Four for the price of one

[Storey]

Having nothing better to do in my life (Sad isn't it) I have decided to write an aar. This insanity has been brought on by the unrelenting need to keep trying something different. The idea of this aar was first brought to my attention a few weeks ago by someone who wrote how to change a country in the middle of a game. So I am going to take four countries from 1492-1792. I will start with one and play that country for five years and then move to the next one etc, etc. After I have done this rotation twice I will give myself the option of staying either five or ten years with each country from then on until the game ends or I get bored. I mainly want to see how the computer does with a little help from a human player. A few rules that I will follow are for example not starting alliances. I may decline to honor a call for help in an alliance or I may accept another country asking if I want to join their alliance but I will not go out and start one. I don't know if this is going to be very exciting since I think I'll mainly be doing economic chores that the computer seems to leave till the last. (A lot of tax collectors to build etc. I also think that four countries is a good number since more would mean probably not getting through he rotation before it's too late to do any good. I'm not going to try to keep up with what is happening in the rest of the world unless it impacts one of the countries I'm playing beause it's too much work. I'm also not necessarily going to report any and all troop orders or which trader I sent where again too much work. I'm simply trying to see how well the countries do will only a little help. So here goes.

First country. Drum roll.... Mameluks
Situation:
Ah the wonderful world of the Mameluks. I start off with 200 ducats and +2 stability. I have a leader in Al Kansur who has 20k infantry, 22k Cavalry and 10 cannon. Okay so much for the good news now the bad. I'm surrounded by countries that either don't like me or hate me. And then there's Turkey that boiling pot of trouble waiting to pour into the lands of the Mameluks.

Goal:
Survival is my goal. Yes I know some of you would be declaring world domination or something like that but be serious. I know that the odds are that Turkey is going to declare war sometime in the first year or two (yes I've played a normal game as the Mameluks) and I want to be able to at least fight them to a draw. Don't forget I have only five years to do this in before I move on to the next country.

Starting Jan 1492 200d in treasury +2 Stability 0% Inflation

Adjust sliders to eliminate rebellions. Upgrade fort in Judea and Samaria. I know the Turks are going to come down to me and I want the greatest attrition that I can come by. These two provinces have the lowest supply rate so hopefully delaying the Turks there will cause the greatest damage. Economic slider is all to stability with .04 left for treasury. I would put it all in land tech. but I don't think I have enough time for it too make a difference.

January 1943 76d in treasury

Guess what? Turkey declares war!
Aleppo besieged by 30k troops
Move Al Kansur to Egypt.

May
Aleppo falls
I rise 4k infrantry in Egypt

June
Syria besieged by 60k troops

July
Syria falls

August
Judea besieged by 47k troops

Sept
Lebanon falls

Dec
Judea falls
Samaria besieged 27k troops

January 1494 143d in treasury +3 Stability (Yea)
Slider to max in treasury (I'm going to need the money soon)
Samaria falls
2k infantry, 3k Cavalry ordered in Delta

February
Sinai falls

54k Mameluks wait in Egypt for Turks

March
2k infantry 3k Cavalry ordered in Delta
First large battle pits Mameluks 27Inf-25Cav-10 Cannon against Turkish army made up of 17Cav-20Cannon. 35K Turkish army on its way from Samaria.

April
Destroyed first Turkish army

May
Mameluks 27Inf-25Cav-10Cannon against Turkish army of 24Inf-20Cannon.
Mameluks lose and retreat to Cataract
Egypt besieged

June
3k Infantry 2k Cavalry ordered in Delta

November
Counter attacked with all forces and destroyed Turkish army in Egypt

December
Sinai recovered

January 1495 70d in Treasury

February
Judea besieged
10k Infantry ordered in Egypt
No Turkish armies in sight

March
Lebanon recovered

April
Syria besieged by Al Kansur

October
Samaria recovered

November
Judea recovered
Syria recovered

December
Valuable mineral discovered 500d to treasury (Random event) WooHoo!
Aleppo besieged
Still no Turkish armies in sight

January 1496 613d in Treasury
Ordered fort in Lebanon
Baliff ordered in Egypt

February
5k infantry 5 Calvary ordered in Delta
Fort enlarged in Syria
Baliff ordered in Alexandria

September
Aleppo recovered
White peace offered to Turkey and they turn it down.
I don't want to invade Turkey because my time is running out!

November
5Infantry and 5 Calvary ordered in Delta
White peace offered and Turkey turns it down.

December
White peace offered and Turkey turns it down.

January 1497 146d in Treasury and still at war.
At this time I have to send a fond goodbye to the Mameluks and move on. I have left a strong force in Aleppo to block any Turkish armies. I hope they can manage to get the Turks to agree to a white peace. Their economy is sound and I can only hope for the best.

Next stop Denmark!

 

[Storey]

January 1497 257d in Treasury Inflation 2%

Situation:
Denmark is in a military alliance with Russia, Crimea, Ryazan, Pskov and Kazan. Holstein is a vassal.
Denmark is at war with Sweden.( Now there's a surprise)
Skane and Jamtland have be overrun and Ostlandet is besieged.
I have two leaders King Hans and Junker Schlentz both with decent stats.
Goal:
My goal is a white peace with Sweden. I can hear the howls from here but don't forget that I have only 5 years to work with. I think being able too hold on to Skane should be considered a victory. The problem I face is that Sweden has more troops than I have and to re-conquer Skane and Jamtland and break the siege at Ostlandet will take too long so I will attempt that tried and true method of trying to capture the Swedish capital.

January
All money into treasury, about 5d per month.
Order 50 cannon in Gotland
Move fleet off shore to load King Hans and 5k infantry on board.

February
Russia declares war against Poland-Lithuania. Moldavia joins Poland and all Russia's allies join Russia including me although I don't plan to send any troops.(Duh)

March
Fleet with King Hans is attacked off Gotland and loses battle.
Fleet docks in Gotland

May
White peace signed between Turkey and Mameluks. (Yea) Now can I trust them to not screw up until I get back to them?

January 1498
Ostlandet lost to Sweden
Fleet attempts to leave Gotland but is defeated by Swedish fleet and back to Gotland it goes.

April
Narvik lost

June
Fleet attempts to leave Gotland but is defeated by Swedish fleet and back to Gotland it goes.
Junker Schlentz recaptures Jamtland

July
Junker Schlentz conquers Lappland
Junker Schlentz recaptures Narvik

October
Fleet attempts to leave Gotland but is defeated by Swedish fleet and back to Gotland it goes.

January 1499 77d in Treasury
Let it be heard throughout the land that the fleet in Gotland finally defeated the fearsome sailors of Sweden and King Hans can now load 13k infantry and 70 cannon on board.

February
Svealand besieged by King Hans

March
Jamtland besieged by Sweden

April
Junker Schlentz besieges Ostlandet

May
White peace between Russia and Poland and all allies.

December
Svealand falls
White peace between Sweden and Denmark
I know, I know I had a couple of more years to work with but I need the time for Denmark to build itself up economically before I jump to the next country besides I don't think I could have gotten more that maybe one province from them and it's just not worth it.

January 1500 99d in Treasury Inflation 5%

Baliff in Jylland
Junker Schlentz died. He did far better than I thought he would do. He will be missed. Well, for a little while anyway.
Traders are now being sent out where ever.

November
All hell breaks out in Europe but none of it involves me or my allies. But there are a couple of dozen countries fighting.

January 1501 109d in treasury 6% Inflation
Baliff in Skane

February
Reduce navy to 50% maintenance. (Duh) Should have done that at the end of the war. Oh well.

January 1502 109d in Treasury 6% Inflation O victory points

Not a lot happened other than the war with Sweden and I know I couldn't hope to conquer them so sometimes you have to cut your loses and run. But wait until next time!

Next Venice

 

[Brad1]

This is a great AAR, and I think that I will follow it as much as possible. Can't wait for your next update.

 

[Lord Durham]

Having nothing better to do in my life (Sad isn't it) I have decided to write an aar.

Hmmm. For some reason I think us AAR writers should be insulted

Regardless, nice idea, Storey. I like the concept. What happens if one of your Fab Four gets conquered, or annexed? Is it a fab three, or do you take on another country?

 

[unmerged(3963)]

Storey - abolutely great, innovative, and a good read. Also, you may be in the unique position to answer a question I've had about the EU AI for a while - if you leave a country in a certain position, can the AI cope, or does it reshuffle everything?

The reason I ask is that I have played rather a lot of strategic games, and I like boosting a certain country, and then leaving it on its own to see how it does. But in many games, the AI cannot cope with the situation you left it, since it has very specific ideas of which armies should go where, how much money should be spent on research or on armies, etc. etc. etc. So either it reshuffles everything, wasting tons of precious time and attrition in the process, or it can't cope with the setup, and just leaves armies hanging around since it can't figure out what to do with them.

So when you come around the the mameluks again, I'm dying to read what you discover.

For me, upgrading to EU II, if I do it, will be only for one reason - a better AI.

 

[Josephus I]

Hey Storey, I am enjoying reading what you have so far. My only suggestion would be to maybe increase your control of each country to, at least 10 years, from five. Seems to me that five years doesn't give you much time to do much--keep in mind that later in the game, many wars last longer than 5 years.

 

[unmerged(3963)]

Josephus - good point.

I agree. 10 years would be better. And, if you find that a war lasts longer than that, I reckon it would be totally justified to finish that war, even if you surpass the deadline.

 

[Carolus Rex]

Nice writing Storey.
Lazy man, only 5 year AAR's.
At least my Crazy Carolus AAR is some 50 years long!!

 

[unmerged(3963)]

But then again, it's also dead.

 

[WhiteHojo]

Very innovative Storey (no pun intended)...

Hope you don't get bored w/it too quick, it seems pretty interesting so far.

Q - what setting's are you using (IGC & GC??)???

Keep em coming

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by Lord Durham

Hmmm. For some reason I think us AAR writers should be insulted

Regardless, nice idea, Storey. I like the concept. What happens if one of your Fab Four gets conquered, or annexed? Is it a fab three, or do you take on another country?

It may sound silly but I haven't any plans for what to do if I lose one. I'll wait until it happens before I decide but I don't plan to give up easily. I've also set them as majors so they're safe from complete destruction but If they are reduced to one province I will have to decide at that time.

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by BadKarma
Storey - abolutely great, innovative, and a good read. Also, you may be in the unique position to answer a question I've had about the EU AI for a while - if you leave a country in a certain position, can the AI cope, or does it reshuffle everything?

So when you come around the the mameluks again, I'm dying to read what you discover.

For me, upgrading to EU II, if I do it, will be only for one reason - a better AI.

I agree about the AI. This is mainly a test to see,as you put it, if the AI can cope. Already the Mameluks are in trouble and I still have ten years before I'm back to help them out.

 

[unmerged(3963)]

I am now wondering how to support all your interests AT THE SAME TIME - but see no option other than either LOT's of saving and swapping, or setting up 4 computers around you and playing a multiplayer game.

Hehe.... sounds like fun. Station 4 friends behind the screens (your orderlies), and then order them to execute commands for the countries like the general you are.

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by Josephus I
Hey Storey, I am enjoying reading what you have so far. My only suggestion would be to maybe increase your control of each country to, at least 10 years, from five. Seems to me that five years doesn't give you much time to do much--keep in mind that later in the game, many wars last longer than 5 years.

The reason I started with two rotations of five years each is because in the early stages of the game some countries can easily be conquered. For example if I was doing the ten year rotation it would be 1532 before I returned to the Mameluks who could have been conquered by Turkey by then. I just felt that the early years are very important and five years worked out best. One interesting consequence to this limitation of time is that is changes your concept of what's possible. For example just trying to get a white peace with Sweden. If I had more time I would have tried to take a province or two but as you can see with just five years my hands were tied because I didn't trust the AI to carry on the war. With the Mameluks I didn't have a choice since the Turkish AI refused my peace offer. Instead of looking 50 or 100 years down the road you have to ask yourself what can I do in the next few years. It changes your strategic planing to a great degree. It's also more realistic (Oh my GOD I used the R word). Most people when they finally reached a powerful position in government didn't have more that five to ten years in power. Then someone else had to come along and pick up the pieces from the previous fool. That in a nut shell is what I'm doing.

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by Brad1
This is a great AAR, and I think that I will follow it as much as possible. Can't wait for your next update.

Thanks. Wish me luck.

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by WhiteHojo
Very innovative Storey (no pun intended)...

Hope you don't get bored w/it too quick, it seems pretty interesting so far.

Q - what setting's are you using (IGC & GC??)???

Keep em coming

If I remember right I'm using the EU 1.09, IGC 2.3 or someting close to that.

 

[Storey]

Originally posted by Carolus Rex
Nice writing Storey.
Lazy man, only 5 year AAR's.
At least my Crazy Carolus AAR is some 50 years long!!

I know I'm lazy! I also plan on not going bankrupt with any of the countries.

 

[unmerged(3963)]

Storey - good reasoning on the 5 year bit. I noticed the same when someone tried to make an 'inheritance' multiplayer AAR - people started getting more concerned with the ruler following their own play.

Which interesting, 'cause I sure as hell don't care whether I am at war for 1 or 15 years (or more) - as long as I get what I want in the end.

 

[Storey]

VENICE
January 1502 79d in Treasury 4% Inflation +1 Stability

Situation:
Ragusa has been added to Venice. +1 stability? I wonder if the DOW on Ragusa caused that?
Military alliance with Teutonic Order and Prussia. Boy I'll bet they're going to be a lot of help if I have to fight a war. Military consists of around 5k infantry, 3k cavalry and 30 cannon. One decent leader but I don't plan on using him. I don't think we will be launching an attack against anyone soon.

Goal:
Economic growth. With the allies I have I don't think I want to get into any conflicts. So I'm going to keep my head down and build up my infrastructure. Unless someone gets pissed at me it should be pretty boring.

January
All research into stability. +0.1 into treasury
Sending traders out as I see fit.

February
Baliff in Mantua

March
+2 stability reached.

January 1503 68d in Treasury
Baliff in Crete

March
+3 stability reached.
Max to trade research.

January 1504 82d in Treasury
Trade advanced to level 4.


September
Georgia joins Turkey in war against Mameluks. Persia does not join Turkey.
Hedjaz joins Mameluks in war. Well at least Persia stayed out of it but I fear for the Mameluks.
Denmark annexed Holstein. Now that's good to hear!

January 1505 98d in Treasury 5% Inflation
Baliff in Istria

September
Improved relations with all nations +10, random event.

January 1506 105d in Treasury
Baliff in Illyria

December
Land tech. to level 4 no help from me.

January 1507 119d in treasury 5% Inflation 37 Victory points.

It was everything I thought it would be but that's what happens when you do the yeoman work. All the sweat and none of the glory. I hope by the time I return they have better allies.

Now on to Algiers!

 

[The Danish King]

Great AAR mate!