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unmerged(90623)

Second Lieutenant
3 Badges
Jan 8, 2008
132
0
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Divine Wind
  • Heir to the Throne
On maternity leave and need to do something usefull, so I'll start an AAR.
The idea in this AAR is to conquer the world with England/GB without breaking the Infamy limit. All credits to kebZero for the challenge and to PrawnStar for almost pulling it off. This AAR is played in HTTT patch 4.1f, normal difficulty and standard settings and it will be a minimalistic gameplay AAR.

House rules:
No PU, Diplo vassalizing, diplo-annexing - Rule by the sword!
No island trapping of enemy armies
No cute kittens!!

Gameplan:
The starting gameplan is stolen from Naggy's combat tutorial: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487345
Other than that we want Portugal landlocked ASAP. The rest of the general plan is identical to Prawnstars: take our cores in Europe, whack the colonizers, wage holy wars in North Africa -> Arabia -> Asia. I will spread out a little more, though, to maximize the chances of Boundary disputes

The initial setup:

Married and allied to Portugal. When they don't answer Call to Arms, I'll come knocking, as they need to be off the coast line ASAP.
And I got a few cores near Calais. More impotantly, I'm member of the Hansaetic League.

ve1vna.jpg


jv19ah.jpg


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Crap King and a slightly better heir almost ready to take the throne. And no diplomats avaible yet. Every coin is thrown at Goverment tech, and this trend will dominate most of this AAR, alternating with land techs.

20j61s4.jpg


Sliders: The starting move is towards centralisation which gives 8 regiments of rebels in Gloustershire.

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I reduce navy maintance for now. I will start paying the sailors when I need their services. As the army march towards Gloustershire I recruit more troops up north.


Chapter 1: The rise of a greater Britain

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1399 Oct: The first step is to grab Scotland, the mission require relation below 50, so an Insult is issued.

Nov: Scotland is insulted again and our mission is cancelled:

znlm2u.jpg


Dec: War of Conquest is declared on Scotland. They get France and Burgundy on their side and I get Portugal. I still chase rebels, but now Scotland will invade my territory causing less WE for me when I get to fight them.

j5z2a1.jpg


1400 Oct: We are slowly completing sieges. The 14th gives a 2 3* and a 2* diplomat for at total of 8* and a BB burn of 0,8/year. With no fighting going on we change our cavalry to Latin Knights.

1401 Sep: Stability reaches +2.

Nov: We Introduce Heir for the prestige.

1402 Feb: Finally we control Scotland and annexes for 12BB. God wants us to Occupy Paris and we obey. We wait while building another stack and our man power pool recovers.

11udwqx.jpg


1403 Feb: Sending 36 regiments to assault Paris did the trick. God wants us to conquer Ireland. We will reconquer it after forming GB.

Mar: We declare war on Provence, joined by Naples, Bohemia, Ferrara and Sicily. Portugal leaves me alone :rolleyes:. I also declares war on Orleanais and Berry and nobody joins.

Apr: I declare war on Portugal before they get more allies than Aragon, which comes to their aid.

Jun: Peace with France for their treasury and cores.

14b6ngi.jpg


1404 Jan: Berry annexed.

Feb: Orleanais, Anjou and Maine are added to our realm.

1406 Mar: We add the three portoguese provinces we wanted for 12BB and WP Aragon. BB is 20,2 and WE is 6,31. WE cool down till june 1408, when the current truce expire and France and Burgundy are up for the second round.

2urtrv8.jpg


Apr: We leave the Hanseatic League and build a COT in London. We warn Portugal.

May: We rejoin the Hanseatic League, fortunately our trade offices did not close. Do anyone know when they do, as I can't seem to identify the conditions?

1407 May: Goverment 4 is reached, the national bank is established. Switch to stability.

Dec: Stability is up to +2. We form the Great Britain and switch to Empire. Then the ritual save and reload is performed.


My bad for the few screenshots, things got a little confused at times :wacko: Next chapter will focus on our european consolidation. Comments are welcome, even though I have played somewhat ahead so tactical advice may not be used, but will be discussed.
 
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Great to see an AAR of this kind! I'll definitely follow, the start was entertaining.

Could you make sure that we can see your BB score and the limit? It would be fun to follow as it's so important in this concept. :)

May: We rejoin the Hanseatic League, fortunately our trade offices did not close. Do anyone know when they do, as I can't seem to identify the conditions?

The event that causes all of them to close if you have any but aren't in the league has a MTTH of one month. You were quick enough to re-join that you had a decent chance of it not firing, and fortunately it didn't.
 
Sounds like an interesting challenge ;)

*Subscribes*

EDIT: Not sure about that third house rule :mad:;)
 
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Can't resist an AAR that aims to turn the whole map red! Between this and Chris Taylor's history-book effort I'm getting my fix of flag-waving jingoism.

I do find it shocking how quickly England can conquer at the beginning of the game. I actually gave up my last playthrough having won the Hundred Year's War as I wasn't really sure what to do after crushing France. You don't seem to have that problem however. Good luck!
 
Nice to see a new epic challenge like aar, what happens if a dead king puts you over the bb limit?

I won't :) Prawnstar played on very hard and thus had a very low BB limit, which forced him to be near it frequently. On Normal I got enough room to maneuver.

Great!!
Nice aggressive start, i'll follow this

Thanks. Aggressiveness is key, I want France down and a substantial presence on the continent, before I move on.

Great to see an AAR of this kind! I'll definitely follow, the start was entertaining.

Could you make sure that we can see your BB score and the limit? It would be fun to follow as it's so important in this concept. :)

I don't have any screenshot of the BB limit, but it is 25 + diplomacy rating of my ruler, so 28-35. It is also mostly irrelevant as I won't get that high very often and I will mention if it happens. Bad boy and WE will be reported after most wars, often with the BB burn rate as well.

Ambitious and brilliant idea.

You can be certain that I'll be following!

Thanks. And agree about the brilliancy of the idea, too bad it wasn't mine :rolleyes:

Best of luck. Become addicted to under BB conquest games myself as France or Ottomans. Thre alot of fun.

Tried these two also. France is hard pressed stopping Portugal from getting to the Azores with the weak HttT start. Ottomans are fun, but the wall'o' muslim to the east and in N.Africa makes it hard. Perhaps in DW where most of the other muslims are colonisable hordes?

Sounds like an interesting challenge ;)

*Subscribes*

EDIT: Not sure about that third house rule :mad:;)

With 3 sub-3-years old children, cittens would be a challenge :D

Can't resist an AAR that aims to turn the whole map red! Between this and Chris Taylor's history-book effort I'm getting my fix of flag-waving jingoism.

I do find it shocking how quickly England can conquer at the beginning of the game. I actually gave up my last playthrough having won the Hundred Year's War as I wasn't really sure what to do after crushing France. You don't seem to have that problem however. Good luck!

I look forward to see if they toned down the 'Occupy Paris' mission in DW or if it 'just' the beefing up of Scotland and France seen in the forum. But yeah, you gotta have an ambitious long term goal with GB, otherwise it gets dull.

Gottta love WC, especially with a twist. This makes me want to start my own.

DO IT! :)
 
Chapter 2: Expanding an empire

Chapter 2: Expanding an empire

1407 Dec: War is declared on Ireland to remove our mission. Everyone is guaranteed by Brittany who joins Tyrone.

1408 Jul: Connacht annexed.

Aug: Munster annexed.

Nov: Leinster annexed.

1409 Feb: Tyrone annexed and WP with Brittany. Troops are shipped to France. Our new mission is nice: Get a war with Castille to get a core on Andalusia.

Apr: War is declared on the frogs, only allies are the french minions. Initial lineup:

2hqw2ev.jpg


Oct: France is nigh defeated. Stability 0 is reached.

1411 Feb: My 2* diplomat is replaced by a 5* generated from prestige with Endorse Culture.

Apr: Heir falls ill and dies. King is withdrawn from figthing actions!

May: A move towards free subjects cost us a level of stability. Peace with France returns our cores, bar Paris to our realm without any BB. BB is 15.1 and WE is 3.30. MA with Burgundy is cancelled.

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Jun: War is declared on Burgundy. Bohemia, Brittany, Savoy and Hesse join.

Sep: A united Bohemia-Lithaunia, yeppia!

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Dec: Stability 0 is reached.

1412 Apr: Without figthing anything larger than 1000 soldiers at a time, we get a peace with Burgundy handing over our cores: Picardie, Cambray and Nevers. I hope the updated combat AI in DW will handle large fronts better than sieging with 2 doomstacks and letting the enemy retake the sieges and kill the reinforcements and siege for themselves. I concede defeat to get rid of Bohemia as my test game showed that HRE is really persistent. We amass troops in Portugal to invade North Africa.

ri8aoy.jpg



Short update I know, but that conclude Europe for the time being. Next thing is Africa!
 
Good progress. So, were you able to beat the Iberians to North Africa or is there some presence already?

That HRE Bohemia-Lithuania should make things interesting in the long run. :D

And I wouldn't call the update too short, a lot happened after all.
 
The PU is really interesting. As HRE Bohemia should have forcelimit enough to keep the whole thing together until it inherits. That would make for a big blob in Eastern Europe, which would make taking chunks out of the HRE all the more exciting.

Nice to see it's only taken you 12 years to isolate Paris. The war with Burgundy was well done, but if what I'm reading about DW is correct then we'll not be able to pull off that kind of thing so easily in future. Apparently the new AI is more prone to hunting down armies rather than standing about sieging.
 
Even without the same goal as PrawnStar, the writing style is nearly identical I think. I'll be watching this :)

<PrawnStar>
Hey
There's no rules today.
You steal instead of borrow.
You take all the shapes that I make.
And you think
That you thought
All the thoughts
That I thought you,
Don't you?
Mutilation's the most
Sincere form of flattery
.

</PrawnStar>

And a few assorted lines from the lyric:
The young get less bolder, the legends get older
You know that I play this better than you.
Rebels without applause
:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I am a great fan of PrawnStAAR, and I am glad it shows.

Good progress. So, were you able to beat the Iberians to North Africa or is there some presence already?

That HRE Bohemia-Lithuania should make things interesting in the long run. :D

And I wouldn't call the update too short, a lot happened after all.

Wait and see about North Africa :) Any comment on the PU will reveal too much. And glad you didn't think the update shortchanged you.

The PU is really interesting. As HRE Bohemia should have forcelimit enough to keep the whole thing together until it inherits. That would make for a big blob in Eastern Europe, which would make taking chunks out of the HRE all the more exciting.

Nice to see it's only taken you 12 years to isolate Paris. The war with Burgundy was well done, but if what I'm reading about DW is correct then we'll not be able to pull off that kind of thing so easily in future. Apparently the new AI is more prone to hunting down armies rather than standing about sieging.

HRE is hard in most configurations. Especially since fighting them pre-1650 will be over a few cores or saving catholics from heretics, using a fraction of my armies (the european rebel hunter stack) against large alliances.

I like that they improved the warfare AI and look forward to see it in action. I hope that the change is balanced, but fear the AI now will go 'all in' chasing a small stack into my territory, where it will meet a few of my doomstacks. France is laughable in HttT :(


And to all: Comment, ask questions, participate, advise me, make wild guesses on how many provinces/BB I will be short by!
 
Chapter 3: Another time, another continent - and Iberia!

1412 Oct: War is declared on Morrocco. Mamelukes joins as DotF.

Nov: A saint performs a miracle bring us to +1 stability, we switch to land.

Dec: A 5* diplomat from cultural tradition replaces a 3*.

1413 Sep: With the war almost over, Castille ask us for help, as Aragon and Portugal attacked them, so I join to take Algarve. Algarve is sieged by Castille before I can move troops in from Africa, but that's is actually great if they take the province, as I then can take Lisboa, leaving them without coastal provinces.

2n0n1u8.jpg


1414 Jul: A 6/7/8 heir with an average claim is born. We take all provinces surrounding Marrakesh in the peace deal, so in the next war we can take their capital and leave them with Berber cultured provinces only, which will defect to Algiers. BB is up to 18,7. Next on the wish list is Algarve/Lisboa and Tunisia as I fear Algier may loose it.

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Oct: The last initial diplomat, a 3* is replaced with a 6*, for a total BB decrease of 1.3BB/year. Rio de Oro is discovered, but outta reach. Castille control Algarve and I control the rest of Portugal.

1415 Jul: Land tech 4 is reached

1416 May: War of reconquest is declared on France. Auvergne and Liege join. Mainland Aragon is Castilian occupied.

1417 Mar: Peace with France gives Paris and removes a few cores. I realise the reason Castille keeps the war going is the mediteranian isles. I don't want Castille to have them (explained later) so I rush to siege them.

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Jun: Tuat is discovered but outta range.

1418 Jul: I get a Boundary dispute on Hainault.

Sep: Algier and Morrocco starts figthing.

Nov: To save Morrocco at least one non capital province we declare war on Algier. Ottomans joins as DotF.

Dec: Algiers leaves with only Atlas, phew.

1419 Jan: Castille controls Balears as the last province. :(

May: We build a Glorius Monument in London and move focus to Marches for another one in Gloustershire.

Jul: Holy war is declared on Morrocco.

Aug: I control Morrocco and have destroyed their armies, but I will wait for max WE before I sign a peace. Mamelukes annexes Tripoli.

Sep: A boundary dispute gives me a core on Badajoz. If Castille does not end the war soon, I will declare war on them.

1420 Jan: Bohemia inherits Lithuania! Luckily it's just a few disconnected provinces. Lithuania has a bad startup in HttT.

2ijg7d3.jpg


Jul: We declare war of reconquest on Castille. Hope is that they will take Algarve and a chunk of mainland Aragon. Avignon joins Castille and I complete my mission getting a core on Badajoz (again :)). God wants us to befriend Armagnac and we decline. Then to vassalize Armagnac for -2BB. We take as much of Algiers as possible and leave. BB is now 17,9 and WE is 0,69.

2zjjmg6.jpg


Sep: Sardinia defects to us for 1BB, taken! Armagnac is allied to Foix, Aragon and Portugal and we are warned by Toulouse, only Toulouse joins.

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1421 Feb: We vassalize Armagnac for -2BB. God now wants us to befriend France :eek: Morrocco got max WE, so we take Marrakech.

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Oct: Land tech 5 and new infantry. We 'll switch ASAP. Focus on Goverment tech.

1422 May: Goverment tech 5.

1423 Jan: Glorious monument built in Gloustershire.

Mar: Castille make peace with Aragon for Valencia, so we will have to take Algarve ourselves.

Apr: A move towards free subjects removes 2 inflation.

Aug: Algarve is ours and peace is made with Aragon taking what they got. I sponsor nationalist rebels in Granada.

2zjjmg6.jpg

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1425 Jan: Morocco is gone, defected to Algiers. Unless Algiers ally with an enemy of mine to the east, they will be my BB-bank for whenever I am low on BB.

Jul: A boundary dispute on Armor. Brittany is allied to Burgundy though.

Aug: We cancel our mission and get to vassalize Portugal. Both usefull for the BB reduction but also for the CB to take Lisboa.

1426 Sep: The king dies leaving us with a 4/4/5 regency for the next 3 years. This will let my WE of 4.51 cool off before invading Egypt. I notice that Netherlands has formed, I'll have to watch them least they start colonising. I see the rebels haven taken Granada and Gibraltar, but not sieging anything else, and guess that the Granadian rebels will only free muslim provinces as they was sponsored in one. I hope Granada break free soon.

2a2mj4.jpg


1427 Mar: Granada breaks free. I help them siege and let castillian patriots free the provinces I control.

Dec: Production tech 4.

1428 Jan: Naval tech 4.

Apr: Fez emerges in Ceuta :mad: I will have to help Algier conquer them, when I get a king.

May: Trade 4. Iberia is a mess: Portugal, Aragon and Provence is in a war versus Castille, Burgundy and Avignon.

Jul: The king is crowned, with a 2 year old 5/4/5 heir with a strong claim.. Armies starts moving... We declare war on Portugal to take Lisboa and subjugate them, Brittany, Aragon and Foix join Portugal.

Nov: Goverment tech 6, switch to production tech. Aragon and Castille WP.

1430 May: We take Lisboa from Portugal and vassalise. God wants us to improve relations with Burgundy. That's 300 relation point with 20 ducats per gift, so we will cancel at first opportunity.

e5ieci.jpg


1431 Apr: We get MA from Algiers to crush Fez' army, while Algiers siege Ceuta. War is declared on Fez. Mamelukes are DotF and we cannot wait out a truce with them, so we declare a holy war on Mamelukes as well, which Golden Horde and Kazakh join.

Jun: WP with Aragon after they liberated some Castillian provinces from my control to Granada to siege.

Jul: Algiers annex Fez, phew!

1432 Jul: We remember to cancel mission, get to save Fez from rebels. We get no new mission when accomplished.

1433 Aug: Government tech 7. Even though we are 7 years ahead we press forward to get another NI and Noble republic.

Dec: Ottomans peaces with Mamelukes for Syria bar Aleppo.

1434 May: Mamelukes get a peace yielding 2 provinces from Adal. We march upon those new provinces. Finally there are no more free provinces in Castille. I control 7 and to open them for Granadian sieges, I peace Castille for Badajoz and their treasury. Hopefully they will be bankrupt due to their navy soon, to help Granada. I keep a stack within Castille to help against Navarran and Galician Nationalist rebels. As I do it without MA from Castille I can also fight nationalist Castillian rebels.

2roiyx1.jpg


1435 Jan: Finally we get a mission: To befriend Auvergne, bwah. We will cancel ASAP.

Aug: Mamelukes had conquered quite a few provinces in the south, which were TI to me. After mapping them out I found out I cannot take it all :-( I take Tripoli and the southern Egyptian provinces to prevent revolters. BB rises to 13,4 and WE is 3.60. Fort building are begun in southern Egypt and Sudan.

5dpe0i.jpg


1436 Jul: A move towards Free subjects lower stability to +1. Forgot to note its rise to +2 :rolleyes:

1437 Mar: We declare holy war on Adal, joined by Ottoman, Swahili and Najd. We notice that Otoman Corsica is controlled by Novgorod.

Jun: Burgundy cancels our mission by annexing Auvergne. We are now to save Cyrenaica from rebels.

Jul: Mission completed. Now to befriend Burgundy; no way. Changed to save Oran from rebels.

Sep: Saved Oran and are now off to get a RM with Norway.

Oct: RM with Norway giving -1BB. No new mission given.

Dec: Persia have colonised Majerteen, so I sponsor the natives. They destroy the colony.

1438 Jan: Ottoman invade Sardinia, so I get the mission to save it. Off we sail.

Apr: Saved. All this saving stuff has removed our WE :)

Jul: Befriend Burgundy, damn! Granada annexes Castille :cool: That would have been impossible had Castille got any mediteranian isles.
 
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<PrawnStar>
Hey
There's no rules today.
You steal instead of borrow.
You take all the shapes that I make.
And you think
That you thought
All the thoughts
That I thought you,
Don't you?
Mutilation's the most
Sincere form of flattery
.

</PrawnStar>

And a few assorted lines from the lyric:
The young get less bolder, the legends get older
You know that I play this better than you.
Rebels without applause
:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I am a great fan of PrawnStAAR, and I am glad it shows.

I am not worthy :rofl:

Some nice work there in that update making very good headway in crippling the colonisers and pushing into low BB Muslim territory. Granada should be less of a colonial threat than Castile but if they're Sunni they shouldn't last long enough. That trick wth Morocco rings a bell, must have seen it somewhere else ;)

Any chance of a political map of Iberia?
 
Excellent playing, the Granada engineering in particular.