Empire Total War Twitch Stream 7(March 2023)

A remembrance of Australian admiral and naval historian James Goldrick gives particular attention to his personal kindness.

A blockade disrupts the game's trade income, forcing maximum taxes to maintain the army and prompting concern about unrest.

Interrupted trade exposes the risk in buying merchant ships to finance a larger navy before that commerce has adequate protection.

A fleet battle plan assigns small enemy vessels to sixth rates while concentrating pairs of third rates against stronger opponents.

Holding Panama in the campaign places an occupying army across Spain's reinforcement route between its American territories.

A town defence separates the artillery guard from a centrally placed manoeuvre force as the enemy advances toward the guns.

The game's East Indiaman is criticised for resembling a small brig or sloop instead of the expected fourth-rate-like trading ship.

A prepared army creates an opportunity in India, but the campaign postpones that offensive while watching another power's growing reach.

Criticism of Spain's campaign decisions leads to a plain-language definition of grand strategy as 'joined-up thinking'.

Defenders abandon prepared positions that face the wrong approach, leaving their artillery exposed while the attackers use higher ground.

Four mounted units attack the enemy guns while a fifth covers the operation and waits to intercept interference.

A pursuit raises a tradeoff between sailing against the wind, preserving separation, and keeping enemy ships away from earning trade income.

A strong squadron plans to silence the enemy's principal fighting ship, but collisions complicate a battle expected to be easy.

Ceylon provides a defensible foothold against Maratha dominance, although the army stationed there still needs more artillery.

A game battle prompts a concise explanation of why British bomb vessels mattered at Copenhagen in 1801.

Keeping infantry behind the guns provides protection, but their angle and movement require careful control of friendly fire.

A fleet encounter prompts a compact comparison between galleons and third-, fourth-, and fifth-rate warships.

Spain's conquest of France prompts an immediate attack on its ports while Britain decides whether to intervene on land.

A deliberately speculative explanation links British infantry confidence against cavalry to familiarity with their own cavalry's uneven reputation.

Limited piracy losses are accepted because the raiding mission keeps a powerful Spanish fleet away from more important operations.

British cavalry's effective charges are weighed against difficulty stopping and interruptions in the service of capable officers.

French infantry were more adaptable than the familiar image of massed attack columns suggests.

A short campaign assessment prioritises removing Prussia as a land-war opponent in the Americas.

An assessment of cavalry command distinguishes deployment skill from the choice of battles and terrain.

A short aside links the Spanish Empire's changing direction to the different imperial approaches of Habsburg and Bonaparte rule.

The campaign follows a personal preference for a more historical, colony-first approach, despite the extra time it takes.

The prospect of taking Paris challenges a campaign strategy that avoids European possessions and the land wars they are expected to bring.

An attempt to loosen Franco-Spanish relations succeeds too well, leaving Spain dominant in western Europe and forcing an unwanted strategic pivot.

An attempt to lure defenders off a hill shows both the attraction of artillery as bait and the risk of mistiming the trap.

Concern about a possible Spanish deployment prompts reinforcement of an undersized Indian Ocean fleet.

Uncommon Arctic winter fleet actions are distinguished from single-ship actions and more frequent Baltic operations in wintry conditions.

A comment about war-dog units connects a game modification with a brief claim about poodles and the Roman Empire.

Jesuit and Protestant colleges become competing tools for keeping the population content and maintaining control in the game campaign.

A game battle makes a combined-arms tradeoff visible: infantry squares deter cavalry but expose fewer muskets to an opposing firing line.

Philadelphia's research role makes it an urgent campaign objective, alongside the need to break the American field armies.

Refused trade agreements prompt the view that financial benefits should carry more weight when relations are indifferent.

Planning an attack on Portugal connects coastal access and enemy troop concentration with the financial pause required after rapid conquest.

The game's ship engagements invite cavalry-like tactics, alongside a fleet composition that differs from the historical comparison.

An assault uses diversionary troops while defenders make the attack easier by leaving a position they should hold.

An attack attempted with defeat expected becomes a costly victory, complicated by the loss of the general and an anticipated counterattack.

A defensive deployment leaves out fences to widen the field of fire, then places infantry where attackers approach a gap.