Poland -- HARD nation to play!

[SoulBlazer]

After getting EU 2 on release day, fiddling around with it to learn the ins and outs, doing a quick game as Moscow before deciding to wait for the 1.01 patch, and then getting the patch, I started a new GC game as Poland.

I'm a experienced EU vet, but even I'm having serious problems with this nation -- which I really did not play in EU much.

Half my background is Polish. My last name is Polander. Our records on my dad's side of the family is skecthy at best -- no one has bothered to do research into it -- but we know they came from around Warsaw in the early 1800's to the US and settled in western PA to mine coal and farm -- industrys some of my fmaily still do today, and most sitll live in the area. No doubt they 'Americanized' their name when they imigrated.

The game has proven to be QUITE a challenge for me, though. I thought I would share my experiences and/or ask for advice.

The year is now 1529 and I'm number 1. Difficulty settings are Normal and Normal. I wanted to stay peacefull at first, and allied with Lithunia. A war came to me in the 1420's, when I smashed the Tutontic Order (including Prussia and Pskov) and Pommeria to one provience nations in a bloody six year war. Then a war with Novogrod in the 1450's netted me Tver, Imergandland, and the lands north of that. It was a glorius war with my Lithunian, Moscow, Ukraine, and Kazan forces.

More alliance wars aganist the Golden Horde in the 1490's, allready wrecked since Crimea, Ukraine, Kazan, and Asterkhan had all declared freedom in the 1460's. I made them a vassal. My first offensive war was when I declared on the TO/Pommeria/Brandenburg/Mecklenburg alliance in 1500 and defeated all of them in a bloody two year war. They had much better land tech with me. I won thanks to all the other pluses I had -- three commanders, high fire values and morale, offensive tactics, and superior menpower. The TO and Pommeria are gone and the other two reduced to one provinece and made vassals. As that hurt my relations, I've been staying quiet and just doing minor alliance wars as asked.

I've also wanted to try to change history and the historical decline of Poland and fought the nobels on every random event. Between that and changing the DP sliders, I have a nation heavily titled to the Aristocile, Quality of Armies, and Free subject areas, while Centralization and Free Trade is in the middle. But due to all the stablity hits, and now the need to balence three faiths in the kingdom since 1519, I've had to leave my budget on restoring stab more then research. As a result, I'm still a few years away from getting Land Tech 3, while everything else but Infastructure is also still at 2. Needless to say, I'm falling way behind the rest of Europe.

Despite the large size of the nation and getting money from three vassels, the budget is only about 70 a month. I get around 175 a year -- enough to replace losses to the army and work on improving relations. But inflation is getting to around 40 percent, the whole county is on a tight rope, requiring a high stability and short wars, the military is fast becoming obsolete, research is slow at best, and I've still seen no evidence of the Union of Lublin that I so BADLY need.

Level 2 forts and the Polish army of 175k will only be able to defend a nation stretching from the steepes of Russia to central Germany for so long. It takes more then three years for full Stability spending to raise a point, and it seems I have so much bad luck in random events plunging it down. I'm between a rock and a hard place.

As far as the rest of Europe goes....what a interesting game! Here's some of the major things that have happened:

Both Moscow and Novograd have lost land and weakened themselves, allowing nations like the Ukraine, Kazan, and Crimea to do well, with other land being taken by Byzantium and Spain.

The Ottoman Empire was gone by the 1460's, as the Byzantium spread to take most of Asia Minor and a god chunk of the balkans, up to Hungary. But the Turks rebeled from other nations in the 1490's and have held their own.

Persia and the Memluks have taken most of the Mid east.

Austria has inherited Spain in the 1520's due to the Hapsburg event and also has Bohemia as a vassal. Also parts of France and the Lowlands are hers.

Denmark diplomatic annexed Sweeden in the 1430's (!) and rules the north with a iron fist.

Spain has done really well at first...she diplomatic annexed Portugal (!) in the 1450's and also Narvarra, Naples, and a couple proviences here and there. She even vasseled England in the 1510's. But then came the vassal status from Austria. Wars broke out, Portgual cut loose and even took a Spanish provience, Naples was lost as well, and she's struggling to hold the country together.

France took over the central part of her nation, but still looks weak with other nations around her and not all of her vassels abosrbed.

England had Wales declare freedom in the 1460's and Yorkshire was just ceaded to Eire!

Venice took over Serbia, Bosnia, and north-east Italy, and is holding her own on all fronts.

Crazy game! Now to see if I can somehow make it! Has anyone had succees with Poland in the GC game? And when does the Union of Lubin happen?

Greg

[Idiotboy]

I think the union of lublin is in 1584 or something.

[pithorr]

Sounds interesting. Poland in EU1 was boring easy to play...
Unions of Lublin
1st: 1569 (political)
2nd: 1596 (religious one - joined some orthodox Ruthenians in Ukraine with Catholic Church, not changing greek/orthodox order of faith).

[Jan Zamojski]

As far as I know in EU2 Union of Lublin event is triggered sometimes between 1568 and 1570. The religious Union of 1596 was called union of Brest but I think it is not yet modelled in the game. We are working on it on Central Europe EEP thread (as well as on some other events for Poland so I encourage you to take a look and share your opinion).

And to SoulBlazer: apparantly poland is tougher than in EU1, but as you are no. 1 you are doing great. Perhaps you can write AAR - there is non yet about Poland under EU2. One good news - you are not going to be bothered by Russia.

[BiB]

I played Poland in MP betatesting and in some ways it is a very hard nation to play but in other ways very easy. All in all interesting though. Stability being the main trouble and military being very easy IMO as u start with very good army slider settings.

[Yozhik]

The game has proven to be QUITE a challenge for me, though. I thought I would share my experiences and/or ask for advice.

You call this a challenge? If you're smashing into Golden Horde already and you're number 1 in 1529, how is it a challenge?

Try Muscovy or Ottomans on Very Hard/Furious

[Xanadu]

At least you have those grain provinces so the capability is there for a large army.

[Yozhik]

At least you have those grain provinces so the capability is there for a large army.

Yeah - but what good are those provinces if you get little to no cash to build the troops in the first place No wonder Teutons tend to crumble...

[Xanadu]

Well since those grain provinces don't give you much there is only one logical way to go then.
Go after the more lucrative provinces in wars.

[SavvyPlayer]

OT -- Xanadu, your quote is also line from Kubla Khan, a Samuel Coleridge poem. BTW my wife is a big Xanadu fan, we also own the sountrack

[Xanadu]

Well yes Neil Peart used Coleridges' poem for the basis of the song. I was made aware of this fact from people in this forum way back when.

But I am A big RUSH fan, therefore I put them in my sig , not Coleridge.

Which soundtrack?
A Farewell to Kings? I wouldn't call it a soundtrack.

[Pan Zagloba]

Originally posted by SavvyPlayer
OT -- Xanadu, your quote is also line from Kubla Khan, a Samuel Coleridge poem. BTW my wife is a big Xanadu fan, we also own the sountrack

Actually Coleridge's line is

"Weave a circle round him thrice
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of paradise."

which is subtly different.

Zagloba

[JohnMK]

Originally posted by SoulBlazer
I'But due to all the stablity hits, and now the need to balence three faiths in the kingdom since 1519, I've had to leave my budget on restoring stab more then research. As a result, I'm still a few years away from getting Land Tech 3, while everything else but Infastructure is also still at 2. Needless to say, I'm falling way behind the rest of Europe.

Hmmmm, dare I recommend you try out serfdom? Your problems are a direct result of spending too much money on free subjects. Since you say you had free (and getting freer) subjects, I can assume that you probably were spending at least TWICE as much on stability as a full-serfdom player. The small loss in morale would have been more than made up for by your greater wealth and thus greater tech levels.

[Emperor of Europe]

Since Poland is militarily strong early on in the game, I guess it's a good idea to develop a general western offensive from the beginning. It's here most of the rich provinces are, that can ensure that Poland remains strong later on.

Regards,

EoE

[Thekinslayer]

OT; Hey, Pan Zagloba, finally I recognize your handle. I just finished the entire trilogy in about a month. I thought it was fantastic, and it gave me a much better, although somewhat romanticized, especially in With Fire and Sword, sense of my heritage.

[Pan Zagloba]

Originally posted by Thekinslayer
OT; Hey, Pan Zagloba, finally I recognize your handle. I just finished the entire trilogy in about a month. I thought it was fantastic, and it gave me a much better, although somewhat romanticized, especially in With Fire and Sword, sense of my heritage.

It's nice to be noticed!

It is indeed a right riveting read. Have you had the chance to see Wajda's film verion of Fire and Sword? Not available in the UK yet for some bizarre reason (it's in France and the US, AFAIK).

Zagloba

[Greebo]

That's hilarious...guess that's education for you. I wasn't able to dig my way through the trilogy because it was one of the obligatory works of literature...go figure, for a foreigner it's a 'riveting read'. Nice to hear that

[Pan Zagloba]

Originally posted by Greebo
That's hilarious...guess that's education for you. I wasn't able to dig my way through the trilogy because it was one of the obligatory works of literature...go figure, for a foreigner it's a 'riveting read'. Nice to hear that

I was like that with the Mayor of Casterbridge. One of the classics of English Literature - drug-free insomnia cure if you ask me. But we're getting (further) off-topic.

Zagloba

[Hetman Polski]

The best thing you can do as Poland is attack German states and Baltic provinces. in my current game it's 1689 I annexed Bohemia, TO, Prussia, Lithuania, Bradenburg, nothern Germans, Saxony, Bavaria, a chunk of Austria and Hungary. My goal is to conquer all of Germany and Austria before France regains its' power. Spain and England just had a very long and devastating war against france so it'd be at least a few decades before France is strong enough to pose a serious threat.

[SoulBlazer]

Whoa! Who the heck dredged up THIS old thread?

Now a days, I try to keep my people half in the middle for free and serf, and then late in the game, slowly swing them to being totally free by 1819, when it's no longer hard to raise stability in more then two years.