General strategy points::
Diplomacy:
At the start of the game you are already friendly with certain nations (always the same ones.) The path of least resistance is to maintain friendship with those countries, ally with them, RM them .. the smaller ones involved you can hopefully vassalise and annex later in the game. Similarly you have some nations which are enemies to start with - decide early whether you want to turn them into friends, or build up troops to stand against them. If you have a "permanent Casus Belli" against any european country, it means they hold some territory which is historically yours, and which you can take back without penalties by warfare. Remember also that if you expand
too quickly or aggressively, all Europe will perceive you as a threat, and will begin to fight you simultaneously to try to cut you down to size. Unless you have a seriously huge army and a very high stability, you do NOT want this to happen. Don't over-reach yourself with your expansion plans. The objective is not to conquer the entire
map (although this can be done. The fact that it can be done is evidence that the game engine doesn't make big empires difficult enough to control... there should be a law of diminishing returns.)
Bear in mind the expiry date of your alliance: keep enough diplomats in reserve to initiate it again quickly, before the former members find new partners.
Trade:
You should send your merchants to the CoTs which are :nearest, because cheapest: least competitive (few countries have traders there) and largest in value. Usually any CoT which is one of these,isn't the other two. You have to figure out which is the better choice (you can use auto-send, but the AI isn't very competent at
making the choice. Moreover, even when you have all the merchants placed that are any use, the AI keeps on sending more and more merchants to places like Venice, where they will be kicked out one day after establishing themselves, thereby wasting money continuously.)
Infrastructure:
You only have three basic upgrades, tax collector, chief judge and governor. Since governors combat inflation, never build more than you need to bring inflation back down to 0 (each governor cuts it by 1.)
Build tax collectors in every province, unless differing religion means that province is a rebellion risk (you can handle two religions, but not three very easily, and four is nightmarish. This should also be in mind when you consider which provinces you might want to take from other countries.)
Build chief judges everywhere you can (ie. everywhere that has tax collectors.) But, don't spend so much on promoting these guys that you neglect your army and get squished by your neighbours. You have to keep juggling priorities.
Colonies and trading posts:
Certain nations historically did well in certain areas: Spain in central america and the caribbean, Portugal in Brazil and Indonesia, Holland in Indonesia, England and France in north america, etc. Those nations will be more apt to build colonies in those areas than anywhere else. Bear this in mind when deciding where to place colonists.
Also, nations which historically built more for trade than for colonies, are more adept at building trading posts than
colonies. If you are a very poor nation, or have very few colonists, you don't want to waste them on low-probability sites .. look for the easiest options, even if they are low trade or production value.
If native aggression is low, there is a chance of incorporating them into the city: if very low, a good chance. But weigh this possibility against the risk of them damaging, taking over, or wiping outcompletely, your settlement. Spain, Holland, England - rich nations with lots of colonists - can afford to risk this. Small, poor, and colony-deprived nations (Austria, Portugal in the early period) cannot. Use conquistadors and explorers to your advantage, if you have any: placing them in existing colonies will boost the chances of a successful increase in size, and a conquistador in a non-colonised province also increases your success rate. If your countryis not likely to gain colonists for a large part of the early game (Austria, Poland) then don't worry about what's going on in the rest of the world: focus on improving your own infrastructure and defending, or carefully expanding, your borders. If you have a large number of colonists (Spain, Portugal) it's worth trying to "lock out" an area (Spain in north america, for instance, Portugal in India possibly) so that you can colonise/annex the interior at leisure and without fear of
competition.
Warfare:
I'm no great tactician, I'll leave that to others. There is at least one sticky thread in the FAQ section that helps explain combat tactics (and there is Huszics' FAQ for those who like to work on raw numbers.) But I can talk about general war strategy.
First of all, wars are costly. Avoid them altogether where possible, unless there is a definite and easily-obtained objective in view which will make the losses worthwhile. There are nearly always better ways to spend your money than in replacing troops, no matter how much their deaths achieved. Of course, since other countries may
attack you, you cannot use this argument to avoid having an army at all.
If you are intending warfare, then you must take steps to cut down, or eliminate, the loss of stability it causes: this means gaining a Casus Belli if you don't already have one. Flooding a CoT held by your enemy can cause him to refuse your trade: this is one option. (Assuming he has sufficient trade tech to initiate an embargo.) Among the western powers, Spain and France do this readily: Holland do not. Avoid royal marriages with nations you intend
to attack, but use them to make life more difficult for countries which may attack you. Bear in mind that your enemies (-5 to -150ish relations) will accept an RM precisely because it lessens the danger of war, and if they then attack you anyway, the stability hit will damage their economy and lessen their war effort
.
Always consider taking the enemy capital if it is reasonably possible: with his capital in your hands he is likely to
consider any reasonable peace offer. When taking provinces from an enemy, consider this strategic aim as well: if you can take a province which puts you nearer his capital, he will be easier to deal with next time (eg. as England, if you can get the better of France in the early game, Picardie is a good province to own, as from there,
you can walk directly into, and besiege, Paris should they attack in the future)
Try not to enlist the aid of your allies in wars that you initiated: be strong enough to achieve your goals without them. If they become involved, they may wind up controlling the provinces you sieged, causing attrition to your troops by overloading the sieges, and various other unpleasant results. Conversely, if your allies request your help, don't overextend yourself to their benefit, since after you have taken two enemy provinces and the capital, your ally will then settle for the one province he controls, plus money, and you will gain nothing having lost large numbers of troops. By all means help to DEFEND your allies, but be wary of joining them on the offensive.
Choose your allies carefully: if you are allied to a warmonger you must constantly choose between the risk of their enemies invading your lands, or defaulting on the alliance and losing stability. If you have an enemy nation on your doorstep, try to ally with the other enemies of that nation and force them to fight a two- or three-front
war. If there are small nations friendly to yourself, ally with them in the hope of future vassalisations, and possibly annexations. Diplomatic annexation requires a land border: consider taking from your enemy those provinces which will facilitate this. Avoid taking provinces which you cannot defend, or secure from rebels, because they are isolated from your other holdings. Avoid provinces which will push you into another sphere of warfare, unless you are confident you can handle any ensuing trouble. (Is it worth cosying up to Milan, just to get involved in war between Austria and France over who controls Italy at large.)
Try to arrange your borders so that they are less at risk: For example, in 1492 Spain controls Rousillon, from which they can attack against the French in several different directions. If France can take Rousillon and Gerona, and annex Navarre (preferably by
diplomatic means) the border with Spain is considerably more defensible.
Always remember that the key to warfare is not defeating your enemy in battle: it is controlling more of his provinces than he does of yours. Unless he threatens your capital, or is taking too many of your provinces, let him be: let him besiege your province, you besiege his, and you will win the war if you are better at siege tactics than your enemy.
Always beware of attrition: avoid attacking low-supply provinces unless they are of great tactical importance. To besiege a province, move in as large an army of combined cannon and infantry as can avoid suffering from attrition, or alternatively, move in as large an army as is possible and assault the fortress rather than besieging.
Exactly how large an army makes this tactic profitable is something you will learn from experience. Conversely, you can make your enemy suffer worse attrition by cutting his supply lines: if he is in your territory, conquering the provinces which are along his line of supply will damage his armies without the need to engage them.
Be prepared for war: your enemies may attack at any time, and you cannot guarantee that war will only come when you seek it. Have your armies placed close to the likely scene of action: preferably in a position to move in and attack his provinces without having to engage his forces. If you are a naval power, consider coastal assaults:
bring in your forces by sea from an entirely unexpected direction, and you may take two or three relatively undefended provinces very early in the campaign. Conversely, consider the risk of coastal assaults against your own land: keep an army back to relieve sieges if necessary, and use your navy to patrol the waters (with
occasional trips to port to avoid attrition.)
Country-Specific Strategies:
The key here is "play to your strengths."
Russia:
Cheap infantry, and Casus Belli against all of the Khanates, make it most easy for you to expand southwards towards the Black Sea and the Siberian corridor. Beware of expanding too quickly, since Europe will begin to perceive you as a threat, and you cannot fight the Khanates, the Turk and the Europeans all at once. You have borders with several European nations, notably Poland: choose which of them will be your ally and help to defend against the others. Use the harsh winters to your advantage: declare war in late August, and the enemy will
move into your provinces in October and lose enormous numbers of troops to attrition while besieging during December, January and February. Then go on the offensive in March.
Turkey:
Cheap infantry, a conscription factory and high morale, again means that your most reliable option is warfare. You have Casus Belli on Persia and the Mamelukes, both Shia nations: also on several European countries. The Mamelukes are the weakest target among them, and the prime choice for most Turkish offensives early in the game. You have very few diplomats, so choose your allies wisely: north african powers which cannot reach you quickly to help defend your provinces, are of little use. Over time, however, you are in a position to ally with, and annex diplomatically, almost all of the Sunni nations. If you get to India before the infidel, you can become enormously rich by controlling the Muslim trade from the region. To do this, you have to go through Persia; which is most easily achieved if you don't have European troubles. On the other hand, Ragusa is a very tempting
target: a shipyard provides colonists, which early in the campaign you do not have. You must decide in which direction your expansions will lie.
Poland:
Cheap cavalry means that you can dominate the battlefield, particularly in the early and middle game, but that sieges are not your strongest point. You have winter on your side, and the points made concerning Russia apply here too. Your empire will ultimately comprise four differing religions: you cannot keep them all happy, so
somewhere, there will be a risk of rebellion. You may decide to abandon your muslim provinces to the Turk, and concentrate on expanding against Russia and/or the Teutons. Your economy needs to be strengthened early, which cannot be done if you are constantly at war: try to join a powerful alliance to help deter would-be
aggressors.
Austria:
As a landlocked nation, your ambitions for colonial power are zero. If you seek to colonise, you must have a coastline, preferably including the shipyard in Ragusa. But Venice is almost impossible to annex militarily because of all the small, heavily-fortified islands ... and diplomatically annexing Venice is a very long-term strategy. They make good allies against the Turk, and if you enlist Hungary as well you may be able to push him all the way back
to Constantinople. Your diplomatic powers are great: use your influence to good effect in Europe, where you have many friends.
Through diplomacy, it is possible to unite most, if not all Germany under your banner. You have two potentially strong allies: Spain and England, and your natural enemy is France, who will also seek to expand into central Europe. In the early game, avoid war at all costs and concentrate on strengthening your economy. With only six
provinces to improve, this won't take as long as it will for many other powers, and you can become a great force in the later period. If you do expand heavily, you will encounter religious problems, and must take care with tolerance. Avoid encompassing too many different religions in your empire: it may be better not to annex Reformist states if they will cause more trouble than benefit.
France:
You have natural enemies on both sides, Spain and England. If they unite and fight against you you will have serious problems. The English have problems of their own however: the Scots are a perennial thorn in their side. If you ally with Scotland early, you may neutralise the English: at least long enough to retake Calais and evict them from the continent. Then you are free to deal with the Spanish threat. Your natural allies are those countries around you: Savoy, Navarre, Lorraine ... countries which, by annexing through diplomacy, you can expand and secure your borders. When the Dutch rebel in the mid-16th century, sieze your chance to evict Spain
from northern Europe if possible: it may seem strange to side with the Dutch, but your enemy's enemy is your friend. If Franche-Comte and the lowlands are taken from Spain, you have little to fear from them in future. Your natural colonial target is North America. If you expand into the Caribbean, Africa or South America and remain Catholic, the Spanish and Portuguese can simply walk in and take over while Tordesillas is in effect. In North America, you will again be in competition with England: if you remain allied to the Scots and help them to weaken the English, your path will be easier in the colonies.
England:
You also have enemies on two sides, Scotland and France. Eliminating the Scots early, or bringing them wholly onto your side, is vital if you are to survive much into the 16th century. Thereafter you have a choice: England can grow strong by abandoning Europe and seeking her fortune in the colonies. Alternatively, by keeping your alliance with Spain and befriending her, you can expand from Calais further into France, and also reduce the French ability to compete with you in North America. You will then have a choice: whether to remain Catholic as a friend of Spain, or to turn toward the German states as Protestant, or Reformist. Either policy can lead to success: but if you intend to switch, do it early, invest heavily in recovering stability, and be ready to bring the German states into alliance with you as they convert. You may need all of them to defend against France and Spain, both now your enemies of religion. When the Dutch appear, they are a natural ally on the continent: but they may be a serious competitor in the colonies. Power in Europe, or power from the rest of the world: the choice is yours.
Portugal:
Your potential is enormous, but you begin the game small and weak. If you do not secure allies quickly, you are at the mercy of the Spanish, and the natural choice is France. If the French can keep Spain busy in the lowlands and northern Iberia, your future is assured.
The Treaty of Tordesillas means any catholic colony in Brazil, Africa, or parts of Indonesia and Indo-China is yours
simply by walking in and taking it. Make use of this: you don't need to colonise everywhere yourself, you can allow France, or Spain, to do so and reap the rewards of their labour. Conversely, if you colonise any Spanish-granted land, you must defend and fortify it as soon as is practical. Your chief goal is Asia: only the riches
there can make you dominant in Europe. You will grow strong by avoiding wars, and developing your spice and chinaware holdings as much as possible: try to build at least one strong city on the Indian coastline, as a springboard to conquering India. This is best achieved by allying with two Indian nations against the third: once
you have annexed one of the three, you are in a position to fight the other two. Alternatively, you may turn against the Chinese, also an incredibly rich target.
Spain:
Spain is unquestionably the Great Power of the early 15th century. Once you have annexed Granada (which should take precisely two months - walk straight in and assault the province) you can concentrate on locating, colonising, and taking over the Americas. Everything from Mexico southwards, with the exception of Brazil, is
yours for the taking: you have a permanent Casus Belli against the Aztecs and Incas, neither of whom build fortresses, and if any Catholic nation impertinent enough to build a colony in this area you can walk straight in and take it back. You produce enough annual colonists to make a serious attempt to "lock out" the whole of the
American continent: if you have colonies or trading posts over the whole coastline, and the Great Lakes, before losing Holland, it leaves you 250 years to colonise the interior at your leisures. Be aggressive in trade, as well as in warfare: new Centres of Trade will appear in the New World, and also in Africa and Indo-China as people move into those areas. Control these if you can: and try to secure monopolies in as many as possible. The riches available to you are vast beyond imagining.
Diplomacy:
At the start of the game you are already friendly with certain nations (always the same ones.) The path of least resistance is to maintain friendship with those countries, ally with them, RM them .. the smaller ones involved you can hopefully vassalise and annex later in the game. Similarly you have some nations which are enemies to start with - decide early whether you want to turn them into friends, or build up troops to stand against them. If you have a "permanent Casus Belli" against any european country, it means they hold some territory which is historically yours, and which you can take back without penalties by warfare. Remember also that if you expand
too quickly or aggressively, all Europe will perceive you as a threat, and will begin to fight you simultaneously to try to cut you down to size. Unless you have a seriously huge army and a very high stability, you do NOT want this to happen. Don't over-reach yourself with your expansion plans. The objective is not to conquer the entire
map (although this can be done. The fact that it can be done is evidence that the game engine doesn't make big empires difficult enough to control... there should be a law of diminishing returns.)
Bear in mind the expiry date of your alliance: keep enough diplomats in reserve to initiate it again quickly, before the former members find new partners.
Trade:
You should send your merchants to the CoTs which are :nearest, because cheapest: least competitive (few countries have traders there) and largest in value. Usually any CoT which is one of these,isn't the other two. You have to figure out which is the better choice (you can use auto-send, but the AI isn't very competent at
making the choice. Moreover, even when you have all the merchants placed that are any use, the AI keeps on sending more and more merchants to places like Venice, where they will be kicked out one day after establishing themselves, thereby wasting money continuously.)
Infrastructure:
You only have three basic upgrades, tax collector, chief judge and governor. Since governors combat inflation, never build more than you need to bring inflation back down to 0 (each governor cuts it by 1.)
Build tax collectors in every province, unless differing religion means that province is a rebellion risk (you can handle two religions, but not three very easily, and four is nightmarish. This should also be in mind when you consider which provinces you might want to take from other countries.)
Build chief judges everywhere you can (ie. everywhere that has tax collectors.) But, don't spend so much on promoting these guys that you neglect your army and get squished by your neighbours. You have to keep juggling priorities.
Colonies and trading posts:
Certain nations historically did well in certain areas: Spain in central america and the caribbean, Portugal in Brazil and Indonesia, Holland in Indonesia, England and France in north america, etc. Those nations will be more apt to build colonies in those areas than anywhere else. Bear this in mind when deciding where to place colonists.
Also, nations which historically built more for trade than for colonies, are more adept at building trading posts than
colonies. If you are a very poor nation, or have very few colonists, you don't want to waste them on low-probability sites .. look for the easiest options, even if they are low trade or production value.
If native aggression is low, there is a chance of incorporating them into the city: if very low, a good chance. But weigh this possibility against the risk of them damaging, taking over, or wiping outcompletely, your settlement. Spain, Holland, England - rich nations with lots of colonists - can afford to risk this. Small, poor, and colony-deprived nations (Austria, Portugal in the early period) cannot. Use conquistadors and explorers to your advantage, if you have any: placing them in existing colonies will boost the chances of a successful increase in size, and a conquistador in a non-colonised province also increases your success rate. If your countryis not likely to gain colonists for a large part of the early game (Austria, Poland) then don't worry about what's going on in the rest of the world: focus on improving your own infrastructure and defending, or carefully expanding, your borders. If you have a large number of colonists (Spain, Portugal) it's worth trying to "lock out" an area (Spain in north america, for instance, Portugal in India possibly) so that you can colonise/annex the interior at leisure and without fear of
competition.
Warfare:
I'm no great tactician, I'll leave that to others. There is at least one sticky thread in the FAQ section that helps explain combat tactics (and there is Huszics' FAQ for those who like to work on raw numbers.) But I can talk about general war strategy.
First of all, wars are costly. Avoid them altogether where possible, unless there is a definite and easily-obtained objective in view which will make the losses worthwhile. There are nearly always better ways to spend your money than in replacing troops, no matter how much their deaths achieved. Of course, since other countries may
attack you, you cannot use this argument to avoid having an army at all.
If you are intending warfare, then you must take steps to cut down, or eliminate, the loss of stability it causes: this means gaining a Casus Belli if you don't already have one. Flooding a CoT held by your enemy can cause him to refuse your trade: this is one option. (Assuming he has sufficient trade tech to initiate an embargo.) Among the western powers, Spain and France do this readily: Holland do not. Avoid royal marriages with nations you intend
to attack, but use them to make life more difficult for countries which may attack you. Bear in mind that your enemies (-5 to -150ish relations) will accept an RM precisely because it lessens the danger of war, and if they then attack you anyway, the stability hit will damage their economy and lessen their war effort
.
Always consider taking the enemy capital if it is reasonably possible: with his capital in your hands he is likely to
consider any reasonable peace offer. When taking provinces from an enemy, consider this strategic aim as well: if you can take a province which puts you nearer his capital, he will be easier to deal with next time (eg. as England, if you can get the better of France in the early game, Picardie is a good province to own, as from there,
you can walk directly into, and besiege, Paris should they attack in the future)
Try not to enlist the aid of your allies in wars that you initiated: be strong enough to achieve your goals without them. If they become involved, they may wind up controlling the provinces you sieged, causing attrition to your troops by overloading the sieges, and various other unpleasant results. Conversely, if your allies request your help, don't overextend yourself to their benefit, since after you have taken two enemy provinces and the capital, your ally will then settle for the one province he controls, plus money, and you will gain nothing having lost large numbers of troops. By all means help to DEFEND your allies, but be wary of joining them on the offensive.
Choose your allies carefully: if you are allied to a warmonger you must constantly choose between the risk of their enemies invading your lands, or defaulting on the alliance and losing stability. If you have an enemy nation on your doorstep, try to ally with the other enemies of that nation and force them to fight a two- or three-front
war. If there are small nations friendly to yourself, ally with them in the hope of future vassalisations, and possibly annexations. Diplomatic annexation requires a land border: consider taking from your enemy those provinces which will facilitate this. Avoid taking provinces which you cannot defend, or secure from rebels, because they are isolated from your other holdings. Avoid provinces which will push you into another sphere of warfare, unless you are confident you can handle any ensuing trouble. (Is it worth cosying up to Milan, just to get involved in war between Austria and France over who controls Italy at large.)
Try to arrange your borders so that they are less at risk: For example, in 1492 Spain controls Rousillon, from which they can attack against the French in several different directions. If France can take Rousillon and Gerona, and annex Navarre (preferably by
diplomatic means) the border with Spain is considerably more defensible.
Always remember that the key to warfare is not defeating your enemy in battle: it is controlling more of his provinces than he does of yours. Unless he threatens your capital, or is taking too many of your provinces, let him be: let him besiege your province, you besiege his, and you will win the war if you are better at siege tactics than your enemy.
Always beware of attrition: avoid attacking low-supply provinces unless they are of great tactical importance. To besiege a province, move in as large an army of combined cannon and infantry as can avoid suffering from attrition, or alternatively, move in as large an army as is possible and assault the fortress rather than besieging.
Exactly how large an army makes this tactic profitable is something you will learn from experience. Conversely, you can make your enemy suffer worse attrition by cutting his supply lines: if he is in your territory, conquering the provinces which are along his line of supply will damage his armies without the need to engage them.
Be prepared for war: your enemies may attack at any time, and you cannot guarantee that war will only come when you seek it. Have your armies placed close to the likely scene of action: preferably in a position to move in and attack his provinces without having to engage his forces. If you are a naval power, consider coastal assaults:
bring in your forces by sea from an entirely unexpected direction, and you may take two or three relatively undefended provinces very early in the campaign. Conversely, consider the risk of coastal assaults against your own land: keep an army back to relieve sieges if necessary, and use your navy to patrol the waters (with
occasional trips to port to avoid attrition.)
Country-Specific Strategies:
The key here is "play to your strengths."
Russia:
Cheap infantry, and Casus Belli against all of the Khanates, make it most easy for you to expand southwards towards the Black Sea and the Siberian corridor. Beware of expanding too quickly, since Europe will begin to perceive you as a threat, and you cannot fight the Khanates, the Turk and the Europeans all at once. You have borders with several European nations, notably Poland: choose which of them will be your ally and help to defend against the others. Use the harsh winters to your advantage: declare war in late August, and the enemy will
move into your provinces in October and lose enormous numbers of troops to attrition while besieging during December, January and February. Then go on the offensive in March.
Turkey:
Cheap infantry, a conscription factory and high morale, again means that your most reliable option is warfare. You have Casus Belli on Persia and the Mamelukes, both Shia nations: also on several European countries. The Mamelukes are the weakest target among them, and the prime choice for most Turkish offensives early in the game. You have very few diplomats, so choose your allies wisely: north african powers which cannot reach you quickly to help defend your provinces, are of little use. Over time, however, you are in a position to ally with, and annex diplomatically, almost all of the Sunni nations. If you get to India before the infidel, you can become enormously rich by controlling the Muslim trade from the region. To do this, you have to go through Persia; which is most easily achieved if you don't have European troubles. On the other hand, Ragusa is a very tempting
target: a shipyard provides colonists, which early in the campaign you do not have. You must decide in which direction your expansions will lie.
Poland:
Cheap cavalry means that you can dominate the battlefield, particularly in the early and middle game, but that sieges are not your strongest point. You have winter on your side, and the points made concerning Russia apply here too. Your empire will ultimately comprise four differing religions: you cannot keep them all happy, so
somewhere, there will be a risk of rebellion. You may decide to abandon your muslim provinces to the Turk, and concentrate on expanding against Russia and/or the Teutons. Your economy needs to be strengthened early, which cannot be done if you are constantly at war: try to join a powerful alliance to help deter would-be
aggressors.
Austria:
As a landlocked nation, your ambitions for colonial power are zero. If you seek to colonise, you must have a coastline, preferably including the shipyard in Ragusa. But Venice is almost impossible to annex militarily because of all the small, heavily-fortified islands ... and diplomatically annexing Venice is a very long-term strategy. They make good allies against the Turk, and if you enlist Hungary as well you may be able to push him all the way back
to Constantinople. Your diplomatic powers are great: use your influence to good effect in Europe, where you have many friends.
Through diplomacy, it is possible to unite most, if not all Germany under your banner. You have two potentially strong allies: Spain and England, and your natural enemy is France, who will also seek to expand into central Europe. In the early game, avoid war at all costs and concentrate on strengthening your economy. With only six
provinces to improve, this won't take as long as it will for many other powers, and you can become a great force in the later period. If you do expand heavily, you will encounter religious problems, and must take care with tolerance. Avoid encompassing too many different religions in your empire: it may be better not to annex Reformist states if they will cause more trouble than benefit.
France:
You have natural enemies on both sides, Spain and England. If they unite and fight against you you will have serious problems. The English have problems of their own however: the Scots are a perennial thorn in their side. If you ally with Scotland early, you may neutralise the English: at least long enough to retake Calais and evict them from the continent. Then you are free to deal with the Spanish threat. Your natural allies are those countries around you: Savoy, Navarre, Lorraine ... countries which, by annexing through diplomacy, you can expand and secure your borders. When the Dutch rebel in the mid-16th century, sieze your chance to evict Spain
from northern Europe if possible: it may seem strange to side with the Dutch, but your enemy's enemy is your friend. If Franche-Comte and the lowlands are taken from Spain, you have little to fear from them in future. Your natural colonial target is North America. If you expand into the Caribbean, Africa or South America and remain Catholic, the Spanish and Portuguese can simply walk in and take over while Tordesillas is in effect. In North America, you will again be in competition with England: if you remain allied to the Scots and help them to weaken the English, your path will be easier in the colonies.
England:
You also have enemies on two sides, Scotland and France. Eliminating the Scots early, or bringing them wholly onto your side, is vital if you are to survive much into the 16th century. Thereafter you have a choice: England can grow strong by abandoning Europe and seeking her fortune in the colonies. Alternatively, by keeping your alliance with Spain and befriending her, you can expand from Calais further into France, and also reduce the French ability to compete with you in North America. You will then have a choice: whether to remain Catholic as a friend of Spain, or to turn toward the German states as Protestant, or Reformist. Either policy can lead to success: but if you intend to switch, do it early, invest heavily in recovering stability, and be ready to bring the German states into alliance with you as they convert. You may need all of them to defend against France and Spain, both now your enemies of religion. When the Dutch appear, they are a natural ally on the continent: but they may be a serious competitor in the colonies. Power in Europe, or power from the rest of the world: the choice is yours.
Portugal:
Your potential is enormous, but you begin the game small and weak. If you do not secure allies quickly, you are at the mercy of the Spanish, and the natural choice is France. If the French can keep Spain busy in the lowlands and northern Iberia, your future is assured.
The Treaty of Tordesillas means any catholic colony in Brazil, Africa, or parts of Indonesia and Indo-China is yours
simply by walking in and taking it. Make use of this: you don't need to colonise everywhere yourself, you can allow France, or Spain, to do so and reap the rewards of their labour. Conversely, if you colonise any Spanish-granted land, you must defend and fortify it as soon as is practical. Your chief goal is Asia: only the riches
there can make you dominant in Europe. You will grow strong by avoiding wars, and developing your spice and chinaware holdings as much as possible: try to build at least one strong city on the Indian coastline, as a springboard to conquering India. This is best achieved by allying with two Indian nations against the third: once
you have annexed one of the three, you are in a position to fight the other two. Alternatively, you may turn against the Chinese, also an incredibly rich target.
Spain:
Spain is unquestionably the Great Power of the early 15th century. Once you have annexed Granada (which should take precisely two months - walk straight in and assault the province) you can concentrate on locating, colonising, and taking over the Americas. Everything from Mexico southwards, with the exception of Brazil, is
yours for the taking: you have a permanent Casus Belli against the Aztecs and Incas, neither of whom build fortresses, and if any Catholic nation impertinent enough to build a colony in this area you can walk straight in and take it back. You produce enough annual colonists to make a serious attempt to "lock out" the whole of the
American continent: if you have colonies or trading posts over the whole coastline, and the Great Lakes, before losing Holland, it leaves you 250 years to colonise the interior at your leisures. Be aggressive in trade, as well as in warfare: new Centres of Trade will appear in the New World, and also in Africa and Indo-China as people move into those areas. Control these if you can: and try to secure monopolies in as many as possible. The riches available to you are vast beyond imagining.
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