tips for playing natives in americas campaign?

[fishjie]

so i'm curious about playing a native faction in americas. how hard is it to win with natives? they cant attack havanna, they have no ships, no gunpowder, no calvary, and little armor... any tips?

[Damarus]

personally i finished americas campaign with the apachean tribes.when u start u got no gunpowder no cavarly but as u keep capturing settlements your ppl learn how to use horses and tada u got mounted arches now with the gunpowder .. keep fighting with the french colonies at north east and after many battles u r warriors will learn how to use boomsticks so u got long range musketeers and mounted ones.apaches got a quick set up when u capture a settlement but the problem is the if your enemy capture ones of yours u ill have to rebuild the building(tipis).also they got some really powerful archer (Koitsenkos) and missile units.u can set some really good traps with apachean braves and arches to the colonists.so when u fight them dont engage them in open combat cause they can easily rip off ur best of ur units pretty quick unless if u hold them and have some cavarly of infantry to come behind them.now for their heavy cavarly or have some units hold them and attack them with archers from behind.hope this helped (soz dont got tips for the other tribes i am now starting again with the mayans)
btw. why attack havana?

[fishjie]

oh cool, i didnt know the apaches would gradually adapt the tech of its enemies (i guess thats historically accurate).

im assuming none of the other natives can do that though...

[Damarus]

the chichimec tribes can also use ''boomsticks''

[Arcinatus]

o btw, to take the technology of the european nations, you must first defeat armies their armies using said tech. so...if you want horses..you need to defeat armies with cavalry in them, same thing for guns.

[COMIS -3- ΠΑΝΙΩΝΑΡΑ]

Yes adopting technology comes only when you win several battles,that the enemy is using horses and gunpowder After some battles you will see the message on your screen.The apaches are awesome

[Silent Assassin]

Yes adopting technology comes only when you win several battles,that the enemy is using horses and gunpowder After some battles you will see the message on your screen.The apaches are awesome

They are probably the strongest in the Americas campaign but you just can't stay on your a** and do nothing like others said you need to capture settlesment and go to battle often

[fishjie]

so can aztecs, tlaxacans, or tarascans gain any tech?

if not ........ man they must be pure garbage.

has anyone had any success with them?

[Arcinatus]

aztecs, tlaxacans, tarascans, and mayans are all about numbers, bravery, and using fear. your not going to be able to steal tech from the european powers. your gonna have to rely on ferocity and your morale holding during battle.

[Insurgent]

The best natives for starting positions are the Aztecs or Mayans, but for roster I think that the Chichimec are the best, very closely followed by the Apache.

The Chichimec horsemen are incredible; if charged into the rear of an army they inflict massive kills mainly due to increaded speed and numbers (they also have a bonus fighting cavalry, so can also be used as an anti missile cavalry unit), and the Chichimec infantry are generally solid (Guachichil Warriors).

The Apache can also rule the battlefield, however they are more a missile faction. They have incredible missile cavalry (mounted Apache + Mounted thunder braves), javelins and archers, however apart from Onde's Men their infantry is generally poor.

I'd personally choose the Apache though; they're more interesting than the Chichimec- they have a more diverse unit roster and some interesting events (warpath, French invasions etc.) something which the Chichimec lack.

Edit: Oops, spammed two comments, sry guys...

[fishjie]

interesting.... well i still have to beat crusades and britain campaigns, before i revisit americas.

but aztec sounds like a challenge. poor little aztecs routed so badly whenever i fought them with my steel and gunpowder. it will be tough no doubt.

[NobleNick]

...but aztec sounds like a challenge. poor little aztecs routed so badly whenever i fought them with my steel and gunpowder. it will be tough no doubt.

Same thing happened to me, when I played as New Spain. So, I decided to try the Aztecs. I only went to H/H difficulty, since the consensus seemed to be that they are the toughest Americas faction to play.

I am about 5 turns into it. Eliminated the Tlax by Turn 3, have 12 territories and 1 more under siege, and the money is rolling in; so feel I am over the hump: No question I will win, just how many turns it will take. IIRC, I won with New Spain in 37 turns on N/N; so my goal is 35 turns for H/H Aztecs.

My strategy (we'll see if it works) is to build armies heavy with Jaguar Warriors, Eagle Warriors, Heavy infantry (Priests), and always have a few Coyote priest present to boost morale. The elite units cost more; but, with the exception of the coyote priests, have only marginally higher upkeep than the vanilla warriors.

I know, as New Spain, that I needed to concentrate on quickly eliminating the small contingent of Eagle Warriors, Jaguar Warriors and Heavy Infantry that accompanied each native force, or they would eat my lunch. So my strategy, as a native, is to build the infrastructure to spam these elite units; so as to eat New Spain's lunch.

The elite-heavy approach is working very well, so far: I am mutilating the natives, and getting richer every turn. I hope to have the infrastucture available to spam stacks, each of the following composition, before open war erupts with New Spain:
6-8 H.I.
4-6 Eagles
4-6 Jaguars
2-4 specials (Generals + Coyote Priests)

[roy34543]

Mayans have it hardest. But aztecs have it pretty hard too.

[Grimmy]

I'm only familiar with the Apache.
One thing to remember, if you do go with the Apache is that they must be aggressive in expansion. The Apache force upgrades are unlocked by number of battles won, AND, number of specific units recruited, AND, destruction of tech possessing forces.

Also, I've found that the Apache Braves work well when used much like the Hastati units in RTW. When on the defensive, barrage approaching forces with javelins and then counter charge; when on the offensive, soften up the target forces with javelins then close with a *penetrating charge

*penetrating charge: charge up to the enemy unit, then cause your unit to move through them. Once the two units are merged fully, r/click the enemy unit again to ensure melee battle. This helps mitigate against the habit of attacking units to get spread out in depth with only the front rank actually fighting.

One thing to know about native factions is that you will take higher than usual casualties in most fights. But replacement units are cheap, so plan your force allocations with reserve/replacement stacks in mind to that you can keep up momentum without having to stop for several turns to rebuild between battles.

[Insurgent]

A good technique with the Apache is to warpath all the way to the easternmost rebel settlement, and on the way conquer every other rebel settlement you pass. You can fill up gaps in your army then with mercs. You can conquer pretty much all of the top of the map within around 10 turns like this.

[Five_of_Swords]

yeah i agree apache is quite good...and when you eventually get mounted thunderbraves, its sorta just boring...cause absoltuely nothing has a chance against you...its pathetic. Most of the fun is early on with apache, because u have to actually think about what yr doing both on the map and in battles....on the map, theres a huge amount of land u gotta cover so you gotta think ahead and avoid leaving yrself wide upen to invasion somewhere. In battles, you have to always consider how to get the longest and most effective missle barrage. Theres a lot of appraches you can take and lots of room for ideas. As long as you never make a terrible blunder i think apache is maybe jsut too easy.
I havent tried aztecs and stuff cause i just think their units look really, really dorky. I cant enjoy watching my fat guys in pajamas kill the enemy.

[Magno]

I personally found the Mayans to be quite easy because they don't share any borders, they're all rebel natives, therefore you can expand considerably well. The only challenge is the Spanish (1 full stack army) and the English (2 full stacks). The Spanish, if left alone long enough, will die out pretty quickly. The English are quite easy to kill with the right army and tactics while containing them at Trujillo.

[hull19]

To gain cavalry:
-Build army half spearmen and quarter missile and other quarter infanrty.
-Attack an army containing cavalry (any civ, deosn't matter).
-Place archers with spearmen on left, right and center. Infantry a bit behind spearmen, anywhere.
-Use missile units intensivly. Kill ennemy infantry with your infantry and missile units.
-When cavalry charge, form spear wall. Have missile units attack cavalry. When cavalry hits spearmen, bring infantry behind on their unsuspectin g backs.


Worked for me