Fundamentals Question... With save

[Lelechuck]

Hey guys-

Been lurking for awhile and playing civ since the beginning. Just picked up Colonization and I can't seem to figure out what I am doing wrong...

I attached a save.... Played the same map 3 times in a row on the second to easiest setting... this is using the PATCHMOD. This is from the third time around, where I thought I was doing a little better. It does not seem possible to keep up with the REF in quantity, so for the hell of it, I tried declaring independence shortly after this save, just to see how it would play out. I think in total my forces took out perhaps 3 or 4 of their units before they completely decimated me very quickly.

I've browsed the forum, and recently read that by not producing liberty bells until you absolutely have to. I obviously didn't do that in this game.. since I still had my Civ 'culture expansion habits', but even if the REF was smaller in number, I still don't think my units have a chance.

Would some helpful soul mind taking a look at the attached save and point out 1 or 2 glaring things I am doing wrong??

Mahalo
-Jim

 

[Bloink]

Which Mod are you using exactly? There are a few with "Patchmod" in the name.

Nevermind, I loaded Dales Patchmod.

 

[Refar]

I didn't look at the save - can't load it (i suppose different patch/mod version).. But i think i can tell you 1 or 2 things you are doing wrong anyway - we all did...

One you already noted your self - REF depends on Liberty Bells. So making LB early will make the REF huge. Also creating a big Colony will need more LB and make the REF bigger.

However, even a large REF can be beaten. So the other one is how to fight these... If you look at the units stats you will see that the REF units all have immense bonus attacking cities. Not to mention the Kings Ships bombarding down your defenses.

So the last thing you want, is to have all your troops being sitting ducks "defending" some coastal town. Make use terrain Promotions, confront Kings troops in the field, where you have advantage.

Here a guide by Muteneer that might give you some more ideas:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=294767

there are also a few others, with slightly different strategies.

In the Strategy Articles Section are a few more giving details on certain mechanics, if you care. Can live without, but it might help.

 

[Bloink]

Well, it would be pretty hard to win this one at this point so I'll just point out a few things you could have done differently. This could have been an extremely easy win.

1. Why are your biggest cities on islands!? Bad idea since alot of the REF will have the Amphibious promotion(no penalty attacking off a ship directly at your settlement). Those cities will just get smoked unless you load them up with a LOT of guns/horses, basically I'd just unload all the units I could out of these cities and move them to the mainland. If you want to settle on a small island just use the city for producing food/colonists.


2. Europeans have the best location on the mainland!? There is really no reason to let the Frenchies sit next to you and build up since you can't trade or make alliances like in Civ. You could easily wipe them out with some cannons/dragoons. The plus side to attacking Europeans early on is that you get a ready made city with at least a couple of colonists!

3. Guns/Horses! At a minimum I max out my warehouses with guns and horses before even considering a push for Independance(I keep 3-4 wagons of guns/horses just to be safe also). None of your cities are armed in any meaningful way....it will cost a fortune at this point to arm them now.
Also you have Armories but no Master Gunsmiths working them! I'd also make at least one city be a Horse producer by building a Stable/Ranch. This way during your fight for independance you will be able to arm new or existing colonist to replentish your losses.

There are several other things you could do but really it is a matter of how you like to play. The few things above really would change how this game would end up. It may be too late to do it but I honestly think you could still win if you really tighten up your mainland cites , dump all/most of the island colonists into the mainland cites, take over the French cities, and start loading up on guns/horses pronto(I'd even consider yanking all your statesmen so you won't be producing more bells and the REF will hopefully stall where it is).


PS: Your REF size isn't extreme but bigger than it needed to be, you didn't need to produce bells as early as you did.

 

[dalgo]

and for a contrary view -

I don’t see anything wrong with this game at all. You have a very impressive list of Founding Fathers, a strong economy (tax rate only 13% how did you manage that) and the King has spent all his money on ships which are worthless because you won’t be fighting him at sea. Fort Orange is churning out new colonists, all you need to do is arm them. I would concentrate on buying guns and horses and filling New Amsterdam and Fort Orange with Dragoons and Soldiers. You could also invest in a few more Elder Statesmen. The one critical FF you still need is Don Pedro and his free veteran promotion so switch some of your production to Military points.

I’d be in no hurry to declare independence; there is still plenty of time left in this game. Every percentage point above 50% counts towards your combat odds so the higher you can get it the better. The REF will keep growing; just ignore it. You will need to plan on defending New Amsterdam and Port Orange individually as there will be no chance to re supply either once the war starts.

Hit him on the beaches as soon as he lands and make sure to promote one man in each colony as a medic to help heal your troops.

 

[dalgo]

I take it back ...

I loaded this game and tried to win with it, and couldn't. The main problem is having to defend New Amsterdam and Fort Orange separately. I divided my troops between the two but the REF only attacked New Amsterdam (well I would have done the same in their position!). I had good combat odds and did well at first, accounting for 50+ of the enemy, but my units were getting injured and I couldn't support them. There were plenty of fit troops in Fort Orange but the ocean was full of enemy ships. When I could no longer keep the REF away from my walls the numbers just overwhelmed me and I gave up.

A good lesson here is to keep your colonies together on the same land mass. That way a single force of troops can support them all.

 

[Lelechuck]

Thanks for the reply's...

I Think I'll restart and try focusing only on the southern land... have a minimal number of coastal cities and see how that works out for me. Hold off on liberty production..

 

[dalgo]

Yes I think that is the best bet, keep most of your main production cities away from the coast so if you lose a port colony to the REF it doesn't do you so much damage. But keep your colonies close together (eg CxxC) so they can support each other and build roads everywhere. They are a real help when it comes to the WOI. You can use them but the enemy can't so you can outflank him or attack and withdraw.

I was bugged at losing that game so I tried again, this time moving all troops to New Amsterdam and abandoning Fort Orange. That worked and I won in 1765.

 

[UWHabs]

One thing - how do you know where the REF will attack? Back in Col 1 they always went for your weakest defended city, but now obviously they don't just do that. It's not just your "capital", since they didn't in my current game. I had to lose a couple turns of my full military running a large pack of soldiers down the coast to where they attacked from.

 

[Supr49er]

Hey, welcome aboard Lelechuck.