World Conquest? No please, that'd be boring. What about if you tried to keep Europe in balance instead? Fighting blobs, protecting the weak, weakening the strong (and colonizing the rest of the world in the meantime)...
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Winner said:
Here's a challenge: try to get Provence back down to a territory that lacks any cores from other nations, and break up as many European countries as possible. Maybe even try to vassalize all of Europe.
For those interested, here is a map where I've colored in the provinces that my enemies hold that are wrong culture.
I concurr. There are so much WC AAR. And it's so boring eventually.Winner said:
"Now, let's have a look on my glorious conquest of that poor one-province minor in Central Asia"...
Emp_Palpatine said:
Seeing as I have the save game, I can always come back and replay a completely different strategy later if I'm so inclined.
Emp_Palpatine said:
Yes, and I hate when I know how it's going to end. No long term allies, just future targets.
Plus it's sooo totally unrealistic that I rarely follow WC AARs.
Just like me. I've seen much interesting choices of country/AARs becoming another blobish a-historical thing. I prefer role-play and realistic-timeline play, but finally, it's up to ones want to play his games.Winner said:
Wow that's impressive dancing, and your use of France as a shield at the beginning was excellent. Bravo!
The question of what to do is academic at the moment, because it turned into a case where the AI smelled blood in the water, and half of Europe came looking for a beatdown. It may be a bit for an update, but I hope to have a couple more chapters in the next day or so.
Chapter 17: It's not paranoia when they really are out to get you...
Editor's Note: Due to complete inattentiveness, I failed to note that Rene II became emperor in 1457. Apparently, I'm as attentive to my Emperors as many of my fellow American voters are attentive to their politics.
November 27th, 1467: Great Britain notices that the Empire's cavalry is currently sitting in Denmark, Italy, and pacifying rebels. In turn, they declare war upon the Emperor to try, yet again, to reclaim Normandy. Emperor Rene openly laughed at the news. Aragon and Milan join in.
November 28th: Emperor Rene sends a message to Denmark, demanding that claims to Halland be given up, and that Hamburg be released after Denmark annexed them. Denmark wisely accepts. One war down.
December 8th: Venice declares war, bringing Austria. The Emperor is...cautious.
Imperial cavalry is ordered back from Denmark to beat back English armies in Vlaandern. In Sicily, Aragonese armies invade Messina, where Emeric de Riquetti is posted to an Imperial Cavalry army to stop them. English armies attack Anjou, Aragonese armies attack Bearn and Liguria, Venetian armies attack Treviso, and Austrian armies attack Sudety.
10,000 cavalrymen are recruited to stop the onslaught.
One advantage the Emperor has is that his enemies cannot yet blockade him, and he is close to learning how to build Caravels. Once that is ready, a navy of Caravels will be readied.
***
Emperor: "Bronislav, old friend. How are you feeling?
Master of the Mint: "My bones ache, I have the belly flux, and my knees pop in the winter."
Emperor: "You've been here what...50 years?
Bronislav: "67 years, sire. I started on October 14th, 1400."
Emperor: "Amazing. Say, have you trained a replacement?"
Bronislav: "I trained two replacements, but they have died."
Emperor: "Oh @#%@! Well, stay alive until you can train a new one..."
***
17,000 Imperial cavalry set towards Anjou to kick the English back out, but on December 30th, Brabant declared war. Luckily, their allies declined a war with the Empire. The Emperor was slightly worried, but Brabant alone was no worry...
...until January 4th when Bohemia sensed the blood in the water and declared war, bringing Aquileia and Lithuania in. Now it's time to worry.
Status:
Provence, Mantua, Papal State, Brunswick, Saxony, Lorraine, and Switzerland vs. Castille, Great Britain, Aragon, Milan, Venice, Austria, Brabant, Bohemia, Aquileia, and Lithuania.
Army sizes:
Emperor and allies: 47261 cavalry, 28950 infantry
Enemies: 63335 cavalry, 108226 infantry (+ Castille, who I forgot to check).
Explanation:
The AI is very good at figuring out when you're vulnerable, and once the first war starts, everyone else is likely to dogpile on you. The good news is that if they don't attack in the first 2-3 months, they probably won't. The bad news is that you're almost guaranteed to be outnumbered.
In this case, the AI noticed:
* I have a low army size relative to forcelimits.
* 1/4th of my army was off in Denmark.
* I have no navy to speak of (12 cogs are not going to frighten anyone.)
And so here we are, a 3:1 advantage for the AI in terms of troops.
Editor's Note: Due to complete inattentiveness, I failed to note that Rene II became emperor in 1457. Apparently, I'm as attentive to my Emperors as many of my fellow American voters are attentive to their politics.
November 27th, 1467: Great Britain notices that the Empire's cavalry is currently sitting in Denmark, Italy, and pacifying rebels. In turn, they declare war upon the Emperor to try, yet again, to reclaim Normandy. Emperor Rene openly laughed at the news. Aragon and Milan join in.
November 28th: Emperor Rene sends a message to Denmark, demanding that claims to Halland be given up, and that Hamburg be released after Denmark annexed them. Denmark wisely accepts. One war down.
December 8th: Venice declares war, bringing Austria. The Emperor is...cautious.
Imperial cavalry is ordered back from Denmark to beat back English armies in Vlaandern. In Sicily, Aragonese armies invade Messina, where Emeric de Riquetti is posted to an Imperial Cavalry army to stop them. English armies attack Anjou, Aragonese armies attack Bearn and Liguria, Venetian armies attack Treviso, and Austrian armies attack Sudety.
10,000 cavalrymen are recruited to stop the onslaught.
One advantage the Emperor has is that his enemies cannot yet blockade him, and he is close to learning how to build Caravels. Once that is ready, a navy of Caravels will be readied.
***
Emperor: "Bronislav, old friend. How are you feeling?
Master of the Mint: "My bones ache, I have the belly flux, and my knees pop in the winter."
Emperor: "You've been here what...50 years?
Bronislav: "67 years, sire. I started on October 14th, 1400."
Emperor: "Amazing. Say, have you trained a replacement?"
Bronislav: "I trained two replacements, but they have died."
Emperor: "Oh @#%@! Well, stay alive until you can train a new one..."
***
17,000 Imperial cavalry set towards Anjou to kick the English back out, but on December 30th, Brabant declared war. Luckily, their allies declined a war with the Empire. The Emperor was slightly worried, but Brabant alone was no worry...
...until January 4th when Bohemia sensed the blood in the water and declared war, bringing Aquileia and Lithuania in. Now it's time to worry.
Status:
Provence, Mantua, Papal State, Brunswick, Saxony, Lorraine, and Switzerland vs. Castille, Great Britain, Aragon, Milan, Venice, Austria, Brabant, Bohemia, Aquileia, and Lithuania.
Army sizes:
Emperor and allies: 47261 cavalry, 28950 infantry
Enemies: 63335 cavalry, 108226 infantry (+ Castille, who I forgot to check).
Explanation:
The AI is very good at figuring out when you're vulnerable, and once the first war starts, everyone else is likely to dogpile on you. The good news is that if they don't attack in the first 2-3 months, they probably won't. The bad news is that you're almost guaranteed to be outnumbered.
In this case, the AI noticed:
* I have a low army size relative to forcelimits.
* 1/4th of my army was off in Denmark.
* I have no navy to speak of (12 cogs are not going to frighten anyone.)
And so here we are, a 3:1 advantage for the AI in terms of troops.
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curufin said:
One funny thing: If you immediately try to sue for peace, the AI is hardcoded to not accept - even if you offer to give up every possible province and core, and release every possible nation and vassal.
But yes - this is an excellent reason to keep vassals around. Brunswick and Saxony are the most expendable, since they're not on my border. Lorraine and Switzerland are useful, France is not going anywhere, and Mantua may be a bargaining chip if absolutely necessary.
Chapter 18: Opening moves
The Emperor's war room was filled with maps, drinks, food, worried advisers, and arguing.
"We need to protect Vlaandern!"
"We need to protect Liguria!"
"We must protect Anjou from the British!"
"We need to attack Milan!"
"We must attack Aragon!"
"Silence!" yelled Rene, Emperor of Provence. "Our enemies are fighting us individually, so let us crush them individually. Crush their armies, and occupy at our leisure. It is how my predecessors won their wars."
And so it was decided.
A large army of cavalry went to Anjou and threw the British out in February '68. In Sicily, the Aragonese made the mistake of splitting their troops, getting a small detachment routed in Palermo.
In March, the first 10,000 cavalry are recruited, and an order for 10,000 more is put in.
On the 28th, Aragon's 13,000 man army in Sicily is completely routed, and the army is sent north to fight the remaining rebels and Milan.
On the 29th, Castille agrees to go away for 25 ducats. This takes away Aragon's protection.
In May, the nation's stability increased, which was good because the army proceeded to get ground into hamburger in Brittany.
Britain's and Provence's armies retreated to lick their wounds and prepare for round two. Infantry was sent to Gascogne and Saintonge to start sieges whilst the British armies were bottled up in Brittany.
On May 5th, the Pope's troops captured Siena for the Emperor. A month later on the 7th, Sudety fell to Austria. Two days later, Vlaandern fell to the British, denying the Provencal Empire access to the Textile Manufactory there.
In August, a combined Venice and Aragon raiding party was crushed under Imperial hooves.
On September 9th, Austria asked for a White Peace, which the Emperor was happy to give. This returned Sudety to the Emperor.
Other stuff:
* I have no idea why Austria asked for a WP so quickly after taking one of my provinces. I was too busy and happy that they were out of the picture to dig into it. Castille, on the other hand was down 25% due to battles, so WPing out makes sense.
* The reason I didn't press my attack in Brittany, despite wiping their morale and causing lots of casualties is due to attrition (5% per month + 5% per enemy province I wander through) and because I have barely more than half what they have. One loss wipes out 18 regiments of cavalry - no thanks!
* The AI loves to siege when it has enough infantry - given the 2:1 wipeout rule, it can make their armies into sitting ducks. The win in Anjou was due mainly to most of their army running instantly (infantry had 0 morale and never showed up).
* One disadvantage to the "let the enemy take provinces and crush their armies" strategy is that it can be a double-whammy for WE: you gain WE for attrition and for each month they control your provinces. I think it's a flat .02/month/province, which can add up quick. If you don't take their armies out quick, you can be in a world of hurt.
* So far in 8 months, I've burned through 25K manpower (mostly from new regiments).
* I tried the "buy mercs/raze the land" trick, but it helps if you actually remember to go raze the land. D'oh!
The Emperor's war room was filled with maps, drinks, food, worried advisers, and arguing.
"We need to protect Vlaandern!"
"We need to protect Liguria!"
"We must protect Anjou from the British!"
"We need to attack Milan!"
"We must attack Aragon!"
"Silence!" yelled Rene, Emperor of Provence. "Our enemies are fighting us individually, so let us crush them individually. Crush their armies, and occupy at our leisure. It is how my predecessors won their wars."
And so it was decided.
A large army of cavalry went to Anjou and threw the British out in February '68. In Sicily, the Aragonese made the mistake of splitting their troops, getting a small detachment routed in Palermo.
In March, the first 10,000 cavalry are recruited, and an order for 10,000 more is put in.
On the 28th, Aragon's 13,000 man army in Sicily is completely routed, and the army is sent north to fight the remaining rebels and Milan.
On the 29th, Castille agrees to go away for 25 ducats. This takes away Aragon's protection.
In May, the nation's stability increased, which was good because the army proceeded to get ground into hamburger in Brittany.
Britain's and Provence's armies retreated to lick their wounds and prepare for round two. Infantry was sent to Gascogne and Saintonge to start sieges whilst the British armies were bottled up in Brittany.
On May 5th, the Pope's troops captured Siena for the Emperor. A month later on the 7th, Sudety fell to Austria. Two days later, Vlaandern fell to the British, denying the Provencal Empire access to the Textile Manufactory there.
In August, a combined Venice and Aragon raiding party was crushed under Imperial hooves.
On September 9th, Austria asked for a White Peace, which the Emperor was happy to give. This returned Sudety to the Emperor.
Other stuff:
* I have no idea why Austria asked for a WP so quickly after taking one of my provinces. I was too busy and happy that they were out of the picture to dig into it. Castille, on the other hand was down 25% due to battles, so WPing out makes sense.
* The reason I didn't press my attack in Brittany, despite wiping their morale and causing lots of casualties is due to attrition (5% per month + 5% per enemy province I wander through) and because I have barely more than half what they have. One loss wipes out 18 regiments of cavalry - no thanks!
* The AI loves to siege when it has enough infantry - given the 2:1 wipeout rule, it can make their armies into sitting ducks. The win in Anjou was due mainly to most of their army running instantly (infantry had 0 morale and never showed up).
* One disadvantage to the "let the enemy take provinces and crush their armies" strategy is that it can be a double-whammy for WE: you gain WE for attrition and for each month they control your provinces. I think it's a flat .02/month/province, which can add up quick. If you don't take their armies out quick, you can be in a world of hurt.
* So far in 8 months, I've burned through 25K manpower (mostly from new regiments).
* I tried the "buy mercs/raze the land" trick, but it helps if you actually remember to go raze the land. D'oh!
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I may do more updates later tonight (I've mostly finished the war), but I want to finish the war. One more turn!
Jambor said:
At this point? 10.82, IIRC. It's a dogpile on the vulnerable war, not a BB war. My BB will either go up a lot or down a lot, depending on how the war goes.