First I'll describe the GC that I am using. It's basically built on top of the IGC, with some additional modifications added by myself. The main ones include:
* Austria controls the Low Countries at the beginning (this is an option in the IGC).
* A lot more minors added in northern Germany (I have Mecklenburg in place of the Hansa, plus Bremen, Oldenburg, Mainz, and Munster, mostly added at the expense of various less essential revolters). This adds a lot more action in the HRE.
* Russian overlordship of Kazan is eliminated. Crimean relations with Russia worsened. This is done for two reasons. If Kazan is a vassal of Russia, AI Russia is very reluctant to declare war on it, and more often than not invites it to the alliance. Similarly, if Crimea has good relations with Russia (even the IGC relations-worsening event seems to have little effect on this), the great Crimean leaders tend to "hog" any captured provinces, leaving Russia with zip (I've seen Russia offer annexation to Kazan only to have most of it go to Crimea). The overall result of all this is that AI Russia hardly expands past Kazan, if they find the heart to declare war at all. This was an observation from several test games.
* Pskov and Ryazan *do* start as Russian vassals. They are sometimes annexed fast, but not always (they do sometimes refuse annexation), so it all evens out.
* I've eliminated the Golden Horde entirely dividing its provinces between Kazan and Astrakhan.
* The Polish border is pushed a bit westwards at the expense of the Khanates and Ryazan (this is actually historical... I'm not sure why the IGC has Poland extending all the way to the Volga, when historically they barely reached the Don).
* I added Arakan and Khmers as nations in SE Asia. Hyderabad and Mysore are replaced with Bengal and Vijayanagar respectively (with appropriate province distribution). This tends to generate a lot more activity in the area as well, with varying alliances and conflicts.
* Added revolt events to Hungary in the early 1500s and to France in the 1560s-1570s to simulate the internal conflicts going on at those times.
* Various other settings were adjusted, including a major reworking of the diplomatic matrix: I set most relations in the range of +3 to -3 to zero (to make for more variety in alliances); the Papal States and other stringently catholic nations now have -10 relations with all Muslim and pagan nations to prevent weird alliances from forming).
Now for the net effects of all this:
* AI England somehow seems to do much better. In one game they actually held Calais and conquered Champagne and Armor. They often diploannex Scotland in the 1600s.
* AI France is much less powerful now. It still often absorbs some nearby minors, but usually has severe trouble with the 1560-1570 revolts, when Brittany, Burgundy, and/or other conquered minors often emerge. France can still hold its own against Spain and Austria though, so it does not become too weak.
* AI Spain now colonizes slower with the loss of the Low Countries, though still effectively. They almost invariably ally with Austria and fight France at the time of Charles V (which is very historical).
* AI Austria does much better now, holding its own very well against Turkey and France. They very often diploannex Bohemia. In one game Austria went on a rampage annexing half of the HRE, although it was then somewhat reduced in BB wars. As said above they normally ally with Spain in the early 1500s, although relations tend to decline somewhat later on (after 1550).
* The emergence of Transylvania is now almost assured with the revolts in Hungary. Transylvania sometimes goes on to become a major player in the Balkans, allying with Austria, Moldavia, or Turkey.
* AI Turkey still goes on a rampage, conquering Egypt early and making progress against Persia, as well as getting involved in heavy fighting in the Balkans, where it is opposed by Austria, Hungary (weakly), and Venice.
* AI Russia was doing badly in the regular IGC, hardly making progress in the south and never going for the Baltic; hence my changes above. I haven't tested it yet though.
* AI Poland seems to be too powerful. With the block that Russia seems to have, Poland often tears it apart, effectively eliminating it as a contender. Poland seems to be doing too well against the HRE as well. I've considered downgrading or eliminating some of the Polish leaders, especially those after 1640 or so.
* Another final effect that all of this has is that Spain is a lot less likely to be the decisive leader in VPs. I've seen Austria, Turkey, and France take the lead quite often. Overall this makes the game more interesting IMO.
Anyway, comments or suggestions are welcome.
* Austria controls the Low Countries at the beginning (this is an option in the IGC).
* A lot more minors added in northern Germany (I have Mecklenburg in place of the Hansa, plus Bremen, Oldenburg, Mainz, and Munster, mostly added at the expense of various less essential revolters). This adds a lot more action in the HRE.
* Russian overlordship of Kazan is eliminated. Crimean relations with Russia worsened. This is done for two reasons. If Kazan is a vassal of Russia, AI Russia is very reluctant to declare war on it, and more often than not invites it to the alliance. Similarly, if Crimea has good relations with Russia (even the IGC relations-worsening event seems to have little effect on this), the great Crimean leaders tend to "hog" any captured provinces, leaving Russia with zip (I've seen Russia offer annexation to Kazan only to have most of it go to Crimea). The overall result of all this is that AI Russia hardly expands past Kazan, if they find the heart to declare war at all. This was an observation from several test games.
* Pskov and Ryazan *do* start as Russian vassals. They are sometimes annexed fast, but not always (they do sometimes refuse annexation), so it all evens out.
* I've eliminated the Golden Horde entirely dividing its provinces between Kazan and Astrakhan.
* The Polish border is pushed a bit westwards at the expense of the Khanates and Ryazan (this is actually historical... I'm not sure why the IGC has Poland extending all the way to the Volga, when historically they barely reached the Don).
* I added Arakan and Khmers as nations in SE Asia. Hyderabad and Mysore are replaced with Bengal and Vijayanagar respectively (with appropriate province distribution). This tends to generate a lot more activity in the area as well, with varying alliances and conflicts.
* Added revolt events to Hungary in the early 1500s and to France in the 1560s-1570s to simulate the internal conflicts going on at those times.
* Various other settings were adjusted, including a major reworking of the diplomatic matrix: I set most relations in the range of +3 to -3 to zero (to make for more variety in alliances); the Papal States and other stringently catholic nations now have -10 relations with all Muslim and pagan nations to prevent weird alliances from forming).
Now for the net effects of all this:
* AI England somehow seems to do much better. In one game they actually held Calais and conquered Champagne and Armor. They often diploannex Scotland in the 1600s.
* AI France is much less powerful now. It still often absorbs some nearby minors, but usually has severe trouble with the 1560-1570 revolts, when Brittany, Burgundy, and/or other conquered minors often emerge. France can still hold its own against Spain and Austria though, so it does not become too weak.
* AI Spain now colonizes slower with the loss of the Low Countries, though still effectively. They almost invariably ally with Austria and fight France at the time of Charles V (which is very historical).
* AI Austria does much better now, holding its own very well against Turkey and France. They very often diploannex Bohemia. In one game Austria went on a rampage annexing half of the HRE, although it was then somewhat reduced in BB wars. As said above they normally ally with Spain in the early 1500s, although relations tend to decline somewhat later on (after 1550).
* The emergence of Transylvania is now almost assured with the revolts in Hungary. Transylvania sometimes goes on to become a major player in the Balkans, allying with Austria, Moldavia, or Turkey.
* AI Turkey still goes on a rampage, conquering Egypt early and making progress against Persia, as well as getting involved in heavy fighting in the Balkans, where it is opposed by Austria, Hungary (weakly), and Venice.
* AI Russia was doing badly in the regular IGC, hardly making progress in the south and never going for the Baltic; hence my changes above. I haven't tested it yet though.
* AI Poland seems to be too powerful. With the block that Russia seems to have, Poland often tears it apart, effectively eliminating it as a contender. Poland seems to be doing too well against the HRE as well. I've considered downgrading or eliminating some of the Polish leaders, especially those after 1640 or so.
* Another final effect that all of this has is that Spain is a lot less likely to be the decisive leader in VPs. I've seen Austria, Turkey, and France take the lead quite often. Overall this makes the game more interesting IMO.
Anyway, comments or suggestions are welcome.
