WC: How to manage in time?

[Vulkandrache]

I would agree in multiplayer since you cannot pause and have no time to consider, or if you generally like to play it more like RTS even in singleplayer.

There is already alot of clicking in this game. Its not a matter of being able to pause or not.

But its speed 4 with autopauses on many things. Everthing else is unplayably slow.
On speed 3 i fall asleep waiting for units to arrive on the next province.

In SP micromanagement is certainly still possible and useful

I could micro the shot out of everything all the time every day. I can also save my sanity and limit the micro to meaningful things with high payoff.

Maybe adding 2 cav should only be considered midgame (say till 1650

I dont have a set date.
At some point after tech 13 i decide that i dont want to deal with 3 unittypes anymore. Depends on the overall flow of the game.

I would go for 48/0/48

52's is for the beginning of lategame when level 8 forts start appearing and stuff like attrition still matter a bit.
Later on i just walk around with double 40's after the +3 siege.

The one extra Cannon is to avoid falling to +4 bonus from attrition.

 

[secretchief]

Here is an update now in 1661, after I've done many of the changes you suggested. Firstly, I lowered autonomy everywhere I could, used MilPts strategically to get more Absolutism for the least amount of points, went ahead and conquered the East African coast, but still have India to go as the treaty is still on from last war. I have mostly disbanded my cavalry and a number of infantry and built many more artillery. So now I have three armies of 18/0/18, two of 20/0/20 and one of 20/2/20. I still have two leaders above my limit, but I like to have some of those, as well as a needed admiral. I have teched up to 20/20/21 and started on Humanist and Administrative Ideas (although not gotten very far there yet, took time to core East Africa, new states and tech up). I have also swapped ally from Poland to Timurids, who are more strategically placed for future conflict theatres (India, Russia, China), and soon I will have gobbled my Catalonian vassal.

However, I did provoke the English Civil War by breaking some ties and swiftly dealt with that "disaster", which took me perhaps 15 months. Thus, NOW my Absolutism is 53 and I can prepare for the Court and Country trigger But first I need to invade Russia (seems like a good idea, historically) to get into real conflict with a rival and get my PP up. Funny thing, while I had my eye off the Mamluks, they created a CN in California No matter.

Any thoughts now on the next decades up to 1700? I thought I should take on Russia, perhaps nibble on Ming, conquer all of India and more of Indonesia. I can also try to create the Suez Canal actually (when I get the dough - loans??), which would greatly ease the transport of troops

edit: Oh, I have suddenly gotten a Nobility estate to deal with. How do you treat these guys?

 

[bly08]

can you show map with trade nodes?

 

[atwix]

Any thoughts now on the next decades up to 1700?

1.get the age ability for harsher treatment if you own the DLC.

then harsh treat away after court and country for cheap to get to 100. or, lower more autonomy i guess..

2. one tip for court and country:

leave ONE province occupied by rebels (preferably particularists), and write DOWN start date of disaster. after ten years, make sure you got 65 absolutism, THEN desiege last rebel province to get +20 max absolutism.


3. also, you will need gulf of aden trade node, so go for Ethiopia and such also.

once you got full control of gulf of aden, Zanzibar, cape, gold coast, THEN start a "transfer trade" chain with traders that pushes all money from india around cape to channel.

4. and also, get 100% power in channel, no matter the cost.

Kill that liège at 100 absolutism, and if Netherlands cores exist, use/release them as vassal. or plain vassal liège and ask transfer trade. kill any small nation that leeches trade in channel in HRE, and even consider going for lubeck/genoa trade node. but the last is not more important then going for Asia upstream trade.

5. use manpower ONLY on artillery attrition now, consolidate any infantry normal. hire mercs. keep that prestige maxed.

6. build a HUGE trade fleet and apply it in channel or contested nodes. but since channel is contested, use loads there.

7. do NOT invade Russia. toitally unnecesseary. with GP bonus to PP, and 3 privateer fleets on your rivals, you can maintain 50+ PP easily.

8. if you can unrival Russia when they do, start playing personal Union game with them. same for any other big christian nation (like Byzantium, Sweden). PU are best subject for feeding and keeping loyal.
and you can half of europe for "free" if you play PU game right.

p.s: next time post diplomatic screenshots also, to better Judge allies/vassals

 

[secretchief]

Thanks a lot @atwix Clear and concise advice! Here are the screenshots requested. I don't see why my vassals are interesting though? They're only there to be fed and eaten. But mainly, the tip of privateering rather than invading my rivals are extremely useful. I didn't know of the privateering aspect actually. The only DLC I don't have is Mare Nostrum btw. I will divert my attention to conquering Liege instead of hassling Russia, as well as building a massive privateer fleet vs. Ming and Russia. Liege will be quite easy, as they're only allied to East Frisia

Diplomatic relations:

Various trade aspects:

 

[atwix]

Diplomatic relations:

i meant diplomatic mapmode

 

[secretchief]

Haha. Aight then. Here is the current one, now including my Liege war. MY LIEGE! And I added opinions as well.

Update: I took Liege and East Frisia in a jiffy, and own now all of the node apart from three Dutch provinces. Then I started a Brahmani war, which led to me directly taking all of the western coast and up to the "hook" of the eastern one of India. I noticed that if I tried to feed Ceylon, I could take far fewer provinces than if I took them myself.

However, now I gotta core core core all the time. But without feeding, OE have given me rebellions all over the globe. Pretty annoying and LOTS of micromanagement. After that war, my manpower is shot and most of my armies are decimated. I gotta figure out this mercs vs. troops mechanic. Do mercs NOT take manpower from the national manpower? As I understood some of the tips here, I should just disband all my infantry and just keep artillery while stocking up on merc infantry?

I see now that @atwix said I should kill Liege at 100 Absolutism, while I did it at c. 55 Abs. What is the consequence of this? I didn't take them all out though, only the Channel provinces. Now my Absolutism is 73 (lots of harsh treatment at 50%).

 

[kirell]

However, now I gotta core core core all the time. But without feeding, OE have given me rebellions all over the globe. Pretty annoying and LOTS of micromanagement. After that war, my manpower is shot and most of my armies are decimated. I gotta figure out this mercs vs. troops mechanic. Do mercs NOT take manpower from the national manpower? As I understood some of the tips here, I should just disband all my infantry and just keep artillery while stocking up on merc infantry?

Yes, thats the idea. Mercs cost no manpower, only money. They cost more money to replenish but you can wage war non-stop using a merc army (or merc + regular cannons due to limited # of mercs). Thats why a good economy is so important for a english WC (my first goals are the channel trade node, french PU and then trade company regions and amerian colonies. By the way its easier to not conquer Spain and portugal completely. I usually reduce them to ~6 provinces and let them colonize for me, just taking their holdings every 10 years or so. If you manage to get them into a PU even better, but one cannot rely on that. I even subsidize them so they have enough money for all their coloniests between wars...^^

Btw. one trick to get to india fast is to create spy network at max colonial range nation, send a colonist to an adjacent island -> as soon as you arrive you can fabricate claim, threaten war (or actually go to war) to take the province and begin coring. Remove colonist after that (and break off colonization of the island). That way you can get around africa quite fast. As soon as you have 50% trade power you can also use the trade company to convert your lands btw.

 

[IceBonG]

Here is an update now in 1661, after I've done many of the changes you suggested. Firstly, I lowered autonomy everywhere I could, used MilPts strategically to get more Absolutism for the least amount of points, went ahead and conquered the East African coast, but still have India to go as the treaty is still on from last war. I have mostly disbanded my cavalry and a number of infantry and built many more artillery. So now I have three armies of 18/0/18, two of 20/0/20 and one of 20/2/20. I still have two leaders above my limit, but I like to have some of those, as well as a needed admiral. I have teched up to 20/20/21 and started on Humanist and Administrative Ideas (although not gotten very far there yet, took time to core East Africa, new states and tech up). I have also swapped ally from Poland to Timurids, who are more strategically placed for future conflict theatres (India, Russia, China), and soon I will have gobbled my Catalonian vassal.

View attachment 385873

View attachment 385874

View attachment 385875

However, I did provoke the English Civil War by breaking some ties and swiftly dealt with that "disaster", which took me perhaps 15 months. Thus, NOW my Absolutism is 53 and I can prepare for the Court and Country trigger But first I need to invade Russia (seems like a good idea, historically) to get into real conflict with a rival and get my PP up. Funny thing, while I had my eye off the Mamluks, they created a CN in California No matter.

Any thoughts now on the next decades up to 1700? I thought I should take on Russia, perhaps nibble on Ming, conquer all of India and more of Indonesia. I can also try to create the Suez Canal actually (when I get the dough - loans??), which would greatly ease the transport of troops

edit: Oh, I have suddenly gotten a Nobility estate to deal with. How do you treat these guys?

You really should have gotten the 2nd Idea in Administrative first. That one is by far most important one and it pays off really fast.

 

[secretchief]

You really should have gotten the 2nd Idea in Administrative first. That one is by far most important one and it pays off really fast.

I realized that a bit too late I could have easily bought it for almost just the core of Antwerpen and Ghent (c. 365 points). But now I know, and will save points until it's in the bag.

 

[bly08]

Thanks a lot @atwix Clear and concise advice! Here are the screenshots requested. I don't see why my vassals are interesting though? They're only there to be fed and eaten. But mainly, the tip of privateering rather than invading my rivals are extremely useful. I didn't know of the privateering aspect actually. The only DLC I don't have is Mare Nostrum btw. I will divert my attention to conquering Liege instead of hassling Russia, as well as building a massive privateer fleet vs. Ming and Russia. Liege will be quite easy, as they're only allied to East Frisia

Diplomatic relations:

View attachment 386064

Various trade aspects:

View attachment 386065 View attachment 386066 View attachment 386067 View attachment 386068

Collect in Moluccas, transfer from Sevilla to Bordeaux, collect in Constantinople. Protect trade in Channel.

 

[Felidae]

I noticed that if I tried to feed Ceylon, I could take far fewer provinces than if I took them myself.

Take them yourself, then from the 'Subjects' screen, use 'Grant Core/Claim' and 'Grant Province' as appropriate to transfer control of provinces to your vassal(s) until you're back under the OE cap.

 

[I_am_Nemo]

Take them yourself, then from the 'Subjects' screen, use 'Grant Core/Claim' and 'Grant Province' as appropriate to transfer control of provinces to your vassal(s) until you're back under the OE cap.

Note that this requires you to be at peace. The range at which you can feed them provinces is also quite limited; it might be only adjacent, not 100% sure.

 

[Felidae]

Note that this requires you to be at peace.

True.

The range at which you can feed them provinces is also quite limited; it might be only adjacent, not 100% sure.

IIRC it's adjacent to territory they currently own (no core necessary) and adjacent seazones. So I'm pretty sure you can chain grant provinces.

 

[I_am_Nemo]

IIRC it's adjacent to territory they currently own (no core necessary) and adjacent seazones. So I'm pretty sure you can chain grant provinces.

Yeah, you can definitely chain grant, I just wasn't sure to what extent you could grant over water. Adjacent sea zone makes sense from what I'm remembering.

Just didn't want op to think he could grant anywhere in coring distance and be stuck on 300% OE for a while.

 

[secretchief]

Collect in Moluccas, transfer from Sevilla to Bordeaux, collect in Constantinople. Protect trade in Channel.

How do you figure this? In the Moluccas, I have 19% of 2.1 ducats, and Sevilla can't transfer to Bordeaux, only Genoa

edit: Well, the Moluccas thing helped a bit actually, as well as collecting in Constantinople and especially collecting in Sevilla. But I still don't understand how you could transfer from Sevilla to Bordeaux?

 

[PhoenixG]

How do you figure this? In the Moluccas, I have 19% of 2.1 ducats, and Sevilla can't transfer to Bordeaux, only Genoa

edit: Well, the Moluccas thing helped a bit actually, as well as collecting in Constantinople and especially collecting in Sevilla. But I still don't understand how you could transfer from Sevilla to Bordeaux?

Think he meant move your merchant in Bordeaux to collecting in Sevilla.

Also I think it's better to collect in the cape than collecting in zanzibar. And collecting in ivory coast is always a bit iffy due lots of people having trade power there.

 

[secretchief]

Think he meant move your merchant in Bordeaux to collecting in Sevilla.

Also I think it's better to collect in the cape than collecting in zanzibar. And collecting in ivory coast is always a bit iffy due lots of people having trade power there.

Aha Although I don't collect in Zanzibar now. Just transfering onward. However, I have just received a new merchant which is set to collect in Goa, where I now have the entire coast. In the Cape I don't even have a merchant. Ivory Coast I think is fine, with me having 81% power, my CN Guadeloupe having 4% and my vassal (soon to be me) having 5 % while Aragon and Holland share a meagre 5 %. The reason why I didn't until recently collect in other nodes was that someone somewhere (perhaps Reman's Paradox?) said you lost out on a massive bonus if you collected anywhere else than the home node. I don't know if that would cover the 155 ducats I collect in non-home nodes though.

 

[PhoenixG]

Aha Although I don't collect in Zanzibar now. Just transfering onward. However, I have just received a new merchant which is set to collect in Goa, where I now have the entire coast. In the Cape I don't even have a merchant. Ivory Coast I think is fine, with me having 81% power, my CN Guadeloupe having 4% and my vassal (soon to be me) having 5 % while Aragon and Holland share a meagre 5 %. The reason why I didn't until recently collect in other nodes was that someone somewhere (perhaps Reman's Paradox?) said you lost out on a massive bonus if you collected anywhere else than the home node. I don't know if that would cover the 155 ducats I collect in non-home nodes though.

ah ok, didn't know you had that much power in the ivory coast.

It's true want Reman said, but you only have ~60% trade power in your home node so you just feed rest with more money by doing so. Also you got countries in your trade chain that keeps stealing the money you try to make. Lots of the time the bonus you get for not collecting else is not enough to cover all the leakage in your trade chain.

 

[bly08]

I misread the node directions and thought Sevilla transferred to Bordeaux for a second. Sevilla needs to be collected since almost all of the value there is being steered to Genoa where you have very little trade power.

For a rough estimate of whether transferring from node X to Y is profitable, do Y*(2-X)>0.95, if true then transferring is profitable. X and Y refer to your % share of the node. If the node is one hop from the home node where a merchant is present then 0.95 becomes 0.86.