The Rise of Russia: Take two : a MMP Learning AAR

[unmerged(102994)]

Hello All, after a long break I have decided to come out of my shell and write a Magna Mundi Platinum Learning AAR, as my favorite nation, Muscovy. Expect to see many MM mistakes as I find it first hand, why it's not an advantage to have so much cavalry!

The objectives for this MMP game are:

1. Don't Die
2. Try and expand
3. Reclaim Constantinople
4. Once Constantinople has been reclaimed, Rome and Judea must be converted.
5. Finally, (incredibly unlikely) the conversion of Mecca to the one true faith!.

In house rules:
-No reloading
-No Cheats
-Standard MMP options

Going to start posting the first update now!

 

[unmerged(102994)]

Ok Lets get started, Straight off the bat before anyone can ally, I DOW Yaroslavl, the cores that Muscovy have on the minors and Novgorod are going to make it very easy for me to DOW.

I am worried about Novgorod in 3.1 IN Novgorod are always a handful for Muscovy unless you can get a decent ally unfortunately it seems the only people wanting to be my allies are the knights, oh well they will have to do.

Mmmm my first look at MMP, I remember reading a post that said that MM was just alot of negative modifiers and so far this game im not dispelling that one.

In this screenshot you can see my mediocre king and rather poor advisers, it would seem that Muscovy is a bit of a backwater at this stage of the game.

Posting this screenshot so that people can see what the Papal Events are like, as I'm not a catholic nation, there not to important to me at this stage, so i won't be posting anymore until later...

After overwhelming Yaroslavl's army with my starting force, and some hastily recruited peasant levies, I lay siege to the 1-province minor and wait.

Hmmm, cavalry weakness, after reading the tooltip it appears I need more cavalry that's strange for me, in my normal games, my army consists almost 60% cavalry.

While waiting for the seige to go, I try to diplo-annex my vassal Ryazan, unfortunately they are being rather stubborn.

I accept this simply because I have never been involved in a succession war in my whole EU3 playing career and i am trying very hard to get involved in one.

While I wait for the siege I do the normal give military access and ask for military access and offer alliance to Ryazan, in order to raise relation without costing ducats.

Finally the siege is broken and Yaroslavl joins Muscovy!

However no rest for the wicked i notice that Tver still hasn't allied with Novgorod or anyone for that matter. Taking my chance I strike!.

First engagement with Tver is a somewhat Pyrrhic victory.

Argh! Whats this? I don't recall this in IN, mmm pesky mongols, not a fan of the RR with all of those options. Hmmm, I'm not the one to backdown, so I send the army in retaliation. If ubik or some other MM veteran is reading this, do the Mongol nations get an event like Rus Raid or something if i send an army back?

Not quite sure how they so much tradition for being wiped out...

But yet no tradition for them this time, lol I don't get any WE even though i had 5 fatalities maybe no one liked them back home?

OOOPS! That'll teach me to to go too fast through a battle.

There that's better. As you can see I'm ping ponging there army around while besieging there two provinces.

And finally they have been wiped out!

Will be back later! Any suggestions are appreciated! (Particularly from you Magna Mundi Veterans!)

 

[unmerged(102994)]

Everything seemed to be going well at this point, Tver was on the ropes, and Yaroslavl had been annexed, but then Novgorod noticing that my hands were full, attack me dragging the Teutonic Order into the fight. This will be trickier methinks.

Thankfully Ryazan helps me out alot in this war by distracting Novgorod and forcing them to send armies to recapture the provinces that Ryazan has captured for me.

First blood to me, however the Novgordians still outnumber me by a huge margin.

Finally Rzhev has fallen!

My peace deal with them has been mainly implemented to stop Novgorod from DOW'ing them after me, and getting yet another of my cores.

I was still playing ping pong with one of Novgorod's army's. My lack of cavalry is making it really hard to get there before they do. But finally after many 0 casualty fights.

Mmm that manpower and army size is looking alot more favorable now.

The catch the regiment while it has no morale tactic has been working a treat.

The big battle! No this fight was probably the most decisive one, and as you can see I didn't take chances, Was too scared about having my own regiments run down.

After getting rid of their offensive armies Im finally able to move into their territory.

Argh! They just did it me! God dam you seige attrition, that'll teach me not to monitor Manpower.

Oh oh... I have started losing battles.

Mmmm, normally I wouldn't accept this, but Lith was stationing troops on my border, and my last army was about to be overrun and killed so under the circumstances I accepted.

While i rebuild my army I try to diplo-annex ryazan, fail.

And again

Hmmm Georgia is a bit far away to be of any help, but maybe they'll help as a deterrent while i rebuild.

From this screen shot Moldavia is doing well, from the looks of it they inherited Bulgaria.

Argh... thats annoying, I don't really want to get stuck fighting timurids, so i take the prestige hit.

Finally Ryazan accepts my Diploannex.

So you can all see my economic sliders. I have frozen naval and trade, because their off the cards for me atm.

This is the limit of exploits so far.

A move towards Centralization. I tend to keep all my sliders on the centre rather then favoring anything, except naval, i always end up full land.

Alright will post next update soon!

 

[Pro]

Good start. I've played Muscowy before in MMP but I quit after I got a massive noble opposition. Half my provinces defected to rebels immidietly, another 1/4 was being besieged and my army got wiped out because there was a 19 regiment rebellion in the province it was stationed in and every time I retreated it there was a rebellion in the province it was heading towards before it got there. :wacko:

 

[unmerged(102994)]

Good start. I've played Muscowy before in MMP but I quit after I got a massive noble opposition. Half my provinces defected to rebels immidietly, another 1/4 was being besieged and my army got wiped out because there was a 19 regiment rebellion in the province it was stationed in and every time I retreated it there was a rebellion in the province it was heading towards before it got there. :wacko:

Yes, I get the impression that MMP is very cruel when you something starts going wrong, a little later I get an overwhelming noble opposition, that was fun.

 

[Enewald]

Oioi, magna mundi is very hard!
Good luck!

 

[unmerged(102994)]

Alright to start this update off I finally got an alliance with someone who wasn't a minor sweden. And for once my annual budget is a long way into the black. Yay, im still alive in MMP

However I have only 50% my force limit so I start building some more soldiers, if only to deter outsiders.

During the war off season, i try to diplo-annex tver, but fail...

Mmmm it would seem lith troops are helping the Nov's besiege their own castle????

On the second try Tver accept my offer. I have been very lucky with diplo's this game, in 3.1 IN i have to try at least 10 times to get a province minor to accept.

Noticing that Novgorod and Lith are smashing eachother, I sum up who to attack, I would prefer to attack Lith, but Nov has warned me and I'd rather not fight both, so looks like I'm Dowing Nov.

Another MMP only event, I think these sort of things add character to the game.

A HUGE DECISIVE VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY! Believe it or not thats 7 regiments.

The next few years are me pingponging around their armies while waiting for sieges.

Theres an update on my W.e and my current army size.

Nov's main army is still in Lith, allowing me to run unimpeded through their country.

I actually got an overwhelming noble opposition at this point, however it didn't do that much thankfully, spawning only one 8k stack of infantry, which my cavalry handled. After that...

For all those who don't know how bad a noble opposition is in MMP now you know.

After a year of fighting I finally demand peace with the Nov's and I attempt to break their territory up even more, while trying to choose cores to get the extra income immediately.

Thats the extent of my lands so far.

Argh! Warned dam guess i'll have to wait for a while, burn some BB and W.e

Another MM feature, to do with the administrative efficiency of your empire. Looks like I have grown to fast.

Another political climate MM event.

A good king except for his admin skills which is exactly what we needed now, /sigh.

During this period i also built keep networks in my fort level 1 provinces.


Another MM feature about slider changes, this time it would seem everything has gone well.

YES! Russian patriots have broken off from Lith and joined my empire! The IN rebel mechanic is definitely a good thing, combined with MM's slower style of play makes it much more realistic.

I decided to exile and expropriate this batch of noble rebels, I always seem to get a minor opposition whenever a king dies.

Seems all like only good effects there, MM's decision-based gameplay really make it feel like your controlling the nation as opposed to playing god.

Hmmm that modifier is not helpful at all.

Just thought I'd post a culture map.

Mazovia it seems has had some success against Lith!

That's all for now folks! Until next time!

 

[unmerged(84033)]

If I'm not mistaken ubik considers Muscovy one of the biggest challenges in Magna Mundi, but you seem to be doing fine for now.

The war with Novgorod went surprisingly well, and that two diplo-annexes... well, someone must love you up there.

Just don't overreach. You have subued your worst enemies for now, don't let your BB do you in. When in doubt, wait.

Then wait some more.

Good luck!

 

[Enewald]

The next goal is Kazan, Kazan, Kazan!

 

[naggy]

When in doubt, wait.

Wait, and seed around some strategic warnings and guarantees. Often, you can do better by being patient and letting the AI do something rash than by kicking down the doors yourself.

Or you can reduce your army size and wait for all your rivals to DoW you because you look weak.

 

[unmerged(102994)]

The next goal is Kazan, Kazan, Kazan!

who told you that black adder? that's top secret information.

Cause it's what you did last time you played muscovy, and the last 21 times before that.

Wait, and seed around some strategic warnings and guarantees. Often, you can do better by being patient and letting the AI do something rash than by kicking down the doors yourself.

Or you can reduce your army size and wait for all your rivals to DoW you because you look weak.

Yeah, thankfully everyone around me DOW's someone other then me ever 5 years so it's easy to find an easy target.

If I'm not mistaken ubik considers Muscovy one of the biggest challenges in Magna Mundi, but you seem to be doing fine for now.

The war with Novgorod went surprisingly well, and that two diplo-annexes... well, someone must love you up there.

Just don't overreach. You have subued your worst enemies for now, don't let your BB do you in. When in doubt, wait.

Then wait some more.

Good luck!

Biding your time seems to be one of the main gameplay elements of MMP.

 

[Pro]

Have you got your first NI yet? You should take burocracy to get rid of the administration penalty. BTW, I'm extremely disapointed with your noble opposition, I was just twice your size when I got more than 100 mixed regiments in one opposition

 

[PrawnStar]

*subscribes*

I'm enjoying all the gameplay details especially since I don't think I've ever intentionally played with centred sliders (Free Trade and Narrowminded always, no matter who I'm playing because I like colonies, even if that means I rule a country of xenophobic merchants who emigrate :wacko: ).

 

[unmerged(102994)]

Ok lets continue shall we?

First a look at the Mamluks who are getting served by the OE, hopefully they'll spend the rest of the game doing that!

Now lets have a look at country wealth, mmm Lubeck a one province minor, is winning must be all that insane money from trading.

theres me way down the bottom.

Now Kazan revolted from Golden Horde, and GH was allied with OE and Mamluks, this led to Kazan not being able to get a big ally, and them being wracked with rebel problems because of all the different ethnic group, so they are a prime target for my expansion.

A spend a while pingponging there solitary army, avoiding there rebels, and seiging. AS you can see this war is a foregone conclusion.

Wow there is all of Kazan's military, notice the inordinate amount of regiments in comparison to the amount of men, me thinks that would be a good catch at 0 morale.

Yay an alliance with a decent size power!

Remember that regiment stack before? it is no more!

God dam it, a 2 man garrison holds off my force even though there outnumbered 2000 - 1.

Oh wow! That's different! First time I have seen an army fight to the death, and it had to be mine!

Wow again, it seems, the rebels in Kazan are stronger then the army!

The reason I only asked for one province was, I had a core on it, so instant income and that i'm currently on distracted administration and any more expansion would cause that to get worse so better not to risk it.

Wow army academies are a neat feature! I get a sweet general! Shame we're not at war....

mmm I'm sure I'd appreciate all these generals alot more if I had some troops that utilized fire.

After the truce with Novgorod ends, I prepare once more for war with them, I hope sweden can keep denmark busy.

Argh! Sweden abandoned me! oh well Denmark abandoned Nov so not to bad all round, maybe even better because Sweden would've lost to Denmark forcing me to intervene to the war score back up.

I apologise for the lack of battle screen shots, because there is so much ping poinging and I don't want to waste your bandwidth with screenies that aren't crucial, i will only show battles if there important or decisive.

The main force of Nov is broken!

The pursing force gets more fatalities as well.

The next few months were spent seiging nov's capital, while waiting for other seiges and occasionally a 1000 man regiment would try and break the seige and get pwned.

After the capital falls, Nov is brought to the negoitating table.

The muscovite holdings as of 1445!

Lubeck is still going strong on trade power.

Theres me way down the bottom, lets hope i can catch England before the century is out!

Thats all for now! updates will be slower as i have finally reached my save game's progress.

 

[Enewald]

The bishop of Bremen has more cash than the Tsardom of Muscowy.

 

[unmerged(102994)]

The bishop of Bremen has more cash than the Tsardom of Muscowy.

Lubeck's income surprised me the most. They have more then double my income.

 

[unmerged(514)]

Congrats on a great play!

If this is truly your first MM game, I am *impressed*. An agressive and very successful game!


However, you are flirting with luck... don't get too ambitious.


Other than this your conclusions about MM gameplay style are spot on.


If you have any doubt, just ask!

 

[Tjena Med Laxen]

Mother Russia

Seems like tackling Lith will easier then regular =)

 

[Bismarck1899]

you have a big army but low inflation. how can that be?do you have national bank ???

 

[Zlovie]

well actually that's possible in MMP without a national bank. Having your sliders at serfdom, land, quantity and aristocracy all decreases the cost of you armies by quite an amount. And he will be able to pay for a lot of this with his yearly census tax.

BTW, you're doing impressively good, novgorod being at war with Lith was a bit lucky, but you took full advantage of it....