Well, they are also partially from Northern France so that is not entirely Belgian either.
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Well, they are also partially from Northern France so that is not entirely Belgian either.
sorry, guys. The only true whiskey is Scottish, the only true wine is French and the only true fries are Belgian. at least leave us those, ok? pretty please?
I think you'll find the Scots brought uisque from Ireland.
As to the chapter heading, that is a liaison too dangerous to consider. I prefer the more modern reference.
Kha/a/a/a/an
Kha/a/a/a/a/a/an
Kha/a/a/a/an
Kha/a/a/a/a/a/an
Kha/a/a/a/an
Repaired your title for you
I am quite aware that they are from Belgium.
Your Europe is a bit messed up... but at least you mostly sorted the Korean problem. So do we get our land war with Russia now?
Yes, yes you do.
But if I don't accept, what kind of AAR would this be? A boring one, that's the kind.
Thanks very much! I've always found it much easier to be funny just by being generally extremely cynical, which is paradoxically (hah!) why I find it so hard to write Comedy AARs.
Show those Russians that no Europeans can meddle in East Asia without feeling the wrath of Japan! You've already sacrificed a few ships so your troops should be safe.
And more ships shall be sacrificed!
Somebody mentions it later, but it's supposed to be a reference to style of preparing them. In Russian, they're simply called "potato fries," but it sounds way more sinister because they use the German word for potato.
A slaughterhouse it shall be, no doubt about that!
Eternal optimism! I like it.
Yes, I think you're right.
Thanks very much!
I am learning so much about french fries today!
sorry, guys. The only true whiskey is Scottish, the only true wine is French and the only true fries are Belgian. at least leave us those, ok? pretty please?
Sorry, I'm with Davout; I prefer Irish whiskey to Scottish (although both are excellent).
Waffles are pretty awesome.
Well, they are also partially from Northern France so that is not entirely Belgian either.
Sorry, misterbean.
Well done! I didn't remember the first reference until after you mentioned it. I was going for this glorious text adventure game.
The screenshots are done, it will be a matter of but an hour or two before there is an update!
If it throws any light on the origin of the phrase "French fries", it's more likely to originate from the USA than the UK. We (British) call them chips.
Chips are closer to what Americans call "steak fries." I would not sully the name of "chips" by comparing them to, say, the fries from McDonald's. (Do you call those chips too?)
Let's see... something else, something else... oh, right. UPDATE!
Chapter 20, part 2: The value of strategic cowardice
I know some of you were envisioning a globetrotting war, the likes of which the world has never seen. This, sadly, is not that war. Now, I had a good reason and a bad reason for fighting the war. The good reason is that I genuinely thought, after careful comparison of the two sides, that I’d have a good shot at winning, particularly if France helped me out. The bad reason was that, honestly, I felt if I didn’t take on at least one massive European power I’d look like a wimp.
Here are the actual sides:
As war leader, I thought about calling in France, and basically got the “no way in hell” modifier because of the “distance between our borders.” So, I didn’t. But, at least none of Russia’s allies honored either. I have a much more powerful navy, they have a much larger army. Should make for a good matchup!
My early strategy is simple. I need to find out where Russia’s army is. I’ve already got the Pacific Coast blockaded. So, I’m going to advance cautiously into Siberia.
This is intended to be, at best, a probing attack. A quick peek shows Russian has MIL tech 29 – to my MIL tech 23 – but I have Western units. Russian national ideas are good for tons and tons of manpower. No surprise there. Japanese national ideas, however, are good for defeating larger armies. I notice we both have Offensive filled out (so force march), but they don’t have Quality. They do have Defensive filled out. This will become troubling for reasons I did not fully understand until later.
Fortunately, my Chinese fortress in Heilongjiang is finished; my next mission is to claim Liadong. Patience. Russia first, then back to Korea. Russia decides to troll my merchant marine with her threedecker.
Hah hah, very funny Russia. Jerks. Note that I’ve basically never upgraded my trade fleet, so these are either Early Frigates or, possibly, Caravels. The Russians are pouring into Xi.
40,000+ Russians is a nightmare for Xi, certainly, but if my plan works, Xi will take a number of punches, I’ll pick off the odd army, blockade them, maybe even try a daring naval invasion on St. Petersburg. Wouldn’t that be epic?
What the… oh, come on! Russia has ninjas? Divisions of ninjas? I could maybe – MAYBE – buy the idea of a company of ninjas, or even a regiment. But 40,000 ninjas is a bit much. 20,000 have to drag around field artillery, and that has to affect your stealth. I genuinely did not see this army. I have no idea where it came from, even now. The important thing is popped up out of nowhere (doubtless aided by Forced March) and stackwiped me.
So, let’s do some math. We’ve now seen 85,000 Russian troops. The entire Russian army is a little over 300,000. They are sending over 20% of their army into this war. That is not good.
Then, Russia decides to throw in another 48,000. Force marching them. We are now tangling with more than a third of the entire Russian army. I take the only sensible response.
New plan: tremble in terror. Pick off the odd army when I get a chance, hope that there’s a bottom to Russian manpower (hah hah hah!) or, failing that, if I can hold out for long enough, somebody in Europe will attack Russia. I will use my fleet, not to blockade the incredibly poor Pacific Coast of Russia, but to protect Sakhalin.
XI. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THESE PEOPLE. I answer this call because I don’t want Xi to fight Zhou and Russia alone. I’m still hoping Xi could distract the odd Russian. To show how much of a loser I am now, Zhou’s pathetic 25 ships drive off my 15 light ships. I didn’t lose a ship, but still, that bothers me. Upgrades to the light ships are coming after this war.
I see a chance now: Russia has started to divide up her army for sieges. My army darts across the strait near Sakhalin and…
So, did you know they put Military Drill in the Defensive group? I sure didn’t. Also, Russia has Military Tradition. If not for my 10% bonus for being Shinto… man. In any event, I would still have won this battle.
BUT THE RUSSIANS KEEP BRINGING MORE SOLDIERS WHY ARE THERE SO MANY RUSSIANS IN THE FAR EAST. I realize this is probably just the combination of the 85,000 we saw earlier. But if it isn’t, Russia has now sent over half of her entire army to fight Japan and Xi. In a way, that’s kind of flattering, but in another way, why isn’t Europe jumping all over this?
Needless to say, not wanting another stackwipe, I take the moral victory and run.
Then, Russia gets a bit greedy. Seeing that it has won almost everywhere, it thinks that it can win without overwhelming odds.
I cautiously scan the area – there are no other Russian armies in the area.
…
CHAAARRRGGGEEEE!!!!
Oh man. This is probably the most satisfying battle I’ve had so far in EUIV. I took a beating (damn that Russian morale), but pound for pound, Japanese forces took on Russian forces, won, and paid them back with interest. I start chasing the remnants of a few other small siege stacks and get some stackwipes of revenge.
Russia, however, has seized Kamchatka and Heilonjiang (so much for that fort, GUYS). I even pay Zhou back for their earlier insolence, with the help of Xi.
Okay, so only the 15 or so trade ships are mine, and I didn’t plan it. A victory is, nonetheless, a victory.
And Russia finds still more soldiers to throw at me. While I’ve been wiping out smaller stacks, they’ve been building up. But the Russian morale, combined with superior numbers of artillery and cavalry for flanking, costs me big time. And, this army can’t flee. I try to get my fleet in position to evacuate them, a la Dunkirk. But now hordes of tiny Russian armies are flooding Korea. The few remaining soldiers are actually starting to board the ships when the Russians bring up enough forces and stackwipe them. It was kind of heart breaking.
Then, to be a jerk, that threedecker sinks three more of my light ships. I am trying to run this shit little down to the best of my ability and he just evades while my giant fleets scurry after him helplessly. WHY DOESN’T THIS HAPPEN TO THE RUSSIAN ARMY WHY CAN’T MY FLEETS HAVE FORCE SAIL
Your brief comic interlude.
Korea is now an OPM.
That, on the other hand, is a lot of Russians.
Let’s not forget the “Kamchata is ours!” army either.
I had two options at this point. I could a) hire a bunch of mercenaries, completely destroying my economy (which has still not fully recovered from the revolution), b) hope Xi didn’t seek a separate peace and let all of those soldiers come straight for Japanese Korea and Manchuria, or c) cut my losses and focus on Zhou.
I chose C.
Here’s the good news. Of those three provinces I lost, two of them are a base tax of 2. Heilongjiang and the fortress of worthlessness is worth 6. However, if I get my hands on Pyonyang, that will almost make up for it right there, give myself a shorter frontier, and give me time to rebuild. Plus, I have a core on Sanxing, so I can always stab Russia in the back the next time they get sucked into Europe.
We’ll have more adventures of Japan (with many, many fewer Russians) on Wednesday!
Damn Russia, always annoying when I play Japan...
To answer your question re: potato-based terminology, traditionally we would call them chips, but it is common nowadays to call them fries if they're served in an "American" setting e.g. McDonalds.
To answer your question re: potato-based terminology, traditionally we would call them chips, but it is common nowadays to call them fries if they're served in an "American" setting e.g. McDonalds.
Excellent. This is useful knowledge, as I shall be traveling to London this winter.
Those Europeans always ruin everything. I expect an epic victory against at least one of them by the end of this AAR.
hahahha nicely owned ;-).
Hmm I thought I told you about defensive when we were discussing your first military idea group, didn't I? the idea group has some very good things, the morale boost being one of the strongest ones in the game.
One thing about morale which can be misleading is (and worth the mention), what actually morale does? It prolongs the battles. So you will be in a battle longer. What is tricky about this, since obviously the longer you hold the higher chance for win?
Well if you are in a situation when your units are outclassed (better tactics of enemy, better unit pips) the higher morale will do only one thing... even if you win, you won't like the win. It can and will incur heavy casualties.
So it's good to watch for morale in situation where you have military parity, but if you won't... morale won't save you and sometimes actually can help to kill you.
Hmm I thought I told you about defensive when we were discussing your first military idea group, didn't I? the idea group has some very good things, the morale boost being one of the strongest ones in the game.
One thing about morale which can be misleading is (and worth the mention), what actually morale does? It prolongs the battles. So you will be in a battle longer. What is tricky about this, since obviously the longer you hold the higher chance for win?
Well if you are in a situation when your units are outclassed (better tactics of enemy, better unit pips) the higher morale will do only one thing... even if you win, you won't like the win. It can and will incur heavy casualties.
So it's good to watch for morale in situation where you have military parity, but if you won't... morale won't save you and sometimes actually can help to kill you.
If there's anything else you need to know about Ukogbani, feel free to ask.
Port Arthur reveng'd
Do not bring a katana
To a shashka fight
Do not bring a katana
To a shashka fight
One would have thought Tukhachevksy would have taught you that the Japanese are no match for the might of Russia.
Well, Optimism is an Innovative idea, which I guess shows the levels of imagination needed to sustain such a notion...
That was very interesting, and more than anything has really made me want to play a Japan game myself. I like it when AARs make me feel like playing the game. I probably would have made the same choice you did, although I would also have tried to see how long the coastal forts could have held first. Imagine Russian WE skyrocketing due to attrition, it would have been ever so satisfying to see someone in Europe take a chunk out of them. If you got fleet basing rights from some Baltic minor, you could even have permanently blockaded St. Petersburg. It would have been epic... On the other hand, your WE would probably have skyrocketed too due to the occupied territory, which would have ruined your economy.
Oh, just noticed your chapter heading (for some reason always the last thing I read), it made me smile. Thank you.
And just to flog a dead horse mercilessly. In Denmark "French potatoes" usually refer to what Americans call chips, that is to say crisps, unless we just call them chips, because to be fair, American English is the variety we always hear on the TV. Meanwhile French fries are called pommesfrittes, which is just French for fried potatoes (well, apples technically), so I think everyone, not just the Americans, are a bit confused on the subject.
That was very interesting, and more than anything has really made me want to play a Japan game myself. I like it when AARs make me feel like playing the game. I probably would have made the same choice you did, although I would also have tried to see how long the coastal forts could have held first. Imagine Russian WE skyrocketing due to attrition, it would have been ever so satisfying to see someone in Europe take a chunk out of them. If you got fleet basing rights from some Baltic minor, you could even have permanently blockaded St. Petersburg. It would have been epic... On the other hand, your WE would probably have skyrocketed too due to the occupied territory, which would have ruined your economy.
Oh, just noticed your chapter heading (for some reason always the last thing I read), it made me smile. Thank you.
And just to flog a dead horse mercilessly. In Denmark "French potatoes" usually refer to what Americans call chips, that is to say crisps, unless we just call them chips, because to be fair, American English is the variety we always hear on the TV. Meanwhile French fries are called pommesfrittes, which is just French for fried potatoes (well, apples technically), so I think everyone, not just the Americans, are a bit confused on the subject.
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I guess Russia isn't a Paper Tiger and that you didn't have the same luck as Japan did in 1905!
Also, that Portugal province just seems a bit lost up there...
Also, that Portugal province just seems a bit lost up there...
You have brought shame upon yourself and your ancestors. You must commit glorious seppuku.
Attack Russia again, that'll do it!
Attack Russia again, that'll do it!
Yeah, thought so. Still very unfortunate. Russia being able to bring over their whole army without even the Ottos doing anything is ridiculous! There would have no way to support all these troop in places where barely a person lived. Them being able to bring over their whole army is as ahistorical as the thousands of troops the Europeans bring via the sea!
just wanted to add something about the military units... unlike other tech groups the Eastern tech group has pretty good military units, they are weaker a bit on the lvl 30 military tech, but in the case of you having military tech 23 and russia tech 29
your infantry was 17 pips, their infantry 20, your cavalry 18 pips, their 20. So you were really weaker
some tables to be found here http://www.eu4wiki.com/Land_units if anyone wants to check the tech progression.
that's btw why Russia/Ottomans don't really need to westernize, especially Russia since it gets tech discount from western neighbors (vassals?) and military tech 30 is like 19th century so if you want to conquer vast amount of western Europe you can do with very comparable units much earlier.
your infantry was 17 pips, their infantry 20, your cavalry 18 pips, their 20. So you were really weaker
some tables to be found here http://www.eu4wiki.com/Land_units if anyone wants to check the tech progression.
that's btw why Russia/Ottomans don't really need to westernize, especially Russia since it gets tech discount from western neighbors (vassals?) and military tech 30 is like 19th century so if you want to conquer vast amount of western Europe you can do with very comparable units much earlier.
This is a historical lucky game and Russia is AI - no way they're still Eastern.
That looked very horrifying...all those stacks of Russians...and the first few battles you didn't even scratch them!!!
Definitely need to go after Korea to make the people of Japan feel a little better with an easier victory...
Definitely need to go after Korea to make the people of Japan feel a little better with an easier victory...
well this part of report "This is intended to be, at best, a probing attack. A quick peek shows Russian has MIL tech 29 – to my MIL tech 23 – but I have Western units." made me believe Russia is still eastern.
If Avindian knew he was going against western units with 6 levels deficit, then... how to describe it and don't get banned? hm?
You will have problems with the same tech group and 1 level difference (since tactics, etc, etc improves each level, but there are jump points where you can afford 1 level difference), but he would go basically with 2 types of units difference!