Pride of Nations

[HisMajestyBOB]

Any good AARs?
I'm looking at getting this now that Victoria II is getting a broken expansion rather a decent patch.

[11B4V]

Any good AARs?
I'm looking at getting this now that Victoria II is getting a broken expansion rather a decent patch.

Pdox seems to be taking a beating

[Syt]

And after seeing how the full game runs (slow), I now have: buyer's remorse.

Dunno, interface runs pretty smoothly for me; turns take 2-3 minutes to process, though.

Have an i7-2630QM 4x 2.00GHz processor with 16GB RAM.

[Norgy]

Dunno, interface runs pretty smoothly for me; turns take 2-3 minutes to process, though.

Have an i7-2630QM 4x 2.00GHz processor with 16GB RAM.

Can we assume that this game uses one of the four cores, then?

That would be some mighty fine programming there, Lou.

[Tamas]

Turn times are 2 minutes for me, yes. We have been hammering the dev over this of course, and still he might be skimming off some seconds here and there, but there is only so much calculation a single core can perform. There is an option to prevent map lag, which of course loads the map into memory right away, can't recall the exact option name. Also there is an option to not give the AI its full time.

[Norgy]

Ok. I'm still going to give this a go, since I've enjoyed AEGOD's previous efforts.

[Tamas]

Ok. I'm still going to give this a go, since I've enjoyed AEGOD's previous efforts.

I think it is very good and will only get better, but the turn resolution time IS an issue, I am not denying it. But you see, you have the operational warfare, replacement and supply model ala AACW, a production and consumption system, a commerce and trade route system, population contentment, colonization, and all these heavily interact with each other, plus you have AIs which can't be braindead

[Norgy]

It's fine by me. Turn resolutions don't really bother me that much, although I am sure it can be prohibiting for getting new people to try these types of games.

I'll try a few SP runs and if I am feeling particularly frivolous and confident, I might even PBEM.

[Ed Anger]

So I decide to play the US. First turn, build a cavalry division, drop a bunch of those bribe chief things in the west. Second turn, run out of money. Third turn, all the Indian areas have little fires on them. Cavalry still building. LOL.

I'll give it another whirl when I have more time this weekend.

[Syt]

I used to read whole chapters of books during the AI turn resolution in "Battles of Napoleon" on C64, so I'm not bothered overly much.

[Ed Anger]

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?539829-Pride-of-Nation-s-Strategy-Guide-Overview-and-General-Strategies

I was sorta on the right track with building a cavalry division.

Playing the Game as the United States of America
At first glance, the USA seems destined to rule the world. Two gigantic oceans protecting the homeland, a small swath of British Canada to the north, and the newly defeated Mexico to the south. In many ways, the USA is the easist Great Power to play; when added to the USA's ample resources and technical advancement, it is concievable that the Americans will be the strongest power by 1920.

Don't bet on it. The USA has several things going against it at the start. First, the original owners still are not too pleased the Euro-Americans showed up at Plymouth Rock. At the start of the game, the Cherokee and Sioux are openly hostile and will happily destroy forts, tradeposts, missions, and so on unless they are stopped. The USA's relatively small army is either tied to coastal fortifications, or is fairly slow infantry (and understrength to boot). Build, as fast as possible, three highly mobile and effective cavalry divisions; the combination of heavy/light cavalry and horse artillery is the doom of the native raiders. One column should be based in the north (Minnesota), one in the center (Osage/Ft Leavenworth, Kansas) and one in the south (Ft El Paso, Texas). In the first year, aggressively pursue and destroy the Cherokee. If they are given time to spawn more raiders, you may find yourself trying to stop raids on St. Louis and Memphis. Secondary to this western expansion effort, in the 1852-1853 timeframe, build a small mobile force on the west coast (California). Apache raiders and rebels will attempt to do as the Cherokee/Sioux, but with less aggression at the start.

The second issue with the USA is the lack of advanced industry, specifically Mechanical Goods factories. These are critical to the building of Goods, which are in turn needed for units, colonization and industrial expansion. Focus on the first year or two of the game in becoming independent of overseas trade for basic needs, such as minerals, nitrates and iron. Beginning in 1853-54, focus on building up your Mechanical and Manufactured Goods, along with the backbone of your military supply system (depots, forts and their railroads). The only way you can secure the West is by rail and depot. Protect both, along with colonial and commercial buildings.

The third issue is the most important one for the USA. On the horizon is the most devastating conflict in American history--the Civil War. As the USA, you only have 10 years to secure the West, build up a standing force to hold off the Confederacy, and secure the Union. You will need riverine forces (gunboats) to secure the Mississippi & Ohio Rivers. Build a fortress and man it with guns and men in southern Illinois. It should be your springboard for reconquest of your nation. Massively strengthen Washington DC. IF IT IS LOST YOU WILL MOST LIKELY LOSE THE WAR (and the game). It is an important industrial and logistical hub, and worth massive amounts of Prestige. Upgrade the fortifications, put in a fortress division (or two), engineers and artillery, along with a good defensive general. Then begin the war in earnest--push a column down the Mississippi, another through Kentucky-Tennessee, and the third in Virginia. PON does a great job of replicating the strategic issues of the war--you will be canalized along the DC-Richmond and Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta routes. The war will be costly, and it will set you back on your road to building a nation. Expect casualties and destruction at historical levels. It will take you 5-10 years, in some areas, to fully recover.

Colonization. There is a good reason the USA did not have colonies in Africa. You have an entire continent to colonize. Most of the American West is partially colonized at start, but it is going to be expensive and time consuming. First priority (after defeating the natives) is to build the transcontinental railroad. Get a series of linked provinces to high enough development and CP to build a single line to the west (the southern route, starting in Kansas and winding through New Mexico and Arizona is probably the fastest). You will need it to move troops, leaders and supplies; you start with a country effectively split in two at the start of the game. Build all the Expeditionary Brigades you can. Use them to occupy regions you want to colonize BEFORE you put colonization buildings in place ("business follows the Flag"). If you don't you will have uprisings that will destroy both existing colonial buildings and interfere with ongoing efforts. Nothing is more frustrating that being one turn from having that Military Outpost built and having a raider show up and destroy everything. Back up these occupation troops with a mobile column (I prefer a Cavalry Division with a good Hussar leader), railroad supply lines, and depots. I like to fortify Osage Prairie (Ft Leavenworth, Kansas) with a pre-Industrial fortress and a Fortress Artillery unit. Both are expensive, but that ensures their safety from raiders.

Expansion. Potential areas of expansion (and conflict!) are to the north (British, and hopefully American, Canada) and Mexico. Of the two, Mexico is easier to beat in a war (where you might get concessions) but Canada offers the chance to rapidly colonize/gain influence before the British can solidlify their hold. Much like the USA, the British Empire has finite resources--every State Fund pound that goes to India is one less going to Canada. From there, Alaska is a potential further expansion. You will get objectives thoughout the game (Cuba, Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, are standard) that may push you in different directions; it is up to the player to decide.

General Thoughts: You will need to build a Mechanical Goods (aka, "machine parts") factory as soon as possible. The world doesn't have enough, and it is one of those items that basically drives everything else. For example, 1 Mech Goods is required to make 6 Manufactured Goods. You don't need piles of them (unless you want to export--not a bad idea, BTW, as it will energize the global economy), but you do need them.

The USA has the potential to be the Great Power at the end of the game, but only careful industrial expansion, planned and focused colonization, and a successful conclusion to the Civil War will lead to victory.

[The Minsky Moment]

There are some interesting mechanics in here - particularly the colonization game and the way international trade, commerce and investment are handled.

However, it looks to me what they have done is taken a operational wargame engine designed for discrete conflicts of a few years in length, and grafted it onto a grand strategy game with a 90 yeer campaign.  The result is scale confusion - the military game requires 15 day turns in order to allow more than one set of orders to be sent to the troops in a month (in an era where wars sometimes didn't last much longer that); on the other hand, there really is no rational reason to be revising international trade orders every 15 days, and other basic functions like recruitment, colonial ventures, building construction, etc. take months to complete.  Combined with the 2 minute lag for turn resolution, this makes playing even a partial campaign a massive time commitment.  (eg if one did nothing but immediate press turn end, a year would take nearly an hour to complete).

[Ed Anger]

I'd hate to be that guy who plays 10 years in and then discovered he really screwed up early and needs to restart the game.

[Norgy]

I have to say the game is somewhat daunting. Not exactly for the casual gamer, but I think I'll eventually like this a lot.

[Berkut]

You have to give it to Paradox and AGEOD for coming up with the best games up until you actually play them.