Part 100 - Jan 2nd 1821 - End Game status and some 'Conclusions'
[size=-2]Part #100, and my two hundredth forum entry. Nice.
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Okay, so I missed January 1st since the game wouldn't let me pause quickly enough... I don't believe that influenced much.
We end the game with 21.66 BadBoy points in total - not too bad. If I'd thought about it sooner, I'd have gone Despotic Monarchy just to pick up more provinces at the end.
Our diploannexation efforts has pushed us from max centralization to 2 Decentralized, though... Mind, we didn't much need cash once we started doing that.
I'd say we still have a fair bit of income.
Tech isn't maxed, but no matter. We've built every building we can in every province, except level 6 forts and manufactories.
I like this graph.
August 12th, the day all my rulers are elected, or die. I'm sort of wondering if it's a glitch that causes the 'death' message on election day rather than a 're-election' message, or whether Republican rulers are simply considered more exposed to dying at that day.
The world, and France, is fairly unified.
A religious overview of Europe. Keep in mind that Lancaster and Finland are both Protestant - but the rest is French land. We're still working missionaries in the few remaining heretic provinces within our borders.
North America is all Protestant...
...as is South America...
...and Africa...
...most of South East Asia and India...
...and a fair bit of China and Japan...
...and Oceania.
Culture next. A small cluster of Cosmopolitaine in South East Asia from the Pagans there...
...but the spread down from Siberia into Korea is what I'm most happy with.
North Africa has had time to have the event trigger more than once.
West Africa has also had some spreads, but in East Africa I arrived too late. Persia had converted most of the Pagan lands in Ethiopia, and spread Persian culture everywhere.
The Holy Roman Empire is down to two provinces - the Emperor in Vienna, and two of my vassals.
There are none left in Russia with the Orthodox faith. The last remnants of that religion is within the Ottoman Empire and Crete.
The Reformed faith is completely gone. Shiites are down to two provinces, Buddhists a few more.
Finally, the maps - the world in general...
...and greater France.
I've also
tried making some gif maps for country borders and religious conversion, but I'm not sure I got this done correctly. Persia is Sunni in-game, but the map making utility marks them as Shiite. There's also Photobucket to fight; they
really don't seem to like gifs... I'm hoping these two will actually work.
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Now, for the Wall of Text part... Pardon if I keep repeating myself here. Also, keep in mind that this applies to EU3 In Nomine v3.2b.
Distribution of 1282 (?) provinces at game end, as best as I could figure from the EU3 stats tool and some manual counting:
France: 1088
Persia: 48
Golden Horde: 31
Ottoman Empire: 22
Majapahit: 20
Ming: 15
Japan: 12
Lithuania: 10
Finland: 4
Lancaster: 4
Brunei: 3
Nepal: 3
Rajputana: 2
Ansbach: 1 (French vassal)
Austria: 1
Ayutthaya: 1
Bohemia: 1 (French vassal)
Champassak: 1
Crete: 1 (French vassal)
Crimea: 1
Delhi: 1
Deva Bengal: 1
Hesse: 1 (French vassal)
Khmer: 1
Lan Xang: 1
Madurai: 1
Maharasthra: 1
Manchu: 1
Naples: 1 (French vassal)
Oman: 1
Pegu: 1
Qara Koyunhu: 1
Ukraine: 1
So, obviously I failed in a complete World Conquest without crossing the BadBoy threshold
intentionally (I crossed it three times, once due to bad math skills, twice due to good ruler dying and bad ruler taking over), but I'm content with the outcome. I've come close enough to suggest that it is possible. If I'd stayed Catholic, I might have gotten at least 60 more points to play with. If I'd started as Castille, I'd have 35 points from missions - even if I didn't exploit them and made them repeat. If I'd played
smarter, I'd also have had an easier time. 200 points isn't all that much, considering how many points you actually spend during a game declaring wars and annexing. Having someone big countries help eat the HRE would have cut costs considerably - AI France is good at this, just keep pushing them north and inland by taking their coastlines.
What matters most is how the game changes once you hit 1650; that really gives you a new set of rules to work on. BadBoy can
not be assumed to be '1 point a province', because it really isn't. There are quite a few ways of gaining BadBoy, and other than hostile takeovers, declaring war is the most common one.
Before 1650, it's worth noting that
* heathen provinces cost half in terms of BadBoy points, compared to heretic and true faith provinces. Annexing a heathen nation without a core only gives you two points before 1650. Annexing a heretic or true faith nation without a core gives
six points, and should be avoided at all costs. Annexing a heretic/true faith country with a core costs 3,5 points. Annexing a heathen country with a core costs 1,5 points, as best as I could tell.
* If a province within enemy borders is of your religion, but not their state religion, that province will cost you 0 BadBoy in a peace settlement. Now, in early game, the most likely happening here is a runamok Ming for Sunni or Buddhist nations, or a strong Orthodox country (Novgorod, Muscowy) or Ottoman Empire ravaging Catholic lands in eastern Europe for any Catholic nation. Once the Reformation hits, any large country that converts early (the Scandinavian countries seem the usual suspects here) will often end up with lots of Catholic provinces while only their capitol province is of the new religion. In this game, I took large chunks of Sweden and Denmark for no BadBoy at all - other than for the Declaration of War - thanks to this.
* If you control the Curia, Excommunication can be a nice tool in reducing BadBoy costs for declaring war, though it is a very unwieldy and blunt weapon.
After 1650, it's worth noting that
* heathen cost is
almost normalised. Each province now costs 1 full BadBoy, rather than 0,5 - but annexing a heathen nation with a core is still cheaper - 2,25 BadBoy points, versus 3.5 points for a heretic annex with core.
Overall, it's worth noting that
* Pagan nations cost 0 BadBoy to annex in one go. This goes for New World nations, as well as Pagan nations in Africa. If you can help them eat the Sunni nations in Africa, despite all the provinces being Sunni, you can get a lot of cheap land there. In the New World, it's just a matter of getting there first. The few Pagan nations in Asia are likely long gone before you get there unless you start there, and force-releasing them won't serve much of a purpose unless there are pagan provinces left.
* The Cabinet National Idea is your best friend. Unfortunately, it requires Government tech 30, and even with massive investments years ahead of time, you're unlikely to get this before 1640. 1650 is the 'normal' date, I believe. Still, once you have it, you'll shed BadBoy points much, much faster.
* Unnam Sanctum is your second best friend,
especially if you're a European nation that converts to Reformed/Protestant faiths, or is Orthodox. It took me some time to notice that the stability hits you get on declaring a war, even with a Casus Belli, adds to the BadBoy tally you get for declaring war. A -1 for 'same religious group' with a Casus Belli effectively gives you two BadBoy points. Unnam Sanctum negates this. Looking back, I think I could have saved dozens of points at the very least on taking Unnam Sanctum much earlier, never mind the stability recovery costs.
* A Catholic power can exploit the Curia to reduce BadBoy, but will have a harder time taking advantage of Unnam Sanctum, since most liliput nations in Europe stay Catholic.
* If you can help it, don't declare war. Declaring wars cost BadBoy. Blanket the map with Guarantees, and take what wars you can. Answering guarantees don't cause any sort of BadBoy, nor stability loss. If you're big enough, you should be able to assume the role as alliance leader. Sure, you might want to avoid some of the wars by declining. Prestige? Who needs that?
* The best way of dealing with One Province Minors is to let someone else eat them and take the annexation cost. Want the Holy Roman Empire to be cheaper, BadBoy-wise? Let France, Burgundy, Denmark, Austria, Bohemia or Poland have their way with it, and nibble up bits from them when chance permits.
* The second best way of dealing with One Province Minors within your own religious group (i.e. the costly ones) is to diploannex them. That
only costs 1 BadBoy point (not counting any needed Declaration of War), the same as if you stole a non-core province from a larger nation.
* The third best way of dealing with One Province Minors is... to luck out and get cores on them. It'll still cost at least more than double the normal cost, but there you have it.
* Republics are your friend. If you elect the Diplomatic candidate every time, your ruler will never have a rating below 5 in that field, and more often than not they'll have a much higher rating. A guarantee of only -0.20 BadBoy a year extra than the bare minimum might not seem so much, but try saying that after having a Diplomacy 3 monarch in power for 50 years.
* The 'Boundary Dispute' random event can trigger anywhere you have a border (from unfinished colony to province you can't even see, across a straits? No problem), but has a very high Mean Time To Happen. You can reduce it by 75% if the 'target' country is a Rival nation (only applies before you grow too big), and beyond that, you can cut it in half if your ruler has at least Diplomacy 8, or cut it down to a quarter by having a Diplomacy 9 ruler. This is why Republics can help you out very much in a BadBoy-free World Conquest, see above.
BadBoy costs, as of EU3 In Nomine v3.2b (and I can't guarantee I got these 100% correct):
Before 1650:
* Rebels abroad joining your empire - 0 BadBoy
* Provinces of your religion, but not the state religion of the owner - 0 BadBoy
* Provinces you have a core on - 0 BadBoy
* Annexing an entire Pagan country in one go, no matter how many provinces - 0 BadBoy
* Provinces belonging to a heathen country - 0,5 BadBoy
* Taking colonies by 'seize colony' option - variable depending on city size (between 0 and 1 point a province).
* Any other province taken in peace settlements - 1 BadBoy
* Any province taken in Diploannexation,
including provinces you have a core on or 'your religion/not his' - 1 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a junior Personal Union partner or vassal through a peace deal with their master - 1 BadBoy (NOTE: This was the case for the Balkan minors under the Ottoman Empire, I can only assume it applies to all cases)
* Militarily annexing a heathen country you have a core on - 1,5 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a heathen country you do
not have a core on - 2 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a true faith/heretic country you have a core on - 3,5 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a true faith/heretic country you do
not have a core on - 6 BadBoy
After 1650
* Rebels abroad joining your empire - 0 BadBoy
* Provinces you have a core on - 0 BadBoy
* Annexing an entire Pagan country in one go, no matter how many provinces - 0 BadBoy (NOTE: I'm not 100% sure this still applies after 1650, didn't wait to find out in-game)
* Taking colonies by 'seize colony' option - variable depending on city size (between 0 and 1 point a province).
* Any province taken in peace settlements, heathens included - 1 BadBoy
* Any province taken in Diploannexation,
including provinces you have a core on - 1 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a junior Personal Union partner or vassal through a peace deal with their master - 1 BadBoy (NOTE: This was the case for the Balkan minors under the Ottoman Empire, I can only assume it applies to all cases)
* Militarily annexing a heathen country you have a core on - 2,25 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a heathen country you do
not have a core on - ? BadBoy (NOTE: I don't recall if I tried this after 1650, so I don't have a number, but I think it is far lower than 6 points)
* Militarily annexing a true faith/heretic country you have a core on - 3,5 BadBoy
* Militarily annexing a true faith/heretic country you do
not have a core on - 6 BadBoy
In addition comes the Declaration of War costs, which I believe are somewhat variable. That is, even with a Casus Belli, you'll pay one point for the declaration, and
addtional points for every stability hit listed. I didn't notice this until I was well past 1650, when I saw declaring war within the Christian group cost me two points, not one, as I'd thought. With Unnam Sanctum, the cost was down to just one point, since there was no extra stability cost.
Essentially... If you want to embark on a World Conquest with the minimal amount of accumulated BadBoy score, it seems best to
* Get rid of the colonizing powers - or at least cripple them financially.
If they have big fleets and no income, a bankruptcy spiral is possible to get started - just attack, and hold their all lands until they've had a couple of bankruptcies, tossing sacrificial galleys at their fleets once every two years. Strip them of rich coastal provinces in peace settlements to make it worse. The goal of removing the colonizing powers is that every colonial province is then 'free' for you to colonize, you don't have to spend points taking them from others.
* Encourage and help Pagan nations to expand.
Unless you're Ming or some other local power, the Pagans in East Asia are likely gone before you can help them. Pagans in Africa are another matter. Doing this can be tricky, but it is possible to weaken Sunni powers in the area sufficiently for Patriot or Nationalist rebels ready to form a Pagan nation. In my game, I had Pagan nations with all Sunni provinces, though I cannot be 100% certain of how they came about.
Mind you, the ultimate goal afterward is to steamroll the same Pagans and annex them in one go. Do
not take provinces from them peacemeal, that might cost points. Taking them all at once won't cost you.
* If you start Catholic and stay Catholic:
Bribe cardinals, period. This will be difficult and expensive, especially once your BadBoy rises above 10 or so points. In the long run, holding the Curia will reduce your BadBoy score by one point every four years, so perhaps some hundred points throughout the game. Holding the Curia becomes easier as you get more Catholic provinces, but it is still no certainty.
Once the Reformation hits, look for large countries that convert. More often than not, they'll have plenty of provinces that are still Catholic - and thus cost no BadBoy. However, the new religions spread remarkably fast, so you have to act immediately for maximum gains. Note that this does not apply after 1650.
* If you start Catholic and go Protestant/Reformed:
Consider delaying changing your religion and attack countries that convert early, see above.
Get Unnam Sanctum as early as possible. Most of the minor nations in Europe are likely to stay Catholic, and with Unnam Sanctum you'll find the BadBoy cost of attacking them over and over again much cheaper. Unnam Sanctum is less helpful to Catholics for this exact reason. This
does apply even after 1650.
Occasionally, a Catholic nation will be 'infected' with the new religions early, but they'll miss the capitol and not get a majority before the Counter-Reformation hits. Once a Catholic nation has taken the Counter-Reformation decision, they are far less likely to convert - but they will try to convert their Protestant/Reformed provinces back to Catholisism. Rescue them if you can; the provinces won't cost you BadBoy before you hit 1650.
* Avoid annexing One Province Minors:
This is perhaps what's going to cost you the most of all, especially if you start in Europe and have the very fractured Holy Roman Empire to deal with. See if there are big bully nations in the area that might 'help' you. France is a clincher. Burgundy, Denmark, Bohemia, Poland and Austria are also candidates. Milan, Venice or Naples ought to unify much of Italy, and they might go north if they get that far. You don't want these nations to become too powerful, especially if they get within colonial range of visible, empty provinces (i.e. if any CotNW nation other than the player is there, or the player explores more land than he can colonize before the map spreads). This is a delicate balance - you want them strong and aggressive, but not so much that they'll be a problem for you.
Also remember that when you do go after them, dominate them and gut them, they must still have enough strength to cope with any nationalist rebels that might arise. If you're not careful, your best 'bully' might soon fracture into a dozen nations, which is not a good thing.
Allies might be useful in this, though I haven't dared rely on it. Let an ally take the siege, join with your vast infantry ranks and let them take the province - and the annexing. This
only works if the One Province Minor in question or your ally is the alliance leader, though. Otherwise, the two juniors in the war can't make peace.
If the One Province Minor in question is the lesser partner in a Personal Union, or someone's vassal, the province should only cost one BadBoy point if you ask their master to give it up.
* Sponsor Patriot rebels:
This is a fairly rare one, and probably only for the early game. If you have provinces of your primary culture in enemy hands (i.e. country that does not have your primary culture also), especially if they are also your core provinces. For example, load up as France, you'll see a few such within Burgundy (which is Burgundian culture), Provence (which is Occitaine) and England (which is English). Any Cosmopolitaine patriots in those provinces are likely to join France, as happened to me. Mind, the nations in question have to be very weak to permit this to happen, occupied by the player, perhaps - or denied military access, if you want to make Provence a One Province Minor without resorting to violence.
Religious rebels might also defect your way, but they're much harder to 'spawn', and less likely to stay loyal to your cause.
....now, I'm sure I missed some pointers. It's up to you to add to the list now.
That should mark the end of this AAR.
Thank you for following this endeavour, albeit I failed in the ultimate goal. I'm sure you all can do better, and avoid making the mistakes I did.
I wonder if I should give this another go with Castille, the Ottoman Empire, Novgorod or Ming... I think they'd all have better chances than a Protestant France, if played carefully. Doubt any AAR on that would be interesting to follow though, since I've already made the attempt once.
All things considered, this AAR has been very focused on the 'Boundary Dispute' event. I'm tempted to try something with regards to the 'Cultural Assimilation' event next.
