Coming to the aid of a non-allied nation?

[unmerged(3931)]

Was there anything else in the game mechanics of EU2 which I could have done?

Yes, DoW OE and mop them up 100%, then hold control of all their provinces until Bosnia and OE sign a white peace. It's much easier that Bosnia cannot build ships otherwise you would have to clear out all the Ottoman ships also; and finding them can be tough.

You might not actually need 100% victory, you just need to prevent battles and seiges between the two countries for three years. You could beat the OE to the other side of the straits and hold them there, taking control of the provinces on your side of the straight. It depends on how far Bosnia would go looking for a fight.

 

[Rowain]

More trouble than it's worth to me, but there is honour in it. I'd still just cover every OE province, and since you don't have winter attrititon you wouldn't need to worry. You could also just play police like you kinda did and wipe out OE armies and allow the Bosnians to siege.

 

[unmerged(14689)]

It's a pity I can't guarantee the independence of a country to get a CB right after they have rebelled and are, thus, at war with their master. I understand it would have been too easy to exploit, but for roleplaying purposes, I would really like to be able to tell Poland as Russia to accept Ukraine breaking away or face war.

 

[MarkShot]

Game Over

FYI - if anyone wants to know how my set of goals turned out. (see second post)

At the close of recorded history, Catholicism ruled over the lives of practially all of Europe. In Central Europe, all of the populace were practicing Catholics, with a mix of Protestants to the West and the North, and the Orthodox Church holding sway in the East. Islam's advance into Europe had been halted.

Much of this was accomplished through the hard work and devotion of the Austrian people and her newly assimilated territories of Sweden and Russia. Austria extended her empire through Central and Northern Europe to Eurasia. Austria led a grand Catholic alliance at the end composed Austria, Spain, and Poland. Under force of arms, England consented to become Austria's vassal and was on her way to becoming absorbed as part of the Austrian Empire as well.

 

[billiard]

How in the world did you afford all of the Missionaries? I end up spending lots of money on Missionaries in the 1600's, eventually giving up and going colonial when those pesky "wrong culture" provinces give me a measly 10 to 20% conversion probability. For Austria admittedly that's not a problem in central Europe (but still, it costs mucho ducats even if every German province converts on the first or second try), but Scandinavia would have been VERY problematic.

 

[MarkShot]

Initially, Austria mobilized trade. As Austria's trading prowess improved though, she was turned away from many COTs. However, by that time, Austria has a fairly sizeable territory under her control. Thus, production and tax income continued to fuel the economic engine admirably. All of Austria's missionary activity had the impact of accelerating Austria's economic and military growth, since less money had to be invested towards the maintaining of stability over the long run.

A key decision was made by Austria's leaders as to the best strategy to extend Catholicism across Europe. Austria could have turned inwards and concentrated solely on converting all her populace to Catholicism or she could have turned outward to bring the greatest number under Catholic rule. The latter was chosen, since Austria's astute leaders realized that political/economic control would ultimately lead to adoption of Catholicism among later generations.

The good relations which Austria enjoyed with her Catholic neighbors both allied and un-allied allowed Austria to mobilize against those who had drifted away from the True Faith with a singleness of purpose.

Over a couple of centuries Austria offered to vassalize Poland knowing that in asorbing Poland, Austria would be able to bring much greater prosperity to the Polish subjects while assisting Poland to find a greater purity of faith. But the Poles continued to value their independence above all else. Poland proved to a loyal ally through the years and the Austrian leadership never contemplated going further with the idea of a Greater Austria in Central Europe beyond making diplomatic overtures.

A final footnote: In the final years, the Austrian economy was practically double the size of her European contemporaries. This is probably an understatement of the case, since Austria had brought inflation down to 0% whereas others were struggling with inflation as high as 50%.

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This game was interesting for me. It demonstrated that great power could be achieved while playing a largely peaceful game. It also made it clear to me that economics is the key to all success. You can buy technology, friends, allies, armies, and conversions if you are filthy rich.