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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).

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.

Really? Not like in my Austria game...

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?

I've been spending manpower pretty freely on guards and horse artillery; maybe with a year or two of minimal war I'll start cranking out militia.

Sounds like a lot of different opinions on achieving victory. :) A prestige victory is probably not possible, since I've been using satellites instead of annexation. Of course, if I never get a peace with the British, these last few years could be extremely dull anyway...
 
I can't speak from any real experience regarding the victory (though I hope to have a copy of Windows soon that can be used for all the P'dox games that I can't run,) I will say that this was another really enjoyable update.

Good to see victory in Italy - and getting Malta is, I imagine, no small feat, so well played there. I'd there any real reason France won't let you join their coalition? - I'm not sure of the mechanics.

Looking forward to the next one.
 
I can't speak from any real experience regarding the victory (though I hope to have a copy of Windows soon that can be used for all the P'dox games that I can't run,) I will say that this was another really enjoyable update.

Good to see victory in Italy - and getting Malta is, I imagine, no small feat, so well played there. I'd there any real reason France won't let you join their coalition? - I'm not sure of the mechanics.

Looking forward to the next one.

Probably because I abandoned the first one. :)
 
Just re-ran the last 2 months of my Spanish game, major victory while still at war with both Britain and France, So assuming the save is not running an old version of the game, at least on my PC it is possible to win while still at war. Not adding a screenshot just a link.

http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q675/Pigbin01/2013-05-02_00001_zps3b0a1b84.jpg

So Avindian, to prove this conclusively you just need to invade France while keeping the Brits at bay too. It's for the good of science, really ;)
 
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Just re-ran the last 2 months of my Spanish game, major victory while still at war with both Britain and France, So assuming the save is not running an old version of the game, at least on my PC it is possible to win while still at war. Not adding a screenshot just a link.

http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q675/Pigbin01/2013-05-02_00001_zps3b0a1b84.jpg

So Avindian, to prove this conclusively you just need to invade France while keeping the Brits at bay too. It's for the good of science, really ;)

That's reassuring. :) Any tips on dealing with France?
 
I put 3 armies on each flank, attacking towards Bayonne and Perpignan. 1 to conduct the siege of each town, 1 each flank to throw forward as an advance scout/screen and 1 for reserve. I threw everything I had up there and gambled that no-one would land in the south.
 
You're getting so close to victory. I can't wait until you stab France in the back.

To win you need to be both the dominant land and naval power. I guess for a tip I can recommend not just taking your own dominance targets from France but also occupying theirs since that will knock them out of the top spot. I've had the experience with my Russia game that even when I had the highest land score I couldn't claim the top spot until I forced France below 100% of their land goal. Just keep that in mind when you attack them. The same goes for Britain, but with their naval dominance targets.
 
I put 3 armies on each flank, attacking towards Bayonne and Perpignan. 1 to conduct the siege of each town, 1 each flank to throw forward as an advance scout/screen and 1 for reserve. I threw everything I had up there and gambled that no-one would land in the south.

Good to know! I really need to sit down, go through the manual again, and work out how best to use frontage.

You're getting so close to victory. I can't wait until you stab France in the back.

To win you need to be both the dominant land and naval power. I guess for a tip I can recommend not just taking your own dominance targets from France but also occupying theirs since that will knock them out of the top spot. I've had the experience with my Russia game that even when I had the highest land score I couldn't claim the top spot until I forced France below 100% of their land goal. Just keep that in mind when you attack them. The same goes for Britain, but with their naval dominance targets.

Naval dominance is entirely up for grabs right now -- even if I take Caligari, I still think that's not quite enough for 100% naval dominance. I'm not sure what would bother me more: the Anglo-French war never ending, or losing Malta and Gibraltar (especially Malta) after so much wasted time and energy.
 
Chapter 5: What's that sticking out of your back, France?

1814

Imagine my surprise when it turns out that GB will, indeed, accept a peace with me!

peacewithgb.jpg


They wouldn't give me both, and Gibraltar seemed easier to defend. Still, I beat the British, which is more than France can say so far. I do need to prepare before going after France, though. First, I build a bunch of transports to extract my armies from Malta. In August, I take what could be a useful idea:

marching.jpg


This will be the last screenshot for an idea in this update; too much else happens.

1815

I build up a bunch of militia brigades -- 29 to be exact. This will drain most of my manpower, probably, but I'm really looking for warm bodies at this point, and militia are almost as good as line infantry for Spain, with my ideas. (Infantry still have better initiative, and I can't set any flank tactics with them. Still, they're cheap and plentiful.) I take Coordinated Moves in May, with increases army evasion by 25%. Here's my best army, to show how I've organized it.

oneofmybetterarmies.jpg


Here's the staging area in June.

stagingforinvasion.jpg


What I'm waiting for is my truce with Piedmont to expire; I want all my ducks in a row. It does, so I take a moment to take down Piedmont.

piedmontfirst.jpg


This does put me at war with Russia again, but no navy in Europe (except the Royal Navy) can challenge me any more -- yes, that includes France. I butter up Prussia some more; if I can form a coalition against France, that would make my job that much easier. The British temporarily reattain Naval Dominance in September (I'm not sure how). France, the poor fool, tries to ask for my help.

nicetryb.jpg


Piedmont is annexed in October.

piedmontgone.jpg


This news is most unwelcome in November.

afrenchdefeat.jpg


Personally, I think since I beat GB and France didn't, that I should win the game right here. Sadly, March of the Eagles disagrees. Prussia forms a coalition against France in December. I try to join, but France still likes me too much. (I honestly don't know how Prussia, who is neither land or naval dominant, could form a coalition). I get Fast Move in December, which increases movement speed by 10%. Everything is set:

backstabbed.jpg


And the invasion commences! Circled in red are naval dominance targets; black are land dominance.

invasionandtargets.jpg


Pau falls in two weeks. I try to assault Bayonne, but I have too many troops there (thanks, March to the Sound of the Guns!) and I actually lose the battle.

1816

This is a nice event!

everylittlebithelps.jpg


Montpellier falls in January; it's not a dominance target, but it will make reconquest slightly harder. At this point, France and I are tied for Land Dominance. I need to get them under 100% to win. Wouldn't you know it, most of them are in Italy. The army that took Montpellier marches east to start on that.

headingeast.jpg


Naval dominant, baby!!!

woohooxa.jpg


In February, France proves how ungrateful they are.

thosejerks.jpg


I am appalled -- appalled, I say. What did I ever do to you?

...

Oh, yeah. Right. :D

The French doomstack, though, is no laughing matter.

thedoomstackarrives.jpg


My militia got eaten alive; I regret building them now. Toulouse falls anyway, though. One step closer, now all I need to do is kick France out of Italy. All of my armies are directed to hide whenever the French approach; I want them distracted so I can take their Italian objectives without too much hassle. In March, the landing is complete!

theplantm.jpg


They did retake Pau, but as long as I keep them busy in France, I should wrap up in Italy before they can respond. To be on the safe size, I conclude a peace with Russia.

russiapeace.jpg


That is less than 1% of my total income, of course. :) I assault and take Rome easily; I get reinforcements to hit Genova harder, and send the army from Rome into Firenze. The French sneakily take Vittoria, one of my core provinces, so I have to pull out of France (the army, thankfully, not the forts). Then, on April 6, 1816, Firenze falls.

almosttherev.jpg


I attack Toulouse, and strangely, the French abandon Vittoria. It is indeed Vittoria... for Spain!!! (Technically, the win comes in May.)

suckitfrance.jpg


europeismine.jpg


Thus concludes my first March of the Eagles AAR! I really enjoyed the experience, and I'll probably do more in the future. On the whole, I didn't screw up too badly -- misunderstanding frontage was unwelcome, and militia couldn't stand up to France. I'm not sure where I'll try next; maybe Prussia or Russia.

Before you ask, no, I'm not starting a new AAR at this time. I've gotten some really great news: I got a fellowship to go to Russia in July and do my archival research. I won't be back for quite a while (May 2014). That doesn't mean I won't be on the forums or writing AARs, necessarily: I'll have my laptop along. I don't, however, want to start anything new right now. After I'm settled in Russia and have established a regular internet connection of some kind, I should have a new AAR (probably HOD) up and running. For now, though, I'll drop down to merely two active AARs.

Thanks for reading!
 
Brava! Long live Spain!
 
Congrats on your victory, Avindian
 
Congratulations on finishing what has been a really enjoyable AAR - and well done on winning in such an emphatic fashion, too. Hopefully I'll be able to play the game soon, so I'm imagining that watching you learn the game will help.

And congratulations again on your fellowship - enjoy Russia!
 
The French were no match for the invincible Spaniards! Now you should beat down France until you can annex them, just for fun. :D

Congratulations on your fellowship. Is the destruction of rings of power involved while in Russia? I've been rewatching all the Lord of the Rings movies, so "fellowship" stood out to me. :p
 
Congratulations on another successful AAR.
 
Well done! This as definitely worth waiting for, and I love the format of your AARs. It makes them very good and informative. :)
 
Brava! Long live Spain!

Indeed!

Congrats on your victory, Avindian

Thanks very much!

Congratulations on finishing what has been a really enjoyable AAR - and well done on winning in such an emphatic fashion, too. Hopefully I'll be able to play the game soon, so I'm imagining that watching you learn the game will help.

And congratulations again on your fellowship - enjoy Russia!

It's surprisingly enjoyable; more so than I expected. That doesn't mean there aren't subtleties, but it is more accessible than any other PDS title.

Very well done sir, and good job you made peace with Russia before you head off there :) Congratulations for both achievements.

Thanks very much!

The French were no match for the invincible Spaniards! Now you should beat down France until you can annex them, just for fun. :D

Congratulations on your fellowship. Is the destruction of rings of power involved while in Russia? I've been rewatching all the Lord of the Rings movies, so "fellowship" stood out to me. :p

Yeah... I won't be doing that. ;) No rings of power, I'm afraid, although my wife and I just finished watching those again; we have the Blu-Ray extended editions.

Congratulations on another successful AAR.

Thanks!

Congratulations on a fine victory Avindian, Spain look like a very enjoyable country to play as.

It is, more than I expected.

Well done! This as definitely worth waiting for, and I love the format of your AARs. It makes them very good and informative. :)

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!
 
GL and HF in Russia ;).

Also nice conclusion to the AAR.

Regarding Prussia creating a coalition - simply: the coalition is created *against* a dominant power, not necessarily *by*. But the other dominant power usually leads the coalition and vice versa.

TBH, I'm quite surprised with the 'win while still at war' but I've played only one game (and that had been even before the release of the first patch) so...
 
GL and HF in Russia ;).

Also nice conclusion to the AAR.

Regarding Prussia creating a coalition - simply: the coalition is created *against* a dominant power, not necessarily *by*. But the other dominant power usually leads the coalition and vice versa.

TBH, I'm quite surprised with the 'win while still at war' but I've played only one game (and that had been even before the release of the first patch) so...

Logically, I suppose, the idea is supposed to be that the damage is so devastating that you can't recover.

You know, if MOTE is successful, I could envision a whole series of games like this, covering, say, the Thirty Years' War. Wars where there were constantly shifting alliances, that may not always (or ever) occur in EU4.