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Now let me step aside for a moment with my in-game presence not my character. The big issue here is not Ayutthaya at all. It’s China.
The hardest starts in the game tend to be vassals who can’t war and push themselves in the early game that get gobbled up quickly.
An example of that was Athens in my last game. It was a vassal of dying Byzantium, which was coveted by the Turks. They would typically declare war on Byzantium very quickly, and you’d be annexed into the Ottoman Empire very quickly. We all would. Even when I won independence from Byzantium with other Christians I’d get attacked soon, as the Turks had a claim on me. It wasn’t until my 5th run in the game that I realized that what I needed to do was the get the Turks to help me. I made nice with them, disbanded my navy, built my army to around 50% of Byzantium’s 12k, and then the Turks supported my independence. I declared my independence, and I got the rest of Greece that was still under their control, and the Turks got their big prize.
Another example are the vassals of Muscovy, often considered some of the hardest, as it’s very difficult to find supporters. The only person in the area who might support it is Novgorod, and they are about to get gobbled up hard by Muscovy. Nations like Odoyev, Perm, and, Pskov are very hard to begin the game with. Thus my Pskov dynasty where I free myself and take out Muscovy is not easy, but I do it! I get Poland and their junior partner Lithuania to support me, and I declare my independence while they are at war with some others, we win, and I get my freedom.
For this game, I need the same. I need allies. Now I don’t give a lick who they are. Dai Viet? Lan Nang? Champa? Khmer? Malacca? Someone far away like Bengal? Sure, I don’t care. I’ll wait a month or so to see who Ayutthaya and the other nearby nations rival up, and then I will try to cozy up to them. If I can get two other decent nations to secure my independence then I can declare my freedom against Ayutthaya.
The problem is Ming. They will join the side of whoever declares war against someone who is sending them cash. They’re the hegemon of the region. They aren’t going to put up with us getting our freedom from Ayutthaya. What I need to do is to bide my time. If I can wait until China is doing something else, then I can wage war against Ayutthaya, and then secure my freedom. Then, I can actually begin my game.
Now, here’s the main question.
How long will that take? And can I line them all up at the same time?
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