My Polish empire in the making.
Ok I snaked (is that really a word?) a little (a lot). But I wanted to reserve an access to Siberia, which I intend to colonise. In the picture below, it's not that bad with all the PUs and vassals.
This game has been going on very well since the beginning (1399, D&T mod, Hard difficulty, historical lucky nations). I Pued Hungary very early, got my historical missions in good order (Vassalise Mazovia, take Danzig, Warmia, Annex Mazovia, Vassalise Teutonics etc). I also took the opportunity to vassalise Pommerania in a side war. I got missions on Brandenburgian provinces Neumark and Prezlau which helped me expand in the HRE with less infamy. I'm allied with Novgorod and Austria since the beginning which helped me a good deal in wars against Hungary, Bohemia, Moscowy, the Ottomans. I also somewhat unexpectedly became HRE (I had only a PU with Bohemia and Cologne as a vassal regarding electors, but Austria got a female ruler, an early Maria Theresa and lost the crown :laugh
. I then got the event to have be in the empire, which I chose. I added a few provinces in the HRE: Royal Prussia, Greater Poland, but do not plan to add much more.
I wanted to discuss what I could do with this game since I feel I went offcourse somewhere. My goals at the start were:
- Unite West-Slavic countries in an extended Commonwealth - Unions are done, there is only to wait for inheritance.
- Colonise Siberia with the roleplay reasoning that cossacks would do it like IRL but for the Commonwealth instead of the Tsardom of Russia. - We are well positionned to do so, I plan to start a little after I Weather the Reformation.
- Retake any historical Commonwealth land - Pommerania should be annexed at some point, only one province from Brandenburg is missing.
Now my questions:
1) I do not really care about the HRE. I would want to pass one reform at least, maybe more, before the Reformation, but this is costing me a lot to improve relations. Tatar provinces have not yet all cored, I have missonaries to pay and buildings to construct so I'm quite cash starved. - Should I leave the HRE to it's fate or try to remain emperor in spite of everything for the good bonusses it provides. Also, I do not want to extend much in German lands. I also wanted at first to be a noble republic, as historically, but no emperorship this way.
2) What should I do regarding the Reformation. I wanted initially to go protestant, for the tax and production bonusses, as I will avoid wool producing provinces and focus on the sweet iron and copper provinces in Siberia. Also Poland is rich in cloth and grain is going to have a relatively good value since I will focus in military buildings (for the iron/copper prices). I won't go reformed since its a lot of move for free trade and I had to use sliders move for Innovation/centralisation for westernisation. Is the the way to go?
3) I wanted to use a cultural assimilation strategy for my tatar lands. I chose CAD as my second NI (which will also help with Guilded Iconography (you have to keep the idea for the bonusses in D&T) and the stability cost for the westernisation of all technologies (also a D&T feature). I already succeeded in Settlement policies in Crimea, to start the spreading process. But now I have tatar as an accepted culture since rich provinces in Crimea cored, is it still worth to try to switch the tatar provinces? The strategy implies not going to far on the free subject slider (+1max).
4) My economic strategy is:
Churches/constables everywhere,
army buildings as quick as possible everytime I reach an upgrade,
trade buildings in high trade good provinces (iron/copper, later cloth, salt, grain?),
workshops once I have the level,
government line and production line in high tax provinces if the above are already done.
I aim for sliders: Centralisation, Innovation, Free Trade, Free Subjects, Land, Offensive. I'm already max aristocracy and will stay that way.
For NIs: I have already Military Drill and CAD, but I don't know really where to go after that. National Trade Policy sounds good but I don't know if I will have made all the move to +3 free trade for my 3rd NI. Maybe Battlefield Commissions to keep my tradition not too low for the hussars decision? Inflation is managed (2%) with high levels MoM so I do not feel I need National Bank.
Is this a sound economic strategy?
All in all, I'm having a lot of fun. Thank you if you find the time to advise me.
