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[NRDL]

I'm a bit of a newb at this game, but I understand some of it.  I'm playing as Wallachia, a satellite of the Ottoman empire.  I can't engage in diplomacy with anyone, my military is pathetic, so I figured that I should focus on making Vlad Tepes' country into an industrial power as best as I could.  It worked pretty well.  I built a cement factory, then I think a cloth factory, both of which earned me a very good amount of income, sending Wallachia's economy into a new era of prosperity.  Unfortunately, I can't do anything else other than accumulate and slowly research industrial techs.  My population of craftsmen is already totally employed by both factories, and any attempt to build a new factory ends automatically in closure, since there's no more people.  Low population is really my main issue, and the fact that I have a frickin disease spreading throughout my small amount of land is making my citizens leave by the thousands. 

Any advice?  Sorry if this topic has been posted before.  I'd love to see what more veteran and experienced Vicky 2 players have to say. 

[a1s]

No need to be sorry. For future reference, the search window is in the top right quadrant of the page.

On the topic of low population, in the early versions, the trick was to piss off your own people and then use their outrage to pass socialized medicine (increasing pop-growth quite a bit) Also research Medicine (the 2nd, I think, tech in the Chemistry field.)

[Rakonas]

Don't forget to use national focuses to encourage key pops. For instance, 4% clergy per province should encourage maximum education. You can also use it to staff your factories.
Also remember that your tax isn't all effective unless you're playing with the realism project or something. 100% tax rate in 1836 is like 20% effective tax.

[NRDL]

I got medicine, it doesn't really do all that much to increase pop growth, however the inventions I get from it are helping very slightly.  Does medicine prevent stuff like farm blight, which I've been getting constantly.  It's reduced my population to around 160,000 people, because all of them want to move out. 

Also, I'm surprised no one wants to discuss Victoria 2.  I figured at least a few Vicky 2 players would want to share their playthroughs. 

[mainiac]

Vicky 2 was a game with a lot of potential but some pretty big flaws, IMHO.  For instance factories will always buy 100% of the inputs they can use, even if they can only sell 5% of their output.  Industrial base doesn't actually help you wage war, all you need is income and soldier pops.  The AI doesn't understand that the tax sliders are affected by tax efficiency.  War goals are nice, but in war the AI has neither reason nor rhyme.

Get the PDM mod, which fixes some stuff.  It makes things a lot easier, but that's necessary to allow the AI to run their economies.  It fixes numerous issues like rebels and mass de-industrialization and adds some nice new content.  I'd say that it makes things militarily more challenging even as the economic side gets easier.

[Fishbreath]

It's an awesome game, I think, even in its standard Paradox-pre-two-expansions-not-all-that-polished state.

I'm in the very early 1900s in my Japan game. I managed to Westernize (which is easier for Japan than for a lot of other countries) in about 1860, and have been turning into a regional superpower ever since. I made it to Great Powerdom in the 1890s, and I've got the Solomon Islands and parts of New Guinea as colonies. I've fought a few wars with the Chinese over the years, and have managed to annex Korea and the part of China directly above it. I've butted heads with Russia over Southeast Asia, but after I defeated them and their allies there in a brief colonial war, we've been on better terms. My crowning achievement so far is getting China into my sphere of influence, which is basically a victory.

[mainiac]

Yeah, china has what, a third of the world population?  Getting them in your SOI means that you win the industry game.  And score is overwhelmingly based on industry by the end so...

[NRDL]

He wins. 

[a1s]

Getting them in your SOI means that you win the industry game.

Except China usually changes hands very often (at least when I played this game in the v1.0 and 1.1- Britain would always steal China from me, as I think, did Russia), though being an Asian GP could help quite a bit with recovering it quickly.

[mainiac]

Not if you prioritize it above everything else when it comes to diplomatic influence.  China is worth about as much as all the other countries you can influence put together.  If you put all your efforts into keeping it, only a coordinated effort from several GPs can dislodge you.  But the other GPs dont work together so...

[NRDL]

You guys still have any tips on population growth?  My pop is still around 160,000 with only around 200 migrants coming in, and I'm playing the game on hyperspeed.  If I get another potato blight, Wallachia's gonna turn into a ghost nation.  Does having medicine negate that, what?  I really need help here. 

[mainiac]

I believe one of the medicine techs makes that event less likely, but I'm not sure because I overwrote my vanilla files with PDM files.  Regarding pop growth, socialized medicine is the most important thing but techs help.  Other then that, there's not much that you can do besides making sure your pops have food.  If you want to enhance immigration, make sure you have all the political reforms.  Other factors are being in north or south america and being a democracy.  To change from a monarchy to a democracy, you need to have a Jacobin revolution succeed when you are already a constitutional monarchy.

[NRDL]

Wallachia's a monarchy, nobody wants reforms. 

[mainiac]

Create militancy and you can grant reforms anyway.  A good way to do that is declare a humiliation war on some backwater that can't hurt you and has no allies then immediately surrender.  Bam, 2 militancy.  Do three of those at once and you can pass a reform.  It costs prestige and infamy, but it's worth it for the healthcare reforms which are godly good.

[NRDL]

So...I'm going to trick my people into rising up against me so I can get them medicine? 

Ok. 

Thing is, I'm pretty much surrounded by stronger countries, and quite a few of them are satellites of the Ottoman Empire, like me.  My "army" is piss poor, around  3000 pathetic, un-modern infantry.  If the people revolt against me, I'm pretty sure they'll win.  I know I shouldn't raise Militancy THAT high, but still, I don't want a peasant revolt. 

Apart from the declare war thing, is there other way to increase militancy?  Raise taxes through the roof maybe?