Part III
In addition to generally improving my imperial infrastructure, I decide to focus my resources on two projects early in the century. First, I concentrate my diplomatic efforts on France, Persia and Denmark. France proves to be utterly unreceptive to my overtures, though I intended to support Paris financially in any case. Relations deteriorate by a certain amount each year depending on the nation's attitude toward you, and I was not able or willing to pump enough money into France every year to bring about a lasting improvement. In 1717, Persia joins my Italian alliance. The Persians share a border with Austria in the Caucasus, which will come in handy if Austria makes a move on Italy. The Danes remain true to their Russian allies, but again, I consider the money a good investment in itself.
Second, I begin to prepare my military for a successful war against both England and Spain in the colonies. My strategy is three-fold. First, I decide to continue my strategy of targeting centers of trade, which would give me the power to control lucrative trade routes without having to conquer a lot of territory. England's heavily fortified CoT is in the Chesapeake, so I build up a North American army capable of siege warfare. Spain's key CoT is at Zacatecas in central Mexico, which requires me to build up a large force of marines to land on the coast and move inland quickly.
Another consideration for my global strategy is the price and location of various goods. Tobacco prices have shot through the roof as demand from European elites rapidly outstrips the relatively limited supply from the Americas. In fact, tobacco is now worth 2.5 times such goods as spices and furs, eight times as much as cotton and five times as much as sugar (a good whose production I dominate thanks to my breweries in the Americas). I have developed my tobacco producing provinces in Brazil, but Spain and England control the only other plantations in Central America and the mid-Atlantic seaboard respectively.
A series of wars between France, Spain and England in various combinations gives me an early indication of their strength as I build up overseas. France has a large army in Manhattan, and I am delighted when France is able to defeat the English in 1711 to gain Luxembourg and an additional north American colony. France also takes two provinces from Spain in 1713. England uses its mastery of the seas wisely against Spain, winning the Canary islands and the Belearic islands. This is a worrying outcome, since England now has naval bases on the African coast and in the Med. I note as well that the English have constructed shipyards at Madras in India and in Jamaica, and their naval presence is now massive in those theaters. The only upshot is that piracy no longer threatens my sugar trade.
Austria has occupied itself with additional campaigns against the Russians in central Asia. The Russian empire is split into a central Asian half and a European half, and neither hand seems to know what the other is doing. In 1726, the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor declares war against England. France jumps at the chance and declares war on England as well, followed immediately by Spain. I am beside myself with glee. The Austrian army leaves the Dutch provinces in ruins and forces England to cede a valuable German province. But the French botch the war horribly and have to surrender Manhattan and one other North American colony to London. Spain fares even worse, losing Malta and two Caribbean islands to England.
The vultures are clearly circling over Spain, and I don't want to miss the action. In 1730, I declare war and crush the Spaniards decisively on all fronts. Zacatecas, the Spanish center of trade in Central America, and the adjoining coast are now mine. Zacatecas also happens to be a major producer of gold (220 ducats per year), and several other gold producing provinces are within striking distance.
Meanwhile, my failure to sustain a regular flow of subsidies has allowed tension to rise between my various Italian friends and allies. In 1741, the Papal States attack my vassal Naples, and my alliance falls on the Papists like a pack of wolves. I gain two provinces on the Aegean coast and Naples annexes Rome itself. Spain conveniently joins the war against me, and soon another Spanish gold mine and a piece of Ecuador is under my management. I now have two ports on the Pacific Ocean.
I seem to have bet on the wrong horse in Scandinavia. In 1751, Sweden recovers two provinces from the Russians and two from Denmark, including Skane. In 1765, Denmark loses its two most valuable Norwegian provinces to Sweden as well. Now most of the manufacturing capacity that the Danes built up over 200 years belongs to Sweden.
By 1758, Austria has developed a significant colonial presence in Indochina, and a new center of trade forms in Hanoi that robs my Indian trade center of all its lucrative Chinese trade. I respond by staking a claim to most of Siam and contesting the Hanoi market with my merchants.
Meanwhile, a Cold War of sorts is underway between France, England and me in India. The English have a huge military presence there to protect their vast holdings in northeast and northwest India. This has induced me to launch an arms race to protect my two cities and many trading posts in the south of India. Meanwhile, the French have a weak toehold, but their good relations suggest that they may be subsidizing the two central Indian states of Hyderabad and Mysore. North of Hyderabad, the Moguls have become increasingly alarmed by the English build-up, and I begin to court them as an ally. They attack the English in 1746 without success, and in 1756 they join my alliance with Persia and the Italians. At last, I feel that I am positioned for a move against the British Empire.
France and Spain go to war independently against the English in 1752 and lose catastrophically. France cedes three provinces in north America and the Spanish lose another two Caribbean provinces. The inability of the French to challenge the British is a big disappointment to me, since I had planned to focus on the relatively easy task of absorbing the most valuable parts of the Spanish empire. Instead, I have been forced into an arms race in North America and India and it now appears that I will have to go to war pre-emptively with England to restore a balance of power. The situation becomes even more complicated in 1761, when England joins the Russo-Danish alliance. While this probably ensures that England will find itself at war with Austria again, it also means that my Persian ally will be distracted by a war with Russia instead of invading the English provinces in Pakistan.
I would have preferred to attack in tandem with Austria, but when France and Spain again declare war on England in 1762, I decide that I can wait no longer. I am initially successful in overrunning the English trading posts along the Mississippi and defeating the English standing armies in India and the mid-Atlantic provinces. But my army suffers crushing losses against the fortifications at Chesapeake, Bombay and Madras. Spain is knocked out of the war early and loses two provinces on the Gulf coast. France also makes peace quickly and is booted out of India. Russia defeats my Persian ally, and Persia eventually has to hand over two north African provinces to the English. The Moguls also perform poorly in northern India and have to pay a large indemnity. Where are those cursed Austrians when I need them? After four staggeringly expensive years of world war, I negotiate a peace with the English. I receive the relatively poor colony of Alabama and I manage to replace the English tobacco trading post in Virginia with my own. I also have enjoyed significant success against the English navy, virtually clearing them out of the Caribbean. But all in all, it is a pyrrhic victory.
I launch another successful war against Spain in1779, gaining Grenada, another central American colony and 500 ducats for my efforts. I note, however, that the Spanish army and fleet is able to give me a much harder time in this war. Are they finally getting their act together? Meanwhile, I prepare for a final conflict with the English. This time, I build up much more artillery support in the hope that I can take at least one of their fortresses quickly. I also court Hyderabad to bring another strong Indian state into the alliance. But this diplomatic activity has not yet born fruit when the Moguls declare war on England in 1789, and I join them in a final showdown. The war is a spectacular disaster, as the English are much better prepared than last time. My North American army is destroyed completely when a large cavalry-heavy English force assaults my besieging army in Maryland. The English fleet has been rebuilt and annihilates my European fleet, and a total blockade of Portugal prevents me from feeding reinforcements to North America. English marines land in Italy, which is a manageable nuisance but nevertheless indicative of my failure to establish any degree of naval superiority in the Med. My Indian armies are defeated by fortifications, while the English army runs roughshod over the Moguls and Persians again. To add insult to injury, Oporto converts to Lutheranism and successfully rebels! The game ends with the prospect of a massive English counter-attack on all fronts.
Austria emerges the winner on victory points, followed closely by England and Spain, then Portugal, France, Russia and China. By the end of the game, I have clearly fallen from grace as an economic power, though the situation is far from hopeless. Spanish merchants have broken up my monopoly on trade in Brazil and the Iberian peninsula. Austria is monopolizing the Chinese trade from Hanoi, which now is worth more than all of the Indian commerce combined. I remain the leading producer of ivory and sugar, but the English dominate spices, cotton and furs and the Spanish are still the leading producers of tobacco.
Where did I go wrong? The main mistake was that I was too timid against the Spanish after the fall of Andalusia. I should have been attacking them as often as possible. Instead, I allowed myself to get involved with a lot of expensive diplomacy in the Middle East and India that did nothing but win me incompetent allies. Perhaps the war with the English would have gone much worse had I not made such careful diplomatic arrangements, but it was probably not worth the cost. I also was much too overconfident in my ability to outwit the AI in a complicated colonial campaign. The English AI played brilliantly both as a strategist and a tactician. The Austrian AI also earned its victory well.
Still, to my credit, I did manage to achieve my main goal from the outset: to unseat my powerful neighbor as the leading power on the Iberian peninsula and to gain the initiative over Spain in the Americas. My scheming in Italy also worked out much better than expected. Had it not been for the Anglo-Dutch merger, I might even have won the game.
In addition to generally improving my imperial infrastructure, I decide to focus my resources on two projects early in the century. First, I concentrate my diplomatic efforts on France, Persia and Denmark. France proves to be utterly unreceptive to my overtures, though I intended to support Paris financially in any case. Relations deteriorate by a certain amount each year depending on the nation's attitude toward you, and I was not able or willing to pump enough money into France every year to bring about a lasting improvement. In 1717, Persia joins my Italian alliance. The Persians share a border with Austria in the Caucasus, which will come in handy if Austria makes a move on Italy. The Danes remain true to their Russian allies, but again, I consider the money a good investment in itself.
Second, I begin to prepare my military for a successful war against both England and Spain in the colonies. My strategy is three-fold. First, I decide to continue my strategy of targeting centers of trade, which would give me the power to control lucrative trade routes without having to conquer a lot of territory. England's heavily fortified CoT is in the Chesapeake, so I build up a North American army capable of siege warfare. Spain's key CoT is at Zacatecas in central Mexico, which requires me to build up a large force of marines to land on the coast and move inland quickly.
Another consideration for my global strategy is the price and location of various goods. Tobacco prices have shot through the roof as demand from European elites rapidly outstrips the relatively limited supply from the Americas. In fact, tobacco is now worth 2.5 times such goods as spices and furs, eight times as much as cotton and five times as much as sugar (a good whose production I dominate thanks to my breweries in the Americas). I have developed my tobacco producing provinces in Brazil, but Spain and England control the only other plantations in Central America and the mid-Atlantic seaboard respectively.
A series of wars between France, Spain and England in various combinations gives me an early indication of their strength as I build up overseas. France has a large army in Manhattan, and I am delighted when France is able to defeat the English in 1711 to gain Luxembourg and an additional north American colony. France also takes two provinces from Spain in 1713. England uses its mastery of the seas wisely against Spain, winning the Canary islands and the Belearic islands. This is a worrying outcome, since England now has naval bases on the African coast and in the Med. I note as well that the English have constructed shipyards at Madras in India and in Jamaica, and their naval presence is now massive in those theaters. The only upshot is that piracy no longer threatens my sugar trade.
Austria has occupied itself with additional campaigns against the Russians in central Asia. The Russian empire is split into a central Asian half and a European half, and neither hand seems to know what the other is doing. In 1726, the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor declares war against England. France jumps at the chance and declares war on England as well, followed immediately by Spain. I am beside myself with glee. The Austrian army leaves the Dutch provinces in ruins and forces England to cede a valuable German province. But the French botch the war horribly and have to surrender Manhattan and one other North American colony to London. Spain fares even worse, losing Malta and two Caribbean islands to England.
The vultures are clearly circling over Spain, and I don't want to miss the action. In 1730, I declare war and crush the Spaniards decisively on all fronts. Zacatecas, the Spanish center of trade in Central America, and the adjoining coast are now mine. Zacatecas also happens to be a major producer of gold (220 ducats per year), and several other gold producing provinces are within striking distance.
Meanwhile, my failure to sustain a regular flow of subsidies has allowed tension to rise between my various Italian friends and allies. In 1741, the Papal States attack my vassal Naples, and my alliance falls on the Papists like a pack of wolves. I gain two provinces on the Aegean coast and Naples annexes Rome itself. Spain conveniently joins the war against me, and soon another Spanish gold mine and a piece of Ecuador is under my management. I now have two ports on the Pacific Ocean.
I seem to have bet on the wrong horse in Scandinavia. In 1751, Sweden recovers two provinces from the Russians and two from Denmark, including Skane. In 1765, Denmark loses its two most valuable Norwegian provinces to Sweden as well. Now most of the manufacturing capacity that the Danes built up over 200 years belongs to Sweden.
By 1758, Austria has developed a significant colonial presence in Indochina, and a new center of trade forms in Hanoi that robs my Indian trade center of all its lucrative Chinese trade. I respond by staking a claim to most of Siam and contesting the Hanoi market with my merchants.
Meanwhile, a Cold War of sorts is underway between France, England and me in India. The English have a huge military presence there to protect their vast holdings in northeast and northwest India. This has induced me to launch an arms race to protect my two cities and many trading posts in the south of India. Meanwhile, the French have a weak toehold, but their good relations suggest that they may be subsidizing the two central Indian states of Hyderabad and Mysore. North of Hyderabad, the Moguls have become increasingly alarmed by the English build-up, and I begin to court them as an ally. They attack the English in 1746 without success, and in 1756 they join my alliance with Persia and the Italians. At last, I feel that I am positioned for a move against the British Empire.
France and Spain go to war independently against the English in 1752 and lose catastrophically. France cedes three provinces in north America and the Spanish lose another two Caribbean provinces. The inability of the French to challenge the British is a big disappointment to me, since I had planned to focus on the relatively easy task of absorbing the most valuable parts of the Spanish empire. Instead, I have been forced into an arms race in North America and India and it now appears that I will have to go to war pre-emptively with England to restore a balance of power. The situation becomes even more complicated in 1761, when England joins the Russo-Danish alliance. While this probably ensures that England will find itself at war with Austria again, it also means that my Persian ally will be distracted by a war with Russia instead of invading the English provinces in Pakistan.
I would have preferred to attack in tandem with Austria, but when France and Spain again declare war on England in 1762, I decide that I can wait no longer. I am initially successful in overrunning the English trading posts along the Mississippi and defeating the English standing armies in India and the mid-Atlantic provinces. But my army suffers crushing losses against the fortifications at Chesapeake, Bombay and Madras. Spain is knocked out of the war early and loses two provinces on the Gulf coast. France also makes peace quickly and is booted out of India. Russia defeats my Persian ally, and Persia eventually has to hand over two north African provinces to the English. The Moguls also perform poorly in northern India and have to pay a large indemnity. Where are those cursed Austrians when I need them? After four staggeringly expensive years of world war, I negotiate a peace with the English. I receive the relatively poor colony of Alabama and I manage to replace the English tobacco trading post in Virginia with my own. I also have enjoyed significant success against the English navy, virtually clearing them out of the Caribbean. But all in all, it is a pyrrhic victory.
I launch another successful war against Spain in1779, gaining Grenada, another central American colony and 500 ducats for my efforts. I note, however, that the Spanish army and fleet is able to give me a much harder time in this war. Are they finally getting their act together? Meanwhile, I prepare for a final conflict with the English. This time, I build up much more artillery support in the hope that I can take at least one of their fortresses quickly. I also court Hyderabad to bring another strong Indian state into the alliance. But this diplomatic activity has not yet born fruit when the Moguls declare war on England in 1789, and I join them in a final showdown. The war is a spectacular disaster, as the English are much better prepared than last time. My North American army is destroyed completely when a large cavalry-heavy English force assaults my besieging army in Maryland. The English fleet has been rebuilt and annihilates my European fleet, and a total blockade of Portugal prevents me from feeding reinforcements to North America. English marines land in Italy, which is a manageable nuisance but nevertheless indicative of my failure to establish any degree of naval superiority in the Med. My Indian armies are defeated by fortifications, while the English army runs roughshod over the Moguls and Persians again. To add insult to injury, Oporto converts to Lutheranism and successfully rebels! The game ends with the prospect of a massive English counter-attack on all fronts.
Austria emerges the winner on victory points, followed closely by England and Spain, then Portugal, France, Russia and China. By the end of the game, I have clearly fallen from grace as an economic power, though the situation is far from hopeless. Spanish merchants have broken up my monopoly on trade in Brazil and the Iberian peninsula. Austria is monopolizing the Chinese trade from Hanoi, which now is worth more than all of the Indian commerce combined. I remain the leading producer of ivory and sugar, but the English dominate spices, cotton and furs and the Spanish are still the leading producers of tobacco.
Where did I go wrong? The main mistake was that I was too timid against the Spanish after the fall of Andalusia. I should have been attacking them as often as possible. Instead, I allowed myself to get involved with a lot of expensive diplomacy in the Middle East and India that did nothing but win me incompetent allies. Perhaps the war with the English would have gone much worse had I not made such careful diplomatic arrangements, but it was probably not worth the cost. I also was much too overconfident in my ability to outwit the AI in a complicated colonial campaign. The English AI played brilliantly both as a strategist and a tactician. The Austrian AI also earned its victory well.
Still, to my credit, I did manage to achieve my main goal from the outset: to unseat my powerful neighbor as the leading power on the Iberian peninsula and to gain the initiative over Spain in the Americas. My scheming in Italy also worked out much better than expected. Had it not been for the Anglo-Dutch merger, I might even have won the game.
. 
