Opening Moves Tutorial AAR (Prussia-1805)

[Gil R.]

And here it is after I've made some changes. Note that since I wasn't producing any wood,iron or luxuries I lowered those bars to zero, while boosting textiles production. And I kept agriculture just high enough to be getting that wine, sacrificing some horses and food. The rest of my labor went into Development, and just look at the results: instead of my bank taking nine turns, it will now take three. Since I want to build up my economy quickly, I am giving up some production now in order to make the overall economy larger eventually.

[Gil R.]

Here's another screenshot, after I've made a few changes in different city development screens. Look at the bottom row and compare it with the one up above -- note that I'm now expecting slightly different levels of resources, based on those changes to the slider bars.

[Gil R.]

Time to supplement my production through trade. Since the British like me, I have the best chance of my trade being accepted by them, so I make an offer. I'm always eager for textiles, since without them I can't put to sea with anything other than a canoe in this Age of Sails, so I decide to send some of my rather abundant food and timber to them for textiles. It's a small trade, but these can add up.

[Gil R.]

The last thing I do -- though usually this is the second thing I do, right after moving my merchant(s) -- is to deal with diplomats. Here there is no right or wrong approach, but I generally try to use the one who's better at "Espionage" to do someone some harm, and the one who's got higher "Influence" to be sunny and positive.

So, first I send Hardenberg into France to spread propaganda and lower their morale. After all, I might soon be fighting them, so why not try to weaken them a little?

[Gil R.]

And now von Humbolt's off on a mission to charm my neighbors.

[Gil R.]

Having finished my turn, here's the Event Report. Looks like my trade offer was accepted.

[Gil R.]

Also, both the French and Spanish want crossing treaties with me, which I'll rejected. After all, I know the map of Europe well enough to know that crossing France or Spain (should I even reach there) gets me nowhere other than the Atlantic Ocean, so they can benefit from this treaty much more than I would. Plus it would be hard to go to war with France if their armies are already in Prussia or in Russia.

[Gil R.]

Here's the Supply report, showing that all of my units successfully foraged, while the ones in garrisons received their three hots and a cot.

[Gil R.]

Now on to Turn 2. Again, I’m not at war or about to be at war, so I spend time building up the economy. I decide to build Farms in Warsaw, where I’m already producing good amounts of agricultural goods (which are hidden by the tooltip, but which I know to be food and spice).

[Gil R.]

And in Neumark I decide to build Roads rather than a development that actually produces money or resources, since the higher the level of roads the easier it will be to develop the province. Also, of course, Roads help with troop movements, and there’s a major crossroads there. What better way to help both my troop mobility and my future prosperity?

[Gil R.]

I do, however, want my defenses against France to be stronger, so I do raise a militia unit in Magedeburg.

That’s pretty much all I did that turn, other than adjust the city development screens for Warsaw and Neumark so that my Farms and Roads would be ready more quickly.

[Gil R.]

This section of the Event Report shows that my two diplomats are already having an effect: von Humbolt has succeeded in winning over Mecklenburg a bit, while Hardenberg’s presence as a propagandist is obviously annoying the French, who waste two diplomatic movements trying to expel him. (Mental note to self: send a diplomat to England to charm them, so that they decide to send me money instead of Sweden!)

[Gil R.]

More of the Event Report. Nothing too exciting.

[Gil R.]

Here’s what my merchants brought in last turn. Most of the money is sucked up by high feudalism levels, which is one of the downsides to being Prussia. I don’t think another sea zone would be much more profitable, so I stay put for now. (And anyway, with those wintry conditions I’m not sure it would be possible to sail all that far.)

[Gil R.]

So, turning to Turn 3, I see that my army is now ready in Warsaw, so I put those divisions inside it, along with those generals one province over who didn’t make it all the way. (I should have noticed this last turn and had them finish moving, but overlooked it.)

[Gil R.]

I then send the new army to a more central location – Posen, where foraging levels are high enough to support it. I also send a division from Pomerania there and attach it to the army.

[Gil R.]

Any my new militia unit in Magdeburg is ready, and put into the garrison there. The province, an essential buffer for Berlin, can now hold out that much longer against a siege.

[Gil R.]

Time for more development. This time, I decide to expand Stettin’s defensive perimeter by building Walls. My reason for this is that, as noted above, troops in garrison are cheaper to support than when out in the field, so I’d like to have at least one city large enough to hold all or most of an army, thus saving me a good deal over the course of the game. So this is a decision that does not directly benefit my economic production, but it will most certainly benefit my economy.

[Gil R.]

And now I build some Barracks, mainly because I want more experience. The other powers, the ones who fight all the time, get a ton of experience points through combat, but if I’m staying out of the fighting the only way to boost my experience is in this manner. To my thinking, the increase quality/morale of the units I might eventually raise there is secondary to this.

[Gil R.]

Speaking of experience points, at this stage in the game I like to spend a few periodically in order to make my units a bit better. That way, if unexpectedly called on to fight they’ll be more up to the task. So here I decide to give my artillery unit extra supply by means of “Baggage Train.” (Some of the other units start the game with special abilities. Normally I would first give my best unit or units special abilities, but here there was less need.)