Austria Colonial Infantry & Invasion of the Barbary States

[Imperatoad]

One thing I noticed today about playing Austria:

Colonial Line Infantry are cheaper and better stat-wise than your regular line (assuming you disregard unit size, which by late game is, in my opinion, pretty irrelevant). Meanwhile, by conquering the barbary states early on, you get a quick source of these troops in the European theater and further can recruit the Dahomey Amazons, which are better than Pandours.

So, is there a long-term disadvantage to this strategy or is it best for Austria to go colonial?
My only objections could be:
-public order. The provinces you'd capture are 100% Muslim and have no towns, so you have to devote a missionary to the region to negate the penalty--but your one starting missionary is already stretched if you're working on converting Transylvania or some conquered Ottoman provinces. Thus, you have to spend a looong time keeping money-draining troops in the region.
-Logistic difficulty. Presumably you'd still be fighting at least some wars in Central Europe, and if the Colonial Line get wiped out it could take ~10 turns to bring a new one to the front. This might even be impossible if France, Spain, or even the Ottomans, with their strong navies, simultaneously declared war on you, as the navy is likely low on your concerns. So you might find your source of half-decent line infantry runs out when you need it most.
-Obsolescence. I'm not sure if colonial line get firing drills, but if they don't they definitely won't work past the time anyone researches the relevant technology. Even if they do, recruits of actual line will eventually have the advantage of several chevrons of experience over the Colonials, despite having weaker base stats. Additionally, the Dahomeys will be obsolete as soon as Jaegers become a factor.

So, is it worth it for Austria to pursue this strategy?

[Horcerer]

Yes. It's an oversight by the devs, for not giving Austria a "unique" Colonial line unit, and the only downside is the logistical part for the player.

[Insaniac]

No. It's a logistical nightmare because not only do you have to form a fleet to carry you there, but you have to either sneak past the rather impressive early game Barbary fleet and then once you've taken the town you'll need to worry about holding it from other powers. Furthermore, the difference between the two line infantry units in terms of overall performance isn't that significant, the towns are poor, and you're just going to be bogging yourself down trying to maintain order. Not only that, but you'll probably have to take all of their regions or leave a garrison which will face frequent counter attacks. Finally, considering that most factions have no early game 90 range units, Pandours will do just fine. They also carry more ammo than Dahomey Amazons making them better for a prolonged fight. Oh, and don't forget, once you've done all that you still have to get those units back to Europe, and if you lose one, then you're going to have to bring them over all the way from North Africa again.

[Inardesco]

The main reason Austria's line infantry are larger are due to the crappier stats in their line infantry.

[Imperatoad]

At this point I've already conquered the Barbary states and have solidified most of my public order problems (Even if it's not worthwhile to conquer economically, it still opens up a second front against the Ottomans. That and the fact that the Swedes landed ~3 turns after me and we started racing for the desert, though they ultimately lost to rebels who I then defeated to take Algiers.)

So I'm mostly concerned about logistics relative to unit quality, not the up-front investment.

Good point about the Amazons, I didn't factor ammo into my analysis. Nonetheless, I'd still stay colonials are better than Austrian line. Naval difficulties as of now aren't an issue; I have near-control of the Mediterranean because the Spaniards, British, French, and Dutch are too busy to bother. So I'm really just concerned about resupply which, honestly, doesn't seem to be that big of an issue at this stage.

[Insaniac]

It's still a needlessly excessive amount of effort for a very negligible upgrade if any at all.

[operating1]

Take note that Austrian colonials are cheaper to buy and cheaper for upkeep...

[Insaniac]

Not once you factor in added logistical costs.

[operating1]

Last I knew: Austria does have naval techs, many have to do with increases to fleet travel, which just about cover the distance between Tunis and Croatia in the same turn and does not include the top gallents tech if applicable. It most definitely could be done with a 4th rate, after all the only port in Tunisia is usually a military naval port improved to a dockyard or better... Do you have another problem you are trying to figure out?

[Insaniac]

And while you're reasearching techs solely so that you can cart negligibly better line infantry in from Africa, you could be researching something useful. Ultimately it's an excessive amount of trouble for a marginal gain, if any at all. If you need the 1-2% improvement in combat effectiveness that badly then you have bigger problems.

[operating1]

My game is not of importance here. It's strategy that Imperator seeks. If he really wants Tunis all he has to do from the start of the Austrian scenario is build a few sloops or brigs, send them out for about 10-20 turns auto-resolving naval attacks on the Barbary Pirates, soon the BP will sue for peace, likely offering up Tunis (plus cash) as a settlement of hostlities, after which Austria can do whatever it wants to do with the region: ie. sell it, trade it, give it to a protectorate, or keep it without ever having to buy one unit to occupy it, although it would be prudent to keep at least one low cost upkeep unit like a militia in the capital, likely there will be a surplus of income above upkeep, also Tunis can be a source of intelligence and prestige...

To go out of the way to conquer (invasion) Tunis is not a good investment to only gain a headache (zero income), at least for the short term (and then some) it will drain Austrian coffers to occupy, where the economy could be better utilitized elsewhere...

[drazan]

i like the dahomey's amazons

sure they are not the best skirmisher, or have the best range
but they are not that bad either, and outnumber every skirmisher unit in the game

to me that's worth something atleast ^^

[operating1]

Should add: If Austria really wants to dominate non-Catholic regions it should convert to a Constittutional Monarchy to eliminate lower class uprisings...