I Sold Quebec and Got Jamaica

Year: 2009

France

I chose autoresolve to make sure I got through the Iroquois attack without crashing! I haven't faced another battle that I wanted to play through yet, so not sure if the crash will happen again!

Even though the income from Jamaica is lower. I decided that this was the right thing to do. Now that Louisiana is gone and a war of expansion in North America is looking difficult in the face of persistent Native American opposition, I decided that this option would be less sapping on my resources. I was definitely spending more on maintaining large forces in Quebec and a lot on trying to develop local military facilities, forts etc. And mostly in vain - the Iroquois are tough opponents.

With Jamaica, given my experience with Great Britain, I get a colony that requires a relatively small garrison and can be developed with plantations to generate some good income.

I can concentrate now on sorting out my Caribbean colonies by supporting them with adequate naval forces to clear the area of pirates and protect important trade routes.

I will maintain Acadia and Newfoundland as long as these aren't overly threatened by invaders - they are OK, but I don't think will ever generate a lot of revenue.

What are my war aims - probably at the moment not the same as those objectives demanded by the Short Campaign. Instead I want to build wealth and develop technology quickly so I am in then a good position to become a dominant power and take the necessary provinces.

However, income and reputation are not looking good at the moment. I am wondering if a quick European war to get another province and increase reputation might be a good idea. I am still at war with Wurtemburg - perhaps another go at them would be a good idea?

Battle Crash

Year: Summer 1708
France

I was hoping to have played for about an hour last night, but this was curtailed by two crashes while a battle was about to load. The Iroquois had decided to attack one of the forts that I had recently built in New France to protect my resources. I was looking forward to a fairly close fight - we both had three units, although mine were suffering from attrition so the Iroquois had more numbers. But I had the advantage of the fort - so should have been a close fight. The loading screen went white and then Empire decided it needed to close. So I went back in, the campaign had saved at the end of the previous year so I hadn't lost anything except the time spent watching other players moves.

I was tempted though to make a few garrison adjustments in New France to see if it would change the Iroquois attack decision. I moved an extra unit of militia into my fort. Well the Iroquois decided to attack another fort instead that only had three units. And the same thing happened - a white screen crash in the battle loading sequence. I hope this isn't going to keep happening!

Anyone else had this problem?

This guy took all regions playing as Sweden!

Montreal Falls and Austria declares War!

Year: Summer 1707

France

What a nightmare - the Iroquois just won't give up and took Montreal fairly easily - I really need to bolster my forces there.

And then Louis XIV dies and Austria disputes the succession. Interestingly enough they apparently brought in their allies, which included Great Britain - a problem because they could really mess up my trade routes, and Wurtemburg and Bavaria - not as threatening, but they are on my borders so could get messy.

But so far these allies are still at Peace and Austria hasn't done much. They are sending a raggedy mob of 3 units of irregulars through Bavaria towards my borders though - not much of a threat I hope?

On a more positive note I now have three schools/colleges and am rapidly researching mostly military technologies - the plan being to be able to defeat the natives in North America more easily through more advanced tech.

Damn the Iroquois

Current Year: Summer 1705

Nation: France

Montreal has just fallen to the Iroquois! I am fighting to get it back and have done well, just one enemy unit left inside the city, but the attack was rather unexpected. As a result I am speeding up the concentration of my forces in Quebec. I am wondering if the Iroquois will be rather less good at cavalry than those Cherokee were? I am still expecting a hard fight though.

I am pleased though to now have two new schools under construction. With three schools I can focus each on one of the key areas of research, i.e. one on military, one on science/philosophy, one on technology.

French - starting out a short campaign

I played a few years as France last night. In many ways quite similar to Great Britain with its North American provinces, battles with Indians and a colonial ally - i.e. Louisiana. However, France seems to have a literal goldmine in Guyana which is quite profitable and also more wealth in general in both America and Europe - however, this also means there is more to defend.

I spent the first few turns just trying to build up some garrisons and defences, while also keeping focused on building up long term economic growth as early as possible. I dabbled in a war with Wurtemburg when they declared war on me, but my forces were well beaten when I tried to lay siege to Cologne, so I have left that for a while.

Next step is to build and protect New France and Quebec and then strike south to help Louisiana.

No play no posts!

There is a good reason for no recent posts on this blog - I simply haven't been playing the game recently. Will have to get back into it soon.

I hear that there is a new patch available, which is quite exciting!