Which continent to colonize first in British camapaign, India or the Americas?

[TestudoAubreii]

It has been quite a while since I played this, so I thought I would get a little advice. Where would you go to colonize first, the Americas or India?

Thank you in advance for your responses!

[Frunk]

Thread moved from Empire: Total War General Discussion.

[Alwyn]

Good question! It's a tricky choice, because if you don't invade India, then the Maratha Confederacy tends to become very powerful, however if you don't carry out your mission to integrate the Thirteen Colonies, then your existing American territories and the Thirteen Colonies could be gradually eroded by rival colonial powers and attacks by Native Americans.

My preference is to focus on North America initially (while expanding your fleet in Britain, to prevent other European powers from blockading your trade ports). Playing as Britain, I like to carry out the mission to integrate the Thirteen Colonies into Britain and to protect and expand the American territories which you have at the start. Your existing American regions provide a good starting-point for expansion and the Thirteen Colonies provides a huge expansion of your territory. You can capture pirate Galleons (which are powerful warships in the early to mid campaign as well as trade ships) or capture the pirate-held islands (making the trade areas safer for your ships).

That all assumes that you are playing with vanilla or, if you are using mods, that the mods don't remove the mission for Britain to take over the Thirteen Colonies. (Some mods, such as Imperial Splendour, remove the mission, which could affect your decision-making in the early campaign).

One thing to look out for is whether France or Spain captures the home region of the Netherlands. If that happens, then the overseas regions held by the United Provinces become rebel-owned or pirate-owned. These include Ceylon/Sri Lanka. This is an opportunity for you to capture a useful base for recruiting units which are resistant to heat fatigue, without having to declare war on the Maratha Confederacy or the Mughal Empire - an ideal 'staging area', in my view, for an invasion of India. You need to send your expedition quickly, because otherwise another faction (probably the Maratha Confederacy) might get there first.

Good luck, enjoy your campaign! I wonder if you would like to report back on your campaign, either here or in the Empire Total War AARs (After Action Reports) sub-forum?