Yes! We're not in a regency yet though. Duke Francois is still alive.
Thanks! Glad to have you following!
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When can you start exploring? Does the Iberian wedding hurt colonizing? It would remove Aragon as a possible colonizer and make Castille keep a closer eye on the Med. As to stronger Castille, they are stronger than you without Aragon. Do you have any idea how much of the game remains from the original release to the present with all DLCs? I dislike the specific national Abilities and lucky nations. (I do not play Iron Man because of lucky nation, but I play CK2 Iron Man.) Thank you for the update.
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Good progress! Thank you for the insights on Splendour Abilities. You're set up well for colonizing - I can't wait!
Rensslaer
Rensslaer
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Hungary is dying a slow death. How long will their independence last, and can the Christians on its border seize more of its territory before the Ottomans start attacking and kill the country entirely?
Brittany is doing well. When will the colonizing begin?
Brittany is doing well. When will the colonizing begin?
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You're set up well for colonizing - I can't wait!
Our explorations will start next chapter. And chapter 15 is when our first colony will be founded. After that, I have lots of gameplay, but haven't written any more chapters yet. I've just been busy.
Castille will colonize anyway, with or without Aragon. All the wedding does is make Castille stronger. Which, yes, is bad for us, but it is also bad for France. And France is our more immediate threat.
Aragon can still colonize, since they haven't been annexed yet and are only a subject. But, I've never seen AI Aragon go that route.
The diplomacy, three mana types, and combat/army management have all stayed the same since release. Of course, these systems have also received minor tweaks (like mana being easier to come by now with stuff like upgradeable advisors or Innovativeness). But there are also many features that are part of subsequent patches/DLC. Some of those are:
- Government Reforms
- Development
- Estates (The Estates that exist now are even different from their initial release. Before, you could grant provinces to them, like CK. There were also no privileges or diets).
- Trade Companies
- Colonial Nations (I hadn't discovered Paradox or EU4 yet, but apparently on its release, you would own your colonies directly).
- All mechanics for different religions either didn't exist or were significantly different than they are now (like Catholicism).
- Various QoL things like the diplomatic portion of the Macrobuilder, among other things.
I like achievement-hunting in EU4 more than other Paradox games. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because I have played EU4 the most and so can go for specific goals more easily?
Now that the dogpiling has started, Hungary is doomed. The only way they can be saved is if the dogpilers themselves get dogpiled. The Christians will hopefully take as much as they can get. But it's not really a theater of the world that concerns Brittany.
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They’ve stayed resolutely apart in my current run, up to the early 18th century. Roughly how often does Spain tend to form in games? Is there any effective time limit on it, or can in happen later in the game?
That’s a nice little tactic and effect.
Is there some way of seeing what that ratio is? A mouseover tooltip or some such?
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I'd say it's an 80-20 split on Spain forming from my experience. The wedding event can only happen up until 1530, so the only way for Spain to form in your game would be through conquest.
Yes, one of the side effects of armies is that they can reduce the revolt risk of a province by standing in it. Armies also have a mode (one of the many buttons found when clicking on it) to project that unrest reduction across multiple areas/states.
Sometimes, this is even enough to prevent a revolt from happening (which you can check in the outliner)
For every country, the ratio is 50%. But the ratio is then increased by your religion, ideas, reforms, etc.
You can see your ratio in two ways. Either by clicking on an army and hovering over the cavalry category, or by looking at your nation's military screen (see screenshots below.)
These screenshots aren't mine, just took them off the Internet for quick reference. Also, the button of the boot that's circled is the unrest button I mentioned above in case you wanted to find it.
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Exploring, Economy, and Colonial Discussion (April 1470-March 1474)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Exploring, Economy, and Colonial Discussion
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(April 1470-March 1474)
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(April 1470-March 1474)
I start up the game again for a new play session. Let’s see what’s in store for Brittany today! I begin by looking around the map a bit.
Portugal has attacked Morocco, sensing weakness. But the aggressive Iberians are currently losing heavily. Lisbon is their only unoccupied home province. How did the Moroccan navy beat the superior Portuguese one, you may ask? That is because of how EU4’s military access system works.
Castille, being Portugal’s best friend, is giving their ally military access through their provinces to walk to Tangiers. Unfortunately, this same access agreement conversely applies to Portugal’s enemies, in this case Morocco. The Portuguese may rule the seas, but the Moors rule the land.
Looking over to another of Europe’s peninsulas, the Serbian kingdom is destroyed. The Ottomans now stretch past the Danube. That light blue spot in Hungary by the way is the Ottomans’ eyelet, a unique subject-type for them. It is basically an autonomous vassal.
June comes and we take the next slot in Exploration. We now have a colonist. But where to send him? Well, we don’t have the range yet anyway, but we will, soon. Regardless, before we send him out to claim new lands, we need to make some important decisions.
The first of these is choosing our Native Policy. There are 3 options:
- Native Repression: This gives us +20 Global Settlers. This means our colonies will grow faster, receiving 20 more people per year. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Native Trading: This gives us -50% chance of natives revolting in our colonies. It also gives +50% Native Assimilation. Native Assimilation is what happens when a colony finishes. The native population of the colony will add a bonus to the province’s Goods Produced. The higher the population, the higher the bonus.
- Native Coexistence: -100% Native Uprising Chance. It allows our armies to stay at home and not have to police our far-flung territories.
If Portugal and Castille snatch up all the good land before us, we’ll be completely cut off. And our armies aren’t doing anything in Europe anyway. Aside from the occasional rebellion, which we can leave most of our forces at home for, we can send everything else to the colonies to try and expand.
The second thing we need to do is to hand out some new Estate Privileges that have just been unlocked by getting a colonist.
The Clergy now has a mandate to establish New World Missions, increasing our Native Assimilation and giving us a decision we can enact every 20 years to further increase assimilation and reduce uprisings.
The Bourgeoisie are granted New World Charters, giving us more Global Settlers and Settler Chance at the cost of some Global Tariffs. We also have another new decision, this one on a 10-year cooldown, to increase our range and give us a free explorer.
Settler Chance is a slightly different way that colonies grow. On top of the yearly growth, any colony that has a colonist present (you can recall the colonist from the colony to go somewhere else, giving you the ability to have multiple colonies at once) has a chance per month to add an extra 25 settlers to that colony. This chance is higher the smaller the colony is and is affected by other factors as well.
Global Tariffs is one of the ways you gain money from your Colonial Nations. Once we control at least 5 cored provinces in a Colonial Region (Mexico, Canada, etc.), we will release a subject to govern the region for us. Tariffs are what the colony pays us. Global Tariffs is a modifier, like Production or Trade Efficiency, that increases the amount of tariffs in the calculation.
We will only release colonial subjects in North or South America or Australia. The rest of the world runs on a different system, Trade Companies, which I will explain later when we get some.
I also at this point remember to get the +1 diplo point a month from the Bourgeoisie. We are paying diplo points to complete Exploration since it is in the diplomatic category. So, I should have done this earlier, but I forgot.
Anyway, with that all decided, we continue playing. In July the Ottomans enter their Golden Era. I also increase our opinion with the Pope by giving them military access. This will help us accrue more Papal Influence and solidify our alliance. We are receiving 2.94 a year.
I open the Macrobuilder to see if we’re strong enough now that any more nations would ally us. Our current allies aren’t bad, but it never hurts to go shopping. If we had France or Castille on our side instead of Switzerland, I’d feel a lot safer.
Castille is, in fact, only 3 reasons away from accepting an alliance. This is partially due to our common English rivalry. One of our diplomats gets to work improving relations.
In December, Muscovy takes another large chunk out of Novgorod, leaving them with only the province Soroka and the promise of a Danish guarantee.
I notice that England has taken the first slot of Exploration as well in February. We’ll have another competitor to deal with in the race for the New World. France, at least, hasn’t gone that route. They are already 6 slots into Administrative. And Castille has caught up fast because of Queen Maria’s skill. They’re on par with us currently in ideas.
In March, I decide to take the decision from the Bourgeoisie for a free explorer. Let’s see what’s out there!
"Equinox" from the video game, Kingdom: Two Crowns
(Not sure why there's a white line to the left of this image. It isn't there in PowerPoint when I go to edit it. :shrugs: )
Vougay d’Elbene, you are hereby tasked by the first of his name, Francois, duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, earl of Richmond, liberator of the Irish, to set sail from the port of Nantes, this day, the 2nd of March, the year of our Lord 1471. Your mission shall be to discover any lands of habitation for the potential settlement of pious Breton subjects across the Great Ocean; to establish contact with any native inhabitants; to investigate the rumors of a route to the Orient across the sea; and to take with you ships laden with goods for the use of trade. Go with God! Dismissed!
The Journal of Captain Vougay d'Elbene, 23rd-27th September, 1471:
~Sept. 23rd~
At last! After nearly seven months of sailing, land! By my charts, we have reached the land of the Inds and Persians. The Eden of China cannot be far beyond!
The place we are at is a bay at the mouth of a great river. A large island at the mouth has protected our vessels from the high waves. The land calls to us!
~Sept. 24th~
We made landfall in the pre-afternoon yesterday. I took ashore with me Friar Annick, Captains Ambroas and Morvan, and a dozen more men. This land is lush, surely a sign from God of its bounty! We saw no settlements, but the seas in this part of the coasts are rough. I have no doubt that some exist further inland. We will camp here for a few weeks to re-stock and re-pair.
The trees in this part of the world are thick and tall, perfect for our ships. Of wildlife, all we have seen are colorful birds. Captain Morvan shot one while on patrol. We cooked and ate it. Its flesh was delicious.
~Sept. 25th~
An incident!
Captain Ambroas has succumbed to a poisoned arrow! The treacherous inhabitants shot him from the trees. They were not brave enough to face him openly.
The men call for blood...but the re-pairs must continue. We will bury the Captain here and leave once the last caulkings are complete.
~Sept. 26th~
A group of men, led by Captain Menguy, has stormed off in the middle of the night. Those in the night watch were amongst them, so none of us were wiser until the dawn.
I was about to assemble a party to find them when the group returned bearing gold, cloth, and precious stones. They say they found a small village. The inhabitants of the dwellings were nowhere to be found (though Menguy admits that the trees are even thicker inland and provide excellent cover). The Captain and his band took what treasures they could and razed the town, citing it as recompense for the death of Ambroas.
~Sept. 27th~
We set sail today, lest we risk the wrath of the villages' inhabitants. Who knows how much they number? We have buried Captain Amboras on the big island and marked his grave with some spare wood. We will return to the land of our fathers immediately, bringing you all we have found.
I hope it pleases your grace deeply.
Our exploration will be going on in the background. I’ll bring it up again if we find anything interesting.
In November, Castille also takes their Golden Era. Morocco also ends their war with Portugal, taking Algarve and Beja. Although, curiously, not Ceuta which they have a core on.
Then, before the year is out, the big one happens. The Ottomans and Mamluks are at each other’s throats in a war to decide the fate of the Levant!
1472 begins and Denmark strangely sells Holstein to Dithmarschen. The Danish queen’s personality is Embezzler, explaining this event. Perhaps she spent too much on New Year's celebrations.
Our economy’s looking good enough that I pay back one of our 4% loans when it comes up for renewal in April. Our economy sits at 7.37 ducats gross.
This also reminds me to do something to our vassal Kildare. We toggle the Scutage option from them. They will no longer help in our wars, but they will pay us +50% more money. They go from paying a tithe of 0.36 to just over half a ducat at 0.54. Great!
In May, France allies Naples. This happens the same time as d’Elbene is exploring Africa. We discover that Arguin and Cape Verde, two jumping-off points for African colonization are still open. We still don’t have the range to reach them, but it’s nice to see they haven’t already been claimed.
That October, France guarantees our independence. If they ever want to attack us, they’ll have to break that treaty first, giving us a 5-year truce to prepare.
Life moves on. In March of 1473 our Statesman dies. We hire a Trader (+10% Trade Efficiency) as his replacement. Portugal also takes their Golden Era.
That May, Poland declares on Lithuania, seeking conquest. Venice does the same to Bosnia in July.
In February of 1474, we run out of things to explore. We need more range if we want to do anything else. But don’t worry, this same problem affects the Iberians as well. I send d’Elbene and our newly freed ships to help our existing navy protect trade in Bordeaux.
This gives us enough income that we could complete the associated mission and receive some bonuses to our construction cost and time in our capital State. We hold off on clicking it for now. But our economy is looking good (8.42 gold in total).
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Great work with the economy and exploration!
I bird-dogged on your mention of a +1 diplo point option from the bourgeoisie/burghers. I'll go look for that as soon as I'm back in the game.
Awesome about the French guarantee also. Nice to get some warning before getting munched. Not that you'll let that happen!
Rensslaer
I bird-dogged on your mention of a +1 diplo point option from the bourgeoisie/burghers. I'll go look for that as soon as I'm back in the game.
Awesome about the French guarantee also. Nice to get some warning before getting munched. Not that you'll let that happen!
Rensslaer
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The colonization begins! Why do I feel like the Natives will be a persistent problem there?
Will Castille attack Morocco to recomplete the Reconquista after Portugal's... mistake?
Will Castille attack Morocco to recomplete the Reconquista after Portugal's... mistake?
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And so the thorny issues attached to colonization begin...
Given we are all here discussing wargames and subjugation, not sure why colonization makes me queasy, but it does. However, I see why for competitive reasons you are making these strategic choices in this run.
I did like your story within the AAR concept for this chapter. Was that mostly imagined or do elements of that play out in the game?
(Could it be your explorers were at the mouth of the Hudson? Or is that just too far away from the range you have in the game?)
Given we are all here discussing wargames and subjugation, not sure why colonization makes me queasy, but it does. However, I see why for competitive reasons you are making these strategic choices in this run.
I did like your story within the AAR concept for this chapter. Was that mostly imagined or do elements of that play out in the game?
(Could it be your explorers were at the mouth of the Hudson? Or is that just too far away from the range you have in the game?)
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@Chac1 there's also the slave trade, which exists in the game but is abstracted. But yes it's possible to be the world's foremost supplier of slaves. Hard not to represent it, as it was so much a part of the culture of the period.
To be honest I get a little queasy with all the murder and illicit sexual adventures in CK!. But that's represented because it was truth.
@jak7139 I'd meant to comment on colonization but forgot. I've never seen colonization work and discussed with mechanics etc. I've seen it in Frisian Freedom but not discussed granularly. Very interesting to look at some of the details.
Rensslaer
To be honest I get a little queasy with all the murder and illicit sexual adventures in CK!
. But that's represented because it was truth. @jak7139 I'd meant to comment on colonization but forgot. I've never seen colonization work and discussed with mechanics etc. I've seen it in Frisian Freedom but not discussed granularly. Very interesting to look at some of the details.
Rensslaer
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'Guarantee of Independence' is that French for I want this land so everybody keep your greedy eyes and grubby fingers away from it? How large of an army are you going need in the New World to protect your colonies? Will colonization be possible before Dip7 and expanded colonial range? Thank you for the update.
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That was a solid period with no nasty surprises for once. Will be following your colonisation-as-a-minor strategy and experience with great interest.
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Good post. I enjoyed the interlude. Nasty natives. Seven months of sailing to discover land? Was that from the game? Even Columbus only took five weeks to reach the New World.
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Next chapter coming in a bit, but first, some feedback:
Maybe it will be represented better in EU5. We'll see.
Exactly!
Each of the main Estates gives you a +1 of their type (mil for nobles, admin for clergy, and diplo for burghers). All three are good privileges to get, but they do cost some Crownland which is why I didn't take the diplo one earlier.
It is a nice early warning system. As for not letting that happen...this AAR has taken an interesting turn as I've played it. This turn is both good and bad for trying to make a tutorial, but it adds a nice narrative goal to the campaign.
Glad to provide the info!
The native revolts themselves aren't much of an issue because of tech differences. The real fun starts when we start taking out the other native nations.
They will. And this does add a bit of tension to the traditional Iberian hugbox.
Such thorny issues exist in the other Paradox games as well. And it's hard to get around them. I think including the issues, even on an abstracted level, is better than outright ignoring them (see the HOI games). It is difficult to include those types of events in a game without abstracting it. And by abstracting it, the impact of it is lessened.
I agree @Rensslaer. With how much slavery was practiced during the game's timeframe, EU4 has to represent it in some way. It's also strange that slaves are a "good" that you "trade" for.
Maybe it will be represented better in EU5. We'll see.
While exploring, random flavor events do pop up about your expedition. But I included none of those here. All of the narrative was from my own imagination. Initially, I was just going to have the screenshot and the paragraph detailing our explorer's mandate. Then I decided to write a small journal entry to kind of narratively justify the Native Repression policy we took. Why are our Bretons so aggressive towards the natives? Perhaps because of this first contact. And I decided to select a song from one of my favorite games as a backdrop (Kingdom: Two Crowns has an amazing soundtrack by the way. Would highly recommend searching for it on YouTube if you're looking for something to listen to).
The Hudson isn't too far away. But in this case, the screenshot is of the mouth of the Amazon River near Brazil.
Exactly!For suppressing revolts, not many, 4-5k should be enough. But if we want to expand against the other nations over there, we'll need a lot more.
Yes it will. Our first colony shall be established in this coming update!
No surprises is good for us. Especially as our attention will be focused away from Europe for the next few decades.
When we set sail in March, that was supposed to represent the start of those three ships exploring full time. In EU4, you select a region for your ships to explore, they take a few weeks to get there and discover things, then they return and you select a new region. So they were exploring other places too before reaching Brazil in September.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Our First Colony! (March 1474-June 1476)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Our First Colony!
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(March 1474-June 1476)
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(March 1474-June 1476)
In April, yet another country agrees to support the independence of Provence’s disloyal subject of Lorraine. France, Savoy, and Saluzzo now all pledge their support. Provence is allied to Austria, Florence, and Konstanz, so whatever war does kick off is sure to be huge. Morocco also rivaled us that same month.
We pay off our last 4% loan at the start of July, leaving us with just the 5 one-percenters left. When we lower our army’s maintenance all the way we sit at a healthy 2.71 balance out of 8.46 total. And we make 1.13 when our troops are fully funded.
The Estate cooldowns end in September, and we take some of our Crownland back, bringing us to 14%. Three-thousand clergymen revolt in the capital to protest this tyranny. Thankfully we had a portion of our army in nearby Penn-ar-Bed to deal with such problems.
We request 32 ducats from the Pope with our favors in January. Venice also ends their war with Bosnia, gaining a predictable victory.
In March, we have enough diplo points to unlock the third slot of Exploration. It gives us +50% more Colonial Range, meaning we can now reach one province with our colonist. We send him out immediately to the sunny shores of Greenland. At least, I’m told they’re sunny. Why would the land be called ‘green’ if it isn’t lush?
Taking this third slot also gives us our first Breton idea. We gain an extra +1 Legitimacy per year, justifying our monarchs’ right to rule. Most of the time, you can safely ignore Legitimacy. As long as it’s above 80 you’ll be fine.
Of the two provinces in Greenland, Erikfsfjord, so the Norwegians call it, is the one we can reach. Once our colony reaches 400 people out of the requisite 1,000 needed to turn it into a full province, it will gain its Trade Good. In this case, we have a chance for either fur, fish, or, hopefully, ivory.
Fur and Ivory are both decently rich goods, fish would be a disappointment. Not that it matters too much given that Eriksfjord only has 3 Development. Mark the date, it is March 17th, 1475. That is when our colonial empire was first born.
The cooldown on the Irish rebellions has expired by this time and, seeing how they’ll tick up anyway and our army is currently free, I decide to decrease Autonomy yet again in every province we can.
Starting in May, I un-mothball our transport fleet and load 2,000 infantry onto them. We didn’t pick Native Coexistence as our policy, so we’ll need a small force to act as a garrison at Eriksfjord. Our fleet takes the long way around via Iceland and the Faroes to avoid the attrition of the open ocean (units take attrition whenever at sea, but ships only do so in open waters or if too far from home ports).
I've heard from reliable sources that in the most recent patch, Paradox has made it so your fleets now automatically take the route of lowest attrition. Currently, on the version we're playing on (1.36), your fleet would just take the quickest path. This path was also the most attrition heavy, because of how the sea provinces are distributed. So, if you are playing on 1.37, you don't have to worry about shift-clicking your fleets' orders to avoid attrition.
Just as our colony and fleet arrive in July, duchess Neassa passes away. Hopefully, this isn’t some sort of omen.
I take this moment to look at our admin point generation. We are currently 4 years ahead-of-time on the next tech, unlocking our next idea slot. We don’t have the 853 points to take it now if we wanted to, but, with our current bank of 555 points and monthly generation of 8, I realize we have enough points to full-core all of our Irish land.
With the decreased Autonomy floor (0% down from 50% before), our income jumps from 7.70 to 8.55 come September (it had dropped from the 8.46 I showed you before). With this increase, we are now making money again even with our new colony. We were losing 0.09 before, now we are making 0.72.
With the new range provided by our colony, d’Elbene can go exploring again. I send him out and look around. Cape Verde and Arguin are still unclaimed. I wonder what the Iberians are doing.
We get our first native revolt in November. It’s nothing special and it happens a lot with colonies, so I won’t mention every time this happens unless they defeat our garrison or something. Just know that it’s going on.
When looking at Eriksfjord, notice 3 Portuguese ships under their own explorer off the coast. Go away Portugal! We’ve already claimed this spot!
Our new explorations reveal no Europeans in Brazil or Columbia. Where are they?
(Four years and three months later, Captain d'Elbene returns to the sight of Ambroas' burial)
We get enough Reform Progress in March of 1476 for the next tier. For tier 3 we take the obvious choice: more growth. The others are more useful long-term, but for now, getting through our Reforms is most important.
England and Scotland have both rivalled us now. And France has revoked their guarantee. Ominous things are afoot. But the French still like us decently enough for now.
Castille declares war on Morocco in June. They don’t have Portuguese help, but with Aragon on their side, it is still an easy war. And, as that war kicks off, another ends. The Ottomans have unsurprisingly won against the Mamluks and have taken a chunk of northern Syria.
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Good luck with your crops in fertile Greenland. I always liked uncovering the hidden tiles. Late colonialism for the Iberians? Thanks for the update
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Congrats on the first colony. Modest, to be sure, but a springboard for exploration and eventually more colonisation. The race is on against the big colonising powers!
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Greenland is one place that I wouldn't necessarily covet as a colony, but it sure is a nice springboard to the new world!
Rensslaer
Rensslaer
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