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]

Re: Re: Rule Britannia!

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).