• 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.

diegoami

Colonel
51 Badges
Mar 19, 2011
814
6
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Divine Wind
  • Stellaris: Digital Anniversary Edition
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory
  • Europa Universalis 4: Emperor
  • Cities: Skylines - Mass Transit
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Knights of Honor
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor
  • Cities: Skylines - Green Cities
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Expansion Pass
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rule Britannia
  • Europa Universalis IV: Dharma
  • Europa Universalis IV: Golden Century
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Expansion Pass
  • Prison Architect
  • Hearts of Iron IV: La Resistance
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Crusader Kings III: Royal Edition
  • Battle for Bosporus
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • 500k Club
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Victoria 2
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Call to arms event
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Semper Fi
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Europa Universalis IV: Third Rome
  • Cities: Skylines - After Dark
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Cities: Skylines - Snowfall
(Tied for 3rd place in the AArland Choice AwAAds 2012 _ Q4)

As the title says, this is going to be a Prussia gameplay AAR. Disclaimer : my experience in Victoria 2 is very limited.

I will reload from a previous savefile if things go pretty bad - but I will also write how and why things went wrong. This is because I am not trying to show you how awesome I am (I am not) but instead I just wish to share my experience with Victoria 2 in the forum.

All settings are standard, difficulty level is normal.

I have already played half of the game so I will reconstruct the game from the savefiles, so details will be sketchy. Beware there are going to be several timelines, I will try and make sure they do not get confused.

House Rules then : it is not allowed to
  • Go over the BB limit
  • Colonize or conquer territories outside of Europe before forming Germany.



1836-1849 : The North German Federation
1849-1852 : The first North German-Austrian Brother War
1854-1858 : Wars with France and Scandinavia
1861-1862 : Second war with France
Kaiser Einfalt deals with Bavaria
1863-1874 : The German Empire
1878-1883 : First Great War. Sicily and Hedjaz change hands.
1884-1888 : Wars with the Ottomans, Persia and China.
1889-1896 : Wars with Guanxi, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, Greece. Germany is born.
1896-1903 : Wars with China, Turkey and Spain. A Socialist Government
1903-1904 : The Second Great War (1)
1905-1908 : Second Great War (2)
1908-1909 : Second Great War(3) and Communist Uprising
1910-1912 : The Liberation of South Tirol
1913-1915 : Italy...
1916-1918 : Third Great War
1919-1923 : The New Deal
1923-1925 : Second war with the UK
1926-1930 : War with Austria, Russia and Belgium
1931-1936 : The last war with Austria and Russia on the ropes
Thank you for following and economic stats
 
Last edited:
1836-1849 : The North German Federation

The incompetent Kaiser

Once upon a time, in a distant parallel universe, there used to be a Prussia, who was being led by a not-so-great Kaiser. This Kaiser was competent enough to wrestle Flensburg from Denmark, but by the year 1856 he hadn't managed to form the Northern German Confederation yet.

G3.jpg


That had to change. Since he couldn't find a way to sphere Saxony, staunchly controlled by Austria, he put his troops into a state of alert and moved them to the border with Austria.

G5.jpg


He hadn't the strongest army, but he knew he could rely on fairly strong allies - among other, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire and Bavaria. While Austria's allies were Scandinavia, the Two Sicilies and a couple of Italian and German minors.

G19.jpg


Prussia's economy hadn't developed very well so far - probably as a consequence of early industrialization and excessive investments abroad. Prussia was heavily indebted - but the Kaiser nevertheless decided to start the war in February.

G7.jpg


Luck seemed to be on his side, since Scandinavia stayed out of the war. The war wasn't going to be easy though. By April 1856, Prussian troops had invaded Bohemia, while Austrian troops had invaded Bavaria.

G8.jpg


But by November 1856, superior military technology had allowed Prussia to get the upper hand. Bohemia was firmly in Prussian hands and the Austrians had been kicked out of Bavaria.

G9.jpg


While the British and the Ottomans were keeping the Austrians busy in Italy and the Balkans.

G10.jpg


But the war was costly. The Prussian government had no choice but borrow more money from foreign investors. Bankruptcy was looming.

G11.jpg


By May 1857, the situation for Prussia had become unsustainable. Prussia's manpower had been depleted. Austria wouldn't concede Cultural Hegemony. To prevent bankruptcy, Prussia had had to demobilize. That affected the situation on the front and the decisive battle of Eisenstadt was about to be lost.

G12.jpg


The Austrians were struggling on the other front, but an immediate breakthrough was not in sight.

G13.jpg


But the real problem lay in the financial situation. There was no way Prussia would be able to finance the war in the coming months, even as a demobilized country. Prussia was not even able to fully supply its armies.

G14.jpg


While Austria was fully capable of keep on fighting for several months.

It is not known how the war went on. We have no records, only conflicting rumours. The most reliable source tells us that Prussia had to accept a white peace with Austria and lose some prestige in that way. Which was very humiliating for the Kaiser, since he has always considered Austria as a country in decay.
Prussia did survive, but had to struggle several years to repay its debts. And was never able to challenge Austria again and to become the German Empire, also because the Kaiser was pretty incompetent.

The prudent Kaiser

But this was not our Kaiser. Our Kaiser, instead, was more cautious. He had also had the opportunity to learn about governing using innovative learning tools provided by his tutors, called Kriegsspiel. In fact, this was just a Kriegsspiel they had just played.
The prudent Kaiser, when confronted with reality, chose another approach. He knew a war with Austria could be won only when enough money was available. At first, he chose State Capitalism and made sure that profitable industries were developed, like glass and winery. Then he learnt to play the diplomacy game and how to distract Austria's sphering efforts, pretending to be interested in other minors and all the while never losing sight of the key state, Saxony. Of course, he did not forget about sphering Denmark and Holstein. And he invested massively in the German states.

By December 1845, the political situation in Europe was the same as the beginning.

G0.jpg


But unlike the incompetent Kaiser, the canny Kaiser had managed to sphere all of the Northern German minors, using deception on Austria.

G1.jpg


So this is how the prudent Kaiser managed to form the Northern German Confederation.

G20.jpg


Fast forward to the year 1849.

G2.jpg


So far, he had concentrated on industry techonologies.

G16.jpg


The Northern German Federation was a powerful Great Power and was allied to the Ottomans.

G17.jpg


and had a well developed cloth, glass and steel industry.

G18.jpg
 
Last edited:
prussia is a good country to play with, i made a prussian aar in the summer so good luck and i will be watching

Thank you, I will read your AAR for sure to get some help and inspiration.
 
i like how you used your failure to make like a alternate reality sort of thing, when it comes to military tech i try to always be at least on par with my opponent if not better. good job
 
i like how you used your failure to make like a alternate reality sort of thing, when it comes to military tech i try to always be at least on par with my opponent if not better. good job

Thank you. I found out myself how important military tech is. But is there a way to see what tech levels your opponents are ? The only way I found is by hovering over the flags in the battle screen, but I don't know how to find out before declaring a war. There should be a tooltip somewhere but I can't find it :(

In EU3 there is a technology map, can't seem to find it in Victoria 2.
 
Thank you. I found out myself how important military tech is. But is there a way to see what tech levels your opponents are ? The only way I found is by hovering over the flags in the battle screen, but I don't know how to find out before declaring a war. There should be a tooltip somewhere but I can't find it :(

QUOTE]

go to diplomacy look at a country hover over the military sign that says how many brigades a country has got and it will tell you how many they have got but not which techs they have got
 
@Avindian, Omen : thank you for your feedback and welcome !
@vasziljevics : hello back ! Glad you are following.
 
1849-1852 : The first North German-Austrian Brother War

The prudent Kaiser (we will call him Kaiser Besonnenheit from now on) was a prudent Kaiser, as I told you. But he knew that a Kaiser that never went to war couldn't call himself a real Kaiser. It was April 1849. He had noticed that Austria had no real allies and would therefore have a hard time defending against the Federation and its allies. Kaiser Besonnenheit dispatched the NGF's troops to the border with Austria.

G1.jpg


War was declared on Austria, and by June 1849 the war was in full swing. Austria, Spain, Bavaria, Württemberg, Modena and Parma were fighting against the Northern German Federation, Baden, Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. The odds were stacked in favour of the NGF and its allies.

G1b.jpg


The North German troops were expected to get the upper hand in the eastern Front and be able to invade Bohemia soon.

G2.jpg


while on the Western front Bavaria and Württemberg weren't expected to be able to stop the North German troops.

G3.jpg


In the south, the Ottoman Empire hadn't engaged Austrian troops yet. When the war was started, the NGF's sheet balance was in the green and only now the National Bank had started lending money to the Government. The Federation hadn't mobilized yet.

G5.jpg


By November 1849, Austria had all but collapsed on the Eastern Front.

G6.jpg


So had Bavaria on the Western Front.

G7.jpg


In Italy and the Balkans there was also some skirmishes, although on a much smaller scale. But those theatres were useful in distracting the Austrians.

G8.jpg


Now the Federation was indebted. But the debt was still small, even smaller than the debt the other Kaiser (we will call him Kaiser Einfalt) was running in peacetime. Nothing to be worried about - yet.

G9.jpg


The war went on into the year 1850. By June 1850, the NGF's and Ottoman troops jubilantly established contact with each other on the Eastern Front and jointly partied in Croatia.

G10.jpg


And on the Western Front, it was just a matter of time before North German Troops could descend into Italy and establish contact with Sardinian troops.

G11.jpg


But Kaiser Besonnenheit was worried about the debt. He had learnt to fear bankruptcy, while practising playing some Kriegsspiele.

G12.jpg


In fact, although the Kaiser had fully understood the economic model in Europa Universalis, he didn't grasp how bankruptcy worked in Victoria 2. He assumed, though, that if you don't manage to find money in the market, and your daily balance is in the red, you will go bankrupt. Unless he increased taxes or he decresed expenditures (which of course was still possible) he figured the NGF would go bankrupt in a month.

G13.jpg


Kaiser Besonnenheit didn't want to take that risk. And he liked to have a clean house. Therefore he decided that enough was enough. The Kaiser smiled when he clicked on the "Add Wargoal" button, remembering how long it took him to find that button when we was still in the school for budding Kaisers. He added two wargoals, "Acquire Bohemia" and "Acquire Moravia". Austria had no choice but to accept the harsh peace terms.
This way, the first North German-Austrian Brother's war ended. The NGF had defeated Austria, without even needing to mobilize.

G14.jpg


In November 1852, the North German Federation was a proud country. The new provinces Bohemia and Moravia were inhabited by hard working and well educated South German and Czechs, and were a very welcome addition to the Federation. Bohemia and Moravia were also rich in raw materials.

G15.jpg


The Federation's sphere of influence encompassed all of the German States and the Two Sicilies.

G16.jpg


All debts had been fully repaid. The NGF's army technology was up-to-date.

G19.jpg


The German industry was in full swing. Steel, Cloth, Glass, Winery, Furniture, Clothes and Paper were the best-developed sectors. The federation was rich in raw materials and agricultural goods.

G20.jpg


After a short fling with State Capitalism, Kaiser Besonnenheit had reverted to Interventionism and encouraging Capitalists. They proved to be useful, in fact they had built all of the German Railways on their own and created the German Industry. Only occasionally the Kaiser did subsidise industries in critical sectors, like steel.

G21.jpg
 
good job and good luck fighting france, i tend to fight france by myself without the german minors and fight defensively until theyre armies are nearly dead and the german minors tend to get into a lot of battles that they lose. again good luck
 
good job and good luck fighting france, i tend to fight france by myself without the german minors and fight defensively until theyre armies are nearly dead and the german minors tend to get into a lot of battles that they lose. again good luck

Thank you, I will need it.
 
1854-1858 : Wars with France and Scandinavia

As every Kaiser schoolboy knows, to form the Germany Empire you need to wrestle Alsace-Lorraine - I am sorry, Elsaß-Lothringen - from France. Kaiser Besonnenheit was aware of that and massed his troops at the border with France. But being the prudent guy he was, he didn't like having to fight Scandinavia, Belgium and Switzerland as well. That was something a more experienced Kaiser would pull off easily, but Kaiser Besonnenheit didn't feel up to the task - yet.

G1.jpg


Luckily, the Federation had a healthy industry and economy and was practically running itself. Therefore, Kaiser Besonnenheit thought it was a good time to take a long vacation and in January 1854 he left and went touring Argentina, who had just been added to the NGF's sphere of influence. During this time, he wasn't in contact with the government, so when he came back to Germany in January 1856 he found out in horror that Germany was indeed at war - with France.

G2.jpg


The German generals didn't need the Kaiser to know what to do. In fact, France was being severely beaten - war score was at -26%. France was indeed the aggressor in this war. But the war was called "French Intervention in Luxemburg". Infact, Luxembourg had bankrupted and France had declared war on them. The German Federation intervened in this war, since they were afraid that France might end up annexing the small duchy. Later it would turn out this fear was justified, since this was a wargoal the French had added.

The war score told of several battles the French had fought in German territory. France and Germany were evenly matched technologically, but the French were led by incompetent generals that thought that Franch elan would easily overcome Prussian stubbornness and performed several pointless attacks against German fortified positions. Didn't they tell him that the Napeolonic wars are over ?

G3.jpg


One thing that the Kaiser did not know, though, was how few brigades and ships the NGF owned compared with France and other superpowers. In fact, it was great that the French hadn't even thought about a blockade the NGF would have been unable to prevent. Regrettably the Kaiser hadn't learnt how to use the stats ledger yet.

G5.jpg


The NGF went from victory to victory and by April 1856, the situation on the front had gotten even better.

G6.jpg


After some months, the war ended with Status Quo. France was from from being defeated, but the war score was high enough. The NGF wasn't allowed to get more out of this war, as it intervened to defend Luxembourg. But it was nevertheless a prestige victory for the young country against old France. Now the Federation was a solid second in the world rank.
The Kaiser was still blissfully underestimating the French, though.

G7.jpg


Kaiser Besonnenheit went to Karlsbad, to relax after this consuming war. He came back to court to November 1857, to find out in shock that the NGF was indeed involved in another war. He was furious nobody notified him, but the generals and the court bureaucrats were sure they could handle this little war on their own. The NGF was at war with Scandinavia. It was a war of opportunity, since Austria had declared war on Scandinavia as well. Scandinavia's main ally, France, had just been defeated and wasn't participating. The Federation had a casus belli on Scandinavia, who owned a province, Flensburg, inhabited by Germans.

G8.jpg


The war was going well. Scandinavia was blockaded and no army was in sight that could prevent the NGF from occupying Danemark.

G9.jpg


In fact, Scandinavia had moved his main army towards Austria - oh yes, we had given them military access - and was now hopeless surrounded by North German troops.

G10.jpg


By March 1858, it was obvious Scandinavia could not oppose invasion.

G11.jpg


G13.jpg


So after some months, they accepted peace and ceded Flensburg. The province was a nice addition to the Federation, although they were far from being a game changer. So this is a map in December 1858.

G12.jpg


The wars had taken their toll and the NGF had run again into debt.

G14.jpg


But the Kaiser was confident that the powerful German industry would allow the NGF to pay up its debts pretty soon.

G15.jpg


G16.jpg
 
I did beat France, but could not add a wargoal because the Status Quo war goal had already been added and the game would not allow me.