Game 10

Basileus wrote:Large positions don't have to be expensive. In game 10 I am keeping France to the usual turn fee's. So far it has worked ok. I think there is a risk in the game of trying to do too much because in a sense, the options are near on infinite within reason. So my advice to a new player would be, perhaps like life, have a plan, stick to it, don't get too distracted.

Basileus wrote:Large positions don't have to be expensive. In game 10 I am keeping France to the usual turn fee's. So far it has worked ok. I think there is a risk in the game of trying to do too much because in a sense, the options are near on infinite within reason. So my advice to a new player would be, perhaps like life, have a plan, stick to it, don't get too distracted.

Jason wrote:Good luck and enjoy

As others have said, Denmark is easier to research online...

...however I'm hoping you get Abyssinia simply so we can look forward to the Great Southern War as the Rozwi and Abyssinia battle for domination of Africa

Wikipedia wrote:""The Abyssinian–Adal war was a military conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate that took place from 1529 until 1543. Abyssinian troops consisted of Amhara, Tigrayan and Agew tribes. Adal forces consisted mostly of Somali tribes.

Background
Islam was introduced to the Horn of Africa early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after the hijra. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somalia seaboard. He also mentioned that the Adal kingdom had its capital in the city, suggesting that the Adal Sultanate with Zeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local Somali dynasties, who also ruled over the similarly-established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia. Ahmed fighters were using bows and arrows.

Between 1529 and 1543, the military leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi defeated several Ethiopian emperors and embarked on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash ("Conquest of Abyssinia"), which brought three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal. With an army mainly composed of Somalis, Al-Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom. However, the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama's Portuguese troops and maintain their domain's autonomy. Both polities in the process exhausted their resources and manpower, which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come. Many historians trace the origins of hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war. Some scholars also argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket, cannons and the arquebus over traditional weapons.""

tkolter wrote:I can't see it on the game map does my country have any access to the sea, I can't build ships, but making a trade port would be nice as part of my plans.

tkolter wrote:Is there a list of active countries somewhere?

But my first turn will mostly be prospecting the hell out of my territory without valued commodities trade is kind of pointless.

The region IRL has salt and phosphorous vital to preserving food and fertilizing soil. Marble of high quality. Gold, diamonds and emeralds. Copper. Coal.

Seriously sending out say 50 expeditions to prospect should turn up something. Although why isn't this known to me nothing is available at all at the start maybe that's normal though.

Then will do some other small things.

Not can you do unlisted actions such as have some academies work on agriculture or improving mining expertise?

I'd love elephant units with cannons on them or mortars to later on. And add on some armor and long musket riflemen.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Which makes you multiple times more socially acceptable than certain African Chiefs who still worship Spirits and Rocks etc.

Deacon wrote:My quick google suggests that the Abyssinian Orthodox were at the time under the Coptic Orthodox pope of Alexandria.

The Copts are not in communion with the rest of the Orthodox or the Roman Catholics.

That said, there is a rich vein of roleplaying there if you want to play it out. Returning to communion with either Rome or the other Orthodox would be interesting. If Rome, you would likely get support from European powers. The Orthodox is probably an easier road, but the best you could hope for there is some help from Russia since there aren't many Orthodox nations. They're subjects in a lot of places. If you returned to communion with the Orthodox though, you could vie with Russia for leadership in the Orthodox world if that appealed.

Or you could just play up the Christians surrounded by heathens, and see where that gets you

I do think you'll want to conquer a neighbor early to get to the sea for the exact reason you state.

You want to be able to have a port and control your own trade routes.