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Basic overview

The Cherokee allows you to build Skirmisher-like rifleman, which can be useful for civilizations who have difficulty countering heavy infantry in age 2. The Cherokee also have a large amount of economic upgrades available - and if used well they can provide a very significant boost to your economy. You are able to build 13 Cherokee Rifleman for each trading post you hold, and they appear on four of the standard maps; Bayou, Carolina, New England (rarely) and Ozarks.

The unit – Cherokee Rifleman

The Cherokee Rifleman is a Skirmisher-like unit with slightly less range, but since you may be using them to substitute Crossbows I will again add Crossbowmen into this comparison.

Analysis

Although the Cherokee Rifleman is much more pricey then the standard infantry units, it has almost more than double the amount of HP compared to the Skirmisher, and more than double that of the Crossbowman. However do keep in mind that the ranged resistance is less on the Rifleman. Despite this, its higher cost should not discourage you from using it; especially considering you could use wood crates to pay for a large part of its wood cost. It deals less damage overall, but as a reference a Crossbowman will take 8 shots to kill a Musketeer, a Skirmisher will take 5 and the Cherokee Rifleman will take 6 - and the Cherokee Rifleman can benefit from counter infantry rifling.

Between Crossbows and Cherokee Rifleman I much prefer the Rifleman. When it gets to Skirmishers however it largely depends on whether you prefer the HP and possibly speed, or the damage and 4 extra range. If you have some native cards (such as the European and Native American -30% cost card) Rifleman will then easily out-do Skirmishers.

Technology

Cherokee War Dance

Cost: 200 wood, 200 coin 

Effect: Native allies have +20% speed

Comments: The Cherokee usually appear on maps with Seminole allies, but it can also improve any other minor native mercenary shipments; and this technology will aid them as well. For the Cherokee themselves it is useful, but you might need to be careful not to group Cherokee with other slower units otherwise lest you waste the speed advantage. For the Seminole allies it can aid them as well, because the unit does require a set up and has very poor range. A higher speed allows you to get closer and open fire and hit your fleeing targets before they get out of the Seminole’s low range.

Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary

Cost: 200 wood, 200 coin

Effect: Receive 4 Settlers

Comments: Considering that a lot of civilizations get a 4 villager card, and because age 2 cards are usually worth 600-700 resources, this seems like a rather good deal. Added to which, you don’t hold the queue of any of your town centers while researching the technology. Combined with cheaper upgrades the Cherokee can offer a real economic bonus to any civilization. One note though: don’t try to build town centers with the ‘settlers’ you get from this technology, as they are settlers - not villagers - and therefore cannot build town centers.

Cherokee Basket Weaving

Cost: 100 food, 100 coin

Effect: Market, dock, mill and plantation upgrades no longer cost any wood to research

Comments: An excellent technology, and it has a very short research time. For Europeans it makes hunting dogs, placer mines, steel traps and amalgamation much cheaper to research. It can allow any civilization to get a real head- start on their economy. The Native civilizations get a nice boost out of this now that this technology works for their farms, but it doesn’t include big button technologies or imperial age technologies, and the Native civilizations also have fewer market technologies. The Asian civilizations also get a lot of good market technologies like the Europeans, and their rice paddies are also included in the price reduction.

Summary

The Cherokee are very valuable, regardless of whether it is from a military or economic standpoint. Any civilization can stand to gain when allying with the Cherokee, but generally the Europeans will gain a lot more than either the Native or Asian civilizations. If you are playing on Bayou or Carolina (or on rare occasion New England), be sure to at least consider the Cherokee from an economic standpoint if that is the type of game you wish to play.

Considering that it costs 250 wood to build the trading post, then 100 food and 100 coin to research the cheaper market upgrades, you save 175 wood from hunting dogs and steel traps, and 275 wood from placer mines and amalgamation. You then have the ability to get 4 extra settlers; and you will find your investment pays off very fast. Afterwards you will still have cheaper mill and plantation technologies, and if there is water those economic technologies become cheaper too. Like any boom however you do need to be careful when and if you decide to use it.

The main drawbacks with the Cherokee include a rather high wood cost, and none of the technologies (other than getting more settlers) help with making wood easier to gather. Added to which, on Bayou the two Cherokee trading posts are positioned in the middle of the map - which can make them problematic to defend.