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Chapter Forty-eight
1638-1639

On April 14th, 1639 Pachacutec II rises to the throne. As mentioned, he doesn't really inspire confidence.

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He's a gruff diplomat (-1 % prestige, +0.1 yearly diplomats). Well, that's not good but it's a small improvement over what we had before.

At least six-year-old heir Yahuar Hacuac is very good (A/D/M 7/6/8).

I'd very much like a huge or big celebration as legitimacy is only 36, but I really can't afford one.

Okay, so our Sapa Inca sucks and we have no money. But we now have a Sapa Inca, and that means that we can declare war! As I had our troops and ships in position beforehand, I can DoW immediately.

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Bavaria, Hesse and Padoa are there as well.

I actually start raising war taxes. This shouldn't take forever and I need any financial boost I can get.

A few days into the war we complete our mission as more ships are ready. The next mission is to colonize Guachichil - we have a colonist en route already!

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We beat Tuscany's troops in South America on May 27th. It's simple because they shipped a lot of men out recently.

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Meanwhile, military access has been secured from Fez. Our relations with the Muslim power were over 90 (over 100 now) for some reason, so getting them to allow us to supply our ships in their ports wasn't a problem. Not that there's even much supplying to do as it's not a long journey between Brazil and the western coast of Africa, but it does help with time at sea attrition modifiers.

As Tuscany had no ships in South America, we make that naval journey over the Atlantic and, eventually, through the Pillars of Hercules.

Our land tech advances in July.

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The cavalry is no use to us as our Dragoons are still better, but what makes me happy is that we have now caught Portugal in land tech!

Also in July, we've seized both target colonies, Tupi and Tembe. Now we'll just have to get peace.

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Colonists are sent to flip the colonies to Quechua and Inti. They prove resistant, but we succeed eventually.

After resupplying in Northern Africa, our navy catches the Tuscan transport fleet just west of Sardinia.

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The battle is highly successful. Most of the enemy coalition's transport capacity went to the bottom of the sea there.

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Days later, we sink four galleys in Cote d'Azur. They were trying to flee east from the Gulf of Lyon, but we caught them from the side.

On the first of August we get military access from the League of Lezhe, the friendliest nation in Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Quibdo cores.

In the late month we spot Guyenne's fleet next to Crete, with a transport trying to land troops. Turns out that they're also at war with the small island as well as the strong Mallorca. Their small war fleet attacks us, trying to buy time for their army to land.

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That's our first captured ship! Here we find out that at least Guyenne is using the same Race Built Galleons that we are. Afterwards, I head to the Sea of Crete and sink the transport.

In other news, Karaja starts producing sugar.

A proud moment: here we are in September in the Gulf of Venice. Thanks to our blockade, the main Tuscan fleet is stuck in Romagna as they don't dare to come out!

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Padoa offers white peace and we readily accept.

We start spreading our blockade around Tuscany, while some slightly damaged vessels head to the Albanian port of Arianiti for repairs.

Then in October, I find out that my 6 warscore from battles and blockades is enough to convince the HRE that there's no point in continuing the war.

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The rest of the victorious Inca fleet resupplies in Arianiti, after which they begin the long journey home.

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Incas rule the Mediterranean!
Now just send some colonists and open some trading posts there, and see how the Europeans and game-motor reacts. :D
 
I've been waiting ages and ages to post this, but now you have a Sapa Inca named Pachacutec:
[video=youtube;C-IPzZByTrs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-IPzZByTrs[/video]
Watch and be amused!
 
As Paumari grows into a city in April, I send some armies to the jungle to slaughter natives in the next colonization targets. I find it hilarious in a twisted way that I treat these guys way worse than the Iberians do. Hmm, or maybe we let them retain their freedom in death while the Iberians humiliate them by inviting them to live in their midst, causing them to abandon their customs and traditions. Yeah, that sounds about right.
Rock-solid. You've convinced me :D

Outstanding achievement sailing through the Pillars of Hercules and defeating European fleets by the way. I'm impressed.
 
It surely had to be interesting to be the first Incan soldier ever set foot in Europe.

Yeah, though I suppose that has only happened if you count shore leave. :D

A handy little colonial war. Ominous the appearance of the Incan navy in the Med. Nice heir you have, YH... Up next the Netherlands and then the English.

He's a YH, has to be a talented guy. ;) Netherlands is a pretty obvious next target, but I need some way to get around the fact that I have no CB on the English... I don't think I have a surefire way to do that other than just taking the stab hits, anything else requires their "cooperation". But you're right in that I'll try to do it in that order if I can find a way.

Also the standard disclaimer - if an opportunity to fight Portugal without Spain comes up, it will be taken immediately.

Fez seems to be having a good game.

That they are. Happens in MEIOU. ;) Of course, helping us out should increase their chances of continuing to have one! :rofl:

Cuzco rules the waves!

Like I said a while ago, I was looking forward to the point when we can say that. :cool:

So when are you gonna take on the Portuguese and finally connect your empire together by land (instead of swimming horse couriers).

As soon as we don't have pressing needs elsewhere (i.e. seizable colonies around us). Or earlier if we can catch them without Spain. Real soon either way, it's a very high priority.

It's amusing that such a small England has a large fleet. Rule Brittania!

Yeah, I suppose they built the navy when they were still strong. This theory is supported by the fact that they're going almost all big ships and mostly obsolete - the remaining fleet is probably whatever hasn't been sunk of the fleet they built centuries ago. In a way, a sad relic for a nation whose glory days are long gone.

I await the glorious moent where you invade Europe.

Me too. :) But I'm not going to just attack a random, easy nation there. I have a plan that I intend to put into motion in approximately 20-30 years (depending on how some American conflicts go, and what the Europeans do in the meantime).

The awesomeness when our glorious Inca fleet have arrived to the New World (New World in Inca's perspective). However, our lands are still full of those dirty green and yellow colours. ;)

I guess we'll have to scrub them off then. ;) That war was a pretty neat operation, it was great fun playing it. :D

Incas rule the Mediterranean!
Now just send some colonists and open some trading posts there, and see how the Europeans and game-motor reacts. :D

Haha, I wish that was possible! :p

Your might Incan fleet will strike fear in hearts of your enemies :)

Yup, already has if you consider the hiding Tuscan war fleet. :D

I've been waiting ages and ages to post this, but now you have a Sapa Inca named Pachacutec:

Watch and be amused!

And that I did! :D Pachacutec II should, considering the game situation, turn out to be somewhat of a warmonger, so I guess the lyrics should fit. :) Heirs named Pachacutec having such a high tendency to die that it's bordering on a running joke must have been painful for you. :eek:

Thanks for the video and welcome to the thread!

That was awesome!

I do hope the Sapa Inca can live up that song.

Like mentioned, the situation should give him a chance to do that. :D Of course he's completely incompetent, but I don't know, the video's Sapa Inca might have somewhat of a 3/3/5 vibe to him too?

Rock-solid. You've convinced me :D

Great! I feared we might have to rely on the old "winner writes the history", but it's good to hear that it isn't necessary. ;)

Outstanding achievement sailing through the Pillars of Hercules and defeating European fleets by the way. I'm impressed.

Thanks! :) The ingredients of said achievement? Patience, mostly.

Fleet force to the Med to win victory for the Sapa Inca
Superb
Oh and wow
that is a horrible history

You could say that. ;) It was a fun trip, gotta say.

*head explodes*

Holy crap that "Horrible Histories" thing is a treasure trove of fun songs :rofl:

Seems to be, I spent a while checking them out on Youtube - I hadn't seen any before.

Happy to have your readership!

I just can't wait to see you grab your first province in Europe, an island maybe?

Probably not, I have a plan to make the European adventures meaningful and I think I'm going for the continent from the start. Never say never though. :) Hmm, maybe I should accelerate my European plans somewhat, I'm getting the sense that there's a demand that I should supply...

And yes Horrible Histories are great. Take the books, I learnt from them - most reliable source. ;)

From my limited familiarity, at least the most objective. ;)
 
Chapter Forty-nine
1639-1642

A colonist succeeded in Tembe in the war's final moments, but Tupi still resists. Guachichil is colonized in October however (it's already in the map in the end of the previous update so don't be confused by that).

That finishes our mission, giving a free colonist. The new mission is to build a university in Uxmal, but I cancel as I clearly can't afford that. The new one, colonize Aonikenk, will certainly be done eventually.

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That's hardly the first priority however.

We get production tech 24 in December, while Assurini starts producing maize. Late in the month, a colonist in Tupi finally succeeds. The new provinces have been converted.

Our fleet arrives in Brazil, and we add two more Race Built Galleons that weren't finished until the war was already raging. Combined with the captured vessel, we now have three more small ships than originally.

Karaja grows into a city in August 1640. We move into some vacant provinces that others can't reach to kill the natives.

Then in October, we get a very important tech advance.

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As no-one has reached land tech 36 for the next unit upgrades yet, it's now official that I have the best units in the world: the same infantry as everyone else, and the superior Dragoon cavalry from the New World tech group.

This also means that I've caught Spain in land tech. As Portugal has also advanced, I now have the same land tech as both of the Iberians. However, my next opponent has a higher land tech and unfortunately that means a better military tactics level...

In the end of the month, Tembe grows into a city. This is important as it's bordering enemies and I of course don't want it to be seized. Tupi isn't doing nearly as well - most of the colonists I send there keep failing even though the chance is high. Fortunately, its location is more secure.

Spain has become the Defender of the Catholic faith, so pretty much any war I could wage might include them. With that in mind, I infiltrate their administration. Mainland Spain looks... interesting.

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In addition to some less harmful heretic rebels, there are Granadan, Catalonian, Basque and Galician rebels seeking independence here. A bit later, you can add Leon to that group. There's a real chance of Spain breaking apart.

America doesn't look much better.

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Most of Spanish North America looks similar. The only areas they have under control are the ones near us - I suppose that's because they've garrisoned most of their forces there to protect against the Inca Empire.

However, in the Americas the Spanish have the saving grace of the rebels being Colonial Spanish patriots. When they succeed, they just seem to defect back to Spain so no danger of losing provinces there.

Still, the biggest issue might be the fact that they are obviously out of manpower. Here's one example stack from Venezuela; the rest are pretty similar.

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I'll be DoWing nations that they should protect, so maybe I can take advantage of this. If they don't join, I might attack them directly if they keep struggling like that.

The other country that I infiltrate is the one I'm actually attacking: Netherlands. They appear to have 29000 men in Brazil - just under half of their military. But the real problem is that if I end up against the Spanish fleet, I can't keep the Dutch from reinforcing. Their transport capacity is very strong so that might be a danger.

Nevertheless, I declare war on Christmas Eve. Their ally France dishonor the alliance, and Spain doesn't join in either. HRE Savoy is the only one to do their duty.

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The first battle takes place in March 1641.

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Uh oh. I knew that the casualties would be in their favor thanks to the better military tactics, but it's worse than I thought, and more importantly I didn't expect to lose a battle with odds like that and leadership like that (I'm attacking but there's no notable terrain penalty either).

To make matters worse, my army decides to be a bunch of idiots and retreats to the uninhabited jungle! No chance of recovery for months.

Savoy gets a new ruler in May and he's crowned the Holy Roman Emperor as well. I suppose their tendency to fight the Incas and not lose makes them appear strong. People just ignore the fact that our armies never meet!

Also in May, our navy shows its worth:

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Those transports were filled to the brim with soldiers. The way my armies seem to be performing against the Dutch, keeping reinforcements of that magnitude out just might end up being the difference between winning relatively nice and smooth and having to make a choice of no conquest or *a lot* of WE.

In June, I solve a problem the way I can with our numbers: throw men at it.

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I'm fortunate to have caught them without a leader. But even with that advantage, the casualties favor the enemy.

In August, our Lord Proprietor turns out to be Most Splendid.

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Too bad that I have no use for stability or prestige, but the bonus is nice.

September 9th is a very good day. First, we manage to compensate for the tech difference with magnificent luck with the dice (combined with an advantage in just about everything else, of course)...

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...and then, another 8000 Dutch reinforcements never reach the front thanks to our naval presence.

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The 20th is worse. A spice harvest in Tollan-Chohollan "has failed, although not badly", and somehow this apparently minor inconvenience in an insignificant province leads to an all-encompassing nationwide production crisis that lasts for a year.

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I shudder to think what the consequences would be if a spice harvest actually failed badly in some province that actually matters.

I win the next battle late in the month despite having more casualties. Having four times the troops helped.

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Still, alliance leader Savoy is quite determined: they require us to release Quito and Chancay to get peace. Fun concept, but I decline.

Some of the enemy troops from the previous battle retreat the way we came from, so I send some backup troops to take care of them. Meanwhile, the main army reaches the next province (my troop numbers are probably overkill by now, but I want to be sure after the first battle) in November and finally eliminates the most important Dutch army.

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The enemy army that retreated the other way seizes Urubu'kaapoor, but no matter - our backup army is close.

If the war result wasn't clear before, it is in December.

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So much for the tech difference. And I now have better land tech than the Iberians!

Our two December battles demonstrate the effect.

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You can't see it here for the first one as it ended in elimination, but we had a clear edge in casualties in that one as well. Shows you the power of military tactics and why I've avoided wars against higher ones until now...

Sadly, it didn't help us win the second battle. I really struggle to explain why: I had twice the men, a fresh army against a damaged one and a good leader against no leader. Maybe my army thought that I should take a second batch of year end war taxes before making peace?

Tupi finally grows into a city in the early days of 1642 after a difficult project. We had the naval supremacy so it could grow without risk of getting lost to an amphibious landing.

My WE is over 5 - that's what you get for having war taxes and running around in colonies with oversized stacks while having an ADM 3 ruler - so I end the war taxes after the year changes.

Oh well, the ruler is very bad but at least the heir is strong in all fields. I'll be stronger when he rises to the throne!

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Sheesh. That's the result of the "Heir falls ill" event that has a 50-50 chance of death. I get a new heir, Huayna Capac, some months later and while he's decent (3/8/7), he's weak in exactly what is most important right now, Administration.

Caruaru, one of the colonies I've seized from the Dutch, is a quick learner and upgrades from maize to sugar in February.

At the same time, I get a white peace offer from Savoy. While I obviously decline, it's an important development - this means that we should be able to get out when I'm done with the Dutch.

And I'm done in April as a larger, combined army gets the job done.

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I don't bother to chase that army - I just seize the province and get white peace from Savoy. The Dutch can ship their men out of the continent they had no business being on in the first place.

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Nice going !

I was quite impressed by the naval offensive in the Mediteranean. :cool:

Dutch was tough nut to crack... but you fulfilled the objectives. I'd say that time is ripe to grab the portuguese colonies ;)