Three Countries One Goal

[rhynoclemmis]

This AAR's not finished?

Well, all I can say is AARRRRRRRR and cry.

And yeah, throw the cats off my lap, cause I'm not the forgiving type. Like... really not. Now I'm searching for the second one but for whatever reason it remains hidden.

Personally, I like the TO parts best. And, personally, I guess nobody's interested, so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

What on Earth have those Japanese been doing with all their soldiers whilst you were away?

 

[unmerged(60119)]

Oppressing poor peasants

 

[Montague]

Nice job keeping all three in it. I'm rooting for Sicily, but betting on the Order....and as for the oppressing "poor peasants", isn't that a tad redundant?

 

[Storey]

JaxomCA - Yes with as many regiments as Japan had they would have a hard time ever recovering without the AI splitting the armies up and moving then into several provinces.

Oh Vijayanagar is color blind as you’ll see in the next post.

Chief Ragusa - The beige province north of Georgia is the Mamluks. It’s the only one they have that Moscowy can get to so Moscowy isn’t likely to get it in a peace agreement. I see endless wars ahead for those two unless something changes.

The Teutonic Order is rubbing their hands together in anticipation at what they want to do with Moscowy. I just hope nothing changes before I get there.

You are as usual correct about what is going to happen with Japan.

Quiet the Mamluks might hear you. I don’t want any trouble from anyone until I get there. Then I will be the one to stir up trouble.

Legolas - I haven’t checked but I’m sure some of my provinces in south east Asia are core provinces by now. As to your question the answer is it didn’t occur to me. Now that you mention it maybe it would be a better way to go from a money standpoint but I’m not convinced it would be faster. I had 25 regiments with less that 200 men and another 25 with less that 500 men. If I disband the lower 25 I have to wait until I fill up the other 25 regiments and then I can recruit a regiment a month since I’m only adding 1,200 a month to my manpower pool. That’s two years to get them back in addition to what time I’ve spent recruiting men to refill the other regiments. There might be a magic number where the number of regiments disbanded would make if better, faster/cheaper to go that route but I don’t know and my head is starting to hurt thinking about it. But my gut feeling is that it would be cheaper to do it your way.

Boyss - Chief Ragusa keeps reading my mind. I have every hope and dream of attacking East with the TO next turn but I’ve learned not to plan ahead. It all depends, as you can see with Japan, on what condition the TO is in when I show up. Keep your fingers crossed. It’s summer so the cats are outside and are reluctant to come inside unless it feeding time so they are fat and sassy and out of my reach...at the moment.

Murmurandus - Oh maybe I’ll take a bite out of them.

Amric - I’m stuck with investing in stability as the only way to get it to go up unless I luck out with an event. I’m trying to keep it up to at least zero but it’s not easy. I hate investing in stability but it’s just too damn painful in EU3 to sit at -2 or -3 for long. I luck out and have a CB against the country I’m going to attack if not the fabricating a claim is of upmost importance.

Aldriq - Japan is at naval tech 2 and I think Vijayanagar is at level 5. I think I can win at sea from having the larger fleet but who knows. I really don’t want to fight them this turn but sometimes what I want doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.

Fulcrumvale - Someone that’s for sure.

Nil-The-Frog - Good I was hoping you weren’t thinking I was making fur coats out of cats.

Merrick - True but I have a feeling that the regiments are the ones I recruited with a few added by the AI but I have nothing to back that with so take it with a grain of salt. But if you’re right then the AI doesn’t, as some have said, just hire mercenaries when its at war. I can’t imagine that Japan with 70 recruited regiments would then hire mercenaries. One thing that irritates me is that there was only one regiment in Pegu, one in Brunei and one in India. All the rest were in Japan. It couldn’t possibly hope to win a war in that situation but it still has all the provinces that I’ve captured in the game so who knows what’s going on. I’m trying to stay away from Vijyanagar so let’s see if I succeed.

Stnylan - At sometime I’m going to end up with one so I don’t think I’m going to worry about it. I sincerely hope I don’t regret that decision.

Rhynoclemmis - Thanks for dropping by. I still don’t have a favorite but I was becoming frustrated with Sicily until that last turn. I like each one since they are playing so differently than each other.

Duke of Wellington - I’m tempted to save the TO turn every couple of years just to pop over and see what Japan is up to. Maybe I will, I don’t know.

Beware my Eire - If so they’re doing a piss poor job if it.

Montague - Thanks I had no idea if any of them would even last this long so I’m happy that they are all still in the race but I have no idea on what any on them are going to do once they run up against the Timurid. I have a shot of their empire in the next post and you’ll see what I mean.

 

[Storey]

My preference on who to attack is Rajputana here on the border of the Timurid Empire.

Problem is I can only get to three of their six provinces and I don’t know if I would even be able to get a single province in a peace agreement so I’m going to have to pass on this one..

The other option is here.

The light brown is Taungu and they are allied with Ayuthaya and Orissa. Ayuthaya is the green to my east. Orissa is a single pin-prick of a country in the middle of India and won’t be a factor in the war. After careful thought about the pros and cons of entering a war on the Asian continent, which was pretty silly since I’d already been there done that I decided to flip a coin flip, well actually two out of three I decided that Taungu would be the next victim. It didn’t hurt that I had a CB on them. I’m guessing that a border dispute event happened. They shouldn’t be much of a problem but they are allied with Ayutthaya who has over ten thousand men on the border and I can’t see if they have more waiting in the background.

But I still had to wait for more men in my manpower pool. Sigh.


So I decided to look around and took a peek at the Timurids.

Oh my.






1637 I declare war on Taungu and boy was it a war. I’d give you the bloody details but so much dust was kicked up from the fun everyone was having that I’ll have to keep the flowery descriptions of the attacks and counter attacks, the great sweeping flanking movements to counter the counterclockwise sweeping flanking movements of the enemy to a minimum. Yea I can tell you’re disappointed. The Taungu were not a problem. One of their provinces wasn’t even fortified so it was the proverbial hot knife through butter routine.

The Ayutthaya proved to be more difficult but slowly I was able to get the upper hand with the help of my faithful ally Brunei.

Which presented a problem. I didn’t want Brunei getting any land in the peace and they were proving to be a terror of wheels in capturing provinces so I agreed to a peace deal with Ayutthaya.

I got the two northern provinces, which I most wanted and although Ayutthaya looks like it can still give Japan a problem believe me they can’t.

.
So why end the war when I could get more? I’ve spent the entire turn with my treasury slider too far to the right because I had to replenish my regiments and with the rest invest in stability. I haven’t put a any amount of money into tech research. I wanted to end the war and start pushing land tech. Vijayanagar may only be at land tech 2 but Timurid is at level 6 and I want as much of an advantage as I can get over them so ending the war was uppermost on my mind. I plan to take it easy for the rest of the turn.

 

[Storey]

Things are just humming along so I’m looking around and see this.

Buzzards circling the next meal? Still Vijayanagar leaves me alone so I’m going to leave them alone.





Also in 1649 Corsica declares war on Tunisia, Sicily joins Corsica and Spain joins Tunisia. It ends with no land changing hands.

This is certainly a popular event. Innovative here I come.






1641 and I finally say the hell with it and move the slider toward offensive.

Also in 1641 navarra declares war against Brittany. Yep Sicily honors the alliance and is at war with Brittany and the Netherlands. It ended without any changes in land.

1462 and I get another military reform event. At least it’s doing wonders for my research into land tech. I also get a message that Venice refused to be annexed by Sicily.





A few parting shots

Everything looks good with Sicily.

 

[Capibara]

And once again, Japan gets nearer to the goal, at least more than the others, the war with Ayutthaya gave some provinces, but now you have border with Ming, hope that doesn't leads to a new war against them, as for Vijayanagar we'll see if AI Japan can hold the Indian territory for the next 20 years.

 

[unmerged(49655)]

Yes, why you wanted a land border with Ming is beyond me.

 

[Murmurandus]

Good turn, but Vijayawhatever is just waiting for a bad move - which the AI will have no problems providing with - to fall all over Japan...

Also, to which countries are the Timurids allied?

 

[Amric]

Storey, there ARE advisors that increase one's stability investments. I had one at one time that added plus 15! That can be a HUGE help...if one is available you ought to grab him!

Now, getting those two northern provinces are nice in all, but they don't really get you any closer to your goal. I hope they were rich, so that once they become cores it will help to increase your income levels. If not, than I have to say I don't see the point of even getting into that war, I'm sorry to say.

Otherwise, nicely played and at least you got to move a click further on offensive.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

A good turn for Japan. Not so good developments for Japan in that Vijayanagar is sending spies. I think you said it was land 2 and naval 7 and must be concerned to have the huge Timurid Empire on its border. Japan could end up in a war against Vijayanagar that Brunei initiates against Bali as you did not allow it to gain any terrirtory. Big countries tend to tip-toe around each other and its the little states that drag alliances to war - at least that seems to be the subject of complaint and AARs.

I mourn to see Ragusa fall under Ottoman rule. Can't fathom why the Teutonic Order would want Corsica as an ally and marvel at the wars her allies dragged Sicily into. The ai had the right idea to annex Venice; it did not work, but they remained an ally and vassal. I expect the ai to try again during your Teutonic Order turn and I think successfully. Then it will turn its attention to Genoa. It would be ironic were Corsica to annex Genoa. Sicily is strong enough to take the Mediterannean coastal provinces off France. I think you will arrive in Sicily to find war with Castille over North Africa.

Now the only logical reson that the Teutonic Order would have wanted a military alliance with Corsica for is to fight Burgundy.That's what Friesland would want to do. I do hope the Order is not aping Charles XII's Sweden and is not at war with all its neighbours. You do want to be at war with Muscovy. I think the cats will be pleased to be out of range should that situation greet you.

 

[unmerged(59737)]

25% Inflation!

 

[merrick]

So next round (assuming the AI has managed not to lose your gains to Ming or something) it's Vijayanagar or bust? I fear it may be "bust" unless the AI has left Japan in decent shape and you can get the war won and done within the 10 years. Vijayanagar doesn't look like it'll fold easy.

Good news from Sicily, though it's still got a hard road ahead. Looking forward to seeing what the AI's made of the TO.

 

[stnylan]

India does seem like it will be the sticking point.

 

[Storey]

Capibara - I just wanted to make modest gains this turn and hope that next time as Japan I won’t be in such a crappy situation in the beginning. Let’s see what happens.

Insanity Boy - It was a choice of having a border with the Ming (who are still allied with Korea who are still my best buddy) or expanding the number of provinces that I could attack Vijayanagar from. I’ve found out the hard way that attacking from one or two provinces creates bottlenecks that hinder your attack and restricts your ability to recover manpower in your regiments because of additional attrition loses as you move men to and from the front through the same province. But if the Ming do take this opportunity to attack then I’ve just screwed the goose, to use an old saying.

Murmurandus - Timurid’s allies aren’t what worry me. In the next turn they continue to annex countries. I think I might have picked the wrong province to make a goal. Japan now has enough provinces on the mainland that someone could capture enough of them to force Japan to give some back. Time will tell.

Amric - Believe me that if a decent advisor came along I’d sell my first born son to get him. All right I exaggerate a trifle, it would be my second born. All I get are trade and diplomatic advisors with the occasional missionary. I agree it wasn’t my finest hour but with the amount of time I had to spend getting into a position where I could attack I didn’t really have a lot that I could hope to do. Obviously Vijayangar was the main target but I didn’t fell confident that I could pull off a victory at this time. So I grabbed a couple of provinces, reduced one enemy to the point that it shouldn’t be able to seriously hurt me and bided my time. We’ll have to wait to see if it was the right thing to do.

Chief Ragusa - I think that if nothing else next turn I might just take Brunei and kick them out of my alliance and annex them. They’ve been useful but in that last war they got in the way more than they helped.

Who knows why some countries ally with others. I just played part of the TO turn and Corsica does some strange things as you’ll see. You’re right about Sicily and Venice. I really don’t want to waste my time fighting France and so far they feel the same about me. It’s our minor allies that force us to fight each other.

The Teutonic order does not have an ally when I started its turn so what happened to Friesland is anyone’s guess.

Fulcrumvale - I have the feeling that you haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to inflation.

Merrick - Its hard to look that far ahead since the AI keeps throwing knuckle balls at me but yes I’d like to take on Vijayanagar next turn and start the final push for the border of Timurid. Yes it’s going to be a difficult fight and I don’t think I’m going to be the favorite to win.

Stnylan - India will be the anvil that I forge my sword or my plowshares on.

 

[Storey]

Teutonic Order 1643

The best laid plans.

Okay I have once again zero manpower, -2 stability and a burning urgent need to expand. My armies aren’t too depleted but it will take a few years to get everything ready for the coming fight. For freaking sake I’ve got over 60 ships? Kiss them goodbye. Hey guys I don’t know if you can see it well enough to read it but the rebels in Dominica are up to 25% in their siege. What’s it been over sixty years? Are those guys great or what? Still they’re beginning to get under my skin so I think I’ll deal with them this turn.






Here are my advisors and what replacements that are available.

I decided not to change any of them. Good idea? Beats me.






The AI is researching Production and I’m going to leave it at that with a little more poured into stability.

I’m past my max on land and naval support so the first thing I’ll do it sink two-thirds of my fleet and cut enough regiments to be comfortably under their limit. I’m a few years away from attacking Moscowy, oops I guess I let the cat out of the bag. Yes the big yellow blob is going down and going down hard. But first I need a little patience to get everything ready. Besides I have a few things that will keep me busy until I DOW Moscowy.







Here’s a look at a variety of things I find important.

You can see why I don’t like staying at minus stability. I’m finding that I invest at least a little in stability whenever I’m below zero. Next is one of the disadvantages that the TO has. They only replenish 755 men each month. That compares with for example Japan who is at 1277 per month. I have to allow for this increased time delay in recovering from a war. Next the AI did not upgrade from Latin Knights to Latin Caracole Cavalry so I did. And last we have the problem with being a Theocracy and innovative. I’m now at +5.00 Policy Restriction and about to try to capture some provinces that will bring a fifth religion into my country, which will reduce the level of my tolerance for all my religions. Sigh. I’m at government level 14 and need to be at level 19 before I can change to an Absolute Monarch. Until then I’ll be walking on eggs while whistling a light hearted tune.





Sicily must have been trying almost every month because Venice rejected being annexed my Sicily in January and agreed in march. Cool. They also form and lead a personal union with Corsica.






And being determined not to let the AI out do me, in March I kicked the rebels off of Dominica and started to recruit and build transports because of this.

.
As you see I do have a few things to do while I prepare for the upcoming glorious war.




By November 1644 I’m finally starting to add men to the manpower pool.

In 1464 rebels besiege Diego Garcia and I could give a rats ass about it.





Things are moving along and I’m planing to DOW Moscowy in1647. So I’m tweaking some of the last things I need to do. I’m moving men into position, lining up my dominos so that it will be a clean run when this pops up.

At first I thought this was down right rude but then on reflection it did save me from fabricating a claim so I saved some money and Although I was planing on waiting until spring of the following year to attack I’m ready enough to fight this war.







By February 1647 Novgorod agrees to become my vassal and soon joins my alliance.

Yea I can hear the howls of protest from you about them being a different religion so I can’t diplo-annex them But I don’t care. I’m focusing on Moscowy this turn and it’s going to be difficult enough without Novgorod adding to my troubles. Novgorod was a viscous brute in the war. They kept gnawing at my northern most provinces, forcing me to divert men and delay my brilliant plan. Now we’re best friends and all is forgiven.





So what was my plan that was jumped started by Novgorod

My plan it to march down this corridor capturing provinces as I go until I break out on the other side. Then I’ll fan out and besiege anything that doesn’t move and destroy anything that does move. There is of course one problem with this otherwise brilliant plan. Can you guess? Well I don’t suppose it’s a fair question unless you have a game but then just who says life has to be fair much less a game. Hey at least there are some hints in the photo. Thank goodness I came up with this excuse for stopping at this point otherwise I’d have to come up with a cliffhanger

 

[Morpheus506]

What's that bluish color off at the far right side of the picture? Looks like someone else is trying to beat you to taking Muscovite lands...

 

[unmerged(65202)]

It's Ming
j/k Kazan looks like it wants to lend a hand

 

[unmerged(49655)]

Yea I can hear the howls of protest from you about them being a different religion so I can’t diplo-annex them But I don’t care.

... ...ANNEX!

I'm guessing you met 25,000 men under a 6 shock uber russian leader.