You'll find out why in the next update -- don't want to spoil things!
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You'll find out why in the next update -- don't want to spoil things!
As far as EU 3 favorites, we could go on all day
I've tried every major at least once and a few minors -- I've got Divine Wind and haven't tried Ming or Japan yet I think Argentina is four states; you won't have easy access to Uncivs, but the other Civs are pretty weak (Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay all make tasty snacks), and if you want to try your luck, you can challenge Brazil.
I'm organizing my screen shots for the next couple of updates. I know I said I'd do a "state of the nation" type update every 25 years, but well, I forgot Having too much fun/handling too much at once. Instead, we'll have one in 1885 (50 years) and one at game end.
I'm working on a new update as I type this, so you'll see how not to manage an economy at war.
UPDATE (on the update): I had the update about 75% done last night, then I went to bed. Instead of pasting it into a word document, I thought, hey, I'll just leave my Browser open, what could possibly go wrong.
Yeah, the PC rebooted to update. So, in other words, it'll probably (but not definitely) be done today.
UPDATE (on a different update, not the update that is yet to come): I fixed some of the wording in the elections Tutorial. Basically, if two parties share the same issues, a POP will vote ideology, provided his ideology is one of the two parties which share said issue. Otherwise, he'll vote for the winner. If no party has the issue, the POP votes by ideology.
We've got a bit of unpleasant weather about to start; if possible, I will update this evening.
Having too much fun/handling too much at once. Instead, we'll have one in 1885 (50 years) and one at game end. I'm working on a new update as I type this, so you'll see how not to manage an economy at war.
UPDATE (on the update): I had the update about 75% done last night, then I went to bed. Instead of pasting it into a word document, I thought, hey, I'll just leave my Browser open, what could possibly go wrong.
Yeah, the PC rebooted to update. So, in other words, it'll probably (but not definitely) be done today.
UPDATE (on a different update, not the update that is yet to come): I fixed some of the wording in the elections Tutorial. Basically, if two parties share the same issues, a POP will vote ideology, provided his ideology is one of the two parties which share said issue. Otherwise, he'll vote for the winner. If no party has the issue, the POP votes by ideology.
We've got a bit of unpleasant weather about to start; if possible, I will update this evening.
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Chapter 7: Adventures in economy mismanagement
Note: At this point, I'm not going to go through the election events one by one any longer; the Ruling Party bonus I get is just too big, so really, any choice I make is more or less meaningless. Some have complained that these election events are meaningless to begin with, and Johan said (after releasing the official 1.3 patch, which happened today) that elections would be a priority when/if Vicky 2 gets an expansion. Got all that? Good! On to the update!
August 5, 1864: We discover Pitts Threshing Machine; some boosts to Fruit and Grain production (+40 and +60%, respectively) as well as Tea (not interested right now).
November 2, 1864: In order to afford this war, even with 100% tariffs, I need to take out a loan of 5000 pounds. This will probably get worse before it gets better.
November 18, 1864: We take out another 25,000 pounds in loans; this Jungle territory in Johore is proving difficult to occupy.
January 1, 1865: The Liberals lose 2.65% in the Upper House; most of this goes to the new Anarcho-Liberals (2.0%).
January 21, 1865: The Liberals win with 100% of the vote. I'm not sure why there's still a coalition with the Anarcho-Liberals; probably just the text.
March 1, 1865: Societal Status. This is a nice invention, reducing mobilization impact by 5%. I'd hate to think how bad off I'd be if I mobilized right now...
June 1, 1865: Chemotherapy is discovered, which reduces Army Attrition by 5%.
June 28, 1865: Kuantan falls; two provinces remaining (Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur).
August 1, 1865: Cotton and Wool production are each increased by 20%, thanks to Sharp & Robert's Power Loom.
August 16, 1865: Another huge loan.
Look at how much we pay for interest; I should not have declared this war just because I felt I had too; there were other places I could have expanded much easier.
October 15, 1865: I have no idea what happened to this expedition yet (in the 1870s gameplay wise); maybe they're just taking a long time to finish.
Also, Clergy check: 3.5% in Kiev, 3.6% in Crimea.
November 25, 1865: Even more debt.
January 1, 1866: With the economy greatly weakened, people seem to be turning against the Liberals; they lose another 2%, but the other parties divide it up more or less equally now.
January 30, 1866: Ipoh falls (not sure when Kuala Lumpur fell; I don't have a screen shot
), so we get out of this war.
February 5, 1866: We get Academic Training; this is a 50% boost to Morale (remember, ORG regain, not Morale as in EU).
February 18, 1866: With our newly expanded presence in East Asia, I rename the Red Sea Fleet the Indian Ocean Fleet and base it in Brunei. I also built naval bases in all four provinces of Johore.
March 18, 1866: We start repaying our loans; 20,273 at this juncture. I still have Tariffs maxed, and will do so until these loans are repaid. Currently paying 59.97 pounds a day in interest!
May 1, 1866: UK declares war on France; first time I can think of that they've gone head to head. Should be interesting to follow.
May 13, 1866: The UK wants military access; I actually accept here. I want to make the UK like me; I'd love to be their ally, since Russia provides less protection than you'd think.
July 10, 1866: Spain bites off a piece of Egypt.
September 1, 1866: The UK really likes us now, we're officially Friendly towards them.
September 18, 1866: We finish Iron Steamers. Monitors aren't all that great, but Ironclads are a big goal of mine. Our next advance is Cheap Iron; I want to make those Precious Metal mines in Johore work better; I've got two iron RGOs at this point, and it can't hurt to boost them either.
December 7, 1866: Ukraine is now Debt Free!
I've circled our income from gold; unlike every other trade good, Gold (i.e. Precious Metal) goes directly into your treasury as income. That's why it's nice to have.
We also eliminate Tariffs. Our economy is finally working again! Clergy check: 3.7% in Kiev, 3.6% in Crimea. We make one final change; we need to switch ruling parties. Until my shipyards are doing well enough to live without subsidies, I need to stay Interventionist.
With our new Ruling Party, we give subsidies to both Steamer Shipyards and the Liquor Factory in Ukrainian Budjak, which is currently their only factory.
December 12, 1866: The bottom drops out of my economy again. Why, you ask? See, I forgot there was a nasty side to Interventionism -- Jingoism. My supply costs for the army (more properly, the navy) have skyrocketed! I experiment first by setting the stockpile slider to zero.
January 2, 1867: The Liberals make a resurgence, gaining 3.5% in the upper house, with a nearly 2% gain for the Socialists; apparently, if I pick a Ruling Party, everybody else hates it. Perhaps this is a subtle commentary from my people?
January 21, 1867: A squalid slum.
I choose the first option; an increase to CON or MIL for Ukrainian Budjak would be a fool's errand, as they're my smallest state.
February 2, 1867: We pay off a small loan we took out when our economy dipped again.
February 26, 1867: We expand some Crimean Factories; Glass, Liquor, and Small Arms are all expanded. (Pop quiz -- why was this a waste of money at this point? No cheating and scrolling down to find the answer!)
May 8, 1867: Brazil wants military access; why on Earth would Brazil care about Ukraine?
I almost agree, just to see what they were planning, but I eventually decline.June 5, 1867: Oh boy, Monitors! Monitors are probably the most useless ship in the game; the same attack as Commerce Raiders, and much slower. The one saving grace? Amazingly thick hulls (20 vs. 8 for the Commerce Raiders). They still strike me as a waste of money, though.
June 26, 1867: Pop quiz answer: Because my national stockpile budget was set to zero, I wasn't gathering the materials to actually build anything! I set the slider to 25% at this point.
August 23, 1867: I have a brain storm while looking at the tool tip for the National Stockpile slider; it looks like Steamer Convoys and Artillery are the main drivers of my huge Stockpile cost. I could either disband my navies, or, for the first time, meddle with the Trade Screen. This will be a learning experience for me.
This is the Trade Screen section for Steam Convoys. Notice how much we produce vs. how much we need. I checked the tool tip (pictured here) to see how much I'd need for overseas costs. I only need .12 units a day for that. To make sure my navy isn't totally useless in the event of a surprise war, I set the manual slider to buy 1.509 units a day. This effectively cuts costs by 75% (I was originally buying over 6 units a day!), while keeping my army well supplied and getting all the building materials I need.
Here's my costs to the Stockpile after my adjustment:
Artillery is still a big budget item, and I don't have any artillery factories yet. I decide to trim back my navy by just a bit; 5 Commerce Raiders from each fleet. Once I've got my Steamer Shipyards up and running, I'll have more guaranteed access each day, as well as lower prices (simple supply and demand), at least in the short term.
September 2, 1867: I'm still losing a little money each day -- 79 pounds -- so I institute a 50% tariff in the short term. I want to build up my cash reserves, since they've gotten low thanks to my recent war.
December 10, 1867: Krakow wants better relations and sends a diplomat; maybe you should have thought of that before breaking my alliance (and also my heart
)!January 1, 1868: The Liberals lose nearly 6% of the upper house; the Conservatives and Socialists are the main beneficiaries.
January 7, 1868: France signs a white peace with Hedjaz; too busy with the UK, I shouldn't wonder.
March 10, 1868: China takes Portuguese Kenya.
April 5, 1868: We discover Clinical Thermometers and Binaural Stethocopes, good for a small gain to population growth (.02%).
May 22, 1868: The Steamer Shipyards are still losing money; I increase their priority to Medium. Crimea almost has max clergy now (3.9%); Kiev has 3.6%.
June 6, 1868: Spain attacks Hedjaz; look, nobody can attack Hedjaz until I say you can!
June 16, 1868: Russia declares war on Japan.
June 30, 1868: Safari!
I take the prestige.
August 18, 1868: Another Safari, I take more prestige.
August 27, 1868: A check of the world's opinion of Ukraine.
In Sphere: Russia
Friendly: Ottoman Empire
Cordial: US, France, UK, and Belgium (UK recently banned)
Neutral: Austria and Prussia.
We also build three infantry units in Johore, just in case we need some help.
August 30, 1868: Border incident on the Netherlands.
I almost considered this; then I saw how big the army in the Netherlands was (57 brigades, without mobilizing!) I did not take advantage of this; I'm not ready to face a major European Power yet.
October 1, 1868: We're friendly towards Belgium now; we also see a Liberal Author rise in Ukraine.
I choose the second option; a more liberal middle class could be very useful.
January 2, 1869: The Socialists gain 2.76% of the vote (total of 10.61%) at the expense of every other party.
January 4, 1869: Spain wants military access; I burst out laughing. Like I'm going to make it easy for you to get to Hedjaz.
January 18, 1869: With the announcement of an election six months away, we bring this update to a close.
fascinating as ever ... the shifts in your economic fortunes do seem very dramatic, but you seem to be building up a nice resource base
Feedback
Melrick -- Tell me about it. Unlike a roller coaster, however, the going up is the fun part
loki100 -- Glad I've kept your interest! The one thing that still worries me is how spread out my resources are, which makes me extremely vulnerable to another maritime power.
sprites -- I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one learning something from my stupid mistakes
FinnishFish -- Indeed!
Working on screenshot edits; may start the update today, but probably not until next week.
Where I currently am in-game (1878), I've got 35 prestige, good for #36.
Update is coming up shortly!
Chapter 8: Ukraine's first real war
Note: I say "real" because most of my wars, to this point, have been against uncivilized countries, where the only challenge to my success is, well, my ineptness handling a war-time economy
This is the first minor I've played in Vicky 2 -- very different from an already GP or a soon-to-be GP.January 23, 1869: A quick look at my factories shows that my Steamer Shipyards are doing well, but not fantastically so; still not time to go Liberal, but as they fill up and do better, I will. Clergy check on Crimea is 3.9%; it's 3.6% for Kiev. Somewhat oddly, Crimea will hit the 4% mark first; I wonder why? Kiev has more people and (I believe) is more literate.
April 11, 1869: We finish Cheap Iron. I choose Idealism for my next technology; this turns out to be a mistake (which I'll get into later on), but for now, know that it increases Research Points by 50% and has three inventions, all of which are only worth 1 prestige at this point.
April 21, 1869: I make an interesting diplomatic discovery. Remember how, at the end of the last update, I was complaining because Spain had attacked Hedjaz, which was an unciv I wanted to annex? Well, it turns out that Hedjaz is friendly with a GP -- the Ottoman Empire, and it intervenes with Spain. This is important for two reasons: 1) it means Spain will likely not get Hedjaz (although it's close, 73 brigades for OE vs. 51 for Spain) and 2) unless a major Great Power wants it, only OE is likely to annex Hedjaz in the near future. Good to know!
April 30, 1869: Austria wants military access; I decline.
July 24, 1869: The election is finished; the ruling party still wins the lion's share of seats, but some issue (probably Pro-Military) ensured that the Conservatives would be heavily supported too.
September 1, 1869: East Galicia, as a home to the Ukrainian fruit growers, has a winery that is doing fantastically well; I expand it.
October 4, 1869: We discover Ironclads! I begin to drool in anticipation; I'm no match for the Royal Navy, but with enough Ironclads, I can make the Black Sea a Ukrainian lake and possibly expand out into the Mediterranean.
October 21, 1869: A quick comparison of Ironclads and Commerce Raiders. Commerce Raiders go 12 KPH, with an attack of 5 and a hull of 8. Ironclads are a little slower -- 8 KPH -- but have 10 attack and 15 hull, almost double the ratings of Commerce Raiders. Strategically, I'm going to reorganize my fleet; I'll have three in the Black Sea and three in the Indian Ocean; one of transports, one of Commerce Raiders, and one of Ironclads. Ironclads will be my muscle; I'll use Commerce Raiders to distract enemy gunners. In the Indian Ocean, I'm mostly dealing with Uncivs, so I'll focus on Ironclads for the Black Sea first. Commerce Raiders are good enough against Wooden Ships.
November 7, 1869: I cut tariffs from 50% to 40%. I also hit the 4% threshold for Clergymen in Crimea, so I change National Focuses.
The grey house circled in red is your "turn colony into a state" button. In order to do this, you need 1% of the population to be Primary Culture Bureaucrats; in this case, Ukrainian Bureaucrats. Hence why I chose the NF I did. Dumyat would be one of my most populous regions when/if it becomes a state; it's an easy decision to make that it should become a state first out of all of my current colonies.
January 1, 1870: We have a new upper house! For once, I'll give you the screenshot (you're welcome
)
A quick check of my factories reveals that, in Crimea at least, my Steamer Shipyards are doing extraordinarily well; only my Winery in East Galicia is more profitable (at 101.71 pounds a day, vs. 99.08 pounds a day for my Shipyard.) I think it's time to let the free market take over!
January 5, 1870: After a few days to let the market stabilize, I go from 40% tariffs to 10% import subsidies. I take a look at Johore, and notice a Siamese army sitting right above mine -- an interesting thought occurs, that Siam could be another excellent place to expand. For now, though, I need to build up currency reserves and modernize the navy before getting into another war.
February 7, 1870: It's the double whammy bonus to productivity for the economy -- not only do I get a boost to factory output, but my national stockpile is much, much smaller.
March 13, 1870: Two wars end, both in White Peace (or Status Quo) -- the Russian war with Japan and the Spanish war with Hedjaz and the Ottoman Empire.
April 6, 1870: Two factories go bankrupt -- the Canned Food factory in East Galicia and the Liquor Distillery in Ukrainian Budjak. This is an excellent time to emphasize something; if you do not have all the provinces for a state (designated by your country's adjective, you must still rely on Craftsmen from the other provinces to operate your factory! In this case, I have one of the four provinces that make up the region of Budjak; Russia has the other three. This means that I'm at an extreme disadvantage as far as having a successful factory in Ukrainian Budjak; my one factory also counts to the state limit of eight, which means Russia can only build seven factories in this state. Ideally, you'd consider adding the extra provinces through conquest; I'm not an idiot, however, and my alliance with Russia is far more precious than making Ukrainian Budjak economically viable.
July 24, 1870: I've been at peace for a while now. Where should I expand next? I take a look at the world, and discover something interesting; Korea has Iron mines and a large population. Since Ukraine's current supply of Iron ore is pitiful (two provinces, one Ukrainian and one Egyptian), this could be a worthwhile target!
Korea has 19 brigades; I only have 21, but mine are likely much more advanced. They have three ships, so their navy won't be a problem; no invading Kiev to worry about.
My target region would be Pyongyang; I could add more in a war goal if things go well -- as I expect they will.
September 29, 1870: As usual, however, Russia mucks things up, and drags me into war with China.
October 13, 1870: Two powers are coming after China; Russia and the UK. The UK (and friends) outnumber China nearly 7 to 1; Russia actually has 100 fewer brigades than China, and that's including my small contribution (21 brigades). I wonder why Russia hasn't built a larger army? It's not like they're hurting for soldier POPs.
Since I'm at war now, I manually buy all the Steamer Convoys we need for the navy. It's not cheap, but I've got substantial reserves of cash, and I don't want to take anything for granted.
October 18, 1870: Right before I land invasion forces on Taiwan, I notice the British currently occupy it. I have no choice -- I must declare war on the United Kingdom!
...
...
...
Just kidding. :rofl: Since I can't contribute meaningfully, I go with white peace instead
November 8, 1870: It's time to start the war I do want; a quick check of the diplomacy screen shows that no powers are currently friendly with Korea -- the USA is cordial, but they aren't actively influencing Korea.
November 23, 1870: All right, Idealism is done! Time for a huge increase in research points. Wait a minute, what's that you say? I go from 12.3 RP/day to 15.12/day? WTF, as the kids say?
Here's something I'd forgotten before researching Idealism. The tech modifier is applied to base research points before all other modifiers. Thus, instead of gaining 6 points a day, I gain a little less than 3 points a day. Learn from my mistake -- the Idealism track (Philosophy) is better suited for powers which are already literate or if you've hit a roadblock because it's too early to research a particular technology you do want. It's not a total waste of RP -- it is still a reasonable increase -- but it's not very efficient.
I discover Neokantian Idealism almost immediately, for one prestige point.
December 1, 1870: I'd forgotten to choose a new technology.
Fortunately, you bank the RPs until you make a decision; many players use this tactic instead of choosing a new technology, particularly if there's a particular technology they want to research and nothing else seems worthwhile. I do want to caution you, however. Should you decide to switch technologies (a mistake I made in a different earlier game), you will lose all your RPs! Therefore, if you aren't positive you want a technology, it is much better to delay a decision than to change your mind. In any case, I decide the army is long overdue for an upgrade -- I research Flintlock Rifles, which increases attack by 1 for all units, supply consumption by 20%, and combat width decreases by 2.December 6, 1870: The UEF lands at Pyongyang, 24 brigades strong! It engages with 21 Korean brigades. Then an unpleasant realization sinks in -- I see another stack of 18 and a third stack of 5. What's the deal? I completely forgot something that the brigade size on the diplomatic screen does not take into account -- Mobilization. It would appear Korea mobilized, so this will not be as easy as I thought. I will need more troops!
December 12, 1870: In my infinite wisdom, I send my transports to pick up some troops from Johore, send them back to Korea, only to realize I forgot to have the troops board the transports. I swear, somebody should fire the Commander-in-Chief.
Oh, wait a minute.
December 24, 1870: I'm getting chewed up kind of badly here. I've still got better ORG, but I can't afford to take the same casualties the Koreans can. I'll give it a few days, either to land more troops or see if their ORG runs out any time soon.
December 31, 1870: I have to retreat; there's better defensive ground a province north (Forest), and I'll make my stand there, until I get more troops.
I did inflict a lot of casualties (thanks, Tactics boost!), but the difference is that Korea has way more troops in theater. I settle in for a long war.
January 1, 1871: Since I'm technically Pacifist (because of the liberals), WE piles up a bit faster than normal. This means that the ruling party will lose support in the Upper House; the Conservatives gain nearly 4% of the house, taking this from the Socialists, Liberals, and Anarcho-Liberals. Fortunately, MIL is 0.00, so no rebellions will be breaking out any time soon.
I also learn Proto-Existenialism, for another point of prestige. Kiev is at 3.77% Clergymen; only .23% to go!
February 3, 1871: To pay for the war, Ukraine enacts a 70% tariff.
April 5, 1871: Austria and Mexico, British allies, sign a white peace with China.
April 6, 1871: A quick check of the tool tip shows that, for RP-boost purposes, I have a little over the 2% cap for Clergy. I've come a long way in terms of literacy -- from 10% to 35.1% in just over 35 years -- but I've got a long way to go. Readers, I've about maxed out my knowledge of how to pursue Literacy -- support Clergy, Clerks, the educational efficiency techs -- any other advice? Plurality would boost my RPs too, but not Literacy.
April 13, 1871: I secure my first Korean province -- Chonchon. My army will not move from this spot, if I can help, as it's great defensive ground.
May 4, 1871: Correcting my earlier mistake, I land my three brigade Asian Army at Hamhung, which is Mountains -- if I can dig in, I should be able to hold off quite an army.
May 24, 1871: Looks like another local politician can't keep it in his pants.
May 26, 1871: Seeing the apparent weakness of my tiny Army of Asia, I move my army from Chonchon into Hamhung, which will give me 27 close-to-max ORG brigades. This makes the Koreans stop -- we play this cat-and-mouse game for a while.
June 2, 1871: Two inventions from Cheap Iron fire -- Advanced Ore Roasting and Advanced Ore Grinding Process. Both increase Iron Mine production by 10% while actually increasing the Iron Mine size by 1%.
June 9, 1871: Operation Cat and Mouse continues. Ukrainian forces in theater -- 20 regiments (UEF) in Chonchon and 9 regiments (Army of Asia) in Hamhung. Korean forces in theater -- stack of 18 regiments in the NE province of Korea (can't read the name), 6 brigades in Kimchaek, 17 regiments in Pyongyang. The brigades in Kimchaek have decided to attack Chonchon. Perhaps they are suicidal?
June 15, 1871: Korea wants a white peace. It seems the Kimchaek general is no idiot -- the 18 regiments also move up. Still, 20 regiments of (hopefully) superior Ukrainian troops with good defensive ground should be able to handle 23 regiments of Korean troops.
July 12, 1871: Then, they make a daring change to their plan -- they go after Hamhung instead! It looks we will have a decisive battle; 18 regiments have engaged my 9 regiments force there -- I move in the UEF, and Korea seems to be moving in all of theirs. All told, it'll be 31 Ukrainian regiments against 39 Korean regiments. I should win this battle, provided there are no additional Korean forces.
July 21, 1871: The odds just got better -- the 6,000 troops in Kimchaek have decided to pick the "soft" target -- retaking Chonchon -- while the stack from Pyongyang, apparently terrified of Ukrainian troops, moves south down the peninsula. Now I have better troops, better ground, and a numbers advantage.
August 6, 1871: Victory!
Still, that's not a good casualty ratio -- they had a better general and I got some lousy rolls.
September 24, 1871: Another Korean ambassador asks for White Peace. I decline. I make an important decision here -- I need more troops or this war will just stalemate. I mobilize Ukrainian forces -- it'll be a hit to the economy, but I'm too committed to this war to pull out now.
November 4, 1871: This is not good -- 31,000 Korean troops vs. 13,000 Ukrainian troops. I haven't been able to reinforce yet, since that little 6k stack is still occupying Chonchon, and the AI has efficiently moved troops whenever I decide to try to retake it -- I have to go with the better defensive ground.
November 8, 1871: This is quickly getting out of hand. I lose Chonchon and the battle of Hamhung. Smartly, the AI pursues me north.
November 12, 1871: Bad news -- it's 31k Korean soldiers vs. 8k Ukrainian troops, and they got there first, so they also get a dig-in bonus. I'd better kiss my troops goodbye.
November 21, 1871: It's time to call a Hail Mary.
It's either lose the war for certain, or call in my Big Brother and hope he's feeling generous. Russia, unsurprisingly, is alliance leader -- my war goals are completely at the mercy of the Russian Empire.
November 23, 1871: I bail out of the battle the second I can. The casualty figures are almost even, but they have way more troops than I do.
January 1, 1872: The Liberals, surprisingly, gain 2% of the Upper House; perhaps Ukrainian citizens are banding together to support our army?
February 11, 1872: China signs a peace with Belgium; something tells me the UK isn't too worried.
March 3, 1872: My first army of mobilized Ukrainian peasants lands in Korea, 24,000 strong, at Pyongyang, although the UEF and the Army of Asia have already been destroyed. I do discover Advanced Ore Smelting, which boosts production in my Iron Mines, but if I don't win this war, I couldn't care less about Iron production.
March 11, 1872: The first Russian troops enter the war; they engage an army in Chongijn; it's got 33k Korean troops, vs only 11k Russians, but about 50k more Russians are on the way.
March 12, 1872: More good news on the army front -- we finish Muzzle-Loaded Rifles. I could theoretically build engineers; I've usually found them to be a waste of time. They help you against Forts -- yet all Forts actually do is increase occupation times, which Recon counters, and Engineers don't help with that. It is one of the enigmas of Vicky 2 -- there's an interesting discussion here. The consensus? Nobody else knows what good engineers are either.
That aside, our next advance will be Breech-Loaded Rifles, and Guards. If you can build them -- more on that later -- Guards are fantastic units. We'll get into why later on as well. There's also the flat bonuses of +1 to attack, -2 to combat width, and the increase to supply consumption cost.
April 7, 1872: Another Lover Exposed event! Perhaps they should stop inviting the press to their orgies?
May 1, 1872: Uh oh. This can't be good.
Now we will enter the phase of the game wherein every great power will try to influence Ukraine and they will all cancel each other out. It's nice to be so popular, but effectively this will deny me some key goods I could certainly use. Russia is also not obligated to protect me in the event of a war.
May 11, 1872: Russia gets what it wanted from China; now they can divert their full attention to my war! What could possibly go wrong now?
May 30, 1872: SON OF A [hundreds upon hundreds of expletives deleted].
I have to tip my cap to the AI. I've got most of my army in Korea at this point; if they want to take some of my land, this is the perfect time. Best of all, Russia dishonors my alliance, so I've got no protectors either. I've got 31 brigades vs. 61 Ottoman brigades, but none of my brigades are in Egypt. The Ottomans want Palestine. I couldn't even make a white peace with Korea if I wanted to -- Russia's alliance leader now.
July 28, 1872: I engage the Ottoman navy in the Black Sea -- 5 Commerce Raiders vs. 4 Frigates and 6 Clipper Transports.
August 24, 1872: An event -- the Safari -- and the continuing of the naval battle.
I've sunk two transports, but some of my ships are being badly damaged. By the way, you've read that right -- naval battles can go on for months in Vicky 2. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think that ORG decreases much slower in naval battles.
August 31, 1872: This is a pleasant surprise!
Since Pyongyang was my war goal, I get the territory, not Russia. I may no longer be allied to Russia -- stupid Ottomans -- but this was a nice parting gift. Now I can concentrate against the Ottomans.
September 2, 1872: The new Ukrainian colony.
September 9, 1872: China wants military access through Ukrainian territory; the last thing I want is to be encircled by the Chinese. I decline. The naval battle is still going on; to give my enemy more targets, I move up my Steam Clipper fleet.
September 10, 1872: This war is killing me -- I have to take out a loan just to survive.
September 19, 1872: So, what are my chances of winning this war? Let's look at Egypt!
I will boil down my chances to two words: I'm screwed. Even if every single Ukrainian soldier was in Egypt, they'd get mowed down and I'd lose any way. I have no choice but to give in to Ottoman demands before they ask for more.
There were three major results to the Ukrainian-Korean War. 1) I get Pyongyang, 2) I lose Palestine, and 3) I now have no alliances. I actually came out ahead, territory wise -- I get more key raw materials and more people in Korea than I ever had in Palestine. However, Ukraine is alone in the cruel, cruel world -- I start looking for alliances as fast as I can. The only two countries whose cores I have taken are Korea and the Ottomans; Korea does not worry me too much, but I suspect I'll be losing Lebanon in the near future.
September 24, 1872: We demobilize, and the economy goes back to normal.
October 2, 1872: Commies in Ukraine!
They're identical to the Socialists, except Atheist instead of Pluralist. They are equally despised as a Ruling Party. There is a bright spot, though: they will always support Social Reforms, and we'll want to do a few of those in the near future, once we have the support. They want no truck with rolling back any reforms or enacting Political Reforms of any kind.November 8, 1872: Ukrainian diplomats are sent to the UK and France, hard at work at improving relations. Ukraine needs friends, and fast.
December 2, 1872: The Geneva Convention occurs in Switzerland; Ukraine, as a peace-loving, law-abiding people, signs with no hesitation.
December 5, 1872: Three infantry units form the backbone of a new UEF, and two infantry units become the new Army of Asia. I lost one Commerce Raider when the naval battle with the Ottomans abruptly ended; I did prevent a major invasion force, so I am pleased with that.
December 31, 1872: We check in on Dumyat -- it's only got .11% Ukrainian bureaucrats. This will take a while.
January 1, 1873: A slight shift to the Left in the Ukrainian upper house; the first appearance of Communists, while Liberals and Anarcho-Liberals get a bump. The Socialists lose .24%; these become the first Communists in Ukraine. The Liberal gain is 1.75%. The remnants of the former Army of Kiev (three more or less intact Infantry brigades) become the first Army of Korea.
January 5, 1873: The Ottomans declare war on Egypt. Good, pick on somebody else, you Turk jerks! (See what I did there?) Egypt throws caution to the wind and asks for Military Access to Ukraine; I accept. I'd love to see the Ottomans taken down a peg; something tells me the Egyptians probably won't be the country to do it.
January 10, 1873: We start construction of five Ironclads in the Black Sea; we need firepower in case the Ottomans come a-calling again, which I fully expect will happen the second the truce is up.
January 16, 1873: We are friendly with the UK. Yes, please Sphere us! Please?
January 22, 1873: Ukrainian potato blight.
June 15, 1873: We cut tariffs to 36%; I notice that every single pie is now yellow, meaning they aren't getting full life needs. I wonder what gives?
June 27, 1873: Austria gets a little friendlier, but still won't sign an alliance. Only the UK will even think about it, and they say it's Very Unlikely.
July 20, 1873: We close the update with a new election.
I hope my next war, wherever it is, goes a lot better; I hate giving up land, even marginally useful land like Palestine. I desperately need friends right now; I've got great relations with Russia and the UK, but the Russians say an alliance is Impossible. Ukraine is also a virtual ping-pong ball of influence, so nobody will probably ever add me to their sphere again.
I have two interrelated questions for my faithful audience, connected by the fact that Ukraine is extremely unlikely to ever be a GP.
1) Would there be any objections to my editing the decision to let me build the Suez Canal? It'll never get built otherwise, since nobody will ever add me to their Sphere again. It seems really gamey, which is why I'm somewhat loathe to do it, but it would help me out a lot and give me more flexibility, navy wise.
2) Is there interest in a Tutorial about how GP influence works? It'd be a brief post -- I'll take screenshots of my current Germany game (Prussia-> Kleindeutschland, for those who are curious), or, if you like, a Russian Empire game that's not as advanced.
Let me know your thoughts on both scenarios: I won't play this game again until I finish the next update, so you've got plenty of time.
Don't edit the decision! You can make it to GP! And you can teach how influence works when you get there!
that was some rollercoaster ... think you did well just to feed the Ottomans what they wanted ... and of course you'll be a GP one of these days (can't have such defeatist talk)
I must admit, I underestimated the Ottomans. I thought they wanted to prise you loose from Russian's SOI so they could have you enter theirs instead. But they just wanted a chunk of your territory. Pretty smart. And personally, I agree that it's highly unlikely that Ukraine will ever be a GP, although I do think it's possible you could enter someone's SOI. I do think, though, that without that SOI protection, you should curtail any long distance wars. They're too risky. As far as the Suez is concerned, maybe see what happens by 1880. And I'm always up for tutorials.
You'll become a GP eventually. Once you do, you can claim the rest of that state from Russia. As for now, you can just plot the demise of the Ottoman Empire.
As for now, you can just plot the demise of the Ottoman Empire.
Feedback
It looks like many of you have far more confidence in me than I do
I will press on, of course, but until I get to dreadnaughts, I'll always be lagging in military score, and I could also use a serious boost to prestige. It's a little too late to spam prestige techs, and possibly counterproductive.BootOnFace -- Thank you for your kind words! I hope they are not misplaced.
loki100 -- I will check my defeatism at the door from here on out! It really stung to give up Palestine -- I hate giving up any land -- but it had to be done.
Melrick -- Your assessment dovetails with mine. It's not totally impossible for Ukraine to be a GP -- it happened in one of my test games, albeit very briefly -- but I would not bet a sizable sum on it. I did not even think of the Ottomans coming after me for Palestine; didn't bother to check whose cores I was taking when I added them to Ukraine. My dream of dreams would be to part of the UK's sphere, but all the GPs are cancelling each other out right now.
Boris -- Work I shall. I will not go without a fight, however fruitless that fight may be
FinnishFish -- On the one hand, I share your opinion, but as a big fan of Paradox games and a fan of war games in general, I was pleasantly surprised to see the AI take advantage of a clear weakness.
Michaelangelo -- Plotting is one thing; the trick is to carry out your plot successfully
I will have one more update in the coming days, then I have to do a little game play. Any advice on reaching GP status would be greatly appreciated!
Wow... you are encroaching russia... shouldn't they start to feel your ewul masterplan?