1st EU2 GC. ravagon runs England.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Thanks a lot Vel and Nikolai for all the help. When I get some more questions, I'll ask you guys

[Victor Galis]

I think the game can sometimes be a lot more entertaining as some small power say Bavaria. Through a complex system of alliances and military access treaties I managed to respond to the 1456 annexation of Byzantium by the Ottomans with my war of militant Bavarian expansionism. At the time I declared war I had no army, so I quickly built one, then took a loan to build a second and invaded the Ottoman Empire. When I sacked Istanbul, I forced them to surrender three Balkan provinces. Then I basically did nothing because I was out of money. Then the Duchy of Athens decided it wanted to beat the crap out of me. By the end of that war, I had all my territory still, but three loans! So I spent a decade or so with inflation skyrocketing as I tried to pay off some loans some of which had 27% interest! At some point I sacked the Ottoman capital again and extracted some tribute from the Ottomans as well as demonstrating again the superiority of Bavarian military tactics (having soldiers while your enemy does not). Fortunately, the Ottoman's neighbors have been keeping them busy so the Ottomans aren't really threatening.

My new alliance keeps getting me into nasty wars that if I actually acted in, would be bad for my health, but my loans are nearly paid off, so soon I will be able to build an army. And a small Bavarian tradepost has been set up in east Africa. Soon a colony will be set up nearby. Then Bavaria's great destiny will be achieved! And at some point, I'm going to beat up the Ottomans for some more land.

[Velociryx]

And sometimes, it comes down to that....having soldiers when your enemy does not!

-=Vel=-

[Victor Galis]

Bah, Austria which now inherited Hungary and Bohemia stretches from the Danube to the North Sea Luckily I have a royal marriage and treaties of military access with them.

After another bout of hyperinflation, I'm almost ready to kick the crap out of the Ottoman Empire again. I sacked Istanbul again, so they built a bigger fort there, but next time, I'll declare war at a time when I'm not facing revolts everywhere.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

Now wait a minute!!! Britain builds up financial strength with overseas colonies - fears France dominating continent - doesnt want to engage France head on - so finances Austria and other French enemies on continent.

Did you, like figure this strategy out on your own???
Or just pick up any history of the period

If you did stumble into it, thats a most impressive thing about this game - to make the best strategy turn out to be the actual historical strategy. makes me want to get this game

Although I did know a little of the history of the period its all pretty much from the colonial standpoint. My knowledge of intra-continental events is virtually non-existent.
Disclaimer: Any and all semblance of good strategy, tactics or adept political or financial maneuvering are, of course, purely coincidental on my part.

Finally finished it a couple of weeks ago so I'll have to finish this semi-AAR off when I get the chance.

One thing about this game that really did amaze me was the number of times a major power greatly over-extended its reach in conquest and then lost many of those provinces again to revolters declaring independence and reforming nations anew.
It gave the whole thing a truly dynamic feel ...

[Lawrence of Arabia]

w000t my second game as Koln is going way better. First I built a bailiff, then vassilized Kleves (that was a mission.) The next mission was to annex Kleves, so I declared war on them and annexed it (question: once you have vassilized, can you annex it w/o war?) They already had a bailiff there, so my income started to rise quickly. I also focused all of my merchants in the CoT of Flanders, made lots of trade agreements with most of the other countries who have merchants there and now routinely have 4 to 5 merchants giving me around 15 -18 gold a year.

Elswhere, Saxony annexed Hannover and Magdeburg, making them quite strong. Geldre annexed Friesland, Venice annexed Bosnia, Protugal annexed Gibraltar, Spain annexed Fez, France vassilized Auvergne, and what is left of Bourbonnais. Burgundy also vassilized Brabant.

My next expansion was to the south in Luxembourg. They only had 5K troops, and my 17K Army of Koln steamrolled them in no time. Luxembourg is good because it has iron, and later on I can buid a factory there. (Kleves and Koln have Grain, and there is no specialised factory for those resources)

I built a bailiff in Luxembourg, then attacked Brabant (who was vassilized by Burgundy) That took a little longer because they had more then one army, but they did not manage to break the siege, and again, I annexed it. Right after, a rebellion happened (14K rebels, isnt that a lot?) but I beat them back.

Geldre declared war on my a bit later, but so far, no armies have come down from the north. My next plan for attack is against Burgundy and their territories of Holland, Zeeland, Artois, and Flanders. I plan on vassilizing, and then annexing all but artois. That territory will then be put under siege later, and they will have to pay me to go away (im hoping around 400 gold)

I'd also like to then take out Geldre (they should be no problem), Munster (they have alliance with Oldenburg, could be a problem) Hessen (they also have an alliance with someone), The Palatinat (they have an alliance with Lorraine) Alsace, Baden, Mainz, Wurzburg, Saxony and all of its annexed lands, Bremen Meckleburg and Hostein. Then I will turn my attention to colonization I think.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Its around 1428 and my inflation is running at 6%. My land tech is LvL 2, Naval Tech LvL 2, trade tech Lvl 2, and infrastructure LvL 2. Am I doing alright?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

And Im just about universally hated (relations with everyone is ruunning around -199) Thats because I waged three wars without a CB. How long does it take for my image to improve?

[Nikolai]

If you have a vassal, you can annex them diplomatically after 10 years(but the longer you wait, the higher chance).

The 14K rebel army sounds absolutely normal. I've seen way bigger armies then that.

The status sounds good. BTW, what was the starting levels? If they were 2, it's not so good. But most countries start at level 1. You will see that the time and cost will increase as you get bigger though.

To wage wars without CB is risky and not so good for your reputation, as you've seen. I might remember wrong, but I think it takes 4 years to go down 1 BB point at all levels under Very Hard. At VH it takes 6 or 8 tears IIRC.

BTW, why do you do missions? I've never seen anybody using them in a long time. I for one prefer not to use them, but do as you please.

[Victor Galis]

The next mission was to annex Kleves, so I declared war on them and annexed it (question: once you have vassilized, can you annex it w/o war?)

Yes, in one of my early games as France, I annexed England that way.

I built a bailiff in Luxembourg, then attacked Brabant (who was vassilized by Burgundy) That took a little longer because they had more then one army, but they did not manage to break the siege, and again, I annexed it. Right after, a rebellion happened (14K rebels, isnt that a lot?) but I beat them back.

-If you think 14k is a lot, wait until the netherlands rebel. In one EU1 game, I killed literally millions of Dutch rebels. That ate up my resources for decades, but in time the rebellion subsided.

Making war on a lot of your neighbors can lead to bad things, like people attacking you later on. Still, the evil Turks must be driven from the lands which are clearly the birthright of Bavarian kings such as those provinces in Asia Minor

[Lawrence of Arabia]

What are the advantages of vassilizing as opposed to outright annexing. If I vassilize the dutch territories (before they belongn to netherlands) will they rebel?

[Victor Galis]

Vassals pay you 50% of their income, but you don't have to maintain anything (they're independent of you). You can pass through their territory with your armies at all times. Also forcing a country to be your vassal doesn't give you the relations hit that annexing your neighbors does.

As for vassalizing the Netherlands, I honestly don't know. I just know they had 40% or so revolt risk and huge armies whenever they revolted if you tried to hold on to them.

[Nikolai]

If you vassalize and diplo-annex, you get fewer BB points, which can be good. You are more of a "nice guy".

As for vassalizing Geldre and the other countries, it is risky, but I think it's possible for a couple of them to become the Netherlands. However, the best would be to conquer them, and then release the Netherlands as vassals if you get tired of the revolts. Then you can annex them after a while.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

The status sounds good. BTW, what was the starting levels? If they were 2, it's not so good. But most countries start at level 1. You will see that the time and cost will increase as you get bigger though.

Started at level 1 for everything.

Took Alsace and Flanders last night. I think Burgundy is about to die. They only have Burgundy, Zeeland and Holland left.

[Victor Galis]

Hmm... Austria annexed Gelre to complete their conquest of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, in a pair of wars against the Ottoman Empire, I siezed 3 provinces, Istanbul is now surrounded by Bavarian land. A small Bavarian navy has been assembled for the purposes of conquering Cyprus later on and possibly annexing the whole of the Ottomans (who are now down to a few trade posts and 6 provinces).

[Lawrence of Arabia]

What year are you in? Im in 1441 now.

[Victor Galis]

Late 1550s now. I hope to by 1600 destroy the Ottoman Empire and possibly Karaman. Then I can pursue an empire further east. My only colony is a dismal failure. Even when my stability is at the maximum, it grows at -2% a year because of location. I have stopped sending settlers. I'll have to sack someone else's capital to steal some better maps.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Can the netherlands be formed if you start as a Dutch country (either Friesland, Geldre, or Brabant) in GC and if you conquer the other dutch territories of Holland, Zeeland, and Flandern?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

IM trying to diploannex, but im having a hard time doing it. They've been my vassil for over 10 years, we have a military alliance, our relation is +200, we are adjacent, same culture, same faith, but on the doplo screen, it doesnt let me. What am I doing wrong?

[Nikolai]

Are one of you at war? If so, you won't be able to annex before the war is over. BTW, which culture you are have no effect considering diplo-annexation.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Are one of you at war? If so, you won't be able to annex before the war is over. BTW, which culture you are have no effect considering diplo-annexation.

Yeah, we were at war, thanks.

Heres something interesting. I started a test game as Geldre, and conquered Holland and Zeeland. Then I clicked Create Vassel, and it said I could create the Netherlands as a vassal, and it would include the territories of Geldre, Holland, and Zeeland. I clicked Grant, then the message came up informing me of a new country (netherlands) had broken away from Gelre. Then the game crashed. Does anyone know why?

[Victor Galis]

I didn't know you could grant your capital province to a vassal. Maybe you can't and that's why the game crashed.

One thing I really hate though, is how the ammount of land you have determines how slow your technology advances. I've been sitting around 20 years not attacking the Turks because everytime I do, the next level of infrastructure gets put off 20-30 years. I need those governors to cut inflation but it'll be another 2-3 years before inf. 4 even, and God knows how long until level 5 (I'm not going to cut the Turks anymore slack, it's time to suffer the combined wrath of Bavarian and Austrian forces.)

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
And Im just about universally hated (relations with everyone is ruunning around -199) Thats because I waged three wars without a CB. How long does it take for my image to improve?

It never really does. I think you lose 1 bb point every decade so just face the next 500 years with everyone hating you.

[Victor Galis]

Austria experienced horrible, horrible revolutions. They lost everything but their home provinces, Bohemia, Hungaria and about 4-5 other territories. Meanwhile, while losing much of my army putting down rebellions caused by war exhaustion running upwards of +14%, I gained Hessen as a vassal and gained the province of Kosovo (formerly of Austria) from Albania. Hellas became independent, taking another Ottoman province with it. Now the Ottoman Empire is weaker than the Byzantine empire at game start. My African colonies still suck, but my 3rd conquistador was gained in that area, so at least I now have more of it explored.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

What are the advantages of switching to protestatism from catholicism?

[Nikolai]

From the FAQ:


* Techspeed: % benefit that this religion gets in tech advancement (higher, more positive numbers are better).

* Stab bonus: Bonus/mitigant (you must divide this by 100). Stability cost is per province. 25 if same religion as state, much higher otherwise.The bonus/malus here subtracts or adds to that cost. For example, Catholics pay 19 ducats per Catholic province (25 - 600/100 = 19). A 4 province, 100% Catholic nation pays 76 ducats per stability point.

* Prod. Eff: Production efficiency bonus, in %.

* Trade Eff: Trade efficiency bonus, in %.

* Tax Income: % bonus/mitigant in tax income.

* Morale: Morale bonus (must divide by 100). 50 = +.50 troops morale bonus.

* Ann. Col: colonists bonus (must divide by 100) received annually. 200 = +2.00 colonists/annum bonus.

* Ann. Dip: diplomats bonus (must divide by 100) received annually. 200 = +2.00 diplomats/annum bonus.

* Ann. Miss: missionaries bonus (must divide by 100) received annually. 200 = +2.00 missionaries/annum bonus.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Hey thanks a lot Nikolai. Looks like Protestant and Reformed are the best.

[Janbalk]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
Hey thanks a lot Nikolai. Looks like Protestant and Reformed are the best.

In most cases yes, but if you want to play a diplomatic game or have a large and hetrogenous empire they are not nesiccarily the best,

[Victor Galis]

Hmm... The papal states was at war with Hellas, so I managed to gain a cassus belli against a weak neighbor not of my religion. I quickly turned this opportunity into a new 2 province vassal. Sadly, random events knocked my stability as far as -1, and it's taking all my resources to fix that problem.

Meanwhile, the evil Brandenburg picked up a 10th and 11th province. Having already fought them once, it is uncertain how much the final showdown between the Catholics and the Protestants can be postponed. Austria is already getting restless and starting wars against its smaller neighbors, wars I can't always help them fight because my meager forces are tied up with the incessant war exhaustion rebellion. Will the alliance of Catholic German states (plus Moldova and Hessen) defeat the evil protestants, or will we crumble like yet another minor obstacle in the face of evil, evil Brandenburg?

Date: Jan 1, 1625. (Revolts in Bohemia after Defenestration of Prague were crushed mercilessly by Austrian forces.)

[Dale]

Victor:

With your colony growing at -2%, if you get the population over 1000 (city status), you'll find the modifier for location is drastically cut (about 5%). Therefore, any colony with growth -5% or better, will have growth of 0% or better at 1000+ pop. It's only when the site has -6% or lower that you should let it die.