To build a unit it takes Gold, Population and Raw Materials. As more advanced troops become available the cost rises. Once built any unit placed on the Campaign Map will consume food so Rations Warehouses and other food related upgrades will be needed if you intend to build a large army.

Another key thing to pay attention to is your Population. Armies are recruited from these and if there is one thing you will learn its that early on you simply do not have enough people in your Empire to do much conquering and any attempt to do so will just weaken even more. So medical upgrades and similar things will be badly needed too.

Let's not forget Raw Materials or Gold, so you need Saw Mills and you need to build Trading Offices which also need Population. Trading Offices are built in the countries surrounding your little empire and generate Gold which you also need.

So before you can really build an army, you must make these upgrades and that means you will not really be in position to attack anything for a while after the game starts.

You also need to research and build the Basic Barracks and Stables fair early on or your Empire will look weak and may be eaten up by a more militaristic Empire. So making the upgrades listed above should be done before you can build units like Line Infantry or Cavalry since you will not be needing the resources for troops at that point anyway.

Once you do have Barracks or Cavalry it's wise to stand considering defending your existing Empire. So start to build some defensive armies right away.

At this point you should be watching your food stocks. One of the numbers listed at the top of the screen represents your food levels. You want it to keep rising so you have plenty spare when you do go on the attack.

If you're using up too much food in peace time, just put some of your armies in the Barracks where they will not use up any food. This will save the food for later when you declare war on somebody.

A unit stat is visible when it's selected on the Campaign screen, you can check if a unit is good at shooting or not before sending them in to battle. In the game itself you can check this too. It's wise to to know if a unit is close combat only or shooter only types beforehand Or whether a unit is good at both or bad at both.

Musket based Infantry are your main troops, when placed in Line Formation they can let rip with a devastating volley of fire. If you place all your infantry in lines near each other they can take out entire Cavalry units in a couple of volleys. So they are pretty cool but it also means close combat only infantry units will stand no chance against such formations. Since those are the only infantry most nations have at the start of the game its usually good to build lots of line infantry early on to make a good start.

Ideally you want infantry that are good shots and good at close quarter fighting like the Black Watch that the English get later in the game.

Infantry tend to be cut down quickly when advancing towards enemy lines so its best to allow them to shoot when they get within range instead of charging them in.

Some infantry have very poor or low combat stats, in which case if they are ever engaged in close quarters fighting they will die horribly. For this reason its best to move those types to the back of the formations so they can fire but stay well away from combat.

So once you research Cavalry, Close Combat infantry types become obsolete, though the game still allows you to build them.

Cavalry are good no matter what they are armed with. Close Combat types of Cavalry can chew through an army so fast you will not need your infantry. However, if you charge infantry head on and they have lots of muskets then you can say good bye to your Cavalry. Cavalry armed with Muskets can usually attack directly using swords or shoot like line infantry. They are not as good at close combat as their close combat brothers, so I would not waste them in that particular roll except against Cannon. They are better for flanking the enemy and getting them to divide their forces.

Cannon are the bane of all units, especially Infantry. It does not matter if the infantry is in the open or in a building. The cannon will make short work of them. 3 units of Cannon will decimate an entire army in no time give the chance. An infantry charge against a cannon will be an expensive mistake but a Cavalry charge can work rather well. Providing you do not make a frontal attack and take measures to distract the enemy army first so it does not get between your cavalry and the enemy cannon, they will do a good job for you.

If you must attack in the open and the enemy has cannon, make sure your fighting at close quarters. Cannon balls do not care what they hit. They are just as likely to wipe your men out as their own. As you will find out the first time you put cannon behind you infantry and lose half your men with the first volley the cannons make.

Written by giskard