[Col] Number of towns

[one2tieyourshoe]

I build one mega-uber-super-fortress town and then maybe a few other random ones. So more or less it's a OCC for me too.

 

[sir_schwick]

Usually I do 5-6, but I have been trying a game where I expand past 10. The micromanagement(i'm not used to large empires) is getting annoying

 

[kudicious]

at one game I built my new country in an island and build only 4 cities on that island and fill all coasts with soldiers and easily won the game very early like 1670s. king cannot make landfall on my island

 

[ZippyRiver]

at one game I built my new country in an island and build only 4 cities on that island and fill all coasts with soldiers and easily won the game very early like 1670s. king cannot make landfall on my island

That don't work. The King will land irregardless of the presence of your troops or not. If there is not an open tile, he will land ON your troops and you will lose them.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

In the last three games I've won, I had 5, 4, and 4 colonies - all on the coast. It was quite a challenge swatting down the REF, but I eventually did it (though in the last game I ran out of horses and then guns...)

One of these days I'll try having one main colony with some satellites (all 2 or less population) before moving on to the one colony challenge.

 

[Tristan_C]

I go with the One City challenge every time I play. Less hassle, less micromanagement, and fewer places to defend. However, it gets awefully hard at Vicoroy, but it can be done.

In the last three games I've won, I had 5, 4, and 4 colonies - all on the coast. It was quite a challenge swatting down the REF, but I eventually did it (though in the last game I ran out of horses and then guns...)

One of these days I'll try having one main colony with some satellites (all 2 or less population) before moving on to the one colony challenge.

I nod to your bravery. I did something like this at one point, where I had one city plus some satellite, single-citizen resource outposts feeding it. Viceroy defeated me, but maybe it was pure ignorance... I should have been attacking the King's forces from the countryside. If I could have beaten down all of the regulars each turn, the stranded artillery units at the bottom of the stack would've been munchable freebies. Instead, they tore down my fortress.

If I retried that single-city game, I feel like I'd win this time, thanks to this forum.

Usually I do 5-6, but I have been trying a game where I expand past 10. The micromanagement(i'm not used to large empires) is getting annoying

It's just a different game... certainly not a hack-and-slash military slog.

I always have to memorize long-term goals for each city and the empire as a whole, and let them guide my decisions to increase the speed. Otherwise, I just sit staring at the screen grumbling to myself. But I've had really fun big games. My most recent adventure was probably my best "accomplishment" ever in this game, probably not to be repeated by me either: 14 fortress cities, with 240 colonists and 160 soldiers, all at 100% rebel, with all founding fathers and 690,000 gold in the bank by *1613.* I was amazed at how much faster I could grab all the power in this game by microing really hard!

Going up past ten cities eventually subjects us to the hated unit limit. I don't know what that limit is; I would hazard the guess that it's some crappy hexadecimal cutoff point like 512. In my awesome game I had 400 units on the board, and I suppose the remaining ~100 units were mainly Native. I'm sure the king's men don't count towards this tally until they are spawned on the board. I wonder if you can, err, cancel them out of existence by abusing the unit limit

 

[deedl]

I go with the One City challenge every time I play. Less hassle, less micromanagement, and fewer places to defend. However, it gets awefully hard at Vicoroy, but it can be done.

The trick is to focus the production on muskets. Muskets prices at viceroy always rise to 19/20, so when you produce muskets you can swim in money. You need a good location for your city. It's important to have enough ore to supply three blacksmiths. Those three blacksmiths supply two gunsmiths (in an arsenal). at 100% rebelliousness you produce this way 48 muskests per round. Sold at 19$ you make each round 912$ before taxes.

To keep taxation on your muskets low, you buy in europe one good of every kind, to have enough occasions to make parties. after having fugger you do the same again. Also important is to get Benjamin Franklin as soon as possible, to avoid costly wars with other europeans.

Make sure to find al location that can supply thre blacksmiths with ore, three carpenters with lumber and all citicens with food. So in bestcase you have one bonustree, oreproduction on your citytile (found on a hill) and a special foodsource (like bonusfish). Normally you find spots with two of these three conditions.

Thus your city will produce artillery at high rates, one every 4 (100% rebels) to 5 (>50% rebels) rounds. It is important to have only on statesman, because if you produce to many libertybells, the king will increase his troops to fast.

 

[ATC1983]

When I played in the past making 3-4 colonines with good production was key; however, it is also useful to make 3-4 more with stockades to soak up the initial attack whilst holding back / completing your defences.