Great stuff Avindian, Spain has been a very useful ally to France so far, but grabbing a Portuguese satellite secures those valuable dominance objectives. Looking forward to the (first of many?) North African adventures!
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Sure is!
I'm disappointed you didn't include the screenshot of your victory over Lord Nelson. I need visual proof before I start throwing the confetti around.
There will be others.
I will try to get screens.Thanks very much!
Following this makes me more and more annoyed that I can't get the game to run. Good job with Sicily, though losing ships is never nice (I assume.) I'm impressed that you managed to beat Nelson - your allusion to more victories is promising. I'm looking forward to those screenshots
Declaring war on Morocco seems alike an annoyance, but I guess you'd have had to have done it sooner or later. Here's hoping you don't get too bogged down in North Africa.
Looking forward to more.
Declaring war on Morocco seems alike an annoyance, but I guess you'd have had to have done it sooner or later. Here's hoping you don't get too bogged down in North Africa.
Looking forward to more.
Following this makes me more and more annoyed that I can't get the game to run. Good job with Sicily, though losing ships is never nice (I assume.) I'm impressed that you managed to beat Nelson - your allusion to more victories is promising. I'm looking forward to those screenshots
Declaring war on Morocco seems alike an annoyance, but I guess you'd have had to have done it sooner or later. Here's hoping you don't get too bogged down in North Africa.
Looking forward to more.
Thanks for the kind words! Morocco is a key goal -- if I take them out, I'll move a long way towards picking up dominance.
Chapter 3: The PTA coalition is disbanding?!
[video=youtube_share;egebWiYgq8M]http://youtu.be/egebWiYgq8M[/video]
December 1806
At the end of the last update, we'd begun invading Morocco. Step 1 is landing 40k troops in Oujda. Throughout most of this update, I'm going to be sneaking troops across the Mediterranean, avoiding British ships, and reinforcing my men in North Africa. There will be minor victories, some minor losses, but nothing serious. Now, I'm very much in my Vicky 2 mindset: "Oh, Morocco is an unciv, I can take them out without even trying."
Wrong.
Okay fine. I'll attack the British; I've beaten them before, I'll beat them again!
Wrong again.
January 1807
Know how they say "the third time's the charm?" Well, this time, they're wrong.
My whole strategy of "throw soldiers at the enemy until they die" worked well for my Russian V2 AAR; it seems less effective in this game. I need more reinforcements -- so of course the Royal Navy intercepts me and sinks one of my three transports. Sicily, proving it's nothing if not consistently stupid, joins the British coalition again.
February 1807
A light bulb goes off over my head. I need to attack the Moroccan forts, and leave the army for now. I do exactly that, and a column (what's left of those poor drowned souls from earlier) moves on Fez, while another goes after Tanger. Meanwhile, in things I never expected to see, here are the Russians invading the Netherlands.
Sicily joins the war again proper. Also, finally, a win against Moroccan troops!
Of course, that probably won't continue...
Yes, I split my army in two and forgot to appoint leaders for the second half. That I win the battle is pure luck (and aggressiveness.)
March 1807
Britain takes Melilla, yet because they aren't at war with Morocco, they're trapped. It feels just a tiny bit gamey, but it's their own fault. I've no sympathy.
April 1807
If you felt badly for the British, the damned Royal Navy sunk all of my transports, so now I can't reinforce until I build more. I build a port in Almeria; my Mediterranean ports are safer than my Atlantic ones, it seems. By the end of April, I have some transports again (I've been building as many as I can for just such an occasion) and Cueta gets some reinforcements.
April 1807
This epic confrontation is over! (This new idea lets my ships move faster.)
May 1807
Tanger falls on May 4.
June 1807
Assaulting Tanger worked. Assaulting Fes?
You can keep your stupid hats. I didn't want them anyway. France takes Hannover from Russia, so go team!
October 1807
Sicily < Morocco.
December 1807
Another new idea, while I take out Fes the long but safer way.
January 1808
Fes falls on January 3, which leaves two Moroccan forts left!
March 1808
Marrakech falls on March 4.
April 1808
Safi is gone on April 4, and the Moroccan army vanquished. Now, I just have to claim the rest of the Moroccan provinces. At this stage, I could annex all of Morocco. However, that would free the British from Melilla, and I don't want that... yet. I'll have to attack the British first, which will take a bit, since my armies are all in southern Morocco.
May 1808
Which country has been the greater military failure so far: Sicily or Persia? I'll let you decide.
June 1808
Piedmont reenters the war.
July 1808
A new idea!
The attack on the British in Melilla begins:
VICTORY!!!!
I sat and thought for a while about what I ought to do with Morocco. Annexing them gives me more to defend, but more prestige. Satellite means I can ignore Morocco for a while. Here's what I eventually decide:
In hindsight, I probably ought to have annexed Morocco. I was overly concerned about British invasions, I think, so in the heat of the moment I made the wrong move. It hasn't come back to bite me yet, but it may in the future. The British army is entirely wiped out on July 27.
September 1808
Fun fact: it is only at this point in the game I discover how tactics work and that it might behoove me to use some sense in building armies properly. I think I just gained 200 idea points!
I continue to expand the navy throughout 1808.October 1808
Melilla is retaken.
November 1808
I attack Algeria. The Algerian and Tunisian campaigns are extraordinarily dull, so you won't see anything but the results.
January 1809
Another new idea!
February 1809
I officially leave the coalition with France; since Spain is so awesome (and since the British have lost naval dominance at this point), the coalition dies.
On the one hand, I have freedom of action now -- on the other, though, the Anglo-French war continues, and I'm still a part of it.
July 1809
On July 31, Tunisia falls (Algeria was beaten in May). These decisions are much easier.
Where to next for Spain? Well, I'd like to get Naval Dominance (so I can form my own coalition against France in the future). I could sucker punch Sicily, or there's that big rock floating in the Mediterranean the British seem awfully fond of. Hmm...
I've got one more update's worth of gameplay finished; I'll play more (probably finish) next week, if I can.
IIRC, it is not necessary to be Dominant to form a coalition against a Dominant Power.
Anyway, good update.
Anyway, good update
.
Good job with the North African campaigns. Those Moroccans are certainly tenacious.
Interesting stuff with the coalition disbanding - I'm looking forward to seeing where that takes Spain next.
Really good update, as ever.
Interesting stuff with the coalition disbanding - I'm looking forward to seeing where that takes Spain next.
Really good update, as ever.
Good job securing North Africa. It's always good to have a friendly port to flee to when the British show up.
So how strong are the French at this point? They'll certainly be more dangerous than the British since they can invade by land rather easily.
So how strong are the French at this point? They'll certainly be more dangerous than the British since they can invade by land rather easily.
IIRC, it is not necessary to be Dominant to form a coalition against a Dominant Power.
Anyway, good update
I'd have to verify; I'm pretty sure I tried forming a coalition and it wouldn't let me (although that could be because the only eligible coalition opponent is France.)
Thanks very much!
Good job securing North Africa. It's always good to have a friendly port to flee to when the British show up.
So how strong are the French at this point? They'll certainly be more dangerous than the British since they can invade by land rather easily.
A lot of their troops are tied up in the Low Countries. I'll try to remember to post some maps after this next update.
What does bonus does the idea Machisimo give? +1 moustache? 10% foraging in nightclubs?
Otehrwise, well done in North Africa. Fez are cool.
Otehrwise, well done in North Africa. Fez are cool.
Well, the straits of gibraltar are 14.3km broad.
Considering, that naval guns had a effective range of ~900m during the Napeoleonic wars, nobody is able to close the straits just by owning some provinces there.
Even in WW2 the straits were closed mostly by the fact, that the Brits dumped a big surface fleet there (in fact, there were some successful attempts of german subs to break through).
((They're considered closed in HoI3, since in theory, nobody should be able to challenge british naval superiority there.))
Chapter 4: Banging your head against the wall for fun and profit
1809
As my troops march back from Tunisia, I start a fort in Jaca because a) I have lots of money and b) I want to do something with it. That's the plan, anyhow. In August, Sicily concedes defeat to France. France, for some reason, loses land dominance. September sees a new idea:
France regains land dominance, sadly, in October:
I go transport hunting in October as well, taking out two British ships and a Russian one.
1810
First interesting thing to happen is in May:
I'm rebuilding strength, building up my fleet, and generally recovering for a short period. Another British transport goes to the bottom in May too. Finally, in August, I have something to do:
My landings are complete in September.
Messina falls in October. The Ottomans defeat Tripolitania in November, but get little out of it.
Palermo falls in December; my navy moves to force open the straits, and I march to Napoli.
1811
Another new idea:
Piedmont, very sneakily indeed, lands in Melilla with 3000 troops. Something tells me I don't have much to worry about. Sicily is defeated in February:
I get this welcome news after my victory:
I'd be the land dominant power, if not for France, which is good news. Britain still has a decent sized lead over me in naval dominance, which gets me to thinking, how can I prevent that? March holds the answer:
Malta is tricky, because I need to have my fleet blockading it, yet that also makes my fleet vulnerable. It is only at this point in the game that, unlike EU3, Vicky 2, or HOI3, I realize that your allies don't repair your fleet. You need to take some naval ideas for that. In April, the British attack my fleet, and I retreat into Sicily until I can repair it. The Ottomans eat the rest of Persia in June.
In October, I decide to see what conditions remain (those not pictured are mine):
Apart from Malta (Valetta) and Caligari, which belongs to Piedmont, everything else I care about is held by France. Piedmont's turn will come later.
Here is one of many, many naval defeats the British inflict on me. If I don't blockade Malta, the fort will never fall; if I do, I get attacked, and the British have better admirals AND all five naval ideas. At least these defeats help with the latter. I start building some new Ports the Mediterranean to build up my fleet even faster; my transports always get hammered when I fight the British.
1812
In October, GB takes Antwerp from the Netherlands and gets Naval Dominance again.
I finally get the Overseas Bases idea that lets me repair my fleet at allied bases the same month. France forms a Coalition against GB at the end of October, but for some reason won't let me join. Too bad.
The British attack my armies in Malta in November, and wipe them out.
1813
While I build up new armies and a bigger navy to go after Malta again, enjoy this screenshot of eastern Europe, where the Ottomans and Russians are going at it hammer and tongs.
In October of 1813, I try again. Denmark concedes defeat to Great Britain in November.
1814
I get the fifth and final naval idea in January.
Of course, the British still get a bonus to ship defense from their fifth British idea, so it's still not even footing. It is much closer, even I still lose every time we have close to even odds. Prussia and Russia sign a white peace in January, which makes me ask "Were Prussia and Russia ever at war?" I guess so! Finally, in May, after nearly a lifetime (it seems), Malta falls.
If I were land dominant, I would win right now!
I need to play again before I can update, which I'll try to do this weekend. I do have a couple of questions:
1. Obviously, until the Anglo-French War is settled in some fashion, I can't attack the French. The British won't even entertain a white peace, which I don't want anyway, since I'd lose Gibraltar and Malta. Any advice here?
2. To win on my own, I need to be either Land Dominant or Naval Dominant and have 75% of my total victory conditions, right?
Well, I thought that to win you need to be both LD and ND but I might be wrong.
Also, AFAIK, there is one little catch - you need to be at peace (which kinda sucks as at peace you would lose Gibraltar and Malta).
Also, AFAIK, there is one little catch - you need to be at peace (which kinda sucks as at peace you would lose Gibraltar and Malta).
You need to be both Land and Naval dominant, and you must have taken all your cores as well as be at peace as Athalcor.
If no state is both Land and Naval dominant, then the state with the highest prestige will secure a 'minor' victory.
Unless it's changed you don't need to be at peace to win, the game gave me a win as Spain while still at war with France and only occupying the provinces needed from them.
I have screenshots and a save game from when it happened, it might have been patched since I played that one. I'll try it tonight when I get home and see.
Was that win at the end of the game timeframe? As far as I recall, peace is required for a pre-1821 win. If you occupy all dominance targets by December 1820, I think the game still calls it a dominance victory though.
Seems like Spanish ideas mainly makes your militiamen stronger and cheaper, which points to a human wave strategy. Does Spain really have the manpower to make a quantity over quality strateqgy appealing?