
The quality of his own economy, and the defense of the enemy. One must first of all, before declaring war, consider two things. But it is advisable to first strike the strongest enemy and as early in the game as possible to avoid having to battle for hours. Note that with this strategy, it is possible to destroy enemies much more advanced than you. One should not apply this strategy if his economy is too unstable, and must be ready to pause the advance of his population. This is a general strategy that one can apply anytime in the game. Also, one must use his fleet to take down any enemy war ships travelling at sea. This strategy is more effective once in late-game, as the player is more dependent on his other islands, but is harder to establish because of the possible enemy fleet. He will then quit the region out of bankruptcy. The key to this technique is to leave as many buildings intact so that he starts losing his fortune as fast as possible. This will cause quickly massive riots in his populated islands that will start burning his cities to the ground and hopefully undermine his economy. He will also be unable to send troops or boats out of his islands. One must make sure every shore of the enemy's populated islands (both the occidental and oriental if possible) are covered by at least one of your ships, this will automatically prevent your enemy from rebuilding a port and block any incoming resources.

One must have a consequent amount of war boats to establish a hegemony in the seas. The basic principle is to never let the enemy communicate between his own islands and others. This strategy is the cheapest and sometimes the deadliest strategy you may be forced to use. But it also requires an enormous effort on the resource supplies and economy, one must be ready at all times to send twice the amount of troops neccessary to control an island. It has to be played on two grounds- soil and sea. It can only be truly started once the patricians are unlocked, enhanced when nobles and emissaries finally dispose their technology.

It requires preparation, strategy and precision.

In Anno 1404, war comes often as a necessity. The following are alternative strategies to those presented on the other walkthroughs of the wiki.
