Maintain the Monarchy: The Tsar Demands It!

[Frymonmon]

I must say, I am a long time reader. Never bothered to post, but for my first post here I am pleased to say you have been named WritAAR of the Week!

[calvinhobbeslik]

Why do you have a -14 warscore?

[Brandenburg III]

All Nighter Comin’ - Vince Gill
Russian Roulette - Southgang
Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats
House Of Pain - Faster Pussycat
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Holding On For Eight - Carl D & The Hundred Proof Band

***

TonyJoe: DW is a mess which can make it much easier to absorb stuff. Although EU, especially in vanilla, has always been quite easy to expand. The only reason its more difficult here is because cores don’t really play a factor for most countries - for declaring war -, BB burns exceptionally slow and CB’s are all about timing and luck. The only thing that really holds me back on Victoria are the techs since I don’t play enough to remember which techs aid my quest to colonize or to do a few other things.

aldriq: I don’t know about Mexico… I think their Albanian army was taken our quite early in the war. I think it was toward the bottom of the first post of the war where their army was being slaughtered by the Austrians just north of Serbia/Bosnia. The only thing concerning me are the Prussians now.

Frymonmon: I think you must’ve taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Thanks… I’ll head on over there later this week.

calvinhobbeslik: Battles. The few retreats I had were apparently costly.

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This Update’s Observation:

A B3 AAR without any mention of Janet Gardner? What's this forum coming to?

***

About two weeks into my war with Prussia they wiped out a number of ships in my Imperial Fleet in the Baltic. 24 Man of War and 19 Transports went to the bottom. At least this gives me an excuse to build newer ships later.

Victories against Austria continued through October as two of their armies were destroyed and two more were forced into a retreat. By the first of the year the Austrians had lost their remaining regiments.

1 January 1885

Regiments:
Russia: 329
Prussia: 83
Austria: 0

Ships:
Russia: 43
Prussia: 80
Austria: 204

By the 11th I had noticed I was roughly 350,000 in debt and as much as I wanted to give Prussia what they wanted, I couldn’t. It was getting too late in the game to just give up when I was bored with fighting. Plus, Japan was the alliance leader in the war against Prussia so I didn’t have a choice but to continue fighting.

However, to conserve cash, I moved all regular regiments off to the Romanian area and let mostly militia set sieges. I even reduced National Stockpile to 50% for one month. Through these early months the Prussians were sitting and claiming provinces in Poland while I knocked out any Austrian regiment that was recruited.

Then on 18 May 1885 France declared war on Prussia. I was saved! France wanted a hunk of Africa.

Unfortunately, the bulk of Prussian troops remained on my half.

Fast forwarding a little, it wouldn’t be until two weeks into July before Austria finally agreed to peace.

Factories Acquired:
7 Reg Clothes
6 Fabric
8 Cement
5 Steel
4 Furniture
4 Lux Clothes
4 Paper

Russia’s War Against Austria:

Casualties:
Russia: 458,589
Mexico: 36,000
Wallachia: 997

Austria: 424,416
Bavaria: 10,014
Wurttenberg: 30,461
Krakow: 3000

Ships Lost:
Russia: 22 Man Of War

At the same time I acquired MA through France for my troops in Bavaria and Wurteenberg, paving my way into Western Prussia since France had acquired those connecting provinces from Bavaria in an earlier war.

And France, the AI, was actually doing quite nicely.

Toward the end of September a medium sized Jacobin revolt broke out but I didn’t have time to worry about it. Its fairly spread out and some of the rebels will siege Prussian occupied territory while Japan would even combat a few of these units so I wasn't going to keep score this time.

2 October 1885

Nine days after the above pic I destroyed a Prussian army in Siedlice; a month and a half later another Prussian army, this time in Kattowitz, was also destroyed. These came at heavy casualties to me but, as with Austria, they were now losing permanent regiments. Even if this aids France more than it does myself, I still prefer to have weak neighbors.

After the battle in Kattowitz I moved all regular regiments back, letting militia siege various provinces. Judging by my Fog of War, I assumed many of the Prussian units remaining were somewhere other than Europe.

1 January 1886

Regiments:
Russia: 316
Prussia: 54
France: 247

Ships:
Russia: 43
Prussia: 84
France: 116

Three months later the Prussians offered me a white peace which I accepted. I could’ve added war goals but I was less than 1 point under the BB line… and I was tired of fighting. I immediately demobilized and placed National Stockpile at 10%.

But, Japan was still at war with Prussia and they were seeking Jylland.

Prussia’s War Against Russia:

Casualties:
Russia: 140,598

Prussia: 93,945
Nassau: 195

Ship Loss:
Russia: 24 Man Of War, 19 Transport

Population: 21.22
Cash: -1,379,705.1
Literacy: 29.7%

[Avindian]

Stumbled across this AAR thanks to the award; good stuff!

[Serek000]

Loving it! Any thoughts on going into the East Indies? That's one of my favorite "unusual" expansion routes as Russia.

[aldriq]

Huge casualty numbers in both wars. How many guard brigades do you have at the moment?

[Brandenburg III]

Avindian: I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.

Serek000: Careful of Avindian, word on the street is he’s a klutz. Actually, Java has some Precious Minerals so an exploration into the area isn’t unlikely. Considering where I’m at in the game I’m beginning to wonder if conquering all precious metal provinces is plausible anymore. I’m guessing not.

aldriq: Yeah, that was wicker stuff. Guard units at this point were still relatively new to me and didn’t have much impact. I believe there were about 21,000 only but from this point on and forward, whenever I could build them, I did build them. All the guard units can be seen in Chapter Stray Cat Strut - so much cooler than just giving a number - in Lublin.

As for the casualties I was expecting to ship more units to Italy thus taking the pressure off of more casualties but I hadn’t expected Austria to bottle me up like they had on Ostepreussen. I had the numbers and I’m sure I had the tech. Lesson learned: Rivers suck but at least long drawn out battles lures out enemy soldiers like a mouse to cheasy humour. Yup, a ‘u’ because I’m feeling European right now… must be the vodka.

To all: Yes! Victoria red is back. Sure I didn’t like it for Vik I but all the forums cannot look the same.

***

This Update’s Observation:

I’m not so much asking for a patch for EU3, just a fix for all the stuff they broke with DW.

***

Throughout the rest of the year I reduced National Stockpile to 5% come 15 July and lowered Rich Taxes to 0%. Research on Machine Guns was undertaken in the same month. Before the end of the year France took what she wanted from Prussia while Japan ended up with a white peace.

I have to say that I’m very tempted to declare war on Prussia, when I have the bb, for African provinces just to see Russia lording in large portions of Africa.

As 1887 drove by I lowered National Stockpile to 2%, lowered Middle and Poor taxes to 32%, witnessed France declaring war on Sokoto and received a nice Militancy event.

Four days into 1888 the United Kingdom declared war on the USA for New England. I had considered an eventual delayed declaration of war against the USA but Crimean Nationalists rose up in March. A whole 9000 Crimeans at the cost of 144 Russians. Kevin Costner would say, ‘Good trade.’

27 October I finally discovered I could begin colonizing nearby places. Common sense would tell me Machine Guns did it since after discovering them I could do it and before I couldn’t… common sense would also tell me that it didn’t make any sense. Either way, I changed National Focus to colonizing Shumshu, Yasi and Guryev. You don’t need a map… they’re places in Russia and your guess right now is as good as mine.

29 October the Italians declared war against the Austrians again to obtain Venetia. Guess who I was rooting for? Italy v. Austria, Wuttenburg, Krakow, Bavaria, and Belgium.

At the start of 1889 I discovered Point Defense System and began work on Stock Exchange. Then, on 19 November, Mexico declared war on the US for the rest of Texas. I guess I’ll help a little. All taxes rose to 64%. I’m only expecting to send my Siberian, Korean and Alaskan units to America… that’s roughly 90,000 - 100,000.

Next update we’ll have an 1890 World Update and then resume with the war and all that. Literacy and all that fun still will come with that update.

[aldriq]

I agree on the forum colour, I didn't used to like it, but now I'm glad it's back. Same with the CK forum. Aren't we fickle?

Hoping for Italian and Mexican victories

[Brandenburg III]

1890 World Update

[Juan_de_Marco]

The difficulty is just beginning to set in

[aldriq]

The Japanese are doing pretty well with their industry. And who is colonising those bits in northern Siberia, Prussia?

[Serek000]

Looks like you might have a major Anarchist problem. Time to ready the fly swatter, eh?

[zagoroth]

This reminds me of an old EU3 aar, where the operator counted every single rebel soldier he killed.

Keep up the good work!

[Brandenburg III]

Jaun_de_Marco: Actually the times, the history and the Russian people, the Tsar should be in much more trouble than he’s in now, especially since Emancipation was never passed. But if the difficulty is just beginning to set in, then I still have some time to do a few things.

aldriq: Yeah, it’s the Prussians so I’m definitely going to have to go to war against them at least one more time. It was only after I noticed their colony that I was able to start colonizing a little later.

If Japan weren’t such great allies, I’d even consider taking a bite out of them just to demote them a little and get some of that population and industry.

I’d also like to continue helping my Balkan neighbors but I have to decide what’s more important, Russia or satellites now that Mexico and Bavaria are up and coming.

Serek000: Did you know the inventor of the fly swatter originally wanted to call it a “Fly Bat”? Popular opinion changed its name.

zagoroth: My Victoria I Gameplay AARs, - Maintain the Monarchy and I believe Egypt - kept tabs on casualties even before that AAR. Those were a pain because losses weren’t given to the player like they are in Vik II.

***

This Update’s Observation:
Pants are a detriment to any society. Imagine how much time we would save if every person didn’t have to put on pants.

***

It seems Tinypic removed another one of my pics in this AAR without reason. Looks like we’re not going to use that site anymore. It also appears that I won’t be finishing this AAR by March but I’ll do what I can to post sometime during the first week. We’re also getting to that point of the game where years creak by and since I’m still in the 1890’s, I wouldn’t expect constant updates. Maybe 1 a week unless I have a marathon some night.

The war was going to go slow for a while so for a little aid I brought Japan into the mix in February.

And before February ended a liberal event came along. I’m surprised I haven’t had more of these.

Early April I repaid my debt, Italy lost against Austria and Japan finally landed in Mexico late June.

1 July Jacobins hit Austria - they have 1 regiment which means their mobilization must be insane if they were able to beat Italy - and I was finally able to give some aid to the Mexicans against the USCA. Plan: Take out the USCA first and then we’ll head north. This will also help because my allies are splitting their forces between the North American and Central American campaigns.

11 November, on my way to the US coast, my ships sunk in the Pacific carrying my Korean units. That’s roughly 30,000 men. It also means there aren’t any more transports in the Pacific. This means all that remains of Russia in the United States are my 12,000 Alaskan units in Central America.

Less than a week into 1891 Ukraine Nationalists broke out across the borderlands.

It would take me until 12 March to get rid of every unit.

Ukrainian Nationalist Rebellion Casualties:

Russian Army: 3221
Ukrainian Nationalists: 74,000

During the revolution I was able to occupy Guatemala which allowed me to sign a white peace with the USCA however with my lack of units in Mexico, my slow BB burn and the fact that I just didn’t feel like playing war, I signed a white peace with the USA on 29 March. At least it keeps Mexico from becoming a true rival since they are ranked #9.

Casualties:

Russia: 31,013
Mexico: 12,269

USCA: 12,227

Ships Lost:

USA: 1 Transport

Russia: Pacific Fleet

Then, 14 July 1891 I began preparing for war… all taxes were pushed to 49%, National Stockpile 100% Military Spending 0%

Cash: +236.83k
Population: 21.90
Literacy: 32.0%

[Brandenburg III]

This Update’s Observation:
So maybe I’m happy whenever I see a locked interactive AAR…

***

I hadn’t played the game in two weeks. It was because I wasn’t interested in starting up a game to immediately head into war. This is the prime reason why many of my HOI games remained unfinished sometime around 1940. In order to bring me back to the game I decided against the war.

Within the first month and a half of 1892 two colonies had finally established themselves. The NF’s were converted to soldiers in the west.

Late February 1893 I pushed National Stockpile to 70% then waited…

5 April Communists took over Afghanistan… about 100 years too soon if you ask me

Four days later Jacobins arrived in my country.

The revolt wouldn’t be put down until 5 October although there would be a small rebel group in Alaska that I wouldn’t be able to reach for some time. But the main group would be shut down on 5 October 1893. The rebels would manage to only occupy Urfu, Turgay and a piece of Alaska.

Jacobin Revolt of 1893

Russian Casualties: 13,386
Jacobin Casualties: 190,000

Then came the Alaskan event. I had thought this would’ve came much sooner. Either way, I was going to reject it. Russia is Russia.

It never said how much cash I would’ve received but it wouldn’t have been enough.

Come 26 November I decided war was ripe and began prepping again. National Stockpile 100%, Military Spending 0%, all taxes 65%. Do I really have to keep doing this?

By the end of the year I’d recover Urfa and Turgay and would discover Steel Steamers, soon to research Battleship Column Doctrine.

1 January 1894 I declared war on Prussia for my northern province. Yes, Mine! My only worry was Austria joining in on the fun.

All taxes 95%.

Regiments:

Russia: 476*
Prussia: 74**

Ships:

Russia: 33
Prussia: 132

* After disbanding militia regiments too far to have an effect.
** Their only units were militia.

[aldriq]

Well, if Austria joins you'll just have more fun

[Brandenburg III]

aldriq: You mean you’ll have more fun.

***

This Update’s Observation:

My new mandolin cost more than my last guitar. FTW! I mean, WTF!

***

I didn’t call my allies to the war because for Japan it was *Impossible for some reason. It wasn’t a big problem since most of the countries I’m allied with weren’t going to help anyway but its always good to have some back up. For this reason I brought Mexico to the brawl twelve days into the war just for a military score bump. Then fifteen days into the war I had my first victory. They were so surrounded.

As they were six days later in Breslau.

Gotta love militia.

So by the first of February I was feeling decent about how smoothly things were going.

1 February 1894

On the 12th my militia units had begun laying siege to Berlin… then two more Prussian armies were eliminated in Stettin and Kolberg. In just those two places alone their casualties reached 81,000.

Prussia lost another 21,000 army in early March near Holstein and then it was all quiet for a while.

2 April 1894

I had a few small victories against Prussia’s satellites through the month and even occupied the entire Prussian - mine - colony.

Nearly another month passed until on 21 May Wurttemburg declared war on Prussia. It wasn’t something I really wanted but its better than Austria being concerned with me. Austria and their allies v. Prussia and her satellites for Prussian Wurttemberg.

10 June I had finally managed to destroy the last of my Alaskan rebels…

1 July 1894

There isn’t much to say. I was fighting mostly militia units and Prussia was at a disadvantage numerically and in ability. I didn’t want to continue battling Prussia so they could put up some resistance against Austria but Prussia wouldn’t accept anything but total war for a colony that wasn’t really theirs.

Late August I lowered National Stockpile to 50% now that only militia were setting occupations. It wouldn’t be until 9 September, when I finally managed to occupy that fortified capital Berlin, when peace would come.

Prussia had 20 regiments left, most of which I’m sure were in Africa somewhere - since their only colony now is Dahomey. The rest of Prussian Africa were states. It is far too easy to create states in colonial territories.

But I had my core and that’s good enough.

The year let out with France declaring war for a province in Sokoto and I began queuing 20 cruisers. After discovering Battleship Doctrine I began working on Army Risk Management.

The Austrians and Prussians eventually came to a peace on 9 June 1895. Wurttemberg would receive their province although I really don’t notice a difference in the map. I’m sure it was worth it to somebody.

Casualties:

Russia: 118,207

Prussia: 172,220
Saxe-Weimar: 2422
Hesse-Darmstadt: 10,800
Saxe-Meiningen: 2956

No Ships Lost

Population: 22.26
Debt: -34,743.8
Literacy: 33.3%

[Serek000]

The Central Asian uncivs are still alive, eh? Are they more effort than they're worth at this point, since they are sparsely populated and haven't any industry?

[aldriq]

The Prussians are proving quite resilient, pity they don't expand towards or form Germany. I take most of Germany is in Austria's sphere?

You mean you’ll have more fun.

Like a giddy nun reading CK2 AARs all day...

[Brandenburg III]

The End Is Coming - Sevendust
Whatever Gets You Thru The Night - John Lennon
Chasing Pirates - Norah Jones
Gimme - Alice Cooper
Stay Frosty - Van Halen

***

Serek000: Yeah, the Asian uncivs are still alive. The only action over there the whole game was when Afghanistan was ganged up on and Bukkhara ended up taking a piece of them. The uncivs aren’t worth 4 BB to me, not when I can take chunks of civilized states and receive literacy, population and industry. I’d really love to annex Korea but I’d need to spend another 12 BB just to do that. I’ve been waiting, relying on border incidents to spark my Asian campaigns but I haven’t received any. However, if I make it to the end of Vik II and can export it to either HOI II or DH, then you’ll definitely see an expansionist Tsarist Russia in those uncivilized areas.

aldriq: I’ve never seen a giddy nun maybe I should actually read a CK II AAR. I’d like to see that.

Yeah, most of those countries are in Austria’s sphere. One or two goes back in forth once a while but Austria is winning that game. I was really counting on Austria and Prussia clashing at a few points in the game but they’re strangely uninterested.

***

This Update’s Observation:

I hear this forum isn’t friendly to women. Obviously they’ve never read one of my AARs.

***

Let’s get this out of the way right now… I repaid the debt on 18 November 1895

About a half a year later, 26 June 1896, the South German Federation formed where Bavaria sat. At this point I decided to prep for war since Bavaria was no longer in the Austrian alliance.

Come September Liberian Reactions took over the country and around November Brazil offered me an alliance. I accepted. They have 0 regiments but 97 ships. Don’t you love it when a major land power thinks they’re strong just because they have a bunch of boats?

The French - Sokoto War ended in a white peace and with Sokoto coming under French SOI in early December. Then came the smallpox.

Portugal declared war on Liberia in early March 1897. The Olympics followed a month later. My hockey team is going to destroy the world!

11 May I received a CB against Austria. It was great timing! Its about the only CB that I’ve been lucky enough to receive.

A few weeks later I discovered Army Risk Management and began research on Phenomenalism.

1 June I mobilized my troops and marched them to Austrian lines. Not a single unit is going to be disbanded. And war won’t be declared until Austria mobilizes, which they did three days later on 4 June. War was declared on that day for Slovakia.

Austria 250 reg/ 312 ships
Russia 540 reg/ 68 ships

Russia, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Siam, Egypt, Wallachia, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bosnia, and Japan v. Austria, Krakow and Saxony.

Even with all the maneuvering on the front lines, the first battles weren’t resolved until 18 June. Two Austrian armies were shoved aside in Northern Italy while another Austrian army suffered a defeat in Stryi. Toward the end of the month Krakow was pushed out of their home country, too.

On the first day of the new month I fled Ravenna but won the casualty round in that province: Russia 6461, Austria 10,957

1 July 1897




With some maneuvering, I was able to secure the defense in all these provinces.