The history of Europe over the last centuries can be seen as the history of the Ottoman Empire and a few annoying, small nations that thwarted Ottoman ambitions. Ottoman power is unmatched in its extent and grandeur, straddling the traditional trade route between Europe and Asia. Though it entered the First World War enthusiastically, the Ottoman Empire was not prepared for total war. In the West, we often overlook the fact that the achievements of the Ottoman Empire at the zenith of its power matched those of contemporary Western Europe – as well as the other great Islamic states of Safavid Iran and Mughal India.
- Empire: Total War Strategy guide By AHW aka Blood Rage aka PEDEG 2nd July 2011 - Table of contents 1. Campaign Strategy 2.1 General Strategy 2.2 Development 2.3 Expansion 3. Battle Overview 3.1 Land Battles 3.2 Naval Battles 4.
- Ottoman Empire, empire created by Turkish tribes that grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its dynasty was founded by a prince (bey), Osman, after the Mongols defeated the Seljuqs at the end of the 13th century. The empire disintegrated after World War I.
Topic Subject: | a question about ottoman economy |
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posted 02-07-09 12:23 PM EDT (US) why do people think ottoman eco sucks in the late game without TPs and they never stand a chance? Does not it take the same time to train a vil. (moreover they are free!) and have not they got a superior army to win? what make difference between ottos and others about their economies? | |
Author | Replies: |
posted 02-07-09 12:27 PM EDT (US) 1 / 159 why do people think ottoman eco sucks in the late game without TPs and they never stand a chance? Does not it take the same time to train a vil. (moreover they are free!) and have not they got a superior army to win? what make difference between ottos and others about their economies?Their villagers train slower so its hard to make a come back if you get raided badly or your rush gets beaten back... 'Rot's given a free pass simply because he's Rot.' - theferret |
posted 02-07-09 01:02 PM EDT (US) 2 / 159 even after the mosque improvments ? and is it the only reason that why it is so ? |
posted 02-07-09 01:10 PM EDT (US) 3 / 159 Without mosque improvements, they train twice as slowly as other civs' vils. Before they get all of their mosque techs, their eco is slowed down significantly because of that. ESO2: Kyle_The_Brave Clan: Proud Officer of Trỉρℓε ΣņτễηţϠ, [TΣ] 'Why make your own inspirational quotes when you can just read the side of O_Man's Ssips juices?' - A wise prophet 'The best way to die is to spontaneously combust during a drum solo battle with Lars Ulrich' - The Blair |
posted 02-07-09 01:26 PM EDT (US) 4 / 159 late game, otto's arent that weak. When you set up 3 TC's and do the mosque upgrades, you can max out on villagers quite fast. And an army of jans, great bombard and spahi/mams isnt easy to defeat. The only problem is that it takes some time before you can boom at full speed and most other civs will outboom you because of that. [This message has been edited by Bart331 (edited 02-07-2009 @ 01:28 PM).] |
Ha_Luke Sig Award Winner | posted 02-07-09 01:36 PM EDT (US) 5 / 159 Spahi/Mams are just temporary so when they are dead you can't replenish them. A bigger problem is that they don't get the faster infantry training card. That means that janns don't train as fast as other infantry. So in an spamfest it's difficult to keep up, even if they have a great economy. An otto is very strong in early age 4, when have their upgraded Spahi and some great bombards from their unique church tech. After you defeat that army they have problems. [TΣ]_Ha_Luke_331 'All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.' -Voltaire 'A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers. ' - Plato [This message has been edited by Ha_Luke (edited 02-07-2009 @ 01:37 PM).] |
posted 02-07-09 01:50 PM EDT (US) 6 / 159 well, so an ottoman musn not turtle but they should slow down the enemy by harassing, raiding while he was going fast fortress or industrial. at late he must have TCs and TPs and a potential of a strong economy. at least it makes sense to me . |
posted 02-07-09 01:51 PM EDT (US) 7 / 159 There vills train slower that's one of the reasons there eco is weaker. |
posted 02-07-09 02:19 PM EDT (US) 8 / 159 vills trains slowly, their eco only gets good once mosque upgrades+3tc's are created which is later on in the game thus giving the other civs a huge eco advantage already. As stated, in late late game, otto eco is alright with 99 vills+2 factories, but they lose in treaty often due to the fact that their units train slowly so will get overwhelmed quickly. |
retribution1423 Skirmisher | posted 02-07-09 11:33 PM EDT (US) 9 / 159 So in an spamfest it's difficult to keep up, even if they have a great economy.there is a card to make jans able to build raxes, so you can spam raxes and get troops that way, you can also get the church upgrade which helps abit. The only prob with this of course is you have to get to the point where your eco can back this up - other civs can do this faster than you and there inlyes what everyone else said. Mudkips did 9/11 - The way I see it is, I'm playing this game for the fun of it, not to prove that I have a fiery E-wang of doom. [This message has been edited by retribution1423 (edited 02-07-2009 @ 11:34 PM).] |
posted 02-07-09 11:40 PM EDT (US) 10 / 159 ottomans generally werent made to boom...but if u get stuck into doing that, you can still max vills, imperial, and spam jans+abus. Abus late game are da bomb lol, added to that mams and spahi + GB from factories and if u can, fish boom, u can own! =D i've tried |
posted 02-07-09 11:52 PM EDT (US) 11 / 159 Veteran and Imperial Jans literally tear through everything. |
posted 02-08-09 00:02 AM EDT (US) 12 / 159 no they dont imperial gendarmes, backed by a french eco, as long as the ottoman doesnt have all the fishing on the map, will completely kill jans easy cause they arent as good against cavalry as other musket type units.. but that was a fine opinion indeed james, would you have anything to say on mine? Rank: Captain My Strategies:French Semi-FF | French 2x Musket Rush | French 2x Xbow Rush My Mapguides: Northwest Territories |
posted 02-08-09 00:14 AM EDT (US) 13 / 159 Jans do not tear through anything. Skirms with the arsenal upgrade (gives them 3x bonus vs. HI) rape Jans. |
posted 02-08-09 00:16 AM EDT (US) 14 / 159 yea thats a good point too Ganzzer, jans obviously arent as great as james thinks they are, but if hes willing to attack someones skirms with jans that sure would be humorous Rank: Captain My Strategies:French Semi-FF | French 2x Musket Rush | French 2x Xbow Rush My Mapguides: Northwest Territories |
posted 02-08-09 00:39 AM EDT (US) 15 / 159 Of course your not going to just have Jans. Your going to have Hussars, Mams, Spahi's and Abus as well. But stil - Veteran Jans are extremely strong, and if you FF they can tear through Colonial Armies easy with support from a few Abus and Hussars/Spahi/Mams. |
posted 02-08-09 00:46 AM EDT (US) 16 / 159 yeas that is a possibility james, often veteran units are stronger than colonial units has something to do with upgrades i suppose Rank: Captain My Strategies:French Semi-FF | French 2x Musket Rush | French 2x Xbow Rush My Mapguides: Northwest Territories |
posted 02-08-09 03:15 AM EDT (US) 17 / 159 Still, Veteran Janissaries are extremely strong. |
posted 02-08-09 04:32 AM EDT (US) 18 / 159 Veteran Jans are extremely strong, and if you FF they can tear through Colonial Armies easy with support from a few Abus and Hussars/Spahi/MamsVeteran Cuirassier/Veteran Hussars/Falcs/Veteran Lancers/(and everything you can imagine) are extremely strong, and if you FF they can tear through Colonial Armies easy with support from Ronin/Elmeti/Highlander/Swiss Pikemen/Jaeger and some more mercs. Of course you gonna beat an age 2 army with an age 3 army! Imperial Jans are strong, but don't counter cav as good as other (equally upgraded) HI. That plus the fact that you can't keep spamming them, makes them vulnerable late game. [TΣ]_Ha_Luke_331 'All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.' -Voltaire 'A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers. ' - Plato |
posted 02-08-09 08:19 AM EDT (US) 19 / 159 Yes, Jans are strong, they beat imperial musketeers one on one, and they are equal or better than royal guard musketeers one on one. In a sense, jans are like the ottoman's royal guard/unique musketeer. If I ever play ottomans, I would spam artillery and cav. They have cards for both. Abus have around 200 damage v infantry late game, and their imperial grens and imperial gardeners can really put a dent in their army. RESIGNED FROM AGE OF EMPIRES until further notice Rush Strategies - Russian and French The Complete Guide to the Russians The Ottoman Semi-FF ESO: Arcane_Ranger - Official Officer Of The A-US Blue Seals Clan |
posted 02-08-09 10:46 AM EDT (US) 20 / 159 they dont beat brits royal guard Mudkips did 9/11 - The way I see it is, I'm playing this game for the fun of it, not to prove that I have a fiery E-wang of doom. |
posted 02-08-09 11:45 AM EDT (US) 21 / 159 The brits fully upgraded musketeers are OP. |
posted 02-08-09 12:40 PM EDT (US) 22 / 159 they arent exactly op tyler, they are simply one of the brits advantages. Rank: Captain My Strategies:French Semi-FF | French 2x Musket Rush | French 2x Xbow Rush My Mapguides: Northwest Territories |
posted 02-08-09 01:15 PM EDT (US) 23 / 159 i think that no upgrades for imperial abus would easily kill FU imperial redcoats, dont ya think? |
posted 02-08-09 01:58 PM EDT (US) 24 / 159 They might not be OP I guess, but they are really strong and there is just no chance as russia vs them with strelets or musk . |
posted 02-08-09 05:00 PM EDT (US) 25 / 159 what is spam ? |
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Go West, Young Man, Go West! : Ottoman Campaign Strategy for Western Expansion
By Bastworshiper
The Ottoman campaign is the most interesting, challenging, and entertaining campaign I have played. Their lack of European technology and quality line units, particularly in the early game, creates a unique campaign experience.
There are several different strategies to be found in the forums for expanding the Ottoman Empire, and this article will outline my personal approach and preference of expanding westward. I feel it is much more important to hamstring as many of your potential rivals in Europe, in the early game, as possible. While it is much easier to expand eastward in the early game, the European nations develop more quickly than the Eastern nations; so in the late game, it is much harder to capture territory in Europe than the Middle East or India, due to the differences in military technology. In addition, control of the Mediterranean is invaluable in limiting your opponents’ trade and expanding your own trade empire.
Of course, one of the wonderful things about Empire: Total War is there is no 'right move.' Each game plays out differently, and while there may be trends, early decisions by the AI and by you can have a dramatic impact on the direction the game takes.
Starting Position
You begin the game with most of the Greek Peninsula and control of the Mediterranean coast from Anatolia to Egypt, as well as Baghdad and Armenia. The Barbary States and the Crimean Khanate are your protectorates, and you have trade established with them, the Mughal Empire, Genoa, and Venice. You begin the game at war with Russia and, of course, the Pirates.
Not many friends, at least none suitable for polite society
Government and Diplomacy
There are few words to describe your starting Ministers. One of the kinder descriptions would be dreadful. Your Sultan, Mustafa II, cannot be described as politely. You can only hope he dies young, but you are probably stuck with him for a while.
You can improve your Ministers tremendously, though. Switch your Justice Minister with your Head Minister; then switch your Navy Minister with your new Justice Minister. Now, move Abdurahman Edhem to Army Administration, move Giritli Hakim to Treasury Administration, and move Cenaze Yahudi to the Naval Administration. (Put the remaining two alternates into the Treasury Minister position before you move Giritli Hakim into that position to get them out of the queue.)Reshuffling the house of cards
There, that’s better.
I usually drop taxes to the lowest level for the lower classes and the second lowest level for the nobility. It will only reduce your income by about 600 per turn, but it will benefit population growth and region wealth in the long run. You can, of course, raise taxes whenever necessary to fund your military.
Establish trade treaties with as many nations as you can, but you definitely want to establish trade with Great Britain. In my experience, Great Britain and Poland-Lithuania will accept trade treaties, and Prussia will accept a trade treaty if you throw in a little cash. You cannot establish trade with Sweden on the first turn, but you’ll want a trade agreement with them soon. They become a lucrative trade partner. If you can get Prussia to accept a trade of improved grenades and 1500 cash or less for plug bayonet, do it. If not, establish a trade treaty, wait a few turns for relations to improve, and try again.
Protectorates
You begin with two protectorates: the Crimean Khanate and the Barbary States. There are a lot of warmongers out there suggesting you cancel your alliance with both of these nations. I strongly disagree. Once you have assisted the Crimean Khanate in driving off the initial wave of Russian attacks, they become a valuable ally in checking Russian aggression in the early game. The Russian military build-up will eventually outpace the Crimean Khanate; so you’ll need to keep a small force near their capital to assist them when the time comes.
The Barbary States present more of a dilemma. Initially, you will not be able to make alliances with any European nations, because the Barbary States start the game at war with almost everyone; and no one will accept an alliance with you, as long as you are allied with an enemy of theirs. However, nations will eventually start making peace with the Barbary States. In the meantime, the Barbary States will hamper other nations’ Mediterranean trade without interfering with yours. In addition, like the Crimean Khanate, they provide reasonable trade income and pour half of their income into your coffers.
However, while I believe that the advantages of maintaining your alliances outweigh the benefits of canceling them, the choice is yours. Don’t forget, though, you receive a diplomacy penalty, if you choose to cancel an alliance.
Military
If you are used to playing as European nations, you’re in for a big surprise. You will definitely need to change your tactics. Developing good strategies with skirmishers and artillery are essential. These two areas are where your early units excel. I will address only units you can recruit or immediately employ in Europe. Try to build a dockyard in Antalya, Anatolia as soon as possible. You do not have access to Sixth Rates, and you want to be able to build Fourth and Fifth Rates early.
Infantry
Your starting line infantry, Isarelys, are relatively weak in comparison to European line infantry. Luckily, your first major opponent, Austria, has some of the weakest line infantry in Europe. However, the Austrian line infantry has more men in each unit. Do not write-off your Isarelys, though.
They will continue to be a staple of your armies until you can begin producing Nizam-I-Cedit in the middle game. Until then, Isarelys are your only infantry units that can use bayonets or form square.
Azzars are your starting skirmisher unit. You will want to learn to use them well, because they will win battles for you in the early game. Their most valuable trait is that they can stay concealed while moving. Unfortunately, they are no better than Austria’s starting skirmishers, Pandours. Regardless, hit-and-run tactics and ambushes staged with these units can turn the tide of battle.
Musellims don’t look like much, but they are useful melee units, mostly because of their large unit sizes. They can be used to mob your opponents from the flanks, or to occupy your opponent while you move skirmishers or line infantry for flanking fire.
Semenys are cheap and are used almost exclusively to garrison ports.
Bashi-Bazouks are completely useless. They can stay concealed while moving; but since they are melee units, they have to expose themselves before they can do any damage. They break so quickly as to be a liability in battle. You can dismiss most of them at the beginning of the campaign.
Cavalry
Ottoman Empire History Summary
Deli Horsemen can be extremely effective. Being able to deploy missile cavalry in the early game is indispensable. Try to move them to the flank or rear of an engaged enemy and launch a charge, during which they will discharge their weapons. They can also be used to hunt undefended artillery. Do not let them get bogged down in melee, though.
Artillery
Did you get the Special Forces DLC? I hope so, because it gives you access to one of the most devastating artillery pieces in the game: The Ottoman Organ Gun. They are fairly expensive and require three turns to build, but they are impressive-looking. They are fixed cannon and can only fire round shot, but they are cavalry killers. A well-placed volley can wipe out almost an entire cavalry unit. While it is relatively inaccurate, each cannon fires about 12 cannonballs at once; so at least a few should find their mark. Regardless of physical impact, the impact on opponents' morale is significant.
Oh, dear. This could hurt.
The 18-pounder Foot Artillery is your basic artillery unit, though heavier than the European starting guns. You begin the game with canister shot; so you should use these artillery pieces in your army from the beginning of the campaign, particularly for defense.
Early Moves
Your starting scholar, Meshur Dede, in Anatolia needs to be moved into the school. He has +2 research bonus for enlightenment technologies; so that is where you want to start. I recommend researching empiricism to gain early access to the college improvement, but any of the enlightenment techs is fine. You have many major cities and you will want to build up to Sultan's Observatories in as many as possible for the additional scholars. Your scholars cannot duel; so the additional manpower (brainpower?) is needed to complete your research quickly and spare a scholar for espionage.
At the beginning of the campaign I focus my building improvements on farms and roads. Each of these can provide a reasonable boost to region wealth with little investment. Farms have the additional bonus of positively influencing population growth. Roads have the additional bonus of reducing travel times through provinces where they have been built, and they cannot be damaged or destroyed.
I suggest immediately trading Armenia to the Persian Empire for trade rights and an alliance. (You can probably get some money out of this, as well. I usually shoot for about 1200.) The benefits of this trade are many: Persia will maintain their alliance with you, as long as you play nice; and if you do not establish an early alliance, they will declare war on you and prevent you from moving trade ships out of the Persian Gulf. The trade also immediately creates a buffer territory between you and Georgia, otherwise Georgia will declare war on you. You have effectively secured your Middle Eastern territories; so you can focus on expanding in Europe. You will also be able to immediately start building dhows in Basra to trade spices in the East Indies trade theater and trade ivory in the Madagascar trade theater. You can produce one dhow every other turn in the Persian Gulf, giving you the opportunity to secure the trade nodes in these theaters before other nations. (This will help develop your economy. You will need a lot of money to support your early military.) You will want to keep a small security force in Baghdad, until relations improve with Persia, to help them avoid any temptation to betray you. The force evicted from Armenia, along with those already garrisoning Baghdad should be enough.
Send a small force to defend the Crimean Khanate from the inevitable attack by the Russians. I usually send Damat Aali’s force (located in Moldavia), except for the General and Bashi-Bazouks. Those three units should be sufficient. You will only need to reinforce the Crimean military to ensure the Russians do not win their initial battles and capture the Crimea. (Only reinforce. There is no need to enter battle on your own against the Russians.) This will stall them for five to fifteen (5 – 15) turns, as they will soon be occupied with Sweden. You do not want the Russians to gain a port with access to the Mediterranean. In most of the games I’ve played, after you help the Crimean Khanate repel the initial attack or two from Russia, they will go on the offensive, sometimes capturing Kiev from the Russians.
Prepare for war in Europe, but do not declare war on anyone. Let whoever (Austria, I’m looking at you) be the aggressor. Within the first few turns, any combination of Austria, Russia, Poland-Lithuania, Venice and the Italian States may declare war on you. When Austria declares war, you want to capture Croatia and Transylvania. However, do not call your allies to help. (They would not be able to provide significant assistance, anyway; and you want to stay on the best possible terms with Great Britain and the United Provinces, both allies of Austria.) Your early goals, here, are to protect your northern border, protect the Crimea, and gain control of the entire Greek Peninsula.
Long-Term Strategy
Once Venice declares war on you or you see an opportunity to declare war on them without drawing another major power (Spain) into the war, you should capture Patras, Morea. It is also important to capture Hungary; so you can provide a continual military threat to Vienna, Austria. Hopefully, by this time, you have pacified Austria, or at least established secure northern borders.
You will need to assemble a strong army for your next major goal – the subjugation of Italy. Of course, you cannot avoid war with Spain, once you start capturing Italy, but you want to delay that as long as possible. Italy, once secured, is easily defensible.
Watch out for latter-day Hannibals, or precocious Napoleons.
Could The Ottoman Empire Avoid WWI? - Quora
There are few entry points to Italy. You can place forts in the mountain passes, and leave a garrison in the port at Nice. Italy can be used as a staging point for raids into Vienna, Austria or to capture that territory. In addition, Italy is extremely wealthy.
Morocco will probably declare war on the Barbary States fairly early in the campaign. If you want to keep the Barbary States as your protectorate, you’ll need to enter the war on their side. Morocco is a required territory for victory in the long campaign; so whenever you are able to spare enough resources you should land an army in North Africa and capture Morocco. This also provides a good staging point to invade Spain, which is another requirement for victory in the long campaign.
It is important to build up your navy early. Start building Fourth and Fifth Rates as soon as you get your dockyard completed in Anatolia. I usually turn the dock that becomes available in Crete into a military producer, as well; so you can have two ports producing warships. It also helps to devote a scholar (or two) with no particular skills to espionage, and I use one almost exclusively to steal naval technologies. Use this navy to dominate the Mediterranean. Try not to allow any nation you do not call 'ally'? to sail into the Mediterranean. Once you’ve captured all of Italy, France and Spain should be the only nations besides you and your allies to have a port in the Mediterranean. Station a sizeable warfleet in the Straits of Gibraltar and nothing should get through.
If you purchased the Elite Units of the East DLC, you want to follow the Military Governor’s Encampment/Barracks track in Sofia, Bulgaria and Sarajevo, Bosnia. In Bulgaria, this will give you access to Wallachian Boyars, the best light cavalry unit you can produce. They have the same statistics as Mamelukes, though the Boyars have a higher morale and are less expensive to maintain or recruit. In Bosnia, the military track grants you access to Bosnian Panduks and Haydut Irregulars. These are both excellent skirmisher units (and you can recruit them with just the Military Governor’s Encampment; so they are available fairly early). The Haydut Irregulars have higher accuracy, but the Bosnian Panduks have a higher melee rating. Though the Panduks can stand up longer in melee, you should not allow these units engage in melee anyway; so I prefer the higher accuracy of the Haydut Irregulars.
Once you have built a city to the level that it can produce both Beylik Janissary Musketeers and Hand Mortar Boluks, you can employ the Ottoman infantry tactics suggested by Sargon II. You will need to continue to use supporting units in your armies, however. Besides, it is very expensive to keep large numbers of these units in your employ, and your opponent might not be so accommodating as to stand still and get shot down and blown up. The Beylik Janissaries do not use bayonets and cannot stand up long in melee with European line infantry. You will always want a couple of units of light cavalry, two to four (2-4) artillery units, two to four (2-4) units of skirmishers, and at least four units of Isarelys in a full-stack army, at least until you have researched European doctrine.
Once you have secured Greece and Italy and locked down the Mediterranean, you can expand wherever you want. I prefer to expand into India, rather than the Americas, because India is easier to reinforce from the Middle East. Once you have established good relations with Persia, you should be able to make a deal with them for indefinite military access. (I have generally been able to offer them 20 turns military access for indefinite military access to their lands and have them accept the trade.) You can then reinforce India by land, as well as through the Persian Gulf. You can also raid India from Persian territory and retreat safely back to their territory.
A note on trade ships: Dhows are very weak, but when used creatively, they can stand up to larger ships. A single dhow can take on a single galleon or other large, slow ship. Dhows have two guns facing aft (toward the rear of the ship); so you can maneuver the dhow to be racing away from the large ship and keep adjusting your course to keep your enemy in your cone of fire. As long as you stay right on the edge of your range, the opposing ship will not be able to turn a broadside towards you until you are out of their range. While dhows only carry three total guns, they are heavy guns; so you can eventually sink your opponent or force them to retreat. It is dull, and it takes a lot of micromanagement, but it works. If you are attacked by multiple ships, a sloop, a fifth rate, or a sixth rate, you should just retreat.
Try to ally with Great Britain and the United Provinces, since you spend most of your time at war with their natural enemies, France and Spain. It also helps to keep Austria in check, as they are less likely to go to war with allies of their allies, but they will. Take Greece, Italy, North Africa, and India or the Americas. Dominate the trade theaters and the Mediterranean and you will be well on your way to bringing glory to the Ottoman Empire and making it the greatest power in the world.
This guide was created playing on hard battle difficulty and very hard campaign difficulty, but the concepts should be applicable regardless of difficulty level.
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