King Hopping AAR

[Yelnoc]

I just read the Randomness AAR, and got the idea to switch my country each time my ruler dies. So that's what I'm going to do. I should note that I am not very good at EUIII, which will have been compounded by not having played this game since 2011. So I'm counting on you, the reader, to point out my mistakes and suggest better strategies for next time.

I'm just now booting up the game, so I will hopefully have the first update posted later today (assuming I can find the screenshot folder).

EDIT: Is it possible to change the title? Because I tried and the title change is not visible on the board. I don't want people to think is a multiple-person AAR.

[Nessaj]

I just read the Randomness AAR, and got the idea to switch my country each time my ruler dies. So that's what I'm going to do. I should note that I am not very good at EUIII, which will have been compounded by not having played this game since 2011. So I'm counting on you, the reader, to point out my mistakes and suggest better strategies for next time.

I'm just now booting up the game, so I will hopefully have the first update posted later today (assuming I can find the screenshot folder).

If you run the game as administrator they should just pop up in the screenshot folder, otherwise it's:

c/users/your name/appdata (hidden folder)/local/virtualstore/program/paradox interactive/eu3/screenshots

[Yelnoc]

Chapter 1: Ethiopia (Part 1)

Why Ethiopia? Well, I like Ethiopian history. The way Paradox portrayed them is depressingly bad, so I view it as a challenge. A challenge that I have not once managed to succeed at. Oh well, if I screw up, I'll move on to a new country. Oh yeah, some rules. No saving and reloading for me (excluding, of course, when I have to change countries). All of the settings are on default except both land and water provinces spread every 25 years and there are no "lucky" nations. And we're off...

So I start off by making a move away from uber-Serfdom...and then people disappear. Wonderful. But look, a cassus belli to conquer Tajura! I don't mind if I do...



I had to declare war before unpausing because, otherwise, I would end up at war with Yemen and/or the Mameluks as well, which would really have ruined my day. Still, I didn't begin to reinforce my army until a few months in, which was stupid. And the stab hit from the slider change didn't help at all...maybe I should have waited until after the war to do that? And then oh, look, some nativist revels with a 4000 strong army seize one of my unguarded provinces. Oh wait, all I of my provinces are fortless. Wonderful...



Thankfully, I had already taken enough of Adal to accomplish my war aims, which were to annex Tajura and vassalize Adal. Now my army turns around and marches to face the heathens.



My 5,000 man army, led by a mostly useless general, meets theirs in Shoa. We seem to be doing alright, and then I get a random event. Some merchant died. I've got a "accumulated money" mission, so I gladly liberate this deceased merchant's finances. For the good of the state.



MY ARMY WAS ANNIHILATED?!? bullshit. I even sent in a thousand man reinforcement...what the fuck. And they only lost a little over 200 of their own fighters. GAH. You know what? I'm going to go eat a sandwich. More later.

[Yelnoc]

Chapter 1: Ethiopia (Part 2)

Mhmmm, peanut butter and jelly.

Anyway, I built up a new army, which involved taking out a loan and depleting my manpower. I also went and did a blitz on government; I should obtain Gov2 by 1449, yay! (This is one example of Paradox not knowing its stuff about Ethiopia, but I still love you guys ). So we march to Shoa. Both of our armies get their on May 1st...maybe that is a good sign?



/headdesk



I moved the mercenary regiment I created with my second loan of 17 ducats up to Gojjam, where I will stage my third grand army. Hopefully the terrain in Kefa will be better for my spearmen. You'll see some good news in this screen; I allied with my vassals Adal, and my stability increased to -1. But then I had to take out my third loan.



I don't even know how many loans I'm at now. Six, maybe? You'll see in this screenshot that I have discovered the Mameluks, and crazy people want me to attack it. No thanks; I just hope they are embroiled in a war of their own. You can also see in the screenshot that I am up to a 7,000 man army; I'm going to wait until I get one more unit, so that I outnumber them two to one. You should also see my general has changed; I went ahead and converted my ruler to a general. Hopefully he doesn't die; if he does I will have to give up on Ethiopia.



So, I'm already, about to into Kefa- WHAT? Independent Mutafa? And I'm not even at war with a province that just succeeded? Why? Why aren't you automatically at war with a country that just succeeded from you? Oh, and to top it off attacking Mutafa will cause a -2 stab hit when I'm already at -1 and chock full of rovinces in red on the revolt ma. I guess I'm just going to have to wait.



So I went into SHoa to retake it, ran into the rebel group, and had to retreat or be destroyed. Despite out numbering them two-one. *Yelnoc blows out a breath*

Oh, and what's up with this screenie? I have, what, four cassus bellis and yet I get a -2 stab hit for not having a cassus belli? What?



I waited around to get back to 0 stab, then invaded and annexed them, accruing -2 stab 4 infamy, and then I went bankrupt. I guess that's what taking 10 or so loans out does to a country. Does this mean I get the IMF or someone to come manage my finances? Because that would be pretty sweet. Oh, and I just remembered I can mint money. Maybe I should do that?



And now everybody is revolting. I'm almost hoping this king dies; every time we go up against a numerically inferior foe, we lose.



So the islamic rebels got themselves killed by the animist rebels, but when I tried to mop up the animists, I got my ass whupped. I honestly do not understand what is going on here. Oh, and Yemen warned me. Wonderful.



Another question, why is that my army, which has perfectly green moral, go completely red once the battle starts? Is there some game mechanic at play here which I do not understand?



Yes, finally! I won a battle. 8,000 vs 400and my troops didn't break and run!



Hmm, a tapestry would be nice. Oh and look, we've broken even with stability!



Alright, so I have overcome the moral issue. I guess when your stability is the negative, your troops will not fight. Now I need to figure out how to run Ethiopia's economy. Any suggestions? I'll leave it here, though amazingly the king of Ethiopia is still alive.

[Yelnoc]

Chapter 1: Ethiopia (Part 3)

The past few years have been spent chasing around rebels and taking out loans. I was on the verge of bankruptcy again, so I just said screw and started minting like crazy in the screen below. You can also see that almost nowhere follows the state religion. I managed to covert two provinces back to Orthodoxy (they had been occupied by animist rebels) and am working on a third. That missionary has been there for over a decade now. You can also see that my heir has died. That's ok though, because as soon as this King kicks the can, I will switch countries.



Oh, wonderful.



Thankfully, I won't have to fight that fight! The king is dead, long live the king!



So then, now the the incredibly pic-heavy first country has been played, where should I go to next? I'll let the readers decide. A question, how should I have managed the economy? I know that massive inflation rate would have screwed me over in the long run. I realize I made a right mess of this first country; does anybody see anything else I could have done differently?

I leave you with this map of the world taken January 2, 1430. Take your pick.

[SiikFajitas]

Im suprised I'm one of the first to comment on here as this seems to be a great gameplay aar to me.
Anyways I would say your next country should be Bavaria or Persia
Keep up the good work. Subbed!

[homy_dog34]

WHY U NO USE CASUS BELLI
To use them, just click on them, silly. They aren't automatically set to use.

Anyways, decent start. I usually just fall apart with Ethiopia.
If you have a choice of taking loans and minting, choose minting, because loans suck(I would know)

Also, dem clean Americas!

*If you want us to choose the next country, then take something in Britain or India.

[Yelnoc]

WHY U NO USE CASUS BELLI
To use them, just click on them, silly. They aren't automatically set to use.

Anyways, decent start. I usually just fall apart with Ethiopia.
If you have a choice of taking loans and minting, choose minting, because loans suck(I would know)

Also, dem clean Americas!

*If you want us to choose the next country, then take something in Britain or India.

O_____________________________________________O

You have to click them?

[homy_dog34]

Something tells me you played IN?

[Yelnoc]

Something tells me you played IN?

In Nomine is all I know. This is maybe my second Divine Wind game (I never played Heir to the Thrown). So yeah, I'm learning. I just did a demo run with the Scottish with the knowledge of Cassus Bellis and wow, that was easy. Now I see how people conquer the world.

[MoneyGrabber]

Your troops are dying because your maintenance is at 0 (probably). You need to go the armies tab and up the land maintenance (try the max setting while in a war).

[MrQwerty]

*If you want us to choose the next country, then take something in Britain or India.

I agree; take a British country, especially looking at its fragile state . Also remember, choosing a causus belli not only removes the -2 stability hit, but can give you reduction in infamy and war cost, and increase in prestige. Good luck!

[ZechsMerquise73]

Kazakh.

[Concrete]

Is that a strong Venice I see?
Give them a go.

[diegoami]

When your country bankrupts, your troops have no morale and will always get defeated. Your mercenaries will leave too.

See Bankruptcy

[Malurous]

Please take a look at the forum rules as well as the AARland rules before continuing.

Interactive AARs require permission from the moderators, and that permission should be asked for and received before starting the AAR. Putting game decisions to vote is certainly interactive. Please PM me or one of the other AARland moderators what your plans are regarding the interactivity of this AAR.

Also, this is a family forum, so you should cut the language.

[Yelnoc]

*Yelnoc ducks*

My bad, PMed. I've decided to give Scotland a run, though I'll wait to hear back from the moderator staff before continuing.

[loki100]

thats fine, play and write up as you wish (within the constraints ... feel free to PM one of the mods if you want to check something before posting), just don't let it become interactive, if in doubt check out the rules in my signature

[Yelnoc]

Well, in that case...

Chapter 2: Scotland (Part 1)

The AI has had a little over three decades to play with Britain and, as you can see, the place is a mess. England has imploded, allowing Welsh, Cornish, and Northumberland nationalists to create their own states. Denmark and even Sweden have snatched pieces of the pie. Scotland is led by King Robert IV, who is the stronger leader I have ever seen. He started a war of aggression against against Northumberland, which brought in Denmark and their Scandinavian stooges. We are allied with the Welsh, but separated from them by the English, who have no love for the Scots. Robert has already been on the thrown for ten years, so let's see how far I can take Scotland before he kicks the bucket.



Apparently the AI thought it would be a wonderful idea to send my two cog fleet off to Denmark with the massive Danish fleet patrolling the Orkneys. I turned them back, but I don't think they will reach a safe port in time. Munster sent me an alliance offer as soon as I unpaused, which I accepted. In this picture you can see my main army, led by King Robert, besieging Cumbria, and a much smaller detachment keeping Northumberland under siege.



Oh look, a generic political crises! I picked the stab hit, since I'm on track to get that back in a few months. I thought I would take the opportunity to give you a better look at Europe. You can see that Venice and Bavaria have both done quite well for themselves. Lithuania has completely occupied the Teutonic Order while the Horde cleaned up Muscovy. And yes, that is indeed Savoyard North Africa (though it is sandwiched between Portuguese-occupied Morocco and Castilian North Africa).



Check this out, Papal Controller! To add to the good news, Cumbria has fallen and Northumberland will open its gates soon enough. Wales is having a tougher time of it, and I'm worried the English barrier and Danish control of the seas may prevent me from coming to their rescue.



Northumberland graciously joined the Scottish nation and now Robert waits. The welsh army has been crushed and its eastern cities taken, but it will be another year before Robert can bull through England and the seas are no place for a Scot, a point emphasized by the massive Danish fleets circling the island like vultures.



But being Scottish (partially anyways), I went and tried convoying anyway. Three Scottish regiments, led by King Robert IV landed in Lincoln. The Danes engaged my three cogs, but they managed to scurry back to port without losing a ship. Maybe this will work afterall!



Or maybe not. The Hansa landed a 10,000 man army to confront my leaderless 8,000 man one in Northumberland. Meanwhile, Wales has peaced out, leaving Robert IV stuck with three thousand men besieging Lincoln, with 15,000 Scandinavians hidden in the Fog of War coming his way. I went on a massive troop building spree in Scotland, but will it be enough?



After fending off numerous attacks from Denmark, Sweden, and The Hansa, Scotland is ready to put down the English once and for all.



To be continued...

[Yelnoc]

Chapter 2: Scotland (Part 2)

Hello Highlanders!



I guess they figured I'm taking too long, because even more of them showed up!



And now it is time for peace. I had hoped for more out of the Danes, but my navy is too weak to cross the North Sea for now, and my war exhaustion is too high to drag this out for much longer.



So I'm walking over to take Lancaster and got hung up on some English rebels. And then out of nowhere the opportunist Portuguese appeared and stole the place! I think I'll try waiting a little while and see if they make a peace deal.



Patience paid off...



Almost immediately after annexing England, English became an accepted culture within Scotland. A few days later, the Danish provinces seized by English rebels fell under my control. Also, you can't see it in the screenshot, but my current mission is to retake the Orkney Islands, which I will get around to in five years, once my truce is absolved. Also, I noticed that Wales has been excommunicated. I would like to attack them soon, but my war exhaustion is near 15, so I think it would be wise to wait. Inflation is also nearly at 10%, so I hired a Master of the Mint to combat that.



It's a year or two later and I'm running around beating up rebels, when Castille randomly decides to embargo me. I checked and an alliance with both Portugal and Aragon was "impossible." I tried allying with France, with whom I am on good terms, and got the cold shoulder. Perhaps I should start building up my navy.



And look at that, Cornwall annexed all of Wales. Oh, and I got cores on Essex and Lincoln, controlled by France and Denmark respectively.



A cassus belli on Cornwall? Don't mind if I do...



That was easy.



Scotland has overcome great hurdles, and united most of Britain under one banner. But significant hurdles still remain, namely the Scandinavians. More to come...