How exactly do budgets work?

[crossdeck]

From what I understand, each nation has some modifier somewhere that defines how much overall money it gets, based on tensions, a certain portion of that money is given to the navy, and events can increase or decrease that amount.  I've also seen people say that colonies make money, but not taking colonies is more profitable.  My question is whether someone could explain how this all interacts? I want to do an Austria-Hungary run so improving my economy seems vital.  If I'm doomed to a small budget then it doesn't seem like much fun late game.

[mycophobia]

There is a precise equation that I don’t have on had.

But essentially, budget is determined by your nation’s base resource multiplied by a budget factor.

Base resource is different between nations, and is gained over time and through some event. Different nation can have different growth rate, with US being notable for a fast growth.

Colony also contribute to base resource, but their effect reduces as the game goes on.

Lastly winning war that result in either at least “minor confession” will grant further base resource. When a major win gives you option to take colonies with a certain amount of points, not spending these points on taking over colonies result in greater increase in base resource than what the colonies can provide. (So taking colony makes money, not taking them after a war will give you more than taking them as part of the peace treaty.)

Budget factor is influenced mostly by tension, but also many ingame event that has a ‘Budget+’ effect, which gives you more budget factor without change in tension.

[crossdeck]

The most I've ever gotten in a peace deal was 10 points. So theoretically, if I were to play Austria-Hungary with the goal of controlling the Med (which means taking on Britain, France, and Italy), how many of those types of wins would I need to increase my base resource by enough to compete with the British and French?

[blur]

I think that for extorting money it's better to get a 6 point deal than to wait for the collaps which gives 10. France is the ideal punching bag since it has two home areas and is therefore trivial to blockade, which makes victory easy and allows invasions on their North-African holdings. After the war provoke the next one as quickly as you can so they have no time to rebuild. One or two BB/BC are far easier to deal with than a proper battle fleet. Kick 'em while they're down.

[JagdFlanker]

havn't played AH much in RtW2 so it might be slightly different, but in RtW1 AH was similar to Germany where the budget explodes by 1910-15ish so it's not like other small budget nations where they are stuck with a comparatively smaller budget the entire game

my personal rule of thumb is the first 2-3 wars i win i take few to no reparations so that they get invested into my economy, then when i can build perhaps 4 capital ships at once (very large fleet) then i start taking land for reparations

[crossdeck]

That makes sense, thanks all.

[griffin01]

Aug 22, 2019 4:24:29 GMT -6 JagdFlanker said:

havn't played AH much in RtW2 so it might be slightly different, but in RtW1 AH was similar to Germany where the budget explodes by 1910-15ish so it's not like other small budget nations where they are stuck with a comparatively smaller budget the entire game

my personal rule of thumb is the first 2-3 wars i win i take few to no reparations so that they get invested into my economy, then when i can build perhaps 4 capital ships at once (very large fleet) then i start taking land for reparations

To my knowledge, AH has a bigger budget in the first period of the game, which then goes back to normal. So you should put these kronen to good use and seize a good position that you can capitalize on later in the game.

[enioch]

Early game, as small nations, you need lots of small victorious wars

LOTS of them.

As A-H you bully the Italians and you bully the Frenchmen, ONE at a time. You do not let wars drag on for too long: you're looking for wars that will last for about a year and give you 4-6 points, not 3-year wars aiming to collapse their government. You never take possessions before 1915. You want LOTS of small nibbles, in regular influx, not one big bite. You also want to build ships domestically as much as possible, to encourage drydock expansion and 'improved industrialization!' messages.

As a rule of thumb for me, when your peacetime budget is equal or superior to Germany's, THAT'S when you start grabbing possessions and getting uppity