Manufacturing Italy (a PoN GC)

[Jim-NC]

In diplomatic issues, the term "victory" and the prestige stash are not tied to the same number. Thus if you gain dominance, you get the majority of the prestige stash, and other goodies (like keeping the colony if it is over a colony for example). The person who gains just cause is called the winner on the resolution screen, however, they don't get anything. This is probably a bug in the way the diplomatic card game is resolved.

[Stuyvesant]

In diplomatic issues, the term "victory" and the prestige stash are not tied to the same number. Thus if you gain dominance, you get the majority of the prestige stash, and other goodies (like keeping the colony if it is over a colony for example). The person who gains just cause is called the winner on the resolution screen, however, they don't get anything. This is probably a bug in the way the diplomatic card game is resolved.

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

[loki100]

Well, your CP leakage is putting yourself in crash course with a number of really unwanted guests. First the Prussians/Germans, then the Mahdi ...I sincerely hope you will not have issues big enough to distract you from beating GB, but I really don't expect that you can avoid atleast a crisis with Germany for what in OTL was German Tanganyika. But on the other side, it would be useful to have the southern flank closed by the Portuguese possessions, as it would save you from worry about that side ... and you most likely need those pineapples

BTW, where is Umberto nowadays? I heard that there is a nice area near lake Vict ... er, Garibaldi where there is a lot of wildlife to be hunt... er , protected , so you should probably send him there

Tanganyka is going to become a real (game system related) pain as the event that sets up German E Africa doesn't check if someone else is there (the one that gives them Zanzibar does), so I'm rather bogged down in trying to unpick the resulting mess. I'm happy to have the region contested, but the way its affecting the game is not that helpful (I can't enter the contested regions despite owning them).

Umberto was removed from the military pool some time before the last Austrian war, hasn't been seen since his trip to Vienna, so at least he can't do any more damage

Well, you could claim it's simply a matter of lowering your expectations enough: the US didn't utterly selfdestruct, so it counts as a victory? More soberly, I wonder if it's a matter of the relative amount of prestige each power contributed to the kitty. Perhaps the US deposited very little prestige, got more out of it in the end and therefore was considered the winner, even though Prussia got the larger total?

You have some ambitious building plans to gear up for your grudge match with the UK. How much of a strain will it be for you to increase industry, fortifications, navy and colonial holdings all at once? And how do you rank those four items, in terms of burden on your economic resources?


Great phrase, 'CP leakage'. Now I have a mental image of Italy as a drunken and incontinent matron staggering across the African continent.

I must confess CP leakage is now stuck in my mind as what happens every morning when the big G wanders out of his retirement bungalow for his morning ablutions ... thus does Italian power spread. So maybe CP actually refers to 'colonial puddle'?

Priorities - well its a sort of rock/paper/scissors in reverse in that I need them all. My view is that the key is the fleet, I think I can force stalemate in any land conflict in my own regions, so its about being able to project power. Building up the fleet (even my wee battleships) needs steel so I am trying a crash programme of industrialisation over a couple of years and then will return to the navy. I'll do a post that looks at this soon but at the moment I have one decent modern fleet (3 BBs plus coal powered supports), one old fleet (sail+steam) operating in E Africa (good for pirate bashing) and the sea lift for one large army (3000 pwr) and the colonial army. I need a second decent fleet abd sea lift capacity for a second army - that will allow me to move the war from purely defensive. So the forts etc are an insurance policy that will protect a few key provinces in case GB manages a landing in Italy - so I don't lose Rome for eg before I can react. They are relatively cheap and offer the chance to inflict very heavy losses if the AI is careless about an amphibious landing.

Colonies - I'm sort of content with what I have for the moment. But the infamous leakage/incontinence problem and my dreams of an integrated E Africa keep on encouraging some expansion. I guess its best seen as something I do due the prestige potention rather than out of any other need.

So industry #1, fleet #2, everything else is slotted around this.

In diplomatic issues, the term "victory" and the prestige stash are not tied to the same number. Thus if you gain dominance, you get the majority of the prestige stash, and other goodies (like keeping the colony if it is over a colony for example). The person who gains just cause is called the winner on the resolution screen, however, they don't get anything. This is probably a bug in the way the diplomatic card game is resolved.

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

Thanks that does explain some of the stranger outcomes, so in that case I assume the US kept Samoa but lost the diplomatic wranglings

[loki100]

At the end of this update I think I deserve a cake, or some grappa or something. It will mean I have played half this game (1885 being 35 years in and 35 years from the end).

But before we get there we have information to present and absorb. And a war to plan for.

Manufactures



I’m doing ok in this period with the main traditional shortage goods (manufactures, steel and coal) but had plants partly closed due to a lack of chemicals and electrical goods. I started building two more steel plants and hopefully this should be enough to underpin my naval building programme (and that coal remains relatively easy to buy).

Non-Manufactures



As ever, more straightforward. Note that since I’d built up a massive canned goods stockpile I turn off the option to convert food to canned goods and the stockpile dropped from 961 to 479. I’ll let it run right down and then rebuild it.

Population



Again, little but the usual fluctuation in militancy. In effect, I play the various cards (education, referendum and social security) drop it back to 0 and then it increases to 2-4 till I can do the cards again. I tend not to use the ‘send in the troops’ as I find I don’t really need to deploy 4 such cards in a given period.

Education is mostly staying static at around 79% which reflects the balance between population growth and the benefit of the Education card. The provinces, such as Lazio, with a larger leap (83-87%) are where I have also played the University regional decision.

[CENTER]Colonial Actions[/CENTER]

For various reasons I decide its time to keep the Mahdi on his toes. How better than to send him some missionaries.



From the MP game, I’m aware that he can be a scarily tough opponent but I suspect I’m going to end up in conflict with his mob in any case, so may as well lay some groundwork.

In the meantime over in Arabia my colonial units have recovered from their beatings a few years back. I finally spot the chance to secure the coastal region of Qatif as the army that moves back and forth seems to have disappeared. Its worth a gamble – and it pays off. That confines the Najd armies to central (undiscovered as yet) regions.



And in Africa I find Waw. I mean whow, or maybe it is War (since it is close to Gari’s retirement home).



Libya erupts into another revolt.



Now this is actually very bad timing on their part as I am busily deploying some of the main field armies to the region. Its time for Egypt to be re-integrated into the Roman Empire … asps being optional.



Very bad timing, sorry about that, but thanks for the promotion.



That promotion is very useful as I lost a lot of 3 star Generals with G and his mates all retired towards the end of the second Austrian war.

[CENTER]Discoveries[/CENTER]

I can now start building automobile factories.



The first goes to Rome. This time when SerieA gets started it will be Roma not Juve that gains all the dodgy referee decisions [1]

[CENTER]Bad News for Egypt. [/CENTER]

Well I can’t see any reason to delay incorporating them into the Roman Empire. I have my CB based on our colonial dispute at Fashoda, the army is hanging around doing very little, so this seems as good a time as any. The basic plan is pretty simple.



One army will invade from Libya, one from Jerusalem. I thought about an amphibious landing at Alexandria but it’s a large fort and there is a risk of total disaster. I've added some of my Ethiopian irregulars to the otherwise 'European' army in Judea, may help with detection and can be detached for rear area security if needed.

May as well let the fleet have some gunnery practice though.



In addition a small force will invade the north from Ethiopia. Depending how the opening stages go, I have a smaller army (my colonial army) at Djibuti that can be committed anywhere along the Red Sea coast.



[CENTER]Prestige[/CENTER]



GB has gained its usual 1,700 (75,400 up to 77,100) and I have gained 2,000 (48,300 – 50,300). I think my recent industrial expansion must have allowed me to overtake them and my colonial gains are now at 7 PP per turn. The closing of the score is good for 2 reasons. One it all helps to actually winning but in the short term it indicates I may just have more industrial muscle than my main rival.

Of the other main powers, the US gained 1000, Russia 1100 and France 700. So unless something very strange happens, none of those powers are going to be a threat (in terms of prestige gain in any case).


[1] – For those less than obsessed with this topic, Fiat own Juventus, Juventus regularly benefit from exceptionally dubious referee decisions. The Rome based Italian daily La Repubblica used to mark such matches with the comment ‘the referee’s wife drove off in a Fiat’.

[r_rolo1]

Hum, Italian soccer talk ... when it is not Fiat , it is Berlusconi ... and when it is not Berlusconi , it is the Camorra :/

On the game itself, well, I see that you're being working on getting to the Nile in Sudan ( besides the missionaries in Khartoum, there is extra colonial activity near the Egyptian border ... I assume that most is involuntary, but it doesn't hurt ) and that you decided to link Kuwait to the rest of the Arabian Italy ( Rub Al Khali is already under control, isn't it ? if so you can walk from Aden to Kuwait at this point ). All good, but on the real beef of the update, the impending war with Egypt ... first, do you have any idea of the opposition you're facing ? And second, what are the goals for this war? I assume that atleast you are going for the Med coast ....

[Stuyvesant]

For various reasons I decide its time to keep the Mahdi on his toes. How better than to send him some missionaries.

Indeed! What better way to keep a man with a Messiah-complex (if I may translate the term onto a Muslim) in check than by sending missionaries for a different faith? I'm sure the Mahdi will enjoy the theological chitchat. In fact, he might decide to pay a return visit to your colonies. Or maybe, once he finds out the missionaries are Italian, from the homeland of the Pope (i.e. that dude who called for the crusades in the Middle Ages) and Garibaldi (i.e. that dude that stole Jerusalem and torched Mecca), he'll decide to come enjoy the sights of Saint Peter for himself.

Must comment in more detail at a later time, but now work time is over and I need to hurry home to wife, kids, dinner and bedtime routine.

[Director]

One army will invade from Libya, one from Jerusalem.

The sound of two hands clapping.

[loki100]

Hum, Italian soccer talk ... when it is not Fiat , it is Berlusconi ... and when it is not Berlusconi , it is the Camorra :/

On the game itself, well, I see that you're being working on getting to the Nile in Sudan ( besides the missionaries in Khartoum, there is extra colonial activity near the Egyptian border ... I assume that most is involuntary, but it doesn't hurt ) and that you decided to link Kuwait to the rest of the Arabian Italy ( Rub Al Khali is already under control, isn't it ? if so you can walk from Aden to Kuwait at this point ). All good, but on the real beef of the update, the impending war with Egypt ... first, do you have any idea of the opposition you're facing ? And second, what are the goals for this war? I assume that atleast you are going for the Med coast ....

oddly, purely in terms of SerieA, Berlusconi has been less malign than in any other field he has touched.

Over in Arabia, I now have all I want, Najd still holds the two central provinces (Riyadh is one) and its not worth tussling with them about it, as long as I hold the coast and the central linkage. Its tenuous, but it gives me some room for manouver if the British pull off a major landing in that region (I have to assume at least one major colonial attack in case of war).

In Sudan, a lot of that expansion is unplanned - just the spread of CP but I've decided that again, depth for manouvre could be incredibly useful.

Egypt, I was hoping for some sort of protectorate, as we'll see I gained very little (and decided to accept the constraints of the game engine)

Indeed! What better way to keep a man with a Messiah-complex (if I may translate the term onto a Muslim) in check than by sending missionaries for a different faith? I'm sure the Mahdi will enjoy the theological chitchat. In fact, he might decide to pay a return visit to your colonies. Or maybe, once he finds out the missionaries are Italian, from the homeland of the Pope (i.e. that dude who called for the crusades in the Middle Ages) and Garibaldi (i.e. that dude that stole Jerusalem and torched Mecca), he'll decide to come enjoy the sights of Saint Peter for himself.

Must comment in more detail at a later time, but now work time is over and I need to hurry home to wife, kids, dinner and bedtime routine.

Yep, Gari, the man who at differently times besieged Rome (in the civil war), burnt down Mecca (more than once), occupied Jerusalem twice (& I think reached Istanbul once), the man who has offended all the main faiths, is now leading an inter-faith dialogue with the Mahdi, you could say he is well practised in the demands of this sort of diplomacy. Actually so far, the Mahdi is being a cute wee pussy cat about the whole thing.

The sound of two hands clapping.

and, as will be reported, more or less missing entirely ...

[loki100]

Well the Egyptian war proved to be brief and perhaps a little pointless. I found that I could make no substantial demands other than for the transfer of Fashoda and reparations. After a bit of thinking, I decided to accept this as reflecting a wider International view that Italy had no rights in Egypt (and that allowing me this would be a large threat to the other European powers with colonies in Asia). I was hoping to establish something akin to a British style protectorate.

Anyway, lets look at what happened:

[CENTER]Italian-Egyptian War[/CENTER]

The opening moves saw my armies occupy Suez, besiege Alexandria and the fleet deployed off the coast.



An attempt by the Egyptians to raise the siege of Alexandria was handily repulsed.



The fleet proved that modern battleships can do serious damage to old sailing ships



In the meantime the main army took Cairo and pushed up the Nile. In two quick battles, the Egyptian army was pretty much destroyed.



At this stage I realised I was not going to be able to gain much from the war. I could occupy, take some prestige for what I held or opt out.



Key to my logic was that if I couldn’t install a sort of protectorate then I actually stood to gain more by a strong Egypt rather than weaken it for the Mahdi.

So have to confess, that long dreamed of war was a mistake. Ok I have gained some land on the Upper Nile and thus deepened my control of that region.



[CENTER]Regular Reports[/CENTER]

Manufactures



Few things worth stressing there.

Yes I do have 150,000+ state cash, despite near zero tax rates. Clearly you hit a certain level of industrial development and state cash ceases to be an issue, I’m not even sure where it is coming from to be honest but I know I can’t spend it.

Note the fluctuation in PC usage (final column) shifting from 1900 down to 1100. I’ve done a bit of digging and I think I now understand this. If you don’t have enough inputs to run a factory at all you get a message it was shut (those with long memories will recall I had a few of these in the early 1850s). Now if you don’t have enough for 100% of need, you receive no notification but the factory operates at reduced capacity (which of course is very realistic).

I have two goods that are tripping me up in this way – chemicals and electrical goods (I’ve marked them on the image). As you can see, both end up with 0 stockpile in some turns, so I’ve ordered a new Chemical plant (realistically based at Mestre).

My problem with steel and manufactured goods is not actually one of production shortages but that I want to do too much with those items (ie I can’t match my chosen demand) as they are key for the fleet and industrial expansion.

I’ll do a short update on how to use the F4 screen to work out how to solve this sort of problem, ie import, reduce demand or increase domestic production.

These variations in output matter, in that they are affecting key strategic industries but also lead to variations in my prestige gain from my industry.

Non-Manufactures



As ever, less important. Note I’ve run the canned food stock right down so I’ll swap over to converting food to canned food again.

I think I now (this was part of the digging above) understand the stock fluctuations in goods like opium and tea. For tropical fruits and sugar etc its easy – I tend to get very little on a regular basis but every now and then that is what the ‘businessmen’ buy so I have a stock and that goes to the domestic market. Opium as an example, I can’t produce enough and this seems to suppress domestic demand, that drop in demand increases the stock (production is pretty constant) and in turn that increased stock is sent to the domestic market, once it is gone, demand drops etc.

Population



Not too much to note there. I did the university option in Sicily in this period and education level jumped from 90-96. Equally it is now in the high 90s in Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany. All the provinces with education in the 90s (ie that lot plus Lazio) are the regions I have consistently targeted with the university card.

[CENTER]Other Events[/CENTER]

Elsewhere, a nasty little colonial war carried on to the south of Dar es Salaam.



That is going to worsen in the coming period.

In the meantime a new batch of techs are added to the research queue. Note that I can afford to speed research for all of them. The exception is the Second International which is one of those militancy increasing techs. I can’t stop this happening but I’d like to gain the contentment boosting ones first.



Prestige



GB has gained 1800 (77,100 up to 78,900) and I managed 1,900 (50,300 to 52,200) so all in all my Egyptian invasion was rather ill-advised [1] on almost every criteria. Even so, it seems as if I am keeping the GB in touch in terms of prestige and my new industrial production will help – both in terms of prestige and the capacity to actually do some direct damage to them.

The careful observer will note I no longer have any Ottoman or Austrian prisoners of war. As far as I know this has no impact on gameplay but I wrote a script that led to a mutual exchange between both sides.

Other notes.

The other activity in this period has been sorting out the consequences of German Tangynyka event that must have fired sometime in March. This is meant to create a German presence in E Africa but seemed to create a duplicate set of provinces instead. The result was I couldn’t contest their arrival nor move my units even in regions I own, unlike say in Qatar. After a lot of help, the solution was to complete delete both the event and the duplicates. I feel a bit guilty about this as having a flashpoint with Germany was an interesting, if worrying, dynamic so what I am going to try is to write an event that sets up the core (ie German interest in that region) but without creating the full set of structures etc.

The other thing I had to decide over was how to cope with the Egyptian situation. I was tempted to script either a UK-style protectorate or a commercial agreement and troop access. In the end, I decided just to accept the game constraint as reflecting the view of the international community that I was quite entitled to engage in mass slaughter over some insult in my colonial regions but they wanted an independent Egypt due to the implications of complete Italian control.

I’ll discuss the Suez issue in a later post (probably the next) as it fits with an outline of the defensive part of my war planning for conflict with the UK.

[1] – in view of this I really should have had the British and French along, just for the sake of realism.

[Stuyvesant]

GB has gained 1800 (77,100 up to 78,900) and I managed 1,900 (50,300 to 52,200) so all in all my Egyptian invasion was rather ill-advised [1] on almost every criteria.

[1] – in view of this I really should have had the British and French along, just for the sake of realism.

Zing! Where's Anthony Eden when you need 'im?

Wow, that was not the clinical destruction of the Egyptian state we were expecting. I see your point about the Great Powers not letting you get away with it, but it would've made a perfect matter for a crisis (instead of this engine-limitation stonewall).

On the flip side, the war didn't cost you a whole lot. Yes, your prestige gain might've been better if you had focused on economic development, but you didn't suffer any great losses and at least the whole sordid affair was over with quickly.

Does the peace outcome mean you've gotten even more neighborly with the Mahdi? Sounds like a swell development. And speaking of development - those technologies are labeled rather vaguely, not to mention at times unfortunately. I see you're researching the option of plague in India and China... Hmm, Italy's is getting a head start on its biological weapons program?

[loki100]

Zing! Where's Anthony Eden when you need 'im?

Wow, that was not the clinical destruction of the Egyptian state we were expecting. I see your point about the Great Powers not letting you get away with it, but it would've made a perfect matter for a crisis (instead of this engine-limitation stonewall).

On the flip side, the war didn't cost you a whole lot. Yes, your prestige gain might've been better if you had focused on economic development, but you didn't suffer any great losses and at least the whole sordid affair was over with quickly.

Does the peace outcome mean you've gotten even more neighborly with the Mahdi? Sounds like a swell development. And speaking of development - those technologies are labeled rather vaguely, not to mention at times unfortunately. I see you're researching the option of plague in India and China... Hmm, Italy's is getting a head start on its biological weapons program?

those techs are a wee bit misleadingly titled. The plague is not sending plague to those places but a medical tech that actually increases population expansion rate (by reducing their incidence). There are a few where the title is perchance not that closely related to what it reflects.

I'm now sharing space with the Mahdi and he still seems to like me. I'm only up to September (sorting out the issue with the duplicate provinces slowed things a lot), but G and the Mahdi are getting on like a house on fire (well a house that will be on fire soon I suspect).

[loki100]

This update was originally part of the usual report but I wanted to discuss industrial planning in a bit more detail than seemed to fit within that. Equally there are regular posts in the main forum on related themes so I thought I’d do this as a separate (and thus easy to find) update.

So, if all you want to do is to follow the AAR you can skip this update (its just a long winded way of deciding to build a new electrical goods plant) but if you are interested in using the F4 screen as an industrial planning tool it may be worth a read. Should stress, as ever, this is just my understanding and ideas that I have worked out having been playing this campaign for almost a year (it started in late June 2012 over on the Paradox website).

What I wanted to do was to show in more details how the various parts of the F4 screen intersect and in particular to develop the idea in the last post that a shortage can have different reasons and can be addressed in different ways.

In effect, its an idea to understand whether you have a shortage due to the problem that you want to spend/use more than you can easily gather or whether or not you are under-producing (or under-importing) for your regular needs.

To do this, I’m going to look at three different goods from the F4 screen and discuss in some detail what I think is being shown and how to address the issue.

Electrical Parts

This is one of the goods that I believe a systemic shortage is reducing my overall industrial output (and thus prestige gain).

I’m used to showing the stockpile (top row) as a good indicator of flows but here I want to know why those flows are occurring. For this, lets start in the second line:



This actually looks good, I am producing 70 and my own industry use 67 per turn (and all 4 potential plants are open). The two in Tuscany are producing more as briefly the locals are particularly happy with life.



Now here, I am clearly completely dependent on domestic production. I’m not selling any and there are none out there to buy.

So why do I have a problem? Well I am selling 5 per turn into my domestic market. I will reduce this to 40% but that will still leave about 4 per turn being sold.



So for electrical parts the problem is clear. This good is completely dependent on domestic production and supply, if I want more (either to sell or for stock) I need to solve the issue myself.

Steel

As anyone following this AAR will be aware, steel has been a major source of concern for some time.



Well unlike electrical parts, its clear that my regular use is far in advance of my domestic production. However, I do have 3 new steel factories in production (the ones that show output in white). Here the variations reflect that different types of plant produce steel – some as the primary goal (those in the 18-26 range) and some as a secondary product (the arms factory in Turin). Note also, again, the impact of the Tuscan work ethic.

Of course, it is also a good idea to explore the reasons for the variation in outputs. Some are down to population happiness (if they have that little single face image on the population screen they work 25% harder), some down to transport (double rails really improve productivity) and some is due to that factory having a shortfall in terms of inputs – so you can dig much deeper than I am here.



Equally unlike electrical parts, there is international trade in steel and I am a net importer (I am ordering 28 but clearly never gain all I'm asking for). Not enough to fully covering my lack but it does helo. Now as is immediately clear, I am not acquiring regular stocks – I think my main suppliers face my problem of factories not able to regularly operate at full potential. So there is one explanation for the variations, every steel producing country is having problems keeping its steel factories working at full blast (if you will forgive the pun).



Steel is not sold on the domestic market so there is no loss into that sector. However, there is a small scale artisanal production so I gain a further 7 here.

So the problem is a little more complex. I really should work out which factories are using steel (shipbuilding is one) and maybe close one or more down (but they are good prestige producers). Equally I have a lot of steel plants in production and would rather wait till I have seen the impact of them than do anything more now. At the moment, key inputs such as coal and iron are readily available but I am a little concerned that at some stage global shortages will return (esp for coal).

Mechanical Parts

I’ve picked this one as its more straightforward.

There is a small problem that my stocks have been declining for a while.



One reason is that usage in my factories exceeds my domestic production



But the international market is completely stable, I’m importing 66 per turn and it is being supplied with no fluctuations



As with electrical goods, some of my production is going to the domestic market (and the colonial market this time) but that is more than balanced by craftsman production.



So, if I want to increase my stocks of mechanical parts, the easiest solution is to import more. I could double check availability by looking at the ‘B-screen’ and this confirms there is far more available for purchase than is being bought at the moment.

What is to be done?

Hopefully this gives some idea about the decision process for industrial expansion and filling in gaps in the production chain. I could do a lot more detail – eg track which factories use those inputs and close down the less useful (if you want to do this the F11 screen is your friend). Here, I wanted to explore if the solution to a shortfall was more domestic production or more international trade.

For steel, I’m going to wait. I have 3 new plants in production and I want to be sure that key inputs (coal and to a lesser extent iron) can sustain that. I’ll then think about whether I need to build more, trade more or shut stuff down. This depends on the importance of stocks for new builds (ie the fleet) against the regular production of other outputs (and prestige).

For mechanical parts, its pretty easy. If I want more, find a trading partner and increase my imports (which is what I did).

For electrical parts, its, in a way, equally easy. If I want more, I need to produce more (and with my car plant coming on line soon I know my demand will increase). Equally I’ll put some of the increased production up for international sale (thus helping the wider world economy).

Which is a hugely long winded way of saying I decided to build a new electrical goods plant in this period.

[r_rolo1]

Oh well, it would had been nice toconquer Egypt in a hole piece, but alas :/ ( P.S Note that I only read the previous update now , so bear with me ... )

BTW thanks for the brush up on the economical part of PON ... god knows how brittle the economical system in the game is and how it surely collapse into nothing if there wasn't a wannabe omnipotent human hand trying to drive things to a good conclusion Might be handy when I get back to a < 10 yrs computer ( nothing like a broken graphs card in a laptop )and be able to play something post 2005

[Stuyvesant]

This update was originally part of the usual report but I wanted to discuss industrial planning in a bit more detail than seemed to fit within that. Equally there are regular posts in the main forum on related themes so I thought I’d do this as a separate (and thus easy to find) update.

...

Which is a hugely long winded way of saying I decided to build a new electrical goods plant in this period.

Indeed it is. Still, despite the obvious lack of Gari-inspired mayhem or general bloody dealings with the natives, it's still an interesting and instructive update. Three different bottlenecks, three different approaches to fixing things.

Would it not have been helpful to import some extra steel until your new steel plants came online, though? Or was there no steel available on the international market (and in case you already pointed this out in the update: bear in mind I'm skimming this at work).

As long as puns are good/bad enough, they are always forgiven. The furnaces at full blast one gets by as a noble effort.

[loki100]

Oh well, it would had been nice toconquer Egypt in a hole piece, but alas :/ ( P.S Note that I only read the previous update now , so bear with me ... )

BTW thanks for the brush up on the economical part of PON ... god knows how brittle the economical system in the game is and how it surely collapse into nothing if there wasn't a wannabe omnipotent human hand trying to drive things to a good conclusion Might be handy when I get back to a < 10 yrs computer ( nothing like a broken graphs card in a laptop )and be able to play something post 2005

I'm pretty clear from my own experience and the reports of others that the human player in SP can crash the world economy. But in PoN you suffer too, so that is a nice addition to the mindset of a typical computer game. Usually you seek to crush by any means and waging economic warfare is as good as any other. Here, once a state is not a threat it is an economic friend and you gain from making it strong enough to sustain your economy in turn.

Indeed it is. Still, despite the obvious lack of Gari-inspired mayhem or general bloody dealings with the natives, it's still an interesting and instructive update. Three different bottlenecks, three different approaches to fixing things.

Would it not have been helpful to import some extra steel until your new steel plants came online, though? Or was there no steel available on the international market (and in case you already pointed this out in the update: bear in mind I'm skimming this at work).

As long as puns are good/bad enough, they are always forgiven. The furnaces at full blast one gets by as a noble effort.

Steel is the real international problem at the moment. I've more or less sorted out my manufactures problem with the factories I built a while back (I'm now even exporting some) but steel is a global issue. There is some, and I'm paying 25%+ to gain more than my fair share but I think some big producers (GB and Prussia) are not trading. If it wasn't for needing a bigger fleet I'd be ok, but when a single battleship squadron costs 300 steel and for the most part I'm breaking even with a stock around 120 then you can see my (self-inflicted) problem.

In a post for 1886 I'll look at the other side of the international trade game and how to work out what is worth over-producing so as to be able to export.

In truth, I'm a fairly lazy player and most of the time just make obvious minor adjustments but every now and then sit down and review the entire economy not just whatever little bit is causing me problems at a particular time. I'm no longer worried about either state cash or private capital so I can let things just bump along.

[loki100]

I’m afraid the next few years are going to be peaceful [1] (well apart from the usual colonial wars). I need to sort out my economy and, especially, gain enough steel to allow a serious naval expansion. On the other hand, I doubt that GB is building a lot of modern battleships either (though I do suspect it has more domestic steel production than I have). However, the first British aggressive action occurred in this period – the evil empire stole my tea farm.

So what I will carry on doing is adding segments to these updates that look at particular issues and, in this one, I’ll end by a review of my emerging defensive arrangements.

[CENTER]Still, on with the regular reports:[/CENTER]

Manufactures



As usual a few things worth noting there. Main one is that my overall production (final column) is much more stable as I am importing more and have closed some things down (to ensure flows to key factories).

The cars are a product of those ‘businessmen have purchased’ announcements not a result of production (yet).

Coal is dropping (1198-626) so at some stage I’ll need to import more but there is plenty available for sale. It seems that chemicals and manufactured goods are now under control (some new plants opened in this period) so the remaining real problem is Steel. The key is that imports fluctuate from 15-20 back down to 0 so I can never really build up the stock.

In terms of ship production, a new battleship needs 300 units of steel.

Non-Manufactures



As usual, much more straightforward. The main thing is it is claiming I am not meeting my population needs (ungrateful wretches). I think this is less to do with volume and more they want more variety but I have no regular sources of rice (3rd col) or sugar (8th col) and production of tropical fruits remains low. As we will see below, Perfidious Albion has stolen my tea.

Happy People



Which they mostly are. Usual fluctuations in militancy as I play the various cards that reduce this. Larger jumps in education follow the use of the University card (Romagna and Sicily in this period).

[CENTER]And the events:[/CENTER]

Colonial Actions

In E Africa, my explorers increasingly start to uncover areas colonized by Belgium. They are one of my allies (a defensive alliance connected to the Piombieres chain) and I have no desire to push into Central Africa in any case.



On my southern border I decide to put down an ongoing revolt as quickly as I can. The main colonial army has been brought down from Djibuti and will spearhead my campaign to liberate the region from its inhabitants.



This is increasingly my colonial model. If an area revolts, or if the actual inhabitants who were previously living there quite peacefully resist my arrival, I try to sort it out with the local forces (these are scattered across E Africa). If that fails I send in de Sonnaz and his colonial army.

This ends badly for the locals.



The Russians for some reason have reached the Indian Ocean.



But its over in Arabia where things hot up (as in the words of Patti Smith’s great song) as I discover Riyadh.



They celebrate being discovered by pouring across the border into the regions I control.



(my nil losses in the second battle are misleading – I took a lot on the retreat)

Sensational Tea Theft



[CENTER]Prestige[/CENTER]



The key element there is my prestige went up by almost 2000 (52,123-54,113) reflecting both new factories opening and that I managed a much more stable economy. GB went from 78,913 to 80,676 (so + 1750). These small gains help but more importantly indicate I am creating an economy strong enough to build the armed forces I’ll need to take them on.

Just it all takes time.

[CENTER]Fortifications[/CENTER]

Although my war with GB is hopefully going to take place on their territory I’ve been giving a lot of though to the defensive part of my preparations. This is also being designed with the possibility of a war with Germany and Austria-Hungary in mind.



The Italian portion is in two sections that designed to deal with the Germans and that designed to deal with the British.

Some of those (Rome and Turin in particular) I inherited on unification but I am building up the fortifications in Rome. Equally I have a number of fixed garrison units that reflect the pre-unification deployments of the minor states. What I’ll concentrate on here is the new stuff I am putting in place with an eye to two possible wars. In effect, there are two major fort systems in the north and naval defenses elsewhere to deter (or channel) any British invasion.

The north:



Both, in theory should also be defended by a field army (especially Sud-Tirol) but these are designed to create hard to take positions in case I need to retreat. The fort at Trieste is being upgraded to a modern fort and in addition to the regular garrison both should spawn a substantial additional force if they come under siege. Trieste also has naval guns.

Anti-British



Note that both have substantial naval batteries and both forts are steadily being upgraded. Genoa is well defended as in part I have a fixed force there from scenarion start (the little padlock) but it is also my main naval base. Sicily I am gambling that is might be a tempting target for the British so that will help make any invasion very costly (the two naval gun batteries will help).

If time and money allows, I’ll do something similar on Sardinia. My goal here is to make any invasion of my islands very costly.

Suez

This is probably a good place to discuss the problems I have had with the Suez decision and my current solution. I played the card to build the canal back in the mid-1870s and then it was removed after about 20 turns. In about 1879 it re-appeared as being playable so I did it again only for it to be removed as not meeting the conditions after a few turns.

So at the moment there is no canal and no means to create one. This is a known bug and will be addressed at some stage.

After I took Jerusalem, I built up a port there to ease landing troops and my plan was to land them from the Med side, then order them onto transports in the Red Sea. What actually happened is as much a bug as the Suez problem. Ships actually transit Jerusalem between the two seas as if there was a canal. Till recently I’ve tried not to exploit this but in the last few (game) years I’ve taken the view that this is compensating for the lack of Suez and just used as a means to connect my empire.

As such, it is a vital province and according has a large garrison with both land and naval guns.



And a small coastal defense fleet. These are quite powerful but very slow. Obviously not enough to defeat a major British fleet but maybe enough to badly disrupt unescorted transports.

In E Africa, Djibuti and Hoedida remain my key ports so are well defended.



Ideally those two are designed to hold a vital province till I can intervene (my train line makes it feasible to shift the main colonial army overland if I really need to do so).

The final block is in Dubai.



Clearly that will not hold off a major invasion but may resist a smaller force.

In the colonial regions, the intention is to buy me time to redeploy the main army if I can or at least cost the British attrition losses as they siege my fortified regions.

[1] - unless, of course, something happens, I'm only up to August 1886 at the moment

[Stuyvesant]

Some impressive fortifications. Hitler would say you need some more (to create a contiguous line across the Italian Peninsula, into North Africa and the Middle East and down the Arabian and East African shores), but it looks like a lot of strongpoints on which to base a defense and/or delay a British invasion.

Regarding the tea theft: you are talking about the British. And you're taking the tea from India. Not that I want to be accused of Pro-British sentiments in this heated time in the run-up to a major war, but you have to admit they have some reason to be disgruntled: you stole the very essence of their natural identity and you took it from the crown jewel of their empire.

Regarding the Riyadhian Ruckus: I guess you can say you 'Rub'bed those tribesmen the wrong way! Get it? Rub, as in the name of the province the battles took place? Eh?

Oh well, I'll get me coat...

[loki100]

Regarding the Riyadhian Ruckus: I guess you can say you 'Rub'bed those tribesmen the wrong way! Get it? Rub, as in the name of the province the battles took place? Eh?

Oh well, I'll get me coat...

lets put it this way, 1886 will see a lot of rubbing out going on in that region ....

[Gen. Monkey-Bear]

The main colonial army has been brought down from Djibuti and will spearhead my campaign to liberate the region from its inhabitants.

Just make sure to take it easy on the drone strikes!

In truth though, it does seem that you always have some sort of colonial war in progress. Are there options you can take to increase loyalty in those regions, or is the only choice to keep a large army nearby? I don't have much experience in the colonial aspect. Because the way I see it, it would be less expensive to play colonial cards than maintain military units (again, my colonial experience is little so I could be wrong, maybe such colonial cards don't even exist).

[Director]

You must remember that 'enough tea' is a particularly British non-sequitur. As Stuyvesant notes, it is only logical that the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of you. Heh.

As for the awful puns, I say bring them on. I shall steel myself to withstand them.


On the subject of colonies generally, did you focus on eastern Africa because it was logistically close, simply unclaimed or for specific resources? With your experienced troops and good generals I have wondered why you have not struck farther east. 'All the tea in China' may be a cliché but phrases get to be clichés by being obviously true.

[loki100]

Some impressive fortifications. Hitler would say you need some more (to create a contiguous line across the Italian Peninsula, into North Africa and the Middle East and down the Arabian and East African shores), but it looks like a lot of strongpoints on which to base a defense and/or delay a British invasion.

Regarding the tea theft: you are talking about the British. And you're taking the tea from India. Not that I want to be accused of Pro-British sentiments in this heated time in the run-up to a major war, but you have to admit they have some reason to be disgruntled: you stole the very essence of their natural identity and you took it from the crown jewel of their empire.

well I'd imagine, given where you live, that pro-British sentiments are perchance rather rare?

There is ample evidence that Italy is very hard to defend if you have lost naval superiority. My mindset is that this war will at least start on my own turns and that, judging by the Anglo-Prussian war, I'm not likely to end up facing a huge UK invasion. So the fortifications are to protect things I don't want to lose (my capital and my main base) or Sicily (as that would be hard to retake) and hopefully give me the chance to bring my my army to bear.

But yes, maybe in hindsight, siphoning tea out of India to Italy was a bit of a challenge, I mean, to be fair, they have't opened a cheese factory in Parma ...

Just make sure to take it easy on the drone strikes!

In truth though, it does seem that you always have some sort of colonial war in progress. Are there options you can take to increase loyalty in those regions, or is the only choice to keep a large army nearby? I don't have much experience in the colonial aspect. Because the way I see it, it would be less expensive to play colonial cards than maintain military units (again, my colonial experience is little so I could be wrong, maybe such colonial cards don't even exist).

Some cards do push up loyalty (vacinations, improved communications etc) but I only get 1/2 per year so I tend to concentrate them in my highest valued (or most rebellious provinces). So in the main I use a mix of a spread out army, several small regional forces, the colonial army for bigger campaigns and use the few cards I have access to.

You must remember that 'enough tea' is a particularly British non-sequitur. As Stuyvesant notes, it is only logical that the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of you. Heh.

As for the awful puns, I say bring them on. I shall steel myself to withstand them.


On the subject of colonies generally, did you focus on eastern Africa because it was logistically close, simply unclaimed or for specific resources? With your experienced troops and good generals I have wondered why you have not struck farther east. 'All the tea in China' may be a cliché but phrases get to be clichés by being obviously true.

I'll answer the two colonial questions together as they sort of relate, and this allows me to (post-event) rationalise what I've been doing.

First, yes there is an ongoing set of niggly wars. At the start, they were mostly rebellions - I think I had 4/5 in Yemen over about 6-7 years. Recently these have stopped and I think this may be related to my improving SoI status (or perhaps just random luck). The second is coming from my expansion. When you 'explore' someone, some seem to go to war, others remain at peace. So as my CP spreads (as discussed a while back not always as a resut of deliberate choice) then I kick off another of these border wars.

I've just played to the end of 1886 (I like to be a year + ahead of the updates if I can) and I'm reaching what look like the natural borders of my Empire (ie to go further will mean taking colonies off other European powers), so that may also bring to an end this cycle of small wars as I now longer expand.

Now I know I've said a few times I was going to stop expansion, but it sort of ... happens . Not least in some regions, such as E Africa there are sources of goods I have limited access to (fruit, sugar and rubber) and its very tempting to have at least some production under my own control.

I'm playing with the historic SoI constraint which makes it hard(er) to go outside the areas that in the Nineteenth Century were seen as Italian. This has a hidden bonus - the AI is very unlikely to intrude into your regions either. Before unification, Italy has no access to the more powerful cards that push up CP, Development or loyalty. Basically trade and bibles are the only tools. So at that stage it made sense to stick to regions were there would no contest (so the arc of provinces around the Horn of Africa). The only exception to this was to put down a presence in the Yemen fpr coffee and opium and to secure my control of the Red Sea. Watching Powloon's AAR (he was playing without the SoI constraint) gave me the idea of going for the Persian Gulf (gems and oil) and south into Kenya/Tanania (strategic control and various goodies).

The other thing in my mind was the belief that at some stage I was going to end up in a war with a major seapower. If I kept my Empire relatively compact I minimised my exposure, if I reached out any further it would be vulnerable to piecemeal destruction. Add that to not being able to compete in a colonial race (i'm still losing to the British at Qatar) tended to leave me focussed on Arabia/E Africa, rather than spending a lot of money and goods in a probably fruitless (perhaps literly) attempt to muscle in on another power's colonial region.

[loki100]

This update again is not really part of the AAR but contains a discussion of two themes related to my industrial planning post above. The first part considers the value of the ‘B-screen’ as a tool to telling you what to expand in order to sell and the second considers how you can use that to decide when to import rather than rely on domestic production.

The screenshots are taken from different stages in 1886 as I was busily rebalancing my economy and my balance of payments.

Produce to Export

One option is Coffee. Checking the ‘B’ screen it is clear there is more demand than current supply. I can sell from a variety of places but most of production ends up in Rome (South Italy) so that is the most reliable source of information.



So to sell more, I open up the ‘T’ screen and increase the amount (right hand button) that is going for sale rather than building up my domestic stockpile. That should meet current demand.

What happened was that demand then shifted to S Italy (I was supplying enough) so in turn I was able to sell more and open up some coffee plantations that were closed.

Luxury goods, ammunition and supply are all goods where double checking indicates the potential to sell a lot more than I am. So I increase my supply of those for international trade.

Now this shifts my balance of payments deficit of between 800-1000 to a surplus of 2,000. The deficit I was happy with as I had plenty of Private Capital and was selling all my imports on the domestic market.



Import rather than Produce


Anyway, I don’t want to suck Private Capital out of the world economy so decide to shift to importing all my need for goods that are readily available. One is machine parts, so in response I close down all my domestic production.



I also track down potential sources of steel and opt to pay 25% more than is necessary.



This will also increase the cost of my imports (ie help people to buy my exports).

The only problem on checking again is actually my balance of payments surplus has expanded – someone needs to invent the Euro – as Italy becomes the economic powerhouse of Europe.



I’ll do a proper update for early 1886 soon but since I’ve been spending a fair bit of time sorting out my economy it seemed useful to discuss how to use some of the in-game tools. In truth, what I need is for the AI to start a massive expansion of its own steel production.

[Stuyvesant]

Oh, I think you'll find that a lot of people adore Princess Kate (the American attitude to the British Royal Family is certainly one of the odder kinks in the national psyche) and her baby bump. Downton Abbey is also quite the hit over here, amongst certain circles, and many older people will fondly reminisce about "your Monthy Python". So there's certainly some Anglo-Saxon affinity, if you know where to look (and what to ask for).

So if I read your update correctly, you're buying like mad from the entire world, which in turn allows the entire world to empty its newly-filled pockets right back into your bank account? Genius!

[loki100]

Oh, I think you'll find that a lot of people adore Princess Kate (the American attitude to the British Royal Family is certainly one of the odder kinks in the national psyche) and her baby bump. Downton Abbey is also quite the hit over here, amongst certain circles, and many older people will fondly reminisce about "your Monthy Python". So there's certainly some Anglo-Saxon affinity, if you know where to look (and what to ask for).

So if I read your update correctly, you're buying like mad from the entire world, which in turn allows the entire world to empty its newly-filled pockets right back into your bank account? Genius!

well given the dribbling lunacy of most of the English press at the moment I'm dreading what will happen when she does what many women have done before her. Time to work out if I can manage a sea kayaking tour to somewhere very remote off the West Coast.

if you recall I set up a similar economic cycle in Tales where every now and then I let some one escape my rule (at a large price) and then used all that money to bribe the rest of the Rurikovich clan back into line. Here, I actually don't want such a huge balance of payments surplus (I have more PC than I can use now) but its hard to keep under control. Once my wine and luxury stocks run down it will come back into a better balance.

[loki100]

Anyway, lets get back to normal service. One reason for the recent emphasis on the economy is my main obsession is finding enough steel so I can expand the navy. I seem to have solved all my other bottlenecks and am flooding the world with Italian wines and designer goodies. Unfortunately my real goal is to sink the RN with fine Italian battleships ... as Mick put it, you can't always get what you want.

Anyway, we have two colonial wars to deal with (the Mahdi is being incredibly understanding of my need to occupy the Sudan – must be just the English rubbed him up the wrong way) including the ongoing daylight Rubery in Arabia.

But first, the standard reports.

Manufactures



Few bits to note there. Main one is that my actual production is stable or slowly increasing (final column), this reflects the attention I've paid to my industry over the recent period.

I've decided that my steel lack is not going to be solved by imports so commenced two more steel plants in this period (at the moment there is no indication of a global coal shortage). Finally with my first automobile plant almost ready I decided to exploit the oil in the Persian Gulf. I've sent enough immigrants that this, and the gems pits, can operate at reasonable efficiency.

Non-Manufactures



As ever, much more straightforward. My recent colonial gains in E Africa mean I have a steady supply of tropical fruits. The other goods I lack (rice, sugar, tea, tobacco, rum) are hard to buy so am reliant on the random 'businessmen' events for my stocks.

With respect to fish and grain I have two types of productions. Some pre-industrial (less efficient but only use private capital) and some semi-industrial (more efficient but needs coal and/or chemicals). What I tend to do is to rely on the former (the excess use of private capital is no problem) and then use the more advanced units when I want to top up/run down my stocks.

Not of course that realistic, but it allows me to juggle key resources and potential bottlenecks.

Happy People



Again, pretty stable. I played most of the militancy reducing cards in this period and that has, in turn, boosted the average education level. This is under control but there are domestic troubles heading my way in the 1890s.

[CENTER]Events[/CENTER]

Colonial Wars

Well despite the fact that I already occupy Ethiopia, someone just has to go and decide to do their own thing.



That kicks off the first of what will be a number of scripted revolts in the region. Fortunately, I have a large colonial army sitting around waiting for the chance to do something. Which it duly does



On my southern border, the fortunes of war shift back and forth, but I make some gains. If I need to I'll bring de Sonnaz's bunch of psychos down here to resolve any remaining difficulties once he is finished over in Arabia.



But I discover more territory. Here, I'll push as far south as I can, not least it may give me a land border with the British Empire which has some interesting potential.



I'm not going to move west as it is Belgian controlled (and they are my allies).

But of course it is in Arabia where the main events are to take place. De Sonnaz and his mob are sent to do what they do. I'm coming to regard him as the new Garibaldi, not least his alice band seems completely in keeping with the Italian army's obsession with wierd head gear in this game.





That rubbed out some of the Najd problem.

And the good Guiseppe gets promoted.



Before finishing off what he had started.



Yep, Najd is gone, I now own more sand than any other power in the world (remember I also own a large chunk of the Sahara).

Worth noting that steadily my SoI for the regions I have grabbed is improving. Zanzibar is now positive (ie seen as legitimately Italian) so actually contributes prestige. I've marked out in green the rough area that constitutes the Italian empire. As discussed above, pushing south in Africa seems a useful idea till I gain a border with the Evil Empire.



A new naval invention fires.



I think this one just improves an existing ship class.

Prestige



So I have gained 2,400 (54,300 up to 56,700) helped by all those small colonial victories. This may be another reason why having a number of small colonial wars is no bad thing, you gain a little bit of prestige on a regular basis. Equally my new industrial strategy seems to be paying off as I an now gaining 160+ per turn on a regular basis (before it was fluctuating quite a lot).

The UK has gained 1,800 (80,600 up to 82,400).

Doesn't change the long term analysis, I need to bring them down as well as boost my own prestige but at least I am laying a solid base.

Looking at the others, for some reason Prussia is very happy with itself as is Austria. Must be some German thing. My good relations with Austria are due to the (scripted) Drie KaiserBund events. GB is not having a great time of it (it has another colonial war that seems to be a problem).

As before, none of the other powers appears to be even keeping up with Italy, never mind catching up. It looks like the Ottomans have a problem (Adana which is on my objective list is held by rebels). If I need easy prestige at some stage I could always opt to try and liberate the Levant.

[Stuyvesant]

I see your 'Rub' puns and I raise you... Actually, I'm folding, to stick with the poker analogy. I got nothing.

But your plot for a worldwide sand monopoly continues apace! Najd has been eliminated (for some reason, 'Playing hunt the Najd' sounds vaguely like a filthy euphemism to me) and the Ethiopian sand supplies are also being safeguarded. Foolish backpacking tourists notwithstanding.

I noticed you continue to have problems with your steel production - or rather, your ability to produce and import steel does not keep pace with your wishes. This raises the question: do you have any idea how much steel the British produce and/or consume? Are they also limited in their steel (and hence, battleship) production, or is this a case where the British have an increasing lead over you? Oh, and how much will those two steel plants contribute, once they come online? Enough to start churning out battle wagons at a steady pace?

[Gen. Monkey-Bear]

Nice work on the colonial side. How is it that negative Sphere of Influence territories become positive? I thought you were playing with historical claims.

On another note I just realized most of the world probably sees Italy as the enemy of Islam. You control a huge geographical chunk of the Muslim world and are really enslaving millions of innocent people! Looking at that colonial map I see that Muslim population areas are most of your empire.

[Sir Garnet]

Catching up on this increasingly gripping tale - two dozen collected comments below in no particular order.

1. You are making the right moves in expanding trade, but maybe not enough. Does Italy already have merchants in every Maritime Trade Box (except maybe Hawaii)? As a GP this allows you to sell as well as buy in every MTB which lets you drive world trade and development. By stocking up and heavy resales you have an easy way to avoid supply issues by raising or lowering your sales and even "manage" prices, if you care, while also developing your trading partners (paying a premium is a nice way of getting the goods or providing a subsidy, as is buying excess items from some countries even if they go to wastage). Less taxes mean more PC to load up on everything, and why not have a full inventory of everything if you have the PC?

In the CIE MP Brazil is around 10th rank overall and militarily but 1st in commerce and 6/7th in total output, with (according to the report scripts) 2nd largest stockpiles of products in both value and volume. Why not spend extra PC on stockpiles? This helps Brazil be a one-stop-shop for buyers' merchant ships. BTW Brazil is a good SP trade partner given its range of investable resources, like the USA but with different items such as Gems, Gold, Rum, Sugar, Coffee (and Tobacco, an overlap with USA). There is a lot of Tropical Fruit in the Americas just waiting for buyers.

2. A huge merchant marine generates profits and taxes but does eat up a lot of coal, and coal can go from surplus to deficit quickly when more advanced structures come on line that eat it up, so build out coal mines, and then petroleum in the next decade. Your move to buy rather than internally produce things is supply abroad is also good for development and relations. No harm having extra capacity for when you need it, especially in something like Steel, Coal, Mfg Goods, or Mech.

3. I like your descriptions for Asset Balance (B) and F4 - I have those open at the same time as well as usually having the relevant T window for trade orders to allow more precision than +10/-10 on the Asset Balance and to allow paying a premium.

4. Torpedo Boats are only in Coastal/Shallow waters, which can limit their use - I have not figured out how to get use from them yet but look forward to info.

5. I see you are losing some images from imageshack - curses to those digital bookworms, eating up the archives. If there is an image limit, maybe put in some "CODE" tables instead of pix?

6. Even negative SOI can be improved by development, but I learned to stagger such efforts in order to be quick to develop each in turn up to snuff rather than spread too thin and having them sit as a long-term drag on prestige (if one cares about prestige).

7. The misnamed "Defensive" alliances and Local Support each give one chance to declare war against each declaration of war by anyone against the ally, and a stiff penalty for each not honored as well as the small automatic penalty for Local Support failing to deter attack. The time limit for DOW is a few turns and can easily be missed. At 10% penalty per failure, a web of alliances can get expensive in prestige with declarations flying around back and forth. Which encourages WW1 cascades of DOWs.

8. One peace option available is to force empires to release peoples - I did that as France to Russia to nerf it and protect Turkey. Austria and Britain are candidates for that treatment. I don't know in the current version if you get an alliance with the released nation, but that would make sense to script if not.

9. When you script territorial changes, how are you handling the residual Austrian loyalties?

10. Prisoner counts are in elements (100 men) on the battle report, actual men on the F10 display - which is not obvious.

11. Austrian Wars: Fighting in the narrow battlefields of the Dolomites was just providing just enough fighting to perfect the skills of your troops. A human player might well have pushed hard to take Venezia and thus turn the Trentino defenses. The contact frontage would be much larger and movement in easier to allow a full hammer blow and active rotation. The battles would be much costlier, meaning both sides would tend to lose elements from the start. The consequences of losing control of the Venezia countryside would be dire since the invader can hit Lombardy, Trentino, or cross the Po. In CIE MP Austrians have run around central Italy a number of times. On the Austrian side, I would encourage an Italian advance into Udine or beyond as a trap, though if Italy controls the sea it would be much less effective.

12. Take your time to enjoy the economic advantage of occupation of enemy manufacturing centers.

13. "The odd consequence is I exited the first Austrian war with a superb army - 6 corps were elite. I exit this one with only 3 elite corps left and the loss of a cadre of experienced generals."

Indeed. And in peace you lose experience stars to training upgrades. My thought in the second war, since you discovered the Reserves save their experience when demobilized (nice catch), would be to use them along with the lower quality formations in the front line and hold better veterans as army group reserves for MTSG, for key assaults if needed, but largely for holding strong defensive positions efficiently. Napoleon conserved his guardsmen for decisive strokes against an enemy already weakened by prior attacks, which is a good model.

14. I'm glad to see you stock up on depot battalions (replacement chits). It is the best peacetime use of manpower flow if additional units are not needed. I say think of it like ammunition - too much costs something, but too little is fatal. A thick cushion can avoid the disasters that occur when heavy losses force the use of severely attrited units and elements that are low in power/frontage ratio and easily eliminated permanently - Britain suffered this a couple of times in the CIE MP under earlier governments.

15. What other game alliances exist beyond AUS-PRU and IT-FRA-BEL?

16. Britain can be defeated by drawing forth and tying up its land forces overseas (India, Africa, Americas, etc.) and then landing and taking Britain itself. A secure launchpoint in Northern Europe is very useful - Scandinavia is ideal in order to swing north of interception from the usual fleet stations in the south (which was a reason for the anchorage at Scapa Flow in the far north).

17. Italy with the canal under control and blocking British transit has the central position and interior lines, cutting off its key possessions in India and dividing its fleets, which offers the possibility of defeating them in detail. It is a long way round to ship troops back and forth, and they are vulnerable at sea...

18. As a consequence, the relative positions mean the Royal Navy can effectively lose the war in an afternoon by a mis-step, ideally one leaving Britain exposed to attack or at least exposed enough to force a pullback and concentration of naval forces to home defense. Italy, however, can use even a battered force in essentially the same way as a full force so long as it is a significant force in being.

19. Consider making friends with Spain, getting passage rights, and seizing Gibraltar with a massive attack at the start of the war. Very good for you and very bad for Britain.

20. The British like islands but their armies landing on islands can end up as self-run POW camps if they can't then get off. Think about lures and traps. Summer, Autumn, and Winter in Corfu . . . or Sardinia

21. The large British fleet takes a long time to update, meaning that with fresh cutting-edge construction timed for the war you can have a qualitative advantage if you attack at the right time - so scout the British fleets with corvettes and evaluate their forces in detail. Steel Battleships vs. Ironclads is good, or Dreadnoughts vs. earlier battleships, or cruisers vs. earlier types.

22. Re crises, there are specific strategies focused on pulling out prestige rather than winning, which can make sense for crises without substance.

23. Narwhal's SP War Pool idea of having guest players to play the enemy is an interesting one, especially if the player is capable and determined. The AI, however, has the advantage of rigid tenacity and can't be bullied or negotiated into concessions - it's all the numbers. Sometimes humans give way too easily - more so than the real protagonists would have done.

24. Finally- re CP Leakage, let it be proclaimed on the Garibaldi Memorial that: "Wherever is soiled by Italians, there is Italian soil."

[Stuyvesant]

24. Finally- re CP Leakage, let it be proclaimed on the Garibaldi Memorial that: "Wherever is soiled by Italians, there is Italian soil."

Very interesting thoughts (I would expect no less from someone who clearly knows his game) and that final remark is certainly fitting for the tone of the AAR and the somewhat haphazard expansion of Italian colonial dominion.

[Director]

It seems to me that you have a magnificent business opportunity just waiting for development. Dig a giant trench through all that sand and name it 'Silicon Valley.'
Investors will then fill up the hole with money, and after you siphon it all out the walls will fall in - no cleanup needed.