Empire Total War: Guide: World Domination under Sweden

The following is a guide posted on Steam concerning Empire: Total War. Enjoy.

Sweden is not known in the Total War community for being a powerhouse of Europe. However, Sweden is placed in an extraordinary location at the start of the game, which would allow the user to seize control of the Baltic, take control of North America, and essentially conquer the world. With the right strategy, you should definitely be capable of conquering the known world as Sverige, at least on normal difficulty. I did.

Note: this is meant to be both a narrative and a guide. It does not all fit for all cases, but all of it will apply to some of the cases, while some of it will apply to all cases. Enjoy at your own risk.

There are a few shortcuts that you have to realize in order to fully take advantage of Sweden's location. These shortcuts work both ways; you could do the same as Prussia, in example, to Sweden as Sweden could do to Prussia. However, the AI is notorious for its lack of good judgment, so it won't notice the shortcuts I'm about to give you.

First, one can send an army from Stockholm across the Baltic Sea to the shore of Silesia within one turn. All that he/she needs is a fleet of at least one ship (could be a light galley, provided that the shoreline isn't guarded by a fleet) docked at Visby and a substantial army garrisoned at Stockholm (you will be assaulting the German mainland, so it's best to come prepared). You could do the same with Koenigsberg and Gdansk, and almost anywhere else on the Baltic.

Second, most if not all of the central European/northern European cities are one or two moves' distance away from each other. This will be undoubtedly helpful as you assault the German mainland. Once you attack the bulk of your enemies' armies, you will be able to sweep through their territories in a shockingly short period of time. Why would this be effective for Sweden and not, say, Poland-Lithuania or Austria? Sweden is separated from the rest of mainland Europe by a large ocean. This means that Sweden can assault the heart of enemy territory without expecting the reciprocal action, whereas said central European factions have to have at least a small defence.

Sweden's "special power" (every nation has either a deviation from the normal roster, a "special power," or radically unique units) is a 20% increase in the unit size of the regiment of horse. It's useless; don't bother employing it. I would mass-spam grenadiers, line infantry, or riflemen.

Sure, this sounds fun, and the secrets are fairly useful, but how would the campaign work on a small scale? After all, what is a campaign but the military events that compose it? Basically, how does one just conquer provinces? Well, there is a systematic way to taking out large amounts of territory.

First, always take an unguarded city from an enemy. Even if you have a small amount of soldiers (maybe four units) in a neighboring border territory, you will always have a tremendous advantage over the average garrison and, by conquering the territory, an edge on your opponent.

What if a certain settlement is heavily guarded? Ignore the surrounding armies and besiege the settlement with a large army. If the enemy sallies forth to attack you, you have a better shot at winning the battle than at attacking the enemy head-on. If you have another army, attack the reinforcing armies surrounding the settlement once you've besieged it. Because the garrison inside the city cannot reinforce said armies, you can divide the enemy's might into much easier portions.

When you're attacking a city, always ensure that you have the necessary might and auto-resolve the conflict. The computer gives the player a much greater advantage than the player usually has in these types of battles. When the enemy sallies forth from their city when you've besieged it, always play the battle manually, since you have a much better chance of defending yourself. Similarly, always play the battle when an enemy attacks your settlement.

Notice that practically none of this requires any non-siege battles. In this systematic way, there is no need for battles that aren't related to sieges because they aren't practical. Sure, you may have fun doing them, but conquering the world requires looking at the big picture as opposed to individual battles.

First, it is crucial that the player establish good relations with Austria. I personally have seen Austria rise to glory as the dominant force in Europe; I have seen Austria get conquered by the Poles. Either way, Austria will undoubtedly go to war with Sweden's biggest rivals: Prussia, Poland-Lithuania, and Russia. You'll need at least a distraction for your enemies, and an alliance with Austria fits perfectly. Later, you could turn on Austria when you've conquered most of Europe, since your alliance would have no value anymore.

Strike early and fast. Prussia will destroy any Swedish hopes of conquest on the mainland if left to itself for a while. If Sweden strikes quickly, Prussia may survive, but it won't build enough of its forces to be a threat once the Swedes have a grip on Europe.

Poland-Lithuania will welcome you into the game with several rounds of muskets. It is possible to establish good relations with Courland, but in the end, Courland will need to be exterminated. Poland-Lithuania will be to Sweden as Carthage was to Rome; take that as you will. Denmark will similarly hate you. However, it cannot efficiently defend Norway, and once you have Norway under control, you keep Norway forever.

It is very easy for Sweden (or, honestly, any playable faction) to establish a foothold in the New World. However, a player has to be careful where he/she places his first base. I personally recommend the northern Huron-Wyandot territory or perhaps the northern Quebec territory. The computer usually would not think of sending an army all the way up there, so your foothold would be hard to lose once order is estabilshed. From here, The Plains Indians territory is very easy to pick for Sweden, since the game gave the Plains Indians faction a minimal amount of troops (Ten units of line infantry should suffice). You could then move either south to Spain or west to more Native American and European territory. Either way, those lands are left largely unguarded, so it would be easy as pie to become strong as Sweden.

Russia desperately wants St. Petersburg, but you can use the location as a launch pad to establish an army and head for Moscow. Moscow will be undoubtedly heavily guarded, unlike Berlin and Koenigsberg, perhaps. Be prepared.

By 1750, you should have completed the victory requirements, but, let's face it, you want world domination, not merely control of the Baltic. This is what happened to me following victory, and it will probably happen to you. Either way, the strategy is similar.

If you haven't already, conquer Denmark. For now, you could leave Denmark to sulk over in Iceland, or you can conquer it and use it as a base for New World transport operations.

Poland-Lithuania will be extremely difficult to kill, at least if Austria fails to be a powerhouse (which it will, eventually). Since your armies took out her northern territories, she will control a large portion of central Europe, notably remnants of Austria. She will build a wall of armies around the cities near the border. Build up a large amount of forces, and then push your way through said wall; you have more power than they do with your territory. If you are successful, you will have the entirety of Poland-Lithuania (and probably southern Europe) at your disposal.

Moscow is the center of Russia. After you conquer Muscovy, it will be a simple matter of dividing and conquering the frontier territories of Siberia. If you haven't already, declare war on an imperial power and take over its territories. You won't regret it. France is a good target. Capture Paris. It gives you good relations with Great Britain and Holland. Spain will rush to the side of France, but hey, you can conquer Latin America to boot. Consider invading India. If Mysore is still a faction by this time, invade and conquer it. You'll be able to make amends to the Marathans, or you'll have your work cut out for you and a good target in which to invest resources.

At this point, it may not seem like it, but you've practically seized control of Europe and are well on the path to conquering the New World. There are merely a few short steps that you might want to execute to seal the world's fate.

If you haven't already: mop up any remaining Native American factions, decide who is or is not your ally and act on it, side with one major faction of India and declare war on the other, and establish heavy trade routes on the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, et cetera.

There should be no factions of import left in Europe except you and your allies. Your allies will hate you, but your people will be apathetic to your allies. Mop up Europe's minor factions; make the conquest of Europe the priority, simply since "Emperor of Europe" is a greater achievement than those of conquering the Americas and India. The New World should similarly be petty change.

Eventually, all that will be left would be the Middle East, India, and your allies. Choose one to target, and destroy your targets systematically one at a time. Similarly, you should disassemble your allies one at a time. Don't attack them all at once, even though at this point you are strong enough to make it happen. If you attack one ally, your other allies will still hate you, but they'll be far too scared to confront you to step out of line. Essentially, you have all your allies where you want them. India should be no big deal; you can sweep India like you did in Europe; there is little deviation. At this point, you should know what to do to conquer the rest of the world. All hail Sverige!