Each Faction's Strengths and Weaknesses

Hi, I've recently begun to play multiplayer, and I was wondering what were the strengths and weaknesses of each particular faction? (i.e. i've noticed that france has the best cavalry)

Particularly for the following:

Austria
Prussia
Great Britain
Russia
France

Well, I will try to give as much info as I know.

Strengths:

Russia: Strength lies with artillery and strong melee infantry
France: Excellent cannon, very good cavalry rushes
Britain: Large standing navy, excellent all-round infantry
Prussia: Infantry shoot very well, summin' else
Austria: Wide selection of Infantry, Median stats for infantry

Weaknesses:

Russia: Poor musketry, disorganised (infantry and economy alike)
France: Meh Infantry, not as well trained as can be
Britain: Expensive units, bad cavalry
Prussia: Bad artillery, summin' else
Austria: Bad cavalry, poor training

As you can see, I'm not really knowledgeable on Prussia. Maybe someone could clear that up for us?

France has no downsides as far as i can tell other than a lack of unicorns. The moral on their infantry is great and their elite infantry is awesome. Also they have super value infantry like the polish legion.

Weaknesses (all) : Commanded by AI

Originally Posted by ♔GrinningManiac♔

Weaknesses (all) : Commanded by AI

Fortunately he was talking about MP.

France has great skirmishers, elite infantry, cav and elite artillery, but medium line infantry.
Britain has one of the best infantry and nice cavalry. Also "elitest" rifles.

Originally Posted by RO Citizen

Fortunately he was talking about MP.

France has great skirmishers, elite infantry, cav and elite artillery, but medium line infantry.
Britain has one of the best infantry and nice cavalry. Also "elitest" rifles.

1. France has bad skirmishers. Voltiguers are the only ones in their class with muskets. Everyone else has rifles. Their chasseurs are ok, but nothing special. So France's only glaring weakness are skirmishers.

2. British has the worst cavalry. They lack lancers, and their cavalry is mediocre in every category.

I though British Line infantry were supposed to be the best trained? At least shooting more accurately etc...

France has the best all round army but starts off at war with three major powers and if it carries out its Vienna mission gets to add Prussia and the Ottomans to its enemies as well.

They are also lumbered with a bunch of useless allies that will either get themselves conquered or will betray you at some awkward moment.

So tactically they can beat almost anyone but strategically they are screwed.

Britain's superb infantry is somewhat balanced by its mediocre cavalry - but given that cavalry are not the battle winners they were in previous TW games this is a reasonable trade-off.

They also have an excellent strategic position due to the AI's unwillingness to invade Britain.

Prussia has a good strategic position in that alone of the 5 big powers it starts at peace with everyone and can safely turtle and build up their economy - it also has a good army with decent infantry and OK cavalry.

Russia has a crap economy and crap army with the exception of its Cossacks and Unicorns - its only real advantage is that it is so far away from anywhere that it is relatively safe from attack.

Austria has the worst of everything - a rather mediocre army, a weak economy and a poor strategic position.

The french wekness lies in their bad skirmishers. They have the best cav in the game and there elites are gd. normal inf are ok.

The prussians have ok inf and very gd skirmishers. Gd cav. The weakness is really that there inf losses badly to brits.

The british are very gd. Only thing is they have no lancers

Austria has gd inf and cav but really needs some gd skirmishers to help them out.

Russia has gr8 cav nad art. inf are gd in melle but bad in a shoot out. They need gd skirmishers too

hope this helps

Thanks guys, it certainly feels this way when I play multiplayer. Is it just me or Austria just screwed?

Prussia has nice skirmishers
Russia has those awesome unicorns
Britian has a crazy good line. Their Foot is amazing.
France has REALLY good lancers, and pretty good everything else.

And Austria just fails.

aww come on what about the ottomans?

MOORTARS

Well, I think the top 5 factions are probably the strongest, so that's why I chose to focus on them. Then again, ottomans and the spanish are pretty decent as well.

France:
Top faction for the game. However for Newbies this faction is hard to control because of their lack of 125 range, which force them to attack, which they tend to mess (at least in my experience).
Best artilllery unless in no rules (Russian unicorns and Ottoman Mortars pwns), and definitely the best cavalry. Their lancers are unbeatable, and their heavy cav is superb. Chasseur a Cheval can KO any light cav with a volley+charge (remember to put them in melee mod ALWAYS) Best elite infantry, 1or 2 Old Guards+support from Guard Seamen and the cheap Young Guard can pretty much eat away anything except massed artillery. Their line infantry is cheap and plus good support from the uber Polish Legion and substantial amount of chasseurs and voltigeurs this faction is nearly unbeatable.
The downside of the faction is few, apart from no rifles, slightly weak line infantry (but balanced with Poles), and not so super 100-range light infantry compare to Prussians and British (Voltigeurs have too few men to stand up against Prussian Fusiliers).
GB:
Second top faction. Best riflemen unit (Sharpe always wins), best infantry (best marksmanship overall and have the best defense rates), their artillery however, is nothing special and their cavalry is useful for defensive purpose only (no lancers and slow cavalry), their dragoons and life guards can't stand against a Polish Guard Lancer charge.
Russia:
Famous for its unicorn camping tactics and worst shooters. Their line inf can't stand up against even Brit militia in a firefight, and their light infantry is simply rubbish. Their cavalry and artillery, however, is second only to the frogs in this game, especially the super cheap cossacks that can stand up against even French lancers (But morale is a fatal problem). Generally the Russians will overpower anyone in a melee slugfest (Pavlovsk Grenadiers have 22 charge bonus!!!)but will fail miserably in shooting.
Prussia:
This nation is famed for its light infantry. Prussian Fusiliers and Silesian Schutzen can offer great advantage to the Prussian player in a firefight and their line infantry is also the second best shooters. But their cavalry is simply horrible. Their no-armour cuirassiers are unable to fight other nations' cuirassiers 1 on 1, and their light cav is nothing special unless you have the DLCs that adds Brandenburg Uhlans and Life Hussars (the best light cav) For some reason their artillery is the worst in the big five if you look closely at the stats.
Austria:
Probably the underdog of the big five. No elite units, no decent lancers, and their cavalry is weaker than Russia and France except for the Hungarian Hussars. Their light inf is cheap but worthless in melee, Landesschutzens are super cheap and can be massed easily. The Windbusche Jaegers can por deadly rains of fire like a machine gun but is extremely expensive. The line infantry, on the other hand, a mix of German Fusiliers (worse than the French) and Hungarian Fusiliers (better than the Prussians) plus some good DLC units create a sturdy infantry force, but without elites their morale probably is the worst. For some reason again, the Austrians don't have horse artillery, despite the fact that they have it in campaign (mysterious, isn't it?)

Ottomans:
Useful for desert maps. Their lancers are good, but because they are considered as heavy cavalry, they are very slow and get tired easily. They have good line infantry mix with Nizam -I Cedit and Janissaries, and a strong force of melee infantry. They are also the only faction with mortars. Their Nizam light troops and Azzars provide strong skirmishing support. But their artillery are strangely much more expensive than the others and with weaker stats. Beware that Janissaries have weaker melee and can't form squares, so Nizam -I Cedit is still a better choice.
The Ottomans are basically a combination of weak and obsolete units (but dreadfully cheap) and good-quality but overcost units (Nizam-I Cedits are somewhat more expensive than contemporary European ones).

While France does have weak skirmishers I can't see that as an insurmountable problem - if you get attacked by any jagers or rifles that sit out of your 100 range just launch some lancers at them - problem over.

And the lack of an auto-skirmish option that actually works means that skrimishers and lights are pretty much redundant in SP - unless you are a pause and micromanage player you are almost always better off with extra guns or cavalry instead

Nice analysis, Prince Francesca! That was really helpful, though it was disappointing to learn that my initial hunch was correct- Austria really is the weakest. CA really needs to balance the factions more.

Spain:
This faction is not as strong as most people think, actually. They don't have 125-range skirmishers, but their line infantry is awesomely cheap (640 compared to French 710) with 7 morale!!!! Despite they have worse shooting stats than the German Fusiliers, they still beat the Russians in a shootout (with extremely cheaper cost). The Spanish light troops, the Guerillas and Cazadores are below average, especially the guerillas, who can fled immediately after a cav charge. But they are cheap, though.
In terms of cavalry, Spain is probably the same standard as the Brits, but still slightly weaker (and no lancers). A strong mix of Guardias da Corps and Hussars can create a sturdy cav defense force.
Artillery is the worst part of this faction. Even worse than Portugal. With only two types of foot artillery, which is nearly useless in MP unless you decides to camp, playing no rules with Spain is extremely dangerous.
The strategy for Spain is use their infantry number advantage (cheaper than other factions) to swarm your enemy in a firefight. Outflanking with infantry and cavalry is crucial for this faction.
Denmark:
This faction is stronger than Spain in my opinion. They have three types of riflemen, which played simillar role. Always use sharpshooters than the ski troopers despite the cool name. The sharpshooters are cheaper and play better than the ski troopers in a shootout, with weaker melee stats. But the strength of riflemen is not melee. Cav is probably Denmark's weakness, their light dragoons and Life Guards can't stand up against any big five, Ottoman, or Spanish cavalry. In terms of infantry, Denmark relies on their cheap line, guard, and powerful skirmisher mix. The Danish artillery is excellent in terms for minors, with howitzers and horse art this faction can stand up against the big five artillery.

Sweden:
This faction's roster is simillar to the Danes, but they have weaker skirmishers and slightly better cavalry. They also have one fire-and-charge cav, the Mounted Jagers. However, unlike the Chasseur a Cheval, other nations' shooting cav have bad melee stats (such as the Spanish Mounted Cazadores and Russian Mounted Rifles.) Swedish Hussars are better than Danish light dragoons in hit and run tactics, and also cheaper.
United Netherlands:
This faction is slightly weaker than the Swedes and Danes because they have no guard infantry or cav. The Dutch Flanquers are another cheap 100-range, and combined with Nassau Jagers and Line Infantry the Dutch have an ok infantry force, but can't stand up against any major factions. Their cavalry is mediocre, the Carabiniers are weak, while the hussars and light dragoons are probably nothing special. Their artillery is the same as the Danes and Swedes.
Portugal
The weakest faction of the game. Playing this faction against ANY other factions needs guts and skills. Their artillery is the same level with Spain: useless.Their cavalry's only advantage is cheap, but they are simply wimps and cowards (5 morale!!!!) in melee combat. Most people online tend to mass cheap Portuguese cav to have a quantity over quality advantage. Another bad thing for this faction is that their line is one the most expensive (the same as Brit foot but is completely outmatched). This faction have ok skirmishers, but their Cazadores are impressive: the BEST 100-range in game!!!
The have nearly the same melee stats than Portuguese line (1 less defense only) and much better shots. Utilizing the Cazadores, Tiradores, some Infantry and concentrate ALL your cavalry against single or two enemy cavalry (Rely on infantry squares to throw away enemy cav, you simply have no chance in a cav fight) and always stay in firefight situation (this faction is useless in melee) is the best way to achieve victory. And always rush to occupy high grounds!!!

Originally Posted by Prince Francesca

Denmark:
Always use sharpshooters than the ski troopers despite the cool name. The sharpshooters are cheaper and play better than the ski troopers in a shootout.

The ski troopers don't even have skis as far as I've checked, they just slide. Or maybe it is just my shoddy graphics setting (Custom: Everything low, unit sizes ultra. Quantity over Quality FTW )

I've been follwing your advice, prince, and I'm finding a lot more success online! Thanks.

Now if only there's a way to deal with those fixed artillery units...