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Mr. Ebbessen?

While I must admit that I am enjoying auditing this course very much, might I point out to the other students that this approach to world conquest is only one of several tried and true methods. I have run several successful simulations where my primary focus was on maintianing only a modest level of inflation - never exceeding about 12% - and using the first 100-150 years to develop far-reaching an friendly relationships whilst conquering virtually all countries of another religion for which I had set a high religious tollerence. Having achieved a strong economy, a tech advantage - of at least parity - and maintaining a close watch on my "Badboy" levels, I wait until I have quietly become huge and then, in a succession of highly agressive ventures, conquer many of my former friends via multi-pronged war efforts and diplomatically vassalised and then diplo-annexed my allies.

This has the wonderful advantage of making it almost a certainty that trade 10 and infrastructure 10 may be achieved by the mid-to-late 1600's while land and naval technology levels have already climbed into the high 20's or low 30's. While an Austria, say, or a France may match my military technology, my economy is so strong and the soldiers remain so cheap - relatively speaking - that there is no way they can stand up to me.

In your simulation, I was wondering if you have been giving any thought to nudging your mercantile slider as far towards free trade as you dare? I know that the increased cost for placing merchants would be hard to bear, but the greatly-increased chance to receive random Explorers might make this worthwhile in that you then stand a much better chance of gaiing a strong foothold in North America which will give you two benefits: some very rich lands, and the opportunity to occupy a huge number of provinces for the day (I presume it will eventually come) when you reach infrastructure 5 and may do something about your spiraling inflation.

Of course since I'm merely auditing the course, you are under no obligation to reply...:)
 
MrT, you raise some interesting points. The spiraling inflation is mainly caused by the extremely violent start used to ensure that Trebizond could turn Byzantium and later Catholic, and to finance later expansion. Being surrounded by a host of minor powers, I deemed the extra diplomats from catholicism essential.

Trebizond being a minor power, just reaching a size of some worth will raise your badboy to dangerous levels, and, unless you take a long time to do it, your inflation as well.

I find it unlikely (though I sure hope somebody will disprove it), that Trebizond could reach trade and infrastructure 10 by 1650 and achieve the size I have actually managed (see next installment) at the same time.

And no, I don't dare go for free trade :) Paying 34 for merchants in my own centre of trade in Isfahan (at max merchantilism) with a bad monarch is expensive enough. Finding the Americas is be soon enough when I occupy the Portuguese and Castillan capitals. I found some other rich provinces to fill up the gap to dishonourable scum.

And those 200+ ducat colonists discouraged me from creating a foothold from which to launch an invasion in the first place, and my galleys can't cross the ocean :), and warships cost 120+ ducats...

(Had I been playing a stronger European nation to start with, I would possibly have gone for taking over the Aztecs for their gold mines.)

Staying the hell out of the vicinity of the other indian tribes also means fewer separate wars come BB-day, which is good.

But I freely admit that your strategy makes excellent sense. If you can manage to have a couple of large vassals who are at peace at the same time, and in your own military alliance, and have a good diplomatic monarch, you can manage to diploannex a lot of territory.

Personally, as will be demonstrated in the next installment, I kicked off the BB wars with one diploannexation (Several would have been nice, but the alliance constellations prevented it).

And finally, who needs tech parity? One can bury just about any enemy under enough cavalry with infantry support.

Damn. I can't resist the dig: Why should France and Austria still be around in the mid to late 1600's?

My original secret plan was something like this:

First hundred years: Turn Byzantium, Catholic, and gain most of the core provinces plus a cot or two. Achieved

Second hundred years: Gain a solid foothold in Europe, and get ready to kick of BB wars. Gain land9 for morale bonus. See how it went in the next installment

Third hundred years: Conquer Europe (protestants last) and do as many conversions as funds allow. Attempt to live with provinces of every slider religions. Currently on sixth round* of BB wars, ankle-deep in blood. This is hard.

Fourth hundred years: Conquer the rest of the world, achieve high tech levels, continue conversions. Ideally eliminate Reformed and Orthodox religions to free sliders for emergencies.

* a round being considered ended when the empire is at complete peace eliminating war exhaustion.
 
Ah....*light bulb on* I freely admit that I had neglected to take into consideration some of the more far reaching side-effects of your decisive victory over a controled economy. I had failed to realise just how devastatingly expensive those colonists and warships had become. Obviously, in this new light, such a strategy would be ruinous. *light bulb burns out*

I confess that I have never played through a full scenario with extremly high inflation. My only two games where it did go through the roof were my attempts at Zimbabwe and the Inca where inflation was gold0induced rather than expenditure-related. In neither game did I ever get an exporer or conquistador (those games were back under 1.02 where they didn't crop up as often as they do now) and by the time I had made contact with new "neighbours", those happened to be uber-strong Europeans who were desirous of my annexation...

Yes, reaching a very large size and achieving infra and trade tech 10 is hard if not almost impossible by the mid 1600's when starting with a one- or two-province nation. By the late 1600's it's almost a certainty. Personally I tend to edge towards rapid infrastructure advances initially as this had the advantage of making every aspect of your development stonger (i.e. the increased revenues in all areas make up for the lower trade income).

I do completely agree with you vis the military inequality situation. I never panic if I'm a long way behind initially since you catch up amazingly rapidly once the infrastructure and trade effects kick in, and in the interim it's easy to overwhelm a technologically superior enemy through sheer weight of numbers.

I think we play with interestingly different overall strategies. I get the impression that you trend towards rapid expansion with a mind to cleaning up the mess later, whatever happens to be thrown your way. I am a little less acquisitive early on, and work instead to position myself with as strong an economy, as optimal an army, and as secure a foundation as I can, and then strike out in a series of rapid blows to annihilate a group of targets. Then I "sink back into the lagoon and digest my meal" before initiating a new series of offensives. This permits a much smaller standing army (and thus lower maintenence costs) and allows me to bring the full weight of my forces against my enemy without having to watch my back as much.

*tosses earth back at you*: :)

France and/or Austria still existing in the 1600s can occur for a variety of strategically sound reasons:

1. You happen to be playing France. :D (see my France AAR)

2. You happen to be playing Austria. :D (I've played them but never written about them)

3. You happen to be in alliance with one or both of them and are using them to scare your other neighbours silly while you go elsewhere for your land-grabs. I find that having a huge ally can be extremely gratifying in both preventing BB wars from starting in the first place, or for reducing their sizzle when they do happen. I will often leave one or both of them alive until well into the 1700s since they do eventually reach the limit of their AI-script-induced territorial feeding frenzy. Presuming that I have not, and am now gigantic, when I later come back to "deal" with them they are stiff opposition but certainly not at all scary.

4. They also have the tendency to become the BB punching bags of Europe, thus making other nations more inclinded to take out their BB frustrations on them rather than on little ol' me. As long as I stay a few points below them in BB, I'm often left to my own devices for long enough that it's too late by the time the rest of Europe wakes up to the fact that I'm intending to steamroll over them.

The only catch with my strategy is that I sometimes run out of game time to complete 100% world domination, though I look at my accomplishments as essentially equivalent in that there is no power left in the world that could possibly contest my inevitable conquest. Perhaps someone like China may still exist in some form, but having 100% of Europe, North/Central/South America, the near east, India, etc. makes the gobbling up of the rest of Asia a foregone conclusion. I often find myself saying in 1819 "if only I had another 50 years they'd all be dead". Perhaps, therefore, one could argue that I had not achieved true world domination - because it would be factually correct - but I view it as much of a symantic distinction as anything.

Ah well...different strokes for different folks.
 
Maur steps out of dark corner he's been hiding in during all classes:)D):
"Professor Ebessen, how about my simulation?"

#3 Using the only two commanders Byzantium gets, i managed to capture Venice tough forts.
Also, notice that i ceded few provinces to Ottomans. That was because i wanted to get rid of Muslim provinces and lose some BB. That's because i planned to expand into west first. Inflation 6, manpower 29

#4-1460 Relatively quiet period. Few wars in Italy, mainly against Genoa. Inflation at 11, manpower 50

#5-1475 Still under 35 BB, this time gained all of Aragon provinces. Notice that France is down to two provinces... though it will inherit much of Burgundy soon.
Also, the most funny thing is that Spain also wasn't created in this simulation...
Inflaion is climbing steadily (20), because i'm constantly minting coins. manpower 56

#6-1489. War against England resulted in gaining much of western France. Also, gained some core provinces from Hungary. I'm still under 35 BB. Inflation at 23. manpower 64. Notice my new maps... Fortunately, there are about 4 full colonies overseas.

#7-1500. This time only three provinces gained from Austria (though those were Flanders, Steimark and Venice:)). Main effort was to cripple Hungary, because BB was approaching 35. Inflation at 31 and raising. manpower 87.

#8-1515. Inflation at 36, manpower 92. No gains at all. Due to fact i had very high badboy, i concentrated at eradicating orthodox faith, and accumulation cash (2500 in 1500, 3200 in 1515, few thousands spent on conversions)

#9-1522. Minting coins like mad, treasury is at 7000, and i only have 4 orthodox provinces. Still under 35 BB, inflation 39, manpower 92.

#10-1531 This is the end of last pre-BB war. I control all of England and Castille, and few italian minors. Standing army is 230'000 cavalry. Inflation is at 37 (i suspect deflation event...), manpower 92, treasury has fallen to 2000, only 2 orthodox provinces, and i'm about to gains level 3 in trade...

#11-1542 Europe in flames... as you can see, main war effort was aimed at Balkans, British isles, Italy and Iberian peninsula. Due to monetary needs, i still don't have trade level 3:eek:. Inflation at 45, manpower at 148! I also have about 20 colonies overseas already, mainly level one though.

#12-1556 yes, i had to cede Steimark to Austria... war exhaustion. But France and Castille are broken, England is gone, and Asia minor is conquered, too. Inflation at 47, manpower 222. I also have trade 3, and 8 refineries. I now have all religions, which means i have to be intolerant to two (muslims and orthodox), to achieve full tolerance towards catholics (necesity), and decent towards protestants and reformed. Currently trying to get rid of Orthodoxy (few gained provs) and Reformed faiths

#13-1564 Castille have small fort in Flores, which is very hard to break, and i lack troops (i only have two colonies nearby). Main effort went against Austria and German minors. inflation 55, manpower 260. Ten refineries, many colonies. Russia ate Golden Horse and will give me some trouble in next wars, despite their low tech.

#14-1580. It was the hardest moment. I had already the highest war exhaustion achieved (+6), when i was hit by unhappines among peasantry (+5RR), and few months later another event, +3RR.... Living hell, even my capital had +3 revolt risk, and most provinces above 10... Few (about 6) countries declared independence, and two were even 2 provincers... Inflation 70, manpower 259 (lowered at this time due to many provinces in rebel hands)

Nevertheless, i annexed Aztecs and Mayas, and Austria was down to one province.

#15-1591 Due to the mess after last screenshot, not much hapenned in Europe, consolidation maninly. Some gains against Poland, inflation 78, manpower 305. The main difference was tech-trade level 4, which means i already embargoed most of other countries, and about to achieve land 3. Also i'm slowly achieving monopolies in European Cots, and colonizing America, but this is #16

The thing that worry me most is that China seems to be colonizing Siberia... I'm thinking of going to either far east, or conquering NA tribes and Incas after i achieve assaulting land tech or even land 9 (which will be quick)

Also, i almost got rid of those reformists... only about 8 provinces remains...

ah, about screenshots-i will try to upload them soon.:eek:
 
uhm. i created another account at tripod... well, i don't really know how to get there, but its like

and the screens names are 1428, 1439, and 3-16. at maur100.tripod.com or something. i suppose after that it should be /1428, for example. or something. of course, it's direct link so it won't work here. try to type it in your browser. sorry for inconvenience :eek:
 
Originally posted by CesareB
1428 & 1439 don't work, but we all know you probably weren't lying about that, as the other screenshots work.
Click to expand...
:eek:
sorry, that's because they are 1429, and 1438, i messed up two last digits:D
 
'Maur silly, Maur talk, no pics. Me did Explorrrer, me tried Opera, no pics!! Me wanna see!! You see THIS (took up his new club)? Show me NOW!!!'

P.S. Could you write down correct link names? Would be nice to see ;)
 
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Congratulations Maur13!

That sounds great. At this rate you will achieve WC long before me (if I even succeed), or go down in flames. It nearly makes me regret my inflationary start. (Well, actually, I have been regretting those extra 50% inflation for a long time. But they sure were fun to come by :))

It would be nice if you could post some links that work, though. Have you been deleted from Tripod again?
And those peasants. I had two +5% events in a row in the late 1580'ies. Wiped out 100K troops and set me back a decade or so. That's what we get for enserfing them.
(But then, I wasn't even into BB wars at that time. The main reasons for delaying were a huge and technologically developed France (shudder) to the west and a huge Mughal Empire to the East. When AI controlled Mughals are winning wars against the Chinese, you know they are dangerous)
 
Maur13:

Check out my post in the AAtiFAQ thread stickied at the top of this forum. It gives detailed instructions on how to post to tripod accounts (one of the two I use).

Edit: or you can PM me and I'll give you the quick & dirty version of the instructions.

As a side note: Maur13's approach is far more along the lines that I would normally attempt in my games and it appears to be successful too. Most interesting...
 
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Reputation. Love it or lose it

Welcome, Class.

It has come to my attention that certain students have been using the simulators to great effect, yet seem unable to make and display screenshots. Now, you know who you are, so let me not belabour this point, but might I suggest you either care2 or read the sticky on the subject? Enough said.

The topic of todays lecture is reputation. You know how it is. Honourable one moment, hated throughout the world the next. To simulate the hardships of doing world conquest under adverse conditions, this simulation has one hard rule: When you become dishonourable scum, every nation in your vicinity declares war on you. Love it or loathe it, but learn to live with it.

This means that it is essential to keep your reputation above dishonourable scum until you are finally ready to make your move, and take on the world.

Reputation increases with time, when you lose provinces, and when you create a vassal state out of your nation (thus, effectively, ceding provinces). This is an abstraction (except in the case of the Kraiin-world of the High Autarch Ze'Photec), live with it.

Reputation decreases when you declare war, take provinces, or annex. Generally speaking, it is more reputable to diplomatically annex a nation, rather than to do it by the sword.

So if you are expanding, but not yet ready to face every single country in your vicinity, be ready to shed a few provinces, if you inadvertently conquer too much.

Returning to the simulation, you will notice that though we got peace with Austria in 1525, we are still at war. At now the Mamelukes declare war on us. They've got 60,000 troops in Egypt. We have 8,000 in Alexandria. War exhaustion is at 4% RR and we are still suffering from the unhappiness amongst the peasantry.

Without a single battle fought, I offer the Mamelukes Syria for peace, which they, astonished though they may be, gratefully accept.

Better to cut your losses, remember? With the ending of our other war as well, we got rid of a muslim province (expensive to pacify), gained a bit of reputation, and didn't waste our armies in a futile war that would have lasted for at least a year or two.

Let us be peaceful for a while, as we turn ever more narrowminded. Well, relatively peaceful. Our ally Poland seems to be fighting all the time, and it would be a shame not to join, at least in name. And vassalising Georgia in 1527 is nice as well. But the protestants are becoming annoying. Our empire contains only one single protestant province, Banat. It costs too much to convert (and that might fail), and is nearly worthless. Time for a zero tolerance policy towards the despised protestants! There's nothing like intolerance. It allows us to pacify our larger religious groupings, the catholic, orthodox, and muslim populations. And Banat will probably revolt and defect to our ally Siedenbürgen (who recently gained Hungary as vassals). Siedenbürgen itself is staunchly catholic, though a majority of its population is protestant. Let us hope they manage to convert the heretics.

Ok, not quite peaceful. 1530 sees our declaration of war upon Naples. Now, how many of you think I want to force-vassalise Naples with those rich provinces and a brewery? Raise your hands.

A shame on you! Didn't you notice that Naples was already vassalised by Aragon? Being already vassalised they can't be force-vassalised. That is damned annoying, but we will have to live with it. Let us take Albania, 180 ducats, and make them accede to military access (just in case), and let it be quits. A small gain for three years of war. Let that teach you to notice such small details as a vassal-lord relationship in advance!

Yes, being peaceful is hard, despite Banat finally defecting to Siedenbürgen, so let us declare war on the Mamelukes again it being now 1534. With their widespread holdings gained from the time of the Timurid empire, they are a constant threat on our southern flank. And the wars go well - pretty soon all of their provinces are under our control. All? No, a single brave province surrounded by Persia and Baluchistan is utterly unreachable for us. I refer, of course, to Hormouz. Fortunately a solution presents itself, as Persia joins the Mameluke alliance. Time to raise more troops.

Funky, man. A meteor. Time to waste one or two years of investment regaining stability... Again. And the Russians (who until yesterday were named Muscowians) want to take over the Byzantine Mantle. Sorry, guys. It is already in use. And then, damn, look at that. Siedenbürgen just turned protestant, breaking the royal marriage and vassalage. Sometimes, life's a bitch.

So let us end these ridiculous wars. Persia suffers the loss of Awaz, Hamadan, and Isfahan (their rich centre of trade), while the Mamelukes lose Delta, Syria, and 250 ducats.

Our reputation is now extremely bad for the first time, Austria annexes one province Hungary, and, to make my day, some bloody idiot assassinates a noble. Again. And now the protestants split creating a reformed faction. Bloody wonderful. Topped only by the alliance of some stupid nobles with a major foreign power. As you may have noticed, restoring stability can be a huge drain on your resources, even with our increased income. Especially multiple stability hits in a short time.

So the diplomatic annexation of Georgia in 1545 is of immediate help, stability-wise, as is the conversion of Sivas and Kurdistan.

By now it should be obvious, that we can't really grow in the foreseeable future without becoming dishonourable scum, and yet we simply don't have the resources to fight a determined enemy the size of France or Castile, even with Poland on our side. So let us make some long term planning. Let us force-vassalise Austria and diplomatically annex them a decade or two from now. This will gain us the rich Dutch provinces (including the Flanders centre of trade) and remove the dangerous Austraians from the game, so to speak. The main problem is, that we have absolutely no way to get our troops to the Netherlands.

Don't despair.

Money can buy you military access through neighbouring countries any day, in our case Bavaria and Hessen should do. Wait a moment, Awaz spontaneously converted. Surely a good omen. Moving armies to stand ready in Hessen, the alliance of Byzantium, Poland, and the Golden Horde, declare war upon Austria and Bohemia on June 4th, 1548. Hessen (possibly eyeing the 50K troops visiting their capital province) dishonours their alliance with Austria.

On the coming dawn, our armies start pouring over the Austrian borders, while the monstrous Bohemia army begins entering the empire. Let us forthwith raise as many troops as we can every single month. We will need them.

At war with Austria, 1548
759546196.jpg


By October 1548 an estimated 100K extra troops have been raised. Don't watch the carnage too closely if you are squeamish. Fortunately Bohemia accepts a separate peace for 62 ducats. I would gladly have paid ten times as much (had I had the money)

By October 1549 our 78K manpower pool has been emptied.

By March 1550, we are gaining the upper hand. This, of course, is when France, Castile, Hessen, and Bavaria declare war upon Austria: They want a peace of the cake as well.

By January 1551 we've won 43 battles and Austria 34, but most of Austria is under our control, and France controls most of the remainder. This, of course, is when the peasantry rises in arms. Again. Considering our armies don't have all that much to do, all those sudden rebellions are, seen in a certain light, a boon. A somewhat disturbing light, I admit.

But finally, by August 1551, Austria agrees to become our vassals. Now our armies can be used to destroy rebels in the Austrian Dutch provinces, since Austria is having a hard enough time fending off the large French alliance. The war cost an estimated 120,000 lives.

Relax, now, as we keep gifting Austria, helping them out in minor wars, and steadily improving our conditions. The peasants are unhappy and so are the clergy, the latter being distinctly better than the former, since we are now completely narrowminded. With Austria our very good allies things are looking bright.... Until Hessen, France, Bavaria, Castile, and Sienna declare war on Ausrtia, Poland, Byzantium, Wallachia, and the Golden Horde.

Ouch. That hurt.
Austria didn't really need those provinces, anyway.
I didn't need those armies, either, really.

Were France somewhat smaller or not so technologically advanced, this wouldn't be the bloodbath you are currently watching. Oh, and our emperor died. Long live Michael X.

Don't tell me the Mamelukes and Oman declared war as well? Well, the other war has only been going on for four years, so why not. Half a year is enough to take Nile and Judea. They are muslim, but provide much needed grain to field our armies. (And taking them really breaks up the Mameluke territory)

And finally we have peace in November 1564. But look at that. 1566: Austria, barely recovered from the wars, is suffering numerous large rebellions in the Dutch provinces, and is handling it badly. It seems a new spirit of independence has arisen amongst the Dutch, and pretty soon all the provinces, bar Flandern, are in rebel hands, and have been so for months. There is even rebellious talks of forming a separate Dutch state.

Their armies destroyed and half the nation in flames, the Austrian king gladly accepts our offer of annexation. Hastily our forces are dispatched to the new Dutch provinces. Will they be in time to prevent independence? Good question. In a fit of desperation I take out five loans and hire mercenaries in Flandern. They can begin besieging months before our other armies can arrive. Notice, however, that I first set free Hannover (which land was protestant anyway) and Serbia as vassals to increase our reputation. We were dishonourable scum for less than an hour, but that was scary enough.

March 1567 sees the union of our ally Poland with Lithuania. Good only one bothersome neighbour on our northern flank, and an ally to boot.

And in March 1568, the Netherlands forms in Friesen, angering the French, who used to control it. Fortunately the Byzantine netherlands are at peace - the armies of the empire preventing any thought of seceding from taking firm root.

As we continue pacifying the new and incredibly rich provinces, let us spend our money on investments. In time, it pays off, as you see. The exceptional year of 1577 reduced our inflation to 119% allowing us to reach trade3 technology in March, after finally having invested 65,000 ducats in it. We can now acquire monopolies in centres of trade, like certain other nations have been doing for a long time.

As you may have noticed, our armies have problems fighting even rebels. It is time for us to address that issue, as it is also time to start doing some serious converting.

The Council of Trend of 1580 allows catholic nations to turn counter reformed to fight the protestants. Definitely something to consider in future. By 1582 we have 13 conversions underway and have raised our army quality to equality on the quantity-quality scale. Being at a severe technical disadvantage with all our European neighbours, a more focused and dedicated army is needed. More expensive as well, but oh, what the hell. Inflation can't get much worse than it is (this is a lie).

THUMP!
Aaarrrghhhh, my head!

Dustman, will you stop thumping Maur13 during class? He is a very diligent student, unlike some, and...

WHAT!!!!! Stop bleeding in the simulator right away, Maur13! That simulator is expensive private property. Desist on pain of pain!

But I'm already in pain!

Then desist on pain of even more pain, don't you know what the taste of blood does to the artificial intelligence? Oh, shit! Too late.

Random Event 1585: Unhappiness Peasantry +5
The Byzantine netherlands rise in rebellion again and again. Need more troops!

Random Event 1587: Unhappiness Peasantry +5
I don't mind it. What does not kill me, makes me stronger.

Random Event 1590: Poor Government Politics
What do I care. You're just a jumped up calculator!

Survived it. That wiped out another 100K troops and a few years of investments. Random Event my arse, the AI did it on purpose, I tell you. And Maur13, I'm seeing you after class. And you too, Dustman.

Hmmm. As you see we have a new emperor, Ioannes X, who has great diplomatic talents, and we have also reached land4, increasing the morale of our troops, though decreasing the shock power of our cavalry. I guess issuing them with an extra blanket might have been going too far, but it is too late to cancel that privilige.

Random Even 1595: Assassination of Noble.
Cut it out, AI! I am trying to teach a class here!

Ahem. Notice how effective the Austrian takeover strategy was? Let us repeat it now... With France! France has, at present, 24 very rich and populous provinces in continental Europe, all of them catholic or reformed protestants, as well as an extended trading post network. The also have the armies to match. You may have noticed that the French and the English came to a peaceful policy of coexistance on the issue of the English possessions a century ago. This was unfortunate, since I had been expecting that particular sort of war to be a permanent drain on the French state. But alas, that was not to be.

For now, let us recruit as many soldiers as we can, and position them prior to the attack. This is done, eventually, by April 1598. Turned counter reformed catholic, Byzantium, Poland, the Golden Horde, and Ragusa declare war on the alliance of France and Russia. France has a landtech of 17 versus our 4 and Polands 5 (and Russia has 7). Our allies will have to keep Russia off our back.

Our attack involve multiple thrusts:
33/0 land in Armor,
34/106 come storming in from the Dutch provinces,
0/42 from Lombardia,
0/9 invade Firenze from Romagna,
0/28 march from Dobrudja, and
0/25 land in Languedoc a month delayed

Invasion of France, April 1598
550795193.jpg


Let me concentrate on maneouvering.

Besieging France, June 1598
569149113.jpg


And that's that.

France vassalised + Cyprus taken, 1599
251789015.jpg


Don't even think about the losses. Accept them. Let us forthwith send huge gifts to France to improve relations.

...And let us crush and force-vassalise the free Netherlands. The armies are near by, after all.

Now it is time to do nothing offensive whatsoever. We really don't want to give France any excuse to break the vassalisation. Let them become accustomed to it instead. Meanwhile, we can invest in landtech.

Oh dear. Poland just broke up ever so slightly. The winners are: Pommern, Saxony, Prussia, Mecklenburg, and Lithuania, all earlier victims of Polands success. Poland remains strong though. Unfortunately France keeps refusing to join our alliance, and it is probably because they hate Poland.

Some choices are easy. Poland is banned from the alliance and France joins it.

The English have been taking lessons in rebellion, I see. 1612 marks the defection of seven provinces in England proper to Scotland, which is by this sudden reversal of fortune become the mightiest power of the island.

But our investments bear fruit. By May, 1621 we reach land9. Now, if only France would stop fighting those silly wars with the natives of the New World, we might get down to annex them. Ioannes X is not getting any younger, you know. At least we can start raising armies.

March 1624. France is at peace. Ioannes X, valued in the simulation at 11 diplomacy (9+2 aristocracy bonus) proposes that France become part of the Empire. They accept March 12th.

France diploannexed, let the wars begin!
258521466.jpg


They begin...
267999875.jpg


The next lesson will focus on fighting multiple wars at the same time while handling monstrous revolt risks and 20+ provinces with high nationalism. Also we will be meeting the other purple menace, the Mughal Empire, for the first time.

Class dismissed.
 
Shit, they deleted me again:confused:

Now, what terms of service i violated?

100k of troops:eek: Well, that's.. incredibly small amount of:D

Seriously, i thought so before i read it was before you become BB.

Curiosity- i've managed to lose. 1'700'000 cavalry to attrition and 4'000'000 in combat...

I started building infantry only 20 years ago (it's 1620, and i'm at land tech 9)

Losess so far- 500'000 in combat, 900'000 non-combat losses. Most of it against Sweden and Denmark (well, Denmark doesn't exist anymore). But Sweden IS tough... medium forts in mountain provinces are very hard to take. And assualting, well... i have lousy morale compared to them- i'm land tech 9, they 14, i have 10 serf, 3 qual, 2 land, 10 offensive. As you can see, only offensive gives me morale bonus...)

Hmmm, only 220 lost cannons.

About the screenies: I would love to post them. MrT, i've read your instrucions, and tried to use them, but, well, it didn't worked:(. I must have messed up something... well, i could send pics to someone who knows what to do with them (by ICQ or something)

ah, btw, MrT, what do you mean? The main differences between are that i expanded west, and avoided bancrupty in the beginning. But i also expanded from the beginning (well, since 1428, that is)
 
Originally posted by MrT

I think we play with interestingly different overall strategies. I get the impression that you trend towards rapid expansion with a mind to cleaning up the mess later, whatever happens to be thrown your way. I am a little less acquisitive early on, and work instead to position myself with as strong an economy, as optimal an army, and as secure a foundation as I can, and then strike out in a series of rapid blows to annihilate a group of targets. Then I "sink back into the lagoon and digest my meal" before initiating a new series of offensives. This permits a much smaller standing army (and thus lower maintenence costs) and allows me to bring the full weight of my forces against my enemy without having to watch my back as much.
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Actually, I tend to play that way as well. A careful buildup until you can unleash the whirlwind.

But in this case I wanted to try starting out über-aggressive for a change.

I doubt I will ever do so again, though it has left me some interesting problems I am unused to facing. (Such as cavalry costing 30 ducats per 1000)

Were I ever to try playing Trebizond again, I would probably use Maur13's strategy of a slower initial expansion (thus no bankruptcies), following by near complete neglect of the east to seize some prime European territory. That Argonese seizure was masterful. And the huge manpower and income to be gained from Italy, well...
(And I might even restart the game if the Ottomans didn't take out Byzantium early. Gaining a CoT in Thrace would have been so helpful)
 
Originally posted by Maur13

I started building infantry only 20 years ago (it's 1620, and i'm at land tech 9)

Losess so far- 500'000 in combat, 900'000 non-combat losses. Most of it against Sweden and Denmark (well, Denmark doesn't exist anymore). But Sweden IS tough... medium forts in mountain provinces are very hard to take. And assualting, well... i have lousy morale compared to them- i'm land tech 9, they 14, i have 10 serf, 3 qual, 2 land, 10 offensive. As you can see, only offensive gives me morale bonus...)

Hmmm, only 220 lost cannons.

ah, btw, MrT, what do you mean? The main differences between are that i expanded west, and avoided bancrupty in the beginning. But i also expanded from the beginning (well, since 1428, that is)
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Heh. When I finally get to them, the fortresses won't be that much of a problem - since I am 0 offensive for the siege bonus :)

I began building huge amounts of infantry early in the BB wars for besieging Russia and soaking up causalties in the fire phase of combat - and my income wasn't enough to empty my manpower pool (which was smaller given my quality 10 army. And yes, I know going full quality when everything is already expensive is economically unfeasible, but it means they defeat rebels more often, so I need to do less rerouting of troops)

I hope to get to see your pictures sometime. You kick off the BB wars a century ahead of me, and I am interested in whether I am slowly catching up, or being left ever more behind in the dust :D

Interesting that you find you need to max catholicism. I find a -2RR modifier sufficient most of the time which allows me to stabilize other religions slightly. (At +6 war exh. I will of course go max tolerant again, but so far that hasn't been necessary)

I'm in my fifth decade of BB wars and on the sixth round, and are just about ready to take on the protestants (strategically left mostly alone until now to allow zero tolerance policy).

I'll include some casualty lists for comparison purposes with the next installment.

But it really shows that I tend to play around in northern Europe and in the ROTW. Had I realised the enormous manpower and income gained from Italy due to also having Italian culture, my strategy would have been very different.

And sorry about treating you a bit roughly in the last installment :D I couldn't resist it.
 
15 years to diploannex Austria... My (nonexistent) hat is off to you, Professor Ebbesen. :eek:
 
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