Children of the Sun - a Cuzco MEIOU AAR

[aldriq]

Never mind coca... cocoa is the future!

But seriously, the mtth of those volcanic eruptions should be lowered a bit, this is more akin to playing in a 2 billion year-old planet

[FlorisDeVijfde]

Damn those cracks between the tectonic plates. The loss of the people in those volcanic eruptions will luckily be more than compensated by your stability-improvement.

[FinnishFish]

You're doing good ^^

[gabor]

A bit of stability is what you need, that's an interesting thing how MEIOU deals with colonial goods, it's different than MM but quite ingenious. That means also that now you'll be sitting on rich lands Europeans will want to grab...

[Nikolai II]

Ica loses almost 20000 people - half its population - to an August volcanic eruption. Pachacamac is also struck, there are about 8000 casualties.

I think that is the explanation. 50% does feel like a lot. The black plague was one of the worst large-scale disasters ever, and killed about 33%. Volcanoes might kill more, but not in an entire province.

But in this case it is obviously the gods of the earth waging war against the children of the sun

[Malurous]

Never mind coca... cocoa is the future!

But no kidding, during the decade that those events fire in, my monthly production income goes from 55 ducats to 90. About ten ducats of that is PE increase, but that still leaves a huge chunk for the cacao effect.

But seriously, the mtth of those volcanic eruptions should be lowered a bit, this is more akin to playing in a 2 billion year-old planet

Haha, well put!

Damn those cracks between the tectonic plates. The loss of the people in those volcanic eruptions will luckily be more than compensated by your stability-improvement.

Yeah, as long as too many provinces aren't nuked back to colony status I'll be fine.

You're doing good ^^

Cheers!

A bit of stability is what you need, that's an interesting thing how MEIOU deals with colonial goods, it's different than MM but quite ingenious. That means also that now you'll be sitting on rich lands Europeans will want to grab...

Yeah... But it also means that they'll be more difficult for them to grab as my economy thrives.

The goods system feels a bit funny here as we're looking at it from the wrong side from a European influence point of view, but it's quite cool.

I think that is the explanation. 50% does feel like a lot. The black plague was one of the worst large-scale disasters ever, and killed about 33%. Volcanoes might kill more, but not in an entire province.

But in this case it is obviously the gods of the earth waging war against the children of the sun

Hehe, that's a good explanation. But yeah, the percentages come from a random list and they can be a bit nasty if you're unlucky. How does an earthquake that kills 90 % of the province population and 55 % of an adjacent province's population sound? The chances for that outcome are low, but it's possible.

[Malurous]

Chapter Thirty-one
1551-1558

I could really use Trade 15, not only for colonization but also for Cacao producer bonuses which become available then.

However, I decide to go for land for units, as they're just over one level away (10 when I have 8 and am about to get to 9). Though it would be more important for Tlacopan to reach it as then I could build in their cores. That's one more reason that it's good to have them alive - they have Land tech 9 so they might advance any moment now.

I'm not kidding when I say that LT 9 is close - I get it in February 1552.



Later in the month, it turns out that stab +3 was only a two-month thing.



Paria (maize) is the next province to switch to cacao in May, followed by Achagua (lumber) and Mapuche (maize) the next month. I'm getting concerned as I'm losing maize provinces left and right.

Cochabamba, another maize province, follows suit in July.

Stability +3 is reached in January 1553. At the same time our Natural Scientist dies and we get a new six-star.



We're having a decent number of rebels. Tupac Yupanqui V has taken to the frontline...

April sees another Gold Rush - 400 ducats to the Incan treasury.

Fish province Chuquipaya starts farming cacao in May, followed by former lumber producer Manubo the next month. August features the same development in Bio Bio (maize), while Copiapo (fish) gets the same treatment in September and another maize province, Huilliche, switches to cacao in October.

That turns out to be the last straw.



Darn. This needs to be rectified, and I know exactly how. Tlacopan has a bunch of maize provinces, including their one province that should not be distant overseas for me. I want to grab that province, Cempaloa.

However, that can't be done just yet.



I want that province to core first. I can then use it for producing troops in case Tlacopan advances to land tech 10.

Hatun Colla gets cacao in December, creating the need for another maize province. Bad news for Tlacopan.

February 1554 I notice that missionary chance in Tulum is up to 8.8 %. I send the missionary.

Pasto starts producing cacao in July. More pain for Tlacopan...

I get a full stable of magistrates in January 1555 and that allows me to Adopt Imperial Administration.



That seems a bit overblown. I seem to remember this decision being mentioned in some version notes after the one this AAR is on (.13b), has this been changed?

Our Grain Depot has rats in September. A small amount of money must be used to eradicate them.

1556 is a pretty nasty rebel year (strange as RR is going down - maybe they're celebrating 200 years of this game?), but I simply have too many troops for that to be a real problem.

I decide to send another missionary in January 1557. This one goes to Tlaxiaco, simply because it's a poor and peaceful province. This leads to it having a good conversion chance and no additional RR from the missionary.

Nobles demand recompensation in April.



Going Aristocratic seems fine - I go from one step away to full Aristocracy. Good for production, bad for trade, and that's the way it should be given our income structure.

Conversion succeeds in Tlaxiaco in May 1558. Mesoamerica's first Inti province!

The next month we get the anticipated land tech 10.



Hmm, so we get horses now...



Now this is curious. We're able to procure tens of thousands of horses from the Portuguese, and somehow they all end up in South America? How did that happen, did they swim?!?

Anyway, I start recruiting to replace four of the infantry regiments with cavalry regiments in each South American army. Now I do believe that this is worth straying from the trade tech path for seven years, but what I'm really waiting for is for Tlacopan to reach this tech.

Speaking of Tlacopan...

[gigau]

That seems a bit overblown. I seem to remember this decision being mentioned in some version notes after the one this AAR is on (.13b), has this been changed?

Possibly a bit powerful in HT³x... however, with the greater requirement in magistrates in DW, that might be necessary

[Enewald]

Who wants cacao when they could get nice fish?
Europeans'?

[Chief Ragusa]

It's the horses, they've escaped from portuguese control and spread all over south america and the rest of the americas, eating all the maize they can find. Fishermen have had to stop fishing to use their nets to catch horses, all that lumber has gone iinto stables and corrals to house all the horses and horses don't like cacao. Now you get to ride those horses.

Looks like Tlacopan is about to get hit. Can't see why you'll be distant overseas taking morethan one province, when those nice kind Lubeck merchants ensure regular communication?

[FinnishFish]

**** cacao everyone knows that salmon is the way to go

[Basileus444]

I wish I had all that cacao. The Incan Empire sounds like a fun place to live. Chocolate + volcanoes = hot chocolate for everyone!

At least the Portuguese are on the mainland, so having the horses migrate down to Peru isn't totally ludicrous. In my first MEIOU game, I was quite surprised to see the Aztecs fielding over 30 cavalry regiments, even though no European had landed on the mainland. Did the horses swim to Mexico from Cuba?

[gigau]

In my first MEIOU game, I was quite surprised to see the Aztecs fielding over 30 cavalry regiments, even though no European had landed on the mainland. Did the horses swim to Mexico from Cuba?

The westernization rules in MEIOU are about the same as in vanilla... especially in the requirement of a neighbouring european. How did they get cavalry ?

[FlorisDeVijfde]

So, you're an empire now. Excellent

[blsteen]

cacao and horses
things in Inca land are looking up...don't look too high at the slumbering volcanos though
you never know what will anger the gods.

[naggy]

You should definitely get some really nice bonuses around Valentine's Day...

[gabor]

Do I hear the war drum? But you're not going to attack the Portuguese, are you?

[Basileus444]

The westernization rules in MEIOU are about the same as in vanilla... especially in the requirement of a neighbouring european. How did they get cavalry ?

They hadn't westernized. They simply were able to research them on their own. My invasion did take place in the mid 1600s, so they had enough time for that.

[aldriq]

So your evil empire won't stop until the whole world is covered in chocolate?

[Zzzzz...]

You guys are missing the best one!

Gold + cocoa = Chocolate coins!