Chapter 13: An unlucky number for ship captains
The first thing we do in this update is core my provinces in the New World. We need five, as a reminder, in order to create a colonial nation. I already have four provinces, three of them coring as we speak, so we just need one more. However, while I do send a colonist to a free province, it’s only 1 base tax. Comanche has a province with 4 base tax. And no allies.
I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.
Since it’s been a while since we’ve seen ships sinking, here’s a fight with a pirate that goes badly!
In April 1660, I discover the Russians colonizing Gizhiga. Looks like we’ll be neighbors soon! That worked out well in real life, right? I also make an interesting discovery (that one of you may have actually already pointed out).
That, my friends, is an empty continent. Nobody else is there. I’m also fairly certain nobody else has the colonial range to reach it. The provinces I can see are all a base tax of 2, so NZ and Australia remain more profitable, but free land is hard to turn down. Oh, I also take my main battle fleet (7 big ships, 2 light ships, 21 galleys, and 12 transports) to destroy a single pirate in Komenskoie Bay. Stupid pirates. I annex Comanche in 1661 and begin coring – as soon as that finishes, we’ll have ourselves a colonial nation. I have enough MIL points for a new tech, but I’m saving them up for some ideas in a bit. MIL 17 is hardly a game breaker, after all.
Russia rivals me sometime in 1662. I start looking for friends – Denmark and the Ottomans are relatively well disposed to me, but the whole “wrong religion” thing means we’ll never be allies. Too bad. I get DIP 13 in 1663 as well as ADM 10, which leads to this:
I’ve only got two more Japanese ideas to unlock before I complete the set! I also pick up a Theologian at this point to help keep people from getting too angry for being wrong religion/wrong culture. (-3 to Revolt Risk). I take out some loans in 1664 to build an Embassy, for the free diplomat. Enough provinces have flipped that I’m at 61% religious unity in mid 1664. That's not the best of news. 1665 sees the birth of a (colonial) nation!
I also get to pass the excellent “Colonial Expansion” decision, which offers +5 to Global Settler Increase with no negatives. 1666 sees Majapahit westernize. They won’t become my vassals via diplomacy, sadly, because we’re different religions. I’ll just have to think of another way to vassalize them. (Hint: This way involves guns. Lots of guns.) Another idea is completed in 1666 (as a bonus, you can see my completion of the northern part of New Zealand under the box).
1 January 1667 makes me choose a new MIL advisor – a Commandant. Yes, I’d love +5% to Discipline! I finish manufacturing my claim on Majapahit in April and DOW one of the native nations next to Alaska. I pick up DIP 14 (which gives me Galleasses). Navajo is annexed at the end of 1667, to be followed by the DOW on Majapahit. Not much interesting happens for a bit (except for Korea breaking our alliance). I finish my mission in 1668 (to improve prestige), good for +1 to stab. I foolishly choose “Make Korea an Ally” minutes before they rival me. I
really wish you could auto-fail missions in these instances. Brunei photobombs us at the end of 1668:
And is integrated a few days later.
1670 sees Taiwan return to being Shinto (yay!) but also spawn 19 regiments in a revolt (boo!). I spend enough admin for +2 stab (I have my reasons). In 1671, I try to break up the Taiwan rebellion. It does not go well.
I was kind of asking for that one, though. I mean, a leaderless stack making an amphibious invasion against a larger force… it’s pretty much the exact opposite of D-Day. I find out in August 1671 that Alaska DOWed one of their neighbors. *sniff* They grow up so fast. They’ve got things well in hand, so my 10,000 stack stays out of the fighting. My second attempt to put down the Taiwan rebellion (which has already taken the island) in 1672 goes better, and they are wiped out. I find a replacement for Korea in 1672 – the Oirat Horde. At the end of 1672, Alaska annexes their OPM neighbor. It warms my heart. I finish the last two NZ provinces in 1673 and move on to Australia. I also let the Governor in Alaska have a new term, even if the people there don’t like it. Hey, he just won a war, okay? He’s got my vote, and it’s the only vote that matters.
September 1673 is time to pick a new mission. I don’t want Alaska to get uppity. I wonder if one of my new missions will let me demonstrate my power?
That’ll do. I need to get some troops over to my part of Korea, but we do pick up another Quality Idea in the meantime that may prove useful.
A few weeks later, it’s time.
The Oirat Horde did not honor the alliance, but Xi did – of course, Xi has no way to get to Korea, but it’s the thought that counts. The first battle with Korean troops is not the rout I was hoping for, but they did have a river on their side and a goodly number of artillery. (Note to self: Build artillery.)
I get a new DIP advisor – good for +10% to global tariffs – while my army chases the Koreans around the peninsula. I get ADM tech 12 in 1674. More on that later. I also get DIP 15. (So, as of now, my tech is 12/15/16.) DIP 15 bumps up my naval maintenance, but also gives me Galleons and Early Frigates. 1675 has some good news for my economy:
1676 has some more naval carnage (but the best is yet to come):
Mino revolts, reverts to Shinto, and then jolly stomps a bunch of mercenaries I hired to put them down. But it gets better:
I, er, didn’t want those ships anyway. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (It does let me replace a bunch of obsolete ships, so it’s not a total waste.) At the end of 1677, I put ADM 12 into practice.
Replaces a bonus to National Manpower and Vassal Income with a bonus to National Tax and Production Efficiency. Yes, please! I love how easy it is to change governments in EUIV. War going on? No problem. If you’ve got the 100 ADM, we’ve got the shiny new crown and palace. They even still call me “Emperor.” What’s not to love?
Well, maybe if you’re Korea…
Note that Korea shifted their capital, so I can take it in the next war (which is what my mission was for). With that, we end this update. I’ll have one more update for you based on this gaming session, which will take us up to 1700. See you then!
