Minor Natives Guide

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Basic overview

The Ottomans - like the Russians - can have difficulty in dealing with cavalry quickly. Although Janissaries will eventually defeat cavalry, due to their lower ranged attack and multipliers in melee, it will take them notably longer then either Musketeers or Pikeman. That can result in problems if a player has strong cavalry units, or if you're trying to defend artillery units or Abus Guns. Due to the fact the Ottomans usually need to build three buildings anyway to get access to a complete set of ‘counter’ units, it is not as costly for them as it may be for others to build a native trade post instead.

The Zen have a very efficient anti-cavalry unit, and later on they can give a good amount of experience points if you require Spahi or Mamelukes quickly (and it is not as expensive as the Mercantilism technology, making it more practical). The cheaper upgrades may also come in handy, as the Abus Gun has a rather expensive guard upgrade - and it of course applies to any other military upgrades you have in mind.

The Ottomans have a problem when it comes to training villagers, because aside from the Mosque upgrades, they have little control over how fast they can train. As a result it can give them a weaker economy than other civilizations. The Cree however offer Cree Coureur De Bois, which can temporarily solve this problem. Cheaper buildings can also help you get a trade post economy, as well as making the Ottoman problem of needing three different military buildings to train a full circle of units slightly less of a burden. If you take this more economic route, Cree Trackers can be built instead of Abus Guns, and both Cree Trackers and Janissaries do have a large amount of HP - which you can further improve.

Because fishing is usually the only controlled way an Ottoman player can build an economy, some players do seek to take advantage of the water if it is available. The Huron could be used to aid the Ottomans further in this type of economy, and like Cree Trackers the Huron themselves have a large amount of HPs. That makes the rate of damage problem against cavalry for Janissaries slightly less significant, and they can supplement an Ottoman army very well.