Byzantium

[Dairpo]

Hey guys, I've just more or less given up on my first game as Byzantium. Since around 1430 (it is now in the 1480s) I've been engaged in a cycle of wars with Genoa, the Papal States, Sicily, Brandeburg, and Hungary (with the KoJ, Caliphate, and Union of Kalmar all playing important roles) engaged in a cycle of DoWing me. I was just wondering if this was supposed to happen because, quite frankly, it isn't fun and makes little sense. Do these kingdoms all have a "Kill Byzantium" code?

 

[unmerged(31994)]

Never figured out why those damn scandenavians always Dowed me either actually

Though somewhere around 1450 - keeping a bb less than 10 and a good army bigger than most, I silenced the competition.I notice this trend in most games really, the ai knows when to strike , especially if your army isnt adequate, happened to me countless times as Cordoba.

 

[Dairpo]

Ahhh.. I forgot about the BB. I think I was sitting around 11 or so (Hadn't taken land in generations though, at least never non core land). Maybe I'll give it another go.. if only the damned Cresent League provinces stopped rebelling

 

[loki1232]

Hey is there a way for me to find out my BB in-game?

 

[unmerged(31994)]

Well, when you have relations on, you have a statement in the black panel like for example "We have an honorable reputation" - if you linger your cursor on it for a while, it will tell you your bb.

 

[MattyG]

Dairpo, it partly depends on how aggressive you have set the AI as wel.

But your BB is a big factor. In Interregnum, the ai is better built than in most of the mods you will have played. The AI will know when to attack with more efficientcy and accuracy. Although the specifics are not known by anyone but the inner programming circle, here's how it is thought to work:

1. Every ai nation has a sort of clock or counter. When it gets to 100 it attacks.

2. You can set this counter very low (say -500) to slow down the frequency with which it attacks. This we have done in Interregnum. Or higher, with the original Bavaria having been set at 80, so very very warlike.

3. This clock adds points every month no matter what, but also adds extra points based on things like a) the agressiveness setting you chose; b) having a core on a province they don't own; c) an opponents BB rating; d) low relations with a country; e) different religion; f) whether that nation is at war; g) probably other things as well.

4. With you being agreesive, having racked up 11 BB and pissed off other nations, you became the target. It's deliberate, to slow down the rate of conquest in SP and so that the ai nations don't DoW too often, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from players. This was a standard modus operandi for human players in Vanilla: watch and wait for country X to be in a long stupud war, and then DoW when it has no money or manpower left. Well, this tactic won't work in Interregnum, because the ai is less aggressive and less stupid. And warlike players had better watch out!

How big was Byzantium when you finished?


Matty

 

[Dairpo]

This is from my last save, 10 years (two war cycles) before I gave up. This time around I went for full reforms because I think I'll start again (I don't usually abandon games this early... Just this yesterday I finished a successful Savoy GC).

The AI does seem smarter in Interregnum than in other mods, which is by all means a good thing.

I think I'll try to create a Reformed Occidental Empire now

 

[Dairpo]

I have default settings on, which seems to be Coward/Normal.

 

[Incompetent]

This is from my last save, 10 years (two war cycles) before I gave up. This time around I went for full reforms because I think I'll start again (I don't usually abandon games this early... Just this yesterday I finished a successful Savoy GC).

The AI does seem smarter in Interregnum than in other mods, which is by all means a good thing.

I think I'll try to create a Reformed Occidental Empire now

The picture's a bit small, but it doesn't look like you were getting pwned by any means. Did you try getting some serious allies, or joining an existing alliance? Club together with a few majors, that tends to scare the vultures away. Genoa and Ukraine are both natural allies for Byzantium, but if things have gone mad just bribe and ally with anyone you can (if necessary while you have a truce with them).

Of course, sometimes you want the AI to DOW you - non-core provinces taken in a defensive war only cost 1BB each


My first ever game of EU2 was as Portugal on Very Easy, in which I went from completely peaceful (except versus Pagans) to complete economic domination, only backstabbing Spain when they were paralysed by bankruptcy and I was rich enough to swamp them with mercenaries, so I never really learnt much about war. My second game was as Muscovy, and by 1441 I'd received 13 unprovoked DOWs, most of which meant 4 or 5 countries joined the war against me. At one point a coalition of 6 different countries was laying siege to Moscow with 100k men, another time I was in separate defensive wars with Sweden, Lithuania and the GH (with attendant alliances) all at once, and at another stage I was having to fend off hordes of Italians in Ingermanland. Now THAT was fun! It's also when I learned the virtues of snow, cavalry, BB management and alliance-building, in that order

 

[MattyG]

Good point Incompetent!

Yes, how many troops you have and the size and number of your allies are also thought to be factors in helping the ai determine if it will attack you or not. Which certainly makes sense.

Thanks for the feedback on the ai.

Matty