Revolutions, nationalities, and so on...

**anonymous_joe** · March 18, 2009, 07:01 PM

Alright, the genesis of this post lies in the history of this period from a more narrow perspective - that of a smaller nation than the empire builders.

Basically, being Irish, our history in the time period of Empire was one of rebellion and service abroad (the Irish brigades of France/Spain/etc).

Firstly, in game Ireland is one of Britain's provinces, along with Scotland. Both of these provinces disappoint me hugely in the game, because, they're extraordinarily loyal. Not only does this make the game quite easy for the British, it brings immediately to mind a glaring absence in the game;

...where is our ability to support dissent amongst our enemies?

During the 1798 rebellion France attempted to offer Ireland support giving money, troops, etc.

From a gameplay perspective - take a recent campaign I played as Austria (before it crashed ><) - I commenced by seeking peace with most of my neighbours, and then launching a war on the Ottomans.

What I would see as a great opportunity here would be some means to offer funding, etc, to prospective rebels amongst your enemies - surely some option to send (as an example) rifles, troops and cannons to the Greeks, causing the Ottomans to suddenly become embroiled in a war with 2 sides, and earning a firm new ally.

Given that many of the major powers in the game (Russia,Spain, Great Britain and the Ottomans especially) held huge numbers of unwilling subjects in check, surely, it would offer a much greater degree of strategic variety if we could operate in such a way.

Apologies if this has been covered a thousand times before...

**Mediteran** · March 18, 2009, 07:35 PM

it would be a great feature

**mandalore9** · March 18, 2009, 07:48 PM

for some reason, Ireland was one of the hardest to control as Britain for me. Not only once or twice, but throughout the game.

**Kip** · March 18, 2009, 07:59 PM

Nothing's keeping you from sending an army to help a rebel army in one of those regions lol... its what I do when the rebellion is in my interest. I do agree with your funding ideas though, I brought up a similar idea about liberations a while back.

**Mediteran** · March 18, 2009, 08:01 PM

i think he meant helping them to rebel, before they even exist as a faction

**Kip** · March 18, 2009, 08:07 PM

You could always sabotage happiness buildings, with a Rake while in peacetime and with an army when at war. Not the most effective way, but its worth a try.

**anonymous_joe** · March 18, 2009, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by KippyK

You could always sabotage happiness buildings, with a Rake while in peacetime and with an army when at war. Not the most effective way, but its worth a try.

Which is kind of my point...

That's not much help. The whole sneaky shenanigans aspect of the game's a little lacking. Assassins and so on weren't really that prevalent I'm thinking, but certainly priests and so on were secretly being sent to Ireland while Catholicism was being persecuted by the British (time frame might not be Empire's, but it's an example I'd be familiar with).

The ideal situation would be some kind of 'you have approached (or been approached by) a revolutionary from (country ruled by an enemy) and give them 5000 ducats (isn't it?) and access to a fleet and artillery.

For one thing I just love the idea of a whole series of revolutions flaring up, Swedish-Russian conflicts would really be enlivened by angry Finns, while a re-nascent Greece would make the Easter Med much more vibrant and varied.

**Mediteran** · March 18, 2009, 08:10 PM

yeah thats good, but the way he described it would be better, that you can somehow fund them, and then when they emerge they would be allied with you. it would be a great feature

**Kip** · March 18, 2009, 08:13 PM

Absolutely, but I guess in a sense its alright how it is... I mean you wouldn't be able to just approach a happy Irish population, and say, "Here's 10,000 monies, go kill the people who make you happy." There needs to be a seed of dissent there already. That option would be really cool, but I'd say there'd have to be prerequisite strikes, rioting, or even a revolt before you could do it.

**Barabus** · March 18, 2009, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by anonymous_joe

Alright, the genesis of this post lies in the history of this period from a more narrow perspective - that of a smaller nation than the empire builders.

Basically, being Irish, our history in the time period of Empire was one of rebellion and service abroad (the Irish brigades of France/Spain/etc).

Firstly, in game Ireland is one of Britain's provinces, along with Scotland. Both of these provinces disappoint me hugely in the game, because, they're extraordinarily loyal. Not only does this make the game quite easy for the British, it brings immediately to mind a glaring absence in the game;

...where is our ability to support dissent amongst our enemies?

During the 1798 rebellion France attempted to offer Ireland support giving money, troops, etc.

From a gameplay perspective - take a recent campaign I played as Austria (before it crashed ><) - I commenced by seeking peace with most of my neighbours, and then launching a war on the Ottomans.

What I would see as a great opportunity here would be some means to offer funding, etc, to prospective rebels amongst your enemies - surely some option to send (as an example) rifles, troops and cannons to the Greeks, causing the Ottomans to suddenly become embroiled in a war with 2 sides, and earning a firm new ally.

Given that many of the major powers in the game (Russia,Spain, Great Britain and the Ottomans especially) held huge numbers of unwilling subjects in check, surely, it would offer a much greater degree of strategic variety if we could operate in such a way.

Apologies if this has been covered a thousand times before...

A great idea, just showing further how mundane the diplomacy and intrigue option are in vanilla ETW + forum noob rep