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This special mupdate is brought to you courtesy of von_Rundstedt. Bribes were involved. Enjoy!

The World of 1545

Topography

Nations, Blobbed


Nations, Unblobbed


Income
Average Income Per Province
Red = 2.14967307692 ducats per province per month; Green = 10.78316 ducats per province per month.


Income per Nation
Red = 7.719 ducats per month; Green = 841.991 ducats per month.


Technology
Average Tech Level
Red = 9.8; Green = 21.0.


Tech Speed
Red = 0.101150865765; Green = 170.655113881.


Development
Average Buildings per Province, per Nation
Red = 2.75 buildings per province; Green = 8.96774193548 buildings per province.


Buildings per Province
Red = 0 buildings per province; Green = 20 buildings per province.


Military
Army Size


Navy Size


Culture & Religion
Cultures


Religion
 
Ouch. I really hate that tech-level map. Admittedly it is slightly exaggerating things by showing all of Croatia's vassals in Croatian green, but still, among sovereign powers, the Khanate is clearly the worst off for tech. Vassalising Tibet, as was my war goal in the late conflict, was supposed to help with that. Now I don't know. Perhaps I should just stop colonising Siberia; it's adding to my military strength, but not enough that I'll be able to stand alone against Russia, while a bunch of 1 and 2-basetax provinces won't help my tech speed any. At least I should be able to fully westernise this session, that will help a bit.
 
At least I should be able to fully westernise this session, that will help a bit.

More than you might think - once you reach the western tech group, you'll get large tech investments from neighbouring western nations that are more advanced than you.


[...]not enough that I'll be able to stand alone against Russia[...]

Why would you want to fight Russia? Noone's able to stand alone against Russia anyways!
 
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Travelogue

Gameplay notes: The Khanate is currently a Noble Republic. I am not getting much income from trade, due partly to terrible prestige, partly to low tech, and partly to military-focused national ideas. My two manufactories are both weapons; land-tech is the only field in which I am reasonably up to date. I still got hammered in my recent war with Tibet, but it was due to serious tactical errors on my part, not to inferior armies.

-----------------------​

Excerpted from "Journeys of the Merchant Ieremias":

After several months of travelling thus, we arrived at the optimistically-named New Byzantium. I had expected that a city which rules so vast a hinterland, even though most of it is nomadic waste rather than the agricultural territory that makes for true strength, would be grandly built, or at least of considerable size; but here I was disappointed. The capital of the realm which styles itself the Third Rome has as many inhabitants as would, in Europe, make a harbour town of moderate importance. As for comparing it with the vast cities of China and India, New Byzantium might be dropped into any one of them without making more than a new neighbourhood - and an inconspicuous neighbourhood at that, for the Komnenoi do not count their wealth in stately buildings. The mercantile wealth of their realm, such as it is, is concentrated in nearby Beijing. But for political power, there is no doubt that New Byzantium is the place to be; and it is true that their Forum, where the Citizens meet to debate matters of policy, compares favourably with the one in Rome, which for the last century has been used as a marshalling-ground for Spanish cavalry, and smells rather strongly of horse. The Citizens themselves will tell you that the drabness of their city is a deliberate choice; "when Rome was built in brick it conquered the world, when Augustus covered it in marble the Fall began", they say. Perhaps they make a virtue of necessity, for the site of New Byzantium was chosen with an eye to strategy and symbolism rather than the convenience of importing marble and timber. Still, this low-slung mix of one-story houses and, in some cases, literal tents, does give shelter to a people who rule from the Aral to the Pacific Sea; so perhaps there is something to their approach.

During my first week in the city I was something of a novelty. Although there is trade across the caravan routes, it is handled mostly by middlemen; not many merchants personally make the journey from Europe, and I was probably the only man in the city who had with his own eyes seen the Greek cities of Anatolia. Thus I was invited into the houses of several important people, and asked about my views on everything from the Trinity to the feasibility of Reconquest, which I gave freely: I am Orthodox regarding the dual nature of Christ, and Reconquest will happen when Persia has three Shahs in a year that also sees a mad Czar. In return I learned as much as I could about the power structures of New Byzantium, which after all was the purpose of my journey. "Make friends with the rulers, learn about their dreams and their intrigues", my father had told me before I set off; "thus we will know what disturbances to expect, what goods will fetch the best profit, and who can impose the highest tolls on our competitors". Thus I found that, although all the Citizens have a voice in the Forum if they choose to exercise it, some can shout louder than others; among the thousand-or-so distinct lineages or gens that New Byzantium recognises, perhaps fifty are considered to have Senatorial honour, and these in practice make the decisions. Each Senatorial family is supported by an entourage of equestrians, who by hereditary right send their sons to the heavy cavalry on which, in the final analysis, Komnenos rule of the steppe tribes rests. The Senators spend much of their time intriguing to draw away equestrian families aligned with other Senators, and to strengthen the loyalty of their own; the ability to bring a large retinue to the Forum is the mark of a powerful and respected statesman - the presumption being that those who support a man in debate would, if necessary, support him in battle. This custom, it seems to me, may be considered representative of all the politics of the Third Rome: The Komnenoi teach their children never to lose sight of the reality of power, but also that government directly by raw force is not workable in the long run. They strive for a compromise, clothing their actual military strength in swathes of custom, respect, and formality, but never losing track of the underlying iron. Such, at any rate, is their ideal; like all men, the Komnenoi do sometimes fail to practice what they preach.

At first I thought I might trade on the connection of our family to the old Komnenos dynasty; in the homeland, of course, we usually find it politic to emphasize the cadet nature of our branch, thus avoiding the negative attention of the Shah's officers looking for possible disloyalty. (I do not blame them for this: If the Greeks were to rise in revolt against the Shah, perhaps supported by Croatian or Russian gold, who can doubt that some figurehead Komnenos would be found to lead the rebellion? The Shah has as good a right to enforce the safety and obedience of his subjects as any other king.) In New Byzantium I thought I might promote some second cousins and younger sons among my ancestors, and gain in prestige thereby. Alas, I was soon disabused. The Citizens use 'Roman' and 'Komnenos' interchangeably, but the meaning has changed: Anyone whose ancestors took part in the Long March is considered a Komnenos and a Roman, whether or not his bloodline has any connection to the noble dynasty. Conversely, 'stay-behinds' such as myself, whatever our ancestry, have no claim on any such honourable title; shared hardship, purpose, and myth define the Komnenoi now, rather than any ties of blood. Even so, I think I was accepted, more than any other outsider would have been, partly because of that ancestry: For the Komnenoi look has bred true, and many of the Romans shared my own features: The straight thin eyebrows, hooked nose, and sharp chin that is shown in so many mosaics of the Old Empire. I believe, therefore, that the Romans saw me somewhat as one of their own, and treated me accordingly.

I said that the Komnenoi do not count their wealth in stately buildings; like the tribes they rule, they think a man wealthy if he has a large herd of good horses (and the grazing rights to support them), many sons, and a powerful fighting tail. But even by this standard, there are not many Romans who have vastly more wealth than their compatriots; there are rich families and poor families, but there are no men who could buy and sell twenty or thirty others out of their sons' pocket money. Partly this is because much wealth is publicly held; the kataphrakt horses that mount the equestrian order, for example, are owned by the state, and no stallions or mares of that breed are ever sold, in spite of the high prices that the geldings command. It is also because the steppe offers very little in the way of capital, as we understand the term in Europe: Arable land, high government office, and shares in trade all make money which can be used to purchase more of the same, and a fortune can thus accumulate. But grazing rights will support only so many horses, there are limits to how many sons one can have, and fighting men do not pay dividends except in wartime. The wealth of the Komnenoi, therefore, is all in consumption, not in investment. And this is not unintentional; for the Komnenoi believe that the accumulation of vast personal fortunes led to the Fall of Rome, that men who are allowed to compete for the distinction of being the wealthiest will forget to compete for the distinction of being the most honourable, or the best servant of the state. Hence they have revived the ancient sumptuary laws of Rome, and the women of Senatorial rank take pride in wearing ornaments no larger than those of the meanest equestrian's daughter. But, alas, human nature is not to be overcome. If the Komnenoi intended, by these measures, to suppress competition and one-upsmanship among themselves, it must be said that they have failed dismally. When competition in the display of precious metals and jewels is forbidden, the women instead turn to displaying their inborn beauty to the best advantage; at times, indeed, it seemed to me that women and men alike competed aggressively to see who could dress the most plainly, and wear the most understated jewelry, and still look the best. The effort that New Byzantium expends on 'artless' coiffures and 'natural' complexions has on occasion made me long for Baghdad, where a woman's jewelry tells you all you need to know about her husband's rank, and a man knows where he stands! Still there is no denying that the Romans know how to display a woman to advantage. Even those not well-favoured by nature can be turned by the beautician's art into a jewel of femininity, and as for those whom God has blessed with good looks, their slightest glance can take a man's breath away.

If, in these pages, it seems that I often admire the Komnenoi more than my own people, that is partly true. They are the descendants of those Greeks who would rather die than submit to the ancient enemy; who fled into darkness and obscurity rather than make peace, and who built a great nation out of nothing but ruin and sheer determination. My own ancestors, the stay-behinds, were undoubtedly more pragmatic, more sensible even: The Persians, after all, know the difference between fleecing a sheep and butchering it, and their rule lies no heavier on us than that of any other realm. My own family, merchants of no particular account, command greater wealth and comfort than the richest Komnenos Senator. And yet I cannot help but be drawn to the defiance and bortherhood of their saga; and I admire their pragmatism, the way they organise their public life in accordance with their professed beliefs and goals. Many a nation whose rulers are nominally Christian would do well to heed that example. But, with all that said, I would never choose to replace the Shah's rule of Anatolia with that of these Romans, although nominally we share language, ties of blood, and religion; and I was secretly glad when word came that Tibet had thrown back their invasion. For the qualities that they cultivate in themselves, in order to prepare for Reconquest, are the virtues of a warrior polity; their every law and custom is deliberately designed to subordinate the individual to the state in the name of military strength. And that is very well for a people at war. But what will they do if they ever win their Protracted Struggle? I fear that, having changed themselves out of all recognition to retake what once they had, they will find that they do not want it in the form that their fathers possessed it: And in trying to remake the cities of their long desire in their own image, they will create a desert where they meant to remake an empire.

Nomadic tribes have come out of the steppes before, to make war on their settled neighbours: Scythian, Magyar, Hun, Mongol. But although they sometimes conquered and became the rulers of wide lands, they never tried to remake the inhabitants of those lands; they took tribute and women, and were satisfied. In the Komnenoi, I fear that the world faces something new: They have married the Republican virtue of Rome, an ideal of manhood and service, to the barbarian vigour and ruthlessness of the steppes. Neither component is compatible with the wealth and freedom of modern civilisation. The word itself means "the art of living in cities"; and it is precisely this art that the Romans have deliberately destroyed in themselves. They have taken the customs of nomadic tribes from the steppe part of their inheritance, and those customs are well suited to making a nation of conquerors. But then they have imposed those customs as laws, which is something else entirely: From their civilised ancestors comes the concept of written law, which applies equally in all circumstances. And thus, if they win, they will not be able to do as their predecessors did, and bend with the tide of victory: They will adhere rigidly to the laws that brought them strength to conquer, and they will fail completely to build.

There have been barbarian victories in the past; but in every such disaster, tribal custom could bend, and the nation of conquerors could become a nation of builders and lawmakers. The Romans already have a law; they cannot readily make another. And their law forbids trade, forbids the accumulation of wealth, forbids all that does not support the life of a soldier, or servant of the state. What then will they do, if ever they have no more need to be soldiers?

I trust the Shah's armies will prevent us from ever finding the answer. But sometimes I dream of cities burning under the pitiless gaze of men on horseback. And when I wake, I realise that every horseman had the same look: The features of the Komnenoi dynasty, endlessly repeated. My own face.

Editor's note: It is worth noting that Ieremias was a moderately-prominent Greek subject of the Shah, with (as he says) some distant connections to the deposed dynasty. Some of his words may be intended for the consumption of the Shah's bureaucracy, to assure them of his loyalty. On the other hand, his account was originally meant to be seen only by his immediate family, to aid them in their caravan trade across the steppe; it is difficult to see how he could have anticipated the printing and widespread publication of his book after his death. Perhaps, then, his warning was heartfelt. Who but God knows the inmost minds of men? We have given his words as he wrote them, and leave the reader to form his own judgement.
 
Why would you want to fight Russia? Noone's able to stand alone against Russia anyways!

I don't want to fight Russia; I want Russia not to invade me. The best way to get that is to ensure that I would win any such war.
 
Well. My current force limit is around 130, and due to stackwipes in the Tibetan war I'm below that in actual strength. In light of your 280 regiments, I think that right now you needn't worry too much about pre-empting Khanate aggression.
 
The Big Three
For forty-five years had Nizar Asker had ruled Egypt with kindness and love, while still making it stronger than it had ever been since the death of the Fatimid Caliphate. In every election that came Asker was the favorite of the majority of the councilors and re-elected. Some thought he had bought of the council but some just thought that losing Asker would mean the destruction of Egypt and it's growing trade empire. At some point there were no other candidates for the Caliphship of Egypt and after twenty years in power the people of Egypt, mostly Cairo and Alexandria began to call Caliph Asker as Pharaoh. This is of course wasn't a title that Asker wanted to have, because that would make him a monarch and these days Egypt was not a monarchy, it was an Republic, proud and free. Also it had been said in the constitution that no reforms of any kind that would lead to the return of the monarchy shall not be made and those who propose such things would be executed for treason against the Tripolian Republic.
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Egypt was known by many names. For several foreign lands Egypt was known as Merchant Republic of Tripoli, for others simply as Tripoli. Some even called it as the Caliphate of Africa, this was of course greatly exaggerated because Egypt only consisted of the northern part of the African continent and both Kongo and Ethiopia were sovereign states and not part of Egypt in any ways. Of course they shared the common cause of African Brotherhood, to make African nations stronger. They had also cooperated in many military operations such as the Holy Wars against Gujarat and the enforcing peace in India when Punjab and Mongol Khanate of Kommenids tried to rip of the remaining lands of Gujarat. They had enforced trade embargoes against those who hadn't paid the necessary feed for the entry to the African markets and goods. Those who were intelligent enough to pay were allowed to trade freely in African Centers of Trade but the Caliph of Egypt also made his own agreements with foreign powers about trade to keep money coming in, one of these powers was Dônmark. Asker knew that keeping good relations to the Finns was necessary to access the trade goods such as cod fish. Of course when the Native Africans realized this they started threatening Dônmark. There were some negotiations but let it be said the Egyptians didn't really care and the negotiations and the matter of Dônish access to Africa was left to hang in the air for the time being.

India had now became the backyard and the land of the Africans. They were the majority there, in matter holding land as a foreigner. Tripoli in the north now controlled the border between India and Punjab, in the south Ethiopia had liberated the Tamirs and Kongo hold little land in between. There was also a minor presence of Bavarians, Dôns and Catalonians. Each of the Big Three, Ethiopia, Kongo and Egypt had sworn to protect Gujarat from foreign invasion and if one should dare to go war against Gujarat, except the Big Three, there would be war. One such war was averted by the Power of the Big Three. Of course the Egyptians were happy that their country had grown and that they were wealthy and well powerful but the real question in their mind was how long would Asker rule, would he continue to lead the people until his death or would he resign in some point or would someone take his place in the next elections. This remains to be seen.
 
To go along with Oddman's excellent maps, some ledger screenshots which show exact numbers.

Income leaders:

EU3_22.jpg


Army size leaders:

EU3_23.jpg


Navy size leaders:

EU3_24.jpg


And a special inside look at the Ethiopian realm:

EU3_25.jpg




I will say that as far as the numbers go Dano looks like passing me in income soon and taking the first-of-the-ROTW place. He doesn't bother to maintain a credible navy, and has a bare-bones army as well, and all economic/social ideas, so that is a major benefit vs. those of us who can't sit back and ignore the military.
 
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Heart Of Darkness:

A View On The Mainland Asians:

This week, I thought I'd share with you my observations of events among the continental Asians, and the trajectory they are on.

The Fall of Gujarat

As Suirantes switches to Tibet and Gujarat itself is firmly in the sphere of the African Cerberus, it is worth examining what went wrong for the first Hindu power of the game.

Gujarat started well, allying with his most dynamic neighbour (Punjab), and swiftly acting to break the power of Ceylon, its main competitor for Indian hegemony while at the same time absorbing AIs. However, failure to activate the powerful Hindu religious decisions (particularly Din-i Illahi, which now seems fated to be unique to Catalunia and Kongo, and as such has become the in-game incarnation of the Averroist belief that the two countries hold in common) as well as a slow start in building infrastructure (Suir did the worst in the early game as far as turning his magistrate production into buildings). Combined with insufficient investment in Gujarat's land tech, and attractive Asian trade ports that drew the eyes of Europeans, Gujarat succeeded in making itself a juicy target for the three Africans once we had consolidated our mainland empires.

After the first Afro-Gujarati war, Suirantes managed to recover fairly well economically, and infrastructure building dramatically increased. Overtaking Khmer, Mongolia and Punjab in infrastructure density. However, continued ignoring of the Hindu religious decisions (have I mentioned how powerful they are yet?) and military under-investment meant that when Tripoli and Ethiopia had missions to gain land in Gujarat, the second Afro-Gujarati war was inevitable. After having been saved by the vexed Africans from a Mongol-Punjabi attack, and boxed in on all sides by stronger powers, the decision of Suirantes to move to Tibet is pretty understandable.

The Strange Case of The Mongol Empire

Behind Gujarat, the Mongols and their Punjabi vassals are probably the weakest powers in Asia. Exposed by lack of allies, with primitive military technology and poor infrastructure, just why the Mongols figure they can offer protection to other Asians is a mystery to me. It doesn't help that KoM has been playing the continental Mongols in the way he would a peripheral power like Norway. Holding the strategic silk road and without the barriers of sea that protected his Norwegian Empires this has had rather bad results. While I expect KoM's vast reserves of perseverance (by far the most important quality a player needs for these grand campaigns) will keep the Mongols in the running for some time yet, unless the steppe empires change direction, I do not expect them to be more than regional players.

Qin (Death to China!)

Blayne is another player with vast reserves of perseverance. This has held him in good stead as his realm has been mauled by the great powers of Europe. Intelligent choices of buildings (Qin is dense with military buildings, giving him formidable manpower), serendipitous diplomacy (keeping him only one step ahead of the reaper, from what I can tell) and military competence (his ambush of Kongolese forces in the First Gujarati war was picture-perfect) have also played their parts.

The question at this point, is what will happen when Qin exits the protective vassalization it undertook with Croatia. The Qin-Mongol alliance has arguably been the backbone of Asian resistance to outsiders; I will be interested to see if Blayne will help the Mongols to overcome their current weakness, or take advantage of it, and expand his realm at their expense. Arguably, Qin owes Punjab and the Mongols a great debt for their aid in his wars with the Europeans, and nothing binds an alliance so well as common adversity. Yet the ruler of the Qin is also known for being a nimble opportunist when it suits him.

Tibet (Stay Small, Trade)

Tibet is one of the healthiest powers in Asia, having been put on a firm footing by Jodokus before he had to leave our game. Now on its third player, Tibet is going strong, having some of the best tech in Asia. Staying small, trading much, and building plenty of infrastructure ensures that the mountain Kingdom has no shortage of strategic options. Tibet's greatest concern is if an expansionist Qin decides to take issue with it.

Persia

Persia is among the weakest Latin powers, the diplomatic consequences of a conquest spree at the end of CK leaving it with too many enemies for its resources. Middling technology and an under-powered economy make Persia unlikely to regain that lost ground quickly. But a return of strong leadership (Persia has been without a regular player for some time) could result in the hidden strengths of the great Shiite empire coming to the fore again.

Cro-Asia

Khmer and Bengal, the staunch vassals of Croatia in Asia, are together the cornerstone of the entity that has come to be known as "Cro-Asia". While both are on their own weak and burdened by a history of poor government (also having been without regular players for most of the game so far), the protection of Croatia opens doors to opportunity and danger. As Croatia rises or falls, so shall follow Cro-Asia.

fasquardon
 
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^_^ Pictures are worth a thousand [ 千 ] words....
 
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NO ONE HUMILIATES Royal Navy WHIT OUT PUNISHMENT!!!!!
 
Also in Europa Universalis 3 Day of Glory (MP megacampaign) Africans oppress you!
 
Also in Europa Universalis 3 Day of Glory (MP megacampaign) Africans oppress you!

KOM ought to have known better. But yes, it was a very busy session for Ethiopia with wars left and right.
 
Also Nasir Asker died after he had ruled for 50 years and now his son Harun Asker is the Doge.
 
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