-
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.
THE GOLDEN PEACE 1746-1763
Our last war with the Russians went better than we could have hoped: losses were moderate, and we should be able to recover for another brawl with the Russians in 15 years instead of the customary 20-25 years!
This may go down as the Golden Age of Sibir: Our empire stretches from Tula to the Asian steppes, and even though the Crimeans have carved out a sizable empire themselves, that simply keeps the Poles off our backs as they fight alternately with the Russians and Crimeans. Then we pick up the pieces, er, provinces!
1758: Maliq Khan is our new ruler, and you can be sure he wants more subjects. Our choices are so limited. In a recent war council, some generals wanted to push to the south, against the Uzbeks. Trouble is, most of the land is neutral, and don't have anyone who can colonize (AFTER 250 years, sheesh!). We keep waiting for the Uzbeks or Persians to do so, giving us a bridge to attack them, but they won't cooperate. Besides, Persian armies of 40-50,000 routinely scuttle around the region, and we want no part of that! Meanwhile, the Crimeans have a bigger empire than we do, and a much larger army (they almost took Ukraine in their last war with the Poles!) That narrows it down - again! - and so it's time to take on the Russians again.
September 1761: Just when we feared an attack, the Russians must honor their military alliance with Denmark, and fight against the likes of Spain, England and some other countries we've never heard of. Excellent!
GLORY TO SIBIR, 1763-1765
February 1763: Our armies are ready: FIVE armies of 18k infantry/8 k cavalry/120 cannon EACH, plus five more armies of 10K infantry each. It's the biggest army ever amassed by the Horde! Even better, Russia has been entangled in war for almost two years, and should getting tired. Token Russian armies guard the front before us.
March 1763: We declare war, and three armies move straight into the Russian heartland. We defeat the Russian armies in Moscow, Vologda and Vladimir and quickly lay siege to all three provinces. Our allies from Astrakhan join us and attack Novgorod.
October 1763: All three provinces (all small fortresses) fall within two weeks of each other, and we join the Astrakhan siege of Novgorod, and send another 20k army to Ingermanland! The greatest victory in Sibir history is in our grasp. We covet the shipyard in Ingermanland, a gateway to colonies we could only dream about ....
March 1764: Well, we're still dreaming. Just as we settle down for the siege of Ingermanland, the Swedes declare war on us (and the Russians!), and a Russian army of 40,000 raises the siege of Novgorod. Our army in Ingermanland is cut off, and swiftly defeated by the Swedes. Losses are mounting from battle and attrition, and before the Russians can mount a counteroffensive, we send our trusty diplomatic corps. First we go to the Swedes, offer 250d, and they agree!.
August 1764: We still control three Russian provinces, so we demand Vladimir and Vologda for peace. The Russians, still at war, quickly agree, and Maliq Khan takes his place in Sibir history!
Our last war with the Russians went better than we could have hoped: losses were moderate, and we should be able to recover for another brawl with the Russians in 15 years instead of the customary 20-25 years!
This may go down as the Golden Age of Sibir: Our empire stretches from Tula to the Asian steppes, and even though the Crimeans have carved out a sizable empire themselves, that simply keeps the Poles off our backs as they fight alternately with the Russians and Crimeans. Then we pick up the pieces, er, provinces!
1758: Maliq Khan is our new ruler, and you can be sure he wants more subjects. Our choices are so limited. In a recent war council, some generals wanted to push to the south, against the Uzbeks. Trouble is, most of the land is neutral, and don't have anyone who can colonize (AFTER 250 years, sheesh!). We keep waiting for the Uzbeks or Persians to do so, giving us a bridge to attack them, but they won't cooperate. Besides, Persian armies of 40-50,000 routinely scuttle around the region, and we want no part of that! Meanwhile, the Crimeans have a bigger empire than we do, and a much larger army (they almost took Ukraine in their last war with the Poles!) That narrows it down - again! - and so it's time to take on the Russians again.
September 1761: Just when we feared an attack, the Russians must honor their military alliance with Denmark, and fight against the likes of Spain, England and some other countries we've never heard of. Excellent!
GLORY TO SIBIR, 1763-1765
February 1763: Our armies are ready: FIVE armies of 18k infantry/8 k cavalry/120 cannon EACH, plus five more armies of 10K infantry each. It's the biggest army ever amassed by the Horde! Even better, Russia has been entangled in war for almost two years, and should getting tired. Token Russian armies guard the front before us.
March 1763: We declare war, and three armies move straight into the Russian heartland. We defeat the Russian armies in Moscow, Vologda and Vladimir and quickly lay siege to all three provinces. Our allies from Astrakhan join us and attack Novgorod.
October 1763: All three provinces (all small fortresses) fall within two weeks of each other, and we join the Astrakhan siege of Novgorod, and send another 20k army to Ingermanland! The greatest victory in Sibir history is in our grasp. We covet the shipyard in Ingermanland, a gateway to colonies we could only dream about ....
March 1764: Well, we're still dreaming. Just as we settle down for the siege of Ingermanland, the Swedes declare war on us (and the Russians!), and a Russian army of 40,000 raises the siege of Novgorod. Our army in Ingermanland is cut off, and swiftly defeated by the Swedes. Losses are mounting from battle and attrition, and before the Russians can mount a counteroffensive, we send our trusty diplomatic corps. First we go to the Swedes, offer 250d, and they agree!.
August 1764: We still control three Russian provinces, so we demand Vladimir and Vologda for peace. The Russians, still at war, quickly agree, and Maliq Khan takes his place in Sibir history!
Last edited:
AN ANTICLIMACTIC END, 1763-1792
We've reached a golden era, which is only fitting since we were once the Golden Horde. After the hard-fought war of 1762-3, we spent 20 years rebuilding our armies, and also our relations with Crimea and Poland-Lithuania, who seem to resent our success against the Russians.
And the Russians seem to be at peace, even with Catherine the Great on the throne.
But finally, in the fall of 1790, we plan our final assault on the Russians, which we hope will gain us both Novgorod and the port at Ingermanland. Five armies of 40k each are readied along with the necessary siege equipment, and numerous smaller armies are ready to be fed into the meatgrinder of the Russian winter. Masiq Khan is forward with the armies.
January 1790: Three sizable Russian armies sit in Moscow, Novgorod and Onega, which perhaps means they will attack US! Now what?
January 20, 1790: It is a sad day for Islam! We've sent dozens of our finest maidens to the Crimeans to further our relations, and they've just joined an alliance with the cursed Russians! They are traitors to Allah, but for now there is nothing we can do. On the borders alone we count 140,000 Crimeans and 150,000 Russians, and now the Golden Horde has joined their alliance. Poland-Lithuania is allied with France and some other nations, and we are suddenly alone and friendless, except for our lapdogs in Astrakhan.
March 10, 1790: Our diplomat in Tula awaits documents declaring war against the Russians, but the Supreme War Council of Sibir has locked itself in a giant yurt for three days, debating its next move. Finally, a decision is reached: Masiq Khan rises to his feet and announces: ``We have created a great empire, and will fight no more unless attacked. Go home in peace.''
THE END
We've reached a golden era, which is only fitting since we were once the Golden Horde. After the hard-fought war of 1762-3, we spent 20 years rebuilding our armies, and also our relations with Crimea and Poland-Lithuania, who seem to resent our success against the Russians.
And the Russians seem to be at peace, even with Catherine the Great on the throne.
But finally, in the fall of 1790, we plan our final assault on the Russians, which we hope will gain us both Novgorod and the port at Ingermanland. Five armies of 40k each are readied along with the necessary siege equipment, and numerous smaller armies are ready to be fed into the meatgrinder of the Russian winter. Masiq Khan is forward with the armies.
January 1790: Three sizable Russian armies sit in Moscow, Novgorod and Onega, which perhaps means they will attack US! Now what?
January 20, 1790: It is a sad day for Islam! We've sent dozens of our finest maidens to the Crimeans to further our relations, and they've just joined an alliance with the cursed Russians! They are traitors to Allah, but for now there is nothing we can do. On the borders alone we count 140,000 Crimeans and 150,000 Russians, and now the Golden Horde has joined their alliance. Poland-Lithuania is allied with France and some other nations, and we are suddenly alone and friendless, except for our lapdogs in Astrakhan.
March 10, 1790: Our diplomat in Tula awaits documents declaring war against the Russians, but the Supreme War Council of Sibir has locked itself in a giant yurt for three days, debating its next move. Finally, a decision is reached: Masiq Khan rises to his feet and announces: ``We have created a great empire, and will fight no more unless attacked. Go home in peace.''
THE END
EPILOGUE
OK, OK, I did attack the Russians in March 1790, JUST TO SEE HOW I WOULD DO, and it was the disaster I'd managed to avoid for 300 years. My pathetic generals were driven back immediately, and within six months the Russian-Crimean alliance had captured four of my provinces! Meanwhile the Persians DOWd me, then Poland-Lithuania joined in. But I'm not counting that.
All in all it was a great game, with Sibir finishing 12th in final points (with no missions, of course), a nice empire, and of course some great victories against the Russians when their backs weer turned. On the negative side, I ended with 62 percent inflation (gotta finance those wars somehow), lousy tech, and nearly everyone hated me at the end.
Of course, it would have been worse had the AI been smarter. On three occasions, the Russians had me on the run and would have taken 2-3 provinces, but I was able to buy my way out of trouble. Two other glitches: I had the worst maps in the world (how DID my merchants make it to Isfahan?), and my manpower never exceeded 20 even though I had a sizable empire. That meant keeping a large, barely affordable army on hand at all times in case of attack.
Also, there was a certain predictability to this game: attack the Russians, spend at least 20 years recovering, attack again, etc. So was it boring? No way!
All hail Sibir!
OK, OK, I did attack the Russians in March 1790, JUST TO SEE HOW I WOULD DO, and it was the disaster I'd managed to avoid for 300 years. My pathetic generals were driven back immediately, and within six months the Russian-Crimean alliance had captured four of my provinces! Meanwhile the Persians DOWd me, then Poland-Lithuania joined in. But I'm not counting that.
All in all it was a great game, with Sibir finishing 12th in final points (with no missions, of course), a nice empire, and of course some great victories against the Russians when their backs weer turned. On the negative side, I ended with 62 percent inflation (gotta finance those wars somehow), lousy tech, and nearly everyone hated me at the end.
Of course, it would have been worse had the AI been smarter. On three occasions, the Russians had me on the run and would have taken 2-3 provinces, but I was able to buy my way out of trouble. Two other glitches: I had the worst maps in the world (how DID my merchants make it to Isfahan?), and my manpower never exceeded 20 even though I had a sizable empire. That meant keeping a large, barely affordable army on hand at all times in case of attack.
Also, there was a certain predictability to this game: attack the Russians, spend at least 20 years recovering, attack again, etc. So was it boring? No way!
All hail Sibir!
Congratulations on finishing, and on an enjoyable read. 12th seems pretty good to me, I'm almost inspired to try to do better, but that's pretty intimidating. I'm always impressed when someone gets to 1792 - it takes some doing. I also suspect that a lot of people don't appreciate how different the game is in the 18th century. Good work!
I echo Isaac's congrats on finishing. I know I haven't had the guts to do it 
Could we please, please, please have one final screenshot? Please
Could we please, please, please have one final screenshot? Please
