Cosmopoli-Taint; A Blue Within Blue World - France AAR

Japan doesn't have the best odds in this war...


Malacca shouldn't have much luck, either.


Another Fine Arts Academy is built in Armor.


NiederLausitz is claimed for France.


As is Samogitia.


Malacca is down to their capitol.


Delhi begs France for help, and we oblige.


Majahapit, Rajputana's ally, felt battling France wasn't enough, and charges into Champa.


This might increase our BadBoy a little. At least our colonies in Indonesia are fortified by now.


We get a chance to Centralize, and lose some stability for our efforts.


Delhi is vanquished.


Bohemia seeks to chastice the rowdy peasant rebels holding Brandenburg. France feels this is uncalled for, and intervenes.


The Balkans can only be at peace when it is all French. Some wayward Serbians agree, resulting in a claim.


Since we occupy the province, we grab the chance to redraw the boundaries a little.


However, when Gondwana attempt to defect to France directly, we refuse them - for a good reason, which we'll get to shortly. Want to guess why?

sprites said:

you got a core on that province?

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If that was the case, there would have been a screenshot of the Boundary Dispute first.

dem61s said:

How many "diplomat" leaders did you get that were above 7 in military? It looked like an awful lot in a row.

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It's all random, even it it seems that way. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I'll try to remember a check once I reach 1820.

Would you look at that... Our reputation is almost cleared! We've won several wars, but we've held back on making peace, because...


...of this little decision, which we can now finally enact. Slavery is abolished from French borders, which means the good almost disappears from the world.


Immediately afterwards, we throw around mass annexation offers. Wurttemberg and Baden accepts.


Taodeni is the first province to change trade goods. The rest follow in short order, and the market soon overflows with grain and ivory.


Hungary is removed completely.


That's two points for diploannexations, three and a half for Hungary... minus the time it took to get a new diplomat.


The Stadtholder has a habit of sending people he doesn't like much to far away places. As a result of this influx, Dali goes cosmopolitaine.


Japan is the next nation to be peaced.


A Diplomacy candidate, blessed in all fields but Diplomacy. Bleh.


Another diplomat arrives and is sent to Bohemia.


The next one goes to Majapahit. Java and Bali becomes French, since they graciously moved their court some years earlier.



We claim a chunk of Korea.


Another diplomat, another peace.


So, in a matter of less than a year, we increase our BadBoy score ten-fold.


We reach Land 43, which introduces the Blue Coats - and not a moment too soon, either. Three months later, just as our infantry forces have finished reorganizing...


Persia picks a fight. France accepts the challenge.

Enewald said:

You should concentrate on bringing the big Asian majors down.
Let the small ones annex each other.

How the heck did Dali end up cosmopolitan? :rofl:

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Mayhap... too late now.

When I reached Asia, there were still some Pagan provinces left there. Converting them left me with two Cosmopolitaine provinces there, and they spread.

I've sometimes wondered whether it'd be worth if for Castille/England/France to attack the Teutonic Knights right off the bat, just to secure the one Pagan province they have at the start of the game. Could serve as a nice 'culture vector'.

dem61s said:

Nice!

:rofl: I'm telling you, just pick the military candidate next time!

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Perhaps I should have - but with the luck I had, I didn't dare.

Persia has a considerable force, but by now they are nearly twenty tech levels behind France.


Baluchistan doesn't make it.


In southern India, the two OPMs duke it out over Majapahit's throne.


Champa never learns.


Rajputana is beset by rebels everywhere.


Our colonists need even more Fine Arts Academies to feel truly French.


Persia suffers from a bad case of French 'tourists'. Our armies only stop to assault the local fort, and move on.


Travancore is vanquished, and the succession war forgotten. This is actually a wise move from Madurai, for it is unlikely they'd ever hold Majapahit at bay long enough to inherit them. Eating their neighbor with a Center of Trade, however, is an instant profit.


Rajputana collapses. Deva Bengal, Bihar and Nepal returns - all as merchant republics.


The Timurids are reduced.


Kyzyl Kum wishes to defect, but we deny them. We have plans...


A miracle! Some five decades after WyHat's demise, a fresh, new Diplomat shows up at the French court, and is immediately hired.


Bukhara also wishes to defect, and is rebuffed.


Hoping to gain a better ruler, we opt for the new guy... and pick nearly as bad a candidate as we can get.


The new Stadtholder is so popular he gets to lead every charge against rebels for the next couple of years.


...I guess that's one way to complete such a mission.


Badakhshan is also told to stay Persian, for a while longer.


At long last, we reach our designated goal - a buffer of eight points - eight non-core provinces.


Persia is pocketed in East Africa, chased out of the Arabian Peninsula, robbed of one Center of Trade and blocked from their Ming border.


...and there we go.


We leave Persia in a bit rowdy state. That's more than 30% revolt risk in their capitol province.


As they say... Payback's a bitch, and Ming seeks to make Persia theirs.

Good thing they have to go the sea route now.

I think I might have missed the start of this - a succession war over Castille, between Gelre and Austria. However, with Lancaster still holding Asturias, this is as far as the conflict can go.


Since we need to digest our Persian gains, we abandon our claim on Nagpur.


To harass the Persians, we encourage some Ethiopians to riot.


Quite randomly, the dimwit Stadtholder dies. Joseph de Saint Chamond represent the opposite end of the scale, and we wish him the longest life possible.


This event strikes again, and we don't say no to six months worth of BadBoy reduction.


At the end of the month, our core claim is back. To say the least, this event is bugged in IN v3.2b. A flag should at least prevent reoccurencies.


Another claim on Lithuania. This should make things easier, for when we finally get around to them.


Friends of the previous Stadtholder, also twats, are sent to Massina in so large number they shift the culture of the province.


French aspirations in India are growing.


The same can be said for East Africa...


...and East Asia...


...and Southern Italy.


Some sheepherders declare independence from Persia. France seeks to guarantee them.


The peasant rebels in Brandenburg, tormenting their rulers for decades on end, attracts the ire of France.


Surprisingly, Gelre buckles. Will Austria gain what's left of Castille?


The Stadtholder is instantly re-elected.


Oltenia is meant to be French.


Ethiopia returns! Unfortunately, at African tech levels, they cannot match even a single regiment - and Persia has several in the region by now.


After raiding the Persian coastline, and even holding parts of it for a time, Ming opts to cut their losses before war exhaustion destroys them.


Ajam is claimed.


Ethiopia is destroyed again.


A core on Pfalz means diploannexing this vassal becomes slightly more appealing.


Japan, overly ambitious, seeks to take Ryukyu. France says no.


Japan sees the light, and the loss of some land.


...I failed to notice when this happened. It certainly wasn't from tech levels - but no wonder they're doing well now.


The Pope can't feel too good about this.


Another claim in India. This is looking good.

We now reach 1750. Time for an overview.

Things are good. Our BadBoy level is manageable, and we're working it down for another diploannexation attempt. Hopefully, we can obtain a completely cleared reputation before our grand Stadtholder and minor Ambassador dies.


Our research has been balanced, and we're on the brink of the year limits. For that reason, we funnel most of our budget into minting. Plentiful Tax Assessors ensure we get no inflation from this at all. Mass building projects ensue.

It is tempting to toss out one of our National Ideas just to get Grand Navy. Even with the world's coastlines becoming ours, it doesn't suffice. The naval forcelimit is simply too small to hold all the ships we need to get full tariffs.


Not much left in terms of religious decisions. Four sliders are maxed, all remaining moves are towards Centralization, to counter-act diploannexing attempts.


Tradition is fair, and our mission is still to conquer Wessex.


We're the richest country, obviously - two of our vassals take the next slots. Of the thirteen richest, seven are One Province Minors, three of them with Centers of Trade.


We're doing well in terms of technology.


If they all united against France, we might have some trouble. Good thing we have a near spotless reputation.


Lancaster is still the only navy with enough ships that are advanced enough to actually bite.


Pie chart outlook. I'm a bit baffled that all the 'minor cultures' aren't listed anymore. Only Lombard, English and Mali seem plentiful enough to register at this point.


Europe is turning fairly blue. Mind, Lancaster, Bavaria, Palatinate, Prussia, Foix and Bosnia are all Protestant, but not yet French. I mention this since the borders are a bit tough to see.

Of the Reformed faith, only Norway remains, and there are a grand total of three Reformed provinces. The Catholic and Orthodox faiths are still holding a fair bit of territory, and are less threatened with extinction than Shintoism and Buddhism. Pagans are long since eradicated.


The Americas and Africa is all done. We have one uncolonized province in Australia, and a few in Siberia. Two provinces are protected by the Golden Horde at present. Before this game ends, my goals are currently to chase Persia and the Ottomans out of Africa, and tidy up some of the non-French dots in Europe. This all depends on what boundary disputes we get, of course.


The French slice of the world - some 950 provinces worth. More than three hundred left, nearly all of which must be conquered, and at cost. Seventy game years means a guaranteed reduction of 105 BadBoy points (70 from Cabinet, 35 from Diplomacy rulers guaranteed at least Diplomacy 5 rating), a probable of some more, an absolute max of 196. Boundary Disputes, rulers and advisors.

Now, for a list of 'when must we at the latest declare war to keep our core claims' during the next fifty years:


Holland - May 1754
Golden Horde - June 1758
Xia - February 1762
Bosnia - February 1764
Castille - March 1777
Lithuania - September 1783
Serbia - October 1784
Korea - July 1786
Maharashtra - April 1794
Persia - June 1795
Naples - October 1795
Brandenburg - July 1796
Ottoman Empire - August 1796
Rajputana - December 1799


...I should also mention I have finished the game at this point... Still have some four hundred raw screenshots to make posts with - or is this AAR uninteresting enough that I should skip right to the conclusion?

phargle said:

Not a lot changed in the overall pictures from the last overall update, except the blue is a bit more fleshed out. How did Foix get 100 prestige?

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My expansion is limited by BadBoy, and now that I'm nearly done colonizing, the spread is slower.

quantum said:

This AAR deserves to properly end! update till the end!

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Will do, then. It'll take a while to edit everything up, though.

enkhuush said:

We wanna see all blue world map!

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For that, I refer to the first post of this AAR.

Enewald said:

Don't skip to the end!
Slowly but steadfastly!

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Very well.

chefportnen said:

I'd rather be kept in suspense to see if you really do paint the world blue

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I thought I'd already ruined that suspense... o

GregoryTheBruce said:

Keep going! This is great.

There was actually a whole thread about doing that with the Teutonic Knights...running a missionary in Samogitia until you get zealot rebels. When they force convert provinces and you convert them back, BAM! Instant Prussian culture spread in the Baltic.

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I actually tried to use pagans this way this game. Alas, none of the Pagan rebels seemed capable of force-converting the provinces they won the sieges of. I'm wondering whether this was 'disabled' in 3.2b for pagans.

For that reason, the Teuton province would be a mere normal expansion vector - converted ASAP, but then holding your culture. That way, you can convert some Berbers and Arabs (through African colonies), Thai and Burmese through the pagan provinces there, and the northern parts of the Mongol empires through colonies there. It's fun to watch, when you beat the 400-year-MTTH in decades. I'm sort of tempted to try a game where I absolutely max the chances of it happening.

Vesimir said:

Meh, I prefer starting the game in 1356 MEIOU as pagan Lithuania and then converting Europe back to the "True" faith. Just finished Scandinavia and Russia and I'm moving into Germany right now. Really cool seing a pagan Cracow or Moscow.

And back to the point - The more updates the better so as Enewald said, slowly but steadfastly.

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I'd imagine Pagan Lithuania would be even harder than coming from the New World - at least there, you can protect your 'base' lands from quick takeovers by deploying a modern fleets, once you toss out the invaders. Have to agree it sounds cool, though.

And slow it is.

Time to ensure the free flow of goods everywhere. We open a few new Centers of Trade - in Barcelona...


...and Bremen...


...and Bali-Lombok...


...and in an Indian province I won't even attempt to spell correctly.


Since we're past 1750, colonial events start happening. This one is okay...


...this one, not so much. Lots or revolt risk or two very bad slider moves? Yuck.

Moreover, I really don't get why these two events also triggers for provinces in Africa, Asia and Australia. Founding Fathers in northern India strikes me as... odd. At least in EU3's time frame.


Korea must be French.


Paraguay is the first new world nation to claim independence. They'll never attain it, of course, but...


Good Stadtholders never last, and always die early.


We opt not to help Ryukyu. We have no immediate need for a war with Ming.


Majapahit cannot be ignored indefinitely.


To stall Ming somewhat in their endeavor to conquer Japan, we support a few rebels.


Xia is let off cheap.


The Ottomans pick on another enemy. Alas, Ming opts to protect the Mongols...


Ming immediately seeks to settle things elsewhere.


Of course, Korea takes full advantage. Enough is enough, time for a French smackdown.