Defend the Colony

Defend the Colony is the first level of Act II: Ice, and introduces the player to the heroes John Black and Kanyenke, and the civilization John Black's Mercenaries (similar to the Germans from Skirmish games). The goal is to protect Stuart Black's colony from the Cherokee.

The Level
You start off with your two heroes, a handful of Jaegers and Skirmishers and a Great Cannon. You also have Stuart Black, but he's not very useful and can be safely ignored. The main objective is to keep the Town Center alive for fifteen minutes, with a side objective to protect a small village to the southwest.

Train Settlers and have them start gathering resources, and send your forces south-west to find the village and defend it from the Cherokee attack about to arrive - the quicker you can protect it, the more settlers you can save.

Build a Barracks and train soldiers, focusing on Crossbowmen (and Skirmishers once you've aged up) to face the infantry, and Musketeers to deal with cavalry. Set your cannon up to fire at incoming forces, stay close to your Outposts, and face their attacks.

From time to time, colonists will run towards the base, seeking protection, but they'll be attacked by Cherokees. Don't waste your forces by running out and trying to save them; most of the colonists will reach your base anyway, and you shouldn't split your forces across the map. When the colonists arrive, they'll turn into skirmishers, adding to your forces.

If playing on the harder difficulty levels, the Cherokee will have a few cannons. Building a stable and training Uhlans is a good way of dealing with them. Alternatively, you can just use your Great Cannon.

After fifteen minutes have passed, reinforcements arrive in your camp, and the Cherokee retreat.