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Astrakhan looks unstoppable! :eek: :)


(Or at least until they start getting a really bad rebel problem
 
What I wonder, would taking the Arabic provinces from the Ottomans weaken them enough for Austria to play a bigger role in the Balkans, or would that only take away a diversion? I guess it boils down to if you want to strengthen yourself rather than having a diversion, but I personally would want to kick the Ottos when they're weak and care about Austria later.
Or in a shorter version:
1. You let the Ottos stay as they are. Best case, they stay friendly with you and act as a buffer against Austria, getting stronger again. Worst case 1, they fall even faster and you get Austria on your border. Worst case 2, they attack you when you don't want them to.
2. You attack them now. Best case, you manage to take their lands and strengthen yourself. Worst case 1, they manage to beat you. Negative 2, you beat them, but speed up Austria's expansion.

The way I see it, your best shot is to take them down when they're weak (like in the next war with Austria), take the stab hit and badboy and expand yourself. In a later game, I would rather trust myself than the AI to keep Austria at bay.
 
More good progress. Wonder what's more tempting to you now? Expanding into India, or Europe? Italy still looks somewhat fragmented, it might make for some nice expansion targets. :D
 
I have a small request. Would it be possible for you to point out who your neighbours are once in a while. My knowledge of the area (especially in the 1400s) is very sketchy. To me Astrakhan is a Swedish Apple and not an empire :D
 
aldriq said:
Fort-building and rebels will keep me entertained for a while.

You’re entertained by building forts? :p

It seems the fall of the Ottomans is going to happen. Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and Astrakhan will DoW the OE for you. But I say the next time Austria DoW’s OE, wait until the war ends then go after them. Their WE will be high, many of their troops will be on the other side of Thrace (build up that navy ;) ) and there’s some good provinces to grab.
 
9

Some roads lead to Rome faster than others
1489-1500

Nothing terribly exciting happens between 1489 and 1494. Poor uniforms... Heretical Trade research... Good old al-Mu'azzam III dies and a mediocre padishah takes his place, Tajd III (adm 3, dip 3, mil 7), he's quickly sent to lead the army in the hope that he fulfills his destiny...

Stability +3 is reached in April 1492. Algiers loses 2 provinces to Castille and Tripoli becomes independent. Aragon is seriously beaten by France, losing all her northern provinces and the Balearic islands. Hungary starts doing well and expands a bit, unsurprising when Austria leaves her alone.

Tajd III dies young, in 1494, although not in battle. The more capable al-Mu'azzam IV succeeds him.

syr1494a.jpg

Alexandria and Diamientia core in 1495. The chance of pressing a boundary dispute against the OE in Tabouk is taken, since a conflict with the OE seems inevitable anyway.

syr1495a.jpg

Later in 1495, seeing that Naples is being quickly overrun by Austria, I DoW the Neapolitans before there is nothing left to take. I had been eyeing Naples for quite a while, but their fleet being roughly the same size as mine had deterred me until now. I disembark 8,000 men in Apulia and chase an already exhausted army, although the land tech difference is noticeable in my slightly greater loses.

syr1495b.jpg

As soon as I can get Apulia in a peace deal I end the war, Naples reduced to an OPM. It is a long shot, I doubt Austria will let me keep an Italian province for long, but it's worth a try. The Ottomans decide to guarantee me at this point, maybe they are thinking it's a cheap way to get involved in a new war with Austria to recover their provinces...

syr1496a.jpg

Shortly after the peace with Naples Khiva attacks newly formed Shaybanid (rebelled from the TE a couple of years ago). Bad move as it triggers my warning on them and their allies desert them.

syr1496b.jpg

Mostly unfortified Khiva is swiftly overrun and divided between me, Khorasan and Shaybanid. Annoyingly Shaybanid overtook me asking for peace and taking most of Khiva's money :(

syr1496c.jpg

The conquest of Apulia has opened the 'Westernise' decision, so the next slider move is a no-brainer: innovative. It's a race against time, I need another 2 slider pushes before I can activate the decision.

syr1497a.jpg

In 1497 the OE finally gets tired of playing nice and warns me. If they want war now they'll have to DoW me though, I'm not going to attack them when they are at peace and 0 WE :D I keep on using every diplomatic chance to raise my relations with Astrakhan, hopefully when the time comes they'll desert the Ottomans rather than me.

syr1497b.jpg

In 1497 the reformation starts in Naples. I bet the Pope blames my bad influence :)

syr1497c.jpg

Even with the Ottoman warning I can still expand and pile up BB if I want to, by annexing Persia :)

syr1497d.jpg

After more than 70 years a Master of the Mint finally shows up in court. He's immediately hired. With him and being at +3 stability I can even afford to reduce inflation a bit.

syr1498a.jpg

In 1499 a big tribal succession crisis erupts in Astrakhan. I send my cavalry to help out but in the end the pretender wins, which is just as well since he has more troops and better stats; he successfully diplo-annexes Nogai after only 2 months in power :eek:

syr1499a.jpg

I didn't reduce BB as much as I would have wanted this turn but I did some good consolidation. Government 9 will be reached in 1501 and with it I'll get to choose a second NI, most likely National Bank.


_________________

Syria in 1500

Provinces: 39
At peace.
Allied with Astrakhan and Korashan. CB on OE.
Stability: +3
BB: 10.92
Monarch: Padishah al-Mu'azzam IV (8a/6m/5d)
Army: 34 (15/19/0)
Navy: 18 (0/0/9/9)
WE: 0

Neighbours

Mamluks: Allied with Hedjaz, Najd and Adal. CB on Syria. Guaranteeing Yemen and Iraq. Warned by OE, Syria.

Funj: Allied with Yemen and Swahili. Leads PU with Swahili. CB on Hedjaz. Guaranteed by Sokoto.

Algiers: Allied with OE, Durrani. CB on Castille and Fez. Guaranteed by OE. Guranteeing Yemen, Najd, Hedjaz, Fez and Oman.

Tripoli: Allied with Najd, Castille. CB on Syria. Guaranteed by Sokoto and Songhai. Warned by Syria.

OE: Allied with Bosnia, Serbia, Sibir, Algiers, Astrakhan. CB on Austria, Syria. Guaranteeing Yemen, Oman, Hedjaz, Syria and Iraq. Warning Georgia, Hungary, Novgorod, Yemen, Hedjaz, The Mamluks and Syria.

Najd: Allied with Yemen, Tripoli, Khorasan and the Mamluks. CB on Syria, Oman. Guaranteeing Iraq. Guaranteed by Oman, Algiers and Fez. Warned by Syria.

Iraq: No allies. CB on the OE, Syria. Guaranteed by OE, Yemen, Oman, Najd, Fez and the Mamluks.

Hedjaz: Allied with Oman, Adal and the Mamluks. CB on OE and Yemen. Guaranteed by OE, Algiers and Fez. Warned by OE, Syria.

Khorashan: Allied with Syria, Najd and Durrani. Guaranteeing Shaybanid, Chagatai, Kashmir, Durrani. Warning Shaybanid.

Qara Qoyunlu: Vassal of Astrakhan. Allied with Astrakhan. CB on OE, Syria, Astrakhan and Georgia.

Persia: Annexed.

Durrani: Allied with Khiva, Khorasan, Algiers and TE. CB on Syria. Guaranteed by Khorasan.

Khiva: Allied with Kazakh, Durrani and Kashmir. CB on Syria, Shaybanid, Khorasan and Deva Bengal. Guaranteed by Astrakhan. Warned by TE.


syr1500d.jpg


_________________

The known world in 1500

syr1500eur.jpg

The great powers of Europe have consolidated alarmingly fast. France and Austria should have a go at each other soon.


syr1500asia.jpg

In the east Ming looks every bit as scary as Austria or France :eek:


syr1500a.jpg

We know who the big bullies are...

syr1500b.jpg

And the usual naval powers. Surprisingly Naples managed to keep all her fleet.

syr1500c.jpg

Inflation has put me on a very mediocre tech position. Austria is at Land Tech 15, the OE is at 10.​
 
feldmarshall - I didn't know, I guess it's fair as long as you honour at least one.

demokratickid - Still a medium power compared to some blobs though...

humancalculator - Yes, they still have lots of rebels and of course succession crises.

CSK - I agree, I will only sacrifice stability and the chance of losing Astrakhan as ally if they are weakened in a war with Austria.

Kami - That's some detour! :)

Enewald - Borrowed knife?! You are starting to talk like Nebaldi... :rofl: But yes, I hope they get involved in a long, futile war in Europe.

Azugal - At this point I'd rather go west, but it's down to opportunity sometimes.

Voidd - Thanks and welcome!

birdboy2000 - I don't think Austria would stop at the Balkans, but it's true that I'd be more likely to stop them than the Ottoman AI.

Sweboy - Fair point, not everybody plays in Asia. I'll be posting year-1500 maps with names.

Brandenburg III - Building forts can be fun. Agree on the Ottomans, although they are still allied to Astrakhan so I'd rather they DoW me and lose their ally than the other way around.
 
Going by the 45 ducats in the one screenshot where I can see your money and the tech gap I am not sure you can afford it, but methinks you need a bigger army if the OE has 3x your troop numbers. Not impossible, but it makes life tough...
 
Going by the 45 ducats in the one screenshot where I can see your money and the tech gap I am not sure you can afford it, but methinks you need a bigger army if the OE has 3x your troop numbers. Not impossible, but it makes life tough...

I would rather expand the navy. If it's possible to block of those 3x more troops on Islands and on the European side... And a navy is much cheaper to maintain.
 
I think you should take some provinces of the Ottomans
 
Azugal - Well, if I can get the Ottomans at 10 WE and with 0 manpower like in their last war with Austria I think I'd be OK. To get a bigger army without inflation I need more cores and National Bank.

Kami - Definitely. But my naval force limit is holding me back. That's another reason I took the coastal province from Khiva and annexed Persia, I need more coastal provinces (is the naval force limit linked to base tax in coastal provinces?).

Enewald - Persia is now a proud province in our glorious caliphate :D Europeans... [dark side]maybe I should ally France...[/dark side] :)

Pro - Welcome along! At least there are 3 provinces I definitely want from the Ottomans, 6-7 that would be nice...

gabor - Don't think Oran is a CoT. With Algiers allied to the OE I have to be careful... Then again Tripoli is no better option to DoW, they are allied with Castille :eek: Who knows, Tver might still form Russia.

Sweboy - Yes, Ulster is French :wacko:

I'll be travelling next week, so next update will be at the end of May.