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You may want to count the number of regiments, not the current army, for this one.

By # of regiments Novgorod is ahead of Bavaria, 260 to 253.
 
And yet, your tech speed (according to that particular stats generator; I have a thing or two to say about the way it seems to calculate things) is about half Bavaria's. Go you.

Lower is better.

Income has nothing to do with technology cost, just size and technology group.

Income has everyone to do with tech speed. The more research-usable income you have, the quicker you tech.

For the good I imagine ^_^

Nope.
 
Income has everyone to do with tech speed. The more research-usable income you have, the quicker you tech.

Okay, everyone knows that. Income still has nothing to do with technology cost. A giant nation of rich provinces still pays the same for a tech as giant nation of poor provinces. It only pays it faster.

Qin is relatively small so it has the lowest tech cost but not the fastest tech speed.
 
Wow, those videos Sid has posted has totally blown my internal visions of Sid.

Oh, just wait untill they come get him, the first good west-vs-blayne war will most likely show everyone the true Blayne and I do hope it would be recorded in his videos as well for the future generations ;)
(and what would be best way to start it to have him DoWed during his usuall undeclared AFK moments :D:D:D)
 
Oh, just wait untill they come get him, the first good west-vs-blayne war will most likely show everyone the true Blayne and I do hope it would be recorded in his videos as well for the future generations ;)
(and what would be best way to start it to have him DoWed during his usuall undeclared AFK moments :D:D:D)

You mean he will cry and sell out his allies?
 
A Number of Observations on the Foremost Countries of the World, AD 1514

Good day to you, one and all. I would like to give a bit more of an in-depth look at the most important nations of our game. Maps are nice and good, but fortune is a fickle and changeable dame, and just the numbers will not necessarily tell you much about the actual strategic situation of a nation. Much of what I will be saying will be more or less common knowledge to all players - yet I hope it may bring some enlightenment to all.

I did some thinking about which measure would best reflect a nation's power: number of provinces, army, income, manpower all come to mind; in the end, I think income, though mercurial due to the major influence of trade, is a rather good indicator of a nation's potential. So, without further ado, the foremost nations of the world, sorted by yearly income.

BAVARIA (played by Fivoin; income: 8145.6)
Once a poor Saxon duchy, now the richest nation in the world. Bavaria owes its current station due to several things. The Bavarian culture is large and wide-spread, a result of consistent performance in the CK leg. Germany, in EU3, consists of a great many small provinces: this means more base tax for a smaller land area, benefiting Bavaria. The trade goods produced in Germany are the best in Europe: a majority of Iron and Cloth, very little wool (that scourge of the Castilian plain), only a modest amount of Grain and quite a bit of the decent Salt, Fish and Wine. So much for its fixed wealth; most of the 8k income, however, comes from trade. While Germany looks like a patchwork on the map, that is a strength rather than a drawback: in Divine Wind, nations in your Sphere of Influence give Magistrates (.05 each), arguably the limiting factor to all nations' development, so having many OPM vassals is a Good Thing. All in all, Bavaria's base is solid; most of its wealth is in a compact agglomeration, with decent defensive terrain. It may lack definite natural borders, but makes up for it in compactness, a rather big army (some 250 regiments), oodles of manpower, and a possible specialization in Land. As long as they manage their diplomacy well, and Fivoin certainly looks like he is capable of that, the Bavarian future continues to look bright.

CATALUNYA (played by yours truly; income 8077.6)
Like Bavaria, most of Catalunya's income derives from peaceful trade. Long I have proclaimed to want to play a peaceful, colonizing game, and now that looks like it's beginning to pay off. In the DG auction, I bagged one of the few ideas that give Trade Efficiency; that, coupled with a general trading focus, allowed me to do rather well at trade once my Infamy from pre-empting the Incas and doing some stupid shit with vassalizing a minor wore off. About half my income is trade. Strategically, my situation is less straightforward than Bavaria's. Fivoin can specialize in Land; I have no such luxury. I haven't quite decided whether I want to be a naval or a land nation; for now, I can still do slider moves to other useful things, sitting in the middle of the Land-Naval slider. Most of my fixed wealth derives from my European holdings; Barcelona is the richest province in the world, I produce lots of lucrative Wine and quite a bit of Iron, I have decent base tax and Cosmopolitaine accepted. However, I can't properly extract my colonies' wealth without a navy and good Tariffs. Quandary, unlike England, which has the benefit of being on an island.

ENGLAND (played by Gollevainen; income 3989.5)
England is in a situation similar to Catalunya. The salient differences are that England's European possessions are poorer and safer, being either an island or Scandinavia: double safety; less interesting to grab, and harder to grab as well. England's main route of expansion is in Northern North America, basically the same path as KoM in the previous Great Game. As long as Golle doesn't meet with some unfortunate combination of circumstances he should be golden.


CROATIA (played by OrangeYoshi, supplemented by MadBugger; income 3678.2)
The last of the Western European Quartet, Croatia made an early dash for Free Trade but its less-than-stellar provinces are catching up with it. It is in an awkward position, even compared to Catalunya: all its neighbours are big and powerful, and it needs to focus on Land for defense while its best chances of expansion lie overseas. It is the long-time friend or at least buffer of Russia: I haven't seen a Croatian raise arms against a Russian since joining - which was one session after OY joined. As well he should: if he antagonizes the Russians, his days are numbered, because he certainly has been antagonizing the Persians, and I get the feeling the Bavarians aren't too hot on him either. At any rate, the Western European system of NAP/DA's will hold up for a while more, but Croatia is more dependent on the Russians than strictly healthy.

ETHIOPIA (played by IrshFaq; income 3549.0)
The first of the Mohicans, the Ethiopians are on to something: peace is the key to prosperity, unless you're winning. Their land is not too rich, but they've got a lot of them: only Catalunya with its extensive colonies and Bavaria with gazillions of little places in Germany AND colonies have more. What's more, much of the land is on a coastal strip, allowing Ethiopia a decent navy, which he put to good use. Irsh made deals of peace and prosperity with his neighbours and went out and conquered some less fortunate (or able!) RotW'ers. Watch this spot, people. It may be that great things start happening here.

KONGO (played by Fasquardon; income 3314.6)
Interesting: both the two best-performing RotW'ers are African. Fasq is a veteran, of course, so we expected great things; surely, this intra-African cooperation is working out great for all those involved. It turns out there are quite many provinces in Africa. I, for one, am interested in seeing what Fasq plans on doing in the long run, since unlike Ethiopia, he hasn't focused on naval matters.

NOVGOROD (played by von Rundstedt; income 3041.2)
It is said that Prussia was an army that had a country; it is much the same with vR's Novgorod. While not a top dog in terms of economy (indeed, Russia is the only nation to willingly embrace Mercantilism), Novgorod is unapologetic about being a land power. Additionally, its mercantilism allows it to deal with Infamy better than other nations. The world's great fear is that when Russia's armies are unleashed the land will tremble and be swallowed up by the Great Green Blob. For now, that risk is somewhat remote, as it still has a fair number of powerful enemies that can defeat it if they so choose. Their recent claim to fame is the bloodless reconquest of the Caucasus, since Persia was wise in thinking Russia makes a better ally than opponent.

MALAYA (played by Elcyion; income 2881.3)
Malaya's income is not representative; it wasn't really played, last session, and so its trade, its life's blood, was mismanaged. Malaya is usually at about England's level. It rules the rich Emerald Belt of Indonesia, in addition to a significant and gold-rich chunk of South America. Together with Croatia, it got on the Free Trade boat early, but now its limited platform of support starts telling. Malaya is unapologetically naval, which is well-understandable. It is also one of the first nations to westernize.

USA (played by Dano; income 2692.9)
Who ever said cooperating with the Europeans was a bad idea? Having accepted the tender mercies of the Catalunyans, which actually turned out to be rather merciful, Dano is doing just fine in his not-so-little corner of the Americas. He only has to accept one Asian as his superior, and can actually claim to outperform several CK players! Surely, being at peace helped considerably in this regard, and the way things are going now it looks like Maya can effectively remain at peace for a considerable time - all that's needed is peace in America.

TIBET (played by Anders; income 2679.5)
The best mainland Asian, Tibet, like the other mainland Asians, suffer from a lack of safe borders. Tibet has it better than most; he, at least, has the Himalayas and the Gobi Desert as a shield. He is also a heavy trader, which helps him quite a bit.


QIN (played by Blayne; income 2375.3)
China. He can defame himself; I don't need to.

MONGOL KHANATE (played by King of Men; income 2095.8)
The last nation to have an income over 2000.

TRIPOLI (played by Ike; income 1956.7)

PERSIA (played by Frosty; income 1623.8)

JAPAN (played by Chogquir; income 1589.0)

QUEBEC (played by Falador; income 1256.1)

GUJARAT (played by Suirantes; income 1100.8)

BENGAL (Fate uncertain; income 1099.7)

PUNJAB (played by Carbonater; income 1067.0)

KHMER (played by Tercermundista; income 1006.3)

Fun fact: the next one in the list, not a player slot, is Norway (an English vassal) at 401.5 - all player slots are > 1000.

AAR reward: 3 colonists
 
I foresee a partitioning of Tripoli by Kongo and Ethiopia. Probably not in one war, but eventually. Eventually...
 
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