IMPERIALISM Game Economic analysis and Strategy Guide version 1.02 September, 25th 1998 by Mircea-Valer PAUCA "Magister", Romania (mpauca@fx.ro) PART 0. INTRODUCTION ==================== I was for some years and still am a great fan of simulation games of all kinds: economic, military and grand- strategic. Out of this passion, combined with my official background as a student of economics, came a very calculated style of play, successfully proven in all sorts of strategic games (like Civ, Civ2, MOO) and wargames. I have played mainly against the computer, but many principles of decision would be useful against the best human player in the world. In the game of Imperialism, diplomatic influence and military might comes only at great cost, so you will first need a strong economic base for your empire. The economy will need to GROW, and grow FAST, much faster than competing powers. This guide assumes you know the basic rules of the game and have played it at least once to grasp the mechanics. If you are bored by numbers, you can jump directly to Part II - strategies and tips for play. PART I. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ========================= This part will be mainly a listing of costs and internal 'prices' for various things in the game. They can guide your decisions better, making the differences between them clearer. Again, if you are bored by numbers, please skip to Part II. The game mechanism illustrates very well the concepts of: - Bottlenecks (one or more types of resources too scarce, blocking the use of others) - Opportunity cost (having to withdraw some resources from some use to use them for something else instead). Since all economic activities in this game (production, land improvement, training, buys/sales) have their effects delayed by at least 1 turn, it is of very much use applying a factor of actualization. It means how much more is worth some resource now than 1 turn later, and can be used in compound interest calculations. The adequate factor can approach, but not exceed the maximum sustainable growth rate, which is somewhere between 4% and 5%. I assumed the factor at 4% per season (equivalent to 17 % per year) for the essential expansion period in the mid- game, when goods sell well. If at a certain rate of interest the profit is very small, it means that growth can be still faster. The theoretical 'internal rate of return' (IRR) is that at which profits will be zero - all goes to growth. These thrifty calculations ensure that every resource is put to its best possible use, now and over each period of time, and real bankers in the real world use the same type of reasoning. I.0) Assumed Prices for wares in warehouse, now ----------------------------------------------- 150 ... 1 raw material (timber, wool/cotton, coal/iron) This includes possible buying price (104) + transport use + interest 500 ... 1 product (lumber, paper, fabric, steel) (price (350) + transport + interest + "scarcity bonus") (because you can't buy steel whenever you want it) 1250 ... 1 finished goods (furniture, clothes, hardware/arms) (sale price (1342) - interest - transport) 100 ... Canned food (imported at 60 + transport + interest) 4 % ... Assumed interest per turn (season), compounds to 17 % ... Assumed interest per year From these one can calculate the following costs: I.1) Industrial --------------- 1000 ... Industry capacity expansion, per unit 40 ..... rental for its use for 1 turn (1000 x .04) 1134 ... Railway capacity, per unit (labor=67, see below) 45 ..... use for 1 turn (1140 x .04) 50 ... Food for 1 laborer (1/2 Grain, 1/4 vegetable, 1/4 meat) mostly railway transport + improvements if scarce usually abundant as a by-product of connecting other resources 5000 ... 1 Indiaman (capacity 4) 1250 ... investment per unit of capacity 50 ... unit transport cost, using Indiaman. In the same way one can calculate: 40 ... transport - Clipper 28 ... transport - Paddlewheeler 18 ... transport - Freighter 2600 ... 1 Untrained worker, recruited 3304 ... 1 Trained worker | this includes paper, training costs 5436 ... 1 Expert worker | and interest for the training delay 154 ... 1 labor unit, using Untrained workers (2600 x .04 + 50) 91 ... 1 labor unit, using Trained workers (2 units of labor) (3304 x .04 + 50)/2 67 ... 1 labor unit, using Expert workers (4 units of labor) (5436 x .04 + 50)/4 7 ... Profit from processing 2 raw materials into 1 intermediary 500 - 1.04 x (2 x 150 + 2 x 67 + 40) product interest material work capital 28 ... Profit from processing 2 intermediary goods into 1 finished 1250 / 1.04 - (2 x 500 + 2 x 67 + 40) 42 ... Profit from industrial processing, whole chain (4 raw > 2 intermediary > 1 finished product) 174 ... 1 canned food, if manufactured internally (2 x 50 + 67) x 1.04 400 ... Maximum price at which to use Fuel (giving 6 labor) 345 ... Buy Fuel if cheaper than this 105 ... Maximum price at which to have Oil in stock 61 ... Buy Oil if cheaper than this I.2) Land Development --------------------- 7154 ... Prospector (Expert, paper, training cost, interest) 7654 ... Forester, Rancher or Farmer 8154 ... Miner 8654 ... Engineer 11654 .. Driller 286 ... Prospector's work for 1 turn (7154 x .04) 306 ... Forester, Rancher or Farmer's work 326 ... Miner's work 346 ... Engineer's work 466 ... Driller's work 4714 ... Building a Port (4 turns Engineer work, 3000 cost all increased with compound interest) 189 ... "Rental due each turn" for using the port (4714 x .04) 6068 ... Railroad Depot, connected with 4 squares of track (8 turns Engineer, 4x150 track, 2000 cost, interest) 243 ... "Rental due each turn" 99 ... "Internal revenue" for a resource to be connected (internal price 150 - rail transport - interest) 1063 ... Level I improvement (forester, rancher, farmer) 43 ... "rental" for it, giving 1 more resource 56 ... "profit" each turn for its existence 2037 ... Level II improvement (forester, rancher) 81 ... "rental" giving 1 more resource 18 ... "profit" each turn for its existence 6425 ... Level III improvement (mine) 257 ... "rental" giving 2 more resources 129 ... cost of additional coal/iron 173 ... "Profit" each turn for having a resource square (hardwood, cotton or wool) improved at level II not including connecting to transport network = 99 + 56 + 18 first 2nd 3rd resource 205 ... same profit, including using the material in manufacture (173 + 3/4 * 42) I.3) Military ------------- 1875 ... 1 "cannon" incorporated into units, ground or naval ( 1250 + 25 / 0.04 ) hardware forgone + maintenance cost for a long time 5000 ... Regulars. Mainstay of army until 1840 or so 6200 ... Grenadier. Best per limited logistic capacity, even after 1840 e.g. for naval landings 4900 ... Hussar. Also nice to have to take first losses or pursue 6000 ... Cuirassier. Powerful, to be committed later in battle 8400 ... Horse Artillery. Don't think it's worth 8100 ... Artillery. For sieges, but VERY vulnerable, keep it protected 14200 ... Sapper. Don't know how to use him at full worth 9400 ... Sharpshooters (BIG surprise effect at 1837 or so) --- 9400 ... Rifle Infantry. Most bang for the buck 11100 ... Guards. Same as for Grenadier (2nd technology cavalry ... less useful for its era) --- 15800 ... Siege Artillery. More vulnerable compared to its worth 21600 ... Mobile Artillery. Very useful, and quite resistant 27300 ... Railroad Gun. For sieges and deterring counterattack --- 15800 ... Infantry , also Rangers. Resilient but bulky for landings 17800 ... Machine Gunners --- 17800 ... Mech Infantry 33000 ... Armor. King of the Hill 7498 ... Fort, level I (5000 + 5 turns Engineer + interest) 10310 ... Fort, level II (7500++) 13122 ... Fort, level III (10000++) 2772 ... Conquering 1 territory, weak tech I defense (4 Minutemen) (3 turn's usage of 3 Regulars + 1 Artillery) 5280 ... Conquering 1 territory tech II (4 Militia) 8964 ... Conquering 1 territory tech III (4 Conscripts) For naval units, if the fight goes according to the Lanchester square law, an appropriate 'usage value' for one ship, comparable to its price, would be: Value = SQRT (Firepower * Armor * Hull) This doesn't include range (who fires first) and speed (tactical flexibility to seek or avoid combat, and strategic flexibility for redeployment). Cost Value Buck/Bang 7300 32.4 225 ... Frigate 15000 88.3 170 ... Ship-of-the-Line 10200 42.4 240 ... Raider. Very flexible, really worth some 0.8 of a SL 16900 117 144 ... Ironclad 40500 205 198 ... Ironclad Battleship (also called Advanced Ironclad) 22200 110 203 ... Armored Cruiser 54800 298 184 ... Battlecruiser 70000 401 174 ... Battleship I.4) Raising the Final Score ---------------------------- 10pts ... ??? ... Winning a territory as your colony (hard to calculate) 10pts ... Conquering a territory, see above 277-896 per point 1 pt ... 438 ... Merchant fleet, using Freighter 1 pt ... 688 ... Merchant fleet, using Paddlewheeler 1 pt ... 1000 ... Industrial capacity 1 pt ... 1134 ... Internal transport 1 pt ... 1788 ... Labor (1/4 Expert Worker) 1 pt ... 2700-3400 ... Navy, 1 "cannon"'s worth, just having it 1 pt ... 3300-6200 ... Army, 1 "cannon"'s worth, just having it multiplied according to difficulty level: Introductory x 1 Easy x 1.5 Normal x 2 Hard x 2.5 Nigh-on-Impossible x 3 PART II. Magister's Strategy Guide ================================== II.1) The very early game ------------------------- The economy your country is given at start of a game is not harmonious. The aim in this phase is to get the economy working, with a balance between the following elements: - flow of materials connected to transport network - specialists further connecting and improving resources - a flow of increasing future flows of materials - internal transport capacity - factory capacity - labor force - stock of materials at all stages to keep factories working smooth - stock of cash for imports, land development, training etc. - merchant fleet for all worthwhile exports and imports - your land (abundant at start, later your conquests and colonies) Bottlenecks are at start: - in random games - difficult settings: industry (none!), connected raw material squares (only around capital), merchant fleet (4). Labor (12) and transport (15) are in excess for the first turns. - in historical scenarios: railway capacity, labor, some resources, merchant fleet (depends on country and scenario) The restricting parts of a balanced economy should be the most expensive and slow to build elements: connected resources and labor. All others should be slightly in excess. Note that labor, industrial capacity and merchant fleet cannot be stocked if left unused, but their products can. The biggest loss is from unemployment of labor, so avoid it more. Examine the initial stocks in the warehouse with the most care, for they may be the only cushion to keep the economy going in the first turns. Get to know well the economic rules (they are deterministic) and plan everything 2-3 turns in advance: when you will need money for development, when to forego development for exports, when you need labor - that means having furniture, clothing, paper, money at right times. Get a small industrial capacity (in the wood and metal branches) to become independent from other powers, and enough internal transport (railway cars) to bring ALL resources into stock (except food much more than your workers eat and horses more than military use). This is essential and has some priority even before exports. A small excess of railway capacity can't hurt, because if you stock food, later you can temporarily bring more other resources while consuming food from stock. Money will be the limiting factor for your beginning development. To get it, aim for exports while not sacrificing essential growth. Mainly you will sell the value of your labor to Minor Nations. If naval transport and labor are sufficient, start directly the full cycle: import raw materials -> materials -> finished goods -> export If naval transport and labor are too restricted, you can buy directly intermediary goods (fabric, lumber, steel). Hope that some other power is willing to sell you the steel. Help another human player only for mutual benefit or good diplomatic relations, otherwise don't :-) Switch to buying coal/iron only when you put at least one mine in own territory and need the complementary product from import. Train all your workers to Experts if you need more labor - their services are much cheaper - before diverting Furniture and Clothing from exports to attract workers. You don't need money as is at this stage, but you really need to keep existing specialists (mainly the Engineer/s) working steadily at developing your land. The fastest way to connect some resources is to build ports (4 turns needed) in rich regions (3-5 resources at once) if you can provide the necessary cash (3000). If money accumulates, first provide for future expenditures too (say, the next port), then lower the exports and use the resources saved (lumber, steel) to build faster your internal economy. Some early diplomatic expenditures (Trade consulates - only 500 and a 5-10 % subsidy) can help much more at later stages. Building a professional army now is useless, as it burdens the economy with maintenance, you won't use it in offensive and a much more powerful, determined aggressor can't be deterred by a symbolic force. The territorial forces (Minutemen) are relatively powerful at this stage, deterring weaker attacks. Better keep a small stock of money and strategic materials (steel) to build military if really needed. Don't upset the other powers ! A large army which burdens severely the economy (Russia, 1820) is best used in an early large-scale war (e.g. with Turkey) which, at least, brings some later benefit. Meanwhile, get the economy balanced at all costs (even if selling "cannons" from stock). A large fleet (England) is best used as a threat to gain influence over other powers and minor nations, but don't start a war if you can't follow with land forces. II.2) The bulk of your power development ---------------------------------------- It will be based mainly on attracting the resources of your own land, since this gives a much bigger 'profit' than the cycle of import -> manufacture -> export Use the flow of resources which will come to you _for free_ to expand the economy in a harmonious way, as described for Phase I. The production will be aimed both at exports and to provide adequate investment: railway cars, merchant fleet and industrial capacity. As soon as enough money comes, raise specialist units, AS MANY as you can sustain their work with cash. A good guide is to set a rough deadline 25-60 turns away (6-15 years) in which to develop all worthy resources in your territory, and to stop training specialists only when you will finish much earlier than the deadline. The following are worthy: - connect all groups of (2+ resource tiles), or (1 resource + province city) or (1 mine) with Engineers - prospect all hills, mountains, and later, oil sites later also in 'partner countries' and colonies - mine all to Level II, even III (except gold) - forest, wool, cotton - all to Level I Level II if possible. Level III isn't worth it. - improvements for food - not worth the cost. Build ports and railway stations for other resources, and food will come more than enough as a by-product. Engineers can build now an extensive railway network over the country, since it will be immune to naval blockade. Use ports only for quick returns in isolated areas. If you have a resource inside the land near an isolated shore, you will need to build: - port AND rail depot at shore (7 turns, cost 5000) - depot near resources and rail link to it (4+length) turns, cost 2000+ Labor: expand the labor force, keeping the bulk of it (80- 90 %) as Expert Workers ! Keep lower-training workers only during training, or an emergency stock of Trained workers to recruit better regiments (Grenadiers, Artillery) before you recruit and train more citizens. At latter stages it's convenient to keep a steady flow of labor recruiting and training, with adequate production of paper, furniture and clothing set aside. Use fuel as labor only temporarily, to increase production while you train the workers - the cheapest long-term solution. Specialists can be disbanded (and an Expert Worker returns to the labor force) only if you forecast they will be idle for 6-8 turns. The best way to fill a gap in some resource (labor, railway) is to use all efforts towards growing it for the needed time, but beware of 'overshooting' the target and unemployment if there are delays in growth (and workers in the training pipeline) ! Slow the effort as you close to your objective. A smoother approach (build a little of this and a little of that) can get you slower to the target, but with less waste. The import - manufacture - export cycle is only marginally profitable and it's worth the while mainly for diplomatic purposes. Import critical resources to add to inadequate ones (iron or coal - mainly the one you miss, or timber for England). Adjust the trades you make towards filling exactly the ships' capacity - hint: you can see what other countries offer for trade before saying yes or no. Don't fill your ships with timber if you won't be able to get that vital iron. By now you should decide how to treat Minor Nations around you: either by conquering them one by one (which is cheaper, but beware of entering war with stronger 'protecting' powers) or attracting them with trade and nice conduct. The two don't mix well, since any aggression on a Minor Nation will lower substantially your influence on other minors. You can afford to build Trade consulates (cheap at 500) in all Minor Nations with which you have trade, even ocasionally. Build them slowly, one per turn, so that other powers aren't alarmed (it shows in the newspaper). Building them early and giving the smallest subsidy (5-10 %) to make you Most Favored Trading Partner will give you trade deals, which further improve relations. It's a self-reinforcing, positive feedback cycle in which you can enter early, enter late with substantial cost, or don't enter at all. Make symbolic deals (buy 1 of each product from each country) even if you don't need the good. Finding a market (country to sell your products) usually isn't difficult, but getting the materials you need most can be. Embassies are quite expensive early on (5000) and should be made on your countries of main expansion effort. Offer immediately a Non-aggression Pact if you don't ever intend to invade, and start giving 'grants'/bribes. This has strongly decreasing returns to scale (grants of 1K, 3K, 5K and 10K have apparently effects proportional to 1, 2, 3 or 4). A small effort (grant of 1K/turn, 5-10% subsidy), if unopposed by other powers, is much more effective than a large effort in competition with them. Try to get at least one 'color level' in relations ahead of other powers with as many Minor Nations your economy can afford. When relations with any country reach white-grey (2 levels before max) a Developer will appear, which can buy concessions in any country with which you have an Embassy. Inviting Minor nations as colonies to your empire works only if relations are dark-green (max) or if they are attacked and seek protection from you. Inventions: buy them only if they will see substantial use soon. Especially useful: set-square timbering (Level II mine), steam engine? (paddlewheeler and raider), compound engines (rail through hills, Level II forest). Some inventions are pretty useless: fertilizers (Level III ranch), Power loom and others. In phases 1-2 build only the BAREST minimum of military, ground and naval, to avoid being invaded immediately. Try to stay peacefully and don't provoke other powers. The savings will accelerate your growth, and a strong economy will come handy when war will break out. If at end of Phase 2 you are 1st or 2nd in economic statistics (internal transport, labor, industry capacity, Internal Strength) and by far the last in military, you have done it about right. II.3) Building pressure ----------------------- This phase begins when you have consistent export excedent you can't use and/or all most worthy internal resources are connected and basically developed. The battle for raw materials and markets becomes harder as all powers now can make full use of them. Use Developers to buy concessions (rather expensive : 20 * price of 1 resource, but worth it if you improve production with specialists). That '3 iron' from Sweden are the raw resources but can become 4x3 = 12 iron units per turn ! Intensify diplomatic pressure on minor nations, even those in which competition has advantages. If your relation rating is equal or at most 1 color level behind, you can catch up with a subsidy up to 25 % and aggresive grants. Lower the subsidy (and gain more money) once you get a firm stronghold in that people's preferences. If a subsidy of 50 % or more is needed to get Most Favored ..., consider the minor (and all concessions and developments) as 'lost' to its protecting power and prepare for a later war to conquer it. You should get some colonies by now, but the most important part of the diplomatic effort has been made before and now you will take the benefits. It isn't too much difference between a 'partner nation' with Developers in it and a colony of yours. You still need to buy concessions, they still assure free transport, but the royalties (buying price - overseas profit) decrease (from around 30% to 12%). Colonies give you some army (older technology) are irreversible (you are sure they won't surrender your precious development to others) but still can be invaded. All your many specialists can find work in partner nations and colonies, except Engineers which connect poorer, isolated resources and towns in your country. Engineers will become vital during an offensive war, so don't disband them. When money gets sufficient, abandon first the hardware ('hammers') for export and build only "cannons" instead. Prepare for a likely war by having money, people and cannons ready, not necessarily having a large army at once. The critical resource for an army depends on technology: - people (untrained+trained) for Level I land - money for Level II land - "cannons"/steel for Level III land and all ships (iron mines controlled are the most critical resource) - coal for ships (Raider to Advanced Ironclad) - fuel for later ships and mechanized land Enter wars usually on someone else's behalf or as a result of a complex alliance system, so that penalties against you are minimal and you even improve relation with the power which requests your help. Another good moment to start war is when a decisive military technology appears and you can exploit it quicker than the enemy: Sharpshooters around 1837, Rifles and rifled artillery (1840), modern arty (1886), tanks (1893). Use the following timeline as an example: T-k -> Amass money, "cannons", recruit/train labor (if this can't be done at last moment) T-1 (Inventor offers his advance for buying) -> Buy invention -> Last-moment-build "cannons", recruit/train labor, keep money -> Declare war, if suitable -> Prepare land forces next to an enemy frontier (Force A) -> Move a fleet next to an enemy shore to invade (Force B1) T+0 (Invention available) -> Order fleet (Force B1) to establish a landing site -> Upgrade some of Force A, attack over border (Battle A) -> Build new-type units in your capital (Forces B2+C) T+1 (New forces in capital, continue building) -> Continue land advance (Battle A2) -> Invade enemy shore (Battle B) -> Move Force C to border T+2 -> Attack with Force C (Battle C) -> Continue advance from beachhead (Battle B') -> Bring reinforcements to beachhead ..... II.4) WAR ! ----------- For the first 2-3 wars watch well your diplomatic back. Enter war only with one power at a time and keep others at least neutral. Any offensive war should be well prepared in advance. Have enough units ready, scout the border with Generals, but concentrate forces one province behind the front (so that the enemy isn't alarmed), and move them to frontline provinces in the same turn as war is declared. In the late game, you can defeat almost any enemy at will. II.4.1) The naval war --------------------- This is essential to keep your economy functioning normally (no blockade) and strangle the enemy economy. As you can't control the battles, the only thing you can do is to use them in enough quantity. There is a Quadratic or Lanchester's Law which says that the SQUARES of enemy forces' values subtract from each other, if each ship does damage on an enemy ship in proportion to own remaining "hit-points". If a fleet of 5 ships meets an equal enemy fleet, both forces will grind themselves to annihilation. If your 5 ships meet 3 enemy ships, enemies will be destroyed and 4 of your ships will survive (5^2 - 3^2 = 4^2) - that is, they may survive all, but damage sums up to 1 ship's worth. Your 5 ships will wipe 2 fleets of 3 ships, but will be wiped by 1 fleet of 6 ships. This means: seek combat ('Quack' order) only if _concentrated_ and clearly superior to any enemy, as victory snowballs to the stronger side, and don't bother with side missions unless you can be superior to the potential enemy in each of them. All other moves and commerce raids must be made with greatest caution ('Prey only infirm' orders). You will need: - 1 moderate to strong fleet patrolling in front of your capital port If you are weak, this may be your only force. - 1 STRONG fleet to blockade enemy capital port. They will surely see combat and draw all the response the enemy can mount. or, if you don't have one 2-3 raiders in front of rich enemy colonies, if unguarded by their fleets, with 'Prey the weak' orders - 1-2 fleets to assist landings, if necessary. The ships may be older type. You may debark in one turn ground forces containing "cannons" up to the "cannons" contained in the support fleet. The General counts as 1 cannon. Don't let damaged ships die in further battles, withdraw them to a harbor for repair. II.4.2) Ground war - strategic ------------------------------ The main effort in all your wars should be offensive. The computer player is usually slow in taking initiative and will disperse his forces on all directions to be defended. Remember: 'he who defends all defends nothing' as they said. Against a human player, be MUCH more cautious. I usually do not prepare forts as they become useless when attacking beyond them. Still, against a human opponent, they can be useful for holding with less forces on some part of the front while using the most forces in offensive elsewhere. But - 'an obstacle not covered by fire isn't an obstacle'. The main effort should aim: - first, to take the most valuable resources (usually, iron ore mines) and cut enemy rail communications - second, to take the capital. The enemy country will fall into anarchy: the fleet is disbanded, production will cease, but existing land units will continue to fight until destroyed. Flow around very heavy concentrations of forces not vital to above objectives, then take them later with your veteran forces. The same principle of concentration applies as in the naval war. I've built a mathematical model to use the minimum of forces while keeping a certain "stream" of conquests (e-mail me if you're interested !). It results that it's best to attack with forces valued at 1.75 - 2.5 x the enemy value. The optimum is rather "flat" so you need not keep this ratio exactly, but if the ratio is below 1.5 x , you will take excessive losses. The model includes the effect of units surviving the battle damaged, recovering (2-3 seasons), and moving again to battle, which slows overall advance. The value of a force is roughly proportional to the "cannons" in it, but: - Heavy infantry is worth approx. 1.2 x more - Territorials (minutemen/militia/conscript) some 0.6 x of similar infantry. - Artillery is much more useful in defense (several salvoes unopposed, range modifier +1) but if you attack only territorials, they will come to you so the attacker is on tactical defense. - presence of a general (x 1.1 - 1.3) - defenders first fire (3 salvoes of arty, 1 of inf for same tech) - defenders fort (x 1.1 - 1.4) - experience (up to x 1.5 for 4 medals ?) - overall incompetence of Otto, the computer player (x .7 - .9), worst at attacking forts and cities A good sign of an economically led offensive is having at all times about 1/3 of your forces recovering in the rear. If losses are heavier, concentrate on fewer enemy points at once, if they are lower, start more offensive paths. ALWAYS include a General in any attack (maybe 2 for numerous, inexperienced forces) and/or in provinces most likely to be attacked. The AI makes the big mistake of keeping all generals in one place and not using them at other critical battles. Good mixes of forces include: - Infantry (80 % of units) and Artillery (20 %) in attacks, maybe 10 or 20 % cavalry instead of inf - Artillery (40-50 %) and infantry in defense - Armor and Mobile artillery make a very flexible force in late game Artillery improvements make the older-type units immediately obsolete and almost useless, so upgrade them before any battle. Older types of infantry can still be useful 1 technology level behind, and can be better if logistic capacity is limited. Logistics: you can transport between your provinces (other than one-province foot marches) units containing "cannons" no more than 1/5 of Internal Transport capacity, for any distance. You can debark on enemy shore forces containing "cannons" no more than the assisting fleet. Take note of these restrictions for large-scale deployments (e.g. when attacked by surprise). Keep reserves 1 province behind the front so that they are concealed, but can come forward on foot. Follow your invasion with Engineers to connect quickly enemy's resources to your transport network. When enemy capital falls, most resources in enemy territory become connected and you will need more railway cars before this. Then expand the conquered transport network (the computer is much too slow at building it). II.4.3) Tactical battles ------------------------ If you haven't become bored of them before reading this, and like to get an unfair advantage over the poor Otto, you may consider leading yourself critical battles. The computer apparently uses the same model internally if you turn Tactical off. Aim for 'zero units lost' as damaged units will recover in time. The usual tactic in all offensives is a massed infantry assault, against which any defender can't do much. The game design doesn't allow you finer maneuvers. You can try to concentrate all your firepower on one flank, but the remaining enemies will come to you - the fight will get anyway into an all-vs-all shooting contest. If you can keep some enemies away from the battle, much the better. So I defeated 5 Minutemen with 2 Grenadiers in 2 successive attacks, in a landing only with 1 frigate (2 "cannons"). The first time I approached the entrenchments from one flank and defeated 2 units, entering the fire of only one of them at a time, then retreated back before being swamped by the other 3. Next turn, another 2 fresh Grenadiers defeated the weakened defenders, then I poured substantial reinforcements to the beachhead. More important is to keep in tactical defensive even in offensive battles. Mass just outside of enemy fire range, and have the enemy enter first your opportunity fire. If you have superior ranged weapons, fire them before the enemy but keep other units around to keep a defensive fire barrier. Choosing targets: in order of enemy "intensity" (firepower / vulnerability), so that with each salvo you save the most damage they can do to your force. This means: older units first (any type), then artillery (heavy, then light), cavalry, ordinary inf, and territorials last. Usually fire only at units with substantial force remaining (green) to keep them around. An interesting decision comes when you will gain some advantage, and enemy routed units (yellow + red only) will try to get away. You can kill them (not to fight them rebuilt in later battles) while other units (territorials) still can fire at you. Usually I eliminate all heavy arty I can without taking unneeded losses. Fortification and city sieges: Otto does them very poorly as the attacker, so you can change the results a lot. Move your heavy arty on the flanks, just outside enemy range. In 5-6 shots you can knock down some walls, as well as unprotected units (2 hexes or more from enemy heavy artillery). Then rush all forces forward, taking care not to bottleneck units into each other - there are already enough obstacles on the map depicting capitals (nice design touch). The heroic General can enter fire first (but don't let him be killed !) saving the power of the units really doing the job, but some other units still need to take the first salvo. After the infantry, your heavy arty too can enter enemy range, but only if they outnumber clearly the defending arty, as they are the first-choice targets. (see above) Get in firing range to enemy artillery and destroy it. Then chew the rest of enemy forces, but don't go too far so that they don't chew you first. I haven't figured out how to use the Sapper well - he can dig a tunnel to the wall, blast a section of it, but now ALL enemy units will fire at him and you will lose an expensive unit. I'm currently using arty + infantry assault instead. ---- Any comments, criticisms and additions (e-mail address below) will be gladly welcome. Thank you for the patience of reading all this. Enjoy this nice but insightful game ! Mircea-Valer PAUCA "Magister", Bucharest, Romania (mpauca@fx.ro) Master student in Economic Cybernetics