Trouble with Germany

Hi there,

I'm essentially a beginner; I've posted on here a few months ago regarding difficult matchups against hard AI when playing as India. So, pretty basic level. However, since then, I can beat any hard AI with India, Japan, and France easily. Essentially, I pester opponent villagers from mining/hunting/lumbering with a forward built barracks that keeps the AI from exploding economically. A mixture of infantry (muskeeters, pikeman, and skirmishers) then swarm the town and it's game over. Against hard AI, I usually win in Fortress Age with this tactic.

I cannot seem to apply my same successes with Germany. This is strange, because free uhlans with every shipment should give me a great chance to pester villagers for free, allowing me to concentrate on creating a larger core army for the enemy town. The lack of musketeers is annoying; a combination of pikemen and crossbowmen isn't quite as versatile. I can't pool enough resources to generate a decent number of Doppelsoldners in ages I-III, so they remain unused. I've tried playing against Russia and France multiple times but I can't seem to maintain the same kind of pressure on the enemy town. I have read that Germany are similar to France, but I am clearly doing something wrong because they play completely differently to me. Perhaps I am not using settler wagons appropriately, or perhaps Germany is much more card reliant than most teams?

Many thanks for your time!