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Brandenburg III

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Jun 22, 2007
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My time spent in Victoria’s AAR section has been limited in comments but its one of my favorite areas of the forums. Mostly because the game appeals to me most and the VIP mod is my favorite of all the mods in the forum (although Kaiserreich is a close second.)

As a way to show this appreciation for the mod and the work done around here, I thought I’d commit to a Victoria Russian AAR. Now you may say, “That’s a simple thing” but I assure you, there are a few things I’m adding rule-wise to make it more interesting. Also I'm not a great Victoria player.

The first rules are always self-explanatory but I'll write them anyway: No reloads or cheating. Now, onto the added difficulty. While the mod suggests to play on the normal difficulty level, I’m going to play on “Hard” This will be the first time I’ve ever played on Hard with Vicky so I’ll see how it goes. To be added, I can never become a Democracy nor can I enact reforms or social services of any kind. If a Democracy occurs through Revolution or otherwise, then the AAR will end.

Rule Summary:
No cheating/reload
No Democracy (although other single party governments will be allowed)
Can’t enact social service or reforms
End as #1 in the world
Have the greatest navy in the world
I’m playing on “Above Average” speed so I may miss an event or two.
If you want to suggest other rules/limitations then feel free.

I imagine I’ll be able to do alright with Russia but I’m not a great Vicki player. So if you have any tips I may try, feel free to offer them. Just beware that I usually play pretty quickly and you may not see your tips used until a number of updates later or not in the AAR at all. However I plan to move my productivity from EU3 to both the CK and Vicki forums soon.

Oh, and this is a gameplay AAR.
 
This opening post will the be longest post of the AAR. Its just to get us to the action.

We start off like any other nation... except we’re Russia and we will rule! I mean, look at all this green. Its like a convention hosted by Al Gore.

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And I continue with the opening moves, removing political parties and public meetings. The people must realize that they don’t know what’s best for them. All they have to do is listen to me and everything will be fine. Yes, everything will be fine.

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I can already see I’m going to have a problem taking screenshots. To prevent against this I even took two shots of everything I wanted but it still missed my Greater Ties event with Persia and Afghanistan. To remedy this I’ll have to take better notes in the future because I don’t have the strength to print screen every time I want to take a pic and as far as I know, there’s no immediate way to know if a Vicky shot was captured.

So, I sent a mission to Afghanistan, guaranteed Persia through an event and sent military aid. A few months later they declared war on Afghanistan. Meanwhile, my military units finally reached their destinations.

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I’ve also begun improving relations with Japan because I want their South Sakhalin claim. If you haven’t followed my AARs before, you’ll find I like islands and navies. I also like clicking the “Claim colony” button. :)

Afghanistan would eventually reject my advances in favor of Britain... Rejection is hard to take but you know what’s easy? Annexing an unciv.

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In my off time I built two Georgian infantry regiments and stationed them in Torino in case the Georgians flirted with any ideas about independence. But its really because I like putting nationalities far away from where they live.

I have about 7 machine parts I’m waiting to buy to enhance my small arms factory. Right now they’re coming out at a painfully slow rate and I need to expand that factory. My capitalists, all 2000 (that I know about, I haven’t really explored the Russian map yet) don’t gain a whole lot of money so they’re not about to build another factory of any kind. I have a long term plan to make more capitalists but such a plan gets in the way of my short term plans of building more infantry for the Far East and elsewhere to protect against rebels and uncivs.

But for now I need money and my new economy sliders reflect that.

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In October Persia and Afghanistan signed a white peace. I’ve never seen anything come of this war in any game I played.

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18 January 1837 I guaranteed Egypt. Sure it’s a gamey tactic but I’m going to have problems in the future. Other than the eventual Egypt v. OE war, the only other event I know about Russia is the Crimean War. Everything else will come as a surprise (I don’t read patch/mod notes.)

Missing another pic, the Alaska question came up of which I chose to “Assume Direct Administration.” I will not be selling land unless its really far away... and if it isn’t an island. I like islands. I probably should add that the event took 5000 from me of which I now owe about 3900. I moved my crime slider to half until the bills are paid.

A day later two new infantry units (Latvian) were stationed near the Pacific and Far East to protect against any possible rebels that may spring up. I don’t like my armies marching far, far away.

Meanwhile Sweden tried to get on my good side by "Successfully Improving" relations and a brain drain occurred, reducing my research points to -10!

In March I repaid the debt and reset my crime slider. And in August I took a new General for my capital. I’m thinking Admirals will come next. Ships are expensive and I want to protect them.

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11 February 1838 I decided to test Japan to see if they’d accept a deal for their South Sakhalin claim. With three techs and a 71% chance, they accepted.

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A few weeks later a historical event (again not captured by screenshots) came up and I selected for the Khanates to be ruled by Russia. The British aren’t going to like me but I can’t be bothered with them. I have Central Asia to rule, after all.

By March the Ottoman/Egypt situation began taking shape.

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And I set my heart on building more infantry.

When the situation seemed to be advancing, I moved my naval maintenance slider to 25%.

In February 1839 my three new infantry divisions were ready, two of which I set near Khiva and the third along China’s Western border.

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Late April I began improving relations with Persia and with two “Improved” and a “Successfully Improved” hit, I was up to +198 by the middle of March. 4 April Persia entered my alliance while France reduced its commitment to Egypt.

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Later in the month the Ottoman Empire and Egypt went to war. Before saving the session to write this post, I hit accept.

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So you're fighting for the right of an Ottoman governor to have an own dynasty set up in the lands that have been under Ottoman rule for three centuries?

That's realpolitik! :D
 
Do I smell Tsar of all Slavs attempt? :cool:

I attempted this in my last game, but forgot to get that province in Bulgaria. Still looked quite pretty with all those little vassals in the Balkans, and a giant puppet Ottoman state.

Good luck! I'll be following your game.
 
A nicely engineered war.
 
I am really looking forward to seeing what events VIP has in store for an absolutist Russia :cool:

Good luck! But I'm not entirely sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

Count me in for the ride :D
 
Yaay! VIP AAR :D :D :D
 
Enewald: I expect a lot of trouble later on so I’m going to do what I can when I can. It ought to be a fun experience.

Wombats O’War:
I’m not sure of many events in vanilla Vicky Rev, let alone VIP. :eek: What would I need to do this? I’ll gladly add it to my short list of things to do.

stnylan: I can only hope it goes smoothly.

Minarchist: You’re right, I don’t have a clue about what I’m getting into. I think that’ll make it a lot more interesting. I’ve only experienced VIP mod for a little more than a month but only added the latest installment about a week ago.

Davisx3m: I don’t think I can ever play vanilla Vicky Rev again.

Scorpi: Good to have you along.

To all:
Since no one made any suggestions I’m guessing I’m going to be in more trouble than I expect. Which is always fun. :cool:
 
After some looking into, I discovered that no matter what, the image is never captured when hitting the F11 button - with events. I’ve also reasoned that going through print screen will be a lot easier than writing down the entire message. So barring any mishaps in paint, all will come to you like lemmings over a hill.

The first days into the war I discovered it was a colonial war (I often make easy mistakes while playing Paradox games which often leads to... problems.) I was a little disappointed but reasoned I could still help Egypt on the home front and invade Ottoman’s North Africa. A few days into March I finally discovered my first tech - practical steam engine -(thanks to the brain drain earlier) and researched stock exchange. I’m going to need cash especially if I have to change my sliders like this every time there’s a war.

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Early June my Grenadier Corps, based around Georgia, boarded the Black Sea Fleet and was dropped off in Sinai. In this way the Ottomans, who are illogically crossing Northern Egypt to get to Syria, will be destroyed. I’ll just have to dig in and wait.

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1 July 1839:

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Without a serious Ottoman naval threat and a need to preserve cash, I lowered naval maintenance to 60% which was just in time to fight a small Ottoman force. The battle was easily won.

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My first battle was predictably in Sinai against 8853 cavalry. After exactly a month of fighting, on October 6, the Ottomans were destroyed. My losses added to little more than 200.

Rewinding a few weeks back into September, the Azov Cossacks (1 cavalry unit of 7682) landed in North Africa’s Benghazi. I don’t see troubles popping up here anytime soon.

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14 October Kankrin’s Currency Reforms arrived. I weighed the options and decided I didn’t want my few capitalists to lose all their cash. Also that bonus I received isn’t going to hurt any capitalists I create in the future.

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Four days later my Imperial Northern Fleet met up with my Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea. The two transports from Imperial were added to the Black Sea so I can transport more troops (up to four.) The 2. Line Corps from Ismail boarded the Black Sea Fleet, heading toward Syria for border defense since I can’t properly invade the Ottomans.

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Imperial Northern suffered a brief bout of fighting but won easily in early November as it moved off the coast of Sinai to bombard future land battles. And in late November the 2. Line Corps landed in Acre, moving on to the besieged Halab. Just in case, the Black Sea Fleet also moved off the coast of Sinai as a long battle broke out between the invading Ottomans (17,175 infantry) v. Russia’s Gen. Vasilchikov 10,000 regular infantry and 12,000 engineers. For nearly two months the battle was fought until that Ottoman unit was also destroyed. I reinforced immediately.

Before the decade let out the 2. Line Corps expelled the Ottomans from Halab (which is a level 1 fort) and the Azov Cossacks occupied Benghazi.

January 1840:

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Eight days into the new year 2. Line Corps recovered Halab and remained stationed there. In this way I could easily march east or west, depending on where the Ottomans chose to attack.

As the war continued, Imam Shamyl began stirring trouble in Daghestan.

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Less than two weeks later it was suggested I support the end of the Egypt/OE war. I chose to let the Egyptians crush the Ottomans. As you can see, Europe doesn’t share one head on this thought. :)

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One day later the fighting ended but I planned to keep 52,000 troops in the territory for a while. To be honest I’m kind of annoyed because Egypt was pushing into the Ottoman Empire and I was making headway in North Africa. But what will be will be and I sent my Azov Cassocks back to Poti, returning home.

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Egypt is clearly too weak to be trusted to do the job.
 
I'll definitely be following this. I've heard that the latest version of VIP makes it stay autocratic throughout the game, so it'll be interesting when you start getting serious unrest.
 
Shame that now Britain gets to decide the outcome.

Btw, remember to conquer Egypt soon.
Otherwise it shall be lost to Britons, even though it would be your puppet.
 
stnylan: I’m surprisingly optimistic... maybe because I want them to succeed.

files: Yes. I assume the beginning parts will be easy but as time goes on, I fully expect revolts to threaten the existence of this AAR.

Enewald:
I think you have the countries mixed up ;)

Erie_Patriot: I’ve never set a goal like this before so it’ll be interesting to see how tough it really is.

To all: I was just wondering too, is there a way to be notified if an enemy lands in one of your provinces? I just remembered that I’ve always had this problem of notification and wondered if I passed over the message settings every time or if it was nonexistent.
 
Shrugging off the recent peace with the Ottomans I was able to go to war against Khiva just one day later - 12 February 1840. Since Khiva isn’t much of a bother this will be the only time I mention the invasion.

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Back in Syria, the Ottomans and Egypt traveled their predictable paths.

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Late May two Ukrainian Infantry were ready and were sent to Ismail for bottle-neck protection.

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As the Ottoman/Egypt situation intensified I was asked to take a side. I chose to remain neutral as it was the closest thing available if I wanted to support Egypt. Either way, I’d become drawn into the conflict through my guarantee.

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Once again I soon found it was only a colonial war but it took me an attempted landing in North Africa to realize I wasn’t at war with the Ottoman Empire. Instead, I was at war with the United Kingdom! Well, at least the UK is already at war with China but those wars never last long.

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Meanwhile, Japan refused the Dutch envoy. We’ll see how this works out later.

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In October the first naval battle hit the screen after I noticed I wasn’t at war with the Ottomans. On my way to Syria to drop off my troops, the British intercepted me.

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As the battle waged I discovered Stock Exchanged and began work on Muzzle loaded rifles. Toward the middle of December, with the naval battle still going on, Khiva was crushed and annexed. Out of the deal, somehow, I ended up with a very small cavalry unit (less than 1000) and sent them to Barnaul, my infantry unit just west of China. My two warring infantry units in the area would separate, one in Khiva and the other just north of Kokkand.

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23 December 1840 the naval battle off the North African coast came to a close with my victory. My ships sailed into Syria and dropped off the Grenadier Corps where, after I deposited them in Halab, turned them into an expeditionary force.

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I’d do the same with the 2. Line Corps at the very end of December to toss the Ottomans out of Halab.

4 January 1841

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30 January 1841 Egypt signed a white peace despite the Ottomans not occupying a single Egyptian province. The Egyptians settled to become satellites of the Ottomans but what’s worse, I lost my expeditionary forces! 52,000 troops in a time when I need cash and need to prepare for war. I looked everywhere for these units and they were nowhere to be found. Egypt didn’t keep them, I don’t think the Ottomans absorbed them and they’re definitely not anywhere in Russia or in Russia’s reserves. In a private game I would’ve reloaded or restarted as another country as I didn’t realize this was the consequence when the country you sent forces to has been defeated. I’ll never send expeditionary forces again, that’s for sure.

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At the end of the war, thanks to the British, I no longer had any transports. This may cause a problem but I'm not a big fan of shipbuilding until the wooden ships become obsolete so don't expect to see any new ships until at least the mid 1850's.

Toward mid-February I chose not to renegotiate the Treaty of Hunkar Iskelesi and in March I purged some officers. Yup, I’m definitely playing as Russia.

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Ahh, shame. Still, the Ottomans look inviting.
 
Methinks you only receive a notification would the enemy troops landing start firing upon your troops.
If there is no shooting, no warning. :(
 
stnylan: I was tempted to accept the 100 prestige hit and DoW them. Looking back on it I probably should’ve but I’m used to struggling for prestige with the smaller countries and thought it'd be tough to get it back.

Enewald: That’s what I thought. Its too bad because with a country as big as Russia, I’ve gotta keep a constant lookout.
 
18 July 1841 my new weak admiral took control of the Imperial Northern in St. Petersburg. I’m going to need someone better but until that time comes, I’m stuck with him.

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One day later more Russian units were dropped and stationed in Ismail. 30,000 troops ought to be enough for now.

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24 September I expanded an opium RGO in one of Khiva’s former provinces and I began improving relations with Prussia. By mid November our relations were at +200. But a week later they declined an offer of alliance. I always have problems telling whether or not a nation will accept an alliance and in most games, I only end up with one or two alliance partners. And they always end after the expiration.

In December Austria annexed Krakow and I stationed 30,000 infantry in Gjumri.

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A few days into 1842 I relocated the Raskolnik troublemakers. If they’re spread out they’re not going to be as bothersome for now. On the same day I finally found enough machine parts in my stock to expand the small arms factory in Saint Petersburg.

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14 May I discovered Muzzle loaded rifles and researched Naval Design Bureaus.

13 April 1843 the Introduction of Silver Banknotes aided my economy even though I declined Krankin’s reforms earlier. Or maybe its supposed to happen that way.

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22 May a Chinese traitor was executed which resulted in lowered relations but a higher prestige. And by mid September I set up five new Infantry units; two for Finland, two for the Baltic and one for Ismail. 40,000 ought to be enough for now.

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In October Naval Design was discovered and Military Plans went into development.

Early in 1844 the USCA broke apart, I completed the small arms factory and the alliance with Persia ended. They chose to not re-sign the alliance. Meanwhile, my new Admiral replaced the worthless one already in control of the Imperial Northern. And while I’m at it, here’s my new economy.

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