V2 Beta AAR : France 1836 - A Learning The Game AAR

OHgamer · Jul 20, 2010

Discussion for this thread is over in the V2 main forum here

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This Beta AAR will be sort of an ongoing investigation into the basics of gameplay with V2 playing with France. I've found that France is a good nation to start out with, as it starts with a strong economy on the cusp of initiating industrialization while being a strong enough power that it can not be pushed around, can exert influence, and has a small (and hopefully growing) colonial empire.

This first post will cover some of the things I do on day one, before even starting the game, so that right from the start I've got a good base on which to start playing the game.

Load up the game, and you come up to the main screen.

First thing to do is set your budget in terms of revenue collection and spending. The default setting for taxes and spending is 50%, but I want to encourage consumer spending to help stimulate demand my economy, which means I'll need to lower taxes. As France is a wealthy country, I can fund the things I want to fund at the levels I wish at lower levels (25% for poor, 10% for medium and 20% for rich) and thus drop my taxes, giving particular breaks to the middle classes, who currently seem to be struggling a bit to make their budgets cover their income.

Spending wise, I decide to fund things fairly fully, but not at 100%, at least until I see how much tax revenue I collect at the new levels of tax. To increase the efficiency of the state in collecting tax revenue and recruit more bureaucrats among the population, I increase administration spending to around 75%, while education goes up to 70% to encourage more recruitment within the education establishment and thus provide more brain power for research. With the current Orleaniste party in power, I can only fund military spending at 75%, which I choose to do to keep the military in good condition. As I have no social reforms, funding them is a non-issue. For now I'll leave tariffs at 0, but might consider raising them to help encourage local industries if needed.

Next up is research. I decide to start with an economic tech, and choose High and Low Pressure Steam Engines, which will give a 10% outboost to my factories.

Note though that it also reduces the size of RGO operations by 1%, meaning that the maximum level of workers in an RGO will be cut by 1%, and any workers that will be over the new limit will become unemployed. Hopefully they'll be able to find work in the (hopefully) growing industrial sector. Also note that the tech takes 11368 research points to research. A quick look at the top bar shows that at this moment I'm averaging production of about 6.7 research points per month. Thus the tech research at the current rate of research point production will mean discover in 1840. Hence the need to get more people to consider going into the educational establishment, and higher spending, and thus higher wages, will hopefully be the hook for that movement.

Next I move over to the diplomacy screen.

One of the biggest changes in V2 compared to V1 is the diplomatic aspect of the game. One of the most important new game elements for Great Powers is influence. By increasing the amount of influence you have over smaller nations, the more you'll be able to draw them towards you, culminating eventually in being able to establish a sphere of influence over them. Once a nation is part of your sphere of influence, you gain valuable economic and diplomatic benefits, to the point whereby having a lesser nation in your sphere can be more cost effective, in relation to the benefits, than actual conquest and rule.

For now, I decide to focus my attention on North Africa and my Southeastern border in Europe, putting high emphasis on Morocco and Tunisia, which if I can draw them in would help further secure my hold of the region in combination with my holdings in coastal Algeria, while Switzerland and Sardinia look ripe for harvesting into my sphere, with the Two Sicilies also being a potential prize with a bit of tender attention.

(to be continued....)

OHgamer · Jul 20, 2010

Initial setup, part 2

Next thing I focus on is reorganizing my military, deciding where I want to garrison forces. One weakness I notice is that while I have garrisons in my coastal enclaves in Senegal and the Ivory Coast, I have no troops in the Antilles, Bourbon (modern Reunion) or Pondicherry. So I split up the garrisons into their individual regiments, and make plans to convoy units to garrison my other colonies.

I also reorganized my armies in North Africa (perhaps in preparation for seizing control of the rest of Algeria) and on the mainland. Once done my military OOB looks like this (with some renaming of units so I can keep track of them, apologies if the French names are not perfect)

In order to get regiments currently in Senegal and the Ivory Coast to their new homes in other parts of the Outre-Mer, I decide to order some new clipper convoys, and conveniently these units can be constructed exactly where I want them to end up, so order convoys for Bourbon, Pondicherry, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Cayenne in Guiana.

Note also that I have deselected auto-generate admirals and generals. These are default set to be active, but personally I prefer to retain the freedom to recruit admirals or generals as I feel are needed.

As for the remaining three screens, I don't do anything at this point with them. Production covers what factories you have, what your overall production of goods is, and what projects are being constructed (which can also be ascertained from the outliner once things begin to be constructed). The politics screen deals with your political parties and the various issues. As I currently have a state where I can not enact either political or social reforms, not much to do here. This screen also handles releasing satellites and taking decisions. Finally the trade screen shows the level of trade in all the various goods. At this point I feel its best to let the AI handle this element, for those of you who remember the rather problematic trade AI in V1, the amount of improvement in V2 in letting the AI handle trade is staggering.

The last thing I do before starting the game is decide what I want to do with my national focus points. I have two of them to use. Starting with an economy that is only just starting to industrialize (I only have 4 factories/industrial complexes, three in the Ile de France and one in the Lyon region) I decide to encourage the promotion of POPs to capitalists in two of my larger states that currently lack capitalists - Normandy and Provence. Hopefully this will encourage the rise of a native capitalist class that will build industry in two of my more heavily populated areas of mainland France.

In the screenshot, notice the little icon of the head of the capitalist to between the name of the region (French Provence) and the efficiency of the bureaucrats in the region. One nice thing about Focus is that once you feel you've achieved what you want in the region, you simply click off the national focus and reassign it to any other region for any other use.

with all this preliminary legwork now completed, it's time to turn off the pause button and see how well the choices I've made work once the game is set in motion.

Here is the world in 1836, I'm in the dark blue.

OHgamer · Jul 22, 2010

March 1836

Note - Images being hosted by imageshack, if you get a broken link, hit your refresh button, all links I've checked and should be active. OHg

Having given the game a couple months to play through I make a few tweaks.

Budget wise, I decide to increase education spending from 75 to 85% funding. With the budget averaging around 170 pounds per day or so, it is affordable and will hopefully draw more POPs into working for the educational establishment.

One of the nice new features of V2 is the addition of the outliner, and having the outliner list not only military units, but also all construction projects currently underway in your nation.

At a quick glance I can see, in order when they will be completed, the factories and railways my capitalists have started construction on as well as any military units being created. Very handy feature, as it has been in other Clausewitz-engine games.

Meanwhile, I'm slowly building up my influence in the countries I decided to prioritize, but keep in mind that what you can do as a GP, the other AI-controlled GPs can do as well. The Ottomans are increasing their influence in Tunisia, while the British and Spanish are both increasing their influence in strategic Morocco.

The eventual goal of all this diplomatic posturing is to get these lesser nations into my sphere of influence. It's not easy, you need to get their opinion of you to be Friendly, which requires investment of influence points to raise from lower levels, and then you need to have accumulated 100 influence points while at the Friendly level before you can place the nation into your sphere. If a rival nation is getting too much influence, you can choose to invest some of your influence to get your rival's embassy expelled, removing their influence back to 0, or you can invest influence to get your potential subordinate's opinion of one of your rivals lowered. Like I've said in other posts, the diplomacy game in V2 is much, much more complex than in V1, and the AI can and will challenge you from time to time, so keep a good watch over your diplomacy, or risk seeing your investment of influence lost as your embassy gets expelled and another nation plucks the pear you've been raising with patience and care.

And with a couple months under the belt, perhaps a look at the POPs is in order.

The Population ledger contains lots of information that helps to see how the policies you enact for your nation are impacting your society. At the very top of the screen you see the summary of your total population, in number of POPs. The tooltip provides information as to both the number of adult male POPs and the total raw population.

Once you click to access the POP ledger the list of regions and provinces on the left will allow you to access data on population in various regions. Hovering over the arrows indicating population growth or decline tells you how your population in any region is evolving.

If you click on a region (or a province within a region) you get the info regarding the various POPs in that place, their militancy and consciousness, if some or all are unemployed, the degree to which their needs are being filled. For example here is Martinique.

you can also sort data by POP type, so for example here you can see all the bureaucrat POPs in France as a whole

This is definitely one of my favorite things about V2, getting all this detailed info regarding the evolution of my POPs during the course of the game.

OHgamer · Jul 22, 2010

July 1836

Six months in now, and with my treasury filling up nicely, time to think about how to spend some of that money.

Quick click onto the colonial mapmode paints a pretty dire picture for France, not much is able to be colonies, in part because the life ratings of the areas that are open to colonization are below the level our technology allows (as in V1) and in part because we do not have a naval base in range to support the colonization effort.

While the technological research will simply have to come as it comes, the naval base issue can begin to be addressed now, and thus I decide to construct bases at Pondicherry, Bourbon, St Louis de Senegal and Martinique, hopefully the start of what will become a global chain of bases with which French power can be projected.

One of the nice things about letting the AI control your trade is that it will automatically acquire the various inputs needed and then start construction of the bases once those goods are all in place. It takes a few days up to a couple weeks to get all the goods purchased, but within a couple weeks work begins on all four bases.

Meanwhile, notification came that I had acquired enough influence to initiate some diplomatic play in Switzerland. When the green influence square lights up in the diplomacy button at the top of the screen, it means you've got enough influence over some nation to make some hay.

Now, looking at who among the great powers have influence in Switzerland, the only other power fishing in Swiss waters are the Habsburgs, who have 25 influence over Bern. One option for using my 50 points would be to reduce Switzerland's opinion of the Habsburgs.

Right now Austria and I have the same level of opinion among the Swiss, so if I do decide to make the Swiss think less of Austria, I'll be the power closest to having Friendly opinion needed to draw the Swiss into my sphere. Note though that decreasing opinion does not remove Austria's 25 influence in Bern. I could alternative convince the Swiss to expel Austria's ambassador, which would wipe out Austria's 25 influence, but leave Switzerland's opinion of Austria at Cordial. There is no way to both reduce opinion and reduce a rival's level of influence in one go.

At the same time though, the Austrians started with 25 influence in Austria and have not invested any more influence there. Encouraging the Swiss to have a lower opinion of Austria or expelling the Austrian embassy could flag Vienna that I am fishing in Swiss waters. I could choose instead to simply improve Switzerland's opinion of me to Friendly, which would mean I'd only need to accrue another 100 influence to bring the Swiss into my sphere. The Austrians might still take notice and start to increase influence, or they might not be interested in Switzerland so long as their current cordial relations and 25 influence are not harmed.

I decide to increase Switzerland's opinion of France, and see if I can get the 100 points needed before Vienna or any of the other GPs notice and start increasing their influence in Bern.

(to be continued)

OHgamer · Jul 22, 2010

January 1837

Not a lot of action over the second half of the year 1836. Decided to build up a fort at Metz to match the Prussian fort at Saarbrucken, but other than that did my best to keep the ship of state aright.

As the New Year dawned, the upper house reconvened, and Liberal representation gained about 3% at the expense of reactionaries and conservatives. At this point still can not enact political reforms due to conservative dominance of the legislature, nor social reforms with liberals in control of the lower house (elections not scheduled until 1840). But with overall POP militancy less than 1, the inhabitants of the Kingdom of France seem content.

Economically, things were looking to be somewhat of a mixed bag. Rail construction boomed as capitalists launched a rail boom to improve the infrastructure of mainland France. On the other hand, France is still a good year and a half away from seeing the benefits of this initial capital investment.

However, there are growing signs that the economy may not be all that healthy. Tax revenues have dropped and the budget, which had daily surplus of around 100-125 day back in July, now is barely breaking even.

A small amount of the shrinking margin can be understood from the growth of the educational and bureaucratic establishments, and growing recruitment in the military, which our generous spending has encouraged. It may be that some spending will need to be cut to ensure France remains in the black.

But it also appears that there seems to be less income in France, pehraps due to a global economic downturn. Prices for goods seem to be declining as some products have too much supply to meet consumer demand, such as for luxury furniture.

At the same time, the nascent nature of our industrialization means that factory production is not the most efficient, and that artisans can and often do supply goods more efficiently than our current factories. As research continues and infrastructure is built up, this situation should reverse itself and factory production will improve in output, but for now things remain a bit touch and go.

Diplomatically, France continues to build its influence in its selected targets, and soon we'll be able to do some meddling in Naples. A French sphere in Italy would be a good new market for French goods.

However we also have interests in North Africa, and here our influence is being countered quite effectively, by the Ottomans in Tunis and the British and Spanish in Fez. It may be that France will have to decide where its true interests lay, in Italy or in the Maghrib.

Meanwhile little colonial wars seem to become more of a common occurrence, as other nations seem to want to secure territory.

One of the new diplomatic elements to V2 that did not exist in V1 is the ability to intervene in wars on the losing side in order to retain the status quo. If I wanted to, I could try and halt the Russians attempt to annex the Tabriz region of Persia, though I'm not really interested in tangling with the bear at this point, and have no real strategic interest in the area.

For the smaller, less powerful states of the world, the second half of the 1830s is turning into an era of the Law of the Fishes, big fish eating little fish.

In addition to the wars shown, Mexico has nearly completed its conquest of Texas, the Ottomans are moving into the deserts of Fezzan, and the British have seized Kathmandu.

OHgamer · Jul 23, 2010

1837 Part 1 of 4

I decide to rebalance the budget to bring more money into my treasury. Spending decreases in all areas, taxes raised to 33-20-33. Result is a much healthier surplus, which will be needed for my future plans, both domestic and foreign.

The big goal for 1837 domestic-policy wise is to get more liberal representation into my upper house. Currently, with an upper house dominated by conservatives, I can not undertake any political reforms, and with the voting system based on first past the post, I need to get a liberal plurality of supporters among the middle and upper classes who can vote.

Thus any political or cultural event that increase support for liberalism in France, especially for the middle and upper classes, is going to be supported. If the event does not increase liberalism, then I'll look to increase militancy (within reason) in the hope that growing impatience at the lack of reform convinces some conservatives to come around and support reform before the mob decides the issue for them.

So for example with the Luddite mobs, if I choose to crush the revolt, I'd get a local +6 MIL hit, something I don't want (especially in Nov 1837, for reasons that will become clear later), but if I hint at policy changes, it encourages an increase in local consciousness and support for liberalism in the province, so that is what I chose. With the Age of Classics event, insulting the classisist makes the rich strata become more conservative, so encouraging the trend is what I choose.

The result, when the upper house reconvenes on 1 Jan 1838, the support for liberalism has grown

hopefully careful management and a bit of luck will mean I'll be able to reform before the frustrations of the reformers turns too violent.

(to be continued..)

OHgamer · Jul 23, 2010

1837 part 2 of 4

On the geopolitical front, I have two aims, increasing my influence in Italy and North Africa. On the Italian front, things are going quite well...

I reel the Piedmontese into my sphere of influence before the Austrians do anything about it. I already have the Papal States in my sphere, and with my influence level in the Two Sicilies now at friendly, I have a very good shot over the next year of having the 3 biggest Italian states in my sphere.

Austria seems not to be doing much about this, perhaps it could be due to this....

Why Vienna chose to declare war on Russia is unclear to my diplomats, but it's started a firestorm in the east, as the Netherlands and Sweden have joined Austria, while the Russians have convinced Serbia to join its side.

It looks to be a long slog of a war shaping up, and frankly I have little fear that the Habsburgs will be shifting influence in Italy at this point.

In the North African arena, however, things aren't going so well for my interests. In April, our machinations in Tunis got a setback...

With the Ottomans completing their conquest of the Fezzan, it looks like they're after secuing their influence over the Bey of Tunis, who technically is an Ottoman vassal but hasn't behaved like one in over a century.

Things however take a turn for the worse for French interests on the other side of the Maghrib...

Britain, France and Spain have all been struggling to gain dominance over Fez, and with the collapse of the Carlist revolt in Spain, Madrid has apparently decided it's better to seize what it wants now than try to beat both Britain and France at their own game.

At this point, I could wait for the Moroccans to start losing and then come into the war as their savior to restore the status quo. At this point though I'm not really relishing the thought of fighting Spain, especially as their war goal in Morocco is only to take the area around their Melilla enclave, not conquer the whole nation. If Morocco loses, I could still move in on the balance of Morocco, perhaps get it into my sphere and then later elimiate the Spanish from Morocco if I wish.

What the Spanish action in Morocco does do, however, is focus my attention on the hinterland of Algeria. France took control over most of the coast in 1830, and my original plan was to build up my forces slowly and around 1840 or so move in to eliminate the Algerians. But if Spain secures its control over northeastern Morocco, it would then border Algeria, and then....do I really want to face the potential of a Spanish bloc of land hemming in the French on the Algerian coast??? Nope, Spain's action means my timetable for the conquest of the Algerian hinterland must be brought forward.

However, when I look at my pool of generals, all I can do in the summer of 1837 is question the efficacy of the military academies....

My best general is kinda meh, while my worst general is truly dire. Looks like I'll want to wait a bit and build up my leadership before launching an invasion. A defeat at the hands of the Algerians would be an absolute disaster for French pride.

However, Spanish landings in Morocco soon force my hand, and I again revise my plans. Rather than launch war in 1838, I set the invasion of the Algerian hinterland to begin 1 October 1837.

(to be continued...)

OHgamer · Jul 23, 2010

1837 Part 3 of 4

At the start of conflict with the Algerians, I have 8 divisions set on the coast. The Algerians, according to the intelligence I have, only have one division based at their capital, Constantine. I put my best (relatively-speaking) general, Bouet-Willaumez, at the head of the 4eme Armee d'Algerie in Bone and task him with seizing Constantine and destroying the organized Algerian forces.

The rest of the French forces will fan out and establish French rule, hopefully with minimal organized resistance : the Cavalrie de la Guarde, under Dubral, will seize Setif from Bougie, with the leaderless 2eme Armee d'Algerie providing backup. From Algiers, General Anthoine will seize Medea with the 1er Armee d'Algerie, supported by the leaderless 3eme Armee d'Algerie from Mustaghanim, while General Hoche will lead the 2eme Calvalrie from Mustaghanim to Mascara. Finally General L Bonaparte will lead the 1eme Cavalrie from Oran to seize Algeria's only port at Tlemcen.

Of course wars cost money, so I tweak my budget and taxes a bit to ensure my forces are properly equipped to the degree that my government policies allow (military spending is capped with an anti-military party)

On 10 October, Bouet-Willaumez's forces caught the Algerians, who were already retreating from Constantine towards Biskra. The result was a slaughter.

The remaining forces would spend the rest of the year securing the countryside, which is a long, slow process giving the size of the the provinces.

By the end of 1837, Setif is secured by Dubral, whose forces will be split, the cavalry to Laghwat while the 2eme move to Biskra, to be joined by Bouet-Willaumez' forces once Constantine is secured. Tlemcen, Mascara, Constantine and Medea should be secured by the end of January, and the final push into the fringes of the Sahara will commence.

Meanwhile on the home front....

Apparently there's been a fracas that's ticked off some of the Catalans in Perpignan. Not wanting to boost POP militancy in my capital during a war, I decide that a few pissed off Catalans is worth supporting my troops.

The impact of the war on my finances is not too damaging, still making a small profit from the war without having to raise taxes and even with raising military spending closer to maximum to ensure the military are as well supported as government policy will allow.

While all this was going on in North Africa, a couple of other diplomatic plums began to fall in my direction..

With Switzerland Friendly and on the verge of coming into my SoI, I decide to turn a blind eye to the ramblings of some obscure scion of the Bonaparte family now living in the Alps...

Sure I get a boost in consciousness, but since my hope is to get reform in France, a bit more consciousness is going to help the process, and the further boost to relations with Switzerland should help firmly anchor Bern to my orbit.

Meanwhile, out of the blue I received this little gem...

Belgium is in Britain's SoI, but an alliance would ensure I have a secure northern border, and likely keep the Dutch from any thoughts of regaining their former territories. And if over time I can shift the Belgians from Britain's sphere to mine, that might be a game worth playing, so sure Brussels, Paris will ally with you.

Something I just recently discovered, if you hover your mouse over the total population of France on the left side of the POP ledger, you get a summary of where your immigrants and emigrants are coming from.

(to be continued...)

OHgamer · Jul 23, 2010

1837 final part...

While my budget as of 1 Jan 1838 looked healthy, with a small balance in spite of fighting a war in the wilds of North Africa, my diplomatic positions looked pretty good as well...though not perfect

Looking at Tunisia, it appears that I am building influence in Tunis faster than the Ottomans currently are. Perhaps this is due to the Turks declaring war on Persia in late 1837 (more on that in a minute). Anyways that earlier setback in Tunis might be able to be balanced out if we can get to 50 influence before the Ottomans do. Picking the Tunisian pear for our sphere of influence might still be obtainable.

One slight cause for concern though, is the Papal States. They are in my Sphere, but the Spanish seem to be building up their influence in Rome for some reason. Will need to keep a watch on that, considering Madrid has already put a hitch on my plans for Morocco I'm not about to let them try to crash into my Italian plans.

The state of the world as of 1 Jan 1838. The Russians seized control of Azerbaijan from Persia, which may explain Austria's DoW on Russia (Russia was at war with Persia at the time) and defnitely explains the Ottoman decision to try and seize ther Kermanshah region from Persia later in the year.

Meanwhile the British have seized control of Gwalior, and forced Panjab to cede control of Kashmir. And in the New World...

Will the USA avenge the crushing of the Texas revolt for independence??? Only time will tell...

(end 1837 update)

OHgamer · Jul 26, 2010

1838

The War in North Africa grinded on to its eventual conclusion, though the immensity of the territory to be seized meant that it would be mid-October before the final province, Wargla, finally came under our control

Interestingly, after the Spanish had succeeded in defeating the Moroccans, they too decided to declare war on Algeria, hoping to scavange the Algerian carcass like some rabid hyena. My first instinct was to lower my diplomatic relations with Madrid, but as my forces had secured the Morocco-Algeria frontier by this point and no Spanish forces crossed it, I decided to leave well enough alone for now.

The big geopolitical news of 1838, however, came early and from a different quarter altogether....

The mighty Russians, unable to get their forces westward in time to halt the Austo-Dutch-Swedish juggernaut, decide to concede the Rovne region to the Habsburgs, who now have forces on the Dneiper

The stunning Habsburg victory leads me to work even harder to secure my influence along my southeastern border.

A full alliance with Sardinia-Piedmont is signed, while we get the Swiss into our Sphere of influence by the end of the year. Shortly thereafter, a delegation from Bern arrives in Paris

If nothing else, these alliances with Switzerland and Sardinia, along with the Papal States and Belgium, should ensure my security in case the Habsburgs decide to look westward for expansion.

At the same time, our diplomats in London, Washington, Berlin and St Petersburg work to increase our mutual relations, should the need arise down the road to corral the Habsburgs. Our decision to not lower relations with Madrid was similarly made on this basis, the last thing we need is for Madrid to run into the arms of Vienna.

Later in the year, France gained enough diplo influence to make a move in Tunis. Now our first thought was to try and get Tunisia's opinion of the Ottomans lowered, unfortunately we are not in that position yet..

So instead we get our own opinion raised from neutral to cordial, and plan next time round to get Tunisia to get less positive towards the Turks, provided that the Ottomans do not upgrade their relations. Hopefully we're accruing influence fast enough to prevent that.

Economically, 1838 would begin to see France reap the benefits of the initial rail boom launched two years ago. By the end of the year most of mainland France had either completed rail lines or were near completion.

The new infrastructure, combined with the end of the war in North Africa allowing for a decrease in taxes and an increase in spending on education and administration, meant that the French economy by the end of 1838 was looking optimistic in terms of growth potential. Research into better steam engines would be complete by mid-1840, which would provide a nice improvement to factory (and RGO) output as well.

Internal politics wise, continued to try and push the nation into a more liberal bent, and with the reconvening of the upper house on 1 Jan 1839, the Liberals for the first time crossed the 20% barrier, and we hope are getting the wind to their backs.

With elections due in 1840, the hope is that the Orleanist faction will retain power and be able to continue the laissez-faire economic policies. We'll see how that goes, with a year left to try and shape public opinion further.

OHgamer · Jul 26, 2010

1839-spring 1840 part 1

1839 started quietly enough for France, as the economy continued to grow slowly, and events allowed me to further try to encourage liberalism. The big internal development was the completion of the naval bases started in 1836 in Martinique, St Louis de Senegal, Bourbon and Pondicherry. It was a start, but a quick look at the colonial map told the reality...

the new bases would need to be expanded further if they were to play the role intended. It would also help our ambitions in the South Pacific if we had someplace closer than Pondicherry, but for now that line of thought will be something to contemplate in the future. Instead, the naval bases at Pondicherry, Bourbon and St Louis de Senegal are expanded to level two, with a completion time of mid-1842.

While domestically France was for the most part tranquil, geopolitics took another dramatic turn, when in April of 1839 a new firestorm broke in Central Europe...

Prussia would face a combination of Austrian, Dutch and Swedish armies. The Habsburgs, it would seem, are starting to get a bit too big for their britches. For now though, we're not ready to go to war, but we will do something to help the Prussians...

Hopefully the extra money will help the Prussians defend their lands. We will keep an eye on the situation to be sure, but given the reputation of the Prussian military, we think they should be able to hold out.

In terms of our plans for expanding French power in the Mediterranean, two steps forward were made during 1839

We were able to get the Moroccans to expel the Spanish embassy from Fez, giving our diplomats a chance to hopefully encourage a more anti-Spanish attitude among the Sultan.

Meanwhile in Italy, our cultivation of influence in Naples paid dividends...

We now have the three largest Italian states in our sphere of influence, and all three by the end of 1839 would also be in alliance with France. That should hold the Habsburgs in check in Italy.

Then in the summer of 1839 a new crisis arose in North Africa that would make it much more difficult for France to play a role in Central Europe for the near future...

It looked like a repeat of what transpired in Morocco just a couple years previously, as the Ottomans, having snipped pieces of Persia, Nejd and Egypt already, decided it was time to do to the Bey of Tunis what they had done to the Pasha of Tripoli in 1835.

What was France to do? Spain's victory in Morocco made any French influence there less attractive than three years ago. More ominously, Tunisia is a one-state nation, so an Ottoman victory would result in the whole nation being taken over. For the security of our French holdings in Algeria, France could not stand by and let the Turks take Tunisia.

One option would be to attack Tunisia ourselves and hope to conquer the land before the Ottomans arrived. But given our recent conquest of Algeria, I'd rather not get my infamy that high. The other alternative would be to play the White Knight to the Bey of Tunis, and enter the war to uphold the status quo. This requires the the Tunisians have a negative warscore.

On October 25th, the Ottomans seized Tunis after a successful naval landing. The time was now, either France entered the war to safeguard Tunisia's independence, or let the Tunisian pear be mashed into Turkish pestil.

On 26 October 1839, France officially intervened in the Ottoman-Tunisian War, it's only wargoal, preservation of the status quo ante.

(to be continued...)

OHgamer · Jul 27, 2010

1839-spring 1840 part 2

The initial warplan was fairly simple

The Mediterranean Fleet would block the Gulf of Gabes to prevent any further Ottoman reinforcement of its Tunisian force, while six French divisions marched into Tunisia from the West - three divisions to drive the Turks out of Tunis, a division to catch any remnant Turkish forces in either Kairouan or Gafsa, and two divisions to secure Gabes and prevent any Ottoman forces in Libya moving forward.

On 2 November the 3 divisions under General Gouraud meet the Ottoman forces outside Tunis. After a week, the Ottomans are forced to retreat.

Meanwhile in the Gulf of Gabes

The Ottoman naval expedition is sunk within three days.

The final coup de grace for the Ottomans in Tunisia would come at Kairouan, where Gouraud's pursuit of the Turkish army results in his arriving in Kairouan first...

On 25 November the battle is over, the entire Ottoman army in Tunisia wiped out.

With the Ottoman armies disgraced in Tunisia, our diplomats move to end the fighting.

The Ottomans, believing they can regroup their forces, refuse.

So the Ottomans want to play hardball then, fine, we can do that...

My Sardinian and Papal allies join the fighting, while France's army in Tunisia moves into Tripoli in Libya, perhaps that will convince the Ottomans the folly of the war.

Tripoli falls on 16 Jan 1840, a new peace deal restoring the status quo ante proposed. Rejected by the Ottomans.

So it looks like the war will have to be expanded further....

The Tunisians, unknown to me at the time, had invaded Libya at the start of the war, and were proceding to occupy Ghadamis. From Tripoli, the French armies were to fan out along the coast, help the Papal expeditionary force at Misratah and occupy Sirt. Meanwhile a fresh division of French troops would land at Benghazi under protection of the Mediterranean Fleet. Finally, the Channel Fleet would be sent to the Bosphorus and begin a blockade, perhaps having the French navy at the gates of Istanbul would help the Turks see sense.

Then in March 1840 the plucky Sardinians made landings on Cyprus, adding a new theater to the conflict for the Ottomans.

With the fall of Benghazi and Misratah to French forces, and Tunisia's seizure of Ghadamis, and the French navy in the Sea of Marmara, and the Sardinians on Cyprus, a new peace offer is made. On 21 April 1840, the Ottomans accept. Tunisia's sovereignty has been upheld, and the Bey of Tunis has only the French to thank for remaining on his throne.

OHgamer · Jul 27, 2010

1839-1840 part 3 of 4

While the war to save Tunisia raged in North Africa, the year 1840 began with an election campaign. At the gathering of the upper house on 1 Jan, Liberal representation had grown again and was now over 25%. My hopes were guardedly optimistic that perhaps the Liberals could hold on to power when the election was held on 1 July.

Certainly with the various election events I hoped to shape the direction of the electorate further.

Unfortunately for the Liberals, the movement towards liberalism just misses its goal, and on the elections on 1 July, the First-Past-The-Post elections result in a Conservative victory, though the margin was close..

well, there are always the next elections. And further proof that the general trend is toward liberalism, the 1841 reconvening of the Upper House sees the Liberals make further gains...

(to be continued)

OHgamer · Jul 27, 2010

1839-1840 part 4 (final part)

While the war in North Africa and the election took up most of my attention in 1840, there were other areas that needed attention.

In Morocco we use our influence to try and reduce Spanish influence in Fez further, hopefully allowing us a chance to gain more influence in Morocco (though the British too have a good deal of influence, and it's not clear what that will be, though I'd have no problem with a British dominance in Western Morocco at this point, likely creating Anglo-Spanish tensions.)

Meanwhile the war between Prussia and Austria ended during 1840, with Prussia recognizing Austrian "Hegemony" in Germany, but beyond that, no political or territorial changes. But again Austria gains prestige, and the Habsburgs are truly becoming a major rival to French interest, a rival that could become dangerous over time.

Another area to look at were my national focus points. In 1836 I had set both points to encourage capitalist formation in Provence and Normandy. By 1840 Provence has over 1000 capitalists, and I decide to remove the focus from Provence and use it to promote immigration to Algeria.

Also in 1840 I finish research on Hi & Lo Pressure engines, and decide for my second tech to research Muzzle Loaded Rifles. With all the wars I've had so far, it seems that staying atop military tech is going to be more important than I expected.

So by the end of 1840 France remains the #2 power in the world, with a growing economy, a growing empire, and a growing population.

(note the French Algeria label

)

OHgamer · Jul 28, 2010

1841 special feature part 1 of 4

One of the absolutely neat things about V2 is all the data you get on your POPs, and to give a taste of what can be done in an AAR with that data, I present to you

The Census of 1841

Map of France with key showing the various regions

France and Empire, 1841 : 9.48 Million Households

Part I : Metropolitan France

01 Alsace 1841 : 344,860 Households

02 Aquitaine 1841 : 473,440 Households

03 Auvergne 1841 : 377,180 Households

04 Burgundy 1841 : 557,720 Households

05 Brittany 1841 : 683,100 Households

06 Champagne 1841 : 445,210 Households

07 Franche-Comte 1841 : 508,800 Households

08 Provence (includes Corsica) 1841 : 330,510 Households

OHgamer · Jul 28, 2010

1841 special feature part 2 of 4

09 Ile de France 1841 : 569,360 Households

10 Languedoc 1841 : 425,200 Households

11 Midi 1841 : 422,470 Households

12 Limousin 1841 : 421,100 Households

13 Loire 1841 : 390,260 Households

14 Normandy 1841 : 699,920 Households

15 Picardy 1841 : 604,430 Households

16 Poitou 1841 : 280,830 Households

17 Centre 1841 : 411,670 Households

18 Rhone 1841 : 673,190 Households

OHgamer · Jul 28, 2010

1841 special feature part 3 of 4

Part II : La France d'Outre-Mer

Part A : Algeria

Map showing the regions of Algeria

01 Algiers Region 1841 : 310,220 Households

02 Oran Region 1841 : 160,880 Households

03 Constantine Region 1841 : 148,660 Households

04 Bishar Region 1841 : 25,880 Households

Part B : Antilles (including St Pierre & Miquelon)

Map showing the regions of the Antilles

01 Guadeloupe Region 1841 : 35,960 Households

02 Martinique Region 1841 : 30,890 Households

03 Guiana Region 1841 : 12,550 Households

04 St Pierre & Miquelon Region 1841 : 5,690 Households (not on map)

OHgamer · Jul 28, 2010

1841 special feature part 4 of 4

Part C : French holdings in Africa and Asia

01 Senegal Region 1841 : 42,310 Households

02 Ivory Coast Region 1841 : 27,200 Households

03 Bourbon/Reunion Region 1841 : 28,470 Households

04 Pondicherry Region 1841 : 39,120 Households

(end of the 1841 Census)

OHgamer · Jul 30, 2010

1841 part 1 of 3

Before plunging further into the game, a few screenies of some of the tooltips that provide information for the player

This is the interface in the military ledger that allows you to build units. As can be seen, you can build artillery brigades, infantry brigades, etc and once you discover the tech, tank brigades, air brigades and more. They are all separate units, artillery, engineers etc are not attachments as in V1. As with the naval units, you order the construction of the brigade at the province level, provided that there are enough free soldier POPs to support a brigade.

If you hover over the amount of research points you are generating, you will get a breakdown as to exactly what composes that total. As can be seen, a combination of number of educators/clergy and clerks, your literacy rate, plurality, and global status all contribute to the final total.

In your political ledger, in the bottom corner is your list of decisions your country has for the game. If you meet all the conditions, a check will light up allowing you to choose it if you want, while if the check is not lit, you can still hover over it and find out what you need to be able to activate it, just as in HoI3.

Now that the conservative Republicain Party is in power, a new set of potentials opens up. The Orleaniste had been laissez-faire, which meant that I had very little control over the economic development of my society. The Republicain, however, are interventionists, which means I can do more to try and encourage economic development, including expanding existing factories and building railways. Capitalists will also continue to build or expand factories and railways, but the cost to the capitalist will be higher, a trade-off for the player having greater control in the economy.

One thing that an interventionist economy can do that a laissez-faire economy can not is subsidize factories that are unable to turn a profit based on current market conditions. The cost comes right from your budget, and ensures that the goods are produced in your nation. There are definite pros and cons to this policy - it can help protect infant industries from more efficient foreign competition, even if the new industry is not as efficient as foreign producers or even local artisanal production. For now I choose not to provide any subsidies, but it is an option worth keeping in mind.

On the domestic front, 1841 was a quiet year. Politically, I continued to encourage the growth of liberal influence in France, which I'll detail in a bit. But there were also other interesting events for France.

This Work in Progress event provides two very interesting options. A small amount of research points combined with a national decrease of militancy, or a sizable gift of research points. As my overall militancy is less than one nationwide, I decide to take the boost of over 600 points, which will shave a couple months off the completion date for muzzle-loaded rifles I'm researching.

But all was not progress for France....

Cholera was a major problem for much of Europe in this era, and alas an outbreak has hit France, hopefully it will remain fairly contained, because cholera can do quite a number on population growth.

(to be continued..)

OHgamer · Jul 30, 2010

1841 part 2 of 3

My promotion of liberalism every chance I could continued apace in 1841

as a result, when the upper house convened on 1 Jan 1842, another significant boost in liberal representation was registered.

And for the first time, the political leanings of the middle and upper classes now showed a slight plurality in favor of liberalism.

1844's elections would be key, if Liberals could continue their trend, then the Orleanists might very well win power again.

On the geopolitical front, 1841 would be a year to reevaluate France's situation. With the big three Italian states securely in our orbit along with Switzerland, North Africa remained our main focus. But Morocco, now reduced by Spain's seizure of the eastern part of the sultanate, was not quite the prize it seemed a few years back.

When the English convinced the Sultan in Fez to expel our adviors, the decision was made, France would leave Morocco to the British, who would at least balance the Spanish, and ensure that neither London nor Madrid controlled both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Tunisia would be a different matter. France had gone to war to save the Bey's throne, and Paris is bound and determined to make Tunisia our own sphere of influence. With Morocco abandoned, our influence in Tunis grows.

But the Ottomans still try to make a play

unfortunately the Ottomans have made a strategic error. They reduced my influence, but did not shift Tunis' opinion of France.

With our influence growing at twice the rate the Ottomans produce, we now have the ability to deal with the Ottomans once and for all.

(to be continued...)

V2 Beta AAR : France 1836 - A Learning The Game AAR

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