Before any of you laugh...I have not had the game long, and have not played it many times since I got it. This was my 6th or 7th game, and every time I have played as the USA. I got Victoria and Revolutions together, never having played Victoria before. This is not a dramatic/RP AAR...
The last two times, I cheated, finding the economy too difficult to figure out, I simply added money using cheats and still was not able to win...if that doesn't say how hard a game is, I don't know what does.
So I decided to play a game without cheating at all. I finally figured out the economy, but still was not able to do better than 3rd place. The UK especially just has too high of industrial and military ratings, and Germany second to them. Even though prestige seems to be most people's problem with USA, I have never had a problem with it. This may be because I alternate every research with something that gives me prestige bonuses (social/government/ideological advances).
This last time playing as USA, I followed the same format, without cheating, as before. The major difference was that Russia never would sell Alaska to me, so I declared war on them in the early 1900's. I was in 3rd place, well behind UK and Germany at the time. Denmark was an ally of Russia, and I had failed to see this. I took over Alaska easily, but then Denmark took one of my US East Coast provinces (Salisbury I think). I took it back quickly enough and started looking for ways to hurt Russia so that I could get all of Alaska in a peace treaty. As I looked, I noticed that Japan had taken the eastern half of Russia. I started the timer again and waited, hoping Russia would offer peace. Again, the Danish invaded an eastern USA province. I quickly took it back and decided to look at Denmark...
Apparently, the Danish had foolishly used up probably half their army in their paltry attempt to invade the United States. I'll give them some credit...they are a heck of an ally to the Russians to do such a thing. But they left themselves wide open to attack. At first, I thought the idea of the USA attacking a European power as a bit crazy, but then I said "why not", and sent 3 armies (1hq, 1 engineer, 3 arty, 5 regulars per army) and 3 navies (5 dn, 5 pc, 5 lc, 15 transports each) to Denmark. It was the easiest invasion I have ever mounted (much easier than Mexico decades earlier) and was able to take all of Denmark. I used a small transport fleet to bring some small cavalry units to take Greenland and Iceland, and all of Denmark's territories were owned by me. The Danish sent me a peace treaty offering all but their capital, and I took it. The USA owned Denmark...I couldn't believe it.
But I was still at war with Russia. I was able (somehow) to get an alliance with the UK, and I hadn't noticed until now that the UK had been punishing Russia badly. I also had just noticed that Japan was in an active war with Russia. This left all of Finland and most of the north eastern (ie. the richest) provinces of Russia available for the taking. I then sent my 3 armies into Russia, while stationing a few small corps in Denmark for guard duty. Russia fell like a toothpick in a hurricane. They had absolutely no territories left free between the USA, UK, and Japan in very little time. I think my forces came into contact with Russian troops once in the entire invasion.
For whatever reason, the UK was the leader of our alliance (I didn't know this, since I had proposed the alliance). I was able to broker a peace with Russia, getting all of Alaska, Finland, Latvia, Poland, and some Russian provinces. I agreed of course, and Russia got some of theirs back. The UK then proceeded (as well as Japan) to take what I had not been able to get in the peace treaty. Then an odd thing happened. Japan signed peace and lost a lot of provinces they had taken from Russia, and the UK lost a ton of them as well. I ended up being the primary victor of the war.
So then I, as the USA, found myself with Denmark, Finland, Poland, Latvia, several other eastern European countries I can't name, and many western Russian provinces, as well as Alaska...and I had no idea how it had all happened, it was so quick. But it bumped up my score a bit.
Still in 3rd place, and heading into the second decade of the 20th century, I decided to start improving the industrial base of my new acquisitions. I noticed right away that Europeans didn't much understand what clerks were for, so I had to do some conversions. I also noticed that they would expand a factory (especially steel mills) to 0/30 without manning them. The amount of industry I was able to get was amazing. And the fact that so many POPs were available to split and convert let me raise my industrial score over time quite a bit. By 1920, however, I was still in 3rd place...but just behind Germany.
I decided that since I was in Europe, I should focus on Europe. Every other strategy had lost before, so why not. Keep in mind, I fully expected the hammer to drop eventually, but for some reason, the great and mighty European powers just hadn't planned on a foreign power invading them. I brought a few more armies over, and built three armies in Denmark alone (they had a crazy amount of POPs as soldiers). I looked around Europe for a good target. I wanted Germany bad, but they had far too many troops for me to take on in an offensive. But France...they were almost completely empty of troops. So then I made sure France had no allies. They did...some minor country I can't even remember the name of, but it was of no consequence... I invaded France.
Yes, the USA, who had won their freedom from the oppressors in England partially through the help of France, declared war on that country for none other than naked conquest. But heck, I had gone to war with Spain, and they had helped the US defeat the English too. I thought, as the USA, I should have some fundamental reason for doing such a thing, and I came to it. I was a former colony coming back to haunt the colonial powers for their crimes. I knew then that I could not declare war on Germany. They were off limits, because they were not really a colonial power. But England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, etc were all fair game.
So with this in mind, I declared war on a rather defenseless France...and took the whole darned country. Obviously, they would not agree to my taking all of mainland France in a peace deal, but they settled for a little more than half (their deal, not mine). I basically held the whole north-western half of France...well beyond what I had hoped for. I did take some losses though, as their armies were a tad superior to mine in advancement. After replacing lost divisions and adding 10 corps (2xregulars) for guard duty, I immediately turned my attention to Belgium. Belgium was tougher than any other country I had yet faced mainly due to how well they could concentrate their forces. I thought for sure that by attacking them, Germany would get involved, but they never made a move. Belgium fell to my 7 armies, and the Netherlands after. Germany remained indifferent to my actions (danken Sie Gott!).
I decided to stop there. It was mid-1920's and I had got pretty far along in my research. I built many new armies, recently being able to add tanks and aeroplanes to them, and felt I should be able to win the game with military power alone. I was #1 in prestige, and #2 in industrial, but sadly a #3 in military, making me #2 overall. Admittedly, I had been able to trade land for techs to the UK (Belgium and the Netherlands gave me some lands I didn't want outside of Europe) giving me a boost.
To make a long story short, by 1929, I had realized that there was no way I could win the game unless the UK lost a lot of points. And it occurred to me that there was only one way for this to happen...for me to invade them. I hated this...I like the UK. They had been my ally off and on several times, and every time they had been an excellent ally, always willing to send me troops in my times of need. But there was nothing for it. If I wanted to win the game, they were the only power in my way. And frankly if I was following this anti-colonial power ideal, they were the top criminal in that regard. I looked at England...it was defended by a single division of 10,000 regulars. Paltry compared to what I could muster in short notice. As long as I was able to land all of my troops before their navy could intervene, I would be virtually unopposed in England. But then there was Canada to consider.
I quickly sent my newest armies in the USA to the northern border, ready to invade Canada, especially the British-owned provinces. Long story short, I was able to invade Canada with little resistance (15-division armies vs. 1-division armies), and invade mainland England very quickly. I took islands in the Caribbean and Pacific as well. I was able to eventually sign a treaty allowing me to take most of mainland England over (sacrificing gains in Ireland, Canada, Pacific, and Caribbean). The resulting boost to my industrial score more than skyrocketed me into first place!
The remainder of the 1930's, all I had to do was continuously put down rebellions in England and coast to my very first victory. Not exactly what I thought I would have to do as the USA to win, but whatever works...
The last two times, I cheated, finding the economy too difficult to figure out, I simply added money using cheats and still was not able to win...if that doesn't say how hard a game is, I don't know what does.
So I decided to play a game without cheating at all. I finally figured out the economy, but still was not able to do better than 3rd place. The UK especially just has too high of industrial and military ratings, and Germany second to them. Even though prestige seems to be most people's problem with USA, I have never had a problem with it. This may be because I alternate every research with something that gives me prestige bonuses (social/government/ideological advances).
This last time playing as USA, I followed the same format, without cheating, as before. The major difference was that Russia never would sell Alaska to me, so I declared war on them in the early 1900's. I was in 3rd place, well behind UK and Germany at the time. Denmark was an ally of Russia, and I had failed to see this. I took over Alaska easily, but then Denmark took one of my US East Coast provinces (Salisbury I think). I took it back quickly enough and started looking for ways to hurt Russia so that I could get all of Alaska in a peace treaty. As I looked, I noticed that Japan had taken the eastern half of Russia. I started the timer again and waited, hoping Russia would offer peace. Again, the Danish invaded an eastern USA province. I quickly took it back and decided to look at Denmark...
Apparently, the Danish had foolishly used up probably half their army in their paltry attempt to invade the United States. I'll give them some credit...they are a heck of an ally to the Russians to do such a thing. But they left themselves wide open to attack. At first, I thought the idea of the USA attacking a European power as a bit crazy, but then I said "why not", and sent 3 armies (1hq, 1 engineer, 3 arty, 5 regulars per army) and 3 navies (5 dn, 5 pc, 5 lc, 15 transports each) to Denmark. It was the easiest invasion I have ever mounted (much easier than Mexico decades earlier) and was able to take all of Denmark. I used a small transport fleet to bring some small cavalry units to take Greenland and Iceland, and all of Denmark's territories were owned by me. The Danish sent me a peace treaty offering all but their capital, and I took it. The USA owned Denmark...I couldn't believe it.
But I was still at war with Russia. I was able (somehow) to get an alliance with the UK, and I hadn't noticed until now that the UK had been punishing Russia badly. I also had just noticed that Japan was in an active war with Russia. This left all of Finland and most of the north eastern (ie. the richest) provinces of Russia available for the taking. I then sent my 3 armies into Russia, while stationing a few small corps in Denmark for guard duty. Russia fell like a toothpick in a hurricane. They had absolutely no territories left free between the USA, UK, and Japan in very little time. I think my forces came into contact with Russian troops once in the entire invasion.
For whatever reason, the UK was the leader of our alliance (I didn't know this, since I had proposed the alliance). I was able to broker a peace with Russia, getting all of Alaska, Finland, Latvia, Poland, and some Russian provinces. I agreed of course, and Russia got some of theirs back. The UK then proceeded (as well as Japan) to take what I had not been able to get in the peace treaty. Then an odd thing happened. Japan signed peace and lost a lot of provinces they had taken from Russia, and the UK lost a ton of them as well. I ended up being the primary victor of the war.
So then I, as the USA, found myself with Denmark, Finland, Poland, Latvia, several other eastern European countries I can't name, and many western Russian provinces, as well as Alaska...and I had no idea how it had all happened, it was so quick. But it bumped up my score a bit.
Still in 3rd place, and heading into the second decade of the 20th century, I decided to start improving the industrial base of my new acquisitions. I noticed right away that Europeans didn't much understand what clerks were for, so I had to do some conversions. I also noticed that they would expand a factory (especially steel mills) to 0/30 without manning them. The amount of industry I was able to get was amazing. And the fact that so many POPs were available to split and convert let me raise my industrial score over time quite a bit. By 1920, however, I was still in 3rd place...but just behind Germany.
I decided that since I was in Europe, I should focus on Europe. Every other strategy had lost before, so why not. Keep in mind, I fully expected the hammer to drop eventually, but for some reason, the great and mighty European powers just hadn't planned on a foreign power invading them. I brought a few more armies over, and built three armies in Denmark alone (they had a crazy amount of POPs as soldiers). I looked around Europe for a good target. I wanted Germany bad, but they had far too many troops for me to take on in an offensive. But France...they were almost completely empty of troops. So then I made sure France had no allies. They did...some minor country I can't even remember the name of, but it was of no consequence... I invaded France.
Yes, the USA, who had won their freedom from the oppressors in England partially through the help of France, declared war on that country for none other than naked conquest. But heck, I had gone to war with Spain, and they had helped the US defeat the English too. I thought, as the USA, I should have some fundamental reason for doing such a thing, and I came to it. I was a former colony coming back to haunt the colonial powers for their crimes. I knew then that I could not declare war on Germany. They were off limits, because they were not really a colonial power. But England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, etc were all fair game.
So with this in mind, I declared war on a rather defenseless France...and took the whole darned country. Obviously, they would not agree to my taking all of mainland France in a peace deal, but they settled for a little more than half (their deal, not mine). I basically held the whole north-western half of France...well beyond what I had hoped for. I did take some losses though, as their armies were a tad superior to mine in advancement. After replacing lost divisions and adding 10 corps (2xregulars) for guard duty, I immediately turned my attention to Belgium. Belgium was tougher than any other country I had yet faced mainly due to how well they could concentrate their forces. I thought for sure that by attacking them, Germany would get involved, but they never made a move. Belgium fell to my 7 armies, and the Netherlands after. Germany remained indifferent to my actions (danken Sie Gott!).
I decided to stop there. It was mid-1920's and I had got pretty far along in my research. I built many new armies, recently being able to add tanks and aeroplanes to them, and felt I should be able to win the game with military power alone. I was #1 in prestige, and #2 in industrial, but sadly a #3 in military, making me #2 overall. Admittedly, I had been able to trade land for techs to the UK (Belgium and the Netherlands gave me some lands I didn't want outside of Europe) giving me a boost.
To make a long story short, by 1929, I had realized that there was no way I could win the game unless the UK lost a lot of points. And it occurred to me that there was only one way for this to happen...for me to invade them. I hated this...I like the UK. They had been my ally off and on several times, and every time they had been an excellent ally, always willing to send me troops in my times of need. But there was nothing for it. If I wanted to win the game, they were the only power in my way. And frankly if I was following this anti-colonial power ideal, they were the top criminal in that regard. I looked at England...it was defended by a single division of 10,000 regulars. Paltry compared to what I could muster in short notice. As long as I was able to land all of my troops before their navy could intervene, I would be virtually unopposed in England. But then there was Canada to consider.
I quickly sent my newest armies in the USA to the northern border, ready to invade Canada, especially the British-owned provinces. Long story short, I was able to invade Canada with little resistance (15-division armies vs. 1-division armies), and invade mainland England very quickly. I took islands in the Caribbean and Pacific as well. I was able to eventually sign a treaty allowing me to take most of mainland England over (sacrificing gains in Ireland, Canada, Pacific, and Caribbean). The resulting boost to my industrial score more than skyrocketed me into first place!
The remainder of the 1930's, all I had to do was continuously put down rebellions in England and coast to my very first victory. Not exactly what I thought I would have to do as the USA to win, but whatever works...
o
