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High tariffs mean that your people cannot afford expensive foreign products. Your capital does not flow into other states. It also helps your own products to compete within your own marketing area.
Those who want to use foreign products can afford to pay for it, poor people do not need foreign fish or tobacco.
It can always be increased or lowered, I try to keep it as low as 15-30%, although bad times might require up to 50%.
It is money. Money is good.
 
((btw - don't miss feedback from earlier today at the bottom of the last page))

Now that I've become a Prussian Constitutionalist government, I have to actually listen to people and what they believe. I also get to start manipulating what they believe, and shaping Siam into a country that believes what I most want them to believe. Some will listen to me, and others won't.... Just like I will listen to some, and not to others! :D

I'm showing some examples of Election Events that come up during the campaign. I've been splitting the difference on some -- like I haven't got any idea yet whether I'm going to prefer Free Trade or Protectionism, long-term, and so I generally choose the answer that causes the LEAST change to the status quo (usually only a 5% change, instead of 15-25%).

On Religious issues, I will always move toward Pluralism, if I can. On Residency issues (who gets to be Accepted Culture) I will always move toward Full Citizenship. I want my government to be inclusive, especially since (as you'll see in another screenshot in just a moment) most of my country's population is NOT Siamese!

aElectionEvent.jpg


In the above example, I choose the middle course -- the choice that increases Pluralism as much as I can WITHOUT causing Militancy among those who disagree. I solved SOME of my Militancy issues in the last update, but so long as I have that +10% Militancy effect from Westernization, I'm going to be very sensitive about increasing MIL among any of my POPs. Later I'll grow bolder and be willing to tick some people off, because I know I can handle it.

The Westernization tag is the main thing helping me research and increasing tension, but I have other events that are continuously popping up, like the one below. It is sort of the same thing, just localized and less far-reaching. I accept as many of these as I can, too. More MIL, but better results for Research.

a1stElection.jpg


My election finally happens, and it appears that my Aristocrats are all pretty Liberal! I hadn't checked that. Actually, it's not so much that they're ALL Liberal -- it's that they are Liberal in a large enough proportion that, under the election laws I currently have set (First Past the Post) they are so dominantly Liberal that no other viewpoint is likely to get... well, to get past the post! :D

The election results, in January, have a significant but not earthshaking impact upon my Upper House makeup (the Lower House, under current settings, appoints the Upper House).

This also means that -- suddenly! -- I can enact yet more Reforms, if I so desire... I don't. Not yet.

Politics1860.jpg


I complete my research of Military Staff Systems, which improves Organization and unlocks Cavalry, which I immediately start building, where I can. My next choice for research is the Publishing Industry -- another of those prerequisites for Westernization and becoming Civilized. Target, 1863 (for THAT requirement -- still have others to meet).

Okay... Sorry, but this is a rather busy, intricate screenshot, with lots borrowed and edited in from other screenshots...

You'll notice that as I've been building more ships and cavalry, my Military Score has gone up from 15 a year ago to 19 now. I'm building more Forts, and I'm increasing the number of Man o'War in my fleet (this is what "moves" the Military Score -- not frigates, so much).

NavalPrep.jpg


Relationwise, The UK and Belgium (a longtime enemy of the Dutch) have become Dutch allies. This actually makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to attack the Netherlands, as I have been brought into the UK's Sphere of Influence and I cannot take a diplomatic action that would bring me into conflict with my Sphere leader (i.e. any allies of the UK). I don't remember for 100% sure if this has already happened, or if it's about to happen (my being brought into the UK Sphere), but this is the net result of that happening.

And... Speaking of Spheres of Interest... I notice that the UK is also heavily influencing Johore, such that Johore might soon also be within their Sphere of Influence. This means I need to act quickly! I begin moving troops and ships into position...

LowMil.jpg


Before we go there, here's another Event that impacts me pretty substantially. One choice, if I recall correctly, increases Militancy, the other reduces it. Even though it reduces my Prestige by 2 points (from 30 to 28), I choose the action that reduces Militancy, because that's important to me right now. You can see the result in average national militancy -- from 1.91 to 1.53. Not bad! And Military Score up to 21 already!

Okay, there's the answer about the UK and their SoI -- I'm not there yet, but they've just taken an action (increasing my Opinion to Cordial -- NOT my choice, but their GP Influence doing this) which brings me closer to their Sphere.

Johore.jpg


Johore is like a lamb for the slaughter -- they don't have much in the way of defenses, other than Forts, which they stupidly built without having troops to man them! :) They'll come in handy for me, instead.

Their army is competent at fighting, but they're certainly inferior to me. My recently increased Organization helps, and my Regular Infantry vs. their Irregulars, etc. The battle is lopsided.

Fighting.jpg


By summer of 1863, we've conquered Johore successfully, and integrated them into our country. We also achieve Publishing Industry.

Remember that Alliance the Belgians signed with the Dutch? Apparently neither do the Dutch. :D

JohoreOurs.jpg


With Johore now contributing to our Economy, you'll notice the 13 pounds of cash their Gold Mines are bringing in for us now. That's pretty much our whole surplus, so I'm glad to have it. I need to reduce taxes again, because my POPs are having trouble getting their Needs met (witness the yellow pie charts -- barely getting Life Needs).

Budget1863.jpg


My ranking, compared with other countries, is doing quite well. My industry is zero, because I am uncivilized. But my other rankings put me in competition with industrialized European powers already, which means once I DO civilize, and once I DO have Industry, I'll start ranking higher still!

Ranking1863.jpg
 
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well done! Are you thinking of implementing any of the political reforms?
 
Forts and Man'o'war increase military score?

I never knew this and found it one of the hardest things to get for westernising, 50 takes a lot of soldiers at low tech levels.

How is the infamy now, couple quite costly things there and still need some more prestige.
 
I like to conquer that area merely for aesthetic purposes.

I also wonder how soon these liberal aristocrats will want to expand the ballot. Are they aware that giving the vote to Bob the Farmer will revive reactionism or do they want to push the correct opinion 'too far'?
 
Ah, so you did need Military Staff System to build cavalry then.

Johore was a quick affair. I imagine you will now wait for the final steps of westernisation while your infamy cools down a bit... before taking the rest of Indochina :D
 
Half of your incomes go for the army?
Maybe lower the spending and invest in education and less taxes? :rolleyes:
High military spending just results into a 'army with a state'-situation, 20% of pops are soldiers and maybe 5% are officers.
Unless you want to become the Prussia of Asia, I say lower it. :p
 
Half of your incomes go for the army?
Maybe lower the spending and invest in education and less taxes? :rolleyes:
High military spending just results into a 'army with a state'-situation, 20% of pops are soldiers and maybe 5% are officers.
Unless you want to become the Prussia of Asia, I say lower it. :p

What's wrong with Prussia? :mad:


Btw, Rensslaer, you haven't welcomed me, yet. Just so you know. :p
 
What's wrong with Prussia?

Rensslaer would find nothing wrong with Prussia (perhaps the AAR will be re-titled Fire burns the Southern Forests).

Who's lined up for and against the Dutch this time? Usethat Place in the Sun before you civilize or you'll lose it. When I civilized, as Tibet, the Acquire State CB on China disappeared not that I planned a war against an enemy with 667 brigades. Your China looks to have around 454 brigades - still a scary confrontation.

I've noticed the partly filled pies appear after annexations. Things usually settle down after a few days. The State's got to digest its new populations. You may not need to lower taxes.

Have you the infamy for a quick humiliation of Cambodia? That would give you 5 prestige to take you to 44 out of 40 prestige needed to Westernize. You need 50 military and you have 40. Three net new generals will meet that qualification. I haven't noticed forts giving any boost to military score, though.

Brunei looks tempting target with opportunities to colonize, should you gain the necessary Siamese pop to allow more than one national focus, assuming you don't want to focus just on that activity.

Can't have France as the world's greatest power. Something must be done!
 
lurker here, I find this AAR very helpful in learning a complex game like VickyII

keep up the good work
 
Good strataGEMa, Messr. Rensslaer.

After dashing success why bother troops going home. Haunt for true and just Portuguese style. Farmers of Siam demand overseas expenses go skyhigh. People demands must be met.

Do siamese people dislike yellow?

Hello, BTW. Fast-paced campaign thus far. Well going!
 
considering your choices it looks to me as you want to become a republic, is so you should take reforms towards it


as for landgrab: go annex those two little nations inside your territories (Luang Prabang and Cambodia), hopefully the letters on the map will slide then to somewhat better position


and you have to place negative tariffs in my opinion, 5 or 10%
 
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What's your infamy situation looking like following the conquest of Johore?

Those goldmines are certainly helping your financial situation. Do you know why your POPs suddenly find it so hard to meet their needs?
 
This is a very good and very informative AAR. I have learnt a lot from you, and therefore my latest game looks like yours a lot (although I am not "copying" in any way... and I am on the other side, as Cambodia).

I am also in the 70's, and my "pie charts" have also gone completely yellow (= 100% of my pops can't fulfil all their life needs). DO you have any idea of what is going on here? Is there an issue with the world market, and a particular good missing?
 
take over Brunei before you Westernise, the northern most territory is close enough to let you colonise Oceania.

I can't wait for An Elephant for America :). You better fire the event :p
 
Rensslaer: ...On Religious issues, I will always move toward Pluralism, if I can. On Residency issues (who gets to be Accepted Culture) I will always move toward Full Citizenship. I want my government to be inclusive, especially since (as you'll see in another screenshot in just a moment) most of my country's population is NOT Siamese!

good choices ! ! :)

magnificent AAR ! !
:cool:

i have been following since early on, but don't post very often anymore due to health issues.

Rensslaer: ...You'll notice that as I've been building more ships and cavalry, my Military Score has gone up from 15 a year ago to 19 now. I'm building more Forts, and I'm increasing the number of Man o'War in my fleet (this is what "moves" the Military Score -- not frigates, so much).

in that regard, it is my understanding that the 'newer' the ship (design), the more impact on Military Score... ;)

Rensslaer: ...By summer of 1863, we've conquered Johore successfully, and integrated them into our country. We also achieve Publishing Industry.

splendid, on both counts ! ! :D
 
High tariffs mean that your people cannot afford expensive foreign products. Your capital does not flow into other states. It also helps your own products to compete within your own marketing area.
Those who want to use foreign products can afford to pay for it, poor people do not need foreign fish or tobacco.
It can always be increased or lowered, I try to keep it as low as 15-30%, although bad times might require up to 50%.
It is money. Money is good.
Ahh, all this is true -- and perhaps I should have recognized the difference between industrialized countries and podunk uncivs before I said anything -- but it's mostly true for countries that have access to most of their needs (and quite not true for some other countries). At this point in the game (in fact, until very late in the game, unless I make some spectacular expansionist gains!) at least half the needs of all of my POPs must be imported, which means the Tariffs fall directly on the heads of the POPs for most of what they must buy to be happy. This is really true of almost any country, though. A certain portion of the population will need to buy something your country doesn't produce -- your Tariffs punish them, to the extent that they need that thing. So it's really going to be different for every country. With Siam lacking cattle, wool and -- of all things -- fish, I can't afford to have high Tariffs, because that would make 75% (or more) of my population have to pay extra to buy stuff.

well done! Are you thinking of implementing any of the political reforms?
Badger_Ken, I apologize -- I keep meaning to get a chance to go through your Mexico AAR (and some of the others) but I'm constantly feeling pressed for time. I'll get over there one of these days. Yes, I'll get into some political reforms, but slowly for now.

Forts and Man'o'war increase military score?

I never knew this and found it one of the hardest things to get for westernising, 50 takes a lot of soldiers at low tech levels.

How is the infamy now, couple quite costly things there and still need some more prestige.
Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that Forts increased Military Score. The Men o'War do, though -- alot more so than Frigates, which barely score. More Soldiers and more Officers (for leaders) helps too. The iron ships, later in the game, are what really move your scores up. Sailing ships less so. Welcome, Quacky! Infamy should probably be around 20, I think, out of the 25 threshold.

I like to conquer that area merely for aesthetic purposes.

I also wonder how soon these liberal aristocrats will want to expand the ballot. Are they aware that giving the vote to Bob the Farmer will revive reactionism or do they want to push the correct opinion 'too far'?
Aesthetics is nice, and there's something to be said for homogeneous (sp?) borders. I'm actually going to try to manage the political scene so that it doesn't go too far in any direction.

Ah, so you did need Military Staff System to build cavalry then.

Johore was a quick affair. I imagine you will now wait for the final steps of westernisation while your infamy cools down a bit... before taking the rest of Indochina :D
Well.... One more conquest in mind. Or two. Before Westernization. :rolleyes:

Half of your incomes go for the army?
Maybe lower the spending and invest in education and less taxes? :rolleyes:
High military spending just results into a 'army with a state'-situation, 20% of pops are soldiers and maybe 5% are officers.
Unless you want to become the Prussia of Asia, I say lower it. :p
Well, yes, for now, half my income goes to my army. That's mainly because I'm really pushing for that 50 Military Score to Westernize, and so I need to make up for lost time when I had Military Spending way lower. And, as you can maybe see from my response to Aldriq, I have things in mind for the army. :)

What's wrong with Prussia? :mad:

Btw, Rensslaer, you haven't welcomed me, yet. Just so you know. :p
Thank you, Soulstealer -- great to have the cooperation of those who need to be welcomed! :D Welcome! And as for Prussia... Absolutely nothing is wrong with Prussia -- Prussia is sort of my adopted home, as an author, since I kind of made my name with my V1 Prussia AAR. :)

Rensslaer would find nothing wrong with Prussia (perhaps the AAR will be re-titled Fire burns the Southern Forests).

Who's lined up for and against the Dutch this time? Usethat Place in the Sun before you civilize or you'll lose it. When I civilized, as Tibet, the Acquire State CB on China disappeared not that I planned a war against an enemy with 667 brigades. Your China looks to have around 454 brigades - still a scary confrontation.

I've noticed the partly filled pies appear after annexations. Things usually settle down after a few days. The State's got to digest its new populations. You may not need to lower taxes.

Brunei looks tempting target with opportunities to colonize, should you gain the necessary Siamese pop to allow more than one national focus, assuming you don't want to focus just on that activity.

Can't have France as the world's greatest power. Something must be done!
The situation with the Dutch remains complicated through almost the whole game. Too many allies (the Netherlands ends up being almost the #1 target of all the great powers in the Sphere of Influence battle), and too strong allies, and there's even more complication as to which states I could realistically take, etc. I can't explain without spoiling the fun, but rest assured I'd LOVE to take care of them -- they're making it difficult on me! You're probably right about the yellow pie-charts being a sign of a disrupted economy. They do seem to settle down after a while.

lurker here, I find this AAR very helpful in learning a complex game like VickyII

keep up the good work
Great to hear, Mico94! Welcome!

Good strataGEMa, Messr. Rensslaer.

After dashing success why bother troops going home. Haunt for true and just Portuguese style. Farmers of Siam demand overseas expenses go skyhigh. People demands must be met.

Do siamese people dislike yellow?

Hello, BTW. Fast-paced campaign thus far. Well going!
Welcome, Kyrill! You know, there was a time, in past games, when I would DO that! :D But I typically either hit or surpassed the Badboy limit quickly, which meant there were OTHER reasons why my troops never need come home. :rolleyes:

considering your choices it looks to me as you want to become a republic, is so you should take reforms towards it

as for landgrab: go annex those two little nations inside your territories (Luang Prabang and Cambodia), hopefully the letters on the map will slide then to somewhat better position

and you have to place negative tariffs in my opinion, 5 or 10%
Well... To be honest, I wasn't particularly wanting to become a Republic, but I was kind of forced into it. Remarkably, you should see the direction this goes... :D The problem with going after those small countries next to me is that they cost as much in Infamy as many more provinces from other sources. Infamy goes up lots when you're not just eating pieces off a country, but you're absorbing it whole. So...

What's your infamy situation looking like following the conquest of Johore?

Those goldmines are certainly helping your financial situation. Do you know why your POPs suddenly find it so hard to meet their needs?
As I think I mentioned to another poster, it's probably around 20 Infamy right now. My POPs are probably stressed because I must increase taxes in order to pay for my wars -- the doubled military costs (which are already high) require I either have a treasury built up to pay for the war, or that I increase income.

This is a very good and very informative AAR. I have learnt a lot from you, and therefore my latest game looks like yours a lot (although I am not "copying" in any way... and I am on the other side, as Cambodia).

I am also in the 70's, and my "pie charts" have also gone completely yellow (= 100% of my pops can't fulfil all their life needs). DO you have any idea of what is going on here? Is there an issue with the world market, and a particular good missing?
Thanks, Tomsz! And Welcome! Good luck with Cambodia! That's a serious challenge, compared to Siam. Pie charts yellow probably means you need to reduce spending so you can reduce taxes. Add a negative tariff if you can -- something to help your POPs buy the goods they need. Once they start meeting their needs, you should be able to increase again.

Well done! How does your infamy stand now?

Any chance of expanding into Bali or the other islands of southern Indonesia, or have the Dutch and British swallowed them whole?
Actually, definitely some late-game action in that region. Bali has become Dutch, by this point, but other islands are free.

take over Brunei before you Westernise, the northern most territory is close enough to let you colonise Oceania.

I can't wait for An Elephant for America :). You better fire the event :p
:D Actually, I did fire the Elephant for America event, at the same time as I was increasing relations with the USA, but it seemed to be unimportant compared to everything else that was going on, and so I didn't mention either. Relations with the USA are definitely going up, though!

Rensslaer: ...On Religious issues, I will always move toward Pluralism, if I can. On Residency issues (who gets to be Accepted Culture) I will always move toward Full Citizenship. I want my government to be inclusive, especially since (as you'll see in another screenshot in just a moment) most of my country's population is NOT Siamese!

good choices ! ! :)

magnificent AAR ! !
:cool:

i have been following since early on, but don't post very often anymore due to health issues.

Rensslaer: ...You'll notice that as I've been building more ships and cavalry, my Military Score has gone up from 15 a year ago to 19 now. I'm building more Forts, and I'm increasing the number of Man o'War in my fleet (this is what "moves" the Military Score -- not frigates, so much).

in that regard, it is my understanding that the 'newer' the ship (design), the more impact on Military Score... ;)

Rensslaer: ...By summer of 1863, we've conquered Johore successfully, and integrated them into our country. We also achieve Publishing Industry.

splendid, on both counts ! ! :D
Ghostwriter, Welcome! GREAT to see you along and reading! Hope you're feeling okay. Thanks for contacting me not long ago -- did you get to read that story scene I gave you? As can be said by many of us AuthAARs, Ghostwriter is often our biggest fan!

brilliant AAR, and i love pictures! This makes me want to buy the game now!
Welcome, Warspite! I'm deeply honored! Glad I've caught your interest for V2! It IS definitely alot of fun. Did you ever play V1? For those of you who don't know, Warspite cut his teeth writing about 30 Europa Universalis 1 AARs (exaggerating slightly). He's one of the forums' Founding Fathers. :D

It's been a busy weekend, so I didn't have much time either to write or to play, so I can't promise an update tomorrow. I'll try though. We'll see.

Thanks again, everybody, for your comments and readership!

Rensslaer