Talk:Portuguese (Age of Empires III)/Strategy/@comment-203.91.192.2-20150210160349

Since I am one of the heaviest users of this civilization, I'll tell you of the tactics I have unlocked over time, one of them so freaking powerful that the opponent literally has no answer to it (this includes no card limitations to the gameplay). The standard settler strength should always be at least 60 combined with 2 factories (for any civilization but Dutch who max out at 50). For Portuguese, keep both factories running at wood after 30 settlers are set for food and 30 more for coin. Will get to the 'Why on Earth?' a bit later. Keep reading. First, it is a fact that the eco start up is way too slow for Portuguese but it more than compensates for that later in the game. Therefore, your first strategy is to create at least a two wall defense, within 8 mins; supported by Cassador x 15 (keep increasing till 30) and Outpost x 4 (max that slowly) within 10-12 mins. Why is that effective? Because offence requires more sacrifice than defense and if your opponent is foolish enough to test that defense that early in the game, you have the upper hand after that. Support your Cassadors with Rabaulds as soon as you Age Up Very Fast to Fortress Age. Remember to not sacrifice Age Up for too long or else there is no return. It's a thin line. It's always better to support your units with Hussars until your Dragoons are ready to get online. Just after Age 4, get Halbardiers outside the gates. At least 20 of them should be constantly standing outside. They are the third best anti-cavalry unit in the game. The mix between Hussars and other units are very crucial to the effectiveness of your attack/defense. Age 5 is when you attack head on and research faster food, wood, coin from Capitol before you do. Do not upgrade everything, only upgrade units based on the level of their usage.

Now at 100% Handicap, Using Fencing School + Engineering School + the other research from Church for faster infantry should see your Petards spawning instantly w/o any amount of delay. The emphasis on wood at first was because of the cost for spawning a Petard. It required wood instead of coin. You can use this with the Advanced Balloon to actually devastate your opponent. I annihilated one such opponent (was playing with Dutch) with 10-12 layers of walls and it was good to see him shocked outta his balls. He also had some 300000 coin when I started my actual attack but was rendered helpless by Petard rampages from all sides backed by small groups of dragoons which were primarily there to take out villagers if they were to try and repair the walls. It took 10-15 mins to create an opening following which I got the Hussars and Dragoons to rush in together, Hussars for their higher rate of attack, Dragoons for their range (20). Post that, the Factories, Banks, Town Centers, Villagers and the Houses were taken out for a Pop Choke and Total Eco Standstill. After that piece of cake as the Explorer who's the only person able to build a TC was far away from his domain and I built a small military outpost with him acting as the central point.

Remember, your Dragoons are your ace, upgrade them in all possible ways. They have their biggest bonus against Artillery, even spawning with the Scattered Formation which makes a group of them less susceptible to Artillery fire.

Tbh, if you are playing with Portuguese, the only civilizations which has a chance at defeating you are French or British, the latter can do so only at the start of the game though. I, personally, never got defeated while playing with Portuguese.