Last Tango in 1.3 - An Argentine AAR

[brycef]

I think the reason those French were on the Belgian border was the 102,000 stack you stationed there. I think if you move forces away from the border they will also. Also you might want to give them mil access so they can attack British interests through your territory. You can always rescind it later. Doesn't matter now though, might in the next war.

I too have made that WP accidental accept mistake before also. That's why I don't even bother opening the dialog until I'm ready for peace. I figure that in the heat of battle you don't want to do break routine making automatic reflexive clicking on dialogs unless you're sure what they are, so don't bother until you want peace anyway. Also, I usually burn one of my DPs on peace deals instead of clicking on their offers just to make sure I get everything I want and that I don't make mistakes.

[Dewirix]

On November 13, 1930, the Austrians make the same offer a third time, and meaning to turn them down, I accidentally say yes! That's why I seldom open WP spam, hitting the wrong button is a real risk. On the other hand, honestly, I never wanted Tirol and cannot recall why I picked it in the first place. All I was fighting for was to kill those British soldiers so I'd never have to deal with them again. That's not really a good reason to keep fighting.

It's the one time I allow myself to reload, but even with monthly autosaves it can be a real pain to play through a month of war just to remember to turn down a peace offer.

Just about five years left to play, which means that Austria and Russia are safe unless you break the truce again. Of course, if you need the militancy for reforms you can go for it anyway.

[InnocentIII]

brycef yeah, it's funny how the AI reacts sometimes. I once mobilized pre-war as some European country and cracked up when everyone and his brother mobilized. I usually use my own DP as well unless I'm an unciv and it's early. I don't know why I even looked.

Dewirix I was so indifferent to the outcome, I really was just fighting to finish off the Brits, that I just laughed. I do annual saves and if I'm playing for fun I might need to re-do the whole war. Doesn't happen much though I right click or ignore the flag. No one is safe! Least of all my own armies.

Previosly on "Last Tango" - What should have been a simple Fifth Russian war turned into war with Russia, Austria and the UK. But it ended well, with Freedom of the Seas making its first appearance.

Our war rotation, given the fact that Austria volunteered its last Polish province a couple wars go, means that next up is Germany. We try to let our armies recover a bit, and handle other matters (Diplo, recruiting). At the close of 1930, the UK intervenes in Columbia's attempt to grab part of Brazil. Better you than me, Columbia. Here's something you don't see every day, a full army with only 642 guys.



We split them up to recover. I'm not 100% certain it works, but I'm sure enough that I actually do it. Naval research is continued. We notice that our costs of recovering from war are very high.



I don't keep my surplus that high for long. In April 1931 we suddenly notice that Paraguay has our primary culture, and it's a slave state! Sincere outrage is manufactured, and an army is sent to clense this evil. The occupation process takes months, but the evil is removed.




A mild case of unemployment hits Buenos Aires (3000), it's been chronic in Santiago (200k). Another NF is moved. We've been inviting immigrants to Uruguay for years now hoping to hit 1 million people before 1936. Got to make those 20BB points pay off. We're around 900,000 now. In January 1932 we realize that time's a wasting, that Argentina is approaching 1500 brigades, and so we plan to DoW Germany, which has only 88 Brigades, and is allied with no-one of consequence - Italy and Switzerland as well as the three amigos (Bremen, Bavaria, Wurtemburg). Time to wake our troops who've been stuck in Bremen for a decade or so and make them earn all that back pay. We've switched our research to Factory bonuses, hoping to close the gap in score with the USA.



We are quite pleased when we notice that, for the first time, all of our European troops are within walking distance of the battlefield, although many are not particularly close by.



Planning on a quick war against Germans only, we begin the war before worrying about troops being in position, which will also alleviate attrition concerns in Poland (if not on the walk to Poland). We ship troops from home as well. We demand that Germany free the people of Schleissen, but since China is unlikely to join, we call Poland and the Ottoman Empire separately later (the OE sits on its hands, sometimes the AI is almost human). Our target state is conveniently located for occupation from the get go.



German mobilization moves them to nearly 250 brigades, and we realize that our armies in Belgium were a bit on the light side.



Armies coming from the OE are ordered to march accross Germany to help, and our fleet from Argentina should arrive shortly. In the east, the big battles are shaping up early. We decide to add a general: "Now batting for Pedro Borbon, Manny Mota!"



The west is still something of a scramble, but it's great when everyone can walk to work.



In the meantime, my two Bremen armies have gotten the attention of 225,000 German and Bremenese soldiers. The larger army begins a series of retreats to the east, and then south. They can't win, the smaller army is disbanded, but they can keep quite a few troops from the real fighting while I get situated. I should rack up +25 Battle Score regardless of a few minor losses. One month in, the provinces begin to fall. It's late May before the first pocket collapses, taking 50,000 Germans out of the war. We've pocketed a good two-thirds of the enemy, and we're occupying nearly half the country as well.



In July, the WP spam begins, though it is long since the Germans had any hope.



Argentine elections begin! By the end of July, our warscore is only 16 of the now needed 46, but it's a matter of time only. We ad Posen to our wargoals, adding 24 to the needed score. In August one of the few free German armies is trapped in Halle, and 40,000 Germans are eliminated. Nearly the entire country is covered by occupying forces. The battle of Emden ends, taking one quarter of the original German regular army with it.



The Bavarians are eliminated a few days later, and the enemy is 60,000 men fewer than it was. On the 18th, a huge pocket of conscripts is elminated, removing all Germans in the west, 150,000 men.



In September, there are still three pockets in the east, but I speed the clock up, eventually hitting full speed as I cycle armies in and out of the fighting.



Large chunks of my army are left to recuperate in Belgium as they are no longer needed. The smallest pocket collapses September 16, 36,000 regular army soldiers. Germany has only 40% of its original brigade total, 100 of a start of nearly 250, and her allies are out of the picture. Four provinces fall on October 2nd, but we're only up to 33 of a needed 70 warscore, and only +16 in battles, with two huge fights to go. I consider opening a pocket on purpose (to create two wins from one fight), but decide not to. Berlin falls on November 30, and the NGF begins to offer me one state, Schliessen.



I'm at 45 of a needed 70. Hopefully I don't need to hit 80/70 or 90/70. As 1933 rolls around, the two big fights continue, but I've conquered most of the country.



In March, factory input efficiency increased 3%, reminding me that two battles and this war are taking forever. A week later, 140,000 men are killed or captured when one ends, but my losses were substantial.



Warscore is 54/65, though, with the Battle Score boost. Hmm, turns out I wasn't attacking! I sent the wrong general.



In May, 1933 the capture of nearly every German province prompts the peace offer we need, and Poland grows yet again.



Well, that was a pretty sloppy war, but as I said before, at this point Germany is just a really big Belgium, so I don't have the incentive to plan everything out very well. And I hardly plan when I do have the incentive. DoWing on the spur of the moment also made it worse than it needed to be. Still, it's nice that I can walk to battle, and that Poland is now a serious power. The NGF is in likely to fall out of GP status. There is only one more German state, Pommern, that I could have freed. I saved the game when the place was a mess again, and I just now realized that I probably trapped guys in Bavaria!

What I had planned between now and then was at least one more war for Poland, maybe a couple to seal up second place for Argentina, and maybe something which wouldn't end before the game does. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the end is something of an anti-climax. Tune in tomorrow for the last update, and to find out what went wrong!

[Vaya con Queso]

Nice work. Schliessen is an excellent region, and taking it should really hurt the Germans.

What, if anything, do you plan to do about Krakow? Can you do anything?

[Avindian]

That American slice of Brazil is interesting; I've never seen AI USA go outside the United States to expand, particularly by way of war.

[InnocentIII]

Nice work. Schliessen is an excellent region, and taking it should really hurt the Germans.

What, if anything, do you plan to do about Krakow? Can you do anything?

Funny you should ask!

[Vaya con Queso]

Funny you should ask!

I hope that sadface was a typo...

[Dewirix]

Annexing Paraguay made me smile. I remember the beginning of the AAR when we were debating the ins and outs of spending 20 infamy on a single state. Doesn't really seem to make much difference now.

I'm guessing that the fact Krakow's Polish cultured (which means you can't use the Free People CB on it) makes for a rather tricky problem of how to get it absorbed into Poland.

[morningSIDEr]

A few days after that, the French and UK reach a White Peace, and all I can think is that my war is suddenly going to change for the worse, and I'm going to be made to suffer, all because I wanted to kill a few hundred thousand people.

This line made me burst out laughing; far too good!

Unfortunate that the accidental acceptance of white peace stopped the war prematurely, I've done that more times in Paradox games than I care to mention. Good though that you've still managed to add to Poland in both of your last two wars. Far better that you dealt with the inexcusably cheeky Paraguay, they really need to add a 'Stealing My Political Map Colour' casus belli to Paradox games!

The end is near and I'm getting a wee bit worried about the next updating with regards to Krakow, surely they did not escape cruel, Argentinian occupation and annexa-uh, I mean surely they didn't escape liberation?

[InnocentIII]

Vaya con Queso Read on

Dewirix You were right on Uruguay, but I think I've learned my lesson. On Krakow, if only it was the culture!

morningSIDEr Stealing my political map color is a definite CB in my book, even being annoyingly like my political map color should be enough. As for Krakow, I've learned one thing for sure: life is not fair!

Previously on "Last Tango" - we added more to Poland, creating a monster not seen since Poland-Lithuania I suspect. I planned one or possibly two more wars, little did I realize where they would be, or why.

It's entirely fitting that this AAR should all end with a screwup! Though I'm not sure if it was me. As the Final Countdown begins, we see that Argentina has a pretty clean hold on Rank 2, though the UK is well ahead.



Our infamy is 112, so adding BadBoy is not a concern. We also have some cleaning up to do after the last war.



And yes, as I feared in the last Chapter, I did strand an army in Bavaria and he's not coming home. Ever. I did a mini-experiment on splitting armies up, and I still suspect, but do not know, that it helps them to fill faster. In June 1933 Poland DoWs Krakow with annexation as a goal, and there was much rejoicing. Events will prove that this was not my fault. A few days later, Austria DoWs Germany. It's as though Argentina's warmongering made the rest of the world take 20 years off, and now that the game is winding down they want to take up where 1910 should have put them.

Argentina, proud pappa, watches Poland wipe out Krakow. In July, getting into the world's mood, we DoW one-state Bolivia with annexation as the goal.

Poland annexes Krakow.

On the same day, Russia intervenes.



Now, Russia is trying to "preserve" the status quo by giving Krakow ALL of West Galicia, not just Krakow. I get why the game deals in states, not provinces, but it would be nice if the aggressive nature of this was acknowledged. Also, Poland is not technically preserving the status quo even though Poland now has no wargoal, other than keeping what she stole fair and square. This remains the war to annex Krakow, so the short answer is that Argentina has no ability to intervene.

Oh-kay. I'll DoW Russia to humiliate or steal a state, or a colony. I cannot. "Declare War" is greyed out. I have no ability to fight Russia.



My men rush to the front, fire bullets at the Rooskies as they overrun Poland (my recovering armies are in the middle of every battle), and the bullets freeze in place and then fall as though every Russian soldier is "The One". I swear I hear the Russians say "whoa" in that amazing deadpan which is a cross between Lawrence Olivier and a wet dog. Like me right when I wake up. Apparently, to these stuffed cuckoos, we don't actually exist. Most of them wouldn't be recognized by their own mothers. So we settle in to eliminate Krakow if and when Poland has to give her up. Some things are hard to explain [see Avindian's post below and the tooltip - I had troops in Russia! That's all it was].

Oh, yeah, trust me when I say that Poland lost a war to Russia!

We work on factory output techs, figuring this will affect the scoring in a way that most other research could not in the little time we have left. I call Poland to help with the Bolivian war, thinking perhaps some weirdness will let me into the Russian war which Poland is rapidly losing. Maybe Poland refuses the call and I re-form the alliance(?), or something [Poland was the aggressor, so cannot call us because we have a truce with Russia until November 1935].

Of course, Poland nominally joins the Bolivian war with no actual effect. In February 1934, we annex Bolivia.



Nice look at northern South America, too. In November 1934, with Poland around -55 in her war with Russia, we DoWed Sweden, hoping Russia would protect her ally and sphereling, allowing us to kill all her soldiers in Poland.

No luck, of course. We've scared off bigger fish than Russia. Still, when you begin to invade Sweden, invade Sweden.



January of the final year sees a massive uprising of Jacobins. Since I invaded Sweden with nearly all my Argentine troops (supplemented with Belgians), this was something of a mess. In March, Poland is at -75 and Sweden won't admit being humiliated, and I face the fact that the game is ending. I decide to acquire Vestlandet. If I can't help Poland, I'll help myself. On April 10, 1935, Russia frees newly enlarged Krakow from Poland. We shout "not for long!" Yes for long. Apparently for ever! I do not have the ability to DoW Krakow. The War tab says I have a truce with Krakow, which come to think of it I probably do, from the last war. Well, I've broken lots of truces before, why is this one enforceable? [Again, I had troops in the territory!]

I said earlier in this AAR that Krokow annoys me, well, now I know what real annoyance is. I used to kill Kizdean Gix in EQ all the time, just because I could. I think every V2 game should end with me annexing Krakow.

In July, Sweden grants me the state I demanded. Poland and I hug as the world comes to an end. Well, I assume there's an explanation for why I could not DoW Russia, and one for not being able to DoW Krakow [ed - to annoy you; me - I knew it!]. Don't blame me [well ...], the ending was written by George Lucas: "NOOOOOO!!!!!!" So let's review the world, shall we? I have 14 screenshots left.



I could have finished #1 overall if I'd taken a chunk out of the UK, or gone on a WC spree [ed - or if you'd played better]. Meh. Finishing #2 as Argentina is fine by me. Poland was #15, and the NGF was only a couple spots ahead! On the other hand, I think I ruined WW2. Maybe Krakow will expand it's shadowy invincible borders across all of Middle Europe.



Fourth in the World in population, almost 1/3 more than Russia. Third in Brigades. Argentina certainly finished with a great many people. With 8.15m soldier Pops we had more than China at 7.84, though Sauron had 27m. Jerk.



China must have had massive unemployment. The key to victory is Industry score, and the key to industry score is Craftsmen, so finishing third, and not so far behind the UK, is pretty good. We had a dozen factories making 9k a day, and the bottom of the first page was +7600.



We've seen this map before, but our critical soldier Pops reside in Africa, making it the key to success in this game.



We own four bits of Europe. Southwest Russia, Serbia, Belgium and bits of Norway/Sweden. That Italian bit is Tuscany, not Argentina. Jerks.



Those are all of our states/colonies. I never even tried to convert any, and did not remember to check after around 1915 or so. I had zero Platineans when I did last check, and after a while I needed Soldiers enough that I didn't mind factories where I had them and recruits elsewhere. In a different game I'd like to solve that problem [I was wrong about needing some native Buros to start from! I could have just recruited Platinean Buros from 0. It takes a couple years, but it works].

We had all Army techs for quite some time, and only Advanced Metallurgy and Electric Furnace missing from Industry. I ended up with the vast majority of Navy techs as well, though I got too little use of them.



Here's Commerce and Culture. On Commerce, as the game wore on I took some tax techs, and many factory techs figuring they'd help my Industry score. I took Aesthetics early in Culture for prestige, then abandoned the line.

Philosophy is the best line of any tech tree, and I took quite a bit of Culture to help, respectively, Literacy, Pluralism and Army Replacement Speed.



Argentina's Budget is an absurdity compared to what we started with.



Here's a selection of industries from two parts of the alphabet. I stopped building factories some time in '34, and while I would miss a few months here and there, I generally was building constantly from the moment I could, especially Barrels, Aeroplanes and Automobiles. The 1.6 million workers in Santaigo would be 1.85 million if I had the factories for them. I can't imagine playing China if the Pops promote to Craftsmen with any speed, you start late building any factories and you have massive populations. I should try it.



Here's our production screen.



And to give a sense of what that means, and at a serious risk of TMI, here are a good number of products.



I think the rest of the world's barrels are really just what my employees sneak out of the factory in their lunchboxes and sell on Ebay. Here is our political screen. We had to widen the right to vote to stave off Socialists, but it meant we never came close to getting the right set of policies, basically interventionism and a zero tax rate for the middle class.



Oh, and here's the World Map



If I did this again differently, I'd slow my pace down, probably something more like Dewrix's Japan EU3-V2

Conversion AAR. Add commentary on the rest of the world. However, the risk of going slower is that you need to play now and then, at which point losing interest is a risk. Here, I played no other Vicky 2 games while Last Tango was going. I was able to put an update up every day for over a month and finish with one every three years on average. The world commentary would serve to make wars less central to the AAR. They're fun, but even something fun can turn repetitious if it's all you do. I have an idea for a CK2 AAR that I think would be very funny. One thing I learned which I gave the wrong impression in earlier chapters: - You can recruit Bureaucrats just fine even if you have no population of the right kind, and turn a colony into a state. It might take a couple/few years, but it's easy. I remembered from before 1.3, apparently. I could have easily been Rank #1 if I'd swapped a couple NFs, or all five, to making states.

I enjoyed writing the AAR, I already miss not having something to work on now, though it still might be a bit before the next one. And it will be an update or two a week, not one a day. I think I learned a good deal about how to do a better one someday. I did learn a fair amount about Vicky 2 as well, especially that doing better means taking the time to do all of the little things which add up to success. This was a very important lesson, which I intend to go on ignoring.

For the curious - my next card was the Four of Diamonds, Sindh, and I played nearly half a century in one sitting, mostly because it took me 45 years to get the MIL score to civilize. I stupidly wasted 20BB on a crappy neighbor, where have I seen that before? I had to fight off Portugal (one risky downside of taking Zulu), then an alliance of Portugal, Holland and France, then France twice (France owned Makran and bits of Persia). Fortunately, the AI doesn't take colonial wars all that seriously and I beat the local forces - or lost slowly enough to WP out - every time. Then the UK beat France to sphering me, I took Dai Nam, and I geared up to fight China ~1910. I DoWed when the UK had her own war with China going. Then every major intervened! I won't make GP, I'm only Rank 14 and it's nearly 1920. Well, quick and fun beats hard work and more successful. My next Sindh will be better.

I want to play Ireland soon. I hope the cards are kind to me.

One final note - thanks to all who read this, and especially to all those who commented! It's good to see the number of views going up, but it was great to get all the positive feedback.

[Omen]

This was a great AAR and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done on getting to #2, and I'll follow any further AAR you write. Thanks for the fun read!

[Vaya con Queso]

Aww, it's over. Nicely done! Shame about Krakow, though. Poland was in your sphere, wasn't it? You should have been able to intervene...

Are you going to make an AAR of your Sindh game (next attempt)?

[Avindian]

You couldn't declare war on Russia because you had troops in their territory, or at least that's what the tooltip said.

Awesome job, all things considered, and I know if you start another AAR, I will follow it.

[Dewirix]

A very impressive second-place finish, even if Russia did spoil things slightly. Sets everything up for Hearts of Iron 3.

The US did surprising well in industrial score. If it had had the same military score you did it would have won hands down.

Very much enjoyed reading this AAR and would eagerly follow another.

[morningSIDEr]

I'm dissapointed that this has come to an end now, it was wonderful being able to login to the forum and know an update would be waiting, I really enjoyed following this. The gameplay was great, second place with Argentina is impressive, and the humour evident throughout the AAR was exactly my cup of tea.

A pity that Krakow was freed once again, I'm sure Sweden certainly regrets Krawkow being freed, but something of a technicality. A few years more and Poland would have soon swallowed that small impertintent nation up once again!

Very intrigued by mention of a possible CK2 AAR, regardless of what game you decide to base your next AAR upon, I'll certainly follow it.

[CromagnonX]

This was a great AAR and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done on getting to #2, and I'll follow any further AAR you write. Thanks for the fun read!

What he said.

[InnocentIII]

Thanks for all the kinds words, they are appreciated.

You couldn't declare war on Russia because you had troops in their territory, or at least that's what the tooltip said.

Awesome job, all things considered, and I know if you start another AAR, I will follow it.

LOL Another Milan. This was a perfect way to end the AAR then!

What, I'm supposed to read the tooltips? They looked pretty much the same as they always look, only with different words. Reading words is hard. Best screwup of the whole AAR.

[brycef]

Great AAR all around. I like how you made even your failures entertaining and educational. I learned a lot from this one. Thanks!

[Pauly_Walnuts]

Great job! Good read and a great finish.

[-Rodri-]

It took me 2 days to read it all, but it was worthy! Nice played!