Gathering more food is always a goal in this game. More food means that you can increase your population. More population means that you can process more goods, man more ships, and build more army. You will be looking to increase food gathering throughout the whole game.

   Money is a big problem at the start of the game. Money is needed for offensive military operations and for research. You will see your initial treasury quickly drain away. Your major source of money is treasures of the New World: diamonds, gems, gold, silver, and spice. To a les

   Keep a watch on the information option of the diplomacy screen. You can see the declarations of war by the other powers. Use this information to move your military, e.g. position troops to take a neighboring New World province. The declarations of war that you see will not be the only things happening in that turn. Declarations of war will change the attitudes of other powers and they may react with their own declarations of war.

   The major thing that I do drasticaly different from the AI research is in the naval technology research. AI researchs through the privatering line to get Traders and Frigates. I avoid that line all-together and research to get Indiamen and Ship of the Lines. I use some of my Galleons as warships and avoid building Sloops. Once I have some SL's, I then use the Galleons as merchant ships.

   Forts are great deal. All of that firepower and it does not cost you any food. Forts can only be taken by a concentration of troops, in most cases they give you time to position your defence. In the New World, I like level 1 forts along all borders with other Powers and level 1 or higher forts in all valuable provinces.

   The pace at the beginning of the game is frantic. You will want to quickly find the iron ore in your country. Knowing the location of any copper or tin deposits are also helpful in planning your road network. Once you reach the New World, you will want to devote your explorers into finding the best provinces and exploring the contents of your conquered provinces. For these reasons, immediately build a second Explorer. You will wish you had more Explorers, but one more is all you can afford(at the Normal level). The AI has general knowledge of the value of each province. If you wait too long, you will find them taking all of the good provinces. For this reason, I conquer provinces as quickly as I can afford the attacks. Provinces with deserts(diamonds) or hills and mountains(gems,gold,silver) are priorities since you need the money. Spices are sometimes useful, but have a relatively low return. Provinces with sugar, tobacco, and fur are good for later in the game.

   The cost of attacking with a regiment is $100 per level of the troops. For example, one regiment of Knights costs $100 and one regiment of Javelins costs $200. A Horse Artillery is a level two unit and a General is a level one unit.

   If you are an Imperialism1 player, this is one area where you will need to change your thinking. There are no consumer goods in this game. Everything that you produce is needed for your own development. New World riches are the key to making money. Trade is a supplement to your income and can be crucial in helping you solve your inital money problems. In addition, trade is helpful in improving a country's attitude toward you.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Race Riches, SL's Galleons, David Kupcho, Choice Game, Horse Artillery, Sea Routes, Cuirassiers NW, Engineers Builders, Adding Knight, Artillery Arquebusiers, world colony, horse artillery, emplaced artillery, world provinces, normal level, declarations war, royal artillery, heavy artillery, world minor, level 1 forts, attack force, food technology start, engineer building road, research powers researched, kill emplaced artillery,
Approximate Word count = 3140
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)