Installment the eigth
Mopping up Europe, and looking East
Welcome, class!
As you no doubt recall, our European wars are drawing to a close, as few European nations remain. Only Portugal and England are expected to survive for a few decades, since they have substantial colonial possessions. England in the Americas and India, and Portugal in China and Indonesia.
We are, of course, at war - this time with Baluchistan. The Mughal Empire is breaking up due to a succession crisis, what a shame, a shame. They were our biggest competitor.
And Bohemia declares independence in one province, Bohemia. This is good: It will allow us a quick victory and annexation. Independent in May, annexed in November. What a shame.
Ok, a Wave of Obscuratism. At least it isn't the bloody peasants again. And this December 1712 we also reach Infra4, with the investment of 98,184 ducats. This allows us to appoint chief judges who will lower revolt risks! Unfortunately, due to inflation, every appointment costs 280 ducats, and we have hundreds of provinces. Let us rather pursue Infra5, which will at last allow us to combat inflation. Let us, in fact, reduce our rate of conquest temporarily so we can attain that goal the sooner. And once we are there and can combat inflation, then let the true battles begin, after all, Infra5 is only 94,000 ducats investment away.
So the Iroqouis wants to fight again, annex and be damned! Fortunately we can soon annex Denmark and gain a brief respite, for war exhaustion is setting in.
Castile and Portugal declare war February 1714. Thanks. Another long war in the offering.
But finally in August 1714 we annex Denmark without any problems. Since the rebels are getting out of hand again, let us terminate the Castillan war though it is going well. Sometimes one should give peace a chance.
Peace is the only option, 1714
With our new and competent monarch, we must remember to send out the missionaries. At this time there are still 6 reformed provinces and 11 orthodox (plus however many belongs to Ethiopia) remaining in the world. The cost of attempting conversion of Flanders, Holland, Thrace, Anatolya, Novgorod, and Moscow is still too high. We don't have that many thousand ducats to spare - as yet.
Notice how, despite allocating barely enough funds for the army to keep current troop levels, I nevertheless manage to overrun Scotland, taking their last eight provinces (bar their capital) in Britain in October 1718, annexing Norway in 1716, the Shawnee in 1719, Persia in 1720, and....
<mumblemumblemumble>
<grumbleheneverlistensmumblegrumble>
What are you saying, Legolas? Would you care to share it with the class?
Yes... I was saying:
INCOMING!!!
"Incoming", what an odd remark. And multiple exclamation marks. See the psychiatrist after class.
Damn, a meteor shower! See what happened while you where distracting me, this will be remembered!
Strictly speaking, a meteor shower is not desirable while in the middle of a war. Our stability is now at +1, the revolt risk is... higher than optimal across the board, there are no nations around to annex, our income is down, and it costs more than 10,000 ducats to gain a stability point by placating the population. Let us try to ignore the issue while we prosecute the wars, perhaps, just perhaps, we might get a stability boosting event when we actually need it - unlikely, I know, but it has been known to happen.
Actually, after half a year of this rebel mess, I think I really hate those orthodox. Time to dump them. Notice how our orthodox provinces just got a nice +6% revolt risk, while our catholic got -3 (rather than -1). This should limit the many revolts amongst our catholic provinces.
And Ukraine declares independence in June 1721. What joy! With their annexation in September following the succesful storming of their fortifications, we are at stab +2! We can now pursue our war with Afghanistan!
Actually, giving Afghanistan 300 ducats for peace ending the war and eliminating war exhaustion is a better investment than besieging their capital for ages.
So let us readjust our tolerance to the standard settings again, and get rid of those rebels. Notice how our research goes steadily forwards.
AI 1722: Assassination of Noble.
Thanks.
Stability down to +1, again.
Thankfully, 1723 brings war with the Creek, who are annexed, as is the Cherokee in 1724. Scotland will soon be annexed, probably just a year left under siege, and the Peasants are Unhappy. Again.
Actually, we can always annex Scotland in the next war. Peace is the better part of valour, right?
And now we reap the benefit of our long years of research. Infra5 in 1725. Currently infantry costs 19 ducats, calvalry 33 ducats, and artillery 58 ducats, while warships (of which we have built none) cost 200 ducats a piece. Now, let us mint money and appoint governors, and bring and end to the reign of inflation!
And prosecute the American wars against the Navaho, and the African against Songhai and Mali. No reason to get soft, after all.
By February 1727 our inflation has been reduced to 0, by the appointment of approximately 200 governors. Army costs are now 7/12/21, and warships cost 72 ducats. The harder conversions cost only two or three thousand ducats now, and we just had an excellent minister three months back. And the stability raising cost is below 5,000 now. Time to convert and start appointing chief judges.
After governors come chief judges, 1729
And now too, the time has come to face the Mughal Empire. Surviving two succession crises and a near disintegration with substantial loss of land during the last three decades, they are still... formidable.
The Mughal Empire, 1729
But this time, we are prepared. An estimated 180K men are on the border, and 30K reinforcements can be brought forward from Persia, Iraq and Syria every single month.
1730 sees the annexation of Scotland, 1731 of Castile. Benin loses its Centre of Trade, Ivoria, in 1731 as well, and, following the annexation of Castile, our puppet, Alexius VI is finally acknowledged as Holy Roman Emperor, even by the holdouts in Portugal.
Let us not, however, forget Baluchistan and Gujarat due to the Mughal wars. It is fairly easy to divert some of the reinforcements their way, after all.
Now, as you may have noticed, we have a substantial fleet (inherited) in Europe, but only limited use for it. On the other hand, India is heating up, so we just might want to send the European fleet around Africa to India. Since this is a very long trip, it might be good to create some safe harbours first, that is, send colonists. And so it is done.
And even as I speak, Gujarat and Baluchistan are reduced to their capitals, and the Mughals give up Kirgistan, Kuskha, Herat, Thar, Bukhara, Indus, and Samarkand, adding yet another Centre of Trade to our collection. Nice.
But war exhaustion is mounting, again, so let us just find a way to end this war with Portugal, and we will be home free.
December 1731: Navaho declares war of the Byzantine Empire.
AKGJDSDSfcbkj"#/¤§!"""!!!
Well, these things happen. Perhaps they will accept 500 ducats for peace, right now?
No. Damn.
Perhaps, Heagarty, you would like to calculate the odds of this occuring? I know you are new to this class, and have an awful lot of catching up to do, but given your exemplary math scores, you should face few problems. I would also like you to calculate the trajectory needed to lob Lionheart's ass up to the simulation. I know one of you blighters did it, and if I don't find the guilty one, well, then you'll all suffer for it come exams, because it's
unhygienic, dammit. And that means Lionheart as well, I mean, he must have noticed it.
But at least Portugal accepts peace and gives up 8 trading posts.
Perhaps Navaho will accept our three trading posts bordering them?
Yes.
Thank you, Random Particles of Choice.
Ahem. As you see, our navy has now reached Masirah, and we thus have 33 warships and 34 transports in the right sea - while still at naval3, unable to build transports. Sometime, we will have to deal with that, but, for now, let us invest in land tech, even while rebuilding our armies to get ready to face the Mughals again.
And in June 1733 we reach land14, rejoice!
And in 1734 we annex Afghanistan without problems, as you just saw. And notice how Songhai is reduced to its capital now? Western Africa is nearly under our sway. And look at the three Mughal provinces between Thar and Samarkand that we cut off from the main body? They are still in revolt and will soon defect! And they can only defect to us!
Well, that, or declare independence as Afganistan, obviously, which they just did. So now we've got Afghanistan locked in bitter conflict with the Mughal Empire, and there is no way in hell they can reach each other. Bound to be a boring fight.
Let us then, in a spirit of good will, strip England and Portugal of a few colonial possessions, and strip Oman of everything but their capital. That fleet sure came in handy for taking Zanzibar.
As some of you may have noticed,
'Fessor, Lord Joseph is sleeping in class!
What?
zzzzzzzz
Are you sleeping in class again, Lord Joseph?
zzzzzz
Do we bore you and take up you valuable time?
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
Oh, well..
WHACK
Ouch
And as for you, Carolus Rex, it isn't nice to tell tales, and your familiarity is most unbecoming, so...
WHACK!
Ouch
Well, as I was saying. As some of you may have noticed, due to taking those African provinces from Oman, we now neighbour Ethiopia for the first time. How exciting! Of course, they declare war. Now, given that we haven't explored the terrain, you may wonder how we will get our armies to take the fight to them. The answer is simple. Simply choose any army and set a course for their capital. It will move very slowly through the terra incognita, and should it survive to the first province on its route, and still be of sufficient size to lay seige to this province, it will do so, and the province will be discovered. This is a poor second to actually having a conquistador present, but it does do the job - eventually. Inter alia, conditions may be very different on the worlds you intend to conquer. Make sure to check out all the details of world-specific conquest rules before embarking on your ventures. Given the quality of my classes, I expect a high rate of success!
Entering Ethiopia, 1736
And, of course, we must not forget to fight the sultanate of Zanj.
Please notice that our investment in land technology has paid off, as we have now reached land18. We are thus far ahead of our competition, and can devote resources to building manufactories to strengthen our trade. Let's build five or six refineries (they do get awfully expensive, don't they, what with all those useless Indian arts academies we have conquered) and then concentrate on landtech again.
And notice how our attempts to converts Flandern and Holland both failed - again. Another 4,000 ducats down the drain. But look at it from the positive side - that's less than the cost of another manufactory, so send out those missionaries. With almost 20% success chance, sooner or later we will succeed.
And finally, we need more colonists. Let us stimulate free trade between the various parts of the empire. Now we are at 9/10, which is still rather merchantilistic, but well, so be it.
While waiting for the Afghans and Mughals to declare a white peace, after which they will, undoubtedly, suicidally attack us, let us annex Benin, Gujarat, and Navaho. The map looks better that way.
And in January 1738 we gain the services of a reknowned explorer in Salvador. He is ordered to Indonesia via Africa and India. We need more knowledge of the East, for we are on the threshold of invasion.
And in February 1738 we finally convert our capital Thrace to the catholic faith. Only what used to be Russia and Ethiopia sports orthodox majority provinces now. The only reformed provinces left are Flandern, Holland, Kent, and Catawba.
Meanwhile, notice how the sands have been eating our troops in Ethiopia despite our ferrying in of thousand of men from Egypt?
That's because the newly discovered desert province Harere has a supply limit of zero. But now we occupy it, and we have defeated 18 relieving Ethiopian armies, so they will probably give it to us in return for peace. And next time, we will be ready!
They accepted. And in our control it has a support limit of 10, which is rather better. Let us also end the Congo war, since we don't have any troops present, and they can't reach any of our provinces.
Now at peace, we prepare our forced near the Mughal empire, since peace is about to break out between the Afghans and the Mughal, and in May 1738, the Afghans declare war on us, and so does the Mughals. Time to start those troops moving again.
SPROING! I am a happy simulator living happily in a happy happy land, and I love to say SPROING!
CRASH!
Oh, no. I fell over. Not to worry, just restart the simulator. HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY
Damn, I hate when that happens. The simulator just crashed to the desktop. It must have been overburdened by the strain, the devilish piece of equipment. Come on G'Kar and Dustman, and right it, so we can continue.
Hmmm, we can restore the situation to January 1738, and... Baluchistan declares war. But we don't want these wars to continue! We want to face the Mughals fresh and fit to fight! Quickly, send in overwhelming forces!
Ok, we make peace with Ethiopia gaining Harere, we give Kongo 200 ducats for peace, and Baluchstan with its minimal fortifications being under siege by 30,000 troops, agrees to a neutral peace. And we are at peace, and Thrace was converted, and the Mughals declare war in 1738, as expected, though the Afghans delay, for some reason or another.
We now have 200K troops on the Mughal Border, another 150K troops in Egypt which can easily be transported in two loads by our Indian fleet, and the ability to raise vast numbers of troops. Yet we must face the facts. There is no way we can reach the Mughal Empire's Chinese possessions, so we cannot place the entire empire under siege, so we can gain only six or seven provinces. Worse, due to the 400 year limitation, we have only 80 years left to conquer the world, so we will have to take some risks. Rather than attempting to gain a few provinces adjacent to our own for contiguity, we shall seek to obtain Mughal provinces that border upon other nations, in order that those nations may attack us, in self-defense, and allow us to invade them in counter-self-defense, if you know what I mean, and I'm sure that you do. This will leave our supply-lines broken, but may advance the schedule by a decade or so, and we do have a mighty fleet to ferry troops around India, after all. But so be it, we are investing in naval technology anyhow.
Bloody colourful suddenly, don't you agree? Fighting in Africa, India, and against the Chagatai horde in alliance with China all at the same time, and then
Assassination of Noble. I am a happy, happy, simulator!
Ignore it. I'll just annex Songhai.
And now, for peace. The Mughals keep making generous offers, that, unfortunately, do not fit our itinary. On the fourth attempt, however, they agree to giving up Tian Shan, Panjab, Bikaner, Odisa, Rajputana, Mangalore, and Gujarat, granting us peace.
For less than a month, since our new neighbours Hyderabad and Bengal declare war. Good of them, our troops are right in the vicinity anyhow.
With the latest investments in naval technology, we have even begun building a huge shipyard in Thrace - just in case we need a new European fleet in a hurry. And it will also stimulate emigration to our new lands.
England is Pro-Habsburg in the pragmatic sanctions and Portugal is neutral. I am happy-happy-happy!
Hmm, perhaps the simulator needs to be updated, it isn't perfect, after all. Since neither France, Prussia, Bayern, Saxony, Prussia, Holland, Russia, Hessen, Hannover, Austria, or Genoa any longer exists, the Pragmatic sanctions make no sense whatsoever. Since they are obviously a result of the simulators latest crash-course, if I may say so (ha ha), we can confidently ignore them.
Focus rather on our Indian wars and our incidental stripping of trading posts from Portugal and England. Soon we will be in the position to actually attack their farflung provinces, though some of them are awfully well fortified. Perhaps better weapons would be the solution. Anyhow, we just reached Infra6, and can build goods manufactories. Since this increases our infrastructure rating (which is low), but our potential goods production is enormous, and since manufactories also increases the demand for certain products, let us build a handful of them, when we have the cash.
And strip Bengal and Mysore of everything but their capital provinces, of course. And annex Oman, while we are at it. All done by September 1742.
Since we now border Tibet, land of snow, we have a new fight on our hand, and Zanj, Ethiopia, and Kongo join the fun as well. Fortunately, our one conquistador, who has singlehandedly found the Chimu, the Dakota, and the Kongo, has an army near Kongo, and more troops on the way from our western african provinces.
Please notice how Tibet is actually worse territory than Russia and Scandinavia. Hard to believe, yet it is the truth. Fortunately, one can always raise more armies.
And Zanj is gone, and Baluchistan is no more, and Kongo, country of fine arts academies, joins the empire as well, and Tibet is stripped of provinces. Their troops killed 2,000 of our men, if even that. Their climate killed perhaps 50,000. These things happen.
And now it is 1744 and we are at peace. We have 75 years left to conquer the world. In North America, the Dakota remain, and in South America, the Chimu and the Inca, fighting their eternal wars. In Africa, only a one-province Ethiopia and a hidden Zimbabwe remain. All of these will fall at our leisure. In Europe, Portugal and England. Can we but whittle down their remaining colonial possessions, they will fall easily. The Mughals struggle on in India, but they must know, that they are doomed. Yet Asia and Indonesia remains unbowed. To have any chance of success we must drive hard to the east, and do so soon. That, my students, will be the focus of the next lesson. Please study the Eastern situation in advance.
The East, 1644
Class dismissed!
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