More Gameplay

Balance of Power

So, let's say Poland-Lithuania has taken advantage of its strong early military and taken a pre-emptive strike against Russia, specifically aiming to capture the province of Novgorod (which has a Center of Trade - a vitally important strategic commodity.) To get Novgorod, you also need to capture the city, which means a siege. A siege is best done with a fair bit of artillery and infantry. Also, Novgorod lies beyond the border province of Tver, which should be captured as well, so as not to have direct contact with Novgorod later. Fortunately for Poland-Lithuania, Moscow lies right on its border, and Moscow is the capital of Russia.

The economic view

Those are the areas that CoTs cover

When bargaining at the peace table, you get stars and tombstones - stars are good, you can have as many as 7. Tombstones are bad, and again, you can have up to 7. For every star, you can conceivably demand 250 ducats (money) - and every tombstone can cost you the same amount. Two stars give you a chance to demand a province that you control (meaning the siege succeeded.) With four stars, you have the possibility of taking two provinces you control, although the enemy isn't likely to accept this arrangement, especially with a Center of Trade hanging in the balance. A capital is worth 4 stars, but you can never demand the capital unless you plan on annexing the entire nation. Thus, the easiest way to capture Novgorod is to take out Moscow, leave an occupying force, move on to Tver and then Novgorod. Demand Novgorod and 250 ducats, and the soundly beaten Russians should accept your peace settlement.

So uh, where's the limitations?

Well, for one, to declare war you should really, really have a Casus Belli ("lawful cause of war".) Your nation has a stability rating that affects population growth and tax rates (nevermind the likelihood of revolt.) This stability ranges from -3 to 3. The higher, the better. Poland-Lithuania starts with a stability of 2, which is fairly average. If you declare war on Russia, that will cost you 2 stability right there, since Poland-Lithuania does not start with a Casus Belli on Russia. If you lose this war, all that lost stability will be for nothing, and it will take you a long time to rebuild it. Stability is the game's front-line defense against unchecked aggression. You cannot keep declaring war against your enemies like that. A peace treaty lasts 5 years, and the penalties for breaking it are extremely severe - 5 stability points. If you already have 0 and lose 5 points, then you immediately drop down to -3 and, in addition, two provinces rebel for those two extra stability points. Not bad, huh? It gets better.

Oh my, a long way to go

The king-imposed missions are ludicrous sometimes

Stability can be rebuilt relatively easily by investing in it in your budget screen - it works almost like a technology. However, your 'Badboy' rating is something else. Your Badboy rating remains unknown to you, except as a general indication on the political relation screen (if you turn red or dark red to yourself, that's bad.) If you're a bad boy, you've declared many wars (especially without a Casus Belli), annexed countries outright or taken too many provinces in peace negotiations. Breaking peace treaties is a massive hit, while backing out of an alliance or failing to declare war to help an ally might affect you.

How does a high Badboy rating affect you? Well, let's say you took your time with Russia and waited for the peace treaty to expire and your stability to go up to a decent level. You declare war again, and this time capture all of Russia's provinces - giving you the option of annexing the country. You do so, and maybe take out the Mongol hordes to the south, plus pick on the Turks or the Teutonic Order. Within 50 years, your BB rating will be quite noticeable. Sooner or later you will declare war on somebody (or they on you), and everyone else, perhaps even some allies who are displeased with you, will gang up on your sorry ass. This is a bad thing. Even if you fight them off, they'll be back to fight you the next time, and the next, and the next. You'll have to wait many, many decades for your BB rating to drop to a tolerable level. In that time, everyone else might have been expanding - consolidating Germany, Scandinavia, the British Isles or colonizing the Americas.