As someone who used to play a lot of Colonization in the good old DOS days, I'd like to say that the war against the REF has totally changed. In old Colonization I just destroyed each wave of the REF on the beaches, and the artillery in my fortresses wreaked havoc on the man-of-wars.
However in Civ4Col The REF is typically too big to be destroyed on the beaches and the artillery on the fortresses don't shoot at enemy ships anymore. In old Colonization it was all-out attack for the revolutionary army all the time, now the initial REF landing might be bigger than the army you have.
Civ4Col requires a new mindset: you are not an attacker anymore, but a counterattacker. You have to conserve your strength. One has to be ready to use delaying tactics and defense in suitable choking points.
I am currently playing a game (marathon, huge map, governor) with about 30 soldiers/dragoons left against about 55 REF soldiers and dragoons and I think I'll win this one easily as it is still 1650's. I evacuated the northernmost of my towns as the REF landed and I esteemed that it was not possible not keep them. I then made occasional raids against the advancing REF troops in forested hills, mostly with ranger soldiers. Roads can't be used in enemy territory so even a soldier in a forest can wait for the enemy dragoons to appear, take one enemy unit out and then escape using the roads in the forests. While evacuating I also left some colonists without weapons to defend suitable places. I took the Right to bear arms while making the Declaration of independence, so the colonists have a strength of three and can be used as weak militia in delaying actions. I no longer think that I have dragoons and soldiers, as most of my military units alternate in both roles. I took Ethan Allen as a founding father and my dragoons leave their horses in towns when I need the firepower of rangers in forests or the defending bonuses of soldiers in towns. I also have readied for steadfast defense in one town. The town is surrounded by a meandering river and has a fort. The only open side of the town is covered by a forest, so the REF will suffer badly if I counterattack there. I have also trained two units with amphibious-attack capabilities, so I can counterattack over the river, when the occasion arises. I have a couple of highly experienced guns from the Indian and fellow European colonist wars waiting for my counterattack against the northern cities I have been forced to evacuate.
Civ4Col demands that one makes the REF vulnerable, and onen then attacks at a weakness, as in Col1 one could attack pretty much anywhere the REF happened to be.
However in Civ4Col The REF is typically too big to be destroyed on the beaches and the artillery on the fortresses don't shoot at enemy ships anymore. In old Colonization it was all-out attack for the revolutionary army all the time, now the initial REF landing might be bigger than the army you have.
Civ4Col requires a new mindset: you are not an attacker anymore, but a counterattacker. You have to conserve your strength. One has to be ready to use delaying tactics and defense in suitable choking points.
I am currently playing a game (marathon, huge map, governor) with about 30 soldiers/dragoons left against about 55 REF soldiers and dragoons and I think I'll win this one easily as it is still 1650's. I evacuated the northernmost of my towns as the REF landed and I esteemed that it was not possible not keep them. I then made occasional raids against the advancing REF troops in forested hills, mostly with ranger soldiers. Roads can't be used in enemy territory so even a soldier in a forest can wait for the enemy dragoons to appear, take one enemy unit out and then escape using the roads in the forests. While evacuating I also left some colonists without weapons to defend suitable places. I took the Right to bear arms while making the Declaration of independence, so the colonists have a strength of three and can be used as weak militia in delaying actions. I no longer think that I have dragoons and soldiers, as most of my military units alternate in both roles. I took Ethan Allen as a founding father and my dragoons leave their horses in towns when I need the firepower of rangers in forests or the defending bonuses of soldiers in towns. I also have readied for steadfast defense in one town. The town is surrounded by a meandering river and has a fort. The only open side of the town is covered by a forest, so the REF will suffer badly if I counterattack there. I have also trained two units with amphibious-attack capabilities, so I can counterattack over the river, when the occasion arises. I have a couple of highly experienced guns from the Indian and fellow European colonist wars waiting for my counterattack against the northern cities I have been forced to evacuate.
Civ4Col demands that one makes the REF vulnerable, and onen then attacks at a weakness, as in Col1 one could attack pretty much anywhere the REF happened to be.
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
However if I do have turns to use, I prefer destroying the REF with the least amount of casualties on my side and if I'm not prepared well enough, that might require delaying actions 
