Transcript of this post by mastablasta92. Kept entirely in its original form (spelling errors and all). The guide seems to be from the perspective of Jianzhou. - TheRedArmy
After lots of experimenting and trial and error, I've come to create what I believe is an optimised run to form Qing and should cause the unguarded frontier and <50 mandate before 1470. This is a fun and satisfying achievement, easier than Byzantium and can easily develop into WC. So first of all, why is unguarded frontier and <50 mandate important?
Unguarded Frontier is a disaster unique to Ming which requires that Ming has a neighbouring country which:
- Has the government form Steppe Nomads
- Total development at least 300
- Is not a subject nation
- Is not at truce with Ming
- Not allied with Ming
This disaster has the following effects:
- -15.0% morale of armies
- -0.3% mandate per month
- Liberty desire in subjects +25.0%
This disaster is the keystone in this tactic as -0.3% mandate per month is impossible to counterbalance. Why is this important? Having <50 mandate has the following effects:
- +50.0% shock damage received
- +50.0% fire damage received
- -50.0% goods produced
Which means their armies turn to butter and their butter isn't worth anything. Looks like a difficult task starting as a 94 dev country but here's how it's done:
Step 1 - Forming Manchu
- Raise a host army and make your ruler a general. Pick whichever one has the highest shock. I suggest rerolling if you don't get a 3 shock or higher general. Rival Haixi and take the mission to conquer one of their provinces, then rival Yeren and Korchin if you can. If you can't rival Korchin, rival Korea. Ming will offer to make you a tributary so make sure you only accept in January to save yourself some points.
- Merge the host army with your army in Huncun and DoW on Haixi. You should be able to crush them in their capital but if not, just run them down and carpet seige. Annex them completely and take their do$h.
- Take the mission to unite the Jurchen tribes so you have a claim on Girin and Hinggan then start coring Girin ONLY. Forming Manchu will give you cores on the Haixi provinces.
- DoW on Yeren and beat them in pretty much the same way. I like to use 2 infantry to seige Hinggan and Urkan as sometimes Yeren ends up at war with Buryatia/Korchin. In the peace deal take Hinggan, Urkan and any other land you can but make sure you humiliate them.
- Core Hinggan and sit tight. You shouldn't need to raise autonomy anywhere. Avoid Haixi rebels if you can but they're not hard to defeat anyway. Disband all your cavalry and replace them with banner units. Your army should have 10 infantry and 10 banner units at this point. Form Manchu and then...
Step 2 - 300 Development Dreams
- As soon as you form Manchu, DoW on Korchin and take Onan Gol, Cicigar, Buteha and Hulunbuir. Do NOT raze any of these provinces. Next, annex Buryatia, again not razing any provinces. you should be able to prevent rebels just by raising autonomy
- Take the mission to save the Manchu in whichever Korean province. Immediately DoW on Korea. Seiging Gyanggye and Gyeongju should give you 99% warscore. You should be able to defeat them in the mountains, so don't worry about that. Just detach a seige and keep the rest of your army in an adjacent province. Take The entire Pyongan, Hamgyeong and Eastern Korea states. You should be about 95% overextension.
- at this point, check your development in the countries ledger. It should be about 306 so razing one province should be ok but keep your development over 300. Core up and raise autonomy. Keep reducing war exhaustion to maintain unrest and keep coring cost down.
Step 3 - Small Bark, Big Bite
- As soon as you have mil tech 5 you're ready. At this point I like to set my National Focus to admin. Raise banners up to your force limit and have them near your army. Do not wait around because Ming will be stronger than you once you both have mil tech 6. Ally Oirat and DoW on Ming for the Mandate of Heaven, promising land to Oirat.
- Sit your main army in Shenyang and keep your cav next to them. Don't worry if a large army starts attacking your seige because as a horde you have shock bonuses on flat terrain and when attacking. Since you're seiging, you'll always be attacking if another army moves into you. Reinforce with your banners and then step out with the banners once you've won. Ming should spread their armies out and try to seige Oirat down but it's a waste of time, manpower, war exhaustion and divides their armies.
- Next is Beijing. Same story, just be brave. Once you've taken Beijing, you've basically won. If you see any stacks running around on flat terrain, attack them before they attack you so you can get a shock bonus. While you're waiting for warscore, sack the Shandong state for money and devastation which will reduce their Mandate.
Step 4 - DISASTER!
- Do not peace out with Ming until the unguarded nomadic frontier disaster fires. Peacing out will freeze the disaster timer and they'll probably kick your ass if there's a second war.
- When the disaster fires you can demand all your cores, and the North Hebei and South Hebei states. Grab what money and reparations you can so you can pay off the loans you've accrued (I usually get 2 loans, first one during the Korean war). Do not take the Mandate of Heaven from Ming.
- Finally, sit back and laugh as you enjoy a long truce while Ming's Mandate crumbles to dust. They won't get crushed immediately but your next war should be easy. Oirat will break their alliance with you for not giving them land but that's ok because we want to take Xilin Gol and make them a tributary anyway.
- Importantly, do not form Qing til Ming is well and truly dead. Forming Qing will change your government form which will relieve Ming of their disaster (see criteria above). If horde unity is running low, don't be afraid to strength government.
Afterwards, it should be pretty obvious what you need to do. Once mandate hits 0 they'll get some pretty nasty events too and you should be able to scoop up the pieces for yourself. Hopefully you found this guide useful and if you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please let me know. This is one of my favourite country runs to do and the Mandate mechanics make it so much more interesting, and I hope you enjoy too!
Points of note after defeating Ming are:
- Don't form Qing til Ming is losing -0.3 Mandate per year from non-tributaries as forming Qing will remove the undefended frontier malice
- Don't fight Ming too many times. After about the third war, Ming will be vulnerable to other countries taking the Mandate of Heaven from them, so keep an eye on other powers, especially Ayutthaya.
- Get your own tributaries BEFORE taking the mandate of heaven. You may see another country take it from Ming and immediately tank its Mandate level. Don't be that country.
No comments, yet...