The Vainglory of Grogheads - Pride of Nations PBEM AAR

[undercovergeek]

fortunately i only have one trade zone!

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I wish.  I've got 26.

You can also use T over another nation's trade zone to put in buy orders for their goods as long as you have a connection to the trade zone.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

A few months of government subsidies on raw materials and a positive cash flow has helped get our inflation under control and we're back down to a healthy 1%.
I'm generally happy with my stockpiles of materials.  Ammunition is low but I can always ramp up production if need be.  I wish I could generate more state funds but my civil service is pretty backwards and corrupt.





One of the many reasons I'd like more state funds is so that I could focus my research.  As it stands, I don't provide any guidance or direction on the research being done in Russia so we're generally behind other nations and adopt ideas and tech from them rather than developing our own.  It also means I'm never sure what I'm going to get.  Case in point, my military academies have adopted Jomini's formulaic approach to war with decisive battles and elan.  I was hoping they'd go with the Clausewitzian school of thought but it looks like we're stuck with the attack-to-win school.  Oh well.  (Once you fully research one of the two schools, you can't use the other.)

[Martok]

SDR, is there anything you can realistically do about improving your civil service (and indirectly/by extension, your state funds)?  Or are you pretty much stuck with absurdly inefficient/corrupt bureaucrats? 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I could try to hurry research that might trigger an event which would allow me to slightly improve but in order to do so, I'd have to use state funds which are already perilously low.  The Catch-22 is that it costs a huge amount of state funds in order to enact a national policy change (usually 200.  I earn about 15-20 per turn) and there's a good chance the ruling elite will refuse to implement it, causing me to waste all that money and take a prestige hit.

Realistically, I pretty much have to accept that Russia is the inbred hillbilly of Europe.  Much of this is hard coded into the game in the form of a national efficiency modifier.  Russia's is very low which means it takes me roughly twice as long to build a rail as it would for France and 2.5 times as long as Prussia.

It's frustrating but I kind of like it because it adds to the historical flavour. 

I once again proposed an Anglo-Russian trade deal and once again was rebuffed.  The reason given this time was that the UK thought my government was too weak and unjust.  The Austrians have no problem doing business with us though.

[Tuna]

I could try to hurry research that might trigger an event which would allow me to slightly improve but in order to do so, I'd have to use state funds which are already perilously low.  The Catch-22 is that it costs a huge amount of state funds in order to enact a national policy change (usually 200.  I earn about 15-20 per turn) and there's a good chance the ruling elite will refuse to implement it, causing me to waste all that money and take a prestige hit.

Yeah, I was hurting for State Funds in the beginning of the game, and I couldn't figure out why.. Then realized because I chose a few research items... Very expensive, once I cut the research I was ok again.

[Tuna]

I've been wanting to build a Luxury Goods Factory to bring in more cash, but everytime I try, I don't have enough MF Goods.. So I guess a Manufactured Goods Factory will have to come first.



Depot in Algeria completed, so now I have an abundance of supplies.. Hopefully now my troops in Northern Africa won't be starving anymore..



Looking at the Balance Sheet, I have an surplus of Mechanical Parts and Nitrates.. So might as well put some up for sale!

[JasonPratt]

This is absolutely one of those games where every player needs a lot of different things, some more than others -- but no player has enough to safely get the things, leading to hard choices about what to pursue and what not.

Which I love. 

[Martok]

Yeah, PrON definitely seems to force players to make hard choices, even more than most strategy games (which I agree is a good thing). 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Truly a glorious day for Mother Russia.  Not only was the trunk line from Moscow to Minsk completed, the concept of package holidays and mass tourism gained widespread recognition!  Come see the glorious swamps of Belorussia!




Next stop, a young girl's erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.

[Tuna]

Maybe this means there will be less of you people immigrating elsewhere!

[undercovergeek]

Not much changing on the main land, my manufactured goods factory is open, as is the mechanical parts factory - theres is excess enough to sell these on the market and money is actually rolling in, just not on a par with the 2 big boys here. Just reached enough to start a luxury goods factory but the US economy crash wiped out half my funds.

Further afield, merchants in Tripoli are providing us with Nitrates



Merchants in Bengazi are sending wool home, a mission and a tradepost is been built here



Mogadishu and Hobyo is sending home opium, when i get my claws into this ill build an opium field



Gonder, Adis Ababa and Harer all have missions and tradeposts under construction

[Tuna]

Putting in another order for a MF Goods Factory. Hoping these will pay off big time in the future.



Newest Merchant Fleet nearly completed



Have a fleet starving for supplies in South East Asia. Hoping if I can move that Merchant Fleet into the Trade Box below it, then the supply problem will disappear



Increasing Colony efforts in  Bizerte, Tunisa, Gafsa and Gabes. Plenty of troops in North Africa, so if they want to have an uprising, so be it!



Next turn inflation increasing :-(



Using a Government decree to try and take a bite of the inflation. I think if you have a lot of Capital Cash at the end of the turn that helps too, so maybe if I don't spend too much every turn, I'll be able to keep it in check

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I went overboard trying to curb inflation and got it back down to zero.  Seems to have upset the middle class quite a bit.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Damn it!  My two generals who were best suited for leading irregular cavalry against swarthy types in and around the Caucasus have both snuffed it from natural causes.

Is there a way to recruit new generals or do you just wait for them to show up?