How To Be Completely Mediocre in Divine Wind

[homy_dog34]

How to be Completely Mediocre in Divine Wind Part 2

Hello to you all again. Last time, I had just finished getting my butt kicked by Castille, and was busy trying to save my country and my economy. To recap the situation, I have 11 regiments all grouped together in Savoy. They can get to Aragon through France. My war exhaustion is at my limit of 18, and the revolt risk of all of my provinces is quite high. As for my economy, I currently have 0(!) ducats. I will most certainly be taking a loan sometime soon, and reducing my troops' pay. My inflation is at around 2, and I am losing money every year. Lets see if I can turn this around, and do something progressive for a change, eh?

So, first things first, we take a loan. This was inevitable, I suppose. I'm just glad it happened after I finished the war.

Next, I get an event to lose 3 war exhaustion at the cost of 1 stability. This is SO worth it, and I accept it with much delight.

Of course, Bohemia is the emperor, and they do what the emperor does best: Annoy me to no end throughout the entire game.
I get 3 of these messages in rapid succession. That brings my stability down to -2. Oh joy... Also, the rebel situation is well in hand, as they have not been much trouble.

Finally, I decide that I've had enough, so I *sigh* release Savoy as a vassal. This is actually good for the economy a lot, because now all of my provinces are cores.

I get my first national idea, which I use to get National Bank, because everyone hates inflation. UNFORTUNATELY, I am also forces to take another loan... This means I currently have 2 loans, but with my idea, I might start to make some headway in the economy.

Cessation of Church Practice gives me 43 ducats. This saved me from getting another loan, so I figured it deserved a screenshot.

I finish my mission to be buddies with Genoa, but now I have to Vassalize Navarra, which won't happen, considering that they are in Castille's sphere of influence, and England is guaranteeing them.

Update: my war exhaustion is currently at 9'ish, and my troops are half-paid. My lowering war exhaustion is really helping my economy, along with my rising stability.

And now the moment that I know for sure you all are waiting for... I am now making a yearly profit!

I repay one of my loans, so now I only have one remaining. It seems like my country is back on track for good. I am actually rather surprised by this, usually I am horrible at managing my economy. Maybe I'm not so mediocre anymore, eh?...
...Nah.

A new king is gotten, along with a new heir. They are both quite decent, and I will love and cherish them forever!

An update on my beautiful economy, and an alliance offer from Naples, which I accept. I currently am making a profit of 30 ducats a year, while having +3 stability, and 1.49 war exhaustion. Soon, I may refund my army, and attack someone.

How about Sicily? Naples joins the war on Sicily's side, while Savoy and Milan join me.

I have occupied Sicily except for their African provinces, and am sieging Naples. I get a new slider change, and decide to go centralized again. This results in a stab loss, which is ok by me.

I repay my loan, and am finishing up Naples. Meanwhile, Burgundy is starting to push into France, and Tripoli is still being large and in charge.

Peace with Naples. They are now my vassal. I like this deal, because it's only 4 infamy, and I gain control of part of Italy with this.

Peace with Sicily. They get the same treatment, except I get one of their African provinces as well, so I can start using the holy war casus belli. Easy province gain for 1 infamy, here I come.
I also now control all of southern Italy.

I get an alliance casus belli against both Milan and the Papal State. I choose to keep Milan as my pal, and attack the Papal State with my brand new longbow infantry. The Papal State is also allied with Urbino (I think).

I soon make peace with both OPM's, making them my vassals. This was probably a bad idea, but who cares? Italy shall be mine!!!*Also, check out the Knights in Africa. Go Knights!!!

Here is a diplomacy map of me and my friends. Pretty good, eh? Well until next time...

[sprites]

Eating the stab hits then releasing them as a vassal , this is skill!
continue on this!

[Duke of Britain]

Wait...you vassalized Sicily?
Well, at least don't ally Sicily, it will destroy your chance of a free core on Palermo, even better, be ready to break the vassalization if you don't get the mission after this.


Also, don't diplo-annex Naples until you get the mission to do it.

[DeadeyeDave]

If you get half a chance you should take down Tripoli, before Castille eats them. Holy War CB goes away in 1650.

[Duke of Britain]

Also, about breaking vassalization from Sicily, don't do it, would not be worth it...i think you can get the mission even if they're a vassal.

(The conquest CB would probably be only for Palermo)

[homy_dog34]

Eating the stab hits then releasing them as a vassal , this is skill!
continue on this!

I literally lol'd at that.

Wait...you vassalized Sicily?
Well, at least don't ally Sicily, it will destroy your chance of a free core on Palermo, even better, be ready to break the vassalization if you don't get the mission after this.


Also, don't diplo-annex Naples until you get the mission to do it.

Well, in the great words of the engineer, "Nope." Well, nope to everything except that last bit :/

If you get half a chance you should take down Tripoli, before Castille eats them. Holy War CB goes away in 1650.

Yeah. that's probably a good plan, but I've still got some time.

Also, about breaking vassalization from Sicily, don't do it, would not be worth it...i think you can get the mission even if they're a vassal.

(The conquest CB would probably be only for Palermo)

Ok, good call. For a second there I thought you were as mediocre as me. I guess not...

[homy_dog34]

How to be Completely Mediocre in Divine Wind Part 3

Hello, y'all and welcome back to another episo-... Never mind about that, Let's just start things off with a holy war, shall we? Morocco seems like a fine target, considering Castille isnt protecting them in any way shape or form. I declare war on them before this window of opportunity slips away.

I quickly roll over them and stomp on them repeatedly until they are annexed, which is when I leave an army behind to deal with rebels. I get military access through Algiers to do this.

Next, I cancel my mission, and get one that is possible, and useful at the same time. What a weird combination for missions in eu3, eh? I also make a national decision to get colonial restrictions in exchange for better production and stability cost.

I peace out with Morocco's war leader for 8 ducats. Now I am at peace and I now will build up my military a little bit.

I declare war on the Knights after I get a border friction casus belli. This is bound to be an easy war. Aquillea joins on the Knights side, while my vassals join me.

I take the Knights' 2 African provinces while letting them keep Malta to keep my infamy low. Aquillea is also vassalized to bring more power to my Italian regime.

I finish my mission with Navarra, but get a seemingly impossible mission to me, which is to get full tariffs, considering I have 22 ships out of my 20 ship force limit. *sigh* oh well, I'll just cancel it sometime.

I make a move towards centralized, and get some easily quelled revolts. This brings me closer to the middle of the centralization slider.

I get dragged into a war with Switzerland by my allies. While I am fighting, I receive horrible news, my heir has died! This is not good for me...(I also take a stab hit)

After I failed to push into Bavaria after occupying all of Switzerland, I get a new king (from one of the nobles I guess, but who cares? No personal union!)

I make a center of trade in Barcelona. I'm not really sure if this will help, but at least I'll actually use my merchants now.

I get some monetary reforms... Woohoo... I take the inflation because I heartily dislike stability hits. Probably a bad idea, but meh.

I cancel my old, impossible mission, and get a new, equally as impossible mission(to vassalize Navarra). I can't attack them because Castille is guaranteeing them, and I can't diplomatically vassalize them because of my infamy.

I get peace with Switzerland. They give my vassal Savoy one province while I take 3 infamy. Sounds fair, right? I would've vassalized them, but it cost 104 to do so...

I hire 2 new advisers, one to deal with infamy, and another to pay for both advisers. Sounds like a good plan, eh?

I make another move towards centralized, and I am now halfway across that slider. Soon, I will be pulling in its benefits.

And now, for the (hopefully not) mediocre moment of the day, I give you:
An Attack On Castille. Sounds good to me, eh?

I first assault Toledo, their most productive province, and proceed onto one of their armies. Who will win? Let us find out...

*Hint: It's Me*

And that's all for now, y'all. Until next time(which should be tomorrow, hopefully.)

[Avindian]

I wouldn't sweat the inflation too much -- you're under 2%, so that's not anything to worry about. You've rebounded quite nicely from your earlier troubles. Keep up the good work!

[Duke of Britain]

...You picked colonial restrictions...NEVER PICK THAT WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A LOT TO COLONIZE!
It's a horrible decision until you've colonized most of the American coast that interests you...it will really slow you down

Also, that mission to maintain shipping routes is easy, it's not like ships are hard to maintain...especially if you're naval oriented (like Aragon starts) and have Press Gangs. You'll have to break the naval forcelimits eventually to secure naval supremacy...
Futhermore, taking inflation should be avoided at all costs even if it meant -4 stab instead of -2, inflation will make EVERYTHING cost way more than it should! (Including your tech and stability costs!)

Anyway, at least it seems like you can beat Castille this time, but don't allow them to rebuild their armies...they can do it with ease...

Ok, good call. For a second there I thought you were as mediocre as me. I guess not...

I'm a Very Hard player that loves playing Aragon, guess i should be experienced with it after so many games.

[homy_dog34]

I wouldn't sweat the inflation too much -- you're under 2%, so that's not anything to worry about. You've rebounded quite nicely from your earlier troubles. Keep up the good work!

Actually, Im at about 5, but w/e, and Thanks!

...You picked colonial restrictions...NEVER PICK THAT WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A LOT TO COLONIZE!
It's a horrible decision until you've colonized most of the American coast that interests you...it will really slow you down

Also, that mission to maintain shipping routes is easy, it's not like ships are hard to maintain...especially if you're naval oriented (like Aragon starts) and have Press Gangs. You'll have to break the naval forcelimits eventually to secure naval supremacy...
Futhermore, taking inflation should be avoided at all costs even if it meant -4 stab instead of -2, inflation will make EVERYTHING cost way more than it should! (Including your tech and stability costs!)

Anyway, at least it seems like you can beat Castille this time, but don't allow them to rebuild their armies...they can do it with ease...




I'm a Very Hard player that loves playing Aragon, guess i should be experienced with it after so many games.

Yeah, now that I see that decision now, it doesn't look too good. Oh well. Also, I just heartily dislike stab hits. And, yes, beating Castille is a cinch!

[homy_dog34]

How to be Completely Mediocre in Divine Wind Part 4

Hi again everyone. I am really pumping out updates, eh? But anyways, I left while fighting a war with Castille. Lets see a progress check on that.

I think that I will have no trouble at all winning now. My strategy for this war was to destroy Castille's main armies with all of mine combined, then have 2 of my armies siege along with my vassals, and have my last army take out 1 or 2 regiment enemy armies. As y'all can see, it sure seemed to work.
However... Castille destroyed my entire navy, so I will have to rebuild it sometime soon...

I peaced out with Leinster for 10 ducats, and then got this GREAT event, giving me +2 stab, 2 diplomats, and 6 infamy loss!

I lost my king at around this time, which takes away one stab, and gives me a new heir, who's pretty mediocre...

I get Another GREAT event, which gives me 3 infamy loss, and 1 prestige for having excellent diplomacy.
But anyways, I get peace with Castille. I make a peace that won't give me much infamy, but will still weaken the Castillians, by taking Madrid and their CoT, and releasing Granada(who is Muslim, BTW).

Speaking of Granada, how about a holy war with them, to spice things up a little. This should be easy, considering they only have 1000 men.

Unfortunately for me, I have about 9 war exhaustion at this point. This causes quite a few revolts in my provinces, including one in Andalucia which actually succeeds in occupying the province, but is soon liberated.
Granada is annexed quickly, and I leave one army in Granada itself to battle rebels.

After that, I cancel my mission to maintain shipping routes, and get a new one to build up my navy. I will try and finish this eventually, but that will take a while due to the monetary costs.
I make a move towards centralized. I am now at my "limit" on that slider, so I will begin to use other sliders, such as quality.

Portugal had declared war on Castille when they were busy floundering with rebels, so they had an easy tie winning. Here is the peace deal they made, which actually divided Castille in 2.

My old infamy adviser dies, so I replace him with a 6-star one. Works for me.
And now, after leaving them alone for so long, I go back and visit my old Italian buddies, by attacking Sardinia for my core there.

I have no trouble annexing Sardinia with my partly rebuilt navy, and also manage to make peace with Milan, Genoa, Tuscany, and Venice: The war leader. Genoa and Tuscany also become my vassals. Huzzah!

Once again, I lose another heir, this time to a hunting accident. This costs me one stability. Luckily for me, I soon receive a decent heir in his stead, so I guess everything worked out alright.

I decide that having a large and in charge Muslim neighbor to the South is not a good thing, so I decide to bring Algiers back down to earth with a holy war.

Suddenly... Castille.

I don't really have any idea why Castille attacked, but hey, I don't think they will be much trouble right now, or ever again. First, I peace out with Algiers for a bunch of their provinces.

Then, after taking a stab hit by event, I make a move towards quality on the sliders. Apparently this is making the nobles worry, so I lose another stab, bringing me down to -1.

I peace out with Castille, for 2 provinces, which happened to be their most expensive ones, but anyways, Castille is no longer any threat at all. Their days as a world power are over.

My king finally dies, and I get a really decent one next. However, his heir is very... questionable... in his skills, so here's to a long a healthy life for this king!

And for the final part of this update, I leave you with a decision I have to make, I think I will take some colonies soon, so maybe that is the right choice. But anyways, until next time...

[mozgow]

You should definitely go for colonization. There is no time to waste

[Duke of Britain]

Well, things suddently got much better for Aragon

I suggest that you guarantee Castille AND Portugal, try to PU both of them ASAP...

[Zozo]

What happen to England and France ?
So except Portugal there won't be too many colonizers in that game !

[diegoami]

Don't forget he took the decision "Colonial restrictions" so colonization will be a pain.
I don't know if it can be revoked.
He also doesn't seem to have enough ships to get full tariffs from his overseas provinces.

[sprites]

O-O France AND England collapsed ...
It's time to use your magistrates!

[Saithis]

Ah Castile, so easily split in two. Western Europe is pretty strange looking right now, a very silly place. You're well-positioned to take advantage and probably to lead European colonialism.

[Duke of Britain]

Ah Castile, so easily split in two. Western Europe is pretty strange looking right now, a very silly place. You're well-positioned to take advantage and probably to lead European colonialism.

I would not say well-positioned for colonialism when he enacted Colonial restrictions

But yeah, you can easily block the other Europeans from colonizing...and remember to get Land of Opportunities as soon as you hit the Americas, or when you can do it, because you'll need it...

[Monzon]

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[homy_dog34]

You should definitely go for colonization. There is no time to waste

Well if you insist!

Well, things suddently got much better for Aragon

I suggest that you guarantee Castille AND Portugal, try to PU both of them ASAP...

Hope this will work for now! :P

What happen to England and France ?
So except Portugal there won't be too many colonizers in that game !

Nope, unless Scotland counts.

Don't forget he took the decision "Colonial restrictions" so colonization will be a pain.
I don't know if it can be revoked.
He also doesn't seem to have enough ships to get full tariffs from his overseas provinces.

My ships are at 20ish out of 40ish, and I don't think it can be revoked... *sigh* oh well.

O-O France AND England collapsed ...
It's time to use your magistrates!

This is something that I do not understand, good sir. Please enlighten me on what you mean.

Ah Castile, so easily split in two. Western Europe is pretty strange looking right now, a very silly place. You're well-positioned to take advantage and probably to lead European colonialism.

Yep, I am currently the 2nd greatest land power (I think) in Western Europe behind Burgundy.

I would not say well-positioned for colonialism when he enacted Colonial restrictions

But yeah, you can easily block the other Europeans from colonizing...and remember to get Land of Opportunities as soon as you hit the Americas, or when you can do it, because you'll need it...

Yes sir! Ill try to at least.

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