At first sight, this mission looks quite similar to the second one, The Hanseatic League. You start out as Prussia, own three territories, and are surrounded by familiar people: Poland (Green), Sweden (Orange), the Holy Roman Empire (Teal) and Konigsburg (Purple). And once again, you have to take Pomerania (divided in two territories), but this time, it is owned by Sweden.
Only two of the four other factions are outright hostile (Sweden and Konigsburg), but Poland and Germany might as well attack you if some of your military units go through their territories. It seems neither Poland nor Germany will accept an alliance either.
The good news is that Konigsburg will not attack as long as you leave him alone. The bad news is that Sweden will put up quite a fight, and can reinforce his two territories in Pomerania with Cargo Ships. It is also virtually impossible to defeat the Swedish navy, so you will likely just have to cover your vulnerable beaches with Towers and Fortresses.
Mission information[edit]
- Primary Objectives
- Conquer Pomerania
- Earn a Crown
- Secondary Objectives
- Reclaim the territory of Konigsburg
- Convert 10 Swedish units
- Defeat Conditions
- Protect Frederick William
- Protect Berlin
- Factions
- Prussia - Red (Player)
- Sweden - Orange
- Konigsburg - Purple
- The Holy Roman Empire - Teal
- Poland - Green
- Epochs Available
- VIII - Imperial Era
Walkthrough[edit]
As usual, make sure to optimize your resource gathering, and to have six or seven citizens working on each kind of resource. Put three of them into a University and two Priests in a Temple to gather technology points. If you want, you can also set trading lanes between your cities, or with Poland, but that is far from necessary in this mission, as you won't really lack money. Lastly, create a road between Danzig and Berlin, so your units travel faster.
The mission is pretty straightforward: as long as you avoid annoying Poland or the Holy Roman Empire, you can create an army at your own pace, before defeating your opponents. The key to victory here is to build a lot of artillery. Culverins and Bombard Guns will kill everything that stands on your way, while your infantry will act as meatshields. With that in mind, you might want to build one or two more Workshops in Berlin or Danzig.
Obviously, you will face some attacks from Sweden. Orange will send units at you in Hannover and in the area between Danzig and Berlin. You can build fortress at the border of your territories, and if possible, one east of the bridge that links Berlin to Hannover. Set up some Outposts too.
As usual, start chain-producing units in all of your military buildings as soon as you have a working economy. Musketeers, Lancers, Culverins, Bombard Guns and Priests (to fulfill the secondary objective) is all you need. Gather everything in Danzig, and when you are ready (with at least 10 Culverins and 10 Bombards), build a bridge between Danzig and Konigsburg, before ordering your army to raze the city. You will suffer a few losses, but if you keep chain-producing, you will have more troops at the end of the battle than at the beginning.
Obviously, avoid to enter Poland's territory with military units if you don't want to start a war. Once Konigsburg is destroyed, claim the territory and receive a tribute from the locals as a reward. Bring your army back into Danzig, and head now west into eastern Pomerania. But before doing so, make sure the Convert ability of your priests is set on automatic use (
on it): if you convert ten Swedish units, your own units will become more powerful.
There again, if you have enough artillery, your opponent won't stand a chance, even though you should expect more resistance than in Konigsburg. If possible, make sure Swedish Outposts and Fortresses are targeting infantry and not artillery. Once the city is destroyed, claim the territory, and order your Bombard Guns to destroy the bridge that links western and eastern Pomerania.
Sweden will still send reinforcements from the sea. You can try to build Docks and defeat his navy, or to build coastal defenses, but in all likelihood, Sweden's Ships of the Line will just raze everything you build in mere seconds. The best solution is to build two Fortresses and a few Outposts near your new City Center in Pomerania.
When the place is secured, gather your army in Hannover (don't stop to produce new units). If you have around 30 Musketeers and 20 cannons of all sort, western Pomerania will fall like eastern Pomerania: very quickly.
While travelling around, it is possible that your army enter German (Teal) territory. If that happens, all German units will turn hostile, and Germany will ask you to pay 1,000 Gold. If you pay, Germany will switch back to neutral. If you don't, she will stay permanently hostile, and Poland will also turn hostile (the same will happen if you enter Poland's territories).
Finally, once Sweden has been kicked out of western Pomerania (reinforcements will arrive from the sea, here too), build a City Center to complete the mission.
Tips[edit]
- If you ever annoy Poland or the Holy Roman Empire, it is quite easy to get them back to neutral by paying the requested fee. However, this will only work once for each of them (you may pay 1,000 Gold once to Germany and once to Poland, but no more than that). When they send you the ultimatum, you have five minutes to send them a tribute.
- If for some weird reason you unwillingly get dragged into a war with Poland and Germany, don't worry too much: Poland sends only small raiding parties, while Germany stays mostly inactive. It is also quite possible to defeat them if you feel like it.
- The best way to make sure William Frederick doesn't die is to let him into Berlin. Losing because he ran toward Sweden's Ships of the Line may happen, and is indeed annoying.
- Make sure to build many Outposts in your territories: Sweden loves to send groups of sneaky Musketeers to murder your Citizens.