Tips:

Tip 1:

Save early and save often in multiple slots. Not only do the occasional crash and the lack of an autosave make for a lot of wasted time if you don't save every ten turns or so, but sometimes the game will crash during a save, corrupting the save file itself.

Tip 2:

The game is heavily weighted toward the defender. Unless you are facing a very weak enemy, there is little point in attacking fortified enemy cities unless you have at least two full stacks of nine units each.

Tip 3:

The Ship of the Line is the perfect sea invasion platform. Create a stack of seven to nine Ship of the Lines, and load them up with troops. Once you get to the enemy cities, drop off the troops and then use your ships for artillery support. Blast away at the enemy cities before sending in the boys.

Tip 4:

Go for the gold. Go to Trade and Banking. Build banks and marketplaces in all your cities. Use the gold to do slaving and convert cities