight and Vienna went a bit feral. Once I had digested them I went for the small states who had decided to declare war on me (yes Wurtemburg, I'm talking about you), then headed for Venice. If the Polish had attacked me before I had consolidated the Austrian provinces I think I would have gone under, but they didn't. The republic of the UP decided to somehow dispute my succession, and lasted 3 turns as I was building up for an attack on France and Spain.

After deferalising the population I swapped Rhineland for Cuba, Liguria and New Mexico (useless, gave to Polish to waste money on) then declared war on Spain (and allies France). The French didn't last long, and the Spanish only a bit longer (gave me hispaniola for peace), and now I had a massive boost to my finances (I live off tax as the Brits blockade everything, and I had no ship at that point). I started building up to attack the Polish, who have been sitting around not doing anything for decades, and now have 109k worth of army, much of it parked next to each Polish city. Planning on killing them off in 1 turn to minimise trouble.

I also got as many protectorates as I could, so they give me 12k/ turn, a good return on investment.

The game is just about won, can autocalc my way to victory but will have to wait out 40 years to win officially, which is silly. Nearly finished all the techs and still make 25k.

Once I had consolidated Austria I was not really threatened. The Polish lost their chance...

[Monsieur Alphonse]

I allied with Denmark to secure my back. Then attacked East Prussia on turn one and next Warsaw. After that I made peace with Poland. I also made peace with Russia. Then Austria attacked me but they lost Silesia and other region. They happily accepted peace. The only pain in the neck left was Courland but after some fighting (lost East Prussia twice) they were doomed. After that the usual suspects started rolling in and the small German states wanted their minute of fame. Their envoy who handed their declaration of war usually returned with a Prussian army following on his heels. The only states that were attacked by me were Hanover and Denmark. It is now 19 years in the campaign and I am the number one military power, the wealthiest nation and only lacking behind in naval power (who needs a ship anyway) and in enlightenment (France is number one but their Jesuit colleges count also as enlightenment). Next is probably Austria and the UP. After that France and Spain and the world is mine.

Edit

I first went through a couple of revolutions to get a constitutional monarchy. Then I attacked Austria with three stacks. This was a little bit optimistic as Austria had all its armies stationed near Ottoman territory. In the midst of the Austrian War, Poland decided to join the fun. They were quickly destroyed although I had some scary moments. After that Austria fell and I have now 22 regions in the year 1733.

[Slaists]

I find Prussia to be one of the most fun factions to play (at least on VH). As a side note: for fun-game play, one needs to shoot himself in the foot first. Preferably in both feet...

In my latest campaign, I purposely overstretched myself (Prussia actually did the same thing historically) + by chance, got a really nasty queen that no one liked. It's 1750 now (long campaign), Prussia owns 9 provinces (out of 25 needed) and is considered an affluent but WEAK power... Almost every turn some shmuck declares war on Prussia and is soundly beaten back. Fun.

By the way, Russia has expanded to the Bosphorus; French have been destroyed by Wuttenberg (my next target); Dutch have been eliminated by Westphalia.

So, in summary: for a fun game, take it slow; don't blitz as some guides here suggest.

[Owen Glyndwr]

So, in summary: for a fun game, take it slow; don't blitz as some guides here suggest.

Hmm...sounds mysteriously like EB...:idea2:

[Monsieur Alphonse]

So, in summary: for a fun game, take it slow; don't blitz as some guides here suggest.

In my campaign I only blitzed the first turns or so. After that I was the one that was blitzed and had to respond. Those blitzers were the small German states. And as you know you can't make peace with single minded (erm region) states. So I had to capture them. This is blitzing in a defensive way.

[Slaists]

In my campaign I only blitzed the first turns or so. After that I was the one that was blitzed and had to respond. Those blitzers were the small German states. And as you know you can't make peace with single minded (erm region) states. So I had to capture them. This is blitzing in a defensive way.

Actually, you CAN make piece with those nasty minors if you really want it...

Destroy their armies in the field; besiege their city; allow the city army to sally and destroy it in the field. Press 'continue' once you have won the battle. After the battle, the siege will be broken and the city populated by fresh militia. Besiege again! You'll see that the autocalc battle odds are now 10:1 in your favor or better. Offer peace to the AI. It will agree almost to anything (even on VH campaign difficulty) as long as you let it live...

I've gotten several protectorates in this fashion. Sometimes they ask for money (if the AI senses I have it in my treasury).

[Explodingcannonballfromhell]

Where can i recruit uhlan lancers? I tried looking in the building browser but i cant seem to find them.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Poland. Conquer Warsaw and you can train them.

[A Very Super Market]

Saxony also has them.

[CrusadeAgainstYourEnemies]

I'm a Medieval 2: Total War veteran and I just picked up Empires about a week ago.

Being as I'm not used to the colonial imperialism, Navy aspect of the game, I decided to start with Prussia on H/H.

I decided early on that I'd rather unite Germany than fight wars in Poland/Denmark/Sweden or proper Austria. I built up for a couple of turns, upgrading my military technologies and decided to make a dual strike with 2 separate armies on West Prussia and Saxony while Poland and Austria were at war since turn 2. I successfully took both and thoroughly enjoyed the land battles and Poland declared war on me. Dragoons are cool...

Upon taking these two cities, I combined most of my military units, save a General and several line infantry in Saxony, to go seige Warsaw. My plan was to get a quick and simple peace, gaining only a farm tech, with Poland so I could expand against Austria into Silesia and Prage, and then Bavaria.

I did not ally with anyone at the start of the game, just traded with Britain.

Once I invaded Austria, several of the German states were angered and joined the fight against me. The Austrians were bullied all the way back to Vienna and I was able to get a good peace with enlightenment techs and about 6 grand. Poland/Austria and the Ottomans are in a three way fight to the death at this point, around 1710-1720s (which has subsequently lasted till 1737 where I'm at right now) and I built up to take out Bavaria, who are really strong btw.

Fast forward to now, 1737 and I've got all the German nations, plus Alsace Lorraine, Westphalia, Vienna and Denmark.

Basically what I'm saying is, if you take it easy and don't blow your load too early, you can have Germany without ever pissing off anyone too important. Furthermore, don't get bogged down in Poland. Save Warsaw and the Polish for later, you don't need their lands early on and the most likely starting point for any invasion is Warsaw and by taking their capital you doom yourself to a fight to the death.

[Marquis of Roland]

For Prestige Win Scenario:

If you're playing prestige campaign, chances are that eventually you'll have to deal with one of the two Indian factions. Since they're pretty much left alone (and build lots of prestige buildings), they'll destroy the other factions on prestige points.

My advice is, support the Marathas early on (trade agreement) and hope they win out. Fighting Mughal armies at full tech is a pain (by late 1760's they will be full tech). They spam artillery and 10-12 units of artillery spraying your army with shrapnel isn't a pretty sight.

[nameless]

Does anyone have any ideas on playing Prussia on VH in 1.4?

I find it a bit more difficult as Austria really really hates you and getting into a two front war isn't that great.

I found it weird but Poland really wants you as an ally and by doing so secures you from fighting an eastern war. Eventually Austria will take some of Poland's lands and you can swoop in and take it from them and then conquer west while Poland stays in the East.

It may also be necessary to invade North and take out Sweden.

[rvg]

Take it slow, take it easy. Prussia is like a clenched fist all wound up and ready to deliver some knockout punches, thus the strategy with Prussia works accordingly: get ready, kill, fortify your new acquisition, get ready for a new target. Plenty of easy targets too: all those little one-province pip-squeak states are just sitting there begging for a good beating. One punch == lights out for Hannover and its ilk. Yes, some of them have friends, but their friends are either far away (like Britain) or no match for Prussian might (like Poland).

Slow and steady expansion really works well for me when I play Prussia.