Shining Stars - A United States Coming of Age Saga

[Rensslaer]

Oops! I'm late on feedback. Been busy lately, plus was updating my EU IV AAR. Update for that posted yesterday, and this is up next.

I think I'll try to update the EU IV Rex Germania twice a month and update this one once a month. Anything more seems like it's faster than I can manage at the moment.

It's impressive how tough and strong the UK is even with a player outright controlling the US, the other super powered faction (ignoring China).

If they focused on conquering Europe rather than the US, they'd have won by now

@TheButterflyComposer Oh, I know. The Royal Navy is a beast, and is only defeatable by someone willing to build a beast to match! But yeah a Europe-focused Britain could be doing quite well. Of course they'd have to get all those Indian troops to the mainland, and they would need to leave some of their outlying empire less defended to do so.

So twenty-one years of war out of one-hundred-and-one years of American independence. The anti-British sentiment has got to be unshakable in the US. And it probably won't fade.

EU4 is the same way. Whenever the AI gets a colonial empire, the majority of its troops never seem to be at home.

According to US census data, Idaho's 1870 population was a mere 14,999. These cavalrymen make up a sizeable portion of the territory's population. I'm sure if any of them survived being captured that after the war they would have quite the story to tell.

How long does it take for a unit to dig in fully?

This AI is not so much a Perfidious Albion as it is a stubborn one.

@jak7139 I know - that's alot of war! Obsess much? No feeling of mutuality in my world, as compared to IRL.

I don't know why the V2 AI couldn't be tweaked to know to bring troops to defend the homeland. They spam transports like crazy, and could use some of those to transport. On the other hand I know it must be kind of a nightmare to build the AI instructions coordinating transports and troops. That may be why I catch so many troop transports at sea (unescorted, usually) -- the AI must send 5 transports to pick up 2 regiments (if they're loaded at all) because that's what it can manage.

Good to see this AAR's latest....

As you noted in some of your answers, the AI seems fairly stubborn. Why is the AI directing Great Britain toward its obsession with the U.S. when as @TheButterflyComposer notes the British could have knocked out other European powers by now?

Looking forward to seeing where this goes now. Does winning this war set up the US like the Spanish-American War did at the end of the 19th Century?

@Chac1 Thank you! I cannot explain the British obsession with the US, except that they had a bugboo about us in the start, which started the first war, and I think I've continued to create more reasons for them to come back at me by taking more of their territory. It's a vicious cycle, but one which only they can put a stop to.

Very insightful about the parallel with the Spanish-American War. Suddenly the US has an imperialist empire, allowing it to have worldwide reach.

The US has humiliated Britain. Maybe actually landing soldiers on the island of Britain itself will make the British think twice about declaring war on their former colonies?

@HistoryDude Well... You know the British can be stubborn.

Thanks everybody! Maybe another few days before the update, but I'll try to get it out. Thank you for reading, and for your comments!

Also, thank you very much for everybody who voted for this AAR in the recent ACAs and

This AAR came in at 7th Place in the competition for Best Gameplay AAR of 2023. Considering the competition, I'm very happy with that!

And in the Q4 2023 ACAs this AAR came in 2nd, with 8 votes, for best Victoria II AAR.

Thank you all for your support!

As mentioned above I expect to update this within the next couple of weeks (hopefully sooner rather than later). The next update will take us through the next period of peace and development.

Rensslaer

 

[Rensslaer]

Okay… In feedback I told you I’d cover the period of peace after the Fifth Anglo-US War. I lied, unintentionally… There wasn’t really that much peace. But a lot happens outside of this new war, and the war isn’t much to speak of, so I’m going to try very hard to throw it all into one update without being boring or overlong.

I included a split graphic, 10 days apart, to show the dramatic drop in the UK’s Military Score. They go down about 750 points in that 10 days, presumably because they demobilized. That signifies a huge mobilization pool. The United States loses only 60 points over the same period.

At this point in history the US was far behind Austria, which held 3rd place in the Great Powers race. But the US was closing steadily.







The new factories in the conquered territories including shipbuilding factories, liquor distilleries, fertilizer and cement and explosives factories. Not bad.

Notice that, after that long war, our allies the Japanese send their clipper transports to pick up their troops who had won parts of the South Pacific for the United States. Thank you. Sorry – no territorial accessions for you, but you get economic satisfaction through our sphere of influence.

In June of 1878 the Mexicans provoke another incident. This will be the Fourth Mexican-American War.

Okay, so it’s the second slide after the war and I’m already going to war again. I don’t want you to think a border incident with Mexico always results in a knee-jerk reaction of “go to war”… Except that it kinda does. Why does Mexico provoke these things??!







You might notice in the background that I’m still picking up troops from South Africa to bring them home… Except I’m not bringing them home.

As opposed to the difficulty we faced in the 3rd Mexican War, this time we rushed south and occupied much of Mexico before they could get their reserves up to speed. Other detachments arriving by sea had the same goal, in the Yucatan. Troops arriving from overseas were redirected and arrived very quickly.







After January 1879 all the combats were against untrained new recruits who surrendered immediately.

Not until October 1879 would Mexico receive our reasonable peace offers. They ceded Nuevo Leon to us, and our existing Mexican states were now connected by a land route to the original United States proper.







Besides, now Mexico was completely divided, and hopefully would be less of a threat in the future.

Again, we pick up new factories in our conquered territory (look below – I don’t know why that graphic didn’t go into the shot above, but it’s too hard to fix now). A fair cement industry and some minor glass and clothing providers.

Gosh! In just 2 years the UK added 1450 points to its ranking!! That’s, I think, partly from mobilizing for a war they had with France just after my war with them. Industry score went up 500ish and Prestige up 120 or so, but Military went up 780 points.







France added almost 700 industry in the same period, and 200 prestige. The US added 350 total to its ranking. So we’re closing on Austria, which is building more slowly, but we’re not going to catch up to Britian or France at this rate.

Technology… We’re going to need Inorganic Chemistry in order to build the Panama Canal someday, and that’s something that’s on our drawing board even though we don’t possess the land yet. So that’s one of the techs we research during this period.

And once we hit 1880 we’re allowed to research Phenomenology & Hermeneutics, which when completed gives us another 100% boost to research points.

Also lots of other stuff advancing, both techs and inventions – wine, rubber, iron all improve. Our factory input and output and farming output improve. Both army defence and naval offense improves.







I note that in 1880 the UK is the world’s first producer of Fuel. We get oilfield discoveries later, and become one of only three producers of Oil (the UK is not among those – US, Russia and France I believe).

By 1882 we’ve discovered the technologies for steel steamers and pre-dreadnoughts, which increases our speed, defence and firepower yet again at sea. Then we began to improve our railroads (Iron Railroads), to boost the economy as well as the cross-country movement of troops.

During this period we built new forts at San Diego, El Paso, Savannah, Trinidad and Bermuda. We figured that if it ever came to pass that the British came back knocking – or the French, or whoever – and succeeded in mounting naval invasions on our lands, it would be good to have redoubts.

We built a Naval Base at Freetown, in West Africa, and as soon as that was complete we followed it up with a Fort there. One province against a sea of British colonies, we figured – best to keep it secure.







In 1880 there was a border incident in Dutch Guyana where the United States had taken over British Guyana. If the United States had been so inclined we could have turned this into a war (in the graphic it may look like I’m going to war, but I’m just showing you what was at stake). But the Netherlands was in the French sphere of influence, and was allied with the UK besides. Not wanting for that again. No matter how attractive Guyana or Dutch Singapore might be.

Instead, the United States was more concerned about the sole Spanish property in the Caribbean – Spanish Cuba. Spain didn’t have alliances with anyone. There was also Spanish Liberia – a territory that previously belonged to one-time US ally Liberia.

But there was no immediate urgency or desire for war. Other things soon took our attention away.

There was a Confederate rebellion in some southern states, and then there were the wars with the Sioux Indians and the Apache. During this same period there was the remarkable Gunfight at the OK Corral.

In September 1881 there was a border incident with the UK, providing a casus belli which the US did not undertake to pursue.







In 1881 the United States adopted a pension entitlement to care for its retired soldiers. This occurred only by event, because with the political situation the US was locked into there was no possibility of cobbling enough Liberals and Socialists together to adopt any social reforms. The only other reform adopted, previously, (a 10-hour working day) was also by event.

With the number of retired soldiers, the pension plan was expensive – almost as much as for administration, and twice as much as for education. Almost as much as for the military.

In 1882 the United States capitalists began to renovate the US railway network with iron rails. The government encouraged this, of course, because it would help move troops more quickly. But the capitalists were happy to fund it because it would improve the country’s economy. It would improve their economy.







In 1882 the United States brought Argentina into the fold of their sphere of influence, along with Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

By the end of the year the United States was firmly in 3rd place ahead of Austria in the Great Power competition.

But this period of peace was too good to be true. By the beginning of 1883 the United States was again at war with Great Britain – the Sixth Anglo-American War.







And my apologies – somehow I am missing my screenshots of how the war started, and exactly when. I can guarantee the British declared war on me. Just not sure why or when.

 

[Chac1]

The British obsession continues! We'll cross our fingers for you. Will they figure out a better strategy this time or not?

Seems the Brits are going to try to keep the U.S. from extending its hegemony beyond what you can defend regarding the Monroe Doctrine.

As for Mexico, at this point why doesn't it break up into two countries? I don't know anything about the mechanics of Victoria but that would be a reasonable outcome. There are really three Mexicos: the industrialized north, the indigenous south, and the heartland. Because you have grabbed central Mexico, the other two are different enough they might want to separate. Of course, not sure how your game has developed 19th Century Mexico.

 

[HistoryDude]

Britain is clearly governed by masochists.

When will Mexico learn the inevitable consequences of pissing the US off? At this point, they seem to exist solely to be America's punching bag.

Why don't other countries see the US as a warmongering power that will attack for the flimsiest of reasons? Or do they?

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

The US is absolutely massive compared to otl. Another third of a continent, tens of millions more people (brown, Catholic, Latin speaking people) and way less issues with a border presumably...though managing the deep south is going to be interesting now the US extends into actual rainforest

 

[jak7139]

The British AI seems obsessed with taking you down, for whatever reason. I'm guessing it's due to the differences in military score?

For your industry/goods, what are the USA's top exports? And how many military goods (canned food, artillery, etc.) are you producing compared to other GP's?

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

The British AI seems obsessed with taking you down, for whatever reason. I'm guessing it's due to the differences in military score?

Or its in love.

 

[LancelotRS]

I absolutely adore a good victoria 2 aar. Thanks for posting and keep them coming

 

[Rensslaer]

Oh, very good comments this week! You got me to thinking, and looking back over the game.

The British obsession continues! We'll cross our fingers for you. Will they figure out a better strategy this time or not?

Seems the Brits are going to try to keep the U.S. from extending its hegemony beyond what you can defend regarding the Monroe Doctrine.

As for Mexico, at this point why doesn't it break up into two countries? I don't know anything about the mechanics of Victoria but that would be a reasonable outcome. There are really three Mexicos: the industrialized north, the indigenous south, and the heartland. Because you have grabbed central Mexico, the other two are different enough they might want to separate. Of course, not sure how your game has developed 19th Century Mexico.

@Chac1 Victoria 2 has the dynamic that some countries may be subdivided into several possible other countries if something happens to allow it. A country may voluntarily "release" one or more of these countries, or it may be forced as a condition of war. I believe (not sure - it's been 8 years since I wrote the guide) a successful rebellion may cause the country to appear. I loaded the game to see, and found that California, for instance, can split off and become the Bear Flag Republic, and Utah could become Deseret. But unfortunately Mexico does not appear to have these releaseable countries programmed in. It would be good to have, say, the Yucatan releaseable as a Mayan state, or something. But it's not in place. I definitely see what you mean, though. Not sure what identity they might retain in the north. The Mexican capital remains in the south, kind of isolated from the rest of the country, so a split such as you describe might be kind of messy (as these splits often are).

Britain is clearly governed by masochists.

When will Mexico learn the inevitable consequences of pissing the US off? At this point, they seem to exist solely to be America's punching bag.

Why don't other countries see the US as a warmongering power that will attack for the flimsiest of reasons? Or do they?

@HistoryDude No kidding! On both counts! I think the US is probably acquiring the game equivalent of "badboy" which might make other countries more likely to attack it. It may or may not be mitigated by the fact that most of the acquired territory is adjacent to the country. And it may or may not be modified by the fact that the wars with the UK were not initiated by the US. But in point of fact if there is a significant buildup of fear and consternation about the US expansion it is probably counteracted by fear of the size of the US military.

The US is absolutely massive compared to otl. Another third of a continent, tens of millions more people (brown, Catholic, Latin speaking people) and way less issues with a border presumably...though managing the deep south is going to be interesting now the US extends into actual rainforest

@TheButterflyComposer Well, the accessions in Mexico certainly add to it. And the population of those Mexican territories is significant. The US certainly possesses more islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic than it did in OTL. But even in OTL Cuba and Puerto Rico came into US hands (Cuba remaining "independent"). The New Guinea territory is probably less than the US acquired in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. The African and South American additions are more. There's a slice of Canada this America owns that was not acquired in OTL.

So yes, you're recognizing a cultural difference between this and OTL that is sure to be felt by the rest of the country. Next time we have a little bit of peace I'll lay out some of the demographic changes and how they're affecting things.

The British AI seems obsessed with taking you down, for whatever reason. I'm guessing it's due to the differences in military score?

For your industry/goods, what are the USA's top exports? And how many military goods (canned food, artillery, etc.) are you producing compared to other GP's?

@jak7139 Yes, indeed. Quite annoying! Yes, the British have an inflated military score, I think, because of all the Indian troops they have. I would say their capital ships affect it too, but I've sunk a vast portion of their ships. I'm not sure if that can explain it.

That last update was threatening to get out of hand, so I didn't show the 1880 survey of industry I'd taken screenshots for. But since you ask I'll tell you here...

In 1880 top exports were fabric, tobacco and timber.

Of military goods USA is 4th in canned goods (60% of UK production), 3rd in artillery (1/2 of France's production), 5th in small arms (UK top with 5 times more), 5th in ammunition (about 1/3 of UK production).

In other goods the US is in the top 5 in producing: furniture, luxury clothes, wine, liquor, regular clothes, tobacco (world's top producer), grain, cattle, explosives, clippers, steamers, fabric (world's top producer of fabric by far), lumber, fertilizer, glass, machine parts (2/3 of France's output), steel (USA, UK & France all right together in production), iron, timber, tropical wood (big diff from OTL!), oil (only the USA and Russia produce any -- the UK is the world's only producer of fuel), sulphur, coal and cotton.

Or its in love.

British Prime Minister to the cop at the door of 10 Downing St: "Oh, go away... This is just a minor domestic dispute. Nothing to see here."

I absolutely adore a good victoria 2 aar. Thanks for posting and keep them coming

Welcome @LancelotRS ! Glad to have your readership. Victoria 2 still holds a special place in my heart. Quite a game!

Just so everyone knows, I'm already working on the next update. No promises of when it'll be posted. I do want to update my EU IV AAR again soon, and this war with the British (the SIXTH Anglo-American War!!!) is recorded in another 900 screenshots. Might take a bit.

Thank you all for reading! Also for your comments.

Rensslaer

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Well, the accessions in Mexico certainly add to it. And the population of those Mexican territories is significant.

So yes, you're recognizing a cultural difference between this and OTL that is sure to be felt by the rest of the country. Next time we have a little bit of peace I'll lay out some of the demographic changes and how they're affecting things.

The main focus is the Mexican annexation. Canada being slowly annexed is a big deal too but far less of one. Even today, small population in comparison.

But Mexico is a massive sea change of American identity and power. Turns the 19th century US into a Russia sized true continent spanning superpower with roughly a hundred million more people even in the early 20th century.

Assuming similar population explosion in 20th century, the US is going to remain the third largest country below India and China, but with half a billion people rather than 300 million.

 

[Rensslaer]

@HistoryDude while preparing the next update I stumbled upon a screenshot of my Infamy (badboy): 59. Which is.... high.

Rensslaer

 

[VILenin]

@HistoryDude while preparing the next update I stumbled upon a screenshot of my Infamy (badboy): 59. Which is.... high.

Rensslaer

I don't remember all the specifics of Vicky 2, but that sounds very high indeed. IIRC, other countries started looking at you crooked around 30. Maybe the US isn't the innocent victim of unwarranted foreign aggression after all.

Those GP scores are interesting. I continue to be impressed that Austria is not only hanging in there but performing fairly well, even if you've just overtaken them for #3. At first blush the UK has a commanding lead with that score, but I feel like it's a little deceptive in terms of how it translates to actual power since 1200 of that is from prestige, and that military score seems somewhat inflated. At least, I hope it's inflated, because if it's not then you're either in for a very painful war, or the AI is totally inept at using its resources!

It's France's industrial score (4960!) that I find the most interesting, however - more than double your own! That's going to be a tough gap to close. Hopefully France remains content to let you and the UK beat on each other for the foreseeable future.

That's a shame that there are no releasables inside Mexico, particularly something for the Yucatan. It might have been nice to turn some of those southern regions into client states. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to take everything now to keep the borders looking nice.

 

[Rensslaer]

The main focus is the Mexican annexation. Canada being slowly annexed is a big deal too but far less of one. Even today, small population in comparison.

But Mexico is a massive sea change of American identity and power. Turns the 19th century US into a Russia sized true continent spanning superpower with roughly a hundred million more people even in the early 20th century.

Assuming similar population explosion in 20th century, the US is going to remain the third largest country below India and China, but with half a billion people rather than 300 million.

Agreed. It'll be interesting.

I don't remember all the specifics of Vicky 2, but that sounds very high indeed. IIRC, other countries started looking at you crooked around 30. Maybe the US isn't the innocent victim of unwarranted foreign aggression after all.

Those GP scores are interesting. I continue to be impressed that Austria is not only hanging in there but performing fairly well, even if you've just overtaken them for #3. At first blush the UK has a commanding lead with that score, but I feel like it's a little deceptive in terms of how it translates to actual power since 1200 of that is from prestige, and that military score seems somewhat inflated. At least, I hope it's inflated, because if it's not then you're either in for a very painful war, or the AI is totally inept at using its resources!

It's France's industrial score (4960!) that I find the most interesting, however - more than double your own! That's going to be a tough gap to close. Hopefully France remains content to let you and the UK beat on each other for the foreseeable future.

That's a shame that there are no releasables inside Mexico, particularly something for the Yucatan. It might have been nice to turn some of those southern regions into client states. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to take everything now to keep the borders looking nice.

@VILenin lol Maybe not! Yeah Russia and Austria and even France being economic superpowers seems odd. There's some societal hangups that aren't represented in V2 I think, because it's made to be balanced, not historical. V2's big mission was to make it possible to make any country into any type of society, and reality doesn't work that way.

Thanks for your readership and comments everybody!

Rensslaer

 

[Rensslaer]

So… The SIXTH Anglo-American War…

This could easily get repetitive, so I will reformat and breeze over certain things to avoid losing your interest. The previous war was so complicated it took 3 updates. This is just as involved, but I will speed through portions that we’ve all seen before.

This update will cover the war in Canada, then Africa, then Asia, and will wrap up with an overview of the major naval engagements. Apologies for it being an unsually long update.



Canada

Helpfully, we have one aspect to consider in 1883 that we hadn’t had in previous wars. Anarchists in the ranks!!! And we send them to war, hoping they’ll hate the British monarchists more than their American compatriots.

At the beginning of the war it was decided to allow the 29,000 redcoats from Vancouver Island to march to defend Vancouver (in past wars these troops had been bottled up by the US Navy so they could not cross the straits). Gen. Francis Grant met them in Vancouver and a long battle ensued through much of March and April.







On April 12 the British retreated, having lost 8,000 soldiers, and Gen. Don Johnson met them on Vancouver Island where he forced their surrender (since they had nowhere to go).

It really seemed like the British presence in Canada hadn’t recovered from the previous war, so Canada was not so heavily defended. Toronto and Ottawa had both fallen by early July, 1883. By September, Gen. Johnson was battling the last of the Canadian defenders in the northern Arctic stretches of the country.

By mid-1884 Canada was essentially controlled by the United States Army.



West Africa

Owing to the American annexation of British Sierra Leone (Freetown), this small foothold on Africa was on the front lines on day 1 of the war. A port had been built, but the Fort was still under construction. Their position was at risk, surrounded by British possessions.

US troops ventured into undefended neighboring provinces in February, but soon very strong British forces appeared and the fox was in the henhouse in Freetown itself. The smaller detachment fighting in Bo was forced to surrender, as they couldn’t retreat into the Freetown warzone. And there’s a naval battle raging fiercely just offshore, protecting the route to bring reinforcements.







But the Battle of Coast of Guinea is won, just in time, and transports landed 6 regiments ashore at Freetown in time to preserve the garrison. The garrison itself was probably saved by the bizarre decision of 16,000 British troops, victorious at Bo, who chose to move north instead of moving into Freetown to decisively defeat the defenders. They quickly began marching back from Boffa.

Meanwhile, another 16,000 American soldiers, under Gen. William Hancock, landed in Africa north of Freetown (north of French Gambia also), to open a 2nd front in West Africa.






The Battle of Freetown had almost been lost, but the landing of a relief force under Gen. Michael Atkins, 33,000 strong, turned the course of the battle. West Africa would NOT be lost. Freetown would be preserved free.

Over time reinforcements arrived from both sides, trying to tip the scales there, but flagging American troops were evacuated by sea and the remainder fought on.

During one week in mid-April the British were losing 900 soldiers a day. The next week they lost 500 soldiers a day. Atkins and his army ground the British to dust, and on 3 May they finally gave in and retreated. This victory added 2.4 Warscore against Britain.






To the north, Gen. Hancock’s armies were facing resistance. The intent of this invasion, assuming the British had their forces concentrated near Freetown, was to sieze territory to tip the balance and eventually bring the reinforcements into the battle to the south. Instead, Redcoats showed up, and began contesting the land.

Through dogged persistence, Hancock defeated the British in the north, and they were forced to retreat to the east. Atkins pursued the British out of Freetown, chasing them east also. Gradually, through the summer, both commanders moved steadily east, but neither was able to bring the British to any decisive battle.

In June Gen. Christopher Asboth and Gen. Abner Abercrombie landed near Dakar (south of French Gambia, north of Freetown) and the two commanders began effecting control of these British possessions. By the end of July Dakar was captured, and could be used as another friendly port along this coast.






Inexorably, despite British avoidance of decisive battle or total defeat, the Americans were winning the war of attrition against a shrinking Royal Army. By mid-August American troops had pushed inland across 2/3 of the extensive reach of British colonies in West Africa.

Gen. Abercrombie moved to intervene to force the defeat of one trapped British army at Ziguinchor. That battle was won in September. But fighting in West Africa continued through the end of the year and beyond.






Some of the British stragglers attempted to flee across uncolonized portions of Africa to the British colony at Nigeria. Gen. Christopher Atkins caught some at Bandiagara, and the entire force surrendered on 23 January 1884.

Soon after, the last of the British armies surrendered in Timbuktu. By March, many of the troops in West Africa were assembling at the coast for transport to Europe. And by April, 1884, another few regiments had marched north of the Sokoto African state to the British holdings in Nigeria and were attempting to subdue them,



South Africa

US troops, numbering 28,000, were landed near Cape Town and Swettenham in South Africa in late September and early October 1883. There was a sense, as in Canada, that British defenders here had not recovered their strength from the previous war.

Six thousand Redcoats attacked the Americans at Mossel Bay in November, but were defeated and fell back upon Port Elizabeth. These soldiers were defeated. Another small army appeared from the East and gave battle, but its fate was no different.






There had been three battles with small British armies, but by summer, 1884, South Africa was entirely in American hands.



Asia

The new United States possession at Lae, in New Guinea, was not so precarious as was Freetown, in Africa, because of its defensible location with mountains surrounding it. In February 1883 15,000 US soldiers were attacked by 27,000 British. The Americans were dug in, and the terrain was to their advantage. The Americans also had Gen. Randolph Brown directing the defense. The British never had a chance, but they continued to try to dislodge them with determined attacks through March. The British retreated on 23 March, having lost 7,000 of their number for no particular effect. It was hoped they could return later with more success.







The Americans still used a few sailing ships in 1883, and some of them happened to have sailed to Asia decades before and there was no point trying to bring them back.

The Royal Navy found a handful of American ships making a reconnaissance of the Trobrian Islands and Solomon Islands and tried to destroy them. However, the US had dispatched a fleet of ironclads to this region, and they appeared on the scene. The Royal Navy fleet was entirely destroyed – 8 ships lost. The American man-of-war escaped.






Doing a little reconnaissance in Asia, I find nearly 200,000 Redcoats guarding the Malay Peninsula!! I figure, for a moment, “Oh, so that’s where the British Army has been hiding all its troops.” And then I did the math and realize this is only 7% of the British Army still standing. <sighs>

Admiral Samuel Hooker became embroiled in a major fleet action with a British fleet off Singapore in November, 1883. The battle involved 12 US ironclads, 16 British, and a variety of smaller ships, including 8 Japanese clipper transports.

Looking for targets for occupation, the US landed soldiers on Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, but the Royal Navy found them there and a battle commenced. US transports picked up half of the soldiers from the island to take them elsewhere (steamer transports are hardy vessels in V2), and left the rest to take over the island.



Naval

Various naval battles headlined the news of this war. The United States Navy worked very hard to whittle down the numbers of marauding British Royal Navy ships, and in most cases succeeded.

The Battle of Belle Isle was the first, and one of the longest, continuous battles, off the coast of Newfoundland. The United States always deployed sailing vessels to detect incoming warships, and then radio-telegraphed their location to friendly forces to intercept. Soon 24 Royal Navy vessels were battling 20 US Navy ships. US Navy Admiral Armstrong would remove American war squadrons as they became badly damaged. Ten months later, the battle had racked up only one Yankee commerce raider sunk, versus 11 British ironclads and three monitors.






Meanwhile, during 1883, Brazilian and Argentine naval vessels aided the United States in destroying more British warships and transports.

As has already been noted, significant battles were fought off the coast of Africa also, sinking yet more British ships. The war of attrition strategy used by the United States meant that fresh fleets were always transiting to the location of major battles to relieve the initial combatants and “finish the job” as Admiral Armstrong always said.






Over a yearlong period the United States Navy lost an overall strength of 36 ships (not accounting for new construction which might have replaced sunk ships). During that same period the Royal Navy lost 114 vessels, and may have lost more and then replaced them during the war.

The naval conflict was clearly a victory for the United States.



In Closing

At some point in 1883 I looked at the progress of the war, and I saw all the countries we’re at war with (I was thinking all the British subjects in India – the image I’ve seen while playing other Victoria games)…





…And then I realize I was looking at the wrong set of flags.

Those are MY allies.

The United States and Japan and Korea and half of Latin America is at war with the British Empire, and they vastly outnumber us…..

WITHOUT EVEN HAVING CALLED THEIR VASSALS AND ALLIES!!!!

And they still won’t accept a white peace at 22 warscore.

Does anybody know how this makes me feel? Anybody get an inkling, from knowing my play style, what kind of shift this causes in my mind?


Next: The War in Europe, 1884

 

[RELee]

…And then I realize I was looking at the wrong set of flags.

Those are MY allies.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Clearly you should just surrender.

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for the good campaign reporting.

On April 12 the British retreated, having lost 8,000 soldiers, and Gen. Don Johnson met them on Vancouver Island where he forced their surrender (since they had nowhere to go).

Gen. Don Johnson! My hero!

Doing a little reconnaissance in Asia, I find nearly 200,000 Redcoats guarding the Malay Peninsula!! I figure, for a moment, “Oh, so that’s where the British Army has been hiding all its troops.” And then I did the math and realize this is only 7% of the British Army still standing. <sighs>

The British AI is certainly using an interesting strategy. Is this rope-a-dope? Making you and your allies run around exhausting yourselves while sitting on key possessions and not budging, forcing you to engage?

Seems the British AI is both stubborn and supremely confident.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Much more understandable now as to why the AI keeps declaring wars. On paper, it is so much stronger than you that it should not lose.

 

[jak7139]

The United States and Japan and Korea and half of Latin America is at war with the British Empire, and they vastly outnumber us…..

So that's why they keep declaring war. They outnumber you so much they think they can win. You would need to permanently cripple the UK in some way.

 

[Sanvone]

Britain probably :