VH / Furious Russia AAR

[Yozhik]

Hello everyone!

I've been playing EU1 almost non-stop since I got it 6 days ago, and I guess it is about time I contributed to the AAR archive.

Scenario: IGC 2.3
Country: Russia
Settings: Very Hard, Furious AI, Random and Historical Events, Chaos Maims tax setting, 1492, Free Ireland/Bretain/Norway, Free/Aus lowlands, TO Ingermanland, Moldovian Bujak, all 5 unrests, Balkanization, No dynamic missions.

1-1-1492: All research to stability, consolidate armies in Vladimir (20), Moscow (55 -> 65), Novgorod (45). Royal marriage attempt with TO (successful). Religion settings: Orthodox - 50, Catholic - 100, Moslem - 0. Naval maintenance: 50%, Land: 100%.

7-3-1492: Royal marriage attempt with Denmark (successful).

9-24-1492: Poland-Lithuania DoWs TO.

12-11-1492: Stability reaches 3, I switch Land Technology.

1-1-1493: Royal marriage attempt with Georgia (unsuccessful). Boo. End of year VP: 6 (#1 - Spain - 70)

2-11-1493: A Polish army (76) takes Courland. We watch in horror.

7-8-1493: The Poles (down to 35) siege Livonia. Royal marriage attempt with Prussia (successful).

1-2-1494: Royal marriage attempt with Pommerania (unsuccessful). End of year VP: 11 (#1 - Spain - 103... hmm...)

1-27-1494: The Poles are still sieging Livonia, having lost Courland. The Polish army is reinforced by Papal states (I really wish IGC Config manager did not reset the message options... having to go through 75 of those and checking which ones do you want to see is a pain...)

2-26-1494: The Poles march home, peace has been signed, from what it seems a while one. I really ought to turn on messages of who signed peace and how...

7-2-1494: Royal marriage attempt with Moldovia (successful).

1-5-1495: 3 new leaders. Alliance invitation attempt with Kazan (unsuccessful). End of year VP: 15 (#1 - Spain - 113).

9-4-1495: One leader dies, I am down to (2 from the start + 3 - 1 = 4) four. Land tech 2 researched, switching to infrastructure.

12-17-1495: Moldovia DoWs Poland-Lithuania.

1-2-1496: End of year VP: 18 (#1 - Spain - 129, #2 - France - 67).

1-2-1497: Moldavia is besieged by Poles (14), led by Michal Glinski, the "hero" of Livonia. I mentally thank myself for remembering to send a marriage invitation to Moldovia - I can enjoy the show now. Royal marriages attemps with Serbia (successful), Greece (successful), Bohemia (unsuccessful), Hanseatic League (unsuccessful). End of year VP: 21 (#1 - Spain - 138, #2 - Hanseatic League - 85).

1-22-1497: Michal Glinski strikes again! Poles (9) run from Moldovia. No provinces change hands.

3-1-1497: Land tech 3 researched.

9-24-1497: Sweden DoWs TO.

1-6-1498: 5000-some Swedes besiege Ingermanland but both sides are about to throw in some reinforcements. End of year VP: 27 (#1 - Spain - 153, #2 - Hanseatic League - 88).

7-1-1498: Infrastructure tech 2 researched.

1-3-1499: Ingermanland is still Teutonic. Two Swedish armies have been thrown out. End of year VP: 30 (#1 - Spain - 169, #2 - Portugal - 94).

8-18-1499: The Knights DoW Austria. Ooooo-kayyy.

12-1-1499: Navy tech 1 researched. Military maintenance to 50%.

2-5-1500: 2nd Royal marriage attempt with Georgia (unsuccessful), Royal marriage attemtps with England (successful), Scotland (unsuccessful), Hungary (unsuccessful), Brandenburg (successful), Netherlands (unsuccessful). Current VP: 36 (#1 - Spain (181), #2 - Papal States (99)).

4-1-1500: Trade tech 2 researched.

7-29-1501: Weird times: Hanseatic league took Flanders and another province from Austria (owiiee).

1-14-1503: Ireland is gone; mean, mean Brits. Royal marriage attempts with France (successful), Spain (successful), Portugal (unsuccessful), Tuscany (unsuccessful), Papal States (unsuccessful). VP: 48 (#1 - Spain (214), #2 - Portugal (122)).

1-4-1504: 2nd Swedish-Teutonic war.

10-24-1504: Ingermanland falls to Danish, allies of Sweden. Finally, some changes.

1-1-1505: 2 new leaders.

2-12-1505: And old one dead.

8-24-1505: The end of the 2nd Swedish-Teutonic war. No provinces change hands. Yawn. Royal marriage attempts with Hanover (unsuccessful), Sweden (unsuccessful), Venice (successful), Thuringen (unsuccessful), Baden (unsuccessful).

3-11-1506: Time to pause. Final VP: 58 (#1 - Spain (229), #2 - France (149)).

Comments?

[Deaghaidh]

Did I read you right, your orthodox is at fifty and your catholic 100? or did you mean vice-versa.

Nice to see a Jack Webb AAR (Just the facts, ma'am)

Good luck with the Time of Troubles, I always get frustrated and quit after that If you stick it out you get Peter and Catherine, but I only have patience when playing as Ireland

[Yozhik]

Boy, is this game addicting or what...

5-17-1510: Poland-Lithuania is burning, 7 cities razed. I am tempted to attack them... but the economy is still hurting despite bailiffs all over the place.

7-1-1510: Royal marriage attempts: Sweden (unsuccessful), Poland-Lithuania (unsuccessful... nice try though), Hannover (successful), Bavaria (unsuccessful), Austria (unsuccessful), Saxony (successful).

8-20-1511: 3rd Swedish-Teutonic war. I am really glad I chose not to take Ingermanland this game. So far.

6-10-1512: My pre-game alliance expires. New alliance created with Pskov and Ryazan.

2-19-1513: Sweden takes Ingermanland.

3-1-1513: Infrastructure 3 researched.

5-16-1513: Random event: Monarch values increased for 8 years. Woo-hoo!

7-1-1513: Land 4 researched.

7-10-1513: Astrakhan and Golden Horde gang up against Kazan. I watch.

9-1-1513: Navy 2 researched.

4-3-1524: Reformation.

6-24-1514: Estonia falls to Danish-Swedish army group.

9-4-1514: One of my leaders dies.

2-26-1514: Kazan signs a peace with Astrakhan, losing 57 gold.

6-26-1515: An unsuccessful attempt to invite Kazan to the alliance. Royal marriage attempts with Hanseatic League (unsuccessful), The Knights (unsuccessful), The Palatinat (unsuccessful), Georgia (unsuccessful... hello, fellow Orthodoxes, this is the third time...), Austria (unsuccessful).

8-15-1515: Random event: 6,600 troops in Moscow.

1-7-1516: Kazan signs a white peace with Golden Horde. In the west, Danish-Swedish coalition is besieging almost everything that TO has. I smell blood.

5-1-1516: The 3rd Swedish-Teutonic war ends, Sweden gets Ingermanland. My advisors siege my office demanding more fortifications on the northern borders.

4-1-1517: The royal marriage with TO is renewed. I am #15 in the VP race with 102, Spain with 327 is #1 and France with 212 is #2.

7-10-1517: The royal marriage with Denmark is renewed. Marriage proposals with Pommerania, Hungary, and Netherlands fall through.

3-26-1518: The 2nd(?) French-Polish-Venetian war, the total of 12 or so countries involved.

7-16-1518: The royal marriage with Prussia fails to be renewed.

7-10-1519: Marriages played with Moldovia, Prussia, Kleves, Modena, Savoy. Marriage attempt fails with Hanseatic League.

1-2-1521: Land 5 researched. Northern Italy is in flames, 50,000-some armies running back and forth.

8-27-1521: 77,000 French troops overrun Northern Italy and besiege Venice.

12-26-1521: Marriages played with Scotland, Bavaria, Hessen, Tuscany. Marriage attempts fail with Papal States, Ragusa. VP standings: Spain (393) - #1, France (249) - #2, Russia (130) - #11.

1-1-1522: Wurtemberg is the first Protestant state in the world. I pity their souls.

5-11-1522: Random event: Stability -1, Trade/Infrastructure investments -50%. Ouch.

3-2-1523: Golden Horde and Astrakhan come after Kazan yet again (the 2nd war). Alliance with Pskov expires and is renewed. To do list: renew marriages with Serbia, Greece, alliance with Ryazan.

8-25-1523: Kazan buys peace with some cash.

1-23-1524: Alliance signed with Ryazan. New market opens in Anglia.

1-4-1525: Marriage signed with Serbia. Thuringen is the second Protestant state. Add to to-do list: renew marriages with Brandenburg and England.

1-27-1526: England refuses to renew the marriage. Prussia is the 3rd Protestant state.

8-1-1526: Eire (Ireland) is back! And Brittany is gone.

12-1-1526: Navy 3 researched.

1-1-1527: Marriage signed with Greece. Three more states turn Protestant. There aren't too many wars... perhaps the Chaos Maims tax setting is hurting other people as well... I know it sure cripples me.

11-1-1527: Infrastructure 4 researched. France DoWs England, ~10 other nations join the bloodbath. Marriages with France, Spain expire. France refuses to renew the marriage.

4-10-1528: Plague hits three of my bigger cities. Joy...

2-28-1529: Eire refuses a royal marriage.

[Yozhik]

Hey - thanks for dropping by.

I was thinking about doing a role-playing AAR but after I had a 40 year war with Poland the previous time around (imagine, three hours of playing non-stop, the fighting was that intense... constant battles with Finns, Swedes, Khans...) I realized that I wouldn't be able to pause and be "creative" - too much info has to stay in your mind.

And yes, Orthodox at 50. The religion never seems to affect Ryazan/Pskov so I opted for the Europe instead. By now after the Reformation it's 100 Orthodox/100 Catholic...

[Coeur de Lion]

6 days!! That might explain why you're not getting the desired result from all those royal marriage proposals. Still, the game is certainly an eye-opener the first time you get it. Expect to learn lots about attrition, sieges, diplomacy and all the rest.

[Yozhik]

Hi, thanks for dropping by (again).

What do you mean by 6 days?

As for attrition etc: I am doing my best to stay away from the battle scenes, all after those horrible wars I fought with Poland and such the previous time around. With my fledgling economy I am not going to be able to rebuild the troops lost (can you say I put too strict of a tax setting?) - so I am just sitting still. And the funny thing is, my allies are too.

Yozhik

[Yozhik]

Hi -

I've been seriously concentrating on my Portuguese AAR but I will be back to this one (although I might restart it... we'll see).

[Slogan]

I had to stop and catch my breath after reading your AAR It definately lives up to its' title Please post more after you finish your Portugal AAR.
I have a few tips for playing Russia. The economy is weak to start, I have found the best way to improve the economy is to capture your neighbor's land and put their people to work for you. Kazan is a pretty weak opponent and their provinces will almost double your economy. Also, with the addition of Kazan your economy will be large enough to place one bailiff a year and build some meager troops. The additional 1 Ducat a year from bailiffs really adds up quickly. Also, legal councels help when they become available.
Ingermanland is important not only as a port on the Baltic, but it also provides additional colonists. In the 1550s or 60s conquistadors start appearing, they are best used to open the Siberian corridor. The Golden Horde and Sibir stand in the way of the corridor so they need to be dealt with. I think it is cheaper to militarily annex them than it is to dip. annex them.
I have been working on a Russian AAR myself. It's in the 1570s and the corridor is starting to be explored/colonized. The economy is at about 350 Ducats a year and its' still not large enough My current spending priorities are build troops, colonize, build a fleet and promote bailiffs/legal councels Even with conquistadors I can only afford two colonist per yer. Too much to do and not enough money. I intend to start posting in a few days, but at the pace youre going you will probably be finished by that time

[Yozhik]

Thanks for dropping by, Slogan.

See, I am very concerned with BBs and P-L. With a lot of BBs, P-L comes after you, and is very hard to deal with - sometimes. My goal tends to be developing a "perfect" strategy to an extent - I try things and see what happens. For example, with Russia I already know to do an anti-P-L assault BEFORE Crimea leaves the alliance; with Portugal I know I should seriously consider American expansion.

The problem is that as I find more and more stuff that I should have done, I tend to restart a lot... I mean, I could just continue on, but, frankly, who needs just another game with mediocre outcome?