No war after 1700 in EUniversalis game
I think the game should stop earliger. After 1700, when many nations have level 4,5 and 6 fortress, you need so big armys so you just can take one province, if you are lucky (I guess this is how it was in RL under this period, no big national geographic changes becauss of war).
I now you could changes this manualy, but Paradox must have had a reason for doing the GC to 1792.
btw I think Paradox could have atleast mentioned this forum in the manual. Then it would be much more than 5000 people here.
But,enlarging fortresses is the result of superior land tech,and paralell to defense of provinces rises ofense firepower of armies.With level 35 land tech and 30k infantry+20cannon you can easily take level 5 fortress with max. 2 assaults(not to mention if you have good general).
The AI not building large forts? Are you looking at China or what? In my last finished IGC as France, every european minor had maximum forts only. The only nations not having them in europe were Turkey, Russia, and, for some strange reason, Spain. New best virtual villagers 4 game. England had dozens of max. fort 700′ colonies.
However, it seems to be strongly dependant of how far you are. As France, everybody around you, esp. all the minors, get neighbourhood bonuses, bringing them very close to you.
Spain owned 3/4 of america, the rest was mine. Well, 3 provinces belonged to england, and the Iroquois were there. That’s been it. But 2 province orthodox georgia was 12 levels ahead of the spanish world empire in terms of land technology. Odd. In another game as Russia, I had maxed out tech quite soon, and the only nations that could have gotten neighbourhood bonuses from me would have been Poland, Turkey, Persia and China. You can even further limit that by not expanding towards Persia and China, and maybe keeping a minor as buffer between you and Turkey.
I think that game with lvl 5-6 forts become more interesting. I only once was able to see it. In my game as Turkey I had Austria with lvl 5 forts in every single province around 1700s. It was damn hard but interesting to take them. BTW, Austria never had enough forces to re-take them later. It seems bit strange to me to see some nation borders moving like spreading fire. Doubt that ‘blitzkrig’ was known that period.
I haven’t had any problems taking out MAXIMUM forts playing has Russia. I decided to play catchup with Spain and decided to just be a Real Bad Boy. So, at the start of the new year in 1691 (it is now 1735) I have brought into the fold of Mother Russia the former countrys of Poland, Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburk, Pommaria, Wutenberg, and selected parts or Turkey and Persia. The European countries (with the exception of the remnents of Austria) all had Level 6 and Level 7 forts.
It is doable (with a LOT of infantry) to take these forts in an assault. I was more PO’ed at my allies for stealing the assaults from me then the level of the fort being assaulted. The (First) French Republic was declared by the National Convention (dominated by the Jacobins) on 20 September 1792. Another virtual villagers 4 game free. The combination of organized revolutionary republicanism and the rise of mass nationalism (prompted by Louis XVI’s treason and the invasions and threats of Brunswick) make 1792 a great choice for the end of EU.
In my last IGC I really thought those last 100 years were a pain in the neck. Playing as Helvetia I had managed to expand my territory in from the Baltic to the Mediterranean while in the process annexing France and a bunch of HRE minors, and had taken almost the whole Iberian peninsula (except for Madrid and Porto, naturally). I thought I was well prepared for the expected BB-wars, but WHOO was I mistaken! When they came I was able to beat back the foreign agressors but couldn’t begin to cope with the massive revolts that started popping up after 10 years of constant warfare. I expanded my territory radically, but at a certain point the inner turmoil just tipped over the cup and I got provinces declaring independence. When I finally managed to get peace, I had annexed a new bunch of minors and HOPED I would get time to rebuild at least some of what I lost in the devastating war. NOPE! I got about 3 years ’til the next BB-war was a fact. It lasted even longer than the first one, and after that I still had to deal with about 2 million rebels within my borders. More declarations of independce followed. Then of course a new BB-war came along… Well, you get the picture. I spent most of the last 100 years of the Campaign banging my head against the wall in frustration over not being able to get close to having control of the situation.