Part the Seventh - The Wating Game 3: Electric Boogaloo
We begin this chapter by continuing to colonize Africa, specifically the Eastern Sahara.. Considering that I am now a GP, I get many bonuses and a few maluses. A short listing of Bonuses
-Increased RP Gain - This is incredibly Invaluable, as it allows for me to research more and more quickly.
-Increased Leadership Gain - More Leadership means more Military Leaders. This means that my MIL Score goes higher. Previously I was averaging at about 15 total leaders as they died and recruited more. I think that I will probably shift up to about 20, although that is only assuming I am able to continue as a GP, which isn’t a given.
-Increased Prestige - I automatically gain more prestige as a GP. Although it’s not much, every little bit helps.
-Great Power Events - There are many and varied events associated with being a GP. Their are also events which occur more often as I am a GP. I’ll be sure to mention them when I get them, but I cannot and should not count on getting them.
-Sphere of Influence - The Sphere of influence system is part of what defines the GP in the game. As a GP, the primary use for a GP is economic. However, as I am Iceland, I do get to use the Sphere of Influence for a Pan-National Union. Whether or not I’ll be able to do this will be interesting. Listening to other persons, in specific Badger_Ken with his Denamark AAR, it seems as though it will be difficult in getting the Danish provinces which Austria took, and it seems like I will have to contend with Russia for Sweden. I’ll try to Sphere both, but at the same time I think I will expand into my Sphere as what benefits me the best economically, as I will need to support my pops the best I can if I am to industrialize. If anyone has any suggestions regarding what countries I should expand into, I’d be more than happy to here them.
And a listing of the Maluses
-Great Power events - As a GP, other countries will have events against me, creating various Casus Belli. Honestly any type of Casus Belli is bad for me, as it means war which I am most definitely not ready for.
-Sphere of Influence - As a GP, I cannot be sphered by other countries, as was my intention. If I was to have been sphered, preferably by either France or the UK, that would have given me economic protection and Military protection, as the AI seems to be Ally Happy with states in it’s sphere.
-Secondary Powers - The AI of the Secondary Powers is programmed to be aggressive against the 8th ranked GP. This means that Spain, and the Ottoman Empire are likely to get in my grill, and could at any time attack if I display weakness.
Besides this, there is a few things which I also have to resolve, If I am to continue on as a GP. I am a GP mostly by virtue of my incredibly Prestige Alone. If I am to stay in the 8th ranking, I will need to get additional score from somewhere else. Let’s look at the possible locations for this increase.
-Military Score - This is both the simplest way, and the most difficult way. Currently my military score consists of nothing but Officers. At some point in the future, If I am to get a significant Military score, I will require either a land army, or many, many ships, probably dreadnoughts. Of these two options, I am more inclined to use the Dreadnought option. This option means that I will not have to waste a segment of my invaluable population with soldiering, and that I will not have to fund a class of citizens which do nothing during peacetime. However, If I do this, I will require significantly more money each day, in order to support the maintenance costs of this fleet in being.
-Industrial Score - This is arguably the most complex way. Currently my population is growing and emigrating into my colonies. To gain any appreciable industrial score, I will require factories which are almost fully manned. These two things are counter to each other, as currently the only location in which I can construct any type of factory is in the Icelandic homeland, Reykjavik. In practice, what this means is that I will need to be full of population in both my colonies and the mainland before I can start building. As I said before, I don’t know exactly what I am to start with when I begin the construction of the vast industries of Iceland, but I am thinking of building Cement and Machine parts, both of which are staples to the factories of other nations, and perhaps later Radios and Automobiles, hopefully becoming the world’s provider before the UK gets in on the action. If any of you have advice on factories though, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, any industrial growth will really have to wait until I have finished growing my colonies.
-Prestige - Prestige has been my true and trusted friend throughout this entire venture, but at the moment, we are entering diminishing returns with it. The way that Industrial, Military, and Prestige scores are calculated and added together for ones total score mean that while I may be a hundred points over my nearest competitor, Spain, their industrial score will grow much faster than my Prestige can. I will try to remain competitive in this field for as long as I can because at the moment it really is the only field in which I can grow competitively in, but in the long run I need to move away from this.
In summation, what this all means is that I need to begin to develop factories and a high tech navy as soon as it becomes possible for me to do so, likely following the end of my colonization of Africa. Once that occurs, Hopefully I will be able to maintain and even grow my ranking, but this all seems unlikely. I feel unsure about this, but I will try my best in doing this. I will not be surprised though If I lose my Great Power Status, and will not kill myself in maintaining it.
So let’s begin playing a bit of the game.
March 6th, 1877 - The day after attaining Great Power status. All of the factors which affect me as a GP begin to take influence. This quickens my current research, Steam Turbines to finish in Mid October. As I said, I begin to influence both Denmark and Sweden into my Sphere. I do not really expect it to go anywhere, but I may as well try.
March 8th - As I predicted, both France and the UK discredit me out of Sweden and Denmark Respectively. At this time I also notice another competitor to the African Race, Prussia. They are currently colonizing the Asmara Region, from Naval Bases in Prussian Hedjaz presumably.
March 22nd - The Naval Base in Aaiun begins construction now that we have bought enough timber.
April 3rd - The Dakhla Naval base begins construction
April 22nd - I finally notice my main fear in the colonial race, France. Insidious as they are, they decide it is best to try and contend the Mauritarian Coast which England is already colonizing.
August 1st - Mechanical Saw
August 16th - Spain bows out to Anarcho-Liberals - I have to say while the v1.2 did fix alot of the Rebel woes, I think that their are still a few underlying problems. Nevertheless, it is good to see a weakened Spain.
October 14th - Steam Turbines finish. I continue by accumulating RP for the advent of 1880.
November 1st - Cracking
December 30th - Denmark is Cordial
January 1st, 1878 - Sharp’s and Robert’s Power Loom
January 20th - I notice Russia continuing to not make sense by colonizing the Northwest Territory of Alaska, despite that it is Canadian Cored and landlocked.
Febuaray 1st - Secret Police & Hussey and McCormicks Reaping Machine - Coppers on Combines!
March 1st - Nostalgic Romanticism & Synthetic Dye
March 8th - “Botanical Expedition Reports Back” - We choose to support our boys, as Prestige is our only thing we have going. Is it just me or does it seem like this expedition has been going on forever? Also Sweden is now at Cordial with us.
June 11th - “Liberty Shines” - We choose “Other nations sing our praise”, again for prestige.
June 18th - “Sabotage” - We denounce the profiteering of the nonexistent Upper Class. Is it just me or is it weird that I got a whole slew of events in short order. I mean the MTTH System allows for this, but it still is weird. Also how do I have my nonexistent factories be sabotaged?
June 26th - In Dakhla, the Icelandic Colonial Immigration shows it’s influence. Icelandic is now the most common Culture, representing 36% of the Population. Unfortunately the pop is only 3k
August 8th - Denmark is Friendly
September 1st - Northrup Power Loom
September 10th - Russia bans our Swedish Embassy. As I mentioned earlier, it will be difficult and unlikely to sphere Sweden.
December 1st - Jacquard Power Loom
Febuaray 1st, 1879 - Anti-Egalitarianism
April 1st - Mechanical Precision Saw
April 6th - Denmark is Sphered
August 11th - We begin to Influence Egypt, hoping to get the right’s to construct the Suez Canal
October 1st - Dogma of Mass Action
November 1st - Dogma of Violence
November 18th - We receive a Grievous Insult against Egypt. Darn. We choose to take the relations hit and the CB as we cannot afford to lose prestige.
December 5th - Cuba declares independence from Spain. I believe this is the first time I’ve ever seen an independent Cuba. They aren’t really set up to become a World Power overnight, but they have something. Also they have a nifty Red white and Yellow Flag.
I also notice that the CSA is almost ready to challenge my GP Status, with 447 points to Iceland’s 449. They have industrialised fantastically, and are getting the traditional American Immigration I presume.
December 15th - We have a six month timer to regain 8th.
January 1st, 1880 - The UK has decided to host the Congo Conference. I also begin to research Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, progressing at a rate of 1000RP per day from my stockpile.
January 11th - Portugual declares war on Egypt for the Dumyat Region. Considering this recent development, I stop trying to influence Egypt, and instead refocus my efforts on Cuba, which does not have any GPs influencing it. While it is not particularly valuable, it’s uncontended. Honestly this is a bad choice, as I should have been focusing all available Influence into Sweden during the few instances when I am not banned.
January 19th - Phenomenology and Hermenutics finish. RP Gain is now at 43 points per day. I continue with electricity, the final Pop Growth Tech.
January 31st - The CSA declares war on the USA. I hope that this means the CSA is trounced and removed from being a GP contender. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that a US victory will occur prior to my removal from the G8.
February 1st - Electricity uses up my final RP Stockpile. ETA for the tech is Mid June. I also get the Mechanized Slaughtering Block.
February 3rd - “The Congo Conference” - We take part, as the natural resources of the Congo region would be invaluable and I have the money and infamy to spare.
February 9th - Prussia Dows Austria - I feel like that this might be the decisive campaign to see who controls the Germanic people. I expect a Prussian victory, but not by much.
March 9th - The Naval base in Aaiun finishes. Also for some reason, the CSA loses the points to challenge my GP status for the moment. This gives me a moment of reprieve.
March 19th - Naval base in Dakhla finishes. - This gives me the colonial range to reach the Ivory coast, if I wanted to colonize their.
June 12th - Electricity finishes. I continue with the Combustion Engine which looks like it will finish in a little over a year.
June 18th - The CSA has the points to contend me again. The six month timer restarts.
September 8th - Cuba is Cordial in their relation to us.
November 1st - X-Rays. This means we have the most population growth which will be possible in the game, with 0.24% in Iceland proper, and 0.13% in my colonies.
November 26th - The US expands their war goals to Annex the CSA. Hopefully this will be a removal of the contending nation to the GP Status of Iceland. Under the CSA in rankings is Mexico and Spain, but both of them are more than 100 points under my score.
December 17th - The CSA takes Great Power Status. My RP gain drops by a small amount, but any loss is not good.
JAnaury 7th, 1881 - A new trend begins, one which is not desirable in the least. Austria’s ally, Sweden, has been a target of an adventurous expansion to the Prussia War Claims by Mecklenburg, requesting Vestlandent. If this happens, it will be even more difficult to form Scandanavia.
April 26th - “Dental Care Bill” I choose to take “Force It Through”, as I am unsure on the specifics of the event. With a number of events and decisions in the game, it will replace the actual level with this lower level of reform. I don’t want this to happen in the lightest, although the other results wouldn’t be something which I would be adverse to. I believe that this is fixed in a few of the unofficial hotfixes going around, and if anyone can tell me if this is true with this event in specific, that’d be great, but I’m not going to be risking it. The consciousness of my pops increase, even in my colonies.
July 26th - Bremen expands its wargoals to take Swedish Nordnorge.
August 1st - Phenomenology.
August 7th - Combustion Engine completes, replaced by Interchangeable Parts
August 17th - UK finish’s colonizing the Northern Cape. They choose to next colonize Guinea, thankfully a province which isn’t one of my targets. I think that the AI is precluded to colonize desert regions last, as they should, meaning my colonial dreams should progress unhindered.
September 1st - Hermeneutics. This pushes me up to 8th again, hopefully meaning that I become a GP soon.
October 1st - Tractors - This triggers the event “The First Tractor in X” I believe, which would be a quality event for almost all of my current provinces.
December 1st - Prussia finishes colonizing Asmara, and begins on Somaliland. The eastern coast of Africa will look interesting.
January 1st, 1882 - The upper house rearranges, finally pushing my Liberals into 50%. This allows me to implement Universal Voting, although this is superseded by my Women’s Suffrage. This means that my pops all lose their consciousness, and now do not increase in consciousness because they want political reform. I have a very minimal subset of my population which desire changes to the Voting system or the Upper house representation.
Febuaray 4th - We become a GP again. we begin sphereing immediately, dividing our Influence between Sweden and Denmark.
Febuaray 11th - France discredits us in Denmark
March 12th - Hamburg expands the war claims, requesting Swedish Ostlandet. In some very bad news, Austria looks as though it is a cloud in the midst of a rainbow.
April 19th - Interchangeable Parts finish. We continue with Steamers, in order to get Mechanized Fishing Vessels as soon as possible.
May 20th - The Congo forms, as a vassal state of Sardinia Piedmont. I begin to influence them considering my other prospects for sphereing are unlikely.
August 1st - Jiggs
October 3rd - Steamers finish, I continue with Semi-Automatization.
October 26th - An unexpected event occurs.
The formation of Italy means many things. The most important is that in six month’s time I will be losing GP status, permanently. The new Italian nation has an accumulated score of 676 points, much more than my 509. It also means that Their is a new player in the Mediterranean, and they are likely to try to go for Africa in some way.
November 1st - Steamer Automatic Construction Plants
November 28th - UK finishes colonizing the Mauritarian Coast. I now neighbor the two most powerful nations on earth. They continue on by colonizing Senegal. I guess that this is the AI’s attempt to contain my own colonization.
France, with it’s Northern Africa attempts in colonization stymied, begin to colonize around the Ivory Coast and Central Africa, where is is uncontested.
March 20th, 1883 - Denmark is Friendly again, although spending influence doesn’t really have any value at the moment.
April 1st - Electrical Lighting
April 26th - We lose our Great Power Status to Italy.
May 2nd - “Botanical Expedition Stranded” - The cause of science demands it, and has left us with a simple equation:
Science Corner said:
P>M, where P represents Prestige and M represent Money.
May 16th - As I predicted, Italy Dows Egypt. I expect Italian Colonization to happen shortly.
June 4th - Sweden white peaces with Prussia. This is very reassuring, as if such states were taken they would become part of Germany when and if it forms. However, this does mean that Austria is screwed, or even more than it was, with the Prussian Alliance weighing in at a 540 Military score, and Austria reduced down to 80.
June 8th - We successfully colonize West Central Sahara. The words “Icelandic Africa” stretch across the desert sands.
I end with the State of the Nation.
Research wise, the gain of West Central Sahara means that we drop down to a clergymen ratio of 1.64%, much less than is desired. Hopefully this will correct, but this is probably the beginning of a drop in clergymen as I expand which I predicted.
This changes my pops somewhat, with about 77.6% of them Icelandic, while the remaining in size are as follows: Taureg, Berber, Bedouin, Maghrebi, and Maures. These are all expected to slowly assimilate to Icelandic, while Icelandic colonial immigration takes place, encouraging th development of new, subsidiary populations of Iceland. As follows is an image of my charts:
And more specifically the West Central Sahara, for those who want more info.
My future Colonial Ambitions and my neighbours colonial activity
And Iceland’s world rankings
Comments/Feedback/Predictions are always appreciated.
(Have my post's been getting wordier? Is this a bad thing? Also, what is the text limit on these forums?)