Campaign help

[RoutingUrban]

I tend to play multiplayer all of the time, however, this time around Iv actually started with the Campaign.

I'm Great Britain and I suck at conquering/keeping money.

A few things may happen that prevent success.

1. I send my indiamen to trade points, but by the time I have a good many of them, most of the trade hubs are gone.
2. I build them up then send a full stack or two, and pile them into 3 or 4 trade points that aren't already taken. I
3. I spend a good while looking for open trade hubs.
4. Pirates and other navies are constantly cutting off supplies.
5. It takes forever to develop tech that is good enough to hold me over.
6. I dont get good units because of lack of money and/or the tech isnt recruited.
7. I send in 2 full stacks but only manage to take around 3-4 territories before their strength is whittled down significantly. It's a long trip from Britain to America.
8. Upkeep costs are extremely high, but when I disband units, I get rebellions.
9. Constant raids by 1 unit enemy armies make newly won territories a liability.

Any tips?

I would really like to know how you guys handle the first few rounds. Because I tend to get a slow start economically, and never get to upgrade past a certain level. Making my army inferior and my empire slow to grow.
Thanks

[Frederf]

1 & 2. Don't wait and don't be greedy. Send ships to secure those trade hubs early, even if you don't have trade ships, the non-trade ships can occupy/deny just as well. There's a few held by pirate ships so those are attackable without political consequences as well. I think there's about 20 trade posts in the world and 20 odd factions so don't expect more than a few trade posts to yourself. Also be aware that (until patched) AI will never attack you on a trade port so don't worry about security.

3. A brig to each trade theater makes good scout. You can use the trade route lines to see if the node is occupied even if you can't see the post itself.

4. You have to protect your lanes. Try specializing in 1-2 trade theaters instead of going for all 4. It's a lot easier to defend. If you want to be really sure you can kill off the Pirate faction in the Caribbean.

5. The tech tree is supposed to take all 200 turns plus a bit. Try for city buildings that increase research, better schools, more school, gentlemen in schools, and matching the gentlemen to the research tech. Most of us complain that we rush through the whole tree by 1750.

6. Most of the game you rely on line infantry which are pretty good and available rather early. Money is best gotten through trade so make the necessary diplomacy. Not upgrading every meager yield farm in sight also helps. Avoid auto-generated town watch as these are expensive.

7. Colonization is tough supply wise. Indigenous recruitment is useful.
8. Lower taxes and exempt newly captured regions from taxes. Dragoons are the best garrison force due to their special trait.
9. Usually ignore the raids as it's small potatoes.

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The first few rounds are usually disbanding the starting forces (except maybe some pricey ones that you'll actually use), lowering taxes for growth, building economic buildings, and researching enlightenment tech. Don't be afraid to reevaluate and demolish old buildings like they're going out style. If you're playing on Vanilla ETW, you'll have more money than you know what to do with by 1740.

[gary0044187]

I came up with a pretty over the top start for the gb campaign. it will probably make for a truly op endgame, but has been an interesting start. I demolished the church at oxford and the two workshops, I made oxford and birmingham into colleges and the fourth location a coaching inn. meanwhile I demolished my dockyard and made it into another trading port. every trading port builds just indiamen at full production capacity (this relies on not spending money elsewhere and making lots of early trade agreements for starting funds. send all indiamen as they come online to the trade theaters. I generally end up with at least 3 in every theater with my allies in the rest. Take your starting armies except for garrisons to protect against (unlikely) naval invasion and take the two pirate ports. These dockyards should be turned into trading ports. these troops should be a little more seasoned now and you should be gaining quite a bit of wealth from your fleets. You can probably complete your suggested mission after this point. On my trial run it took me until round 50 to complete my trading fleets though and by that point I had several enemy navies trying to contest me and hit up my trade routes.

on another note, pikemen don't do half bad against native melee units. I was surprised how invaluable they are in dealing with the melee rush of pirates, cherokee, huron, etc.

[ahearnc]

The key to success as GB in my view is India. As an island, GB can ignore continental entanglements in the early part of the game.

I start by recruiting as many line infantry as possible in 1 turn.

Next turn, I send my ENTIRE army and fleet south. I round Africa with the fleet, and while doing so am building Indiamen at home and sending them south. I stop at Ivory coast, defeat the pirate fleet there (sometimes its hiding in one of the trading posts). My Indiamen follow and take up the empty trading posts. It is critical to do this at the outset, otherwise the portugese and French will take over. Next stop -- Madagascar straits, same thing. Next stop, India. I land my army, and hit Gujarat. This region has a barracks set up and in no time you will be churning out good units like East India Line Infantry, cannons, etc., and your war against the Mughals will be self-sustaining. I round the world with my fleet (spice islands, then brazil), defeating pirates and following with my Indiamen. Sometimes the pirates really do a job on my fleet but you can make up for this by capturing their vessels. Also, stopping and repairing the fleet in a captured port in India is usually a good idea... it can be pretty beat up after rounding the horn.

Once you take over the Mughal empire, you can turn to the Maratha confederacy. With India in your pocket you will be shocked at how wealthy you become. By 1735 was generating 30,000 per turn in tax income and had reasearch nearly half of all techs.

You'll need to spend some $ developing GB itself and maintaining a modest defensive military presence as a deterrent, warding of pirates in the Carribbean (capturing Antigua is a good idea, and can be done by recruiting line infantry and dragoons from Jamaica and Bahamas, and ships from England).

[ahearnc]

Also -- a key point. Just throwing Indiamen at trading posts is a waste. They will become pirate bait unless you committ substantial naval forces to defeating the pirates, and a modest naval presence to patrol thereafter.

[gary0044187]

Also -- a key point. Just throwing Indiamen at trading posts is a waste. They will become pirate bait unless you committ substantial naval forces to defeating the pirates, and a modest naval presence to patrol thereafter.

I agree with this if you are not dedicated to whiping the pirates out early. I do this by round 5 but I have heard other guys house rule not whiping them out just for the potential threat.

[LittleCarp]

Next stop, India. I land my army, and hit Gujarat. This region has a barracks set up and in no time you will be churning out good units like East India Line Infantry, cannons, etc., and your war against the Mughals will be self-sustaining.

A strategy that I used in taking India was first trading provinces with Portugal...Goa for GB's province in present-day Canada (can't remember name). That at least gave me a foothold in India, then once I had time to get an army over there I allied with Mysore and attacked north to Bijapur to finish off the Marathas (Mysore had already taken Carnatica).

I had little interest in having ALL of India, and I like to prop up the minor factions so I have someone new to fight late in the game, so I am currently sharing India with Mysore. The west coast of India is moderately profitable.

[Frederf]

If you successfully get an indiaman ship to a trading post (or any) no pirates, Spain, whomever will ever touch them.

[gary0044187]

If you successfully get an indiaman ship to a trading post (or any) no pirates, Spain, whomever will ever touch them.

yeah I getcha but they will camp out on your tradelanes making them useless (or worse, moneysinks) if you do not do something about it. Once I have real enemies I like to throw an intercepter fleet in every trade region. If I am still friendly with the dutch they often have a fleet or two in every region that they police the lanes with too so I might not need to have one in that specific region. This is under the assumption that if anyone with a navy wardec's me, the dutch are just as likely to destroy their navy as I am.