TIPS AND TACTICS
Forts and defending.
Things to consider when defending, in this French and Indian war game forts will only give protection to garrisons and recruits. Armies are considered outside of the fort. Armies will only get a defence bonus from the forests but that is it. If you are defending against a strong army then it’s best to move your army into the fort to get the fort bonus and bolster the defence strength. But if a fort does get captured then all forces in the fort will surrender. Armies outside of a fort can retreat. If an army attacks a location that has an army and garrison then the defending army will always be attacked first before the fort/garrison.
The Quebec scenario.
The Quebec Scenario is easy to get started but as time goes on becomes more difficult as more Indian tribes come into contact with you. On the very first turn send out 3-4 50 man armies to scout and own as much land as possible. With one main army of 1,200 men sent that army out to capture and destroy Indian tribes. To win the game you need a large French population, by destroying Indian tribes your colony will absorb about 25% of that destroyed tribe, don’t destroy any tribes that are of the same tribe/nation that you want to keep friends with!. Think about destroying the Algonquins to east as this will secure your backdoor. Keep building homesteads and settlements as you go to build up your population and income. There is a silver resource close to you settlement so this must be taken quickly and mined as its a good source of income. The Ottawa River is a good boundary for you budding colony. Keep friendly with the Indians as long as you can but as you get larger the Indians will want to invade you, especially in the harder level. If possible build a line of settlements and stockades from Hudson Bay down alone the Ottawa River, easier said than done but it is possible. Keep adding homesteads and you will find your population growing quickly. When settlements start to come under attack start adding colonists into them as this will instantly add 100 recruits with each 1000 colonists. One other thing to watch is the other Indian nations population, each games setup is randomized, so some tribes may have greater numbers that others and a large Indian nation can be a tough rival. Keep your eye on the natives friendship level, loyally is a fickle thing so don’t trust them too much. Good luck.
Giving aid to friends and allies.
If you have a friend (or ally) and he is in a war, and you want to help him but you don’t want your nation to get involved, then you can help by giving financial aid or military assistance. Using the ‘Give gift’ option you give food and money which they can use to fund their war. Another type of aid is giving troops. To do this you need to move an army onto one of your friends land’s and transfer troops from your army into that land. He can then use them how he wants even to attack you! so be careful.
Mood.
Mood is shown in your diplomacy screen. Its a level of animosity that other nations show towards your nation. The normal state is set at ‘OK’ but if you have attacked a nation or taken land or towns off a nation then that nations mood level will grow worst. Nation’s mood level will heal over time. If you see a a bad it could show "revenge!”, then that nation will target you as his main adversary.
Importance of your reputation.
I glossed over the importance of your reputation in the tutorial but it does have a huge impact on how other nations feel about you. You don’t want to be in the situation where you military genius has got you on the verge of victory, then all of a sudden, all the might of your neighboring nations come down on you. So here is some points to remember.
When you destroy tribes/villages/settlements that are not of your race then this act will create animosity between your nation and that of the ruined village nation.
When you conquer important lands or attack other armies can create animosity.
On the same account, if you lose important lands to these same nations then the vengeance will be sated and so the animosity between your nations will decrease.
Your reputation is calculated from all the other nations animosity(mood) level’s. So if you have created many enemies then your reputation will be very low.
All nations consider your reputation level when making choices as to who they will consider friends and who they will make war with.
Remember, Some nations will always have a dislike towards your nation, and other nations will like your nation. It can be noticeable if you have dealt with them for some time.
Giving gifts to another nation can lower their animosity(mood) towards you, but this is expensive and not reliable.
As you grow stronger other nations will distrust you, and as you get closer to winning you will find that even your best friends will start to dislike you, regardless of your reputation.
Speed up the Game.
If you are playing the ‘Discover the New World’ scenario, ts advisable to turn OFF the animations. This will speed up the game about 5 times faster. If you are wondering what a nation is doing it is handy to turn on the animations for a number of turns. You can turn off the animations during the Ai turn but you will need to keep tapping the MENU button until the game recognises your gestures because of the skip process.