Creating monopolies

[Ayn Mandarb]

Certain raw resources can be quite concentrated in certain areas, so I've been toying with the idea of seeing if I could form a monopoly in one of them, then refuse to sell it - to stop other nations from being able to get any and thus develop with it.

Best option seems to be Silk. Almost entirely in Asia, I've just started a game as Russia and if I'm aggressive early on and annex the nations/land with silk in it in Asia, that would leave just 5 provinces in Europe to capture and I'd have a global monopoly on silk - and thus Luxury Clothes.

Thus surely no other nation would be able to promote clerks, thus severly impeding their ability to industrialise.

Has anyone tried/achieved this before? Any other raw materials that it could be realistically done with?

EDIT: I guess Dye would be another option, as the UK if you could capture all of India then that'd just leave 3 more provinces in the world producing dye, get them and you'd monopolise dye until 1880+, and thus regular clothes and thus luxury clothes too, so nobody would be able to promote any craftsmen or clerks!

 

[jonti-h]

I haven't done it with raw materials, but I have with Machine Parts (pre VR) and it had quite an effect before everyone else found out how to make them.

It ought to stop anyone industrialising if you put a stop on the right resources.

 

[Ayn Mandarb]

I know about the trick of doing it with machine parts as the UK, but the problem is its just a stalling measure - and surely not that fantastic a one since nations will start with some, and gain some from the techs/inventions until they can manufacture their own.

Hmm, good trick could be to combine the two as the UK. Keep your monopoly on machine parts as long as possible, and while you still have it, set off immediately to gain a monopoly on dye, thus preventing others from ever really industrialising.

 

[jonti-h]

I know about the trick of doing it with machine parts as the UK, but the problem is its just a stalling measure - and surely not that fantastic a one since nations will start with some, and gain some from the techs/inventions until they can manufacture their own.

It works for a while.
Also the AI is so daft that it will sell a load of MPs it gets from inventions, or will sell its starting supply. I tried it a while back, and managed to get 20 MPs at the start of the game!

It is true that it doesn't work for very long though.

Hmm, good trick could be to combine the two as the UK. Keep your monopoly on machine parts as long as possible, and while you still have it, set off immediately to gain a monopoly on dye, thus preventing others from ever really industrialising.

That would work, also try to hold a monopoly over silk too, and the world will be unindustrialised for ever!

I might try that at some point!

 

[Ayn Mandarb]

If you had all the dye, then getting silk would be rather redundant wouldn't it, since without regular clothes (which requires dye, which you control) you can't use silk anyway.

 

[jonti-h]

If you had all the dye, then getting silk would be rather redundant wouldn't it, since without regular clothes (which requires dye, which you control) you can't use silk anyway.

True.
I had forgotten that. o

What I have always wondered was what would happen if you released a huge amount of a resource that was in high demand but hitherto unavailable on the market - MPs for instance.

 

[xantener]

When the topic came up the last time (and it does regularly) surprisingly many players advised to go for sulphur, thereby stopping the AI to build up any kind of army...

 

[unmerged(46065)]

If you had all the dye, then getting silk would be rather redundant wouldn't it, since without regular clothes (which requires dye, which you control) you can't use silk anyway.

Well, for countries like UK which could probably accomplish capturing and holding almost all Dye pretty easily, dye would be a good way to stop industrialization for a little while, but then it would be wise to go for silk asap also, that way, when the dye industry comes up, you will still have them not able to industrialize.

I know that now sounds odd, but they could put the dye factory in, say, for example, Berlin. Remove workers from pre-existing factories and add to the dye factory.

 

[unmerged(61342)]

Dye monopoly will end around 1870 with Oraganic Chemistry>Synthetic Dye Factory. So then you need to control all the coal fields too LOL.

 

[unmerged(60792)]

How do you know that AI wouldn't cheat to get what it needs? It does that with money, it does that with diplomats, why wouldn't it do it with resources?

 

[jonti-h]

How do you know that AI wouldn't cheat to get what it needs? It does that with money, it does that with diplomats, why wouldn't it do it with resources?

It seems to work, so I don't think the AI does cheat for resources.
I suppose it is possible at higher at higher difficulty settings, but then it would make the WM fail wouldn't it?

 

[Raph]

Resource monopolies was a much more viable strategy pre-1.04 when all RGO outputs were incresed obscenely which ruined - IMHO - much of the realism in the game like wars for resources and such. Back then, you'd have iron and sulphur shortages during the 1870's (which is historic) making it really important to grab those provinces and the techs that increase output.

It's still possible though, as you've pointed out, with dye to some extent and perhaps some other resources. Maybe you could try with tropical wood? Sulphur is really good if you could pull it off but I think that there's far too many powerful nations producing sulphur.

If you want to do a more thorough analysis of it, use this province by resource sort over at VickyWiki:

http://victoria.nsen.ch/wiki/index.php/Provinces_by_resource,_Part_1
http://victoria.nsen.ch/wiki/index.php/Provinces_by_resource,_Part_2

 

[unmerged(46065)]

Oh btw, just because I gave a suggestion on how to do it as UK, doesn't mean I'm going to try it.

I see a potential loophole, idk what it is, I just know I would do something wrong and it wouldnt work or game would cheat, I get a big feeling that it wouldnt work for me, 'cause thats just how things are

 

[Ayn Mandarb]

Raph: Thanks, I was looking at that which is what gave me the idea behind this thread, and how I knew there's only a tiny number of provinces outside of India.

Never done an AAR before, but starting one based on this idea. Of course if I fail that may say more about my newbieish lack of talents than that its not possible. I do just hope the AI can't cheat to get resources: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269675