Victoria 2 AHD - Beyond Confusion

[darkranger85]

Thanks again! I actually watched a pretty in depth tutorial on youtube as well and that really helped put things into prospective too.

Now, on a nation that has no factories or capitalists in the beginning, how does one start on the path?

I started by building a cement factory. I increased taxes on the lower and upper class with the middle class being slightly lower.

Soon I started to see artisans becoming farmers, craftsmen, etc etc. However, there aren't that many of them. Less than 100 in most provinces, less in the others.

I still have no capitalists, which I was hoping to get some so that they could start building some of the factories for me.

[TheBromgrev]

Unless it changed, I think Capitalists and Craftsmen require that pops have 20% literacy. They won't show up before then. I always use NFs to get about 0.25% capitalists in my provinces at first, because I don't know of any other way to get them to appear if you don't have any at the start. Capitalists reduce the input requirements of your factories, so factories in a state with 1% capitalists will have to buy 1% less input to produce the same amount of goods.

In the absence of factories, artisans will be the ones producing your goods. They don't contribute to your industrial score and their efficiency will stay the same throughout the game. However, if for example you can build steamers but don't have any factories your artisans may decide to produce steamers, giving you access to a rare good you otherwise never would've been able to buy. This is mostly useful in the early game. Artisans also make a lot more money selling their goods than farmers or miners, which is why you need to keep middle class taxes lower so they can afford to buy inputs and pay you taxes on what they sell.

You see artisans that produce bad good choices demote quickly, because they went bankrupt buying inputs for a good that no one is buying. Not much you can do here other than hope they switch production to something more profitable.

[darkranger85]

Ah, that is interesting.

How about the lack of craftsmen? I now have 2 factories but only a handful of craftsmen.

And I'm starting to doubt my decision of making a cement factory cause I have no access coal. Oh well, live and learn I guess lol.

[Kamikaze470]

Farmers and laborers will naturally promote to craftsmen overtime, as a result of RGO sizes' decreasing from industry tech. You'll be concerned about the lack of them now, a few decades down the road and they'll multiply like rabbits.

[darkranger85]

Good to know.

I'm playing as Brazil right now.

If a major power spheres me, do I have access to their market? So like if I could get the US to sphere me would I then have better access to coal?

[TheBromgrev]

Yes, it would allow your pops to buy US coal as though they were buying it from Brazil. Keep in mind my earlier post where I talk about ratios and how farmers/miners get paid. Since you're playing as Brazil you won't see this problem, but if a tobacco-producing GP spheres you, because Brazil produces so much tobacco using slave labor the GP's pops will buy all the tobacco they want from Brazil rather than their own plantations, because of the ratio stuff from earlier. Since you're playing as Brazil, if the US spheres you it will be bankrupting its tobacco plantations

[darkranger85]

So the US putting me in their sphere would be good for me and bad for them?

Is a power more likely to sphere you if you actively seek their relations and such or does that have no effect?

[TheBromgrev]

The AI is hardcoded, so I don't really know how it works. It does seem to be more likely to sphere you if your relations are good and you're nearby.

[darkranger85]

Excellent! Thank you for all the awesome advice!

One question that I have now is about justifying a war.

So far, EVERY time I try to justify a war with anyone it is detected within seconds. Why?

[TheBromgrev]

Every day there's something like a 10% chance to be detected. I don't know the actual %, but it's the same every day. In your case you probably just got unlucky. I sometimes see what you see, and then my next justification finishes with no problems. That's why you want to stick with reforms that keep your justification speed as fast as possible.

[darkranger85]

Alright, I'll give it some more tries.

But it just seems weird, like out of 5 or 6 times it's detected it the very first day. It's rather annoying. lol

[darkranger85]

Alright, here are my current issues.

First off, I'm not looking at 10+ war justification attempts and every single one was detected within moment of setting it.

Next, I think the biggest headache I have is balancing pops. Like suddenly I look up and I can only support half the army I have and soldiers are leaving their jobs left and right.

[TheBromgrev]

Yeah, the war justifications can get annoying when you get caught. It truly is random though even if you're not seeing it.

For your disappearing soldiers, what's probably happening is they're switching to a job that pays better. Having a high admin efficiency (done through techs and bureaucrats) will help keep your government running well. You should focus on getting 100% admin efficiency in your core states first, then get 2% clergy in all states before messing around with soldiers. For many countries, your best defense isn't your military, but a large ally's military.

[darkranger85]

So, when you have the whole 100% admin efficiency and 2% clergy and something happens where you need another pop type do you simply hit the NF and boost it or do you have to becareful that you don't set your focus and end up demoting some other pop that you need as well?

[TheBromgrev]

By that point I only ever really use my NF to promote capitalists. I never try to promote soldiers or craftsmen, as I find they promote just fine on their own (remember, having too many soldiers is a recipe for bankruptcy). I check the clergy and 'crat % every now and then, but for the most part those pops will tend to be fairly stable if your spending sliders are above 60%.

[darkranger85]

Really? That is interesting.

I think I'm getting the hang of it more, and you guys advice has been invaluable.

Any tips for controlling political groups?