Glory Days

[TheOx]

Ok, as Prussia in 1796 I took some minor countires on my border (Mecklinburg, etc.), made France surrender to me, got Saxony as a protectorate(thanks for the big Corps with lancers!), went to war along with Britain, Sweden, and Turkey against Russia and have won 2 MAJOR battles against them and I am still dead last in the glory rankings. Behind France even, who has surrendered to everyone on the map plus my grandmother. I am trying to get luxuries, but shouldn't our international success count for something?

[TexHorns]

you might read in the rules about glory accumulation. glory can be accumulated in battle, but that is the most difficult way in my opinion. build culture developments in your provinces. this adds glory as well as reduces waste. accumulating luxuries, spice, wine and textiles will improve national morale, but not necessarily glory. national morale does contribute to glory I beleive but not sure what the direct link is. expanding and declaring an empire will also build glory.

[TheOx]

I read up on it a bit last night, I know my NM was hurting my glory production (as I wasn't getting enough luxuries, my idiot trade advisor was hoarding iron and not trading it for luxuries, hes dead now), but it seems like the AI countries jump out to a running start while I am busy building culture improvements and the like. Maybe I'll try Britain next time and see if its just backwards Prussia.

[malthaussen]

You should congratulate yourself on simply staying alive, if you're Prussia. In the games I've run, the AIs have wiped Prussia out pretty quickly. Seems like everybody wants a piece of them.

Protect Poland. You'll be amazed at what you get.

-- Mal

[Hard Sarge]

I still think, over all, that Poland is the key, who ever controls the Poles have the edge

I think in my current game, I have at least 4 full Major Armies of nothing but Polish Troops

(will say, I think this is the first time I have gotten the Kingdom of Naples as a Protectorate, they pump out some troops too !!!!, but lots and lots of lt and Irr Cav, am looking forward to seeing my 19 Div It Army in action !!!!)

[malthaussen]

Yep, since Poland is bigger than some "major" powers, having them under one's wing is of major strategic value. Not so for the Turks, however, since Turkey doesn't get all those cool Polish troops. Might as well just conquer the country, if you're Turkey.

In fact, Turkey gets robbed of most of the good European troops, so a "protection" policy doesn't work for them.

-- Mal

[carburo]

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge

I still think, over all, that Poland is the key, who ever controls the Poles have the edge

I think in my current game, I have at least 4 full Major Armies of nothing but Polish Troops

(will say, I think this is the first time I have gotten the Kingdom of Naples as a Protectorate, they pump out some troops too !!!!, but lots and lots of lt and Irr Cav, am looking forward to seeing my 19 Div It Army in action !!!!)

And that is just what is ruining the game for me. There are some other minor issues, but the never-ending supply of protectorate troops, together with the odd behavior of minors –now you can “protectorize” me (this is going to enrage the language police in the other thread); now you can’t- is taking away most of the fun for me. I know you can disband the units, but it’s not the same.

I’d like to see a strict limit to the troops a protectorate can support. One or two divisions per province would be fine in my opinion, with an exception for the protectorates having containers, that would be allowed to fill them. And I would also give protectorate troops a morale penalty when fighting outside their region of origin. This would relegate them to an auxiliary role, and force the player to actually build his army.

[malthaussen]

Well, yes and no. Certain minor country armies, e.g. Poland's and the KGL, were first-rate troops and performed well outside their national boundaries. Others, e.g. most of the Rheinland states, had morale that decreased exponentially in proportion to their distance from their homelands. But in historical fact, a large part of the Grande Armee Napoleon used in Russia (and Spain!) was made up of protectorate troops. And the British rarely used their own regiments when some paid mercenary or local freedom fighters were available, since the British army was incredibly small, stretched thin, and had virtually no replacement capability. The fact that the British can, if they will, become a major land power in CoG is, IMO, the real historical inaccuracy in the game.

Oh, and the language police want a word with you.

-- Mal

[carburo]

ORIGINAL: malthaussen

Well, yes and no. Certain minor country armies, e.g. Poland's and the KGL, were first-rate troops and performed well outside their national boundaries. Others, e.g. most of the Rheinland states, had morale that decreased exponentially in proportion to their distance from their homelands. But in historical fact, a large part of the Grande Armee Napoleon used in Russia (and Spain!) was made up of protectorate troops. And the British rarely used their own regiments when some paid mercenary or local freedom fighters were available, since the British army was incredibly small, stretched thin, and had virtually no replacement capability. The fact that the British can, if they will, become a major land power in CoG is, IMO, the real historical inaccuracy in the game.

Oh, and the language police want a word with you.

-- Mal

I agree that satellite troops were a significant component of Napoleon’s army. But it’s also true that they never operated as autonomous units but as a part of a larger, mainly French, Army or Corps.
However, I’m talking from a gaming perspective, and protectorate troops have too big an impact in the game. Most of the time you don’t even have to build troops. Restricting what protectorates can build and making their units weaker would force the player to rely in his own troops, making the game harder and more interesting, and would also limit the total of units in the game, which is way to high. In any case, how can Poland support twenty divisions?
IMO, having too many troops ruins the game. You don’t need strategy or planning when you can send 300k totally expendable troops to the front. They don’t cost you anything, and if you lose them, in a couple of month Poland, Bavaria and Saxony will give you more for free.
POW should also be disbanded and added as population factors upon liberation. They saddle the AI with tons of low quality troops.

It seems that the language police ran out of s, but I´m not a native speaker, so I better shut up.[:D]