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Monk
03-03-2009, 20:33
Great Britain is one of the 12 major factions, available for play.

Malkut
03-05-2009, 13:27
It's hard to know where to start with Britain.

You're in an odd position, compared to what you would expect. The 13 Colonies are semi-autonomous, and resentful of any attempt to change that fact. This is a challenge, because your goal as the UK is a North American empire under your direct control. However, the only outpost on the North American continent that let's you call the shots is Rupert's Land, Canada. The Colonies can be welcomed into the Empire as equals, but only if you can conquer the Cherokee and New France.

Because it's so hard to figure out what you're supposed to be doing, I've decided to present four distinct plans which I feel will help define the overall strategy for the ascension of Great Britain during the 18th century, and those who feel overwhelmed may pick one at their convenience.

I'd also like to note that the first thing you should do, regardless of which plan you choose, is to combine your Caribbean fleets on the first turn. There is a rather nasty pirate fleet headed in the direction of one of them, and you probably want to give them a proper welcome.

1) War in Europe:

This is a high risk/high reward strategy, because the fighting takes place in your own back yard, against forces similar to your own. Prussia will soon attack your ally Austria, as the war for a Greater Germany begins. Use this opportunity to declare war on them. Sail an army from England around Denmark, and attack Berlin straight off.

Berlin is a tough nut to crack. However, taking it early gives you an extra school. Combined with Oxford, and the quickly emerging town in Canada, then you'll be able to develop a significant tech lead (this might also work on France, if you can take Paris, but watch out for your New World holdings).

From there, ally with Protestant nations, and press Catholic France and Spain in their own homelands. Build up your fleet, so that you can prevent them from returning the favor in your own home island. Once you dominate Europe as the mightiest and most advanced power in the world, then ceasing the helpless colonies of your vanquished foes will be a snap.

2) Battle for the New World:

Develop your army in England. Ideally, you'll also want square formation, and a bayonet tech that doesn't suck, if possible. Those Cherokee, they love the horses.

Once you have assembled your forces, take stock of where you want to insert them. Georgia seems like a good starting point. It's near the Colonies, it's a stone's throw away from Florida, it provides easy access to west of the Appalachians, and it won't trigger an intercontinental war with France or Spain (that's for later). If you don't care about starting such a war, then it might be better to go ahead and knock out New Orleans or Quebec.

Once you have conquered and developed the Cherokee lands, then you will be on equal terms with New France and the other native . Complete the mission that grants you dominion over the Colonies, and your conquest of the New World will be almost inevitable.

3) To take Canada:

War with the Huron Confederacy seems to be inevitable. Head it off by fortifying Moose Factory. Invest in increasing your military recruitment pool. When they declare war, pick their armies off one-by-one, as they assemble to attack your city.

Once you have artillery, it's time to strike back. Take their camp, and then begin projecting your power in the North. New France is right next door to the best developed part of your empire, so I shouldn't have to tell you what comes next.

4) Oh Calcutta!:

I haven't really dealt much with India, yet. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that allying with the Marathan Confederacy in their fight for freedom from Mughal oppression would give you an edge.

Important in all of these plans is the establishment of trade, which requires a sizable fleet. Remember to open trade routes, develop resources, and research non-military techs.

timski
03-06-2009, 15:13
Some early-game thoughts:

Starting Position

Diplomatically, most of central and eastern Europe is friendly towards you, although these need to be handled with care. Diplomatic problems are likely in western Europe. The biggest single problem being France, which is a perfect storm of poor historic relations, powerful military, and proximity to your territories.

Militarily, Britain has the strongest navy, not least because it starts with a 2nd-tier Dockyard, so can produce 4th and 5th rate ship immediately. There are downsides. Those better ships cost more to make and maintain, yet your starting economy is not healthy. And while Britain is probably best placed to exploit the new world, there is always a danger of spreading yourself "too thin" by trying to cover too many different threates. The ever-present threat of war with France and tendency for European mainland wars to result in European piracy, almost forces you to keep a large navy close to England: A classic cold-war scenario, that ties up a lot of resources without resolution, but does maintain the European status-quo, allowing you to focus major military actions elsewhere.

There are 2 distinct types of region: Those that can build a wide range of capital buildings, and those that cannot. Ireland is restricted to basic colonial administration, in contrast to Edinburgh, which can build a wide range of capital buildings. The intuitive first move - to try and develop Ireland and benefit from it's large (3 million) population - has limited potential.

The population of Scotland and Ireland are in decline, while growth in England is very slow. Happiness is not high. At best this means you will not gain new sqaures within the region for development. At worst, you could see a rebellion. Long-term, this will mostly be addressed through research. Short term, consider dropping European lower-class tax slightly. Garrisoning units is not terribly effective, because the upkeep cost often outweighs tax benefit. Ireland is a particular problem, due to its high population, and lack of building potential.

Britain has a strong trading position, which initially is restricted by port capacity (check the reasons why there is no trade under Diplomacy). You cannot upgrade Greenwich without a lot of research. However, the next harbor to develop is Bristol, which can give England a second trading port. Push for anything that gives improved population growth in the first few turns (reduced tax, farms, related research).

The first tier of construction normally gives the most significant individual increase, as well as costing the least to build. So as a rule of thumb, always build on any empty squares before upgrading. England and Scotland start with 2 unused farm squares, so build on those immediately. There are also several unused squares in North America. In a few turns you can increase exports from North America by 3 or 4 times, simply by adding Fur trappers to Rupert's Land and a plantation in the Bahamas. That generates a lot of money!

Lastly, the first Prime Minister is a liability, and can easily be replaced at the start (you can kick one minister per turn).

Logical strategy

It will become apparent that there is more money to be made from trade than taxataion of the population. That shifts priorities away from European conquest, towards new world expansion. Plus the 13 Colonies mission and overall campaign objectives support that expansion. All topped off by the initial naval strength and ease of accessing the new world from Britain.

It is easy to get drawn into North America, since you start there. But don't leave India to late. It takes years just to travel there, is a campaign objective, and is exploited by other western Europeans.

It is inevitable that you will get caught up in European wars, but with a strong naval defense, I suspect there is no need to get embroiled in major conquests on the continent. It's important to get away from the "MTW mindset", that immediately propels Britain towards invading Europe, because that's the only place to expand.

Be careful not to get left behind: Technology and buildings all give exponential benefits. The further the game progresses, the harder it will be for you to catch up. Finding a balance between expansion/trade and the technology/build race is hard: A large geographic empire can easily fall because it is 10 years behind prevailing technology, or lacks sufficient buildings to support a powerful economy. Staying out of Europe (and so not being able to pilfer existing research facilities) can slow the pace of research, so be prepared to steal or trade research (particularly trade with those European nations that are not in the new world, so not likely to be fighting you).

Great Britain can do almost everything from its starting position, but that does not mean it should do everything! Focus on specific areas for territorial expansion, and coexist with everyone else as best you can.

Maleficus
03-07-2009, 10:21
4) Oh Calcutta!:

I haven't really dealt much with India, yet. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that allying with the Marathan Confederacy in their fight for freedom from Mughal oppression would give you an edge.

Important in all of these plans is the establishment of trade, which requires a sizable fleet. Remember to open trade routes, develop resources, and research non-military techs.



From my experience, I found that Neroon Kot is a good place to start your invasion of India, as it, like the other Mughal cities in the north-east, is often lightly defended. :2thumbsup:

denmj
03-10-2009, 00:21
Trade is by far the best money maker in the game.

Build trader ships and get them to the 4 trade zones asap. With 4 traders in each zone and trade treatys you can easily make 2x as much in trade as you make in taxes. Allowing you to control Ireland by tax rather then occupation. Also Ireland you can build up as a military goverment so you can atleast build troops there faster and it will give you access to better troops. You will get less growth and less money from the region this way but in the long run it will pay off.

The first priority for me as Britian has been to take out the pirates in the two southern areas. This adds two regions to your empire and gets rid of the only real threat in the trade zones to your trade ships.

The pirates can be dealt with easily with about 6 line units or so. They have no forts and no land units so they only spawn milita type units to defend with. I sent my units over on a sloop going wide till I could come in close to avoid thier ships. After taking both locations the ships disappear. Removing them as a threat and ending that war. It also gives you a good deal of prestige as well as bloods your units in easy fights.

Those line units now form the backbone of your expiditionary forces. Where you go from there is up to you. Either stay in europe ( not a good idea IMHO) go to North America or go to india. Both India and North America are good choices as they are both rich areas. North America is my choice simply because with three regions I can get 13+ new regions. I also wait to hit North America and the indians will usally take florida from spain. Then I attack at florida move up to georgia then over to the nation to finish off those requirements. Leaving only New France to take care of. The Iraquoi Nation are good to have as allies as well.

Diplomacy there are several ways to go with this. Try to ally with everyone that will or try and drop the ones you would rather not be allied to. For example ally with prussia and sweden so you can drop any other alliances. Then drop those alliances and sue for peace. This in effect keeps you out of alot of european wars. But does mean you will have to declare war on France to get New France. You want as many trade partners as you can get and want to make sure you have no unused trade routes as that is just wasted money.

Your navy doesn't have to be overwhelming just good enough to keep your trade routes open and keep from being ganged up on. I used two fleets around the british isles. Moving one or the other into port as needed for repairs. With the priates taken out the small starting fleet in the American theater was enough to keep what I needed open or provide transport for my troops.

Technology is by far the biggest factor for britian as you can't really afford a huge army or even a huge navy off the bat. So what you have has to be good and strong. Trade for some technologies if you can. With the money will be making from trade routes you can eventually buy them off other people.

Malkut
03-10-2009, 10:06
There is also the question of what to do with Rupert's Land. Eventually, the Huron are going to come for it. There seems to be very little that you can do to stop it.

One strategy is to build it up and defend it, but this may not always be easy. If you're busy elsewhere - say, locked in a desperate struggle with France - then that money could be better spent elsewhere.

In my current game, I was at war with France from very early. They had steamrolled the Colonies, and made it as far south as Boston, while threatening the UP's home territory. Defending Moose Factory didn't seem very likely, and wasn't high on my list of priorities.

Instead of trying to fight for it, I traded it to a minor faction. Made them a Protectorate, even. If the Huron take it, I'll just come back when I'm not so busy, and take it back for myself. It's like getting a free protectorate.

erebrus
03-10-2009, 10:14
There is also the question of what to do with Rupert's Land. Eventually, the Huron are going to come for it. There seems to be very little that you can do to stop it.

One strategy is to build it up and defend it, but this may not always be easy. If you're busy elsewhere - say, locked in a desperate struggle with France - then that money could be better spent elsewhere.

In my current game, I was at war with France from very early. They had steamrolled the Colonies, and made it as far south as Boston, while threatening the UP's home territory. Defending Moose Factory didn't seem very likely, and wasn't high on my list of priorities.

Instead of trying to fight for it, I traded it to a minor faction. Made them a Protectorate, even. If the Huron take it, I'll just come back when I'm not so busy, and take it back for myself. It's like getting a free protectorate.

Giving a region doesn't quite make it free I think...
Yes, Huron will declare war on you, but a 5-6 unit stack usually is enough to intimidate them if you place it correctly. If you leave them in the city, they will send small raiding parties to your villages. If you station your forces on the villages, then they might go for your city. Anyway, careful intimidation is more than enough to keep them at bay and I don't think throwing away your only mainland colony in america to be a very good idea

Malkut
03-10-2009, 11:17
Giving a region doesn't quite make it free I think...

It does if I plan on taking it back. I didn't give it away immediately, I waited until they attacked me, and I already had an experienced army in Canada fighting the French. All I have to do is swoop in and beat what's left of their army after they take it.

So maybe not quite free, but very inexpensive, and it'll pay off in the long run.

Ja'chyra
03-11-2009, 14:38
Ok, here’s my take on GB played on H/H.

You start off with 6 regions, 3 in each of the Americas and Europe.

Europe - England
Scotland
Ireland

Americas - Jamaica
Bahamas
Rupert’s Land

2 armies in England and Ireland and 4 fleets in the Irish Sea, English Channel, Caribbean and East Atlantic.

First things first, move Newton into your school at Cambridge and start your research, I went for the college upgrade first but pretty soon you’ll be wanting to research farms to allow your villages to grow. After that just aim to complement your play style, I like to turtle so spread out my research across the different areas instead of focusing on one. If you like to win the game in 20 turns you’ll be wanting the military tech tree, but this approach isn’t for me.

Next you’ll be wanting to establish long and short term goals I went for integrating the 13 colonies and establishing a foothold in India respectively. The foothold in India I wanted within 10 turns and integrating the 13 colonies within 25, I know, a generous timescale but I like to take my time. As well as these two goals I also aimed to keep a hold of all my existing provinces and try to stay out of large wars, especially in Europe.

First steps.

So I’ve got my research started and my goals established. First thing was build a couple of Indiamen in the Americas and 1 in England to send of to the trading theatres asap. I also trained up 3 units of LI in England and 2 in Jamaica. I moved my general and my unit of pikemen into Ireland to help keep the peace and upgraded the happiness building (?) in Scotland and the farm in Rupert’s Land to help Fort Rupert grow. The unit of militia and Yeomen left in Ireland I moved down to England to form part of my expedition to India.

As for diplomacy, choose your allies carefully as Europe will soon be embroiled in some major land wars, especially between Austria and Prussia and another between Sweden and Denmark. I chose to go with Austria and Denmark to keep Russia off my back and allow the opportunity to raid Sweden’s trade routes and fleets. I also allied with some of the smaller nations and the Maharata in India.

As for my Regions, England is your big money earner and has a port in Portsmouth that can produce 4th raters straight away although you might be a bit short on cash to begin with. Jamaica is the only place in the Americas where you can produce LI and you’re going to need them against the Cherokee’s. Rupert’s Land is only 5 or 6 turns away from developing Fort Rupert which can either be used for income, priests or research but is going to be getting some loving from the Huron Confederacy pretty soon so you’re going to need some troops there.

I also rearranged my 4 fleets a bit, the ones near the home countries I kept as 2 but changed some ships around allocating most of my brigs and sloops, and admiral and a 6th rate for my expedition to India, the rest remained to protect Britain. In the Americas I merged both fleets and attacked the pirate fleet NE of Jamaica, make sure you play the battle right through to a Decisive Victory continuing the battle if necessary to allow you to capture any ships that are left. I lost 2 sloops and captured all 3 ships and that Fluyt is very handy at this stage.

At the end of this turn you’ll get the mission to capture Georgia, Cherokee Nation and New France so that the 13 colonies will join you, they are already a Protectorate. You’ll also get a few wars starting in Europe and maybe the Iroquois declaring against the colonies. I sent my damaged Americas fleet back to Jamaica for repairs and trained another 2 LI there ready for invading the mainland. I also started upgrading my trade buildings trained more LI and 1 cavalry unit in London.

The next turn is where it gets interesting. Your Indiamen are ready so send them off to Brazil and the Ivory coast to establish trading routes and load up you army from England onto your India fleet and send them on their way. Also embark the troops in Jamaica onto your Sloops and Brigs and send off to the Bahamas to pick up more men and then onto Georgia, I kept the rest of my ships in another fleet to escort my Indiamen past the pirate islands, and I needed them as well.

So you’re only 3 turns in and you’ve got 2 expeditionary forces on their way, one landing this turn, had a naval engagement with pirates and had to decide where you stand on European politics, this turn you’re going to have to land you army on mainland America, I chose to land in the 13 Colonies region next to Georgia so that I can declare war and take Georgia in the same turn. Your Indiamen and India fleet will take a few turns to arrive so you can concentrate on the Americas for the present, start aiming Rupert’s Land to building up your military and send the army you landed to take Georgia, if you’re lucky the Cherokee’s will have taken Florida from Spain allowing you to grab this as well without disrupting world politics. If you’re unlucky the Iroquois will have dec’d the 13 colonies and you may need to help them out to preserve your future empire.

From this point on you will be focusing on India and the Americas while developing your home countries and building up your forces, if you’re more brutal than me you may venture into European land wars or naval encounters but I had enough with India and the Americas to keep me happy, not to mention keeping a handle on pirate raids, I didn’t want to wipe them out as they are a good source of naval combat and prize ships if you can manage it.

quadalpha
03-11-2009, 18:46
You should get moving on your 13 Colonies mission pretty quickly as both France and Spain accomplish their missions in a few turns. The colonies are usually stupid enough to trade provinces like Maine and New England to the French.

Malkut
03-12-2009, 11:22
You should get moving on your 13 Colonies mission pretty quickly as both France and Spain accomplish their missions in a few turns. The colonies are usually stupid enough to trade provinces like Maine and New England to the French.

If you don't get moving on it fast enough, it still works out to your advantage.

So, the Colonies lose control of a pair of Providences to France. Big deal. You're going to have to fight France to take control of the Colonies anyway, so why not start with an invasion of French-held Boston? It's a very well developed city, and it makes a very good beachhead for any assault on Quebec.

Landing on Boston avoids a dangerous sea trip up Saint Lawrence River to Quebec, and it gives you control of a well-developed port city on the mainland, and it can recruit Colonial Line Infantry, which will make reinforcing your North American armies easier.

Once you do gain control of the Colonies, you also gain the Providences that they got from France, which saves you the trouble of conquering some far-flung islands.

So really, it's nothing to get discouraged about.

erebrus
03-12-2009, 12:48
If you don't get moving on it fast enough, it still works out to your advantage.

So, the Colonies lose control of a pair of Providences to France. Big deal. You're going to have to fight France to take control of the Colonies anyway, so why not start with an invasion of French-held Boston? It's a very well developed city, and it makes a very good beachhead for any assault on Quebec.

Landing on Boston avoids a dangerous sea trip up Saint Lawrence River to Quebec, and it gives you control of a well-developed port city on the mainland, and it can recruit Colonial Line Infantry, which will make reinforcing your North American armies easier.

Once you do gain control of the Colonies, you also gain the Providences that they got from France, which saves you the trouble of conquering some far-flung islands.

So really, it's nothing to get discouraged about.

I agree, on my first game, I rushed to try to complete the mission and things got much more complicated. Next time, I went for the pirate islands before. It gave me a small economy boost, rid the seas of pirates (no problems with trade routes anymore) and gave me additional recruiting bases which allowed me to quickly get a big army to land in georgia. The cherokee had since then expanded a bit, but with a big army (and a lot replenish commands) they fell. As an added advantage, I got the extra colonies they had conquered. This allowed me to get florida without going to war with the spaniards. By the time I went for new france, my armies ruled north america and I managed to blitz through the french colonies.

With the british, being that you have a safe home region, you should focus on economy (and pirates) on the first 10 turns. Then you go for pirates and, using your super economy, built up your fleet in europe. Then blitz through the french colonies and decimate the French fleet in Europe. In less than 10 turns french went from being THE super power, to be a trapped 2-3 region faction.

timski
03-12-2009, 17:28
Early Pirate Gambit

To expand on the "pirates opener":

Great Britain starts with a sizeable naval force on the east side of North America, but there is not imediately a lot to do with it. You don't have the troops or technology to start attacking natives on the continent. Fortunately, you do have what it takes to attack some pirates.

In the very first turn, gather your North America fleets, and attack the pirate fleet (east of Cuba) with everything except one small ship. Move carefully - it is just possible to attack on turn 1. The battle can be won without lose, although the pirate flag ship is tough and needs to be handled with care.

The one smaller ship acts as a troop carrier, picking up land units from your 2 island colonies. You can even produce extra line infantry in Jamaica in the first turn. Pikes can be left as garrisons if you wish. Clearly this isn't a perfect stack. But you have cannon, line infantry, "anti-router" cavalry, and a commander - they'll get the job done.

On turn 2, move your victorious fleet to occupy the pirate port on the Windward Islands, thus preventing the sudden appearance of a second pirate fleet. Move your troop carrier towards the Windward Islands, invading the settlement on the third turn. In my experience, the pirates field a lot of basic grunts, with no horses, cannon, or special units to worry about. You can win this with less, better deployed, troops.

One of the unseen benefits of the "early pirate gambit" is that it gets your military into action on turn 1. Successful military action gives a tangible bonus to happiness levels at home, which you desperately need. Since it takes 2+ years to get extra troops across the Atlantic from Europe, this does not distract from an early continental invasion of North America. It does mean you have an extra island to defend, but you will need a fleet in the Carribean to defend your 2 starting islands anyway.

loony
03-13-2009, 10:28
My experience as GB on VH/H

1. Early (1700 - 1703) on I decided North America will be a purely defensive theater; as my main trouble was France, i had to look for ways to undermine them:

a) Disbanded troops in rupert's land, although built a military governor house to enable faster recruiting
b) Completeley ignored the mission from 13 colonies. At the time I was thinking to start the mission from the war with france and continue towards the indians later on
c) Ignored the Carribean and the pirates; sent my NA flee to brazillian (mistake) and african theaters together with several indianmen.
d) Started recruiting in Britain to form a full stack together with my existing armies

2. As France had several full stacks on the continent, i decided against attacking it directly; rather, I went for the "belly of the beast" in southern europe (1706 - 1713).

a) I landed an expeditionary force to capture Rome, Venice and Genoa; luckily Savoyan idiots attacked me so they became wormfood as well. Note: the battles were tough and I ad to change my general due to "too many casualties in battle" or sth like that trait he developed. Nonetheless, Italy was mine
b) I spent all the cash i could scramble on upgrading my economy, until
c) the Hurons declared war on me, so I started recruiting in Rupert's Land to form a force of 5 Hessians and three militias. While the main Huron armies were further away I managed to destroy two smaller forces and defed my towns in Ruperts land.
d) Due to investments into NA (should have given the Ruperts land up, i think) I could not fund the war against france; moreover, I was heavily spending economy. Moved my expeditionay force from Italy to Barbary states and destroyed them. Built church schools and left them there.
e) captured the Huron settlement in the great lakes and Tripolitania at about the same time; my stack in NA was decetly mixed and already experienced. moved it back to ruperts land, built a sloop and took them to take the last huron settlement. had my nastiest battle there - a bunch of indians managed to slip past me (i slipped past them while they were hidden), so they destroyed my artillery and charged the rear of my line. crappy stuff, but the line infantry held and general had his share of battle

3) Spain declared war on portugal (my ally) and was joined by France (doh!). I faced a choice of getting into a war I was not ready for or, if I broke the alliance with Portugal, get Portugal destroyed and Spanish getting stronger (making the French-Spanish alliance stronger). I joined the war against the Spanish and the French; Austrians broke the alliance and didn't declare on the french (1712-1714).

a) My italian force capture Milan from the spanish and i started to recruit land troops in italy and navy in Britain.
b) Blockaded the French capital port while spanis and french navies were trying to get back from North america
c) built 1 sloop to blockade the french port in the south; the idiot french sent a FULL STACK against it and wasted like 3 turns to get to it from the atlantic.
d) gave a nice big cash boost to portugal to help them in the war and offered peace to spain two turns later. they accepted.
e) started marching my NA force from Ruperts land to Quebec and Monreal.

4. The strategic objectives all achieved, being one-on-one with the french, their economy blockaded and having 2 armies (the veteran expeditionary force and the freshly recruited italians) i though I have decent chances defeating the frence and taking over their colonial holdings (1712-1720)

a) attacked Strasbourg from italy. Had a nasty battle at the star fort bear strabourg, but grapeshot and my veteran troops ruled the day. my fresh troops started marching on paris to deter the french from counteratacking strasbourg
b) while my veterans were healing wounds in strasbourg my new recruits got attacked by full stack of french line infantry and lots of cannons. luckily, found a decent spot for the cannons and managed to defeat the french (with many casualties on both sides).
c) the french navy got to my blockading force, so I had to eithe fight the battle half stack against full stack.. or run. I ran, of course, who cares about their navy when they are losing on land
d) My NA stack reached and captured Monreal. A nice battle there, lots of harrasing with the indian musket cavalry and beautiful bayonet charge by several most veteran troups.
d) In Europe with my veterans healed and some horse artillery added to the stack, I attacked Paris. The battle was rather easy, and I took the city. Suddenly, France is no more.

5. Destruction of the french caused United Stated to appear, as well as some little nation calling themselves Quebec. All Europe became horribly pissed and Paris public order was... well...horrible even without taxing that unruly bunch (1720-1728)

a) NA stack attacked quebec, autoresolved as the forces were far from equal. took the city and started marching towards maine and boston (previuosly french, currently - US)
b) started buildign my economy in GB and in NA with every spare coin I had, giving state gifts to Austrians, Swedes and Russians to avoid another big war in Europe.
c) built several church schools in france and north africa to get them all to be protestant
d) destroyed United States, marched my NA stack to georgia and captured it. now waiting to recruit some more troups and will be moving southwars (to cherokee - held florida) and later on to cherokee territory

6. Strenghtening position in Europea and North America. Teching like mad

e) got Poland Lithuania and Wuttenberg (idiots!) declare war on me. Sent one force to capture Gdansk and another to keep Wuttenberg from taking Strasbourg.
f) had one of the most exciting battles against 2 times the forces I had agains wuttenberg. kicked their tails, althoug it was a very costly victory; capture wuttenberg afterwards, though
g) took Gdansk, traded it to swedes for some tech, gave several state gifts around europe and got war declared by Bavaria. luckily, one of the last gifts I gave was to the Austrians, so the Austrians decided to fight Bavara on my side. Their first stack got beat, the second one is several turns away, hope they will get beat as well and I will capture Bavaria with the minimum involvement in the fighting.
e) most of the time I spend managing the economy, research and building. Got 5 univeristies for reasearch, moving through the tech tree really fast and turning my mind toeards india and the seas.

7. Plans

a) leave 2 stacks in continental europe (1 in france, another one in Italy). Be friendly with everyone, but have a punch just in case.
b) get another stack in Quebec or Boston in NA. To be on the safe side there as well.
c) the remaining money (after construction) is spent on the navy and preparing 2 stacks for the invation of india.


Comments on campaign:

- this is my first campaign, so I was unaware about the value trade brings. next time would use the naval advantage to its utmost
- I am still behind the spanish in prestige and military numbers; they have a better navy, but they ARE really stretched thin
- despite not using the trade up to its most, still have more income than I can spend if I don't recruit


Comments on tactics:
-strategic offence, tactical defence with grapeshot cannons along my infantry line.
-2 grenadier units cleaning up the massed enemies where the cannons cannot reach
- screw square formation; well timed fire will devastate cavalry charges
- melee poorer quality infantry with your line troops. while militia can shoot, they cannot stand the bayonet
- anchor flanks to houses and impassable terrain.. otherwise, yes, do use the square sometimes
- DISABLE fire at will for your cannons!!!
- do retreat veterans from battles to avoid losing them. better lose the battle than the troops!

loony
03-16-2009, 10:55
Continuing from the previuos post:

8. Attacked by a protectorate
a ) Sneaky americans! I free them from the French, I protect their trade and their lands from the Indians and they repay me with what? Sneaky sneaky sneaky... :help:
My two NA armies both destroyed: one by my protectorate, another one - by three stacks of cherokees. They did not go down cheaply, but they did.
b) sent one more stack, re-took Boston, defended montreal from the siege and charged down to new york. a nasty battle with 70% casualties for the enemy and like 50% for me. The AI did REALLY well on that one, with false retreats and constant harassing with skirmisher units.
c) captured Wuttenberg and Bavaria in europe, half the italy is protestant now and most of the northern africa as well. france and my capital region are growing and giving me insane tax revenues, making 38 000 per turn

oz_wwjd
03-16-2009, 11:59
Actually I made great use for the square formation in breaking up those annoying lancer charges on my sides/rear after my artillery,these nothing quite as annoying in finding 3 lancers squadrons hitting you from behind,while I'm busy dealing with the infantry swarm. Also I used my artillery on fire at will and explosive shell mode exclusively, that decimates the cherokees and they seem to like ginding in the open with a lancer unit in front,trying to get you to charge them first..

Ginger Yellow
03-16-2009, 16:16
Early war with the Huron Confederacy doesn't seem to be inevitable, although it does happen often. In my last short campaign, they didn't declare war until something like 1747, shortly after I finally invaded Quebec.

Anyway, so far it seems better to go for India rather than North America super early. The Mughals are much weaker than the Cherokee, and you'll earn a lot of money from your Indian plantations to finance the war in NA. Taking out the pirates ASAP is a very good idea, especially if you're rushing Indiamen to the trade routes as you should be. I haven't tried taking on the Barbary States yet, but it may be wise.

ironanvil1
03-16-2009, 19:56
Sending a stack under Marlborough on some military adventures in Eastern Europe early in the game can be a great way to pick up some tech and cash and get yourself a nice experienced army as a bonus.

Ally with Prussia, Austria and Poland and wait till the inevitable war kicks off then snag some provinces to trade to the land hungry AI.

Nepereta
03-17-2009, 10:52
TRADE TRADE & INDIA.

My strat was probably similiar to others but its worth notcing you get a bonus tech at the game start and diplomacy is infinite (so much better than m2tw in that regard) . I used this to trade for as many tech as I could from others I also used cash to prise any outstanding techs. I then sold that tech to every one and I came out with a profit + about 4 techs tight at the start. (NB selling techs seems you have to keep dropping the price steadily as you go through them ) Set up extra trade routes if possible taking note that Turkey is a suprisingly good trade partner. (maybe there is a distance scarcity relationship). I also befriend maratha & persia ( my new neighbours)

In all of the commercial ports I built the indiaman ship. (500 gold + 3-5 turns for position then at least 300 annual return is a no brainer you got all your money back in 7 or so turns) You don't really need a church in oxford so knock it down for a school. I initially researched the college tech but in hindsight it may of been better to get commercial port tech. This tech will ultimately net an additional trade route per port. Which would mean additonal 3(4 when bristol comes online) trade routes.

All my european friends I befriend and I do my level best to stay out of continental affairs if they can see me simply as a trader and ignore me that would be nice. So with that in view I am looking at india. First step is to pack every single force I have on the boats leaving a small channel fleet. I build extra line infantry in port royal and collect them as the fleet from above cuba comes down.

I attack the Mughal empire as quickly as possible starting with the Port city on the west side. The main objective is hindustan. Fortunately when I took hindustan it was well fortified and had a second level arsenal.

I continue building up my traders steadily ( this is the primary objective!) and also trading any tech I get as soon as I get it. For some reason it gets hard to buy their tech so I don't always get it. After getting the college tech I go for the ring bayonet tech and eventual the military doctrine tech + carbines ( I love the mobility of dragoons ).

In order of importance:

Continue dominating the trade arena NB you can stick mulitple ships on trade port (balance them once they are all full I managed all bar 4) you also need a few fleets to deal with pirates. When knocking out and capping pirates simply redirect the captured Fluyts and Galleons to the nearest trade area. (I don't bother repairing them trade is more important and it doesn't appear to factor damage into trading capacity). Ultimately I plan to keep sending ships until they amount gained by the extra ship is little more than its upkeep. I don't where this is even 5 ships on a square seems to make decent money. NB the true Trade power is not just what appears on the trade leg, there is also a great deal of cash involved in the trades. I also plan on going for max commercialized ports.

Finish off the mughals they have 2 cities in the north west and 2 cities in the north east.

Give Mysore all tech that will help them in their initial fight with maratha ( the real problem in india). Anything that gives Maratha a hard time ultimately will help in I hope in consolidating the continent.

Give the protectorate all the tech you have spare this I hope and pray will enable them to resist north american problems until India is completed.

pdoyle007
03-17-2009, 13:36
I expanded in North America against the inuits, got a few provinces, then traded Ruperts Land with Portugal for Goa. They act as a buffer against attack, 13 colonies are watching my left flank so I can focus my attacks against France through the centre of North America.

I expanded from Goa against the Mugals and now have a base in India.

In Europe I took Iceland (from Denmark who only have 2 provinces) and otherwise have just developed the homelands.

ironanvil1
03-18-2009, 16:05
Eastern Europe is a gold mine of tech.

I waited till the Polish-Austrian war kicked off then attacked the Poles in West Prussia, lightly defended so it fell to direct assault with no losses.

Traded that to the Prussians for half their tech advances (mostly agricultural) then took Lithuania and swapped that with them for the other half (the military stuff) and some cash to retrain my army.

Then it was off to Podolia which fell and was traded back to the Poles for their tech and a peace treaty which teleported my now well experienced 2 chevron troops back to London. :laugh4:

In the Spanish War a few years later I picked up Hispaniola and Cuba then conquered Flanders with my Polish expeditionary army and swapped it with the Dutch for Ceylon. Also captured the entire Spanish Fleet in an epic battle somewhere around Trafalgar :laugh4:

By 1720 I have 15k or so a turn profit and am madly upgrading all the plantations and ports I now own.
Ceylon should give me a good jumping off point for India (I'm supporting the Mughals financially against the expanding Marathas).
The only current war I'm in is against the last remnants of the Huron in the NW Territories who I'm using to level up a Canadian stack for the longer term war against the French.

Halfway or more up each tech tree when my own research is combined with the captured techs.

Now if only the AI would give me a reason to have to defend all those islands...

loony
03-23-2009, 09:13
Final step of the game:

EUROPE
own france, italian and german states as well as south africa
NA
The spanish are in mexico and the pirates now see 2 fleets fo 2-rates bringint 2 nice experienced armeis towards their bases.
INDIA
Captured calcutta, two inital armies on defence, sepoys and the newly recruited fellows go bleed the enemy.

ECONOMY
I don't need trade; I get aroundn 100 000 k from taxes. Spend around 80 000. The 40 000 trade income is just a nice bonus :)
I found that once everyone starts hating you, investing into taxes is a better idea than buying presents for them. Now I just don't care about anyone else anymore.

TECH
2 or 3 techs remaining. whatever.

ARMIES
4 stacks in NA, 2 to be moved to capture pirate bases and returned back; 2 to be moved to india.
4 Stacks in Europe (Munich, Rome, Paris and Southern France)
3.5 stacks in India, kicking poor indian ass.
2 fleets in Europe
1 fleet in NA
2 fleets in India
2 fleets keep travelling, killing enemy shipping, protecting trade theaters and transporting troops


After I achieve my objectives and win the campaign, I think i will declare war on everyone and see ho that goes :skull:

Siven
03-25-2009, 16:46
What d you end up doing with Ireland?

Myself, i change their trade port to a dockyard as the trade port only adds to the region wealth of Ireland which to be fair is nothing compared to having another trading port in England which then also adds more sea trade lanes and therefore trade agreements.

Anyone else do the same? and do you think its worthwhile changing Portsmouths dock into a trading port for more trade agreemenst at the start too?

anweRU
03-25-2009, 17:40
AFAIK, Ireland is connected to England via a land route (the double arrow), and hence the trade port counts towards your available slots. I would have to check when I get home in ~ 9 hours or so.

Furunculus
03-25-2009, 18:18
First Turn:
> put english army on channel fleet and set sail for the north-eastern most indian province (calcutta?)
> recruit two infranty units into the irish army from dublin
> demolish oxford

Second Turn:
> rebuild oxford as a school
> start teching social and economy trees
> start upgrading economy buildings

Third Turn:
> use english army in the channel fleet to take calcutta
> put irish army in the north-sea fleet and set sail for new-france

Fifth Turn:
> use irish army to take new-france, and then immediately sue for peace, the french will accept

Turns Six to Twenty:
> consolidate gains, upgrade territories, continue teching society and economic trees exclusively

Turns Twenty to Fifty:
> take all of mughal northern india
> take all of central canada and northern united states
> destroy fishing ports and replace with trading ports

Turns Fifty to Ninety:
> take rest of non UP north america including the two remaining mission territories
> take rest of mainland india by destroying marathra, mysore and portugal
> start teching up military tree
> destroy fishing ports and replace with trading ports

Turns Ninety to One-Hundred:
> take remaining mission territories of windward isles and gibralter for the 1750 mission
> start building up fleets of four 2nd rates and four Indiamen

Turns One-Hundred to One-Twenty:
> send 2ndRate/Indiamen to forcibly remove NPC's from trade-zone spots
> upgrade foreign ports to at least the 3000 gold upgrade level

Turns One-Twenty to One-Forty
> build fleets of 1st rates and place them atchoke points such as the channel, gibralter, transfer zones, etc
> strangle the world trade of your enemies and reap the benefit of owning every single trade-zone point.

Turns One-Forty Onward:
> blockade all european ports and strangle all european trade.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 05:23
ally with Protestant nations, and press Catholic France and Spain
Folks haven't discussed the religion aspect much in these forums, but this is an important point. When playing a Protestant faction, the Catholic factions will never like you very much. But the other Protestant factions seem much more agreeable, at least in the beginning.

I've tried a round of Diplomacy at the start of the 1st turn, setting up alliances and trade agreements with as many other factions as possible, except France and Spain. Whenever a war breaks out, I tend to honor the alliance, if it doesn't put me in an impossibly vulnerable position.

War against France or Spain is a great opportunity ... to gobble up their overseas colonies! It's also a good way to strangle them economically (by blockading their home region's port and/or raiding their trade routes, and kicking them out of trade spots).

The only thing to watch out for is the population unrest when capturing a region with a different religion that your own (also true vs. the Islamic factions). It's important to destroy the region's Religious building and replace it with one of your own. It's also useful to repair and keep the Happiness building, if their is one: worker strikes can escalate into full-blown Rebellion, if they get too unhappy.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 05:33
Develop your army in England. Ideally, you'll also want square formation, and a bayonet tech that doesn't suck, if possible. Those Cherokee, they love the horses.

Once you have assembled your forces, take stock of where you want to insert them. Georgia seems like a good starting point.
More specifically, develop your army's technology in England. Britain can be a good example of quality over quantity, especially vs. the natives in the New World.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Britain is the emerging naval superpower of this era. The sea is your highway -- getting involved deep in land-locked territory severely limits your flexibility.

One thing you can do to reinforce Rupert's Land is to use the Caribbean force that just defeated the Pirates. For that reason, it's useful to capture Trinidad and Tobago first, then the Leeward Islands, then head north.

Once you've dispatched the Hurons (and/or the Iroquois, depending on how restless they get), it's time to sail back south. Georgia is a good choice, because it's one of the two Cherokee regions required to fulfill the mission -- which you want to do, as it increases your revenue from the 13 Colonies from 50% to 100%, and gives you full control over what they build.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 05:37
I haven't really dealt much with India, yet. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that allying with the Marathan Confederacy in their fight for freedom from Mughal oppression would give you an edge.
In between the two, Mysore is a 1-province minor. It requires a 2-stack force to conquer them, but you need a lot of troops in India, anyway. From there, you can operate against either the Empire or the Confederacy.

One thing to keep in mind, the latter has more coastal provinces: easier for a naval superpower to take.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 05:49
Important in all of these plans is the establishment of trade, which requires a sizable fleet. Remember to open trade routes, develop resources, and research non-military techs.
Money, money, and yet more money! Ca$h is king, and trade spots are key.

As a naval power with plenty of trade ports at start, Britain can build and send Indiamen to three of the four trade zones right away. The Portuguese start in one spot off Brazil, but the others are available. They start in two spots off West Africa, but the others are open. East Africa is open, but Portugal, Spain, and Maratha race to get there. The Dutch and Maratha usually end up with the spots in the East Indies.

Still, being prompt can net Britain the majority of trade spots, and a healthy economy, for the rest of the century. Also, war with Portugal, Spain, and the Dutch can increase your share.

Although the exact mechanics of trade aren't documented well, it's important to remember that the trade has to flow to and from the faction's home region. Expanding the number and size of trade ports there increases the faction's overall trade capacity (and, therefore, income level).

MikeV
03-28-2009, 06:00
Myself, i change their trade port to a dockyard as the trade port only adds to the region wealth of Ireland which to be fair is nothing compared to having another trading port in England which then also adds more sea trade lanes and therefore trade agreements.

Anyone else do the same? and do you think its worthwhile changing Portsmouths dock into a trading port for more trade agreemenst at the start too?
Seems like a good move. But, every faction that has a water-accessible home region has a shipyard. Is this just stylistic, or is there some connection (research?) that requires it?

A Very Super Market
03-28-2009, 06:10
A shipyard lets you make advanced warships. That should be enough to convince you, no?
The strategic location of Portsmouth, directly in the English channel, allows you to easily retreat when confronted with too large of a fleet, as well as choke the trade of the Northern factions, as well as Le Havre, Brest, Antwerp and Rotterdam


And... quintiple posts all the time... man....

MikeV
03-28-2009, 06:24
Be careful not to get left behind: Technology and buildings all give exponential benefits. The further the game progresses, the harder it will be for you to catch up.
At the start, three countries have one tech apiece that Britain hasn't yet researched. Using Diplomacy or a Gentleman to acquire them can get you caught up in the tech race.

French have Physiocracy (Philospohy)
Prussians have Plug Bayonets (Military)
Ottomans have Improved Grenades (Military)

Looking at the prestige screen, France and Spain start out as the leaders. If you are going for a prestige win, you'll have to slow them down. One way is to use your Rake(s) to sabotage their colleges and/or assassinate their Gentlemen researchers.

Another way is to simply conquer them and take them out of the game. France has only two continental regions. Spain has four (Sicily is part of Naples, not a separate region), plus Corsica. Taking the home region first deals them a significant economic blow. Taking all of their European possessions causes their overseas regions to rebel and become independent.

Your other two main rivals, Portugal and the Dutch United Provinces, are even easier: they have only the one home region each.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 06:37
The population of Scotland and Ireland are in decline, while growth in England is very slow. Happiness is not high.
Plus, Ireland has a high % Catholic population. Consider sending your first Protestant Missionary there, to speed up the conversion rate. When a new town emerges, build a church school there.

Promote growth in all three regions by upgrading your farms, once you've research the Common Land Enclosures (Industrial) tech.

MikeV
03-28-2009, 06:51
Taking out the pirates ASAP is a very good idea, especially if you're rushing Indiamen to the trade routes as you should be. I haven't tried taking on the Barbary States yet, but it may be wise.
Yes, taking out the Pirates is the most efficient way to protect your trade fleets. Plus, there's a good chance you'll capture a Galleon or two you can replenish and use yourself.

Be aware, though, that the Pirates of the Caribbean will re-spawn (but without Captain Jack Sparrow ~;) ) at Curaçao if the Dutch are destroyed.

The Barbary States are easy enough to capture, but hard to hold. Being 100% Islamic, they tend to escalate into full Rebellion quickly. This ties down land forces better used elsewhere. It's probably better to neutralize them by defeating their fleets and allowing other Mediterranean factions to blockade their ports.

Skott
03-29-2009, 19:21
The Barbary States are not that hard to control per se IMO. Yes, they rebel but just keep your conquering army in the city for a couple of turns until the rebel army sprouts up and then kill them then move onto the next Barbary State territory. I've never had a rebel army pop up twice after the takeover. I do however start building a church school right away and exempt the taxes for a few turns. That seems to solve multiple rebellions.

Slaists
04-02-2009, 15:30
Note that, English being a sea-centered and trade-centered country, declaring a war on the French (and dragging Spanish in by default) would mean trade collapse at least for a turn or few (until their fleets are cleaned up)... That can put the treasury into deep red. Just a warning.

Especially the pesky French are dangerous with many small fleets hanging around the channel. All of those tend to swarm to British ports in the very next turn after DOF (English on French or vice versa). Placing a unit of milia in every England's trading port is a good idea too. That way enemy fleet cannot raise the port necessitating an extra turn for port repairs, which would be impossible if the treasury was in red. Note that the KEY to trade is the harbors in the capital city province... With a unit of militia sitting in the port French ships can just blockade (not destroy) and trade can resume as soon as the enemy fleets are removed. I learned it the 'hard way'...

On a different thought: probably it's cheaper to maintain an india-man trading ship than a unit of militia (50 upkeep for an indiaman versus 220 upkeep for militia). The protective effect for either would be the same.

anweRU
04-02-2009, 20:04
Great Britain:
Type: Prestige Game
Strategic difficulty: Hard
Battles: Auto-calc ~95% of the time
Modification: Script file modified to annex Thirteen Colonies by conquering the three Cherokee territories, i.e. replace New France with Kaintuck territory.

Irony: Ended up conquering New France a good 10 turns before I even declared war on the Cherokee!

I have played the opening turns of GB in several variations. My current campaing worked out as outlined below

Research plan: First the enclosure tech for farms, then empiriscism. Next, carbines and bayonets. As I acquired more universities, Oxford specialized in military, Cambridge in industry, Dundee (Scotland) in enlightenment, Sault St. Marie (Quebec) mostly in industry, the one if Montreal in military, Decca (Bengal) in industry, Hartford (CT, New England Fed) in whatever was available.

Universities vs Industry: Benares (Hindustan) operated only until Decca was built. It was torn down, along with the pleasure palace, because Hindustan's towns are all prosperous or wealthy, while Bengal's are very poor. The French University was torn down immediately after capture, along with those in Persia, and other captured territories.
I prefer small population areas for universities (Quebec, Montreal, Boston) due to the ease of maintaining order with small garrisons. Even a single militia unit gives 2 suppression (at least early in the game). The first two were supplemented with church + inn, the last with just a church. Bengal has both church + inn.
Built observatories everywhere, except London. The British museum is preferable (+5 happiness for both classes goes a long way to counter the clamor for reform).

First turn:
Cabinet:
Fire the idiot PM, got a 4-star version of Cloudesly Abbot (random, other games he was a 3-star).
Policies:
Europe taxes 3-1 for growth, Americas taxes 2-2 for stopping unrest.
Diplomatic offensive:
(a) Swap Rupert's Land for French Guyana. Add tech as sweetener (France wanted 3200 gold otherwise).
(b) Ally with as many minor factions as possible. Most German factions, Savoy, Genoa, Italian States, etc.
(c) Trade pacts with Marathas, Ottomans & Austria.
Buiding & Upgrades
(a) French Guyana, build the mine.
(b) Build the remaining farms in GB
(c) The happiness buildings in England and Scotland (can't remember if turn 1 or 2).
(d) Tear down the religious school in Oxford.
Navy:
(a) Recruit indiamen in all 6 trade ports.
(b) The fleet in the Irish sea sent to Ivory Coast.
(c) A 6th-rate from the Channel fleet sent Madagascar Straits.
(d) A sloop from the Channel fleet took units from Ireland to GB, then sent to MS.
(e) The remaining ships of the Channel fleet docked.
(f) The two Americas fleet combine and attack nearest pirate fleet. Captured fluyt, lost the brig.
(g) Two damaged sloops go on a 'suicide' mission, attack the pirate island ports so they can't build. The two frigates and remaining sloop set sail to Jamaica (and have enough MP to move only 1 hex).
(h) Fluyt goes to Bahamas to pick up Bahamas garrison + the ranger & milita unit that magically appeared in the Bahamas when I swapped Rupert's Land. Fluyt repaired in the mean time.

Evidence of a memory leak or sneaky, behind-the-scenes record keeping by CA: When I auto-calced this battle the first time E:TW started after booting up the computer (regardless of diff. level), I captured the fluyt (most of the time, sometime thes brig) and lost my brig, and sometimes one sloop. If I loaded the save and recalced, all pirate ships were destroyed and I lost both a brig and a sloop. Same result regardless of how many times the game was reloaded. Same result after exiting E:TW, restarting it & loading the game!!! Only a reboot of the computer resulted in the capture of the fluyt.

Military:
(a) Bahamas units moved to port, along with Rupert's Land contingent that was teleported.
(b) Recruit two colonial line inf. at Jamaica.
(c) Enough money left to recruit one line inf. @ London.
(d) Leave one pikeman in Ireland (until governor's building can be upgraded, the Irish were not happy).
(e) Move remaining Irish units to the sloop, transport to England.
(f) Combine England units with the Irish units. One general stays behind.


Second turn:
Building and Upgrades:
(a) Continue with happiness buildings, governor's buildings. Aiming for observatory in Scotland, and British museum in England.
(b) Oxford builds a school.
Diplomacy:
(a) Declare war on New Spain. My allies join, Spain defends its protectorate. France remains neutral.
(b) Capture & sell Flanders to UP for 6000 gold.
(c) Make peace with Spain (but not New Spain).
Army & Navy:
(a) Channel fleet transports England army to Flanders' port. Army captures Flanders. Returns to ship for long voyage to India.
(b) Fluyt takes Bahamas troops, joins the frigate fleet.
(c) The two badly damaged sloops succeed in their missions. They find the pirate ports empty, and quickly seize them.


Turns 3-15
Americas:
Without their ports, the pirates recruited infantry units to kick out my sloops. I kept reoccupying until land forces arrived.
First target was T&T. Captured. Repaired. Next turn, the army boarded the fleet and moved on to Windward Isles. Shipyard demolished, trade port built instead.
Second target was Windward Isles. This was a nastier fight, but won by my troops (auto-calc win, despite 1/3 GB - 2/3 pirates odds). Troops replenished. Board ship, dockyard demolished, trade port built.
The plan was to attack New Andalucia and the neighboring province. Unfortunately, the Dutch did not reinforce Flanders sufficiently. France declared war. I joined. The next turn I offered peace to France, and was accepted. Unfortunately, I had to load the game from the previous turn, and the second time France refused.
New plan: The Americas army, already in port above Martinique lands next to the capitol (can't enter port, French have ships in it). Capture Martinique next turn. France accepts peace. Wait a turn (repairing Martinique) before heading south to New Andalucia.
Land next to New Andalucia. New Spain is upgrading its barracks and building the first level of canon factory. Wait two turns for it to finish, capture New Andalucia. Recruit two dragoons, take army on ship, immediately go to the port of the next region.
Master Plan DOA: The same turn Spain annexes New Spain, my army gets teleported back to New Andalucia. Army board ships for long trek to Georgia.

India:
The Marathas & Mughals are locked in a deadly struggle. The Marathas have made some headway, but the front lines shift. Mughals recapture Orisca and Ciscar, only to lose it to me.
Ex-English Army lands in Ahmednagar. Captures it. City upgraded. Recruits sepoys and later East India Co. infantry. Capture province north of Ahmednagar. Then march on to Hindustan. This was a nasty battle in an earlier game. This time Hindustan is lightly defended, as the Mughal have launched a counter-offensive against the Marathas. Hindustan easily captured. City repaired. Buildings upgraded where possible.
The nearly full stack army splits into two. A small group moves on to Bengal, then Orisca & Ciscar. The larger group moves west, to Rajpootana (in my Marathas game, this is where the Mughals had been concentrated).
Turns out the Mughal deployment is the opposite this time. Rajpootana is defenseless. Bengal lightly defended. So is the capital of O&C. However, the remaining large stack of Mughals is attacking the Marathas in the region to the west of O&C!

Europe:
Build, build, build. Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade.
England acquires two new trade ports relatively quickly. Make trade agreements with Russia, Savoy, Italian States. Much later (~ turn 50) with Poland, once P-L manages to build a trade port.

Trade theaters:
Continue to build IM like crazy.
First six indiamen: pick up all four spice slots in the East Indies. The remaining two go to MS.
The Irish Sea fleets arrives in IV, occupies all four remaining trade slots (one spot begins Portugese).
Remaining two warships arrive in MS, occupy two spots.
The three damaged sloops in the Carib are not yet able to rest, they get sent to Brazil to occupy trade spots.
New indiamen: Rush to occupy remaining spot in MS and Brazil. Then relieve the military ships. The six Channel Fleet ships return to the Channel, where they are joined by three 4th rates.
The three sloops finally return to the Americas, and get a well deserved R&R while they are repaired.



Turns 15-50:
Send more IM to trade theaters, so there are at least two traders in each spot. Commodity prices almost collapse, so I halt recruiting IM for a while.

Americas:
Disaster strikes, or the Master Plan Goes Down the John once again: Iriquois declare war on the Colonies. A large stack moves into America territories. Stupidly, attacks fully garrisoned Boston, and gets beaten. Why not attack undefended NY or Maine?

The Americas army , off the Bahamas, cancels the previous plan (of attacking the Cherokee), rushes to NY. Disembarks. Destroys Iriquois stack, then captures the three Iriquois regions in order.

War against France: In the mean time, a small reinforcement stack from the Bahamas (1 arty, 3 col. line inf., 2 dragoons) lands in NY. The two dragoons separate to destroy a marauding Iriquois two-unit stack (pitiful rememanants of prior engagement). Seeing how undefended the French territories are, I declare war, and the inf. + arty. occupies the religious school across the river. The French units (original garrison in Montreal) attack, beaten back. For some reason, they back into GB-owned Iriquois territory instead of Montreal itself. The dragoons destroy them. Montreal is taken, and Quebec the next turn.

Two gentlemen pop-up (Daniel Defoe is the first), of all places in French Guyana, within three turns of each other. They are sent to Sault St. Marie. Two others that appear at later times (in F.G. & New Andalucia!) are transported to S.S.M. and the new university in Montreal. Daniel Defoe duels the three French gentelmen in the university, killing one, and wounding the other two in three consecutive turns.

As soon as I capture Montreal, the Hurons declare war. In a few turns, they send two consecutive stacks, promptly destroyed by the original Americas army and the reinforcement stack (conquerors of New France), both reinforced with some Hessians and col. line inf. The main Huron settlement is captured. The reinforcement stack moves to the gold mine while the main army moves south to destroy the Cherokee (so that I can finally annex the USA!).

Suddenly, two stacks of French appear in Rupert's Land. Alarmed, I offer peace to France. Having lost Flanders (see below), Upper Canada and New France, and all of its fleets (except the one hiding in New Foundland's port), France accepts peace. My allies continue the war.

The Cherokee are conquered in a series of several bloody battles. My veteran stack first met a full stack in northern Kentucky. During the AI's turn this stack moved back into my stacks range, triggering another deadly battle (Cherokee stack destroyed). My stack then attacked Kentucky, defeating both its and neighboring Cherooke capitol's armies. Immediately attacked Cherokee territory. Destroyed the remenants of the stacks from Kentucky, the Cherokee garrison falls back into Florida. All of my units are badly depleted. The largest line infantry unit has only 18 men in it! One militia stack has only three men! Replenishments keep being ordered.

Reinforcements (a dragoon, native cavalry, militia inf) rush from the Iriquois, Algonquin and Michigan territories to reinfore.

Finally the main stack moves to capture Georgia. Mission accomplished. The Thirteen Colonies, plus the region they captured from the French!, join GB.

The conquered territories are repaired, rebuilt, upgraded.


India:
After Rajpootana is captured, Persia declares war. Send several small stacks into Rajpootana, while the Mughals conjure up one-unit stacks from Sindh. The large Mughal army in the east moves back towards O&C. The choice is clear. Troops are recruited in Ahmednegar to capture Sindh, a small group moves to capture Kashmir, and the main force destroys the Persian stacks in several turns. Then three stacks (two yeomanry from England, two dragoons, and general+arty+inf.) move into Afghanistan. After its capture, the three stacks move towards Baluchistan. In one of the rare manual battles that I fought, a bug causes my King's Own Infantry (1st Line) and artillery unit to swap men. I end up with a 113 men artillery unit, and only 18 men in my three-chevron line infantry. The very first unit to reach three chevrons (and hence named King's Own) drops to a single chevron after reinforcements.

The war against Persia continues. I reinforce the stack with more troops from India (roughly 10 East Ind. Line Inf. and another arty.), and move into Persia. The Persians have a full stack in Persia's port. This army is attacked. Defeated, it moves into Baluchistan. My army can't catch up with it, so it moves on to Tehran instead. When Persia (the region) is captured, and Persia accepts peace, this marauding Persian stack teleports to Baghdad, which the Persians apparently captured from the Ottomans. Peace (for me) in the Indian theater for the next decade or so.

Marathas (my allies) declare war on Portugal, capture Goa. A single Portugese ship blockade the port at Sirinagar. The first turn, the Marathas send an inf. unit to kick it out, but then that unit moves elsewhere. The Portugese ship moves back in, and my trade with the Marathas goes out the window.

Europe:
After declaring war on France, a small stack from London moves to capture Flanders. The original plan was to give it back to UP, and help defend it. After seeing how rich it is, I decide to keep it. After we make peace, France is left with a continuing war with all the minor nations that surround it.



Turns 51 - 63
The Destruction of France:
At the start of the 56th turn, I notice that Alsace-Loraine is now German (captured by Wurtemburg to be precise). I immediately decide to send my veterans from Americas, on R&R in Georgia, to capture France. I know a French stack is near the border with Savoy, as I've seen them battle a Savoyard stack several times, thanks to my trade lane with Savoy. After saving the game, I send the troops from Flanders to attack Paris as a recon mission. I plan to load the game afterwards.

My little army consists of 1 general, 1 horse regiment, 1 12lb foot arty., 4 line inf., 1 milita, and 1 pike. In Paris, I find two yeomen cavalry, 1 uhlan cavalry, two canon regiments, 1 ranger, 1 militia, and 13 line inf. The odds are ~ 1:4 against me, judging from the bar.
As this was a recon mission (to be loaded), I say "what the heck" and press the auto-calc. Much to my chagrin, the French appear to have lost no troops in the post-combat report, while my army is wiped out. Only the general, the arty., and three line inf. units remain (18 in the largest group). I click OK, expecting to see either the retreat or death animation. I am puzzled when neither appears. It takes me a few seconds to realize that the Union Jack is flying over Paris, and the little news paper icon is flashing at the bottom. France is destroyed! I had misread the after-combat report.

I save immediately! I load the prior save to check how I could have possibly won. The stupid French AI had not researched a single military technology. The fact that I had captured his second university early on, and assasinated his only European gentleman in turn 2, caused the French AI's demise. His three North American gentlemen had been chased out of S.S.M. by none other than the famous author Daniel Defoe, who killed one and wounded the other two.

Paris is a boiling couldron though, -9 nobility and -6 middle class happiness. A single dragoon unit (the only reserve I have left in London) ships over. All buildings are repaired. The French university and two catholic churches are demolished. Tax exemption ordered.

Next turn, I receive both the strike and letter-of-demand. But, the happiness levels have already switch to positive. I build churches in two very poor town slots, everything else goes to industry. within a couple of turns, France is taxed, and by turn 63 is my richest province (17K), followed closely by Hindustan (15k).

Cleaning up the French Territories in the Americas:
The four French colonies (upper & lower Louisiana, Rupert's Land and Newfoundland) are quickly captured. Lower Louisiana by my veteran stack, Rupert's land by the old "reinforcement stack", then the other two by newly recruited troops.

Pueblo nations declare war on me, and sends two large stacks to Lower Lousiana. The veteran stack attacks the first stack, which retreats right next New Orleans. I have a new group of units there, a howitzer, couple of dragoons, three line inf., and a newly recruited general. The P.N. stack is destroyed by this group the next turn, after it stupidly moves within 1 hex of my interception range, instead of retreating. The veteran stack then moves eastward, to defeat the second large stack at the border. The new stack hops on a sloop, lands in Texas, and captures its capital the next turn. The Pueblo are destroyed.

Kicking out the Spanish from the Americas
An Invasion Plan Inspired by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941
The Spanish have 8 regions in the Americas. They have also reinforced the region with at least three powerful fleets. However, Florida is empty.

A rake also finds Mexico City empty. I recruit a couple of extra sloops. My hardy sloops from the start of the campaign are once again pressed into service, with one or more expected to be destroyed. The veteran unit is broken up into four groups, to be transported to Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Cuba. Troops are recruited in Jamaica (for Puerto Rico), New Andalucia (the neighboring region) and Georgia (for Florida). The army that has just conquered the P.N. moves north, towards New Mexico, leaving behind a dragoon to maintain order.

War is declared on turn 61. Most sloops enter into a Spanish port. The Cuba group lands on a beach, the sloop has enough movement points to escape to the Bahamas. The Guatemala group lands on a beach as well. The Spanish have a ship in its port, but my sloop has enough MP to escape to a friendly port. Several regions are captured.

The Spanish send a fleet to occupy Jamaica's port. About 5 fleets raid my trade lanes. My net income falls from 60k to a mere 30k. However, the remaining Spanish regions are captured on turn 62. I offer peace to Spain, and it is grudgingly accepted.


Destruction of Persia:
Around turn 59 or 60, I declare war on Persia. A small group moves into Azerbaijan (3 colonial milita, 1 E.I.Co. line inf., 1 arty, 1 general). It encounters a 6-unit Persian stack, reinforced by an arty. unit from Baku. Auto-cal wins, but barely. My army retreats to village near the Persian border. Two dragoons from Tehran are sent as reinforcements.

The remaining part of the veteran stack moves into Mesopotamia, but can't reach Baghdad. Next turn, Baghdad is captured from the army that I had defeated over a decade ago. The Persians did not have enough funds to replenish. I now see a large Persian army up north, at the border with Anatolia. Next turn, the dragoons reach the replenished army, Baku is captured, Persia is no more!


Economic Situation:
Despite having multiple stacks of veteran armies, I am bringing in close to 70k. I am in the process of upgrading all remaining plantations (the newly conquered ones) to maximum (3rd) level. Upgrading the sugar plantations to level 4 will have to wait until the relevant industrial technology is discovered, which will probably take another 10-20 turns.

Diplomatic Situation:
I am well hated by everyone except the Ottomans (friendly) and the Marathas (very friendly). The Dutch are barely indifferent, and that is after lots of state gifts.

Economic Situation:
Most roads upgraded to 3rd level. Almost all farms upgraded to max. All average/ growing/ wealthy/ prosperous industrial towns upgraded to 3rd level. Waiting for tech advances to upgrade further. The very poor towns have been upgraded to 2nd level. All mines to second level. There are three indiamen per trade node.

Future plans:
1. Consolidate the Americas
The Hurons are still in their last territory. My rake, which has been sitting outside their capital for at least a decade (you don't want to know how many negative movement modifiers he has by now) hasn't seen any movement outside their territory. The AI simply shuffles his units around.

As soon as I consolidate my veteran stack, it will move up to New Foundland, and capture the Inuit. Lets see how fearsome they are! The Hurons will be destroyed either by the veteran stack, or the group currently in Ruppert's Land, after it is reinforced.

The New Mexico group will advance on the Plains Nations, after it is also reinforced. This whole operation might take 10 to 20 turns.

I will either buy the Dutch territories, or take them by force. I assume there is an achievement for consolidating the Americas, as there is one for India (which I unlocked as the Marathas).

As soon as my veteran stacks are finished, they will be transported to England.


2. India
Well, the Marathas have been good to me. But I want it all! Mysore will be the first to go. Then the Marathas. However, Sirinagar is at the verge of revolution (low class happiness = 0). I have sent three priests (8-9 stars!) to increase religious unrest there, and to push the state to revolution. As the Marthas don't have any soldiers garrisoned there, I hope to see it happen soon.

After that, the tanks will roll. Well, at least the howitzers, infantry, & cavalry will.

Once India is mine, all of the veteran stacks will be sent back to England.


3. Europe
If the Dutch prove to be obstinate, and do not sell their territories, they will die.

The Moroccans will probably be among the first to fall to my veteran colonial armies. I will send some troop east, into the Barbary States.

Other troops will be sent to France. If Portugal is still alive, I will land a full stack there. Though are alliance war broken a long time ago, we still have indefinite military access on both sides. Then 2-3 full stacks will march on to Barcelona & Gibraltar.

Afterwards, I will sweep clean the rest of the Spanish lands.

The German states will follow.

And then, who knows? I want to keep several big countries around for the trade revenue. That would mean Russia, Sweden, the Ottoman Empire,

Austria-Hungary and Poland-Lithuania will survive, as long as they don't DoW on me.

In summary, I started out to play a prestige game, but will soon surpass the world domination requirements. I probably need another couple of decades to finish the tech tree, simply because the last few long duration research projects need to be researched consecutively, and can't be done in parallel. I will tear down either Oxford or Cambridge, and convert it to an economic building, whichever one is more profitable. Once the tech tree is finished, all universities, except the remaining modern university in England, will be destroyed, to be replaced with economic building. Likewise with most of the churches around the globe. As soon as sufficient levels of the population are converted to Protestantism, the churches will be destroyed. Same for the pleasure palaces.

By now, India is at 3-2 taxation, ramping up to 3-3 shortly. Europe and the Americas will follow soon.

anweRU
04-02-2009, 20:12
Especially the French are dangerous: they have many small fleets hanging around the channel: all of those tend to attack British ports upon English declaring war on French or vice versa. Placing a unit of milia in each England's trading port is a good idea too (the enemy fleet cannot take the port over (necessitating an extra turn for port repairs, which would be impossible if the treasury was in red) that way: they can just blockade it and trade can resume as soon as the enemy fleet is removed.

Good recommendation about the garrison. In my game, the French fleets were mostly docked. I had to flush them out with a depleted land unit that occupied their ports. Then my fleet of 4th, 5th & 6th rates and brigs blasted them out of the water. I even captured several 6th rates & brigs...

Walrus
04-05-2009, 03:04
GB was my first campaign, i went into it without having played RTI or any of the tutorials, only from previous experience in the TW games.

From an expansion and conquest point of view, i took a different approach to most of what is listed here. I ignored the thirteen colonies mission - thinking that war with France would not be worthwhile, and the other territories required were simply inaccessible. Instead, my plan was to conquer most of Canada and north america. I built up my infrastructure in the UK, built some forces in rupert's land, and went to war with the Hurons.
I wasnt aware of the potential profitability of the trade theatres at this point, so i neglected them, simply sending 1 trade fleet to brazil and 1 to the ivory coast. I recommend putting a lot more effort into this however, as they provide an excellent sustained income.

At this point i should note that Ireland - being a major source of annoyance due to low public order - starts the game as having a 70-30 religious balance in favour of Catholicism (ie 70% catholic). I didnt notice this for a long long time (being new to the game) - but when i did, i tore down the existing town and rebuilt it as a school, and sent my protestant preacher over there. I recommend doing this in turn 1, as it simply cements order in your home regions and allows you to increase taxes etc without any need for concern.

Going back over to the Americas - it took a while, but eventually i managed to launch a successful assault on the Huron capitol. This got me the benefit of gold mines and quite a profitable region. My next conquest was the very northwest territory (cant remember the name) held by some native americans. I struggled slightly here due to not knowing how to counter their "charge and zerg" tactics, but took the territory nonetheless. This meant i had 3 very secure territories in north america/canada, earning me a solid income without much need for protection.

I contined my canadian expansion, looking to take the village in the northeast of america (again, cant remember the name) and the black hills village held by the aptly named Plains Nation. These presented me with a lot more trouble - especially since i was quite behind in both trade and more importantly, research (remember, first campaign, didnt know what i was doing half the time!). The more astute player should invest in some military technologies to help conquer these. The eventual tactic that worked for me, after repeated failures, was to build a fort. Normally, the natives had a full stack in their home city, and another half-full stack camped outside. As soon as i ventured into their territory (and ended turn), they would attack with a full stack, which i would defeat, but then the rest of their troops would join the fray and drive me back. The successful try, i took the offensive, destroyed their outer standing army and then constructed a fort for my wounded army - and left them there to heal. The natives would instantly try to attack again, but with the benefit of the fortifications i could drive them off and march against their now-weakly defended cities.

At this stage then, i now hold 5 regions in north america, netting me an excellent income. I have also taken steps to establishing trade with anyone and everyone. Additionally, i recognised the importance of a strong navy to the british faction, and worked on this - controlling the british channel and all nearby trade lanes.


At this point, i felt i should turn my attentions away from america - it was not worth risking war with france or the more powerful iriquois. Early on in the game - about turn 2 - Sweden and Prussia had both declared war on me, and i felt that the best next step would be to assault the former. Its very easy to land an army over on Denmark (who in my game had been conquered in their homeland by the swedes and retreated to Iceland), and from here i simply pushed throughout the north-scandinavian lands. There were some losses, but i was able to keep sending strong troops from London via boat (i had built my navy and controlled the seas, enabling my to transport troops without trouble) and eventually push the swedes back. Having eventually destroyed them and gained a number of extremely profitable regions, i opted for a quick swoop on Iceland (the last refuge of the danes) whilst i built up the economy of the newly conquered swedish lands.

At this stage, i still had Prussia raiding me and generally being a nuisance, so i figured that an assault on them would help rid me of an enemy, and importantly grant me a foothold in continental europe.
Note - this is at about the year 1730, and i have an income of 15-20k per turn, enabling me to amass an impressive army. I marched from Sweden into Prussia - taking Berlin and East Prussia (their only provinces) and ensuring a quick end to that war.

The biggest challenge lay ahead - Poland-Lithuania had also declared war on me quite early into the game, and had succeeded in taking over most of eastern europe. This was my first "serious" war, but i was well prepared, with excellent technologies and an unmatched income. I used my most experienced two generals from the america and sweden campaigns (10-star generals, both of them) to launch the offensives. Generally, after conquering a territory i would keep it garrisoned for 3-4 turns whilst i built up the public order and recruited militia to garrison the provinces, and then moved the main army on. One of the big problems here was religion - make sure to knock down all catholic churches and rebuild them as protestant ones, and send all your preachers to here to try to establish a protestant majority to help with public order.

The war went on, eventually Poland crumbled before my might, and i set my sights on India (about 1750 now) - Mysore remained a free province, and the island of Ceylon had been overrun by rebels - two easy targets then. I sent my best general and a full stack to Ceylon, and captured it with few problems. This island would serve as my base of operations for the India campaign - i garrisoned it and upgraded the infrastructure, then sent my troops into Mysore to capture that region, giving me a foothold in mainland India.

Meanwhile, with my other general, i went back to america and pushed south from the black plains - i took the newly emerged Mexico, and then pushed east from there into cherokee territory, whilst sending more troops towards Quebec (also independant now - i avoided war with any of the major european powers even at this point), claiming the required territories to complete the thirteen colonies mission. With the colonies under my control, i stood firmly in control of north american east coast, and pushed my armies in all directions to eradicate any provinces not yet under my control.


This brings me to the stage i am now at - a solid foothold in India, most of North America under my control, and an impressive empire in eastern Europe and scandinavia. The year is about 1780, and i have somewhat grown bored of the campaign, i only need claim a few indian territories, sail some fleets towards egypt and malta, and the campaign is won.

Mek Simmur al Ragaski
08-13-2009, 15:01
I am only 35 turns into my campaign as Great Britain, however I have learned a lot, and how to create advantages for yourself.

Firstly, in order to maintain peace, and create trading safety, I took both Trinidad and Tobago and the Antigua Islands, eliminating the Pirates and gaining an economy booster. I also began to create a trade fleet that would be sent to the Ivory Coast. It may be beneficial to drop taxes in certain regions to encourage growth, so that villages will grow quicker and therefore you are more likely to earn money. Start to research economic techs.

After a few turns of upgrading economic buildings, the Huron Confederacy, the Iriquois and the Cherokee Nations declared war on me. Not having done anything to provoke this, I decided that it was better to fight them rather than having a crippling war with Spain and France. So bring soldiers from Britain (You may want to start building these on the first turn) and start to create an army in Jamaica. Finally when my army was ready, I noticed that Florida had been taken by the Cherokee nations, along with half of the Thirteen Colonies territories (They had from Florida up to Maryland, with Pennsylvania going to the Iriquois. However the TC had taken Arcadia.

Land on Florida and take it, and within the same turn if possible attack Georgia. Soldiers from Britain landed further up north to prevent the Iriquouis and the Cherokee Nations from expanding further. It should be difficult to defeat the Cherokee Nations from here, just take all of the TC's previous colonies back, and then march inland and take the two cities inland. Lower Louisiana had rebelled against the Cherokee after they had taken it from the French, so it was easy pickings.

Next, try to take the Iriquouis out. Use one army to attack Michigan, while using the other to attack their main territories along the river. Once both the Cherokee and Iriquouis have been taken out, I have a sizeable piece of land in the Americas. Now to annex the French. Firstly, try to gain good relations with the Spanish. Try and get trade rights and give them some techs if possible. Build up a fleet in Britain to combat any French navies. Now, in my campaign the TC attacked Quebec and took it. So I traded most of my southern territories for it. However doing this completes the mission and therefore you get complete control of the TC. Now send an stack if you have one into Louisiana, and another to take Montreal. You may also want to think about taking French Guyana and the Leeward Islands. Now you should have a large amount of land and wealth at your disposal.

This is as far as I have got in my campaign. My next few moves would be to take the Newfoundland, take out the Pueblo nations and then think about attacking the Huron Confederacy, the Plains Nations and the Inuit nations so you have complete control of North America. Then either go for India, start with Europe or you could kick the Spanish out of the Americas and establish your dominance.

I have left out most of the economic information, and just explained where I went and who I attacked.

Dreadnought2
08-19-2009, 03:46
One strategy I've used in both BG and UP campaigns is to leave one of the Pirates bases intact for a while. I've used my navy to capture a few pirate galleons/fluyts, repair them then form 'trade protection squadrons' with a few brigs for backup (and pursuit of enemy routers). Send 'em down to the trade ports so they're still making money but use them to bushwack any follow-on pirate fleets - simply capture more galleons/fluyts and repeat. Just remember, 'chain-shot' is your friend!

Once you kill off all the pirate bases, you're limited to knocking off Spanish galleons or Dutch Fluyts (which may or may not be an option for diplomatic reasons).

Once I've captured a decent number of galleons, I try to keep at least one such squadron in each trade zone (often with a Admiral's 3rd rate as flagship) and it's proven itself very handy when other nations decide to go commerce raiding...

Cheers,
Dreadnought2

oz_wwjd
08-22-2009, 02:47
well the first pirate fleet that I encountered has about 10 galleons/race-galleons and fluyts,with a second group of the same as reinforcements. Frankly I didn't think anything I had would stand a chance against that many pirate ships,so I killed them before they could totally devastate my trade fleets,as that was the majority of my income at the time..

Slaists
08-25-2009, 18:23
One tip for Britain: at the beginning try to "tighten the belt" and reduce nobility taxes to minimum for your American theater. It goes a long way in producing economic growth (and higher future taxes) + you won't be losing much income with the raw American provinces. Tax the middle class (that's how it's done in real life too...)! Until middle game, there is not much population growth anyway (with taxes or without) because agricultural techs are lacking.