First, let me say I wish I could follow ALL of your recommendations!
Milan invades Austria, Burgundy AND France, takes territory from each of them, with no effect to Badboy and while improving her economy... But I guess that's not allowed, is it? (course, neither is some of this other stuff!)
Chief Ragusa said:
It's a difficult choice. Sticking with Austria gets my vote.
anti-Burgundy 1, anti-Austria 0
coz1 said:
Yeah, I'd say Austria too. Maybe you can kill the Burgundian King to get out from under him.
anti-Burgundy 2, anti-Austria 0
Steckie said:
No, no, no: backstabbing Austria is the way to go.
There are no interesting provinces of Burgundy for the taking, perhaps a few in northern Germany but that's about it.
Austria on the other hand has been a powerfull thorn on your weakest side for almost 100 years now.
They have 3 (i think) very juicy gold provinces sitting right there in plain sight.
And since the Ottomans and Mamluks are now at each others throat, there is no real danger in the Ottomans knocking on your back door.
anti-Burgundy 2, anti-Austria 1
Yeah, you're right -- I should be going after the gold-producing provinces. But will this be enough to overcome my other priorities??? There's a careful balance I've been wanting to maintain for some decades now, with regard to keeping Austria strong enough to hold off the Ottomans (who, for whatever reason, have gone into dormancy in the Balkans). It's becoming far less important to me now, however -- the balance is beginning to shift.
WhisperingDeath said:
"Curiouser and curiouser...."
Putting aside the well reasoned thoughts expressed by Steckie (above), I think you have to gain back your freedom to declare war upon whom you wish and when. Toward that end the PU must be extinguished! Side with your old ally Austria. There will be plenty of opportunities to "correct" the southern and central German borders in the future (and at a time of your choosing
).
anti-Burgundy 3, anti-Austria 1
germanpeon said:
I say go after Burgundy. Who likes em anyway? I dont think that you should take into account the fact that you might be able to kill their king though. You shouldnt be DoWing anyone with your BB anyway, unless it has decreased significantly since last time.
I say Burgundy for several reasons. One, you could take a few northern German provinces to strengthen your base of operations there and connect Bremen with the other provs. Second, I think you could more easily control the war due to the fact that the Burgundian capital is right on your border foir easy taking. It looks like Burgundy has a fairly small army compared to Austria too.
Whoever you decide to go for, it doesnt look like you can get a complete land connection to your German provinces. Heres another option: dishonor BOTH alliances. Or, be sneaky and honor both, which would also be breaking them at the same time as well. :wacko: It probably wouldnt be too hard to take both of them on if theyre both tackling eachother and you arent right in the line of fire.
PS. Did you finally get EU3 v1.3? It looks like it since your border disputes arent grabbing four cores at a time anymore.
That's three sets of votes, both of which I'll count (Burgundy, neither, both): anti-Burgundy 5, anti-Austria 2, neither 1 -- Naturally, these choices are all quirky, because I really shouldn't have a choice in an un-bugged game!
An excellent analysis, by the way!
Olaus Petrus said:
If I were you I would allow them to fight against each other and just watch without participating.
anti-Burgundy 5, anti-Austria 2, neither 2
Lordban said:
If France is allied with Burgundy, this is the chance to sew your empire together in one fell swoop.
If not, I'd tend to say Burgundy first, to link up your northern territories. And then Austria at the first occasion, to link them up with the rest.
anti-Burgundy 6, anti-Austria 2, neither 2, France too 1
VILenin said:
Hmm, both Burgundy and Austria are unpleasant long-term rivals, threatenning as they do your position in Germany, and thus one could make a good argument for war against either. However, considering that your stability is still -3, your treasury stands at 8 and you have a rather lengthy land border with Austria, I vote for siding with them against Burgundy. Really, though, this is a vote for fighting whoever's weaker; if you think that's actually Austria then by all means...
anti-Burgundy 7, anti-Austria 2, neither 2, France too 1
Another very good analysis!
Lord E said:
Now that sure was a strange turn of events. I think you are going to side with Burgundy as that would be the things you “should” do because of the game, but then again I think you would be better of siding with Austria. It sure would be cool to see your monarch fight against himself when he fights for both countries… now that would just be silly and clearly a bug I guess. Looking forward to see what you are going to do.
anti-Burgundy 7, anti-Austria 3, neither 2, France too 1
Actually, my king was briefly Philippe VI, but now (within a month of the PU) is a Milanese again... Yet, the PU still stands... Very confusing. Maybe the explanation is that Philippe had a split personality, and he
really is meaning to fight himself!
kfijatass said:
Get either and vassalize either. I'd compare their incomes
I think that would have to be a vote for war with Austria, as they have a pretty respectable income, even compared to Milan! Vassalizing either power, however, is a totally economy-dooming prospect, as that would allow my recent bankruptcy to be followed by a 3-year war (while other countries probably join in at some point, because of this silly schedule some of them seem to have! -- "Hey, King... It's May of the year five-and-a-half years after our last war. Isn't it about time we declare war on Milan again?")
anti-Burgundy 7, anti-Austria 4, neither 2, France too 1
Ahura Mazda said:
anti-Burgundy 8, anti-Austria 4, neither 2, France too 1
PrawnStar said:
Interesting - and I think you've got something weird going on, perhaps update related? You shouldn't have a new king and still be in a PU.
I would suggest dishonouring both alliances - you're at -3 so no worries about a stab hit. Milan looks to need peace, if those two sides are reasonably balanced then let them fight each other into the ground.
Balance? Hmm... I think Burgundy is somewhat outmatched, but they could sure do some damage to each other, with probably the outcome deeming one province or so to be transferred to Austria, which will be neither here nor there to the continental balance of power. Truly, peace would be the best option for Milan from a conservative perspective, except there's that pesky problem of the PU. Will I have the patience to endure? Will it be worth it to me to basically have a great power as a siamese twin to whatever happens to me? Hmm....
anti-Burgundy 8, anti-Austria 4, neither 3, France too 1
A close race! For 2nd place, anyway!
I will say that one (and only one) of you recommends almost exactly my long-term (peaceful!
) strategy. I'm hoping to have an update soon.
Rensslaer