Hello,
For the record, this is not a guide. I am the one asking someone to guide me. I thought there was already a thread about this, but I couldn't find it, so maybe I'm wrong. I was meant to only ask only the one sentence question, but I felt that if I didn't show the kind of detail I'm hoping for, then people would just throw vague answers at me. Help is appreciated, thanks.
The question here is: what is the most efficient way to convert to Coptic as the Ottomans without cripping yourself for years? Here, I see three distinct phases. First one, grabbing some Coptic provinces. Second one, spawning Coptic rebels. And third one, having those rebels convert enough land. As far as my methodology goes, it taking way too long for me to accept it as a viable strat. Therefore, I would like to go through all the steps, and maybe someone here has an idea how to speed things up.
Phase 1:
From what I came up with, this is the easiest and fastest part. A month after the game starts threaten Aq Qoyunlu for Erzincan. The following month DOW Qara Qoyunlu for Erzurum. Quickly siege Yerevan then Tabriz, and stick to fighting in the mountains, even if you are the attacker. This war is surprisingly easy on manpower. In the mean time, construct a spy network in Georgia. As soon as take you Coptic provinces from Qara, fabricate claim on Samtskhe and threaten Georgians for it. Done.
Phase 2:
It's all about getting high but controllable revolt risk. Don't buy down any WE gathered up after the war with Qara. Also, don't core any provinces you took from them. By now you should have enough money to become DOTF. Become one to get that additional missionary, lower missionary maintenance, and send them to convert the Coptic provinces. Remember not to hire any theologian or inquisitor advisers. Remove Dhimmi to make them disloyal, this will decrease tolerance of heathens that they give. Unfortunately, autonomy can't be decreased in those Coptic provinces, because they're not states.
It's likely that events with free stab will fire. It slows the state conversion process, but speeds up the conquest after that. Personally, I take all the stab, but I'm not sure what would be more optimal in the long run. What's even more likely to fire is piety events. You should always choose to lose piety as it increases missionary strength which is not desirable at this point.
Actually, what just came to mind is that this is the perfect time to DOW for Constantinople. Remember, you can only enforce the decision increasing development levels in Constantinople and moving your capital there if you are Sunni, so it has to be done before you convert. The decision also gives stab, so wait with for the rebels. Being at war also means that your WE will not lower. This is good.
Unfortunately, even though there are two missionaries converting, only one stack of rebels spawns. If there were two, their conversion rate would double. Alas, that is not the case. I'm not sure if there is a way to provoke multiple stacks.
Phase 3:
Now, this is the most annoying and lengthy part, because you have zero control over it. Important thing to remember is to set all military focus for all your vassals to passive, especially Crimea that can now become Ottoman vassal through an event. Otherwise they might come over and kill off the rebels. Do not unsiege any Coptic rebel provinces, because instead of moving on, they will likely come back to resiege them. It's a good idea to get military access somewhere and station your armies there, so the rebels don't accidentally step on them. Make sure to remove all forts, so the rebel sieging goes much faster.
At this point it might be a good idea to lower unrest to make sure random nationalists don't spawn. Also, note that if you're planning to release vassal Persia or Iraq, it won't help if those provinces you're releasing are converted, because their state religion will still be Shia / Sunni. Therefore, you'll still have to change it manually and have them disloyal or just leave it be. After the stage is complete, DOTF status is lost, so it might be a good idea to buy it back for that additional missionary to convert remaining provinces to Coptic religion.
This is the phase that I feel could be optimised most.
Follow-up:
What keeps happening to me is that my Coptic rebels keep getting killed off during phase 3. For whatever reason they decided to siege a handful of my eastern most provinces, then they travelled all the way through Georgia, Circassia, Crimea, Genoa, Lithuania, and Moldavia to Bulgaria. There they sieged a couple of provinces and decided to back the way they came. As luck would have it, they keep stumbling on those countries' armies, which they usually slaughter. What often gets them on the way back are rebels that spawn in those countries. Funny. I know.
This forces me back to phase 2, with a third of my lands occupied by rebels. And getting the rebels to spawn is more difficult the second time, because unrest in those original Coptic provinces is reduces by a hundred for 5 years. On top of that, countries around see this as an opportunity, so Venice or Hungary are likely to DOW.
The immediate question I have is: is it a good idea to keep conquering during phase 2 and 3, and having that state conversion threshold pushed away? When tackling this question it's important to note that there are both provinces with Ottoman cores, like the ones held by Karaman. But there are also provinces that will require coring. Is the distinction even relevant in this case? Besides, is it worth taking the risk that the enemies might simply kill off the rebels? Or is it more optimal to wait for the state conversion? With the amazing monarch Ottomans have at the start, waiting feels like a crime.
For the record, this is not a guide. I am the one asking someone to guide me. I thought there was already a thread about this, but I couldn't find it, so maybe I'm wrong. I was meant to only ask only the one sentence question, but I felt that if I didn't show the kind of detail I'm hoping for, then people would just throw vague answers at me. Help is appreciated, thanks.
The question here is: what is the most efficient way to convert to Coptic as the Ottomans without cripping yourself for years? Here, I see three distinct phases. First one, grabbing some Coptic provinces. Second one, spawning Coptic rebels. And third one, having those rebels convert enough land. As far as my methodology goes, it taking way too long for me to accept it as a viable strat. Therefore, I would like to go through all the steps, and maybe someone here has an idea how to speed things up.
Phase 1:
From what I came up with, this is the easiest and fastest part. A month after the game starts threaten Aq Qoyunlu for Erzincan. The following month DOW Qara Qoyunlu for Erzurum. Quickly siege Yerevan then Tabriz, and stick to fighting in the mountains, even if you are the attacker. This war is surprisingly easy on manpower. In the mean time, construct a spy network in Georgia. As soon as take you Coptic provinces from Qara, fabricate claim on Samtskhe and threaten Georgians for it. Done.
Phase 2:
It's all about getting high but controllable revolt risk. Don't buy down any WE gathered up after the war with Qara. Also, don't core any provinces you took from them. By now you should have enough money to become DOTF. Become one to get that additional missionary, lower missionary maintenance, and send them to convert the Coptic provinces. Remember not to hire any theologian or inquisitor advisers. Remove Dhimmi to make them disloyal, this will decrease tolerance of heathens that they give. Unfortunately, autonomy can't be decreased in those Coptic provinces, because they're not states.
It's likely that events with free stab will fire. It slows the state conversion process, but speeds up the conquest after that. Personally, I take all the stab, but I'm not sure what would be more optimal in the long run. What's even more likely to fire is piety events. You should always choose to lose piety as it increases missionary strength which is not desirable at this point.
Actually, what just came to mind is that this is the perfect time to DOW for Constantinople. Remember, you can only enforce the decision increasing development levels in Constantinople and moving your capital there if you are Sunni, so it has to be done before you convert. The decision also gives stab, so wait with for the rebels. Being at war also means that your WE will not lower. This is good.
Unfortunately, even though there are two missionaries converting, only one stack of rebels spawns. If there were two, their conversion rate would double. Alas, that is not the case. I'm not sure if there is a way to provoke multiple stacks.
Phase 3:
Now, this is the most annoying and lengthy part, because you have zero control over it. Important thing to remember is to set all military focus for all your vassals to passive, especially Crimea that can now become Ottoman vassal through an event. Otherwise they might come over and kill off the rebels. Do not unsiege any Coptic rebel provinces, because instead of moving on, they will likely come back to resiege them. It's a good idea to get military access somewhere and station your armies there, so the rebels don't accidentally step on them. Make sure to remove all forts, so the rebel sieging goes much faster.
At this point it might be a good idea to lower unrest to make sure random nationalists don't spawn. Also, note that if you're planning to release vassal Persia or Iraq, it won't help if those provinces you're releasing are converted, because their state religion will still be Shia / Sunni. Therefore, you'll still have to change it manually and have them disloyal or just leave it be. After the stage is complete, DOTF status is lost, so it might be a good idea to buy it back for that additional missionary to convert remaining provinces to Coptic religion.
This is the phase that I feel could be optimised most.
Follow-up:
What keeps happening to me is that my Coptic rebels keep getting killed off during phase 3. For whatever reason they decided to siege a handful of my eastern most provinces, then they travelled all the way through Georgia, Circassia, Crimea, Genoa, Lithuania, and Moldavia to Bulgaria. There they sieged a couple of provinces and decided to back the way they came. As luck would have it, they keep stumbling on those countries' armies, which they usually slaughter. What often gets them on the way back are rebels that spawn in those countries. Funny. I know.
This forces me back to phase 2, with a third of my lands occupied by rebels. And getting the rebels to spawn is more difficult the second time, because unrest in those original Coptic provinces is reduces by a hundred for 5 years. On top of that, countries around see this as an opportunity, so Venice or Hungary are likely to DOW.
The immediate question I have is: is it a good idea to keep conquering during phase 2 and 3, and having that state conversion threshold pushed away? When tackling this question it's important to note that there are both provinces with Ottoman cores, like the ones held by Karaman. But there are also provinces that will require coring. Is the distinction even relevant in this case? Besides, is it worth taking the risk that the enemies might simply kill off the rebels? Or is it more optimal to wait for the state conversion? With the amazing monarch Ottomans have at the start, waiting feels like a crime.
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