Updated Strategic Initiatives... The 1502 Edition
Welcome all to the new updated initiatives... Do to my being burdened with having to create many gag gifts this year, I've been late in posting this. But no matter, as many have spoken already. So let's put this into some sort of order, shall we...?
First, the recap of happenings and goings on.
Those things that are no longer necessary to debate:
Becoming a Grand Republic:
The Pope... Annexation and you:
Thrace: Potential COT Site and Important Land Bridge...
Taking down the Bavarian Tuscany Alliance:
Getting serious about taking the Holy Land:
And we did. So serious that we walked over to the Mams and took it, liberating Jerusalem for all of Christendom. They can even see it too, all they need to is pay the 23 ducat per person entry fee...
What...? Somebody's got to pay for all this...Grand Centralization:
We currently sit at -2, which will allow us to make a move... somewhere else...!
Trading Ideology:
Mercantile. With 3 CoTs now, a 4th in Alexandria and a 5th in Liguria, with bonus core, Merc seems our destiny. Also given our tendency to carry BB, which ruins compete chance, having high Merc will enable us to take advantage of our Monopolies.
So on to our current situation, and where we go from here...
The Current Agenda:
In reading the from the suggestion box, there seems to be a consensus that basically says linking up the Greek held area with the Italian area is a better idea than I thought.
At first I thought maybe there was some fear among those that advised, as I saw little reason to rush headlong down the Hungarian coast and claim the ancient lands of Illyria. But when those sentiments became echos, and the reasons began to be assembled, I realized I may have jumped the gun in my dismissal of a land connections importance.
Initially, I dismissed the need to 'connect' with myself... There were other important things to do and all that. But I will not play the fool. The Advisory Board has spoken, and the connection through Hungary has been moved up the list.
As I see it now, we have a few immediate priorities for this next session, all outlined on this handy map...:
First are the CoT provinces of Alexandria and Liguria.
Second is the connection from Istria to our Greek provinces along the coast.
Third is opportune exploitation of the Otts to connect Judea.
Fourth is cultural acquisition in Mam and Ott Land.
Fifth is actions along the Northern Med to beat Portugal to the punch.
The slider move appears to be the move to Mercantile to take advantage of Monopolizing CoTs.
The NI move is still unclear.
Specific directives and objectives:
Sir OrangeYoshi: Byzantium must live! (I will GTY them)
Sir Enewald: Obey! (!!!)
Sir Beamed: Sleeping it off...? (Hello...?)
Sir nsahn: Protect against Castille Mission! (as our ships are less than I give them credit for)
Sir blsteen: Tripoli and pincer Alexandria...? (If opportunity arises)
Sir Malurous: Leave of absence for "BS"...
(Congrats Again!)Sir quicksabre: Our ships suck. Land connection "particularly important". (they do, I now realize)
Sir Ahriman: I like the idea of expanding to Mecca and beyond...
coolenkhuush, the 'Advisor from Castille': Land Connection Essential, but Only Coastal.
Advisor draik: A rainbow...the more cultures in the melting pot, the better!
Sir To Be Named Later: I must follow the advice of my Knights...
Major Game Decisions Yet to be Reached or Decided:
Taking Japan as the End Game VS An an Open End Game:
Why YES, That Sounds Fabulous -or- NO, Let The Game Decide Our End:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Japan by land, and no new world."
Sir Enewald:
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn: "I am lukewarm to this proposition."
Sir blsteen:
Sir Malurous:
Sir quicksabre: "The problem with a goal like this, especially with all of the handcuffs you want to put on yourself, is that it dictates which direction we have to go and thus what kind of strategy we need to pursue. Part of the excitement of this AAR is the fact that we are never quite sure what will happen next because it is neither strictly opportunistic or goal based, and what is goal based is based on constantly changing goals."
Sir Ahriman: "Much too soon to have an opinion on this one"
Sir To Be Named Later: "I Rike It...!"
The Special French Combo Platter:
Awhile back, the valiant Knight of Sutherland, (that STILL kills me :rofl
, Sir Beamed, mentioned this cosmopolitan craving for the gates of Paris. He wanted that we should "Latinize" the Frenchies... A second inclination towards the Frenchies also caught my eye with Sir nsahn's (crazy?) thought of gaining cosmopolitan as an accepted culture. To say this has piqued my interest would be a touch of the understatement...
Sir OrangeYoshi:
Sir Enewald:
Sir Beamed: "Make all Cosmopolitan provinces a Latin culture!"
Sir nsahn: "Milan and Paris!"
Sir blsteen:
Sir Malurous:
Sir quicksabre:
Sir Ahriman: "it is unacceptable that some our Lombard brothers in Piedmont are under the French yoke"
Sir To Be Named Later: "The BBB must suffer at all times. It's the law."
Austria: There's GOLD in them there hills.
Sir OrangeYoshi:
Sir Enewald:
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn:
Sir blsteen:
Sir Malurous:
Sir quicksabre: "#2 is harder than you give it credit for." (referencing culture)
Sir Ahriman: "Yes! Bring all the other Austrians and Bavarians into the Republic."
Sir To Be Named Later: "All in due time..."
Mediterranean Empire or Colonizing Force:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Land through to Japan"
Sir Enewald: "Both of 'em"
Sir Beamed: "Med Empire"
Sir nsahn: "Island Specific & Womanizer"
Sir blsteen: "Both of 'em"
Sir Malurous: "Med Empire"
Sir quicksabre: "Mediterranean all the way! But I've said that already."
Sir Ahriman: "It would be interesting to control the entire coastlines of both middle seas (the med and the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean)."
marty99: "Both of 'em"
Rabid: "Colonizer"
kfijatass: "Med Empire"
enkhuush: "Both of 'em"
sjones25: "Med Empire"
Sir To Be Named Later: "Go East, young man..."
Land or Naval:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Make my vote for land slider."
Sir Enewald: "Balanced"
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn: "Depends upon how early you want to go for Japan."
Sir blsteen: "Land or Naval, I vote balanced"
Sir Malurous: "Balanced"
Sir quicksabre: "Land"
Sir Ahriman: "I believe a balanced approach is best here."
kfijatass: "Land"
Rabid: "Naval"
enkhuush: "One slider movement to land."
Sir To Be Named Later: "One move to naval."
No New World:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Japan by land, and no new world."
Sir Enewald: "Yes New World"
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn: "Skip the New World."
Sir blsteen: "Yes New World"
Sir Malurous: "No New World"
Sir quicksabre: "Colonies only as necessary to take relevant culture provinces."
Sir Ahriman: "The new world is essential."
sjones25: "If you really want colonies, ...it's much easier and cheaper (and more interesting) to just take them from other people."
Rabid: "Yes New World"
marty99: "Yes New World"
kfijatass: "No New World"
enkhuush: "Yes New World"
sjones25: "No New World"
Sir To Be Named Later: "Only from the Pacific side...?"
Can't touch Portugal:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Don't touch them. They could be a decent foe at the end game (possibly) and you won't be going in that direction anyway with your naval tech 5."
Sir Enewald: "Just Watch Me"
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn: "Leave her be."
Sir blsteen: "When necessary vulnerable, but I really wonder if there is going to be a lot of conflict if most of the purple's effort is headed east."
Sir Malurous: "Leave her be"
Sir quicksabre:
Sir Ahriman: "Portugal should only become a target if she becomes a colonial rival (i.e. just colonies)."
kfijatass: "Leave her be"
Rabid: "Just Colonies"
enkhuush: "You allow to exist...? (ie; destroy... destroy...)"
sjones25: "Forget them completely"
Sir To Be Named Later: "We're gonna have to, like it or not..."
Forming Italy and turning Pukey Green vs Retaining Our Purple(ish) Milanese Heritage vs Forming some as yet undetermined third nation/state:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Anyway, stay Milan! We must resist those natural urges. They may be natural, but they have no place here."
Sir (I'm still staying for Milan) Enewald: "Go Milano"
Sir Beamed: "Go Milano"
Sir nsahn: "My vote's still the same. Although role-playing as a republic ruled by a city (think Rome), also seems fun."
Sir blsteen: "I say either other unspecified country or Milan"
Sir Malurous: "Go Milano"
Sir quicksabre: "Go For Some Other Unified Country"
Sir Ahriman: "declaring an Italian republic would send a message to any foreign monarch thinking of intervening in the peninsular and perhaps claiming the Iron Crown."
Rabid: "Go Italian"
Devilmay: "Go Italian"
Iain Wilson: "Go Italian"
kfijatass: "Go Italian"
sjones25: "Go Italian"
marty99: "Go Milano"
urdh: "Go Milano"
enkhuush: "Go Milano"
SolisDF: "Go Milano"
cezar87: "Form Italy. Conquering the Med as A city-state is awkward."
Sir To Be Named Later: "Milan or another independent Republic."
Protestant bound:
Sir OrangeYoshi: "game play points to PRO all the way..."
Sir Enewald: "Reformed"
Sir Beamed: "Reformed should make things more difficult, especially if you don't have a lot of the Reformation in your provinces"
Sir nsahn: "Reformed. To paraphrase Sir Beamed, we are approaching the no-competition benchmark."
Sir blsteen: "Go PRO"
Sir Malurous: "the combination of REF and the other thing I quoted ("Forcing the taking of all provinces around the med, some currently held by some pretty big sticks before I can go East.")"
Sir quicksabre:"Either is fine w/ me, just not catholic." (previously PRO)
Sir Ahriman: "I believe that Protestantism is the way to go (see my sig)." (sig references Martin Luther.)
kfijatass: "Stay Cathy"
marty99: "Stay Cathy"
Rabid: "Go PRO"
urdh: "Stay Cathy"
Throne: "Stay Cathy"
enkhuush: "Be the REF"
cezar87: "In my opinion Protestant is better than Reformed. It would indeed be more interesting to go Reformed but I am generally a pragmatist and the bonuses from being Protestant are better."
sjones25: "Protestant, the first province to convert should be Roma!"
Sir To Be Named Later: "Leaning REF and PRO. Could let the province turn decide, or go with the first that pops..."
The "Corniness" of the AAR:
Sir To Be Named Later: "It's Good For You"
Sir OrangeYoshi: "Oh My..."
Sir Enewald: "After WC maybe. Or when I get elected to eternal dictatorship."
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn:
Sir blsteen:
Sir Malurous: "Has Never thought it Corny"
Sir quicksabre:
"I believe this was my response to this question" It was, I was a post off... Sir Ahriman: "I love it!"
marty99: "
" enkhuush: "Let's see what happens"
The rest of the world: "Don't Care"
Quote of the day:
Sir nsahn: "I am telling you from experience that you will get DOWed by Castile if your navy is weaker than hers when she gets that mission."
T
I will always do my best to incorporate anything I find particularly fascinating, very funny or quintessentially tangental.
The Grand Purple(ish) Republic of Milan is brought to you by Noble Republic. Noble Republic, serving your republican government needs since Government Tech level 10...
The current Knights of "The Breakfast Club":
Sir OrangeYoshi:
Sir Enewald:
Sir Beamed:
Sir nsahn:
Sir blsteen:
Sir Malurous:
Sir quicksabre:
Sir Ahriman:
Sir To Be Named Later:
Two Advisors of the realm have been nominated for being Knighted for the next SoftR Address.
