What To Do When Monkeys Decide To Eat Your Face: A VIP 4.0 AAR

[Brandenburg III]

I got to thinking that I didn’t want to leave the forums for a month or more because getting back into the habit of writing is tough and I didn’t want to lose interest in the Japan AAR. For that reason I’m starting this AAR so I stick around and am reminded of what’s left unfinished. If you’ve looked at my inkwell since its last update you’ll see I’ve marked the CK AAR as abandoned (my first) and the Dante’s Blood story is on hold until I can find the will to write again. With any luck, this forced writing of a gameplay will have a domino effect that will go to my history book and eventually to the narrative. We’ll see. If it doesn’t work, then at least you squeezed another AAR out of me.

As for the title, its totally meaningless but after I saw this thread I couldn’t help myself.

I only decided to do this AAR just now so there are no pre-conditions I have to meet and its set on my default settings (difficulty hard.) Other than that there’s not much else to say.

I’m playing as Siam and am using VIP 4.0. I’m also at about 1866 so you’re going to need to get caught up in this first post. And I want to say one more thing before I get started, there’s a lot of good events for Siam in VIP I encourage you to try it out if you have the ability.

Anyway, let’s crack open a bottle of 100 proof and get on our way.

***

I never played successfully as an unciv long enough to get them to civilize with the exception of the Egypt game and that only came by event. So I thought I would see if I could.

First I went after Luang Prabang, taking only one of their provinces and humiliating them for the prestige boost later. I’d annex them completely after about six years.

Then Cambodia and Annam went to war... after stocking up my troops and reinforcing them, I declared war on Annam. I ended up taking one province and humiliated them.

More years went by as I slowly increased my worth and I raised a 36k POP as capitalists because I’m going to need to industrialize so I can civilize and I can’t be expected to pay for my own manufactories.

A few years later India DoW’d Burma and like clockwork, so did I. After a few months India was able to take a few southern provinces by event which left the rest of Burma to me. I annexed all of Burma although that wasn’t my original intent, they just wouldn’t accept any reasonable peace. Johor followed soon after.

After that France declared war on Annam and, so did I. This time I took two provinces and humiliated them while France took five or six in the southeast. Soon after I was guaranteed by both the UK and France... then India declared war. UK didn’t come to my aid however France did. About two weeks later the war ended and I realized I had to beef up my military (not that I wasn't trying!)

France would later take the rest of Annam while I was waiting for my peace treaty with them to end, unfortunately, France got everything that was left. Which leads us to where we are now.

Both France and the UK have recently guaranteed me within the last year and I signed a defensive alliance with France. I only border India, China, France and Tibet. I have no navy but my army is looking better every year. The tough part is they’re all native so my military ranking isn’t going to go through the roof and I don’t have a single ship.

Anyway, let’s look at the state of things in June 1866... I have no railroads, don’t even have the technology yet and anyone who can trade with me, won’t.

 

[Brandenburg III]

Since I’m still an unciv there isn’t a whole lot going on. In 1867 we freed our slaves and added three new infantry units. This isn’t going to be enough should India come calling again but I can only add a little at a time.

A year later the alliance with France ended and they chose not to re-sign the agreement. I’m still paranoid about India and the strong possibility that they might declare war again. I’m hovering around 19 BB and that needs to burn off. So I’m going to have to rely on guarantees. In the same year I received two of those Siam events.

In 1870 I opened a museum raising prestige by 10 (+121) and received a little RP boost. This same day I decided to begin raising relations with Persia. Its cheap, they’re one of the few uncivs who don’t completely hate me (-50) so in time I ought to be able to do something as far as tech trading goes.

In Europe the OE and Prussia allied and in that same year, Austria declared war on Serbia: Austria* and Baden v. Russia* and Serbia. That declaration of war was surprising.

The United Kingdom sent me a guarantee within the first days of 1871 but their guarantee is meaningless because when it comes down to it, they’re going to side with India. Also within these first days, Prussia became Germany and Italy annexed the Papal States. It was a busy week. The French guarantee came on the 10th.

Austria annexed Serbia in February and I furthered my nation a few months later.

Then in December, the expansion to my furniture factory was completed. We’re industrializing, getting richer, growing an army but its all taking some time.

21 October 1872 the OE declared war on Russia, bringing Germany along for the ride. And yeah, Austria and Russia were still at war but nothing had happened.

One month later

Then Germany and Austria allied in late December.

In 1873 Austria and Russia white peaced even though Austria had occupied three Russian provinces. Two months later the Germans concluded Russia’s war with a peace beneficial to both Germany and the Ottomans.

In 1874 Belgium allied with Germany and the following year France/UK sent another guarantee.... and I was finally able to secure a technology trade with the Persians. I can no longer trade anything to them and they have nothing else for me.

August 1877 the Russians declared war on an Ottoman Empire that was no longer allied with Germany and the next year I added 8 more infantry units to my Indian wall.

 

[Prutenio]

Interesting. Any plans to invade China once your army's developed enough?

 

[Brandenburg III]

Prutenio:

***

There isn’t a whole lot going on which is the reason for these delayed updates.

In 1881 France/UK both sent their usual guarantees in early January and I built an additional 8 infantry for the Indian line. Persia rejected my alliance in that year, too.

1883 I expanded my Furniture factory to 15/15 and waited for 1884 so I could add more techs to my list. I have no idea what other techs I need to civilize but I’ll get there eventually.

In 1885, in spite of my lowering tariffs, the capitalists still weren’t making money and when they were, they weren’t building anything. So I raised tariffs again and raised rich taxes up to 32%. If they’re not going to build some railroads for me, then I will.

1886 France/UK sent another guarantee and I was able to fund a State Supported Factories event for Luxury Goods. Unfortunately this would be in one of my other provinces but I’m going to need to do something because eventually I’m going to run out of people with the Thai culture. And I made another small tech trade with Persia later in the year.

By 1890 I was becoming incredibly bored and declared war on Tibet just because. I didn’t want their provinces but I was looking for something to do. After four and a half months with no more than 40,000 troops I was able to satellite Tibet which turned out not to be an entirely bad thing should war with China or India come premature.

The session ended with a tech trade with Tibet and me considering going Socialist very soon... my capitalists are worthless (they’re making money but they’re not building railroads or factories and I can’t just sit around not industrializing) and I’m going to need all the POPs outside of my state capital’s province.

 

[El Pip]

While I weep at the lack of face-eating monkeys I'll persevere none the less; any AAR when war is declared on Tibet 'just because' clearly has potential.

 

[Serek000]

A very good AAR, per usual, Brandenburg.

Playing an unciv in Asia that isn't Japan, China, or Korea is really difficult, and I'm glad to see someone succeeded where I failed so miserably in my attempts (Queen Vicky sent her armies somewhere around 1870 and thoroughly trounced poor Siam).

Any chance of nabbing any of the population-heavy provinces in Indonesia or Borneo, or have the Dutch already been through and done all that?

 

[Brandenburg III]

El Pip: Mind you, I never said anything about face-eating monkeys, only about what to do when monkeys decided to eat your face. While that useful bit of information will probably be expelled from this AAR, it may be in my next.

Serek000: Right now I’m so concerned about civilizing that I haven’t been paying much attention to the islands... except that a lot of them are guaranteed by either the UK or the US... I feel I could handle a Netherlands/East Indies alliance if I really concentrated but I’m just not that kind of player. I still have some years ahead of me which ought to give me enough time to industrialize a little more and prepare a proper army and, hopefully, eventually get a navy up.

I’ve been thinking about putting up a world map and a few stats at 1900 and then again at the end of the game since this isn’t a very stat-heavy AAR like my Russia or Egypt Vicki AARs.

***

Right away I decided to get things heading in the Socialist direction so I changed my allowance in the political arena. The capitalists were still making money and still weren’t building anything.

Then in 1893, with my new buddies the Tibetans - I knew I didn’t annex them for a reason - I completed a nice tech trade. The mission was to build up enough funds so I could get another 80,000 soldiers. I have a ton of Soldier POPs from the countries I’ve annexed the only problem is getting enough money to fund them. I don’t care if they’re native, I just need men.

A few days later, in July, my Furniture factory expanded for the last time which put 25/25 people to work however I had to steal some guys away from my lumber mill which is left with a mere 2/5. I have no more Thais available.

In 1894 the elections began. I was aiming first for the Socialists to win but I knew that wasn’t realistic so to divide up the vote, in election matters, when I was given choices, I opted for the Anarcho-Liberal and the Reactionary Parties in order to spread the Conservative/Liberal votes as thin as I could.

Meanwhile, I executed another trade, this time with Persia. I don’t like doing small trades when it comes to technology. I also like to get an even trade - with money if I can which is sometimes why you see a 0 next to my flag... its because it went below the 80% marker which is what I try for.

30 July 1894 the Japanese declared war on China and Russia joined China’s side. I checked out China’s stats and saw they were only guaranteed by Russia so I moved about half my troops in position. It took until late December before those slow Chinese infantry were clear from one province and had practically deserted another... all border provinces, if I remember correctly, were mountain/forest so I wanted to wait as long as possible before risking more casualties than were needed. This time also permitted me to reinforce some of my units. On 20 December I declared war on China...

Backtracking a little, my election ended on 13 December with the Conservatives predictably winning but with only 51.43%... Socialists 20.76%... Liberals 12.77%.... Reactionary 9.85%.... Anarcho-Liberal 5.20%

Siam* v. Russia*, China and Xinjiang.

23 January I occupied my first province in Geijia and followed that up with consolidating 110k (17 units) under the leadership of a General who took on 0 attrition. His value was incredibly high.

The next few months were typical. China had a bunch of irregular units and they were often undermanned so they were simple to push or maneuver around. I didn’t fight in mountain/forest if I didn’t have to, and I didn’t have to. I chose the time and place of the battles. Who knew Sun Tzu would reach Siam before Beijing?

So between January and April I took Nanning, Yunnafu, Beihai and Xichang. Also Japan and China ended their war by event which left me alone to take on the alliance which worried me a little but Russia did have to walk all over Siberia and China and China had a bunch of irregular, slow units. I felt I could still pull this one out if I gave the Chinese catastrophic losses. As you can see below they’re being cut off in two places and I’m working on a third.

2 April 1895

​

In May I took the rest of my craftsman POPs in the Lumber Mill (59k) and turned them into soldiers so I could reinforce my troops on the front line. I’m still getting nice refill numbers but some of those territories are attrition mankillers. But I pressed on through April to June taking Guangzhou, Chengdu, Panxian, Jiangmen and Dukou. Yeah, some of those names are probably off but confess, you don’t know where they are anyway.

In June I got some goods news.

So this had completely the opposite effect of my Russian game. I welcomed it and didn’t suffer a single rebellion which spurred on my war while I took Dushan, Zhanjiang, Ganju, Ningxi by 19 August at which point the Chinese began offering me weak peace offers of two provinces I didn’t care for. Besides, I had to set the Chinese up for failure.

So I continued on my way through the rest of August and September sacking Baotou and Liuzhou.

2 October 1895

Through October Datong fell as did the Chinese capital. I took down Qiongzhou, Zixang and Tianjin for flavor. On 13 November China accepted peace: they’d be humiliated and would cede

Geija - iron - 10/10 - (one state)
Nanning - grain - 20/20 - (one state)

Now Nanning could become a factory province on its own. I only have one other state larger than this one that isn’t industrialized so its going to have a factory when I turn Socialist. And Geiji might too depending on circumstances.

But I was still at war with Russia and rushed my troops south to entrench them in the mountains/forest provinces.

In February 1896 the Russians landed troops and took a province but I was able to retake it after a few months. I wasn’t really worried about amphibious landings since my faith in Russian navies is universally weak. A white peace was eventually settled upon in August.

The typical UK/French guarantee came and I ended my time with another tech trade in July 1897.

 

[Brandenburg III]

This is going to be a very plain update but it has to be put out there.

5 September 1898 I started elections to take advantage of the Socialist Revolution but in June the Conservatives still won, which was expected, with 48.46%.... Liberals 24.73%... Socialist 19.93%... Reactionary 5.67%... Anarcho-Liberal 1.27%

Immediately after I switched governments to Socialism: State Cap./ Protectionism/ Secularism/ Full Citizenship/ Anti-Military

I opened my luxury goods factory in Malaysia but after I did that I began losing a ton of cash in spite of me only taking people from poor provinces. Even with Poor/Middle taxed at 49% and rich at 85% I could just keep my head above water. I was thinking about going back to the Conservative Party when the game had a CTD on 6 April 1899.

Today I restarted from my last save - after I switched governments - but this time I closed the luxury goods factory. I might like to play my games straight through without restarting but I’m not going to do something I know is going to fail. Instead I funded factories in Tonkin, Guangxi and Laos (steel, canned food and small arms.)

To give me a little added funds I taxed the rich at 49% and was still doing fine. So fine I decided to ‘fund a university’ which gave me more RPs. And with a random look, I noticed I had a few Thais heading to my new Chinese provinces.

10 April 1900 CTD... I restarted from 1 April, my last save and decided to lower military maintenance to 25% in August for more money. These Socialist governments always seem to be dirt poor in the game but I still need to get my factories fully staffed and the lack of railroads definitely wasn’t helping anything.

Then, 28 February 1901 another CTD.

For some reason VIP 4.0 is incredibly unstable for me in the later 1890's - end game. Previously I had a Belgium game I was going to do an AAR for - but instead decided to do the Japanese one - due to incessant CTDs until they were occurring every month in the mid 1910's. This is after uninstalling, reinstalling - then playing the Japanese game - and reinstalling VIP 4.0 and the same problems persist. I want you to know that I’m not giving up on this yet but I’m not eager to continue the game knowing that in one or two more years I’m going to get another CTD and they’ll become more frequent over time. I’ll give it another chance at a later date but if it happens again, I’m just going to end the AAR, go onto something else and look for a place where I can install VIP 3.01

If I have to discontinue this AAR I will call it complete because I’d have gone as far as the game would allow me. And I won’t post to say the AAR is ended - if I continue it, there will be another update, if I had to end it due to CTD problems then I’ll make an edit in this post. So if you don’t see anything for a while, check back and see if I haven’t edited this post.

 

[HannibalBarca]

I hope you don't have to abandon, this is very cool.

 

[Enewald]

V is easier than VII...
My Dante, where art thou?