1861-1885
Welcome back to another episode in our Swiss experiment! I'm going to split this into two posts - a swiss play-by-play of the next 25 years (
1861-1885) in the first part, and then a second post with a state-of-the-world and state-of-the-switzerland recap.
But first, let's check the ol' mailbox - as always, many thanks to all for your inputs, it makes the game a lot more fun!
As with all your previous efforts I'll be fascinated to see how this pans out. I'm itching to try Vicky 2 but I daren't install it until I've finished my EU3 AAR since I can't successfully play more than one game at a time.
Thanks, my Crustacean comrade! For what it's worth, I have the same issue as you, in fact EU3 skillz 'bleeding over' into Vic2 has bitten me many a time...
This looks very interesting, I'm looking forward to following this. I'm a bit sad you you didn't try to go after the ethnically similar territories near Switzerland, and save them from the horrors of war in the future
....
The lifeboat is full, I'm afraid
...
EDIT: Another problem with Chile, it has NO Craftsmen, Clerks or Capatalists. Unless anyone 's got a way round it, I think I'll pass.
Almost no country starts with any Craftsmen or Clerks, don't worry about it. They'll come over time. As far as Capis go, count your blessings
, in my experience they usually just sit on their hands for the first 50 years anyways. So long as you don't have "Laissez Faire", you're fine. In fact, even if you
do have Laissez Faire, you're fine for a long time, as if you build a factory you will find you have to wait for your RGOs to fill up before anyone will work on them.
So, are you playing 'pacifist Chile' or 'expansionist Chile'?
An interesting approach. Definately looking forward to how it progresses. I guess you'll have to get into the population boosting techs quick. Out of curiousity are you noticing any immigration?
Yes, I got all the populations-boosting techs (and reforms) I could. I am getting some decent immigration from France and Austria (see next post), but nothing to compare to those who hear the siren song of the new world, i'm afraid....
But first, a word for our sponsor...
Our Swiss adventure resumes in
1861. Things go quietly for a few years, in
1864 I get 'machine tools', which lets me build the
Gotthard tunnel. It's little things like this that impress me so much about the Paradox approach. Sure, it's just a little random event, but think of the time and trouble it takes to research
hundreds of these and translate them to game terms, and make them powerful enough to be interesting, but not so powerful that they alter game balance. Kudos!
Just because you don't care about them, doesn't mean that they don't care about you....
So there we are, all the way up to
1864, singing kum-ba-ya, plucking daisies, and watching G-rated movies, when reality intrudes:
Uh-oh! I mobilize the reserves, and get some bad news right off the start:
A 60K 'green' stack is strolling my way. Gulp! My entire army, including the just-mobilized 'red' reserves, is less than that, and this is just their first stack. It's looking grim. And, when your country only has two states, you can't afford to ever lose a war....
And then, attrition comes to my rescue. I withdraw to give my troops time to get 'green' (and to let attrition takes its toll), and the 60K invaders split into 3 forces - 10K to occupy one province, 30K to occupy a second, and 20K to sacrifice on the altar of attrition. I let my troops gain ORG as long as I can, until they attack one, which I reinforce:
and win! This crucial battle breaks the back of the attack, as they mistakenly switch from a 'narrow front' advance to a 'wide front' retreat:
(Note all the red and yellow orgs on both sides - these are not easy wins for me, this isn't is easy as it sounds
).
However, not-easy though it was, I do indeed push them out of Switzerland. They try a second invasion the next year, I repel that as well, and in
November 1865 they white-peace out.
Whew! Fair maid Switzerland keeps her virtue intact!
An Italian twist....
This first attack has me somewhat worried, as in my experience the AI tends to doggedly repeat attacks over and over once it has settled on it. So I'm not sure whether it's good news, or bad news, as in
April 1868 Italy forms. Has this changed things? I click on the diplomacy for them, and see....
They have the 16th-ranked army in the world - and a starting relation of -148
. This doesn't look good....
There's not much I can do about it, other than shift even more of my research to the 'Army' track, and hope.
Unhand me, you brute!
My fears come true, as the Big Bad Italian wolf DOWs me in
November 1870....
And this time I'm facing 77K 'green' invaders, not 60K - though my army is exactly the same size. Woe is me!
They again split in two, but the attrition seems to hardly affect them (sigh, they must have better tech now). I attempt to jump on a single stack, and it turns into a Verdun, consuming all troops on both sides:
I barely prevail in a blood bath. Thankfully, however, I'm in home territory, and so recoup troops and ORG much faster than they do. Again, I gradually push them out of Switzerland, and in
February 1872:
The good news, Italy agrees to a White Peace - the Swiss chastity belt stays firmly intact!
The bad news is, my population is getting very anti-military (what? after all they've done for you?), and my max soldier pops have plummeted all the way down to
5! If I ever disband anybody, i'm not getting them back! This keeps me from upgrading to Guards (let alone building a new unit). I increase military spending all the way to 90%, but it only helps a little. Grrr..
Happiness is a warm machine gun
Perhaps the Italians had some intelligence about my research, as the very next month I discover machine guns. Yes! I immediately, as per my house rule, watch this video:
[video=youtube;8fyr0zbaFyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fyr0zbaFyE#t=0m30s[/video]
It starts 30 seconds in. You're welcome
I said, UNHAND me!
As I feared, the rabid Italian wolf isn't giving up, and in
March 1877, it's time for our 3rd go-round:
This time it's
82 that I'm up against - they are getting more and more, while I am staying in-place, due to my pop limits. However, I have ... machine guns! They attack with everything they've got (which turns out to be, gulp, 150K soldiers):
and, thanks to machine guns and an ever-narrowing 'width', are soundly thrashed - note the over 4:1 casualty ratio.
This time, things go slightly differently, as Italy retreats, regroups, and tries again about 6 months later, with the same results.
These two bloodbaths give me a whopping
24 warscore, and in
November 1878 I get Italy to agree to Humiliation. Yes!
However, while I've now defended Swiss virtue 3 times in a row, the trend is against me. My army can't get bigger, theirs can. I already have machine guns, once they get the counter (which will admittedly be a while) I've got problems. And my forts are already L4, they can't get that much better. And I'm stuck in a Guard-less (and Armor-less, Airplane-less, etc.) configuration.
So, I switch gears a little...
If you can beat 'em, join 'em
First, in
May 1879 the NGF offers an alliance - which I accept. Not very Swiss of me, but I think it's worth it. Second, I haven't bothered to mention it, but I've been a GP through almost all this time, and devoting most of my influence to keeping Germany from forming. I switch gears, leaving that up to Austria, and put 100% of my diplomatic efforts into influencing Italy. This pays off, and in
January 1881 Italy enters my SOI. I also ally with them, as insurance in case I lose GP status.
These two measures seem to work, at least in the short term, as things are quiet all the way up to
1886. In the next post, I'll recap the state of the world and of Switzerland.
Stay tuned - should have it up in the next day.