Frequently asked questions

How does your Reputation work?

Your reputation will lower every time you declare war on another Nation. Your friendship with other Nations will be effected by your Reputation. Your Reputation heals over time.

Trade, I’ve read your info on trade, especially that the larger countries will yield large incomes.  Even though I have 5-6 trading partners, my income is still only $38.

Hi, you are not making money because you are not exporting any resources. You are only importing, and that cannot earn you much money. Also, you have no resources to trade with, it looks like you only have food, everyone has food. So until you find (and own) some resources to trade with, you are stuck.

So, what I do at the start of the game, I search and grab as many resources as I can, then I find nations that need my resources. I trade with them if friendly, and if that nation is someone like India or China, with a large population, I can make a LOT of money.

why does the technology bar stop going up during some of my games?

In Colonies at War, the development level can only go as high as level 5. So when a nation hits level 5, which is a total of 16,000 pts. This nation’s development points will continue to accumulate to 32,000 pts, at this point he cannot go any further and so all development advancement now stops. And from this point on, all nations will be locked at the level they were on when the advanced nation hit this 32,000 pts. The game now plays out with everyone locked at their development level. Level 0 (0-999), Level 1 (1000-1999), Level 2 (2000-3999), Level 3 (4000-7999), Level 4 (8000-15999), Level 5 (16000-32000).

I conquered Taiwan, but now I cannot move my army back to my capital?

To move your troops back home from the island of Taiwan you must first have a friendly sea connection to the coastal land destination you want to move to. You must also have ships stationed (as garrison or navy)in the sea zone touching the land you wish your army to move into, to assist in the landing.

I keep buying gifts, but this nation keeps attacking me?

The game has its villains, I am guessing you are trying to befriend a villain(Someone who will always dislike you). Some nations will always look favourably towards your nation and some will not. You must work out who they are and befriend your mates. If a nation close to you is a villain, then it’s best to try to befriend other more friendly nations, then when the time is right, eliminate that villain. I will give you a tip, any nation who asks for an alliance is someone to trust. Please understand that there has to be some twists and turns, and uncertainties in the game else it will get boring. Giving gifts to a nation will help them look favourably towards you but it is NOT a guarantee. There are other factors that affect a nation’s attitude towards you, and they are out of your control. As I said before, some nations just don’t like you so don’t keep giving them money.

how can a garrison of 3,000 regular soldiers with a level 2 fort can obliterate an attacking army of 16,000 with no river or naval crossings?

Firstly, I need to know what level the 2 combatants are at. A typical example of a one-side matchup is in the African scenario, Level 0 Zulus versus Level 4 British. I played the Zulus and I kept ambushing the British every time they moved out from the Cape Colony. But I ultimately lost this war because the Moroccans invaded me. I needed at least odds of 5:1 and I never let them build any forts past level 1. The British had about 5,000 men garrisoned at Cape Colony, fortified, across a river. I had no hope of taking this without at least 10,000 cavalry, 50+ guns, and many repeated attacks to wear down their forts. But anyway, I think if you were talking about those numbers in this scenario then I can accept the result. It also depends on the troop types, if you are attacking with sepoys in the battle against a more advanced nation then you will get slaughtered. Sepoys are OK for holding forts, but they lower your army’s morale in battle. Remember Rorkes Drift, 4,000 Zulus vs 200 British.

how do I BUY credits For the game?

To buy credits you need to exit the game and tap on the BUY button in the opening menu. You can then just tap LOAD GAME to return back to your game, then you can convert the credits into game money at the Market. To access the Market, tap the bottom nation data screen which will then open, Nations Summary, Cash Flow, Victory Meter, The Market.

how do I use credits in the game?

If for example, you purchase 8,000 credits at the store, you can then go to the Market page(in the game) and from there you can convert as many credits as you want into in-game money. So, if you have 8,000 credits, and you are playing a game that you have decided that you need an extra $1,000 to buy more troops, then just tap the 250 credits button 4 times. You will then be left with 7,000 credits and your game money will have an extra $1,000. You can keep doing this during the game if you choose, and any leftover credits can be left for the next game.

What is the purpose of cannons?

Since version 6.80, cannons are now more versatile, they can operate independently from other troops and can attack alone. Although, having cannons without infantry support would be very tricky because if they were to be attacked then they would be wiped out. Cannons will do more damage and have more of a chance at knocking down stubborn forts when operating alone, because the attack would be considered a bombardment. Cannons also give a combined weapons bonus when attacking with troops. This bonus is given when the three types of forces are committed in one attack, and they are troopers + cavalry + cannons. This is an increase of 5% to the overall damage. Combats can last up to 30 rounds, cannons fire every round and wear down forts until one is destroyed. If a fort is destroyed during the combat, the defenders will lose some of the defence bonus given by multiple forts and the cannons will then attack the next fort. Damage done to forts is damage not done to the defenders.

How did I lose this battle?

Q: I was playing the World map on easy and at the end of the game when I owned the entire world less a couple of islands. My development level was only at 3. seemed like it should have been higher since I owned all of the lands. Also when I was attacking the leftover islands with 1 million troops via aquatic I lost 250,000 troops to "lost" and I lost the battle. Defending was only about 30,000 level 5 troops.
Answer: If you did not advance any higher that means that someone had already advanced past level 5. When this happens all advancement stops. Yes, the maximum number of troops that can attack another force is about 5:1, the rest just get in the way. So if you have 20,000,000 men attacking 1,000 men, then only 5,000 will actually participate in the attack. I guess it's saying that it is literally impossible to have more than 5 men attack any single man. Especially in a fort situation, only so many men can attack a fort at one time. His men were twice as strong as yours(level 3 vs level 5), and he was fortified (-90%-150%), and you attacked via beach landing (-25%). Also, whenever you lose a battle a small percentage of your force when will desert or flee. A higher percentage for the defender if the defender loses. So, if you attacked with 1,000,000 and lose, then you will lose a lot of men. You would have won easily if you had attacked this spot in groups of 100,000 men each. I hope that explains it. I hope that explains it.

Trouble taking a difficult Fort

Question: I’m playing civil war right now, and am fighting Britain. One of their forts is level 5, but I have them holed down and unable to move anywhere outside the fort, I spent 10 turns or so building troops, Then tried to attack with 50k soldiers and 220 cannons, but again got crushed. In a situation like this is it best to just build the total forces or focus solely on cannons? I really enjoy this combat style but it’s difficult to get the hang of!

Answer: How many men are in the fort? Only attack with regular troops/Cav and cannons. Only attack with 4x their number. If you have more then separate your attacks. Say, if he has 7,000 men in the fort, attack with 25,000, and 100guns, then another 25,000 and 100guns. There is a bit of luck on how many forts you can destroy per turn. And remember he will rebuild the fort each turn at least one level. If it's his capital he will defend it with everything he has. If he is earning lots of money it may be better to take away his income, that by taking away his lands.

Question2: Ah ok gotcha, he has like 12 k, no earnings as it’s his last spot, but it’s the capital, I will try to spread out my attack. Thanks again!

Answer2: Wow, he has a lot of men defending the fort. Actually, I would lure him out of the fort. Then attack his army without the protection of his fort, have you tried that? Another thing to remember, during the battle, your guns keep doing damage to the forts, every turn of the battle. So the longer the battle lasts the more damage done to the forts. Here is where your morale is important, a higher morale will make the battle last longer. That’s why I don’t use sepoys in attack, especially for a fort attack. Also, the more men you have in the attack, the slower your morale decreases, which also helps to lengthen the battle. But also note that battles only last 30 turns, so it's pointless having too many men as they may be wasted, a sweet spot is about 4:1 odds is best.

How does the morale work?

Question: Hi, I am curious about the morale mechanic in the game. I saw you had wrote a response about it in the reviews somewhere. You had said it can take a massive troop advantage and basically nullify it. I think I just had that happen where I had double the amount of troops as the enemy army, yet still got smacked. How can I reduce that morale hit that is taken that can end a fight before it begins?

Answer: In battle your morale lowers as you take casualties, and when your morale gets to 35% your army retreats. At the start of a battle your total morale is calculated from your troop types, Troopers are about 80%, Cavalry 90%, sepoys about 60%. Your army averages about 80-110% before battle, and you get a 5% bonus for having a good defensive position(forts), You lose morale at a rate of 5% for every 2% of your force lost. So, I suppose it’s an advantage to have lots of troops. It’s normal to fail an attack even with odds of 4:1 against a strong defence with forts. If your force is forced to retreat it just means you didn’t eliminate enough of the defenders to drop their morale below 35%. While the defenders have a fort most of your damage gets absorbed by these forts. You need to wear down the forts with cannons, and with multiple attacks. It’s better to have 2x attacks with 100 guns each than one attack with 200 guns.

Quick Note on Fort Battles:

Battles happen in rounds, and every round you can only attack with up to 4x the men of the defending force. Forts deflect about 45-60% of your attack, and then forts can absorb another 45-60% of your damage until they are destroyed. So the defenders take only about 25%. Cannons will constantly batter the forts each round, so the longer the combat lasts the better.
Note, if you lose you suffer desertion, another 10-30% losses. I think, if you a attacking a strong position you should be using about 100 guns, and no sepoys, to consistently knock down forts.

Should I upgrade my lands?

Question: I was wondering how you cultivate a tiles resource. Is it simply by upgrading the development level of that tile or do you automatically cultivate it when captured. And do they bring in more money per turn like if it’s a gold tile?

Answer: After you conquer a land, the land development level does not automatically match your level. If it is under developed then you will need to upgrade it. You may upgrade this land up to your nation's level. This will open more purchase options and rise the number of factories that can grow in the land. As you should know factories increase the income of the land and also earn more development points for your tech level. I always upgrade the lands as I take them especially at the start of the game because you are desperate short of money and the upgrade costs are minimal. But as your development level gets higher, the upgrade costs get very expensive, so I would only upgrade the important lands that are well defended. You can earn anything up to $500/turn in Shanghai at level 5 which has a population of 35mil, but the upgrade costs is enormous.

Off-Line Play

Question: I have the free version now, but if I pay for the full app, can I play it offline?  I travel on planes quite a bit and don’t always have access to internet.

Answer: Yes, you can play off-line with the paid version.

Ships and trade

Question: I’ve been playing the scramble for Africa stage and a few times that I was friendly with France, I placed some ships in their sea lanes just to facilitate movement and trade.  However, a few times the French announced they weren’t friendly with me and my ships in those sea lanes all disappeared.  Where did they go?  Also, is there any way to trade with off map countries on this level? You must also maintain this connection for trade to continue.

Answer: Your ships should retreat to an adjacent sea/land area or to you capital. You can only trade with someone if you have either an adjacent army or an adjacent land next to the nation you wish to trade with, and the contact with that nation can be either land or military forces.

SHIPS in harbour

Question: Do ships in a City’s harbour provide any defensive to the city when attacked?  Is there any way for the ships to attack land units?

Answer: No, ships in the harbour will not defend, they will only retreat if possible when attacked.