Xhosa: A one-province pagan minor takes on the world.
PART ONE (1419-1438)
[anchorlink=Foreword]Foreword about 1.07 March 2, 2004 Beta[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Background]Background[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Goals]Goals[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Choices]Initial Choices[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu1]First War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu2]Second War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Prepare_Zimbabwe]Preparing for War with Zimbabwe[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu3]Third War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zimbabwe]War with Zimbabwe[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=King_Dead]Zimbabwe's King is Dead[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Annihilated]All Enemies Annihilated[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu_Attacks]Completed Siege in Zimbabwe, Now Attacked by Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Two_Sieges]Simultaneous Sieges in Progress[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Finish_Part1]Siege Complete in Natal, Finish off my Enemies[/anchorlink]
[anchor=Foreword]Foreword about 1.07 March 2, 2004 Beta[/anchor]
I have found it necessary to repeat that the 1.07 March 2, 2004 beta (last 1.07 beta) and the 1.08 vanilla are identical except for the ability to merge units in motion. I only used this ability to reduce the tedium of having hundreds of tiny armies running around. There is one time I merged to raise morale in the Kongo. A time or two, I merged some troops to form a cover force; but basically the game would be the same in 1.08.
You can find the same information in the 1.07 Summary of Beta patch changes up to March 2/04. I use the 1.07 March 2/04 beta. The list of changes up to the last 1.07 beta looks very similar to the list of changes between version 1.07 vanilla and version 1.08 vanilla. In fact, I did a Windiff and the only differences are the instructions for installation of 1.08, the placement of the new features and straits information to the top of the 1.08 information, and the little ***** boxes around each header in the document of 1.08 release notes.
Luckily, fraese was good enough to play along with the 1.08 April 21, 2005 beta and reported back that everything worked out for him until I no longer heard back after he had conquered Oman. See posts #16 and #62.
[anchor=Background]Background[/anchor]
Scenario: Grand Campaign of 1419
Version: "EU2 v1.07b BETA Mar 2 2004."
Difficulty: Very Hard
AI Aggressiveness: Aggressive
Majors: Xhosa substituted for Byzantium.
Self imposed rules:
No voluntarily taking bank loans except as repayment for other loans.
No loaning out money for any reason.
No intentional turbo-annexing.
No game or scenario editing.
No merging troops or ships to cause them to move faster or stop retreats.
No reloading from a previous save game, except as required by game crashes.
No provoking game crashes.
The following is an account of a successful world conquest (WC) campaign using Xhosa. This screen shows Xhosa's initial position and DP sliders. Xhosa is a one-province pagan minor near the tip of South Africa. The desire is to accomplish WC with one of the most difficult countries. American nations may arguably be more difficult due to "whiteman penalty", relative late discovery by Europeans, and lesser manpower potential. However, there are only two pagan nations that begin as one-province minors, Zulu and Xhosa. Both nations are of similar difficulty. On the plus side, Zulu begins with a port, a little more income, and a land connection to Zimbabwe's territories. Xhosa has grain production, friendly relations with Zimbabwe, and potential land connections to fair, taxable colonies. For reasons of AI competence, Zulu is actually tougher to start a game with; but I had already tired of using Zulu in games where I found WC attainable. I tired of the red flags that so often caused my failure in being alerted to Portuguese presence. My favorite color is blue; and Xhosa's flag is my favorite shade. There's really not much difference between playing Zulu and Xhosa; so I choose Xhosa.
The game is played using the last 1.07 beta version. There is little difference between this last 1.07 beta and 1.08 vanilla. I prefer some ability to reorganize troops in enemy territory without ending up with too many tiny armies; so I use the ability to merge troops in motion only to avoid the tedium of managing dozens of tiny armies.
I should point out at the outset that WC with Xhosa is not likely. After the first sixty years of game play, with the best management, approximately one in twenty games have the potential to result in WC. I should know; I replayed the early years each time that I decided to choose a different tactic for later game play. I point out every detail in the early years; every little thing is important when there's not much to work with. As my power grows, I'll describe less of the micromanagement.
Xhosa begins with a decent monarch (7,7,7), a mere 25d, and little else. Xhosa's initial annual income is near 11d from all sources. Xhosa knows of only two other nations, Zulu and Zimbabwe. There is no army; but it is advantageous that the neighboring state of Zulu has no army either. Xhosa has permanent CB on Zulu. Nearby Zimbabwe begins with only 1K infantry led by King Nyatsimha (2,3,3).
[anchor=Goals]Goals[/anchor]
The first major goal toward WC is the annexation of Zimbabwe within the first twenty years of game play. The manpower is a must for supporting a decent size army capable of making gains in the greater world. The gold is not necessary; the nearby CoT of Zanzibar will eventually do nicely to aid income. The gold inflation (about 0.14% per year) is not welcome; but it is not nearly so bad as in earlier patches. It is possible to make a go of it and not take Zimbabwe's capital; that costs one more badboy point, but allows for some peace cash. Or you could annex Zimbabwe and allow Zimbabwe to form from revolt losing the gold; that means fighting any number of rebellions to get one where you want. Then you are deprived of the best manpower and tax you can expect to receive, not to mention the gold. You also have another enemy on your border. The odds are already stacked against me; I'll just annex Zimbabwe and not mess around. That's easier said than done.
The second major goal toward WC is obtaining a port for shipbuilding. Although there's nowhere to sail at present, I need to plan ahead for the day when the knowledge of the greater world becomes available. It is possible to annex Zulu's port of Natal. Eliminating Zulu means a land connection to Zimbabwe territory for more tax, the port is good, and more manpower and tax from Natal are a plus also. On the other hand, annexing costs a lot of badboy points for one province and deprives you of having permanent CB, useful for manufacturing CB against allies in future. The Zulu are also a good source of inflation free peace cash. I opt to colonize my own port.
[anchor=Choices]Initial Choices[/anchor]
Xhosa knows a good number of South African provinces ripe for colonization; unfortunately, changes must be made to domestic policies (DP) before colonists will be available. The decision of what to do with the DP sliders in 1419 is a tough one. Moving toward Land for cheaper military is out since I want to colonize. Moving toward Serfdom or Quantity helps reduce costs also, but the morale is needed to fight Zimbabwe. I am torn between moving toward Narrow-mindedness or Free Trade for the colonists. Or I could move toward Aristocracy for more reasonably priced cavalry (16d instead of 18d) and improved badboy recovery; then I could make changes to gain colonists for the next ten years. To start, my monarch is pretty good; I'm already losing one badboy every five years. I expect to gain only two badboys in the first decade, so speeding badboy recovery isn't going to matter for this DP choice. Unless there is an early opportunity for an attack against Zimbabwe, I don't need to build cavalry for ten years; so I can choose Aristocracy later. To choose Aristocracy now would require me to choose Narrow-Mindedness later for the colonists I want. I shall attempt to remain at 4 or 5 on the Narrow-Mindedness/Innovativeness scale changing only if required by event. A more gradual increase in colonists by moving toward Free Trade is my choice. I expect one colonist every five years. The cost of merchants means little to me. As a pagan, trade is not expected to be profitable outside Zanzibar. Once I get five merchants in Zanzibar, I'll pretty much stop sending them.
So the DP slider is moved toward Free Trade for 0.20 colonists per year. Game speed is set to extremely fast for now; events are few and far between early on. Religion sliders for Christian, Moslem, and Pagan are all set to maximum; sliders for Konfucian, Buddhist, and Hindu are all set to minimum. That gives me maximum tolerance for most of the world. Until I get to the East at the end of the game, I'll never need to touch the religion sliders again. Land and naval maintenance are set to 50%, not that it matters, as there is no military yet. And investment is set full toward land tech. I intend to put all effort into researching land tech until reaching land 14. Trade as a pagan is of little use because pagans seem to have serious difficulty competing against any non-pagan nation. Any CoTs you ever own become nearly worthless; so even embargoes don't help. I intend to embark upon WC as soon as possible; getting infrastructure five is just no longer valuable for WC enthusiasts. Once you embark on WC, there is no sense placing governors because in inflationary terms they cost more than they help as you continue to expand faster and faster. There isn't even any reason to reach trade 1 or infrastructure 1 sooner; I cannot afford to do anything until after my monarch's contribution will give me the first levels anyway.
Land tech is the way to go. With an all-out effort I can keep closer to European land tech levels. That will save me much expense; and with the new penalties to tax income, replacing troops becomes difficult due to build capacity. If not for near tech parity, protecting a far-flung empire may be impossible with my only real build capacity way down in South Africa. As a plus, good land tech gives me the ability to perform assaults to conquer the native nations in South America. Without assaults, I wouldn't attempt to conquer the South American nations, which can provide a significant increase in income. And without assaults, how could I ever hope to quickly conquer Africa when the BB wars begin? So here I am with my one little province, no army, in the middle of a map of white; and I'm dreaming of my continental invasions of huge empires in a distant lands. Snap out of it, right? How can I even conquer Zimbabwe?
To conquer Zimbabwe requires a sneak attack immediately or in about the tenth year of the game when Zimbabwe spends most of its treasury on tax collectors. To succeed in the attack, I need money to raise and maintain an army. I am unable to take a loan due to too low of income; but it is possible to take loans in months after looting. I like to play without taking voluntary loans; so I'll plan to attack Zimbabwe in ten years. Until that time, I'll need to work on raising the cash. As I have noted, Zulu is a good source of peace cash. Zulu begins with some money. After nearly 10 years while unable to build troops in war, Zulu manages to accumulate 300d in their treasury.
The answer to my financial needs seems simple; I eventually need to win a war against Zulu. The AI is seriously incompetent in managing Zulu; I expect that Zulu will not put up a fight at all. To win the war, I need at least 5K troops to complete a siege. Cavalry are way to expensive. Using infantry, it is not possible to invade without movement attrition. So I must build 6K infantry; but I can afford only 2K infantry at the outset. On April 1, 1419, I commission the building of 2K infantry; I'm not paying to support the troops any longer than I have to. I'm going to need to loot and use my pitiful census tax (2.5d) to pay for the other 4K infantry.
[anchor=Zulu1]First War with Zulu[/anchor]
I want to begin burning up my badboy as soon as possible. I gain a diplomat on May 1, 1419, but wait until end of May to DoW Zulu. I begin marching when 2K low morale infantry are ready on June 1, 1419; that's why I began building them in April. Give Zulu too much time and they might actually respond to my DoW by building a warship. I'm not afraid of the warship; but that drains Zulu's treasury. So the 300d I need would not be available when I need it.
On July 8, 1419 my infantry arrive in Natal. The unit of 2K is now 1980 men due to movement attrition; movement attrition is the reason building 1K infantry would not be sufficient. Natal is covered; it's now too late for Zulu to do anything. By the way, playing Zulu and DoWing Xhosa, an AI playing Xhosa responds by building 2K cavalry. The newly built cavalry can usually be defeated with 1K infantry and 1K cavalry, which costs a Zulu player a little more and drains the targeted enemy's treasury, delaying the 300d payoff; but essentially the game is the same. Even if not for Zulu's AI mismanagement, it is still possible to win the war.
Once my men have arrived in Natal, I disband all but 1200. I click "cover" and disband the 780 men that I do not want to pay to support. I could keep the 780 men to be of use in case of rebellions due to random events; but the combined chance of an event and chance the troops would be of use is not enough for me to end up getting more inflation to pay for their upkeep.
So now I increase my treasury by looting Zulu's capital in Natal. For July 1419, I pull the investment slider in the budget window all the way to mint money for the treasury; and I close the budget window. I gain 5.8d for that month. Then I return the slider to full investment in land tech. The next looting season is August 1420.
On March 4, 1421, I get a pleasant surprise. A good government policies event improves trade and infrastructure investments by +250d each. That's nice, because I really need to reach trade 1 and infra 1 before annexing Zimbabwe; otherwise the tech costs go up due to having more territories and greater isolation. Normal monarch contribution to the techs results in getting the techs in 1436, which is fine; but there are bad events that drop trade investment or hurt your monarch's contribution like insanity. That could push the time for annexation out.
I loot again in September 1421. A dialog box with pause comes up on June 1, 1422; a white peace with Zulu results due to the fact there has been no fighting and there has been no siege progress for over three years. The war is over; the reason for the war was to loot three times for 15d extra. I started with 5d remaining from my initial 25d after building infantry. I had some census tax come in, some monthly income minted along with the loot, and had some support expenses. I now have 26d in the treasury. One badboy, and a war for 15d doesn't seem that good, but the badboy will be erased before it matters.
Now that I am at peace, it is time to take advantage of my good +125 relations with Zimbabwe. I invite Zimbabwe into an alliance for purpose of gaining a CB against them later. Zimbabwe probably would have invited me had they known where my capital is. The reasons for not inviting Zimbabwe into an alliance sooner are that before my war with Zulu, I didn't have diplomats to spare; and during war with Zulu, I wouldn't want to bring Zimbabwe into the war. They would build up army, learn about Zulu's whereabouts, and would steal the siege of Natal using King Nyatsimha.
It is possible that Zimbabwe might refuse my invitation. But that doesn't matter, as there is plenty of time to try to get Zimbabwe into an alliance before I really need the alliance. Zimbabwe accepts my invitation. It is reassuring to see at a glance that Zimbabwe remains nearly defenseless. There are only 990 infantry in Sofala. If there is a rebellion in Zimbabwe, troops are built in response. If Zimbabwe were to have just 6K troops before I was prepared to spring my attack, I would resign the game. Due to the importance of keeping tabs on Zimbabwe's possible troop buildup, I have set the dialog box option to notify in case of rebellions in other countries.
[anchor=Zulu2]Second War with Zulu[/anchor]
I still need to win a war against Zulu. There is a very slight chance that Zulu builds 5K cavalry on the day white peace results. In that case, only loans can further my goals. But Zulu hasn't started building troops; so I break truce and DoW Zulu a second time. The stability loss is not too big a deal because a level of stability costs only 29d and my monarch contributes 14d per month toward stability recovery. I fiddle with my troops to reinitiate the cover in Natal. It is time to loot again in October 1422.
On November 23, 1423, there is another pleasant surprise. I choose to accept a petition for redress, which raises DP Centralization by +1. This costs four stability; but again that's no big deal. I loot again this month, November 1423.
Then on January 1, 1424, my census taxes bring in just enough to reach my 40d goal for building 4K infantry. That there is just enough money isn't a concern; waiting to loot once more is an option. Inflation is 0.4%; I stop minting the loot I receive. I commission my 4K infantry, which are completed and begin marching on March 1, 1424. On April 8, 1424, the troops arrive and siege progress begins in Natal with 5160 infantrymen.
The siege progresses rapidly. On August 10, 1425, my forces gain control of Natal. Notice that at the extremely fast game speed setting, dates do not always work out as they should. I started the siege on the 8th, so I should complete the siege on the 8th as well; but no matter.
On September 1, 1425, I divide my forces to stand guard in case of unprovoked rebellion events. I leave 2K infantry to guard Natal and send the remaining men back to my capital. If there is a rebellion, the best chance for minimal damage is by being there the day the rebels appear. Due to slow African movement times, it is not otherwise possible to send infantry to fight rebels the first month of the rebellion. On October 8, 1425, I have 3129 infantry in my capital of Transkei; and there are the 2K infantry remaining in Natal.
On October 3, 1426, I get the best event I could hope for. An exceptional year eliminates my 0.4% inflation and gives me 100d in my treasury. Somewhere along the line, Zulu had an event that added 25d to their treasury because they are a year early in reaching the 300d limit. Note that a one-province nation does not accumulate more money for peace after reaching 300d. Anything substantially more than 300d can only be obtained if the nation begins with more than 300d or an event or gift causes the treasury to be greater than 300d. On November 1, 1427, an early peace with Zulu means slightly lower war exhaustion than I would normally be prepared for when fighting Zimbabwe. My treasury is now 399d; that is plenty considering I could make due with 300d. I make Zulu my vassal so that I still have access for my troops; but unlike military access, I can declare war with troops still in their territory. I leave the 2K infantry in Natal. Now I wait until 1429 to build cavalry and attack Zimbabwe when their treasury is low from building tax collectors.
On July 27, 1428, an internal trade ordinance raises base tax in my capital from five to six. A little more census and monthly income is nice; the added build capacity is sure to be useful someday.
PART ONE (1419-1438)
[anchorlink=Foreword]Foreword about 1.07 March 2, 2004 Beta[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Background]Background[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Goals]Goals[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Choices]Initial Choices[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu1]First War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu2]Second War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Prepare_Zimbabwe]Preparing for War with Zimbabwe[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu3]Third War with Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zimbabwe]War with Zimbabwe[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=King_Dead]Zimbabwe's King is Dead[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Annihilated]All Enemies Annihilated[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Zulu_Attacks]Completed Siege in Zimbabwe, Now Attacked by Zulu[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Two_Sieges]Simultaneous Sieges in Progress[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=Finish_Part1]Siege Complete in Natal, Finish off my Enemies[/anchorlink]
[anchor=Foreword]Foreword about 1.07 March 2, 2004 Beta[/anchor]
I have found it necessary to repeat that the 1.07 March 2, 2004 beta (last 1.07 beta) and the 1.08 vanilla are identical except for the ability to merge units in motion. I only used this ability to reduce the tedium of having hundreds of tiny armies running around. There is one time I merged to raise morale in the Kongo. A time or two, I merged some troops to form a cover force; but basically the game would be the same in 1.08.
You can find the same information in the 1.07 Summary of Beta patch changes up to March 2/04. I use the 1.07 March 2/04 beta. The list of changes up to the last 1.07 beta looks very similar to the list of changes between version 1.07 vanilla and version 1.08 vanilla. In fact, I did a Windiff and the only differences are the instructions for installation of 1.08, the placement of the new features and straits information to the top of the 1.08 information, and the little ***** boxes around each header in the document of 1.08 release notes.
Luckily, fraese was good enough to play along with the 1.08 April 21, 2005 beta and reported back that everything worked out for him until I no longer heard back after he had conquered Oman. See posts #16 and #62.
[anchor=Background]Background[/anchor]
Scenario: Grand Campaign of 1419
Version: "EU2 v1.07b BETA Mar 2 2004."
Difficulty: Very Hard
AI Aggressiveness: Aggressive
Majors: Xhosa substituted for Byzantium.
Self imposed rules:
No voluntarily taking bank loans except as repayment for other loans.
No loaning out money for any reason.
No intentional turbo-annexing.
No game or scenario editing.
No merging troops or ships to cause them to move faster or stop retreats.
No reloading from a previous save game, except as required by game crashes.
No provoking game crashes.
The following is an account of a successful world conquest (WC) campaign using Xhosa. This screen shows Xhosa's initial position and DP sliders. Xhosa is a one-province pagan minor near the tip of South Africa. The desire is to accomplish WC with one of the most difficult countries. American nations may arguably be more difficult due to "whiteman penalty", relative late discovery by Europeans, and lesser manpower potential. However, there are only two pagan nations that begin as one-province minors, Zulu and Xhosa. Both nations are of similar difficulty. On the plus side, Zulu begins with a port, a little more income, and a land connection to Zimbabwe's territories. Xhosa has grain production, friendly relations with Zimbabwe, and potential land connections to fair, taxable colonies. For reasons of AI competence, Zulu is actually tougher to start a game with; but I had already tired of using Zulu in games where I found WC attainable. I tired of the red flags that so often caused my failure in being alerted to Portuguese presence. My favorite color is blue; and Xhosa's flag is my favorite shade. There's really not much difference between playing Zulu and Xhosa; so I choose Xhosa.
The game is played using the last 1.07 beta version. There is little difference between this last 1.07 beta and 1.08 vanilla. I prefer some ability to reorganize troops in enemy territory without ending up with too many tiny armies; so I use the ability to merge troops in motion only to avoid the tedium of managing dozens of tiny armies.
I should point out at the outset that WC with Xhosa is not likely. After the first sixty years of game play, with the best management, approximately one in twenty games have the potential to result in WC. I should know; I replayed the early years each time that I decided to choose a different tactic for later game play. I point out every detail in the early years; every little thing is important when there's not much to work with. As my power grows, I'll describe less of the micromanagement.
Xhosa begins with a decent monarch (7,7,7), a mere 25d, and little else. Xhosa's initial annual income is near 11d from all sources. Xhosa knows of only two other nations, Zulu and Zimbabwe. There is no army; but it is advantageous that the neighboring state of Zulu has no army either. Xhosa has permanent CB on Zulu. Nearby Zimbabwe begins with only 1K infantry led by King Nyatsimha (2,3,3).
[anchor=Goals]Goals[/anchor]
The first major goal toward WC is the annexation of Zimbabwe within the first twenty years of game play. The manpower is a must for supporting a decent size army capable of making gains in the greater world. The gold is not necessary; the nearby CoT of Zanzibar will eventually do nicely to aid income. The gold inflation (about 0.14% per year) is not welcome; but it is not nearly so bad as in earlier patches. It is possible to make a go of it and not take Zimbabwe's capital; that costs one more badboy point, but allows for some peace cash. Or you could annex Zimbabwe and allow Zimbabwe to form from revolt losing the gold; that means fighting any number of rebellions to get one where you want. Then you are deprived of the best manpower and tax you can expect to receive, not to mention the gold. You also have another enemy on your border. The odds are already stacked against me; I'll just annex Zimbabwe and not mess around. That's easier said than done.
The second major goal toward WC is obtaining a port for shipbuilding. Although there's nowhere to sail at present, I need to plan ahead for the day when the knowledge of the greater world becomes available. It is possible to annex Zulu's port of Natal. Eliminating Zulu means a land connection to Zimbabwe territory for more tax, the port is good, and more manpower and tax from Natal are a plus also. On the other hand, annexing costs a lot of badboy points for one province and deprives you of having permanent CB, useful for manufacturing CB against allies in future. The Zulu are also a good source of inflation free peace cash. I opt to colonize my own port.
[anchor=Choices]Initial Choices[/anchor]
Xhosa knows a good number of South African provinces ripe for colonization; unfortunately, changes must be made to domestic policies (DP) before colonists will be available. The decision of what to do with the DP sliders in 1419 is a tough one. Moving toward Land for cheaper military is out since I want to colonize. Moving toward Serfdom or Quantity helps reduce costs also, but the morale is needed to fight Zimbabwe. I am torn between moving toward Narrow-mindedness or Free Trade for the colonists. Or I could move toward Aristocracy for more reasonably priced cavalry (16d instead of 18d) and improved badboy recovery; then I could make changes to gain colonists for the next ten years. To start, my monarch is pretty good; I'm already losing one badboy every five years. I expect to gain only two badboys in the first decade, so speeding badboy recovery isn't going to matter for this DP choice. Unless there is an early opportunity for an attack against Zimbabwe, I don't need to build cavalry for ten years; so I can choose Aristocracy later. To choose Aristocracy now would require me to choose Narrow-Mindedness later for the colonists I want. I shall attempt to remain at 4 or 5 on the Narrow-Mindedness/Innovativeness scale changing only if required by event. A more gradual increase in colonists by moving toward Free Trade is my choice. I expect one colonist every five years. The cost of merchants means little to me. As a pagan, trade is not expected to be profitable outside Zanzibar. Once I get five merchants in Zanzibar, I'll pretty much stop sending them.
So the DP slider is moved toward Free Trade for 0.20 colonists per year. Game speed is set to extremely fast for now; events are few and far between early on. Religion sliders for Christian, Moslem, and Pagan are all set to maximum; sliders for Konfucian, Buddhist, and Hindu are all set to minimum. That gives me maximum tolerance for most of the world. Until I get to the East at the end of the game, I'll never need to touch the religion sliders again. Land and naval maintenance are set to 50%, not that it matters, as there is no military yet. And investment is set full toward land tech. I intend to put all effort into researching land tech until reaching land 14. Trade as a pagan is of little use because pagans seem to have serious difficulty competing against any non-pagan nation. Any CoTs you ever own become nearly worthless; so even embargoes don't help. I intend to embark upon WC as soon as possible; getting infrastructure five is just no longer valuable for WC enthusiasts. Once you embark on WC, there is no sense placing governors because in inflationary terms they cost more than they help as you continue to expand faster and faster. There isn't even any reason to reach trade 1 or infrastructure 1 sooner; I cannot afford to do anything until after my monarch's contribution will give me the first levels anyway.
Land tech is the way to go. With an all-out effort I can keep closer to European land tech levels. That will save me much expense; and with the new penalties to tax income, replacing troops becomes difficult due to build capacity. If not for near tech parity, protecting a far-flung empire may be impossible with my only real build capacity way down in South Africa. As a plus, good land tech gives me the ability to perform assaults to conquer the native nations in South America. Without assaults, I wouldn't attempt to conquer the South American nations, which can provide a significant increase in income. And without assaults, how could I ever hope to quickly conquer Africa when the BB wars begin? So here I am with my one little province, no army, in the middle of a map of white; and I'm dreaming of my continental invasions of huge empires in a distant lands. Snap out of it, right? How can I even conquer Zimbabwe?
To conquer Zimbabwe requires a sneak attack immediately or in about the tenth year of the game when Zimbabwe spends most of its treasury on tax collectors. To succeed in the attack, I need money to raise and maintain an army. I am unable to take a loan due to too low of income; but it is possible to take loans in months after looting. I like to play without taking voluntary loans; so I'll plan to attack Zimbabwe in ten years. Until that time, I'll need to work on raising the cash. As I have noted, Zulu is a good source of peace cash. Zulu begins with some money. After nearly 10 years while unable to build troops in war, Zulu manages to accumulate 300d in their treasury.
The answer to my financial needs seems simple; I eventually need to win a war against Zulu. The AI is seriously incompetent in managing Zulu; I expect that Zulu will not put up a fight at all. To win the war, I need at least 5K troops to complete a siege. Cavalry are way to expensive. Using infantry, it is not possible to invade without movement attrition. So I must build 6K infantry; but I can afford only 2K infantry at the outset. On April 1, 1419, I commission the building of 2K infantry; I'm not paying to support the troops any longer than I have to. I'm going to need to loot and use my pitiful census tax (2.5d) to pay for the other 4K infantry.
[anchor=Zulu1]First War with Zulu[/anchor]
I want to begin burning up my badboy as soon as possible. I gain a diplomat on May 1, 1419, but wait until end of May to DoW Zulu. I begin marching when 2K low morale infantry are ready on June 1, 1419; that's why I began building them in April. Give Zulu too much time and they might actually respond to my DoW by building a warship. I'm not afraid of the warship; but that drains Zulu's treasury. So the 300d I need would not be available when I need it.
On July 8, 1419 my infantry arrive in Natal. The unit of 2K is now 1980 men due to movement attrition; movement attrition is the reason building 1K infantry would not be sufficient. Natal is covered; it's now too late for Zulu to do anything. By the way, playing Zulu and DoWing Xhosa, an AI playing Xhosa responds by building 2K cavalry. The newly built cavalry can usually be defeated with 1K infantry and 1K cavalry, which costs a Zulu player a little more and drains the targeted enemy's treasury, delaying the 300d payoff; but essentially the game is the same. Even if not for Zulu's AI mismanagement, it is still possible to win the war.
Once my men have arrived in Natal, I disband all but 1200. I click "cover" and disband the 780 men that I do not want to pay to support. I could keep the 780 men to be of use in case of rebellions due to random events; but the combined chance of an event and chance the troops would be of use is not enough for me to end up getting more inflation to pay for their upkeep.
So now I increase my treasury by looting Zulu's capital in Natal. For July 1419, I pull the investment slider in the budget window all the way to mint money for the treasury; and I close the budget window. I gain 5.8d for that month. Then I return the slider to full investment in land tech. The next looting season is August 1420.
On March 4, 1421, I get a pleasant surprise. A good government policies event improves trade and infrastructure investments by +250d each. That's nice, because I really need to reach trade 1 and infra 1 before annexing Zimbabwe; otherwise the tech costs go up due to having more territories and greater isolation. Normal monarch contribution to the techs results in getting the techs in 1436, which is fine; but there are bad events that drop trade investment or hurt your monarch's contribution like insanity. That could push the time for annexation out.
I loot again in September 1421. A dialog box with pause comes up on June 1, 1422; a white peace with Zulu results due to the fact there has been no fighting and there has been no siege progress for over three years. The war is over; the reason for the war was to loot three times for 15d extra. I started with 5d remaining from my initial 25d after building infantry. I had some census tax come in, some monthly income minted along with the loot, and had some support expenses. I now have 26d in the treasury. One badboy, and a war for 15d doesn't seem that good, but the badboy will be erased before it matters.
Now that I am at peace, it is time to take advantage of my good +125 relations with Zimbabwe. I invite Zimbabwe into an alliance for purpose of gaining a CB against them later. Zimbabwe probably would have invited me had they known where my capital is. The reasons for not inviting Zimbabwe into an alliance sooner are that before my war with Zulu, I didn't have diplomats to spare; and during war with Zulu, I wouldn't want to bring Zimbabwe into the war. They would build up army, learn about Zulu's whereabouts, and would steal the siege of Natal using King Nyatsimha.
It is possible that Zimbabwe might refuse my invitation. But that doesn't matter, as there is plenty of time to try to get Zimbabwe into an alliance before I really need the alliance. Zimbabwe accepts my invitation. It is reassuring to see at a glance that Zimbabwe remains nearly defenseless. There are only 990 infantry in Sofala. If there is a rebellion in Zimbabwe, troops are built in response. If Zimbabwe were to have just 6K troops before I was prepared to spring my attack, I would resign the game. Due to the importance of keeping tabs on Zimbabwe's possible troop buildup, I have set the dialog box option to notify in case of rebellions in other countries.
[anchor=Zulu2]Second War with Zulu[/anchor]
I still need to win a war against Zulu. There is a very slight chance that Zulu builds 5K cavalry on the day white peace results. In that case, only loans can further my goals. But Zulu hasn't started building troops; so I break truce and DoW Zulu a second time. The stability loss is not too big a deal because a level of stability costs only 29d and my monarch contributes 14d per month toward stability recovery. I fiddle with my troops to reinitiate the cover in Natal. It is time to loot again in October 1422.
On November 23, 1423, there is another pleasant surprise. I choose to accept a petition for redress, which raises DP Centralization by +1. This costs four stability; but again that's no big deal. I loot again this month, November 1423.
Then on January 1, 1424, my census taxes bring in just enough to reach my 40d goal for building 4K infantry. That there is just enough money isn't a concern; waiting to loot once more is an option. Inflation is 0.4%; I stop minting the loot I receive. I commission my 4K infantry, which are completed and begin marching on March 1, 1424. On April 8, 1424, the troops arrive and siege progress begins in Natal with 5160 infantrymen.
The siege progresses rapidly. On August 10, 1425, my forces gain control of Natal. Notice that at the extremely fast game speed setting, dates do not always work out as they should. I started the siege on the 8th, so I should complete the siege on the 8th as well; but no matter.
On September 1, 1425, I divide my forces to stand guard in case of unprovoked rebellion events. I leave 2K infantry to guard Natal and send the remaining men back to my capital. If there is a rebellion, the best chance for minimal damage is by being there the day the rebels appear. Due to slow African movement times, it is not otherwise possible to send infantry to fight rebels the first month of the rebellion. On October 8, 1425, I have 3129 infantry in my capital of Transkei; and there are the 2K infantry remaining in Natal.
On October 3, 1426, I get the best event I could hope for. An exceptional year eliminates my 0.4% inflation and gives me 100d in my treasury. Somewhere along the line, Zulu had an event that added 25d to their treasury because they are a year early in reaching the 300d limit. Note that a one-province nation does not accumulate more money for peace after reaching 300d. Anything substantially more than 300d can only be obtained if the nation begins with more than 300d or an event or gift causes the treasury to be greater than 300d. On November 1, 1427, an early peace with Zulu means slightly lower war exhaustion than I would normally be prepared for when fighting Zimbabwe. My treasury is now 399d; that is plenty considering I could make due with 300d. I make Zulu my vassal so that I still have access for my troops; but unlike military access, I can declare war with troops still in their territory. I leave the 2K infantry in Natal. Now I wait until 1429 to build cavalry and attack Zimbabwe when their treasury is low from building tax collectors.
On July 27, 1428, an internal trade ordinance raises base tax in my capital from five to six. A little more census and monthly income is nice; the added build capacity is sure to be useful someday.
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