Took a look at the game. Looks surprisingly balanced, even if Austria and England is even stronger that historically – or should I refer to the United Kingdom by now? Seems the unification of the British Isles has occurred somewhat ahead of schedule.
In the company of such giants I’ll take France. Is there a thread somewhere on the message board for diplomacy or do we use mail? In the latter case a list of participating countries with an e-mail address an ICQ would be nice. I would also appreciate you forwarding this mail to other players in the game.
As usual the AI has burden itself with a vast army hugely expensive in upkeep due to a heavy artillery component. This leaves me with the choice of disbanding it or using it.
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not a warmonger and I’m not looking to upset the balance of power in Europe but I do think I have some legitimate territorial claims. Basically I consider European provinces with French culture to be firmly in my sphere of influence. This will eventually lead to war I expect but I want to make my war aims clear from the start. I want to unify France, not destroy the HRE or challenge British domination of the seas.
I therefore suggesting the following French-Austrian undertaking:
That we both respect the integrity of the HRE. This means neither will annex nor take territory from the remaining members except possible each other.
That France will undertake not to incorporate any European province with German, Magyar, Czech or Slovak culture into France. Conversely the Austrian empire will undertake not to incorporate any European province containing French culture into Austria. (France, while not endorsing this state of affairs, do realise that Austria currently does contain such provinces and will not consider such possessions to consider a Casus Belli at this time.)
France would reserve to right to liberate German minors bordering France proper and set them free as vassals. Frankly a major war aim in any conflict with Austria would be to restore the independence of buffer states like Luxembourg and assure an independent Netherlands. In case of a French defeat I’m sure Austria would extract a price of their own
I would also like to propose the following a British-French understanding: That neither side will burn trade posts in war. If HMG feels this is unacceptable I fully understand but would at least urge that fair warning be given before such acts are undertaken.
I would by lying if I did not admit that Calais is a long-term goal of French ambition but again I wish to stress I do not consider English (or is that British?) possession of Calais a Casus Belli at this time. If war should break out Calais will be a primary French War aim but I will not start a war to free her.
Please understand that the above should in no way be interpreted as an expression of any desire or intention to go to war on the part of France. It is merely a wish to limit the extend of such a conflict if it should occur despite the best efforts of diplomats on both sides.
It has not escaped my notice that Austria is in the process of beating up on Poland. Is it her intention to incorporate Polish provinces in her empire or is she content with Non-Polish territorial expansion at Polish expense? In the later case France would be willing to stand aside, if not she might be forced to undertake actions to preserve the continental balance of power.
Should the AI control Spain my first military goal would be to liberate a French culture province currently held by Spain. If France were to undertake not to size any Iberian provinces would England and Austria be willing to pledge not to interfere?
AS a practical matter how is diplomacy conducted in game. Do we pause every year to allow for messages to be sent? Do we use a voice chat program? (A good idea if everyone has a stable system) A group in ICQ? We do need some ability to talk to each other.
