Iroquois

Primary culture

Iroquois (Iroquoian)

Capital province

Onondaga (960)

Government

Native Council

State religion

Totemist

Technology group

North American

Iroquois ideas

Traditions:

+10% Infantry combat ability

+1 Diplomatic reputation

Kainerekowa

−15% Cost of reducing war exhaustion

Keepers of the Western Door

+25% National manpower modifier

Keepers of the Eastern Door

+25% Domestic trade power

Keepers of the Fire

+1 Diplomat

Mourning Wars

+20% Manpower recovery speed

Warriors' Unity

+5% Discipline

The Four Kings

+1 Yearly prestige

Ambition:

+50% Improve relations

United under the Great Law of Peace by Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker, the people of the Haudenosaunee confederacy have rapidly become one of the major power of North-Eastern North America. While the Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga tend to the needs of the confederacy, the Seneca in the west look toward the Great Lakes, a rich hunting ground ripe for expansion.

Meanwhile to the east, the Mohawks eye the villages of the Saint Lawrence, wondering when the right time to claim those fertile and divided lands will be.

If the Iroquois are to carry out their ambitions, they will need new weapons and new trading partners, but no one in the Americas now possess what they need...

The Iroquois is a New World Tribe located in the present-day State of New York. They have several neighbors, the largest being the Huron. In all likelihood, Huron will rival the player at the beginning, as they are the only nation of comparable size nearby.

Strategy[edit]

Early Game[edit]

Iroquois is easily one of the strongest nations to play as in North America, and is in a good location to be one of the first to be able to reform there. The player may follow one of two strategies or a combination of the two:

Get a federation going, and get a few allies. Then sit back, take the colonist as the first reform item, put units on low maintenance unless killing natives (to increase settler growth with aggressive native policy), and relax. Colonization should be done towards the north, focusing on owning the rich Quebec area entirely as a first step.
Get a few allies, join or create a federation. Attack neighbors with no-CB wars as much as aggressive expansion permits. Take note that this will use admin points for stability increases and coring, and delay unlocking the first idea group.

While there is a high technology cost, the player will need to stay competitive militarily with their neighbors, so increasing military technology to 5 or 6 overall is recommended. Additionally, Diplomatic technology level 3 (for increased settler growth) and Administrative technology level 5 (for the first idea group) is a good use of points. For idea groups, exploration is likely going to be the first choice for an early second colonist - which the player should be able to afford by the time they unlock their first idea group. Beyond those technology levels, it is best to store the points for future use, and use them for developing provinces when hitting the limit.

Arrival of the Colonizers[edit]

North America is often colonized by England/Great Britain, France, possibly Brittany, Holland and/or Norway. The player should improve relations as early as possible with whoever is colonizing the region, and get an alliance if possible. There is a risk that the ally may turn hostile and break the alliance, but if it remains, it gives the player some defense against the inevitable declaration of war.

To reform, the player will need to finish a colony next to a finished colony of a European nation. Before hitting the reform button, they should make sure that the latest institution is embraced by the colonizer, so that they will get it as well. The player should also pause for hitting the reform button, and take as many technology levels as possible before the next month tick - which would evaporate any points over the new limit (likely 1000 points). They should be sure to become equal on military technology as soon as possible with their European neighbors, in order to increase their chances of survival.

As a North American nation, it is possible to change religion from Totemism to Catholic. First, one needs to own at least one province that is catholic - either through an event that converts the capital, or (less likely) by conquering a province from a colonizer. This enables a decision to convert to catholic; since that decision will decrease stability by 4, it is best to store administrative points first - take note that increasing stability will be expensive due to almost 0% religious unity. After converting to catholic and returning stability to 0, it is also possible to switch to Protestant (which has a settler growth bonus perk) or Reformed - in which case, it is best not to convert provinces to catholic first.

Rest of the Game[edit]

Once reformed, the player may make claims against their (mostly significantly weaker) neighbors, in order to increase their land as quickly as possible. Additionally, it is important to colonize as quickly as possible, and block the European colonizers off large parts of North America before colonizing the interior. Take note that the player may declare war against colonial nations without bringing in their overlord, which allows them to gain large portions of land quickly, but is likely to incur the wrath of the overlord.

Forming alliances with stronger European nations will remain difficult for a while even if changing religion, and many good alliance partners may become hostile as they will want to colonize North America. The challenge will be to avoid or fight off invasions, for which building a strong navy as soon as feasible will be important, as well as building the army to force limit

In terms of idea groups, Exploration ideas and Religious ideas are good picks for colonizing more provinces, and converting those that are conquered quickly. If diplomatic points are in abundance, picking Trade ideas as a fourth or fifth group may also be a good choice as the player expands.

If the player survives the European nations, they may later conquer the rest of the Americas and/or invade Europe, Africa or later Asia.