Recent content by Big Mark

When it helps me win.

Is there a tavern in the city?

That's not a bug -- that's a feature. Since they use their soldier to form the colony and the pioneer to improve the land, it's an opportunity to get a new colony cheap. Arm your soldier, wander over and take it. And if they are all close to you, that means you can collect the whole set.

As ridiculous as the difference between cannon and artillery. But WTH, it is an easy play-balance short-cut. There were "secret" weapons during the period covered during the game (frigates, copper bottoming, and carronades for example), but the did not remain secret for long after being...

Actually, that is not true. Ships-of-the-line were being built in the New World prior to when the British colonies revolted in the 1770s. Most notably, Havana was a major shipbuilding port for Spain. They had built 80-gun SOLs in Havana in the 1760s, and 3-deck SOLs (MOW equivalents -- there...

Yup. Or to use the punch line of an old pirate joke -- "Mate. Bring me my brown pants."

Build your economy in the first half of the game (or up to turn 200). Put no one generating liberty bells. Make sure you have an infrastructure to crank out guns, horses, cannons and ships. Then on some set turn -- maybe 200 at the latest, crank up the liberty bells. Put as many people as...

Do you mean during the pre-revolutionary part of the game or after revolution? If it is pre-revolutionary, that isn't a revelation. You could do that in original Col, and I was doing it in this one rather than lugging cargoes back home. If, OTOH, you mean during revolution and with...

Two SOL -- even green SOLs -- generally beat one MOW. Three almost always will. If you want to People's Army the REF Navy, send waves of SOLs against one MOW until it is sunk. Then, with whathever ships were not used attack the next one until it is sunk. On average you should trade 1 SOL...

Tell me if I am crazy, but I have had my best success using a naval strategy. I generally try to build a navy that is at least 50% bigger than the king's, or at least 12 ships-of-the-line. My rule of thumb is that three SOLs will sink one Man-of-War. My expected loss is one SOL per MOW, if...