Glad to be along.
Rule #4. I assume you will supplement the existing British contingent with native militia as required? What happens if you get severely spanked and lose your forces?
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Glad to be along.
Rule #4. I assume you will supplement the existing British contingent with native militia as required? What happens if you get severely spanked and lose your forces?
Oh yes, I can and do build additional forces; I just can't, say, build armies in India and ship them to Ireland (like the AI always does). Indian armies stay in Asia/Pacific.
I may have to relax this rule for Africa, or use an NF to get some more soldier pops in South Africa. I will think on this. Getting Suez should help too.
With you're house-rules that's not possible - you've to annex civilized territory with no British cores to do that.
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With Webster-Ashburton you're better of waiting till you get caught you're first time. Till ~1860 the US is extremly low on usable soldier pops (basically, they fight a major early war, while having one of the lowest per-province populations of the entire world at that time - since you need at least 1k soldiers in a province to do anything useful with them, they're pretty limited and early mobilisation cannot counter it as well). If you're going to start a reconquest, do it in the first twenty years (if you're really insane, send Mexico a alliance offer and start justifying a Acquire State CB on Day One. Releasing unimportant OPMs and firing WA at the right time enables you to take three Yankee states during the first war (take New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania).
True, re: the house rules -- I'd have to relax them in order to implement them. I want it to be an end game boss, if I feel like it, rather than something I'm obligated to do (hence the "ultra-insane" part).
Update coming up!
I was hoping you would make a tutorial for HOD.
already read the other two and it helped me enormous, although i still kind of suck but that is most likely due to sheer incompetence
so I'm in
already read the other two and it helped me enormous, although i still kind of suck but that is most likely due to sheer incompetence
so I'm in
Chapter 1: Byzantine heavy cavalry; more trouble than it's worth?
1836
As promised, we begin with a quick review to the land combat changes in HOD. First, the armies.
HOD has a much better sense of what troops are good for what purposes, and the cavalry in particular has been completely redesigned. Here's a quick breakdown of what's changed and recommended roles for them. I assume you understand what most of these stats mean; if you don't, again, check out my previous tutorials (available in my Inkwell!)
Irregulars: The biggest change is the elimination of the discipline penalty. Irregulars can and will put up much more of a fight than they have in the past. You will see some unfortunately clear examples of this later on. It's the building block of any proper army of an uncivilized nation, but if you're civilized, the cost savings isn't worth it (unless you can't get your hands on Small Arms or Canned Food.)
Infantry: Largely unchanged from AHD, but you should know they get more benefit from better technology than irregulars do. The staple of all civilized armies throughout the game. (Yes, I do mean throughout the game. We'll talk about guards later.) Unlocked with: Flintlock Rifles.
Cavalry: Now available to every country from game start (including uncivs), think of them as mounted irregulars. The same technology rules apply (i.e. they'll eventually become obsolete), but even as an unciv, you can easily add a recon element to your game. Have the advantage of being cheap, with easy to find goods; even cost-conscious civilized countries can get some use out of them.
Artillery: Remember how there was no penalty to having artillery in the front line before? Not any more. To get the most out of your artillery (the support value), they have to be in the back row, or they're sitting ducks. Even an irregular in the front line can handle artillery. From the back row, though, they're essential in every army, and only get better over time. Unlocked with: Bronze Muzzle-Loaded Artillery.
Note: The remaining three cavalry units are all unlocked by inventions from the first tier cavalry tech. Uncivs cannot get them!
Dragoons: Mounted infantry, as nature (well, the nature of military history) intended. Adds some recon, but not ideally used for that. Great when you need something that hits like infantry a little faster than infantry can get there, with the understanding that they won't hold up like infantry. In a pinch, can be life savers, and really great for countries that have a lot of space (like the USA, Russia, or even the UK in Canada).
Cuirassiers: Early game tanks. It won't hold up for ever, but cuirassiers in the right place can shred enemy lines. Note the complete lack of recon; these are not a substitute for more regular cavalry!
We discussed Hussars in the last update; I won't repeat that here, save to emphasize they are the cavalryman's cavalry, fast with excellent recon and great flanking.
Now, near and dear to my heart, the navies of HOD!
Note three new important stats: firing range (higher numbers fire first), supply weight (how much of your naval supply they use; naval supply is generated by naval bases, depending on how advanced they are), and for commerce raiders, evasion (allows you to completely dodge an enemy attack). We'll break naval combat down in more detail later. However, naval supply is generated by every coastal province (2 per province), plus 10 for each level of naval base. However, if it's a non-core province, you only get 30% of the supply value from a naval base. So, if I built a level 6 naval base in Southampton, I'd get 2 + 6(10), or 62 supply points. If I built it in, say, Johore, it'd only be worth 18 supply, though! Note that you can only build one naval base per state, and that capital ships cannot be built overseas. Most ships also have a base level of base (pun intended) that they need to build. Without any naval bases, provinces can build frigates and clipper transports. Anything more advanced (like steam transports, men o'war, and commerce raiders) requires a naval base. Naval bases can get pretty expensive, so be sure you can afford them!
FINALLY, we hit pause. I get caught on January 23 for 9.1 infamy; ouch. Still, it's not too bad. I need a Great Power friend, and I target Prussia. Now, in HOD, we get a lot more feedback on what people want from an alliance. Take a look!
"Political Considerations" is a generic, catch-all term that includes how powerful you are relative to them, whether or not they have cores on your territory (or vice versa) and other stuff as well. Everything else is self explanatory. Before Great Wars, you get one and only one friend among the Great Powers. Prussia is perfect; a counterbalance to France and a powerful army too. I happily proceed and find one myself one ally richer. As I suspected, my economy is doing well enough that by April, I can increase education to 100%:
With such a healthy budget (and future designs on Punjab), I decide to build a new army in India.
This is a nice, standard, all purpose army for an unfortified province. Make sure to check your combat width! I'm at 29, which means I get 29 brigades in the front row (provided my tech level doesn't change and we're on flat ground). However, keep in mind that no province in the game can support 58 brigades in 1836. Supply limits are in thousands of troops, not brigades. This army has flexibility, firepower, and if necessary, I can combine two or three in a really dire situation. It'll take ground fast and, should I get the opportunity, my Hussars can engage the enemy in the rear of his line for maximum damage. It's not maximum speed -- the artillery will slow it down -- but it's pretty darn good in almost any situation. I'll change it over time, obviously.
I strike Gold in Freetown, which will increase my budget surplus even farther! I can attack Johore on August 3, but discover that the Whigs have thankfully unemployed significant numbers of workers. I'll need a devious solution:
Early elections guaranteed to put the Conservatives in power? Yes please! Also before I attack (I'm waiting for my armies to get supplied up) I'll show off this new feature:
Granted, I'm not going to release Greece from my sphere, but I wanted to show you it was possible. Note the presence of the "Command Units" button; it's only for puppets, but can still be very handy. As supplies flow to my armies, I discover it's time to complete my first colonies!
If you get to the third level of colonization with no opposition, you can immediately create a protectorate (by clicking the button). A portion of your total colonial points will go to maintain that colony until it becomes a state. (If it's surrounded by colonies, it'll automatically become a colony -- there's an intermediate step, protectorate, which gives you a cheaper colony at the price of fewer soldier POPs and a tax penalty of some sort.) Note that making colonies into states costs colonial power points! It's not deducted from your total, but you do have to have the points free.
We get our first newspaper in October!
Let's see... war... war... OH RIGHT! Johore! The war begins a week later.
To show you visually why recon is so much more important in HOD, here's a scene from November:
Yes, the other armies are smaller, but even so, it's the cavalry that really makes the difference.
1837
My election strategy works! I pump money into the building of new factories, reopen some that are bankrupt, and get people back to work. Johore offers a surrender in February (yes, the AI will even offer surrender with a conquest or annex CB -- very handy!)
With sweet, sweet victory, let's take a look at our budget screen!
This is a little confusing, and it's fairly subtle change in HOD. First of all, as a side note, look at the three sliders! They're for army, navy (capped at a minimum of 30%; 80% by my house rules) and building. That's not the important thing. You will notice a wide, WIDE discrepancy in my budget window and the bit of the ribbon I have copied here. The budget window is assuming that I buy all of my construction materials in one big bundle -- I can't do that, even if I wanted to. HOD will NOT let you go into the red when you're building factories, railroads, forts, or naval bases -- if you can't afford it, it doesn't get purchased. The AI will buy what it can and stop.
There's a new map mode in HOD (well, several, but I'll show you this one first): the naval map mode!
Any state with bright green stripes (like most of India here) is empty of any naval base! Remaining bases are color coded; there's a UK map coming up in another update or two that shows that far better. Now it's April, and my good friend the colonial tooltip has a message for me!
Note that the stripes here are much darker, denoting that I have a level 2 naval base in Gibraltar. I add the Netherlands to my sphere on May 1. Dum de dum, business as usu--
Uh, really? Okay, Netherlands, if that's what you w--
CATAPHRACTOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(In all seriousness, it's cool.
) New update, detailing my war, will be posted this weekend, Monday at the latest -- it'll probably take two parts!
I was hoping you would make a tutorial for HOD.
already read the other two and it helped me enormous, although i still kind of suck but that is most likely due to sheer incompetence
so I'm in
Glad to have you along! Note the newly published update for your enjoyment.
Those pesky untrustworthy Dutch! Does the Russian involvement mean that we'll see the armies of India crawling all over Russian Asia? Thanks for explaining the units and showing me how I've been going horribly wrong with my army composition so far.
In order for artillery to be in the back row, you need at least an equal number of infantry in the army, right? Or do cavalry count as well?
Glad I could help.
No, there's too many countries between me and Russia. However, that doesn't mean you won't see some action!Cavalry do count. Anything with a support value prefers the back row, provided there are units in front of it. Thus, it should look like this:
//XXXXX//
ooooo
Where / = cav, x = inf, and o = arty.
Actually, now that I look at it, 2 Hussars are plenty; no need for 4.
Thanks for going into such detail about HoD's unit changes. Some of it (like the changes to artillery) I knew but a lot of it I didn't.
Oh, and whatever did the poor Netherlands do to you? Yes, yes they put your diplomatic mission under siege, but apart from that, what did they ever do to you? :angry:
Oh, and whatever did the poor Netherlands do to you? Yes, yes they put your diplomatic mission under siege, but apart from that, what did they ever do to you? :angry:
Are you sure this Netherlands thing is entirely proper? It seems like something that would happen with an unciv to me, but the Dutch are hardly an unciv...
It happened in Belgium once when I was playing as the French, I think its a HoD change.
Okay, so just the one thing.
"Fun" may be the wrong term.
The only requirements for the decision are that a country is a Secondary Power and has a certain level of prestige.
All these new HoD features look incredible. Paradox did a good job on this one. You explained all the features so well, not that I expected anything less.
Bring in Prussia and let them serve as fodder for the Russian hordes. Then you can occupy the Netherlands and return to your isle just in time for some afternoon tea.
I can't help but notice that going on at the same time is the "War of the Pacific". Sounds a bit too grand for some South American countries quarrelling, especially when the other two South American wars don't sound as exciting. I also have a feeling Bolivia won't be around for long.
Bring in Prussia and let them serve as fodder for the Russian hordes. Then you can occupy the Netherlands and return to your isle just in time for some afternoon tea.
I can't help but notice that going on at the same time is the "War of the Pacific". Sounds a bit too grand for some South American countries quarrelling, especially when the other two South American wars don't sound as exciting. I also have a feeling Bolivia won't be around for long.
Ah, must be a HOD change. I merely asked because both the picture and the text are very reminiscent of uncivs in general and China in particular, where this sort of thing happened historically (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_the_International_Legations). But still, the event makes little sense to me, at least the way the text describes it. Why would the 'ruling elites' in the Netherlands evict the British ambassador, and why would the have their own troops? Feudalism was long behind Europe at that point, and while the aristocracy might be officers, if they told the Army to lay siege to the British embassy on their own initiative without orders, they would simply be court-martialed and that would be the end of it.
I remember this event happening in vanilla Vicky II, but only with uncivs. Perhaps they simply changed the requirements, but not the text or the picture...
All these new HoD features look incredible. Paradox did a good job on this one. You explained all the features so well, not that I expected anything less.
Bring in Prussia and let them serve as fodder for the Russian hordes. Then you can occupy the Netherlands and return to your isle just in time for some afternoon tea.
I can't help but notice that going on at the same time is the "War of the Pacific". Sounds a bit too grand for some South American countries quarrelling, especially when the other two South American wars don't sound as exciting. I also have a feeling Bolivia won't be around for long.
Unfortunately, Prussia is a jerk and won't help.
Here's the decision in question:
Code:
leave_soi = {
alert = no
potential = {
part_of_sphere = yes
}
allow = {
is_secondary_power = yes
sphere_owner = {
NOT = { relation = {
who = THIS
value = 0
}
truce_with = THIS
}
}
}
effect = {
sphere_owner = {
diplomatic_influence = {
who = THIS
value = -200
}
country_event = { id=13201 days=0 }
}
}
ai_will_do = {
factor = 1
# Ai will do, if sphere owner has LESS than thrice our brigades.
modifier = {
factor = 0
sphere_owner = {
# Factor = (sphere_owner regiments) / (our regiments).
# Returns true if( factor >= x ).
# Use NOT statement to check if( factor < x )
brigades_compare = 3
}
}
}
}
aim for alaska. if you need more warscore theres always the gamey way of letting a blockade go lose. trapping them on an island then getting warscore from it .
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aim for alaska. if you need more warscore theres always the gamey way of letting a blockade go lose. trapping them on an island then getting warscore from it
Oh, I have plans, just you wait and see.