England tech tips?

gord96 · 18-01-2010, 16:53

So I am doing my first campaign as England starting in 1399. I figured to get my government to level 4 first then switch to teching my navy so I can keep the French off my island by getting the more advanced ships. Beyond that I am not so sure.

Any tips? When should I think about getting my army going strong? I can't forget about trade either.

Shiggs · 18-01-2010, 17:04

i wouldn't necissarily go overboard on navy tech, you can beat anybody with sheer numbers as England.

Best thing you could ever do is build a CoT in London, then join a trade league. That will give you more colonist/merchants, plus you'll be able to easily trade in london, and the said trade leagues cot.

Never ever give France/Burgundy provinces for reparations of war. If you don't want to keep them, wait till Jan 1 and sell them for as much as possible. Otherwise you should just hold onto them and expand in central europe from them. When/If you fight France/Burgundy, don't even try to defend it, just let them raise war taxes, WE themselves to death, and they'll eventually beg for a white peace.

Unless you want to kill your tech you should be very carefull with colonizing, too much too fast and you'll easily grow 4-5+ tech levels behind west europe. The caribbean and southern africa are tasty choices.

gord96 · 18-01-2010, 17:09

thanks very much! good info. what would be a good first national idea for England as I will hit gov lvl 4 very soon.

Twilight · 18-01-2010, 17:10

Keep in mind that you won't be able to unlock QFTNW until you reach Trade Tech 7, so if you want to snap up the historical English colonies, you'll need to beeline there as well, and probably switch whatever idea you pick at tech 4.

As for keeping the French away, just invest in lots of ships. Take Press Gangs to keep your costs down if you need it. Once you have a big enough navy, the French won't even try to challenge you, even if your ships are hopelessly outdated.

EDIT: For a first idea, it really depends what you want to do. If you're going to actively fight France, Military Drill is probably a must. If you'd rather play the trade game, take the +Compete Chance idea, or the +Trade Efficiency one. Or National Bank, which is an all around good choice.

arbiter6 · 18-01-2010, 17:26

As a great European power, you can't exactly put all your tech investment in one field unless you set yourself personnal objectives that are extremly accurate. The AI will never focus enough means to destroy your original navy (49 ships strong if i'm not mistaken), at worst, keep it growing with them.

England can afford to have EVERY one of its tech on average investment and still have good revenues.

Don't focus your techs as a major.

Twilight · 18-01-2010, 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by arbiter6

Don't focus your techs as a major.

Nonsense. Even if you cycle through investing in all the techs in order, you should always prioritize on one of them. It means you're seeing gains that much faster. You just need to have your priorities straight.

That said, the gain you get isn't exactly huge, so you don't really need to worry about this gord.

GAGA Extrem · 18-01-2010, 18:51

You should always focus on your GOV tech to get NIs asap, afterwards you should unlock buildings, then focus on army or navy. Evenly devided investment is usually a bad idea.

Military techs are usually not that important. There are some tech levels that unlock new units, so getting these a decade before your enemy can be benefital, but otherwise the increase in morale and combat power is rather minir, you can lag behind several levels without getting trashed.

1) Get National bank as first NI
2) Get a decent army, mostly CAV if you want to fight in / against france, mixed INF/CAV if you want to conquer scotland.
3) Get a decent navy
4) Get QFTNW asap and establish colonies on the azores and/or greenland.
5) Colonize the new world or conquer europe

gord96 · 18-01-2010, 19:07

great advice. thanks guys. this kinda info is exactly what i needed to get going!

Blastaz · 19-01-2010, 01:15

If you have HTTT then the conquer Ireland mission becomes a real boon. You get a free CB on all the Irish Minors and you can annex the lot of them for only 8 infamy. and then you get a whole bunch of cores. If you start off with the vassalise Scotland then conquer Ireland mission you can have the whole British Isles locked down by about 1404.

At that point you really should try and have a crack at expanding into France, as its way too long a wait till you can start exploring. Abandon your current mission while at war with France and you will hopefully get the capture Paris mission. If you can just siege Paris succesfully you get a whole bunch of cores on France, and you can start to chip away at them virtually Infamry free.

GAGA Extrem · 19-01-2010, 10:13

If you want to avoid war on the continent you have another option:

Sell all oversea provinces in France to other countries. This way France and Burgundy lose their CB against you. By selling Calais to Burgundy and the SW provinces to Brittany or Provonce, you strenghten French opposition and keep yourself out of trouble. This can be a tactic for beginners who have not yet mastered combat tactics to defeat the much superior French army.

You can easily compensate this losses by expanding towards the new world quickly.

No idea · 19-01-2010, 11:19

I have played as England in normal and I really didn´t even defend my eurpean provinces. It was expensive, risky and pointless, because, after taking them, France would always ask for a white peace after one or two years. Result, I never had to spend any money in a big army to defend just 3 provinces and they spent a lot of it in a war which gave them nothing. I think having a strong and good navy is importanta, but don´t focus too much on it, because you are not a small nation that has to focus in one thing in order to survive or prosper

Katarian · 19-01-2010, 13:18

As England I've given up going to QftNW early on. It's too damn easy, I prefer to wait until after I've converted to Protestant in the early 1500s. The only hard bit about taking North American and Caribbean colonies off other people is getting enough war score to take the ones that have become cities and keeping your infamy down.

So in my England games I play as a trading nation until I turn Protestant, then start teching up Naval. So I'll concentrate on Goverment, Production, and Trade tech levels until I get QftNW as my third or fourth idea (depending on if I want to build Manufactories in British Isles before colonizing). Then I'll sell my Mainland France provinces to the highest bidders, which by the early 1500s can net you 4000-5000 ducats. I hardly even build any new ships until I can build Frigates and War Galleons at 28 Naval Tech, your starting navy kept in one group can take on almost any opposition, you only really need to worry if you get into a simultaneous war with Aragon, Castille, and Portugal. Numbers are far more important then Admirals or Quality of ships in Naval combats, and three groups of baroques (one in Kent, one in Connaught, one in Highlands) can stop pirates spawning around the British Isles.

18-01-2010, 16:53	#1
gord96 First Lieutenant Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 264	England tech tips? So I am doing my first campaign as England starting in 1399. I figured to get my government to level 4 first then switch to teching my navy so I can keep the French off my island by getting the more advanced ships. Beyond that I am not so sure. Any tips? When should I think about getting my army going strong? I can't forget about trade either.

18-01-2010, 17:04	#2
Shiggs Colonel Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,070	i wouldn't necissarily go overboard on navy tech, you can beat anybody with sheer numbers as England. Best thing you could ever do is build a CoT in London, then join a trade league. That will give you more colonist/merchants, plus you'll be able to easily trade in london, and the said trade leagues cot. Never ever give France/Burgundy provinces for reparations of war. If you don't want to keep them, wait till Jan 1 and sell them for as much as possible. Otherwise you should just hold onto them and expand in central europe from them. When/If you fight France/Burgundy, don't even try to defend it, just let them raise war taxes, WE themselves to death, and they'll eventually beg for a white peace. Unless you want to kill your tech you should be very carefull with colonizing, too much too fast and you'll easily grow 4-5+ tech levels behind west europe. The caribbean and southern africa are tasty choices. __________________ Freie Hansestadt Hamburg - A Hamburg AAR. abandoned but lengthy EU3 Wiki for In Nomine

18-01-2010, 17:10	#4
Twilight Field Marshal Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Calgary, Alberta Posts: 3,048	Keep in mind that you won't be able to unlock QFTNW until you reach Trade Tech 7, so if you want to snap up the historical English colonies, you'll need to beeline there as well, and probably switch whatever idea you pick at tech 4. As for keeping the French away, just invest in lots of ships. Take Press Gangs to keep your costs down if you need it. Once you have a big enough navy, the French won't even try to challenge you, even if your ships are hopelessly outdated. EDIT: For a first idea, it really depends what you want to do. If you're going to actively fight France, Military Drill is probably a must. If you'd rather play the trade game, take the +Compete Chance idea, or the +Trade Efficiency one. Or National Bank, which is an all around good choice. Last edited by Twilight; 18-01-2010 at 17:16.

18-01-2010, 17:26	#5
arbiter6 Major Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 606	As a great European power, you can't exactly put all your tech investment in one field unless you set yourself personnal objectives that are extremly accurate. The AI will never focus enough means to destroy your original navy (49 ships strong if i'm not mistaken), at worst, keep it growing with them. England can afford to have EVERY one of its tech on average investment and still have good revenues. Don't focus your techs as a major. __________________ "Ultima Ratio Regum" ("Last Argument of Kings") -Louis XIV of France, engraved on every French-made cannons

18-01-2010, 18:51	#7
GAGA Extrem Close the worLd,.txEn eht nepO Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 2,275	You should always focus on your GOV tech to get NIs asap, afterwards you should unlock buildings, then focus on army or navy. Evenly devided investment is usually a bad idea. Military techs are usually not that important. There are some tech levels that unlock new units, so getting these a decade before your enemy can be benefital, but otherwise the increase in morale and combat power is rather minir, you can lag behind several levels without getting trashed. 1) Get National bank as first NI 2) Get a decent army, mostly CAV if you want to fight in / against france, mixed INF/CAV if you want to conquer scotland. 3) Get a decent navy 4) Get QFTNW asap and establish colonies on the azores and/or greenland. 5) Colonize the new world or conquer europe __________________ The GAGA Tech Mod for Arsenal of Democracy (release 1.35) The HoI3 Balance Improvement Modification (beta 0.90 SF)

18-01-2010, 17:09	#3
gord96 First Lieutenant Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 264	thanks very much! good info. what would be a good first national idea for England as I will hit gov lvl 4 very soon.

18-01-2010, 19:07	#8
gord96 First Lieutenant Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 264	great advice. thanks guys. this kinda info is exactly what i needed to get going!

19-01-2010, 01:15	#9
Blastaz Captain Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Posts: 360	If you have HTTT then the conquer Ireland mission becomes a real boon. You get a free CB on all the Irish Minors and you can annex the lot of them for only 8 infamy. and then you get a whole bunch of cores. If you start off with the vassalise Scotland then conquer Ireland mission you can have the whole British Isles locked down by about 1404. At that point you really should try and have a crack at expanding into France, as its way too long a wait till you can start exploring. Abandon your current mission while at war with France and you will hopefully get the capture Paris mission. If you can just siege Paris succesfully you get a whole bunch of cores on France, and you can start to chip away at them virtually Infamry free. __________________ Non Angelus Sed Anglus

19-01-2010, 10:13	#10
GAGA Extrem Close the worLd,.txEn eht nepO Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 2,275	If you want to avoid war on the continent you have another option: Sell all oversea provinces in France to other countries. This way France and Burgundy lose their CB against you. By selling Calais to Burgundy and the SW provinces to Brittany or Provonce, you strenghten French opposition and keep yourself out of trouble. This can be a tactic for beginners who have not yet mastered combat tactics to defeat the much superior French army. You can easily compensate this losses by expanding towards the new world quickly. __________________ The GAGA Tech Mod for Arsenal of Democracy (release 1.35) The HoI3 Balance Improvement Modification (beta 0.90 SF)

19-01-2010, 11:19	#11
No idea Major Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Somewhere around the Universe... Posts: 537	I have played as England in normal and I really didn´t even defend my eurpean provinces. It was expensive, risky and pointless, because, after taking them, France would always ask for a white peace after one or two years. Result, I never had to spend any money in a big army to defend just 3 provinces and they spent a lot of it in a war which gave them nothing. I think having a strong and good navy is importanta, but don´t focus too much on it, because you are not a small nation that has to focus in one thing in order to survive or prosper

19-01-2010, 13:18	#12
Katarian First Lieutenant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 249	As England I've given up going to QftNW early on. It's too damn easy, I prefer to wait until after I've converted to Protestant in the early 1500s. The only hard bit about taking North American and Caribbean colonies off other people is getting enough war score to take the ones that have become cities and keeping your infamy down. So in my England games I play as a trading nation until I turn Protestant, then start teching up Naval. So I'll concentrate on Goverment, Production, and Trade tech levels until I get QftNW as my third or fourth idea (depending on if I want to build Manufactories in British Isles before colonizing). Then I'll sell my Mainland France provinces to the highest bidders, which by the early 1500s can net you 4000-5000 ducats. I hardly even build any new ships until I can build Frigates and War Galleons at 28 Naval Tech, your starting navy kept in one group can take on almost any opposition, you only really need to worry if you get into a simultaneous war with Aragon, Castille, and Portugal. Numbers are far more important then Admirals or Quality of ships in Naval combats, and three groups of baroques (one in Kent, one in Connaught, one in Highlands) can stop pirates spawning around the British Isles.