Chapter 4: Preparing for the Scramble
Chapter 4: Preparing for the Scramble
Welcome back, everybody! I've been able to get in a lot more Vic2 time lately, can't promise that this pace will continue, but let's enjoy it while we can, shall we
?
When we left Denmark, it was
1850, and I am slowly trying to overcome having one of my few home provinces taken away by Austria. Grrr.....
Portugese Persist Profitlessly
It doesn't take long for war to break out again, as in
July 1850 Portugal DOWs me again, trying again to take 'Ulundi' (Zululand) from me. Portugal doesn't scare me, but their allies, Prussia and Sweden, do. Luckily, Prussia bails on the Portugese (whew!). Less luckily, Sweden does not.
While I am far too weak to attack Sweden, I do have, thankfully, enough of a navy left that I can keep them from walking into Copenhagen.
On the land front, as last time, the crucial battle happens almost immediately, as the sole Portugese force attacks mine:
Having a 'strange debutante' lead your armies is not such a wise move
, and I win. The rest of the war proceeds in a less interesting, but positive fashion, as I once again conquer my way up the east coast of Africa. I make a mistake when, in
December 1851, Portugal white-peaces out. I should have thought to add a wargoal, but just forgot - I promise myself not to repeat this mistake next time.
It's better to be lucky than clever
Towards the end of last session, I had decided to take a bit of a 'luxury' investment in Technology, going for 'State and Government', a level 3 Cultural tech which would let me switch to a consitutional monarchy, mainly because I like the Victoria2 political system, and actually understand it
- see my
magnum opus on the subject.
This turns out, to my surprise, to actually have been a clever move, as one of the prerequisites ((1) below) for this maneuver is to have CON <= 3, and when I get this tech it's at 2.87 and climbing ((2) below)! I lucked out - I go ahead and make the switch, getting the effects shown in (3):
Speaking of Technology...
Normally I don't really talk about which technologies I pursue, as with rare exceptions it's kinda boring and breaks the narrative flow. Except for certain special occasions - like this! The 'special occasion' is that I am pointing Denmark towards the 'Scramble for Africa', and so I sit down for a few minutes and plan out a Technology battle plan. My plan has to achieve 4 goals:
(1) let me colonize Africa as soon as possible
(2) While keeping (or even adding to) my research advantage
(3) while investing in enough Army and Navy tech that I can deter attacks,
(4) while investing in enough Industry that I have some money to do/build things!
A hard balancing act. The way I go about it is to look at the technologies that are 'must haves', and decide them into 3 groups - ones I can't research until 1870, ones I can't research into 1860, and everything else. The list winds up looking like this, where the number after a tech is its level (1 is easiest, 6 is hardest)
1870 -
Machine Guns(4) -- need for colonization
1860 -
Empricism(3) (+50% to RP),
Iron Steamer(3) (gives ironclads/monitors)
other/pre-requisites
Nationalism and Imperialism (4) -- need for colonization
Breech-loaded rifles(3) -- need for colonization
Steamer(2) -- need for Iron Steamer
Mechanical production(2) - need some industry
To make a long story short, I wind up, in this session, hitting these technologies, with enough room to spare that I also invest in the tech (positivism) that helps Educational Efficiency (it's all about the RP), early railroad, and, my one nod to commerce, the one that increases tax efficiency (might have been a waste). My research continues in full roar, I can knock off L2 techs in about 18 months - a nice change from playing Persia!
Two notable accomplishments are:
In
1862, I get Monitors, and start slowly upgrading my fleet - out with the men-of-war, in with the Monitors. Out with the clipper transports, in with the steam transports. Out with the frigates, in with the commerce raiders. The net effect is that by the end of this session, my navy has only grown by maybe 50% in size, but far more than that in power.
Also in
1862, I get a whopping 40 Prestige points from inventions unlocked by Empiricism - that RP-enhancing brance of the Culture tree is very, very nice!
Diplomacy
On the diplomatic quest, I spend this entire session engaged in a fruitless attempt to move Sweden into my SOI - every time I get near 50 influence, Russia knocks me down. Sigh.
I engage in the same game with the Netherlands, but with a slight twist. For some reason, France (my tug-of-war opponent for the Netherlands) takes it eye off the ball, and in
1868, after 20 years of effort, they briefly enter my SOI! Gives me hope for Sweden. It doesn't last that long, as we'll see below, but it's nice while it lasts.
Prussia almost does something
A head-scratcher in this game has been that Prussia has been totally inert. Things change a little bit when in
1854 France DOWs Prussia. They wind up not doing much, and white-peace out in
1856, but it has several advantages for me. First, as part of the war maneuverings, both Sweden and France ask me for military access, which I grant - this will make it harder for them to DOW me in the future.
Second, about a year after the war ends, Prussia asks me to ally with them! They don't have to ask twice! I wrap the Prussian security blank snugly about me - for a bit...
Now, THAT's a fleet
I had been getting all proud about increasing my navy from 9 ships to 10 when the main French war fleet strolls by on its way back from the Prussian war - Gulp:
Bullying Oman
We're now all the way up to
1859, and my infamy is now low enough, and my armed forces strengthened enough, that I start casting my eye about. Way back when, I had mentioned that there are only 2 non-GP footholds on the coast of Africa - Zululand (which I grabbed), and Omani Somaliland (which I didn't). I decide that it's time to remedy this, and I DOW Oman - the war is a cakewalk (I don't think I ever see an Omani soldier), and by
July 1859 I have my second foothold on the coast of Africa:
I immediately start building a naval base there, again looking forwards to the 'scramble for Africa'
the Eye of Sauron falls on ... the USA
The UK is so over-powered in this game that I think about it like the 'Eye of Sauron' in the Lord of the Rings - a nearly omnipotent force that you just pray will fall elsewhere. For some reason, in this game it falls on the USA, and in two wars thrashes it, taking American New England in the first, and New York in the second! And that's not all - check it out:
(1) and (2) are New England and New York, now British
(3) is the CSA, alive and well
(4) is Mexico, which has retaken Texas, and never lost the West.
(5) is Russia, which has gotten into the act, taking Oregon and Idaho.
This incredible fail puts the USA all the way down to 5th place. Wow. Wouldn't it be something if Denmark could beat the USA? Hey, a badger can dream
Portugese Punishment
So here we are, all the way up to
1868, when decades of effort pay off, and the Netherlands allies with me. It turns out they have quite the glittering set of allies - check it out:
from left to right, that's the UK, Russia, Austria, Denmark, Spain, and I-don't-know-who. 4 GPs - impressive!
This becomes particularly useful as the very next month, Portugal DOWs me for the 3rd time, once again seeking Ulundi. Like the Netherlands, Portugal again has an all-star cast of allies, but thankfully every one of them declines this time. The only slight bummer is that Prussia was allied with both of us, and breaks with both of us - no more security blanket for me
This time I wage the war correctly. First of all, my armed forces (when augmented with the Dutch!) are now much stronger than the Portugese, and we are able to blockade the Portugese coast - blockading a capital moves you war score
way up:
This grab also shows my spanking modern navy.
Secondly, as I once again chew my way through Portugese east africa, this time I add a wargoal - Lorenco Marques, their southernmost province.
No more GP for me!
Sadly, I lose my GP status in
December 1868, while fighting this war. Drat. While I am doing swimmingly in Prestige, and decently in military, my lack of industry is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
Lorenco Marques for me
Other than losing GP status, the war goes extremely well, and in
July 1869 Lorenco Marques ((1) below) moves from Portugese to Danish ownership:
This turns out to be a particularly yummy treat, as
(a) the Portugese had kindly put in Level 3 railroads there
(b) it has another naval base
(c) it makes a very good income - here' my ledger, and you will see that the 3 'green' provinces, which represent Lorenco Marques, are 3 of my 10 most profitable provinces:
Also, the 'gold' provinces are the other African ones - you can see what a positive impact they're having. (Except for St. Thomas - whoops!)
The last unexpected benefit is that there is a chunk of Africa (I think this is around Zambia) which Lorenco Marques 'unlocks' - I can colonize it without even waiting for machine guns:
Today's whine - population
Thinking about it a little - why aren't my danish provinces far more profitable than my african ones? The main problem seems to be population - while I have every POP-increasing technology there is, many are emigrating, mostly to my colonies/states, but it's still a big problem - here are the details for the province with Copenhagen:
This is also why my Industry is lagging so far - not enough people to work there (and I found in an earlier games that you basically can't get Farmers to become Craftsmen until the RGO fills up). Oh well, not much I can really do about it, but it is making me think that the 'Scramble for Africa' will be more like 'the Inching into Africa'
Speaking of the Scramble for Africa
In
August 1870, almost the earliest possible, I get....
Machine Guns!
By the way, I have found my enjoyment of the game has gone up since I've adopted a house rule that whenever you discover 'machine gun' technology you have to play
the YouTube video of 'Bikini girls with machine guns'. You're welcome
In addition to letting me watch this video
, and their obvious military advantages, Machine Guns (with the earlier techs I had already researched) let me unlock Africa - here we see the initial candidates:
Sadly, I only have one NF (same old story - not enough POPs), so this won't be quite the Oklahoma land rush I had hoped for, but it should still be nice!
I think this is a good place to stop - next post will probably be a 'state of the world', as we're now exactly 1/3 of the way through the game.