calling all Victoria veterans- the "help a noob" thread

Ok so I just ordered Vicky 1 (I didnt get Revolutions yet, I will if I like the original), and it should come in a week or so.

So now that I finally took the plunge and bought Vicky, a game that I had always resisted buying because it scared me and yet entranced me at the same time, I will need help, since this is my first Paradox game. :sweatdrop:

Stupid, I know. :embarassed:

So, I am reading a guide by some guy named "november," so that gets me started on the bare basics, I guess, but it just covers the bare basics, as I said.

Is there anything else I should know before I start? Vicky veterans, Im looking straight at you. :stare:

Good Luck :wink:

Thanks, but I was thinking of maybe vets saying some of their not so well known strategies that helped them get through their first games. The manual doesnt really do that, at least not at my first look at it.

I'd advise starting as Prussia, Japan, or America. All are relatively straightforward, but Prussia's probably better for getting a handle on diplomatic structures(birth of fire, a bit). For the first game, I'd probably avoid early colonization, even it gets tempting when the UK goes berzerk on it. Save colony management for later. Haven't actually done America in vanilla Vicky, now that I think on it, but Prussia's pretty nice. Just sit tight, wait for the key events to trigger, ala slevig, franco-prussian war, and go nuts(hopefully). As far as prepping for war- make sure you have railroads from one end of the empire to the other, otherwise troop movement will feel as though it were a snail's pace. Factory wise, you *MUST* have machine parts factories asap- I forget what the tree looks like exactly for vanilla vicky, but look it up, and aim for machine parts factories asap. You'll also need canned goods and small arms out the wazoo, so you can increase your mobilization pool if you need to draft for war. As far as unifying into Germany, I think this page outlines the possibilities perfectly. Personally, I prefer the latter method of duking it out w/ france, but whichever, really.

Lessee, some basics.... Always keep an eye on Russia, unless you're started in the Americas. Really, they just have enough soldiers you don't want to mess with them unless its the Crimean war or similar dogpile. Get guns, get ammo, get food. This means getting the stuff you need to get guns and food- especially iron and sulfur. Chemicals will also be needed for any semi-complex economy, since they're used in a bunch of factories. Don't be afraid to turn some smaller powers into Satellite nations- so long as you don't think you'll need their resources. The first rule of Vicky is to watch your badboy- pressingF12, and entering "badboy" without the quotations will tell you your Badboy. Ideally, it would be kept under 20, but it almost must be kept under 32 or so, or else you'll get a lot of people declaring war on you for conquering so much. Relating to badboy, taking provinces doesn't give you Badboy, until you get to outright annexation. In other words, you can take all but one province from a larger, uncivilized country(like egypt, maybe persia, Korea), and take absolutely no diplomatic penalty. And speaking of which, one thing which isn't usually very difficult, and very, very rewarding, is going right after Korea. Its a giant cookie jar of grain, iron, and coal. Pretty much as long as you start civilized and in some degree of power(I managed it as Bolivia, once, but it was a bit of a challenge and drain to get it done), you should be able to snag it before Japan. Or you're Japan and it doesn't matter too much, but its necessary to grab Korea at some point once you civilize as Japan. Similarly, most major powers will get a crack at China- always worth it. Once Chinese province of coal or iron can supply nearly a whole European empire by itself.

Any recommended mods that I try out?

Also, the guide said to start with Brazil since there are few wars and its easy to start off with them.
Anyhow, the game arrives between the 7th and the 10th. Time to read up on as much Vicky as possible.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...VIP-0.4-AAR&s=

Question: Vicky is in real-time, so how does time go by? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

Question: Vicky is in real-time, so how does time go by? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

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You can change the pace at will.

If I were you, I'd play as Japan. They're nice and isolated on their little island, but the tough thing about it is that they don't start as an industrialized nation, so it might be difficult for you.

Brazil is nice and all, but they're really big. Might want to start with a smaller-sized country. Like Japan.

The pause button is in the top-right corner of the screen.

You can change the map's display on the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. I like the "political" map, it displays the world in national colours rather than the standard terrain, but you might find yourself constantly switching between all map types.

In Victoria: Revolutions, the Metis Confederacy (blue flag in my sig) is available for play. This is awesome. They may also be available in regular Vicky, as well. You are blessed.

Japan, Prussia, Brazil- options I am looking at to start my first game with.
Which nation is best to learn the basics with? The guide said Brazil because there are no wars that happen quickly, and thats good for beginners like me, but Japan also looks good because its isolated. Prussia looks cool, but very difficult.
Thoughts?

My first game was with Prussia. It wasn't very difficult until the wars with Austria and France. I hadn't really increased my army size very much, so I didn't do well against Austria. Other than that it was a fairly easy game. Belgium is also good to start with iirc lots of coal and iron(?) provinces. You start out at war with the Netherlands but there's an event that ends the war a few months into the game.

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Originally Posted by Csargo

My first game was with Prussia. It wasn't very difficult until the wars with Austria and France. I hadn't really increased my army size very much, so I didn't do well against Austria. Other than that it was a fairly easy game. Belgium is also good to start with iirc lots of coal and iron(?) provinces. You start out at war with the Netherlands but there's an event that ends the war a few months into the game.

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Did you have previous experience with Paradox games? I have none.

Why didn't you get Vicky2 ?

Because my computer cant run it.

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

Did you have previous experience with Paradox games? I have none.

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I played EU2 and HoI2 previously. I'm not sure how much those helped me with Vicky though. The toughest part of it was the economic/goods side for me.

Well, as said before, I have no experience at all with EU or HOI.
Vicky comes in the mail in the next few days. Time to cram in as much info from the wiki as possible.

The best advice I can give you is to check out some AARs. The learning curve is steep, but once you've mastered it it really is a sublime game.

Brazil is an excellent beginners game, no major opponents, you can learn at your own pace. With time and some skill you can even make Brazil a super-power. Give Brazil a shot when it arrives and blast the thread with questions.

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Originally Posted by Csargo

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...VIP-0.4-AAR&s=

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Yes. This is the best learning AAR.

Any suggested mods for Vicky? I was looking at VIP but I decided to wait on the mods to see if I like Vicky in the first place.

VIP is the only one I've ever used. They were still working on it when I was still playing the game. I had always been told it was the best mod for Vicky. The only negative thing about it that I remember was having to reload every 2-3 years in-game time or some of the scripted events wouldn't fire.

Do Prussia and then try to form Germany, after you've done that you know the basics.

Well Vicky is coming today, so when I get home Ill start as Brazil, then when I get the bare basics down Ill move onto Prussia.

Ok question time!

I started a GC with Brazil. So far, so good at September 19th, 1836. No provinces rebelling, Im turning in a good amount of cash. 4 prestige, no enemies (yet :beam:).
https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/...8-44-17-39.jpg

Im starting to get a handle on this game, and its really fun trying to manage my empire and scheming at the same time :evil:. I figured out most of the basics, though I did make the mistake of sending all diplomatic missions possible at once. :wall:
https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/...8-45-50-23.jpg

So I have to wait until the year is over until I get another point. Oh well, Im actually considering restarting the game since I screwed up diplomacy so badly. But a man has got to learn, right?

So heres my question: My country is stable, Im turning a profit. Im recruiting a new unit of infantry and I have 5 in my mobilization pool. So, what country should I attack? Should I attack? I will wait until I get leaders to command my troops, I know that, and hopefully the education funding that I ordered should give me a good leader eventually. And how does attacking work? I mean, do I go for total annihilation like in the TW series? Or am I just trying to subdue them and make them my slaves or something?

I'd work on industrializing if I were you.

Attacking you have many options as far as making peace with whoever you attack. You can take a few provinces depending on your warscore, puppet, annex, humiliate, etc. Annexing smaller countries(like the small one to your south) is fine and won't affect your badboy much. Attacking someone also takes away some of your prestige.

Generally I go and look for goods I need for my factories/POPs when I want to conquer something.

Industrialization? Yeah, Im still trying to figure that stuff out. :beam:

Laborers to Clerks to Capitalists. Once they build up enough reserves they'll start building railroads/Factories.

I got Revolutions today. I dont see much of a difference. At least not yet. But in my new game with Brazil, Im only making around 13-14 in cash per day, which is nothing considering i was making 60 per day in my other game. Plus, how do I get more manpower?

There was a revolt.... spread like wildfire... my forces defeated everywhere... I lost....*collapses from exhaustion.*

On a more serious note, I knew it couldnt be that easy to play a game of Vicky. A good revolt every now and then keeps the mind sharp. Though when the rebels have a 20,000 man army, it gets a bit tricky. And it was out of the blue as well.

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

There was a revolt.... spread like wildfire... my forces defeated everywhere... I lost....*collapses from exhaustion.*

On a more serious note, I knew it couldnt be that easy to play a game of Vicky. A good revolt every now and then keeps the mind sharp. Though when the rebels have a 20,000 man army, it gets a bit tricky. And it was out of the blue as well.

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It's due to militancy.

Dealing with Rebellions

The Big Three

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Originally Posted by Psychonaut

It's due to militancy.

Dealing with Rebellions

The Big Three

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Thanks, all that is killing me know is how slow units move from province to province.
Even my grandfather moves faster than they do. :smash:

I really wanted to do that "3 day (almost) bloodless battle" option but it took too long for my forces to arrive from western Brazil (where they were facing down possible Peruvian invasions) to the East coast.

Argh, double post.

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

I got Revolutions today. I dont see much of a difference. At least not yet. But in my new game with Brazil, Im only making around 13-14 in cash per day, which is nothing considering i was making 60 per day in my other game. Plus, how do I get more manpower?

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Convert POPs to soldiers.

How do I convert POP?

Im also trying to figure out why I "order" some goods to be bought, for I need more canned food and small arms to increase mobilization, but Im not getting any more of those materials even though I have the money for it and its been many months since I ordered the goods.
And the trade section of the wiki is no help.

There may simply not be any that canned goods you can buy. Buying from the market goes in order of prestige- first place gets first dibs. So, what's likely is that you're simply not high enough on prestige. If you succeed in buying from the market, it'll be pretty much instantly added to your stock.

In terms of converting pops, this should clarify it- just follow the cursor.

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1292271560

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1292271643

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1292271668

https://i182.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1292271706

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

How do I convert POP?

Im also trying to figure out why I "order" some goods to be bought, for I need more canned food and small arms to increase mobilization, but Im not getting any more of those materials even though I have the money for it and its been many months since I ordered the goods.
And the trade section of the wiki is no help.

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Also I think your defensive spending affects how fast your manpower grows, but I don't remember.

Thanks for the info. In V:R, is the economy changed much? I seem to be making much less money than I was in vanilla Vicky. Before I was making, as Brazil, 50-70 per month, now its 13-14 per month. I havent changed any of the sliders for tax or spending, so there is no reason that Im not making as much as before.

It has a number of small changes. The most blatant one is that now Industrialization will mostly be done by your capitalists, and depending on the ideology of the your government, you may or may not interfere in the economy

- Planned Economy & State Capitalism allows you to build anything. On Planned Economy, your capitalists build nothing. On State Capitalism, I think they can only build RR.
- On Interventionism, you can build RR and expand existing factories, but you can't build new factories
- With Laissez-Faire, you can't build anything (Except Forts, colonial buildings and Naval Stations) and the entire economy (Building/Closing of factories) is ran by the capitalists

Also in Vic: Rev, now you aren't allowed to promote who you well wish, but rather those of your primary & accepted cultures alone. The only way to promote other culture's POP's is to have a party with Full Citizenship in power.

Anyways, vanilla Vic: Rev sucks. VIP is a lot more fun.

So should I go ahead and get VIP without learning all the ropes of Vanilla?

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

So should I go ahead and get VIP without learning all the ropes of Vanilla?

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Might as well. Some resources are different from vanilla. I personally don't see a difference in difficulty, but some people have said that VIP is a little difficulter than Vanilla Vic: Rev. Not sure why. In VIP you don't have a uber-UK or a uber-Russia to confront.

Slightly OT, but can someone please tell me if it's humanly possible not to lose playing as the CSA?

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Originally Posted by Ignoramus

Slightly OT, but can someone please tell me if it's humanly possible not to lose playing as the CSA?

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It's possible but really difficult from what I've read. Never tried them before tbh. I've started playing again because of this thread. Started a game as Sweden.

Just played Victoria (complete), and I have to say, the interface is awful. Really really bad.

Good thing for Paradox I came in at EU3 (later Vicky2, etc) because I would probably have never have stuck with them as a company ever again. Crusader Kings was actually alright though, which is on the same engine.