Speed - A Castille (mini-?)AAR

[Malurous]

Semms that the game is progressing more historically when such a fast sped is used

Heh, the effect that the human player has on the events certainly decreases this way.

love the things you are overlooking ... oh whoops its an idea to send a few merchants etc.

Haha true... I feel a bit silly sometimes, but then again I'm always in such a hurry here that it's easy to forget something obvious. One thing that I'm looking into (not in the session I'm posting now but any future ones) is having stuff planned ahead a bit better to avoid things like that a bit.

maybe an idea to make cookie-cutter armies, all identical and then its a case of grab enough of them for the job. Can't see how you will ever be able to cope with anything more specialised in any case.

Those would have to be pretty small to avoid just running around with huge armies everywhere, and having a lot of separate small armies would just lead to them being annihilated by the faster moving AI as I can't time any maneuvering here. I think I'll just try and do a better job paying attention and I should be able to choose the right army for the task at hand.

Well, you have two ongoing AARs, so I thought it would be quite unlikely you would start another.

You play on such quick speed how I play at normal speed I often ignore things like merchants and buildings.

Hehe, I suppose I'll do just fine if I can actually play at your normal level.

I very rarely have a lot of time to put into gaming currently so having an AAR where I can get an update done during a fifteen minute break is quite handy. Even starting to play a Children of the Sun session, for instance, wouldn't make sense in such little time as I wouldn't get anywhere.

That's about like when I get up to do something and come back to find I left the game unpaused, and everything has gone to hell.

Good luck!

That has happened to me as well and this does have something in common with it.

 

[Malurous]

Session Four
Aug 1421-Jul 1430​

This time I use the keyboard shortcut (w) to get to political mapmode quickly. Meanwhile, the rebels in Gibraltar fall.

With that, I'm ready to concentrate on the war effort. I move quickly to accept white peace offers from the Ottomans, Tunisia and Tripoli (only catching the Ottoman offer on the second try), thus removing the big power in the enemy alliance as well as the nations near Algiers from the war. I also get better infantry at this time, but it'll have to wait for peace.

A stab hit from an event goes unattended as I have better things to do than tweaking the investments.

Algiers is now only supported by the weak and faraway Serbia, Karaman and Jalayirids. Looking at the war screen, their navy shouldn't be a threat to mine.

I move my fleet out and send an army to board it. Sadly it takes me too long - I do get to the point where I select an army in Gulf of Almeria, but before I can actually land it into Algerian territory we get the automatic white peace for inactivity. Darn. Better luck next time...

There's plenty of money in the treasury so I start constructing some more Constables. My Natural Scientist dies so I commission a tapestry as well as some paintings and hire a Statesman to take his place. Still my only advisor, I'll have to do something about that soon.

I switch the infantry type now, going for the Men at Arms. I also remember the merchant situation as I lose one via event. I therefore send a bunch to Andalucia, but only end up with one more there than originally. I assume that I can compete there pretty well as it's mine, so I should probably automate it in the future.

Then in 1428 a slider move becomes available and I decide to take a screenshot of the policies. So far I've had no plan for these - I've taken some "safe" ones in Free Subjects and Aristocracy and got an Innovative move via event - but now I can actually think before the next session. Not bad sliders overall, taking a centralisation move and switching to Despotic Monarchy to lessen the policy restriction might be my choice, but that's for the next session.

I get some tech levels, at least Government level 5 and level 6 in Production and Land. I move the investment into Production for now, might as well get some extra production efficiency. Government for more Ideas is also something I'll probably look into soon.

Some Basque Nationalists (I assume) cross the border from Navarra into Vizcaya, but they're handled smoothly before they can win the siege.

My haphazard painting commissioning sprees pay off in 1429 as a Natural Scientist is hired. Two four-star tech guys now and I'm only lacking one advisor. I'll have to think about the type, I'd like one of the military tech advisors but I don't have the tradition.

Looking at the pic, Navarra seems to be free now. I don't know how that happened but in the previous screenshot the province was occupied by England, so it seems likely that the English forced Aragon to release the small nation.

I start building two more Constables and am looking for a province for a third one when the alarm sounds, ending this session. Interesting, the previous sessions have lasted just over seven years each but this one took nearly nine. I have no real explanation for the difference.

Time elapsed:
30 years 9 months / 20 minutes

 

[loki100]

this remains an amazing experiment, and kudos for being prepared to go public ... all things being equal you're not doing that badly either

 

[aldriq]

Good luck with this effort, I expect a war with France will be even less fun at this speed

 

[Athalcor]

Wow . That's masochisticly awesome . Also, your computer seems to be accelerating .

 

[Malurous]

this remains an amazing experiment, and kudos for being prepared to go public ... all things being equal you're not doing that badly either

Thanks, well, it wouldn't be half as interesting for me without doing the AAR.

Good luck with this effort, I expect a war with France will be even less fun at this speed

Thank you, I'm quite sure it is. I'm awaiting for the first major war with some horror, I admit.

Wow . That's masochisticly awesome . Also, your computer seems to be accelerating .

Cheers. So it seems, my guess is that it's just the high amount of stuff going on in the first year or so of a game that slowed it down in the beginning. Or who knows, while I do close anything that's heavy on system resources I still might have different programs on in the background during different sessions, that might have some effect...

 

[Malurous]

Session Five
Jul 1430-Jul 1438​

I start by making the planned Centralisation move, getting a stab hit. I invest in stability to recover. Naval tech level 5 and Government tech level 6 are reached early on.

I bide my time (heh) by setting Andalucia's automate merchant priority on green. When the stability rises I switch to Despotic Monarchy. I check my land force limit situation without the Feudal Monarchy bonus - 30/28, not optimal but not catastrophic either. I also look at Navarra: in Aragon's sphere, no other relations of interest. Perhaps it was a successful rebellion after all? Shrug.

An event kills the heir, and I choose to take the free church instead of the weak claim heir. This turns out to be a good choice as I get a very good heir practically immediately.

When stab is +3 again I start investing in Government tech, with eyes on new National Ideas.

I then go on an absolute Constable building binge, the end result being that I now have them everywhere. That's certainly important as I won't have to worry about getting those built anymore.

We get a Discipline penalty via event. Not sure if this was smart as who knows when someone DoWs, but I didn't feel like getting yet another stab hit by taking the other option.

A missionary is sent to Almeria. Probably should have gone for Granada as it's richer, but at least the chance is higher here. We then get a real scare as France starts an embargo. Still, I'm not that worried - they have annexed Armagnac but other than that, they've made no move in my direction.

Now that I'm done spamming Constables, I can direct my spamming at paintings again, so I finally fill my court by hiring a Trade tech advisor, another four-star. Trade probably won't be such an important source of income, but at least the advisor should help me unlock Quest for the New World while investment goes elsewhere.

Speaking of technology, we reach level 7 in Production and Government. I also notice that Liquor Act is available thanks to the new advisor and the high ADM king, so I take that decision.

And very soon afterwards the session ends, lasting pretty much exactly eight years this time. Nothing that dramatic happened, but it was a rather good session IMO as far as the economy and other internal stuff goes.

Things of interest in the final screenshot include France getting beaten up by Savoy, and Burgundy eating a couple of French vassals. These are things I'm quite happy to see, let's just say that I could do with a non-juggernaut France in this one...

Time elapsed:
38 years 9 months / 25 minutes

 

[loki100]

aye, can see it being rather nice if France is beaten down, even if Burgundy does very well they won't be so interested in you?

goal, if you can manage it must be to get to a large enough size that you can fight a major war more or less on autopilot

 

[Athalcor]

Yeah, IMHO stuff like that can vary the span of each session - speed level 5 is really unstable.

When do you think you will be able to take on Portugal/Aragon?

 

[Sybot]

Very amusing idea. I'll be following this.

 

[aldriq]

What are your current relations with Aragón?

 

[naggy]

"If the speed drops below 5, I blow the bus. If you stop before or after exactly 5 minutes, I blow the bus..."

 

[blsteen]

Interesting concept. Nice to see how your speed/time will play out on a more global scale

 

[Monzon]

Great idea this. And you seem to be doing very well, so far.

Things up north seem to be looking good for you, as the major players seem to cancelling each other out. France has lost a couple of vassals, but have annexed Provence and by the looks of it all Brittany but one province. Burgundy have took a couple of French vassals, but have been forced to release Nevers at some point. And England still have their two provinces, but haven't made any inroads. That balance is good for you at the moment, I would say. Wonder if Savoy are going to spoil the party though?!? I don't think you'll want France too weak or else you might get Burgundy blobbing their way into the resultant power vacuum.

 

[scholar]

This will be pretty interesting. I almost always play on the highest speed but since I have a number of pop-ups that pause the game automatically such as when a siege is won or lost, or if a battle is won or lost, its not nearly as intimidating as what you have going for you now.

Good luck!

 

[Malurous]

aye, can see it being rather nice if France is beaten down, even if Burgundy does very well they won't be so interested in you?

goal, if you can manage it must be to get to a large enough size that you can fight a major war more or less on autopilot

Correct on both points, or at least that's how I see it as well.

Yeah, IMHO stuff like that can vary the span of each session - speed level 5 is really unstable.

When do you think you will be able to take on Portugal/Aragon?

Yeah, since it appears to be pretty much "as fast as possible", it's bound to vary somewhat.

I think I'd be able to take one on now if there are no other distractions, but so far there hasn't been such an opportunity. Plus, I lack a CB most of the time. However, expanding in Iberia seems tempting as the resulting rebellions etc. would be easier to handle than in, say, North Africa.

Very amusing idea. I'll be following this.

Cheers, good to hear.

What are your current relations with Aragón?

I don't know, I'll try to check in the session after this one. Probably not bad.

"If the speed drops below 5, I blow the bus. If you stop before or after exactly 5 minutes, I blow the bus..."

:rofl: That fits quite well!

Interesting concept. Nice to see how your speed/time will play out on a more global scale

Thanks, I'm looking forward to finding out as well.

Great idea this. And you seem to be doing very well, so far.

Things up north seem to be looking good for you, as the major players seem to cancelling each other out. France has lost a couple of vassals, but have annexed Provence and by the looks of it all Brittany but one province. Burgundy have took a couple of French vassals, but have been forced to release Nevers at some point. And England still have their two provinces, but haven't made any inroads. That balance is good for you at the moment, I would say. Wonder if Savoy are going to spoil the party though?!? I don't think you'll want France too weak or else you might get Burgundy blobbing their way into the resultant power vacuum.

Thank you. I agree that it's looking good so far in the French region. I definitely prefer a dominant Burgundy rather than a dominant France - they're more likely to concentrate on regions other than ours.

This will be pretty interesting. I almost always play on the highest speed but since I have a number of pop-ups that pause the game automatically such as when a siege is won or lost, or if a battle is won or lost, its not nearly as intimidating as what you have going for you now.

Good luck!

Thanks! Yeah, not being able to look for information, make plans and give orders while paused totally changes things. Not to mention that the highest speed on this computer is very much different from what I'm used to.

 

[Malurous]

Session Six
Jul 1438-Sep 1446​

I start by checking out the Trade map mode for any coastal provinces with good resources. Andalucia produces wine and there's also a salt province and an iron province - dock construction is started in all three.

When I'm done with that, Burgundy joins the club in embargoing me for no apparent reason.

Aachen sponsors some heretic rebels in Galicia (seems a bit random to me) and I'm barely able to deal with them in time, I also hire a general who's pretty much useless: a 2 maneuver general would have his uses in a normal game, but here I can't do any timing stuff anyway.

We reach Trade tech level 6 and Government tech level 8. The latter is quite a bit ahead of time, so I switch into Production.

You can just barely see the tech levels here: 8, 7, 6, 5 and 6. Naval tech improves soon after.

Another heir is lost, netting me a second free church. A new one, Alfonso, is born in late 1442 but isn't quite as good as his predecessor.

I take a slider move centralized in 1443, while the next year an event takes me towards Innovative.

Surprisingly, Almeria converts immediately afterwards. I'll want to send another missionary or two as soon as the next session begins, I didn't remember to do it here.

My natural scientist dies in early 1445, so I spam some paintings to get a replacement. As a five-star, he's an improvement.

Interestingly, there's some action in the neighborhood as Portugal seems to be at war with Aragon and Navarra.

Then in September, we get Production tech level 8, enabling workshops.

Workshops have lost some value in DW, but with this ruleset they are definitely better. As it's very difficult to have a clear idea what your provinces actually need, a building that does some good pretty much anywhere becomes important.

I get two events that cost me some tech investment in different categories (still better than the stab hit that's the other option). I then take a look at Madrid, barely managing to start building a workshop there before time is up.

Time elapsed:
46 years 11 months / 30 minutes

 

[loki100]

you seem to be becoming more 'efficient' and focussed as you're settling into this? Lots of good sound default rules being applied as opposed to clever optimisation approaches.

 

[Malurous]

you seem to be becoming more 'efficient' and focussed as you're settling into this? Lots of good sound default rules being applied as opposed to clever optimisation approaches.

In some ways that, but also there weren't any demanding situations in that session. And I do have to keep it simple.

However, I end up in a war next and I'm not sure I have too much time left for settling in...

 

[Malurous]

Session Seven
Sep 1446-Aug 1454​

I start by looking at the relations as requested. Both Aragon and Portugal are at ~50.

But I also notice something of real interest: Portugal is no longer allied with England! I start offering alliance to Aragon, succeeding on second try at Unlikely. I move my troops into position, assign the general and war is declared with the Alliance CB, with only Papal States and Tyrone joining in. This is as good a chance as I'm ever going to get.

From that point forward everything is kind of hazy. First I send the 6k army and one of the 12k ones to siege Portuguese territory, while the other 12k tries to keep any small enemy siege armies under control.

Portugal quickly signs peace with Aragon, taking Valencia at least. Their main armies start coming back.

In the beginning I'm doing relatively well: I'm able to lift some sieges and eliminate small armies, while my first two sieges finish before I'm too badly messed up. The unfortunate turning point comes when the Portuguese manage to sneak their main army back home unnoticed, eliminating my 6k stack.

Two armies simply aren't enough to keep the enemy at bay, and dividing the ones I have seems risky. Yes, I'm taking some more Portuguese land, but they're also taking some back, and my other army is unable to keep the Pope, Tyrone and all the rebels (there are starting to be many) at bay.

I'm also getting stuff like tech levels and events, but I'm totally ignoring them. I'm probably running my nation to the ground here as I'm just clicking buttons semi-randomly in multi-choice events.

An interesting tidbit: I choose to close the message log. You know how the log creates a small area where you can see the map but it doesn't respond to a click? That has cost me a few months here on two separate occasions, and I don't have time to read the log anyway, so I guess I'll only keep it open while at peace.

The rebels are really starting to be an issue, and I'm afraid Vizcaya might defect to Navarra and we might see a free Granada. At least I destroyed the Papal States' army. I'm about to decide that playing like this is impossible when I desperately click at the Pope's peace offer - he is looking for white peace despite controlling several Castilian provinces! Accepted!

Very soon afterwards we're out of time. At least I got a small glimmer of hope there at the end, so I'm not willing to declare failure just yet.

As can be seen in the screenshot, we're in trouble. Fortunately, Portugal isn't doing that great either, so if we can beat the rebels and do something about Tyrone, I could have a chance.

Also, someone (Ottomans?) seems to be beating up Morocco.


Time elapsed:
54 years 10 months / 35 minutes