A Guide to the Ottoman Empire

[Henry707]

First thing you need to do is kiss up to Austria and Poland. I managed to get Poland to and Russia to very friendly, Austria to indifferent. Now destroy Georgia early as possible then immediately prepare for Dagestan. Meanwhile keep building forces in the Middle East, you have 4 major recruitment centers in that one area. You will get raided a lot in the middle east but, you will have to suck it up because its not worth losing Baghdad.

In my campaign with lots of help from Astaroth and other members I was able to take over all of India, all of Africa, and now I have Nizam I cedid troops. Right now I have a full stack of new soldiers going to the Netherlands to take care of my former ally. And I still have all my holdings in the Balkans.

Taking over India is very hard, esspecially for me because after I took most Mughal lands I was hoping for some peace. But, then all of a sudden the Marathas DOW on me and I had to defeat them. By the time my conquest of India was complete I had over 8000 troops with atleast one chevron, but it is worth it because I make over 14000 a year.

Uzi, thanks for the advice. I did some peace maker last night - I had to give away Bosina for peace with Austria but it has shortened my lines & given me some strength to deal with the Greek rebels & the Persians. I have engaged in hit & run across the Persian border to keep them occupied whilst I build up there.

The Greek rebels are my target as they took two cities - I've taken Athens back now. Those orthodoxies can be real toublesome.

My strategy is to hold the line in Europe & expand into Persia & maybe India.

Money is tight but the turbans are big & we aim to squash the greeks then shishikebeb the Persians...

Henri (theTurk)

[Cold Fussion]

One tip: If you switch to a constitutional monarchy, make sure you don't re get mustaffa III because even if he doesn't give you negative bonuses when you get him, he will eventually and then you have to wait for him to die.

[Henry707]

One strategy for players who are not quite so gungho is the one I have followed - a look East policy. I have held the line in the west but my real focus was on getting rid of Persia then building a co-herent empire across this area.

I have so far built the empire - I needed to give a little in the west as everyone & their dog was attacking me but no I need a few years of peace to build the economy then I shall reap vengence on my enemies - particularly the Austrians who I plan to human shish kebab when I get the chance.

Henri

[garudamon11]

its better to make georgia your portectorate , it can be very helpful and they will never attack you , just give them 1400 florins and they will surely becoem your protectorate

[Cold Fussion]

its better to make georgia your portectorate , it can be very helpful and they will never attack you , just give them 1400 florins and they will surely becoem your protectorate

This will be good in 1.4 as protectorates will count towards victory conditions. Making Dagstan and Georgia protectorates will save a lot of time and money in 1.4.

[garudamon11]

This will be good in 1.4 as protectorates will count towards victory conditions. Making Dagstan and Georgia protectorates will save a lot of time and money in 1.4.

i suggest that you take either of them as your protectorate , not both because they will almost always go to war with each other , i prefer georgia as its more powerful and it borders me

[uzi716]

Hey I am about 50 years in my campaign and I need a strategy for taking out Poland.

I want to take Crimea desperately because I don't want Poland to have a sea port.

I need a strategy to attack, Poland owns Crimea, Ukraine, Galicia, Poland, and West Prussia. They have about a full stack in Kiev, a few units in Crimea, nothing in Galicia, and I don't know about Poland and West Prussia

I tried trading regions for Crimea because, Poland is very friendly to me and I would hate to go to war again (just finished Austria, still dealing with Spain). But, Poland is just so damn stubborn, and I really don't want them to have ports, and they are also building huge fleets.

Here is my Empire.....

[gregorziftic]

Hi all,

I started game with a very hard/very hard in 1.5 patch version. I first gave Bosnia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Moldovia to French in return of an alliance. That kept Austria away from me. Then I quickly conquered Morea from Venetians. In the north Russians kept bugging my protectorate so I took over and ended the life of Crimean Khanate because they surprisingly didnt do anything to defend their own land. In the east, both Persia, Georgia and Dagestan simultaneously attacked me.

There came a time that I couldnt hold off Russia from Crimea and (Venetians sent an army by sea to Crimea!!!) so I gave them the region and signed a peace treaty with Russia. (That was the 20th turn!!!)

But this game is making me crazy! Great Britain opened war to me in 20th turn as well. They sent an army to Egypt and conquered there. The funny thing is my ally and GB's enemy France didnt touch the English fleet although they were next to that GB fleet with their enormous armada!!!

I shutted down the game in frustration. Is it my lack of ability or playing with Ottomans in very hard setting nearly impossible???

[gregorziftic]

Which patch version are you playing with? And what's your difficulty setting?

[yellowboots]

Wait, how did you get the alliance with France? Ottoman Empire cannot ally with any European country during the start of the game as everyone is at war with the Barbary States.

[Rave]

Wait, how did you get the alliance with France? Ottoman Empire cannot ally with any European country during the start of the game as everyone is at war with the Barbary States.

You can get an alliance if they counter-offer.

[Fire-dweller]

I may have been rooting for a playable Persia and Shi'a Islam, but nonetheless, go Islam!

[gregorziftic]

Wait, how did you get the alliance with France? Ottoman Empire cannot ally with any European country during the start of the game as everyone is at war with the Barbary States.

At the beginning of the game, I cancelled my alliance with the Barbary States. Then, supposing that although I'd give some land to Austria for an alliance they'd betray me, I gave away Bosnia, Bulgaria and Serbia to France in return of an alliance.

Do you think loss of incomes from those regions can hurt my economy a lot? Would an alliance with Austria last without a betrayal? (Generally if you give Austria Bosnia and offer an alliance, they accept it. But in the former versions, Austria betrayed me several times)

[tomekM]

After a bottle a unit goes down in number. I spend money to bring it back to full strength but still after turn the unit strengh remains at previous level. How to overcome this problem, especially when you general unit is decimated?

[gregorziftic]

You can not expect to recover from your losses in a single turn. It is reasonable because the recovery will have to be provided by the nearest barracks you have, so if you are away from your barracks, I think it is reasonable for you to have to wait.

Yesterday, I've found the single most important thing to do before starting the game with the Ottomans. Give Armenia to Persia and sign an Alliance. Therefore you keep Persia, Georgia and Dagestan away from you. This gives lots of advantage.

Also, sell all your northern Balkan territories to Mughal and ally with them. They paid me 15000 golds for these regions. This will keep Poland, Austria and Prussia away from you and they wont declare war on you.

[Timox]

Have you ever tried selling Balkan regions to different countries? In the beginning of the game you can get all the starting techs, TA and gold and in addition Austria or Russia would most likely declare war on the benefactors of the regions which in turn will grant you unsuspecting allies. Definitely made the game easier for me allowing to concentrate on the eastern border.

[Timox]

I would also recomend if you go towards India attack Marathas ASAP and destroy them no matter the costs, they are a pain in the ass and would grow to become a very formidable opponent by 30-40ish.

[gregorziftic]

I would also recomend if you go towards India attack Marathas ASAP and destroy them no matter the costs, they are a pain in the ass and would grow to become a very formidable opponent by 30-40ish.

No need for that. Ally with Mughal and Persia and when Maratha finishes off Mughal and attack Persia, break alliance and give Maratha some land from Balkans and sign Alliance with them. Then move fast and conquer Persia, Azerbaijan before Maratha.

[Timox]

No need for that. Ally with Mughal and Persia and when Maratha finishes off Mughal and attack Persia, break alliance and give Maratha some land from Balkans and sign Alliance with them. Then move fast and conquer Persia, Azerbaijan before Maratha.

What is the point of giving away whole India to Marathas? Much better to have good relationship with both Indian powers until you annihilate Persia but afterwards I would recomend leaving Mughals alone and focusing on the Marathas (amphibious strike from the south will deal a mighty blow). In later stages of the game Marathas pose a much greater challenge.

[uzi716]

What is the point of giving away whole India to Marathas? Much better to have good relationship with both Indian powers until you annihilate Persia but afterwards I would recomend leaving Mughals alone and focusing on the Marathas (amphibious strike from the south will deal a mighty blow). In later stages of the game Marathas pose a much greater challenge.

He right, from my experience the Marathas can build huge armies, the Mughals don't, making them easy picking