• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Originally posted by vranasm:

I was one of those people:(

I have never played Civ V. I was fortunate enough to get EU 3 before I played Civ 5, and for some strange reason, my desire to play it disappeared. :) In my opinion, Civilization has been substituting style for substance, ever since Civ 3 (perhaps since Civ 2, since I may be the only person on earth who liked the strategic resources system). I own Civilization IV and both expansions, and if I've played a half dozen games, I'd be shocked.

This one's a pretty good tutorial Avindian. I've even learned a thing or two.

That's the idea! :)

Screenshots are edited, I'll probably update this evening. Not too much explanation in this one, it's all set up for the next chapter, really. That could be good or bad, depending on how much you like the wall o' text updates this AAR has had.
 
Chapter 8: Taking a deep breath before plunging in

My goal was so sneaky, I forgot it doesn't happen until the next update :rolleyes: It even snuck up on me!

February 13, 1870: I can't believe I've gotten this far into the game without mentioning attrition. Shame on me!



Every province in the game has a fixed supply limit, that can be modified by who owns it (not who occupies it) and your techs. If your army uses up too many supply points, it'll undergo attrition until it reaches that stage. In this example, I'm taking 5.3% attrition per day. You can reduce attrition by having smaller armies, a higher supply limit (via tech) or reducing overall attrition (also via tech.) The bigger your army, the bigger the attrition. I'm already in the process of moving the offending army north, so it should be over soon. For you, the player, using heavy attrition provinces isn't a bad way to reduce the enemy to a more manageable size. The AI will always stop to occupy a province, which is a handy tip to keep in mind.

I also shift around some more budget sliders, including cranking up taxes on the rich. Since my factories are getting full, I'm going to help expand them.



One of my favorite parts of AHD is the ability to expand more than one factor at a time. Hold down Shift and, voila, both factories are upgraded! I conclude this unusually busy day by building a Regular Clothes Factory in Edo.

March 19, 1870: Work begins on a naval base in Banda Aceh.

April 12, 1870: There be Commies in Württemberg, which means a Communist faction of our own.

June 7, 1870: I build my first "Shock Army", which I define as all infantry and artillery. In this case, five brigades of each. It's slow, but it's powerful.

July 11, 1870: The British build the Suez Canal, almost exactly on time.

July 16, 1870: Another sorrowful look at Johore as the British are about to sphere them. If only the Zulu hadn't tricked me...

July 21, 1870: I disband all my Irregulars and replace them with Infantry. 25 brigades of Infantry, to be technical. I am building up for something, you can be sure of that.

September 1, 1870: I've got enough craftsmen, so I'm shifting my NFs to Capitalists in Nagoya, Bureaucrats in Banda Aceh (to make them a state, eventually), and Capitalists in Edo. My goal is to eventually choose a Laissez-Faire party, but I'll need Capitalists for that. I also build my Luxury Clothes factory in Fukuoka. It's time to take advantage of my silk trade!

November 16, 1870: Angering the rich to pass reforms is a time honored tradition in Vicky 2 that continues into AHD.



December 19, 1870: One of my goals, if you recall, is expanding in SE Asia. Now, the Great Powers, inconsiderate jerks that they are, are keeping me from taking settled lands. My only alternative is to colonize. There are three key techs for colonizing: Medicine (for the invention); Machine Guns; and Nationalism and Imperialism. Since I'll need to push the qualitative edge of my army as hard as I can, with Medicine finished, I push towards Machine Guns.



January 1, 1871: Didn't have to wait long for the invention!



All three of the things here are important. First, reducing attrition by 5% is nothing to sneeze at. The Military Hospitals bonus is something of a mystery, but I'm pretty sure it improves your reinforcement rate for injured POPs. Finally, the minimum liferating is the part of this tech we care about most.

Every province in the game has a life rating. In a settled province, life rating affects how quickly a province grows. In an uncolonized one, it's a barrier to entry. Most islands in the Pacific will need all three techs to colonize them; you can click on the Colonial Mapmode button to see what you can and can't colonize. We can't colonize anything right now, but we will be able to soon! (I hope.)

April 3, 1871: A revolution in Urguay! Great! Something I couldn't care less about!

Speaking of revolutions, most revolutions in Vicky 2 (except for Nationalist ones) require that a rebel army hold the capital for one year for a victory.

May 16, 1871: More factory expansion.

July 19, 1871: We need all the prestige we can get, and the prize is often prestige and research points if you're successful. No reason not to do it, really.



September 1, 1871: I'm trying to build as many troops as possible; the latest is another shock army (5 infantry and 5 artillery) and 6 more cavalry brigades; the previous armies are already finished. My long term goal is China, obviously, but short term? You'll have to wait and see.

February 6, 1872: One step closer to machine guns!



April 1, 1872: Since we will end up at war with China sooner or later, I begin decreasing relations.

April 16, 1872: AI, you are very cruel and dash my hopes unnecessarily.



I really wanted the colony one; the Dutch colonies in SE Asia annoy me. Unfortunately, this would only let me take bits of the Netherlands, which I don't want.

May 9, 1872: In case things don't go as well as I hope (a possibility), I build six more Clipper Transports.

July 20, 1872: More nose-thumbing at the Chinese.

September 14, 1872: Yet another new feature of AHD: the ability to help out your capitalists! (With Interventionist and State Capitalist governments only, of course.)



Since I have a lot of extra cash, and I'd like to see more factories and railroads, I go ahead and buy the materials for the Capitalists.

November 21, 1872: Portugal goes bankrupt, giving me the Repay Debts CB; unfortunately, they're allied to the UK, Russia, and Austria and are in the UK's sphere. They've only got the two colonies in Asia anyway.

January 9, 1873: All of this talk of Great Powers and CBs reminds me I need to start fortifying the Home Islands; I begin by building one in Edo and the provinces around it.

February 8, 1873: Smallpox. Again.

February 18, 1873: A very interesting event I haven't run across before.



As soon as I saw "exploitation", I knew it was for me.

November 23, 1873: The Japanese armies get a new and more powerful unit; the Guard. First, we start by choosing our new tech: Machine Guns!



Now, Guards.



Guards have several excellent advantages over regular Infantry. First, they're +1 to attack and defense. Second, they're faster (5 KPH vs. 4 KPH). Third, look at that glorious recon value.

In other words, they're Cavalry you can mass build and can take punishment. Guards will be the cornerstone of our armies for years to come, and as a properly Westernized country, we can afford them. I'll start by building 12 brigades.

December 1, 1873: A bit early (and note that there's still a CSA), the USA builds the Panama Canal.

January 1, 1874: Want to know why I'm afraid to face the Brits?



Having 10 times as many ships does make one less likely to be attacked. They also have lots of troops, and these are troops that aren't that far away. No, if I'm to face the British, it should be when they are otherwise distracted.

January 6, 1874: I see the dastardly Dutch have started colonizing the interior of Brunei. Oh, well.

May 2, 1874: What an odd name and color for Italy... I wonder where that came from? :)



July 1, 1874: The British go to war against the USA for New England. Too far away from India for me to pounce on the British now, but I've still got quite a while to go.

September 4, 1874: More factory expansion.

November 3, 1874: We close our update with a decision I'd somewhat forgotten.



Lose 1 infamy you say? Why, that puts me at only 3.17 infamy. It's worth the risk now to Conquer somebody who isn't uncivilized. I wonder who I could pick on?

You'll have to wait until the next update to find out! :D
 
It won't appear again -- I took it out of the localization file -- but that was a nice tribute. :)

Novum Romanum Imperium can transcend all universes!
 

Glad to have you along!

This AAR will have a very brief hiatus while I finish up NRI (unless I get writer's block). Should be no more than a week.
 
Garibaldi's Red Legions :p
 
I have never played Civ V. I was fortunate enough to get EU 3 before I played Civ 5, and for some strange reason, my desire to play it disappeared. :) In my opinion, Civilization has been substituting style for substance, ever since Civ 3 (perhaps since Civ 2, since I may be the only person on earth who liked the strategic resources system). I own Civilization IV and both expansions, and if I've played a half dozen games, I'd be shocked.

Well, for many years Civ 2 and Civ 3 had been my favorite games and I spent a really lot of time playing them. Actually I considered Civ 2 the best of the series until I have discovered and played the Mod: Age of Imperialism, 1895-1924, Deluxe Version made by El Justo. I quess you might be familiar with this mod, but if it is not the case I would definitely recommend to check it out at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=95741.
 
Garibaldi's Red Legions :p

Indeed. :)

Well, for many years Civ 2 and Civ 3 had been my favorite games and I spent a really lot of time playing them. Actually I considered Civ 2 the best of the series until I have discovered and played the Mod: Age of Imperialism, 1895-1924, Deluxe Version made by El Justo. I quess you might be familiar with this mod, but if it is not the case I would definitely recommend to check it out at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=95741.

I don't have Civ2/Civ3 any longer, but if I find them on sale and get bored with PDS games (hardly very likely :)), I'll check out that mod.

Does anybody happen to know the three digit code for the color that Italy is supposed to be? If you could check your copy of AHD, I'd greatly appreciate it (and put you on the front page!) :D
 
Color code for Italy as requested :) : 125 171 84
 
I got 10,000 British pounds that you are going to invade Korea. It is uncivilized, historical, and a perfect launching point for the invasion of China - it would involve attacking China as Korea is their puppet (or was in 1836, but they may have been broken off by now).

And if it isn't Korea, then I don't know. Another unciv would have to be Dai Nam, or possibly Cambodia. Maybe you could go into the Middle East like you were saying before... but I wouldn't recommend it.