Chapter 10: Painting the world RED! With paint, not blood. Okay, maybe a little blood.
If you remember our last update, Japan had achieved Great Power status (yee haw!) Now, it's time to start throwing our weight around. Not against Spain, though.
October 2, 1877: We finish State & Government and start our next tech.
November 18, 1877: Our new NF (which I just now remembered) is promoting Clergy in Osaka.
June 26, 1878: Those crazy Americans and Confederates are at it again.
January 19, 1879: Poor NGF. They keep attacking France, forgetting that France is allied to half the planet. Maybe this time it'll work out for them.
July 21, 1879: Nationalism and Imperialism is done. First, we'll choose our next tech.
If I'm going to compete on the world stage, I really need a better navy. A navy made of wooden ships just doesn't cut it in 1879, so my next short term priority is trying to get Cruisers (or at least Commerce Raiders). You know what else you can get by competing on the world stage?
Colonies!
Colonies
Any unclaimed province in the game can, with the proper technologies, be colonized. All you need is enough tech, a spare NF, and a close enough naval base.
Here's one example of a colony in progress. Three main things affect how quickly a state is colonized: the colony's life rating, the colony's size (in provinces), and the presence or absence of your troops. That's right, AHD restored the troop colonization speed bonus.
What's so great about colonies? First of all, free land. Second, you get control of all applicable RGOs. Third, they mean more soldiers. Now, colonies aren't perfect. Colonists can't vote, you can't build factories there, and they don't affect literacy (which might be good). To change a colony into a proper state, you need 1% of the population to be accepted culture Bureaucrat POPs.
I've chosen to colonize several Pacific island groups, partially because that's what Japan would have done historically, and partially to give ourselves naval bases. We'll colonize Kiribati (part of the Gilbert Islands), the rest of the Hawaiian Islands (Midway, primarily), Tahiti, and Tonga (listed above).
September 1, 1879: For the first time in this game, we're going to let the Liberals run the show. Laissez-Faire can be both very potent and crippling to your economy; the across-the-board production bonus is very nice, but you'll have no control over your economy and lower tax rates.
September 12, 1879: We hit a short term dip as a result of L-F. Not a big surprise; we'll cut the national stockpile to compensate.
September 25, 1879: For the first of approximately eleventy billion times, the UK bans us from Johore. We don't want your stinky old Jo-whore anyway!
November 29, 1879: We are Friendly in Korea, however.
December 4, 1879: We get our first non-starting core, which is pretty neat.
Cores in Vicky 2/AHD aren't like cores in EU3, for example. You do get higher supply limits in core territory, but for the most part, the primary purpose of cores is to give free CBs. Still, they're nice to have.
January 1, 1880: This event, on the other hand, is much more useful.
Assimilation rate affects POP conversions to accepted culture, so in colonies, it dictates how quickly colonies become states. Unless you're doing something different for RP purposes, it's almost always a good idea to say "yes."
April 20, 1880: Steamers are done, so let's choose one of my favorite sleeper techs in the game: Clean Coal.
Some killer techs are really obvious. Everybody wants Machine Guns, Nationalism and Imperialism, and Medicine. Everybody wants Airplanes and Automobiles. Clean Coal is a much more subtle tech because, for most nations, Coal isn't a game breaker. However, look at Japan's number one import. That's right: Coal. One of the (many) excellent things that PDS did with Vicky 2 is emphasize how critical coal is, and you can't industrialize without it. We have some native Coal, but not much, and this tech will help us get more.
June 12, 1880: France wins. Poor NGF. Austria gets Schlesien, while France picks up Mauritanian Coast.
August 13, 1880: The US reabsorbs the CSA.
August 21, 1880: Our first successful colony! (Why? Because I already had troops in Hawaii.)
Nice prestige boost, right? I'll convert the NF to encouraging shipping in Fukuoka; if we're going to expand our navy, we need lots of steamer convoys.
January 8, 1881: Clean Coal is done. Back to more navy stuff!
October 15, 1881: The Japanese sphere just got two new members!
In a perfect world, I'd attack Korea instead and claim it for my own, since they have Coal and Iron. However, with the substate system, I'd be at war with the Chinese Empire, and with my crappy wooden ships, I'd be stuck in a world of hurt. At least by sphering Korea, I can effectively add their goods to my market.
November 1, 1881: The unsung heroes of a navy are the transports; we finally get steam powered ones!
They aren't that different from Clipper Transports, but they can take more of a beating (which means more time to get troops off) and they're faster, too. We'll build 45, because why not?
December 6, 1881: With a nice big bank account at the moment, I'm going to build up the naval bases in the Home Islands; they'll repair ships faster, have longer colonial range, and build new ships more quickly.
April 29, 1882: Chalk up another successful tech.
Cruisers are a huge deal. You'll see how huge later, but they're my main objective, at least in the short term.
June 29, 1882: Welcome to the family, Guangxi!
October 20, 1882: Kiribati is now colonized. The NF will go to promote Clergy in Nagoya. Osaka's at over 4% clergy, so they'll shift to promoting the shipping industry.
December 5, 1882: Tahiti and Tonga are colonized. More Clergy promotion with the NFs.
January 1, 1883: We get Ironclads, which is not what I was hoping for. Ironclads are faster than Men O'War, with a much stronger Hull value, but only slightly higher attack. If you're far ahead of the curve (like the UK), Ironclads are nice, but for most countries, they're too expensive and get phased out too quickly. I'll disband my old Clipper Transports, with my Steamer Transports done.
February 22, 1883: Are these man-eating plants or what?
August 10, 1883: Bintulu cores.
November 9, 1883: The downside of all these shiny new boats is that they're much more expensive; I'm going to cut Defense Spending to 30%, since I really don't need that many troops. I also stop buying Canned Food to build up the treasury.
February 22, 1884: We get a Cut Down to Size CB! ... On Bukkhara. Which is landlocked. Gee, thanks, AI!
March 1, 1884: Steel Steamers done! I can practically taste the Cruisers (eventually).
The supply limit increase is nice, but as is often the case, this tech is about the inventions. Nitroglycerin triggers some pretty nice events, and Artificial Fertilizers increases every RGO's efficiency. More importantly, it leads to Organic Chemistry, which we'll get to next update. It's time to super-charge our tech level, don't you agree?
Technology Schools
When a civilized nation advances far enough in specific areas, it can choose to follow a particular technology school via decision. (Some countries start with these schools.) Each school offers a bonus to some techs, a penalty to others, and leaves some alone. The price is 10 years of slightly decreased research, so it's not to be taken lightly. All changes require 45 prestige. You can also "Restore the Academia", which eliminates your tech school. Here are the schools:
Military Industrial Complex
Requirements: 5% of Population have Jingoism/Pro-Military as their main issue. 100 Military Score. Conservative, Fascist, or Reactionary ruling party.
Tech adjustments: Army +15% (as in, research costs are 15% cheaper), Industry +10%, Commerce no change, Navy -5% (as in, research costs are 5% more expensive), Culture -10%
This school is probably the most popular, and with good reason. The two most important tech areas, for most players, are the Army and Industry. Culture techs are probably underrated, but if there's an area an advanced nation can normally afford to ignore, it's this one.
Sea Power and the Merchant Marine
Requirements: 5% of the Population have Laissez-Faire/Pro-Military as their main issue. 100 Military Score. 30 Ships. Conservative, Liberal, or Anarcho-Liberal ruling party.
Tech adjustments: Navy +15%, Commerce +10%, Industry no change, Army -5%, Culture -10%
Got a country that needs a big navy? This is it. It's tailor made for a country that likes a powerful economy as well.
Business Schools and Tycoon Capitalism
Requirements: 5% of the Population have Laissez-Faire/Free Trade as their main issue. 100 Industrial Score. Liberal or Anarcho-Liberal ruling party.
Tech adjustments: Commerce and Culture +10%, Industry +5%, Army and Navy -10%
It's hard to find a good reason to have this school unless you're ultra-pacifist. The US starts with it (unfortunately). Vicky 2 is a game about the power of technology, and all the money in the world is no good if somebody can just steal it from you at gunpoint. It does have a big culture boost, but at the cost of a decent army.
Avant-Garde Intelligentsia
Requirements: 5% of the Population have Secularism or Pacifism as their main issue. Average CON of 4. Liberal, Fascist, or Communist ruling party.
Tech adjustments: Culture +5%, Army and Commerce no change, Industry -5%, Navy -25% (!!)
This one looks pretty stupid, but it's the only generally available school that improves Culture without horrendous negatives (except the navy). Culture is a good way for a country behind the curve to get caught up (with the educational efficiency techs and research point boosters). It's a good choice if you're pretty backward and want to catch up fast.
Corporative Industrialism
Requirements: 5% of the Population have Interventionism or Protectionism as their main issue. 100 Industrial Score. Conservative, Socialist, or Communist ruling party.
Tech adjustments: Industry +15%, Commerce +5%, Culture no change, Army -5%, Navy -10%
A watered down version of Business Schools and Tycoon Capitalism, except for the biggest boost to Industry in the game. It's actually a pretty decent little school if either army quality doesn't matter or if you're just going to outproduce the rest of the world.
There's also the really awesome Prussian tech school, but you have to be Prussia, NGF, or Germany to use it. Look it up sometime!
You can probably guess which one I chose.
The Navy and enough money to power said Navy are the two most important things to me at present. I'm not going to be doing huge amounts of fighting with technological equals at present.
May 21, 1884: Now, technological inferiors? That's another story.
June 10, 1884: Caught! 8.6 infamy is no fun.
October 11, 1884: I'll just have to take it out on Sindh: I've got my CB (although I need to get into position first).
October 27, 1884: I've played a LOT of EU3; this one always makes me smile.
November 18, 1884: Prepare to die!
March 16, 1885: I've already wiped out their army, it's just a matter of waiting for my troops to occupy. In the meantime, we try to use our new Tech School to best effect.
June 23, 1885: Sindh is finished and so is this update.
I should be back to a more consistent update schedule over the next few days; stay tuned for more wacky hijinks!