IMPERIALISM: I've Beat the "Nigh-On Impossible" Level (long)
Lozier
I've just beat the "Nigh-On Impossible" level in 1865 on my first
attempt. I used the same non-aggressive conservative strategy that I
used for the "normal" and "hard" level.
I started by picking an isolated island for my starting location. I
prefer this over starting next to another major power because I don't
have to worry much about defending my home country. This is because
the computer is not very good at launching seaborne invasions. I
noticed that they use only one or two ship to secure a landing site
Consequently they can't land much of a force. I can easily head off
any invasion by deploying a few troops to any province that they
establish a landing zone in. I also build up my naval forces more
than my ground forces.
On my first turn I picked two minor countries with supplies of Iron
and Coal to establish Trade Consulates with. I picked countries that
the other major powers hadn't established Consulates in. Later as I
got more cash I establish four more Consulates. Unfortunately, the AI
seemed to attack my trading partners more at this level than the
easier levels. The first couple times they did this I was too weak to
challenge them, so I just had to sit by any watch them gobble up my
friends. Eventually I did stand up to one major power who did this.
Even then another major power attack another one of my trading
partners during the war. To avoid escalating the war, I let them have
it. Due to this, I ended up with fewer colonies than in my previous
games at easier levels. It was tough watching these potential
colonies go down. However, I would have lost the game if I would have
gone to war over them.
I balanced building up my economy and military. However, I gave the
economy first priority and only built enough military units to avoid
falling too far behind in the arms race. I paid attention to messages
warning about falling behind and would quickly build more military
units. I also kept an eye on the military strength bar graphs on the
Status screen. While my military was last most of the time early on,
I made sure it was always close to other major powers. This proved to
be sufficient because no one declared war on me until after I started
one to protect my trading partner.
I fought two wars during the game. The first was the one mentioned
above. I was finally at the point where I felt I could win a war, so
I intervened to protect my trading partner. In the beginning I had
the weaker military. However, I had a better navy and my enemies port
was close to mine. I was able to quickly blockade it and damage their
economy. I also invaded one of their colonies right away. At this
point another major power attack the minor country that was my chief
source of iron. I considered coming to the aid of this country, but
decided not to because I had just conquered some iron mines. Again, I
wisely avoided a war I didn't need to fight. Later after I started
the invasion of my enemy's home country, another country declared war
on me. How it was two on one. However, after a few turns, my first
enemy had enough and asked for peace which I granted. I then
concentrated on the new enemy and finished them off. In the meantime,
the other major powers went after my first enemy who I had left
severely weakened. I guess the AI is very good at attacking the
weaklings. I declared war and joined in on the spoils.
After the war, I was able to consolidated my gains. My economy grew
tremendously and moved into first place. The money started rolling in
and I started bribing the other major powers. For the first time in
the game my relationship with time moved out of the "yellow" and into
the "brown" and "green". I was now the dominate power.
The other major powers started to fight among themselves. I took
advantage and started my second war. It wasn't much of a fight. I
grabbed good chunks of two other major powers. Around this time the
1865 election occurred and I won the game.
--
George Lozier
aglo...@ix.netcom.com
Elkhorn, NE