Quick questions / Quick answers Thread

[GC13]

He wasn't at his brigade cap, so he could have easily just raised a Cavalry brigade. They're super-cheap to maintain, so it's not like he could plead poverty. Even if he was capped, though, I don't see why you wouldn't take the smallish hit to combat power for a single brigade to get +50% occupation speed.

 

[Mjarr]

Organisation = How long your troops can fight effectively in single engagement before they automatically withdraw and retreat to another province. You can issue manual withdraw for a stack but there is a delay before it can be issued.
Morale = How fast troops regain organisation.
Tactics = How much your troops take casualties besides their raw stats, so higher tactics value -> less casualties.
Discipline = Extra discipline behaves like tactics.
Support = How well the unit operates in support role, aka in the 2nd battle row. The battle row setup is automatic as noted in earlier posts.
Recon = Speeds up occupation and also reduces defender's dig-in bonus when attacking dug-in stack.
Width = How much space they occupy in combat.

You can see province supply limits vs supply burden by selecting a stack and hovering mouse over their destination. If you go over limits you will take extra attrition. Sieging\occupying a province etc will also have fixed base attrition rate, and all attrition have a cap so even if you organise comic supervillain 500k stack in a single spot they will not perish instantly, but needless to say that's waste of manpower in most cases. There are also diminishing returns so three hussar brigades with high total reconnaisance won't occupy a province faster than hussar brigade and some infantry would, and large bulk of infantry occupies faster with recon elements than without etc.

Anyway, perhaps a noob, perhaps a man who just loves a good authentic non OP'ed fight? Still think he brings some things to the table needlesly.

Or roleplay?

 

[steveh11]

Regarding attrition, I find Napoleon's dictum - "Move separately - Fight together" works wonders. Doesn't help if you don't have the strategic depth to avoid a doomstack, but hey, what would?

 

[PrinceCola]

My key points that I *try* to remember with V2

• Defense is king
• Have reserves. Armies should travel in pairs when possible.
• Recon values for faster province takeover.
• Have at least as many infantry as artillery to protect your artillery.
• Have at least one or more horse units per army for flanking
• Triple check that your armies are being properly funded before engaging.
• Keep an eye on your org at all times.
• Avoid attacking in easily defensible terrain.
• When necessary, bait enemy armies with weak forces in defensive terrain, then counter-attack with fast reserves. Enemies die quickly this way.

*Disclaimer: My skills do not live up to my name.

Thanks for the tips. But how do i get more recon/check my current recon?

Organisation = How long your troops can fight effectively in single engagement before they automatically withdraw and retreat to another province. You can issue manual withdraw for a stack but there is a delay before it can be issued.
Morale = How fast troops regain organisation.
Tactics = How much your troops take casualties besides their raw stats, so higher tactics value -> less casualties.
Discipline = Extra discipline behaves like tactics.
Support = How well the unit operates in support role, aka in the 2nd battle row. The battle row setup is automatic as noted in earlier posts.
Recon = Speeds up occupation and also reduces defender's dig-in bonus when attacking dug-in stack.
Width = How much space they occupy in combat.

You can see province supply limits vs supply burden by selecting a stack and hovering mouse over their destination. If you go over limits you will take extra attrition. Sieging\occupying a province etc will also have fixed base attrition rate, and all attrition have a cap so even if you organise comic supervillain 500k stack in a single spot they will not perish instantly, but needless to say that's waste of manpower in most cases. There are also diminishing returns so three hussar brigades with high total reconnaisance won't occupy a province faster than hussar brigade and some infantry would, and large bulk of infantry occupies faster with recon elements than without etc.



Or roleplay?

Hm, so mounted cavalry is not as important as Infrantry and artillery? How good is width?

 

[Mjarr]

Thanks for the tips. But how do i get more recon/check my current recon?

By adding more cavalry and checking the unit stat. While it varies bit on technology and time, hussars early in the game recon of 2, dragoons and cavalry have 1 and cuirassiers have 0. In order to get most benefits of recon stat, IIRC it has to be 10% of the total stack size. Later in the game it goes to 3 and 2 respectively for hussars and dragoons, while cavalry remain at 1 and cuirassiers 0.

Hm, so mounted cavalry is not as important as Infrantry and artillery? How good is width?

Basically it boils down to balanced approach in stacks under ideal conditions. Some cavalry with bulk of infantry is better than pure cavalry or infantry, and better yet some cavalry with bulk of infantry and supporting elements is even better. There is nothing wrong leaving small infantry\cavalry detachment to continue occupation\siege while your other stacks are heading to engage other armies either, as obvious that might sound, but balanced armies are still way to go even outside occupations. Of course, finding “ideal” mix due attrition and supply limits and how to split stacks with larger armies is bit situational.

As for width, unfortunately I am still fairly new to Vicky 2 myself as well and I have yet to look deeper how it plays out later in the game, aside from as technology advances combat width is reduced and early game mass frontage ceases to exist.

 

[TolHydra]

What are the conditions for Lebensraum? I can't seem to be able to find it

This;

http://youtu.be/-MTLbEfXNPg?t=27m52s

 

[MisterGrim]

I am a beginning modder and just finished my first mod, exept that i do not have that movie file that comes with mods i have downloaded. What is that file and how do i make one for my mod?

 

[shierholzer]

exept that i do not have that movie file that comes with mods i have downloaded.

Well, that's not a movie file, it just shares its extension with a propertiary MPEG2 container format designed for use with camcorders. Victoria 2's .mod files are actually simple text files and quite self explanatory. Just use notepad to open one and learn.

 

[RELee]

Thanks for the tips. But how do i get more recon/check my current recon?

Short answer, you get recon from horse soldiers early on. I think planes provide it later as well.

Checking recon?

It can be seen next to the binoculars when you click on your army. Siege value is the cannon to the right of the binoculars. Values of individual units can be found when you hold your mouse cursor over units when you are planning on building.

Hussars have the best reconnaissance value of early units.
Engineers provide Siege value as do tanks later in the game.
Don't overlook the value of support and maneuver in the game combat system either.

The Victoria 2 Wiki provides values of land units in different time periods.

 

[BadCoyote]

A new player question... I've been watching videos on YouTube and in several USA Let's Play I've seen that the starting setup for the US has them with colonies started on the west coast in Oregon and Washington state... but my start do not give those to me. Was there a change in the game that took those away? Am I starting the game in a different setting? It is irritating.

-- BadCoyote

 

[grimkm]

A new player question... I've been watching videos on YouTube and in several USA Let's Play I've seen that the starting setup for the US has them with colonies started on the west coast in Oregon and Washington state... but my start do not give those to me. Was there a change in the game that took those away? Am I starting the game in a different setting? It is irritating.

-- BadCoyote

start date? Grand campaign or a house divided?

 

[RELee]

A new player question... I've been watching videos on YouTube and in several USA Let's Play I've seen that the starting setup for the US has them with colonies started on the west coast in Oregon and Washington state... but my start do not give those to me. Was there a change in the game that took those away? Am I starting the game in a different setting? It is irritating.

-- BadCoyote

Which game are you actually playing, señor?

 

[unmerged(748229)]

Playing Vic:2 A House Divided 2.31

1) Germany seems to never unify. Why? In one of my recent games (as Ottomans) Germany attempted to start the Franco-Prussian War in the 1890s which caused the Great War, which Germany lost. In earlier versions (vanilla + patch) Germany would attempt to form North German Federation by 1860s.

2) USA seems to ignore Texas independence and in most recent games never takes cores from Mexico.

3) Spheres. Does anyone know why bigger sphere of influence tends to hurt industry? I've researched it but can't understand how it works. As Ottomans, my industry always seems to do MUCH better after I lose GP status and access to my spheres. It doesn't really... make any sense...

4) Artisan vs factory. I know that factories become more efficient than artisans over time. Is there an efficiency value for artisans in the game? Can you compare it with factories? As the Ottomans, I had ridiculous amounts of research unlocked for industry and commerce BUT my factories were barely profitable. I think it may have been related to the sphere issue.

 

[GC13]

3) Who are your spheres? Do they have large numbers of artisans? That's bad for your industry. You want them to produce raw materials and consume your finished goods.

4) Artisans are just as efficient as basic factories with no technologies, but factories get input and output efficiencies from your technology as the game goes on, and once your literacy gets good can start getting clerks who will massively improve their efficiency.

 

[unmerged(748229)]

Thanks for the reply.

My spheres (as Ottomans) usually include Persia, the small Arab countries, and sometimes Egypt.

 

[Tom013]

Playing Vic:2 A House Divided 2.31

1) Germany seems to never unify. Why? In one of my recent games (as Ottomans) Germany attempted to start the Franco-Prussian War in the 1890s which caused the Great War, which Germany lost. In earlier versions (vanilla + patch) Germany would attempt to form North German Federation by 1860s.

2) USA seems to ignore Texas independence and in most recent games never takes cores from Mexico.

1) I can't say why it happens more rarely now, though I think part of the problem is that France tends to stay rather strong.

2) I have never seen this. Every game I've played, the USA backs Texas and then, over the next 15 (or, in some cases, if it's really slow, as many as 25) years after enacting "Manifest Destiny," they take every core.

 

[Tim O]

I bought a copy of Vicky 2 on Gamersgate way back when it first came out. I've heard good things about the expansions, but IIRC you can't install steam expansions on a base game from gamersgate. Is that true?

I'd really rather not buy anything else on Gamersgate. Is there any way around it or will I have to purchase the base game again so I can play on Steam?

 

[shierholzer]

but IIRC you can't install steam expansions on a base game from gamersgate. Is that true?

You can. Steam won't provide support or an installer for this, but copy&paste does the job as well.

 

[Tim O]

You can. Steam won't provide support or an installer for this, but copy&paste does the job as well.

Copy and paste what where?

 

[Will Steel]

What is POP income? Do getting POPs employed factories allow them to earn money from it if I subsidize it?

Secondly, do farmers and labourers earn money by selling their produced goods to the common market, or directly to the world market? If you have a province that produces grain (which has little value after mid-late game), are you allowed to 'subsidize' them so that they earn enough despite being in a loss after selling grain (through social reforms probably)?

Does taxing decrease POP income? Does having taxes set to 0% allow them to retain their full income?