Another Languish EU3 game? Weeknights EST?

[Berkut]

Except that you don't have constables in quite a large amount of provinces, so...no, you don't have your stuff maxed out.  And no, it isn't about spamming manufacturies at all--it's about stable, progressive growth rather than rapid expansion into a bunch of areas that will only be worth something after ~30 years.  I will note that not having had an Admin-7 monarch the whole game (at least, I don't think you've had one) has hurt you a good degree, and there's rather little short of becoming a Republic that you can do about that.

In comparison to Spain, however, England might as well be in the 20th century.  The Spanish have really shot themselves in the foot.

I have Constables all over the place, but not in provinces that are

A) low base tax, or
B) Still high revolt risk

I don't think that is what is keeping my tech down though. Actually, I am not even sure my tech IS low - I suspect yours is just ridiculously high.

[DGuller]

In comparison to Spain, however, England might as well be in the 20th century.  The Spanish have really shot themselves in the foot.

Tell me about it.  Really poor planning on my part in the last session, and that graph is Exhibit A.  Is there anything I can do at this point, would selling Argentina to Portugal help?  Or did I just sink a large sum foolishly, and now it's too late to reverse the error?

[Habbaku]

Tell me about it.  Really poor planning on my part in the last session, and that graph is Exhibit A.  Is there anything I can do at this point, would selling Argentina to Portugal help?  Or did I just sink a large sum foolishly, and now it's too late to reverse the error?

I am not going to help you correct yourself very drastically at this point in the game, but I can certainly give you a pointer or two.  Specifically, yes, it is definitely worth sinking the money into improving your stuff ASAP.  I wouldn't sell off anything you have, though, unless it's a dirt-poor province.  You need to reform your NIs (Viceroys and National Commerce Policy come to mind).  Lastly, I suggest you look at your national and religious decisions.  Some of those should've been paseed years ago...

[Habbaku]

I have Constables all over the place, but not in provinces that are

A) low base tax, or
B) Still high revolt risk

I don't think that is what is keeping my tech down though. Actually, I am not even sure my tech IS low - I suspect yours is just ridiculously high.

Why would you not build constables in every province?  I looked at your sheet and you have several provinces that produce >2 tax/year without constables and with 0% RR.  There is no reason not to have them built there.

On top of that, you have this problem :



And no, your tech really isn't all that low.  I am, after all, at >10 years "ahead" of tech in several areas to the point that I'm getting massive tech-investment negatives because of it.

[Solmyr]

I am not going to help you correct yourself very drastically at this point in the game, but I can certainly give you a pointer or two.  Specifically, yes, it is definitely worth sinking the money into improving your stuff ASAP.  I wouldn't sell off anything you have, though, unless it's a dirt-poor province.  You need to reform your NIs (Viceroys and National Commerce Policy come to mind).  Lastly, I suggest you look at your national and religious decisions.  Some of those should've been paseed years ago...

Been meaning to ask about that. Any decisions that are especially required, and any that are absolutely terrible?

[Habbaku]

Been meaning to ask about that. Any decisions that are especially required, and any that are absolutely terrible?

Depends on the country far too much to decide on each and every one, but there are a few that I would pass as every country, if able, and another that's downright terrible.

The awful one is Importation Act, which gives 6% trade efficiency and 6% trade income boost in exchange for a 4% increase of merchant cost and, the reason it's not worth a damn, 6% higher technology costs.  If you have enough domestic CoTs and are a heavy Mercantilist power, it might be worth it, but generally-speaking I see that 6% tech malus as simply not worth the bonus.

Ones that I consider required that aren't nation-specific, however, are as follows :

School Establishment Act : +4% production efficiency, -3% Stability cost.  Negatives being -2% tax and +3% build cost.  The production bonus outweighs the tax bonus and the build cost is relatively small.  This one isn't great, per se, but I list it as required because it allows you to get...

The Education Act : +1% Prestige/year, -5% tech costs.  Negatives are -3% tax income and -2 Infamy limit.  I generally take anything that gives a permanent prestige boost as that directly translates into a plethora of bonuses.  The negative to tax income isn't all that huge, especially if you're a colonial power--you'll be making most of your money from tariffs and trade anyway.  The Infamy limit is irrelevant.

The Liquor Act : +3% tax, +4% Stability costs.  A no-brainer, especially for European powers.  Not open to Muslims, alas.

The Militia Act : +6% Discipline, +5% Stability cost.  Discipline means you kill more of the enemy, meaning you might win more battles, etc., etc.

The Anti-Piracy Act : +1% Prestige/year, -.01 Infamy/year.  The negative is that it lowers your Infamy limit and, to pass it, you need low infamy to begin with.  Anything that gives +% Prestige/year is good.  This bears repeating.Anything that gives +% Prestige/year is good.

The Recruiting Act : +.2 Land Tradition/year, -10% Regiment Recruitment time, +1 shift towards Innovative, +1 shift towards Quantity, +10% Stability costs.  This one I would say is a "maybe".  The slider shifts are good and bad, respectively, and the Stability malus is pretty big.  The reason I pass this is the extra Land Tradition--an expensive attribute until the late game.  When combined with a Sergeant Major General of decent value (+.6 or higher) and the Battlefield Commissions national idea, this will guarantee your LT hovers around 60%, which will ensure you have high-quality generals.  When you hit the 1630s or so and get a War College, you'll be even better off.

[DGuller]

BTW, what's the deal with switching to a Republic?  Habbaku said something ominous in the chat when I did it.

[sbr]

BTW, what's the deal with switching to a Republic?  Habbaku said something ominous in the chat when I did it.

What flavor of Republic, Administrative?  I always thought that was a no-brainer.

[DGuller]

BTW, what's the deal with switching to a Republic?  Habbaku said something ominous in the chat when I did it.

What flavor of Republic, Administrative?  I always thought that was a no-brainer.

Yes, I thought the same.  I finally took the plunge after my heir died, not wanting to flirt with Regency Council or worse.

[Solmyr]

That was fun.  I really enjoy playing this game in MP even when nothing terribly exciting happens.  The start time of this game doesn't work for me as a permanent player but feel free to ask me if you need a sub.  The Sunday game works better for me, I may see if there is an opening there.

Sweden might be playable in our Sunday game, it owns all of Scandinavia and is a minor colonial power. Downsides might be Russia kicking your ass and other colonials eyeing your colonies.

[Berkut]

As Russia I have kicked Swedens ass several times, but I don't think I've taken anything from them other than Lithuania when they annexed it. That was rather handy of them, in fact.

[DGuller]

BTW, can I get an edit for Bogota?  I seem to have the design flaw with unknown good produced that Berkut described earlier.

[Habbaku]

Yeah, I noticed that as I was clicking through your stuff a couple of days ago.  We'll fix it.

[Kleves]

I've been reading G.J. Meyers The Tudors recently, and it really brings to life some of the most unrealistic aspects of EU3.

The first is money. Everyone has too damn much of it. As Russia I was able to send 40,000 soldiers across the Ottoman Empire to fight in Germany without minting a single penny. I did not have to raise war taxes, or make any changes to my spending.

In reality, the English Crown's income was about 200,000 pounts a year during the reign of Henry VIII after he had seized the Church's land and property. A three-month campaign to capture Boulogne cost the Crown 586,000 pounds. Defending the city cost the Crown 426,000 pounds. Overall, military campaigns that accomplished essentially nothing cost the Crown 2.2 million pounds over 5 years, and that does not factor in any other expeditures. An examination of any of the wars during the period of EU3 would reveal that money was always in desperately short supply, and a constant source of worry to the monarchy.

Perhaps the game would be less interesting if it were difficult to find the finances necessary to go to war, but I think that it might actually be more fun. For one thing, not every war would be a total war (one of the things that annoys me most about EU3 MP), and it would make managing a kingdom more challenging, and thus probably more exciting.

The next issue is related: the ease of fighting. Not only is it easy to fund armies, it is also easy to keep them intact. Attrition never seems to be a real problem, and there is almost no need to ever raise mercenaries. It is too easy to amass a enormous army and keep it intact (unless it "poofs" on you in battle, of course). Just look at Henry V's Agincourt campaign. It was a meticulously planned and financed campaign, with a good deal of attention paid to supply. Yet simply taking Harfleur cost Henry half his army. Without even fighting a battle, attrition had reduced his army by 50%.

Finally, rebels never matter a damn, unless you're very weak anyway. Probably because of the difficulties funding and mainting armies, they were far more dangerous historically. Even Henry VIII, who had made himself second only to God in England, was almost unseated by the Pilgrimage of Grace. The Dutch revolt consumed enormous amounts of Spain's manpower and resources, and they never extinguished it.  In the game, rebels are probably too frequent, and too weak. Has anyone ever had to compromise with a group of rebels in HTTT?

Anyway, I am done rambling for now. These are simply some things that I have been finding annoying in EU3 so far.

[Kleves]

Well, that's the last time I post my concerns about EU3, and back it up with facts.