South Africa - what now?

[vonduus]

I have conquered Oranje and the South African Republic (Transvaal). They have no troops left, I have occupied all their provinces, and have full military control, but it seems there is nothing more I can do.

In Oranje I managed to get a protectorate, it is still tagged as an Oranje national region, but I can build as I please (diamond mines in Kimberley).

Not so in the Transvaal. In the diplomacy screen, when I offer a peace, I can ask for payments, but there are no colonies to ask for. I believe this is because I have no claims whatsoever on these lands. How do I get claims on lands, that I don't have claims on?

No colonial cards are working, all of them say something like "your colonial penetration is not within the limits" or "your loyalty is not within the limits". Not even the colonial merchants, who help in almost all other locked situations, are working, and I also cannot explore or prospect.

I can build railroads, exploitation centers and depots, but nothing else. Not that there is anything that I really want to build, but now it has become a matter of pride and principle.

I probably just have to wait, this seems to help in a lot of situations in this game, but then what exactly am I waiting for?

The question is: What can I do, given the above circumstances, to make the Transvaal regions a proper and integrated part of my empire, like fx a protectorate?

[vaalen]

I have conquered Oranje and the South African Republic (Transvaal). They have no troops left, I have occupied all their provinces, and have full military control, but it seems there is nothing more I can do.

In Oranje I managed to get a protectorate, it is still tagged as an Oranje national region, but I can build as I please (diamond mines in Kimberley).

Not so in the Transvaal. In the diplomacy screen, when I offer a peace, I can ask for payments, but there are no colonies to ask for. I believe this is because I have no claims whatsoever on these lands. How do I get claims on lands, that I don't have claims on?

No colonial cards are working, all of them say something like "your colonial penetration is not within the limits" or "your loyalty is not within the limits". Not even the colonial merchants, who help in almost all other locked situations, are working, and I also cannot explore or prospect.

I can build railroads, exploitation centers and depots, but nothing else. Not that there is anything that I really want to build, but now it has become a matter of pride and principle.

I probably just have to wait, this seems to help in a lot of situations in this game, but then what exactly am I waiting for?

The question is: What can I do, given the above circumstances, to make the Transvaal regions a proper and integrated part of my empire, like fx a protectorate?

My guess would be that you could get a protectorate in Oranje because it is listed as one of your objectives. You might check to see if you also have Pretoria, which is in the Transvaal,as a listed objective. If you do, I am wrong. I also would like an answer to this question. In real life, the British conquered both nations and added them to their other South African colonies, after a brutal, bloody, war.

[SonOfAGhost]

What year is it in your game? If 1880s or earlier there may be a rule that Transvaal can't be absorbed after 1st Boer War so that scripted events for 2nd Boer War in 1899 still have a nation to apply to.

[vonduus]

Thanks, SonOfAGhost, that explains it. It is 1883 now.