Game 10

Deacon your probably Right & expanding characters may well cost extra money, but every now & again I do try & slip in an extra order just for my ambassadors, Personally I hope it brings a bit of a distraction form some of the high level political wrangling in the paper.

The slightly mad butterfly collector who represents UDP in spain is a prime example, Mad as a Hatter but occassionaly lets some useful information slip, plus it allows the exploration of Wiki pages looking for various Southern European Butterflies, even to be otld by Richard that one butterfly he wanted ot capture wasn't discovered until 1731 so my ambassador couldn' t net it!

Maybe in the next supplement there will be a chapter on the discovery of butterfies & other interesting creatures, afterall this is the period of scientific discovery we are playing in!

Have not really played around with Envoys much but in G7 the Spanish Ambassador to Napel is Pro-Jocobite as are several other. This greatly helped with people coming out with Pro Jacobite statments at the Spanish Court...... as in it stopped it.

The English Government in G7 have also used appointments as Ambassadors to behead possible opposition in Parliament by sending Party leaders out of the Country.

Basically this form of honourable exile saves the cost of a goal and does not cost honour points in the way locking up or beheading a Noble does.

Think if the Roman Game ever gets started the traditional way for Emperors to show you were in semi disgrace was to send you to be Gov of Judea or somewhere on the Black Sea. You might have thought that being sent to Britannia or the German frontier would be worse but as these Provinces included Legions it was actually a honour to be sent to the wilds of Wales to duff up Druids or to the Black Forest wearing Sandles and a skirt.

Have played more with Viceroys positions in G7. This started as I was playing the Spanish Hapsburgs while another player ran the Spanish Bourbon faction so filling lots of positions with my own men or women seemed of possible valuable.

Oddly over the years some of the Viceroys have developed their own unique feel and traits. Partly because with the Bourbons viewed as absolutist rulers and centralizers the Hapsburgs have tried to position themselves as defenders of local rights/Cortez. We now have Peru dominated by Bankers "The Gnomes of Lima" while Mexico is run by the greatest Noble in Spain the Duke of Midena-Sidonia who has basically gone native. Indeed it sometimes feels that they other parts of the Carlos III terrotory are doing a lot better than Spain itself.

Not sure if it gives any in game benefits apart from "fun" indeed its cost game money in palaces for Estate Generals etc, real money for orders some players would call fluff and if the Viceroy in Question is the Viceroy of Africa it may have brought some real disadvantages. How many more banks, post offices etc can one man bankrupt!

But I like to think that if someone had tried to do something like the Duke of Savoy in G10 and just march into say Milan, Naples or Flanders then my local set up might at least shut the damn door!

Which way did the Italian states go militarily ? I mean , in 1700 i suppose Naples looked like a Spanish Army but what about Venice , Tuscany and the Papal States and even smaller places in italy historically . Did they copy Spain , Austria or France or did they do things their own way .

Mike wrote:Which way did the Italian states go militarily ? I mean , in 1700 i suppose Naples looked like a Spanish Army but what about Venice , Tuscany and the Papal States and even smaller places in italy historically . Did they copy Spain , Austria or France or did they do things their own way .

Hi Mike,

In 1700 most of the Italian States did not really have a military establishment/expensive standing armies apart from some guard regiments, weapons stores and various local and Mercenary Officers paid a retainer.

In time of war/crisis armies tended to fill out rapidly with a mixture of mercenary formations (often German or Balkan if Venice or Naples), allies and militia units called up and given some rapid training by retained Officers and NCO's. So the same Italian States Army could vary a lot between campaigns depending on allies and who they could hire.

As Italian Officers and even Princes were often found in French, Austrian or Spanish service. The Greatest of them all Prince Eugine of Savoy applied to join the French Army got turned down and joined the Imperial Service instead (what a mistake by Louis XIV!). So it would be perfectly ok to decide to give base your Army on a French, Austrian or Spanish model or a mix of all three.

In 1700 Italian forces still retained about 1/3 Pike to 2/3 shot but this seems to be down to what weapons they had in stock and tradition rather than the Swedish love of cold steel.

A Army based on Imperial or Spanish model would favour shot tactics and use its Pikes to defend against Cavalry. It should probably look to ditch the Pike and any matchlocks for Flintlocks ASAP.

If you fancy the French style of one Volley and close sword in hand you may wish to consider keeping the Pike......even if the French did not (if you spend most of your time fighting in sieges a Pike would seem a somewhat limited weapon).

Think the most Interesting of the Italian Armies of this period are the Savoyard - which is basically a French style Army with extra Grenadiers and loads of Vaudois sharpshooters plus the wargames army can have loads of different allies and as its Horse and Artillery wore blue coats its dragoons yellow, blue and green and the foot white you do not get bored painting the same colour.

Then we have the Later Venetian Colonial Army which fought the Turks. As well as its good solid foot using shoot tactics its got loads of marines including Knights if Saint John, Stradiot Light Cavalry, as well as Morlacchi "Dalmatian Mountaineers described as uneducated men who do not understand the logic of keeping promises to a defeated enemy", Maniotes and Sclavonians tribal foot and skirmishers types. Basically how can you not love an Army who's most common Artillery is 50 pounder bow guns unloaded from galleys. An Army of Street fighting men who love mucking about in boats......do not like the flat or Lancers.



Basically its a Rumelian Army e

Haha .. I never learn ..spent a bit online , each week for months and never found as much . Thanks Stuart Bailey .

Ok, turn sent in to Agema, just hope someone gets around to declaring war this turn & clearing the air.

I do wonder if declaring war in LGDR has gone out of fashion, in recent times & in a couple of different games. Have wittnessed unprovoked attacks on armies , invasions & annexations of territory under various guises from" We are just a humanitarian aid convoy, to no, no, we are just tourists who want to paint a nice picture of those fortifications"

Being a wargame at heart I do wonder why declaring war itself seems to have become a dirty word, meaning you loose the right to say "well he started it"

Seems good excuses & political wrangling have taken the place of words like "Charge"

Declared war last turn in game 9 against Russia.

Funny , I never thought of it as a wargame . A possibility yes , but much more than a wargame .

J Flower wrote:Ok, turn sent in to Agema, just hope someone gets around to declaring war this turn & clearing the air. ... Seems good excuses & political wrangling have taken the place of words like "Charge"

You could always play out the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War 77 years early!

that's me stirring the pot

Given the pace of the game, I think it likely that we will likely have several years of war ahead of us.

Everything in the game takes longer than you think it will... by a lot.

Game 8. Thieves, rougues, vagabonds.

Somebody has helped themself to 24,000 of my recruits this month. Is this a record steal.?

There will be a reckoning.

24,000!! Didn't anyone notice ?

Investigations are ongoing.

jamesbond007 wrote:Game 8.  Thieves, rougues, vagabonds.

Somebody has helped themself to 24,000 of my recruits this month. Is this a record steal.?

There will be a reckoning.

I have known more people leave a country...... like the 100,000 Austrians in G7 who left for the North America and also in G7 the Dutch have managed to recruit/convince POWs to change sides.

But in terms of actual recruits and the work of a single recruiting party in a single month I think you have the new record!

J Flower wrote:Ok, turn sent in to Agema, just hope someone gets around to declaring war this turn & clearing the air.

I do wonder if declaring war in LGDR has gone out of fashion, in recent times & in a couple of different games. Have wittnessed unprovoked attacks on armies , invasions & annexations of territory under various guises from" We are just a humanitarian aid convoy, to no, no, we are just tourists who want to paint a nice picture of those fortifications"

Being a wargame at heart I do wonder why  declaring war itself seems to have become a dirty word, meaning you loose the right to say "well he started it"

Seems good excuses & political wrangling have taken the place of words like "Charge"

What about nailing someone to a gate by their ear and the issue of an old fashioned ultimatium along lines of "Hand over ???? or we burn ???????!!!!! to the bedrock"

or "Vote for this and I will ripe your face off and use it as a hat band"

Are these old school enough? And will threats like issued at NPC's result in cowering NPC's and allow Player's to look all cool and heroic in contrast?

There are wars in some games. In game 8 I have had wars with the Rajputs. The Jats, Gujerat. Multan sand Maharattas. I am three towns away from controlling the whole of India. Be nice to take a break from war.

Have you come across the "Townsends "on YouTube? . Gives great examples of colonial life in the with century ? Recipes , outside experiences , reads from 18th century diaries and an online shop too for 18th century " stuff " American but ships internationally .

Enjoy watching the Townsends and the items they have up. I no longer know why I have TV other than to project youtube and a few other things on it.

revvaughan wrote:Enjoy watching the Townsends and the items they have up.  I no longer know why I have TV other than to project youtube and a few other things on it.  

Watch cricket?

Groan ! cricket ! That could be a new play by (e)mail . The turn around time could still be in real time , once a month !!

Mike wrote:Groan ! cricket ! That could be a new play by (e)mail . The turn around time could still be in real time , once a month !!

Hah anti cricket sentiment being expressed on the forum...........is this a Dr Fu-Manchu post under the false name of Mike:suspect:

I don't watch cricket... I barely watch any TV anymore.

revvaughan wrote:I don't watch cricket...  I barely watch any TV anymore.  

For the clarity of colonials & foreigners like Scots please read the above as "I don't watch cricket on TV...........I only watch it live or listen on the radio"

Actually its a odd fact that you are more likely to catch a Indian Premier League game on British TV than see Somerset and if you only watch cricket on TV I am sure that you would believe that cricket is a sport watched mostly by stunningly good looking Indian females 16-25 years of age. Think I must be going to the wrong grounds!

Cricket must also be one of the few sports were many people like me prefer the radio (well radio feed via lap top) to TV. So in advance of anyone who character is suddenly attacked next summer please be aware that some people may have written orders to Agema while under the influence of Test Match Special and listening to the England & Wales Cricket team being battered by Australia.

If someone asks another ruler for money, how is it best to do it propose an amount with terms to repay that seems fair in a letter and to speed things up sounds fair? I'm not sure who to ask I was thinking a modest amount needed from several player positions hoping some will ante up enough to at least go into the black with something extra. And I know there is a 10% loss when converting money I will consider that.

I took a hit and need to take measures over the coming months to reduce expenses by next April, and generate more money.

One move I did plan is moving some money from my rulers accounts to the nation to show he is taking the debt seriously and intends to do something on his part to lessen the burden on the nation.

In another game, I borrowed money from the bank of england which didn't involve actually talking to the english player as the bank is a non-player institution.

If you overspent your budget and are negative, you should probably get your ministers to help you arrange a loan immediately that can be repaid out of tax revenues at the end of the year. You would hardly be the first player who ever had to do this! (cough, cough). You do not want to stay negative on your treasury.