Absorbing the 13 colonies as Great Britain

For those who have not played as GB, you get a mission at the start of the game to take 3 territories in North America and the 13 colonies will join your empire. I have played as GB twice and both times took my time getting the 3 territories while I focused on taking on either Spain or France. By the time I get around to taking the 3 territories and absorbing the 13 colonies, they always seem to turn on me and start a doomed millitary campaing against my much stronger armies. Is this hard coded into the game that they must turn on you by a certain time period? I try to keep up good relations by giving them some techs and money here and there and helping them in all of their millitary conflicts but they still seem to turn on me when I get close to winning the mission that will cause them to join my country. Has anyone else won the mission and gotten the 13 colonies to absorb into GB and if yes, did this occur early in the game?

They never turned on me, they just loved me because I stopped the Cherokee from wiping them out. by the time I completed the mission I had taken half the colonies anyway.

I completed the mission and absorbed the 13 colonies, but was disappointed when all of their military and naval units just disappeared and did not become mine.

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Originally Posted by Lord Godfrey

I completed the mission and absorbed the 13 colonies, but was disappointed when all of their military and naval units just disappeared and did not become mine.

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Did that mean that all of the cities you picked up were undefended?

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Originally Posted by JeromeBaker

Did that mean that all of the cities you picked up were undefended?

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yep yep........

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Originally Posted by JeromeBaker

Did that mean that all of the cities you picked up were undefended?

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I had the same thing...

Yes, all of the except 1 city where I had maybe 2 militia units.

It annoyed me a little, as all of my stacks were some way away at that point and it took a few turns to repopulate the territories.

Jerome, might you have given them the social techs that can lead to unrest?

I took the colonies around 1735-40. I had never heard of a problem of them rebelling against me. By the way, those suckers were expansionist. They actually took French Guyana from France. Which means I got it when I took the colonies :D

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Originally Posted by johnross2007

Jerome, might you have given them the social techs that can lead to unrest?

I took the colonies around 1735-40. I had never heard of a problem of them rebelling against me. By the way, those suckers were expansionist. They actually took French Guyana from France. Which means I got it when I took the colonies :D

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I gave them an assortment, perhaps one or two social techs, but I think they got mostly economy techs from me so that when I absorbed them their economy would be cranking. Now that I hear you wont get any of their millitary units, it isnt a big deal that they revolted. At least now when I get all their territories my armies will get the experience points to show for it instead of a bunch of empty provinces ripe for the Indians to pick off. Although it was a close match, I cleared out all of the 13 colonies navy last night and now I have cut off their trade. So even though my army is depleted in the New World, the 13 colonies dont have an economy any more and should be easy to take over.
:2thumbsup:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=114560
Mod that lets you annex your protectorates on the second turn, or eliminates the mission and they remain independent.

I've played two campaigns as the Brits now. In the first one (my first campaign ever), I underestimated the Cherokee (world's first superpower) and with my ailing economy, they chewed through my armies as fast as I could get them to North America. Since I had declared war on the Cherokee and asked my allies to join, the Colonies dutifully signed on for the campaign and promptly proceeded to get pummeled. They lost half their territory which is probably the real reason behind why I eventually defeated the Cherokee who were now spread too thin. I was able to absorb the final three Colonies after taking the rest from the Cherokee and then New France from the Iroqouis. I was quite dismayed at how all of the Colonial forces magically disappeared. I believe it was in the 1760's when I finally completed the mission.

In my second Brit campaign, I focused solely on trade and completing the mission to absorb the colonies. I teched up the military and hit the Cherokee hard right from the start. I was able to knock them out in 1718. The Iroqouis declared war on the Colonies and I headed north from Florida to deal with them. Then, in 1721, as I am wiping out the last of the Iroqouis, the Colonies declare war on me. I have no idea what triggered it. I had saved on the turn before and I reloaded to look over the details of our relationship. I hadn't given them any techs, we had the usual treaties, and our relationship read very friendly. On my side, I had only researched two of the first three enlightenment techs and my approval rating was 87%. Needless to say, I was annoyed. Though probably not as annoyed as they were when my two full stacks of rank 2 & 3 vets fresh from the Indian wars steamrolled the Colonies in 4 turns. Ah well, it saved me from having to declare war on the French in order to get control of New France and complete the mission. Now I can focus instead on divesting the Spanish of their ill-gotten holdings in Mexico/Central/South America. I may send a stack or two to visit the Mughals disguised as an international Amway convention.

I really wish I knew what triggered the attack by the Colonies in one instance and kept them happy while being invaded in the other.

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Originally Posted by littlejames

I had the same thing...

Yes, all of the except 1 city where I had maybe 2 militia units.

It annoyed me a little, as all of my stacks were some way away at that point and it took a few turns to repopulate the territories.

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Well, it's maybe to stop you going bankrupt with the upkeep cost if you were fairly poor.

They never attacked me, but I did have the magical POOF! of all their forces vanishing the moment the mission was completed. The good news for me was purely the result of circumstance: I had already eliminated the Cherokee and absorbed all their territory (plus Florida which they had siezed from the Spanish) and taking Quebec meant the only French presence near the colonies was Montreal, so there was no immediate threat to them. I was honestly expecting to get a whole bunch of new military units and be forced to disband a number of them.

the first thing i do when i start a brit campaign is set sail with the army from ireland and take new france in the third or so turn.

i then sue for peace, which france always accepts with no sweeteners necessary.

haven't got around to taking the other two territories yet, and its about 1721.

I found the Cherokee quite easy to beat... but I attacked within seven or eight turns of starting. I used every force from Britain, except the pikemen, to establish a beachhead in Georgia. Then Spain tried to attack them, got raped, and I cleaned up what was left of the army in the Cherokee territories. I cleaned up the last area and they were done.

The Hurons, OTOH, are evil. EVIL! :whip:

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Originally Posted by Feanaro

The Hurons, OTOH, are evil. EVIL! :whip:

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Yeah, the first time I went after the Huron I was lucky I read the .org first. I heard how many people went in with less than a full stack expecting to wipe up 'rebels' and instead got creamed. First army I sent in was a full stack and I coaxed the Huron to split up their forces and attack me with half, which was key. (if they attacked me with the almost 2 full stacks of troops they had, no way I would have won). Iraquois were a lot easier for me, they never really delt any damage to my troops.

Yeah, the implementation of the NA's are strange in this game. Their troops are less than half the price and upkeep costs of other factions' units, from what I've seen. Their melee troops could also go toe to toe with line infantry with socket bayonets. Their lancer cav took out 30 out of 120 units of line infantry in square formation on their initial charge. Their bowmen outrange line infantry and have a deadly rate of fire that is much faster.

What happens is a spam of quality troops. Even with relatively bad economic upgrades, they can afford to spam units. What's more, these units are almost as good as European units for the most part. They have 20-stacks of good units that can go toe to toe with European units. I've had way more trouble with them that I've had with the Spanish.

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Originally Posted by Feanaro

The Hurons, OTOH, are evil. EVIL! :whip:

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Get a decent bayonet tech, a few cavalry to deal with their archers, and they'll die easily. I pulled a cannae on them:2thumbsup:; overlapped their frontage, wheeled in the flanks, fired 2 volleys and charged in, cav chased away their archers and capped the back of the encirclement. The only thing keeping Hurons alive in that little territory in the northwest corner of the map is my game crashes everytime I try to take it :wall:.

I attacked north to south in my campaign. Started at Moose Factory, took out the French around Quebec, steamrolled the Iroqois, and right underneath the Iroqois territory you have 2 Cherokee regional capitals right next to each other. Take those 2 and they're pretty much crippled.

While I haven't done it as Great Britian, I did do it as Spain which netted me the territories of New Spain. I was a little bummed out to discover that both Britian and France got their American territories at the same time even though neither had completed their mission. It seems that if any of the three missions (Britian, France, Spain) get completed, all three countries get their American territories.

As I found out last night, those 2 Cherokee territories are so close to each other that attacking one gets you in a fight against both armies.

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Originally Posted by magnum

While I haven't done it as Great Britian, I did do it as Spain which netted me the territories of New Spain. I was a little bummed out to discover that both Britian and France got their American territories at the same time even though neither had completed their mission. It seems that if any of the three missions (Britian, France, Spain) get completed, all three countries get their American territories.

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Maybe a bug?

Probably intended to keep them competetive.

Just had the United States emerge in 1702 in my GB game... :dizzy2: :wall:
I got a message asking if I recognised them but there was no option to say no. Hmmm, what to do now, have a nice little war with them or let the natives take them?

edit: On closer inspection only Boston is part of the US, the Thirteen Colonies still exist, is it supposed to work like that?

In my first play as GB the Cherokees captured South Carolina (Charleston?) a few turns after I captured Georgia (Savanna?). About two turns after that for some reason the Cherokees lost it due to a revolt and Charleston became The United States faction. The game asked me if I would recognize them and I clicked no not knowing what was best at the time and I was immediately at war with the US even though it was only the one territory. The following turn I took Charleston and destroyed the US faction according to the little pop up box. The other colonies stayed as they were in the beginning. So from this I surmise if any of the 13 colonies revolt for any reason after being captured they become the US Faction. I didnt play on to see how things worked out because I was still learning the game. I restarted the GB campaign again since then but I have so far defeated the Cherokees. I been wondering though if I had played on wether the game would have allowed the US to emerge again as a faction since I had officially destroyed it once. I'll never know I guess. :no:

I think that if those colonies rebel due to low public order for several consecutive turns, they turn into something else. I've seen Austria re-emerge twice and Wurttemberg once in this campaign after being eliminated, because the home region went into rebellion against the new overlord. Mexico just popped up last night as a nation even though Spain still exists, so I assume it too rebelled. Since the colonies rebel individually, I expect that's why the Commonwealth of New England was the only one involved. Now, if they lose New York or Pennsylvania, perhaps they'd join the US as well.

It should be interesting to see in your game if the Thirteen (now Twelve) Colonies go to war with the new single-province US.

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Originally Posted by Quillan

It should be interesting to see in your game if the Thirteen (now Twelve) Colonies go to war with the new single-province US.

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They are at war in my campaign, going to join in once I get rid of the pirates.

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Originally Posted by Marquis of Roland

Get a decent bayonet tech, a few cavalry to deal with their archers, and they'll die easily.

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The Hurons don't so much pose a problem on the battlefield as they do on the strategic level. They threaten Rupert's Land, which is without support. I hadn't paid much attention to them and suddenly they declare war and have a full stack knocking on my door. Luckily, I was able to "service" some French accounts, to the tune of 5000 bucks, and gain military access. They retreated their stack to deal with mine, which defeated them handily.

I'm usually a very aggressive player, so I don't have much tech. It's something like 1719 and I've already defeated the Cherokee, have nearly destroyed the pirates, working on the Hurons, and am thinking about taking over the Barbary Coasts or just getting the Naval War with France and Spain over with.

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Originally Posted by Lord Godfrey

I completed the mission and absorbed the 13 colonies, but was disappointed when all of their military and naval units just disappeared and did not become mine.

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Same happened to me; surely this is a bug? Doesn't make any sense to loose all that manpower leaving cities un-defended.

Was also surprised that revenue didn't seem to rise much, either.

playing gb.. i sent all my armies to that far northern region in canada on the first turn.. when they arrived i went south.. france then asks to trade regions.. i accepted... then i made a deal on the next turn to trade my 2 regions for new france.. they agreed... i sailed my army around to south carolina... long story short... you can get the colonies in less than 5 years this way..

I am finishing up my GB campaign. Around 1760, I completed the task. The colonies joined me and , no you don't get their units. I never gave them anything, playing on VH/H. Maybe the difficulty level has something to do with it. No units in the cities etc,. but that is not as big a deal as it was an annoyance. I just moved the units I had around and created a few extra to garrison. I wasn't at war with Spain or France (Quebec emerged in my game and made my job easier.).

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Originally Posted by magnum

While I haven't done it as Great Britian, I did do it as Spain which netted me the territories of New Spain. I was a little bummed out to discover that both Britian and France got their American territories at the same time even though neither had completed their mission. It seems that if any of the three missions (Britian, France, Spain) get completed, all three countries get their American territories.

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The AI controlled major factions with new world protectorates get them to join around turn 10 or 20 regardless of any additional factors.

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Originally Posted by joe4iz

I am finishing up my GB campaign. Around 1760, I completed the task. The colonies joined me and , no you don't get their units. I never gave them anything, playing on VH/H. Maybe the difficulty level has something to do with it. No units in the cities etc,. but that is not as big a deal as it was an annoyance. I just moved the units I had around and created a few extra to garrison. I wasn't at war with Spain or France (Quebec emerged in my game and made my job easier.).

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You don't get their units regardless on what difficulty you are playing. And since you own all the regions around them (except Arcadia) when they join you, you don't need to inherit their units. It would have been nice to have some extra troops and ships once you have completed the mission.

In my GB campaign I ended up annihilating the Iroquois and Cherokee first, whilst fending the Huron off turn-by turn in Rupert's land. At the point that I was ready to declare war on France, I was also ready to take the Huron great-lakes territory.

However, whenever I killed off the main Huron stack that was threatening Rupret's land, the 13 colonies would always drop a DoW on me in their next turn -this seemed to be independant of whether i was at war with France or not at the time too. I verified this through several reloads.

Ok, so I could still have blitzed the 13 cols, but i had geared up to take the French & spanish colonies instead.

So, holding off from destroying the Huron field army near the great-lakes/Rupert's land kept the 13 colonies on my side long enough to capture Quebec and ensure that they came over to my side without any fuss or bloodshed, as the mission promised.

I can only put this repeatable DoW from the 13 colonies down to scripted AI behaviour -presumably to stop the player being able to waltz through North America without as much of a struggle. It's annoying though as it hits you just as you think you are on the cusp of that pre-eminence in the theatre. Anyhow, I hope this helps those who faced it too!

I posted about this before, but it's worth repeating----

Playing as the British, one has two challenges in the Americas early on. One will be the pirates, and one will be securing the colonies once the mission is given. If you so decide, one can take Georgia within the first 5 or 6 turns by using the small fleets and forces already available in the Caribbean. Build a couple of line infantry units in Jamaica, combine them with the units already in the Bahamas and take Georgia. (BTW, I immediately disband all pikemen on the first turn. I would rather have missile troops and there is no point in maintaining the support cost of pikemen whom I don't want to use. )

If one plays like they are unaware of the "secure colonies" mission until it is given then dealing with the pirates is probably the first choice.

The secret to dealing with the Caribbean pirates quickly is not to fight their fleets, but instead take their two island capitals--one on the Leeward Islands and one on Trinidad. By combining your two small fleets in the Caribbean, combining the 4 units in the Bahamas and adding 3 more units that you build on Jamaica, you can take both pirate capitals by the end of 1702, or within six turns.

Bingo, the pirate fleets disappear, you have two new regions in your possession, and an army capable of landing in Georgia and taking on the Cherokee by 1705---all without sending a single ship or unit from the British Isles. Of course one may also send over troops from the homeland just to make all of this easier.

A third challenge that will occur later can also be dealt with early on and that is to build up Rupert's land to deal with the eventual DOW from the Hurons. To help with this--build the military governor's capital rather than the standard capital upgrade when you are given the choice. Given that this area is never going to be overly developed, the military type capital will give one all the higher level military troops they will need to easily defeat the Hurons and maybe send an expeditionary force to take Quebec and Montreal.

The only issue with using the the first two tactics is that one leaves the troop producing capitals undefended by regular troops for a period of time. Once the developers re-instate seaborne invasions and according to how wide spread they are---leaving any island capital undefended may be hazardous.