A return to Dutch arithmetic: A Netherlands AHD AAR (2.31)

[Avindian]

The Scramble for Africa is on!

If you're lucky, maybe the other Great Powers will have a lapse in judgement and forget to research machine guns.

That would be delightful, wouldn't it?

Goa.

IIRC, the old troops present bonus for colonising has been reinstated so go nuts colonising Africa! If I were you, I'd put a regiment in Borneo before the US or France decides to go for East Papua and one in Ghana to snap up as much of West Africa before the French move in there.

Also, go Burma.

You're right, of course; I called it Bombay in reference to the region it's in.

I'd actually planned to include a screenshot of the troops bonus but I already got to 20 screenshots without it.

 

[TheArchMede]

You could have had machine guns three months earlier if you had waited on the railroads and you'll finish sooner if you have military in the area. I only see a unit in one of the half dozen or so colonies you show progressing in the screenshots. Each month to get a unit in there, is a two month delay on finishing. The only situation where you don't want military in place before the NF is available is when another country is colonising that state already. These sorts of delay can easily result in the AI getting an extra round of colonising and losing you 4-5 colonies (double that if being a little late costs you the chance to seal a larger interior).

The UK AI is awful at tech. They are even less likely than Portugal to be colonising Africa. France plus whatever other random powers get the tech in time are the ones that need blocking. Its worth getting the Angolan coast, but its seaborne Frenchies you need to be keeping out, not the neighboring Brits.

 

[Avindian]

You could have had machine guns three months earlier if you had waited on the railroads and you'll finish sooner if you have military in the area. I only see a unit in one of the half dozen or so colonies you show progressing in the screenshots. Each month to get a unit in there, is a two month delay on finishing. The only situation where you don't want military in place before the NF is available is when another country is colonising that state already. These sorts of delay can easily result in the AI getting an extra round of colonising and losing you 4-5 colonies (double that if being a little late costs you the chance to seal a larger interior).

The UK AI is awful at tech. They are even less likely than Portugal to be colonising Africa. France plus whatever other random powers get the tech in time are the ones that need blocking. Its worth getting the Angolan coast, but its seaborne Frenchies you need to be keeping out, not the neighboring Brits.

Sound advice. I'm not that much of a power gamer when it comes to colonizing, so while I could certainly have shaved some time off of colonizing by doing as you suggest, I'm not that distressed about it. I don't have the troop numbers to spread around Africa as you suggest, or I would do that more.

 

[TheArchMede]

Sound advice. I'm not that much of a power gamer when it comes to colonizing, so while I could certainly have shaved some time off of colonizing by doing as you suggest, I'm not that distressed about it. I don't have the troop numbers to spread around Africa as you suggest, or I would do that more.

All it takes is 1 brigade to triple the effectiveness of your NF. You shouldn't ever be so short of troops that you can't afford that. Would you leave multiple NFs unassigned for years at a time because you are not powergaming? Every colony you leave without a brigade in it is like leaving 2 NFs unassigned. You get the same effect from one colonisng NF with a brigade that you get for three without. Since you have been going on about how you want to shut other powers out of Africa, you ought to be really distressed that you are going about it at 1/3 the rate you should be.

 

[LordTempest]

All it takes is 1 brigade to triple the effectiveness of your NF. You shouldn't ever be so short of troops that you can't afford that. Would you leave multiple NFs unassigned for years at a time because you are not powergaming? Every colony you leave without a brigade in it is like leaving 2 NFs unassigned. You get the same effect from one colonisng NF with a brigade that you get for three without. Since you have been going on about how you want to shut other powers out of Africa, you ought to be really distressed that you are going about it at 1/3 the rate you should be.

I concur with TAM. I am definitely not a powergamer - far from it - but you don't need to go deep into the game mechanics to realise that colonising at thrice the speed means a lesser likelihood of other GPs beating you to the punch when it comes to painting Africa glorious orange.

 

[EU3NOOB]

everyone loves kicking the french up the butt, its a must.

Except in HoI because it's just too damned easy...

 

[Avindian]

All it takes is 1 brigade to triple the effectiveness of your NF. You shouldn't ever be so short of troops that you can't afford that. Would you leave multiple NFs unassigned for years at a time because you are not powergaming? Every colony you leave without a brigade in it is like leaving 2 NFs unassigned. You get the same effect from one colonisng NF with a brigade that you get for three without. Since you have been going on about how you want to shut other powers out of Africa, you ought to be really distressed that you are going about it at 1/3 the rate you should be.

I concur with TAM. I am definitely not a powergamer - far from it - but you don't need to go deep into the game mechanics to realise that colonising at thrice the speed means a lesser likelihood of other GPs beating you to the punch when it comes to painting Africa glorious orange.

Fair points, both of you. It's a bit late to do anything about it now -- and yes, I'll get beaten to a few colonies -- but that just gives me something to take from other Europeans later on.

Except in HoI because it's just too damned easy...

Very true.

 

[Gen. Marshall]

Nice update but... what are 80% of your Socialists thinking? Shouldn't they be in favor of universal voting? :s

 

[Avindian]

Nice update but... what are 80% of your Socialists thinking? Shouldn't they be in favor of universal voting? :s

Good question. Who knows?

 

[Phoenix VII]

In Victoria 2, Socialists have the same attitude towards political reforms that Conservatives do, I found a couple threads talking about that awhile ago, and it seems the only reason for that was to further distinguish them from Liberals.:sad: Maybe Paradox thought that the Socialists were overpowered in the first game?

And, yeah, in my Dutch game the French were my only competition in colonizing Africa, the British don't concentrate on land techs and Portugal has lower literacy. And you should allocate a brigade to every state that you're colonizing especially since the AI often does that as well.

 

[Avindian]

In Victoria 2, Socialists have the same attitude towards political reforms that Conservatives do, I found a couple threads talking about that awhile ago, and it seems the only reason for that was to further distinguish them from Liberals.:sad: Maybe Paradox thought that the Socialists were overpowered in the first game?

And, yeah, in my Dutch game the French were my only competition in colonizing Africa, the British don't concentrate on land techs and Portugal has lower literacy. And you should allocate a brigade to every state that you're colonizing especially since the AI often does that as well.

Thanks for the advice and tips! If only I had it before I played.

 

[Phoenix VII]

Thanks for the advice and tips! If only I had it before I played.

Well, I'm not sure if it was brought it up yet or not, but you could also try moving into China when you can since there's some silk-producing provinces there and their states have huge populations. In my current game with the Dutch, I didn't, so it's 1920, and I'm producing most of what I need for my factories but silk.:sad: You probably have until the first decade of the 20th century before the Chinese Empire westernizes and even then, around half the time, Russia and/or Japan weakens them to the point it doesn't really matter. Anyways, you have a great AAR and I can't wait for the next update.

 

[Avindian]

Well, I'm not sure if it was brought it up yet or not, but you could also try moving into China when you can since there's some silk-producing provinces there and their states have huge populations. In my current game with the Dutch, I didn't, so it's 1920, and I'm producing most of what I need for my factories but silk.:sad: You probably have until the first decade of the 20th century before the Chinese Empire westernizes and even then, around half the time, Russia and/or Japan weakens them to the point it doesn't really matter. Anyways, you have a great AAR and I can't wait for the next update.

I've got a handful of Chinese substates in my sphere, but again, that's sound advice.

Shouldn't have to wait too long for the next update!

 

[Director]

I'm following this with interest because colonization is something I haven't tackled in any game yet. I've played Japan, Brazil and now Bavaria - not major colonial powers. Japan could be, but I concentrated on economics (#3 industrialized nation) and sphering minions instead.

Bavaria has formed Germany (Bavaria, Baden and Wurttemburg) but owns Suez, Abu Dhabi and Cuba along with a major navy (32 dreadnoughts by 1920). My sphere is huge - most of South America, China, Netherlands and Portugal. Protecting Portugal from invasion by Spain is my crisis of the moment. I've tried landing troops only to lose my phenominal high-quality army to attrition. Spain is rolling over Portugal with 100 to 400 point doomstacks and my 200 point army with all military techs (it is 1923), airplanes, tanks and guards can barely defeat a Spanish stack of 75. When I do beat them they back up one province, magically regenerate to full power and come back. In the meantime I lose 50+ to attrition, mobilize, wreck my economy and then lose another 100+ to attrition.

If I can't spread out to occupy and I can't beat an army 1/3 my size, waging war is pointless and absurd. So the Spanish army that was the joke of Europe is an unstoppable military juggernaut? Sheesh. I'll reload and try something different.

Moving into China is a great idea - silk is great but tea can be a major commodity. South America is usually open for a sphering power, too - all that coffee!

 

[Avindian]

Chapter 7: In which Portugal continues to be my whipping boy and parts of Africa turn colors that are not orange​

May 31, 1871: Underground Printing Press fires. Since I want an HM's Government (eventually), I make everybody in Holland 50% more likely to want Harassed Parties.

June 14, 1871: The first colonial interloper appears -- Italy starts colonizing West Morocco. I had no illusions about seizing all of Africa anyway, so Italy is welcome to it.

July 6, 1871: Our first rebellion!

This is more annoying than life ending; if it wasn't so spread out, it'd hardly be a threat at all.

September 21, 1871: I begin another round of fort expansion in Europe. I'm probably being paranoid, but paranoia is good in a grand strategy game.

December 30, 1871: Time for a new tech.

O-Chem leads to Cracking leads to Fuel.

January 15, 1872: Diamonds (i.e. Precious Metals) in Harare.

April 14, 1872: With the recapture of Ipoh, the rebels are completely eliminated.

July 21, 1872: France decides to manufacture a CB against Brazil.

October 10, 1872: The Ottoman Empire wants an alliance with me. Okay, why not?

November 1, 1872: This... this could get interesting.

This would almost certainly qualify as a Great War, unless Russia doesn't call me (and I hope they don't).

November 10, 1872: If I am going to get invaded, I need to keep my tech edge in the army. With O-Chem done, I continue improving the army.

January 23, 1873: The game gives me Colonial Incident vs. the UK. I hate you, AI.

May 1, 1873: The synthetic dye invention fires. Dye can be somewhat profitable, so this is good.

May 28, 1873: I close a couple of bankrupt factories to create new slots.

July 15, 1873: Conservatives win another election.

September 6, 1873: I'm going to keep pushing for army tech until I'm maxed out.

September 19, 1873: My economy is functioning very well; so well, I cut taxes on the poor to 60%.

September 26, 1873: More progress in colonization. Botswana is finished, I'm working on northern Cape Colony to seal in the British.

October 1, 1873: Cracking fires. No oil yet, but according to the event, the Brunei oil doesn't fire until the 1880s. I'll wait.

December 8, 1873: With another colony done, here's a map of progress in South Africa.

December 25, 1873: Ghana's done -- I'm going to keep going in West Africa as best I can.

January 4, 1874: Muraleve is done, I switch to the tiny one province thing to finish off Brunei. (In retrospect, this was stupid. You'll see why in a bit.) I also expand my army in Africa and Asia with four infantry brigades.

April 28, 1874: Ottomans declare war on Egypt. I love how nobody cares about Egypt after the Suez Canal is built.

May 11, 1874: Serbia goes bankrupt. I'd really like to see the Balkans get more love in a future expansion.

June 28, 1874: It's been nearly two years since Russia started manufacturing the CB. It's safe to assume they aren't going to do much with it. In the short term, I switch back to improving my economy, as the army has gotten expensive again.

August 18, 1874: A quick review of my production is very positive: the only raw goods I don't have yet are Oil, Rubber, and Silk. Two of those will be taken care of in a few years without my intervention.

December 19, 1874: So, yeah, the USA caught me with my pants down in the Pacific. I'm not heartbroken -- there's nothing super valuable that I missed -- and we are allies. Still, given that Papua New Guinea is gone, among other things, that's still disappointing.

March 13, 1875: The economy's in great shape again, so back to army improvement.

April 1, 1875: Another brigade of guards begins. If you're wondering why my army isn't much bigger, I'm still throttling defense spending at this point. I might increase it in the future, once high tech industries start to take off.

July 9, 1875: Gold in Muraleve.

October 12, 1875: Let's justify another CB against Portugal, shall we? I want to get while the getting is good, so to speak.

October 17, 1875: France is colonizing Christmas Island. Uh oh...

November 28, 1875: Oranje revolts again. I start influencing it again.

December 17, 1875: The Ottoman Empire bites off a chunk of Egypt.

December 26, 1875: I'm not neglecting the artillery techs this game. This is another reason I have to start expanding defense spending; I don't have very many artillery brigades in Europe.

I start three brigades of Hussars in Africa and Asia; they should help with grabbing bits of Portugal.

January 1, 1876: 4.7 infamy out of a possible 10. Happy New Year indeed!

February 20, 1876: Jaipur modernizes.

March 4, 1876: Now Great Wars are possible!

March 6, 1876: Dear Portugal,

Gimme!

The Netherlands.

March 22, 1876: I start justifying a second CB against Portugal to add another war goal.

April 17, 1876: I call in Transvaal to help with occupation.

July 7, 1876: Only 3.1 infamy for this CB. Nice! I'm now at 17.85 infamy, so unless this war lasts a long time, I won't be getting another CB. I can't risk breaking the limit.

July 23, 1876: Operation "Trick the Portuguese" begins when I take Coimbra. "Oh no, Portugal, don't try to retake Coimbra! You're ruining all my plans!"

August 22, 1876: Spain starts justifying a CB against Portugal to acquire state.

August 23, 1876: I get my second war goal. I know, I know, I should grab more of Africa, but I can't resist the overwhelming urge to grab Dili.

September 10, 1876: Coimbra is retaken. Boo hoo.

October 5, 1876: I've got all the army techs I can at the moment, and I tend not to invest heavily into a navy until I can get cruisers, so it's back to industry.

October 7, 1876: Lisbon falls, but Portugal is being ornery. Despite having 35 warscore (out of a needed 18), they won't quit. Oh well. I'll have to take more provinces before they surrender.

November 21, 1876: I'm about 3% away from blocking the UK's advance north. I'm starting to grab more South African coastline.

January 22, 1877: Once Dili falls, Portugal surrenders. Feast your eyes on Dutch Africa!

January 29, 1877: Oranje and I are Friendly.

March 10, 1877: Curse of the Pharaohs!

March 17, 1877: I continue working on precious metal, which continues to be an important source of revenue for me.

May 8, 1877: A new political reform to go with a new political party in charge.

I'm making enough money now that I want the boost to my factories more than the extra tax revenue.

June 4, 1877: I check west Africa out now that I've picked up the East Ivory Coast...

And discover France colonizing the west African coastline. The honeymoon is over, I guess, and the real Scramble begins! I shift, at least partially, to East Africa where I have no competition. I should be able to seal it off pretty quickly.

June 12, 1877: Here's a colonial map of Africa.

Green is what I can colonize, yellow is what I am colonizing, brown is what France is colonizing (except for the far NW brown; that's Italy expanding from Morocco.) When this next batch is done, I'm going to grab as much of the Horn as I can so France can't use Madagascar as a springboard into East Africa.

Finally, to end the update, here's a world map. Note we still have no Civil War in the USA.

Apart from colonizing in Africa, I have no real goals at this point in the game. I'm not strong enough to take on the UK yet, and when I do, I want lots of infamy so I can grab Singapore, Malacca, and as much of South Africa as I possibly can. Short term targets could include more of Arabia (like Abu Dhabi) or bits of China (maybe Taiwan)? I need to start focusing on the navy soon, since it's been relatively ignored since the beginning of the game.

 

[Avindian]

I'm following this with interest because colonization is something I haven't tackled in any game yet. I've played Japan, Brazil and now Bavaria - not major colonial powers. Japan could be, but I concentrated on economics (#3 industrialized nation) and sphering minions instead.

Bavaria has formed Germany (Bavaria, Baden and Wurttemburg) but owns Suez, Abu Dhabi and Cuba along with a major navy (32 dreadnoughts by 1920). My sphere is huge - most of South America, China, Netherlands and Portugal. Protecting Portugal from invasion by Spain is my crisis of the moment. I've tried landing troops only to lose my phenominal high-quality army to attrition. Spain is rolling over Portugal with 100 to 400 point doomstacks and my 200 point army with all military techs (it is 1923), airplanes, tanks and guards can barely defeat a Spanish stack of 75. When I do beat them they back up one province, magically regenerate to full power and come back. In the meantime I lose 50+ to attrition, mobilize, wreck my economy and then lose another 100+ to attrition.

If I can't spread out to occupy and I can't beat an army 1/3 my size, waging war is pointless and absurd. So the Spanish army that was the joke of Europe is an unstoppable military juggernaut? Sheesh. I'll reload and try something different.

Moving into China is a great idea - silk is great but tea can be a major commodity. South America is usually open for a sphering power, too - all that coffee!

Sounds like an interesting game! Any plans to write a Vicky 2 AAR?

 

[unmerged(571919)]

Try putting the beat down on France to expand your southern border.

 

[Warlord Skorr]

Given how scattered the orange in the pacific is, I think some of mainland China would nicely stabilize your holdings there. A war with an unmodernized China would provide good experience for your army and pretty much any chunk of land you could take would have all the Silk and Soldiers you could ever need.

Economic and military problems solved in one fell swoop. All you have to do is win a land war in Asia.

Speaking of economy, I'd suggest researching the next Railroad tech. Giving your Capitalists more to do for you is a good thing.

 

[Avindian]

Try putting the beat down on France to expand your southern border.

The last thing I want to do is grab a piece of French land and then fight them every five years until the end of the game.

Given how scattered the orange in the pacific is, I think some of mainland China would nicely stabilize your holdings there. A war with an unmodernized China would provide good experience for your army and pretty much any chunk of land you could take would have all the Silk and Soldiers you could ever need.

Economic and military problems solved in one fell swoop. All you have to do is win a land war in Asia.

Speaking of economy, I'd suggest researching the next Railroad tech. Giving your Capitalists more to do for you is a good thing.

The idea of attacking mainland China is intriguing; I've never done it in Vicky 2 (except with Russia). I may look for some targets when my infamy dies a bit. (You can't grab a substate in one war, can you?)

I think you're right. It probably is about time to research railroad a bit more.

 

[Michaelangelo]

Good job cutting off the British in South Africa. That will definitely help in the long run.

Is it actually possible for the American Civil War to not trigger in the game? I also find it interesting how the US has its normal borders, since ever since AHD it seems that Mexico always keeps a huge chunk of western US.