One Last HurRAAh... A Milan Interactive AAR

[antracer]

────────── Chapter Links to the Latest Update Are In Yellow Below ──────────

The winds of change are blowing for EUIII... (and you thought it was just the Pirates that blew...)
3.2 final is coming. HT³ is coming. Soon our beloved 3.2b will be but sweet memory...

So what better way to send it out than with a nice shiny new AAR...

But not just any old AAR, a smorgasbord AAR to rehash, relish, and maybe even SPAM the tactics and strategies we've all come to know and love.
One last chance to use them before they ride off into the sunset.

After this, everything changes. So what do you say...? As the fiendish computer in War Games said, 'want to play a game...?'

The Actual Game Info:
-EUIII: IN version 3.2b
-The Advisor Mod
-Normal difficulty
-No other mods are used, so Battles and Pirates will be vanilla all the way.

The House Rues:
-Only 3 Vassals at any one time. Must diplo-annex down to afford the 3rd.
-No wrong religion vassals at all.
-No more than 3 colonies at any given time. Must make one a city before starting another one.
-No save and reload unless an error or CTD occurs. No reloading because we saw 2 meteors in a month...

Other rules and goals my be discussed, they might even get implemented.

Important Audience Information:
This won't just be another play and report AAR.
Before each segment we'll do a run through with the studio audience to see what neat little gems we can discover and what little corners of the vast EUIII game experience we can dig up, just to see what happens.

I can't guarantee I'll follow to the letter, but the general gist is for old and new, experienced and not to kick in their two cents and see where it takes us.

After a set time of play, which is yet to be determined, I'll stop, make up a report and then we'll go from there.

As usual, I will do my best to make a mess of everything.

I will try to be funny. I don't always succeed, but I have to try.
I guaranty I'll offend someone, that without trying.
It just comes naturally.

Please note that this AAR may be a little 'off-color' from time to time.
I am not a saint. Nor am I a boyscout.
I don't try to be gross or gaudy or explicit.
I don't try to use language like your mom's (or dad's) sailor friend, sometimes it just fits the situation better than 'aw shucks' or 'gee wally'...
I would rate this AAR a definite PG, maybe a PG-13 depending on how stiff you are.
If you are not stiff, I hear that Enzite can help.
Just ask Bob...
At least that's what that guy on TV says to do...

Initial Nation and Game Settings:
So now that you now what you're in for, we'll move along into the actual
game part of our program...

Our fodder for this delightful spin down memory lane will be none other than:



Why? Because I've never played them, so at least there will be something new, for me anyways...

Here's a shot of the options screen:



As you can see all items are set to normal, except Luckies which are set to random.

This may not go down in the history books as the greatest story ever told, but it should be fun.
In any event (or decision), it'll be good to get away from the daily grind and kick back a little as Milan takes on the world...

Which all starts in the next Post, of course.

T

────────── Links to Chapters, SoftK Addresses and Strategy Updates ──────────

Chapter 1: Getting Started...

Chapter 2: Venetian Blind Man's Bluff

Chapter 3: All Around The Elderberry Bush...

Chapter 4: All 'good' things must come to an end. Hopefully today...

Chapter 5: Once We Had Blinds; But Now We See...

Chapter 6: Everybody Sings the Blues...

Chapter 7: "What to do when all hell breaks loose..."

Chapter 8: And the beat(ings) go on...

SoftK 1413: Open Mic Night: Where to now...?

Chapter 9: Hello...? Anybody Home...?

Chapter 10: All of This and Nothing...

Chapter 11: For Iain Wilson...

SoftK 1426: State of the Kingdom Address

Open Mic Night: Where do we go next...?
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1426 Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1426 Late Day Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1426 Next Next Day Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1426 Almost Play Day Edition

Chapter 12: Love will Keep Us Together...

Chapter 13: Always After Me Lucky Charms...

SoftK 1438: State of the Kingdom Address

Open Mic Night: Where do we go next...?
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1438 First Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1438 Next Edition

Chapter 14: We Went Thataway...!

Chapter 15: Bad Boy Bad Boy, What You gonna do...?

Chapter 16: Wake me when something happens...

Chapter 17: Thrace For Impact...!

Chapter 18: The Ghost Knight's Vision...

SoftR 1466: The State of the Republic Address

Chapter 19: All Good Things To Those Who Wait...

Chapter 20: Diplo Annexation and You...

SoftR 1478: The State of the Republic Address

Open Mic Night: Where do we go next...?
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1478 Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1478 The People Have Spoken Edition

Chapter 21: Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Chapter 22: France Called: They Want Your Land Back...

Chapter 23: What's Red and Black and Blue All Over...?

Chapter 24: Anybody Seen My France...?

Chapter 25: It's Déjà vu all over again...

Chapter 26: The Theory of Irreletivity...

SoftR: 1502 The State of the Republic Address...

Open Mic Night: Where do we go next...?
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1502 Edition
Updated Strategic Initiatives: 1502 Power of the Force Edition

Chapter 27: Noel... No peace... No Problem...

Chapter 28: Guess Who...

Chapter 29: France is going to pay...

Chapter 30: All The Pretty Colors......

Chapter 31: All's well that ends... Well...?

SoftR: 1515 The State of the Republic Address...

Chapter 32: We Demand Morea Action...!!!

Chapter 33: April Fools...

The (not so) Secret Chapter

Chapter 34: Now we know why it's called an Ottoman...

Chapter 35: Pete and Ree Pete Were In A Boat...

Chapter 36: The Winds of Change...

SoftR: 1528 The State of the Republic Address...

Chapter 37: The Winds of Change...???

Chapter 38: The Broken Wind Finally Brings Change...

SoftR: 1541 The State of the Republic Address...

Chapter 39: The Birth of The Empire...

Chapter 40: Like Sand Through The Hourglass...

Chapter 41: The War Comes Home...

Chapter 42: When One Is Not Enough...

Chapter 43: The Economy may be bad, but the Empire's DoWs are up...

Chapter 44: You have CoT to be kidding me...

Chapter 45: Mopping up the Middle East...

SoftR: 1569 The State of the Republic Address...

Chapter 46: REForming the Empire...

Chapter 47: For all the Gods I've loved before...

Chapter 48: Kutch and Bundance: The Early Years...

Chapter 49: The French Correction...

Chapter 50: Warring France for Fun and Profit...

Chapter 51: I'm going to beat the Brabants off of you !!!

Chapter 52: Put That India Pipe And Smoke It...

Chapter 53: The Battle Is Yours Toulouse...

Chapter 54: Solitary Confinement for a Capitol's Offenses...

Chapter 55: Hey... That's My Core...!

Chapter 56: "Aw moose, that trick 'Nevers' works..."

Chapter 57: The Army Says We Need a New Travel Agent...

Chapter 58: Nevers Say Nevers Again...

Chapter 59: What's All This Peace Going On Here...?

────────── Thanks for Reading and Supporting this AAR...!!!! ──────────

[antracer]

Chapter 1: Getting Started...

So here we are... I started the game up, got to the paused opening screen, poked around and then saved it.
No time off the clock, though I did go ahead and hire advisors. There wasn't alot of choice, so it doesn't really matter...
More on that bit later...

Here are my thoughts on Initial Objectives:



1: A Day 0 DoW of Venice with the objective of taking Treviso.

Why is this a good idea...? Well, other than because Treviso is a rich province...? Taking it will hamper Venice from becoming too big too quick..
It also keeps them out of Aquileia's back yard for a bit.

And also because:



It has no ties to the HRE... So it's 'mano a Milano', so to speak...
Overall, it's a nice quick low BB, high income province just to get the ball rolling.

2: Possible Day 0 DoW of Ferrara to get her before any alliances are made... This one is a bit trickier.



With the protection of the HRE, there is the possibility of interference from the big brown stain from on high... High on the screen, anyways.

The second problem is one of men... I have manpower to use, but not alot of cash to use it with. That means either an early loan or trying to tough it out for a year and half as I get my legs under me. At least with Ferrara the resistance would be small...ish. No problem on it's own, but if I get tied up in Venice, who can bring some decent numbers to the fight, I could very well end up on the short end of the stick.

It's a gamble I really want to take, but it's just a bit shy of a given.

Other possibilities for opening drives:

1: Mantua...



I have no fear of this one. It may actually make more sense than Ferrara. The difference? 6 BB vs 1 BB. That will hurt my COT chances, shake my relations with potential allies and limit future opportunities. I'd rather get Pisa and Sienna connected.

Other than that, I want to stay inside the 'red zone' for now to minimize potential meetings with France and the Eastern Block.

Once established, I'd like to take Aquiliea, though that may have to wait based on where Austria gets wrapped up. The Italian peninsula is always there, though I don't know that forming Italy will be a priority or not...

As for opening positions:



Once I have an army together Centralized is a good place to start. I'll already be hammered on STAB, so the possible hit there doesn't phase me. It's the pretender and his army that does, especially given the richly populated area we're in. Could take a move to Aristocracy... Cheaper CAV and some Shock bonus... Others...?

I did go through the Advisor list...



We got 5 initially. The other 2 are a 3 star Sergeant Major and a one star something or other. We'll check in a year to see what comes. You don't usually see anything better for tech than the Army Reformer we have now, but you never know. The Commandant (HOGAN!!!) is OK for now, but I'll swap if anything good comes along like a MoM or other tech guy.

Our initial Budget:



Not too good. We'll need some provinces and trade very quickly to prop ourselves up here. Tech run I usually use is STAB to +3, GOV to 4 for the NI and then PROD/LAND/GOV, filling in Trade as we go. I let NAVAL slide, as I'm in no hurry for tech 9 and the great Pirate wave.

Our Military Command:



Nothing to see here... Move on... Move On... Actually, 110% discipline can be quite good... Especially when outnumbered.

So here's my intended first move:



DoWing Venice and marching into Treviso. Building some CAV to start a decent maneuver army and splitting the INF and CAV in the current army, with the leader staying with the CAV.

Once Venice loses Treviso, we may have to retreat once the garrison is healed and let them attack to drive the WS a little. We may even be able to extort a few ducats, though 25 is the usual leftovers when doing this with Austria.

Opinions? Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Time to sleep...?

Till then...

T

[sprites]

not a so good idea to start with some 4-stab hits

[antracer]

not a so good idea to start with some 4-stab hits

Actually, that's quite routine for me. STAB doesn't get any cheaper than now, so why not take the hits while everyone is weak... For the prize involved, a year or two of suffering is well worth it.

But that's just me...

T

[rexodia48]

Actually, that's quite routine for me. STAB doesn't get any cheaper than now, so why not take the hits while everyone is weak... For the prize involved, a year or two of suffering is well worth it.

But that's just me...

T

Indeed stability is easy in the earlier years and thus is a great idea! Antracer! I cannot believe you have another AAR out and I didnt know until well today! Keep up the great work. Milan FTW!

[Nodscouterr]

Inded, take Treviso first, but also make sure to link up Pisa and Siena with Modena ASAP. You'll never know when there will be a 1000 rebels there but you haven't any military acces from Ferrara or any cogs...

[Insignificant]

Cool idea, I say Modena though second choice is Tuscany.

[Beamed]

I'd go ahead and vassalize Ferrara(they're the two province one, right..? Right?!) to secure your southern flank while you annex Mantua and Venice. That way when you've finished devouring them, you should be almost ready for diploannexation.

[OrangeYoshi]

Oh, you sneaky little bugger you. It is lucky I decided to become Enewald or else I never would have found this.

And yes, now is definitly the best time for major stab hits.

My course of action would be to take Modena, Mantua, and that little blue one under Ferara, and then vassalize the Pope. If you vassalize the Pope, you'll never get excommed, and you'll be in perfect shape to form Italy once you diplo-annex him.

[sprites]

i prefer to face a large coalition in a huge war it's better stab-wise , even with cheap start and more epic ^^

[antracer]

rexodia48: Considering you found out about it within a few hours, I'd say you found it quite quickly actually. Nice to read you again... Hopefully (crosses all appendages) this one goes to the end...

Nodscouterr: I really want to link Pisa and Sienna up, almost as much as I want the 'free' Treviso... I think I have a cog already, something like 5 ships at start, galleys and a transport. I really want it so I can unify the attack front and take on 'das boot'...

Insignificant: Alot of Modena today... It's kind of sad for me, as Modena/Ferrara is always the one I support when playing other nations. She makes a perfect wall to keep all the minors and the Pope safe...

Beamed: That's actually intelligent... However with decentral at +4 I'm already looking at 40+ years of handicap. The thought of having to give one back is a stone in my boot... I can take the province and leave them be, let them get eaten and annexed by someone else and then take the capital for 1 BB... Basically a complete annex without the BB and the paperwork...

OrangeYoshi: Ahh, Yoshi-san. I honored by your presence. The great Yoshi will bring much luck to Milan. I started reading your AAR the other day. It's a little tough to follow being the TN mod, but I liked what I read, and you showcase it well. As for strategy, pwn'ing the Pope is something I end up doing eventually, usually after relieving him of Romagna is it...? He also works as a great sucker to take Ferrara's capital for me, so he'll get a reprieve, for now...

On to the strategy post....

EDIT: Sir sprites has arrived, so I'll add reaction here for him too: I agree... better to let someone else do the annexing of OPM's and then take them off their hands for the 1BB instead of 6 BB. I read kebzero's AAR for the Teutons and he took that to an art form... Really good stuff.

[antracer]

So, hopefully I get some time tonight to play out the first 10 years or so, maybe 20. It all depends on how quickly the objectives are achieved.

As for timing, I thought I'd play from slider move to slider move...
That way everyone can weigh in on the slider choices, at last until they're relatively set.
Does that sound good to everyone...?

Here's the goal list for this segment:

-Centralize at earliest convenience. Translated: When I can handle the Potential Pretenders...

-Take Treviso. I'll only get one DoW day one because of the -4 hit. Venice gets the honor of first victim...
I will not be fighting a protracted war with them, I just want to get in and get out with Treviso.

-Secondary targets are Mantua and Ferrara.
To help achieve this I'll ally and/or GTY the Papal State and Tuscany.
With luck I can get called into a war for either of them, and given the Italians love for DoWing the Papal State, you can pretty much get in on anyone you want...

I can honestly state I'm against the diplo annex option for at least two reasons:
1- If I vassalize I have to take the hit to decentral...
2- It eliminates the possibility of another minor doing the dirty work for me.

I'm even thinking I might ally Mantua and hang out until Ferrara takes them.
The only problem is that they don't always annex them... So if they don't I have longer to wait to get involved.

The name of the game for me is to take as much as I can in the first 10-20 years so that I have cores by 1460...
It's a gamble, but you're sorta 'set for life' if you pull it off.

I think that's important this game due to our proximity to France and to Austria, who I hope to take down sooner rather than later...
I really don't want a complete/expanded Austria getting elected HRE and poking it's nose into my business...

I'll see you all after the fireworks...

T

[enkhuush]

Good luck! Also slider by slider move is sounds nice.

[kfijatass]

It's hella easy for Milan. Just dig into that 6 university middle Italy and you can guarantee yourself an easy rest of the game, always having dominant government tech.

[nsahn]

Clear English, tasteful screenshots, explotative strategies we know and love, with a dash of humour... Yes, I will be refreshing this page often throughout the week.

Guarantees/Warnings
~ Guarantee Urbino (this is practically a guarantee of war within the first few months so be ready)
~ Warn Sicily and Papal State (usually the first agressors)
~ Warn the rest as diplomats become available (I limit my guarantees since you get a prestige hit for not honoring their call)

Ferrara is the better DOW target
1. Modena has a university
2. While you are busy sieging Treviso, Venice might siege the unconnected Pisa/Siena. Also, Venice has the larger army and navy.
3. Venice and Aquilea will usually fight each other, so I would just warn and wait in that region of Lombardy.

Sliders: Aristocracy is as economical a slider change as Centralization early in the game. Plus, your army will be needed to fight Ferrara not dealing with rebels. Waiting for the war to be over to move the slider is a waste of time. It is likely your warnings/guarantees will kick in and you will be at war for the next 7-8 years, almost time for another slider change.

Advisors: Hire any available missionary (worse is cheaper). Just use him to enact the religous decision that gives an 8% boost to conversion rate. Besides, all your advisors will stay in your pool for a year so you can swap as much as you want.

Don't diplo-annex anyone but Savoy. With their capital separating Savoie (which is dangerously close to France), diplo-annexing would be the better bet in only this situation.

[antracer]

A quick update... I have successfully played through to the first slider move after the initial, which had to wait a few years...

All I can say is what a ride...!

Things started slow and normal, for me anyways. Then I started plotting and planning and started the ball rolling, and then, well, everything just landed in my lap.

I ended up at war with Aquileia (2nd time), Genoa, Mantua, Naples, The Papal State, Sicily, Urbino and Venice (2nd time)...

All at once...

With my 15K army and my poor budget.

Bliss...

And Thuringia the recently elected HRE also came along just to be a Holy Roman pain in the butt...

One of my best advisors got so distraught he offed himself by jumping in the moat. Not even 14 years of service...

The stint ends Jan 1st, 1414... With the choice for the next slider move.

At any rate, I have over 570 pics to wade through...

Speaking of pics, and updates in general...

As many of you know I tend to be a tad 'detailed' in the pics and text. Some like this and some don't...
I always do it for anyone who's new lurking around, that way they can understand what's happening.
I also do it because I'm anal. No, not Greek. Just hyper retentive...

I started sifting through the pics, and have caught myself going overboard on the battle results already...
90% of the pics I've done already are small, so no 20 full screen shots a post for sure...
But I can't help but want to dig into the little things this go round.
I have an idea I want to try to duplicate it with the finished patch or with HT³, just to have a really good comparison.

So I put it to you gentlemen (and ladies...?)

Do want a traditional AAR, or do want the Reader's Digest Condensed Version...? Or do you just want to have me wing it like always...?

Either way, I'm traveling tomorrow and Wednesday... So it may be Thursday before I have an update ready...

@enkhuush: Your wish is my command. Slider move to slider move it is.

@kfijatass: Yes, It seems Milan is going to be somewhat enjoyable. Although that tech advantage will be rather small rather quickly... If I have my conquering way about it anyways.

@nsahn: I was playing while you posted that... I actually toyed with the Aristocracy move first. Like you, I hate to waste that first couple of years, and that slider can be a good benefit too. As it was, the +4 decentral was really stifling... So I bit the bullet and went decentral after the quicky Treviso hit.

Very good thoughts there though. I didn't parallel, but alot of the ideas came into play. They were backwards, but there... You'll see...

I'll check in early AM/late PM Tuesday EDT for the verdict on how 20/20 you want me to be and do the update accordingly.

Till then...

T

[Beamed]

Beamed: That's actually intelligent... However with decentral at +4 I'm already looking at 40+ years of handicap. The thought of having to give one back is a stone in my boot... I can take the province and leave them be, let them get eaten and annexed by someone else and then take the capital for 1 BB... Basically a complete annex without the BB and the paperwork...

The AI takes too long.

[Iain Wilson]

Given Milan is one of my favourite cities and they've got a cool snake on their coat of arms I'l be following this!

Even though I know nothing about EU3

Do want a traditional AAR, or do want the Reader's Digest Condensed Version...? Or do you just want to have me wing it like always...?

I always find that winging it can produce some of the funniest material.

If that's what you're going for, that is!

[OrangeYoshi]

Yes, wing it. It is the best way to go, and I'm certainly not going to tell you to use less detail or less pics. Have you seen my updates?

[antracer]

@Beamed: Don't they though...?

@Iain Wilson: Welcome sir, I hope your time is enjoyable. Please feel free to post thoughts and questions if you'd like.
And don't be concerned with knowing anything about EU3. I'm not... And don't...

@Yoshi: You see I posted in the thread there. Do you honestly think I didn't read or look at it...? Silly person. What's that teacher of yours teaching you over there...? I look forward to your next update too...!

So: Two votes for wing it, and everyone else is napping, so wing it it is.

No complaints about the format from here on out...
Except for EURO, no one can stop him from doing anything...
He holds the Evil Power of Lemons...
(though it's really just a talking can of pledge... )

Update is on the way...!

T