A Swedish Campaign report

[Necceh]

Historically i think the Swedes at the time often fought outnumbered as they had a highly proffesional army, not sure if thats the actual reason though.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

But Denmark declare war first, marching armies through my lands and damaging my buildings. Damaged schools means no more research, and damaged farms leads to unhappiness as the population is less well fed. So I march an army out to deal with these raiding forces and I initiate my own invasion plans.

Thanks for the post and answering questions, Lusted.

How much time is spent hunting down these invaders? Is there some sort of intercept function for friendly armies that have such enemy raids in their zone of control? (I believe fleets do have this chance to intercept enemy fleets passing by?)
I'd hate to have to micromanage the protection of every little resources out there.

[peacemaker]

so, um, are alliances in this game worth anything now? In rome and m2, the AI would betray you in a heartbeat for no reason, except to send 2 units of peasants to try and take a well-garrisoned town. I'm hoping this will differ now?

[Barkhorn1x]

so, um, are alliances in this game worth anything now? In rome and m2, the AI would betray you in a heartbeat for no reason, except to send 2 units of peasants to try and take a well-garrisoned town. I'm hoping this will differ now?

Short answer = YES!!!!!!

CA has been very forthcoming in terms of how improved the Diplo coding will be. All in all, allies will be allies unless you screw them and enemies will not screw you for no reason.

[peacemaker]

sounds great. I was also wondering, now, in the other games setting the difficulty on hard/very hard would just basically give the enemy army like a boost in morale and stats but not in tactics. Would this change so that the tactics differ as opposed to having super-units?

[Barkhorn1x]

sounds great. I was also wondering, now, in the other games setting the difficulty on hard/very hard would just basically give the enemy army like a boost in morale and stats but not in tactics. Would this change so that the tactics differ as opposed to having super-units?

No one really knows the effects of increased difficulty as that has not been discussed by CA yet.

[Jack Lusted]

I was wondering. What if you'd conquer Normway or Denmark as Sweden and only after that turn into a republic. Would this trigger liberal/nationalistic uprisings in Denmark and Norway? Or simply put: will Denmark and Norway (re-)emerge as a faction in such situations?

If there are rebellions in those regions yes Denmark could remerge and Norway emerge as a faction. There is no nationalistic unrest though apart from in a factions home region.

Is it possible for you to tell us something about the composition of the armies and navies you have used and seen in the campaign? The more detail the better :)

There were balanced armies and fleets.

Can you actually name units? If so, will these names appear on the battlefield?

Yes. Personally I like naming units after settlement/slots in the region they were recruited in. So for example 3rd Gothenburg Foot or 2nd Stockholm Horse.

Mh, don't really know about questions, but one part intrigues me. Would you say that giving Prussia a province in return for an alliance has proven to be worthwile?

Got me some nice techs and an ally, I would say it was worth it.

- When you changed to a republic, did you take a serious relation hit with all surrounding monarchy ?

Yes government type affects diplomatic relations.

Did they all took a "stability hit" when it occured (higher unrest) due to the exemple their people have ? Was it the reason Denmark attacked you ?

Denmark most likely attacked me due to change in relations and because of my temporary weakness due to the revolution.

- Can you now face a counter-revolution from the inside ? (revolt again with monarchists this time). or could opposing monarchy invade you and ask you to surrender in exchange for a change of government ?

Yes there can now be a rebellion by the Middle Class and you could become a Constitutional Monarchy.

- When you say you recruit an army next to Riga, does it mean you had to have a settlement there ? does this confirm the "fears" from fans saying that if you dont have multiple provinces you cant recruit multiple armies at the same time ?

Well as I had both Riga and St. Petersburg I could recruit from both settlements so positioned my army between it to receive recruits. How many armies you can recruit at the same time depends really on how many recruitment slots you have available.

is there a way to see were the AI countrys have focusted there research on?

Could try either sneaking a Gentlemen into their land to see what techs you could steal, or try to trade techs with them to see what they have.

I'm also curious about becoming a republic. Can you research democracy instead of having a revolution? Once you become a republic are there elections? If so what happens if the prime minister loses an election?

Government type changes only come through revolutions. Yes there are elections in Republics and Constitutional Monarchies, and if the ruling party lose the Opposition takes over so you get new Ministers with different traits.

Some questions:

- What specific technologies did you research - and did you gain a battlefield advantage from them?

I researched thigs like ring bayonets, square, carbines, improved grenades etc.

- Did you send too big a force to Iceland in hindsight? That being responsible for you being outnumbered by the Danes? - OR -
- From a quantity vs quality standpoint, were your troops of higher quality than the Danes and is that why you were outnumbered?

The Danish armies were of similar quality to mine, I just underestimated how many troops they had defending their capital.

Have you had occasion to build a fort yet, Jack? I’m curious how forts might affect campaigns.

No I did not build any forts in that campaign.

How much time is spent hunting down these invaders? Is there some sort of intercept function for friendly armies that have such enemy raids in their zone of control? (I believe fleets do have this chance to intercept enemy fleets passing by?)
I'd hate to have to micromanage the protection of every little resources out there.

Yes there is an intercept system so that any time a hostile force enters the zone of control of one of your armies, you get the option to attack them. I just had no armies near my border with Norway so I had to move troops to deal with them.

[Sisco Americanus]

Is there a way to forestall a full-blown revolt by taking the initiative and voluntarly making some concessions, i.e. converting from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy?

Also, I'm curious as to how the Spanish Succession is handled in the game, as it happens right at the beginning of the period covered. Does it always spark a war? Is it even an issue, or is it completely ignored in the campaign?

Thanks, I really enjoyed the read!

[Barkhorn1x]

Thanks Jack for taking the time to answer all of our questions.

[USS Providence 1972]

Thanks for the answers.

[Kongeslask]

Just a couple of questions:

Which language do your Swedish units respond in? Actual Swedish, accented English or something else?

Does Sweden have Finnish regionals? Does Denmark have Norwegian regionals? I.e. distinct units associated with those regions, like Finnish light cavalry or Norwegian ski jaegers.

[Crazed Rabbit]

First off, thanks for coming here to give us news and answer our questions.

But Denmark declare war first, marching armies through my lands and damaging my buildings. Damaged schools means no more research, and damaged farms leads to unhappiness as the population is less well fed. So I march an army out to deal with these raiding forces and I initiate my own invasion plans.

I recall something in Lords of the Realm 2 where an invading army could damage the buildings in a province, to force the castle garrison out, and so this makes me happy.

My question is; will you be able to choose if you want your invading army to damage farmland and buildings? To me, if you think you can take the province quickly, you may not want to damage the assets.

Thanks again.

CR

[Sol Invictus]

This almost makes up for the "late" demo. Great stuff Jack!

[Monk]

This almost makes up for the "late" demo. Great stuff Jack!

Agreed. This AAR style of preview, along with the Q + A, was a great idea. Kudos Jack!

Few thoughts from me:

Yes government type affects diplomatic relations.

Okay now this was a huge thing for me and I am very pleased to hear it's in. It's great to see that whatever government type you choose, your diplomatic neighbors will think either more or less of you. Republics might flock to you, seeking allies and hoping that democracies can "stick together" while Monarchies will seek to topple you and make an example! Sounds very promising.

The Danish armies were of similar quality to mine, I just underestimated how many troops they had defending their capital.

And this was another thing. In M2 the AI never displayed that it understood the importance of its capital. You'd regularly see the Byzantines be ousted from Constantinople by 1100, for example.

But an army of 4500 defending the capital? That sounds like close to two stacks! I can't imagine that was an encouraging site. Seems the AI has at last learned what to sacrifice and what to defend!

How long do you think it'll take you to reform an army Jack? I can't imagine the Danes will be content to wait for you to try for their capital again, and in the meantime your (presumably) main army was left in ruins. Might be time to throw that navy you've been building up into action and buy yourself some time

[Polemists]

So I thought i'd seperate my questions into different areas :), so that way Jack can answer ones he wants and not feel he is just repeating himself to much.


AI:
Have other factions gone to war during your war? Ex: France goes to war with England etc.


Diplomacy:

If another nation goes to war and is our ally do you get a message asking you to join them in the war, similiar to the past, or is it just assumed as a ally you are in war with them?


Other Factions:

I saw no mention of Russia, have they just been quiet up in the East?


Ministers:

Are your ministers well liked? Do they affect different areas? Ex: A good minister of defense improves morale of troops or something.


Mission:

Have you recieved many missions from nobles, workers, peasants, etc?

[knoddy]

Denmark most likely attacked me due to change in relations and because of my temporary weakness due to the revolution.

this makes me warm n fuzzy inside and also prussia coming to the table to do a deal . cant wait

[Pinxit]

Agreed. This AAR style of preview, along with the Q + A, was a great idea. Kudos Jack!

But an army of 4500 defending the capital? That sounds like close to two stacks! I can't imagine that was an encouraging site. Seems the AI has at last learned what to sacrifice and what to defend!

The fact is that Denmark is so small that it really doesnt matter where you place your two stacks of troops. They will still defend the capital
Ofcourse, this time around it was Denmark-Norway (and Iceland), but still. Greenland? There are only so many reasonable places to put the army without compromising security. And even if you try compromising security, that security wont be far of.

But thats okay, because we are all in Scandinavia.

[Fisherking]

I have a few questions I have not seen asked before.

Did Sweden start with 4 or 5 provinces?

Did you have Pomerania at start?

Courland must have been the most attractive to attack but were there other minor powers possible?

Did you have any Special Units you can think of and discuss?

[Jack Lusted]

One final set of answers.

Is there a way to forestall a full-blown revolt by taking the initiative and voluntarly making some concessions, i.e. converting from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy?

Only way to change government type is through revolution. Though you can of course try to repress unrest by sticking lots of troops in a settlement or by lowering taxes for different classes, or even by exempting a region from tax entirely.

Also, I'm curious as to how the Spanish Succession is handled in the game, as it happens right at the beginning of the period covered. Does it always spark a war? Is it even an issue, or is it completely ignored in the campaign?

Wars of Succession do happen in the game. If a monarch dies without an of-age heir, another faction fo the same religion will claim your throne.

Which language do your Swedish units respond in? Actual Swedish, accented English or something else?

Swedish.

Does Sweden have Finnish regionals? Does Denmark have Norwegian regionals? I.e. distinct units associated with those regions, like Finnish light cavalry or Norwegian ski jaegers.

Sweden get Hakkapeliita, and there is one Norwegian regional unit.

My question is; will you be able to choose if you want your invading army to damage farmland and buildings? To me, if you think you can take the province quickly, you may not want to damage the assets.

You have to occupy the slots in order to cause damage to them so yes you can just ignore them and go straight for the settlement.

AI:
Have other factions gone to war during your war? Ex: France goes to war with England etc.

Yes other factions had gone to war with each other. Cannot remember all the ones that happened, but I do know that France and Spain were at war with the United Provinces.

Diplomacy:

If another nation goes to war and is our ally do you get a message asking you to join them in the war, similiar to the past, or is it just assumed as a ally you are in war with them?

Yes you get the message. However if your ally is attacked and you don't help them the alliance will be broken. If you ally is the agressor and you don't help will stay.

Other Factions:

I saw no mention of Russia, have they just been quiet up in the East?

They had been busy in the causasus area and in the Crimea.

Ministers:

Are your ministers well liked? Do they affect different areas? Ex: A good minister of defense improves morale of troops or something.

Yes I am lucky to have a good set of Ministers. Ministers give benefits/negatives to various things such as Tax Income fo Treasury Minister, or upkeep cost for Army Minister. They can also get traits that affect the happiness of classes.

Did Sweden start with 4 or 5 provinces?

4.

Did you have Pomerania at start?

No they do not, what would be Swedish Pomerania is part of a larger West Pommerania province that Prussia control.

Courland must have been the most attractive to attack but were there other minor powers possible?

Only minor faction on my borders. Other bordering factions were all majors.

Did you have any Special Units you can think of and discuss?

See answer earlier in post.

These will be the last questions I answer in this thread, I hope this has been useful and informative for you all.

[Fisherking]

Thank you for bring this to us Jack

I am sure we all know how busy you are and appreciate this information and your time very much.

And thank you again sir!

[Barkhorn1x]

Thanks Jack for your time, much appreciated.

From your feedback it appears that the diplomatic realm is so much deeper and richer than earlier TW games - good job.

[Monk]

Echoing the last two poster's comments, a huge thanks for your time Jack. We greatly appreciate it.

Also, try to send it up the ladder that this sort of review might be a good idea for future PR releases where appropriate (AAR with a Q & A follow-up). This was great!

[Sir Beane]

Thanks Jack. This has easily been the most informative article about the game yet. A few more of these and no one will be complaining about lack of info.

I hope we've made it clear to whoever is in charge of marketing that this sort of thing is much better than releasing one new unit every week, or giving the same answers over and over again to various press people.

[Belgolas]

Thank you Jack. This made me want ETW much more and gave everyone a lot more info. This is gonna be one sweet game and that you so much.

[Polemists]

Yes Great answers and feedback jack, again many thanks.

We know you guys are busy but we all do appreciate it when you actually sit down with the fans like this and just talk a little bit. Helps us alot.

Again many thanks, and keep up good work.

[Megas Methuselah]

Nice.

[Freakk]

Thanks for the information Jack. Cannot wait for this game to come out.

[woad&fangs]

Thanks for the Q&A/campaign info, Jack