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#1
Gaming HQ / Re: Victoria 3
Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 10:32:14 AMI decided to spin up Vicky 3 for the first time in a few years and several patches. Bought Expansion Pass 2, so I now have all the DLC except Pivot of Empire. Started with the US, as one does.
It's been... interesting. I'm a little over 20 years in, but I have already dealt with the Mexican-American War, ACW, and Oregon border dispute. I have control of the entire Lower 48 except for some areas of Idaho that still need to be colonized. I'm also about 40 weeks from completing the Transcontinental Railroad.
The ACW fired in early 1850 due to radicalization of the Pro-Slavery Movement. Very oddly, the Yeoman Farmers broke from the Southern Planters in the mid 1840s and became the driving force behind the Whigs. This eventually brought the Whigs/Republicans into power when the Yeoman Farmers alone had more than 50% support for a bit. This was partly driven by an event coming up that allowed for some nefarious interference with the Southern Planters, but I expected the Yeoman Farmers would stick with the Democrats. Them flipping to the Whigs (and eventually pulling the more liberal Industrialists with them) made it too easy to push the Democrats out and pass a few laws that weakened the reactionary elements. Also during this time, the Evangelicals and Intelligentsia quickly fell into irrelevance and never recovered. This doesn't really make sense, either.
Anyway, after the radicalization of the Pro-Slavery Movement got high enough, I got the secession movement. The choice of states was... odd. Kentucky joined the movement, but Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina did not. I let the movement go so I could get this over with. I had, as usual, been careful not to raise any battalions from southern states, though I did not disband the ones I started with. Despite the rebels trying to raise conscripts, I was able to steamroll them in about six months with about 30 regular battalions and about 15 conscript battalions (I was trying to raise more conscripts, but the war was over too quickly).
So, war over. I get journal entries for Reconstruction. Except... I have to reconstruct states that remained loyal just because they're Dixie homelands? That makes no sense. It makes even less sense that the loyalist states suddenly unincorporate like the ones who actually seceded. Really inconsistent mechanic design that the secession is dynamic, but the Reconstruction is static. Even dumber that states I colonized after the war get added to this list just for being flagged as Dixie homelands. It feels like the "reconstruct states" entry is very hard to actually do in the allotted time frame because of this.
Speaking of Reconstruction journal entries, the one about raising base acceptance of the Afro-American culture seems downright impossible. As I read the cultural acceptance mechanism, base acceptance is driven largely by indelible traits of the culture. I'm assuming there's some way to change how these traits interact with the dominant culture through institutions (and maybe social technologies), but I have no chance of budging the base acceptance in the allotted time frame. I get events that will boost local acceptance, but this does nothing for the goal.
Moving on, I decided to concentrate on the West after the ACW. I researched Nationalism shortly after the war, and immediately took the Manifest Destiny decision. I let my infamy chill for a few years, built up my forces, waited for the Mexicans to finish colonization, then went for my states. This war was also a steamroll, though it took a bit longer than the ACW. Other than a few ill-advised attacks by a small formation early in the war, I won every battle. Easy peasy, and now I have most of the Lower 48.
From there, I concentrated on clearing up the Oregon border dispute and getting my last three states. Pretty boring and straightforward: find the trail, kiss Bri'ish ass, thanks for the Northwest guv'nah. Around the same time I finished colonizing Nebraska, so I got the Transcontinental Railroad entry and immediately queued the necessary trackage. Just waiting for Nevada to finish. Guess the next task is to gobble up Alaska and Hawai'i.
A few other oddities I've noticed in the world:
It's been... interesting. I'm a little over 20 years in, but I have already dealt with the Mexican-American War, ACW, and Oregon border dispute. I have control of the entire Lower 48 except for some areas of Idaho that still need to be colonized. I'm also about 40 weeks from completing the Transcontinental Railroad.
The ACW fired in early 1850 due to radicalization of the Pro-Slavery Movement. Very oddly, the Yeoman Farmers broke from the Southern Planters in the mid 1840s and became the driving force behind the Whigs. This eventually brought the Whigs/Republicans into power when the Yeoman Farmers alone had more than 50% support for a bit. This was partly driven by an event coming up that allowed for some nefarious interference with the Southern Planters, but I expected the Yeoman Farmers would stick with the Democrats. Them flipping to the Whigs (and eventually pulling the more liberal Industrialists with them) made it too easy to push the Democrats out and pass a few laws that weakened the reactionary elements. Also during this time, the Evangelicals and Intelligentsia quickly fell into irrelevance and never recovered. This doesn't really make sense, either.
Anyway, after the radicalization of the Pro-Slavery Movement got high enough, I got the secession movement. The choice of states was... odd. Kentucky joined the movement, but Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina did not. I let the movement go so I could get this over with. I had, as usual, been careful not to raise any battalions from southern states, though I did not disband the ones I started with. Despite the rebels trying to raise conscripts, I was able to steamroll them in about six months with about 30 regular battalions and about 15 conscript battalions (I was trying to raise more conscripts, but the war was over too quickly).
So, war over. I get journal entries for Reconstruction. Except... I have to reconstruct states that remained loyal just because they're Dixie homelands? That makes no sense. It makes even less sense that the loyalist states suddenly unincorporate like the ones who actually seceded. Really inconsistent mechanic design that the secession is dynamic, but the Reconstruction is static. Even dumber that states I colonized after the war get added to this list just for being flagged as Dixie homelands. It feels like the "reconstruct states" entry is very hard to actually do in the allotted time frame because of this.
Speaking of Reconstruction journal entries, the one about raising base acceptance of the Afro-American culture seems downright impossible. As I read the cultural acceptance mechanism, base acceptance is driven largely by indelible traits of the culture. I'm assuming there's some way to change how these traits interact with the dominant culture through institutions (and maybe social technologies), but I have no chance of budging the base acceptance in the allotted time frame. I get events that will boost local acceptance, but this does nothing for the goal.
Moving on, I decided to concentrate on the West after the ACW. I researched Nationalism shortly after the war, and immediately took the Manifest Destiny decision. I let my infamy chill for a few years, built up my forces, waited for the Mexicans to finish colonization, then went for my states. This war was also a steamroll, though it took a bit longer than the ACW. Other than a few ill-advised attacks by a small formation early in the war, I won every battle. Easy peasy, and now I have most of the Lower 48.
From there, I concentrated on clearing up the Oregon border dispute and getting my last three states. Pretty boring and straightforward: find the trail, kiss Bri'ish ass, thanks for the Northwest guv'nah. Around the same time I finished colonizing Nebraska, so I got the Transcontinental Railroad entry and immediately queued the necessary trackage. Just waiting for Nevada to finish. Guess the next task is to gobble up Alaska and Hawai'i.
A few other oddities I've noticed in the world:
- The Heavenly Kingdom overthrew the Qing
- Japan become a Westernizing empire in the early 1850s, maybe late 1840s, after the British made an early "open market" play
- Prussia has already started going after German unification
#2
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 10:29:53 AMI am not sure there is a ready market for the American jets anymore, at least not nations the Americans would permit having their jets. This may be more of a sunk cost scenario.
Or we could just do what the Americans did and not honour our agreement.
Or we could just do what the Americans did and not honour our agreement.
#3
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by Bauer - Today at 10:01:37 AMIn terms of contract, yeah I think we can stop at 16 F35 and not buy the whole 80ish, or even get 40 or something.
There's one analyst I listened to who suggested we get 40 F35 and use them for nato / us interoperability then some gripens for euro interoperability. Another analyst claimed two separate fleets are infeasible due to the training and infrastructure requirements.
Wonder if we could just sell our 16 F35 to another country at a discount
There's one analyst I listened to who suggested we get 40 F35 and use them for nato / us interoperability then some gripens for euro interoperability. Another analyst claimed two separate fleets are infeasible due to the training and infrastructure requirements.
Wonder if we could just sell our 16 F35 to another country at a discount
#4
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 05:57:20 AMI can't remember the details of the last report I read regarding the terms of the contract with the Americans but my vague recollection is we are only obligated to take a few if their jets at this point. That cost may be worth the advantages the Swedish deal presents. Not the least if which is disengaging with an untrustworthy partner.
#5
Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...
Last post by Tamas - Today at 05:33:10 AMAmateurs, Hungary has had 27% Vat for like a decade now.
#6
Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...
Last post by Tamas - Today at 05:26:10 AMI feel like Johan is tying himself into a completely unnecessary knot with this extremely convoluted levy vs regular combat system. Make them start equal, give regulars buffs through some stuff if you have to, but come on they are superior to levies just on account of not emptying your production buildings when at war.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/levy-vs-regulars-some-information-from-tinto.1876702/
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/levy-vs-regulars-some-information-from-tinto.1876702/
#7
Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...
Last post by Syt - Today at 02:18:23 AMhttps://apnews.com/article/russia-economy-tax-vat-budget-war-ukraine-fbdcc44e609d6ae0a29552cf00c6891b
Last month:
https://tvpworld.com/89408373/russia-finance-ministry-rules-out-higher-taxes-on-wealthy
I think in hindsight it was a bad career decision of mine to not be born/become super-rich, regardless of country.
QuoteRussian lawmakers approve tax hike bill to boost economy as the war with Ukraine nears 4 years
Russian lawmakers endorsed new tax hikes on Tuesday as Moscow looks for new revenue sources to boost its economy during its nearly four-year war with Ukraine.
Legislators in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved the key second reading of a bill that will raise value-added tax from 20% to 22%. The changes are expected to add as much as 1 trillion rubles (about $12.3 billion) to the state budget.
The new legislation also lowers the threshold for businesses required to collect VAT from 60 million rubles (about $739,000) in annual sales revenue to 10 million rubles (about $123,000). The changes, which will be introduced in stages up to 2028, are designed to stop firms from dividing their operations to avoid taxes. But they are also expected to hit many small businesses that were previously exempt.
The move is just one part of a swathe of new taxes that the Kremlin hopes will aid Russia's slowing economy. One new initiative will scrap the special, concessional rate on a state "recycling fee" for cars, largely targeting high-priced, imported vehicles.
Other proposals have included increasing taxes on spirits, wine, beer, cigarettes and vapes, as well as adding duties on technology items such as smartphones and notebooks.
After two years of robust growth fueled by military spending, Russia's economy shrank at the start of 2025 and is on course for growth this year of only around 1%, according to government estimates. Growth has suffered from high central bank interest rates, currently at 16.5%, which have been aimed at controlling inflation of 8% fueled by state defense purchases.
In the Russian government's draft budget for 2026, which was also approved by lawmakers Tuesday, Russia's military spending was set at 12.93 trillion rubles ($159 billion) — or 16.84 trillion rubles (207 billion), including spending on security and law enforcement.
The bills must now be approved once more by the lower house, before moving to the upper house and being signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.
Last month:
https://tvpworld.com/89408373/russia-finance-ministry-rules-out-higher-taxes-on-wealthy
Quote'Simply excessive': Russia's finance ministry dismisses calls to tax super-rich
Russia's Finance Ministry has rejected calls to raise income taxes for the country's wealthiest citizens, saying such a move would be "simply excessive" as the Kremlin's war in Ukraine continues to strain the nation's economy.
I think in hindsight it was a bad career decision of mine to not be born/become super-rich, regardless of country.
#8
Off the Record / Re: The EU thread
Last post by Razgovory - Today at 12:10:38 AMIf you want to drop large ordonnance at range you will probably need something heavy.
#9
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by Bauer - Today at 12:07:16 AMSo is there any chance the gripen can work for Canada? I'd love to see a partnership like that, but it seems pretty hard to move on from the F35 at this stage.
#10
Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...
Last post by Razgovory - Today at 12:07:11 AMQuote from: Zoupa on November 18, 2025, 10:56:26 PMIt's in the Palestine thread.Quote from: Razgovory on November 18, 2025, 10:12:08 PMOh see, I was heavily criticized for thinking he had strong ties to France.
You were?
I have both passports.