From: hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)
Subject: Re: Empires in Arms
Organization: Information Services, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 05:49:51 GMT

> 1) Suck up to one of the major powers (either one will do, but don't change
> sides!)

Yes.  The first alternative is to ally with Britain.  This ensures that
Britain won't immediately destroy your fleets.  Your ships are your key to
survival.  Make lots of them.  If you're in a campaign game, it's worth it.
Every ship counts.

The other alternative is France.  This is a more natural alliance and may be
easier to manage.

One alternative is to create an alliance with France and Russia to totally
demolish British naval superiority.  In a campaign game, Britain can easily
win by demolishing French fleets at the start of the game, then ensuring
that no coalition against her can match her fleet strength.  Usually,
crippling France's fleets is enough.  Then, no one can land in England nor
can they hope to attack any North African nations that Britain should
conquer.  Britain can spend the rest of her time buying Political Status
(through +2 Economic Manipulation) with all her money and cruising to an easy
victory.

You (and other players as well) want to avoid this at all costs.

Achieving naval superiority should be your Golden Prize.  You should always
try to achieve it if you can.  If you do, you'll be kicking major butt.

Also, you should definitely try to create the Ottoman Empire.  Assuming (1)
Britain is allied with you or (2) Britain has been crushed navally, you
should have no problems fending off the weak Turkish navy and creating the
Ottoman Empire.  In fact, you should seriously think about regularly
attacking Turkey to get the Political Status points.  By destroying the
Turkish fleets, the Turkish army cannot go anywhere.  Any Turkish corps in
North Africa will starve before they can even think of defending themselves
against your corps.

Unless you're attacking Britain on your first turn, methodically plan your
conquest of the African minors.  You're on a tight schedule.  Declare war
and conquer as many as is possible with your corps and fleets each month.
The goal is to declare war on the minors and conquer them before Turkey
does.  You may get lucky and get all the necessary minors without declaring
war on Turkey if Turkey is bumbling or is busy with a war with someone
else.  Even if you're forced to declare war against Turkey, you want to have
your minor capitals garrisoned with your Spanish troops rather than by his
when the war starts.  If you declare war on Turkey, crush his navy.  It'll
be smooth sailing after that.

In fact, it's to Spain's advantage to crush Turkey's fleets.  Threaten
Turkey.  Get some informal concessions out of him/her (like Turkey agreeing
to leave certain African minors alone for Spain to conquer), then declare war
on him a month later. :-)

> If France invades you

You *want* France to invade you. (Ok, that was an overstatement.) As
Napoleon found out and as your French player will find out, Spain is the
Vietnam of the Napoloenic age.  It's sure folly to invade Spain.  France
will drain most of her money and manpower if she tries to occupy all the
provincial capitals of Spain.  I've heard of this happen and France becomes
too tempting a target for Prussia, Austria (and anyone else for that matter)
when most of the French forces are trying to stay alive when your guerillas
are cutting off supply lines right and left.

Say to France:  "If you invade me, I will never sue for peace.  You will
have to occupy all my provincial capitals before you can get peace treaty
out of me.  Now, do you really want that to happen?"  (If France says yes,
then you're playing with an idiot and there's no use in pursuing a rational
argument anymore).

"I don't bother you and you don't bother me.  Besides, how can you hope to
match Britain's fleets without my fleets to help you?"

One last note:  don't forget the Spanish Gold Convoy.

If you ever conquer Rome, be sure to bring the Pope to Madrid and revive the
Spanish Inquisition! :-)

Some points that I haven't even covered:  how to take southern Italy,
whether to declare war with Russia and navally isolate southern Italy, etc.
BTW, if the French player is competent, he/she should own northern Italy and
you probably won't be able to do anything about it.

--
hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)    :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Unix Geek for Swarthmore College        :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Information Services, Swarthmore, PA, US.       Copyright 1992 by Eiji Hirai.
I don't speak for Swarthmore College.                    All Rights Reserved.