GREAT BRITAIN STRATEGY ANYONE?

[MAGNUS454]

Hi,

Can anyone give me some basic pointers to play the British, perhaps some starting moves? so far its 1710 I have just taken both pirate havens and wiped them. I have not built anymore ships and have 3/4 stack army. I have converted 4 cities in the uk to research and I am researching navy and land military techs, philosphies and agriculture techs. I rely on my trade for income so I am not specialising in factory/industry for an income. My farm upgrades are pushing my growth forward, any suggestions? Also since trade is my major income provider should I focus on making all my ports trade ports? I have portsmouth as my only ship builder for now, should I have more of the new ports become ship yards ?

Also I have no intention of fighting for the 13 colonies I am happy to roll over and let them keep america. I am more interested in taking inda and keeping my caribean holdings does this sound good?

Cheers for your thoughts in advance

Mag

[guczy]

Pro tip: get those 3 provinces needed for the 13 col to join. The Cherokee are easy with a full stack army. After you have the needed cher territories get a full stack army on a ship, sail to New France, disembark (thus declaring war). Capture NF next turn (if you can afford another army also go for maine), after the capture(s) make peace with france. Its easy from then on.

[Nuxes]

As the Brits, you should probably stay out of continental affairs, just try to grab as much land in America and India as possible. Also, build up a large navy to protect you trade with the colonies, and to blockade any enemy ports.

[Mikelus Trento]

I sailed for India on turn 1 with all available forces in England, Ireland, Bahamas, and began making line infantry in Jamaica. When I had 6 I sent them off to join the others in India. Made an alliance with the Maranatha.

All my ships and troops arrived in 1703. I attacked Gupjat on the west coast, expanding into Malwi and Rajputan on the next turn. Regrouped for a couple turns, then advanced on Hindustan and Punjab.

Made a made rush from Hindustan to Bengal to get there ahead of the Maranathas, and sent a second army to Kashmir then Singt.

By 1709 The entire northern half of India was mine.

[The Lost King]

I sailed for India on turn 1 with all available forces in England, Ireland, Bahamas, and began making line infantry in Jamaica. When I had 6 I sent them off to join the others in India. Made an alliance with the Maranatha.

All my ships and troops arrived in 1703. I attacked Gupjat on the west coast, expanding into Malwi and Rajputan on the next turn. Regrouped for a couple turns, then advanced on Hindustan and Punjab.

Made a made rush from Hindustan to Bengal to get there ahead of the Maranathas, and sent a second army to Kashmir then Singt.

By 1709 The entire northern half of India was mine.

I agree. I play as France but India is really easy pickings. I think I only attacked with half a stack of men, early in the game and still took first coast city without any problems at all. Bring a priest thu! Most of the india forces are sword men mixed with a few armed mobs and cammels.

[Marcus Licinius]

Let them exand a bit make a better game

[Boosey]

I think I could really do with some serious help on the long term strategy front too!

Playing as Great Britain and spread myself a bit thin to be honest. India is going well I've taken the three provinces in Northern India (the green people) having made friends with the Orange people - only really need half a stack of line and two 12 lbers.

The Cherokee on the other hand are a pain; after taking Florida and Georgia they ambushed my large army in the forest and destroyed it (It was like that scene from Last of the Mohicans if anyone has seen that film!) Won the battle but it was a Pyhrric victory as I had to limp back to the coast to be retrained back on the islands. Those pesky Cherokee used the oportunity to reclaim their lost territory and now my population is sick of hearing how badly war in America is going and the 13 colonies are getting some stick from their French opposite numbers (Louisiana) and the Huron. Cut my losses?

As for Europe, Sweden invaded one of my allies (possible Westphalia or Hanover) so I declared war and destroyed their navy (ps. I just think the naval battles are harder work rather than rubbish - need lots of micro management of individual ships) and took Stockholm; I offered them peace in exchange for it back but they refused. The retards have been pushed back to one territory and they will not give in. My knackered militia are swatting back everything they throw at me and they will not submit to the most lenient of terms, grrrrrrrrrr!

I have the third largest army and a tiny navy - big mistake as I now have no money and I had no idea which technologies to research so I just went for military stuff. Again big mistake! What should you research as GB at the start and where should you focus your efforts? It looks like India is the best bet but the 13 colonies could potentially be really great addition? HELP!

[notger]

Please check the sticky posts before opening up new threads. This is the fifth Britain-strat-thread I have seen.

Search first, then post.

[SoftCrustPizza]

Well, I think the first mistake is that you are not going for the 13 colonies. Taking over the 3 provinces to get them to join you is rather easy and tremendously worthwhile. I did so with almost a full stack in about 2 years, sailing to Georgia, up into Cherokee country, and then up to New France. This is where it got fun.

After taking New France, I obviously got a huge increase in income with the 13 colonies now on my side. I built up a full stack of line infantry, 2 cav, 1 12lbs, and invaded France. By 1720, I had wiped out all of France. Paris gives you a huge increase in income. You can't really auto-resolve the battles when attacking most major countries since the odds are still against you, but just lay seige and let them attack you. That way, you can set up your line the way you want and let them attack you on the field. So much easier to defend. Remember to fold in your flanks when they hit your middle like this: \_____/

It is now 1728 and I own all of North America, except for Iriqois since they have been nice to me. I took Hannover, and the other 3 minor countries on France's border (forgot their name...Wuitembourg?). I have 3 full stack armies invading Spain now. 1 I placed on the coast of Mexico, and 2 on the coast near Madrid. I moved all 3 in at the same time and took both Madrid and Mexico easily, cutting off Spain's biggest income drivers. Trouble is, I now have Spain's armies rushing back to Madrid (they were tied up in Gibralter in a war with Portugal). luckily that is where I have my 2 armies. Will know tonight if Spain poses a threat. If not, I will have control of all of NA, South America, and almost all of Eastern Europe by 1730. Man, I love this game.

SCP
Eat my crust!
scpgaming.blogspot.com

[ckangas]

Well, I think the first mistake is that you are not going for the 13 colonies. Taking over the 3 provinces to get them to join you is rather easy and tremendously worthwhile. I did so with almost a full stack in about 2 years, sailing to Georgia, up into Cherokee country, and then up to New France. This is where it got fun.

After taking New France, I obviously got a huge increase in income with the 13 colonies now on my side. I built up a full stack of line infantry, 2 cav, 1 12lbs, and invaded France. By 1720, I had wiped out all of France. Paris gives you a huge increase in income. You can't really auto-resolve the battles when attacking most major countries since the odds are still against you, but just lay seige and let them attack you. That way, you can set up your line the way you want and let them attack you on the field. So much easier to defend. Remember to fold in your flanks when they hit your middle like this: \_____/

It is now 1728 and I own all of North America, except for Iriqois since they have been nice to me. I took Hannover, and the other 3 minor countries on France's border (forgot their name...Wuitembourg?). I have 3 full stack armies invading Spain now. 1 I placed on the coast of Mexico, and 2 on the coast near Madrid. I moved all 3 in at the same time and took both Madrid and Mexico easily, cutting off Spain's biggest income drivers. Trouble is, I now have Spain's armies rushing back to Madrid (they were tied up in Gibralter in a war with Portugal). luckily that is where I have my 2 armies. Will know tonight if Spain poses a threat. If not, I will have control of all of NA, South America, and almost all of Eastern Europe by 1730. Man, I love this game.

SCP
Eat my crust!
scpgaming.blogspot.com

Concerning the Cherokee, it can really depend on what difficulty level you're playing on. On VH/VH they'll often take over Florida at a minimum, and one of the games I've played as Britain they took everything south of philly. If they haven't expanded it can be much easier since both their towns are within striking distance for a single army. Make a single unit army or two, and try to distract any armies defending the towns....then swoop in for the kill in one turn.

There's a good reason for all the threads on natives being OP though. The first game I made the mistake of sending 2/3s of a stack to take over the Cherokees early on. Once i took over Georgia they approached with 3 full stack armies. I though great...and eventually (temporarily loosing Georgia in the process) took out all three armies. I head north again convinced they're out of armies, and magically there's another 3 full stacks sitting there. I called it a lost cause, took over India, and had 50K/turn profit before 1720 . All the other regions seem to be rather sickly in NA - Louisiana, Iroquois, Pueblo, France, etc - but if you're on a higher difficulty watch out for those Cherokee. If you don't take them out quickly, they can certainly ruin your day with their magically near-instant re-spawning stacks.

[Manona]

Won the battle but it was a Pyhrric victory as I had to limp back to the coast to be retrained back on the islands.

Try taking a general, that way if you have the cash you can retrain the units in the field (Provided you capture at least one city) It takes two turns & is expen$$$ive, but better than retreating & losing city again.

I personally wait until I have grapeshot, cannons/grapeshot > Indians IMHO. Also, use run toggle to close line infantry on bowmen, they outrange you.

For me as Britain

Trade fleets, new skool, farms & stack of infantry (incl 12lb foot w grape)

Cherokees, retrain, infrastructure
Michigan, retrain, infrastructure
Huron, Infrastructure

Once you are there it is up to you. India or continent.

If you are going to take Quebec, it is worth sending a rake to France to scout, as if you can take Paris first, France is destroyed (Quebec doesn't count as a capital /shrug). I managed to do it with 2 stacks (+1 in Quebec), took a lot of planning & $$, but a symultaneous (sic?) strike on Quebec & Paris nets you 13 Colonies & Louisiana (well, after you pwn them).

Load Grapeshot
Manona

[Henry707]

I have a question to help with my GB campaign.

Reading through all of this, I'm hesitant to start a war with both France & Spain early on in the game....

With all the trade & trade nodes to grab - it is really worth it in the first say 30 years? afterall, I do want a bit of a challenge as well - I don't want to walk into Paris in my first few turns with a random stack..

What do you all think?

Sean

[Jekyll]

I always play these games as the British first, but this is so different and to me complex that I really have no idea where to begin, well I do to a certain degree, by building up a few fleets and sending them off to trade posts accompanied by a few fourth ships of the line, just in case

That and then seeing to my farms and doing research, and getting the odd country to have trade with and alliances, but that is as far as things go, I have a few troops built but its the expanding I am stuck on, with major nations and now including minor nations, where what and when do you go for? I notice that I have several nations either indifferent or hostile towards me.

Also the Thirteen Colonies (I think that's what their called, excuse if I have that wrong, not played since a day ago ) are asking me to consolidate my position regarding three places/nations, but do I just march into these settlements/towns, I accidentally attacked "Huron" (yes I know that the Thirteen Colonies did not say "The Huron" I just went and tried that) and had loads of other nations go for me, and it became to much to handle

What do you do?

I'm desperately trying to play on despite the games problems, but it is far from easy at present, the problems I'm referring to, not the game, as I like hard games.

I am just rather perplexed at it and struggle to see the bigger picture as its so massive in scale.

A few pointers would be nice if anyone can advise please.

Sorry I just saw the thread right at the top of the forum, sorry, please ignore, I must open my eyes

Many thanks

Jekyll

[The_Dude]

well, heres what i do.
first off, build up your tradefleet and send em off to the trade theatres. i usually dont send escort just the indiamen and try to sneak them by the pirates there. once they are on the trade spots they dont seem to get attacked anymore.

slowly start building up a small fleet and an army to take some territory in india. the muzon or whatever they are called, you know, they one sandwiched between the two big factions there, only holds one territory thats got access to the sea. so try to take that as it will generate nice income and will give you a base of operations there.

after a couple of the turns the huron confederacy allways has declared war on me(3 campaigns in a row) so be prepared to stike back at them. they only hold two regions so one medium sized army should be enough.
when your done mopping the floor with them take the army south to the trinidad & tobago and take the pirate regions. another steady source of income.

what i do next is i move for the barbary stated in northern africa. a potential base of operations against the ottomans.

for me accomplishing that usually takes ~40+ turns so you should be around 1720-1725 by now.

now your real goal comes into sight. getting the 13 colonies mission done which is quite a bit of a challenge. 2 full armies and some reinforcements would be a good idea. one operates fron the north the other from the south. try taking the quebec area as soon as possible cause this allows you to recruit most troop types overseas.
what you shouldnt do is go to war with the french and the cherokee at the same time. those indians are nasty. try to keep them off of your back until the french are finished, then move in to the cherokee territoiers. your armies should have some experience and you should have researched a couple of infantry techs by them that should secure you victory.

on research. try to get a 2nd and 3rd school/universtiy up as soon as you managed to take additional territories. these are essential in a fast tech advancement. also keep in mind that you probably will need some church school in north africa & india due to religious unrest.

after you have the 13 colonies you can just squeeze them like a lemon for taxes and wait for a revolution or go for world domination ... up to you

[glassmoustache]

Hi all

Ive had to restart Britain after a couple of times and ive finally found a good way to start.

My problem was always that by around 1715 the thirteen colonies were decimated by cherokee and iroquios indians - literally about 3 colonies left - so dont leave em too long on their own!

This game now is going much better - i have them all under control and away to finish off the huron. You need to absolutely steamroll the cherokee at the start - make it a priority. Send in as big a stack of line inf, dragoons and cannon from the islands as you can muster (mabye around 10-14 units) and take georgia - then dont hang around and march on to cherokee territory

Research bayonets as a priority!

Start sending indiamen to the ivory coast and also a fleet to remove the pirates (you can take this back to the uk later)

Also ditch the church and build a school in the uk.

After you have killed the cherokee using blitzkrieg wait and build up a couple of turns. finally take your fleet up to new france and smash it with one shot. After that spain and France will declare war - simply give new france back and both nations will make peace - the 13 colonies will have joined you though - great success

[The_Dude]

Hi all

Ive had to restart Britain after a couple of times and ive finally found a good way to start.

My problem was always that by around 1715 the thirteen colonies were decimated by cherokee and iroquios indians - literally about 3 colonies left - so dont leave em too long on their own!

This game now is going much better - i have them all under control and away to finish off the huron. You need to absolutely steamroll the cherokee at the start - make it a priority. Send in as big a stack of line inf, dragoons and cannon from the islands as you can muster (mabye around 10-14 units) and take georgia - then dont hang around and march on to cherokee territory

Research bayonets as a priority!

Start sending indiamen to the ivory coast and also a fleet to remove the pirates (you can take this back to the uk later)

Also ditch the church and build a school in the uk.

After you have killed the cherokee using blitzkrieg wait and build up a couple of turns. finally take your fleet up to new france and smash it with one shot. After that spain and France will declare war - simply give new france back and both nations will make peace - the 13 colonies will have joined you though - great success

hmm, ive never seen the cherokee take any colonies cities ... usually when i go to war with them theyre still at peace with the 13 colonies.
besides i find that "just give them the province back and theyll make peace" approach a bit, umm, boring and unrealisitc ? basically your just tricking the AI while in reality, once youve taken one of their territories they probably wouldnt say "ok, lets just forget this ever happened" just because you return it.
apart from that i dont think this would work very well on any difference setting beside normal since the AI tends to have rather big stacks on the higher difficulty levels.

[glassmoustache]

yep cherokee had taken 2 territories and others were taken further north by the iroquios. im on hard / hard.
It wasnt my plan to give em it back and yes it prob is a bit unrealistic - but then the 13 colonies not under UK control and wanting you to go to war with france and spain is also unrealistic...

[The_Dude]

wanting you to go to war with france and spain is also unrealistic...

why spain ?
georgia and new france are french territory and cherokee nation is self explaining.

[masterbrett123]

actualy in great britans wars with france I think after GB taking Canada from france they gave back Quebec in the paece offering

[Ginger Yellow]

I'm on my second full run through of the GB short campaign (I aborted my very first one quickly after I realised I'd screwed up).

Things I learned from the first real run:

Get your trade up ASAP. This second time, I devoted most of my early money to building trade ships and escorts, making sure I have a foothold or two in each trade theatre.

It's best to eliminate the pirate bases early, when your fleets (combined) are relatively strong. I used newly built line infantry from Port Royal rather than my North American army.

Declaring war on France to get Quebec will decimate your trade income, so a) be ready for the loss of income, and b) take it in a lightning strike so you can sue for peace quickly and get your trade back up.

Don't do what I did and wait till late to attack France and the Mughals at the same time. You won't have the money to appease the Muslim populace and replenish your invading army, causing all sorts of problems. Second time round, I sent my English and Irish armies off to India on my first turn, and followed up with a smaller freshly built army a few turns later.

I'm not certain how I'll handle the Cherokee this time. Last time they were my main initial focus, but they're pretty strong and require a large standing army. It may be best to wait a little bit and build up some territory elsewhere and some good military techs before taking them on. Decent bayonets and square formation are a must.