Originally Posted by
edo562
With the UK the trick (as it was in real life) lies in your naval power.
On turn 1 immediately consolidate your entire fleet into one navy and seek to do pitched battle with the main French and Spanish battle fleets. There is also a nearby Batavian Republic Fleet that will provide free 3rd rates and trading vessels for you. In this manner I effectively doubled the size of my navy within 10 turns - The French and Spanish fleets might as well have signs saying "Free first-rates". The naval AI is terrible and has no concept of wind or points of sail so decisive victories at sea are quite easy.
Once you have immediate dominance of the oceans you can begin spamming merchantmen and indiamen. Trade will be your main source of income. Just remember to station naval squadrons in from of your main trading ports - your enemies will still attempt to raid ports with the few small warships they have - typically a few heavy frigates is all that is required. Within 100 turns I was well on my way to having a million in my treasury.
Don't even worry about fighting on land at all until you have the technology for decent artillery and heavy cavalry (meaning dragoons). If you are struggling to keep from going bankrupt, you have no business raising armies anyway. The sinews of war are money, money, money.