Author Topic: Europa Universalis IV: Third time the charm?  (Read 14056 times)

Kat

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #45 on: April 05, 2014, 12:25:14 PM »
I remember times when exploration ideas were not thing, but you had to rely either on historical explorer and conquistadors or either go full naval or obscurant slider to get three from the random number god, never to be sure when you get them. Thus I think EU4 is more fair in this regard.

Arch-Magos Winter

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #46 on: April 05, 2014, 07:55:55 PM »
I remember times when exploration ideas were not thing, but you had to rely either on historical explorer and conquistadors or either go full naval or obscurant slider to get three from the random number god, never to be sure when you get them. Thus I think EU4 is more fair in this regard.

It is more fair by far, as it allows any nation with ports or the potential to get ports to start colonizing.

The final idea also now gives +50% to your Naval Forcelimits. It pretty much means that any colonial power will have the ability to field a navy large enough to compete trade-wise (Light ships help with trade power in a trade zone. No more micromanaging merchants!) and with numbers, navy wise, even with say, Spain. Portugal is a great example of this, as the Naval ideas are one they'll want to pick up as well, just for trade boosts. Suddenly you've got enormous trade navy that can zerg rush most undeveloped navies into submission. Great Britain is another example of this - their national ideas are geared towards making your navy the best the world will ever see. You might not be able to field the army that Russia might, but you'll still win any colonial conflict due to being able to put your troops anywhere and prevent the enemy from doing the same. I experienced this first hand during a war with France.

Kat

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #47 on: April 05, 2014, 08:35:52 PM »
I reckon that as Sicilia/Neapol/Italy/whatever my Kingdom of Sicily is ported to in EU2 I won't get historical conquistadors/explorers, so I might have to consider expanding to North Africa at this stage, to secure good colonizing location for Ricky. Libya is the closest, so I might get to convert it to Catholicism or even Italian culture if 400 years are enough. Then Tunis or Egypt, whichever more ripe for conquering.

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Re: Europa Universalis IV AAR Part 2: Rising Sun in the East
« Reply #48 on: April 07, 2014, 08:50:55 PM »


The rise of the Uesugi to the seat of the Shogunate had not gone unwatched or unnoticed by foreign powers - some of which had ambitions of conquest on the isles. The new Shogun of course, responded to these threats by recruiting several of the brightest minds in construction of fortifications to help one man's ambitious, and successful plans to reenforce his home province's defences. The new Shogun also faced a rather nasty illness. His health had been in decline for years, drained by 20 years of warfare. Noritada Uesugi had accomplished the goals of nearly any ambitious daiymo after an unexpected and well managed fast rise to power. During one of the many feudal wars, after finally throwing his decision behind protecting the independence of a first cousin, he retired to his chambers. His servants found him dead the next morning, having passed in his sleep.

On June 20th, 1472, his son, Uesugi Norihito ascended to the title of Shogun, embroiled in a war with two of the three remaining Japanese Daimyos.

The Yamana possessed lands that the clan desired, while the Shiamazu were getting far too ambitious for their own good. The Hosokawa were also not on the best terms with the Shogun, his fathers rapid expansion angering them beyond the point of reasonable discourse. The same could be said of the Shimazu and Yamana - the new Shogun could easily be said to be the most hated man in Japan! The new Shogun however, was one of the most masterful tactician, administrator, and diplomat the island had seen in years (He was a 5/5/4. And the best ruler I've had. God bless you random number god for him.)



His own son, while not as able, was still a handy administrator.



The Shogun's plan was quite simple - reclaim the Uesugi's rightful land from the Yamana and force the Shimazu to relinquish their control of the Ouchi and Otomo clans - and force those clans to obey only the Shogun.



Time wound down. 13 years into the new shogun's reign, several important new advancements in the future of the Japanese people occurred. First of all, the Ouchi and Otomo clans were quickly becoming the strongest Daimyo's on the island, as the Otomo scavenged the lands of the Shimazu into their domain, and the Ouchi reclaimed the province of Awa from the Hosokawa. The Yamana were reduced to a single small province, and the Shogun was soon planning to war with them to claim the last bit of their lands. But most important of all, was the  absorbing of the Date into the Shogun's realm, and with it a small group of traders who petitioned the Shogun with a plan to give him a claim on even more land, and dispose of the ronin that were becoming all too common in this time of peace: Send them to the northern islands.

With this first colonist, I gained a massive advantage over the Ming and Korean's. I could start expanding without warfare and incurring Aggressive Expansion, or through the random chance of personal union. My first target was the southern parts of Hokkado. The island was an important starting point to colonizing the Kuril's and Siberia. Each province added would also increase my base tax and manpower, along with providing trade power in the Nippon Node. Colonization would also add prestiege to my state - needed after my first heir died, and another, much worse (0/1/3) was coming in. Oh, and while the Shogun was reaching his fifties, he was only 3. A regency was coming along.

Sadly, Norihiro would never see his grand ambitions for a unified Japan come to pass - but he'd begun the process, as the Hosokawa clan was finally absorbed into the Ouchi. The stubborn Yamana were forcefully absorbed into the Shogun's lands. The Emperor was a very personal friend, almost in his 60th year. A daughter of his had been Norihiro's wife, and the new heir had been her last gift to the aging Shogun. Finally, surrounded by family and friends, Uesugi Norihiro, second of the Uesugi Shogunate, passed away after 18 years of successful rule. His legacy was left in the restoration of the Imperial Fleet, long neglected by former shoguns, and his system of armories established throughout the land, to allow the faster recruiting of men in any emergency the Shogunate might face, along with several of the most beautiful temples the Isles would ever see - including one dedicated to his first son, who died after an honor duel. Thus began the four year Regency.



Tomohito Uesugi was never expected to become shogun - instead having been trained to be a general, with the Regency council (headed by the Emperor) being more intent on securing their own power and lining their own pockets. The Otomo and Ouchi clans were embroiled in another conflict, with the Ouchi eventually crushing and absorbing the Otomo, the Boy-Shogun  rose to his throne. And he had one ambition - unite all of Japan, like his father had begun to.



A magnificent temple was also finally completed, the last of those Shogun Norihito commissioned - and one of his own design.



Marrying a granddaughter of the Emperor, Tomohito soon produced an heir. Rumors said he was a savant, an imbicile incapable of ruling a large country - and in a way they were right. He was a rather socially gullible and in general, incapable of conducting a proper conversation - but put him behind a numbers sheet or at the head of an army, and he was better than any other man alive in the known world.



The Shogun's first four years in power were relatively uneventful, as diplomats and bureaucrats worked on the task of absorbing the Ouchi clan into the Shogunate. He focused more on exploring the Seas around Japan, discovering and mapping out several new island chains that the Japanese people, would likely in time claim as their own. The military was also refunctoned, the old style of mass longbows fading out towards new, more effective tactics. Offense would always be Japan's friend.

Then, six years into the Shogun's reign, four events happened that would rewrite the history of Japan within the span of 8 days, later known as the 8 days of Tomohito's Fortune- first, the Ouchi clan finally accepted their integration into the realm of the Shogun. Second, the emperor's heir apparent died, tragically, in a hunting accident. Third, the Emperor's other sons were disqualified through multiple factors - several had been involved in a plot to kill the Shogun and establish an Ouchi Shogunate instead, and summarily executed. His illegitimate sons were uninterested in family affairs, having been forced to take oaths not to seek to claim their rightful due through blood - leaving no heir aside from the possibility of the current Shogun, and even then he only had an average claim. Fourth, on May 8, 1500, the Emperor passed away.

Nearly immediately, panic broke out among many of the courtiers, the whole system of Japan threatening to come crashing down. There was no alternative to what many of the Kyoto nobles considered the end of days - the Samurai clans overthrowing the emperor - though Tomohito had no such ideas. Instead, he discarded the title of Shogun, sat upon the imperial throne, and prounounced an end to the shogunate - no more would any military ruler be allowed to have the power the Daimyo's had. No more, would the Daimyo's be allowed to war amongst themselves. The Emperor would demand the fealty of all the daimyo, and if they did not submit, his armies, the largest in all Japan, would bring ruin to their lands.

There was no resisting.

The Sengoku Period, marked by 56 years of intercine warfare between the Shogun and his Daimyo, came to an abrupt halt overnight, as only one clan and warlord was left standing. The Uesugi had united Japan under the seal of both their clan and the Imperial Chrysanthemum. The start of a new age for Japan and the Orient had began. The neighboring states of Korea and Ming looked with serious concern at the rising sun to the east. Manchu, an old enemy was desperately trying to repair ties with the islands. The Emperor of Ryuku, the Okinawan island chain, ordered his navy doubled, for fear of twin swallows around a rising sun on the horizon.


It was time for Japan to become the power it was destined to.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2014, 08:56:15 PM by Arch-Magos Winter »

Cherry Lover

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #49 on: April 07, 2014, 11:15:01 PM »
Is the "emperor dying tragically and you inheriting the throne" thing actually in the game, or did you just make that up as part of the flavour text?

Arch-Magos Winter

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #50 on: April 07, 2014, 11:31:05 PM »
Is the "emperor dying tragically and you inheriting the throne" thing actually in the game, or did you just make that up as part of the flavour text?
Flavor, uniting Japan switches your gov to Fuedal Monarchy. And makes you Emperor.

Kat

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #51 on: April 08, 2014, 12:55:24 PM »
To commemorate both the fourth season of Game of Thrones and the second run of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime I reinstalled GoT mod to CK2, this time with Essos and Dothraki expansions, and created Joestar dynasty through ruler designer who are Lords of Ninestars, one size demesne of the Kingdom of Vale in 7999 (the series is set at the end of 83th century and the beginning of 84th century, so that is the distant past). My ruler is strong, but kind and trusting man whose flaw is his 0 Intrigue score, but his Diplomacy and Martial are over 20, and Learning and Stewardship are mid tier. He serves as the Master of Laws for his High Lord of Wickenden. He has loving wife and so far an only daughter Joanna, though the marriage is still young and may produce more children.

Arch-Magos Winter

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #52 on: April 09, 2014, 10:37:20 AM »
So if you think what I accomplished was rather impressive (which it isn't), check out this guy, DDRJake - the only confirmed player to legitly have conquered the world as Ryuku (Okinawa)  in both EUIV and EUIII. He also for shits and giggles with the help of another player drew the flag of Denmark on Europe in an EUIII multiplayer game. Then somehow blockaded the entire world. Here's his Ryuku playthrough:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?709144-The-Three-Mountains-A-Ryukyu-AAR

Basically this dude is EU Jesus in my book, because of how he pulled it off with his dark fucking exploit magic. And he's been doing EUIV streams and playlists of his shit on youtube. I have heard the voice of god, and he commands a horde of aztecs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmy29QBk6CE&list=PLm0MDLKuRDrlxeEEUdKmibGjLq3YlW8n1

Arch-Magos Winter

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #53 on: April 10, 2014, 02:11:59 AM »
Things that suck - EUIV games where you realize you are fucked 200 years in and there's no way to solve that.

I ended up facing a coalition of about five nations that all wanted my face in, fell into a personal union, and Russia is getting hyper aggressive in the region. Such a state of affairs is going to allow me to enjoy the game for a long time, simply due to my inability to do anything on the actual face of Asia. Fucking Ming.

Still, as games go this is one of my more impressive ones, considering I was actually able to survive till about 1600 before all hell broke loose on me.

Once again. MOTHERFUCKING MING.

EDIT:

I've also got a load of screenshots of the peaceful and nonthreatening rise of japan (Which included massacaring thousands of natives and koreans) but I really don't feel like typing up all this shit for a story with such a bad bad ending.

I guess I'll either restart, or you can see me try another nation out. One of the problems I ran into with Japan was that I had to sit around and wait a lot. Not very interesting to type up at all.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 02:19:36 AM by Arch-Magos Winter »

Cherry Lover

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #54 on: April 10, 2014, 02:26:31 AM »
Eh, so what is your final position here? Where do you currently stand?

Arch-Magos Winter

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #55 on: April 10, 2014, 02:29:42 AM »
It isn't an insolveable position - but it's one that will be a grind and unfun to play for me, because I don't want to have Ming declaring wars on me every fucking five years. Enormous manpower compared to me and they're always allied with Korea which then bolsters their armies further. Oh, and then to top that off they always are able to field a larger navy than I can.


As for my final position, it wasn't horrible, but I'd lost ground, and I knew that Ming would start swallowing the Orait horde increasing their already enormous manpower to hilariously fucking OP levels. I also fucked up a bit on my ideas - I probably shouldn't have gone for Exploration as soon as I did. Offensive would have paid off far far better against the Koreans, Manchurians, and Ming at the same time due to the manpower bonus.

I had several siberian provinces, most of the east indies, and the entirety of Japan under my control.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 02:32:45 AM by Arch-Magos Winter »

Kat

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Re: Europa Universalis IV: Make Magos Play For Your Amusement! JAPAN IS GO
« Reply #56 on: April 10, 2014, 12:27:25 PM »
Pissing off Ming was bad idea as back as in EU2. I maintained good relations with them even when Christian. As long as I did that and did not own any of their cores, I was safe.

Arch-Magos Winter

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Right, redid the thread - new poll up top. Lets see how badly you guys can fuck me here.

Kat

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An Irish minor. Prepare for that pure, wholesome girl England making sweet, sweet love to you and annexing you if you make even a one mistake.

Cherry Lover

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Hmm, I'm not sure. I think trying Japan again might be amusing, to see if you can do any better, but I also like the idea of you playing a Native American tribe.