I know we had a pretty big topic on this game on the old boards but I just got it for Father's Day. I am really enjoying but can't figure out how to keep from being declared war on by multiple major powers within the first 6 turns.

I have started two grand campaigns as Austria and in both games, I was at war with Prussia, Poland-Lithuania and the Ottomans by 1705. No matter how well I do, none of those nations will end the war. In the second game I had taken over 1 of 2 Prussian territories, 4 Ottoman and 2 P-L and wiped out their field armies and none of them

Any suggestions?

I think that sending them gifts to improve relations may discourage them from declaring war.

To get them to end the war once it has started...I'll have to load up the game to see what happens. (I remember once the Dutch simply refused to make peace with me)

Ok, started my 3rd campaign as Austria. Prussia declared war on me on turn 3 (Sp1701) as usual but I was able to make Poland-Lithuania an ally with military access so I could take out both Brandenburg and East Prussia thereby eliminating Prussia from the game.

Now my only problem is I can't stop Brandenburg from being a rebellion. I have fixed all the buildings, started building more community oriented buildings, exempted the territory from paying taxes for something like 5 game years and have maintained a large, veteran army in Berlin.

Yet, it seems as if every year there is a rebel army forming in the province that I have to go out an kill. Anybody else have an idea on how to handle the province so it stops rebelling on me.

Ok first up, unless the province is remote and you risk truly loosing it, NEVER exempt the tax. You can deal with it, and exempting the tax will just enrage them again when you make them pay up.

To solve the problem of your Insurrection recruit Dragoons, they provide excellent supression.



You guys playing shogun 2 as well?

Also, prussia forming Germany and Russia forming federation russia are very strong.

Should I be destroying the Imperial palace in Berlin in favor of a governor's mansion?

I am also getting frustrated again. I was doing very well. I had a decent sized military. I was spending most of my money on buildings only using it on military to repair damaged forces from putting down rebellions. I have been stuck in a low grade war with the Ottomans. I have control of the entire Balkans and only have to hold on to Istanbul.

Then all of the sudden Sweden, Spain, France and Venetia declared war on me.

When you conquer a province try to hang aroung for 1-2 turns as 1 rebel army almost always pops up.

You might want to build more pleasure palaces and churches in provinces you occupy to get them under control faster. And never exempt them from tax.

The big issue is schools, if you have 5 decent university, you can afford to demolish schools in other areas when you conquer them. Thus giving less rebellions.

As for the other nations they attack you because you are at perpetual war. Try to peace everyone out, Trade is the absolute factor in this game. The strongest nations is always the one with most trade partners.

It is nothing to peace out for a few hundred dollars and resume trade. They might attack again, but after 3-4 times they usually back off.

Thanks for the advice rolls. The problem I am having is that certain provinces are rebelling multiple times. For example Brandenburg was captured in 1704(ish). I am now in turn 1727 and I have had at least 3 rebel armies show up. Greece is another example.

The perpetual war problem comes from the Ottomans. I can't get them to end the war for nothing. I have offered them everything thing from money to multiple researched tech's and they will not agree to end the war.

I haven't really tried to buy off France, Spain or Sweden yet because there hasn't been any actual fighting against them yet. I guess I will try all 4 of my remaining war's at the same time the next time I play.

I will agree about the trade aspect of the game. I took a huge money hit when the massive DoW hit me because not only did I lose the trade from those countries but I tried to call my allies after the 3rd declaration. Most of them refused the call and cancelled our trade agreements.

You should delete that game from your computer (like I did) before it sucks all your time out of your day and you wonder what you just did with that slice of your life.

That said, the key to keeping rebellions down is happiness. As Rolls said, very often the first thing you do is destroy the university and replace it with a happy place (whatever its called), but unlike Rolls I think you've got to exempt the province from taxes for several seasons to survive the initial period of unrest.

And unless you make your enemy happy with gifts, they'll never agree to peace (unless they are really suffering from some other power). 95 times out of 100 gifts are not worth it. Try setting up trade agreements early in the game, the first season. That will make them like you more.

Well Geo, I am currently an attorney trying to build a practice, or should I say unemployeed ;~} so I have a lot of time on my hands to play.

Well, I haven't destroyed the university. I am surprised that has such an effect. I would think the Imperial Palace has a bigger effect since it could be seen as a rallying point for the nation. I will try knocking down the pre-conquest school. How about a post-conquest school? After I had conquered Prussia the town of Wismar was established. I built a school there.

I had trade agreements with every nation but those that were hostile to me. I couldn't figure out how to make a hostile power indifferent. I never seemed to make enough money to offer state gifts.

Conquer, Tax, Occupy, Convert to Catholic. (or whatever religion you have. Once you have done this then worry about building wealth structures. (were possible anyway). As for schools, i normally go with 5-6 of them. Anymore then that really doesnt help all that much.

Once a provinces is green on normal taxes, just leave 2 infantry or 2 dragoons there. As for the ottomans, they dont know any better. Just eradicate them.

Everytime you loose control of a city is another 3-4 turns of rebellion.

What are the stats on the imperial palace? i dont recall.

Just as a tip, the Russians can conquer the balkans with very little rebellion.

Archduke Russell John wrote:Well Geo, I am currently an attorney trying to build a practice, or should I say unemployeed ;~} so I have a lot of time on my hands to play.

Just say no . . .

Oh, but you've got to try the Indians before you do. They have battle elephants!

Hmmm. I've not worried about the diplomatic stuff overmuch because I've gotten very good at the tactical battles. Artillery is key, especially artillery with grapeshot and/or cannister shot. If you've got terrain that allows you to place it where it cannot be flanked you're golden--especially if it's at the top fo a hill. Simply line up your artillery and let the enemy march into your concentrated grapeshot. If you're stuck without terrain, the corners of the battlefield work reasonably well. Line your cannons up in a diagonal across the corner, with your infantry lined up along the edges (your formation should look something like this: \_/ with the artillery at the base of the formation, wedged into the corner). If you've got cavalry, put them somewhere off in the distance to harrass the [many] fleeing enemy regiments that you'll produce or to nail enemy artillery. If you've got a general, put him behind the cannon. If you've got infantry that can make squares, put it on the ends of the formation (which will be the most vulnerable to enemy cavalry). The AI generally sends its troops on an axis of advance directly toward your general (or, if you have no general, toward your artillery). That means they'll be marching down the throat of your "V" with your guns, firing grapeshot, in their faces and your regiments plugging away from their flanks. I've destroyed armies 4 times my size with only nominal casualties using this tactic, which makes negotiations and dipomacy largely unnecessary.

I also don't get the "don't exempt from taxes" thing. Unrest tends to gradually die down over time, so I'll usually exempt for 4 or 5 turns (with about 4-5 units garrisoned) and then turn on the taxes.

The other huge benefit is cornering the market on trade--I'll start pumping out warships early on and when I've got about 4 or 5 of them I'll start picking off the pirate fleets along the Gold Coast. Use chain shot only and keep all the merchants and/or capital ships you capture. Soon you'll have a tough little trading fleet that you can gradually expand until you're camped on every trade port. Then you start pumping out merchants. It's quite easy to build up to 30-40K per turn in trade income, which will allow you to exempt just about everyone from taxes if you need to.

Finally, it's well worth while to boot underperforming ministers. Anyone with less than 4 stars does not belong in my cabinet, and I try to get someone with 5+ stars for treasury and prime minister. Keep in mind that the default cabinet assignments are not always ideal--you'll often find stupid stuff like the most able minister of a landlocked country assigned to the Navy. It's also a good idea to pick up an American and Indian colony early (the pirate base in the Caribbean is a good target, but the Eskimoes up north will do in the Americas, in India a quick war with Portugal or the Dutch to grab Goa or Ceylon is often the answer, although both of those guys have fleets that can be a pain (or a nice prize, depending on your situation)).