Prussia has to be the hardest nation to play. You have France, Russia and Austria all within striking range and they will quickly surround you and threaten your borders if something else does not distract them early on. For this distraction you must look to Sweden and the Ottoman Empire who may just surprise you and help you indirectly.

Attacking another nation early on will leave you too weak to defend your self and even if you win your army will be half the size it was and the chances are you will not be able to take over the nation your attacking anyway. Revolts will just lead to you losing the armies you do have in the country. So you only have one option early on and that is self defense. Build up your armies so you can fight off any attack. Your not going to be able to do this fast enough to be truly safe without several upgrades within your nation. So the early game is a very expensive one and your going to have taken short cuts and make choices that leave you vulnerable in other areas. This strategy for the early game leads to less wars but allows you to plan your first strike.

Hanover usually falls to the English but occasionally the French or Austrians get it. Poland usually falls the Russians but occasionally Sweden and the Ottoman Empire will divide Russia up between them leaving Poland on the bargain shelf waiting for some eager General to snap it up.

To expand or even defend your self, you need to build up an decent army fast, 4 armies should do it. You must then cross your fingers and wait for an alliance or some event that leaves one of your closest rivals open to attack. If you can become part of a powerful alliance at the same time as Saxony, Poland or any country along your borders is excluded from any such alliance then you can move 3 armies into that country and take it over. If you cannot then you can only use 2 and those same armies must be strong enough after the battle to annex the country. The reason you must keep 2 at home is the moment you attack, somebody will decide your looking a little weak and attack you right back whilst your armies are engaged else where.

I found Prussian Generals gain more experience faster than any other nations generals. The reason is the early game is one of constant warfare for Prussia. If you do not expand you look weak and are attacked. If you do expand you look aggressive and are attacked. Either way your going to be attacked by somebody.

So who is likely to declare ware on you when you play Prussia?

Well, everybody, that's who. Your going to be fighting for your life until you can become a major player. One nation after another, you will just be making peace with one when another declares war on you. Once you start building up a decent Empire the other nations tend not to be so fast to declare war on you. Until that happens as Prussia you must take small bites out of Europe and pay for an early end to any war.

For example, early on taking over the other small nations around you is a good move. It gives you more resources and a second barracks. Thus allowing you to replace your losses quicker. Another good tip for Prussia is to avoid the Democracy or Republic government types because as an Autocracy or Monarchy you get some benefits that will help you maintain your army.

Once you have those you should turn your eyes to Russia or Austria. Your not after conquering them at this point. You just want to perform a little land grab. A few quick wars lasting one or two turns and then make peace. Bide your time, wait for another nation to put pressure on either of them by declaring war then when either Austria or Russia starts to look weak declare war your self and move your armies into one of their regions. Then make peace as quickly as you can or accept the offer if peace is offered to you. The moment peace is declared those regions will become yours to upgrade as you see fit. That means you have more resources coming in and can maintain a bigger army next time you attack. Of course your sympathy rating will be low and that means you will be attacked more often by the other nations, but you have choice. Conquest is your only realistic way to win the game as Prussia.

Unfortunately as you do this you will notice you have borders all sides that you need to defend. If you place 1 army in each border region you will lose them to the first attacker who moves 3 armies into that region. So look for a region that is strategically placed to allow you to move 3 armies into several near by regions and group them in there. Poland and Austria good for this but remember you have to leave 1 army in Austria or it will revolt and reappear as a nation. If your chosen region is a bit further back from the border then that is good too because it means any attacker may take over one of your regions but you will be the player choosing where the first battle will be thought and thus be able to take advantage of any weakness in the AIs strategy.

After taking each little bite out of Europe, rebuild your armies and prepare to do it again, taking little regions here and there until one of your rivals looks weak and you can take them out completely. Using this method you should be able to take over Russia and Austria. Taking over either country will make you a super power in the game.

With any other nation you would now be able to win, but with Prussia you will find your self facing Sweden to the north who will try and expand through your territories. The Ottoman Empire to the South who will be doing the same and the French and all the smaller nations to the west who will be trying to decide who to attack next. Great Britain and France will be via'ing for your favor at this point because the chances are Great Britain will own parts of Europe between you and France and perhaps even Norway and Sweden. An alliance with Great Britain means Great Britain can attack France or anybody else, An alliance with the French means the French can attack anybody they please. The alliance will be more important for Great Britain than France but its important to know that no other country on your border will attempt to do anything without first making an agreement if you have a strong army. So they do not have to worry about you taking advantage of any weakness they show during a campaign against another country. If you see them attacking anybody without an agreement or alliance with you then you should consider your self weak and do something about it. Like build more armies.

Assuming you do go for Monarchy and Autocracy Government types you will find you get Military Hospitals for restoring units to full strength and a quest that will give you 2 Marshals, that's a leader that can have 6 units under his command. If you get these then you will learn to look after them because you only get them once and the two Marshals come with 6 units each as part of the quest you completed. So they are ready for war right away.

As Prussia you need to look after your experienced men. So you will find your self merging units in your barracks to bring them up to full strength whilst you wait for the Military hospitals to become available. Its wise to try and keep damaged units alive and not sacrifice them since their experience will lead to many victories in battles to come and because Prussia is always under attack, your leaders and units tend to be of a higher rank than any other nation. This gives you a natural edge in experience on the battle field over most other nations.

You should use the experienced troops gained fighting Russia and Austria to take on the Ottoman Empire. Because your not a Democracy you will find it hard to annex them peacefully. Though it is not impossible, I managed to do it my self as Prussia. From there you can take over the whole of Africa. It does not matter who owns the countries since by now they have all taken their best shot at you anyway. You will of course need to divide your forces and time your attacks so the country your attacking cannot simply send all its armies over your borders. Waiting for somebody to declare war on them is usually a good idea if the nation your attacking is a super power. One group of armies will need to defend your own little part of Europe whilst another goes off campaigning in Africa. Who ever you meet, be they English, French or just Egyptians you should crush them under foot.

In fact, if the opportunity a rises to take out Lombardy, the Papal States and the Two Sicilies then do that as well. You will be taking a risk but the extra resources will be help your recover more quickly. Those three nations usually form an alliance with each other, so the chances are high you will be at war with all 3 of them when you make your move.

Once you control Africa, Austria and Russia you should be able to defeat the French and the English without too much trouble. I recommend taking over the countries bordering Austria first. If France or Great Britain already own them then try using Resistance cells to free the country before your own troops crush the Resistance and claim those countries in your name.

Once you own those then France is yours for the taking.

Written by giskard