Brazilian Woes (and another advanced subjects)

[unmerged(68110)]

Hello folks, after a while of not playing Victoria, I've decided to come back with a fierce drive to make a potential power truly great - Brazil.

Being a Con. Mon. with slavery definitely doesn't help though. And although it is the country that I have played the most, it is by far and large the only one I get frustrated with. It has so much potential yet it is so elusive that I end up saving the game and quitting.

Thus I am here to discuss some strategies with you good veterans. (Ricky 2.02 with hotfixes)

A - The most critical problem that anyone has with Brazil must be immigration. Not only you are competing with the USA, but also with the other South American countries which happen to be democracies (or more democratic than you anyways, thanks Pedro II). That means that a large share of your RGOs are barely filled 'till you become a democracy, which I need to test because I never played a game beyond the Proclamation of the Republic. Also that means...

B - Industrialization is a b****. Not lots of options here I am afraid. Can't depend too much on immigrants because they come in drops, and you will be only hurting your economy if you convert your labourers from the precious coffee fields. Perhaps converting from other states like Paraná which have poorer RGOs is a good idea, but then again, you almost have no population to work in those factories.

C - How viable is for Brazil to wage war against their neighbors? I often considered a "March to the Pacific", mostly because of Chilean resources.

D - Making minor parties major. This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, particularly because that in the 1860's comes the Partido Carioca with oh-so-lovely full citizenship policies. However, the bastards keep voting for the Liberal and I don't want to make militancy skyrocket because I keep putting them back in power. And I am not so sure that Populism (as in Populism vs Estabilishment invention) can help.

E - Any chance that Brazil can compete with the great powers in regards to tech? Just for curiosity, really. I practically gave up on that...

F - Last but not least - Colonization. I have DREAMS of seeing the "Armada Imperial Brasileira" reaching the shores of Africa, China or even Melanesia ( ) and going for my own place in the sun. Is it possible?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Garek Maxwell]

Note: I am speaking from my own experience here, so it may not be the best idea to listen to me.

C - How viable is for Brazil to wage war against their neighbors? I often considered a "March to the Pacific", mostly because of Chilean resources.

What I did was try to get as soon as I could the providences nearby that are owned by the other European powers. However, what I concentrated on was just taking out all the other South American countries as quickly as possible. I built up a bunch of calvary and I had completely dominated and taken almost all the land in South America before the US even had the civil war. (In one game, I expanded so quickly I was able to go to war with America and successfully hit them hard and win for a while. However I had revolts all over the place and a sky high badboy. My economy was completely devoted towards funding warfare too, so I got really behind in techs and..well...kinda almost fell apart. o )

One thing to remember is that if you go my way you can forget diplomacy. Your badboy will rise too fast and too much for anyone to like you.

E - Any chance that Brazil can compete with the great powers in regards to tech? Just for curiosity, really. I practically gave up on that...

It might be possible if you satellite a single state and use them for tech trades. I did that to an Italian Minor as Spain once... Of course, I wasn't hated throughout the world either.

F - Last but not least - Colonization. I have DREAMS of seeing the "Armada Imperial Brasileira" reaching the shores of Africa, China or even Melanesia ( ) and going for my own place in the sun. Is it possible?

If you can get enough troops raised quickly enough (and you're playing in VIP), try to get Japan satellited before Tokugawa appears. You'll force Japan to three or so providences and Tokugawa will be uncivilized and easily taken care of by that time with NO troops what so ever. Be fast though, as much like Japan they will spawn a thousand irregulars that are virtually impossible to crush if you're not fast enough.

Oh, and China's always a nice target.