A Normal/Normal Newbie in Moscow

[unmerged(32511)]

A Normal/Normal Newbie in (Warning 56k's! BIG pictures!)

Right! Okay. A little introduction here:

This is going to be my second AAR. My first AAR was a beautiful, glorious failure, which I’ll do my best to avoid this time. My plan is not to write an AAR that’s funny, has a compelling storyline or offers it’s readers candy and FREE* e-mail spam; rather it’s gonna be all about me trying to learn how to play this game like a bit gooder, ja man. This is the first time I’ve EVER played this game on Normal/Normal, so if you enjoy a real struggle for survival rather than a master of the game conquering the world effortlessly, this might be something for you. Oh, and on that note; the game I'm playing is the Grand Campaign of AGCEEP, with fantasy events turned on. I'm hoping for some a-historical madness to make this game a bit more interesting.

My plan is to first pick a nation, start the game at a pause and have a look around, and make a rough plan. I have chosen... MUSCOWY!

Why? Because I’ve played it before in Very Easy, and it gave me a good, real challenge, while also being a blast to play! Unifying Russia, fisti-cuffing with the Golden Horde and bringing orthodoxy and Toys ‘R’ Us to the children all over the (Russian) world (of Moscow).

So I’m gonna try and make a plan of what I’ll try to do in the next few years and post it here; and then I hope that some of you will comment and tell me how much of a moron I am for not wanting to invest any money into ships, and why on Earth I thought it’d be a good idea to send an insult to Lithuania.

After I've read your comments and suggestions, I'll make sure you incorporate them into my plan; and then execute it. After playing a few years (anything from 10, 20 to 50.. even longer, maybe?) I'll pause and save the game, inform you all of what I did, why I did it and what happened. Then I'll share with you what my plans are for the current situation and the future, and let you be the judges once more. =)

Sounds like a fun way to learn how to play the game, right? I hope so. If I don't get any comments, I'll simply stumble around blindly and post the results and a new plan, anyway, since silence is agreeing to my plans!


I’m working on the plans and the graphics as I write this. Update will come in within the hour.

Stay tuned... OR DON’T!





(I need to work on that there last bit, I think.)

 

[unmerged(32511)]

Plan number 1.

Right. Let’s get this party started.

First of all, Muscowy. It’s got three vassals and is in a military alliance with all of them, along with having to pay 40 ducats every so and so to the Golden Horde for their ‘protection’ (aka; for them not to burn down my shops). North of me is Novgorod, which I seem to have military access to. Then there’s the Livonian order, which I’m sure is going to try and kick my vassal’s ass, and then there’s Lithuania, which I’m kind of paranoid about.

Screenshot: Muscowy and it’s cores.

Okay, an obvious plan is to annex Novgorod and the smaller vassals, by any means possible. I’m gonna get all the cores! Though I’m gonna be careful about this. Bad boy wars are SCARY, okay? Scary. Bad scary.

Screenshot: The world!

Political map. I think my best bet is to try to get on Sweden’s, Norways and Denmark’s good side (focusing on Sweden), along with trying to keep Lithuania from thinking it’s a good idea to kill me. Also, I’d rather if the Golden Horde would be kept at bay until I’M ready to take it on.



Screenshot: Religion.

Another thing I want is to unite all those orthodox lads under united Russian banner; even if this means taking Lithuania head on. I wont be happy until every orthodox province in Eastern Russia becomes mine!

So roughly, my goals are; get cores, get the orthodoxians, become Russia at some point, conquer my way to the pacific coast.

Now, for more detailed plans for the right now:

First of all, as it turns out, I’m starting at -4.4 ducats a month! Uh oh. I’m blaming the army entirely; 15000 troops and 10000 cavalry lads. If I have my way, the cavalry will be disbanded right away to fix the sorry state of my economy.

While we’re on the economy; I also have a problem with where the investments are going. I want stability investments to be flat out nothing but the Monarch’s skill. I’m also strongly against investing ANYTHING into a navy. My plans do not require boatsy things! If Russians were meant to sail on the open seas, God wouldn’t have given us vodka. That is all. So, I want to turn navy investments to 0. The rest can share an equal rate between them. I think that’ll be fine.


Screenshot: The current sliders. (Navy!?!)

Alright! Now, the other sliders. I figure the first thing I might do is simply finalize the obvious; take the last step and go 100% Land. After that, I’d like to focus on slowly getting more centralized, mercantilist and aristocratic. I dunno about quality n’ free-subjects though.

Screenshot: More sliders! Ogawd, excitement.

Next! Politics. This a bit more complicated.

As it turns out, all of my neighbours are either my vassals or I have military access through them. This means I can’t jump Novgorod yet, without a lovely little stability hit. On a lighter note; people seem to like me. Sweden has 105 with me, which makes me very happy, knowing that I may be able to suck up to them enough to have a secure Scandinavian border. (plus, I secretely want to conquer Norway. Shhh..)


Screenshots: Relations & Alliances, in that order:

Right!

So, a quick overview of my plans:

1st) Stop funding naval research!
2nd) Take that final step towards Land, then work on centralization (‘cuz the world SHOULD revolve around me!)
3rd) Disband those silly horsey-lads. Go away.
4th) Wait until I can build tax collectors, then... build tax collectors.
5th) Be ready to pounce on anyone that starts a war against my allies, because I like wars.


Also, I’m gonna note that in case I get an event, I’ll always make my choice based on two things:

1st) Which is best for my nation?
2nd) Which is more badass?

So don’t expect me to skip around revolts if the outcome of crushing them seems promising. Doubly so when it comes to uncle Yuri. I’ma kick his ass!


Right. So what am I doing wrong?

Besides having poor quality screenshots.

 

[Saulta]

Let´s see here...Don´t disband all of your cavalry, they are pretty good to have in the beginning. You should "delete" 5000 infantry and 5000cavalry, instead. That´s going to be much better especially since the Liths could be very agressive....
And that navy thing, you are doing the right thing, screw the navy and focus on infra and trade primary, and when you have raised them one level, switch to land...

That´s all I could think of for the minute, and good luck with the aar,

Saulta

 

[Storey]

As Saulta said hang on to some of your cavalry. They really help early in the game. I'd leave Sweden alone but other then that I agree with your strategy. You've picked a fun country to play.

Joe

 

[unmerged(15337)]

I agree with Saulta's recommendation about your cavalry. Even in forests, having some cavalry is helpful, and if you go up against the Liths you will be out in the plains.

I enjoyed your comments about Russia's navy -- especially the vodka line!

My first game and first AAR were of Muscovy. Those were the days.

Your DP sliders seem remarkably progressive, surprisingly so. Serfdom starts at only 5? :wacko: I can only assume that AGCEEP has lots of events that move them around, probably for the worse. Good luck. I suggest that you move the offensive slider up to get the shock bonus. I like to do that as early as possible because random events can't take that away from you, whereas increases in centralization tend to get countered by nonenforcement events.

 

[CatKnight]

1: Definitely no navy. Right now go 100% (or 100% - whatever you need to mint to keep your economy afloat) Infra. Get to Infra-3 and we'll talk. You certainly want Land, but once your economy starts to move you'll catch up to the others relatively fast. Just don't let them get TOO far ahead of you.

2: Sounds good.

3: No. I'd go exactly opposite - disband all infantry. The maintenance cost comes out the same and cavalry are too fast and too powerful in the early game. Better yet, if you can get the Scandinavians into your alliance (or join theirs)...take the stab hit and go pound on Novgorod. Then at least it's not a waste of troops. You're small enough right now stab isn't an issue.

4: Absolutely.

5: ...eh....tentative yes. Be wary of making too many enemies all at once, especially while you're so weak. Do not anger Sweden/Denmark if you can help it. Do not anger Lithuania if you can help it. You are right and eventually you'll need to deal with them, but that's another day far in the future.

Don't worry too much about the Horde. They're about to completely implode, then you can pick up the pieces.

 

[Grundius]

Muscowy is cool to play. You get lots of cores by event and the AGCEEP even allows for you to get Greek culture and cores on half the Balkan (Ready for a war with the Ottomans ? )

As said, keep the cavalry. As a matter of fact, focus on cavalry. Drop MA with Novgorod ASAP and dow them ASAP after that. You can probably reduce them to one province in a single war. Then in the next war you can take Novgorod itself (it's worth the BB of a forced annex in my opinion) . Diploannex all your vassals and grab of Lithuania what you can (really,they are not THAT scary). The Livonians should not be too hard to deal with either. Poles, Turks and Scandinavians might give problems. The Horde should be wasted, I say grab the Russian provs of them and start converting. You could alternatively hold on to Kazan to trigger the inheritance of the Golden Horde event. In my own Muscovy game, I focussed on getting to the east, while taking only Russian and/or Orthodox provinces in the west, as opportunities presented themselves. Note that Scandinavia has some colonies which could be Russian Orthodox if you somehow get them early.

Anyway, good luck and have fun.

 

[unmerged(32511)]

Golden Horde? More like... uh... I got nothin'.

Thanks for all your comments!

Alright, it looks like we can all agree on the following:

1) Don’t get rid of the cavalry.
2) Go 100% on land!
3) 0% naval research, and focus on infrastructure and keeping us debt free.
4) Attack Novgorod ASAP.
5) No pissing my neighbours off.
6) I took too many screenshots of the following game, so only a select few actually made it in; otherwise when I'd try to post, I'd get an error. =(

So this is what I did:


At start, I went 100% land and moved the budget sliders around. I'd share the exciting picture of how the sliders are standing at this moment, but there's a limit to how many pictures I can post, so... enjoy a link instead?
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d50/Icelandic_Pirate/NormalAAR/2Sliders.jpg

Next, I went to check out our army, the ‘Muscovy Guard’. I drop it’s numbers from 25k to 15k, dismissing 5k of infantry, and 5k of cavalry. I hope I got this right.

Then, I cancelled the military access we had with Novgorod and commanded our troops to cross the river. One thing I have learnt while playing very easy, is that attacking over rivers is never a good idea when you can go around it. And we can. So we will!

This is when I unpause for the first time.

Just seven days later (7th of Jan), and there’s a war going on!

To make matters worse, they’re attacking MY target! Damn them. The Livonian Order, and her ally, have declared war on MY Novgorod. Seeing how it’s still winter, I’m hoping that attrition will be awful for the Livonians. I honestly hope Novgorod wins this war, because I'd rather not have to go to war with them later on to reclaim Russian soil. I’d happily join in and attack Novgorod though, but.. no diplomats. And like I said before, it’s winter, and attacking them now would be foolhardy, I think. I’ll wait ‘til it clears up before even thinking about war.

As I wait, I get good news. Stability increased in February, and we’re now up to +1 again. Yay! I’m hoping it’ll raise further before war. Even better, in early April, we witness a plot twist. Lithuania and the Livonian order are at war, and Poland is dragged in! In July, three provinces are under siege by three different enemies. I’m pretty sure the two orders are feeling adequately bad now.

But the best part? This comes at the moment I get a new diplomat AND it’s spring time! The Novgorod army is nowhere to be seen, so it’s off to war I go!

Although, this leads to slight confusement. Should I involve my vassals? Maybe one of them tells me to buzz off, which gives me a chance to conquer them later on.. but I dunno. I decide to take the safer road and thus do not involve them. I hope I wont regret it.

Right. We’re at war now. I send my troops down to try and set siege to the city, in hopes of catching the enemy before he finishes producing those troops.

But, as fate has it, we don’t catch them in time. Battle is joined with about one thousand infantry men and five thousand cavalries. Turns out, keeping my cavalry was a good move! The battle goes well, but for some reason Mr.Kingsworth decides that I’ve dissapointed him! I’ve been demoted! Nuts. No matter, my first battle ends in a victory! Hurray! But I’m confused. How’d the game know I’m a baronet, and not a baron? I don’t remember setting a gender or nuthin’.

(I have 1337 drawing skillz)

Victory!

It’s July now, and we’re besieging Novgorod! However, I’m a little paranoied about the small number of troops I have, and the fact the Novgorodians are still building soldiers! I may have crushed their latest addition to their army, but I doubt the battle was a terribly decisive one. So I decide that more troops are to be built in Moscow.

But the question is, do I buy 6000 infantry men, or 6000 cavalry men? Judging from the forests of Novgorod, I think having a good number of infantry would be better than the cavalry, so I decide on 4/2, inf/cav.

But.. damn it. Not long after, the sneaky Novgorodians have sent 3000 men to Moscow, and are now sitting on it! If my men are built before I can kick ‘em out, then that’ll be a horrible waste of life and resources for me. So I decide to command my men to besiege Novgorod and send the extra soldiers back to Moscow (around the river, mind you). This effectively cuts the army in Novgorod in half, but that’s more than enough for me. Sorry about not having a picture of the path my troops took.

Me on left!


Uh oh. Although I think the battle will be mine, 4000 more men are coming down to attack me, and my re-inforcements are just about to be ready! I’d rather not have them join the battle with low moral and get slaughtered. Thankfully, the enemy has to cross the river first, so... maybe this wont be so bad.

Victory! The cavalry is retreating, my men are ready and I can fight the incoming Novgorodians on my own terms now! 12.000 men against 4000 enemies crossing a river. I like those odds.

And it’s a slaughter! Less than 1000 enemy cavalries just barely survive, and flee! I’m not quite sure what to do next, though. How the enemy is placing his soldiers is making me terribly nervous. 13000 men north of Novgorod, and a small ammount of troops across the river.

I decide to attack the smaller force with all my men in Moscow and then see what I can do about the enemy build up.

Well, I’m not all too happy right now. Although victory is definately mine, winter is here. That’s definately bad news for my men in Novgorod, and it delays my plans of snatching that settlement in the north. I guess it’s time to play the waiting game again, right? I’ll also try to make sure that my men in Novgorod wont all croak; they’re on the top of my re-inforcements list. Anyhow, I gotta kick the Novgorodians out of Muscowy before I plan my next move. Should be easy. Right?

Wrong! Damn you! I spoke too soon! I attacked a river with men suffering from low moral, and then winter comes and... argh! I order the retreat. Novgorod can have this battle.

Okay... this is the situation. I’ve decided to stop playing now for this session. I only played one year, and already I’ve learnt the painful lesson that Normal is NOT Very Easy.

On the map, you’ll see what I find terrifying. A concentration of 16.000 men outside of Novgorod, where I only have 5000. I’m not eager to send my men in Moscow there ‘just in case’ either, thanks to winter being a horrible, horrible thing when it comes to attrition. I would, no doubt, lose thousands to the harsh Russian winter alone.

The ‘0’ troopers north of Moscow aren’t a big deal I think, besides that it’s horribly humiliating. My army got it’s ass handed to them, when I should’ve been able to kick them out easily! Ah.. well.


Let’s sum things up. I learnt that...

1) Never attack across a river if you can take the road around! I could’ve gone the long way, but I was impatient and hungry for combat. I paid for my foolishness, whereas my more careful attack on Novgorod was very rewarding; and done correctly!
2) Don’t attack when your men are low on moral. Let them rest and get their spirits up before you attack, if you can. I could, and I didn’t, and I paid.
3) Cavalry is handy!


Right! So what did I do wrong here? And more importantly, what do I do to correct the situation?

I was originally gonna play a few years; even finish the first war against Novgorod, but man. That setback tells me I should get a bit more advice, before I doom my self.


On a lighter note, this is definately the most fun I've had in this game yet! Every time I pause the game to take screenshots, I end up thinking, planning ahead, doing warplans in my mind... and the game becomes MUCH deeper than I'm used to. Much better. So whether or not this is a good AAR or not doesn't matter as much as the fact I'm having a blast writing it and playing it!


Comments?

 

[CatKnight]

If you're having fun, that's all that counts

Okay, let's take a look here. I see no obvious mistakes, except the ones you mentioned (crossing rivers and low morale.) Morale updates at the beginning of every month, so if it's a factor I tend to move my troops around the 15th or 16th so they'll arrive at their destination next month when they're feeling better.

I would send some troops in to help with Novgorod. You don't want them dipping below 5 because that will stall the siege, and we have to worry about attrition right now. As you deduced that little 0 punk in Volgoda can stay there...he's looting you, and it'll be nice to eventually punish him, but he can't do any lasting harm.

That 16 strength Novgorod army is worrying. All the more reason to go reinforce Novgorod, since he's probably going to try and lift the siege. Even if he ducks around and attacks Moscow province....VERY annoying, but your siege should finish first, then you can decide what to do about the bastard. Plus, in enemy territory his attrition should hurt.

I find EU2 wars to be very positional. Yes, if you can get rid of a big enemy army do so...but it's far more important to mess with his provinces and siege a few away. There's no reason to fight that big boy until he comes looking for you...in which case you're on the defensive and should have a small advantage.

In the last shot I liked the line you gave the little warrior in the corner. (Horde?)

 

[unmerged(32511)]

Hehe, yeah. =) I thought the way he was sticking out like that was adorable, so I couldn't help my self.

I never really knew what number it was you couldn't fall under before you'd lose the ability to siege. Now that I know it's 5000, I realize I need to re-inforce them. At 5000, they're losing 250 a month, right? 5% attrition? Probably send 1 or 2K over there.

I was also flirting with the idea of taking justa handful of men and send them up and around the river, then flank the enemy 0? It wouldn't take many men, and I'd still have the bulk of the force ready to help out in Novgorod. But to be honest, my fears are that they'll cross the border to the 0's and siege my city there. It might be hard to throw them back out, especially if they do it after winter starts clearing up.


Anyway, I'm heading off. Tomorrow I'll play the second session.

Thanksa gain for the comment!

 

[Grundius]

In fact it is not so bad when the Livonian Order or any other Catholic would conquer your core provinces. You get CB on them and they are a different religion, so there is no stab hit when you dow them.

When going after Novgorod, I would send a small cavalry force to immediately capture their colonies, they are free warscore. Then, kick their troops around with cavalry and cover each of their provinces, with enough men to survive the winter attrition. Don't send reinforcements during winter unless you really need a province. Take your time, and send the troops during spring, possibly even retreating them during winter months (leaving the cover force.) Anyway, besides the over-the-river attack I see no major mistakes (granted, I am no master player, so I might miss something anyway ), so you're going well. Keep it up!

 

[unmerged(32511)]

Damn Danes!

Okay! Game on.


The last time we leftour heroes, we had a hard choice to make. The enemy had gathered a 16000 men strong army, which was in position to both attack our own lands and to try and lift the siege in Novgorod. Considering that, over all, Muscowy only has 15000 troops to field, deciding where to deploy those soldiers was an issue that required heavy thought.

After talking to my advisors [=)] a decision is made. First, 1000 men will be sent from Moscow to Novgorod, to help maintain the siege. Second, what’s left of the Muscowy army in Moscow will be sent north east around the river, and then westwards. The plan is to attack the small group of soldiers north of Moscow and drive them out, without risking another river attack failure. Also, this allows us to be on the defensive against the big army (should we act fast enough) AND be in position to quickly re-inforce our men in Novgorod.

With slight unease, I initiate the plan.

A smashing success! I’ve driven them out of Muscowy and can now resume feeding troops into Novgorod. Another 1000 soldiers are sent down there, in hopes that the winter will be over soon, now that it’s February. This leaves roughly 4000 infantry and 4000 cavalry in Vologda. Also, back at Moscow, I start recruiting 8000 more soldiers and 5000 more cavalrymen. There’s no way that the army I have now will suffice, and there isn’t a chance on Earth I’ll attempt an offensive anytime soon without those re-inforcements! But until then, it’s time to wait.

... and there we go. They’re heading for Novgorod! There’s no time to lose. Now that winter’s gone, I can send my men in Vologda straight down to help them out. Hopefully, they’ll be there in time...

Battle is joined and... VICTORY! Against the odds, we push the attackers back! Ooh, man. That felt good. Sucks to be them! Haha! [Now to secretely hope they won’t try that again.] However, there’s a problem. The province can’t support all these men, and we’re suffering 3% attrition. I’ve decied to pull some of my men out of there, at least just enough to stop my men from starving to death. Though I’m not too scared; by this time, 1/4th of the count down to re-inforcements has finished. 3/4 to go!

So as it stands right now, I have 7000 or so men in Novgorod and 5000 in vologd. That’s not bad. I’m guessing we lost about 1 or 2 thousand. The enemy however lost at least 3000! Not too bad! They’ve got about 13000 camped outside my territory. They attempt an attack with less than 800 men. They’re slaughtered, of course.

It’s in mid may when my new troops are ready. I immediately give them commands to march to Vologd, so my 5000 men there can raid Arkhangelsk. At that time, the screen tells me only 6 months are left until Novgorod is ours. So close, but so far away!

July 14th, 1420!

Finally! Novgorod is ours AND re-inforcements arrive! This is a GOOD day! I immediately send 5000 men up to Arkhangelsk; with intention to capture, not hold. I’m giving myselves ideas of assault the main Novgorodian army head-on with my own forces. I outnumber them now... I could do it. Plus, I’d be attacking from three different sides, which surely helps me, right? We’ll see. For now, Arkhangelsk.

It only takes a couple of days for Arkhangelsk to fall, and then I get a very amusing message. They’re offering piece and 14 dukats! No way. I want to crush them! No less!

That’s the situation. They’re outnumbered. Man. Is this a good idea? Should I attack them? It’s August, though... winter will be here soon. Should I wait, and risk attrition for my two armies? Or assault now, and hope I can cripple the enemy in one decisive battle; but risk being ruined my self?

You guys are probably gonna yell at me for this but... I order the attack. C’mon! Win! Win!!!

Yes!!! A victory! Although it wasn’t as decisive as I hoped, it has them running, and the siege of Olonets can begin! I withdraw all the soldiers back to Muscowian lands, except those that NEED to stay for the siege. Thinks are looking up! Even better, I order the recruitment of 14.000 more soldiers. Once this winter is over, I’ll attack them hard and cover all of their territory to keep them from building more men, then I’ll siege them at my leisure. I feel that final victory is possible. Oh! And I can build tax collectors now. Hurray!

Okay. Fast forward a little... and winter is over. I begin preperation for the assault. My new men are ready, and I make an army of 20.000 and march them into Novgorod. My enemy has about 10.000 men waiting in Ingermanland. I plan on hitting them head on there and force them north into Finnland.

But of course, my plan doesn’t work. They fight me back! So, 2 to 1 numerical advantage and strong moral isn’t enough to take on a large number of men in a swamp. Nuts. This complicates things, because I can’t wait too long, because winter will be back too soon! I have a good number of months but... not enough.

In June, I realize that I have 4500 cavalry men doing nothing... so I send them on a raiding mission northwards to capture the settlements. While they do that, the siege in Olonets finishes, and another city is under my control! One my cavalry lads have finished up in Finnland, they are to go south again and finish the encirclement of my enemy. I’ll attack them from three sides. Their precious swamp can’t help them then!

But.. oi. Suddenly, Tver has declared war on Novgorod, and Pskov has dishonored our military alliance. Those cheeky little... this is MY war, damn you! Get out! Oh, well. There isn’t much left besides the final battle of Ingermanland anyway.

Alright. My men are in place.

The attack begins! The cavalry arrives first, before the rest of the army. Uh oh. I let the battle continue though, no need to retreat. But oi, as every day passes, the cavalry’s moral drops, along with their numbers. They’re just about to retreat when... yes! The Olonets army arrives!

And there we go! Victory! The sieges of Ingermanland and Kexholm begin. They are the last strongholds of the enemy. Once they fall, this war will be over. So, I fast forward.

[Ah nuts. Now that I’m doing the after-editing, I realize I didn’t take a screenshot of the heresy. Okay; imagine this. A bunch of crazy, killer barbers out for my Russian blood and... doing... non-orthodoxy things. I suppose.]

Oh maaan. Why? Seriously. I was having a really good day, too. You guys suck. Talk about a bad timing. Couldn’t you do heresy NEXT week? Maaan.

Yeah, I’m just gonna ignore them. Really. They just want attention, and I’m not gonna give it.

...

Damn it. They stole my siege.

How did they steal my siege?

I have men there! Troops!

WHY!?

... damn it. So much for 100% war score. Grrr....

Right. The Danish stole my siege, which means I have 44% warscore at the end of the war, with Novgorod defeated. Well.. that’s as good as it gets, I think.. so.. I offer peace.

And man. More frustration. It seems I can’t demand all I want with a meager 44%. They just deny it, even though they have NOTHING left! Nothing! Oh, well. Finally, I manage to offer a peace they accept; with meager gains, compared to what I wanted. I am VERY unhappy with this war. Seriously dissapointed. ESPECIALLY with those damn Danes. How!? Why!? I had troops there! It was my siege! Aargh...

And why did they mass so many troops there DURING THE WINTER, when MY siege was going JUST FINE without them!? Ooooh... frustration. Oh, well. It’s time to save the game, recap and plan out the future.

Right, this is the current political map. If I’m correct, the peace I negotiated with Novgorod has given us truce with them for the next 10 years, so.. it’s gonna have to stay split up like it is now for at least that time. We’ll finish them off later. Grr.

In that time, I plan on building up my taxcollectors, and see if I can’t revive my army. I think the number of men I lost is something around 30 to 40.000 over all. That’s a high price to pay for those territories; and Arkhangelsk isn’t even a city yet! Boo!

And.. that’s really it. Build the economy, rebuild the military and keep an eye on the goings-on in the world. So far so good, I think... no matter the fact that I got frustrated with the game earlier. Always look on the bright side! I’m still having fun and Novgorod is still going to be mine.

Though I must say, the idea of giving the Danes a swift kick in the butt for what the did is definately on my future ‘To Do’ list.


Denmark? You have been warned.


Finally:

1) So any thoughts about my tactics? My mass assaults? Was there anything I could’ve done better? Anything I should’ve done instead? I’m sorry if it’s hard to tell what EXACTLY I did, but these forums aren’t very happy about using too many pictures in each post.
2) Can anyone explain to me how I can lose a siege like that? What I can do to keep the AI from dropping massive hoards of suicidal soldiers on my sieges? What should I do to avoid these sorts of situations? It was quite unpleasant.
3) My peace negotiations. Did I demand the wrong provinces... ? I figured that the settlements would be easy targets in the future, leaving only one or two fortified provinces to conquer; unless the two orders or my vassals destroy them first. =(
4) AAR wise... any tips? Am I taking screenshots of the wrong things? Too many? Too few?

Most importantly..

5) What about the future? Now that I have a truce with Novgorod, what happens next? Besides the obvious construction of tax collectors. Do I prepare for another war right away, or try and maintain peace?


Anyway. That’s all for me today. I hope you enjoyed reading this; ‘cuz I had a blast writing it.
(Despite that little Danish setback.)

 

[Mazyrian]

What happened in your siege was that them had a leader in their army (the army with leader leads the siege)

 

[unmerged(32511)]

What happened in your siege was that them had a leader in their army (the army with leader leads the siege)

That's the problem, I have no idea.

I thought I had a leader there, a big gold star Yuri person, but.. I dunno. I think he may have died in combat by then. The Danes might've had a leader, but I dunno how to tell.

 

[Lurken]

The danish could have walked in with a kingleader, they out trumph anything.

 

[Saulta]

1. The tactics looked fine to me, it´s better to take the chance and assault and try to destroy their army, than just sitting there and doing nothing!

2.Well, you already know!

3. No you didn´t. I mean you couldn´t get ingermanland, because it was controlled by danes, and you have split Novgogrd up in two parts!

4. Nope, everything is good,

5.Annex your vassals?

And a truce is for 5 years not ten, so in five years....

 

[Grundius]

Next time, try to wait for them to make an offer. With 44% you cannot claim all you want, yet more often then not the AI does offer such peace to you.

All in all, you did well against Novgorod.

 

[Storey]

1) Your tactics were fine. If you noticed Novgorod had very few cavalry and paid the price by losing in battle to you.
2) As has been pointed out an army with a leader higher than yours came along and stole the siege.
3) The provinces you took are fine.
4) Looks good. Whatever works for you is fine.
5) Its going to take you two more wars to finish off Novgorod so you wait five years and DOW them, take all their provinces except their capital wait five years and then finish them off. Or you can attack someone else while you wait for the five years to pass. Two things to watch out for: Bad-boy status and inflation. Neither should be a problem right now but they can both get away from you if you’re not careful.

Joe

 

[CatKnight]

Lessee here:

Your tactics were fine. Indeed, it worked out well for you! Aren't you glad you kept the cav now? It was decisive in that one battle against the Novgorod horde.

As has been mentioned, truces are for five years. We'll get back to 'em shortly.

Tax collectors should be a high priority right now. Get your military up to a reasonable level to keep your neighbors from deciding to take a chance on eating you, then invest in your economy. You may fall behind military tech for awhile, especially with an Orthodox nation but you should be able to make up for it later.

1) Again, your tactics were fine!
2) As has been mentioned, Denmark obviously pulled a higher ranking leader into the fray. You can't tell their RANK, but if you highlight an enemy army and someone's name pops up, it means they have an experienced leader.

There's no way to stop the AI from trying to 'help' unfortunately, which can be a real problem when dealing with attrition. Personally if I know the AI's stolen a siege (the shield on the siege screen shows their flag and not mine), and I can't get a higher level leader in there, I just walk out and save myself the attrition. Let the AI do its own dirty work.

3) Your peace negotiations seemed solid. As you said, the settlements will be easier targets in the future. Splitting them in half also inhibits their ability to support their provinces in the next war. You might get lucky and have one or two fall to revolts and defect to you.


The future> Depends on your Badboy. If your relations with yoru vassals are good, I'd say just sit back for now planning for a round of diploannexations in 1449. If your relations are deteriorating for some reason and they break vassalage....take 'em. As Storey said though, watch the bad boy. Watch the inflation.

You will want to deal with the Horde soon, but not quite yet. Wait until they're collapsing, then swoop in and eat 'em for lunch.

 

[unmerged(32511)]

‘lo again, all!

I apologize for the, uh ... ‘slow’ pace of updates here. Life’s been rough, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learnt during the last few months is that if life’s blowing wind in your face, spit in it! (... wait)

So! Faced with the possibility of having cancer and/or hopefully something less evil, I’ve decided that I’m not leaving this AAR unfinished. This has so far been THE greatest game of EU2 I’ve ever played and I intend to finish it before I’m finished myself (whether I actually get finished myself or not).

So without further blah, the AAR!


Following the advises you’ve given me, I decide that it’s best to lay low for a little bit. I’ll gather a bit of gold, then invest it in tax collectors; starting with the richest provinces, then working my way down. The small ‘colonies’ can wait for now, I think. I doubt they’re worth sending c-

Stoopid low-quality screenshot, giving me a headache.

Whoa. So much for peace for the next years. Deciding I’d rather not deal with possible stab hits and unhappy vassals, I join in on the fight. I do however not have any real intentions to fight this war – but I am curious whether or not Novgorod will take the stab-hit on its own and declare war on me. That would be tasty!

With another war begun, I send the entire Muscowy army south to the capitol, acting as a ‘just in case’ defense, should our allies be crushed. Enemy build up outnumbers our allies’ meager army, so I believe that having our own defensive line is a necessity. Also, I noticed that the yearly gains we’re getting are 16 dukats, which’ll allow me to set my taxes to 0! On -0.7 per months, I’m paying less over the year than I’m getting at the end of it. This’ll hopefully help fight inflation and hurry up the process of getting enough money to buy those tax collectors.

In April 2nd, we get a stability raise and the good news that the enemy build up had attacked our allies ... and been repulsed! My fears were for naught. Also, our brave little vassal is holding the Novgorodian capitol in a .. well, ‘siege’ of a sort. They’re making no progress, but at least the Novgorodians can’t build anything from it. I do hope they’ll be able to kick my allies out of there though. I need my vassals small and my Novgorod in one piece, for easier annexation!

The plot thickens. Somehow the two sides have traded armies and are now happily sieging each others capitols! Meanwhile, back in Muscowy, military leaders slap their foreheads and shake their heads in dismay. This is our vassal? ... are we sure we want to annex them? Seriously.

However, as it turns out, later in december the siege on Novgorod is finished and it’s control is given to ... DENMARK!? Again!? Now, one of my vassals taking it would be bearable but... Denmark? They now control entire Novgorod, including the north! This is bad. This is really bad.

You see, taking the fight against Novgorod would not have been a problem. Neither would fighting my vassals. Fighting the two orders would’ve been a challenge, but even those would’ve crumbled under my mighty empi-, kingd- ... duchy! But the Danes? This is bad! Looks like I’m going to NEED the Swedes, should the Danes annex any of the Novgorodian provinces. I hope this won’t be the case, as a war against Denmark, with or without Sweden, is rather scary to me.

But alas! Good news! Our royal marriage with the Golden Horde has expired, which I consider wonderful news, along with the fact that said Horde is starting it’s inevitable collapse. Hurray! Three provinces defect to neighbouring Shirvan and Lithuania. I would’ve preferred getting a slice of that action myself, but beggers can’t be picky. Thankfully, I’m not a begger, so I can whine about it.

Soon (1st of Feb) after another province defects to Lithuania, and a new revolt is born in Tambow, just outside the Muscowy border! Hopefully these strong-hearted Russians will defect to US! But, again, somebody has to rain on our parade.

My vassal’s capitol, as if you remember, is still being sieged and it wont last much longer. The good news are that the enemy has barely 5000 men to it’s name. I decide that we should attack them, lest our enemies annex our own vassal!

Victory! We come a second too late, but we’re able to intervene and soon the city will fall and return to our vassal’s hands. Then we can drive on into Tver itself and get this war over wi-...

Oh, Yury, you bastard. This is bad. I’d love to go on and crush him, inciting revolts all over and fight a horrible, horrible war but... really, I can’t afford it. My dreams were to destroy the guy, but I have no choice but to ‘Make Peace’. For now. However.. I don’t know where this will lead, whether or not I should be preparing for war or try and maintain my current ‘peaceful’ buildup.



So... again, I come to you for advice!

1st) The obvious; once Pskov has been liberated, should I head towards Tver, or leave Pskov to it? Going to Tver will mean further loss of lives for no immediate gains for Muscowy, so I’m reluctant. Just saving my little vassal was a chore enough, even though I always enjoy a good battle!
2nd) The Danish situation. They haven’t negotiated peace yet, which worries me. Did I miss something? Also; should I be preparing for war against them in the distant future? This means making friends with Sweden and giving up on any ideas of the conquests of Finnland for the next few centuries at least.
3rd) The Golden Horde is falling apart and even now it is crippled! Should I be preparing for war against them, instead of Novgorod?
4th) Is my way of ‘0 to treasury’ taxation thing a good idea? It’s not increasing the inflation, which I believe is a good thing, and it’s still giving me a few dukats every year. Not enough, I suppose.. but a few, no matter.
5th) Further more on the economy, what can I do to increase the funds I have? At the moment, I do NOT have enough to go to war and I do NOT have enough to properly fund the tax collectors. I’ve considered merchants, but sending them costs money and I’m not sure which COTs to send them to. Suggestions?
6th) ... should I get those sheep from Sweden? They’re offering me a dozen sheep for every lungful of air blown over their border. It’s a good deal, even though sheep are sneaky, devious critters.


And a quick little thing:

I've learnt that 0 to treasury means no inflation. Inflation scares me, because it means my money becomes worth less and prices of just about everything rise. That's a bad thing!

I've also learnt that I'm not good at being peaceful. Oops.

That's about it for now. I meant to play for much, MUCH longer, but.. Yury, you sneaky bastard. Once I've had a bit of advice/suggestions, I'll make it my goal to finish him off in the next update. I don't like the idea of him threatening my hold on the empi-, kingd- ... oh nevermind.

Oh, EU2, how I've missed thee.