When colonial fighting is giving you a headache, you can try something else: going to fortress! The chinese fortress has just as many (probably even more) benefits than the chinese colonial, which you'll be able to exploit with this strategy. Here are just some of their unique advantages.
2. Villages can garrison villagers and receive shipments.
3. Your age up progress is independant of your tc
4. Wonders can regenerate and start with 5k hp.
All the above points mean, that unlike other civs such as spain and ottomans, you can age up to fortress quickly without sacrificing any villager production. You can also afford to lose some villagers to raids, and still keep ahead in the end. Even if you are attacked early, you still have a good chance of surviving because wonders are extremely hard to destroy.
Which wonders you use will be extremely vital to the success of this strategy
The Summer Palace is the standard age up wonder for the chinese colonial, but it can also be put into great use for a FF. You get 400 food in crates and a constant banner army spam, which will be very helpful in making sure you will get to fortress intact.
The Confucian Academy is the whole thing that makes this strategy work. First off, it gives you an immediate benefit of 8 arquebusiers, which, when paired with minutemen, your first banner army, and a colonial unit shipment, can fight off most early armies. Later in fortress, if you are in a stalemate, the free flying crows from the wonder could prove decisive and lead to a victory.
You will need these cards, in the following order
1. Northern Refugees
->
->
->
->
-Repelling Volley
-Mongolian Scourge
-Double Faced Armor
-9 Manchu
-Intervention
-1000 wood
So, now that you're all excited, on to the BO!
-7 hand mortars can 1 hit kill a falconet.
-Versus Ottoman or Spanish fast fortresses, make the territorial army and send 7 hand mortars and 9 manchu as soon as possible. Stay defensive.
-Versus Portuguese or Dutch fast fortresses, make mainly imperial army with some forbidden armies. You will want to send double faced armor, repelling volley, and mongolian scourge if the game drags on and you've exhausted your important unit shipments.
-Versus other economical fast fortresses, age up with the porcelain tower instead.
-13 chu ko nus have more power than 10 arquebusiers, but the arquebusiers have more range and are easier to micro.
-Sending intervention while you have a british ally will yield 9 redcoats, and does not take up any population to send.
-Don't get discouraged if you are at a economical disadvantage; your military can more than easily make up for it.
-Your monk and disciples can act as emergency anti-cavalry if needed.
That's it, GL&HF pwning with this
[This message has been edited by dOPplesaurus (edited 12-21-2009 @ 01:41 PM).]