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A great update with great English and Byzantine victories again, which is always nice to see. I wonder how long the Scandinavians are going to be able to hang on to that Black Sea port.
Can't really say why I haven't commented earlier, but this is one hell of an AAR. Keep up the good work
Coming from the man with the exquisite and legendary Huguenot AAR, I consider that a high compliment. Thanks, Milites!
I hope we will get to see another terrific AAR of your own, before too long.:rofl::rofl::rofl:
Yes, I am the guest that refuses to leave the Ottomans' party. At least not until they serve dessert and maybe a nice ice wine.
Thank you, gents! Very kind of you to say so.
Regarding Scandinavia:
From about 1457 onward I had taken it for granted that I would have naval dominance in western and northern Europe for the forseeable future. To the point that I stopped looking at the navy pages in the ledger (which is part of the reason I got a bit of a surprise while battling Castile's navy from 1474-1476).
All the talk about Scandinavia's maritime potential made me curious, so I went and loaded up the save point from the end of the last update, and had a look at the navy stats. Colour me surprised that their navy is actually larger than mine right now; though I do have more carracks.
I can see great potential in Scandinavias navy. And would they not be more usefull as an ally rather then enemy?
magna mundi will have changed naval combat, but from vanilla gameplay big ships can take on smaller ships quite easily. I remember taking on about 20 galleys with 4 or so galleys and a carrack and doing some major damage and capturing more galleys turning the tables for the next battle.
Excellent update, it was nice that the English were able to achieve great victories even with their forces divided
Nice too to see that Byzantium managed to pull their weight enough to occupy a couple provinces and help out the dogpile effect. A new Idea and Scandanavia too, wow.
Nice too to see that Byzantium managed to pull their weight enough to occupy a couple provinces and help out the dogpile effect. A new Idea and Scandanavia too, wow.
So, I realize you are doing this all for free and such, and I'm kinda a jerk for even bringing it up, but the work is so good I feel comelled to mention that an update of this fantastic story would be greatly appreciated
This is a great story. It even inspired me to try my hand at an England game, which for some reason I'd never gotten around to playing until recently. I have to ask, what's your economy like? I've unified the Isles and beaten France (Ile-de-France is British), but I can't seem to keep a balanced budget. Any chance you'd be willing to share your budget?
I am afraid that if I attempt to ally with Scandinavia, I will hear deep baritone laughter coming from the computer as the AI realises "Now I can take over northern Germany, and you will have to help me."
Plus I try to get allies whose strengths are different from my own. If I'm playing a naval power I ally with land powers, and vice versa.
At the moment I don't see Scandinavia as a boon or harm; it's a big country trying to look after itself, and still has considerable internal tension. Relations-wise we are nominally friendly and things are working out well that way.
Carracks will maul the smaller ships (especially galleys), but I wouldn't bet on 24 carracks versus 70 pinnaces. I don't think they'd survive that. Scandinavia has enough small ships to make anyone's life unpleasant.
So, I realize you are doing this all for free and such, and I'm kinda a jerk for even bringing it up, but the work is so good I feel comelled to mention that an update of this fantastic story would be greatly appreciated
I know, I know.
I am having problems finding English-language books that discuss the Kalmar Union's history and political machinations in some detail. But in spite of that, I plan to have an update posted on Monday night.Sure. Here is a snapshot of my budget from July 1494.
As you can see, in the middle of the Crusade I am running both a monthly and annual deficit. With current cash reserves, I will be able to continue the war for a further eight years before England is broke. Normally with the 36K army I am able to run with a monthly deficit but annual gain even in wartime, but I recruited additional men in the hope of speeding along sieges.
With these settings I am accruing just under 0.02% inflation every year, which is acceptable in the short term (3-5 years). In peacetime I will reduce the minting to help minimise (or even reverse) the growth of inflation.
EDIT: In MM there are buildings which contribute a small 0.01 reduction to inflation (Provincial Accountants, I think). I believe I built 3 of them over the years; without them, I would not be able to halt inflation. The MM base economy even with zero minting will increment a small amount of inflation each year. Oh, and the Bureaucracy NI has a 0.03 inflation reduction, too.
The type of building you put in each province will depend on the tax/trade/production values for that specific province. I plunk down workshops nearly everywhere, but am more selective about other buildings. One "magic formula" I saw in the forums is this:
Workshops + Roads + Markets + Anchorages (+ Taxes) = Profit
If you have these buildings in the appropriate provinces, you are going to make money eventually.
If I were to move the military maintenance slider to zero, and reduce minting so that inflation growth is more manageable, I would still have a monthly deficit but be gaining roughly 50d a year from annual census taxes. In peacetime, I reduce the maintenance slider to zero (or the minimum necessary to reinforce, if any units need it). In wartime, after enemy forces have been beaten and you are working solely on sieges, you can also reduce the slider a little to cut costs while maintaining adequate reinforcement.
Note also that my trade income is almost equal to my tax income. This is because 1) I have placed merchants in about a half-dozen high-value CoTs, and 2) my merchants have a better compete chance because I am still in a trade league. (They use the league leader's compete chance, not my own; they also do not suffer an infamy penalty because Lubeck hasn't racked up any infamy by conquering anyone).
EDIT: Other factors increasing trade efficiency and income are National Trade Policy (+10%), a Competent Government (+1%), and a content Commercial faction (+8%). Combined, these bonuses provide the efficiency equivalent of another 19 tech levels in trade!
Though it's tempting to buy huge numbers of men and ships, I try to ensure that economic buildings and improvements get prioritised first, and increases to military might come after I'm sure that I can reasonably afford it. Being England, I already started with a huge number of ships, and I actually had to disband about 60% of them at game start in order to be able to afford anything else.
World Powers ranked by GDP/Income
Right now England is home to the world's foremost economy, thanks to construction of economic buildings in key areas. Inflation is in pretty good shape relative to the rest of Europe, though it will inevitably creep upward. Within about 10 years our Iberian friends will have the world's largest economies, fuelled by colonies abroad.
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Well you can't allow the Iberians to have the world's greatest economies, now can you? A pro-exploration King/Queen needs to rise up in the near future, before the New World slips out of your hands!
I have read trough this amazing "alternative history" all day long - it's great
Tried only SRI mod by myself now...but now I'm eager to try MMU (I'll follow suggestion in manual - try it with Portugal for my first time)...
But this one - once more - great reading and - good luck both in developing your country and writing...
Tried only SRI mod by myself now...but now I'm eager to try MMU (I'll follow suggestion in manual - try it with Portugal for my first time)...
But this one - once more - great reading and - good luck both in developing your country and writing...
With no subsidies, (and you're getting none, right?) war can be devastating in MM, so they have to be well-planned and should be short. Your budget pic proves it. Subsidies in MMU can distort this balance though.
One way to save some spendable cash is to mint like crazy at times of aplenty (peace, successful merchants, good bonuses); for a price of 1 inflation one can put by some cash either for investment or for a rainy day.
Apparently, this war should be concluded soon.
One way to save some spendable cash is to mint like crazy at times of aplenty (peace, successful merchants, good bonuses); for a price of 1 inflation one can put by some cash either for investment or for a rainy day.
Apparently, this war should be concluded soon.
It'll take a while for me to get there... I keep getting enticed into war when I really want to be at peace, collecting colonists to send out.
Yup, though they can still afford an enormous army that is difficult to match.
I have read trough this amazing "alternative history" all day long - it's great
Tried only SRI mod by myself now...but now I'm eager to try MMU (I'll follow suggestion in manual - try it with Portugal for my first time)...
But this one - once more - great reading and - good luck both in developing your country and writing...
Thank you! I hope you enjoy your own adventures in Magna Mundi! Maybe we'll get to read about them someday.
Gabor has some excellent points here.
No, I'm not getting any subsidies... I believe there is an MM mechanic that more or less prevents it, for major powers of a certain size. I think the logic is that the majors should be the guys giving the subsidies, not receiving them.
Though I would argue that in certain circumstances (say as Britain fighting a Napoleon-occupied Europe), countries should be lining up to buy beer and skittles for the leader of the counter-alliance.As Gabor says, save your pennies in times of plenty. You'll note that in the updates preceding the crusade, my treasury figures increased steadily. That is because I was doing exactly what he advocates here, building up a "war chest" for future action. I didn't know exactly what shape that future war would take (not until Denmark got involved in Greece), but as a longtime MM player I knew that I needed to have some surplus because (as a major country) the coffers get drained in wartime.
Also note that of all the wars I have fought, this one is actually the longest. All others have been, as Gabor recommends, short duration of 1-3 years at most—and with very specific goals in mind. This war has been longer than all the rest because I could not get my original war goal (Corfu) and so I fell back on Plan B, which is Wreck the Ottomans Long-Term.
Thank you, that's actually really helpful to see. I think where I went wrong was putting my energies into trade and war with France, and not nearly enough into infrastructure. I slowly lost my ability to compete. It's probably worth another shot with a more balanced approach.
Also MMU's policy against subsidies has little historical context--England's shift during the 7 Years War was marked by a switch from giving the Russians subsidies to giving the Prussians subsidies. Considering that Russia routinely has the largest army in the world in any EU3 game I've played, I couldn't see the engine allowing England to give Russia any money, what so ever!
I am just catching up with this AAR after a while and I'm at the point where Austria is broken, and it strangly reminds me of on of my Magni Mundi games. I (Tuetonic Order), Austria, and Russia had a three-way allience when Russia attacked Crimea and those other Steppe Hordes. I didn't send anything because I had just finished beating up Poland, but Austria and its entire army marched out onto the steppe. While on campaign the Reformation struck (most of Upper, Lower Austria, and Styria all went protestent), the Austrian Emperor died along with most of the Army in Russia, and a huge rebellion flared up at home. Austria was broken and became a republic (not sure which kind), and Protestent. A few years later Austria reconverts to Catholism and completly roots out Protestism. Has that ever happned in one of your games?
I didn't read much of the Mecklemburg AAR, came in too late and wasn't hooked, for me this is the best AAR I've read.
I for one would think it might be better to just save-edit move the Ottoman capital to Asia Minor just this once. unless the long wait on edirne is almost up already anyway...
As far as your historical British Empire goes, what will you do about France, and Greece if you manage to inherit? Will you simply give up your land, even if no enemy manages to take it from you?
As far as your historical British Empire goes, what will you do about France, and Greece if you manage to inherit? Will you simply give up your land, even if no enemy manages to take it from you?