Stuff I've learned....

[Velociryx]

::nodding:: excellent advice, and good points....especially if you're playing under "Chaos Kills" rules in the IGC....::shivers::

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Slow day at work leads to more musings....

More EU Musings….

Planning ahead:
Yin touched on something very important in his comparison of Civ2 and EU, and that is just how much care must be taken with your finances year-to-year. Blow too much of your money, and you’ll very quickly find yourself in trouble, especially if suddenly faced with a hostile enemy and the prospect of invading armies.

Also, another layer of complexity is added when you consider the time it takes to implement economic improvements. The simple act of promoting a Bailiff takes a solid year and yet, you must part with those hard-earned fifty ducats up front. Worse, is the Legal Council…two years to promote, train, and find suitable facilities…and double the cost. Fortunately things get a bit better from there, as Governors take only one month from the time you pay for their installation (campaign fund?), and their built in deflationary effect is immediate upon their installation. In a similar vein, your manufactories will take two years to build (and that’s after you save for 5-10 years to be able to afford them!). All that to say, when planning your strategy, it’s not enough to plan 3-5 years down the road….that’s just the tip of the iceberg….no, if you want to take your nation of choice to great heights, then you almost need a well-considered plan from the outset. And, that plan needs to be multi-faceted. At a minimum, you should be thinking in terms of:

Who are my natural allies and enemies? (at game start, who do I have good/bad relations with).

Am I content with that, or do I want to re-draw that map? (and if so, do I have the cash I’ll need to pull it off).

Is there a change of religion in my future? If so, which of my goals are best accomplished under my current religion, and which are best served by waiting until the switch?

Naval or Continental power, primarily? (or hybrid?)

Colonial power, or not really?

What’s the overall mood of the region I’m in? Is it tooth-and-nail warring, or relatively peaceful?

Am I the big-dog in my region, or a guppy? (or somewhere in-between?)

What are my long term goals for the game?

Tax-wise, do I currently have the tax-base to accomplish the goals listed above? If no, how easy or hard will it be to fix that?

If I AM looking to expand my tax base, do I want to take the diplomatic approach (diplo-annexing nearby neighbors), or just overrun them?

If I overrun, am I ready for the Bad Boy retribution wars?

And that’s just for starters….there are TONS of other things to be thinking about, but if you don’t have ready answers for at least these questions, the game will likely be fraught with difficulty…..

-=Vel=-

[faded glory]

Muslims cannot change religon. Sunni's are locked in eternal combat with the Shii'tes of Persia and Malemukes. And other minority Shii'te minoritys in Sunni nations. Mosul and Kirkuik are Shii'te. Yet Iraq is a Sunni empire. Thus she must supress tones of revolts.

I enjoy being small nomadic nations like Sibir, Hedjaz, Hafsid and Oman. They are at a disadvantage. Only recieving 3 colonists every 15 years. Funds are a bit lower. But infantry is cheap and cavalry is even cheaper. But there is a constant struggle between Shi'ite and Sunni. Provinces switch there religons from Sunni to Shii'te or Shii'te to Sunni on a yearly basis. the player must balance this out

[Velociryx]

somewhat dated (cos of patches) but still might be useful...

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

'nother bump...note the disclaimer just above this post.

-=Vel=-