• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Good job with the colonial expansion in Africa and bringing the unruly mob to heal (almost)!

Now that you have declared a protectorate are you able to recruit native troops or do you need to wait until you get colonial status?

I read your post on the AGEOD game forums about Germany not forming (or likely to) and the other major powers not building units all makes me think the AI still needs some tweaking. Not that I expect the AI to perform as a human but preventing the massive build up of state funds to use them instead to purchase units and fund research might be a start.

I agree there is no rhyme or reason to the countries that appear on the F10 Score and Objective screen. It definately needs to be scrollable and include all counties or failing that the top 20 with sortable columns. I think I have said it before this game is definately a gem in the rough and with a little love it could be great.

Sorry to hear the game will be slowing down a bit as it is the first one I look out for when I have my morning coffee (not to mention it gives me very valuable insight into what I can expect).
 
Last edited:
I suggest you use the troops every time they are available and anything else to hammer your people into shape.
The NM hit seems to have no effect as unless you are at war it just moves back to 100.
If you are really sad, i.e. like me, you can hover over the country flags to see how you are performing in the various different areas that contribute to prestige.

Hadn't realised about that last point but you are right. Very useful when gauging relative military power.

Yes, a humanitarian catastrophe needs to be averted - at gun/cannon/mortar point, preferably. Garry and his hunter boys could have some fun in the mountains of Albania. Those poor, historically-Roman-therefore-rightfully-Italian-even-if-they-don't-speak-Italian-aren't-Catholic-don't-like-us-very-much Albanians need to come in the warm, comforting embrace of the Fatherland/Motherland (I admit to not knowing which gender the Italians prefer). Perhaps you could even build a school for them - but that's probably only for the savage uncivs, right? Oh well, the Carabinieri can surely educate the Albanians, if necessary...

Gari is off somewhere far warmer than Albania.

As to the rest, yes I do end spreading liberal interventionism in the Balkans and I'm sure everyone is so much the better for it too. But we will get there in good time (well 3 game years) and his mountain troops (plus the men in hats) start to earn their pay.

Good job with the colonial expansion in Africa and bringing the unruly mob to heal (almost)!

Now that you have declared a protectorate are you able to recruit native troops or do you need to wait until you get colonial status?

I read your post on the AGEOD game forums about Germany not forming (or likely to) and the other major powers not building units all makes me think the AI still needs some tweaking. Not that I expect the AI to perform as a human but preventing the massive build up of state funds to use them instead to purchase units and fund research might be a start.

I agree there is no rhyme or reason to the countries that appear on the F10 Score and Objective screen. It definately needs to be scrollable and include all counties or failing that the top 20 with sortable columns. I think I have said it before this game is definately a gem in the rough and with a little love it could be great.

Sorry to hear the game will be slowing down a bit as it is the first one I look out for when I have my morning coffee (not to mention it gives me very valuable insight into what I can expect).

Its just I desparately need to prioritise earning some money, and had the chance to grab some extra work this week and next, so that is rather eating into my PoN time. Actually I am sustaining that but most other related things are getting squeezed out.

I've since worked out some errors in that post. It is true that German unification has broken somewhere and that the AI hordes state cash (with some adverse consequences such as France's domestic unrest when they hard cards that could address the problem). What isn't true was my comment on the Turkish army (or maybe they can mobilise a lot on demand). All I'll say at this stage is there a lot of them running around the Balkans trying to interfere with my liberal foreign aid programmes.
 
July - December 1866: My very first colony and Garibaldi goes on an exotic holiday

So 1866 wanders to an end as Italy tries to recover from the shock of being (mostly) unified. By the end of the year, Italian foreign policy is largely focussed on colonial ventures in Africa and, consequentially, Turkey is coming to be seen as more of a barrier to our goals than Austria. As ever, dreams of a new Roman Empire infect the corridors of power.

But before then … we have an economy to run

Manufactured



I’ll skip the non-manufactured report as otherwise this up date will become rather long. Suffice to say not much changes as my stockpiles are static and my domestic needs are met.

There are people to cheer up



For some reason, despite the contentment has slipped back. I think this drop is the result of some provinces slipping back into civil unrest. I find this happens for the next couple of years where steady progress doesn’t prevent intermittent outbreaks in some particular provinces.

Again, I’ll skip the army report. Nothing really to say as I finish the upgrades from unification, and just let conscript companies pile up till I need them.

And events happen

A Latin monetary union happens



Well it’s a useful, if rather small step on the road to recreating the Roman Empire - just have to make sure no one ever invites the Germans to join.

Sewers are dug



These are actually incredibly useful, the prestige gain is nice and the steadily accumulation of development levels and population points really pays off over time.

Equally I decide to upgrade the coal mine in Tuscany. Now the worst of the trouble seems to be over, I could do with a boost of coal production.



Note how much is closed. Some of this is unrest but most is as I don’t need the output. Over the next couple of years the population gains from the sewers (& less from the telecommunications) will mean I need it all open to feed the population.

And Djibuti becomes Italy’s first real colony.



Go me.

I also take a chance on building a coffee plantation in Ethiopia – nothing but the best coffee for the citizens of Europe’s newest state.



This, plus the one I have in Brazil and what the trade posts are shipping goes a long way to keeping Italy in coffee from sort of domestic sources.

And although he doesn’t know it yet, Garibaldi is off to the colonies.


[1]

And to celebrate his arrival I decide it will be nice to build a road there, and set up a society of local dignatories so he can discuss the (mis) deeds of his evil twin with learned men.



Equally to celebrate his arrival, Italian ships start shelling the locals [2] on the other side of the Red Sea.



Note these are a bit double edged. They do increase CP and the demonstration even gives prestige but there is a big revolt risk attached.

Any way by December, there he is, hero of … well something, safely located in Italy’s only colony.



To make him welcome I decide to open a Dye Quarry, build a depot, a fort (so he is nice and safe) and a harbour (this is essential as my ships need somewhere to recover after transporting units to E Africa).


(do you really quarry dyes?)

Now that Gari is in the region its time to declare a Protectorate in Yemen. Once the port is ready at Djibuti I’ll leave a small naval squadron permanently there so he can shuttle back and forth according to need.



As mentioned this is outside my set colonial zone so I may lose prestige but the goods on offer in the region are very tempting (coffee and opium) and being able to control the exit to the Red Sea may be handy (if the French ever decide to build the Suez Canal).

By November another economic crisis starts in Russia.



This is, I think, the third and I can’t really see the impact. While it affects you, your inflation (ie costs to build) goes up 5%, once it is over it reduces to 0% again. The 5% isn’t exactly crippling and you can usually delay new builds till it is over.

Oh, and the French leave Rome



Of more use, Britain gives me a commercial agreement. This means I can build my own things in their territories – very handy to access hard to buy goods.

And, my prestige continues to improve, I am now #9 and I note the British join the Chinese in being utterly happy with life. Weird.



As a final report this is the Asset balance screen. Note the inflation (due to the Russians but it will go away), my economy is worth 22574 (compared to 1649 at the game start) and people would be happier if I could improve access to some goods. Well it is that list I hope to start addressing as I gain commercial agreements with colonial powers so I can build my own production in their territories.



[1] - Remember at this stage I hadn’t realised about colonial structures generating some supply so the supply wagons are to provide support till a depot can be built – in reality sending these was a very useful addition to the colonial force as we shall see.
[2] – Every time I played this card I was reminded of the battleship shelling the African coast that opens Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – if you haven’t read it the book is even more over the top than ‘Apocalypse Now’ (which is a pretty straight lift for the main scenes and underlying plot).
 
I actually read Heart of Darkness recently and it is a great little story (sorry, I'm not much of a 'literature' man, not given to great insights and all that). I can see the parallels between that PON action and the scene from the book - except that here, it has some appreciable effect.

Congratulations on your first colony. Quite a nice place it's turning into, and a very convenient place to keep Gary the Untrustworthy out of the way. I hope you can soon bring your assertive brand of foreign development assistance to Yemen as well - is Yemen fully independent, or is it in the Ottoman sphere of influence? And how long can you keep meddling in the Ottomans' backyard (re: Djibuti) before they take offense?
 
Strikes and riots are suprisingly rapidly (for this game) decreased by MP forces. I strongly advise construction of a couple for your more recalcitrant states. (There's a thread about contentment in the PoN forum).
 
Congrats on the colony! I can't wait for my own first colony, though I imagine that I might have to wait a bit, seeing as I'm playing as Japan...

(There's a thread about contentment in the PoN forum).

Link please?
 
Djibouti is looking busy I imagine the Ethiopians and Ottomans are both looking nervously at all the activity across the border especially when Garry the terminator shows up:laugh:

You mentioned that you were stockpiling conscripts. One thing I noticed recently was that the greater the number of conscript companies you have the less conscripts per turn you receive due to the fact that the number of 'reformed' conscripts increases. I'm not sure what reformed means in reality but in the game these do not add to your stockpile. Basically I I think it is a game mechanism to prevent over stockpiling of conscripts. It is probably better to spend the conscripts as replacements or units.
 
So lets start with a reminder, go and find AARs to vote for, participation is down even on last quarter ... you have 2 voting days:


Pride of Nations remains a mystery to me - I've put a lot of time into getting it figured out but it still eludes me. All the same, it makes for great AARs.

Good old Djibouti. A fine colony!

re: the economic crisis in Russia - is that a random event?

It is complex, but then so is Victoria. The first 3-4 years are the worst as you take actions and see no (or no discernable) feedback, which with the game length is rather daunting. After a while you find you have slipped into this engrossing alternative universe, where the damn game invades your brain at all sorts of times.

I'm not sure about the crisis. Yes they are random (I think where I am in game - end 1870 - I've seen 4), not really sure of the triggers but they seem to have no real impact. It doesn't really seem to disrupt either your own or the world economy.

I actually read Heart of Darkness recently and it is a great little story (sorry, I'm not much of a 'literature' man, not given to great insights and all that). I can see the parallels between that PON action and the scene from the book - except that here, it has some appreciable effect.

Congratulations on your first colony. Quite a nice place it's turning into, and a very convenient place to keep Gary the Untrustworthy out of the way. I hope you can soon bring your assertive brand of foreign development assistance to Yemen as well - is Yemen fully independent, or is it in the Ottoman sphere of influence? And how long can you keep meddling in the Ottomans' backyard (re: Djibuti) before they take offense?

Heart of Darkness is, even by Conrads' standards, wierd, but such a good rendering of the lunacy of European colonialism in this era (which of course in game I am gleefully reconstructing). In the next post, we'll see the start of me bringing Yemen and Oman into the realm.

Again as in the next post, the Ottomans have a CB on me as a result. Really bad form if you ask me (I have one on them too for Libya and a few other bits and pieces).

Strikes and riots are suprisingly rapidly (for this game) decreased by MP forces. I strongly advise construction of a couple for your more recalcitrant states. (There's a thread about contentment in the PoN forum).

They are deployed in the worst affected provinces, I think by the end of 1867 it was pretty much under control but it took the best part of 3 years to do so.

Congrats on the colony! I can't wait for my own first colony, though I imagine that I might have to wait a bit, seeing as I'm playing as Japan...

I know, I kept on opening different mapviews so I could appreciate my first born from a variety of perspectives. Brave with Japan, S-P is an exercise in patience for quite a while but then I guess you really have the chance to stir up the East later on once you have modernised etc

Djibouti is looking busy I imagine the Ethiopians and Ottomans are both looking nervously at all the activity across the border especially when Garry the terminator shows up:laugh:

You mentioned that you were stockpiling conscripts. One thing I noticed recently was that the greater the number of conscript companies you have the less conscripts per turn you receive due to the fact that the number of 'reformed' conscripts increases. I'm not sure what reformed means in reality but in the game these do not add to your stockpile. Basically I I think it is a game mechanism to prevent over stockpiling of conscripts. It is probably better to spend the conscripts as replacements or units.

I sort of imagine Djibuti like a modern day Gulf state (ok without the oil money and the skyscrapers and the dubious idea of holding the World Cup there), with all this building work going on.

Ah, hadn't seen that, in truth 'stockpiling' means trying to keep the reserve sort of level as I keep on top of the replacement cycle and build a few new units.

Now before the next post, a quick note on where I am going with this.

Those of you who visit the AGEOD forum may have noticed I may have a terminally messed up save (shifting to 1.03a/b seems to have brought this to light).

Now crudely, one of three things are going to happen -

Pocus manages to sort it out, if so you'll never see the issue as it is affecting the turn processing from the end of 1870 to 1871;
That save is dead. Well in that case I have a save from Feb 1868 that never ever saw 1.03a. Now I've tried to run that save under 1.03b and it too crashes, but what I may be able to do is to run that save by going back to 1.03 (after all I know it progressed from that point first time around). So I don't really want to replay 18 or so months, but its not that big a deal and it keeps the thing alive.
There is something in both saves that means I can't carry on (sob).

In AAR terms, I'll do another update later this week or over the weekend which will take it to the end of 1867 and then stop. Once I know where I stand, I'll either use all the existing screenshots and end this at the end of 1870 (oddly my initial goal but it gets more interesting so I'd like to stick with it). If I need to revert to my 1868 save, then obviously I need to play a bit before any more posts, but it should get back on track at some stage next week.
 
Last edited:
January - June 1867: Making the Red Sea an Italian lake

So 1867 commences with Carabinieri trying to end the ongoing dissent. Italy will learn to love the House of Savoy … one way or another. In the meantime, the House of Savoy itself seems far more interested in the new possibilities in East Africa.

But first, the reports …

Manufactured Goods and main developments

I’m going to stop showing the ‘businessmen have bought x’ messages, it happens most turns and varies from the really useful (gold and gems) to relatively useless (rice), but on balance really helps to supplement the luxury goods. My commercial goal over the next few years is to start establishing my own mines etc in other countries so as to gain some control over this flow.



What I’ve done on the right hand side is to add the indicator of how much private capital I was consuming each turn. This is a good proxy for the level of economic activity, and in effect as unrest eases, and the population expands, I am slowly bringing stuff back into production [1]. Equally, earlier I was prioritising generating capital for investment, I’m now reasonably content I have built all the currently valuable factories and so on.

Non-Manufactured



Military



Not too much to mention, the basic replacement cycle is keeping my conscript reserve sort of static but I can still slowly build up with an eye to my new colonial presence. Also more transport units may just prove to be rather useful if I need to transport the main army to fight with Turkey.

Happiness



Compared to the end of 1866, this shows a steady improvement since I took 3 relevant measures and deployed a number of Carabinieri units. On balance all that effort does seem to have paid off. Just one province now in near revolt.

Inventions

Colonial self-government fires. All this does is to increase the consumption of my people in my colonies. Well if we ignore Garibaldi, at the moment there are 5 Italians living in Djibuti, so I doubt this will make much difference. However, exploring more of Africa seems to please the upper classes at home.



Of perhaps more use is Mendelian genetics. The main effect here is to increase the population growth of my dominant ethnic group (ie everyone but the French in the North West)

With which the working classes celebrate by becoming more militant



I think the way to read this is that for every point of militancy, you lose more contentment. Which makes bringing militancy under control even more important.

Remember that in the PoN research model you have much less control than in Victoria. You can invest in ones you really want but the rest are inevitable and some are good and some are bad. So your society will evolve along the lines of the nineteenth century (socialism, demands for extension of the franchise etc) regardless of what you choose to do.


Events

Well the Ottomans make very belligerent noises at me. How dare they have a Casus Belli on me … I mean, me, the peace monger of the Mediterranean. The Italian general staff is ordered to make suitable plans in case of a crisis.



Typically, despite being all on his own, Garibaldi manages to pick a fight with someone. Who someone is remains a mystery.



Or am I at war with Ethiopia?

In an attempt to find out, I set up a telegraph network



And expand to the east of the Red Sea, taking control of Aden and expanding into Sanaa



And then seek to expand my control to the north of Djibuti (this is currently Turkish owned).



I also decide to start setting up my own Opium fields so as to improve the supply of luxury goods. Naturally this then calls for the need to deploy elements of the army so as to protect my new gains



Despite this focus on the Red Sea, I also start to pay some attention again to North Africa were I have let my expansion rather stall. Note that the Ottomans have lost effective control of most of Libya.



So I am still #9, but have made a bit of progress towards my (unreachable) goal having acquired 11% of the score I need. I just do not think I will win this game with a Prestige Victory somehow.



[1] – I assume you have all read Luxemburg’s Accumulation of Capital and understand the difference between primitive and secondary accumulation.
 
[1] – I assume you have all read Luxemburg’s Accumulation of Capital and understand the difference between primitive and secondary accumulation.

Wub wah what? You have me properly flabbergasted here, so while I try to figure out what the hell you're talking about, let me just pre-emptively get aggressively aggrieved, like so: "Sirrah, my uni years are far behind me and even back then, I would never lower myself to studying such an arcane 'science' as economy! Harrumph!"

I also decide to start setting up my own Opium fields so as to improve the supply of luxury goods. Naturally this then calls for the need to deploy elements of the army so as to protect my new gains

Taking a cue from the FARC (but then from the state side of things)? ;) Plant some 'medicinal' plants for income, then use your armed thugs forces to protect your botanical hobbies? :p
 
Fantastic colonial progress. Glad to see you renewing an interest closer to home, in Libya, as well.

What combination of colonial decisions did you use to take control of Sanaa? I find myself time and time again drawn to war to quickly seize control of colonial areas, yet you seem to have taken Sanaa quite peacefully (peacefully by the standards of colonialism, I suppose).
 
Wow I'm very impressed you are really picking up the pace. Soon the Red Sea will be an Italian lake which will be very valuable when/if the Suez Canal opens. I imagine a few coastal guns in Dijibuti could ruin a great powers day (providing 1.03b works and you can transport them!)

I'm also interested in how you took control of Sanaa did this occur because you reached a minimum CP threshold? This is not something that happens with Italy Lite (S-P) where the maximum Colonial Penetration is 35 so I am assuming the extra colonial options allow you to gain control.

I wouldn't rule out (not saying it is likely) being able to obtain a prestige win bearing in mind you've still got 50 years of game time (and probably real time) to go. A lot can happen especially considering how much you've accomplished since unifying Italy. As a suggestion if you haven't already done so I would build out all your shipyards even though they only produce small amounts of prestige (and are loss making) that equates to lot of prestige over the remaining 1200 turns.

As for Dangerous Gary I think whenever your relations with a tribal nation are negative there is a chance (or certainty not sure which) that a battle can occur.

Anyway a fascinating read as always and I hope you sort out the problems with your save game. I have decided against updating my game to 1.03b for the time being until I am convinced that the update is stable.
 
Last edited:
Again its probably a reflection on PoN's emphasis on realism ... in this case Turkey is doomed to spend the last 30 odd years of the 19th century being slowly eaten by rebels and the surrounding powers.

I intend to be at the feast :eek:

You glutton! Having already devoured Garibaldi (evil twin brother Garibaldi anyway) you now plan to feast upon Turkey?!

A fascinating AAR for what appears to be a fascinating, if rather complex, game. I'm not surprised Austria never dared rise to your constant baiting considering you have the terrifying men-in-hats at your disposal and you have proven the might of your navy by some stupendously brave shelling of locals. Plus with the ever vigilant Garibaldi defending Italy, ready to defeat anyone, and also seemingly no one considering his recent battle in Djibuti, Italy seems safe from attack.
 
You glutton! Having already devoured Garibaldi (evil twin brother Garibaldi anyway) you now plan to feast upon Turkey?!

Don't forget he also devoured the Bourbons, yum!
 
Wub wah what? You have me properly flabbergasted here, so while I try to figure out what the hell you're talking about, let me just pre-emptively get aggressively aggrieved, like so: "Sirrah, my uni years are far behind me and even back then, I would never lower myself to studying such an arcane 'science' as economy! Harrumph!"

Taking a cue from the FARC (but then from the state side of things)? ;) Plant some 'medicinal' plants for income, then use your armed thugs forces to protect your botanical hobbies? :p

lets put it this way, I doubt Red Rosa would make it onto the syllabus of the Chicago School of Economics.

As to my Opium activities, it does rather seem that way, build the plantations, then they need protecting, its all a wee bit dubious.

Fantastic colonial progress. Glad to see you renewing an interest closer to home, in Libya, as well.

What combination of colonial decisions did you use to take control of Sanaa? I find myself time and time again drawn to war to quickly seize control of colonial areas, yet you seem to have taken Sanaa quite peacefully (peacefully by the standards of colonialism, I suppose).

I'm really not sure, it does seem a little bit random when the option to first protectorate then full colony pops up. But there I have made a lot of use of merchants, then a trading post, then the bribe chief cards. I spent a while trying to work out quite what pays off and its not obvious as in other places I have higher CP but can't make any more progress (I wonder if the presence of another power is important?). But yes, up to a point I build quite a nice Empire in the region more or less peacefully. I think I will need to take Libya by war, and of course there is going to be the challenge of finishing off Ethiopia.

Wow I'm very impressed you are really picking up the pace. Soon the Red Sea will be an Italian lake which will be very valuable when/if the Suez Canal opens. I imagine a few coastal guns in Dijibuti could ruin a great powers day (providing 1.03b works and you can transport them!)

I'm also interested in how you took control of Sanaa did this occur because you reached a minimum CP threshold? This is not something that happens with Italy Lite (S-P) where the maximum Colonial Penetration is 35 so I am assuming the extra colonial options allow you to gain control.

I wouldn't rule out (not saying it is likely) being able to obtain a prestige win bearing in mind you've still got 50 years of game time (and probably real time) to go. A lot can happen especially considering how much you've accomplished since unifying Italy. As a suggestion if you haven't already done so I would build out all your shipyards even though they only produce small amounts of prestige (and are loss making) that equates to lot of prestige over the remaining 1200 turns.

As for Dangerous Gary I think whenever your relations with a tribal nation are negative there is a chance (or certainty not sure which) that a battle can occur.

Anyway a fascinating read as always and I hope you sort out the problems with your save game. I have decided against updating my game to 1.03b for the time being until I am convinced that the update is stable.

As above, should have added the military options (esp the establish garrison one) seem to make a huge difference in pushing your CP up above the threshold. I think you can lay the ground pre-unification but need the post-unification cards to really make a difference.

I fear the French AI won't play the Suez card, but its still a decent little region to hold. Some useful goods and quite strategic in the event of war.

And I would really like to move those fort and naval guns I have built to fill out my new fortifications, the naval guns will go a long way to effectively sealing off the Red Sea.

You glutton! Having already devoured Garibaldi (evil twin brother Garibaldi anyway) you now plan to feast upon Turkey?!

A fascinating AAR for what appears to be a fascinating, if rather complex, game. I'm not surprised Austria never dared rise to your constant baiting considering you have the terrifying men-in-hats at your disposal and you have proven the might of your navy by some stupendously brave shelling of locals. Plus with the ever vigilant Garibaldi defending Italy, ready to defeat anyone, and also seemingly no one considering his recent battle in Djibuti, Italy seems safe from attack.

Well yes, I some stage I wish to abast the Turkey.

I don't think there are many locals where my navy has been shelling -- probably just a few bemused and rather irate camels.

I feel very ambigious about this game. It is much more realistic in some critical ways than Victoria. A combination of the diplomacy system, the constrained spheres of influence and the war score version makes war relatively rare and very hard to really extract big gains. So in that sense it is much closer to the mindset of the Nineteenth century - but there are times you have the urge just to go on a rampage ...


Don't forget he also devoured the Bourbons, yum!

yep, I'm going to dunk Garibaldi in the Red Sea ... ;)

Ok, main post will be up in the morning, mostly done except for a few images.

Going forward, I'm going to let the AAR stall here till I know how saveable my save game is. The ideal is my late 1870 save can be rescued. Ok is I revert to a Feb 1868 save and reinstall just patch 1.03 (that should be ok, unless, & this is possible, there is something in the end-1870 turn resolution that is a major problem). Worst is that neither of these work. In that case I have the screenshots etc to take things to the end of 1870. But I don't want to start the 1868 updates till I know if I need to replay that period or not.

Can I thank everyone who voted in the last round of the ACAs for any AGEOD game (but naturally was very pleased to pick up a lot of votes for this).

And finally, if you have the time, go and read the 5th edition of AARland's own e-magazine: The AArlander, its fast becoming rather good and with lots of interesting points of views.
 
July - December 1867: Gari disciplines the unruly school children (& other events)

So to the second half of 1867. Increasingly the idea of leaving Milan to the Austrians becomes the unspoken policy of the leadership, as the lure of colonial ventures and the half glimpsed glimmer of a new Roman Empire starts to seduce those in charge.

Of course, first we have an economy to run.

Manufactured.



As before I’ve put the indicator of how much capital is involved in production on the right hand side. The leap at the end is due to the final luxury goods factory coming on line.

State cash is being run down partly due to investment in research (I’m pushing an education tech that will in turn give me a lot more research) and partly as I’m trying to keep taxes low (for the happiness impact).

Manufactured goods are being run down as all the colonial activity (below) is using them up. Its no worry as there is so much available on the international market I can buy what I need when I need it.

Non-Manufactured.



Less to say here, if I have a goal it is in keeping the stocks more or less level. Again the decline in Wood is no real concern, if it continues I can either create a new timber cutting facility or buy as much as I need on the world market.

Every turn in the report you get quite a detailed economic report. This contains all the individual transactions (bought and sold internationally) and a useful set of overviews. This is from late 1867, but shows why I am confident that if I need to I can always buy more than I am at the moment.



As you can see, I am buying 480 worth and selling 732 internationally. In turn, I am selling 160 goods to the domestic market worth 417 (so my total sales are 1150). In addition, these domestic sales in turn are taxed (various types, levels and impact) yielding the taxes that in turn form my state funds. This gives you some idea how the financial model in PoN works.

The net sales (1150) become private capital (I believe) that is then consumed in turn in production or can be stockpiled to allow the construction of new agricultural sites, industry or other structures.




Happiness



Not a huge amount to say there. It looks like the worst is over (I have the lowest level of unrest in 3 provinces).


Replacements



Events

In the horn of Africa, I start constructing a basic military infrastructure. A second port, this time on the Yemeni side, should ease switching troops back and forth. Of course a port, needs a fort, and a depot just makes it all so neat. And a bit later, just so the fort doesn’t feel lonely, a special garrison is raised.



Should add there is a second advantage to the fort. PoN has a mechanism sort of similar to that in Wars In America where forts have an automatic garrison when besieged. Its not that strong, but certainly good enough to see off tribal rebels. However Hoedeida and Djibuti are the cornerstones of my Empire so I want to be able to make them very hard to take. I’d also like to redeploy some fort and coastal artillery too (there is a bug about this that is being sorted out).

At Djibuti, I am building up the main naval base. Adding a new level roughly every 120 days.

Elsewhere I carry on making use of the bribery/treaty options. These are great for driving CP up to 35%.

And can add a worthless bit of sand to the south of Djibuti as my next Protectorate.



Of more value, Awsa joins my slowly growing colony.



I must confess, as in the response comments, I am a little less than sure just what the triggers are that shift a province from influenced to owned. In any case, I build a military outpost and then deploy one of my new colonial brigades to make it plain this is now an integral part of Italy.

A school is then built over in Aden.



At much the same time, somebody rebels, giving Garibaldi the chance to do the thing he does so well – get into a fight.



Which then means I can build another Opium field, after all one has to make the most of these things.



I’ve also marked up the various goods that exist across Yemen/Aden. So pretty useful, and both very selleable both domestically and internationally.

And then Gari has to go and protect the school, it seems the putative kids have been listening to too much Alice Cooper. Well we’ll soon put a stop to that.



In the meantime I have great fun shelling North Africa but decide it also needs that personal touch. The official bribers are despatched.



And this gives an overview of the Colonial situation. Note I am now paying colonial maintenance charges of £2 per turn, but then the regular shipments from my tradeposts more than covers that.



Should note, I could intervene quite significantly in Tunisia (I can even, for some reason, build a military outpost there). If I understand it correctly though, challenging another power in a colony can worsen relations and set off a crisis. I have no desire to annoy France at the moment.

I am also building up CP in Massawa (the Ottoman port to the north of Djibuti) and in Somalia.

And prestige. Well I am doing well, and I guess it must be largely down to the colonial actions (remember that every time I shell a camel or two I gain prestige). Number #7 in the world and 12% of the way to my target. All I really need is for the UK to have a catastrophic loss of prestige.



I am, and this is now official, bigger better and … whatever, than those whimps in Prussia. Take that Bismarck.
 
Again, excellent work! Yemen has been seized quite entirely for the glory of Italy.

As to the switching of ownership of provinces, I noticed recently in my Spain GC that, after conquering Morocco, MCing their entire state, and declaring a protectorate, I could seize MC of the two southern provinces of the Moroccan colonial state with a pair of colonial brigades despite not being at war with Tuareg. This leads me to believe that it is either the protectorate status of the provinces in question or their (I think) tribal status which allows me to switch MC without war. I'm leaning toward toward the former, as another province of the Moroccan colonial region was under french administration and MC, though it has switched to my control some time after the declaration of protectorate (I wish I could say exactly when), though it still holds a French military outpost which the manual tells me will eventually disappear as their CP is in the process of doing. You may be experiencing something similar in your game with respect to the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

Something you may soon have trouble with, and that I have also had trouble with myself, is the extremely unproductive nature of colonial sites, not including trade post shipments. As I'm not sure if and when major road construction becomes an option, building railroads in one's colonies may be a good idea in resource heavy regions you plan to develop. I'm trying this out myself in Marrakesh, Morocco, though I've got quite a bit of time until I can see if it is worth the cost.
 
Good to see your burgeoning Empire continuing to expand, with many a well placed bribe and a well placed shell helping said expansion considerably. What a surprise though that there is trouble at the school in Aden, it is almost as if Garibaldi being nearby is proving a bad influence on the school kids.

Going forward, I'm going to let the AAR stall here till I know how saveable my save game is. The ideal is my late 1870 save can be rescued. Ok is I revert to a Feb 1868 save and reinstall just patch 1.03 (that should be ok, unless, & this is possible, there is something in the end-1870 turn resolution that is a major problem). Worst is that neither of these work. In that case I have the screenshots etc to take things to the end of 1870. But I don't want to start the 1868 updates till I know if I need to replay that period or not.

Has this been sorted out (I hope so), or do you mean that the AAR will now stall after this latest update?