After much heartache and heavy cost, the brave warriors of the Union of Social Democratic Tribes of Oceania have bought their freedom from the Perfidious English, liberated their comrades in Polynesia and Australia, and created a land where everyone from Freed American slaves to Flemish Refugees to Chinese Socialists can join together. Soon the Parliament will be dissolved in favour of a Council Republic.
Two problems remain
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Taking most of Australia somewhat suddenly means that now I have tanked my economy and standard of living having to provide Public Healthcare and Education to a few million starving semi-literate anglos.
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The Fucking French! HAAATTTTTEE!
I think. right now, Vic 2 is slightly better. But Vic 3 will be better in a patch or two. They both have natural strengths.
They've simplified the economy in some ways, but now it behaves much more like an economy. You really, really feel the material conditions, so with NZ for example, I just didn't have the population to go agrarian, so I had to coddle the industrialists and develop mining and industry tech ASAP. There is no way to press the Socialism button before you've developed enough productive forces, and if you're a high pop nation like South Africa farms are way more viable.
Even now, a sexist asshole running the Trade Unions is fucking over me giving the vote to women.
The one weakness is that there is no direct military control. You assign fronts and hope for the best (see, the French drubbing me in my second war for the South Island.) but it's clearly a placeholder mechanic.
I think I remember one of the devs saying that they simplified warfare so they could focus on the economics aspects.