Languish Universalis - Game thread

[Habbaku]

BTW, for winning: Prestige should be our VP for the next game.

Anyone even making a half-hearted attempt can permanently max that out at 100.

[Alcibiades]

Hell I'm sure habs and kleves were idling around there for a long time considering the land battles.

[Habbaku]

Btw, if we start in 1453, Muscovy will be fucked, since they don't get Novgorod until 1480.

Then they'll have their work cut out for them.  It's not that hard compared to 1399, but it is a fight.

[Habbaku]

Hell I'm sure habs and kleves were idling around there for a long time considering the land battles.

I was pretty even due to battles.  I just had a bunch of national decisions and Constitutional Monarchy giving me maxed out Prestige--anything I lost would just be regained over a few years.

All it takes to get ~60-70% is a decent Philosopher.

[Habbaku]

With all that done, I figure I may as well get a fire lit for next week's game.  Consensus seems to be that we'll be starting the 1453 scenario, though that may change if someone makes a good case against it.

Here's the roster, as of current :

Habbaku - Brandenburg/Prussia
Tamas - ?
Tamas' newbie friend (hopefully didn't take lessons from Tamas) - ?
Kleves - ?
Solmyr - ?
Alci - ?
sbr? - ?
DGuller? - ?

Those unlisted, please post your top three desired nations and we'll figure something out.  Also, anyone that wants to jump into a fresh game and can consistently make the times, please feel free to sign up; we'd be more than glad to have you.

[DGuller]

I want a non-colonizer this time.  My top three picks are Ottomans/Austria/Venice.

[Kleves]

I don't really want a colonizer, either, but nor do I want Austria/OE/Russia/France, so I guess I'm in a bit of a bind. 

[sbr]

I don't really want a colonizer, either, but nor do I want Austria/OE/Russia/France, so I guess I'm in a bit of a bind. 

Riga?

[sbr]

I want a non-colonizer this time.  My top three picks are Ottomans/Austria/Venice.

Venice intrigues me too.  I think we should try to have an Italian player and AFAICT Venice is really the only reasonable option in '53.

I really don't want to be France, outside of that I am not too particular.  I wouldn't mind trying England but someone, maybe Tamas, said they wanted them in the chat after the game.

[Habbaku]

I don't really want a colonizer, either, but nor do I want Austria/OE/Russia/France, so I guess I'm in a bit of a bind. 

Could always take a Muslim or Indian power (Khorasan? Viyajasdfaklsjgar?) and make them into the Mughals.  Poland is also available.

Either way, please actually list your preferences in your next post. 

[Habbaku]

Venice intrigues me too.  I think we should try to have an Italian player and AFAICT Venice is really the only reasonable option in '53.

I really don't want to be France, outside of that I am not too particular.  I wouldn't mind trying England but someone, maybe Tamas, said they wanted them in the chat after the game.

Haven't looked too deeply at the '53 scenario.  Is Milan that bad off?  I would think they are the most viable, but Venice is, of course, in a good position as well.

[Solmyr]

1453 is bad for a number of reasons, one being the aforementioned Muscovy thing, another being Spain having it harder due to no Castile-Aragon alliance yet. France has the best position overall, Ottomans too due to weaker Austria and Muscovy (and Castile).

I suggest starting a 1492 game but having Austria release the Netherlands as an independent nation, with someone playing that. This would: 1) give a HRE counter to Austria; 2) give another Protestant power besides England (and can help spread protestantism on the continent); 3) Provide another colonizer to compete against Spain/Portugal/England/France. IMO it's better than having a player nation JUST to counter Austria, or any other single nation. That's assuming Austria even needs a counter after the HRE expansion nerfs in the latest beta.

As for my picks, I'd go for Ottomans first, Spain second, or Russia third.

[Habbaku]

I don't think that the Netherlands really counts as an HRE counter to Austria--they are on the periphery and don't have the same ability to push back against the Austrians and I don't know if they really have a realistic chance of ever competing over the Imperial elections.

Not that I necessarily disagree with the idea of Austria releasing the Netherlands if we do 1492.  If someone wishes to play them, more power to them.

I think we currently have 8 people so, ideally, we'd have England, France, Spain, Austria, Ottomans, Russia and two others.  That leaves Portugal, the Netherlands, Brandenburg-Prussia, Sweden, Poland and Venice open as the medium-powers to be played.  My personal preference is still to play Brandenburg and sbr said he wanted Venice, so...

[sbr]

Venice intrigues me too.  I think we should try to have an Italian player and AFAICT Venice is really the only reasonable option in '53.

I really don't want to be France, outside of that I am not too particular.  I wouldn't mind trying England but someone, maybe Tamas, said they wanted them in the chat after the game.

Haven't looked too deeply at the '53 scenario.  Is Milan that bad off?  I would think they are the most viable, but Venice is, of course, in a good position as well.

In '53 Milan is two provinces and starts at war with Venice, who has about 6 provinces.  In the game I just ran Milan was annexed within 4 years; a human ally, especially if it was Austria could help but Milan is pretty weak in most scenarios after 1399.

Naples is 4 provinces in '53 but Aragon almost always starts with the 'Conquer Naples' mission and they usually ally the Pope.  I was playing Naples and got bitch-slapped by the 2 AI allies within 6 years.   

[sbr]

If we are now thinking about a '92 start I will go back and check that out.  I could go for an Italian nation of some flavor assuming the other people filled out the other important countries.

I think Italy would add a lot more to the game than Portugal myself.