Preserving the empire: Grand campaign as HRE

[Lynxyonok]

This is going to be a grand campaign of TYW as Catholics against AI. It is my first game of TYW, so expect some interesting mistakes.

Settings are favoring AI, with particular emphasis on harsh attrition rules, as well as highly randomized leaders - that is going to be quite a twist.

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Edit: I've restarted the campaign, changing settings a bit. You can jump ahead to the restart here:

http://ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?40296-Preserving-the-empire-Grand-campaign-as-HRE&p=354088#post354088

[Lynxyonok]

I was not that lucky with my Catholic leaders - 2-2-2 and 0-2-2 meant that I was likely to suffer from movement delays. My only hope was to quickly break the siege of Krems - but Protestants have started to group together their forces, so my men had to fall back to Wien...

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[Lynxyonok]

As winter was fast approaching, I quickly realized that my war supplies do not regenerate. That meant no more reinforcements.

My army was growing due to recruitment of Croatian units - and it also stayed safely inside Wien walls as Protestants captured Krems.

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[Lynxyonok]

Both King of Spain and Pope sent some help -

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But it was just enough to fill in my existing units, barely.

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[Lynxyonok]

The spring and summer were wasted, as Catholics kept trying to chase the Protestants. Aside from wiping out a single cavalry unit near Budweiss, it was a strategic loss, as my army now had to double-back to Wien for supplies. Luckily, Spanish have shown up to help...

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[Lynxyonok]

The battle of Wien was lost, but Protestants had to fall back in face of superior Catholic forces.

At least that meant that I got to feed my men through the winter.

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[Lynxyonok]

The second battle of Wien is a Catholic victory, as Protestants are hurting for supplies...

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[Lynxyonok]

Since Spanish general Marradas is the best leader I have (5-4-2), he is given the best troops available - and he proves his worth defeating Mansfield just west of Wien. More Protestant troops show up - it is shaping up to be a long campaign...

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[Lynxyonok]

Marradas reduces Protestant forces by Wien to no more than 2,000, but Mansfield himself still avoids capture.

In the meantime, Bavarian forces make a grand entrance. Perhaps the empire is going to win after all. Tilly is only 2-6-1 but his second in command is 5-2-4, and we can definitely work with that...

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[Baris]

Traffic penalty is a must I think in this game for less formulaic more disorganized movement.
AI can have problems crossing large rivers and returning back. Placing 2 cavalry detachments in Budweiss and Ilz can lock movement with enough ZOC when Bohemians decides to move Linz.
Good game, I'm following.

[Ebbingford]

It might also be worth putting the attrition on the middle setting to help the AI. I don't think it's fair to play against the AI with it on the setting you've got it.

[Lynxyonok]

Traffic penalty is a must I think in this game for less formulaic more disorganized movement.
AI can have problems crossing large rivers and returning back. Placing 2 cavalry detachments in Budweiss and Ilz can lock movement with enough ZOC when Bohemians decides to move Linz.
Good game, I'm following.

Hm, I thought I set the traffic penalty to the max. I will double-check it tonight. And thanks.

[Lynxyonok]

It might also be worth putting the attrition on the middle setting to help the AI. I don't think it's fair to play against the AI with it on the setting you've got it.

That's what the extra difficulty level is for, to get them extra replacements. I've played with settings like these for a while in other ageod games, and ai does quite well. Once you get to colonel level, they seem to rebound almost instantly

[Lynxyonok]

Now that there are 4 separate nations fighting for defense of Catholicism, and each nations further has multiple units, it can be quite confusing as to which ones are best. With only 2 decent generals I can trust to wage war (5-5-2 Spanish Marradas and a newly arrived 5-2-4 Bavarian colonel), I am likely to be limited only to 12 units in the field.

So let's look at what we have. HRE infantry regiments have 4 battalions, 1 x arquebusiers, 1 x musketeers, and 2 x pikemen.

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

Spanish regiments consist of 5 battalions. Compared to HRE, they have an extra pikemen detachment, but that's not all: 2 of 3 pikemen battalions are veterans, stronger than their HRE colleagues.

Overall, Spanish troops are stronger - but that may very well be due to their extra experience levels. I think HRE units can catch up after a few battles.

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

Invigorated by the presence of Bavarian troops, Catholics engage in a 2-prong cavalry assault. The first group takes Budweiss as Protestants fall back, however we encounter very strong opposition at Brunn. I am considering grouping all cavalry units under the Bavarian colonel, as well as abandoning the fruitless chase of Protestants just south of Wien: they keep avoiding battles, and Marradas' skills are wasted there.

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[Lynxyonok]

Marradas takes Brunn.

Bavarian colonel blockades Prague.

Great leaders can make all the difference in the world.

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[Lynxyonok]

Marradas takes Olmuetz, a couple of small skirmishes are fought.

Bavarian cavalry has to fall back as Prague proves to be quite lacking in supplies, not to mention that Protestant raiders retake Krems.

Second Spanish army appears at Frankfurt.

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[Lynxyonok]

As winter rages on, supplying troops becomes a nightmare. The cavalry corps has to fall back all the way to Wien, but not fast enough - a 79-hit combo wipes over half of it in a single turn. I am regretting purchasing all those extra units early in the campaign - Croatians, artillery - as there is not enough money to keep them reinforced. Furthermore, I am facing a tough call: either keep the Catholic league army at full strength, or the Spaniards. I can't do both - and that's with most troops holding still, safely tucked inside city walls. Catholic league (Bavarians) for that matter - aside from cavalry - are yet to do any offensive warfare.

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[Lynxyonok]

It might also be worth putting the attrition on the middle setting to help the AI. I don't think it's fair to play against the AI with it on the setting you've got it.

I've been thinking about what you said, as I watched an entire Protestant army starve to death just south of Wien. You're right, AI could use help, but I'm going to provide it in another way, as I've tested the historical attrition setting before, and it seemed ok. Instead I'm going to restart, bumping the following settings in favor of AI:

- difficulty setting to colonel (+ reinforcements, + speed)
- no randomization of leaders (whereas I would leave inept generals at hope, I suspect AI would try to use them anyway)
- +to activation roll

I'm also delaying the commitment to the medium level to mimic the era, when armies would just stare at each other. Wish me luck

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[Lynxyonok]

This time I split my main army, as both leaders seemed to be capable of movement - 3-2-2 for both Bucquoy and Dampierre. Bucquoy took most infantry and all cavalry straight towards Krems; Dampierre followed with slower artillery and supplies.

I still failed at least one activation check, and it took Bucquoy 2 turns to reach Krems rather than 1. Once he got there, Protestants attacked, and my forces barely prevailed. Soon after the battle snow fell all around, and with harsh weather comes attrition...

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[Lynxyonok]

Protestants launched three assault of Krems, all of them failing just by a hair, as my men were defending. It's interesting that both sides' battle plans would always fail on round 2, every time.

Here's the battle plan choices, the first battle's, and the last battle's outcome. Supply of Bucquoy's army is down to 69%, as Dampierre was told to stay put.

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[Lynxyonok]

Persistence definitely has its merits. Protestants lose two more battles, but they refuse to yield. Finally they win one - and unlike Protestant armies that just won't move, my troops fall right back South. From there, it's a long, long journey back to Wien for supplies. And courtesy of surprise March snow and high traffic penalties, it does indeed take almost half a year for my troops to regroup. Of course, Protestants are right on their heels...

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[veji1]

I've been thinking about what you said, as I watched an entire Protestant army starve to death just south of Wien. You're right, AI could use help, but I'm going to provide it in another way, as I've tested the historical attrition setting before, and it seemed ok. Instead I'm going to restart, bumping the following settings in favor of AI:

- difficulty setting to colonel (+ reinforcements, + speed)
- no randomization of leaders (whereas I would leave inept generals at hope, I suspect AI would try to use them anyway)
- +to activation roll

I'm also delaying the commitment to the medium level to mimic the era, when armies would just stare at each other. Wish me luck

To be honest this is likely not to help much : the problem for the AI is that is doesn't know how to deal with historical attrition at all so even with lots of help, its troops will end up withering away every winter, making the game unplayable fairly quickly. I would strongly recommend that the setting be used only for PBEM.

[Lynxyonok]

To be honest this is likely not to help much : the problem for the AI is that is doesn't know how to deal with historical attrition at all so even with lots of help, its troops will end up withering away every winter, making the game unplayable fairly quickly. I would strongly recommend that the setting be used only for PBEM.

Very well, I will trust you. The setting is going to be changed for historical attrition for player only. All other settings will remain.