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unmerged(76711)

First Lieutenant
May 21, 2007
200
0
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR

After two previous attempts to do an AAR, both of which my computer destroyed, i have come to the conclusion that i am going to have another go at it.

The nation which i have chosen is to be Kongo, why is that? I hear you subconciously ask, well, the reason is this. It's the only nation in the game which starts off completely can utterly islated from the world with no way to expand unless you pick QFTNW; so i thought it would be rather interesting to what i acheive...

However, i'm going to try something different whilst i play through the game, rather than scheming throughout and trying to plan ahead i will instead try and play what-i-have-yet-to-come-up-with-a-name-for-but-will-for-now-call-a-circumstancial-form-of-gameplay.

Essentially it is this, the decisions which the leader of my nation make will be determined by the land's of which i know, my countries history (and therefore experience) and the type of ruler i have. So for example (to make this simple), if i have a ruler with a high warfare value i will be aggressive, if i have a leader with a good administration value i will be mindful of what the people want. And so on and so forth. (hate to be complex but it though it would make it more interesting)

Notes:

EU3 V.1.3.

Mod: Unlimited time mod (lot's of time to get things done)

Start Date: 1372, January the 1st, a nice Sunday afternoon.

Anyone who can come up with a name for my style of planning which is less then a paragraph long please say so here, Many thanks!

P.S. Please bear with me, keep the advice coming so i don't make it unbearable but make it constructive!
 
It sounds interesting. I wonder how you'll survive in constant instability, what with having to choose QftNW over something that helps more in the short run. Say, will you be trying to get colonists or waiting for the Europeans to do the work for you?

And as for your playing style, I'm tempted to call it roleplaying.
 
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR


Part 1 Of Part 1: Our Humble Beginings

Welcome To Kongo, it's in the middle of nowhere, known by no one, knows no one and is more pointless than a football. Let's take a look at our current situation shall we...

The known world consists of 4 settled areas, two we have not expanded to and a hell of a lot of mist. We also have some philosphers... Of which we do not need.

1OverviewOfNation.png


As for our research... it will take us a very long time to even start having an independant thought, nethertheless all money is poured into government research.

2OverviewOfDomesticPolocies.png


Our leader, Nkuwu, with his moderatly fair administration capabilities was able to raise the contentness of his people quickly over time.

3SocialImprovementAfterPolicyChange.png


But alas he would not live to see the surprises which the unknown had in store for his people, for he would unexpectedly die after a particuarly sharp slice of mango brutally beheaded him during a tribal festival where he got a bit carried away... Thankfully though his son, Diogo I, who had been brought up in these times of peace was a wonder with the people, efficiently focusing on the well being of his citizens and contributing greatly to the advancement of government research.

4DiogoIThepeopleMindedLeader.png


Unfortunatly though life was, as forever in the Kongo, dull. Yes the happiness and joy filled songs which the people sang echoed throughout the lonely forests it was of little enjoyment or benefit to the narrator who had to watch all of this second after second with nothing ever happening. So he recorded the fluctuations in grain prices to keep himself occupied.

5PriceOfGoods.jpg


Finally however something interesting happened, the citizens, despite having every need and want cared for, felt that they were being mistreatd. Thankfully though Diogo I was a kind and caring king who listened to them and granted them an audience; a more violent king would have cut off their heads!

6ApetitionForRedress.png


But in the year 1443 [90 minutes after starting this acursed game] something appeared off the coast which would cause much chatter in the mud ball manufacturing huts...

7TheWoodenDragon-144310DecemberAMon.png


A great wooden beast, they called it a water dragon, drifted far out to see, it gave them no notice of it knowing they were there but still, it proved without doubt that the people of Kongo may not be alone...

The King however, to reassure his people that everything was "OK" decided to increase the narrowmindness of his people, they could not go around having strange thoughtsm or else it would make life very complicated for them... there was the Kongo! Nothing more and nothing else! And that was how it should remain!

8PoliciesToIgnoreTheWoodenDragon.png


Diogo I himself passed away content and completely oblivious to the problems which would present themselves to Kongo in the far future. And his son, Alvaro I, was to carry on his fathers duties.

10AlvaroIAWellBalancedRuler-1450May.png


Alvaro, like his father, had been brought up in a time of peace, as such he inherited his fathers talent for caring for the people. But the experience of the dragon in his youth had sparked a change in him, thought's stirred in him as to where the dragon had come from. And if there was anything else beyond the mist?

His suspicions were once again fuelled however by the return of the beast,

11ReturnOfTheWoodenBeast-1460Februa.png


And his suspicions turned to amazement when a NEW dragon swam by the coast and away into the mist...

12AWoodenDragonOfANewKind-1461April.png


The dragons return and the arrival of a new one sparked panic in the province of Mayombe when an old lady came running out of her hut screaming that "It's Here!"

13TheWoodenDragonsCauseUnRest.png


Perhaps less panic would have occoured however if the old women had made it clearer that someone was having a baby. Alvaro however kept a lid on the situation by reducing taxes, meaning that everyone could by more intoxicating plants and "have good time".


[Authors Note, will quickly have second half of first part up ASAP, And yes i really did watch grain fluctuations. It took 2 hours for the game to advance about 70 years. HOW BORING!

Also i apologise if there are two many pictures, do not yet have a sense of JAARugment (Pardon the play on words)]

--------------------------

Darkwind3.0- It's is not role playing as such... very close though... rather... the decisions i take are the ones which the ruler would take... is that role playing... maybe im being to complicated....

Anyway, in response to your queries i'm afraid i cannot say :) i know what the Konglese know, i know what they know and nothing more and that dictates my decisions. Which amounts to bugger all :rofl:
 
I'd say your style is roleplaying. And as to you only knowing what the Kongoese know, well, you control the characters. A powerful military king could be a bit soft in the head and like his dolls(or mud balls in this case) more than his swords(or mud balls, I suppose). A great administrator could be great because he's ruthless and uses his country's corruption for his own gain, or creates corruption to use. A leader blessed by God(or the Great Mud Ball in the Sky, I suppose) could be a bit too full of himself and send his country spiraling into decline because he doesn't care for the imperfect peasants. The Kongoese could know quite a bit more than they put in their maps (where do those ledgers come from, eh? How do you know why those flags are from France?).

Was that a rant . . .? Oh my. But anyways, great work so far.
 
Very interesting choice, let's see what can you make of an African nation, good luck and I'll be following
 
Fantastic start.

I get the feeling Kongo doesn't produce anything... other than grain?
 
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR

Part 2 Of Part 1: Getting All High And Mighty Over Our Humble Beginnings

Alvaro had witnessed, along with the other people of his nation, another occurence of dragons swimming past their land. Doubt gnwed at all of their minds, was the Kongo really alone? Or was their really soemthing else? And what was that something else?

Whilst the people of Kongo tried to wrap their heads around the dragon sightings they were about to be rocked by yet another event.

A blind, deaf, dumb and more or less useless being which looked suspicially like them emerged from the mist, as he crawled towards the camp babbling in some kind of demonic speech he died unexpectedly of tuberculosis. Whilst the people of Kongo puzzled over his body a number of bit's of paper detailing locations beyond the mist were found in his pocket.

15UnknownLands-1469November18AFrida.png


Everyone grudgingly accpeted that the Kongo was not alone, for even if the paper was not proof enough then this being coming out of the mist most certainly was.

And yet another being, who they now assumed to be be a human like them, appeared from beyond the mist with yet more paper which told of places not to far from here.

16MoreUnknownLands-1470February3AFr.png



17Timbuktu-1471June15AFriday.png


As if these past events were not enough to shock the people of Kongo then the return of the dragon would certainly give them reason to worry.

18ReturnOfTheWoodenDragonOfOld.png


But worse then that, and to the kings fear, a flock of the beasts, far more than had ever been seen before swam by the shore, for Alvaro there could be no doubt that there was definatly something beyond the mist.

19TheFlockOfWoodenBeasts-1473July13.png


Naturally, the people were afraid, and once again came close to panic, thankfully however Alvaro knew how to calm them.

20SocialUneaseBecasueOfSaidDragons.png


Whilst the people of Kongo tried to go about there normal duties they awoke one morning to find that a vast flock of dragons was sitting off the coast,

21TheObservantMenace.png


Whilst the people simultaneously marvelled at this day after day, for the flock showed no sign of leaving even after 5 months had passed, Alaro came close to panic, for he feared that the dragons could be dangerous, or worse some punishment from mother nature. As such, he established a watch off along the coast, and subsequently expanding the Kongo's territior fo the first time.

22EstablishingaWatch-1474October19A.png


But on the 7 December 1474, on a Monday night, the elderly Alvaro passed away, to be replaced by his son Bernardo I,

23BernardoITheTroubledYouth-1474Dec.png


Bernardo I, was unlike his predeccsors in that his child hood had been filled with the trouble caused by the discoveried from beyond the mist, the people were afraid, and so was he. But as a leader he could defend them and fight if need's must be. As such, although still in touch with his people he began focusing on methods as to how to defend the people of Kongo,

24AnArmy.png


He trained his people in the newly established outpost of Loango, where they fought against the natives to raise their discipline and understanding of military techniques. From that Bernardo was able to successfully train the Kongo's first general.

25GeneralsInTraining.png


Bernardo's reign however was short lived, his running about through the plains of Loango chasing and being chased by hordes of tribes man took their toll and on the 10 July, 1477 he passed away from sheer exhaustion; to be replaced by his militaristic and manipulative son, Jose I.

26TheCleverSodThatIsJoseI-1477July1.png


His fathers ventures into warfare and the fear of the dragons had honed deadly skills within him, but he had also gained a better understanding of his people than his father.

But although the rise of this great and potentially troublesome leader was a mile stone in Kongo's history it was nothing compared to when their government researcher came bursting out of the mud hut yelling "I've had an idea! I've had an idea!"

27TheDawnOfANewEra-1477November2AFr.png


This truly was a great time in Kongo's history, Jose I turned his attention to the Northern mist and the free idea hit him. He and his people would travel into the mist and beyond, to find out what these water beasts were once and for all, to do so, he personally trained a man who honed his skills of how to hack through bushes to traverse through the mist...

29HowToHackThroughBushes.png


And so the Kongo was posied to enter the unknown world, they knew not of what faced them apart from the scraps of paper they were provided with.


---------------------------------------------------------

Darkwind 3.0- Thankyou, and with regard to your comment, i know what they know, which has expaned greatly in recent times but is still not much i am afraid, the world will be revealed to you all as the Kongolese discover it themselves. (P.S. The flag you referred to was England not France, at least that's what the lady behind the mub ball hut told me :) )

Capibara- Thank you, i will need the luck i believe.

rcduggan- What's Catholicism? I know not of it. (Time will tell what the people of Kongo's attitudes are to these lies you tell me :rofl: )

Kanil- We produce ivory, but grain showed the greatest fluctuations so i stuck with that :) (you have no idea how boring this was for the first two hours)

Sr. Toledo- Ummm... yes... ok... (goes off to fetch the tranquiliser)
 
Never seen anybody do Kongo before. I'll be keeping a watch on this. Hopefully you won't be swallowed or destroyed by those huge water dragons.
 
ProffessorEGADD said:
But although the rise of this great and potentially troublesome leader was a mile stone in Kongo's history it was nothing compared to when their government researcher came bursting out of the mud hut yelling "I've had an idea! I've had an idea!"
Congratulations! You have successfully made Kongo fun (to read at least, if not to play). I salute you!
(And yes, beware of the water dragons).
 
ProffessorEGADD said:
Sr. Toledo- Ummm... yes... ok... (goes off to fetch the tranquiliser)

You obviously didn't understand my intention. What I was saying was that your thread is racist. And it still is. It disgusts me that yet again an African nation is being portrayed as completely backward and idiotic (producing mudballs, for instance, or being completely ignorant of virtually everything), and being haughtily mocked for it. This thread is dripping with subtle racism and Eurocentrism... I might as well have be reading 'Heart of Darkness'!

Still, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Admittedly, anti-Africanism is so pervasive that most Europeans just don't realize it... so I chose to handle said racism gently, via a satire in the style of reductio ad adsurdum. I wasn't making a racist joke: I was pretending to be you, and imitating (in an extreme fashion) your offensive (at least to me) degradation of the Congolese people. Maybe I'm overreacting. But your response to my post is simply unacceptable as well. I can understand that you percieved my comments as somehow offensive, but even then, you ought to have dealt with me with respect...
 
ProffessorEGADD said:
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR

rcduggan- What's Catholicism? I know not of it. (Time will tell what the people of Kongo's attitudes are to these lies you tell me :rofl: )
Well I remember Kongo did convert at some point in the 15th century, so I wonder if you will do that.

But I like this so far, keep it up.
 
Sr. Toledo said:
You obviously didn't understand my intention. What I was saying was that your thread is racist. And it still is. It disgusts me that yet again an African nation is being portrayed as completely backward and idiotic (producing mudballs, for instance, or being completely ignorant of virtually everything), and being haughtily mocked for it. This thread is dripping with subtle racism and Eurocentrism... I might as well have be reading 'Heart of Darkness'!

Still, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Admittedly, anti-Africanism is so pervasive that most Europeans just don't realize it... so I chose to handle said racism gently, via a satire in the style of reductio ad adsurdum. I wasn't making a racist joke: I was pretending to be you, and imitating (in an extreme fashion) your offensive (at least to me) degradation of the Congolese people. Maybe I'm overreacting. But your response to my post is simply unacceptable as well. I can understand that you percieved my comments as somehow offensive, but even then, you ought to have dealt with me with respect...
The point has been made. Now let's return to to the AAR.

LD
 
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR


Jose I's War Of The Mist; Part 1 Of 2


The Kongo's emergence into the "known" world was, alas, not a peaceful venture. The Conquistador Alexio Tayot blazed a path along the sea, the land which he dicovered he named Cameroon and Gabon. But eventually he came across the tribal lands of a people who called their loose collective "Oyo".

1TheCollectiveOfOyo.jpg


The news that a nation similar to theirs had been discovered was quickly relayed back to Jose I. Whilst the people of Kongo expected their two nations to form some kind of relationship Jose I quickly proved such possibilities impossible. He declared that the Kongo's original mission was to discover the dragons, and the dragons must be further north, so continue there they must; and it just so happened that this "Oyo" was in their way. With his "casus belli" in place he swiftly executed his plan to wage the first war of the Kongo.

2TheCasusBelli.png


2TheDeclarationOfWar.jpg


Kongo's first gain in the war was securing Oyo's tribal land of Calabar, although Jose could have seized the province through brute force out right he preferred not to, he would secure the whole of Oyo first, so as to secure all the lands outright as a result of negotiation.

4TheFirstGain.jpg


They also noticed that there was a nearby tribal land called Hausa, however, it was of little interest to Jose I since it was in no way interacting with the Kongo, as long as the Hausa ignored the Kongo it would make his war far more easier.

After blazing his way through several tracts of land Alexio Tayot found his way to another of Oyo's tribal lands, he encountered no resistance and was surprised to find that this was the seat of the tribe's government.

5OccupationofCapital.jpg


Having encountered no reistance from the Oyo people, apart from an incident with a very irate women where Tayot himself incited her fury when he stepped upon her recently grazed lawn, he and his men marched boldly into the unknown to search for more of Oyo's tribal lands.

Unfortunatly however, they were ambushed in the newly discovered land called Benin, but thankfully, due to Tayot's great skills and, in part, to their numerically superior numbers, they were able to win the battle and secure the tribal land of Benin itself.

6Firstvictory.jpg


Unfortunatly however word had reached them that the previously secured heartland of Oyo, Ife, had been retaken by enemy forces. Tayot had a feeling that the war was going to get complicated, but he marched on regardless, pursuing the recently defeated force and so leading them to another tribal land called Oyo; and momentarily pondered as to why the land named after themselves was not the seat of their tribes foundation. But by now he had learnt of another tribe called Ashanti which was providing support to Oyo; he decided to leave the lands of Oyo, even riking their re-occupation, and going on to eliminate the smaller tribe of Ashanti.

This would prove to be a fatal mistake.

7Themistake.jpg


He engaged the local tribesman in battle, only to find that they were not only equal in numbrs but also led by their skilled and knowledgeable leader Zolgo I. Tayot's men, tired after their recent treck through the wilderness seperating Oyo and Ashanti, they were driven off into the unknown mist to flee for their lives and hopefully regroup.

8TheRetreat.jpg


Jose I, who was soon made aware of this setback, ordered a new force to be prepared, to hopefully retreive Tayot's task force from the wilderness and strike a co-ordinated blow to the Oyo in the process.

9Reinforcements.jpg


Meanwhile, Tayot himself regrouped his forces and led him and his troops back to the Ashanti land's in a hope to succeed this time. This hope however was shattered by their defeat once again at the hands of Zolgo.

10Zolgodefendshislands.jpg


Tayot was chased back out into the wilderness, where he decided to tackle the Oyo, although he was able to win every battle against the Oyo's tribesmen the scattered nature of Oyo's forces meant they were able to retake tribal lands after Tayot secured them himself and moved on. Simply out maneuvered he could only hope to destory as many of the Oyo's warriors as possible and hold out untill reinforcements arrived. Eventually however as his warriors decreased in numbers they were forced to retreat into the secure and isolated land of Calabar. Nearly three years on and the Kongo had been forced back to square one.

11Square1.jpg


However, the re-inforcements were indeed on their way. And they were being led by the new Conquistador Maloba Rallum, the experience earnt from the 3 years of fighting had taught new skills to the Kongo warriors, and Maloba had learnt all of these new tactics, and was ready to implement them in what Jose I hoped would be a final crushing blow to this barrier into the unknown.

------------------------------------------------------

Authors Note:

I have attempted to avoid using more Euoro centric words such as provinces, nations and armies in my AAR (for now) to reflect upon the different mind set of the African people. To them their "armies" are mearly brave warriors who go forth to search the lands beyond the mist's. A concept of an army raised to "loot, pillage, plunder and if nessacery kill" doesn't quite seem to fit in with the African tribal nature. That blood thristy uncivilised behaviour is best left to me and my fellow Europeans!

Although they will probably be introduced to such concepts when and if i come across any Eurpean nations. Think of it as a spreading of culture if you will through a process of osmosis...

P.S. Sorry to be an akward bannana
 
I Pull The Strings, But It's All Relative- A Kongo AAR


Jose I's War Of The Mist; Part 2 Of 2


On the 26 of November Maloba Rallum met up with Alexio Tayot's forces in the secured enemy land of Calabar. Jose I himself however, demonstrating an awareness of the difficulty of the situation, initiated diplomatic contact with the previously ignored tribe of Hausa. With gift's of Mango's, kiwi's, women and a force of 5000 experienced warriors armed with pointed sticks he was able to "convince" the Hausa to allow his armies passage through their lands. This would enable his two force's to enter the Oyo's land's without having to pass through the wilderness.

1Persuasion.png


Without a doubt this was the advantage they needed, 9000 warriors running out of a supposedly neutral tribal land and effectivly sneaking up on them was the last thing they expected. A quick succession of victories ensued, during which they were able to secure the heartland of Oyo, Ife, and Benin.

2Quicksuccess.jpg


This however would simply be a temporary gain, for it was the intention of Jose I to march his warriors to the Ashanti who had dishonoured them so greatly and subsequently knock them out of the war. Unfortunatly however they learnt through Oyo's citizens that what they called the "political situation" had dramatically changed.

3Oyosetback.jpg


The two tribes had been temporarily united, and this meant that instead of taking out the Ashanti tribe they had to take out the Oyo instead. Effectivly Jose I's plans had once again been thrown into chaos. He would have pulled his hair out in frustration but it was customary for the High Elders to be bald; to demonstrate the spirituality and superiority of some obscure tradition which none of the normal citizens of Kongo knew about. He pulled out a supervisors hair instead.

Alongside this development was a less pressing but equally problamatic issue developing in the un--occupied land of Whydah. A group of people who looked like they had been dipped in chalk and wore some kind of wooden cross round their neck were building squares with a kind of pointed top out of the sparse trees dotted in the area. It was apparent that they must be demons of some kind, but Jose I had far more pressing concerns than a group of demons who were more or less harmless except for their strange need to kill any animal they saw, whether they could eat it or not.

4Apeculiarsituaiton.jpg


Jose I ordered Rallum and Tayot to lead their warriors to the land of Oyo, the cornerstone of Oyo's tribal lands, from there they would once again split into two groups and secure Ife and Benin, the result of which would be to effectivly gain full control of Oyo.

Unfortunatly however, the Hausa aware of the Oyo's precarious position, decided to declare war against Oyo and try and get something out of Kongo's hard work; like the parasites they were demonstrating to be. Unfortunaly however, the Hausa had gotten their timeing completely wrong. As all of Oyo's warriors were being driven into Benin Hausa's war gave them an oppertunity to escape through Hausa's own tribal lands.

5Hausasmistake.jpg


Hausa's greedy mistake for a moment seemed to be detrimental to the Kongo's hard work and could in itself destroy the Hausa for the Oyo quickly took control. But it would ultimatly prove to be a great advantage to the Kongo. The Oyo's forces were driven far away from their home lands and into the Kongo's first gain in the war; Calabar.

6Fullcircel.jpg


Trapped in Calabar and with no where to go the Oyo could only wait for the Kongo's combined groups of warriors to arrive. Where it had begun, it would end.

7TheEnd.jpg


And so it did.

The Kongo had, in a stroke of luck completely destroyed the Oyo, they secured the tribal lands for themselves and let the Asanti go; for now.

But Jose I had a grudge to bear, and since he couldn't bear with things for very long he decided to get it out of the way as soon as possible. The Hausa had proved to be leeches, traitors. Never mind they had no realtionship other than a brief period of military access which he had terminated; they had to be destroyed, to demonstrate that the Kongo was not to be taken lightly.

They also seperated the Kongo from their newly gained tribal lands.

8Hausasend.jpg


Victory was swift, the Hausa had not recovered from Oyo's last successful skirmish against them and there were no wairriors for the Kongo to face off.

Their lands were swiftly incorporated into ours.

9goodbyeHausa.jpg


And so the Hausa's end also saw the end of Jose I's War Of The Mist. Jose I had demonstrated that he was willing ot go to almost any length to acheive his goals. Kongo's emergence from the obscurity of the mist had resulted in the end for two entire tribes. But for the Kongo it meant something much different, it meant the beginning of a new Kongo, a wiser, more powerful Kongo.

10TheNewKongo.jpg


But to Jose I, the end of the War Of The Mist's wasn't the end. It was only the beginning of a whole new era.


-------------------------------------------

Authors note:

I'm always a fan of a melodramatic situation, needless to say i was happy to see the Oyo crushed at the same place it all started after giving me the run around for 4 years.


Stroph1- It most certainly was and i most certainly did!!!!