A Few Questions

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I have just heard about this game on Usenet and have read the AAR on the Papal States and have a few questions and I apologize in adavnce if the answers on somewhere on the site I haven't found.

1. I'm not clear from the info on the page, can you play as any state or are things like the Papal States a hack?

2. The AAR discussed royal marriages but the number seemed large- do you have a pool of children/family to marry off or is it unlimited?

3. How good is the opponent AI- particularly in diplomacy and peace negotiations. Treaties during this period tended to be very compex. The Papal States AAR only shows simple annexations.

4. What is the actual affect of the differing religious affiliations in the game. Is there any penalty for a Catholic state aligning with a Protestant or Muslim?

5. How'd a miss this one until now? I'm very exicted about this game since this was the region and time period I got my masters degree in.

 

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'1. I'm not clear from the info on the page, can you play as any state or are things like the Papal States a hack?'

It depends on what you mean with a hack. To play a non-eligible country you have to make one small adjustment to the game file. It is an extremely simple task.

'2. The AAR discussed royal marriages but the number seemed large- do you have a pool of children/family to marry off or is it unlimited?'

The royal marriage should be understood in a more abstract fashion. It might be your sons and daughters you give away, but could also be the siblings of noblemen, ministers, and merchantbarons. The important thing is that it gives you a dynastical link to the country named.

'3. How good is the opponent AI- particularly in diplomacy and peace negotiations. Treaties during this period tended to be very compex. The Papal States AAR only shows simple annexations.'

Personally find the Ai rather good in this area. That the diplomacysystem is less complex than real history is true, but then again any written history is a generalization of some underlying reality, not ? The Papal campaign is actually not representative for the average game. The Papacy was so weak that I had to attack merely one or two province countries that is why there was only annexetions, but once. In my peace with Spain I acquired one province, namely Napoli.

'4. What is the actual affect of the differing religious affiliations in the game. Is there any penalty for a Catholic state aligning with a Protestant or Muslim?'

It is many things ranging from morale of troops (Reformed & Shiite muslim) to number of colonists acquried each year.
On the penalty question. You have a tolerance lvl against every religion you have contact with. The tolerance setting will influence your relation towards countries with the specific state religion. So indirectly crossreligion alliances will influence your relations with nonallies as you have to set your tolerance in the right way to ally Turkey if you are France.


/Greven

 

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a few more...Is there a possibility to incite revolt in other countries ? (by spending money, for instance)

Do you have the possibility to spy other countries' activities ?

Do you have condottieri or mercenaries at times, which could be bought and bought off at times of war ? (especially for Renaissance Italy and Thirty years war; you could to that through random events)

In the EU boardgame, units are more or less hidden (ie, Army counters have a side + and a side - counter, , depending on whether they are beyond half their historical limit, and Detachment counters are used for units small than 10, so you never know precisely how big an Army is, but you have an idea). It seems in the Computer EU you know precisely the content of enemy forces - no fog of war, then ?

In some of the AARs, you get suicidal attacks by the AI, 1-to-3 assaults. How come ?

 

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'a few more...Is there a possibility to incite revolt in other countries ? (by spending money, for instance)'

Not presently

'Do you have the possibility to spy other countries' activities ?'

If you mean a spy-function. No. However, the information of other countries is limited. And within the gamesystem you can get some info of those other guys.

'Do you have condottieri or mercenaries at times, which could be bought and bought off at times of war ? (especially for Renaissance Italy and Thirty years war; you could to that through random events)'

No, but then again the game is constructed in such a way that it would hardly be possible to tell a mercenary from a nationally raised troop, and in the later period mercs were extremely rare. When you conquer a contry you might get his surviving forces as yours. I use to picture it to be mercenaries/condottiers...You know how it is sometimes the game has to be abstract for getting a good funcionality and then you have to use imagination.

'In the EU boardgame, units are more or less hidden (ie, Army counters have a side + and a side - counter, , depending on whether they are beyond half their historical limit, and Detachment counters are used for units small than 10, so you never know precisely how big an Army is, but you have an idea). It seems in the Computer EU you know precisely the content of enemy forces - no fog of war, then ?'

Yes there is a fog of war. But none over your own countries, borderprovinces and countries you are at war with. But what you actually see is troops in thousands, and that is not the whole story, as Mil tech lvl, leader rating and Cav/Art ratio are very very important. I'd say your knowledge in the Computergame is roughly as good as in the boardgame.

'In some of the AARs, you get suicidal attacks by the AI, 1-to-3 assaults. How come ?'

It depends on what low oddser we are talking of. Sometimes the AI makes low oddser as to divert your attention. And sometimes it is sacrifizing a pawn to kill the queen.
Ex. I have 10000 inf with VERY STRONG morale. He attacks with 3000inf, all of them dies but my morale is reduced to DISCIPLINED. Now he attacks me with 12000inf with VERY STRONG morale and beats me off the field. The Glory is his.

/Greven

 

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Thanks, your Holiness...

(I agree about the fact that mercenaries should not be available at all times, since the history of the game is partly the history of nation-state formation, but then, maybe there could be in the XVIth and XVIIth century random events with mercenary troops appearing in Germany and Italy, going to the highest bidder or something like this...)