Hello all.
I've tried a few different nations so far on N/N ..VH/VH prepatch/postpatch. I keep coming back to my fave, GB. I know I don't have to worry about invasions as much, but I LOVE how most of my fights are mainly navel.
At any rate that's not what this thread is about. I've decided that this time around I'm going to do my best to back up my allies as much as humanly possible. My reasoning is this: In all my games, if I didn't back up my allies, they eventually got killed or destroyed to a point they were worthless to me ie Portugal, the Dutch, and the Thirteen Colonies (Austria can usually hold its own). I'm playing on VH/VH (world domination) right now and if I don't back them up two things are going to happen: my trade will plummet AND I'll have no backup to keep France, Spain, and others busy while I expand. My overall plan (A flavored set of house rules) is to try to recreate the expansion of the British empire along with the loss of the Thirteen Colonies (this part, history might see a change once I take over the middle east, Africa, and India.)
So far here's what I've done:
Broke my alliance with Hanover. (not sure how I feel about this one...Sweden attacked and I didn't really want to get involved, but I'm wondering if this is one alliance I might still want)
Broke my protectorate with Thirteen Colonies and then allied with them. (Did this on purpose, finicially speaking the 13 colonies died quite quickly and got completely eaten up by local natives in my previous games. This way they get all their money and can possibly even expand-though I'm unsure if they will actually do any expansion.)
Kept all my allies with the Dutch, Portugal, and Austria. (Will try to keep these three, so far have sent naval support to both Portugal and the Dutch along with a standing army in Portugal that's a half stack to help out with Spain invasions.)
Planning on putting a half stack near the Dutch city and maybe even taking Flanders and giving it to the Dutch later on to help them stay strong.
Portugal lost their holdings in India from Mysore. I'm invading southern India and once I take the old Portugal region, I'll gladly hand it back probably just for some tech (preferably) or cash. Once I focus some attention in America, I may turn some of the pirate holdings into Dutch/Porteguese.
For Austria, I plan on just having a lingering naval presence though I may have to go to war with the Ottoman Empire. For this, I may have a tough choice, whoever grants me more trade may end up being a stronger ally. Though I inevitably lose trade with Russia because of an Ottoman blockade. Since I plan on somewhat recreating the British expansion into the middle east via Africa and India, I'll probably stick with Austria as an ally and might even talk Russia into being an ally as well.
So far it has worked out well. I'm having some success in India. Have Mysore's old capitol and the southern most region. Spain has been quite reluctant to go to war with Portugal with my army and navy nearby. The Dutch (fairly notorious for not getting rid of enemy Spanish and French ships from their port) haven't had much in the way of naval blockade problems. The 13 colonies haven't lost any ground yet which is quite different from my previous games.
So I have allies that love me and unending trade. Plus playing this way gives the game a very nice overall feel it didn't have before. It's more of a community fight than just seeing if I can alone amass enough power to take on everyone. Add to that I don't have to worry about losing trade because I didn't get involved with a fight. Plus I get more ship booty this way! ARRR.
What are your thoughts on this way of playing? And should I start over and not leave Hanover out to dry? I'm not that far in and I don't mind restarting. Also do you know if it's like RTW or MTW2 where if you have a navy/army near a potential fight, if you get pulled into the fight regardless of your war stance? If that no longer occurs, I may need to declare war on Spain/France to trully protect the Dutch and help fight together.
I've tried a few different nations so far on N/N ..VH/VH prepatch/postpatch. I keep coming back to my fave, GB. I know I don't have to worry about invasions as much, but I LOVE how most of my fights are mainly navel.
At any rate that's not what this thread is about. I've decided that this time around I'm going to do my best to back up my allies as much as humanly possible. My reasoning is this: In all my games, if I didn't back up my allies, they eventually got killed or destroyed to a point they were worthless to me ie Portugal, the Dutch, and the Thirteen Colonies (Austria can usually hold its own). I'm playing on VH/VH (world domination) right now and if I don't back them up two things are going to happen: my trade will plummet AND I'll have no backup to keep France, Spain, and others busy while I expand. My overall plan (A flavored set of house rules) is to try to recreate the expansion of the British empire along with the loss of the Thirteen Colonies (this part, history might see a change once I take over the middle east, Africa, and India.)
So far here's what I've done:
Broke my alliance with Hanover. (not sure how I feel about this one...Sweden attacked and I didn't really want to get involved, but I'm wondering if this is one alliance I might still want)
Broke my protectorate with Thirteen Colonies and then allied with them. (Did this on purpose, finicially speaking the 13 colonies died quite quickly and got completely eaten up by local natives in my previous games. This way they get all their money and can possibly even expand-though I'm unsure if they will actually do any expansion.)
Kept all my allies with the Dutch, Portugal, and Austria. (Will try to keep these three, so far have sent naval support to both Portugal and the Dutch along with a standing army in Portugal that's a half stack to help out with Spain invasions.)
Planning on putting a half stack near the Dutch city and maybe even taking Flanders and giving it to the Dutch later on to help them stay strong.
Portugal lost their holdings in India from Mysore. I'm invading southern India and once I take the old Portugal region, I'll gladly hand it back probably just for some tech (preferably) or cash. Once I focus some attention in America, I may turn some of the pirate holdings into Dutch/Porteguese.
For Austria, I plan on just having a lingering naval presence though I may have to go to war with the Ottoman Empire. For this, I may have a tough choice, whoever grants me more trade may end up being a stronger ally. Though I inevitably lose trade with Russia because of an Ottoman blockade. Since I plan on somewhat recreating the British expansion into the middle east via Africa and India, I'll probably stick with Austria as an ally and might even talk Russia into being an ally as well.
So far it has worked out well. I'm having some success in India. Have Mysore's old capitol and the southern most region. Spain has been quite reluctant to go to war with Portugal with my army and navy nearby. The Dutch (fairly notorious for not getting rid of enemy Spanish and French ships from their port) haven't had much in the way of naval blockade problems. The 13 colonies haven't lost any ground yet which is quite different from my previous games.
So I have allies that love me and unending trade. Plus playing this way gives the game a very nice overall feel it didn't have before. It's more of a community fight than just seeing if I can alone amass enough power to take on everyone. Add to that I don't have to worry about losing trade because I didn't get involved with a fight. Plus I get more ship booty this way! ARRR.
What are your thoughts on this way of playing? And should I start over and not leave Hanover out to dry? I'm not that far in and I don't mind restarting. Also do you know if it's like RTW or MTW2 where if you have a navy/army near a potential fight, if you get pulled into the fight regardless of your war stance? If that no longer occurs, I may need to declare war on Spain/France to trully protect the Dutch and help fight together.
