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.