Power By Production v 2.0 - A VIP:R 0.1 Prussia AAR

[LM+]

Plus with my hope of keeping Conservatives in power, converting directly to clerks might mean I need to convert more farmer/labourer POPs to craftsmen so I can employ the clerks. And with the balance so close, I'll take the lower production in factories (so long as I still have exportable surplus) if it means less POP conversion that could upset the base-Conservative vs base-Liberal balance in Prussia.

The solution to this vexed problem is to promote heaps of soldiers (who vote right-wing) and, with them, conquer lots of civilized but ignorant foreign peasants, who will gladly vote for Residence parties and ignore those naughty liberals.

And, when the left-wingers start whinging about how crazy this is, tell them:

"Crazy? Crazy? This ... is ... PRUSSIA!"

*runs away, cackling like a fiend*

 

[unmerged(46065)]

Nah, the CSA is a speedbump of history here. I have no desire to make the game that ahistorical. I'd rather lose to the USA in the end than have the CSA stay around.

Ahh...but isn't that part of the fun? looking at history and changing it? I agree that being Germany and creating the nation of Europe is a bit much(or is it?), but certain wars outcomes, especially when I think the conservativish monarchy of Prussia might side with the more conservative(than USA) side. But idk, perhaps the differences in the nations of Prussia and the CSA are too great, after all afaik Prussia did have decent relations with the U.S.A. But, your changing the world in your own way, creating a peaceful empire that will become quite powerful, and with many allies I imagine. I must let my "territorial acquisition" go out of control when I play

And I am known to drastically mess with the world....Being the United States of Central America and buying most of the Caribbean area(<3 Cuba) along with a colonial empire in the mid east(all the minors on the peninsula) and the Horn of Africa.

Damn I wish I would've wrote an AAR on this one, it was decently fun..., but perhaps a bit unrealistic for a few obvious reasons

Anyways, play the game how you wish I think I'm just mumbling along >_< I'm loving the AAR anyways

"Crazy? Crazy? This ... is ... PRUSSIA!"

*runs away, cackling like a fiend*

Hehehe...Everytime I watch that movie I feel incredibly Epic, but I won't give it away, I couldnt help but notice the similarity have you seen the video on YouTube? XD

 

[OHgamer]

Das Jahrbuch
des Königreich Preußens
in den Jahren 1856-1858
Almanac of the Kingdom of Prussia for the years 1856-1858​

For Prussia, the 1850s is a period of consolidation and preparation. By this point the economy is in effect on cruise control, and since I'm trying to keep the balance in ideology in the conservatives' favor, it means keeping POP conversions to a minimum. Check once every few months to see if any extant clerk or craftsmen POPs are >40K so can be split, upgrade craftsmen to clerks to improve output. Enjoy the benefits of the inventions that come from the tech research already undertaken. And basically do nothing to rock the boat.

And if you keep your population sublimely mellow, you can have something that is somewhat rare in most games.

Conservative Craftsmen...over a century before the Reagan-Thatcher Revolution!
​

That this is not an isolated POP can be seen from the overall figures, as the MIL-CON figures for the end of 1858 indicate :

Highest Militancy : 1 (with a growth rate of -0.16/year)
Lowest Militancy : 0 (growth rate of -0.98/year)
Highest Rate of MIL growth : -0.10
Lowest Rate of MIL growth : -0.98

Highest Consciousness : 10
Lowest Consciousness : 0
Highest Rate of CON growth : 0.58
Lowest Rate of CON growth : -0.63

One other important focus for me in this period was building up military forces. As France in particular seems to be building up its land forces with alacrity, I've been slowly augmenting my reserve pool so that should a war come I'll have a decent size army and, hopefully, a technological edge if and when war comes. I'm also planning on expanding the standing army slowly but surely, adding at least a couple artillery as well as regular infantry. One thing to keep in mind though, brigades and especially artillery units are expensive to maintain, so it can be dangerous to the economic health to have too cannon-heavy a force.

The economy continues to grow, though a bit slower than before, as I've got the taxes still high for upper class POPs to rein in capitalist construction. A few factories are being built here or there, but for the most part with my rail level maxed (and level 3 rail not available until 1860) it's a waiting game.

Production at the end of 1858 was as follows :

Good-Produce-Use-Balance (red number means we need to import to maintain production, green number means we export that)

Cotton-0.00-5.78-5.78
Dye-0.00-3.43-3.43
Sulphur-0.00-3.96-3.96
Wool-0.00-0.33-0.33
Silk-0.00-3.00-3.00
Tropical Wood-0.50-3.50-3.00
Timber-11.49-4.48-7.01
Iron-4.47-3.33-3.14
Coal-49.60-3.29-46.21
Cattle-20.02-0.72-19.30
Grain-19.39-1.20-18.19
Fish-3.58-0.72-2.86
Fruit-7.74-0.60-7.14
Tobacco-0.46-0.00-0.46
Precious Metal-0.71-0.00-0.71

Ammunition-1.21-0.90-0.31
Cement-0.73-0.00-0.73
Lumber-1.94-1.20-0.74
Small Arms-0.42-0.00-0.42
Steel-1.10-0.80-0.30
Wine-0.17-0.00-0.17
Canned Food-0.69-0.00-0.69
Glass-0.53-0.11-0.42
Fertilizer-0.87-0.74-0.13
Fabric-2.04-1.12-0.92
Regular Clothes-0.86-0.48-0.38
Luxury Clothes-0.39-0.00-0.39
Paper-0.25-0.00-0.25
Furniture-0.64-0.56-0.08
Luxury Furniture-0.47-0.00-0.47
Liquor-0.16-0.00-0.16
Explosives-0.62-0.54-0.08
Clipper Convoy-0.06-0.00-0.06
Artillery-0.26-0.00-0.26
Machine Parts-0.04-0.00-0.04

One milestone for Prussia, we now have our machine parts factory (via factory build event). Now we no longer have to depend on the world market for any machine part needs we may develop.

In order to put some staff into the MP factory, I did some rearranging in the state (Brandenburg) that the factory was constructed in. I tend to move my POPs within factories quite a bit, moving especially those from "less critical" factories like wine, liquor, cement into either expanded factories that serve as inputs (like lumber) or when new key factories open up. One should not simply forget about the staffing once you put workers in a specific factory - but take advantage of changes in the global or domestic economy to help support both what your economy need to keep chugging along and take advantage of any opportunities on the global market.

Comparative Vital Statistics for Prussia for 1856-1858
​

The decline in exports at the end of 1858 was due to replenishing stocks of small arms and canned food from a recent expansion of reserves.

To be continued....

 

[OHgamer]

International Events of 1856-1858​

After putting up a strong resistance in 1856, the Confederate States collapsed to the Union onslaught of 1857, ending the American Civil War.
​

The Civil War that erupted in the United States of America in the autumn of 1856 would rurn out to be fiercely fought, as the Confederate States mobilized all manpower and resources to hold the Union back. While the front had stabilized by the end of 1856, the Union would open 1857 with a massive assault, with more than twice the divisions on the field than the Confederates. By September 1857 the South had been bisected as union forces reached Mobile after plowing through Tennessee and Alabama. The Confederacy surrendered in early October, and the United States had answered the questions regarding the continued existence of slavery and the permanency of membership within the nation.

The West again humiliates China militarily, forcing concessions in trade that lead to Russian demands for concessions to balance Anglo-French influence in the region.
​

In East Asia a new conflict over trade privileges and acess for missionaries would land China in war against the combined forces of Great Britain and France. Although the Chinese would temporaily seize Hong Kong, coalition landings all along the Chinese coast during 1857 would lead to the conclusion of another treaty that greatly favored Western interests in China. The Western victory and subsequent grant of privileges arose the interest of Russia who, having recently been on the losing side of a war with the combined forces of Britain and France, feared the West was gaining too much influence at their expense in the Western Pacific. Threatening war, the Russians met with the Chinese at Aigun and soon extracted the cession of a huge territory north of the Amur and east of the Ussuri rivers in what had been Northeastern China. The Russians immediately moved to establish a full-year warm water port at Vladivostok, thus ensuring that in the future development of East Asia, Russia would indeed be a participant in any future reallocation of power.

A massive anti-British revolt breaks out in the Upper Ganges Valley in 1857, requiring a major military campaign to defeat. In its wake the British East India Company is removed from ruling the Indian Raj and a British Viceroy placed in its wake.
​

While much of the British Army in South Asia was engaged in fighting in China, a massive anti-British revolt broke out in the Delhi area. Resentment by various South Asian peoples had been growing against the British East India Company's rule for decades, as increasing restrictions placed on employment of South Asians within the administration and military combined with a new policy, the Doctrine of Lapse, that would have the British take over directly any Indian princely state that went extinct in the direct male line or suffered severe mismanagement (which led to the annexation of Nagpur in 1854 and Awadh in 1856, and plans to abolish the Mughal dynasty after the pensioned old sultan died). In the end a mutiny among the sepoy garrison of Meerut was the spark that ignited the kindling, and soon the whole upper Ganges was ablaze. The rebels in Delhi proclaimed the restroration of the Mughal dynasty under the old Sultan, while in Lucknow resentment against the abolition of Awadh fueled the flames. After the initial shock, East India Company forces soon regrouped and fought their way back into control of the region by the end of the year. British rule was re-established, but the ferocity of the uprisings led to official inquiries in London regarding the Company's rule, and in October 1858 the British East India Company was liquidated from government responsibility over South Asia, and a viceroy appointed to head the bureaucracy. India still retained separate systems of laws, finance & currency, tax and tariff structures, and in the end the passing of BEIC rule was more the nature of change at the top than a fundamental restructuring of how the British ruled in South Asia.

(to be continued)

 

[RELee]

By September 1857 the South had been bisected as union forces reached Mobile after plowing through Tennessee and Alabama.

Me poor ol' homelands, trampled agin and agin.

Oh well. I'm getting used to it, I suppose.

 

[OHgamer]

International Events of 1856-1858​

The Risorgimento ends the dominance of Austria on the Italian peninsula with the solidification of a single Italian kingdom under Piemontese leadership, with the help of the French military and a large Prussian loan.
​

In late 1857 news arrived of the formation of an alliance between France's Napoleon III and the Piemontese Prime Minister, Cavour. Italian nationalism calling for the unification of the peninsula under one Italian state had grown virulent since the repression of the 1848 uprisings, and the French appeared to be courting that growth in hopes of gaining a potentially powerful new ally in Europe. The Austrians, fearing hostile intent, decided to strike first and declared war in January 1858. Almost immdeidately spontaneous anti-Habsburg uprisings broke out in Lombardy, Venezia and other areas of Italian settlement within the Empire, while the French and Sardinian forces invaded. Prussia was not disinterested in the fighting, as resentment against the Humilitation of Olmutz earlier in the decade still stung. Prussia arranged a deal to help Piedmont, offering money and new breech-loading rifles recently completed. After heavy fighting the Austrians were ejected from Lombardy within two months. The French emperor then decided that his forces could not continue such bloody fighting and soon peace terms were tendered - Austria surrendered Lombardy to France, who would give it to Piedmont in exchange for Savoy and Nice. Austria accepted, Cavour protested the French were not maintaining their pledge to liberate Lombardy and Venice, but could do nothing.

The victory over Austria electrified the peninsula, as Italian nationalists in the various small states overthrew their dukes and proclaimed union with Sardinia. Then in May 1858 Garibaldi landed in Sicily, proclaimed revolt against the King of the Two Sicilies and the goal of unifying the South with the north. A short war between the Two Sicilies and the French-Piedmont alliance soon followed, and the coalition again was victorious. This left the Pope in Rome as the one ruler whose lands were not now part of the new Italian kingdom. Fearing Garibaldi's forces would march on Rome, the Piedmontese ordered troops in, leading to the Pope declaring war. However, with little popular support for continued secular rule by the Curia, most of the population of the Papal States revolted and joined the new Italian kingdom. Napoleon III, fearing a conservative backlash against him if the Pope was deposed, stepped in to protect Papal rule in the environs of Rome, further angering Italian nationalists. However by the end of 1858 all of Italy, save Venetia and Rome, were part of one state, and Prussia could claim a role in helping the Risorgimento succeed.

French forces seize control of the Mekong Delta from the Empire of Annam.
​

After having already participated in the humiliation of China and the formation of a united Italy, in 1859 Napoleon III decides to expand French influence in Southeast Asia. Taking advantage of a dispute over the rights of Christians in the Empire of Annam, the French declared war in the summer of 1859 and soon landed in strength in the Mekong Delta, securing it for the French. While the Annamese emperor refused to make peace, it was clear that the French had established themselves a foothold on the Asian continent, one that was only a few hundred miles across the water from the Prussian colony on Palawan.

French expansion up the Senegal valley leads the Tukulor to shift their expansion eastward at the expense of the Bambara Kingdom of Segu.
​

The decison of the French to expand their control over the Senegal River valley would lead to a dramatic shifting of political balances further inland. Conflict between the French and the Emir of Tukulor, a charismatic preacher named Al-Hajj Umar, resulted in the Emir shifting the focus of his growing state away from the Senegal River valley (and conflict with the French) towards the middle Niger River, dominated by the animistic Bambara kingdom at Segu. After signing a treaty with the French recognizing French dominace in the middle Senegal, Al-Hajj Umar proclaimed jihad against the Bambara in mid-1859 and, taking advantage of internal tensions between the two rival clans among the Bambara kings and the support of Muslim populations living under animist rule, soon seized control of the strategic state. It is believed that Al-Hajj Umar hopes to create a new state based on Segu from which he can eventually liberate the Tukulor homeland now currently under French occupation.

Yemen partitioned between the Ottomans and the British.
​

In Southwest Asia, the Yemeni state would be partitioned in 1858. At one time Yemen had been part of the Ottoman Empire, but had broken away during the seventeenth century under the leadership of a dynasty of Shi'i imams. With the resurgence of Ottoman power since the victory over Muhammad Ali, the Ottomans had held desires to restore sovereignty over Yemen, which were further stimulated by the occupation of Aden by British Indian forces in 1839. In March 1858 the Ottomans sent troops into Yemen, quickly overcoming Yemeni resistance. The British Indian administrators in Aden soon began to fear that the Ottomans would esablish control over not only the Yemeni heartland to their west, but also over the various tribal shaykhs east of Aden that owed fleeting loyalty to the Yemeni Imam. As Ottoman forces entered the Yemeni capital, the British proclaimed a protectorate over the Yemeni territories east of Aden. The result was thus a partition, with the Ottomans controlling Yemen along the Red Sea, and the British dominant on the Gulf of Aden.

The union of Moldavia and Wallachia into one state changed the face of Europe in 1858.
​

And finally in late 1858 the demands of Romanian nationalists in the Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia for unification into one state was achieved. In early 1858 elections had been scheduled to the noble assemblies of both principalities, which were satellites of the Ottomans. When nationalists won the elections in both provinces, the Ottomans annuled the elections. This led to demands from Austria, Russia and France that the elections be rerun. The nationalists won again, and the Ottomans dared not cross the European powers again on the issue. The two assemblies elected the same man, Prince Alexander Cuza, to be their leader, and the result was the unification of the two principalites de facto, if not quite de jure, into one state. Romania however remained an Ottoman satellite, a status which caused more than a little irritation to Romanian nationalists, but a complete break with the Ottomans was not acceptable to the Russians or Austrians at this point. Still, the unification creates a new dynamic in the Balkans, one that could cause the Habsburgs problems in the future given the existence of their own large Romanian minority in Transylvania.

 

[unmerged(59737)]

Lots of rebel-stomping in this turn.

 

[OHgamer]

The Census of 1858

Total Population, 1 January 1859 : 20.716.000 17.638.000
Change since last census : +3.078.000 (+17.45%)

Statistical Information on the entire Kingdom




Map of Prussia's Eleven States (Länder) and Colonial Empire

Regional Statistics And Information

The Western Länder


​

Rhineland
Population 1 January 1859 : 3.490.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +486.000 (+16.18%)
Number of subdivisions : 9
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 7
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +2

Westfalia
Population 1 January 1859 : 1.924.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +293.000 (+17.96%)
Number of subdivisions : 5
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 4
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +0

Luxemburg
Population 1 January 1859 : 202.000
Population Change Since Last Census (1837) : +23.000 (+12.85%)
Number of subdivisions : 1
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 0
Change in number of Factories since last Census : 0

The Central Länder


​

Saxony
Population 1 January 1859 : 2.025.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +320.000 (+18.79%)
Number of subdivisions : 5
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 3
Change in number of Factories since last Census : 0

Brandenburg
Population 1 January 1859 : 2.661.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +424.000 (+18.95%)
Number of subdivisions : 5
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 6
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +2

Holstein
Population 1 January 1859 : 1.066.000 889.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +167.000 (+18.79%)
Number of subdivisions : 4
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 1
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +1

(to be continued..)

 

[OHgamer]

(1858 Census Continued...)

The Baltic Länder


​

Pomerania
Population 1 January 1859 : 1.453.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +184.000 (+14.50%)
Number of subdivisions : 5
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 4
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +1

West Prussia
Population 1 January 1859 : 817.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +92.000 (+12.69%)
Number of subdivisions : 4
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 3
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +1

East Prussia
Population 1 January 1859 : 1.619.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +194.000 (+13.61%)
Number of subdivisions : 4
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 2
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +1

The Southeastern Länder


​

Posen
Population 1 January 1859 : 1.542.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +206.000 (+15.42%)
Number of subdivisions : 3
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 0
Change in number of Factories since last Census : 0

Silesia
Population 1 January 1859 : 3.139.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +363.000 (+13.07%)
Number of subdivisions : 5
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 8
Change in number of Factories since last Census : +1

The Overseas Colonial Empire


​

Puerto Rico
Population 1 January 1859 : 436.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +42.000 (+10.66%)
Number of subdivisions : 1
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 0
Change in number of Factories since last Census : 0

Virgin Islands
Population 1 January 1859 : 47.000
Population Change Since Last Census : +4.000 (+9.30%)
Number of subdivisions : 1
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 0
Change in number of Factories since last Census : 0

Palawan
Population 1 January 1859 : 270.000
Population Change Since Last Census : N/A
Number of subdivisions : 1
Number of factories, 1 January 1859 : 0
Change in number of Factories since last Census : N/A

End of Census supplement to 1858 Almanac.

 

[unmerged(59737)]

I'm sure that I've already said this, but that's a lot of craftsmen.

 

[OHgamer]

I'm sure that I've already said this, but that's a lot of craftsmen.

Actually that is not as many as I could have, as several of my factories are understaffed. If i was at full staffing I'd probably be close to 50% craftsmen, not mid-30s%

Next election should be interesting, given the split is again very close. I'll likely do some extra expanding of key factories so that, in case liberals come to power, I'll have some wiggle room to keep production of basic goods up.

 

[unmerged(46065)]

I hope Britain and France don't gobble up all the nations in Asia, they need to save some for Prussia I'd think

 

[LM+]

One thing I forgot to mention. Gotikiller has been developing a POP splitter utility that allows players to choose the nations which he wants the POPs split and then creates a new savegame file in which POPs >40K are split ... snip ... I'll be continuing to use this utility during the rest of my AAR (using it around once every 10 years or so) to see how well it helps the AI nations keep up with my evolving PRU economic juggernaut

I've used it for the AI nations in a couple of games. Splits every 10 years early, getting closer and closer together as population snowballs. I've found (or at least found in those games) that it often increases pop numbers by more than 50%. Actual exports and industry also increase, but some nations that stay laissez-faire too long can have problems building the factories needed.

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.

Unless things have changed in Revolutions and I just didn't get the word, raising taxes on rich or middle class to 50% (and max tariffs) will never devolve anyone, regardless of tech level or quantity of goods demanded. Their reserves may go down to zero, they may even not be able to afford everyday goods, but they will still stay Clerks or Capitalists. I've never yet seen evidence in my Rikky games to the contrary. 'Course, there's a first time for everything.

 

[Eärendil]

Unless things have changed in Revolutions and I just didn't get the word, raising taxes on rich or middle class to 50% (and max tariffs) will never devolve anyone, regardless of tech level or quantity of goods demanded. Their reserves may go down to zero, they may even not be able to afford everyday goods, but they will still stay Clerks or Capitalists. I've never yet seen evidence in my Rikky games to the contrary. 'Course, there's a first time for everything.

I think OH is talking about reserve growth getting close to 0 and not the amount of money in the reserves.

 

[OHgamer]

I think OH is talking about reserve growth getting close to 0 and not the amount of money in the reserves.

correct, I am using the taxes to slow down rate of reserve growth. I still want the wealthy to be able to purchase lux goods if possible, since that adds nice amounts to tariff income. I'm not trying to squezze them dry, just slow down their reserve accumulation so they are not building things so quickly I end up with unusable factories everywhere.

 

[theokrat]

Information on Luxemburg but not on Westphalen?

 

[OHgamer]

Information on Luxemburg but not on Westphalen?

Hmm? It is the middle graphic among the three for the "Western Lander". Has 38% Craftsmen as largest work group

And the data is below it, between Rhineland and Luxemburg, labeled Westfalia.

 

[LM+]

correct, I am using the taxes to slow down rate of reserve growth. I still want the wealthy to be able to purchase lux goods if possible, since that adds nice amounts to tariff income. I'm not trying to squezze them dry, just slow down their reserve accumulation so they are not building things so quickly I end up with unusable factories everywhere.

I was unclear. I noticed the figure of exactly 49.20% taxes (as opposed to 50%), and wondered if there was a misunderstanding about what exactly causes devolution. I only recently confirmed that, while 50% (not 49.20%) is the guaranteed floor, there is no set limit on how much you can soak the rich without ruining them.

An (unusual) example: In a recent test game, I'm hitting my capitalists with max tariffs and 75% taxes. No devolution for the two years this regime's been in place. In fact, they're still getting richer. The reason is that it's the early game, industrial and commercial tech is still low, and - importantly - the capitalists can't find any wine to buy.

 

[OHgamer]

LM+ - correct, this is a point I've tried to make many times but some players still do not accept it - taxing above 50% does NOT lead to auto-devolution. Devolution is a function I believe of ability to purchase life needs, if the tax and tariff levels are so high an upper-class POP can not purchase IIRC life needs, they devolve to a lower class POP. And if lower class POPs can not buy their life needs, they either emigrate or, in some cases, die off altogether. But from my understanding, its not tied to any specific tax rate but to the ability of POPs to get fill their needs.

 

[Armfeldt]

I believe it is a combination. From what I have experienced, pops will only devolve when they are taxed over 50% AND having 0 cash reserves simultaneously.