If England goes belly up, it might make sense to try getting some provinces belonging to the trade node, but I have no eu4 experience whatsoever so this might be suboptimal.
- 3
- 1
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Galicia's position is still not very good. I wonder how long they'll last.
The successes of the Reformed faith should worry Friesland. Especially Scotland - they might want revenge for the war, and Friesland is likely an easier target than Denmark... and they can justify it on religious grounds.
The successes of the Reformed faith should worry Friesland. Especially Scotland - they might want revenge for the war, and Friesland is likely an easier target than Denmark... and they can justify it on religious grounds.
- 2
- 1
Are the Ming prone to that? The Ottos are scary - as I gather they often are in this part of the game, anyway.
Yes, Bohemia is currently a success story and they are in the HRE - though King-Elector Karel VI (Czech) is Protestant, as is Bohemia as a centre of the Reformation. And yes, the Austrians remain the HRE Emperor, currently Ferdinand I von Habsburg.
Yes to that too - they hold a lot of provinces. None of them colonies.
They should, but so far have shown no sign of doing so. Castile and Portugal are colonising, but not Aragon. Neither they or Morocco have any colonists yet.
They are. And it doesn't get any prettier in the next few years.
Will see how that goes - the period for that was long ago in game terms from where I stopped playing to start writing the AAR. It was certainly on my wish list at this point.
Right, thanks for the deduction there. I don't yet have the game experience to do too much of that which isn't obvious from the available save point screens.
That's a thought, though at this stage Friesland did not really have any designs on England - as far as I knew at the time, the trading successes of little Friesland in the important EC trade node was way more than I had been expecting, so was happy enough with what we had there and focusing on exploring and colonising as much of the world as I could.
I'll have to remember that when I return to the game - if it still applies at that point (still 150 years ahead).
That's good to know! Brunswick probably feel empowered by the powerful Protestant Bohemia to their east.
I was quite pleased with the colonial expansion, given I was so new to it. You will soon see where the next focus went to, and why ...
Probably - was blissfully unaware of them. I'm sure I got some later, but wasn't really tracking by that stage re gold and most other products in the colonies. I probably should have been, but it was one too many details for a newbie to get a real grip on. But when we get there in the AAR, I'll be paying far more attention than I was at the time!
Yes, they're doing well and you will see another move by them soon. On the latter point yes, to a certain extant, though the focus tends to swing back and forth depending on developments and opportunities. Where that all ende dup going during the 17th century is one of the reasons I decided to write this up as an AAR after all.
Haha, same here, and for now its all history anyway.
It's a small enclave stuck between major powers. You'd think they'd be pretty vulnerable.
Prophetic words (pun intended). Increasing focus on religion, as you'd expect, in the middle-1500s and onwards. Scotland and Friesland remain long-term mutual rivals - but the same goes for Denmark, so Scotland shouldn't be too much of an immediate danger. One hopes. The threat seems to be more from the Danes picking fights with the Scots and dragging Friesland into it - the main effect of which for us is the potential disruption of trade.
To All: thanks once more for all the active involvement. New chapter out shortly.
- 1
- 1
Chapter 17: Cross and Sword (1545-51)
Chapter 17: Cross and Sword (1545-51)
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
June 1545: Foreign Wars and Expansion in the Low Countries
By June 1545, the severely weakened Hungary was beset by two large invasions by their northern neighbours which had begun the year before. Almost simultaneously, in late September 1544, both Poland-Lithuania and Bohemia had attacked and Hungary had not been able to effectively resist either.
Potestaat Popetet Van Uylenburgh, now aged 66, remained in charge of the Frisian Republic. A new advisor, the celebrated navigator Jan Valkenswaard, had been retained, his knowledge and abilities allowing the range of Frisian colonial expeditions to be significantly increased.
To decrease attrition, only around half the Frisian Leger remained in Brugge for the siege, with the rest holding back in Zeeland. Brunswick was providing a garrison in Gent, which had been taken on 3 November 1544.
The main Frisian fleet of 27 ships continued to protect trade in the English Channel, while five did the same in the Lübeck zone (the Frisian Admiralty not yet having learned the full subtleties of trade promotion at that time).
Three ships had remained in New Frisia to protect and promote Frisian trade in the Chesapeake Bay area. The colony in Nentego was still in the comparatively early days of its establishment, while a small colonial army was building in Wicontiss.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1546-49: Foreign Developments
Hungary, after capitulating to Poland in April 1546 and Bohemia in September 1547, had been forced to give up huge parts of its country, which was now broken into two halves, rendering them no more than a relatively minor regional duchy.
On 1 July 1548, Frisian chroniclers noted that the Kalmar Union had been dissolved: Denmark had absorbed Sweden as an integral part of its country, rather than a junior partner of a union. Denmark now directly controlled the entirety of Scandinavia – and other lands in Russia and on the Baltic Coast as well.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
December 1550: Political, Diplomatic and Military Matters
Potestaat Van Uylenburgh had ended his distinguished 18-year tenure in May 1546, the dream being taken up by Johan Ernst Riemersma. The latter had supervised the Republic for four largely unremarked years, until his death on 27 July 1550.
During Riemersma’s tenure, in 1547 Friesland had been dragged into another Danish war against Scotland and its allies. By the end of 1550, this conflict continued: Friesland’s main contribution had been at sea, where three of their own ships had been lost, while inflicting some heaving defeats on the enemy.
Of note, the English – who had by now adopted Anglicanism as its state religion – was suffering from a major Catholic uprising around Oxford, while eight Scottish provinces had been occupied – at a high price – by the Danes, who dominated the Scots with two large armies in the centre of the island.
Back in Friesland, the brief war against Flanders had been won after the siege of Brugge ended in victory in July 1545, the whole country being annexed and made core possessions the following year. A castle had almost been completed in Gent, with Friesland wary of a possible confrontation with France at some point in the future.
By this time, the whole Frisian warship fleet in Europe had relocated to the Lübeck trade route (one carrack and 33 light ships, mainly caravels). Other than perhaps evading more chance encounters with Scottish and allied ships, it is no longer clear why they were sent there, rather than home to port, as in was not performing any immediately useful function for any Frisian merchants.
The Frisian Leger was now at its full sustainable strength and the navy just one ship short of its. And the Leger had chosen to upgrade their artillery to large cast iron cannon.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
December 1550: Religion
Protestant and Reformed heresies were now spread widely in Europe. Ireland was a large focus of the Reformed denomination, with another centre in Bern. Munster was no longer spreading the Protestant denomination, whose main strength was in central Europe.
I had to look this up to get a better idea of what the Council of Trent was all about, as any explanatory event screens that may have come up at the time are long forgotten. We needed a cardinal, and didn’t have one. And I can’t recall now whether I was even aware of this at the time. Anyway, from the Wiki, here is the Trent piece.
The Council of Trent currently had the narrowest of majorities in favour of the conciliatory approach and had implemented three concessions that promoted the opinion of heretics, which promoted some benefits. But if Friesland got the chance, they would have adopted a harsher approach.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
December 1550: The Economy, Research, Culture, Stability and the Estates
The Republic’s treasury was in a very healthy position and trade remained at historic highs, despite the diversion of the fleet from the English Channel during the war with Scotland. Inflation, missionary and colonial maintenance barely made a dent in the monthly budget surplus.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
December 1550: Colonial Issues
A French war against the native Abenaki tribe had seen France assemble a massive army of over 30,000 men to conquer Piktuk and led to a review of the development of New France by their Frisian allies and competitors. After the first French settlement in 1519 at Baye Sainte-Claire (all the province names seem to have since been given French names at some point) there had been a gap of almost 11 years before the next was settled at Belle Isle.
Nentego had been first settled in November 1542, taking on Dutch culture after the immigration of minorities from the homeland and becoming a full city a year and a half before, in June 1549. A new workshop had been finished in the colonial capital of Wicontiss in July 1546.
But as hinted at before, the interesting news was of the settlement of a now colonial venture a little over a year ago in Gabon, in November 1549.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
December 1550: The World
Friesland’s relative standing as a power in the world and that of Portugal and Bohemia had been damaged in the ‘world rankings’ by their slowness to embrace a fourth major institution (the printing press, presumably). Morocco continued to figure in the acknowledged great powers, while Austria had joined the list as a result of their subjection of Hungary.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
May 1551: A Brief Interlude
Just five months later, the Danish-Scottish war continued though some more progress had been made by the Danes: the Scots once more were putting up a stubborn fight, with the losses mounting on both sides after four years of nasty fighting – which Friesland was successfully avoiding.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
September 1551: More War
Another four months had not seen the Danish war on Scotland end yet but it should not be too far off as the Danes slowly spread west and south.
The Misery of the Mamluks dragged on either side of the Red Sea as the Ottomans approached total victory in their latest war of conquest.
Last edited:
- 3
- 1
I would say about a 50/50 chance of exploding. There are many early game crises that Ming has to deal with.
Just for future reference, you shouldn't use cavalry on a siege unless you have no other option. They cost more money to reinforce. Ideally you would use enough cannons to give your siege a bonus and fill in the rest with infantry.
This is not always advisable because sometimes it is better to put your entire army on the siege to avoid the AI attacking you.
Explusion doesn't actually change the culture of your provinces. It used to, then Paradox changed it. Now it just makes the colonies grow faster (still useful).
That's good for Friesland now, but Scandinavia may look to compete with Friesland for colonies.
That's not actually the German Munster, it's the Irish one.
That's an option you can enable to have provinces get renamed based on what culture owns them. I like it for the flavor.
AI Castille/Spain has a long history of being horrible at using its transports.
- 2
Denmark seems to be becoming a great power. I don't think I've ever seen them annex Sweden.
Frisia hasn't adopted the printing press yet. At least that should hurt the religious reformers, right?
The Council of Trent seems to have acknowledged the danger, thankfully for peace.
Frisia hasn't adopted the printing press yet. At least that should hurt the religious reformers, right?
The Council of Trent seems to have acknowledged the danger, thankfully for peace.
- 4
The Danes are having a very good game. While some may discount because the player is an ally, the player is providing little help. They probably will add much of the British Isles and a small colonial empire. Thank you
- 1
- 1
Right. The Ming are still getting referenced in things like wars in the ledger etc in the mid-16th century, so they are still around, but clearly not the power they were early on.
Useful hint re the cavalry and also if worried one may be attacked, as opposed to 'by the numbers' sieges at the end of a war.
OK - it does seem to change that at the destination, but understood re it not affecting the source.
Maybe, but so far have seen no evidence of Danish distance colonisation. They seem to be more interested in the north of Britain, the Baltic coast and Russia for now.
Ah, thanks for that, it had me scratching my head a bit.
I should have recalled the Irish Munster.Me too. Good to see the AI employing it.
Good for me I guess, anyway.
Oh, they're one of the leading great powers now, too.
I suppose so (though wouldn't have known that at the time). But it's already partly adopted at this stage, I think. Look out for more on that in the next chapter ...
Yes, though not being on it is hurting our counter-reformation work in Friesland proper. But it looks like it is fairly well progressed by now.
Again, yes, but no evidence of colonial ambition yet. But they're definitely interested in Britain.
To All: Next chapter in preparation. Until then, thanks for all who have commented so far, more comments always welcome.
- 2
- 1
Chapter 18: Heretics on All Sides (1551-60)
Chapter 18: Heretics on All Sides (1551-60)
By late 1551 the Council of Trent had been meeting for some time as the True Faith tried to settle on measures to counter the Reformation which was sweeping Europe in general and Friesland in particular. It sat sandwiched between Reformist and Protestant heresies as its political and religious leaders tried to fight back – with increasing desperation.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
By late 1551 the Council of Trent had been meeting for some time as the True Faith tried to settle on measures to counter the Reformation which was sweeping Europe in general and Friesland in particular. It sat sandwiched between Reformist and Protestant heresies as its political and religious leaders tried to fight back – with increasing desperation.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1551-53: Key Events
The latest war between the Ottomans and their Mamluk and Dawasir victims ended soon after our last report, on 20 November 1551. More Mamluk territory was lost to the Ottomans on the Red Sea, but not in the same quantities as some of the previous peace settlements.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
March 1554: Religion
The previous Potestaat Wiebe Japisk had died just a few weeks before, his successor the already elderly Maurits Kiestra. Kiestra was considered to be naïve and indiscreet but a strong military man. His dreams would be of glory and braggadocio in equal measures! The same Frisian alliances of recent years continued.
More broadly, Catholicism was now the local and state religion in much of south-east England, where Anglicanism had only a minor presence. It was Reformed that was the growing influence, fuelled from twin centres in Ireland. The Protestants held sway in Bohemia, central Germany and an area just to the south of Friesland.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
March 1554: Colonialism and Exploration
So far, the only identified colonial presences in North America and the Caribbean belonged to France in the north-east, Friesland on the central eastern coast and Portugal, which had established a large colony on the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico, while Caraibas was now a semi-autonomous Portuguese colonial administration.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
March 1554: Economy, Research and Military
While the Frisian treasury was flush with funds, poor trade management [I’d left the fleet in the wrong place, rather than in the English Channel, due to an oversight at the end of the Danish-Scottish war. Doh.] plus increased costs from the second colony, missionary work and corruption meant there was now only a small monthly surplus.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1555-58: Key Events
Friesland had been obliged to support France during their big Indian War of 1556-58 against a Huron-led native-American coalition. France and French Canada had ended up winning a big victory, annexing large amounts of land in February 1558 and in the process of settling more. This had massively boosted France’s colonial presence in north-east America.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1558-60: Friesland’s First Indian War
Lenape had established a local town in Conestoga in the late 1550s that Friesland was not prepared to let stand. Following their support of France against the Huron, Friesland had sought similar support from them in this endeavour against Lenape’s native coalition. In preparation for this venture, Friesland had broken its long alliance with Brunswick, replacing it with a pact with the supposedly powerful local Hathawekela tribe.
France had soon sent an army to besiege Conestoga on Friesland’s behalf. This had been useful, as the Hathawekela had been beset by a large rebellion and then an invasion by the Lenape. The Potestaat had brought over 3-4,000 reinforcements by ship from the homeland, who combined with the locally trained Frisian colonial army to campaign from Patawomac with two armies. First, the rebels were cleared out of Calicula in December 1559 and Mohetan in January 1560.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
March 1560: Home Affairs
Potestaat Maurits Kiestra’s dreams of glory had come true in America, leading Frisian troops to victory in their first colonial war of conquest. Six years into his life term, the hardy old warrior had defied many predictions to remain in charge at the ripe old age of 75.
At home, Friesland’s Catholic establishment seemed to be losing their own religious war against the encroachment of the Reformation. Most of the recently converted provinces could not yet be reclaimed, with the conversion of Zeeland to Reformed Church in 1555 and Den Haag to Protestantism in 1557 making only the three re-converted provinces of Meppen, Oversticht and Geldern their only Catholic outposts in European Friesland.
In the rest of Europe, the march of the Reformed Church through Britain had continued since 1554. Though Catholicism remained the state religion of England and Denmark, only a few provinces now held onto the True Faith – and one of them was in the process of being converted. France remained a firm bulwark against the Reformation, as did Denmark and Austria.
Both sides of the Reformation had become increasingly militant as ‘De Heretico Comburendo’ had unfortunately become a by-word across much of western and central Europe by 1560, for all sides.
Despite the distraction of this religious competition, Friesland still managed to enact some more governmental reform of the political apparatus and ideals.
By this time, Friesland had four state administrations established, with the Delaware Valley in New Frisia now approaching European; levels of development and the two annexed provinces of Flanders being granted similar status. The rest, at home and abroad, were administered as territories.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
March 1560: Friesland and the World
After approaching 116 years of the Fryske Frijheid, the Republic had been served by 17 Potestaats (Syndics) including the current incumbent. For the main part, they had been generally effective in at least one, often two and sometimes all three of the main areas of governance.
More exploration had been possible, with Frisian mariners rounding the southern tip of Africa and continuing just past the southern end of Madagascar before having to turn back. Along the way, they had confirmed the presence of Castilian and Portuguese colonies – and plenty of unsettled land that Frisian colonists may be able to take advantage of in due course.
The political situation in Europe was not greatly different to what it had been ten years before, with larger and more powerful states in the east and west, while central and western Germany remained diplomatically fragmented, even while remaining under the loose political hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire, still ruled by the Austrians.
The Ottomans were now well and truly acknowledged as the number one power in the world, followed by France and Russia. Poland’s recent successes had also restored its standing, while the Iberian peninsula remained well represented with three powers in the top eight.
Frisian cartographers had worked hard to extend the reach of its maps, not just from curiosity of course, but also to serve its longer-term trade and colonial interests.
Last edited:
- 3
- 2
I suppose that colonial wars were inevitable... how much longer until Friesland starts fighting with other European powers over the New World?
Russia was defeated by the PLC? That should make Denmark and many Asian nations happy...
Congrats on becoming a Great Power, even if a religious revolt back in the European homeland is becoming increasingly likely...
Russia was defeated by the PLC? That should make Denmark and many Asian nations happy...
Congrats on becoming a Great Power, even if a religious revolt back in the European homeland is becoming increasingly likely...
- 2
- 1
France is on the warpath. Good thing Friesland is (for now) an ally.
I think European allies are more useful long-term. Hathaweka really only helps for this one war. Brunswick helps against any home threats.
A dire religious situation. Hopefully Friesland finds a solution.
You can't really directly influence the price of goods in vanilla. The only things you can do are dev production on valuable goods (or future valuable ones) or create trade companies (currently only Gabon is eligible).
Trade companies are really valuable because of the goods produced (GP) and merchants they give. GP is one of the strongest economic modifiers you can get because it affects so many other variables.
One thing about trade companies I did not learn until recently, is that the goods produced modifier that you get from them only affects non-TC proivnces within the trade node. So, you basically want to make as few TC's as possible within each node (but still enough to get the bonus merchant).
Great job!
Maybe this is more suited to the end of the AAR, but I'd like to know your thoughts on your first real campaign. Did you like it? Hate it? Struggle with it?
- 2
- Right. Back again. Hit the music.
- Already ahead of you mate - Scream and Whispers by Dance with the Dead.
Therefore as an example: only one (1) castle in oversticht provides the Zone of Control over neighbouring friesland, groningen, geldern, and meppen provinces. No unit can ever reach by land friesland and groningen provinces before laying siege and occupying the castle in oversticht; for movement into groningen, the code-enemy has to ask ostfriesland-tag for military access in a war; for movement into geldern, especially considering there is also the castle in utrecht province, it is restricted for enemies in a war. Even if they are reached and occupied, the enemy has to occupy also the province of oversticht, otherwise the occupation of groningen and geldern will be lifted automatically, due to Zone of Control in a war.
This makes the castles in groningen and geldern redundant. Their maintenance becomes unnecessary expense.
All tags in the game require a large army to defend themselves - but the player-frisia needs all that can be afforded within the force limit, due to neighbouring turbo-tags and due to itself being a coloniser-tag.
By Chapter 17, there are castles built in groningen, geldern, and gent; all three are unnecessary. Three castles mean +3 ducats per month for their maintenance. This cost will increase in time when the castles are upgraded, too. Assuming one cannon unit costs about 0,90 ducats in maintenance per month, +3 ducats mean at least three more cannons that can be maintained (without going over the force limit). So the player trades three cannons for three castles.
Else; assuming one infantry unit costs about 0,22 maintenance per month, meaning with +3 ducats at least thirteen more infantry regiments can be maintained (again, without going over the force limit).
Else; +3 ducats per month will be 102 ducats in 34 months, which means another building with the price range of 100 ducats can be built. So the player trades a building opportunity for three castles.
Examples are numerous, but the last one above is about economics, and it applies for the first 100-150 years of a run, whereas the trade-off over the army on the field determines the chances of survival in a war, so the entire run. Castles are critical but only to slow down the enemy movement or to control their direction of movement. Military size dictates the outcome, else it can even be the determining factor for the code not to declare a war on any tag, including the player.
But hey; you do you Moving on:
Chapter 15
Allying the denmark-tag was a smart move, but there is this consequence: A powerful denmark-tag, which will just annex norway- and sweden-tags, and forming the bogus tag of scandinavia, and that will be a headache.
Chapter 16
Extra:
Chapter 17
Being a republic, that would not be a problem, but the player has sortition, so the rulers are in power for life. Fortunately sortition type republics produce rulers with increased age.
Still, making the ruler a general should be considered to increase the chances of their... departure, in cases as these.
When the confrontation happens, no amount of castles will be enough for the player-friesland against the code-france.
Chapter 18
A falling russia-tag will cause a void in the siberia region.
A successful denmark-scandinavia-tag is a general nuisance for all tags in any run.
This may also trigger an otto-russia alliance, which will be fun(!) to watch - wars that will take forever to end.
Extra:
- Already ahead of you mate - Scream and Whispers by Dance with the Dead.
That is true, of course they provide additional defence to the province they are built on. On the other hand by Zone of Control, they provide protection by not allowing any move into those neighbouring provinces.
Therefore as an example: only one (1) castle in oversticht provides the Zone of Control over neighbouring friesland, groningen, geldern, and meppen provinces. No unit can ever reach by land friesland and groningen provinces before laying siege and occupying the castle in oversticht; for movement into groningen, the code-enemy has to ask ostfriesland-tag for military access in a war; for movement into geldern, especially considering there is also the castle in utrecht province, it is restricted for enemies in a war. Even if they are reached and occupied, the enemy has to occupy also the province of oversticht, otherwise the occupation of groningen and geldern will be lifted automatically, due to Zone of Control in a war.
This makes the castles in groningen and geldern redundant. Their maintenance becomes unnecessary expense.
It is not an issue of optimal play - optimisation is a mathematical problem to find minimum and maximum of real functions, and there is an inflation of its use in colloquial language, attributing a false meaning to it, mostly due to such games. Whatever; paying extra maintenance for more forts is not an issue of optimal play but a matter of survival. The player is frisia-tag. It is not rich, it is not large, it is not a turbo-tag. It has potential to be rich, large, and a turbo-tag, and its only advantage is being controlled by the player in the run, apart from some of its national ideas, but they are of tertiary importance.
All tags in the game require a large army to defend themselves - but the player-frisia needs all that can be afforded within the force limit, due to neighbouring turbo-tags and due to itself being a coloniser-tag.
By Chapter 17, there are castles built in groningen, geldern, and gent; all three are unnecessary. Three castles mean +3 ducats per month for their maintenance. This cost will increase in time when the castles are upgraded, too. Assuming one cannon unit costs about 0,90 ducats in maintenance per month, +3 ducats mean at least three more cannons that can be maintained (without going over the force limit). So the player trades three cannons for three castles.
Else; assuming one infantry unit costs about 0,22 maintenance per month, meaning with +3 ducats at least thirteen more infantry regiments can be maintained (again, without going over the force limit).
Else; +3 ducats per month will be 102 ducats in 34 months, which means another building with the price range of 100 ducats can be built. So the player trades a building opportunity for three castles.
Examples are numerous, but the last one above is about economics, and it applies for the first 100-150 years of a run, whereas the trade-off over the army on the field determines the chances of survival in a war, so the entire run. Castles are critical but only to slow down the enemy movement or to control their direction of movement. Military size dictates the outcome, else it can even be the determining factor for the code not to declare a war on any tag, including the player.
Moving on:Chapter 15
Lol.
Allying the denmark-tag was a smart move, but there is this consequence: A powerful denmark-tag, which will just annex norway- and sweden-tags, and forming the bogus tag of scandinavia, and that will be a headache.
Errr... There is no need to build anything in colonies. They will be assigned to the colonial subject once there are five colonies finished (either colonised or conquered from other tags).
Chapter 16
Pheww. The castle in wicontiss can be argued for its usefulness, but the other four buildings; they cost about 400 ducats, which is a questionable move. But again, if there is gold to burn, then go ahead.
Extra:
Correct, that is exactly what should be done. Especially the province london should be conquered by the friesland-tag, with any other in the vicinity as bonus. That city is natural clay for the player in low countries, and should not be left to any other tag in the region.
Chapter 17
Sigh. The player will regret for allying the denmark-tag and causing its rise.
After babbling buffoon personality trait of rulers (-1 diplo-rep), obsessive perfectionist trait (+10% const-cost) is ranking second in the list of terrible ruler traits, and thus is reason number two for immediate abdication. Errr... actually, the list of terrible ruler traits has only two entries, it should be noted. The rest are insignificant. Even craven is manageable, and infertile is tag-dependent.
Being a republic, that would not be a problem, but the player has sortition, so the rulers are in power for life. Fortunately sortition type republics produce rulers with increased age.
Still, making the ruler a general should be considered to increase the chances of their... departure, in cases as these.
The player is friesland-tag, and is neighbouring the france-tag, and both are colonisers, and are colonising the same colonial region. It is not an if, but a matter of when.
When the confrontation happens, no amount of castles will be enough for the player-friesland against the code-france.
It does not matter much. There will be less problems by taking the catholic-route, more so since the outcome seems to be the positive-extreme, meaning there will be a lot of alliances between all denominations. That will be cut and reshuffled and re-established when the league event is triggered.
Chapter 18
This is the worst outcome. A weak russia-tag, and it is encountered by both denmark- and poland-lithuania-tags.
A falling russia-tag will cause a void in the siberia region.
A successful denmark-scandinavia-tag is a general nuisance for all tags in any run.
This may also trigger an otto-russia alliance, which will be fun(!) to watch - wars that will take forever to end.
Extra:
Hmmm.
There is not much to say. The important parameter in naval warfare is the navy morale, and it is heavily related to navy tradition. The rest of the naval warfare parameters, such as combat bonus, are adding relatively lower value of power when engaged in a battle: they are determining the individual damage on ships. But the fleet morale is the key factor in determining the battle outcome. The fleet with low navy morale will start the battle in an already lost position.
Coloniser route has the advantage of exploration - each explored tile of sea provides the exploring tag +1 navy tradition. This will ensure high navy morale in the early years of the exploration phase, but navy tradition is a decaying parameter, and it decays quickly.
Reducing the rate of decay depends on the light ships in trade protection missions. This has been done in this run of friesland-tag, perhaps unknowingly. High ratio of light ships in trade within the naval force limit ensures lower rate of decay in navy tradition, so the navy morale bonus is retained. Still, more heavy ships should be constructed in the future - light ships are not able to withstand against them.
High navy tradition also provides higher leader-pips - so the admirals will be of higher quality in their skills. A fleet with high navy morale and a good admiral will shred any number of fleets in a battle. Never send a navy into battle without an admiral, otherwise it can cost the entire fleet when defeated.
The england-greatbritain-tag has advantages as increased heavy ship combat ability and increased navy morale, on top of bonus to navy tradition. Moreover, it has access to the naval doctrine Wooden Wall, +1 combat bonus off its coasts. Add this to enormous naval force limit due to colonising. These make england-greatbritain-tag hyper-dangerous.
In this friesland-run, england-tag has fallen, so there will not be an immediate danger from the isles. The scotland-tag can also form the greatbritain-tag, but it has been mauled by the code-denmark allied with the player-friesland. Again, they will not be an issue on the oceans, so no worries.
Had the england-tag or the scotland-tag been successful, forming the greatbritain-tag, and creating a large navy, then it is a nuisance for any tag, yes, but it is not a doom-scenario. In such cases, even with galleys in the middle of oceans else off the coasts of the isles, any tag with maritime-set can remedy the situation against the code greatbritain-tag, and this happens:
Coloniser route has the advantage of exploration - each explored tile of sea provides the exploring tag +1 navy tradition. This will ensure high navy morale in the early years of the exploration phase, but navy tradition is a decaying parameter, and it decays quickly.
Reducing the rate of decay depends on the light ships in trade protection missions. This has been done in this run of friesland-tag, perhaps unknowingly. High ratio of light ships in trade within the naval force limit ensures lower rate of decay in navy tradition, so the navy morale bonus is retained. Still, more heavy ships should be constructed in the future - light ships are not able to withstand against them.
High navy tradition also provides higher leader-pips - so the admirals will be of higher quality in their skills. A fleet with high navy morale and a good admiral will shred any number of fleets in a battle. Never send a navy into battle without an admiral, otherwise it can cost the entire fleet when defeated.
The england-greatbritain-tag has advantages as increased heavy ship combat ability and increased navy morale, on top of bonus to navy tradition. Moreover, it has access to the naval doctrine Wooden Wall, +1 combat bonus off its coasts. Add this to enormous naval force limit due to colonising. These make england-greatbritain-tag hyper-dangerous.
In this friesland-run, england-tag has fallen, so there will not be an immediate danger from the isles. The scotland-tag can also form the greatbritain-tag, but it has been mauled by the code-denmark allied with the player-friesland. Again, they will not be an issue on the oceans, so no worries.
Had the england-tag or the scotland-tag been successful, forming the greatbritain-tag, and creating a large navy, then it is a nuisance for any tag, yes, but it is not a doom-scenario. In such cases, even with galleys in the middle of oceans else off the coasts of the isles, any tag with maritime-set can remedy the situation against the code greatbritain-tag, and this happens:
|
Cool referenceWelcome back, Morpheus!
- 3
France's success in which we were forced to be complicit spurred us on to it. And until I started this little campaign, I really didn't know how strong these native armies were going to me, man for man. Not very, as it happened. In game, I was trying to avoid colonial wars with other European countries - especially if they were nearby or allied with someone who was.
This time, anyway. Can't recall now how they went after that. Their main problem seemed at this point to be a lack of combined arms.
Thank you. Given how little I knew of the game at this point and the failure of the first run, I was pretty pleased to get to that point. The religious stuff was interesting too and all a bit of a mystery at first, though I gradually learned enough to keep blundering on.
Yes, there would have been virtually nothing I could have done to stop them at this point had I not been allied and they decided to take me on for colonies and/or the Low Countries. Was just trying to survive for as long as possible.
No doubt. When I made that alliance, I thought both they and my native opponents were going to be stronger than they proved.
I was slowly trying to work it out and learn some of the mechanics at this point.
Right, mysteries still beyond my tenuous grasp of the game.
I'll have to look them up on the wiki to see what they are and how they work. Thanks for the tips.
Thank you. I've been enjoying it so far. Don't mind struggling a bit along the way, as a game challenge is more fun, even if it's one's own newbieness helping the AI.
Welcome back.
Haha, it's not like I'm ignoring advice, I just can't change what was done back then. You'll just have to humour my blunderings and I'll know a lot more about this aspect next time!That is true, of course they provide additional defence to the province they are built on. On the other hand by Zone of Control, they provide protection by not allowing any move into those neighbouring provinces.
Therefore as an example: only one (1) castle in oversticht provides the Zone of Control over neighbouring friesland, groningen, geldern, and meppen provinces. No unit can ever reach by land friesland and groningen provinces before laying siege and occupying the castle in oversticht; for movement into groningen, the code-enemy has to ask ostfriesland-tag for military access in a war; for movement into geldern, especially considering there is also the castle in utrecht province, it is restricted for enemies in a war. Even if they are reached and occupied, the enemy has to occupy also the province of oversticht, otherwise the occupation of groningen and geldern will be lifted automatically, due to Zone of Control in a war.
This makes the castles in groningen and geldern redundant. Their maintenance becomes unnecessary expense.
It is not an issue of optimal play - optimisation is a mathematical problem to find minimum and maximum of real functions, and there is an inflation of its use in colloquial language, attributing a false meaning to it, mostly due to such games. Whatever; paying extra maintenance for more forts is not an issue of optimal play but a matter of survival. The player is frisia-tag. It is not rich, it is not large, it is not a turbo-tag. It has potential to be rich, large, and a turbo-tag, and its only advantage is being controlled by the player in the run, apart from some of its national ideas, but they are of tertiary importance.
All tags in the game require a large army to defend themselves - but the player-frisia needs all that can be afforded within the force limit, due to neighbouring turbo-tags and due to itself being a coloniser-tag.
By Chapter 17, there are castles built in groningen, geldern, and gent; all three are unnecessary. Three castles mean +3 ducats per month for their maintenance. This cost will increase in time when the castles are upgraded, too. Assuming one cannon unit costs about 0,90 ducats in maintenance per month, +3 ducats mean at least three more cannons that can be maintained (without going over the force limit). So the player trades three cannons for three castles.
Else; assuming one infantry unit costs about 0,22 maintenance per month, meaning with +3 ducats at least thirteen more infantry regiments can be maintained (again, without going over the force limit).
Else; +3 ducats per month will be 102 ducats in 34 months, which means another building with the price range of 100 ducats can be built. So the player trades a building opportunity for three castles.
Examples are numerous, but the last one above is about economics, and it applies for the first 100-150 years of a run, whereas the trade-off over the army on the field determines the chances of survival in a war, so the entire run. Castles are critical but only to slow down the enemy movement or to control their direction of movement. Military size dictates the outcome, else it can even be the determining factor for the code not to declare a war on any tag, including the player. But hey; you do you
Well, Denmark doing well is better than me being eliminated I guess. Will see if they can maintain it and how are interactions go down the track.
OK, didn't know any of that at the time. Didn't realise they'd autonomously break away like that. And there was quite a bit of cash to splash around, even at this stage. I was more used to CK2 vibes, where building tall seems to be a fair strategy in that kind of situation.
As above. But I liked building stuff and didn't know better.
Interesting. Advice I'll have to note rather than being able to respond to in-game.
Oh, I'm not sure that anything I was going to do was really going to help or hinder them much at this point - at least with the (lack of) knowledge I had to hand. I just let them do what they wanted to and tried not to lose too must skin in the game. Doubt whether the alliance with little Friesland was causing them to rise. Perhaps just not trying to hinder it.
There were a few of them I did in fact send off to command armies in the hope they slip on a banana skin.
There were one or two who looked young and bad enough that I used the sortition option to rig the election, though it comes at a cost.Time will tell if or when that might happen. The castles were mainly a way to try to hinder possible attackers until another powerful ally might be able to make it to our aid. Point acknowledged about them not being war-winners in themselves.
OK. Er, 'League event'?
Will have to see how they go from here, as I wasn't paying that much attention at the time and can't remember now. At this point anyway they remain a fairly strong power and Pol-Lith seems to me to be prone to ebbing and flowing.
Thanks. Was paying only passing attention to military and naval tradition at that stage and even later. And wasn't really clear on the nature of its effect and relative importance to other game mechanics. The above is useful info.Extra:
Hmmm.
There is not much to say. The important parameter in naval warfare is the navy morale, and it is heavily related to navy tradition. The rest of the naval warfare parameters, such as combat bonus, are adding relatively lower value of power when engaged in a battle: they are determining the individual damage on ships. But the fleet morale is the key factor in determining the battle outcome. The fleet with low navy morale will start the battle in an already lost position.
Coloniser route has the advantage of exploration - each explored tile of sea provides the exploring tag +1 navy tradition. This will ensure high navy morale in the early years of the exploration phase, but navy tradition is a decaying parameter, and it decays quickly.
Reducing the rate of decay depends on the light ships in trade protection missions. This has been done in this run of friesland-tag, perhaps unknowingly. High ratio of light ships in trade within the naval force limit ensures lower rate of decay in navy tradition, so the navy morale bonus is retained. Still, more heavy ships should be constructed in the future - light ships are not able to withstand against them.
High navy tradition also provides higher leader-pips - so the admirals will be of higher quality in their skills. A fleet with high navy morale and a good admiral will shred any number of fleets in a battle. Never send a navy into battle without an admiral, otherwise it can cost the entire fleet when defeated.
The england-greatbritain-tag has advantages as increased heavy ship combat ability and increased navy morale, on top of bonus to navy tradition. Moreover, it has access to the naval doctrine Wooden Wall, +1 combat bonus off its coasts. Add this to enormous naval force limit due to colonising. These make england-greatbritain-tag hyper-dangerous.
In this friesland-run, england-tag has fallen, so there will not be an immediate danger from the isles. The scotland-tag can also form the greatbritain-tag, but it has been mauled by the code-denmark allied with the player-friesland. Again, they will not be an issue on the oceans, so no worries.
Had the england-tag or the scotland-tag been successful, forming the greatbritain-tag, and creating a large navy, then it is a nuisance for any tag, yes, but it is not a doom-scenario. In such cases, even with galleys in the middle of oceans else off the coasts of the isles, any tag with maritime-set can remedy the situation against the code greatbritain-tag, and this happens:
Glad you liked it.Cool reference
And thanks again for the game advice.- 1
- 1
what is a turbo-tag?
and what is a bogus tag? sorry I'm not familiar with the jargon of EU4 at all
isn't there a way to keep all integral?
this is probably about as far as my EU and EU2 instincts take me, even though the mechanics are so different
didn't Denmark rise on its own mostly? does the game help the allies of the human player in some way?
who's the best ally in this case? somebody from Iberian peninsula? Austria? Denmark or Ottomans can be tricky since AI probably would screw up when it needs to do amphibious operations.
PLC's main problem is they can never get a part of the map they can safely ignore and turn their backs to. There's no natural barriers of any kind anywhere close.
About the game: One thing that needs attention if you haven't already is, and this is a criticism from me to devs, is that it's static and cannot be changed which province is part of which trade node, to what way and which direction are the relations between trade nodes. For example: even if your trade range allowed you to colonize Australia, it'll be close to useless since you'll have to reroute the trade in Sulawesi, Singapore, Cape and West Africa before you can collect it. So it'll only be profitable once you manage to do that trade infrastructure first. Or Central America if you don't reroute from there, then Caribbean then 12 colonies region. It doesn't ebb and flow in any way, the provinces are statically tied to regions and for example if you played a great game in India and colonized Africa you'll have to collect from Cape node even though the center of the world is India now.
This really should've been dynamic, and coming from here I might have further criticism towards other static aspects but my pet peeve it this one,
- 3
- 1
There is one, sort of finicky, way. You have to move your capital to the New World. If your capital isn't there, then autonomous colonies are automatically created after 5 provinces per region.
Player allies are indirectly helped because the player can make better strategic moves than the AI and plan out long-term goals. This means the player is generally strong, which dissuades other nations from attacking the AI allies of the player (because they assume the player will help).
Denmark in its current state is good. Especially if they get more of Russia/England as a power base. Any rivals of France (usually Austria/Spain) are also good picks. Although Castille doesn't look to be having a good game so far since Granada is still alive. England/GB would've also been good had they not been crushed already. Any medium-sized HRE powers like Bohemia or any of the Electors would also provide some needed numbers.
- 2
- 1
|
Sorry about that. Those are filcatic terminology - not conventional jargon of the game.
Turbo-tags: No matter what happens, whether controlled by the player else the code, such tags will rise over all other tags in any run. They have greater flexibility in choosing allies, choosing idea sets, choosing paths of run-styles, and especially they provide more opportunity to the player for active involvement in the run.
Ming, muscovy-russia, ashikaga, castille-spain, france, poland-lithuania-commonwealth, england-greatbritain, mamluks, ottos are turbo-tags.
Out of those, ming-tag is the hyper-tag, especially when controlled by the player. Such tags will be the major powers no matter what happens in any run; naturally, due to proximity and conflicting interests, they can eat each other, therefore they do not usually be present-and-mighty at the same time in a run.
For example, when controlled by the code: ming-tag will be usually forced to implode by the pseudo-random events. The Three Amigos - castille-spain, france, england tags will fight each other, with occasional alliances to each other, until one or two or all fall. There will not be a run with both mamluk- and otto-tags surviving.
Powerful-dynamic-tags: Otherwise known as binary tags. They can be hyper-successful in their run, especially when controlled by the player, but they require more attention than the above group. They require a lot of planning, and a lot of patience to wait for during their run. They either succeed, else eliminated quickly.
Timur-tag is the number one example of binary tags. Tags of kilwa, butua, any anatolian tag, austria, bohemia, any mesoamerican tag, any southamerican-andes tag, any indian-subcontinent tag, any daimyo tag, morrocco, tunis, mali, novgorod, scotland, sweden, portugal, etc. are all powerful-dynamic-tags.
The outliers for the above group are formable tags; famous example is prussia-tag, formable either by brandenburg- or by teutonic-tags. Prussia-tag is right away a turbo-tag, but forming it is the actual adventure in that run; when controlled by the player and after forming it, the rest of the run is a generic now it's my turn, code, I'm coming for you.
Otherwise, novgorod and scotland is there as they can form russia and england-greatbritain tags. Anatolian tags can form rûm-tag. India subcontinent is full of standard destroyer tags; they are all hyper-powerful, and they are on the richest part of the world, out of four regions (the other three are China subcontinent, Persia region, Mesoamerica region).
Back to number one example: Timur-tag can be successful else be destroyed right away (even by Day 2 of a run). When successful, they can form the mughal-tag, the number two in the list of turbo-tags after ming-tag.
I-would-like-to-torture-myself tags: No need to explain. Mzab, ulm, and denmark-tags are prime examples.
Bogus tags: There are some tags that are of pure fantasy. Any scandinavian tag can form the scandinavia-tag, which is... have no idea where it comes from. Could have been Kingdom of Dragons or Dominion of Orcs as well.
Ming, muscovy-russia, ashikaga, castille-spain, france, poland-lithuania-commonwealth, england-greatbritain, mamluks, ottos are turbo-tags.
Out of those, ming-tag is the hyper-tag, especially when controlled by the player. Such tags will be the major powers no matter what happens in any run; naturally, due to proximity and conflicting interests, they can eat each other, therefore they do not usually be present-and-mighty at the same time in a run.
For example, when controlled by the code: ming-tag will be usually forced to implode by the pseudo-random events. The Three Amigos - castille-spain, france, england tags will fight each other, with occasional alliances to each other, until one or two or all fall. There will not be a run with both mamluk- and otto-tags surviving.
Powerful-dynamic-tags: Otherwise known as binary tags. They can be hyper-successful in their run, especially when controlled by the player, but they require more attention than the above group. They require a lot of planning, and a lot of patience to wait for during their run. They either succeed, else eliminated quickly.
Timur-tag is the number one example of binary tags. Tags of kilwa, butua, any anatolian tag, austria, bohemia, any mesoamerican tag, any southamerican-andes tag, any indian-subcontinent tag, any daimyo tag, morrocco, tunis, mali, novgorod, scotland, sweden, portugal, etc. are all powerful-dynamic-tags.
The outliers for the above group are formable tags; famous example is prussia-tag, formable either by brandenburg- or by teutonic-tags. Prussia-tag is right away a turbo-tag, but forming it is the actual adventure in that run; when controlled by the player and after forming it, the rest of the run is a generic now it's my turn, code, I'm coming for you.
Otherwise, novgorod and scotland is there as they can form russia and england-greatbritain tags. Anatolian tags can form rûm-tag. India subcontinent is full of standard destroyer tags; they are all hyper-powerful, and they are on the richest part of the world, out of four regions (the other three are China subcontinent, Persia region, Mesoamerica region).
Back to number one example: Timur-tag can be successful else be destroyed right away (even by Day 2 of a run). When successful, they can form the mughal-tag, the number two in the list of turbo-tags after ming-tag.
I-would-like-to-torture-myself tags: No need to explain. Mzab, ulm, and denmark-tags are prime examples.
Bogus tags: There are some tags that are of pure fantasy. Any scandinavian tag can form the scandinavia-tag, which is... have no idea where it comes from. Could have been Kingdom of Dragons or Dominion of Orcs as well.
Well said; agreed.
- 2
- 1
Just out of curiosity is it only having capital outside Europe? Or if you for example move to Africa you can still keep New world colonies integral?
Thanks for the explanation!
- 3
No. The capital has to be in North or South America. So, if you play as Morocco or Japan and colonize something there, the colonies would still be separate. Australia/NZ also use this same system. Stuff in Africa/Asia you own more directly.
- 1
True in game as IRL, it would appear!
A question asked and answered. Here's hoping I'm not forced into this down the track!
Again, with the ebb and flow of alliances, that will be revealed as we move through the game save backlog, which I hope may prove interesting to see where (in my newbie thrashing around) I may have followed or diverged from this guidance.
Castile has been colonising and figured in the top-eight for most of the time so far but, as you say, has not been able to unify Spain, by diplomacy or force.
England are down ... but are they out? Denmark's attentions may be keeping Scotland from over-running them, for now anyway.
Haha, I think I may have found out (been reminded of) this in the very next chapter!
An arcane field of linguistic study.
- 2
Chapter 19: Europe in Flames (1561-69)
Chapter 19: Europe in Flames (1561-69)
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1561-62: The Colonies
France brought Friesland into another colonial war in 1561, aimed at the annexation of Mahican lands. This war was still in progress but almost won by April 1563, by which time New Friesland had been established as a separate colonial administration (see below).
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
April 1563
Potestaat Maurits Kiestra was still in power in April 1563 at the ripe old age of 79. France and Denmark remained Friesland’s primary allies, with the same arrangements in place as had applied in 1560, after the First Frisian-Indian War. New Friesland was now being administered as a subject state and contributed trade power to the homeland.
On the economic front, New Friesland had begun to render some very modest tariff income, while war reparations were still being paid by one of the previously defeated native American tribes. Most of the treasury surplus had been spent on bolstering national unity during the troubled times of religious factionalism in Friesland.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1563-69: Colonial Developments and an Allied War
France had finalised its victory over Mahican in January 1564, also annexing Ambois at the same time: right in the middle of New Friesland’s own ‘expansion zone’. In reaction to this, Friesland had begun colonising Espachomy in May 1566, while New Friesland had been very busy since gaining its autonomy, annexing Piscatawny back in May 1563.
Following the establishment of Gabon, a new settlement had been made on the tip of southern Africa at Swellendam in September 1564. It was already hemmed in by the Portuguese to the west and Castile to the east but was designed to provide another small way-station to facilitate Frisian penetration of the Indian Ocean region.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
1566-69: The War of the Protestant League
The somewhat misleadingly named War of the Protestant League had been started in 1566 By Protestant Bohemia against Catholic Austria. Despite its title, the realpolitik of the time saw Catholic France and Orthodox Russia side with Bohemia against their old enemy Austria, while the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire would side with Habsburgs of Austria and Hungary.
In OTL, the Defenestrations of Prague were three incidents in the history of Bohemia in which people were defenestrated (thrown out of a window). Though already existing in Middle French, the word defenestrate ("out of the window") is believed to have first been used in English in reference to the episodes in Prague in 1618 when the disgruntled Protestant estates threw two royal governors and their secretary out of a window of the Hradčany Castle and wrote an extensive apologia explaining their action. [Alas, still a method of purging victims employed in some places four hundred and fifty years later.]
By the end of February 1569, the Austrian-led coalition – thanks substantially to Ottoman support – was well ahead as fighting had raged from battlefields stretching all the way from France to Russia over the last three years.
The Battle of Köln, 1568. An massive Ottoman-led Coalition army of over 220,00 had defeated a French-led League army of just under 32,000, capping off a series of League losses in western Germany leading up to it.
After a series of defeats on land and at sea leading up to Köln, the League had only recently managed to claw back a little momentum, with a Russian victory at the gates of Moskva and a French victory over Strasbourg at Valais in the winter of 1568-69.
Of the troops remaining in the field for both sides in February 1569, the Coalition (thanks to the Ottomans) had a reasonable advantage in infantry and artillery numbers and a massive preponderance of cavalry. Of interest, since it had last been reviewed, Russia seemed to have greatly increased its artillery holdings as a proportion of its total force.
The sack of Nürnberg by the Austrian Coalition, 1568.
♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥
February 1569
Old Maurits Kiestra had shuffled off his mortal coil in September 1563, to be succeeded by the elderly and notably cruel Sikke Jousma, who nonetheless was known as a very able administrator and diplomat. His contribution to maintaining the dream of Frisian freedom alive was to keep its religious ferment internal and relatively peaceful, expanding overseas while staying out of the massively destructive War of the Protestant Coalition.
Frisian culture remained strong and expanding, innovation was booming even if it slightly hindered missionary work. The Estates remained stable, while the Catholic clergy had virtually no significant influence as their ‘brand’ continued to suffer at the hands of heretical ascendancy.
- 3
- 2