Kaiserreich

[Ofaloaf]

Just played a Commune of France game to 1945-- haven't quite yet conquered all of Germany, but a couple of things have nevertheless caught my attention:

• When deciding what to do with Flanders-Wallonia, the option to give Flanders to the Netherlands (Syndicalist ally, natch) didn't work-- the decision freed Flanders as a Syndicalist puppet rather than ceded the territory to the Netherlands.
• Both the event for the CSA to cede Algeria to the Commune of France and the CoF event to create a North African "sister republic" don't have Kasserine province scripted in-- when the CSA ceded Algeria and Tunisia to me, I still had to manually negotiate Kasserine back afterward. Likewise, when the "Greater Algeria" of Alergia + Tunisia was released, I had to manually give Kasserine to them after the event fired.
• The Ottomans really ought to have some annexation events for Greece, Serbia, and so on. I was quite disappointed when the Ottomans managed to absolutely curbstomp the post-Balkan War alliance of Serbia, Greece and Romania and didn't get so much as a rising claim on Thessalonica, much less the opportunity to restore the Empire to something like its 1912 European borders.*

The game otherwise was pretty awesome. Canada declared war on all the belligerents in the American Civil War, wiping out the CSA and marching on Washington before the American Union State surged into Ontario, at which point the USA swooped in and beat the shit out of everyone, eventually annexing Canada itself. At war with the Entente, it later annexed National France and Portugal, after which point I managed to actually pull off a coup(!) and the USA became the CSA.

In Europe, the 1937 Ausgleich negotiations broke down and caused a war between Austria and Hungary, at which point Serbia annexed Bosnia and Montenegro. During the same war Iron Guard Romania took the opportunity to declare war on Hungary and won back Transylvania. Greater Serbia, Greater Romania and Greece then declared war on Bulgaria, won that war, and then Greece decided to have another go at the Megali idea (instantly getting a core and not a claim on Istanbul, no less!) and declared war on the Ottomans. The victorious Balkan alliance didn't even take Gallipoli, and the Ottomans eventually steamrolled 'em. Last I checked, the Ottoman Empire had 101 IC and I was starting to plan an eventual Franco-Ottoman war.

The Bodiv... Badis... the Syndicalists out of Calcutta eventually won the Indian war of unification, joined the Internationale, brought Burma in and have been an absolute help in the war effort. Qing China annexed the Shanqing, annexed Tibet, went to war with Mongolia but then managed to lose its land connection to Tibet when Russia went to war with Mongolia at the same time and followed Mongol conquests down to the Yunnan border.

Yeah.


*Sod it, I just wrote "reintegration of Thrace/Bosnia/Eastern Rumelia" events because it was bothering me.

 

[Ofaloaf]

A little question about ministers-- playing as Canada in 1.2, I tended to respect Parliament and not outlaw parties of either extremity, which eventually led to Canada becoming Social Liberal after I refused to outlaw the Syndicalist parties once. At that point, King Edward was replaced by Baron Tweedsmuir as Head of State. Surely Canada ought to have the ideological flexibility to go from NS to SL (or SD even) and still maintain the monarchy, right?

 

[Ofaloaf]

Two small bug reports with the latest KR beta, playing a hands-off game as Bhutan.

1. The text for the Olympics event says "Horray for Switzerland!"
2. Germany put pressure on Mittelafrika for Goring's resignation (due to a botched effort to secure Portugal's African colonies), prompting the country to turn into Centroafrika and thence into the Bantu Federation, Benincongo, Namibia and one other I forget. The main thrust of it is that Mittelafrika had ceased to exist, yet when the US Civil War started, Liberia turned to Germany for help and in turn the Germans turned administration of Liberia over to Mittelafrika-- which didn't exist anymore.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Looking through mods.csv, I hope you don't mind me asking how a few countries can be made:
-TEX_CSA is apparently the old Confederate States. Does that come about through MacArthur's event chains, or where?
-RSI_TWS is marked down as the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. How does Syndie Italy become a kingdom?
-U07_REP likewise is down as "Commonwealth of England". How can I make a Cromwellian monster?

 

[Ofaloaf]

You wanna know? Go poking through the event chains... or just play the mod to death like us

B-b-but I'm too cowardly to take the ones that lead to my doom!

WHERE IS THE RONALD REAGAN?I looked for him throughout the U.S., including in post-war, if he is found he will never be president of the USA! :angry:

I feel like I ought to hypocritcally echo KaiserMuffin here.

 

[Ofaloaf]

There's a division on the matter, some believe he should be dead like Chiang Kai Shek and Roosevelt, whilst others find it funny to have the OTL Stalin/Beria relationship reversed.

While I get that KR tries to avoid having leading historical figures being leading figures in KR, I never sussed out why. There's variety for the sake of variety, sure, but having all these historic guys just up and die before 1936 always struck me as a bit overdone.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Would it be too implausible for the Ottomans to even rise claims on their pre-Balkan Wars borders via some chain of events or some such? Right now they don't seem to do too much aside from giving other countries something to invade, which can be somewhat frustrating for an Ottoman player. What about some parliamentary election events akin to Austria's post-Augsleich reshuffling? The Ottomans had a parliament, after all, albiet one that was suspended most of the time. Having an election in-game could give the player or an AI multiple choices for choosing direction, like electing national-irredentists, versus Ottoman Socialists (hey, they existed in 1910) or bourgeoise liberals.

I'd be willing to have a go at some events of that sort if you guys were okay with it.

 

[Ofaloaf]

That sounds awesome. Maybe such an event if you win the Arabian Block war, holding elections to lower dissent, and then a separate event to rise irredentist claims on Bulgarian lands you would only get cores on otherwise if you were in the Belgrade Pact.

Oh, I like that. The Ottomans tended to really to do those sort of reforms when under pressure, and eking out a victory against the Arabs certainly counts. Some sort of "Pressure at home- dissenters want an election" event could come up, with the option to go ahead with limited elections (-dissent) or not (+dissent).

If elections go ahead and emboldened irredentists win, would having the empire rise claims on the territories they held before the Balkan Wars be too much? See below:

Wikipedia's map wasn't quite right; the Austrians outright annexed Bosnia in late 1908, although they had been in effective control of the territory since 1878. edit: Although that little neck of land in southern Bosnia might've become Serbian instead of Austrian. I might've screwed that up on the map edit.

Still, how's about those territories sans Bosnia? Call the people who want that stuff Rumelian irredentists or some such.

 

[Ofaloaf]

I wouldn't go that far. Maybe the Bulgarian territories you would get cores/claims on via being invited to the Belgrade pact (Which is very unlikely in most Ottoman games). Plus Crete; If the Germans sold it to you, you get integration events if you puppeted/annexed it after a few years, or if the Greeks get into a war with you, you get Crete, maybe a province or too, and a puppet Greece. With integration events for all taken territories after a while. I like the integration events for Russia, and wish more nations had situations like them.

If Mongolia can get claims on all of Siberia on the basis that the Mongolian Empire owned it several centuries ago, the Greeks can gain cores on Istanbul on the basis of Byzantine ownership half a millennium ago and the Soviet Union can get claims on all of Eurasia, why not let the Ottomans rise claims on territories they owned just twenty-five years prior to the start of the scenario? Or at the very least, a stretch of land to Salonika?

I mean, if I was an Ottoman politician at the time, I'd still kind of be upset that the Empire gained diddly-squat territory at the end of the Weltkrieg. No reclamation of Egypt, no redemption of Rumelia, nothing except for little ol' Kars and a puppet Armenian state that's festering with anti-Ottoman nationalists.

 

[Ofaloaf]

When you put it like that, I see your point. Though it is fair to point out the Ottomans didn't do so well in the war, and the fact that they gained a lot of puppets like Albania, Oman, Tripolitania and so on makes up for it, it doesn't in-game terms So, in the scenario you're talking about, cores/claims on the Bulgarian coastline, and up to Kozani and maybe Macedonia? Beyond that, I don't see it working out well in terms of game balance and realism.

Maybe just up to Thessaloniki. If the Ottoman claims/cores drove it into Macedonia, they might as well have a series of events to try re-integrating the former Ottoman territories of Albania and have a port on the Adriatic. Since having the Ottomans get that big seems to be viewed as excessive, however, just claims/cores to Thessaloniki might be decent.

You do raise some good points on the other nations, but I have defenses for each of them.

It's just claims on Siberia for Mongolia, right? Because claims are just claims, not cores. I assume we're talking about cores or claims that turn into cores over time with the Ottomans. Besides, Siberia's a wasteland that in-game doesn't hold a particular loyalty to anyone except the strongest power in the area.

I honestly can't recall if Mongolia's claims ever turn into cores, but doing a quick look through the event file I can't see any integration events for Siberia. Fair enough on that count, since even with claims Mongolia's got to have some difficulties with all that land.

The Greeks is a tougher case, but I don't know if in the KR world the Greco-Turkish population exchange occurred. I assume not, but cores seems too far. I'd go for claims, then an integration even over a year or so, because those areas are still majority Turkish no matter what history happened in the game. Also because Paradox and Alt-History fans in general are big Grecophiles/Byzantophiles for some weird reason that still baffles me.

Tell me about it! Paradox hasn't helped matters by adding in things like the Byzantine reformation stuff in Victoria II. There's loads of Philhellenes hereabouts.

The Soviets can claim and integrate those areas on the same basis the Soviets did OTL; they had the strength and power to incorporate those areas into the state against their will on the locals. The Ottomans don't have that at the start of the game, and in the hands of the AI probably never will. But I do agree with you still that similar events should be there for the Ottomans.

Given that the Ottomans were fighting on pretty much every border in WWI/Weltkrieg, they held up pretty well, managing to keep Greek and Bulgarian troops away from Istanbul, defending Gallipoli from the ANZACs and even driving up into the Caucasus, tho' granted they didn't manage to well in Mesopotamia. Still, that surely suggests that they managed to maintain some decent level of power.

Speaking of Armenia, maybe an event to incorporate it into the Ottoman state if you did everything you could to keep it under your puppet control? If not that, at least an event where you gain cores on all the starting lands you have claims on after winning the Arabian War, because as of now it's kind of pointless. From my own experiences and from reading Soulstrider's Ottoman AAR, playing as the Ottomans is a very tough game with very little reward in the end. Any of these ideas can help considerably spice up their fun value.

Direct Armenian integration probably ought to be a little more demanding than just keeping them puppeted. Having Russia be at war (any war, not just the civil war) and distracted should be another condition of Armenian integration, since I'd suspect that although Armenia starts off as an Ottoman puppet, the Russians still have a keen interest in them, as they historically had ever since the latter half of the 19th century.

 

[Ofaloaf]

To further elaborate on the Ottoman discussion on the KS boards (and because the Paradox forums use a slightly different format which is much more convenient for listing things), how's this for a rough outline of new events for the Ottomans?

1. Arab Congress (in-game)
   1. Ottoman reaction to the Arab Congress - We can weather this crisis out. (nasty dissent hit)
   2. Ottoman reaction to the Arab Congress - We must suspend the constitution once again, to silence parliamentary dissent! (minor dissent hit, slider move towards authoritarian and closed society)
2. In the event of Ottoman victory in the war against the Arab Bloc
   1. (if the constitution has not been suspended) Dissidents demand special elections for the Chamber of Deputies!
      1. Suspend the constitution! (as above)
      2. Very well, announce special elections in a month's time
         1. Pro-government conservatives win! (FA-PA-SC coalition)
            1. Black Gold (conservatives expand oil production and give a slight modifier to resource production overall))
         2. Reform-minded liberals win! (SC-ML-SL coalition)
            1. The Third Constitutional Era (guarantees later election events, gradually democratizes the Ottoman Empire)
         3. A socialist coalition wins! (SL-SD-LWR coalition, dissent hit)
            1. Reforming industrial policy (more IC or just grant an IC modifier?)
         4. Irredentists win! (NS party, dissent hit)
            1. Our Rumelian past (rise cores on strip of land to Thessaloniki)
   2. (if the constitution has been suspended) Protesters gather in front of the imperial palace! (dissent)
      1. Send in the troops! (dissent, authoritarian slider moves)
         1. [this is where a series of minor dissent hits and mismanagement events along the lines of 1936 USA's events would go]
            1. A cadre of generals overthrow the Sultan and install their own puppet (military junta rule with puppet-sultan)
            2. Islamists storm the imperial palace! (Islamic regime with puppet-sultan)
            3. A liberal revolution seizes control! (shaky democracy at last)
      2. Listen to their demands and introduce a reformist ministry (dissent, democratic slider moves)
3. Turkestan declares itself the new Caliphate (possible result of Turkestan-Alash Orda war)
   1. That's cute. (dissent hit)
   2. This world's only big enough for one caliph! (war)

Yes/No?

 

[Ofaloaf]

Also, the link up for the extra/alternate flags has some that might conflict with the recent versions, mostly end game stuff. I guess it was made before the addition of new countries like Benikongo or Sahel, since it uses different flags for U03, U04, U05, etc - which I assume used to be the German political parties in the old versions.

I never understood-- what was the purpose of the political party countries in the older versions of KR? Were they in lieu of world flags designating Germany as following a specific set of policies or whatever?

 

[Ofaloaf]

Playing as the Union of Britain, I helped successfully invade and annex Austria, and bought the Montenegrin provinces off of Italy so I could release Montenegro as my own puppet. Thing is, after Montenegro was released, it had its generic policy decision events fire. On foreign policy it decided to align with Serbia and ally with it, which caused the Balkan League powers of Serbia and Greece (Iron Guard Romania lost the civil war) to join the Internationale. While I don't mind having more countries join the alliance, I'm pretty sure this is not working as intended.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Have this graphical error with the recentmost hotfix:

 

[Ofaloaf]

While we're doing wish lists, may I chip in something? I wish there was a simpler end to the war after German capitulation-- if I succeed as the Commune or another Syndie state and manage, after spending years of focus on IC expansion and building more land troops, to completely roll over Mitteleuropa on the Continent, the German capitulation means that the war doesn't end and won't end for a few more years, until I can build up my own navy again, play cat-and-mouse with the remnants of the Imperial German Navy and then work to track down all the VP provinces in Africa and the Pacific that are still controlled by Germany. It's not hard, it just takes a long time.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Kr team,what is the ID of the Confederation of Great Lakes?

It's U32. Just open up world_names.csv from KR's config folder and search for the name.

I am curious as to what chain of events led to ALG being the Tuareg Confederation while actual Algeria is U29. Likewise SOM/Imperial Abyssinia and U40/Somalia. Is Imperial Abyssinia even a thing anymore? I thought that civil war had been removed.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Not really. Actually, it seems more logical to have a German controlled/leaded (führered...) state in the area, at the same time, Balkans. (AH or DF could be considered as a Balkan power) As well as having the "Eastern Empire" as a potential ally, rather than enemy in case of France and Russia.

Logic and nationalism are not the closest of friends.

 

[Ofaloaf]

I'd like to ask, what are the reasons why Kaiserreich hasn't been ported to Hoi3? Would be very interesting to see Kaiserreich mod in different mechanics.

I think it was due to the lower popularity with Hearts of Iron 3. I doubt that's the main reason, but that is what I assume.

I've heard tell from others who've had a go at modding HoI3 that it's a tad more difficult to mod, in part because of the greater multitude of provinces, in part because of the lesser degree of modding documentation available, and in part because it was just maddening to work with.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Which is why I never liberate it. The Confeds are so damn cliche. Plus, the American Union State is far more entertaining!

"Because it's cliche" it a kind of cruddy reason to avoid something like that. I'm getting a mental image of Neville Chamberlain in the 1930s pushing for the drastic downsizing of the Royal Navy because "Britain as a navy-oriented power is so cliche." Having a Confederate States in the South makes sense. There's still Neo-Confederates around to this very day. Were a county to break away or be created in the South amongst the territories that formerly made up the CSA of the 1860s, it's reasonable to expect that country to be the Confederate States redux.

Never manually release anyone. I'm pretty sure an event about the fate of Britain would pop up in that case.

Why not just tweak the event triggers so that they fire whenever Germany puppets England or France puppets the German Union (or what-have-you), rather than relying on specific event chains and flags which make manually-released countries totally break gameflow?

 

[Ofaloaf]

Related to the FUA thing, why was the AUS powerbase moved to the former territories of the CSA? Old KR had them emerging out of the Midwest and down into Texas, which was cool and gave the Midwest some importance other than being the buttmonkey of American regions. It also seemed slightly less weird than seeing all these Northerners like Coughlin, Lindbergh and Kennedy center their power in Atlanta.