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I wish we knew better how exactly PUs and inheritance works. The standard advice I've read is that high diplomacy skill, high prestige, high relations and low infamy all help, although I can't really verify that.

A little surprised Korea hasn't been added to the PU list yet. Haven't been able to catch them with a low legitimacy heir ruler yet? They must be added to the East Asian and Indian Coprosperity Sphere!

Nice move getting France and Poland into PUs, but I fear Japan is now badly behind. Only a quick Ming inheritance combined with German bad luck could really swing the game back in Japan's favor.

Can we get a world map or a look at the New World?
 
Wow, with some lucky inheritances, we just might make a real game of this! I am continually impressed by this AAR and wait with bated breath the next installment!
 
Can you even inherit with a new dynasty coming to the throne? Also, I know the AI likes to diploannex like crazy, perhaps giving Japan over to the AI will also help in inheriting -- provided the Japanese emperor dies.

Germany has a very nice selection of NI there, very powerful.
The change in dynasty does not influence inheritance, AFAIK. I don't think that AI control helps with inheritance, but here's to hoping :)

Wow. Germany has low Legitimacy and Prestige in that screenshot. Though their infamy is low. I wonder what happened . . .
If I don't err, they got a new dynasty in the last turn.
Yup, got that right. The new king had 20 legitimacy when he got the throne. With no Patron of the Arts, no Fine Arts acedemies and very little magistrates, it's very difficult to get a decent Grand Marshall, so getting legitimacy is difficult.

I wish we knew better how exactly PUs and inheritance works. The standard advice I've read is that high diplomacy skill, high prestige, high relations and low infamy all help, although I can't really verify that.

A little surprised Korea hasn't been added to the PU list yet. Haven't been able to catch them with a low legitimacy heir ruler yet? They must be added to the East Asian and Indian Coprosperity Sphere!

Nice move getting France and Poland into PUs, but I fear Japan is now badly behind. Only a quick Ming inheritance combined with German bad luck could really swing the game back in Japan's favor.

Can we get a world map or a look at the New World?
I've been watching Korea like a hawk, but it has been very lucky so far. No problems with heirs, no low legitimacy at any time I played...

As for Japan's faling behind, I hope to get Absolute Monarchy quickly, as well as inheriting within our culture group (Ming, Manchu, Xia and Wu, plus Korea if I can get that). Otherwise things get pretty difficult for Japan.


True. Perhaps there wasn't enough time to recover. Especially without the correct advisers.

Both Japan and Germany have problems with cultural tradition. I don't know what the AI's doing, but it seems it spends quite a lot on getting (wrong) advisors. Germany especially can't really hope to get above 50% tradition.
 
Wow, always disheartening how the AI mismanages the country... A NI slot wasted. Any plans on changing it? Can you survive the Stab hits? Better under your reign than under the AI's...
 
1399-01welcome.png

Turn 14, second half: bashing the British

Jim: Aaaaaaand we are back, loyal fans! Only a hundred years is left until the final battle! Can Japan gain the lead on Germany? Only time will tell. So how's Europe now, Bob?

Bob: Nothing much has changed in Europe, save the defection of the rebellious provinces of Spanish Hungary to the Hungarian kingdom.

Jim: It's amazing how long Spain has managed to hold on to these provinces. Still, I imagine the Spanish king won't like this. Any domestic changes?

Bob: None. No new Ideas or Decisions have been made. It's once again up to our contestants to set the nation into motion. A mere days after their arrival, already a far-reaching decisions has been taken: enacting the act of agricultural cultivation.

1670-01agricultivation.png


Jim: Luckily our contestants provide use with action and excitement. On that note, in February 1670, the last independent German minor, Pommerania, is invaded and annexed.

Bob: Took quite a while for our contestants to unite the German people. To be precise, 122 years.

Jim: True, but what counts is the end result.

Bob: I see that Genua send a spy to Germany before our contestants arrived. It seems that our contestants use this as an excuse for war.

1670-02dowonGenua.png


Jim: You're right, Bob. Genua is joined by the various other Italian states to prevent Germany from getting more of a foothold in the Italian peninsula.

Bob: Not only the Italians worry about German ambitions. In April, Spain joins the enemy alliance! Soon after that, the Spanish ally Sweden joins, too.

Jim: Probably because Germany decided to go into this war alone, the other European nations think that they can take on the juggernaut. It's all for naught for Genua, thought, as in June 1670 it's annexed, adding its renowned trade centre to Germany's possessions.

Bob: A bit of a dubious move, as Genua could be vassalised instead with less diplomatic repercussions.

Jim: I think that due to Germany's Infamy loss of 2 points per year, even with the Deutsche Drohung in working, and due to Germany's lack of war opportunities, the contestants chose the harsh option. The construction of a national war college to maintain army traditions is proof to me that the German policy is one of steel and blood.

Bob: Still, diplomacy remains a great weapon. Soon after France joins the war, Spain concedes defeat, ending the war for Genua.
Jim: Only to give room for another war. Perhaps the German contestants have taken notes on what the Japanese team did, as a claim on rivals also gives cores on British territory!

1670-11claimsonourrivals.png


Bob: Speaking of the Japanese, in 1671 emperor Momozona dies and his underage son inherits Manchu.

1671-01manchuinherited.png


Jim: Nice, although it would be better if some more countries were inherited as well.

Bob: I agree completely, Jim. Anyhow, Germany continues to ape Japan and declares war on Britain. Ireland joins them and France joins Germany.

Jim: I know which ally I would prefer.

Bob: With a numerically superior army stationed on the British isle before the war, Great Britain has little chance. In February 1672, Great Britain is thoroughly defeated and cedes Lincoln and four other provinces to Germany.

1672-02GBpeace.png


Jim: Germany isn't making it easy for the Japanese, that's for sure. Not only in conquests but also in domestic matters. Germany's legitimacy problems are countered with the construction of a massive royal palace. Yet more monumental is Friedrich's decision to chance Germany's government form to a Constitutional Monarchy!

1672-08constitutionalmonarchy.png


Bob: That will help compensate the meagre trickle of magistrates. As Constitutional monarchies are well organised and give high priority to the rule of law, administrating the already vast German kingdom will benefit from this.

Jim: What also benefits Germany is another British war.

1673-11boundarydisputederby.png


Bob: Germany remains lucky, I see. Still, Germany has to wait until 1677 to get back into the ring with Great Britain. Meanwhile, the new constitution enables Friedrich to greatly expand German construction efforts. A tax assessor is build in München in December 1673 and a grain depot in Ulm. Furthermore, some customs houses are build. Even with -2 magistrates per year, Germany trains news magistrate at a rate of about 2.3 per year

Jim: However, like his predecessor, Friedrich's family isn't immune to illness. In July 1674, the heir dies, which is a shame as his claim was so strong.

Bob: Sad, indeed. If Friedrich fails to get another heir quickly, we might see another dynasty taking over again. There is some diplomatic news, however. In July 1675, a boundary dispute gives a German core on France.

1675-07boundarydisputecremona.png


Jim: Seems the German team is confident of inheriting France soon. They certainly will not use this claim to wage war with. On the contrary, Germany's claim on Derby sparks a new war with Great Britain in March 1677.

Bob: This war goes even smoother. The British isles are soon overrun and in 1678, Great Britain surrenders, ceding Derby, plus four other provinces.

1678-02gbpeace.png


Jim: That will certainly upset the international community! Still, with Germany's cabinet and excellent diplomacy, its Infamy will quickly disappear. Wait, I'm getting some good news: a new heir is born to king Friedrich IV Wilhelm in 1678!

Bob: Good news indeed.

Jim: The rest of the turn is played out quite peaceful. The high points are the construction of an admiralty in Lübeck and an increase in Free Trade in 1679. With Germany now having a slightly Free Trade policy, our contestants declare the Statute of Monopolies, making German trade even freer.

Bob: A very succesful turn for Germany, as usual.

Jim: Quite. Great Britain is now greatly reduced and Spain has lost its Hungarian territory, while Germany has gained Liguria and a lot of British territory. Here's a current satellite image of Europe for our viewers.

1680-01mapofeurope.png


Jim: Also, due to popular demand, some images of the Americas.

1680-01northamerica.png


1680-01southamerica.png


Jim: All with all a nice and exciting turn. I keep my fingers crossed for the next turn to be even better. See you all next time!
 
Wow, always disheartening how the AI mismanages the country... A NI slot wasted. Any plans on changing it? Can you survive the Stab hits? Better under your reign than under the AI's...
Well, it's good to know humans are still smarter than computer, right? ;)

I don't change the NI yet as I can't really spare the stability hit.

The stripe of Germany in Britain is pretty funny. A good turn for the Germans. At least the new world is safe from the German and Japanese Juggernauts.
Well, Germany has a couple of colonies in North America and Africa, settled by the AI. Still, I rather would lose them.

The stripe does look funny, indeed.


Nicely done.

Who owns all that green on the west coast of North America? Venice, maybe, or Sicily?

It's the archbishopry Portugal. The Canadian grey is Germany, to the east of that is Irish North America. In the war with GB, Ireland snatched a couple of my colonies. Let them have it!
 
Aha! Ming is finally subjugated by Japan! At least Japan inherited one of its PU partners. So how many are left? I've lost count. :p
Germany definitely has dominated Europe. If it inherits France and Poland, it will be unstoppable. :)
 
One question: if the final battle will be fought by Germany, do you need such a big territory only to get higher manpower (in which case getting uncored land after 50 years will be useless, for obvious reasons) or are you actually worried about an AI Japanese invasion?

Also, I can't believe that nobody yet started calling the final battle "Armageddon", as it is basically synonymous and sounds much more epic/catchy marketing-wise :D
 
Aha! Ming is finally subjugated by Japan! At least Japan inherited one of its PU partners. So how many are left? I've lost count. :p
Germany definitely has dominated Europe. If it inherits France and Poland, it will be unstoppable. :)
I've also lost count. There's Gondwana, Wu, Ming, Maharastraa, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Malwa....

Germany is pretty much unstoppable right now. With France and Poland, only Japan will have a chance against Germany.

One question: if the final battle will be fought by Germany, do you need such a big territory only to get higher manpower (in which case getting uncored land after 50 years will be useless, for obvious reasons) or are you actually worried about an AI Japanese invasion?

Also, I can't believe that nobody yet started calling the final battle "Armageddon", as it is basically synonymous and sounds much more epic/catchy marketing-wise :D

For the Final Battle, both nations will need large armies. Three resources are needed for armies: manpower, force limits and money. Getting more provinces helps with all three. Uncored provinces also provide all three, so are valuable as well. Uncored (AFAIK of course) reduces census tax by 90% but otherwise does not reduce one of the three resources. This is also why I'm not happy with getting colonies in this AAR. They contribute very little to manpower or force limits and require a high Naval policy, which would reduce my ability to fight land wars, crucial for the Final Battle.

The only real setbacks of being large in EU3 is that your quality of economy can degrade. The quality of the economy is a country's ability to research and regain stability quickly and is primarily determined by income per province. Getting many poor provinces does increase a nation's economy and thus military power but decreases the quality of its economy. However, Germany's economy is of such high quality that expansion is a no-brainer.

Long story short, I'm not worried about an invasion, I'm just building the biggest war machine I can.
 
Perhaps sell the colonies for zero ducats?
 
Perhaps sell the colonies for zero ducats?

A possibility. However, while I feel colonies in this case don't help Germany much, I also don't think they hurt much, either. Germany has no problems with research or stability and has a large enough fleet for its colonies. The biggest worry with the colonies is that they present an opportunity for the AI to screw up. Then again, Japan manages to lose a lot of ships in the Pacific for no discernable reason.
 
First of all: Love the AAR, watching it since the very beginning, keep up the good work!
Secondly: Is there the possibility to have the final battle in some sort of multiplayer-game to have any challenge? The problem is that a player can probably keep a big empire together even with max WE and -3 stab, while the AI will sooner or later just go down
 
First of all: Love the AAR, watching it since the very beginning, keep up the good work!
Secondly: Is there the possibility to have the final battle in some sort of multiplayer-game to have any challenge? The problem is that a player can probably keep a big empire together even with max WE and -3 stab, while the AI will sooner or later just go down

Interesting...

Indeed an interesting idea and one I never thought about it. However, I've never played EU3 in multiplayer and in general play very little MP. I would do extremely poorly in MP (I pause regulary in EU3, for example). Besides, I wouldn't know whom to play against. So I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be doing that.
 
Indeed an interesting idea and one I never thought about it. However, I've never played EU3 in multiplayer and in general play very little MP. I would do extremely poorly in MP (I pause regulary in EU3, for example). Besides, I wouldn't know whom to play against. So I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be doing that.

Perhaps you could upload the save somewhere, and we could make a tournament. 1 vs 1, several rounds. The first country choice is random, after that you alternate every round!
 
Perhaps you could upload the save somewhere, and we could make a tournament. 1 vs 1, several rounds. The first country choice is random, after that you alternate every round!

I'm not sure if I understand precisely what you propose, but I'm of course willing to upload the save.