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Awesome AAR, really informative. I never really understood how to play the game. But now it seems more simple. >_>
I agree. I wish more AAR's were written with OHgamer's style, that is, more geared toward explaining game play rather than veering off into the world of fictional characters.
Just my own preference.
Just my own preference.
Actually...I like the fact it's sort of realistic gameplay, he has diplomats sending money to friends and gaining allies(and land, woohoo Puerto Rico! you should buy Cuba too to save the Spanish some future headaches).
although I do like characters, I'm still reading Fire Warms the Northern Lands...on like page 50 or something...really good for characters
Also like the fact that it was his first game, and while he does explain how he plays he messes up sometimes, which leads to quite some close calls that are damned awesome. Love it so far.
Edit: I mean Fire Warms The Northern Lands it was Rensselars first game(I think), not OHGamers in this one XD Though that should be painfully obvious its not his first game
although I do like characters, I'm still reading Fire Warms the Northern Lands...on like page 50 or something...really good for characters
Also like the fact that it was his first game, and while he does explain how he plays he messes up sometimes, which leads to quite some close calls that are damned awesome. Love it so far.
Edit: I mean Fire Warms The Northern Lands it was Rensselars first game(I think), not OHGamers in this one XD Though that should be painfully obvious its not his first game
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Das Jahrbuch
des Königreich Preußens
in den Jahren 1850-1852
Almanac of the Kingdom of Prussia for the years 1850-1852
des Königreich Preußens
in den Jahren 1850-1852
Almanac of the Kingdom of Prussia for the years 1850-1852
By this point Prussia is pretty well stabilized in terms of what you need to do to get the economy off the ground and things sailing smoothly. As a result, the updates for some years will be in groups rather than year by year since there really isn't a need to focus so much on the management of things. This update will focus on the period 1850-1852.
In terms of the economy, the level two rail network was complete in Prussia by the middle of 1850. As the next level of railways does not become available until 1860, there is the issue of having capitalists building too many new factories that I can not support, even with the higher cost of having an interventionist economic policy.
As a result, I do some reconfiguring of the budget in order to put some breaks on the capitalists. I don't want to completely halt capi reserve formation, just slow it down for the next few years until I really need them to go back on a rail building spree. Given Prussia's very strong exports, the capis are actually increasing reserves very rapidly, so the tax rates on them can actually go quite high without reducing reserve growth to 0.
The Prussian budget at the end of 1852. High-income taxes on the wealthy to rein in the capi building rates, while the lower and middle class taxes are further reduced to increase MIL reduction rates from low taxes.
Yes you are reading that correctly - low and middle class taxes are at 6.3% while the upper classes are at 49.20%. And even at that rate, my ~8500 capi POP in Berlin is clearing over 3.50/day in reserves after buying luxury needs. Of course I will need to keep watch over this to ensure reserve growth does not decline too close to 0, especially as I research more commerce and industry techs (which raise quantities of goods demanded by all POPs) but for now this is quite workable, and even the Capis MIL growth levels remain slightly negative, and as their overall MIL is in the 0 to 1 range, no problems are expected on this front.
In fact the Prussian POPs, with the exception of a couple Danish POPs in Ribe with a touch of lingering nationalism, are about as mellow as a clam. In part this is due to the final end of radical liberal agitation in Prussia in early 1850 :
Liberal Radicals finally give up their efforts to further democratize Prussia
Low taxes, a booming economy, and a relatively open political system (further liberalized with the decision to legalize all unions in early 1851) made Prussia a content society.
At the end of 1852 my POP MIL/CON levels were as follows :
Highest Militancy : 3 (with a growth rate of -0.34/year)
Lowest Militancy : 0 (growth rate of -0.10/year)
Highest Rate of MIL growth : -0.10
Lowest Rate of MIL growth : -0.93
Highest Consciousness : 10
Lowest Consciousness : 0
Highest Rate of CON growth : 0.58
Lowest Rate of CON growth : -0.63
The society as a whole looked like this int terms of composition, political concerns and the like
A snapshot of Prussian society at the end of 1852, including her new Filipino subjects.
Filipinos....in the Prussian empire???
In 1850 capitalists began construction of a luxury furniture factory in West Prussia. Fine, this would mean I'd have to import in tropical wood. Of course, even better would be to reduce the import bill if a part of the Prussian Empire produced tropical wood. So, with the treasury growing larger and larger each day, I start looking for potential colonial morsels that might be worth pursing negotiations to purchase.
I find it in Palawan, in the Spanish Philippines.
With relations with Spain still well above +100 from earlier dealmaking, I begin with a bit of monetary help to bring the Spanish further into liking us. Then when relations are about 145, I make the offer :
Negotiations with Spain for the purchase of Palawan in the Philippine Archipelago
In exchange for a couple techs, and no cash, the agreement is made. Palawan becomes part of the Prussian Empire.
What does Palawan bring to Prussia? It has tropical wood, and while it does not yet produce enough to completely fill our needs for maintaining luxury furniture production, it does take up some the amount, reducing our overall import bill.
In addition, the island of Palawan is in a very strategic location, astride the sea lanes linking the Malay Archipelago to China and Japan. The development of a naval base on the island will provide Prussia with a valuable strategic point from which it perhaps in the future can influence the development of East Asia and the Western Pacific.
(note - I really was not wanting to gain control of all the Philippines at this point, though this might be something I pursue going forward. And there is a base in history for my action - the French actually discussed purchasing just Palawan from the Spanish in the 1850s before finally settling on a mission to Vietnam, the mission that would lead to the seizure of Cochin-China and the establishment of Saigon in 1859).
The purchase of Palawan, combined with the construction of a few new factories by capitalists, promotion of craftsmen POPs to clerks within factories, impact of new inventions triggered by previous tech research, lucky events (such as the discovery of precious metal at Konigsburg) and the completion of the level 2 rail network, helped to further expand Prussia's economic capacities.
Production at the end of 1852 was as follows :
Good-Produce-Use-Balance (red number means we need to import to maintain production, green number means we export that)
Cotton-0.00-5.25-5.25
Dye-0.00-3.25-3.25
Sulphur-0.00-3.65-3.65
Wool-0.00-0.30-0.30
Silk-0.00-1.50-1.50
Tropical Wood-0.36-2.00-1.64
Timber-10.44-3.84-6.60
Iron-3.22-2.99-0.23
Coal-50.30-2.80-47.50
Cattle-19.97-0.92-19.05
Grain-18.46-1.40-17.06
Fish-3.17-0.92-2.25
Fruit-7.19-1.56-5.63
Tobacco-0.42-0.00-0.42
Precious Metal-0.65-0.00-0.65
Ammunition-1.01-0.74-0.27
Cement-0.68-0.00-0.68
Lumber-1.56-1.40-0.16
Small Arms-0.36-0.00-0.36
Steel-1.17-0.72-0.45
Wine-0.39-0.00-0.39
Canned Food-0.65-0.00-0.65
Glass-0.32-0.21-0.11
Fertilizer-0.63-0.52-0.11
Fabric-1.66-1.48-0.18
Regular Clothes-0.76-0.24-0.52
Luxury Clothes-0.18-0.00-0.18
Paper-0.29-0.00-0.29
Furniture-0.38-0.32-0.06
Luxury Furniture-0.23-0.00-0.23
Liquor-0.13-0.00-0.13
Explosives-0.39-0.36-0.03
Clipper Convoy-0.22-0.00-0.22
Artillery-0.18-0.00-0.18
Note that there are several industrial goods where our exportable surplus is rather meager, one important plan for the future is to expand factories while I have money now so that, should a laissez-faire party win power in an election, I'll have the expansion room for further factory growth.
In terms of politics, I am holding back in an attempt to keep the conservative vote in the majority. So far so good, but with only about a 3.5% margin, it will increasingly become tricky. One helpful thing is that much of the lower class population has fairly low consciousness which means that election events can play a role.
And in the end, with pop MIL so low, if the liberals do win I do have the potential to replace the government with a conservative one - one of the benefits of a constitutional monarchy. And yes there will be a MIL hit from such an action, so it is more of a "last resort" option, but it is there if needed so long as I can keep the overall POP militancy down.
Evolution of the Prussian Economy and Budget Surplus 1850-1852
Population Growth and Tech Research 1850-1852
To be continued...
(1850-1852 continued0
Prussia's Vital Stats 1850-1852
Note the -5 Research in early 1851. I got the "Brain Drain" event that hits you with a -10 RP penalty. Thankfully, my research was fully invested at the time it hit, and I am producing ~1.00 RP/month, so I was able to work it off before researching my next tech. It did mean that my RP cushion was hit, putting aside any ideas of doing some tech trade in the mid-1850s. Such is the fate of the game.
For Prussia, the most serious international event in this period was a diplomatic row with the Habsburgs over influence within the German Confederation.
Showdown at Olmutz : The Habsburgs force Prussia to recognize Austria's influence within Germany
While the Prussian monarchy refused to accept the invitiation of the Frankfurt Assembly to head a loose German Federation in 1849, other German nationalists believed that Prussia could become the leader of a strong, unitary German state. This advice soon gained support among the Prussian leadership, who began to float the idea in diplomatic circles.
The idea, however, did not sit well with the Habsburgs of Vienna, who view themselves as the dominant power in the German lands and for the past century have resented the growing power of Prussia. At a conference at Olmutz, the Habsburgs demanded that the Prussians halt their promotion of greater German unity or face Austria's wrath.
At this point, having not had the opportunity to replace all the miitary units that had rebelled at the time of Bismarck's coup attempt, while Austria, still recovering from the impact of the various secessionist revolts in 1848 and 1849, have a 56-38 unit advantage in their militaty.
I've no desire yet for a showdown, which might not go my way, especially as the Austrians are allied to the Russians. And so Prussia backs down, for now. Habsburg rudeness, after the aid Prussia provided in the Italian Wars, leaves a sour taste, but there will be time later to deal with the Habsburgs.
The expansion by treaties of British inflence into the interior of North America north of 45 North Latitude
In North America the expansion of the Americans in wake of their victory over Mexico to directly administer more territory de facto that they claim to own on paper, at the expense of the Native peoples in the regions, is beginning to be matched by British expansion from two directions. In 1849 an agent for the Hudson Bay Company signed agreements recognizing British sovereignty over Vancouver Island, while in 1850 the government of Canada signed treaties with native communities along the north coast of Lake Superior. The Robinson Treaties, as they have become known, granted native communities reservations in exchange for opening up new lands for settlement by European peoples.
Boer frustration with British interfenece leads to the establishment of a completely independent Transvaal by the Sand River Convention of 1852.
Meanwhile in Southern Africa, the relationship between the British officials and Cape Town and the Boer communities in the interior began to undergo important changes in this period. In 1848, following a major increase in conflict with local Sotho and other African peoples, the Boers of Transorangia made a formal request for direct British protection. The result was the proclamation of the Orange River Sovereignty. However, the actions of the British administrators towards the Boers, and in particular their increasing intervention in relations between the Boers and African peoples, led many Boers, especially north of the Vaal River, to see the British as a threat to their way of life. In 1852 the British, increasingly frustrated with Boer recalcitrance, declared they would withdraw completely from the South African interior unless the Boers accepted greater British control. The Boers north of the Vaal decided they could protect themselves and no longer needed British protection, and by the Sand River Convention an independent Transvaal state was proclaimed. The Boers living between the Oranje and Vaal rivers, directly bordering the heartland of their enemies - the Sotho, decided to maintain British protection, and as a result the Boer communities were now split into two separate states - one pro-British and one wishing to reduce British influence in the South African interior to an absolute minimum.
Gunboats on the Irriwaddy, as British forces in India march into Burma in wake of a dispute over customs duties.
And in 1852 dispute between the government of Burma and the British East Inida Company administration in Calcutta erupted into war. The root cause was a dispute between the Burmese customs officials in Rangoon and British Indian merchants over tariffs the Burmese claimed were due. After an initial blockade failed to force the Burmese to remove the tariff charges, war resulted. The Burmese were soon overwhelmed, and at the peace treaty the Irriwaddy Delta, the gateway to the Burmese heartland, was annexed to India. Burma retained its independence, but was now increasingly isolated and dependent on the British in Calcutta for its contact with the outside world.
Prussia's Rankings in 1850 and 1852
Prussia's Vital Stats 1850-1852
Note the -5 Research in early 1851. I got the "Brain Drain" event that hits you with a -10 RP penalty. Thankfully, my research was fully invested at the time it hit, and I am producing ~1.00 RP/month, so I was able to work it off before researching my next tech. It did mean that my RP cushion was hit, putting aside any ideas of doing some tech trade in the mid-1850s. Such is the fate of the game.
International Events of 1850-1852
For Prussia, the most serious international event in this period was a diplomatic row with the Habsburgs over influence within the German Confederation.
Showdown at Olmutz : The Habsburgs force Prussia to recognize Austria's influence within Germany
While the Prussian monarchy refused to accept the invitiation of the Frankfurt Assembly to head a loose German Federation in 1849, other German nationalists believed that Prussia could become the leader of a strong, unitary German state. This advice soon gained support among the Prussian leadership, who began to float the idea in diplomatic circles.
The idea, however, did not sit well with the Habsburgs of Vienna, who view themselves as the dominant power in the German lands and for the past century have resented the growing power of Prussia. At a conference at Olmutz, the Habsburgs demanded that the Prussians halt their promotion of greater German unity or face Austria's wrath.
At this point, having not had the opportunity to replace all the miitary units that had rebelled at the time of Bismarck's coup attempt, while Austria, still recovering from the impact of the various secessionist revolts in 1848 and 1849, have a 56-38 unit advantage in their militaty.
I've no desire yet for a showdown, which might not go my way, especially as the Austrians are allied to the Russians. And so Prussia backs down, for now. Habsburg rudeness, after the aid Prussia provided in the Italian Wars, leaves a sour taste, but there will be time later to deal with the Habsburgs.
The expansion by treaties of British inflence into the interior of North America north of 45 North Latitude
In North America the expansion of the Americans in wake of their victory over Mexico to directly administer more territory de facto that they claim to own on paper, at the expense of the Native peoples in the regions, is beginning to be matched by British expansion from two directions. In 1849 an agent for the Hudson Bay Company signed agreements recognizing British sovereignty over Vancouver Island, while in 1850 the government of Canada signed treaties with native communities along the north coast of Lake Superior. The Robinson Treaties, as they have become known, granted native communities reservations in exchange for opening up new lands for settlement by European peoples.
Boer frustration with British interfenece leads to the establishment of a completely independent Transvaal by the Sand River Convention of 1852.
Meanwhile in Southern Africa, the relationship between the British officials and Cape Town and the Boer communities in the interior began to undergo important changes in this period. In 1848, following a major increase in conflict with local Sotho and other African peoples, the Boers of Transorangia made a formal request for direct British protection. The result was the proclamation of the Orange River Sovereignty. However, the actions of the British administrators towards the Boers, and in particular their increasing intervention in relations between the Boers and African peoples, led many Boers, especially north of the Vaal River, to see the British as a threat to their way of life. In 1852 the British, increasingly frustrated with Boer recalcitrance, declared they would withdraw completely from the South African interior unless the Boers accepted greater British control. The Boers north of the Vaal decided they could protect themselves and no longer needed British protection, and by the Sand River Convention an independent Transvaal state was proclaimed. The Boers living between the Oranje and Vaal rivers, directly bordering the heartland of their enemies - the Sotho, decided to maintain British protection, and as a result the Boer communities were now split into two separate states - one pro-British and one wishing to reduce British influence in the South African interior to an absolute minimum.
Gunboats on the Irriwaddy, as British forces in India march into Burma in wake of a dispute over customs duties.
And in 1852 dispute between the government of Burma and the British East Inida Company administration in Calcutta erupted into war. The root cause was a dispute between the Burmese customs officials in Rangoon and British Indian merchants over tariffs the Burmese claimed were due. After an initial blockade failed to force the Burmese to remove the tariff charges, war resulted. The Burmese were soon overwhelmed, and at the peace treaty the Irriwaddy Delta, the gateway to the Burmese heartland, was annexed to India. Burma retained its independence, but was now increasingly isolated and dependent on the British in Calcutta for its contact with the outside world.
Prussia's Rankings in 1850 and 1852
Fulcrumvale said:
Keep in mind I'm not spending very much myself. A few clerks promoted here & there, but have not expanded any factories - yet. And Palawan ended up costing me no money other than 1K worth of bribes to improve SPA relations.
Plus remember when I defeated Denmark I got war indemnities so a nice chunk of change came from the war indemnities while they were in effect.
AFAIK, this humiliation of Olmutz event is a VIP even, right? So, if you "Cry Havoc", would that bring you in a war with Austria?
Yes, and if victorious to German unification.Deo89 said:
It's not the best choice in OH conditions but if you find yourself stronger than Austria (specially if Hungary is independent) them it's the fastest way to total unification of Germany
Never seen rich taxes so high!
Also, it's interesting how laissez faire ideas have taken such a hit so early in the game... only the primary issue for 2.6%!
Also, it's interesting how laissez faire ideas have taken such a hit so early in the game... only the primary issue for 2.6%!
Contradiction said:
You can but the consequences are more realistic. Austria threatened war with Prussia in 1851 when Prussia proposed "closer German cooperation" - this is what the "Conservative Empire" event in base Victoria represents, but lacks the Austrian reaction. In reality, Austria in the early 1850s, once her own house is in order, would have had no qualms DoW Prussia if the Prussians had persisted at Olmutz - hence the VIP setup where if Prussia wants to unify in 1850, it can try but will face the Habsburgs.
Olorin42's Prussia AAR shows that indeed it is quite possible to defeat the Austrians, even if RUS is allied to them (which in theory it should not be, found a glitch in the event that will be fixed for the next hotfix) but in my condition with AUS having over a dozen more divisions than I, never mind RUS, I was not in a position to want to challenge.
And in the end, the path I took was the historical route.
LeonTrotsky said:
Like I said I need to monitor these levels to make sure that i do not pinch off the ability of capis to build reserves completely. And need to watch to ensure MIL and CON does not become an issue for them or the aristos. But as noted above at the end of 1852 my ~8500 Capis in Berlin were increasing their reserves by around 3.50/day at 49.22% tax, after buying all needs including luxury, so at this point should be acceptable. Again, because I have a highly productive, export driven Prussia, my POPs are drawing very good incomes each day, so there is a lot more leeway in what one can do with taxes and tariffs.
And this is not a policy I'll follow permanently, there are things I do want the capis to do for me, esp rail construction. But as I will not be able to discover level 3 rail until 1860, and I'm already at full level 2 rails, i really do not need my capis to go on a useless factory spree, esp since I do not have the labor to do it without creating a permanent base-liberal majority in Prussia, which I'd prefer to hold off for as long as possible.
Another sign that the tax policy is not hurting too much. The month after I purchased Palawan in Sept 1852, capis had build a level 1 rail, and in Nov 1852 started the level 2 rail which would be completed in Feb 1853.
OHgamer said:
Ahh...I suppose I'd have to be the extremist in this situation and mobilize for all out war with the Hapsburgs...Or not actually, if I were in your military situation, and indeed I would be fully deterred if Russia decided to join them. But the prize morsel of early unification is always appealing to me....The question is how bad would it destabilize the nation and Europe? Perhaps this event should come with no badboy reduction and the usual unification event should? Well...I'm sure you guys at V.I.P have things handled, and I've yet to play the Revolutions V.I.P, just giving my 1 and a half cents