Prester John's Revenge: An Ethiopia Gameplay AAR

Parcae · 29-10-2009, 04:35

Ethiopia! Jewel of East Africa! Seat of learning and mother of ...

Eh, I'm not convincing anyone. Circa 1399, Ethiopia is kind of an awful place to live. Eight provinces, exactly one of which has 3 base tax; the others are all 2 or 1. Tribal despotism, meaning I can't expand above 9 provinces or dire things will befall, not to mention that 50% research penalty. African tech group, the second worst in the world. Crappy units and no cavalry, ever. A religion shared by no one for thousands of miles (which at least means I won't have to worry about stability hits from aggression). Three different religions in my own borders, which pretty much guarantees religious rebellions and plenty of them:

Have you ever tried to put down religious rebellions with African infantry in an area with no forts? Even if you slaughter the opposition, they will (unless you can trick them into entering an unoccupied province) retreat into and force-convert the next province over. Not fun. My converting days are clearly going to have to wait for better units (due, at the current rate of advancement, never) or forts.

On the bright side, I do have a gold mine. And an irreducible .08 inflation rate. Also, I'm the strongest nation in the known world. The known world consists of me and Adal.

Clearly this is too easy a start, so I set the difficulty to Very Hard and the map spread to 200 years. Otherwise we might westernize too early, and I can't have that.

My objectives? KILL EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE.

Parcae · 29-10-2009, 08:17

I get lucky with the roll on my king's military stats: two points of shock, and one of manoever. Pretty good for a dude with a military skill of 4. I have three infantry units; Adal has 1. I raise one more while sending the standing army south to the border at Awsa, where I will split off a single unit to conquer the country while the main forces duke it out in their capital.

(Note: This is the basic way of dealing with low-tech battles in countries without forts. They can last forever, so don't bother actually trying to win. Just stall the main army long enough to conquer everything else.)

Meanwhile, I move the slider innovative and get -1 stability, just what I need for my already revolt-ridden provinces. Oh, well, better now than later. Stability investment to max, of course. It'll take ... you can't be serious. A year? I miss my days of playing European OPMs.

Advisers are mostly crap. I'm looking for inflation and RR reducers at this point. There's one 1 point inflation reducer. Better than nothing, although it still leaves .06 inflation every year with no minting. I also take a two-point stability restorer. I need to get that RR down yesterday, or I'll be awash with Islamic rebels.

As soon as I'm in position, I declare war on Adal and invade. They're already allied with Swahili and Najd. Oh, well, I'll learn the location of a couple of capitals.

Five days later, a stack of 4k animist rebels rises in Tigre - larger than my whole army at this point. It takes the province at once, of course, since there are no forts, and heads north to Islamic Massawa. I leave it to its own devices for the time being. After taking Massawa, it unfortunately doesn't decide to continue north to Egypt. Instead, it enters the unoccupied zone, apparently en route to my capital. Not good. This may be a short game.

The war against Adal goes according to plan:

I debate whether to invade Swahili for map knowledge, or wait for the white peace. Sometimes Mutapa inexplicably manages to take their capital early on, so it might be useful to know another province. On the other hand, I want peace ASAP, so that I can declare war again and bring in any new allies. And by “new allies” I mean hopefully Yemen.

Why Yemen? Patience, grasshopper. “I Got My Mind Set On You” comes on the radio. I take this as an omen and inform Swahili that I have my mind set on them. After investigating the province in question, I back off again. Adal is between us, and they don't have access, so they can't reach me and I can leave this as a cold war for as long as I want.

A show of force in the capital causes the animist rebels to back off towards terra incognita in the north. I later discover that they apparently chose to remain in Berber indefinitely. Fine with me - it should slow down Mamluke colonization.

14 October 1400: jackpot. Two inflation advisers for a total of .10 reduction, and a four-star judge for RR reduction. Only problem is that I now make -4.5 gold per year. Oh, well, hopefully a little more stability should help with that.

December 1401: Stability finally is maxed out. Thanks to the adviser, my revolt risk is gone ... until I move another slider.

6 Dec 1401: White Peace with Najd.

23 Dec 1401: ...and Swahili. Guarantee Najd in an effort to get more contacts (when somebody declares war on them). This is a very useful if rather abusive way to expand your map knowledge when you start out as isolated as Ethiopia does.

Shortly thereafter, they declare on Haasa and bring in the whole Muslim world against them. Blast. I could have gained contacts with half the world if I had warned instead of guaranteeing.

1 Feb 1402: My citizens in Massawa finally look across the big red line to the north and notice that there are Mamlukes there. Promptly start trying to sell the province to Adal, so that I don't share a border with the big meanie.

My blasted nobles get uppity, causing a stabhit.

Later in 1403 I give up on getting anything for Massawa and give it to Adal.

Nov 1404 - another stability-reducing event. Blast.

Oct 1406 - and another, just as I'm gearing up for another war.

1 Jan 1407 - war on Swahili. I discover Yemen's capital and start heading there. Yemen doesn't have forts, and only 3k infantry, so strategy is the same as for Adal.

Peace -

I immediately start swapping my infantry for cavalry, which I can build in the new provinces since they have Yemeni cores.

A new king:

Meanwhile, the Mamlukes declare war on Hedjaz. This is bad either way - they could get clobbered by the Ottomans, who guaranteed Hedjaz. This would result in a colossus to my north. Or they might, more plausibly, crush Hedjaz, giving them a border with me. In the end they peace out with Hedjaz for Tabouk.

1411 - I move Centralized, and get two rebel stacks, one under my main stack. It keeps it occupied while the second collapses the country, and I lose the new provinces. Oh, well, I got a vassal and some cavalry out of it.

I celebrate by declaring war on Najd, currently guaranteed by everyone:

Beamed · 29-10-2009, 09:11

May I ask why you vassalized Adal, as you cannot diploannex a nation that is another religion? Was it to prevent tribal succession crises until you've gotten a new government, or..?

Parcae · 29-10-2009, 09:30

A vassalized Adal means that no other nation can reach my borders once I cede Massawa to them (until they sign a troop passage agreement, which normally takes a few decades into the game). It means that I can pick and choose my battles. And yes, I'm also using Adal as a dumping ground for provinces I can't yet take.

Note that this is a risky strategy. AI vassals can and do declare war to escape vassalage.

sprites · 29-10-2009, 10:41

vassalized adal , plus selling them that province , is a nice way to prevent getting steamrolled by mamelukes , the risk of a dow is much greater with a land border
they can escape if you're not allied to them

now it's time to push southwards

vassalizing swahili/mutapa , get a southern province and wait for europeans to settle next to it

Parcae · 29-10-2009, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprites

vassalized adal , plus selling them that province , is a nice way to prevent getting steamrolled by mamelukes , the risk of a dow is much greater with a land border
they can escape if you're not allied to them

Exactly.

Quote:

now it's time to push southwards

vassalizing swahili/mutapa , get a southern province

That's the plan.

Quote:

and wait for europeans to settle next to it

Not bloody likely.

blsteen · 29-10-2009, 15:06

I always like Ethiopia even if they usually die in my games...Of course they usually reappear. You seem to be doing very well keep it up.

*stnylan* · 29-10-2009, 20:22

Always nice to see Ethiopia AARs. There are never enough.

Nodscouterr · 29-10-2009, 21:30

Ah yes, Ethiopia. Fun one to play.

Parcae · 31-10-2009, 01:00

It's a phony war as no one can reach me. But I do get a whole bunch of contacts. I also have severe budget problems and have to cut back severely on army maintenance and disband one of my five cavalry units.

1413 - get an event which gives me free +1 innovative. Woo. Later in the year, peace with everyone. I promptly guarantee Morocco.

1415 - war with Swahili. Now that I'm a little more secure back home, I want some gold provinces.

1416 - this effort is frustrated when I discover a red line to the south:

Oh well. I peace out for their four northern provinces and all their cores on Mutapan territory. I then sell two provinces to my vassal Adal to avoid the risk of a succession crisis.

1418 - discover who's on the other side of the border: Mutapa. Big surprise. Declare war. The war takes a while, as my forces in the area are limited and I'm constantly having to deal with rebels.

1423 - finish off the Mutapan provinces on the Indian Ocean (and give superfluous ones to Adal). Declare war on Swahili. I could use another vassal.

The war is over in short over:

1424 - not satisfied with the beating they took the first time around, Mutapa declares war on my new vassal.

Later in the year, something very bizarre starts happening: the Swahili troops don't fight to defend their territory. They simply stand there as the Mutapans occupy it. Very odd. Reload from start of year, but it doesn't help.

*stnylan* · 31-10-2009, 01:05

Whenever I see the AI do something odd like that in a PAradox game, I remind myself that no matter how idiotic an AI can be, humans are more accomplished when it comes to incompetency.

Nodscouterr · 31-10-2009, 01:11

Watch the Swahili army closely. It would seem as if the army was somehow sponsored by Mutapa as patriots, therefore friendly to them and therefore not willing to fight them.

Parcae · 31-10-2009, 01:16

Finally, in 1427, I make peace for 1100 ducats. I have meanwhile seized two provinces, one gold-bearing. Mutapa is now cut off from the sea. I sell another couple of home provinces to Adal to avoid going over the limit.

1432 is the rematch. This one ends in 1433 for another gold-bearing province and 1175 gold. Thereafter I send a missionary to my richest new province. (I also converted one home province earlier, which I forgot to mention).

From now on, I will be keeping notes in much less detail until westernization, as it would get pretty boring.

Between selling provinces and conversion, my four remaining home provinces are now all Orthodox. My four new ones to the south (I leave a buffer of one province in case an opportunity comes up) are all animist.

1434: centralization moves sets off an extremely annoying 3k stack of pretender rebels led by a 4 shock general

1435: Portugal, Aragon and Castille declare war on Morocco. My first contacts with the West!

1435: King dies in battle against the evil revolutionaries.

1435: Sofala converts. That was pretty fast; I got lucky there.

1438: Peace with Portugal.

1438: Mutapa declares on me as soon as the treaty expires. Fine with me. Make peace a couple of months later for 375 ducats and all the cores outside their territory. Safe for a few years, I send another missionary.

1441: Uteve converts. Start on Quelimane.

1442: Guarantee all the European countries I know in the hope of more contacts.

1443: Mutapa declares, and peaces out again a few months later for 275 gold. They seem to enjoy losing money.

1444: Uteve converts. Start on the last province (and my last missionary), Kilwa.

1445: Side with Aragon against Castille when they declare. I am rewarded with contact with Naples. Centralize and get stabhit.

1446 - one of my inflation reducers dies. A pity, but inevitable sooner or later.

1447: Smugglers. I pay to get rid of them.

1448: Regular as clockwork, Mutapa declares. This time I'm in a bad position, fighting off animist rebels. They team up with the Mutapans and force-convert three provinces, which is annoying. Such are the perils of fighting in a multireligious region with no forts.

This happens with three converted provinces, on the last occasion when the animist regiments had been reduced to 0 troops. Frustrating.

On the bright side, I pick up another 325 ducats in the peace settlement.

A new, lousy king comes to power a couple of years later.

1452 - dragged into war against Castille again due to that guarantee. I'll probably dishonor it if this happens again.

1453 - do exactly that when Portugal declares on Morocco. Prestige isn't as important at this point as not unduly tanking my relations with the colonizing powers.

1454 - guess what Mutapa does? Another 325 ducats in the peace treaty next year.

1456 - Judge dies. He's had a good run.

1457: Innovative slider move, the last before westernization. After much thought, I finally switch to tribal despotism (we switched out due to collapsing earlier). Stability is -3. Later the year, dishonor the guarantee of Aragon. Prestige sucks, but it generally does before forts, as it's impossible to avoid losing the occasional province in battle.

1459 - last inflation adviser dies.

1460 - You could set your watch by Mutapa. I only get 225 gold this time. Later that year I return to +3 stability.

1465 - Mutapa does not disappoint. A mere 200 ducats.

1467: Mamluks declare on Yemen, my vassal. I honor the call as the Timurids are on my side. I lead the alliance for some reason. It's the Mamluks, Candar, and Kazakhstan vs. me, Yemen and the Timurids. Kazakh tries to peace out almost immediately. I hold out - might be able to extort some gold as alliance leader. I later get 200 gold from them.

1468 - slider innovative. Now fully prepared for westernization, as soon as I get the right border.

1468: new leader, only 5 admin unfortunately.

At some point the Timurids peace out but I don't get a pop-up. Weird.

The war with the Mamluks lasts until 1473. The Mamluks keep taking unfortified provinces in Yemen, then backing off, allowing me to relieve them. In southern Egypt, I assault a lot with my king but can't kill him off. Finally give up and pay them 25 gold to go away when Mutapa declares. Peace out with Mutapa for 350 a year later.

In 1474, I get a bunch of pretender rebels and decide to let the country break. This pays off:

I promptly sell Quelimane to Aragon. (That's the reason I've kept a non-core, wrong-religion, no-gold province all these years).

The era of westernization is upon us in 1475. Not too bad for a nation which starts that far away from Europe.

blsteen · 31-10-2009, 04:22

Wow, Ethiopia is really carving a swath through east africa. Westernization ho!

Vladislav · 31-10-2009, 05:41

Great! Now you can get out of tribalism and stop giving away all your provinces... unless you still want to dump them on your vassals because they're worthless.

OrangeYoshi · 31-10-2009, 07:58

This is exciting.

Good job not getting annexed.

Parcae · 31-10-2009, 10:00

It appeared that I rejoiced prematurely. King Awesome died in 1476. It is now 1528 and I still haven't been able to reform the government. Anybody got any sure-fire ways of killing off a king? He's being used in battle as often as possible.

Parcae · 31-10-2009, 10:12

I just put the current horrible moron in a sinking ship, and he teleported to safety. I weep bitter tears.

*stnylan* · 31-10-2009, 11:00

It appears you have a Henry III. There is nothing you can do

Didaa · 31-10-2009, 16:35

Really good start.
Subscribed

29-10-2009, 04:35	#1
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	Prester John's Revenge: An Ethiopia Gameplay AAR Ethiopia! Jewel of East Africa! Seat of learning and mother of ... Eh, I'm not convincing anyone. Circa 1399, Ethiopia is kind of an awful place to live. Eight provinces, exactly one of which has 3 base tax; the others are all 2 or 1. Tribal despotism, meaning I can't expand above 9 provinces or dire things will befall, not to mention that 50% research penalty. African tech group, the second worst in the world. Crappy units and no cavalry, ever. A religion shared by no one for thousands of miles (which at least means I won't have to worry about stability hits from aggression). Three different religions in my own borders, which pretty much guarantees religious rebellions and plenty of them: Have you ever tried to put down religious rebellions with African infantry in an area with no forts? Even if you slaughter the opposition, they will (unless you can trick them into entering an unoccupied province) retreat into and force-convert the next province over. Not fun. My converting days are clearly going to have to wait for better units (due, at the current rate of advancement, never) or forts. On the bright side, I do have a gold mine. And an irreducible .08 inflation rate. Also, I'm the strongest nation in the known world. The known world consists of me and Adal. Clearly this is too easy a start, so I set the difficulty to Very Hard and the map spread to 200 years. Otherwise we might westernize too early, and I can't have that. My objectives? KILL EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE.

29-10-2009, 09:11	#3
Beamed American Tyrant Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Detroit, Michigan Posts: 1,698 Blog Entries: 2	May I ask why you vassalized Adal, as you cannot diploannex a nation that is another religion? Was it to prevent tribal succession crises until you've gotten a new government, or..? __________________ Currently playing the OT forum game known as Superpower VII as Ferdinand Rayonne, Enlightened Emperor of the Archduchy of Austria, Kingdoms of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia, and fighter of Napoleonic aggression. Current actions: valiently rallying the Austrian Empire to my cause against the French, as well as yelling at the Kingdom of Bavaria for trying to conquer random pieces of Germany. Sir Beamed the Knight of Sutherland in Antracer's Milan Interactive AAR, an AAR of intrigue, debate, and constant rejection of the established reality. though really I haven't posted nearly as much as I ought have

29-10-2009, 20:22	#8
stnylan Compulsive CommentatAAR Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Taunton, UK Posts: 17,025 Blog Entries: 7	Always nice to see Ethiopia AARs. There are never enough. __________________ To view is human, to comment is divine. "Be not afraid" - John Paul II "The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton. Completed AAR: In Memory of France EU2 View my full AAR list at The Inkwell My blog From Across the Pond and My library, and my Paradox blog Ask not what AARland can do for you, but what you can do for AARland. If you are writing a HoI3 AAR, remember to report it in the LibrAARy update thread for inclusion in the HoI3 LibrAARy.

29-10-2009, 21:30	#9
Nodscouterr Lt. General Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Scandza Posts: 1,645	Ah yes, Ethiopia. Fun one to play. __________________ My AARs: Lejonet från Norden - A Swedish WWM AAR In the sands of the desert - A Oman WWM AAR -''Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security, will deserve neither and lose both'' -Benjamin Franklin - ''Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window'' -Steve Woszniak - ''A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him'' -Erza pound

31-10-2009, 01:05	#11
stnylan Compulsive CommentatAAR Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Taunton, UK Posts: 17,025 Blog Entries: 7	Whenever I see the AI do something odd like that in a PAradox game, I remind myself that no matter how idiotic an AI can be, humans are more accomplished when it comes to incompetency. __________________ To view is human, to comment is divine. "Be not afraid" - John Paul II "The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton. Completed AAR: In Memory of France EU2 View my full AAR list at The Inkwell My blog From Across the Pond and My library, and my Paradox blog Ask not what AARland can do for you, but what you can do for AARland. If you are writing a HoI3 AAR, remember to report it in the LibrAARy update thread for inclusion in the HoI3 LibrAARy.

29-10-2009, 08:17	#2
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	I get lucky with the roll on my king's military stats: two points of shock, and one of manoever. Pretty good for a dude with a military skill of 4. I have three infantry units; Adal has 1. I raise one more while sending the standing army south to the border at Awsa, where I will split off a single unit to conquer the country while the main forces duke it out in their capital. (Note: This is the basic way of dealing with low-tech battles in countries without forts. They can last forever, so don't bother actually trying to win. Just stall the main army long enough to conquer everything else.) Meanwhile, I move the slider innovative and get -1 stability, just what I need for my already revolt-ridden provinces. Oh, well, better now than later. Stability investment to max, of course. It'll take ... you can't be serious. A year? I miss my days of playing European OPMs. Advisers are mostly crap. I'm looking for inflation and RR reducers at this point. There's one 1 point inflation reducer. Better than nothing, although it still leaves .06 inflation every year with no minting. I also take a two-point stability restorer. I need to get that RR down yesterday, or I'll be awash with Islamic rebels. As soon as I'm in position, I declare war on Adal and invade. They're already allied with Swahili and Najd. Oh, well, I'll learn the location of a couple of capitals. Five days later, a stack of 4k animist rebels rises in Tigre - larger than my whole army at this point. It takes the province at once, of course, since there are no forts, and heads north to Islamic Massawa. I leave it to its own devices for the time being. After taking Massawa, it unfortunately doesn't decide to continue north to Egypt. Instead, it enters the unoccupied zone, apparently en route to my capital. Not good. This may be a short game. The war against Adal goes according to plan: I debate whether to invade Swahili for map knowledge, or wait for the white peace. Sometimes Mutapa inexplicably manages to take their capital early on, so it might be useful to know another province. On the other hand, I want peace ASAP, so that I can declare war again and bring in any new allies. And by “new allies” I mean hopefully Yemen. Why Yemen? Patience, grasshopper. “I Got My Mind Set On You” comes on the radio. I take this as an omen and inform Swahili that I have my mind set on them. After investigating the province in question, I back off again. Adal is between us, and they don't have access, so they can't reach me and I can leave this as a cold war for as long as I want. A show of force in the capital causes the animist rebels to back off towards terra incognita in the north. I later discover that they apparently chose to remain in Berber indefinitely. Fine with me - it should slow down Mamluke colonization. 14 October 1400: jackpot. Two inflation advisers for a total of .10 reduction, and a four-star judge for RR reduction. Only problem is that I now make -4.5 gold per year. Oh, well, hopefully a little more stability should help with that. December 1401: Stability finally is maxed out. Thanks to the adviser, my revolt risk is gone ... until I move another slider. 6 Dec 1401: White Peace with Najd. 23 Dec 1401: ...and Swahili. Guarantee Najd in an effort to get more contacts (when somebody declares war on them). This is a very useful if rather abusive way to expand your map knowledge when you start out as isolated as Ethiopia does. Shortly thereafter, they declare on Haasa and bring in the whole Muslim world against them. Blast. I could have gained contacts with half the world if I had warned instead of guaranteeing. 1 Feb 1402: My citizens in Massawa finally look across the big red line to the north and notice that there are Mamlukes there. Promptly start trying to sell the province to Adal, so that I don't share a border with the big meanie. My blasted nobles get uppity, causing a stabhit. Later in 1403 I give up on getting anything for Massawa and give it to Adal. Nov 1404 - another stability-reducing event. Blast. Oct 1406 - and another, just as I'm gearing up for another war. 1 Jan 1407 - war on Swahili. I discover Yemen's capital and start heading there. Yemen doesn't have forts, and only 3k infantry, so strategy is the same as for Adal. Peace - I immediately start swapping my infantry for cavalry, which I can build in the new provinces since they have Yemeni cores. A new king: Meanwhile, the Mamlukes declare war on Hedjaz. This is bad either way - they could get clobbered by the Ottomans, who guaranteed Hedjaz. This would result in a colossus to my north. Or they might, more plausibly, crush Hedjaz, giving them a border with me. In the end they peace out with Hedjaz for Tabouk. 1411 - I move Centralized, and get two rebel stacks, one under my main stack. It keeps it occupied while the second collapses the country, and I lose the new provinces. Oh, well, I got a vassal and some cavalry out of it. I celebrate by declaring war on Najd, currently guaranteed by everyone:

29-10-2009, 09:30	#4
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	A vassalized Adal means that no other nation can reach my borders once I cede Massawa to them (until they sign a troop passage agreement, which normally takes a few decades into the game). It means that I can pick and choose my battles. And yes, I'm also using Adal as a dumping ground for provinces I can't yet take. Note that this is a risky strategy. AI vassals can and do declare war to escape vassalage.

29-10-2009, 10:41	#5
sprites Lt. General Join Date: May 2008 Location: france Posts: 1,561	vassalized adal , plus selling them that province , is a nice way to prevent getting steamrolled by mamelukes , the risk of a dow is much greater with a land border they can escape if you're not allied to them now it's time to push southwards vassalizing swahili/mutapa , get a southern province and wait for europeans to settle next to it

29-10-2009, 15:06	#7
blsteen Captain Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Eastern part of Western Canada Posts: 485	I always like Ethiopia even if they usually die in my games...Of course they usually reappear. You seem to be doing very well keep it up.

31-10-2009, 01:00	#10
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	It's a phony war as no one can reach me. But I do get a whole bunch of contacts. I also have severe budget problems and have to cut back severely on army maintenance and disband one of my five cavalry units. 1413 - get an event which gives me free +1 innovative. Woo. Later in the year, peace with everyone. I promptly guarantee Morocco. 1415 - war with Swahili. Now that I'm a little more secure back home, I want some gold provinces. 1416 - this effort is frustrated when I discover a red line to the south: Oh well. I peace out for their four northern provinces and all their cores on Mutapan territory. I then sell two provinces to my vassal Adal to avoid the risk of a succession crisis. 1418 - discover who's on the other side of the border: Mutapa. Big surprise. Declare war. The war takes a while, as my forces in the area are limited and I'm constantly having to deal with rebels. 1423 - finish off the Mutapan provinces on the Indian Ocean (and give superfluous ones to Adal). Declare war on Swahili. I could use another vassal. The war is over in short over: 1424 - not satisfied with the beating they took the first time around, Mutapa declares war on my new vassal. Later in the year, something very bizarre starts happening: the Swahili troops don't fight to defend their territory. They simply stand there as the Mutapans occupy it. Very odd. Reload from start of year, but it doesn't help.

31-10-2009, 01:11	#12
Nodscouterr Lt. General Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Scandza Posts: 1,645	Watch the Swahili army closely. It would seem as if the army was somehow sponsored by Mutapa as patriots, therefore friendly to them and therefore not willing to fight them. __________________ My AARs: Lejonet från Norden - A Swedish WWM AAR In the sands of the desert - A Oman WWM AAR -''Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security, will deserve neither and lose both'' -Benjamin Franklin - ''Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window'' -Steve Woszniak - ''A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him'' -Erza pound

31-10-2009, 01:16	#13
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	Finally, in 1427, I make peace for 1100 ducats. I have meanwhile seized two provinces, one gold-bearing. Mutapa is now cut off from the sea. I sell another couple of home provinces to Adal to avoid going over the limit. 1432 is the rematch. This one ends in 1433 for another gold-bearing province and 1175 gold. Thereafter I send a missionary to my richest new province. (I also converted one home province earlier, which I forgot to mention). From now on, I will be keeping notes in much less detail until westernization, as it would get pretty boring. Between selling provinces and conversion, my four remaining home provinces are now all Orthodox. My four new ones to the south (I leave a buffer of one province in case an opportunity comes up) are all animist. 1434: centralization moves sets off an extremely annoying 3k stack of pretender rebels led by a 4 shock general 1435: Portugal, Aragon and Castille declare war on Morocco. My first contacts with the West! 1435: King dies in battle against the evil revolutionaries. 1435: Sofala converts. That was pretty fast; I got lucky there. 1438: Peace with Portugal. 1438: Mutapa declares on me as soon as the treaty expires. Fine with me. Make peace a couple of months later for 375 ducats and all the cores outside their territory. Safe for a few years, I send another missionary. 1441: Uteve converts. Start on Quelimane. 1442: Guarantee all the European countries I know in the hope of more contacts. 1443: Mutapa declares, and peaces out again a few months later for 275 gold. They seem to enjoy losing money. 1444: Uteve converts. Start on the last province (and my last missionary), Kilwa. 1445: Side with Aragon against Castille when they declare. I am rewarded with contact with Naples. Centralize and get stabhit. 1446 - one of my inflation reducers dies. A pity, but inevitable sooner or later. 1447: Smugglers. I pay to get rid of them. 1448: Regular as clockwork, Mutapa declares. This time I'm in a bad position, fighting off animist rebels. They team up with the Mutapans and force-convert three provinces, which is annoying. Such are the perils of fighting in a multireligious region with no forts. This happens with three converted provinces, on the last occasion when the animist regiments had been reduced to 0 troops. Frustrating. On the bright side, I pick up another 325 ducats in the peace settlement. A new, lousy king comes to power a couple of years later. 1452 - dragged into war against Castille again due to that guarantee. I'll probably dishonor it if this happens again. 1453 - do exactly that when Portugal declares on Morocco. Prestige isn't as important at this point as not unduly tanking my relations with the colonizing powers. 1454 - guess what Mutapa does? Another 325 ducats in the peace treaty next year. 1456 - Judge dies. He's had a good run. 1457: Innovative slider move, the last before westernization. After much thought, I finally switch to tribal despotism (we switched out due to collapsing earlier). Stability is -3. Later the year, dishonor the guarantee of Aragon. Prestige sucks, but it generally does before forts, as it's impossible to avoid losing the occasional province in battle. 1459 - last inflation adviser dies. 1460 - You could set your watch by Mutapa. I only get 225 gold this time. Later that year I return to +3 stability. 1465 - Mutapa does not disappoint. A mere 200 ducats. 1467: Mamluks declare on Yemen, my vassal. I honor the call as the Timurids are on my side. I lead the alliance for some reason. It's the Mamluks, Candar, and Kazakhstan vs. me, Yemen and the Timurids. Kazakh tries to peace out almost immediately. I hold out - might be able to extort some gold as alliance leader. I later get 200 gold from them. 1468 - slider innovative. Now fully prepared for westernization, as soon as I get the right border. 1468: new leader, only 5 admin unfortunately. At some point the Timurids peace out but I don't get a pop-up. Weird. The war with the Mamluks lasts until 1473. The Mamluks keep taking unfortified provinces in Yemen, then backing off, allowing me to relieve them. In southern Egypt, I assault a lot with my king but can't kill him off. Finally give up and pay them 25 gold to go away when Mutapa declares. Peace out with Mutapa for 350 a year later. In 1474, I get a bunch of pretender rebels and decide to let the country break. This pays off: I promptly sell Quelimane to Aragon. (That's the reason I've kept a non-core, wrong-religion, no-gold province all these years). The era of westernization is upon us in 1475. Not too bad for a nation which starts that far away from Europe.

31-10-2009, 04:22	#14
blsteen Captain Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Eastern part of Western Canada Posts: 485	Wow, Ethiopia is really carving a swath through east africa. Westernization ho!

31-10-2009, 05:41	#15
Vladislav Lt. General Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: United States Posts: 1,528	Great! Now you can get out of tribalism and stop giving away all your provinces... unless you still want to dump them on your vassals because they're worthless. __________________ Alaska: Like Finland, but with less death metal and a lot more Republicans

31-10-2009, 07:58	#16
OrangeYoshi General of the Mushroom Korps Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: In your computer screen Posts: 5,828 Blog Entries: 19	This is exciting. Good job not getting annexed. __________________ Complete Werewolf Player History.. O' Oreo, Oreo, wherefore art thou not tasty? ────── OrangeYoshi's Newbie Sig Information Center: Help is just a click away...™ ────── EU3 Wiki lll Paradox Acronyms lll FAQ Forum lll General FAQ lll Siege FAQ lll Patrolling Guidelines I am Sir OrangeYoshi, the Eternal Knight in antracer's One Last HurRAAh... A Milanese Empire Interactive AAR OrangeYoshi

31-10-2009, 10:00	#17
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	It appeared that I rejoiced prematurely. King Awesome died in 1476. It is now 1528 and I still haven't been able to reform the government. Anybody got any sure-fire ways of killing off a king? He's being used in battle as often as possible. Last edited by Parcae; 31-10-2009 at 10:13.

31-10-2009, 10:12	#18
Parcae Sergeant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 89	I just put the current horrible moron in a sinking ship, and he teleported to safety. I weep bitter tears.

31-10-2009, 11:00	#19
stnylan Compulsive CommentatAAR Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Taunton, UK Posts: 17,025 Blog Entries: 7	It appears you have a Henry III. There is nothing you can do __________________ To view is human, to comment is divine. "Be not afraid" - John Paul II "The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton. Completed AAR: In Memory of France EU2 View my full AAR list at The Inkwell My blog From Across the Pond and My library, and my Paradox blog Ask not what AARland can do for you, but what you can do for AARland. If you are writing a HoI3 AAR, remember to report it in the LibrAARy update thread for inclusion in the HoI3 LibrAARy.

31-10-2009, 16:35	#20
Didaa Major Join Date: May 2007 Location: Rapture Posts: 750	Really good start. Subscribed __________________ CAUTION! I'm still learning English so ignore my mistakes Spanish Inquisition? Dead parrot? Join the us in the Monty Python Social Group BoardTracker - The Coolest member of the forum. He know the meaning of life!