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frogbeastegg
09-03-2007, 14:59
This topic is for the Spanish faction in Kingdoms expansion's Americas campaign.

Squints
09-04-2007, 18:54
Thus far, the nice thing about being New Spain is that you don't have to care about your ethical standing with any of the other factions. Feel free to break alliances, loot and exterminate cities, and other atrocities. There is no Pope to excommunicate you in The Americas.

My first step was to ally with the Aztecs. They simply have too many cities and armies to fight in the beginning unless you are feeling adventurous. Instead, I just helped the Aztecs wear down their multiple enemies and sneak in front of them to take the cities.

New Spain will be overloaded with money after only a few turns, and cheap mercs will become the backbone of your armies. And by backbone, I mean the meat you throw at your enemy while your good units like conquistadors and muskets wait. Your good units will be mass-produced in Cuba at first, creating a multi-turn wait for the next premium stack. You should also change your capital to a city on the mainland, so that you can use reward units instantly.

By taking new cities, Spain will reward you with titles and large sums of money, from 5k to 15k to beyond. You also gain the ability to build advanced buildings. So it's really in your best interest to be on a total path of destruction and conquering.

The Mayans are a tasty target later on, and you even get a unique conquistador who arrives to help with a nice stack of Spanish units. Fill out the rest of the stack with cheap mercs and he can begin to pick away at the Mayans.

I just got the event that introduces France, so I haven't run into them yet - but I'm eager to actually face an enemy who wears armor.

:whip:

lars573
09-06-2007, 03:47
I took an entirely different track as New Spain. The campagin objectives are elminate the Maya and Aztecs. This in mnid I decided not to ever ally with either for any reason. I decided to think like Hernan Cortez. Ally with the Aztec's neighbours lend my guns and steel where needed and let the natives kill each other. Worked well. The Tlaxcallans, Tarasans, and Chichimecs all welcomed by friendship and gold. And it became very appearant that for all their apperance of force the Aztecs are a paper tiger. They had serious trouble dealing with the Tlaxcallans (who start with 1 city, who grap their rebel neighbour to the south in the first 5 turns). And the Aztecs lost ground to the Chichimecs and Tarasans in the north. Add to this that paid off with trade rights and map info the Aztecs will leave you alone till you start something leaves you fit and ready to deal with your real threats. New France and the Maya. The Maya are as agro as the Tlaxcallans and you are in their way. I've had trouble keeping them off my arse and lost a settlment to them. New France shows up in Florida. I was trying to get a NA foot hold and got fed a plate full of my buttocks with all the trimmings by New France. Kicked my out of Florida and Promtly named the village I was holding Fort Caroline.

Militarily New Spain is flat footed till your Viceroy is at least a Viscount. By then you can build a full tech Minor city. Your stuck with Pike and Sword militia. Plus dismoutned conquistadores at large town level. Guns come with either Count or Marquis (I haven't goten that far yet).

Mad Mac
09-06-2007, 06:33
And it became very appearant that for all their apperance of force the Aztecs are a paper tiger. They had serious trouble dealing with the Tlaxcallans (who start with 1 city, who grap their rebel neighbour to the south in the first 5 turns). And the Aztecs lost ground to the Chichimecs and Tarasans in the north.

Yup. Most of the factions in the campaign are predisposed to be hostile towards the Aztecs, so it's easy to take advantage of. Try playing as the Aztecs, and you'll see what a pain in the arse the Tarasans really are.

Maya on the other hand, starts out totally unhindered, and will quickly grow into an unstoppable monster if you give them time to collect enough settlements.

TeutonicKnight
09-06-2007, 14:25
I agree, I'm now into my second campaign as the Spanish.

Expansion east from Vera Cruz is critical. Take as many of those rebel settlements as you can before the Mayans or Aztecs get to them. This initial rush will leave you vulnerable to the Mayan attack, but by the time they start to attack you, Spain will send you another army in their rear near Chetumal. This should be enough to help you hold the line and then crush the Mayans completely. Rely on local mercenaries as cannon fodder, and preserve your Spanish troops as much as possible as they are very hard to replace.

The Aztecs have remained remarkably well behaved. Even remaining neutral, they don't appear to be interested in starting hostilities. My defense plans have relied on the Aztecs being occupied with their own problems, and it appears to be holding true. The same cannot be said of the Tarascans or the Apache.

Alliances with the other Mesoamerican factions are desirable and advantageous. Not only can you quickly get maps of their areas, but the Tarascans are rapacious and will eventually betray you. Having good relations with the smaller factions will keep them on your side, and you need the alliances to keep a steady flow of troops.

The mercenary element is very interesting as well. You need alliances with the natives in order for your mercenary pool to fill, so try not to piss off too many people at once. You simply can't produce enough Spanish troops to carry out campaigns, and supplementing those good troops with cheap local cannon fodder is absolutely essential.

European competitors will arrive. The French arrive with two stacks in the Florida area. They are too far away to worry about for a long time, and you can win the game without ever encountering them. They appear to be there to give the Apache a way to "tech up" by providing horses and firearms.

The English on the other hand appear totally at random. My first game they appeared near Miccosukee Camp. My second game they've appeared in the Yucatan. No sensible appearance logic that I can see as yet.

Squints
09-06-2007, 18:22
I'm not sure if this is too obvious, but a nice way to totally annhilate your enemies when using your musketeers: Use a normal 2-man deep line and shoot from afar. As they close in, rush your infantry forward to keep your muskets out of the fray. Slide the musketeers to either side of the fighting and set your lines up sideways, boxing the enemy in between two sides of bullets and one side of infantry.They should break within seconds and take huge losses.

upthehammers
09-07-2007, 15:14
:help:

Quick question about native mercs: Obviously hiring for big fights as MCF (mass cannon fodder). BUT hold onto them after the battle or disband the stack and just higher again when needed?

So far I've timed hiring them with the capture of a settlement that I have been tasked to so therefore my hiring costs are more than covered by reward. So do I keep the stacks and avoid future hiring costs but pay the upkeep or disband them and take another one time hit? Basically I want to do whatever is cheapest.

upthehammers
09-07-2007, 15:16
higher = hire

late night.....

Squints
09-07-2007, 17:00
I think the upkeep for the mercs are minimal in that campaign, like 30 a turn. So they can be useful to keep the population happy and to throw at enemies.

TeutonicKnight
09-07-2007, 19:36
:help:

Quick question about native mercs: Obviously hiring for big fights as MCF (mass cannon fodder). BUT hold onto them after the battle or disband the stack and just higher again when needed?

So far I've timed hiring them with the capture of a settlement that I have been tasked to so therefore my hiring costs are more than covered by reward. So do I keep the stacks and avoid future hiring costs but pay the upkeep or disband them and take another one time hit? Basically I want to do whatever is cheapest.

I keep them. Not only are they useful for garrisoning occupied towns, allowing me to continue the conquest, but they gain decent experience. That comes in handy later on. Once I can recruit Spanish troops for a garrison, though, I disband the mercs.

Monsieur Alphonse
09-08-2007, 13:55
The upkeep of mercs is somewhere around 100 per turn. That is higher than of most Spanish units. Even dism. conquistadores cost 75 per turn.

Monsieur Alphonse
09-11-2007, 20:44
Send your explorer to the Aztecs and buy all their cities in exchange for an alliance and some 18000 per turn (3 turns). If you haggle it is possible to get it cheaper. The Aztecs are almost gone and after four turns your economy starts to work if you make Vera Cruz you capital. Finish the Aztecs and prepare for the Mayans. All cities can produce conquistadores in a few turns so that won´t be difficult.

Benandorf
09-11-2007, 21:21
They give you all their cities (minus capital) for just that?

Monsieur Alphonse
09-11-2007, 21:30
They give you all their cities (minus capital) for just that?

Yep. Just retried it and I had to pay this time 15,000 for three turns. They are getting cheaper.:laugh4:

Zaleukos
09-11-2007, 22:59
The upkeep of mercs is somewhere around 100 per turn. That is higher than of most Spanish units. Even dism. conquistadores cost 75 per turn.

On the contrary I think the native mercs are great for garrison duties. It seems like the number of soldiers rather than quality or number of units count in pacifying, and the mercs who cost 100 in upkeep come in units of 75 on normal size, compared to 75 for 30 (or about 190 for 75) for dismounted conquistadors or 100 for 60 for the pike militia that is the natural garrison unit for Spain (what else can pikemen be used for when the enemies have archers aplenty and no cavalry). So native mercs actually seem to give the most bang for the buck in garrison duties, with their highly competive upkeep/soldier ratio.

Monsieur Alphonse
09-12-2007, 03:31
On the contrary I think the native mercs are great for garrison duties. It seems like the number of soldiers rather than quality or number of units count in pacifying, and the mercs who cost 100 in upkeep come in units of 75 on normal size, compared to 75 for 30 (or about 190 for 75) for dismounted conquistadors or 100 for 60 for the pike militia that is the natural garrison unit for Spain (what else can pikemen be used for when the enemies have archers aplenty and no cavalry). So native mercs actually seem to give the most bang for the buck in garrison duties, with their highly competive upkeep/soldier ratio.

Militia units have free upkeep. I haven't noticed that larger units are better at keeping public order. Pike militia are a waste of money. I also don't use Tercios.

Kekvit Irae
09-12-2007, 03:38
The usual ratio I use is one pikemen unit for every three swordsmen units. I keep the swordsmen on top of my walls and the pikemen on the ground. The pikes do a decent job of filling in the gap left by an enemy battering ram, at least until you can get some real melee units in the fight. I always try to keep my swordsmen on the walls because of the annoyances of ladder. It's also safer, since enemies can only come up ladders two or three at a time, whereas you'll have to face the whole unit on the ground.

Zaleukos
09-12-2007, 10:01
Militia units have free upkeep. I haven't noticed that larger units are better at keeping public order. Pike militia are a waste of money. I also don't use Tercios.

You are of course correct about the militia, but the other observation is wrong. It is definitely the number of soldiers rather than the numer of units or their quality that determines order (and I'm fairly sure it's been like that in all the TW games I've played). To test it I started up the campaign, set taxes to very high in Havana, and put a size 30 unit there for garrison, resulting in 45% order. A size 40 unit gives 50% order. 4 size 30 units give 65% order, which incidentally is the same result as with 3 size 40 units:)

The Outsider
09-16-2007, 22:12
yes zaleukos is right what matters is the number of soldiers not units, the guys who played medieval should remember the minimum limit was a 100 soldiers. so it was generally ok with a unit of peasents (100) but u could get a rebelion with three units of generals bodyguard (total 60).

Monsieur Alphonse
09-17-2007, 05:42
I have tested it and Zaleukos is correct about the numbers. I now use militia pikemen as garrison.

TheLastPrivate
09-21-2007, 04:02
So far Vh/Vh completed victory campaign, eliminated all factions but the apachean tribes who have control over all of current usa territory except florida and baja california.

A hint on teching up: do NOT build the bowyer's range/practice range and anything in that line of building. The 1st tier of gunsmith building can train Musketeers which makes your crossbowmen pretty much redundant (as they both need clear field of fire to be effective and you don't really want both of them stretching the battle line) and mounted crossbowmen also get outdated by Dragoons extremely fast since dragoons come out from the 6turn barracks (tier 5 i think- was it militia barracks).

Also, most of the enemies you are facing will have no armor which, again, ask less for the crossbow. at least muskets damage morale.

You really need the barracks and gunsmith line but do not tech up the bowmen building.

Also, exploding shots have been buffed and they are quite accurate, almost accurate as the normal shots. Thus, basilisks with exploding shots will decimate hordes of natives given the distance.

Quetzalcoatle factions (tlaxacans, tarascans, aztec, mayans) are likely to be the factions you will mainly be fighting most of the time and pretty soon you will realize that their priests and cuachiques will make your dismounted conquistadors rout pretty well, especially if they have good dread general.
I personally advise that you limit your infantry against these factions and focus more on conquistadors/dragoons/musketeers. Since they don't have cavalry you really don't need pikes to defend them, and I only use few heavy infantry to guard them. rather, try to charge their flanks, or even a frontal charge right after a volley of muskets. As much as strong your 2hp dismounted conquistadors seem they rout much faster than sun-god zealots, and if you fail at routing their army as soon as you are in melee your forces won't be able to hold it. (at least in VH battles)

Tips with dragoons:

Extremely powerful unit, great at range and not too bad in melee.
A good thing about dragoons is that they are EXTREMELY accurate. I've put them to test against mounted thunder braves, and they can beat 3 bronze chevron MTBs at a ranged duel, and MTBs have 80 unit size rather than 60 of dragoons.
However, they suffer from a really small ammunition capacity. They seem to carry about half of the ammunition of MTBs and often in battles you will run out of those musket balls fast. I suggest you turn off autofire, gallop them behind enemy lines, and fire volleys when the melee ensues - Dism. Conquistadors in front, conquistadors in the side (3~4 units per side should do it) and musket balls in the back. This should be enough to rout any army.

Another task reserved for the dragoons is precision sniping. Dragoons can fire over your infantry line (which makes mounted gunners so useful compared to infantry counterparts), their primary task will be to snipe out Priests of quetzalcoatl. These things are monsters in morale fight, and units of jaguars/eagles/cuachiques become robots of destruction with priests chanting nearby while striking terror into spaniards. And dragoons are the guys you want for the job.

Caution using dragoons: they seem to be extremely weak to archer fire even with 5 armor - probably the fact that they lack shields. If enemy fields like 13 units of aztec archers, probably one of those days where you just do a frontal charge to minimize your dragoon/musketeer losses.

After your victory over yucatan and mexico you will probably face the only remaining adversary: the apachean tribes. They are daunting as they field 80-men-per-unit cavalry, often in unending line of full stacks. For the apaches, massing conquistadors seem to work for me just fine. No heavy infantry, no heavy cavalry, no heavy anything - however, numbers and firepower is unmatched in ranged situation. Definitely do not want to go ranged vs range with them. Rather, the conquistadors seem to be the most resistant to arrow fire, with dragoons riding at flanks to kill morale. A careful note is that your conquistadors shldn't chase a single unit of mounted archer/brave to the map corner, but engage every single unit so that they pull out their stone axes instead of firing muskets at us. Their infantry should be a laugh especially if u have dragoons.

And finally... try to buy the costal cities from your rivals (whom you should be allied with everyoen except the enemy at the time - likely mayans first, then aztecs), and tech them up a bit before you launch a full-scale war on the faction. Only costal cities can tech up to huge city and have access to high-tech units/buildings so its worth it to take time to consolidate costal areas.

There, that was my impression on spanish murder/DESU/pillaging quest in the name of God, Gold and Glory. Been most fun so far :yes:

My question: whats the highest rank of nobility your faction leadre can get? I have Marquis right now and i don't know how higher i can go.

PS, I HAVE LOADED A MOD THAT CHANGES SPAIN'S FLAG TO HOT PINK. I LOVE HOT PINK. AND TIGHT LEATHER PANTS.

TheLastPrivate
09-21-2007, 04:05
On the apacheans i meant to say the apacheans don't have heavy inf,heavy calv, heavy anything...

Monsieur Alphonse
09-21-2007, 07:31
Marquis is the highest rank.

TheLastPrivate
09-21-2007, 21:04
Ah ok, I was asking because I kept getting missions that I will be granted a higher title even though i had marquis :p

YAKOBU
10-11-2007, 12:11
Hi everyone ~:wave:

After a couple of quick goes as New Spain here is my successful strategy on M/M:

My explorer sets off to get alliances and trade with the Tlaxcalans, Tarascans, Chichimec and Apachean. He also got trade with the Aztecs and Mayans.

Hernan immediately sets off east along the coast and takes Coatzalcoalcos (rebel), Potonchan (rebel), Xicallanco (rebel), Compech (mayan), Uxmal (mayan) and Chichen Itza (mayan). Settlements are attacked immediately as he has a culverin and he recruits native mercs for the assaults and to garrison the new settlements.

At the same time Pedro sails southwest and takes Chetumal (rebel), Altun Hon (rebel) and Tikal (mayan). Settlements are attacked after 1 turns siege equipment is built and he recruits native mercs for the assaults and to garrison the new settlements.

This 2-pronged assault nets New Spain 9 new settlements by the end of turn 9 and the Mayans are destroyed.

Whilst these settlements are being developed the surrounding rebel settlements can be taken at leisure. These are Quirigua, Trugillo and Tlacochcalpan to the east and Yaschilan, Xelaju and Tuchtlan to the south.

Now I sat back and built up my settlements for a few turns. Because of their location Vera Cruz, Chichen Itza, Quirigua and Havana were prioritised for military development.

Military forces were moved to the west ready for an assault on the Aztecs whilst additional forces were moved to the east to defend against the English.

Eventually when my military forces were ready I moved against the Aztecs, destroying them on turn 41. To get the required number of settlements I also had to continue on to the Tlaxcalans who were destroyed on turn 45; as well as taking a couple of Tarascan settlements. I also took a settlement from France as requested. The English landed but did not attack due to my defencive forces. Victory was achieved on turn 47.


Useful notes


Use a lot of watchtowers and guides. My guides went before my main forces especially in the forested mayan area. This stopped a lot of potential ambushes.



I got more Conquistadors than I could handle and as they are a financial burden do not be afraid to use them.



I kept Havana as my capital partly because Vera Cruz always gets a plague early on and also because I could ferry units to where they were needed most.


I hope you find this useful and apologies for any spelling errors on settlement names.

:charge:


https://img337.imageshack.us/img337/3431/0004sn3.th.jpg (https://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0004sn3.jpg)

Spajus
10-11-2007, 12:58
I'm playing on VH/VH. A couple of key things to note:

- plague, wonderfully done here. I haven't seen the plague kill a single soldier, not even a native. Now, I've completed as the Aztecs, and plague was definitely killing my soldiers.

Looks like the coders have made Spanish forces immune to the plague, which makes a lot of sense, given the historical context.

Playing the game: ramblings on the tactical game:
If you're playing on VH/VH, chances are you like to be careful with your units. Thanks to our cheap and cheerful "rent-a-merc" service, this is no longer a problem. An unending horde of cannon-fodder can be yours for the measly price of just 6,000 florins (full stack costs about that - same as 5 units of Conquistadors!)

I tried to avoid battles in heavy jungle, especially where I had a cannon.

You can buy a lot of what you need - cities can be had for 10k florins, without any real negotiating skills.

I was playing at high chivalry - I converted towns unless I was short of money (very rarely). Because the populations are so small, you can usually convert rather than loot, set the taxes to low, and move on.
- because the populations are so small, low taxes are better
- by the time populations become "unruly" you'll have churches coming out of your ears, so pike will still be a sufficient garrison.

This means you don't have to sit ontop of the town for 10 turns while they become accustomed to their new rulers.

Don't forget to keep your "empty" ship running. You should have one ship with reinforcements sailing FROM cuba, and the empty one returing TO cuba for the first 20+ turns.

Ramblings on the battlefield:
I found it great fun to turn up with a stack of lousy native mercs, and just hurl them at the enemy. Works a treat in seiges, where fighting through the town square is normally such a hassle.

Your little 30's of swordsmen can be reasonably effective to hold a large native force in place, so long as you have a couple of units of calvalry to ram into their backs.

Oh, regarding casualties, I found a unit of 15 - 20 conquistadors is still quite effective, and having 6 units of 15 - 20 is better than 3 units of 30. (More maneuverable.)

Crossbowmen are (as has already been pointed out) not very worthwhile. Cannon and musket are much more fun, while hordes of native archers will at least make the enemy leave his town square.

I haven't got the hang of the pike militia, but don't really feel like I have to.

All in all, for vh/vh, this has been a complete doddle, but very fun. :)

Negator_UK
10-12-2007, 19:58
Playing Spain on VH/VH.

Early in the game I accepted an alliance from the aztecs - they bashed the tlaxcans while I bashed the mayans.

Tried a clever thing and landed one army in florida - yeah, very clever the french showed up with two !!

However they only took one of my settlements and then went north to the far north-eastern rebel settlement while I looked on nervously from miccosukee. Then another Spanish army appeared in florida (sent by the king. not me) and I used it to retake the two french settlements while their armies were walking towards miccosukee. Then strangely they marched right past my settlement and headed for Indian country. Strange, but good as I was in no shape to defend.

Looks like the french really do exist just to give the apacheans rifles ..

The only other thing to report is money - I mean moneeeeeeeeey - its now turn 52ish, I have 28 settlements and there are 5 aztec settlements left so I'm expecting a win before turn 60 - between trade and loot I have 126000 gold and it will continue to rise rapidly.

European TW was never like this !!:egypt:

Nepereta
01-13-2008, 16:27
ok,
Strategic:

Get your diplomat into an aztec dialog, ally up aztecs , Tlaxacallans and tarrascans. Also offer the aztecs a whole bunch of cash per turn for all their cities. Then simply cancel the per turn aggreement in the same diplomatic session. It makes them upset but they rarely seem to break the allaince.

I take the conquistador east via boat nibbling away at coastal cities. The cannon is gold dust. Defend it at all costs.

I send the all the cuban forces to Mayan area for a fight bar a small garrison.

Switch capital to mainland so you can cash in on the 'conquistadore' bonuses quicker.

Tactical:

To take a native town defended by logs find the raised section near a gate. Knock out the two towers adjacent to the gates. Arrange native archers perpendicular to the ramp facing the lower wall. Arrange crossbows + muskets on the edge of the ramp with the cannon at the highest point. Use the cannon to blast the wall on the between the cannon and the town square.

The enemy should send up blocking melee forces to the new hole. Cancel fire on your ranged units and get an X-Bow unit in a good firing position and tear open the new blocking units with patient close range X-Bow salvos. I don't use time limits.

When the melee blockers are spent use the cannon to open fire on city square use explosive or solid shot as appropiate. Use 'delete' to fix your view to cannon and its shot so you can perform better with cannon.

Switch on fire on all your prepared missle units as their missle units are lured out. Use cannon rounds on explosive as they exit the city square hopefully driving them back before they get a chance to fire.

They will eventually hesitate to leave the square and be reduced to perhaps sub 10% strength.

Use a general or conquistadore to circle up thru the hole you made up to the raised gate. This action curiously brings some of the remnants out to attack. As before devastate them with you missle units.

Eventually you'll end up with a trivial number of troops in the city square which you can finish with your general ( missle ) or a firing squad ( melee).

I suggest full massacres since the above tactic tends to encourage 'winning first' virtues. you should eventually get a full dread general in no time.

TheSilverKnight
01-16-2008, 22:27
How exactly do you get promoted? In all of my Spain games in the Americas I've never once been promoted.

Btw it feels good to post at the org again...I've had an absence of SEVERAL months. :beam:

Monsieur Alphonse
01-17-2008, 07:42
How exactly do you get promoted? In all of my Spain games in the Americas I've never once been promoted.

Complete the missions and capture regions.

Barbarian
01-17-2008, 16:08
Promoting is essential, as you get access to new buildings then.

Tecnik
03-09-2008, 13:07
Playing on M/M it's the second campaign i ever do. I used this tactic:

- Allied with West (the impossible to pronounce T-something tribes)
- Killed the Mayas
- Killed the French and English invasions over and over again (i must have killed them about 3 times both now)
- Aztecs got slain by Tlalala
- Am now fighting the Tlalala tribes

I found that Conquistadores are THE way to go. Storming in with 5x30 Conquistadores makes for an instant 50% kill in outdoor battles. You can then even retreat and go for another charge numerous times. I currently have 100k florins even with continuous building / huge army upkeep due to Looting all settlements i took.

I have only 2 questions:

- Can you not build assasins?
- Can you not build castles?

Must`
05-11-2008, 18:49
Mayans gone crazy in my game, took 2 settlements from me and it took couple of turns I fought back, took chicken itza with my mega army from cuba and mercenaries(2 full stacks) and i have red head in chicken itza despite big army and low taxes but mayans are now on back foot and i expect to finish them in max 10 turns. :charge:

btw. my first campaign and i already like it very much, amazing expansion :dancing::2thumbsup:

benadin
08-18-2008, 23:19
This is my first campaign and it looks like I have different tactic experience from the others posters.

In RTW I used to win battles with a much lesser number of soldiers than the counterpart. While trying win the same way in M2TW I faced some difficulties:

1. Musketeers are of no use - they can't fire over the heads and are slow enough to run away from charging natives. Moreover, musket fire can't rout native elite jaguars or eagle warriors. So you need to put all your attention to musketeers regrouping/retreating giving them a chance to fire only few times, making them useless in fact.

Crossbows are able to fire over the heads, so I found it preferable to use them in combination with native archer mercenaries.

2. General & conquistadores are good at charging, but are bad at retreating - few horsemen almost always got killed when you order them to retreat.

Culverin is superior in town sieges, but not in the open battle.

I ended up with the following tactic:
few strong melee units in front, archers behind (no gunners!), week melee units to support strong ones/defend archers. Conquistadores to kill enemy archers and help in urgent situations.

I haven't got into the Dragoons age yet, but so far got very disappointed with the gunpowder units.

KingKnudthebloodthirsty
08-31-2008, 00:06
Here's my opening moves: u go to the aztecs, offer them ally, trade rights, map info, military acess, and 6500 fr 10-20 turns in return to all their cities except capital. right after the aggrement, offer another proposition and refuse to pay tribute. u got the land completely free. then send an army to take the capital, perhaps hiring another stack of mercs along the way. reloading is probably needed as u need to find a quick through many stacks. after u reach the city, it should be a piece of cake taking it, provided that u hired EVERY merc along the way. With the aztecs destroyed, the plague has set in and here i am.

dark@hunter
12-30-2008, 09:52
in the start of the game i make allience with the tlaxcalans hire tlaxcalan mercenairys then attack the mayans then the aztecs

Sir Conor March
01-24-2009, 17:41
What i did was i made vera cruz my capital and took over the settlements east of it(then most rebel settles in southern map) Next after owning all the rebel settlements between maya and aztecs i make economic buildings and ally with everyone apart from the faction im going to destroy or attack. I attacked the aztecs and as the tlax and taras and maya helped me they quickly fell. I didnt attack the maya because when the english arrived i let them conquer the maya then i moved in to kill the english with the help of the remaining maya(then i killed them too XD) At the same time i went to war with the tarascans and remained allied with the tlaxcalans. By doing this i managed to win and went on to finish off the tarascans then i got rid of alliance and trade rights with tlaxcalans, i send guides in their towns and when i went to war with them they fell quickly. And thats how far ive gotten by now(late 1500s)

Agent Miles
02-18-2009, 16:58
New Spain was a no-brainer (VH/VH, huge units). You should ally with the Aztecs. This alliance allows you to hire Arrow and Eagle warriors, who are very strong in attack and defense ratings. I traded for their province to the south that becomes Vera Selina for a few thousand florins (I don’t recommend an exploit, since you will always have lots of money and the scenario is a cakewalk) and later Mictlan as well.
Have Hernan take the two rebel settlements to the east by siege, while you train a war galley and some units in Havanna. One of the generals from Havana should go by ship to hire Arrow and Eagle mercs (they are available around the bridge east of Vera Selina) and pick up Dismounted Conquistadors trained in your settlements. Now send these three armies to the northern coast of the region controlled by the Maya and lay siege to all three settlements there at once. You can hire more native mercs as well to fill up your stacks. I had looted half their empire before they could react. On turn 14, Montejo shows up with another force and by turn 21 the Maya were no more. Snap up the last rebel settlements to the south and east. This gives you about a quarter of the map. I kept the Aztecs as allies so that I had access to the best mercs and then crushed everyone else.
'Olé!

Maltz
06-22-2009, 18:45
This is my approach on VH/VH.

First, New Spain is really easy overall - you have the exclusive access to Canons, long-range bullets and Cavalry compared to all your potential enemies in the first 50 turns. You have pretty much unlimited cash. You also have a monster starting general! You will take very little losses in all battles esp. in the sieges:

If you have the canon:
Destroy the towers and blast a whole on the wall. The AI is going to send out units to block the hole. Use your musketeer to shoot at them right outside the wall. Very evil but very effective.

If you don't have the canon:
Use the spies (guides). Rush in the conquistadores, lure out the range units and kill them. Then use your musketeers to lure out individual melee units to surround and kill.

(1) Ally with the Orange tribe and go against Aztec. Take over all eastern Aztec territories.

(2) Rush the Mayans with your faction heir's army and a scripted reinforcement, which has a canon. Use your infantry if there are lots of spears. Try not to draw out multiple Jaquar/Eagles - they almost never rout.

(3) Collect all rebels. You only need little defense on your west front, since you are only bordered with the orange (who should be occupied by the west half of Aztec.) By the time your ally finally conquered Aztec, you should have conquered the entire eastern map (that's 20+ regions) and you have become unstoppable with all those conquistador-producing Mayan cities.

If the Aztect is winning against your orange ally, simply use your monster general to get the cities back... in your own control.

At turn 17 I owned 19 regions already. Can't get easier than this!

Alavaria
07-26-2010, 09:31
I just finished wiping out the Tarascans (after the Aztecs, Tlaxcalans and Mayans) as Spain. I was playing without using any mercs, just Spanish units. Kept capital in Havana, just shifted it after killing the last Tarascan.

The cannons are very very useful, as you can run to a settlement and assault it. Due to the whole problem of low prestige/title (and after getting a high title, not having time to develop a settlement) the main workhorse unit was the Swordsmen Militia. 10 units of those with 6 of conquistadors (way too many of those as rewards). In sieges I tend to blow out the towers and then open holes in the gates, then start pouring endless amounts of Swordmen militia in. Besides those, there's a growing core of dismounted conquistadors since they are trained from the wall.

Usually in field battles I march up the militia and charge the natives head on, then flank with all the horsemen for a quick rout-capture-execute. I tend to lose a lot of the militia, but with 3 armor/8 shield/2 hp, they're really tough for their 60men unitsize. Also, every single settlement can train them from the wall - so once I had the mayan lands and such under control there were 20+ settlements churning out this endless flood of militia. It helps that their upkeep is so low. I've taken at least 5 settlements with large armies in them by having the militia swordfight almost every defender to death.

There's almost a whole stack of dismounted conquistadors sitting around - they never get any work since the militia that die are replaced by ever more militia, and they sit around in battle as a reserve but never get used >.> They've been awesome in the one or two times I had them actually fight someone.

Once, I slammed 15 units of militia into an aztec charge, and that actually routed the natives., for some reason. Might be Cortez with his 9 dread. Had a huge sacrifice to the king of spain after that.

Yuilen
03-01-2011, 03:22
These are all lovely ideas but they're all too absent-minded.

Turn 1 on VH/VH as New Spain. I train dismounted conquistadores, sword and buckler men, and regular conquistadores at Cuba. I bring the ship on the Mayan coast to Cuba. I send 1 unit from Vera Cruz to the top of the hill west of Vera Cruz that leads to all the native cities, thus blocking all diplomats, soldiers, and priests from any other nation. Effectively, the Mayans can't engage in diplomacy with any other nation, and vice versa.

I send my merchants to Huaxtepec for the gold, I send my priests to Tenochtitlan, and I send my explorer to Tlaxcallan. The 2nd turn, I train more elite units at Cuba, prepare the general who is there (I believe his name is Pedro) with the stack of elite units and wait for the boat. Meanwhile, I send my spy to go into Tlaxcallan, and later on to Tenochtitlan. I make an alliance with the Tlaxcallans in exchange for 5,000 florins, and trade rights. I send my explorer further to make an alliance with the Aztecs for 5,000 florins and 2,000 florins in tribute for 3 turns. Then I go to the Tarascans and make alliance for 5,000 florins. I do the same for the Chichimecs for another 5,000 or so.

When the plague comes at Vera Cruz within the first few turns, I send my spy back there to acquire the plague. I then send him to every native city in the Valley of Mexico. This will cause the AI to remove its armies from the cities and leave them poorly defended. Meanwhile back at Cuba towards the 3rd and 4th turn, I load the men onto ship, and then sail for Uxmal.

When Francisco Montejo arrives nearby Chetumal, I hire some mercenaries and then load the ship and sail around the Yucatan to Canpech. Meanwhile, I hire mercenaries from Tlaxcala and the Aztecs with Hernan Cortes. Even though I caused a ceasefire between Tlaxcala and the Aztecs through alliance, they will both go to war with each other eventually, and I stay allied to Tlaxcala. And I still keep the 11,000 florins I conned from the Aztecs.

I also build all the buildings I can in Cuba and Vera Cruz. When I spread the plague in the Valley of Mexico, my men will arrive near Canpech on the Yucatan. I have a full stack with Pedro and a full stack with Montejo. I then hire all the mercenaries and make 3 and a half stacks total. I use my ships' line of sight on the coast of Canpech to spy a good opportunity when it is poorly defended. I keep Montejo on the northern coast of the Yucatan, land him, and attack Uxmal and build siege craft. I also use Pedro and his two stacks to siege Canpech. (There's usually a large stack outside of Canpech, but still close to it).

The very next turn I attack Canpech, take it, then loot it. I empty out all my armies, then move to Uxmal. Francisco takes Uxmal, loots it, then I move him to siege Chichen Itza. The next turn, all 3 armies attack Chichen Itza, loot it, and move down for Tikal.

Meanwhile I prepare Hernan Cortes with the premium stack and the stack and a half of mercenaries. I make a run for Tenochtitlan, siege it, and loot it before the Aztecs can retaliate. It's about 10 turns by this time. I then make for Huaxtepec, Tixtla, and Tollan. Tlaxcala will attack Tehuacan and the other southern settlements. I loot all the settlements.

While Tlaxcala is busy fighting in the southern area of the Aztec empire, I turn back around from Tollan and Tixtla, gather my armies, leave a garrison of a few natives in each conquered city on low taxes, and then send in my spy to Tlaxcallan. I then send in another spy made at Vera Cruz (if you make a brothel at Cuba, which I do.), and I surprise attack Tlaxcallan and the spies open the gates. I take the capital, loot it, then move on to loot Chollolan, Tehuacan, and kill the Tlaxcallan faction while its about to kill the Aztecs.

I have played this campaign many, many times, with many different strategies. The strategy above will get you about 150,000 florins in the first 15-20 turns, it will cripple the Mayans for dozens of turns, it will effectively wipe out the Aztecs and the Tlaxcallans, and your only real problem will be the Tarascans and the Chichimecs. And you will also have free reign over all of the rebel settlements in southern Mexico and beyond. As for the Tarascans and Chicimecs, you merely employ means of diplomacy, extortion, and turning the Chichimecs/Apacheans against one another.

At this time I am absurdly wealthy, and so I send my diplomats to bribe the Tarascan stacks that have no general commanding them, and I effectively cripple their military from attempting to steal my new territories or overwhelming me right after my previous wars. Any cities I conquer and keep, I build small churches, then mines, then the other buildings that relate to public order. I also train a priest in every settlement right after the church is built.

By about 30 turns I have almost 20 regions taken and 20 regions waiting for me alone to claim them. And still over 100,000 florins. The bulk of my armies consist of mercenaries, lots of archers, lots of cavalry, few cannons, and few generals. I use cavalry in massive numbers, with headlong charges, then moving forward past enemy battle lines, and then when they rout 30 seconds later (maybe less) I capture anywhere from 500-2000 indians. And then execute them.

Usually by 70-80 turns I've wiped out the Tlaxcallans, Tarascans, Chichimecs, Aztecs, Mayans, and killing off the Apacheans and English. On VH/VH.

Yuilen
03-01-2011, 03:30
Oh yeah, use cannons to blow up most of your enemies. And then archers.