• 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.
Your wish is my command

[video=youtube;t8EMx7Y16Vo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8EMx7Y16Vo[/video]
 
March! March! Revolutionary France must form, or the brigades of historical accuracy will assault your fort/home! :mad:
 
m6TYM4P.jpg

Chapter 38: I am an idiot.


It is December, 1749. Spain and Napels find themselves at war with Austria.


JmgR1K0.png


That leads me to check on the state of the HRE. Austria is on the verge of Vassalising the other princes.
This has me worried. If I can disrupt them long enough, and hit Austria hard enough, I might be able to force them to revoke their latest reform. With some luck, it will cost Austria until the end of the game to earn back enough Imperial Power.


T6UZJ2M.png


In November, 1750, I declare war on Austria.


f8KjfH0.png


It starts off with a stackwipe of the Brabantian army.


v6zIptA.png


The army of Mainz is destroyed. In the meanwhile, the Austrian army is doing its thing on the Livonian Order. If I am fast enough, I might be able to occupy half their country before they can get back.


EDYWOcA.png


Only 2 provinces left to core, giving me room to avoid Overextension.


s63d9yA.png


In April, 1751, a new French Colonial Nation is born. The carpet siege of Austria continues, but is going exceedingly slow.


vuZnAaw.png


Then, In July, 1751, out of nowhere, the Austrians send an army of 36,000, forcing me to abandon all my sieges in the North. That’s ok, if it means delivering a knock-out punch.


A8fkhgO.png


We win the fight, but lose more men than they do. I send a massive army to follow them and destroy the rest of their army.
In the meanwhile, Poland wins the war against the Livonian Order.


wdldICh.png


Scratch another Austrian army. A second army, much bigger than the first one, attacks my siege forces in Austria. Again, I have to scramble everything I have, but I do manage to win the fight.


rnxElsf.png


For the longest time, it looked like I was winning here, but a sudden reinforcement by the Austrians sends my men running for their lives. This is not going as expected.

I still win the rest of the fights, though, but my Manpower is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I am losing money.

I have no more mercs to enlist.

Dammit.


O0xBDp0.png


Time to end this, while I am still ahead. I might have won the war, but at what price? It will take me 10 years to get back up to strength.
I am an idiot.


QSRdJDd.png


And of course, the very next day, they go through with their next reform anyway.

I should have followed the collective advice of my gentle and wise readAARs, and gone for Great Britain and the Americas instead.


Bxex3xg.png


So this is the extend of the Austrian empire right now. At least I didn’t lose Milan as a vassal. That would have really been bad.

See you next time.
 
What happens if you revoke a reform at this stage? Is it even still possible? If so what would the effects be? Would Austria lose all its HRE vassals?

You need 100 Warscore, and it will force them to pull back their last reform. I had hoped to make them waste those 69 IA on reversing the effects of the peace deal.
 
Well yeah, what I'm saying is, will pulling back their last reform mean Austria is forced to unvassalize all her vassals in the HRE?

Yes, it should.
 
That is a scary nearly unified HRE! If Austria manages to enact one reform more I think that you will be in a very bad position. I have only seen the reforms going so long once, as a Russia who was allied to Austria.
 
That is a scary nearly unified HRE! If Austria manages to enact one reform more I think that you will be in a very bad position. I have only seen the reforms going so long once, as a Russia who was allied to Austria.

That is why I declared on them instead of GB. I don't know. Maybe I could have hung in there, fallen back, and so on. Maybe that would have made it worse. I guess we will never know.
New tactic against Austria: stay out of their hair as much as possible and make it to 1821 intact :D
 
Undoing the penultimate reform Revoking of the Privilegia does NOT cancel the vassalship of the HRE members.

That was the point of the war: to prevent them from getting there in the first place. I did not know that it was impossible to do after the facts. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
You do have relatively good borders with the HRE atleast.
 
You do have relatively good borders with the HRE atleast.

I played a bit today, and the "damage" is not quite as bad as I thought. Luneburg is still my ally and not an Austrian vassal. Milan is still my vassal. This leads me to believe, judging from the last screenshot of chapter 38, that Bohemia is not a vassal either (also striped in the picture).
 
I played a bit today, and the "damage" is not quite as bad as I thought. Luneburg is still my ally and not an Austrian vassal. Milan is still my vassal. This leads me to believe, judging from the last screenshot of chapter 38, that Bohemia is not a vassal either (also striped in the picture).

Same with Bavaria.
 
I don't really understand the mechanics behind it. Utrecht, my other vassal, HAS been vassalised by Austria, but Milan hasn't. So the ones that voted against the reform didn't become vassalised? It's not that they are too big, because Liège wasn't affected either. Maybe I'll hit the Wiki later on.
 
I don't really understand the mechanics behind it. Utrecht, my other vassal, HAS been vassalised by Austria, but Milan hasn't. So the ones that voted against the reform didn't become vassalised? It's not that they are too big, because Liège wasn't affected either. Maybe I'll hit the Wiki later on.

Yes, I think all of the princes get to choose and the bigger ones tend to deny, aswell as smaller ones depending on their opinion of the emperor..
 
Provided the Wiki is still up-to-date on the matter, this is what it had to say:


Revoking the Privilege of Non-Appeal means that HRE members are in effect no longer independent. Once this reform is implemented, all members who support it will become vassals of the Emperor. Members who do not support it will leave the Empire and you will gain a CB on them. For this reason, it is worth increasing your Imperial Authority to a level where each members would vote yes for it. Try distributing bribes, royal marriages, alliances and other relation-improving maneuvers to members who oppose it, before implementing the reform.
The vassal relationships you gain as a result of this decision do not count towards diplomatic upkeep, even though the royal marriage relationships will continue occupying the diplomatic upkeep. If the Emperor releases a vassal within the HRE territory as an Imperial prince, the newly released vassal will not count towards diplomatic upkeep as well. A nation liberated after this reform, however, will not automatically become the Emperor's vassal.
 
Honestly, you should always follow our advice. :p Do y'think there's still a chance of victory against the Austrians later?
 
Honestly, you should always follow our advice. :p Do y'think there's still a chance of victory against the Austrians later?

TBH, I am hoping that I don't have to find out. Then again, I was winning almost every fight, so really, the only mistake I made was to declare at a time when Russia still had a truce. That should not have happened. Their 250,000 troops might have made the difference.
 
m6TYM4P.jpg

Chapter 39: Turkish Fruit.​


YmMwFb3.png


While I begin coring Sundgau, I have an idea. Maybe it’s time for Milan to disappear again. I would need 520 DP. Since I have no intention to go to war any time soon (not with an army consisting of 48 regular regiments and 26 mercenary regiments), I decide to use the National Focus feature, which is quite handy, really. This will give me an extra 12 DP per year.

As if to rub salt into the wound, Spain manages, after over a century, to steal Papal control away from France. In this case, however, I plead innocence. A couple of unlucky draws on my side and a couple of lucky ones on their side is enough.

I lose a diplomat, but that’s ok. I send one to Westfalen to start sucking up to his Holiness. The other two are in Moscow and Milan, respectively. I can’t risk losing their respect.

One of the most fun aspects of France, militarily speaking, is the fact that I gain 2,000 MP per month, with only a minimal investment in barracks and training fields. Of course the game throws me a monkey wrench by giving me bad iron ore (more expensive regiments).

In a spot of good news, most of my Indian holdings have been converted. Only 2 more to go, and one of them will take some doing (as in high Stability and some forts).

I take the mercs and put them to good use guarding Sardinia. Last thing I need right now is a revolt on a one-province-island.

And then, I start a massive building program. I need more Manpower, so I invest a ton of money and Military Power in 20 training fields.

Next, I will need more money, so I invest 200 Administrative Power into courthouses and spy agencies.


hdWxP7n.png


This is just about the most useless feature in the game. I have never known any AI nation to give “unlawful” territory to the Emperor. Did they really think I would just give it back, after all the pain I went through to actually get Sundgau in the first place?

My mission is simple: create an army for the nation.


zvphOzG.png


And with that, the long, slow trek back to full strength begins.

Portugese Mexico and New Spain go at it again, dragging their respective overlords into the fray as well.


oJA6Ytp.png


The Ottomans make a grab for Bohemia. Great Britain and Scandinavia stand by their alliance with Bohemia, and Scandinavia takes over as warleader.
Within 2 weeks, they call in Russia, who take the reigns of the war.
As one might expect, they waste no time in calling to arms the formerly largest army in Western Europe. France is at war again.

Of course, they will have to fend for themselves for the time being, since I have only just begun the recruitment drive.

In Februari, 1755, Pindingia becomes self-sustaining. There are only 2 more colonies available in the whole of Africa (indeed, I believe, in the whole world) and they will both be mine.


Lno8f9v.png


Sundgau is cored, but that is not the most important thing in the picture. Check out the massive Ottoman troop deployment in Bohemia.
Again, I don’t plan on getting into things with only 97 regiments at home. At least those 26 merc companies are sure to make life hard on the Turks if they want to invade Sardinia.

Genoa seems to have seen better days. On the 1st of September, they fall to a revolution and turn into a Constitutional Republic. By the end of the chapter, another revolution will turn them into a Constitutional Monarchy.


qEz1bEe.png


And then, the Ottos make a mistake. If they think that I have been sitting on my hands this entire time, they are sadly mistaken. That second stack, however, forces me to hit the brakes. Since I don’t have the manpower to build reinforcements, it’s time to merc up again. Thankfully, my mercenary pool has fully rebuild itself, allowing me build 18 more of them at once. When they are done, I have fullfilled my mission. Thank you for that spot of prestige and tradition.


TF1cS7g.png


Time to kick those buggers all the way back to Constantinople. Needless to say, if you look at the Ottoman army’s composition, the first one is just a stackwipe waiting to happen. (8.68 Warscore for that free gift).

The next stack, in Sundgau, gets wiped as well, even though they had a somewhat reasonable army composition (13 infantry and 8 cannons). It gives me 6.65 Warscore.


kfoyxLe.png


Now this one is the surprising one. I did not see that coming. I rack up another 18.42 Warscore.

Only one stack left, trapped in Bern. It too gets wiped. 10.93 Warscore.

Why am I telling you the warscore gained from those fights? Well, that will become clear eventually.

Franche-Comté. Another 31,369 Ottomans go to their virgins in the sky, and I get another 10.49 Warscore.

The battle of Moravia. Another 20,000 dead Turks. Another 6.08 Warscore.

I am singlehandedly turning this war around.

In the Far East, Japan loses 10 provinces in a war against Spain.


oaEaNzJ.png


The Ottomans are not out of the fight yet. I am now fairly certain that I can handle them, so I decide to lure them in. They take the bait. I win. Another 5.87 Warscore. Still keeping track? Good.
Half their army runs to Bosnia, where I wipe them out. 13.26 Warscore.


OM0c6Kj.png


And then things get funny. Now that France has, once again, singlehandedly saved Western Civilisation from the Ottoman Menace, the Austrians finally get their act together.


JkVuHjk.png


Now that is something you really don’t see every day. I have seen this on Youtube, but that was in a multiplayer-game with 3 very experienced players as Sunni conquerors.
This is the AI.
Anyone who has ever wondered why I am always to very careful about not taking things too far, here is why.

With the rest of the world in on the fun, I pull my armies back for a while so they can recover.


4ApfuxF.png


Just look at those numbers. Pretty scary, huh? Well, it turns out that the Russians can’t get to the battlefield. I think that they can’t get anyone to give them access. They do plant a force of 69 regiments on the Crimean border, but that’s it. And, like I said, my army is back home, recuperating.

27 January, 1758. I finally win back Papal Control.
My army advisor dies and I go for a level-2 Master Recruiter, Jagga Alupa. That extra 10% MP is more than welcome.

The British have landed a large army in former Tunisia. I count about 53 regiments. At the same time, the HRE is sieging stuff in fomer Hungary.
And the Russians finally managed to land 2 regiments on the very tip of the Arabian peninsula. Yeah, that will really turn the tide of the war :wacko:


Tt6WQti.png


Oh, that is going to hurt. Two enemies going at it. I should be mindful of the fact that we are on the same side in this war, but I can’t help gloating just a little bit as I see the British army about to get crushed.

Cessation of Church Fucntions. 15% less taxes, but over 1100 ducats. Good, it will keep me going. I might as well raise war taxes. This is looking to be a long war. With my army back up to strength, I send them back into the fray.


Cn3yXTl.png


Now, remember that littany of Warscore before? Well, here is the reason why.
I really, honestly, don’t get it. How can I possibly only have 6 Warscore against them? How is that possible? If I tally up all the Warscore I made, I come out to 80.39 Warscore.
Now, I realise that battles are less important in the grand scheme of things, and that the Ottomans are still in control of the wargoal, seemingly forgotten by everyone. But 6 WS seems kind of low to me.

What makes this even worse, is that I now have the Call For Peace, giving me an extra War Exhaustion.

The British have lost their entire invasion force, and the Ottomans are taking back the occupied provinces. On the other hand, most of the Balkans are occupied by the rest of Europe.


Lzgzw2w.png


A random event gives me -1 Stability, while Napels grabs a bunch of stuff from the Ottomans and peaces out. Seems I am not the only one with a Call For Peace. Suddenly, all the territory that had been occupied by the Austrians, is now free again. We can start over.

Luneburg (surprisingly enough still my ally and not an Austrian vassal) and Poland try to make a play for Bohemia. Scandinavia once again honours their alliance. All well and good, but I am the only one left standing. I start carpet sieging the Balkans again, but let’s face it, I am not the Warleader here. Russia is, and they are sitting comfortably at home.


CqFj5sN.png


An unexpected stackwipe in Burgas does not help to fuel my own enthusiasm for this war, and I start thinking about pulling out as well.


PKYASPb.png


I get a funny feeling when I see this event pop up. Don’t ask me why, it is the first time I have seen it. But the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.
After winning a final battle in Sofia, I peace out (they have to revoke their claim on Sardinia and their core on Creete and pay me a large sum of money) and head back home. Now that I have peace again, I can finally begin the long overdue integration of Milan.

Well, that is about all for today. See you next time!