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King of Men

Resident Opportunist
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Mar 14, 2002
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ynglingasaga.wordpress.com
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It will end as it began, in the crucible of combat.

The nations of Europe have been forged by war into instruments of terrible power. The ancient kingdoms of Africa and India; the golden cities of the Americas; the nomads of the Russian steppe; all have in their time fought the dominion of Europe, and all have been destroyed in their turn. Only China remains, a wounded dragon struggling to keep its foes at bay. Now a new age of iron and steam power promises to multiply the strength of nations. The subject peoples groan under the yoke as the prospect of successful revolt dwindles. Only in the quarrels of their overlords is there hope for them; and those struggles now have the power to kill men by the hundreds of thousands, in such wars as even Europe's blood-soaked history has not seen.

And what of that troubled continent itself? Its thronging masses have such prosperity as their grandfathers could only dream of; daily its factories churn out such amounts of goods as nations might before have made in a year. But still its rulers are not content. In the cold corridors of power men plot the fate of nations, calculating the weight of armies and guns, ships and shells. Their ancestors have struggled for half a millennium to win the hegemony of Europe, and even were they inclined to heed the voice of sanity, to cease their plans for war and enjoy new-found wealth, that trap of their own making enshrouds them; for who would be the first to lay down his arms, and trust in the goodwill of others?

Europe is a glittering beacon, a powerhouse of wealth and industry, an example to the world - and it is a charnel house of shattered dreams, where widows wail in the wake of broken armies. Only time can show which fate is the truer; whether it will be an Age of Trade - or of Dominion.

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So, we've struggled through Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis. Now we'll be expanding our battles to the industrial age! Nine Powers remain, where once there were many : England, Burgundy, Spain, Norway, Poland, Italy, Byzantium, Persia and China. The question is, can China with its vast population catch up to the established industries of England and Spain? Will Belgium be able to turn its German population into the enormous industrial machine they deserve to be? Can Norway overcome the handicap of small numbers, through high technology? Stay tuned!


Here is Europe after the first session.
Europe1849.jpg

The players should be familiar to those who've followed our game through Europa, but let me give a quick rundown of strengths and weaknesses in Vicky. Norway, as mentioned, has a very small population. However, our literacy is the best in the game, as is our tech base; it may be possible to turn this into a sufficient advantage that Yngling rule will again spread back into Germany, or further over the Americas.

England has Norway's handicap to a rather lesser extent, but at this stage they are not feeling the pinch - hence their First Power status. Coal, iron, colonies, largest navy in the world; not a nation to tangle with. However, they will be in trouble as the need for industrial POPs becomes more pressing; one might expect them to attempt to deal with the threats to their hegemony before that happens. On the other hand, Bob is a peaceable sort of fellow; we may see a more or less historical England, which doesn't fight to stay on top, at least not pre-emptively.

Burgundy (Belgium) on the other hand, with French+German culture, will feel no such pain. Had it been up to me, they'd have felt a gangbang in our alst EU2 session, but that proved impossible to arrange. They'll be a juggernaut once they get their industries properly organised; it is to be hoped that a coalition can deal with them before that happens.

Finally, Spain, second only to England in power and size. They have a new player, Samilou, an experienced Vicky veteran - indeed, it may be that superior skill will prove more decisive in the long run than simple numbers. The rest of us are VIcky noobs, after all! So, three giants; their respective strengths : A good start, a huge population, and skill. And on the outskirts, Norway, always looking for the main chance; patiently awaiting the day when our foes will be weakened, and the berserker hordes let loose to pillage the ruins of a continent.

Poland is at war with China, as is Byzantium; they appear to be winning, at the moment. That should change when China gets its player back; if anyone wants to assert Western superiority by taking command of one of these nations, please feel free. Drop me a PM. :)

SA1849.jpg

South America, divided into Burgundian and Spanish spheres of influence.

NA1849.jpg

North America, with four divisions. Unfortunately I was late in the colonial race due to a crippling lack of explosives; it took me some time to get my factories properly set up. :(

Asia1849.jpg

Asia, where China is not looking as strong as we expected it to be.

Africa1849.jpg

And Africa, off-limits until 1860. Then we should see some scrambling.

As an aside, we need players for Italy, Poland, and Persia. If you wish to play, you are very welcome; the game is at 0600 Pacific time, on Saturdays. That's 0900 Eastern, and 1500 CET. Send me a PM or post in the B&I forums. :)
 
Byzantium. The EU2-Vicky conversion gives it the GRE tag, but it is what's left of the Roman Empire.
 
Hey KoM, I've been kind of following the Great Game since the CK era, and I'm excited to see it in Vicky. Burgundy does look like a powerhouse, but if it gets involced in a two- or three-front war, it will probably crumble. Also, will there be any sort of decolonization in the Americas or will it just continue to get divided up and be fought over?
 
Nice... the map is messy though - bring out the "instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries"!
 
Britain: Safeguards


The government of the United Kingdom in the middle part of the 19th century was little more than a continuation of the policies implemented for the past 300 years. England did not intend to fight wars in Europe against the vast numbers of men the continental powers could mobilise without a very good reason and a continental ally.

Colonial policy saw a more pronounced shift than Domestic. Improving healthcare was the only major reform that the Tory government implemented, reforms being of little importance due to the lack of a democratic system. Letting the commons choose who would run the country was deemed irredeemably stupid and King Humphrey II decided who would run the Empire in his name. In this case the Tories had been empowered due to the Whigs' free trade agenda being detested by the King.

The main shift was the realisation that picking on China whenever the Empire pleased, to shift attention from something, to inspire patriotism, to season troops or just because little else was going on, had to stop. Any war with China would likely be bloody and would have no guarantee of victory as opposed to the walk in the park they had been on the 4 previous occasions.

Defence was emphasised, the Korean border was heavily garrisoned with the largest concentration of troops in the empire in mountain border forts. Even China's massive manpower would be mown down trying to cross that formidable series of defensive positions. A similiar attitude was adopted in india although lack of chokepoints meant that it was slightly more difficult.

These changes in policy were done mostly to offer the greatest possible security to the Jewel of the Empire, Japan.
With the formal annexation of Japan some 200 years ago, and the intergration of the old Imperial Line with the English monarchy Japan had become an intergral and supportive dominion of the Empire. Japanese was an accepted language although it was gradually dying out and Japanese culture was often melded with European styles to converge the two diverse nations.

This momunemtal effort had the benefit of incredible amounts of output of the Empire came from the massive industrial complexes in Toyko, Osaka, Nagasaki and Kyoto.

In America English expansionism met with success as the colonial troops claimed soverignty of much of the Rocky ranges and nearly all of the canadian wilderness. Burgundian expansion into Canada from the West is met with murmurs of discontent however.

Australia became an official dominon during the late 1840's, with only 2 foreign enclaves in the lonely continent. A fully fledged Italian province and a Norweigian coaling station. England of course wished to negotiate the purchase of both.

Industrialisation of the homeland happened at a staggering rate, even the untamed barrens of Wales and Scotland experienced the famously efficient British Rail Network's services much to their delight.

The future looked rosy, but figures in power were not naive enough to believe everyone could be happy with the status quo...


(Is there a AAR reward in vicky?)
 
Ladislav said:
wow! will you then transport it from victoria to hearts of iron?

Yes, probably. It depends on whether there is a single, obviously-dominant Power in 1920.

Jingles said:
Where is Poland at anyways? I may like to play. You are using Pacific time, which is good, for I am in California.

Poland is the Big Green Blob stretching from the Elbe to the Pacific. They should certainly have enough manpower, but may find themselves a little stretched for coal. We would certainly like to have you, but you may want to look again at the time : That's 0600 in the morning. Living in California myself, I'm here to tell you, it's a bit of a bitch. :)

wilcoxchar said:
Burgundy does look like a powerhouse, but if it gets involced in a two- or three-front war, it will probably crumble. Also, will there be any sort of decolonization in the Americas or will it just continue to get divided up and be fought over?

Well, yes; the difficulty would be arranging the two or three fronts. And don't forget that England has been good friends with Burgundy since the latter sent troops to quell the English Deluge, way back in 1310 or so. They even cooperated in the partition of France. So any would-be coalition builder would have to be wary of the Royal Navy.

As for the Americas, decolonisation is for wimps! And besides, Vicky doesn't really model the drives that led to it, or at least not with sufficient force.

das said:
Nice... the map is messy though - bring out the "instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries"!

Well, I would, if only I could get enough explosives to run my factories. :(
 
Yes, the game enters the next phase. I can't wait to see if Vicky will bring about a fundamental power shift or if the rich will get richer while the poor get poorer.

KoM - what's the converter you used to switch from EU2 to Vicky?
 
The EU2Vicky converter linked in the Vicky mod forums. Works pretty well. I'd write my own, but that would be a lot of damn work. ;)
 
Wow, I can't wait to see this game begin, having just read the past hundreds of years or so its hard to tell how this game will start with Spain falling at the end of it. And hopefully you guys will get a full house to play with ya.

I think Britain is in the best position still as it quickly recovered from its gang up and now has India and Japan and Korea under its control I would think along with the largest navy, Britain will be able to control the early game.

Then China who seems to be Russia except larger will pose a threat but I dont know how far back tech wise they are therefore have no clue how thier army will perform against Europeans.

Burgundy has always been iffy when reading the AARs, although it is pronounced a great power it seems to not stand out anywhere really. Its land forces seem to be on par with everyone elses and I dont know of a large navy. But nonetheless with the heart of Germany in thier command I suppose they will be an economic powerhouse, that is if they mind thier own.

Norway, I know little of what they are even though King of Men has the most in depth and quite fantastic AARs. The early tech lead will make the opening years very important in order to secure some large natives to boost MP other then that I'd say the outcome for Norway is up for grabs.

Spain I have no clue I mean they should be fairly rich and able they have some unique RGOs from South America but other then that they seem to have lost the monopoly on important lands in the past war.

Also I was wondering why you guys arent doing Revolutions? someone mentioned that it hurts some nations unfarily, how so?
 
Mr.G 24 said:
Wow, I can't wait to see this game begin, having just read the past hundreds of years or so its hard to tell how this game will start with Spain falling at the end of it. And hopefully you guys will get a full house to play with ya.

I think Britain is in the best position still as it quickly recovered from its gang up and now has India and Japan and Korea under its control I would think along with the largest navy, Britain will be able to control the early game.

Then China who seems to be Russia except larger will pose a threat but I dont know how far back tech wise they are therefore have no clue how thier army will perform against Europeans.

Burgundy has always been iffy when reading the AARs, although it is pronounced a great power it seems to not stand out anywhere really. Its land forces seem to be on par with everyone elses and I dont know of a large navy. But nonetheless with the heart of Germany in thier command I suppose they will be an economic powerhouse, that is if they mind thier own.

Norway, I know little of what they are even though King of Men has the most in depth and quite fantastic AARs. The early tech lead will make the opening years very important in order to secure some large natives to boost MP other then that I'd say the outcome for Norway is up for grabs.

Spain I have no clue I mean they should be fairly rich and able they have some unique RGOs from South America but other then that they seem to have lost the monopoly on important lands in the past war.

Also I was wondering why you guys arent doing Revolutions? someone mentioned that it hurts some nations unfarily, how so?

because not all have bothered to buy revolutions :D (easy question)
 
Norway, I know little of what they are even though King of Men has the most in depth and quite fantastic AARs. The early tech lead will make the opening years very important in order to secure some large natives to boost MP other then that I'd say the outcome for Norway is up for grabs.

Unfortunately, there are few grabbable natives left after 700 years of play; also, we have a rule against promoting non-European POPs to soldiers. (I don't want to see half of India in khaki.) Though come to think of it, perhaps you meant industrial manpower; something might be done there, it's true.

And we're not doing Revolutions because, as was quite correctly pointed out not everybody has it. :)

AI China seems to be losing its war with AI Poland+Byz, so it can't be that far ahead, tech-wise. Still, it does have those unlimited reserves of manpower; a human at the helm should be able to do much better, simply by virtue of smothering the enemy in bodies.
 
It's seems that China would be the natural ally against Brittain since most of brittains colonys would be nice additions to the chinese empire... :eek: looking forward to the first great rumbel betwen the powers. Go Norway!!!
 
Yes, well, let's see China build a navy, first. Bob has fortified Korea and India; especially the former is easy to defend anyway, what with the mountains and jungles. Unless he has a navy to outflank those defenses and threaten Japan, I don't think China will want to fight the English.
 
Is Byzantium open?
 
Not really. Skarion has asked to play it; he had connection troubles this Saturday, but expected to fix them for the next session. Then, even if that fails, another player has stated his interest in playing Byz. (I suppose it's a rare opportunity for a Byz fanboy to play it in Vicky. ;) ) So, you're third in the queue. You are exceedingly welcome to take Persia, though, if you like. :)
 
King of Men said:
Not really. Skarion has asked to play it; he had connection troubles this Saturday, but expected to fix them for the next session. Then, even if that fails, another player has stated his interest in playing Byz. (I suppose it's a rare opportunity for a Byz fanboy to play it in Vicky. ;) ) So, you're third in the queue. You are exceedingly welcome to take Persia, though, if you like. :)
I will take Persia. Are you playing with the 1.04 patch?
 
Wonderful! If everybody who has said they'll take a nation actually shows, we'll have a full roster! This is great! We play with 1.04, right enough, plus extras linked here, where you can also find the latest save if you want to take a look around. In fact, let me just update my sig while I'm at it.