Scotland cooperative game thread

[Velociryx]

Additional holdings

[Velociryx]

Troop Strengh Analysis

[Velociryx]

So....as you can see....victory is sweet indeed, Scotland has at long last awakened from her slumber, and we are back on the path to greatness....but compared to some (France), we are but a mosquito....a bug waiting to be flattened....so there are problems that yet remain for us....daunting problems indeed if we are to rise to even greater heights, but the door is now open....if we can but survive without being mauled by the mighty French, we will grow stronger, and one day, be able to challenge them....

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

The Dawning of Scotland's Colonial Era - 1526

The first order of business is to promote bailiffs in our three new cities that can recieve them (Yorkshire, Lincoln, and Anticosti), and then take stock of our military....sadly, the army took quite a pounding from our English adversaries, and the sum-total of our forces is reduced to 9328 Infantry and 18,253 Cavalry (27,491 total). Maximum sustainable army size for us has grown to 41,000 and we promptly recruit 13,000 new infantry in the Scottish Isles to bring our army up to strength, lest any nation percieve a weakness in us.

Thus, the year of our Lord 1526 finds its closure, and a new era begins for Scotland.....

1527
National stability is +3, Treasury is 1029d (mostly in reparations from England), and our economy surges ahead to 42.7 --> 24.0 from taxation, 16.8 from the production of goods, and 1.9 in monthly trade surplusses. We are growing by leaps, and suddenly Scotland is crackling and alive with energy once more! The war with England has shaken off the last of our doldrums and we are ready to forge a new destiny!

In January, we send all our available colonists to the new world, building up the colonies of Isle Royale and Standacone, and sending traders to Ungava and Eskimalt. We also commission 10 new warships and 8 transports, suddenly filling our ports to capacity and giving them much to do!

In March, in the new world, the newly Christened St. Laurent Cavalry command (3714 strong) rides into Penobscot to deal with a hostile native threat there. A colonist is sent to that land once the natives have been tamed.

May sees more good news....with our strength surging once more, and our nation suddenly flowering, the City Fathers of newly conquered Gaspiesie pledge their allegiance to our cause and gift the King five (5) warships for greater security of our new world posessions!

A truly, remarkably wonderful year, after so long a time in slumber.

1528

Stability remaining at +2, treasury plunges to 272d, econ rising to 45.2 as our newly appointed bailiffs begin increasing our tax base and revenues in our new posessions.

Our 10 Warships and 8 new transports are dubbed The Fleet of Wales and assemble in the Channel for sea trials before making for the Port of Wessex!

And in this year, it is time once more for a full and detailed accounting of the Armies of Scotland....a very important thing, as we now have MUCH more to defend!

Our forces may be divided two ways: The European Theater and the New World Theater.

In Europe, our forces are these:

The Army of Lincoln: 11,323 Infantry and 4503 Cavalry

The army of Yorkshire: 10,695 Infantry and 4504 Cavalry

The Wales Fleet (ported in Wessex): 10 Warships and 8 Transports (trans-cap = 26)

In the New World, our forces are these:

The Armor Fleet (ported in Anticosti): 12 Warships (trans-cap = 12)

Anticosti Cav Command (3758)

St. Laurent Cav Command (3714)

Barbados Cav Command (1563)

Last year, amidst the chaos of our victory, we successfully established a colony on Isle Royale and Standacone, and Trading Posts in Eskimalt. Harsh conditions killed the trappers in Ungava, but we are determined to tame this new world.

February sees the formation of another Monopoly Company, and a Royal Marriage to Spain. We try to invite Portugal into our alliance, but they refuse, and so, we opt for a bold new tactic, and ban Ireland from our alliance, and then promptly flee into the arms of Spain (alliance with Spain, and Spanish vassal, the Knights of Rhodes). Royal marriage arranged with Portugal in April to show that there are no hard feelings between us.

June - Colonist to Penobscot (the previous attempt having failed as our colonists were lost at sea), and July sees further improvements in fleet technology (Naval 6).

August - the New World city of Anticosti gets a fortification, and October a 5k revolt in Lincoln is put down handily, leaving the Army of Lincoln 11,303/4499 after that battle.

By December, we have successfully planted a colony in Penobscot, and our territory grows....

1529
Stability is +3, Treasury has increased to 309d

Trader sent to Massachusettes

In early January, representatives from several of our larger cities approach the King with a demand for some of their former rights back (would make centralization -1)....the King refuses their request, which creates an uproar in greater Scotland (stability plunges to 0), worsening to -1 as our King opts to shift our focus away from being a land-based power to a more navally based one (stab to -1), land -1

And in march.....

[Velociryx]

Expect another update soon for those following this thread! I've played all but the last hundred years out, btw, and....without giving much away, may I just say that:

ITSUNFRIGGINBELIEVABLEHOWPOWERFULCOLONIZATIONISAND WHATITCANDOFORYOURECONOMY!!!!!!



There....I feel much better now....really....

-=Vel=-

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Velociryx

En route, we lose 5 ships (forgot to separate our galleys....oops)

I would like to point out sire that I was only 1st Lord of the Admiralty for the non-existent Lorrainian fleets. Not of Scottish naval forces.

ITSUNFRIGGINBELIEVABLEHOWPOWERFULCOLONIZATIONISAND WHATITCANDOFORYOURECONOMY!!!!!!

I guess you got a few of those fur/sugar provinces then, eh?

One failing I've found wrt the AI is that they seem to want to wipe out all of the natives, whereas a human player can sacrifice a few failed colonization attempts and a couple of native attacks for a starting population of several thousand and hence a century or more of growth.
It often doubles the starting income of a newly-colonised province and really does provide an incredible amount of cash in the medium-long term ...

[Velociryx]

Yeah...got caught up in the chase and totally forgot about the presence of our galleys...ah well, we needed to modernize the fleet anyways, isn't that true, My Lord Admiral?

And yes! Who the heck needs constant warfare if you have the money and patience to keep shipping those colonists out!? And ohhhhh the wonders it does for an economy!!! (wait till you see some of the most recent screenies!)....note to self, post an update and he will!

-=Vel=-

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Velociryx
note to self, post an update and he will!

A most excellent idea...

[Velociryx]

Scotland’s Colonial Plan

Scotland has come of age, but compared to the true world powers strutting about on the stage, we are weak, and so, we must be cautious. Always cautious.

That said, the following principles will be used when building our Colonial Empire:

• Fate and circumstance have handed us a partial map of the North American continent, and so we shall begin there, first by expanding our holdings to claim as much of the land for ourselves as we can, and then, by focusing on those provinces we have claimed and building them up fully….a phased expansion into the New World.

• “Building them up fully” means that each province we occupy will eventually get a sufficient number of colonists to create a city (pop 700, minimum), and the first order of business will be to fortify the place, so that ALL of our colonial posessions receive the benefits of having at least a token fortress. It also means making Tax Collector and Justicar appointments a priority before the province is considered “up and running.” (and Mayoral appointments when that becomes applicable).

• Our goal is to claim as much of this new continent for ourselves as we can….although our maps are incomplete, there is every indication that this is a vast, untapped resource, and if we put those resources to work for Scotland, and diligently apply ourselves to building up a fortified, city-level presence everywhere we go, we will not only increase and expand our resource base steadily, but will increase national security.

• Only when we have fully secured and found the limits of the North American continent, will we give serious attention to any other areas of potential colonization, and it is hoped that this relatively tight focus will make defense of what holdings we gain or create on our own, easier.

And so it was that with this plan, Scotland began embarking on a new adventure....a new era.

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

1530
The chief reasion that this year rings important to Scotland's future is the fact that a new Center of Trade opened in London, early in the year. The Scottish Nobility rejoiced at this news, because they were already formulating plans to fully absorb the broken Kingdom of England into the folds of Greater Scotland...the new Center of Trade only strengthened our national resolve to do that very thing!

Other than that, however, 1530 was a remarkably quiet year that saw mostly steady work on expanding our colonial presence in the New World.

1531
While we Scottish are busy sending colonists to the new world (had to try three times to get a colony established in far-off Chesapeake), in mid-year, the Knights of Rhodes, allied to Spain, and therefore, us, by extension, declared a war against the Ottoman "Empire" (little more than a backwater refuse dump, having been beaten and battered to almost nothing by all its neighbors). We accept the "honor" of this fight, and promptly ignore it, focusing instead on fulfilling our colonial ambitions.

1532
National Stability is +2, Treasury stands at 239d, Economy brings us 44.0 per month, with 24.3 from taxation, 17.0 from the production of goods, and 2.7 in monthly trade balances.

All efforts are plied into improving national infrastructure at this point, as our stability is hale and healthy.

Our max army size is figured at 42,000, and we are currently fielding 21,998 Infantry, and 18.014 Horse (40,012 total).

Compared to France (which in our eyes, is the only comparison that matters), and adjusting for Inflation, we find France's economy at: 47.6 to our 41.2...closing the gap, but they are still our betters....sadly.

Nonetheless, 1532 is a year of reflection and review....our colonial efforts are making slow, steady progress, and our economly is robust....and climbing.

[Velociryx]

Analysis of our situation and standing....

[Velociryx]

further looks at our current standing....

[Velociryx]

Economic Standing - World's biggest economies

[Velociryx]

By 1533, we are feeling quite secure in our position in the north eastern section of North America (where the bulk of our New World holdings are centered), and so, the St. Laurent Cavalry Command is ordered by ship to the Carolinas to help oversee the safety and security of our colonial efforts there as we seek further expansion in the New World, and this....pretty well summarizes how we're spending the bulk of our time, and where most of our money is going each year.

[Velociryx]

The next ten years for us are....pretty much more of the same. We are a nation trying hard to grow up. Trying to become more than we are and plying all our skills and efforts into carving out a place for ourselves in this new world we never even knew the existence of until our victory over England. Oh, certainly there were stories of the exploits and explorations of other nations, but without maps and a means to get to those far-off places, they remained just that to us.

Stories.

Now though, they were real....real and all too likely to fall into the hands of our chief rival, France, if we did not act swiftly and with skill to secure them for ourselves, and we had no illusions....armed with the vast power that these unclaimed lands represented, our future would be snuffed out in short order by a simply unstoppable France. So yes, we were colonizing for the sheer love of adventure and discovery, but that was only part of the story....we were also colonizing for our very lives....in an attemptt to become the equals of France, so that on the cold, terrifying day when they tried to end us, we would be strong enough to stand against them.

And during this time, we DID see our labors in the New World bear fruit, as our brave and hardy soldiers in our new world garrisons fought savages and cleared the way for our peaceful settlers in such places as Santee and the Carolinas, the Islands of the Bahamas, and Guadeloupe, while the English trading posts in some other areas (Barbados), are upgraded to colonies in their own right.

We sent traders to Caniapiscau and Ungava in the Canadas as well, in an effort to fill up and lay claim to as much of the New World as we knew about, with the goal then of digging in and developing those holdings to the best of our abililties.

Our Colonial ambitions take a minor, hopeful pause when a new leader assumes the Scottish throne in December, 1542....Scotland BLEEDS for lack of a leader with diplomatic finesse, and we are hopeful that Mary, the Queen of the Scots, will at last restore some semblence of diplomatic fortitude to our nation....alas....no.