Chapter 6: growing into the new role
Chapter 6: growing into the new role
Welcome back to another gripping episode of the Persian AAR - this chapter has a little bit of everything!
TRACKING REBELLIONS
First, a little bit of "oh, so that's how the game works" - when we left, in
1877, I was musing at the enormous wave of rebellions that was sweeping the world - Russia, for example, was over
92% rebel-controlled,
With two territories (Finland and Ukraine) seceding.
Well, in
1878, I see what eventually happens - the revolting party "enforces its demands"
which means that the ruling party of their choice gets installed, and the number of rebels go way down
(though poor Russia
still has 13% of its territory in rebellion).
CRAFTSMEN, O CRAFTSMEN, WHERE ART THOU
In
July 1878, I get 'Mechanized Mining' (this lets you build steel factories). As Steel somehow, oddly, has been showing as a primary export, even with _zero_ steel factories, I thought this would have a big impact. Instead, oddly, the capitalists never build a single steel factory. In fact, during this session, I discover many additional factory types, none of which are ever built, even though I have oodles of capitalists. The problem seems to be, as alluded to in earlier posts, that I have a terrible dearth of Crafstmen. Despite having my sole national focus encouraging it, despite giving them a low tax rate, etc., most factories are at around 1/5 capacity, and most are unprofitable. I can see why people complain about 'Laissez Faire' knocking people out of GP status - without subsidies, my industrial score would go
way down. By 1887, the end of this chapter, I still have only 2.5% of my populace as craftsmen (and virtually no clerks). I
think that what is happening here is that my farmers and laborers are doing so well that they see no reason to switch. About halfway through this session I therefore switch to...
VICTORY VIA ZONING COMISSION
A number of the industrial techs don't just improve factory performance, they also decrease farm size - just a little bit (1%), but this might start to add up. During this session I start to focus on techs that have this behavior, hopeing to 'shake loose' farmers and laborers and get my factories better utilized.
I HAZ POWERS
A big big step for Persia, as in
October 1878
I become a great power! The winged lion is truly soaring!
The bad news is, I frankly don't have much of a grand strategic vision here, other than "Death to the Ottoman Empire". I start to gin one up, and here are its elements:
1) As my navy is 40 years behind the rest of Europe's, tiny, and I have no naval base, I decide it's largely a fools errand to start globe-hopping, trying to grab pieces of Africa, the Far East, etc. Even if somehow I could take something, my navy will always be hopelessly inadequate to defending it. Instead, I decide to think of myself as the 'Prussia of Central Asia'.
2) I was bitten in my Mexico game by adding people to my SOI who are far away, as they seem to have a habit of creating nasty diplomatic spats. Almost all of my diplomatic efforts go into bringing neighboring countries into my sphere. The one exception is that my #3 import is Tea, which little Atjeh is the #3 producer of
Note how the UK almost completely dominates the world's tea.
Umm, that's about it - I'm not that deep a thinker
In what I doubt is coincidence, now that I'm a GP I start getting CBs - in
August 1875, I get a "cut down to size" on little Khiva. Sadly, I have no way to get at them, as Russia denies me military access.
Just 4 months later, in
October 1879, I get a really great CB, an "Acquire state" on the Ottoman Empire. However, sadly, the truce still has 3 years to go. (By the time the truce has expired, the CB has vanished - does anybody know how long they are good for)?
GROWING INTO THE NEW ROLE
In
July 1880,
intrepid Persian explorers discover the source of the Niile. This nearly doubles my prestige, and moves me from 11th to 5th in world prestige ranking! Prestige, long my weak point, is now my strongest.
In
October 1881 Yemen enters my SOI (hey, you gotta start somewhere
), followed in
July 1882 by Afghanistan.
In
July 1882, just one month before my truce with the Ottomans expire, I get yet another CB, a "Cut down to size" on Oman. This seems like just the sort of 'lovely little war' a new Great Power should embrace - I decide that even if it means delaying fighting the Ottoman a little while, it's worth it, as I also have a secret hope that maybe if I wait I'll get another "Acquire State" CB on the Ottoman (my infamy is
still above 10, BTW).
Accordingly, I take a few months to move troops into position, and in
October 1882 I DOW Oman. The war goes rather easily, as it turns out that Oman has no army
.
however, they do have a 2-ship navy that sallies forth. While it is promptly sunk, it inflicts small damage on my ships. I notice months later that the damage is not getting repaired, even when the ships are at port - a quick look through the manual
reminds me that you need a naval base to repair ships - a port doesn't do it. While, as I said, I'm loath to invest in a big way in the Navy, a single naval base does seem worth it - I invest in the naval tech to do so, and start building one.
In
March 1883 I am starting to feel a proper little great power, as Oman accedes to being cut down to size, and Nejd and Atjeh both enter my SOI. Bully, bully
It turns out to be a good thing that I didn't DOW the Ottoman, as in
April 1883 and again in
June 1883 I get hit by hordes of rebels - it takes a few months to stomp it out.
LEARNING FROM HISTORY (A LITTLE)
In
May 1883, just two months after entering my SOI, a diplomatic crisis happens with Atjeh. I can either lose prestige and swallow my pride, or DOW Atjeh. One thing I learned from my last game is that, if you do the DOW, it counts as a CB-less DOW. Ouch! I decide that I'd rather lose a little prestige than gain 10 infamy, and let it pass.
YET MORE GROWING INTO THE NEW ROLE
In
March 1885, just a bit later, I get yet another CB (it
can't be coincidental that I am now getting CB hand over fist, when earlier I hardly ever got one), when little "Dai Nam" gives me a "cut down to size" CB, just as Oman had two years earlier. I would normally be a bit leery taking on Dai Nam with my tiny navy and its tiny transport capability, but as the map shows,
they are down to just a single territory - China has nearly swallowed them. So I DOW them, load 12K men on my navy, and send it on its way.
The good news is, the fleet makes it there, the 12K men land, Dai Nam, it turns out,
also has no army, and by
January 1886 they capitulate.
The bad news is, even though I have the fleet turn around and head home as soon as the troops disembark (I eventually disband the expeditionary force - enjoy your new lives in Southeast Asia, fellas!), the navy
is sunk by a storm on the way back! The dialog box says "one of our vessels", but no, it's the whole fleet! And this isn't just
a fleet, it's
the fleet! My entire Navy is no more! Sigh. I start rebuilding it a little, I feel I will probably need at least
some navy to project power around the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
BACK TO THE CENTRAL FRONT
All this puttering around with Oman, Dai Nam, etc. has been an enjoyable distraction, but a distraction from the main business of the day - ripping off chunks of the Ottoman Empire.
A major step happens here in
September 1885 as Iraq secedes! I decide this is one time that Honey is better than Vinegar, and make Iraq my #1 diplomatic priority - by
November 1887 they are in my SOI as well.
In
June 1886, I've given up waiting for a CB on the Ottoman, and go ahead and DOW them 'normally'. The war goes ridiculously easily, as I conquer my way up to Istanbul without ever seeing a single Turkish soldier - my only (small) battles are against small rebel detachments. The war ends in
March 1887 as I take 'Malatya' from the Ottoman, which has the nice effect of severing Syria from the rest of the Ottoman Empire - see the map below:
(1) Malatya - my new territory
(2) Iraq
(3) The Ottoman Empire. Given the incredible weakness of the Ottoman, I can't see why nobody else has been chomping them up. Russia and Austria have both been very very quiet for a long time. Shrug.
A DOG THAT HASN'T BARKED (YET)
Devoted readers of this gripping saga may have noticed that I've spent almost no time talking about the domestic situation. This is because, to my surprise, after 50 years, the situation is as below:
1) The populace is still over 80% Conservative. As
Aldriq mentions in his post, this is the opposite of what I expected - I'm not sure what's going on here.
2) No social or political reforms have any significant support. I decide to let sleeping reforms lie.
3) As mentioned earlier, I still have only 2.5% craftsmen, sob.
Oh, one 'national decision' I
do make - in
January 1886 I get the military score needed for 'Military-Industrial complex'. This gives a bonus to military and industrial research (hence the name
), while penalizing other research. As nearly all my research has been, and probably will continue to be, Military/Industrial, this seems like a reasonable thing to go for.
SO, TO RECAP
So, to recap, the years from
1878 to
1887, have been years of big change:
- Persia becomes a great power
- I 'cut down to size' Oman and Dai Nam
- Yemen, Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi, Nejd, and Iraq enter my SOI
- I grab another territory from the Ottoman
ENDING ON A CLIFFHANGER
So there we are in November 1887, when from out of nowhere, Spain, of all places, DOWs me. Spain has a large and scary list of allies: Russia (gulp), the UK (double gulp), Netherlands, and Portugal. I reap the benefits of being below Bad Boy, and 50 years of sucking up to Russia and the UK, as they both dishonor the alliance (whew!), however Netherlands and Portugal go along.
This is making me quite glad I have no territory that isn't reachable by land, as these three western powers are leaps and bounds beyond me in naval power. It'll be interesting to see what happens - here's the diplomatic map of the region.
Solid Green is Persia.
Light green is my SOI
Blue is where I have a truce.
Salmon is where I have a CB (I just figured this out
)
Red is my foe, the Spanish.
Until next time!