How to avoid war?

[thedoctorking]

I have played two games of this now as the US, following the suggestion that they are the best country for a beginner. In both cases, I tried as best I could with the events to choose ones that reduced tension. In both cases, I was skirting the edge of getting fired because I had lost prestige (at least, that was what events were telling me). If I understand correctly, getting fired means game over. In order to avoid this, I had to choose an option or two that heightened tension in order to bring my prestige up. Whereupon, by 1892 or so, one of the much more powerful European powers (in the first game the French and the second the Brits) declared war on me and thrashed me. I am in a quandary. As a matter of historical fact, the US avoided conflict until 1898, and then only with Spain, and didn't join a major war until 1917. How can I avoid conflict in this game? Or is it intentional that ahistorical conflicts will be sparked earlier so you get to use all those pre-Dreadnought battleships?

[WLRoo]

I find it unusual, but so far have only played as the UK and China.

Quick question - is your fleet all AF (active fleet)? This tends to increase tensions with other nations you share sea zones with.

[thedoctorking]

So if you put them on "foreign stations" is this the way to avoid that?

[WLRoo]

So if you put them on "foreign stations" is this the way to avoid that?

Not necessarily, provided he majority of your fleet is Reserve (RF) or Mothballed (MB), that is usually enough to limit tension rises.

[thedoctorking]

The downside of that is that your crew quality sucks afterwards.

[WLRoo]

It does, but that's a price for helping to keep tensions low.

Plus, it frees up funding to build a bigger fleet with.

The game is very focussed on compromises.

[EwaldvonKleist]

The downside of that is that your crew quality sucks afterwards.

You can sit put the first months of the war to polish crew quality. Simply be very cautious in battles and try to disengage.