I'm playing Austria now.
From what I read, this is not a usual choice for most players.
Well, I've mostly played diplo (let's say about 75% of my yearly money goes into diplo).
Here is what has happened up to now (1580) :
- early, Bohemia declared war, and gave me a province.
- not much later, I inherited Saxony : that's two provinces.
- I have been pumping money into diplo with neighbours. It took quite a while, but I managed to vassalise Bayern, Baden, and then Lorraine. Despite all my efforts, Hungary always refused me, although they are into my alliance from the beginning of the game.
- I then annexed Bayern (two provinces).
- with a CB against Bohemia, I declared war and annexed them (foru remaining provinces).
Then, time went slowly away until Thuringen and Wurtemberg declared themselves protestant.
Nothing much to do until Counter-Reform.
- At that time, I declared war on Thuringen (CB and different religion) and annexed them.
- Now, I could also diplo-annex Baden.
So far, so good : from the beginning of the game, I had gained 6 provinces in war and 5 other by diplo.
Although my army is much bigger that theirs, despite the fact that relationships have been 170+ from almost the beginning of the game, Hungary still resists vassalization. OK.
Having been relatively peaceful (compared to some other countries such as France, Spain or Poland), and France being into civil war, I decide to declare war on Wurtemberg (no allies) to bring them back to the true faith. At this point, hell breaks lose : Palatinate (protestant) declares war on me, followed by Spain her ally (Counter-reformed like me!!!!). Brandenbourg, Hannover and Hansa follow, and then Poland decides to enter the fray. Unexpected, all of this. Especially the entry of Spain and Poland in the war (after all, both are catholic or counter-reformed, and both had neutral relations with me).
The war lasts some time :
- I win over Wurtemberg, and, given the situation, I annex them.
- I win over Palatinate and I convert them to coulter-reform.
- I win over Brandenbourg and they give me a province.
- I win over Poland and they yield three provinces.
So, here is my situation from the start of the game :
- 4 provinces won in offensive war over a country with CB but same religion,
- 2 provinces won in offensive war over a country with CB and different religion,
- 5 provinces won by peaceful politics,
- 4 provinces won in defensive war.
Now, here is the problem : Badboy rating of 23. This, I don't understand ; from what I read, basically badboy goes up by 1 for each captured province, including peacefully (so 15 is okay). Declaring war also increases badboy, especially if with no CB and same religion. Not my case, except long ago with Bohemia (but I had CB). Time is also supposed to erase some badboy. So some of the badboy earned at the beginning of the game should have gone by now. I just fail to see how I could be at 23 in badboy rating.
Any hint ????
Now, another problem is the research rate. I have played Portugal and Russia. No problem with both, because you soon become colonial and hit major trading centers (i.e. these centers where you are mostly alone and make big money). Not that luck with Autria, which is continental. I could exchange maps and learn about Persia. But obviously, I reached the limit of what I could exchange, and either I declare war on a map knowing country and reach their capital or I'm stuck with poor trading centers, which in turn means slow (very slow!) research. This, in my opinion, is a major problem.
Actually, I am of the opinion that extra-european trading center are quite overrated. Their value should be divided by about 3 or 4 to fall into a reasonable value. For example, I fail to see how a Siberian trading center can generate more income than the whole European economy...
any comments ?
From what I read, this is not a usual choice for most players.
Well, I've mostly played diplo (let's say about 75% of my yearly money goes into diplo).
Here is what has happened up to now (1580) :
- early, Bohemia declared war, and gave me a province.
- not much later, I inherited Saxony : that's two provinces.
- I have been pumping money into diplo with neighbours. It took quite a while, but I managed to vassalise Bayern, Baden, and then Lorraine. Despite all my efforts, Hungary always refused me, although they are into my alliance from the beginning of the game.
- I then annexed Bayern (two provinces).
- with a CB against Bohemia, I declared war and annexed them (foru remaining provinces).
Then, time went slowly away until Thuringen and Wurtemberg declared themselves protestant.
Nothing much to do until Counter-Reform.
- At that time, I declared war on Thuringen (CB and different religion) and annexed them.
- Now, I could also diplo-annex Baden.
So far, so good : from the beginning of the game, I had gained 6 provinces in war and 5 other by diplo.
Although my army is much bigger that theirs, despite the fact that relationships have been 170+ from almost the beginning of the game, Hungary still resists vassalization. OK.
Having been relatively peaceful (compared to some other countries such as France, Spain or Poland), and France being into civil war, I decide to declare war on Wurtemberg (no allies) to bring them back to the true faith. At this point, hell breaks lose : Palatinate (protestant) declares war on me, followed by Spain her ally (Counter-reformed like me!!!!). Brandenbourg, Hannover and Hansa follow, and then Poland decides to enter the fray. Unexpected, all of this. Especially the entry of Spain and Poland in the war (after all, both are catholic or counter-reformed, and both had neutral relations with me).
The war lasts some time :
- I win over Wurtemberg, and, given the situation, I annex them.
- I win over Palatinate and I convert them to coulter-reform.
- I win over Brandenbourg and they give me a province.
- I win over Poland and they yield three provinces.
So, here is my situation from the start of the game :
- 4 provinces won in offensive war over a country with CB but same religion,
- 2 provinces won in offensive war over a country with CB and different religion,
- 5 provinces won by peaceful politics,
- 4 provinces won in defensive war.
Now, here is the problem : Badboy rating of 23. This, I don't understand ; from what I read, basically badboy goes up by 1 for each captured province, including peacefully (so 15 is okay). Declaring war also increases badboy, especially if with no CB and same religion. Not my case, except long ago with Bohemia (but I had CB). Time is also supposed to erase some badboy. So some of the badboy earned at the beginning of the game should have gone by now. I just fail to see how I could be at 23 in badboy rating.
Any hint ????
Now, another problem is the research rate. I have played Portugal and Russia. No problem with both, because you soon become colonial and hit major trading centers (i.e. these centers where you are mostly alone and make big money). Not that luck with Autria, which is continental. I could exchange maps and learn about Persia. But obviously, I reached the limit of what I could exchange, and either I declare war on a map knowing country and reach their capital or I'm stuck with poor trading centers, which in turn means slow (very slow!) research. This, in my opinion, is a major problem.
Actually, I am of the opinion that extra-european trading center are quite overrated. Their value should be divided by about 3 or 4 to fall into a reasonable value. For example, I fail to see how a Siberian trading center can generate more income than the whole European economy...
any comments ?
