EU3 - ready for play yet?

[sbr]

Does anyone have any pointers or tips on how to fight PvP wars?  That is really the only hole in my game; I understand the mechanics, am able to use diplomacy with other humans, can usually curb-stomp AI countries that aren't ridiculously more powerful than I but I just cannot win a PvP war for the life of me.

I think I tend to be too aggressive.  I usually end up merging a bunch of stacks into a couple huge doomstacks that take huge attrition loses and I also seem to push the attacks too far.  If I win a battle I will almost always advance with the losing army trying to poof it and end up too deep into enemy territory and unable to reinforce.  It seems to me that is how others fight too but I must be doing something wrong because I just can't seem to beat another player if the odds are even close to even.

[Neil]

I finally bought the complete EU3 for seven dollars.

[Solmyr]

To beat the Golden Horde, start in 1453.

[sbr]

Expanding against the Horde, and other nomads, is incredibly slow.  You have to siege the province then colonize it, once it gets to 1000 pop it defects to you.  I smashed the Horde armies quickly enough but between the ~25d cost, the ~60 day travel time, the horrible luck I had colonizing (I swear I failed 50% pf my 70% chances) and the time it takes to collect colonists you have to be at war with the Horde for years and are lucky to get 2 provinces out of the deal.

[Habbaku]

  Sounds like a good way to nerf Russia/Ottomans.

[sbr]

  Sounds like a good way to nerf Russia/Ottomans.

It hasn't seemed to slow the Turks down much.  I was too busy fighting but they seemed to be going crazy as usual.

Here is the world map from Feb 1471

[sbr]

Here's the map from Feb 1432

[Slargos]

PvP fighting is part science, part artform.

There's no one strategy to employ, and tactics vary wildly between the different tech levels.

As a general rule,

- Remember that in a battle with equal numbers in manpower, the side with the 5 fresh regiments hits harder than the one with 10 half-strength. Top up your troops before combat if possible.
- Attrition is murder. Learn to understand this, and find ways to trick your opponent into fighting where he will be hit harder by it than you.
- The size of the manpower pool decides wars, all else being equal.

[Razgovory]

Neat.  The Czechs aren't a superpower.  That's good.

[Viking]

PvP fighting is part science, part artform.

There's no one strategy to employ, and tactics vary wildly between the different tech levels.

As a general rule,

- Remember that in a battle with equal numbers in manpower, the side with the 5 fresh regiments hits harder than the one with 10 half-strength. Top up your troops before combat if possible.
- Attrition is murder. Learn to understand this, and find ways to trick your opponent into fighting where he will be hit harder by it than you.
- The size of the manpower pool decides wars, all else being equal.

I also suggest WE. I once lost a multiplayer war as a unified germany with thousands of ducats in the bank, hundreds of thousands of MP and regiments in production in every single province but those damn 6 shock turkish generals that struck me fresh with me having suffered a decade of war already with my WE rising slowly but surely. Habbaku's (he was turkey) initial invasion caught me out of position (I was returning from destroying Katmai's France for the second time during the war) and was able to deal with my field army piecemeal. He was able to chase down and destroy much of my army helped by the reduced morale of high WE. Most damaging, however, was the fact that WE meant that build time for regiments was well over a year so I could not replace my lost army before the turks had overrun most of austria, bohemia and bavaria when I realized that I was not going to be able to beat him and had to surrender humiliatingly to avoid total defeat.

[Slargos]

Something in your story doesn't track, Viking.

You're saying France and OE cooperated?

Inconceivable.

[Viking]

Something in your story doesn't track, Viking.

You're saying France and OE cooperated?

Inconceivable.

I did all the reforms and created the HRE. Everybody (except DGuller's Spain, who was supposed to be on my side) cooperated against me. To be honest, everybody was needed to take me down.

[Habbaku]

I don't think everybody was necessary to take you down.  A competent France (sorry Katmai!) combined with my Turks would've been enough to at least stalemate you.  Add in a third, minor power (like Britain) and you'd have fallen.

If DG had jumped in on your side like he promised you, the war would've been over before it had begun.

[Slargos]

Something in your story doesn't track, Viking.

You're saying France and OE cooperated?

Inconceivable.

I did all the reforms and created the HRE. Everybody (except DGuller's Spain, who was supposed to be on my side) cooperated against me. To be honest, everybody was needed to take me down.

Well. You ARE a rather copious fellow.

[Viking]

I don't think everybody was necessary to take you down.  A competent France (sorry Katmai!) combined with my Turks would've been enough to at least stalemate you.  Add in a third, minor power (like Britain) and you'd have fallen.

If DG had jumped in on your side like he promised you, the war would've been over before it had begun.

DG didn't promise me to join. I told him that if my agreement with Katmai held and France would not join any wars against HRE then he would not have to. Katmai obviously did not keep to my agreement with him. I was selling him the wallonian provinces for 0 ducats each when he declared war on me. He didn't even wait until I had sold him all the provinces I promised him, which I found very very amusing at the time. If he had waited a few weeks (gametime) he would have gotten 4 more valuable french culture group provinces from me, one per week. Beating france was easy, but I broke Katmai in the SP method and taking out France happened quickly and efficiently, but at high WE cost. I kicked you out of austria after that and fiddled around with trying to invade you using my access to hungary without much success. After the truce with France expired Katmai attacked again and I smote him again and accepted a white peace again. Only by that time you had your 6 shock generals, I had my 20 WE so I couldn't really build new units due to the time delay due to WE. Your shock generals annhillated too many of my armies and iirc I was down to about 50 regiments against your 100+ inside my territory with your leader and tech advantage and every single one of my provinces building (very slowly) new regiments I thought that by the time I could fight back Katmai would have declared war on me for the third time. At that point I appealed to DGuller to stop your transport of men to venice, he then declared that he had made an agreement with you to stay neutral and, anyway, didn't have the fleet to fight you at all. My gripe with DGuller was that he made that deal with you and was unwilling and unable to break it. What I regret is making peace with Katmai the first time, I should have just occupied all of france and waited built my strength going. I also regret not maximizing my army when I had the change in the inter-bellum.

Fun game. I was rebuilding the HRE to the best of my ability, but staying up all night playing EU3 on a weeknight was just too much for me.