The Grand BazAAR - An IN Castillian AAR

Lord Strange said:

Excellent work as usaul. Hmmm, I do hate the miorities event.

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It's historical, if annoying. The main thing is to immediately plop down a fort so that when they revolt (they will, given how long you can't convert them), the Zealots don't run amok converting all your colonies before you can get an army there.

Chapter 37: Iberian Hegemony

July 2, 1539: A quick look around shows that Gelre fell to Catholic Zealots, and is allied to Brabant and Holland. Brunswick is HRE, and Portugal and the Mamluks will join in from their warning. Since Gelre fell to Zealots, they're Catholic and can be excommunicated (they pissed off the Pope too much for instant forgiveness)...all we have to do is get rid of the military access. 1 month to kickoff!

July 28: The Ottoman Empire declares a preventative war against Spain, despite not sharing a border. As you can see from the map - we're close, if not actually bordering. Gotta kill them some day - might as well start now - at least I can take Judea away. OE brings in Silesia, Golden Horde, Qara Koyunlu, Bosnia, Serbia, Kurland, and Anhalt.


August 15: Spain has the pope excommunicate the Duke of Gelre for the crime of having once been Protestant. Christ may be forgiving, Spain is not.


September 1: Overjoyed at the thought of war, Spain gains stability (bringing us to 2).

September 16: DoW Gelre. Brabant, Holland, Brunswick, Portugal and the Mamluks join in the party. Now we're talkin! 14 against 4 (Cleves, Palatinate, and Urbino are our allied vassals). The Mamluks take the lead - somehow, I would be worried as a Christian German minor if you're expecting a lot of help from the infidel Mamluks.


October 1: Cauca becomes self sustaining, and Connecticut cores.

October 14: Brabant falls to the Assaulting Doomstack, giving up Limburg, cores, and 450 gold.


December 3: Gelre falls to the doomstack and is annexed. A battle off the coast ends with the war, and we capture a caravel.


January 27, 1540: Jenne assimilates.

July 1: Persia's CoT in Hormuz goes out of business.

July 18: The assaulting doomstack takes Lisboa, and Portugal is annexed. Iberia is all mine!


July 20: Boundary dispute gives us a core on London. "Yeah, you didn't notice the line in the last treaty where you gave up your capital?"

August 27: The heretics in Lancashire convert.

September 1: Manhattan cores. The war in Egypt involves many Muslims starving to death in a scorched Libya. The war with OE is just a blockade at the moment, although they have troops in Libya as well. In Germany, my vassals are kicking the crap out of Brunswick and Anhalt.

October 21: The assaulting doomstack is dropped off in Mecklenburg and marches down to finish off Brunswick - they cede Osnabruck, Brunswick, and Altmark (which they just got by annexing Magdeburg). They also pay 900 ducats.


November 1: Trade 18. 3 more levels!

November 9: Anhalt falls to the doomstack and a Brandenburgian army, and they are annexed.


December 1: OE builds a CoT in Wallachia. I'll need to check soon to figure out how much that hurts Alexandria - I may be able to kill Alexandria soon.

January 10, 1541: A very bloody battle in Cyrenaica ends in a close victory. Here's the advantage to having a stupidly large empire: we lose 10405 men and gain .1 WE. They lose 13000+...and get 2.25 WE. The tradition gain differential is the downside.


It also highlights my tech woes: after I get Marketplaces, I need to beef up Land - I'm only 4 levels ahead of Ahmadnagar, and near parity with OE and Mamluks. On the flip side, after I get marketplaces, my income will be much much better.

February 1: Tucujulandia cores.

February 3: Golden Horde begs for peace. They're too far to deal with now - we'll get them later, so we accept.

April 13: Holland has fallen to rebels again, and I can't take their CoT, so we let them have white peace when they ask.

April 27: The Hindu in Surat and the Heretics in Lincoln convert.

May 15: Spread of Protestantism: Rouergue converts.

July 31: Yorkshire converts.

August 1: Cayenne converts.

September 17: Gloucestershire converts.

November 24: Our 3/3/3/2 general dies, so we get another: 2/4/2/1. Nice!

December 1: the CoT in Samarkand goes out of business. Norway opens a CoT in Akureyri. Rio de Janeiro becomes self sustaining.

The war in Egypt has turned in our favor: the Mamluks retreated the wrong way after an assault landing battle in Libya, and lost their army completely. The offensive into Alexandria and to retake our Egyptian provinces begins!

In Europe, it's time to start another war - I just need to sit down tonight to figure out where.

Feedback

I noticed I missed some feedback...

elbasto: Thank you! Remember: Say no to drugs - say yes to AARs!

Didaa: It's always good to prevent the AI from getting the nation forming events - the +2 centralization and special decisions from them along with luck can make them annoying. As for the CoT, all your CoT are belong to us!

Lord Strange: Africa is good for conversions, due to the number of Animist and colonizable provinces.

Enewald: Colonizing + converting pagans + cultural assimilation...but that slice of pie will shrink once I eat the rest of the world.

antracer: Thank you! I specifically chose the goal in the AAR to try something completely different.

Jambor: I not only have a bigger army than Ming, I didn't have to use Rastar's method of destroying Ming to do it. :rofl:

aldriq said:

Strange bedfellows indeed :wacko:

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They forced nations to release Anhalt, Silesia, and Kurland - that's why they're allied.

Lord Strange said:

Excellent work as ever- soon all of the worlds trade will be yours!

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Muhahahahaha!

Chapter 38: Chocolate eating watchmakers attack!

January 1, 1542: The Egyptian front is best described in this screenshot, where the only visible enemy forces are fleeing to Cairo where they will die soon. My assaulting doomstack is on transports and headed for Gaza, to set up a chokepoint.


WE check: OE - 12.73, Mamluks - 10.32, Me - 0.72.

April 1: Unami cores.

June 1: Santo Amaro becomes self-sustaining. The doomstack has taken Gaza, Sinai, and Al Kerak. We'll pull back now and focus on killing troops.

July 23: A Saint performs a miracle. We take the +1 stability, since we are full Narrowminded.

August 1: Delaware cores.

December 15: Influenced Decisions event. There's some nuisance events for republics - in this case, I have either 50% chance to lose stab, or lose 5 prestige. Not a hard choice: prestige is cheap.

February 1, 1543: Conoy cores.

April 6: Liege warns us. We cry.

May 1: Government 15. We can now build courthouses.

August 1: Powhatan cores. The war in Egypt is down to sieges and indecisive battles where I bleed the OE and Mamluks. Important news: Alexandria's value is under 300. Guess what I'm taking this war? As you can see, Tabouk has fallen, and offscreen, so has Mecca. We embargo Alexandra to drive the value down more.


September 12: Dadra cores.

September 23: Switzerland declares war, bringing in the Pope, Naples, and Venice. 6 provinces in total against around 350...


Good news, though: Rome has a university, and Naples has a refinery. I mean...I'm about to have another university and refinery...all I have to do is raise another assaulting stack and wipe out some small armies.

October 28: Election! Gabriel Palafox has nice stats: 9/6/5.


November 1: Our 3435 ducat loan comes due. We pay it off. Our income has jumped 15% since we took the loan, so we come out ahead!

January 1, 1544: Pamlico cores. The war against Switzerland is at the "kill army" phase. Part 1 involved getting crushed by the technologically superior Swiss armies. I can afford it - without taking war taxes, I'd have to lose a lot of battles for WE to become a problem, due to my size.

January 27: I take Judea and Tabouk from the OE, along with 300 ducats. I have plenty of ways to continue this war once I take candy from the baby...er...provinces from the Mamluks. The problem is the durn tropical provinces.


January 28: A look at Tabouk: I took it just in time, as there is 1 defender in the garrison against the Mamluks! I wipe out the besieging army before he can surrender.


February 1: Conquest of Jerusalem takes effect. +1 prestige, +.5 missionaries.

April 1: Our 4 shock general dies, so we buy another. This one has 4 maneuver/2 siege, which at this stage of the game may well be more important. The 2 shock is just icing.

May 1: Trade 19. 2 more levels!

July 1: Santee cores. The Assaulting doomstack drives to Damascus, leaving the Mamluks with the Upper Nile valley and some provinces in Iraq. Due to the tropical modifier and my tech woes, I can't really afford to send an all infantry stack near the Mamluks remaining army, which is strong enough that it's holding my besieging cav armies off.

September 1: Kabylia and Gafsa core.

September 7: Rome falls to assault. The CoT is worth 468.61, so we embargo before annexing.

September 26: Naples falls to assault and is annexed.


October 1: Cartagena becomes self sustaining. Scotland declares independence from England in the Western Isles (I had nothing to do with it).

October 8: Rome's CoT value drops to 130.76. We annex and destroy the CoT.


November 1: The CoT in Sofala stagnates again. This time, Persia owns it. I don't know how Persia got it, though...but they won't keep Sofala long - my colonies have rounded the Cape.

December 25: Merry Christmas! Venice cedes Friuli and 525 ducats.


December 26: Switzerland gives Schwyz and 575 ducats.


January 1, 1545: The new Trade Map of Europe. By killing Rome, I've made Venice's CoT worth 1476 ducats - they're one rich OPM with that extra 28 tax!


After this, the session crashed and I went to bed. Given how slow the invasion of the Upper Nile is going, I'm going to peace out with the Mamluks, then DoW Algiers to bring in the OE and Mamluks again and take my core on their capital.

Throne: I agree!

PrawnStar: Yeah, the Mamluks are powerful enough to put up a fight and catch small stacks.

In my opinion, if you're playing a single player Grand Campaign, fire almost never becomes more useful than Shock and Siege, unless you're still being challenged in the 1600-1700's. By 1700, an inf+art stack with 4k cav for the wings can probably murder you with a good fire general.

If you start in the 1600's or later, or if you're playing multiplayer (and thus have to worry about actual challenges as the game goes on), then an inf+art stack with a strong Fire/Siege general can definitely be used to slowly push an opponent back and assault fortresses as it goes.

Lord Strange: Andalucia's value hasn't grown - it's still hovering around 2700 ducats.

aldriq: Not yet. If I embargo them, they'll still have well over 300 ducats.

Blockades and Looting

It's extremely useful to know exactly how large an effect what you do has on your opponent (or vice-versa), so let's take a look at how blockading and looting can bring your opponent to their knees.

Step 1: Looting:

looted = {
population_growth = -0.05 #5% penalty if looted
max_attrition = 5 #Maximum Attrition is increased by 5
local_tax_modifier = -0.5 #50% less tax income.
regiment_recruit_speed = 0.3
ship_recruit_speed = 0.3

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Looting has 2 economic effects: The looting tag (shown above) shows the 50% tax penalty (remember percentages are additive in EU3, not multiplicative), and an 80% supply penalty that affects production.

Step 2: Blockading:

blockaded =
{
local_tariffs = -1.0 #crippled here.
local_tax_modifier = -0.75 #75% penalty if blockaded
local_trade_income_modifier = -0.75 #75% less trade income.

regiment_recruit_speed = 0.2
ship_recruit_speed = 0.2

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Ow! If it's distant overseas, you get a 100% penalty tariffs. If it's local, you *only* take a 75% tax and trade income % penalty.

Tack those together:
A looted and blockaded coastal province loses 125% tax and 75% production - even at stability 3 and Centralization 5, you'll only get 15% of your tax income (if you have no revolt risk!).

Now, how bad is that?
* When you take a loan, you get 6 * monthly income. By looting your opponent and blockading them, you can easily cut their income in half or better, which also has the effect of halving the money they can get from loans.

* The recruit speed modifier is hefty, since it is additive to the WE recruit speed modifier (and 100% blockade gives .18 WE/month). At 10 WE, a looted and blockaded province will take 150% longer to recruit a unit than an unblockaded and unlooted province at 0 WE.

* Because blockades reduce trade income, it also lowers the value of goods going to a CoT. An example where a blockade can backfire: In the early game. England's provinces all trade at Vlaandern. If Burgundy managed a full blockade of England, they'd reduce their own CoT's value, their trade income, and their own tax value!

In effect, don't enact a blockade that would reduce your trade income, unless you need it militarily.

* A second-hand effect of a blockade: a blockaded CoT may lose some of the overseas provinces that trade there (again, reducing the value). Always, always, always keep your CoTs free from blockade, and work to blockade enemy CoTs.

Chapter 39: Rekilling France

January 1, 1545: Marching through tropical East Africa gets boring, so we go for peace. 79 War Score gets us Alexandria (and its soon-to-be-dead CoT), Asyut, Diamientia and Gaza, splitting the Mamluks into 5 parts. Alexandria's CoT is destroyed the next day.



The current world map:


An interesting look at trade. The area's trade is wonky since the nearest CoTs are in Sofala (SE Africa), Astrakhan (GH), Andalucia, Wallachia (OE), and Hormuz.


One side effect of wiping out the pope? I can excommunicate anyone! Muhahahaha! Cyprus is the first victim, since they are guaranteed by France. I don't want to DoW France directly, because they are allied to Poland. Poland and Lithuania use Cav-heavy armies, and have a sizable tech advantage over me.

January 2: Excommunicate Cyprus. This runs me out of diplomats, so no war until March. This gives me time to move armies.


January 3: Enact the Heretico Comburnedo Act. Burning heretics = .5 missionaries and +8% stab cost. Burn, baby, burn!

January 14: The Mamluks move their capital to Suakin. Cairo is soooo mine. The AI tends to move their capital if you surround it. This is rather dumb if the capital has a port, but go figure.


February 1: Mamluks build a CoT in Cairo. Just paint "Kick me" on your foreheads, Mamluks.

February 3: Cologne warns us. They tire of independence. Liege has already warned us.

February 7: Fresh off warning us, Cologne gets the Papal State event, and becomes the Papal State. The pope is going down...again!

March 1: Moose Cree cores. The war is delayed, as France is marching armies towards Denmark for their war there, and their army is currently in Osnabruck. Rather than have them immediately sitting in my province when the war starts, I move 2K infantry there, and wait for them to move out.

March 15: France has moved, so we declare war on Cyprus. Cavalry is ready to take Cyprus, and 2 assaulting doomstacks are ready to munch their way through France. 2 16 regiment armies of cavalry stand by to fight off the French armies. Irony of ironies: the Papal States lead the war, not France.


March 16: Rebels rise in Gaza in reaction to the war, so first we have to kill them...*then* go invade Cyprus. Grr.

March 19: Osnabruck is scorched, and infantry moves back. Due to this stack's relative lack of infantry, and Osnabruck's tendency to have Winter, this keep them occupied for a bit.


April 1: Santana becomes self-sustaining.

April 3: The occupation of France begins as Dauphine falls in 12 days. The key to assaulting? Siege generals, numbers, and morale.

April 14: Gaza converts.

May 15: The usefulness of vassals shows itself, as the Palatinate, Cleves, and Brandenburg take Westfalen from the Pope.

May 17: France's rebuilt navy dies in the Channel. Wasn't that a great investment (5 big ships, 11 light ships)?

June 1: Turks Islands core.

June 12: Spread of Protestantism to Gelre.

June 20: After an initial battle where my cavalry charged wearing bull's-eyes painted on their chests, France's main army is dislodged from Hainaut.


June 28: The status of the war: notice how busy my assault stacks have been...and see the 30 regiments about to die?


July 1: Gobir cores. Kisarna becomes self-sustaining.

July 9: French armies limp into Cambray at different speeds, dying as they come...23 die today...

July 13: and 7 die today...

August 1: The SE third of France is now occupied, except for Toulouse which is under siege by 2000 infantry. With their armies sieging Osnabruck and Anhalt, France is screwed again.

August 6: Having figured out they can't win with war, France decides to embargo Spain. This will pull all 0 French provinces trading in Andalucia out, and affect all 0 Spanish merchants in Paris. Take that, you Spanish devils!

August 18: Ottawa converts.

September 30: Delta converts.

November 1: Trade 20 (1 more to Marketplaces!). Marrakech, Damagaram, Kanem, Bagirmi, and Mandara core.

November 18: I'm about to max out my diplomats, so I cancel the vassalization of Urbino. The idea here: they're doing me no good in Italy, they have a manufactory I want, and there's no reason to keep them around any longer.


December 1: Bahamas cores.

December 2: Election! Gabriel Palafox dies early, so we elect Bartolome Osorio, who is a gifted administrator. Just don't let him talk to anyone or plan any invasions.


December 15: Huron converts.

December 26: Protestants flock to Sayultecas. Maybe they don't like being burned?

How will the new year treat Spain? Will France be humbled again? Who will the next war be against? Will anybody expect the Spanish Inquisition?

Enewald: That's a hope...

unddu: There is absolutely no way that Spain would move their capital at this point to the tropics. We'll just eat the penalties...