I wonder what would happen if you lost ALL of your ships in a war? Would you win the game early?
Also, I hate tablets.
Also, I hate tablets.
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Crime and Punishment is one of my all time favorite novels ever written! Dostoevsky is the man!
That said, great to see the rebel scum eviscerated!
I don't mean to knock Crime and Punishment -- it's a wonderful book! It probably has that "they made me read it in high school" stench on it for me; I read it again recently (not in Russian; I don't have anywhere near that sort of talent with the language) and enjoyed it a lot more. Sometimes I think the single greatest killer of the love of reading is literature courses.
I'm pretty sure that would be instant win. Or possibly EU4 Godzilla, angered by all of the ships sinking, destroys my Empire. Frankly, I'm not willing to risk it.
I will do my best to update tomorrow; if I don't get it done tomorrow, I'll update Thursday.
Avindian said:
One of the reasons I've never enjoyed literature courses either. When I read a good novel it is for personal enjoyment. But since nowadays I'm stuck reading histories for my work, I sadly don't have much time for literature anymore!
*Unless we count what the Paradox forum has to offer as literature!
Agreed. The way the books are taught matters a lot as well - you can have a usually interesting book completely ruined by having to talk about certain parts or themes of it while ignoring others...
One of the reasons I've never enjoyed literature courses either. When I read a good novel it is for personal enjoyment. But since nowadays I'm stuck reading histories for my work, I sadly don't have much time for literature anymore!
*Unless we count what the Paradox forum has to offer as literature!
I daresay AARs deserve at least one Nobel Prize, but I'd settle for a Pulitzer.
My criteria is this: I don't care about the author, I care about the book. If you want me to read a book and try to figure out if the author was happy or sad when they were writing, my response would be to hand you a biography of the author.
Apologies for no update tonight; this is number one on the list for tomorrow when I get home, so you should have a nice update waiting for you when you wake up (if you're American and don't wake up insanely early) or shortly thereafter.
That is exactly what made me to abandon literature in school as soon as I could. War and Peace + Anna Karenina can be fun (at least translated, my Russian is way to bad for actual literature) - however, they aren't fun with all that guesswork literature teachers invent to justify their job's existence. Especially when teached to 9th and 10th graders (for me, Anna Karenina in 9th Grade and War and Peace in 10th grade, Bavarian colleges (called Gymnasium here, begin right after elementary school, and are fundamentally different in how Anglosaxon colleges are structured) require at least one peace of classical Russian literature (usually Dostojewski/Tolstoi, teachers tend to be even lazier than students) in both 9th and 10th grade (German translations, literature isn't a seperate course here - it's merged with the native language (obviously German) course).
Oh good. I find a really good AAR, catch up in 2-3 days, and there is one more update. In some ways that is good, as I can read the entire thing in practically one go, but also it means it is hardly spaced out for me.
Regarding books in school classes, one thing I remember is having to do Cinderella for about half a term. One of the worst terms ever, in my opinion.
Regarding books in school classes, one thing I remember is having to do Cinderella for about half a term. One of the worst terms ever, in my opinion.
Lucky you I'm both American and I don't wake up till noon central standard time.
I admit I've not read Anna Karenina, but I've heard good things. Entirely too many good books to read, too little time.
Wow. Cinderella's not that interesting a story to begin with, IMO (although I loved playing in the pit orchestra for my high school's production of the Gilbert and Sullivan version), and making students read it is nightmare. For the record, we're looking at a total of three to four more updates, depending on how much I cram into one appendix.
Excellent!
Working on the update now, everyone: shouldn't be too long!
Chapter 19: In which Korea proves quite the irritant
The revolution is over (much to the consternation, sadly, of many of you), but we must press on. My hopes for an alliance with Spain (to protect against a future European foe) are dashed when they have too many “Great Power” allies. Yay! I’m a Great Power! I pick up MIL 18 (good for some new cavalry units). I also have loans. Lots of loans.
12 is hardly massive, I know, but it will take some time to get from under their nefarious influence. I make Portugal my rival for reasons I’ve since forgotten – it will never come up again in the AAR. Russia embargoes me, which is a little bothersome, but not overly so. Alaska, meanwhile, gets a little bigger thanks to me.
Since that was my mission (to wipe Cree off the map), I need a new mission: I choose to improve relations with Alaska, but I could have chosen to claim part of Manchu. This is another example of my EU3 thinking: I forget that claims take 25 years to expire, as opposed to CBs in EU3, which could expire in a year. So, because I’m at truce with Manchu, I elected not to go for that mission.
Korea had no such obstacles.
I made you a protectorate, Korea. And for what?! This is, in any case, irritating, but not the worst thing in the world. I hire a +2 ADM advisor (to help with conversions), fire my +2 military advisor (replacing him with a +1 MIL advisor who gives me a reduction to Land Maintenance) and finish my mission. I choose to build defenses in Australia because, once again, I have yet to realize that my CB will not expire before the truce runs out. My old DIP advisor dies, I pick up a Statesman to help with diplomatic reputation. Oh, and this too:
I get a Royal Marriage and Alliance with Mongol Khanate, a 2PM, so that I might claim their throne. This would put me into a succession war with Zhou, which is not a threatening proposition to me. Meanwhile, the RNG decides “Hey, let’s make Avindian use that new bonus to stab cost!”
Joke’s on you, RNG – I’m already at +2 stability, so that takes me down to +1, which I am totally fine with. Xi signs a new alliance with me. Korea gets their pound of flesh from Manchu and it’s… not good.
I did not want Korea to get Beijing; now they’re too big to
Russia makes Austria concede defeat, but loses Ceylon (somehow), so I call that a wash. Korea continues to be infuriating and declares war on Shun: the very same Shun that is allegedly in my protectorate. I can only assume I didn’t called because Korea is also my protectorate.
Xi decides I’m being boring and calls me into something less boring.
I’ll spoil part of the possible thrill right away: GB doesn’t honor (nor did I expect them to). In fact, nobody seems to like Zhou very much: only Oirat Horde honors. Shun gives up territory to Korea.
The Zhou fleet disappears. I can’t prove that one of the sailors tried desperately to throw a Japanese flag onto one of their ships to convince the gods that a Japanese ship sunk, but I can’t prove he didn’t, either.
Russia embargoes me again, which gives me pause, since it would be really inconvenient to face a Russian DOW right now. Another EU3 lesson unlearned: Embargoes don’t always mean DOWs. Manchu is defeated, but I don’t yet have the DIP to enforce the peace I want. I shall wait. My strategy against Zhou is to eliminate the Oirat Horde first. Starting with some of their troops.
Sadly, with no leader, this battle was not decisive. Portugal, in the meantime, smacks GB around some, forcing them to free Bengal, release Munster, and pay some cash. Of course, it’s not a peace deal like this one:
Thanks to Xi’s provision of a general, this battle goes much better.
Majapahit picks up Bali-Lombok from Spain through defection. Oirat Horde, too late, realizes my plan. They try to get me to let them go if they end their alliance with Zhou; nothing doing, my Oirat friend. The AI approves of my ruthlessness.
This is the peace Oirat Horde actually gets.
They are now an OPM, and Shun, who I’d like to see do well (so they can absorb some Russian troops if need be) is that much stronger. Everybody wins!
Well, except the Oirat Horde.
Speaking of people not winning, Lorraine hits Burgundy where the sun doesn’t shine: they lose Picardie and Calais to France, Dacca to Nepal, they have to release the Netherlands, and pay 201 ducats. That is some serious Heresy Cleansing.
Things are not going well for Zhou. I get MIL 20, and then this happens to them:
A few stackwipes later, the war ends.
Thus concludes the update. There are three gameplay updates left (I’ll get the next one out Friday) and at least one end game appendix, if not two.
nice update!
however i think this game really skews europe, and it shows with level 18 mil closing on the 1800's
however i think this game really skews europe, and it shows with level 18 mil closing on the 1800's
You know Avindian, I should let you know that reading your AAR has made me start a Japanese game in EU4 (as the first East Asian nation I've finally decided to play after hundreds of hours of the game!) And let me say, what a crushing victory at the end!
Why wouldn't it skew in favor of Europe? this was the era when Europe historically took off and started conquering/colonizing the rest of the world. Yet, it's always fun to play as a non-Western power, although I confess, the Eastern and Muslim factions are the only non-Western nations I have experience with since I've always said I should try one of the East Asian powers but never got around to doing it until now! Although getting behind the Europeans in military tech can be tough sometimes... :glare:
Great job Avindian!
And let me say, what a crushing victory at the end! however i think this game really skews europe, and it shows with level 18 mil closing on the 1800's
Why wouldn't it skew in favor of Europe? this was the era when Europe historically took off and started conquering/colonizing the rest of the world.
Yet, it's always fun to play as a non-Western power, although I confess, the Eastern and Muslim factions are the only non-Western nations I have experience with since I've always said I should try one of the East Asian powers but never got around to doing it until now! Although getting behind the Europeans in military tech can be tough sometimes... :glare:Great job Avindian!
Go Lorraine!
If I had to guess why you made Portugal your rival, it was so you could embargo them without losing trade efficiency, because they were beginning to gain power in some centres you would prefer them out of. Guessing blindly is fun.
If I had to guess why you made Portugal your rival, it was so you could embargo them without losing trade efficiency, because they were beginning to gain power in some centres you would prefer them out of. Guessing blindly is fun.
Nothing like beating up your fellow unwesternized neighbours to forget that the Europeans could easily do the same to you.
I'm expecting a war with some Europeans soon. They need to help you sacrifice some ships.
I'm expecting a war with some Europeans soon. They need to help you sacrifice some ships.
something interesting about mechanics of combat in EU IV (maybe completely irrelevant since you already know).
When choosing which unit you use there are defensive and offensive "pips". For a very long time I thought that when you are the attacker only the offensive pips count and when you're defender only the defensive pips count. That's not the way it works.
When in fight both pips count for purposes of calculation of casualties etc each round (there is some relatively simple formula (for mathematician)), so when you evaluate which unit is "better" you have to count ALL pips.
At some points there are really big differences in overall count of pips, so just be careful. For example the mil 9 units are effectively downgrade (I think they are at 9) over the unit you have access to before.
Another interesting thing is that on the military path there are some big JUMPS in STRENGTH, like you go from 11 pips (or something) to 20 pips. that's HUGE and should be exploited whenever you can.
When choosing which unit you use there are defensive and offensive "pips". For a very long time I thought that when you are the attacker only the offensive pips count and when you're defender only the defensive pips count. That's not the way it works.
When in fight both pips count for purposes of calculation of casualties etc each round (there is some relatively simple formula (for mathematician)), so when you evaluate which unit is "better" you have to count ALL pips.
At some points there are really big differences in overall count of pips, so just be careful
. For example the mil 9 units are effectively downgrade (I think they are at 9) over the unit you have access to before.Another interesting thing is that on the military path there are some big JUMPS in STRENGTH, like you go from 11 pips (or something) to 20 pips. that's HUGE and should be exploited whenever you can
.
I haven't been able to catch up with this AAR until recently due to the exams, and now it seems it's coming to an end
Notetheless, it was a great read. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
(By the way, maybe the constant sinking of your ships is the AI's way of telling you to update your navy?)
Notetheless, it was a great read. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
(By the way, maybe the constant sinking of your ships is the AI's way of telling you to update your navy?
)
I find myself wondering... Are all the lost ships actually mistakes on your part, or is naval combat simply more costly in EU4? Reason I say this because in EU3 they tended to be all or nothing (as in, one fleet is sunk in its entirely and the other is untouched). Is that 'fixed' here?
the devs were constantly toying with it, originally it was actually very tough to sink ships, then they changed the priority of choosing targets so the fleeing ships were still shot on, so the losses became bigger.
I think the biggest problem avindian has that he uses like dip 1 ships against dip 20... so he has big losses.
