erm, is this still going? Or are the holidays wreaking havoc with your playlife as hard as they do with mine?
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If you edit in a war, you can give it any name you desireI love that the actual war name is "The Final Battle"What's the official CB you're using, for when you win and annex the entire planet?
Annexation will of course be impossible, within the standard game rules anyway.Thanks. At the time I have very little time for the AAR.
Oooh no no no, the Final Battle will not be that easy. Remember, I play at Very Hard Difficulty from the start of the Final Battle on.When I saw the border swarming with your troops I thought this "final battle" will end before a year is over and just siege warfare will result but fortunatelly I was wrong
I wonder how are propaganda matters handled at home with a miriand of small losses and a great victory...
By the way, do you know the result of the war yet (in which case don't tell us, please!) or will you be as surprised as us?
I haven't played further yet, so I am as much in the dark as you guys are.
Of course I will show such an awesome screenI think it's an Imperialist War. The planet probably won't be annexed (from the start, the goal was to occupy all the territory of the defender), but I'd like to see the needed warscore for vassalization.
Well, I want(ed) to avoid getting WE, so more or less forced to have small armies. And yes, it wasn't that smart a move in hindsight. I never claimed to be good at EU3, I just like the game
I indeed do need a rethink of my strategy. And yes, I expect enemy ships to show up soon.
Letting the enemy come to me would probably the wisest course of action and probably I will be forced to do so. Also, this war is quite different from the Unification Wars. First, I'm in it for the long haul. Any WE I gain will be more or less permanent. Second, the forces employed are huge. If only 10% of my forces would suffer attrition, WE would be maximized in less than a year. If I don't split up my forces, I basically choose to have maximal WE for the rest of the war. Perhaps that's the smart thing to do, but the huge increase in recruitment time of regiments and ships scares me.
By the way, I never claimed my losses were caused by technological differences.
The AAR isn't finished, but I indeed have little time. Also, I needed some time away from EU3 (heresy, I know).
Hi guys, finally another update! I hope you will like it.
I have, however, changed the difficulty back to Normal. I continued a bit with Very Hard and I have to admit, I just couldn't handle it. Even if I could, it would take so much time that I probably would abandon the AAR, which would be shame. You will see that even on Normal, this aint' a walk through the park.
Anyway, enjoy!
I have, however, changed the difficulty back to Normal. I continued a bit with Very Hard and I have to admit, I just couldn't handle it. Even if I could, it would take so much time that I probably would abandon the AAR, which would be shame. You will see that even on Normal, this aint' a walk through the park.
Anyway, enjoy!
The Final Battle, part 2: the Great Retreat
Jim: Welcome back, loyal viewers. After a long break, we're back for some more Double Domination!
Bob: It's good to see you again, Jim.
Jim: Likewise, Bob. So how are our contestants doing?
Bob: Well, as you might remember, the Japanese weren't doing very well. By attacking piecemeal, they lost almost every battle. But to be fair, with the troop numbers involved, it was the only way to avoid massive war exhaustion.
Jim: I'm curious to see what the Japanese contestants are planning to do now.
Bob: Mark, any new from the front?
Mark: Hi guys. Currently I am at the border with Poland and I've just heard that High Command has issues an order for full retreat. All forces are commanded to fall back deep into Persia. And not only the troops in the Caucasus, the troops in Egypt and along the Poland-Novgorod border are order to fall back. I've obtained a satellite image showing the troop movements.
Jim: A drastic move. Seems that the Japanese have switched from an offensive strategy to a defensive one.
Bob: At least concerning the European states. They go in full offence against the Asian enemies.
In October 1770, Brunei and Persia are beaten badly enough to sign a white peace. This frees 40 regiments in Persia for duties elsewhere. They are shipped to the Japanese isles to deal with the French invasion there.
Jim: Again, quite bold, as the 50 or so transports are not escorted and are attacked numerous times by Asian ships. However, due to the massive tech lead of Japan over its Asian enemies, the transports destroy these fleets all on their own.
Bob: Luckily the transport fleet didn't encounter European ships, it would have been an disaster.
Jim: Nevertheless, the war in Asia goes well. In November, Rajputana is forced to become Japan's vassal. A couple of months later, in February 1771, the 30 French regiments on the Japanese islands are destroyed by the shipped reinforcements.
Bob: Nice! Having troops on home soil is a bad thing.
Mark: I can report that the retreat from the European borders is almost completed, with only a few troops still in Novgorod territory. However, a lot of casualties have been suffered due to massive attrition. Even with High Command taking as much care to prevent attrition as possible, with so many regiments it was inevitable that a lot of soldiers perished.
Jim: Any idea on numbers?
Mark. No, but the global manpower pool is unaffected, so less than 50.000 per month. Still, to give an idea of how many were lost, war exhaustion went from 5 points to about 12 points during the retreat.
Bob: Ouch! That's painful!
Jim: No wonder a level 5 High Judge was hired, the revolt risk throughout the Empire must be skyrocketing. But wait, it seems High Command is dispatching a statement to the troops. Mark, can you tell us what's it about?
Mark: A moment, Jim...it appears that the Japanese will hold the line at Ajam and will retreat no further. In the adjacent provinces Ajam and Mazandaran, 60 regiments in each are stationed and digging in, with 120 more regiments close by for reinforcement.
Jim: Bold words.
Bob: Well, both provinces are mountainous and the two defending armies have high quality generals assigned. Also, in nearby provinces the artisans frantically produce artillery.
Jim: I thought the Japanese didn't use artillery?
Bob: Look like they dropped that particular doctrine. The great conscription centres in Vietnam and South China are mass-producing artillery as well.
Jim: I hope that that will be enough. The United kingdoms have brought a lot of cannon fodder for the Japanese artillery to choke on.
Bob: What the...? Are there really 400 European regiments near Ajam?
Mark: All intelligence here point that way, yes.
Bob: I'm getting horrible flashback to the war of 1560, only this is much, much worse.
Jim: The Germans attack Ajam with “only” 55 regiments. They are repelled by the Japanese troops, for suffer only 2000 casualties against the German losses of 20.000. The first victory against the elite German troops!
Bob: Hurrah!
Mark: Sorry to spoil the party, but the regency has ended and Rokuja becomes the Emperor of Japan. However, his ADM scores are only 3/4/4, a setback for the Empire.
Bad: Damn!
Jim: in January 1772, the German again try to take Ajam, with 40 regiments against 50 defending regiments. Again they are repelled, suffering 12.000 casualties against just 5000 lost on the Japanese side.
Bob: Also, the wars in Asia go well. In February, Lan Na and Kashmir become Japanese vassals. In March, Malacca signs a humiliating peace in which they agree to release a three-province Pattani, hopefully deterring them from attacking Japan again.
Mark: Hold on, some bad news coming from the Western front...I'll patch through the satellite feed.
Bob: Oh no! Ajam has been lost!
Jim: Indeed, the third battle for Ajam is a victory for Germany, but a costly one. While Germany had the numerical advantage, committing a whopping 180 regiments against Japan's 140, the Germans lost an amazing 50.000 troops in exchange for only 5000 Japanese lives!
Bob: Too bad that Germany can take such losses quite easily. With a monthly manpower inflow of 35.000 per month, Germany will have replaced those losses in less then two months!
Jim: Still, nice to see that Japan makes the Europeans pay for each meter they gain.
Mark: Yet another new update. The war exhaustion of the Japanese people has reached its limit of 21 points.
Jim: Not good. And that after only two and a half years of fighting!
Bob: It was folly of the Japanese to have even tried to keep war exhaustion low. With such huge numbers, even the smallest percentage of attrition will skyrocket war exhaustion. Oh well, at least it can't get worse from now on.
Jim: How are the United Kingdoms doing in that regard, Mark?
Mark: Let me see.....Germany is at 15, France at 19, Spain at 9 and Poland at 18. Japan isn't doing that badly, it seems.
Bob: Some other good news from the east front: Khiva joins the growing list of Japanese vassals. Also, the government receives a gift to the state of 7000 ducats.
Jim: That will help with the massive artillery and ship construction projects.
Bob: Indeed, Jim.
Mark: Uh oh.
Jim: What? What?!
Mark: Despite the greatest efforts of 130 Japanese regiments, they have lost the battle for Mazandaran, Ajam's neighbouring province. With both provinces lost, the bottleneck where Japan hoped to keep the enemy at bay has been lost. A general retreat is sounded once again.
Jim: The situation on the western front becomes more and more desperate, I fear.
Bob: I have to agree. However, some good news from near the western front. In September, Baluchistan releases Haasa and Durani in exchange for peace, a small price for what is such a rare commodity nowadays. Also. in October, Tibet finally signs a peace treaty, releasing Delhi and Nepal and revoking their claims on a dozen or so cores. With that, the United Kingdoms of Europa are once again the only enemy of the Empire of the Rising Sun.
Jim: Very nice and all, but these are kicking the collective Japanese butt all over the place. The battle for Dash-I-Lut is lost, forcing 160 Japanese regiments to retreat even further back and dashing all hope of regaining the Ajam-Mazandaran line anytime soon. Luckily only a few thousand casualties were suffered.
Bob: This is bad, bad, bad...
Mark: Cheer up, guys. For once, I have some good news. In December 1772, Japan reaches Land tech 43.
Bob: That's good indeed! I feel better already!
Jim: This might change things. Also, 20 regiments of artillery are on their way to the front from South China and the production of artillery around Hormuz continues at a steady pace. With no Asian wars distracting Japan, will superior firepower help Japan turn the tide? Watch it next time on Double Domination!
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I hope you don't make the mistake I do all the time -- time the upgrade well so you don't lose so much morale
Glad to see this back!
Glad to see this back!
Yay for the update!
So is the plan to force the Euro's to overextend themselves through southern Asia then sweep back into Europe? I guess you'll more intelligently manage war exhaustion than they will so maybe you can force some useful rebellions.
So is the plan to force the Euro's to overextend themselves through southern Asia then sweep back into Europe? I guess you'll more intelligently manage war exhaustion than they will so maybe you can force some useful rebellions.
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I'm glad to see this back! Japan is fighting hard, I can't wait to see what tactics you use.
Excellent bleeding of the Euro's. The French invaded the Home Isles...good on them. Too bad about the emperor.
I'd like to thank you all for your kind responses after having to wait so long for another update. Expect more updates in the future!
As for hoping for European WE, prepare to be disapointed.
* in my Ming AAR 'Yin, Yang and the ugly', for those who don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
Trust me, I've lost enough troops to morale loss due to upgrades that I won't do it nowI hope you don't make the mistake I do all the time -- time the upgrade well so you don't lose so much morale
Glad to see this back!
You give me too much credit, TonyJoe. The great retreat was just that: a retreat so that I can defend and reorient my attack. Basically a huge "run away!" scene.
As for hoping for European WE, prepare to be disapointed.
Thanks, Omen. Don't get your hopes up too high, as I'm way out of my league here. The scale of the war makes my usual approach inadequate. For comparison, at the start of the Revolutionary War*, the Holy Roman Empire and the Chinese Republic together had about the same number of troops as Japan now. And Japan is the weaker side... Well, we'll see.
* in my Ming AAR 'Yin, Yang and the ugly', for those who don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
I'm not sure if I've bleeded them that much at all. As I said, Germany's losses can be replaced in less than two months. I don't know about the other nations, but suffice to say that a couple of dozen of thousand losses is ppeanuts for the major nations.
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Wonderful, another update! It looks like you can make the Persian coast a pretty good bottle neck with three or four provinces in a row. I eagerly await the next episode.
If armagedon happens IRL it will surely not be as epic as this stuff
And an AI Empire not desintegrating within a month, and actually winning the war against a human empire...? Balsphemy I say! :laugh:
By the way, what is the war score?
And an AI Empire not desintegrating within a month, and actually winning the war against a human empire...? Balsphemy I say! :laugh:
By the way, what is the war score?
Wohoo, it's back!!!!! Epic stuff with almost 1000 regiments in theater!!!! Perhaps you could try a landing in Germany proper? It seems that most of their army is in Persia suffering horrific attrition...
I'm not sure if I've bleeded them that much at all. As I said, Germany's losses can be replaced in less than two months. I don't know about the other nations, but suffice to say that a couple of dozen of thousand losses is peanuts for the major nations.
True but its also peanuts for you. And can the IJN force the sealanes open for an invasion of Europe's undefended beer belly?
True but its also peanuts for you. And can the IJN force the sealanes open for an invasion of Europe's undefended beer belly?
It's indeed a nice corridor. Things would get uglier if the Europeans manage to punch through it...
Well, if we give everyone a musket and a cannon here and there, it mightIf armagedon happens IRL it will surely not be as epic as this stuff
And an AI Empire not desintegrating within a month, and actually winning the war against a human empire...? Balsphemy I say! :laugh:
By the way, what is the war score?
Indeed, I might get the dubious honour of being publicly humiliated as being beaten by the EU3 AI in an AAR
The war score is IIRC something around -11%.
A landing is not the best course of action at the moment IMO because
1)the UKoE have more Big Ships that in general are much stronger than mine
2) it's quite some distance to Europe around the cape, so the troops would be severely depleted when they arrive
3) to have the invasion to have any chance of success, I have to commit at least a 100 regiments, which I really can't miss right now and don't have the transport ships for
4) the invasion troops run the risk of being wiped out without the option to fall back.
I might do something in that vein later on, but right now I have to halt the march of the Euro's!
True, my manpower power hasn't dipped at all during the war, so it's indeed peanuts for me as well. In fact, regarding manpower and we, Japan and the UKoE are basically at a stalemate. Problem is that I'm losing in the morale department: I lose most battles. As I don't weaken the UKoE in manpower, it seems that they will just push me back province by province.
As for the beer belly, see above.
Hoping some epic artillery can help you now...I said you would need it!
Anyway, what about landing on their colonies?
Anyway, what about landing on their colonies?
can you spy out the troop building/movement in Germany?
Also,I think it has been sufficiently proved that in this war,manpower is unlimited for both countries and WE will remain max,so the battle is going to be around wiping out enemy armies and assualting forts,so is it even remotely possible for you to divide their armies(by marching armies through novrograd and recovering some of your land,maybe) and wipe them out and recover to status quo.
Granted,you are weak on the naval front,and shaky on the land,but can you still manage to get behind the enemy front line and cut of their supply lines?I mean,it does not matter if they can recover the manpower hits,if they cannot reinforce their decimating armies.
Also,I think it has been sufficiently proved that in this war,manpower is unlimited for both countries and WE will remain max,so the battle is going to be around wiping out enemy armies and assualting forts,so is it even remotely possible for you to divide their armies(by marching armies through novrograd and recovering some of your land,maybe) and wipe them out and recover to status quo.
Granted,you are weak on the naval front,and shaky on the land,but can you still manage to get behind the enemy front line and cut of their supply lines?I mean,it does not matter if they can recover the manpower hits,if they cannot reinforce their decimating armies.
I would guess at the end the war will be about wether the AI is able to hold its empire together. From my experience I'd guess that first all the colonial territories will secede and after that rebellions in Europe wont be dealt with sufficiently anymore, breaking germanies allies in the progress. Germany itself might be strong enough to survive though.
If you mean the African/South American colonies, too far, too risky, almost no gain for me. As for their Asian colonies, possible but again, little to gain there.Hoping some epic artillery can help you now...I said you would need it!
Anyway, what about landing on their colonies?
This ain't HoI
And you're right, I need to focus on destroying armies. I'll do a bit of that in the next episode.I've played a couple of years ahead now and suffice to say the Euro's have very little problem holding together their empires. Germany itself has almost no revolt risk, with its low low max WE of 15. Besides, I deliberatly desigened Germany to be robust in RR, so I guess I did something right
And another thing: rebels are very, very VERY annoying. Posing close to no threat but still require tons of micromanagement to be dealt with. The auto-hunting function doesn't work for large empires: armies stationed in China go and chase rebels in India and other nonsense. It's very tedious all in all.
For the next AAR,try playing golden horde or something like it.Nothing beats succession crisis(I had territory till the HRE & delhi in 70 years,where i vasalazied to stop the expansion,most non-core) in terms of annoyance.Playing a nomad nation(without westernization) is the next thing you need to show to be in the realm of possibility.Any one likes a All nomad world?
The Final Battle, part 3: doomstacks
Jim: Well, we´re about to see the start of the third episode covering the Final Battle between team Germany´s United Kingdoms and the Japanese team´s Empire. Things are going badly for the attacking team, Japan, as their armies are pushed back many kilometres and war exhaustion is at its max. What a bleak situation our contestants find themselves!
Bob: Well, there are some advantages to the situation, Jim
Jim: Like what? With such high war exhaustion, revolt risk is high all throughout the Empire....
Mark: around 15% in most places!
Jim:...right. Besides that, stability costs are through the roof and recruitment times are insane.
Bob: True, true...but consider this: as war exhaustion can't rise anymore, Japan can have war taxes indefinitely.
Jim: Ah, good point!
Bob: And attrition doesn't matter anymore. Well, much, anyway.
Jim: How's that?
Bob: Well, Japan receives about 45.000 manpower per month. That means that with 5% attrition, 900.000 troops could suffer attrition before the manpower pool dips the slightest bit.
Jim: So the Japanese indeed do not have to care about attrition anymore, as beside manpower loss the only disadvantages is war exhaustion increase, which is already maxed. That's brilliant, Bob!
Mark: Well, the Japanese have figured that out already:
Jim: Wow! Almost 350 regiments in one army!
Bob: The Japanese soldiers grimly accept the losses through attrition. The population, however, does grow really, really tired of the war. Even more tired than maximal tired.
Bob: Stability went to level 2.Even worse, a policy change to make the army more Quality focused lowers stability even more:
Jim: That's some very bad luck there. It will take at least 20 months to recover from that. But the contestants seem to ignore the issue and keep pouring almost all income into Land research.
Mark: I get signals that the army is moving. Fifty regiments have split off the main army, taking with it all the available artillery. The other 300 regiments attack the European forces in Khurasan, the only non-mountainous province with large amounts of enemies.
Jim: I hope this works out...
Bob: Yes! A great victory!
Jim: Oh dear...
Bob: Indeed! Almost a 100.000 Europeans killed! And that without artillery! Woooo!
Jim: Seems that the doomstack approach is working. Even with the United Kingdoms' armies defending in mountainous terrain, the Japanese forces overwhelm them with sheer numbers and inflict horrendous casualties at low cost for themselves.
Bob: Most battles see about 20.000 enemy soldiers killed with only a thousand or five casualties on the Japanese side.
Jim: However, with the majority of the army fighting around Ajam, a hundred European regiments rush eastwards towards India. Only through the stubborness of 50 japanese regiments are they stopped in Baluchistan.
Bob: I see another grand battle taking place, in Makran, east of Hormuz:
Jim: Wow, 70.000 Europeans are killed and all regiments destroyed. As all European regiments in the area are severely depleted, that means much more than 70 regiments were wiped out. Quite an accomplishment! Even if it was achieved by entering the battle with 350 more regiments than the enemy.
Bob: In general, many European regiments are wiped out but it's impossible to find out how many. Suffice to say that less and less European regiments are in Persia. Plus with new reinforcements from the east, the Japanese have now 430 regiments near the front.
Jim: While about 200 regiments are fighting the numerous rebels that rise in protest to the bloody war.
Bob: And bloody it is. The year 1775 is spent by combating the European armies that pour into the area near Hormuz. Again and again the Japanese army wins against the smaller European armies, killing thousands in the process. In February, the Battle of Hormuz sees 50.000 European casualties.
In April, in Laristan 70.000 Europeans and God knows how many regiments are wiped out.
Jim: While battles with less casualties take place, in May another great Japanese victory takes place: again in Hormuz, the United Kingdoms lose 40.000 soldiers and many, many regiments.
Bob: Finally, after a year of bloody fighting in just a couple of provinces, the back of the European forces is broken. The Japanese armies push through, now divided into corps of about a 100 regiments each, as no European army larger than 30-40 regiments are left near the front.
Jim: Many smaller battles are fought, repeating the pattern of high European casualties and low Japanese casualties due to overwhelming numbers and superior leadership.
Bob: The year 1776 will also be known for another good turn of events: the brillian High Judge of the Emperor manages to rise stability to 3!
Jim: Fantastic, that will dampen the rebellions a bit. Perhaps now only 4 or 5 per month will pop up from now on. Also, besides the rapid advancement of the armies and better stability, the year is closed with Japanese reaching Land tech level 47, introducing Royal Mortars to the Japanese army.
Bob: Don't you mean Imperial Mortars?
Jim: No, it says right here they're royal...
Bob: Ah, okay.
Jim: Anyway, in January 1777, the Japanese army once again stands at the border with Poland, but in a much better position than six years ago.
Bob: Oooh, can't wait for them to invade Poland!
Jim: Sorry, old boy, but that has to wait until the next episode. However, we have some time to look at the military strength of Japan and the German alliance:
Bob: Japan is doing quite well, I see. While the United Kingdoms still have more troops, the difference is quite small. Besides, Japan is rapidly closing the technological gap in Land tech and have now much more artillery.
Jim: All due to the better strategy that the contestants are now using: attacking in full force and ignore attrition. Want to hear how much of a difference it made?
Bob: You have some statistics?
Jim: I certainly do. At the end of the great retreat, in December 1772. Japan has suffered 170.000 casualties in the Final battle, but the German Alliance had lost 275.000 soldiers.
Bob: That's quite surprising, even during those, ehm, suboptimal three years, the Europeans suffered much more losses.
Jim: But right now, Japan's total losses are 350.000 against 1.300.000 European losses.
Bob: .... You mean that in the last five years, the Japanese armies have killed more than a million enemies? That's amazing!
Jim: I have to agree, Bob. The Final Battle did indeed turn out to be sufficiently epic to feature in Double Domination! See you next time, folks!