Should I attack Ming?

[Dante Hidemark]

(I can post screenshots if needed)

I'm Ayutthaya, the year is 1517. Ming decided not to have me as a tributary anymore, and instead rivaled me. It is hard to expand now, so I was thinking if I maybe have a chance of beating them straightup...

I have 60k troops, Ming has 100k.
I have no mil idea group, they have offensive.
We're both on tech 10. They have 5% discipline in their NI, I have 2,5 from low Karma.

BUT! They have a mandate of 19. Don't know how significant that is, but the extra damage recieved sounds brutal. Also, they have a mothballed fort and I have a Mountain fort on the border.

I have no allies to bring in, I have to wait 5 years for favors and I think mandate will be over 50 by then...

Do you think I have a chance?

 

[PhoenixG]

imo you do have a chance to do it. Although it will be expensive. I big thing you need avoid is let their stack to group up.

 

[BarrosRodrigues]

If the mandate is ticking down wait for it to be at near 0 and then DOW; with that said if the mandate is actually going up then you have to strike now unless you can expand elsewhere. Play defensively battling only when you have a chance to stackwipe in order to exhaust their manpower; after Ming hits 0 manpower they won´t be able to replace their losses since at 0 mandate they can´t recruit mercenaries unless they took adm ideas. With 0 manpower and 0 mandate basically always press for battles (as long as you can win) to deplete their army even further (like I said they can´t hire mercs but you can). Good luck

 

[Autoclave]

that's a very short window of opportunity for you to push. Now or after their next reform. In terms of combat you are roughly equal now, they have more troops but weaker. I suggest you putting some effort into devastating their lands to push the mandate lower. Scorch their provinces.

 

[True_Heir_of_Rome]

Above post has the right idea. Inflict as much devastation as you can to keep the mandate low. If you can manage to get it ticking downward you can put them in a death spiral with just a couple wars.

 

[Dante Hidemark]

Thanks! I started a war and though it indeed is very challenging I feel like I still can make it, Mings manpower is 0 and I try to loot as much as possible (focusing on one province per state first so the prosperity vanishes). But to my next question: If I manage to beat them, what would I take? The mandate? Just wait and let the war exhaustion break them apart (they have humanism though)? A lot of land? I still have neibouring countries that I need to eat that are tributaries, so ideally I would want Ming to cancel them... Thanks in advance!

 

[Hastu Neon]

Don’t grab the mandate until Ming is broken, otherwise with few tributaries and lots of wars against them to unify China your Mandate will sink to zero and you will suffer their same troubles!