Thinking of buying, questions first

[O`Connor]

hi,

thinking of buying this one but there were some features of the previous version that really put me off and I'm looking to find out how the new one compares.

First there was the ahistorical stuff, a bit of freedom is fine, you don't want it on rails, but the Turkish fleet sailing up the English Channel was a bit much. Second, the attention you could (and had to) pay to details of the economy also seemed to me ahistorical. And the third thing was what seemed to me the bizarre fixation on prisoners-of-war, who I dimly remember could sometimes escape and form armies - maybe my memory exaggerates but it baffled me why they needed to be represented in the game at all.

I gather the first two concerns have been fairly comprehensively addressed, which makes me inclined to buy this new version. But I wondered about the third. Do POWs still play a role in the game?

cheers

O'Connor

[Russian Guard]

ORIGINAL: O`Connor

hi,

thinking of buying this one but there were some features of the previous version that really put me off and I'm looking to find out how the new one compares.

First there was the ahistorical stuff, a bit of freedom is fine, you don't want it on rails, but the Turkish fleet sailing up the English Channel was a bit much. Second, the attention you could (and had to) pay to details of the economy also seemed to me ahistorical. And the third thing was what seemed to me the bizarre fixation on prisoners-of-war, who I dimly remember could sometimes escape and form armies - maybe my memory exaggerates but it baffled me why they needed to be represented in the game at all.

I gather the first two concerns have been fairly comprehensively addressed, which makes me inclined to buy this new version. But I wondered about the third. Do POWs still play a role in the game?

cheers

O'Connor

Yes The Ottomans, Swedes, and Spanish AI plays a much more historical role now, although there are rare conquest paths where they will get really motivated and do something more aggressive. Even then, it's more a case of venturing further afield than usual, but not things like Turks in Denmark. I've only seen this once in play-testing, when the Turks ventured as far west as Bavaria.

As a consequence of this, your rarely get the old "quilt" of minor Nations owned thither and yon by everyone, there's a more consistent (and historical) pattern to minor Nation control, for the most part.

Prisoners now are automatically deposited (teleported) to your Capital province. They sit there and do nothing until the current war ends, when repatriation occurs. You _can_ move them, but really only need to if your Capital is in danger of being attacked, because I _believe_ they can still be freed if there are no troops around to guard them, and there is an enemy unit present in the area.

[ericbabe]

POWs:  There's actually no way to liberate POWs now.  POWs are automatically teleported to the capital of the capturing nation, automatically tucked away in your POW corps.  There is nothing to manage with POWs anymore.

Economy:  The simple economy mode is comparable to the economic complexity you might find in a grand strategy table game such as "Empires in Arms."  In simple economy, there are only two resources (money and labor).  Very few things modify income, so you don't need to be a COG expert to predict your income anymore.  There are only four types of provincial developments: guns, walls, barracks, and docks.  All economic micromanagement (provincial slider bars, trade routes) is gone from the simple economy mode.  We did add a few new parameters to both simple and advanced economy to help keep the maximum sizes of armies under control (mobilization limits), and to simulate the declining quality of troops (unit cost increase); the rules for both these are very straightforward, and they don't really require any particular attention from the player.

On protectorates:  one important rule we added is that minor powers will no longer request protection unless a nation has troops "nearby."  This keeps Sweden from having protectorates in Italy and so forth.

[Russian Guard]

Hey, I learned something too! I know you can move them, but no real need to now anyway.

[O`Connor]

Thanks guys, all good stuff, seeming more like a definite purchase now.

cheers

O'Connor