Children of the Sun - a Cuzco MEIOU AAR

[Nikolai II]

Dang, that hurts.

The only consolation I can offer is that when I read your first words here I thought that either someone had died in an accident, or you had lost a limb. What you got is almost as bad and just as meaningless, but, well.. ah, just hang in there, ok.

[blsteen]

Wow, best wishes and take your time.

[bengrimm]

Good luck malorous :/

[Boris ze Spider]

Hang in there buddy, we will all be here when you come back.

[gigau]

I'll add my voice to the previous one to say that, although i love and enjoy your AAR, RL has to have precedence.

I wish you luck and and tight... things should ease up eventually, i hope.

Friendly yours,
Gilles

[morningSIDEr]

I've just been working my way through my subscribed list and was turning to this looking forward to some more awesome Incan action when I read your latest post. Like everyone else I can only offer my best wishes to you and I hope things get better soon.

[Malurous]

Hiya, I'm happy to tell you all that I've reached the point where my everyday life functions most of the time. I.e. I work, eat and (to some extent) sleep as one is supposed to. Yeah, I spend most of my free time pondering the meaning of life and stuff like that, but at least that won't ruin my health or career.

You guys have been awesome and reading your well wishes really helped. So when I recently noticed that I actually had an update written before things happened, I decided that I'd do the formatting etc. and post the chapter in order to not only thank you all for your support, but also to "go out" on a more positive note. And well, now I got around to doing it, so here goes. Thanks everyone.

Oh, you are ressurecting PrawnStar's AAR! His legacy lives on!

Hey, someone's gotta do it if he isn't planning AARs now, right?

About time someone else had a proper map

Some nice gains there, looks like you're on course for the Americas - in big scary letters

Cheers. Yeah, I worked hard on the maps this time, rebels and huge letters and everything.

Rebels. It brought back old memories. You took care of them and the Portuguese. You started the operation to box in the Portuguese.

It sure did, those maps look familiar.

Still a lot of land to cover on the Portuguese front. Thankfully, by combining colonization and conquest it goes faster than with just one of the two.

I surely feel intimidated! Well done! ...although the quest to rid Americas of invaders from the old world is not over yet.

Thanks! At least I'm inching closer to a situation where I only have one front left in the Americas. And perhaps more importantly, I have a border with Portugal's northern holdings now - no more need to go traipsing through uncolonized land like I did in that war.

But Mal i demand that you make those letters even biggah !

I will attempt that. I don't know if the size is capped somewhere however.

Hmm, how big can the letters become?
Feed them more Iberians!

Indeed, good question. Yeah, proper nutrition is essential when it comes to growth.

PrawnStar: Here's hoping your career advances like you hope it does! And that you come up with an AAR goal worthy of your lofty standards.

Me big letters hungry! Me big letters want more Iberians!

Hmm, I'm actually trying a different dietary supplement next. But Iberians are of course the staple food.

A good war indeed. How much north of you remains infected by colonialists?

There's a map late in Chapter Fifty-seven. Apart from my acquisitions in the Portuguese war, not much has changed.

Good job

So funny, Gil Eanes a leader rebel No, not so funny, because he was born in Portugal

Thanks! Yup, I guess it's because that rebellious province is of Colonial Portuguese culture.

Re: work AAR: Heh, I agree that I'd read that. Maybe not write, as that would be a choice between not writing truthfully and really protecting your privacy, or you'd just end up losing your job.

First-posting to say how much I've enjoyed this AAR. Great show, I hope you can conquer/colonize all of the Americas before the game ends; that way you'll be forced to look elsewhere (Southeast Asia?)

Thanks and welcome, both to this thread and to the forums! It's always good to get a first post.

Securing the Americas should get done in time, but after that (or even during the late parts of it) there are many options. I haven't decided which one to pick yet, I'll add your suggestion to the list of options.

Good luck getting your life together, man. Although I (fortunately) have never been in a situation like yours now, I can imagine how terrible it must feel.

Thank you. It really is something else, I don't recommend it to anyone.

I wish you the very best of luck, Malurous; sounds like a really nasty time in your life. I hope everything works out for you!

Thanks a lot!

I think everyone here has to understand that RL events (even not so harsh like the situation of yours) are more important than being online. I hope that you will be OK. I am going to do the same thing as I have done before - I will let my subscription wait and one day I will happily read another update of the Inca crusade.

Thank you, your subscription will serve you well today. As well as at some point in the future.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. There are things more important that AARs, even if they are fantastically written and entertaining. : ) I hope things look up soon.

Thanks for the well wishes, as well as the praise for the AAR.

Extremely sorry to hear that. I wish you the best of luck in getting your life back on track. Take your time with the AAR. We'll still be here when you get around to post something.

Thank you, we'll see when I get around to creating something new but knowing that you guys will be here is certainly a source of motivation.

I feel sorry for ya - hope everything turns out okay.

Thank you.

RL has a priority over gaming/AARs - though gaming/AARs might help you "recover" from RL shocks. Talking about (yes, even here) as kinda "therapeuty/ic": if it helps ya to "recover" then do it!

Yours,
AdL

P.S.: Sorry for the terrible English, but it has been a long day for me.

True, it can be good "therapy". I haven't felt like playing anything at all yet, but reading AARs has been nice.

No excuse for not updating your AARs. Don't underestimate the therapeutic power of killing Spaniards, even virtual ones.

Hehe, I'm afraid that if I felt that video game violence was the solution, EU III wouldn't be the first choice. It is, hmm, somewhat abstract.

Dang, that hurts.

The only consolation I can offer is that when I read your first words here I thought that either someone had died in an accident, or you had lost a limb. What you got is almost as bad and just as meaningless, but, well.. ah, just hang in there, ok.

Yeah I know, that's precisely what I meant when I said that I sounded like a brooding teenager. I know that this isn't the end of the world, I just don't feel that way... I hope that's just the shock talking, I can't really know. But believe me, I've analyzed this to death.

Wow, best wishes and take your time.

Thanks mate.

Good luck malorous :/

Thank you!

Hang in there buddy, we will all be here when you come back.

Thanks, like I mentioned, that knowledge is all the motivation I need when it comes to wanting to continue this at some point.

I'll add my voice to the previous one to say that, although i love and enjoy your AAR, RL has to have precedence.

I wish you luck and and tight... things should ease up eventually, i hope.

Friendly yours,
Gilles

Thank you for all the kind words! I hope to get back to your masterpiece eventually.

I've just been working my way through my subscribed list and was turning to this looking forward to some more awesome Incan action when I read your latest post. Like everyone else I can only offer my best wishes to you and I hope things get better soon.

Thanks. Well, you'll get a little bit of Incan action now, even though it's the last bit for now.

[Malurous]

Chapter Fifty-nine
1665-1668

An interesting tidbit: the latest Spanish and Portuguese wars ended exactly two years apart. I only noticed when checking the truce timer afterwards.

Speaking of truces, I dissolve the alliance with Aragon. I don't want a situation where I defend them against Spain, having to fight a war where I have no CB and getting another five year truce for no gains. Besides, they are guaranteed by Mallorca so it's not like they'll be easy for Spain to conquer.

My northern troops are spread a bit thin as the men that were posted to the Portuguese border came from the Spanish one, so it's time to build some more regiments. I recruit another 9000 men for the North American colonies closest to my lands - there are no enemies near and the rebel spawns are only two regiments, so small armies will do. They enable me to move a few more armies to the Spanish border.

Three days after the war, Portugal gives me an early Christmas present.



Yeah sure, fight each other in the meantime! Great plan! It's a one on one conflict.

I'm now in a situation where the Grand Marshal isn't necessary anymore due to my full legitimacy. So while losing the discipline bonus stings, I create a Master of Mint in January 1666 and switch to that one to enable a decision.



This will give me some more leeway if I ever need cash fast.

My colonization mission is completed, I get a build university one that I'll be looking to cancel when it's possible to do so.

As luck would have it, my Cardinal dies in February, or less than a month after I wasted my cultural tradition on someone I don't really want to keep. At least there's someone in the pool I can use temporarily:



This Bohemian guy is of the less powerful colonial advisor type, but at least I find someone of use while waiting for magistrates.

The Cardinal's death also leads to a missionary deficit. I send the four I have even though the chances are still low.

I also create an Alderman (replacing the MoM) to enable another decision.



I don't think I'm going to have much trouble competing, so I'm essentially getting free tax and PE bonuses.

We reach Production tech 31 and Trade level 30 in March, while our Theologian's great man event fires.



Nice, maybe the plethora of missionaries that I have out have some chance of success now.

A small change in European religion in June: Brittany wins a war against Normandy and forces the Lutheran nation to convert to Catholicism.

Also in June, I land some men on the Falklands, exploring them. A colonist is immediately sent. I'm actually lucky that no European has shown interest here, I'm taking the islands pretty late as the wars have kept me occupied.

July sees another Production tech advance as level 32 is reached. The next month I get temporarily insane: I know that I should be sitting tight, continuing the domestic advances while waiting for the truces to end and getting rid of WE, but I feel like fighting. Just like Russell Crowe.



The goal here is the island of Kalinago (St. Kitts maybe? I really can't tell from the map). Fortunately, Granada and Geneve stay out. Unfortunately, Nice is the alliance leader. It might be difficult to force a peace here as I can't use battle score against England.

Incan troops land on Kalinago eight days into the war and beat the 4000 strong English army.

We sink three warships from Nice on the Brazilian coast. Also, a San Martin galleon is captured.

Tepehuan converts in September.

In October, Kalinago is successfully assaulted on second try (72 defenders left after the first one, so I could try again almost immediately).



Time to come up with a way to force England's hand here. The fleet starts the long journey towards the British Isles via Brazil and Africa for naval attrition reasons.

Ho-Chunk grows into a city in November. Good, this was necessary as the province borders Spain. Meanwhile, the navy sinks four Nicard small ships. In January 1667, it's another three warships.

Also in January, we get 400 ducats via a gold rush event, and in February we sink two Nicard transports. The trip to England is delayed a bit as the fleet diverts to sink these enemy ships.

In March we reach Production tech 33, while the Dutch strengthen their Danish presence, conquering Slesvig and Fyn.



Days later, Xi'ui converts to Inti.

We colonize recently explored Mdewakantan. This makes Portugal's position more difficult.



A colonist arrives in Malouines (the Falklands) in May.



Pampa grows into a city in July. Also, the destruction of a transport means the total annihilation of Nice's navy. Therefore I don't have to worry about defending the Americas while I operate in England. The main navy and the army they're carrying is currently recuperating in Fez territory.

Production tech advances again in September, this time to level 34. I switch to Government as it's no longer ahead of time and Production isn't getting full neighbor bonus anymore.

I asked and received military access from Northumberland earlier, so after a quick rest there, the navy spreads to blockade. Especially London gives huge warscore.



Turns out that I won't need the army as this is enough for England to accept peace. In fact, they're willing to give a good amount of cash in addition to the province we're after.



Behold - our first conquest outside continental America.



After some rest, the navy spreads to blockade Nice. The pressure leads to a white peace in December. This war is over.

The war between Spain and Portugal, however, is still raging. The American fronts appear to be pretty even, but Portugal seems to be winning in Europe.

Oh and I notice something of interest again while looking at the truces: I just finished my third war in a row on December 10th! This is starting to be a bit weird, especially considering that this time I merely accepted a Nicard offer.

To cap off the year, I start building a small fleet (three wargalleons and two frigates) in the southern tip of South America. I think I'm going to need a local navy there as, with an increasing number of sea zones to cover, that's too long a journey for my existing fleets to sail if someone slips into that area.

A slider move is available in January 1668 and I move towards expansionism. Getting to +4 grants another two colonists every year.



Ozaagii grows into a city in March. The Spanish border is now fully secure.

We get Government tech level 38 in October - constitutional monarchy is enabled. I choose to research Trade for a bit.

Ranqülche grows into a city in November. I grew it to something like 990 people earlier and decided to let it finish on its own.

Matagalpa converts on December 10th. On the same day, the truce with Spain ends.

[ViperhawkZ]

The same-day-peace thing is weird... *Twilight Zone music*

[Boris ze Spider]

Glad to see that your life is back to functioning properly everyday. But for an in-game question, when do you think you will start getting at least a neutral tariff modifier?

[Alan deLane]

Hiya, I'm happy to tell you all that I've reached the point where my everyday life functions most of the time. I.e. I work, eat and (to some extent) sleep as one is supposed to. Yeah, I spend most of my free time pondering the meaning of life and stuff like that, but at least that won't ruin my health or career.

Happy to see that you're back! ... and onwards with the Inca(s)!

Yours,
AdL

[gigau]

If this updates allows us to presume that things are getting back on track in RL, i feel relieved and happy for you.

Regarding the update, i might have missed the info in a previous update and it's not that strange i know... but i still like the irony of having Granada as defender of the catholic faith

Looks like the Spaniards are going to get their collective under pants handed over... are they still at war with Portugal ?

[Omen]

Seeing an Inca held island so close to their own has got to make the Spanish nervous. The war went well, Europe still looks messed up and the Inca prevail! All in all business as usual : )

I was stoked to see an update, and I'm glad things are getting normalized to a degree.

[MannheimCouncil]

Good to see you're back to a somewhat normal everyday life. And that's quite some dedication answering every reader's post.

Can't wait to see you getting into a real land war in Europe. Spain does look ripe...

[Athalcor]

Welcome back !

I like that Granada is the DoTF (Catholic). And IMHO your empire is now the best one - even Bohemians come to your court.

[Chief Ragusa]

That was a fairly easy war. Geneva looks a more formidable opponent, but they stayed out. All that effort for one island. You have a formidable manpower reserve and army size. Colonising and taking the Falklands means no one can sneak up on you from the Atlantic. How are you doing colonising the closest Pacific islands?

Spain and Portugal fighting is a gift to you. Whilst they fight, you can work to block off Portugal's drive to the west coast.

[FinnishFish]

Woo first outside of the continent place

[gabor]

December 10th thing seems intriguing, I'm neither superstitious nor into conspiracy theories, yet... it feels a bit unsettling
Hope you're coming to terms with the past. There's no other way from a slump but UP.

[Malurous]

Alright, have a nice summer everyone, I'm getting the hell out of Dodge so to speak and won't be online after this Sunday for at least two weeks, maybe more. Taking a timeout, sort of...

The same-day-peace thing is weird... *Twilight Zone music*

Indeed!

Glad to see that your life is back to functioning properly everyday. But for an in-game question, when do you think you will start getting at least a neutral tariff modifier?

Functioning properly for the most part... I get better days and I get worse ones, but fortunately the latter keep becoming rarer.

Should be less than a decade IIRC, seeing that I expect to be investing in trade in the near future. Not that it matters much currently as almost all of my provinces are connected by land.

Happy to see that you're back! ... and onwards with the Inca(s)!

Yours,
AdL

Thanks! Of course, the accuracy of your statement depends on how you define "back". I.e. you shouldn't hold your breath for more updates any time soon (seeing that I'd have to play and write them, instead of copy-pasting like that one), but I don't think there's any need to worry for my sanity either.

If this updates allows us to presume that things are getting back on track in RL, i feel relieved and happy for you.

Regarding the update, i might have missed the info in a previous update and it's not that strange i know... but i still like the irony of having Granada as defender of the catholic faith

Looks like the Spaniards are going to get their collective under pants handed over... are they still at war with Portugal ?

Thank you, it's indeed looking up, compared to earlier.

Heh yes, that's one side effect of a mid-late game Granada typically being Catholic. I don't really mention DotF's other than when I DoW (they change pretty often) so I don't think you've missed any info.

Yes, the Spain-Portugal war is still raging. It's considerate of them to keep themselves occupied while I don't.

Seeing an Inca held island so close to their own has got to make the Spanish nervous. The war went well, Europe still looks messed up and the Inca prevail! All in all business as usual : )

I was stoked to see an update, and I'm glad things are getting normalized to a degree.

Thanks, but like mentioned it's just that one update for now...

I'd like to nab the Iberian held Caribbean islands at some point, but blocking colonization paths has been the priority so far. Then again, Spain is starting to be pretty much blocked, so that time might be close for them. Not so for the Portuguese, sadly.

Good to see you're back to a somewhat normal everyday life. And that's quite some dedication answering every reader's post.

Can't wait to see you getting into a real land war in Europe. Spain does look ripe...

Thanks. It's pretty clear to me that I'm not going to let this jeopardize the quality of my AARs. The schedule, yes, as I feel I have to, but not the quality, and part of that is the communication with you, the readAARs. I don't care if it's playing, writing, screenshot work, feedback or whatever, unless I'm ready and willing to do it like I normally do, I'm staying silent.

European war will come eventually, and like with the Caribbean islands, Spain is the more likely early candidate as Portugal's colonies are more of a threat. IIRC I still need some more transports and preferably troops too, but I don't think that should be a problem. But America is priority number one, I need to throw those invaders out.

Welcome back !

I like that Granada is the DoTF (Catholic). And IMHO your empire is now the best one - even Bohemians come to your court.

Thanks! Heh, seeing how EU III's advisors work (country of origin gets first dibs) I'm not sure it's a good sign that we're employing a Bohemian advisor!

That was a fairly easy war. Geneva looks a more formidable opponent, but they stayed out.

Yeah it was, and I don't think Geneve would have made much of a difference since blockading was enough to get the English to give in. They definitely would have made landing troops more difficult.

All that effort for one island.

True, but one that had to be taken at some point. With the Iberians fighting each other, this was as good a time as any. Of course, England still has that northern province in the Americas that needs to be conquered when we reach that area.

You have a formidable manpower reserve and army size. Colonising and taking the Falklands means no one can sneak up on you from the Atlantic. How are you doing colonising the closest Pacific islands?

Spain and Portugal fighting is a gift to you. Whilst they fight, you can work to block off Portugal's drive to the west coast.

If it's a matter of choice, I don't believe in blocking people off just by colonizing - I prefer colonizing AND beating people up. But you're right, one can always hope that the war slows them down.

For now, all colonists left over from the North American race are used to grow colonies on the South American coast into cities in order to finish securing that area. So no plans for Pacific islands in the short term (other than Galapagos of course), but I certainly want them when I can spare colonists.

Woo first outside of the continent place

First conquered one at least. And I guess the first full province, actually, as the islands I've colonized are still colonies.

December 10th thing seems intriguing, I'm neither superstitious nor into conspiracy theories, yet... it feels a bit unsettling
Hope you're coming to terms with the past. There's no other way from a slump but UP.

Heh thanks, made me smile. Hey quick, someone get a numerologist, can that date be linked into YHC somehow?

[ViperhawkZ]

Of course! You've cracked the case - Dec. 10 must be YHC's birthday!