How to not be ganged up by multiple enemies?

[Gytis]

Hi. I am playing as the Ottoman, and as soon as I declared war on Persia to grab my Land victory province, I was attacked by Austria. After 2 years of bloody warfare that totally exhausted manpower of both nations, I emerged victorious and took 5 cities.

After that, I decided to expand further and subjugated Egypt. Soon after, Austria declared war as soon as the peace treaty expired. I fought them back and went on the offensive when the Russia declared war out of nowhere. And this whole time, I tried to improve relations with other great powers. With no alliance system in this game, how can I befriend others so I could get help and be mobbed my multiple foes at the same time? All I am getting is Coalition invite from Great Britain that doesn't even work against Russia or Austria.

 

[Seelmeister]

Hi. I am playing as the Ottoman, and as soon as I declared war on Persia to grab my Land victory province, I was attacked by Austria. After 2 years of bloody warfare that totally exhausted manpower of both nations, I emerged victorious and took 5 cities.

After that, I decided to expand further and subjugated Egypt. Soon after, Austria declared war as soon as the peace treaty expired. I fought them back and went on the offensive when the Russia declared war out of nowhere. And this whole time, I tried to improve relations with other great powers. With no alliance system in this game, how can I befriend others so I could get help and be mobbed my multiple foes at the same time? All I am getting is Coalition invite from Great Britain that doesn't even work against Russia or Austria.

You could try to get in a coalition with either GB of France before your wars, and this will mean if you are attacked you'll have some protection.

However, the main point to consider is that Austria and Russia will always have territorial ambitions against the Ottomans. You control some of their land and naval dominance targets, so if you attack a third power you will be giving them an inviting opportunity to attack you. Were they controlled by the human player, they would likely do exactly the same and take you on while you faced another conflict. The way around this is to keep an eye on Russia and Austria's diplomatic situation. Austria will frequently get itself into a fight with Prussia, so when they do they are far elss likely to attack you. Ditto for Russia with either Persia (they are actually at war at the start of the game) or Sweden.

Pigbin wrote an excellent AAR with the Ottomans, and a major part of this was picking the right moment to expand when Austria and Russia would not intervene.

 

[Gytis]

The problem is, I could handle Austria alone, but Russia jumped at me just when I was getting the upper hand.

And the Coalition works only against the target as I understand. So if I join France or Great Britain coalition, they still still won't get involved into my wars with Austria and Russia.

 

[Seelmeister]

The problem is, I could handle Austria alone, but Russia jumped at me just when I was getting the upper hand.

And the Coalition works only against the target as I understand. So if I join France or Great Britain coalition, they still still won't get involved into my wars with Austria and Russia.

I'd need to check the coalition mechanic, but it was my understanding that you risked war with the other members if you attacked one.

As to the probelm of siolating your targets, this is in essence the key to success in MotE. You have to keep a close eye on what your potential rivals are doing, and choose a good time to attack. If you are confident you can take Austria alone, then as soon as Russia gets itself invovled in wars, attack and try to secure quick gains.

Ultimately as the Ottomans you're going to have to fight Russia, so it's all about picking your time carefully. I've seen Russia attack Austria and/ or Prussia on occasion; these would be ideal opportunities.