Republic of Russia: A Novogorod DW AAR

February 1600: Holland gets frisky and sends a spy to support a revolt in Berezov.

Orleans becomes Holy Roman Emperor. They are currently a three province minor -- I have no idea how or why they got elected, but bully for them. Better them than Austria, Burgundy, or Bohemia.

March 1600: Quality troops get us 10 prestige.

June 1600: Kanem Bornu collapses. So right after I get through saying how awesome they were doing in the last update, they collapse. Hmmm... Gee, Bohemia and Burgundy sure are doing swell! ::checks PC screen, no collapse:: Worth a shot.

Tambow converts.

September 1600: Parma still has delusions of grandeur, and attacks K-B.

November 1600: Burgundy secretly anticipates another one of my moves -- grabbing a province for the East Indian Trade Route. Remember, there are only two. Part of me wants to load as Burgundy, disband their army and navy, release a whole bunch of minors, and then DOW Great Britain, Bohemia, and Castille. Stupid Burgundy

January 1601: In an attempt to eliminate overextension, I elect a Bureaucratic leader. Bogdan Gagarin is not inspiring (5/5/3), but it could be worse, I suppose. The people of Bersh are thrilled and finally convert to Orthodoxy.

February 1601: Over-extension. Saw that coming.

May 1601: Local fortifications event fires for Chernigov. At this point, I'm going to stop reporting these -- rest assured they continue to happen.

August 1601: We repay the last of our modernization loans.

September 1601: Sind declares independence. Interesting...

July 1602: Austria takes a bunch of Balkans provinces from the Ottomans. The bottom is about to drop out for the OE.

October 1602: Azow converts.

January 1603: Trade tech 20.

July 1603: Mongol Khanate DOWs after five years -- however, they're completely occupied, so we play the waiting game.

August 1603: Excellent supplies, a -5% to ship costs, does me little good, but it's nice to know the game thinks well of me.

November 1603: Verkne-Angarsky produces iron.

February 1604: The Natives stop assisting, so I lose 25 ducats.

April 1604: Kerey defects from the Kazakhs (if you're keeping score, I had a core there, way back when it was first part of Ming). Unwilling to tempt the gods of over-extension, I placate them by agreeing to peace with the Kazakhs later that month.

July 1604: Construction starts on the University of Tula.

August 1604: Kouban converts.

January 1605: Election time! Bogdan Dezhnev, our new ruler, is even worse at 5/3/4. Guess what happens as a result.

November 1605: To help with conversions (particularly Astrakhan), I move the national focus to Sarai. Either I'm missing something, or as an Orthodox power you don't get a huge amount of bonuses to missionary chance, even via decisions.

December 1605: National decline, ugh. 6 months of penalties to government, production, or military techs. Can't I pick just navy? No? Fine, government takes a -20 hit per month.

April 1606: Land tech 24. Things start to pick up now. We begin with this:



Persia and Georgia both honor -- I wanted Georgia to honor, and Persia isn't a huge threat to me.

July 1606: I can't get to the third Ak Koyunlu province, Van (which isn't all that great anyway), so I take the two I can.



October 1606: Georgia disappears from the map.



Lithuania warns me. It has three provinces. Color me unimpressed.

January 1607: This represents the bulk of the Persian army. This is why I wasn't terribly worried



Castille wants military access. I have no idea why -- I actually look around the map and we aren't bordering anything they'd want -- so I let them have it.

Orleans is HRE again. I checked out an earlier save game -- Burgundy and Bohemia had huge infamy, and Orleans managed to get some imperial authority (I think by forcing religious unity on some of the German minors). Weirdly, they were also keen for Georgia, despite being Orthodox. It was a tie between Austria and Orleans, and the current Emperor wins all ties.

Persia wants White Peace. I laugh heartily in their face, before realizing I can't actually take provinces because I've got too much infamy. I'll have to settle for less.

March 1607: I'm occupying Persia to see what I can get. Saratow converts.

April 1607: Obdorsk cores. I peace for cash and a new nation with Persia.



I add Hedjaz to my sphere.

August 1607: Uralsk cores.

November 1607: Ilimsk will produce Fur.

May 1608: I'm eager to go after India now -- this is the first time in the game I'm doing something Russia historically did not. However, I really want both the East India Trade Company and the East Indian Trade Route, and luckily enough, one country has both. I justify this because only one European power has touched India all game thus far -- my mortal nemesis, Burgundy. I have to get while the gettin's good, as the saying goes. To this end, I get military access through Baluchistan and former enemy Persia, who is probably thrilled to know I can't DOW them again without taking a huge stab hit.

July 1608: Iraq warns me. Like that will stop me.

October 1608: Switzerland's been busy -- the war they are in now is Norway, TO, Auvergne, Bohemia, Frankfurt, Styria, and Saruhan. I hope they don't call me to arms, but I'm okay if they do.

December 1608: While I burn off some infamy before my attack, I build a Weapons Manufactory in Uralsk.

January 1609: Konstantin Pozharski takes office and I dance a dance of joy -- 9/7/8 means no more over-extension (and a faster burn rate for infamy).

February 1609: Baybaktu cores.

April 1609: Land tech 25 and Level 3 forts. I start building some along my Western border and the border with Ming. Bersh cores and the Kazakh wake up after a five year nap.

May 1609: Byzantium DOWs Austria. That won't end well. Ottomans warn me. That won't end well either, but for them Byzantium is so little a challenge to the Austrians that Austria DOWs Switzerland. Looking at the alliance, I honor and enter war with a formidable western power.



I have no quarrel with Bavaria or Bosnia. I want to finish off Lithuania, even if I have to wait a little longer to go into India. Austria I'd just like to weaken. Prussia joins in on my behalf.

June 1609: I call in Hedjaz. I have no idea why.

July 1609: Tula's University is finished, so our new mission is a naval race with Burgundy. Before I think to check how big a fleet Burgundy has, I just hit OK and continue with my war.

August 1609: You may be chortling at me at this point -- instead of calling in an ally who could help, I called in one who couldn't. I quickly remedy my mistake and call Transylvania, who can occupy the Balkan Austrian provinces. I also annex Lithuania, who go from blobber to blobbee:



September 1609: I take Partium and consider peace with Austria for it, but it's insignificant to Austria and me. I try a daring dash to Vienna instead, to try to release a nation or two. The Ottomans DOW. Not from the warning, but via Holy War. I wonder if they realize I'm only tying up one army here? Austria wants White Peace. I do not. The war continues!

October 1609: Stupid bailiffs. Costing me 5 prestige. If I had an "execute all bailiffs" option, I'd seriously consider it. Vienna falls a few weeks later -- the entire Austrian Army was invading Switzerland. It only took seven days. Why have a high quality or quantity army when you can have both?



November 1609: Austria still got what it wanted from the war -- the annexation of Tirol -- since I couldn't get to the Swiss in time.

December 1609: Bavaria's had enough. Go in peace, Bavaria.

January 1610: Morocco honors the alliance with the Ottomans. Bosnia, awesome superpower that they are, wants my entire treasury for peace. They've got chutzpah, I'll give them that.

February 1610: Peace with Austria. They lose the Balkans.



All right now, I'll see what I can get from the Ottomans and then back to India, where I promise I'll invade. Just let me add Bulgaria to my SOI... wait a minute. What's that?



It's not the best picture, but I'll give you a minute to study it and see what I noticed.

...

...

...

Done? Okay, if you look very carefully under the window for the SOI, you'll notice that the Ottomans moved their capital. Leaving Thrace wide open. I thought my first ahistorical acquisition would be in India -- it looks like I've got a much richer prize instead!

Also, I add Croatia to my SOI. I need military access from Castille to go after the capital, Karamon. I have to brute force my way into Thrace -- the Ottomans are eventually distracted by another power's navy (not sure who) and I slip across the straits.

May 1610: I have some concerned admirals. I tell them to go jump in a lake (it's not like I actually hire them for the fleet), and get 5% cheaper land tech for four months. Copper is discovered in Barguzinsky.

June 1610: I take a beating here -- they've got a better general and slightly more troops.



I win the battle and quickly assault their capital.

Benign Neglect also triggers for 100 ducats -- add this to the list of events I'm not going to report any more.

August 1610: I get what I'm after from the Ottomans. 75 ducats!



Oh yeah, some province too

December 1610: Mordvar converts.

January 1611: Burgundy annexes Sind. Nobody spoils a good mood like Burgundy. I really need to pay attention to India again.

February 1611: Parma coughs up territory for the Pope.

April 1611: Sarai converts.

November 1611: Nationalist sentiment in Armenia. +15 revolt risk for three years. Ewww.

December 1611: Another stupid bailiff. Why do I keep hiring these clowns? Podolia gets angry nationalists of her own. I'm not even over the BB limit and I'm getting nasty events. This is why I don't want to go over the limit.

January 1612: Astrakhan converts. Yes! Even more sweet, sweet tax!

April 1612: Grain in Uchurskoye.

May 1612: Turkestan defects from Kazakh to Russia. Tidying up Central Asia.

June 1612: Land 26 and leather cannons. In case you're wondering, I can't invade India until my infamy comes down.

August 1612: Six shiny new cores and an end to over-extension forever. Huzzah! (The cores are on the ex-Sibir provinces). I move Narrowminded, take a stab hit.

January 1613: Pozharski is reelected handily.

February 1613: Without Thrace, everyone dogpiles on the Ottomans. First Bohemia, then a bunch more.

April 1613: Zheteru defects. I peace out with the Kazahs.

May 1613: Two more cores, Narym and Kulunda.

July 1613: Pegaya Orda cores.

August 1613: Khorasan warns me.

September 1613: I take a new decision, Colonial Expansion. -3% colonist costs, -3 Infamy Limit, +3.0% Global Colonial Growth. I need lots of help with these slow growing Siberian colonies.

October 1613: Bad Iron Ore makes troops a little more expensive for a few months.

August 1615: Another fur province, this time Verkohzehkoye.

March 1616: Norway warns me.

April 1616: Parma's earlier decision to DOW Naples goes very badly -- they lose Siena and Pisa, and some French province they picked up earlier. They also release Genoa. They've still got decent colonial possessions, but maybe they'll go over seas with their capital since both the Pope and Naples have a hankering for conquering.

Luckily, Burgundy couldn't hold Kutch and it defected to Maharashthra. I ask for MA through Burgundy and prepare my invasion, finally.

July 1616: As I move troops, my leader dies. Nikolai Repnin is a good administrator but awful at everything else (9/3/4).

August 1616: Trade tech 21.

September 1616: Government 24. Slowly but surely my army moves south through desert and mountains.

November 1616: Ust Yurt cores.

December 1616: To war!



June 1617: Manchu is annexed by Korea -- Korea is getting reasonably strong now. Rajputana takes a bite out of Maharathstra, but not the two provinces I most want, Kutch and Dadra. Korea warns me.

November 1617: Agricultural revolution (and 2 more base tax) for Podolia. Since Rajputana has cut me off from moving south, I ask them for military access.

January 1618: Bihar lets me pass through their lands unharmed.

February 1618: Threatened by my soon-to-be-new Indian riches, Bohemia warns me too.

April 1618: A new reform for the HRE. Two away from hereditary HRE. Also, production 22.

June 1618: I can't quite get all the provinces I want -- they're a bit too expensive in warscore to annex the whole country -- so I settle for Kutch, Konkan and Goa and a bunch of cores.



I immediately pass the decision (I still need QftNW and more Mercantilism for the East Indian Tradition) to form the Russian East India Company. It's actually on the western side of India, but who am I to judge?



That brings this chapter to a close. Let me know what you think about the dilemma I posted earlier, and more updates should be on the way this weekend!

Ashantai said:

Republics have a hard time getting CBs after 1650, that's true. However, there are always ways around it.

1 - Republican Dictatorships aren't really Republics in the normal sense - there's no elections except on the ruler's death. But it is one way to do it.
2 - Yes, Holy War dies at 1650 no matter the NI.
3 - I wouldn't do that, but your choice. Random conquest never appealed to me much simply because there's no limits. I think you'd also find it boring too, if it's just one conquest after another without limit. Of course, the stability losses are always a big issue for a large country.
4 - Yes, either a Revolutionary Republic or 'Revolution and Counter Revolution' NI could help - but that's very close to the end.

My idea would be to keep going as a Republic and use diplomacy to force the issue and get legit CBs. Warnings, guarentees and claiming marriages are all good ways to expand, as is colonialism, if you reach a decent port.

Click to expand...

Remember, as an administrative republic I can't use marriages I have gotten some border friction events so far, but so far I am doing it your way. Thanks for saving me from wasting a valuable slot on Unam Sanctam.

Well, everyone, that means 2) is off the table, but please share your thoughts!

Mediiic! said:

If you're having trouble with casus bellis you might want to take Bill of Rights for liberation CBs, especially since it's a sensible idea for republics to have (plus it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside when I adopt it). You don't have it already, do you? I glanced over your NI list but couldn't remember if that later one was Bill of Rights or Bureaucracy.

Click to expand...

That's not a bad secondary idea, but you don't get any benefit when taking provinces, and there are some I'd still like to have.

Here are the current options for my dilemma again, since a couple new ones were brought up. I've discovered one solution, at least in the short term, for certain provinces. I force countries to release hordes that neighbor me, which subsequently get annexed by Russia for no infamy As you'll soon see, though, that's not a perfect solution for all of my troubles.

1) Republican dictatorship.
PROS -- Free CB on everybody in the entire game.
CONS -- Not all that Republican, violates the spirit if not the letter of this AAR.

2) Bill of Rights NI (thanks Mediiic!)

PROS -- Free CB on everybody with either a vassal or another nation within their borders.
CONS -- No bonus for taking provinces with this CB.

3) Noble Republic (thanks Ashantai!)

PROS -- Royal Marriages for claim on throne CBs, so I can do the whole PU --> Inherit thing.
CONS -- Centralization max of -1, which could cause revolt risk to go through the roof, fewer magistrates and I lose the nifty trade bonus.

4) Go ballistic on the world, screw CBs and infamy

PROS -- Solves the problem of no CBs and infamy.
CONS -- Boring to play.

5) Takes what I gets, let the chips fall where they may.

PROS -- The most realistic scenario.
CONS -- Long periods of twiddling my thumbs.


To give you some food for thought, my current conquest goals are as follows, not necessarily in this order:

1) Connect my Indian provinces by land to everything else, getting rid of that nasty "distant overseas" penalty.

2) Eventually, conquer Korea. I think Russia would have done this if she could, so it's not too a-historical.

3) Make the Black Sea a Russian lake -- this means finishing off the Ottomans and Byzantines. As a bonus, I could get Bosphorous Sound Toll. Again, Russia didn't do this, but I'm sure she wanted to.

4) The Pentarchy. For those who don't play Orthodox powers, these are the five ancient churches of Christianity. In HttT, the Byzantine mission also disabled the Pentarchy -- it's a triggered modifier in HttT, so I'm not sure if it applies. The Pentarchy, for those who are curious, was Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria (or, in game terms, Roma, Judea, Thrace, Adana, and Alexandria). You have to own them and convert them to Orthodoxy. I've already done this with Thrace. Syria has at least two of these (Adana and Judea) and possibly Alexandria too, leaving Roma as the only one that might be tricky.

5) Clean up Central Asia. The only one on this list I'm bound to do by the goals of the AAR -- there's not a whole lot left, but there is some.

6) Annex or vassalize Japan. This is the craziest goal I've got in mind, and I'm not sure I can pull it off, since I've got virtually no fleet. The good part is that I can colonize the Northern Japanese island (is there a strait there?) and that Japan is still disunified. The bad part is my fleet is still kind of a joke and there's the whole getting there thing.

I'm pretty much done in the west, as you can tell. I've got all the Baltic provinces except Livland, and Riga's got a whole bunch of powerful friends. I'll wait for the right opportunity.

Boris ze Spider said:

I prefer number 5, i like the games realistic,

Click to expand...

For the time being, I'll go along with this -- I can always change later if there's overwhelming demand. I'm getting ready to play some more now, I hope to be up to 1700 soon.

With a new State of the Republic coming up soon, is there anything you guys would like to see? (I've got many saves, so I can go back and get stuff with no trouble.) A new screenshot of some kind? I aim to please

Ashantai: Consider it done!

loki100: That's the general plan of attack so far -- one nice thing about having so many borders is lots of Border Friction CBs. I thought I'd be bored playing it "straight", if you will, but I'm far from that

Should have at least one update tonight, maybe more. There will be two updates until the next SotR, one big and one a little less so. I'm going to try to streamline things a bit from here on out -- a lot of events repeat themselves (Benign Neglect, Local Fortifications, Quality Wool, etc.) and not all techs are particularly significant. I'll still have all the important stuff (like wars, new leaders, decisions, cool events, etc.), but this should cut down on the amount of boring text like "March 1600 -- More Benign Neglect!"

Is there anything I haven't been mentioning you would like to hear about? Again, I'm also taking requests for new screenshots for the upcoming SotR.

Booter -- If this were more of a narrative AAR, I might take you up on your offer. The only government changes I plan on doing the rest of the game are to Constitutional Republic, and, if there's time, Revolutionary Republic (which I kind of doubt at this point).

Nekromans -- That's a fair point, and Bill of Rights is on the list of upcoming NIs. Not sure when exactly -- I was ready to take the Land Maintenance Modifier NI, but I'm making disgusting amounts of cash as it is

I'm writing the update as we speak -- should be up momentarily.

August 1618: Syria grabs Judea from Oman, painting a bulls-eye on their backs for later. Hedjaz wants me to help them against Persia -- I've got no problem with smacking Persia around a little, but at minimum, it'll be a -2 stab hit, and I prefer to avoid stab hits whenever possible. Sorry Hedjaz.

September 1618: I fund nationalists in Malwa, mostly to deprive Maharasthra of another province for when I finally finish annexing the rest of their country.

October 1618: I don't want their territory yet, and the cost for demanding tribute is absurdly huge (250%?!?), so I settle for a concession of defeat from the Mongol Khanate.

December 1618: Parma collapses. As an aside, there's just an insane amount of Italian colonization in DW, which is a nice touch. Parma, Savoy, and Naples have all done very well for themselves in the New World (along with Burgundy).

February 1619: Starting a huge binge of manufactory buying, Perm starts construction on my favorite manufactory, the Weapons Manufactory. Polotsk gets one too. Chernigov is next after that, followed by Kharkov. I had a whole lot of money to blow [For the record, the only manufactories I usually build are Weapons and Universities, since you still need magistrates to make buildings.]

July 1619: Iron in Nerchinsky.

August 1619: I hire a 6* production efficiency guy. What are they called again? I forgot to get a screenshot We find a vein of Copper in Udinsky -- I love how much copper and iron Russia gets.

September 1619: Whether my spy helped or not, I don't know, but Maharasthra collapses, creating Sind and Malwa. I'm going to take credit for it anyway.

October 1619: Some jerks tarnish the reputation of my leader. Apparently, if I execute them, I get a stab hit. This is Russia -- I should get a stab hit if I don't execute them. I'll take the 1 point of infamy instead, though. Newly created Sind wants access to my markets (presumably Kutch) -- I say the more, the merrier!

December 1619: A new NI -- Colonial Ventures.

January 1620: Kuznetsk cores.

February 1620: Oirat Horde breaks free from Ming. I've got 20,000 Russian troops one province away. What to do, what to do. [The Oirat Horde is unusually persistent in this game; they reform three or four more times, and get eaten by me each time. It's actually kind of sad and inspiring at the same time.]

March 1620: Korea kicks Maharasthra when they're down for cash and treaty annulment. Given that they couldn't have invaded (I would have noticed), I wonder how they got the war score? Blockades, maybe?

May 1620: Vijayanagar and Gakwar warn me. I love how the only countries that warn me are the ones that have very little chance at stopping me. Rajputana wants into Kutch's market -- let them try, I say! I also get tribute from Oirat Horde -- I don't take any provinces this time, since I'm still worried about Ming, for some reason. [If I were to play this game again, I would be way more aggressive, particularly in the East.]

June 1620: Orleans, the Holy Roman Emperor if you recall, decides to act Imperial by DOWing Great Britain. Oh dear.

July 1620: Repnin is re-elected.

August 1620: The Ottomans collapse -- without Thrace, they are nothing, it would seem.

January 1621: Ufa converts, but at this rate, I'm getting more non-Orthodox provinces faster than I can convert them.

February 1621: Tomsk cores.

August 1621: Thrace converts, making it even more profitable.

November 1621: Bohemia insults me, right after White Peace with Castille. I do nothing about it, mostly because of my self imposed restrictions about moving farther West. They've got one province I want -- Volhynia -- because it's part of modern day Ukraine and thus part of the Russian Empire. I'll wait until I get a mission or at least border friction to grab it.

April 1622: Samara converts. Not as exciting as Thrace, but hey, I'll take it. Bohemia takes a beating from GB (trade dispute), losing two Ottoman provinces (Angora and Konya) and being forced to release Galicia. They also pay some cash. If Galicia lasts very long, I don't see it.

August 1622: To spite Burgundy (seriously, I think close to the end of the game I'm going to come after them hard), I start rebellions in Sind. They're put down, but I'd like to think I made Burgundy's day a little bit more irritating. Staying with India, I sell two of the provinces I got from Maharasthra that I had no intention of keeping -- Goa (to Vijayanagar) and Konkan (to Khandesh). They're not valuable and until I get a land connection to India, they aren't likely to be worth investing in either. I can always take them back later.

September 1622: Some farmers come out of a cornfield and build a constable in Kurgan (Field of Dreams reference?). This is a nice new event in DW -- I wonder what triggers it?

December 1622: Naval Supplies in Jugjur. Alimuly converts, knowing that with their precious naval supplies, holding out against Orthodoxy is no longer lucrative.

January 1623: More iron for Russia, this time in Albazinsky.

February 1623: QK defects from Persia. It's a horde. WAAAAAARRRRRR!!!



A screenshot! (Don't worry, I'll have the max 20 in this one before all is said and done).

June 1623: War with the Kazakhs. Yeah, not worthy of a screenshot.

July 1623: Uralsk converts. Butalsk will produce copper; I'm easily world leader in Copper and Iron, production anyway. The new DW bonuses are just for trade though, and I gain and lose them all the time as I gain and lose merchants.

October 1623: Mongol Khanate gets restless, declares war. I'm now at war with three hordes simultaneously.

December 1623: Bogujtar converts.

February 1624: Minsk gets in on the whole conversion thing.

May 1624: Mangyshlak cores.

July 1624: I decide to replace Repnin, who isn't exactly an inspiring leader. Sergei Shein is the new Posadnik, and at 9/6/4, he can stay that way.

December 1624: Yeniseysk cores.

January 1625: Estland cores.

May 1625: To make it an even four hordes, Chagatai defects and subsequently unofficially DOWs.

June 1625: Preferring prime numbers (5, in this case), Oirat Horde joins the party.

July 1625: Brandenburg becomes HRE -- it pretty much stays that way for the rest of the game. Orleans must have taken a beating from GB.

July 1625: Salt crisis -- -1% to production efficiency. DW is good at integrating trade goods more into the game -- it's no longer something I ignore, for the most part.

September 1625: Murgan defects. One horde down, four to go. I get production tech 24, which means Mints, the level four production building. Thrace gets one immediately, then more in other provinces, sorted by tax value.

October 1625: I want to clean up some of these wars -- zipping around the map makes my heart hurt I demand tribute from Oirat Horde. Three more wars to go.

April 1626: Land 27, and gallop cavalry. I'm initially hesitant about taking them, since they don't have any fire pips, but the morale and shock upgrades convince me. It doesn't really matter how your cavalry kills the enemy in overwhelming numbers in the end, I guess.

June 1626: Fish in Udskoye -- I don't have very much fish in the Russian Republic. I'm not sure it matters (the bonus for fish is something minor, like a naval maintenance modifier), but hey, diet diversification can only be good for the Russian people. Copper is found in Yakutsk, which is more the norm for new Siberian provinces.

July 1626: Move towards free subjects -- I get the -2.00 inflation event. This is literally the first time in the entire game I've gotten something good from a slider move.

April 1627: I move my NF to Thrace, so I can do this:



Despite being non-cored and non-Russian culture, Thrace now immediately becomes my most valuable province. I'm going to include my most valuable provinces in the next SotR so you can see how awesome Thrace is.

November 1627: Sayan cores.

December 1627: Manchu is eaten by Korea. About this time I start recognizing that Korea might just be more of a threat (as far as any non-European nation is) to me than Ming. Jasagdu defects from Mongol Khanate and I hire a 3* production tech investment guy. I give M K a break and settle for tribute at this stage.

July 1628: Time to wipe out Maharasthra once and for all!



I'm now at war with most of India. 30k Russian troops against India? I like those odds!

When Shein comes up for re-election, I let him stick around -- 9 admin rulers don't grow on trees.

August 1628: The first Indian state to fall is Gakwar.



Bihar and an Indian minor decide to send an army to slow me down -- it doesn't work.



September 1628: Land Tech 28 means new troops -- I choose Gustavian Infantry.

October 1628: Rajputana sees its army disappear. It's magic!

(No screenshot, but I killed nearly 10k troops in one battle with no casualties. W00t!)

Gakwar, my now loyal vassal, becomes my ally. They have no army, so I don't call them.

December 1628: Sind, an OPM, joins the war.

January 1629: Dzungaria defects -- exit Chagatai.

This is how powerful tech is -- I'm hugely outnumbered and barely break a sweat.



Khandesh begs for white peace and I accept. It wasn't even their army! Sind and Rajputana come begging for mercy and white peace. Because I'm a complete idiot, I accept. See, in my giddiness over my victories, I forgot Rajputana was alliance leader. I still don't have Dadra, the whole reason I started the war. Kids, this is the danger of playing Russia -- too much territory and wars going on in ten different directions. That's at least five more years of waiting.

I'm so mad that when Bulgaria calls me into war against Byzantium, I come in guns a-blazing.



June 1629: Byzantium is a joke at this point. I probably could have taken some territory at this point, but I get cute and decide to let somebody convert people for a change. Plus, it's just not right to see a Sunni Byzantium.



I also get a little cash and release Epirus.

September 1629: Operation: Suck up to Switzerland begins again. I find out they'll never join an alliance with me again, so I give up. Ungrateful Swiss, after all I've done for you!

Korea DOWs Ming. Yeah, Korea is definitely the East Asian powerhouse in this game.

November 1629: Since I'm oppressing the Siberians (I guess?), they revolt. They are dispatched with.

December 1629: Kaffa cores.

April 1630: Copper is produced in Okhotsk.

October 1630: Once they find out I have more copper, the Oirat Horde declares war for my sweet, sweet copper. It's copper-tastic! (Since there really are no DOWs with hordes, per se, I like making up my own.)

February 1631: Alimuly cores.

March 1631: Ming loses to Korea, gives up cores, releases Mongol Khanate as a vassal, and releases Vientane as an independent state. Ming isn't in full collapse yet, but I can see the writing on the wall.

April 1631: Syria and Styria have a white peace. What's a little "tea" between friends? [If my pun causes you to desert my AAR en masse, I understand. Even I'm ashamed of that one.]

July 1631: The single most awesome event that Colonial Ventures produces, and it only fires once for me the whole game (so far).



May 1632: Core on Burgundian Sind via Boundary Dispute. One of these days, Burgundy. When the time is just right... WHAM! KNIFE IN THE BACK!

July 1632: Shein, or "Shein-y" as his closest friends know him, is re-elected.

August 1632: Fur in Kamnuskoye. Fur may be murder, but it's lucrative murder.

Kachinsk cores.

November 1632: Vilna converts.

December 1632: Mongol Khanate is mad I haven't sent them an Xmas present yet. I point out Orthodox Christmas is in January, and then further point out that they aren't Christian, but my logic only infuriates them into war.

Apparently, researching trade is heresy, so I have to forget what we've learned, perhaps a la memory eraser from Men in Black. Better than a stab hit.

January 1633: My colonial company in Tauisk discovers more Fish.

June 1633: Naval Tech 23 and Galleons. I don't start building a fleet now, but I will soon.

August 1633: Government 27 means I can build Cathedrals (who cares?), adopt Absolute Monarchy (never! I will always listen to my people!), and construct a Glorious Monument. If there's a country that deserves one, it's Russia, and I build one in Moskva.

February 1634: For what I swear is the last time, I declare war on Maharasthra, again, for Dadra.



I also sphere Gakwar. Shouldn't they automatically be part of my sphere as vassals?

April 1634: Gujarat joins the prestigious Russian Vassal in India Club. Members of the RVIC get fabulous benefits including:

-- Not being annexed by Russia
-- Getting to beat up their fellow Indians
-- Free vodka!
-- The finest imported Siberian snows!
And so forth.



May 1634: Finally, the clever trickery and witchcraft of Maharasthra fails to distract me and it is part of Russia. I said I'd do it, and it's taken me nearly thirty years, but I did it.



August 1634: I think briefly about pressing on -- I want that connection to the rest of Russia -- but my infamy's really high, so Rajputana accepts white peace.

December 1634: It's time to move the embassy again, I guess, so now it's in Thrace.

Brandenburg tries the Orleans tactic of DOWing GB. I hope they have better luck.

February 1635: I hire a 3* diplomat. From Burgundy. Yeah, those Burgundian jerks would know how to get out of infamy faster...

August 1635: Hovd defects (from Kazakh). Enraged, Iraq DOWs me, bringing along quite an array of countries, including Baluchistan, the Ottomans, The Mamluks, and Adal.

They've got one great province (and are somehow alliance leader), Azerbaijan, and it just so happens that's as far south in the Caucasus as I want to expand (that's more or less the right border).

October 1635: Syria lets me cut through their territory on the way to finishing off Iraq.

January 1636: Dzungaria converts.

February 1636: The Ottomans peace out (white peace). I'd like to pick up the other territories for the Bosphorus Sound Toll, but I've only got enough infamy for one province now, I think. (Why yes, I did forget that Holy War is a mutual CB and the provinces only cost me one infamy. Why do you ask?)

March 1636: Government 28 and Republican Dictatorship. Never!

April 1636: Malwa warns me.

June 1636: Naval Supplies from Deren -- ironically enough, the only naval supplies province that Novgorod starts with -- Vetluga -- in fact does not touch the ocean.

July 1636: Mamluks white peace out. "Shein-y" is re-elected.

August 1636: Norway warns me.

December 1636: Khiva converts.

January 1637: Urumqui defects from Oirat Horde.

Azerbaijan is acquired from Iraq and the war ends. The best exit strategy is to know what you want, take it, and leave



Perm is delighted and converts to Orthodoxy.

August 1637: Heated Debates over my infamy go on throughout parliament. I give them 50 ducats to shut up; I lose 3 infamy. Talk about win-win!

April 1638: We strike grain in Saghalian Ouda.

May 1638: Khawarzam and Kara Kum core.

November 1638: Austria DOWs Bohemia. Yes! Kill each other in huge quantities!

January 1639: Sayin Noyan defects from Mongol Khanate. Fun fact: I've been at war with the Kazakhs for 16 years now, have already killed their entire army, but they've been occupied the entire time by another country (Khorasan).

I build a War College in Novgorod to commemorate my many victories. It's important to remember your roots!

May 1639: Tshiyet Noyan defects, as the Mongol Khanate disappears from the map again.

June 1639: I apparently win the naval race with Burgundy. Here was my plan. 1) Get mission. 2) Ignore it. 3) Burgundy loses her navy. 4) Profit.

The new mission is to conquer Argyn. Another one I can get by waiting, since as soon as Khorasan is done with Kazakh, I can take it. I get a free core for doing it.

August 1639: Today's random warning of the week winner is: :pens envelope::

Khandesh! Your prize? Either destruction by the Russian army or nothing at all!

December 1639: Even more copper, this time from Suntar Khayat.

March 1640: Fish in Sakhalin. Now Khorsan and Kokkand warn me. This intrigues me, because both of them border me and Kokkand is a dirty color thief.

September 1640: Agricultural revolution = 2 base tax in Kulunda and 100 ducats. I love this event!

November 1640: Kuruk Tag defects, ending the Oirat Horde (for now...)

I notice that GB has occupied Livland. Now look, Great Britain. Until now, you were cool. You did your thing and I did mine. Don't cross me.

December 1640: Irkutsk cores and I get a slider move. One step narrowminded. Imereti turns Reformed as a result. That's one of the weakest consequences I've ever seen for a slider move. Not that I'm complaining.

I pass the Licensing of the Press Act (+1 to Narrowminded and Serfdom, -6% stability cost, -3 max infamy) and Russian Patriarchate (-5 to maximum war exhaustion) as a result.

January 1641: Croatia wants me to join a clusterf*ck of a war. No thanks, best of luck to you for starting a stupid war you probably won't win.



April 1641: Murgan converts.

Also, Kazakh pays tribute to Khorasan (giving up one minor province), so I start occupying them myself.

August 1641: Khiva and Bukhara core.

Burgundy and GB white peace it out, so GB stays out of Livland (Riga is a vassal of Burgundy. BURGUNDY!!!!!!!!!!!). I wonder if I could ally with them? I make a mental note to try, but forget to make a mental note to check my mental notes. In fact, I'm just remembering it now. I'll try when I get back into the game.

September 1641: Bosnia is now Croatia's vassal. Good for you, Croatia.

October 1641: France collapses! It gives me a chuckle to see that, even though they've been an OPM for half the game, it seems like.

November 1641: Rajputana is picked on by Korea for some treaties and a little cash.

January 1642: I take a look at Kutch. It should be a hugely productive province, but distant overseas is killing it (-90% to tax value!). I really need the land bridge.

Infamy is down. I'm getting bored. It's time for color war!



Khiva, Baluchistan, Hedjaz, and Khorasan all join the party -- Baluchistan is alliance leader.

I send a spy to Sind again, trying to get Burgundy out. Stupid Burgundy.

Iraq warns me. Didn't they learn the last time? They DOW shortly afterward, since they were already allied with Baluchistan. That was a waste of a diplomat.

February 1642: The farmers in the cornfield are at again -- now Obdorsk has its very own constable.

June 1642: Baluchistan offers white peace. Sure, just let me get my pen -- hey, wait a minute! You're not going to get me like Rajputana did. The color thief must be exterminated!

July 1642: See what I mean? You can hardly tell they're occupied by me.



Victory!



The cowardly, inferior, puke-like green of Kokkand is replaced by the patriotic and glorious puke-green of Russia. That'll teach 'em!

Hedjaz wants out, I agree.

September 1642: Ming makes Qin a vassal.

November 1642: I really wanted to annex Khiva, but I can't (too much infamy), so instead they become the charter members of the Central Asian Russian Vassals Club, or CARVC. They don't get the vodka, because they're Sunni, but otherwise they enjoy all the benefits of the Indian Chapter of the Russian Vassals Club, plus getting to stick it to Persia every now and again.



Later on, I add Nadym, the province that Khorasan took from the Kazakhs.



Baluchistan white peaces out, ending the war and this update.

I'll have one more update tonight or tomorrow, followed by the State of the Republic for 1650.

Ashantai said:

Oh, I just remembered.

The 'cleansing of heresy' CB has no timelimit. So fighting Catholics and Protestants is easy!

You need Unam Sanctum for that I believe.

Click to expand...

Excellent! On this subject, I'm running out of obvious NIs to take. My list of those I have thus far -- National Bank, Military Drill, Land of Opportunity, Grand Army, Bureaucracy, Colonial Ventures, and QftNW.

Next will probably be Cabinet. Bill of Rights and Unam Sanctam seem like good choices, given the CBs they grant. Scientific Revolution is another great choice that I'd take now if I weren't behind on trade tech. I'm making so much money right now that I'm not worried about any of the economic ones at the moment. Patron of the Arts would help get me better advisors. After Cabinet, which ones do you folks recommend? In what order? I'm up to date (30+) on Land and Government Tech, pretty close to perfect on Production, and about five levels behind on trade and eight on navy.