posted 11-27-08 10:29 AM EDT (US)
1) Table of Contents
2) Overview
3) Deck Recommendations
4) Basic Outline
5) Disclaimer
6) Civilization-Specific Variations
7) Recordings
The standard Ottoman FF is simple: hit Fortress ASAP, ship Spahi and Falcs, and produce Jans until your opponent is crushed. While Fortress normally shows the faults in the Ottoman economy, the FF tries to ignore these while capitalizing on the strengths of the Ottoman Fortress (mainly Spahi and Jans). However, like any FF, if you don’t finish your opponent off in Fortress, you’ve probably lost, and hitting Industrial and making Factories merely delays the inevitable.
Therefore, I made this strategy, the Ottoman semi-FI (with some help from Ender_Ward's Power Play strategy), to further the FF by hitting Fortress early, launching heavy Spahi raids, then turning around and hitting Industrial and finishing the opponent off with a deadly Janissary-Bombard combination.
We already know the advantages and shortcomings of the Ottoman FF:
+Veteran Janissaries
+Very strong Cavalry force
+2 Falconets
+Strong standard unit shipments (8 Janissaries, 5 Abus Guns)
+Mamelukes
-Spahi are limited, even when the 3 Spahi card is shipped.
-Mercenaries are overwhelmingly Cavalry based, with the only Infantry being the somewhat weak Barbary Corsair. Ranged Infantry is completely ignored.
-No Pikemen or Swiss Pikemen to take down buildings.
And now, the semi-FI addresses all of these points:
+Guard Janissaries
+Stronger Cavalry force
+2 Great bombards or 3 Falconets
+Stronger standard unit shipments (not that you’ll need them, but 11 Janissaries, 8 Abus Guns)
+Guard Spahi
+Spahi are no longer very limited, even when the 3 and 4 Spahi cards are not sent.
+Mercenaries are no longer as necessary.
+Great Bombards can take down buildings.
Of course, other shortcomings appear, but you don’t get to see them until you read through the strategy or cheat and scroll down.
So far, this strategy is still unfinished and has many flaws that I’d like to work out eventually. In its current state, I have been able to defeat 2nd Lieutenants in rated, some 1st Lieutenants in non-rated, and have been able to occasionally beat Captains in non-rated as well. Therefore, this strategy seems viable at least around the 2nd Lieutenant level, as I am a Master Sergeant with a 1v1 ELO of 1800 (or I was at the time, now I am a low 2nd Lieutenant with ~1890, most of which I got in 1v1s against people of the Sergeant-2nd Lieutenant level. Unfortunately, most of these people, even when at an equal PR, seem to have ELOs up to 100 below mine).
And, in case you don’t know yet, this strat is for Vanilla.
Anyway, here’s the deck.
700 food
700 gold
5 Spahi
6 Spahi
2 Great Bombards
Factory
8 Janissaries
1000 Gold
1000 wood/2 TCs
Fortress
5 Abus Guns
Advanced Arsenal
Robber Barons (Other Factory)
Acemi Olglan School (-20% cost Janissaries)
8 Hussars, 11 Janissaries, or 8 Abus Guns
Refrigeration
20 Sheep
5 Janissaries
5 Mamelukes
Colonial Mitilia
Improved Buildings
4 Villagers
Note: This strategy works best at a level 60 HC, since you get the 4 Hussar Fortress then. You should be at least at level 25, as the essential 6 Spahi card is unlocked there.
1) Standard Ottoman stuff, get a TP up, make a house, send
2) Your houses should not be built randomly or in the standard clumped way. Refer to step 11 for details on house placement.
3) Age ASAP. I prefer the
4) Look for food, wood, and gold treasures. You will need all of them, with wood being the priority.
5) Shift all but 9 villagers onto gold. If you aged with 200 gold, shift 1-2 to gold (depending on how close you are to 100) and shift the rest to wood. If you began aging at 2:30, you will have 3 villagers to move.
6) As soon as you have 300 (or 100 if aging with 200 gold), shift your gold villagers to wood. If you do not have 300 by the time you age to Colonial, continue gathering gold until you have 300, and, once they have collected enough, shift them onto the crates that will be at your TC.
7) Continue locating treasures.
8) Ship
9) Once your gold crates arrive, shift all villagers not mining or gathering food to your crates. If done right, you will have the required food and gold no later than 5:30. Remember, you will need to mine up to 300 gold yourself, which is why you have had 3 villagers mining since 2:30.
10) Age with either
11) If you’re aging with 4 Abus, have your houses placed in a line with 2-3 houses on each side of your TC. This way, enemy soldiers have to move around a large distance to get to your Abus, as they outrange your opponents HI. If you’re aging with 4 Hussars, make your houses form a semi circle around your TC, with the closed side facing the direction of your opponent’s attack. Take advantage of natural terrain here. This way, your opponent must move into a tight area to siege your TC directly and your Hussars will have an easier time fighting because of the tighter space. If you don’t know which you’re aging with before you’ve placed a house (as is often the case), place a house on one side as if you were aging with four Abus. You can later build off of this without a problem, although you will sacrifice the space between your houses and your TC there. In such a case, add space between your TC and your houses everywhere but there, making sure that nothing can get stuck in your house circle with an opening on your other side. If you build too close, you risk allowing units to siege your TC over your houses, although I have not checked this.
12) Your third card should be
13) If you’ve survived to now, everything will be much easier. You should have more than 1,000 food by now, so ship
14) If there are any soldiers in your base, kill them. If you have Abus Guns, focus on defeating HI, prioritizing Pikes, Rods, and other hand units above Muskets. If you have Hussars, kill whatever he has, but try not to lose any Hussars if you can help it.
15) Once your Spahi arrive, it’s GF to his rush (if it isn’t GF, you’re probably better off resigning right now). Clean up anything he may have and ungarrison your vills. You need to earn the requirements for Industrial ASAP.
16) If you haven’t been attacked yet or do not expect subsequent attacks, ship
17) If you have Hussars, place 4 Spahi into one group and 1 Spahi and the Hussars into another, or balance the forces with 3S/1H and 2S/3H. Send these groups to raid. If you’re expecting more attacks, keep the Spahi/Hussar group closer to your base. With them, launch joint raids. If your opponent does not have good micro, two attacks in two different places will be devastating to his economy. If you cannot get two good spots for raiding, then instead move your Spahi group behind your opponent’s gather point. Send your Spahi/Hussar group to raid. Once the villagers start moving away, trap them with your Spahi group for epic damage.
18) If your opponent is making LI, attack his army occasionally to keep it from getting too large. This will hopefully make him realize the need to produce HI, which you want. If your opponent is making HI now, continue raiding. Do not shy away from an opponent’s villagers because it is guarded by an outpost or a few Pikemen. Outposts cannot even scratch the 750 hp of the Spahi (do not bother trying to take it down, though) and small defense forces will be torn apart by your Spahi. Play safely with your Hussars though.
19) If you’ve gained another shipment by now and need some defensive support, ship
20) Once you receive the necessary resources for Industrial (try to have it within the 10:30-11:30 range; 1k gold will help this a lot), age with
21) Continue to launch light raids with your Spahi, but, towards the latter half of your aging, pull them back to defend against the inevitable attack.
22) Shift villagers onto wood and gold. Spahi and Bombards will require a lot of housing, and you need to get a Barracks down before you’ve aged. Keep 17-18 villagers on food, as you will need 1,200 by the time you’ve aged. Spend any surplus of food on Jans. At this point your split should be 17-4-3 or 18-4-2, with extra villagers going to wood. However, if you do not want to get Spahi out immediately, shift more villagers to wood and gold so that you can get a Barracks down more effectively. Additionally, if you had surplus food when you started aging to Industrial, shift villagers to wood and gold accordingly.
23) You’ve finally made it to Industrial, your overarching goal. As soon as you get a shipment (if you don’t already have one), send
24) If your opponent attacks (as he probably will), fend it off with TC fire and Jans. If he hasn’t made HI or RC yet, use Spahi. If he has, wait for the force to weaken before sending them in. Your Spahi have survived this long; you do not want to lose any to a few Dragoons.
25) Assuming that you shipped Spahi, divide your Spahi into two control groups. You should have between 12 and 14 if you were careful with raids. Send them to do more raiding. With Industrial Spahi, you will be able to crush everything in your path. Keep them away from your opponent’s main army though, unless he is still making Light Infantry or Hand Cavalry. If that is the case, after a 14 Spahi attack, he will now be making the correct units.
26) I say “correct” not because your opponent has finally realized how to counter Spahi raids, but because he has now made the units you want him to make. Ship those Great Bombards in if you haven’t already. Once they hit, finish Jan production (aim for 25-35 of them), upgrade your Jans to Veteran, and push forward. At your base, you should make a Mosque and research a few upgrades while sending
27) Use your Great Bombards to siege his stronger buildings (Forts and TCs) while keeping your Jans out of fire range to act as a meatshield. When his army comes, switch your bombards to attack it. He will probably waste multiple soldiers trying to get at your bombards, and if the Fort does not go down, you will still have reinforcements coming in anyway. Keep your Jans outside of the Fortress range, but if you receive some light fire, do not panic.
28) If you’ve beaten his army and you still have at least one bombard left, or if you took down his Fort or a TC, continue on. Take out a few houses and production buildings.
29) If you see Culverins, this is once again a good thing. Culverins are expensive, and Great Bombards come from factories. Kill his Culverins with your Jans while keeping constant Jan production at your base. If your force dies, you will be able to attack again almost instantly with another 30 Jans and 2-4 Bombards.
30) If he makes Hand Cavalry, eliminate them with your Jans. If he makes Light Infantry, eliminate them with your Great Bombards. If he makes both, this is why you shipped 14 Spahi.
31) Keep numerous villagers on wood and gold for housing, Jan production, and eventually the Guard Upgrade.
32) Considering getting a second Rax, a Foundry, and Stable up. If you have not shipped AA, do so and get those upgrades, prioritizing Military Drummers.
33) By now, you should have a 3 TC + 2 Factory economy and he will still be in Fortress or even Colonial if you raided hard enough. Even if he is in Industrial, he has done so recently and does not have 2 Factories up. Unless your economy is nonexistent and his is maxed out, you have the advantage.
Obviously, this build order will vary on the map and the situation. For example, if you’re forced to play defensively, ship a fort. If you’re going up against an IOR, have Colonial Militia or 5 Jans ready. If you are going up against Germany, consider staging your TP to offset some of his raids and build outposts. Also, I do not yet know whether this strategy will work further than a 2nd Lieutenant, so I cannot vouch for this strat past the 2k level.
In fact, make more than one deck for this strategy. Against an IOR, change your deck to instead ship Colonial Militia first or in place of 700 food and keep your TC from going down. You’ll miss the economy boost that three villagers granted you dearly, but you will at least have a TC. And of course, do not use this strategy every single time. I do not know if will stand up to a strong IOR yet, so if you try this and fail, do not hold me responsible :P.
This strategy is also unfinished, so there will be improvements made over time. A quick Pro/Con list of the strat:
Pro-
-Allows for a series of powerful raids to be made early on.
-Most people expect an IOR or at least an FF.
-You will experience the joy of repeated expletives thrown at you upon reaching Industrial, especially if he hasn’t even reached Fortress.
-Arrives at Industrial fairly soon and allows you to boom while launching powerful attacks.
-Can demolish boomers and turtlers.
-Industrial Spahi against Colonial Units are like putting FU Cuirs against Strelets.
-Can be converted into a regular FF.
Con-
-Susceptible to rushes, as you have relatively weak defense early on.
-If your opponent FFs, your advantage will be significantly weakened. However, your Spahi will still defeat anything short of Anti-Cav mercs, so raid his gold and be prepared for Anti-Cav mercs. If he gets one out anyway, stay away from them and get to Industrial.
-Your deck is not particularly indiscreet about your Fortress aging, although Industrial is still relatively surprising.
-Germany can be very annoying.
-Ottomans. If you get an IOR, you can be crushed quickly. If you get a regular Jan rush, you can be crushed quickly. If you meet a Jan/Abus rush, you can win until they stop making Abus Guns and crush you quickly. And if they come in with a few Grenadiers, GG.
Still under construction. I’ll hopefully get this stuff up within the next week, maybe during the weekend.
The Spanish are guaranteed to either Pike Rush or FF. Any other strategy is easily beaten and done much better by another civilization.
If you see a Pike Rush coming in, have a 5 Jan Shipment set up and age with Abus Guns. 5 properly microed Jans and a TC can hold the Pikemen for a long time, and you can easily end his rush once your Abus and MM come out. Keep your TC from going down, possibly even using the Hussar house placement to allow only a few Pikes access. Use the space between your TC and your houses to shield your Abus.
The FF can be much harder to fight off. Since it is arguably the most powerful strat in Vanilla, you will have to micro well and keep your opponent playing defensively. Personally, I think my uber-secret Ottoman rush is better than a Semi-FI against Spain, but if I told you it, it would not be secret. Also, I don’t even know if it works.
5 Lancers and 2 Falcs alone don’t stand a chance against you, but a few shipped Rods can crush you when microed right. Fortunately, Rods only have a speed of 6, meaning that it is possible to flee from them with Spahi. However, even so, you will have to age with Hussars to force him to fight two raids instead of one.
If you raid enough, your opponent will have trouble pushing into your base without locally trained support. Even so, the 7, 8, and 9 Rod cards can provide a good meatshield for the Falconets. Abus Guns will be crushed by your Lancers unless you place them inside of your house circle and keep Lancers from entering with TC fire and Spahi/Hussars. As you fire on the Rods, make suicide runs with your Hussars, and if those don’t work, Spahi. You cannot allow the Falconets to survive.
Alternatively, ship Falcs of your own to fire on the Rods while using another Spahi meatshield. A Falconet war will quickly ensue, so make sure that you are firing the first shot.
Another possibility is to ship a Fort and train Hussars or Jans. Your Industrial time will be delayed significantly, but if you can get a Fort up and keep the Falcs away, your opponent will have to pull back and start training Pikes. At which you will enter Industrial and start massing Jans and GBs.
Stay aggressive. If your opponent is given an opportunity to counterattack, you will find the fight much more difficult. However, if you can safely get to Industrial and have a strong defense upon aging, the game can easily be yours. Once the fighting enters Industrial, the weaknesses of Spain will begin to show.
A few recommended cards: ATP (In case he tries to start something with War Dogs), 5 Abus, 5 Hussars (For suicide runs against Falcs), 9 Manchu (for suicide-less runs against Falcs), 5 Jans, 3 Spahi. Spain can make you enter Industrial with heavy losses, but if you can repel his attack, you will quickly win.
Britain has a lot of versatility with different strategies, and as such you need to be prepared. The most likely ones are a Longbow Rush, a Musket Rush, a Manor Boom, an FF, an FI, or one of these alongside a Manor Boom.
For a Longbow Rush, age with Hussars and tear his army apart with Spahi. Against Muskets, age with Abus and try to keep your Spahi away. A 5 Abus shipment can help a lot, especially due to the hit-and-run abilities of your Abus.
If either one of these comes with a Manor Boom, make sure that you are raiding heavily. You will not be able to house him easily, so focus on production buildings and villagers when launching your attacks.
Against a more defensive Manor Boom, raid heavily and take map control. If walls go up, take advantage of this by hunting and knock them down once your Jans come. He may end up getting a stronger economy than you, but it is possible to catch up.
If you see an FF, harass and try not to let him build up a large force. 5 Spahi can beat 5 Muskets 5 times in a row, but they cannot beat 25. For an FI, make sure that you are doing the same thing. Keep Rockets from getting out with your 14 Spahi, but remember that they are coming out of a Factory. Prioritize getting those Factories down.
If you see a Naked FI, convert this to an FF and take his TC down with Falcs + Jans. If it is a semi-FI, continue playing as normal.
Recommended cards: 8 Abus, 5 Abus, Artillery Attack, Whatever that Church Card is (3 Bombard shipment can balance the 3 Rockets of an FI), 8 Jans, Refrigeration and/or Royal Mint
The French have two popular rushes. The first is the double-rax Xbow spam, which is easy to defeat with Spahi and Hussars, and the second is a native rush.
A Native Rush with high-siege units such as Aztecs can be devastating to an FF or FI. Against infantry, age with 4 Abus to fight this off, or, if you don’t think that your TC will survive 90 seconds, age with the Exiled Prince and get a shipment out as quickly as you can. In this case, you will lose your 4 Abus advantage, but you will be able to ship in more without having to wait as long.
Against Cavalry (mainly Lakota), a 4 Hussar or Exiled Prince Aging is the most viable. 8 Jans is essential against the French to keep Cavalry away. Once your Spahi come out, your opponent will either pull his Lakota back and attempt to get counter-cav (Comanche or Muskets) or fight them. In the former case, you need to age ASAP and get Bombards while playing offensively. In the latter, you may end up losing your Spahi, so shipping Jans in or making some locally can be helpful.
Another possible French strategy is a Cuirassier FF. The 3 Cuir shipment is worthless against your numbers, but Cuirs can be produced locally. A 3 Spahi card can be added to maintain a strong army if you see Cuirs. As always, however, getting to Industrial is essential.
Recommended cards: 8 Jans, 5 Abus, 3 Spahi, I'll think of more later
The Dutch Colonial force lacks the Musketeer, and so lacks a key defense against Spahi. Pikemen die too easily against Janissaries and Bombards to become effective once you've hit Industrial.
However, Ruyters are scary. Ruyters are quite possibly the strongest counter to Spahi forces in the game, and they have the potential to launch suicide runs against your cannons if you're not careful. Thus, the 3-Bank FF can be powerful in the hands of a Dutch player who pays attention.
Early Skirms, on the other hand, is a problem for a Jan-based IOR. Still, consider delaying your Fortress to harass and fight with Jans or Hussars, discouraging your opponent from hitting Fortress. If he does anyway, push forward if possible and defeat him completely. If it isn't possible, get to Fortress and ship LI or Cavalry Archers.
Cavalry Archers have a 1.5 RoF that can help support Spahi. Abus Guns are the perfect counter to most Dutch forces. Ship them in and consider making a Foundry for local production, but pay attention to Hussars. It is usually best to age with 4 Abus Guns.
Recommended Cards: 5 Cavalry Archers, 9 Cavalry Archers, 5 Abus Guns, 8 Abus Guns, 9 Manchu Archers (all HC, even Spahi, can become easily wasted against Ruyters), Royal Mint
The Portugeuse have a strong double-rax Musket rush, so be prepared to ship in Abus guns and do an Abus-aging. Multi-TC booming can create a large gap between your economies, so consider shipping in more raiding units.
An FF is also viable. FFs are annoying in that they give your opponent access to Dragoons, which, like Ruyters, are strong counters to Spahi. This Dragoon massing is great if you can get to Industrial and attack with numerous Jans.
Watch for Organ Guns. Raiding units that survive during Fortress should focus on keeping your Janissary meatshield alive to defend against Hussars.
Cassadors are not a problem.
If your opponent is placing TCs offensively, be prepared to fight a long battle. Prioritize getting more TCs up to equalize the enormous economic difference. If your opponent is going defensive, destroy them as you would other building is Great Bombards, but be careful of attacks from Minutemen. If you see Minutemen, retreat with your Jans while leaving your GBs to suffer. Minutemen will run up and shoot your GBs to pieces, and you're better off saving the army that you can. Because of Factories set to producing more Bombards, calling out Minutemen merely delays the inevitable.
Recommended cards: 5 Hussars, 5 Abus Guns, 8 Abus Guns, 3 Falconets, 8 Hussars
I hate playing against the Germans.
Aging with Abus Guns is almost always a necessity because of the strength of Pikes and Dopps. However, be careful of Uhlans and Xbows, watching especially for the former.
As soon as you hit the Discovery-Colonial transition, herd the nearest groups of hunts to your base to defend from Uhlan raids. In Fortress, raid as much as you can, but if you see Dopps, your chance at raiding might be over.
Dopps and Pikes can easily take your TC down before you hit Fortress. Do not lose your TC at any cost, and be prepared to delay your Industrial further by shipping or making more units. A few Janissaries helping your base with defense can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Fortunately, Germany does not have Ranged Cavalry outside of the expensive War Wagon. Additionally, they lack a strong Musketeer backbone. If you manage to hit Industrial, it can be very easy to win.
Though the Mosque is better on TAD than Vanilla, it turns out that 1.02 changes mean that a Trading Post start is still the best option.
There is a very nice 12 Abus Gun card available in Industrial. Unlike the Vanilla 8 Abus Gun card, it can be used to devastating effect in many situations. Additionally, the Team 4 Spahi card is useful in team games (although a semi-FI is a better 1v1 strat than it is a 2v2).
With a full 5 extra cards, there is plenty of space to include powerful Fortress and Industrial cards that would normally be cut out. 20 sheep can become an actually viable card, as can Cavalry upgrades. You can even include defensive Discovery/Colonial cards like Colonial Militia and Improved Buildings or add a gold-trickle card.
Currently, I have seven of these. One is rated and six are unrated, one of which I lost but still does a decent job showcasing the strategy. Note that the unrated ones are against players who are not playing entirely seriously and playing with unfamiliar civilizations, so this strategy is not quite ready to go against serious Captains yet.
And no, I don’t know why everyone is playing Dutch and Ports against me.
[This message has been edited by DUolCKrad (edited 12-29-2009 @ 08:46 PM).]
