How to get the PU over Bohemia properly?

[Medicles]

I dont know what is happening, it was so easy before, but now it seems almost impossible to do it with Austria. I just wasted one hour and needed countless restarts, still didnt got it even one time.

Either i dont get enough allys that would join the war, because of ♥♥♥♥ed up rivalry, or i get enough allys and they dont get my dynastie. My sieges always take an eternity, with being 5 month at 28% whereas they siege me in seconds. I dont get Poland as ally most of the times, because it just takes too long to get to the 40 points i need, if they even rival Bohemia in the first place.

The best attempt was my last one, so i thought. They had Saxony and Brandenburg as rivals and were only allied to Ansbach and Ferrara. But the war started to early, i got a 20 stack with 10k manpower in reserve. So i start the war and siege down Ferrara and Ansbach, to get them out of the war. Bohemia managed to siege down the capitals of Saxony and Brandenburg in that time and took their land. So only me and Bohemia. But i alreay started to siege down their capital and suddenly, i couldnt go anywhere else but to the fort next to the capital. They sieged down my capital and even got help of the Teutonic Order eventually.

So, what do i have to do to get the PU consistantly? I have no idea what to do anymore, it all seems to come down to luck, by getting Poland-Lithuania as ally in time, if they are even rivaled.

[Rabob]

You do realize you get a mission for it later on as well?
Furthermore you could merc up etc. 20k is only a part of your force limit even in 1444 IIRC.
Also you dont need to siege their allies most of the time. Especially ferrara would be a pain to siege. Just white peace them and kill armies in the first year. Having the war goal also helps a lot peaceing out allies.

Try to use edicts as well. The defensiveness can prolong their sieges for instance.

[Medicles]

There is no money for mercs at the start and getting the PU later is not an option.

I just tried again, they have Brandenburg and Liege as ally and i have only Saxony. Of course they didnt rival Poland even so Poland rivaled them. This is again a lost war and i cant do anything about it.

[Ghost Of Capybara]

Originally posted by Tea Age:

There is no money for mercs at the start and getting the PU later is not an option.

I just tried again, they have Brandenburg and Liege as ally and i have only Saxony. Of course they didnt rival Poland even so Poland rivaled them. This is again a lost war and i cant do anything about it.

I did that many times as Austria, however most they never even had an ally. However, what I would do is build as many infantry as you can, I believe you can almost cap at the start? I know you can get some. Then get Morale or even Discipline advisor although Morale would be best, and just tire out any allies by siegeing them but also making sure they keep getting wiped, as I Bohemia will im guessing ally smaller powers. Something else is you could just try and wipe Bohemias army at the start, send one army to protect your lands, and siege them with the other. Don't know if that helped, but It was never too hard for me, doing it a month or 2 ago.

[Medicles]

Capping out at the start would mean no manpower with a 26k army. Bohemia and Silesia can already field a 20k army at the beginning and even with only an OPM as ally it would surpass my army. I never saw them getting no ally whatsoever. I saw them getting only one ally, but of course only when they dont get my dynastie or an heir immeditaley in the first month.

I tried wrecking their army before, but that just drains manpower and eventually i just got attacked by Venice during the war. That was my furthest attempt.

It was easier before, if i recall correctly, even on 1.25.

[Ghost Of Capybara]

Originally posted by Tea Age:

Capping out at the start would mean no manpower with a 26k army. Bohemia and Silesia can already field a 20k army at the beginning and even with only an OPM as ally it would surpass my army. I never saw them getting no ally whatsoever. I saw them getting only one ally, but of course only when they dont get my dynastie or an heir immeditaley in the first month.

I tried wrecking their army before, but that just drains manpower and eventually i just got attacked by Venice during the war. That was my furthest attempt.

It was easier before, if i recall correctly, even on 1.25.

That may be correct I guess. I remember quite a few times wiping Bohemia like they were nothing. I think I tried doing it again recently but I could never claim them quick enough so I gave up. Maybe ally some random major to deter Venice? Also rushing to tech 4 and hoping to war them before they get it giving you a huge advantage. Thats all I can guess. Otherwise wait until you get the PU via missions.

[Medicles]

Rushing tech 4 doesnt seem to be an option, since the war usually starts way earlier. Venice is also not really the problem, but i still wouldnt ally castille, the Navarran succession war happened way too often. Waiting for the mission is also not an option.

The thing is, it is pretty easy when they rival poland and you get poland as ally. But the problem is, even so you start with 20/20 reasons and only need one month of increasing relations to ally them, they ally someone else in that time and the reasons increase to 20/40. By the time you get to 40, its usually too late and the war with Bohemia already started.

[Ghost Of Capybara]

Originally posted by Tea Age:

Rushing tech 4 doesnt seem to be an option, since the war usually starts way earlier. Venice is also not really the problem, but i still wouldnt ally castille, the Navarran succession war happened way too often. Waiting for the mission is also not an option.

The thing is, it is pretty easy when they rival poland and you get poland as ally. But the problem is, even so you start with 20/20 reasons and only need one month of increasing relations to ally them, they ally someone else in that time and the reasons increase to 20/40. By the time you get to 40, its usually too late and the war with Bohemia already started.

I honestly don't know. I remember doing it just fine a while ago, may have to try out an Austrian game to see what I can do. Would really suck if they finally gave the Bohemian AI the buff it needed and now you have to wait.

[Medicles]

Well, i just had an idea, which i didnt thought of before. Since, every diplomatic action will include a month of waiting time for another diplomatic action, i guess getting an advisor with diplomatic reputation at the start would help to get the needed alliance with Poland right at the beginning.

So i just need Poland rivaling Bohemia, an advisor with diplo rep and Bohemia getting my dynastie for an easy PU again.

But i would still like to know more options to get the PU consistently.

[Ghost Of Capybara]

Originally posted by Tea Age:

Well, i just had an idea, which i didnt thought of before. Since, every diplomatic action will include a month of waiting time for another diplomatic action, i guess getting an advisor with diplomatic reputation at the start would help to get the needed alliance with Poland right at the beginning.

So i just need Poland rivaling Bohemia, an advisor with diplo rep and Bohemia getting my dynastie for an easy PU again.

But i would still like to know more options to get the PU consistently.

I honestly would too if I were to do another Austria game, as that is what I would mostly likely go for. Diplo advisor I believe gives 5 points towards Poland liking you more? Think thats what one rep gets you. If you find something out that works well, tell me. Would be nice to know for future use.

[Medicles]

It did, just tested it now. The diplo advisor gives you enough for an immediate alliance with poland. Since austria also gets the choice of 4 advisors, the diplo one should almost always be there. Just need Poland rivaling Bohemia, which they did in my current try. Getting that damn PU now. I hope this wont change any further in 1.26.

[Ghost Of Capybara]

Originally posted by Tea Age:

It did, just tested it now. The diplo advisor gives you enough for an immediate alliance with poland. Since austria also gets the choice of 4 advisors, the diplo one should almost always be there. Just need Poland rivaling Bohemia, which they did in my current try. Getting that damn PU now. I hope this wont change any further in 1.26.

Have watched the dev steams for Dharma, barely touching Europe with it, so should be fine unless it is in a hidden patch note I missed. However, if they ever do an update in the HRE or Austria, I would expect Bohemia to be messed with.

[Medicles]

Even if they wont touch europe directly, the patches usually change something indirectly. For example, i believe it was in the last 4 version, where the Teutonic Order had to change their strategy in getting Austrias relations up for getting into the HRE, even so the patches didnt touch the Teutonic Order or Austria directly.

It can just be something really small, like Bohemia not rivaling Poland anymore, and the whole PU strategy is doomed. Just now i got Bohemia and Hungary in PU at 1458, mainly because of Poland. Sure, i got Bohemia under PU without Polands help this time, but only because their bigger ally was already in a war and wouldnt join, so it was only Bohemia + Salzburg against Austria + Brandenburg and Brandenburg almost fell. But i certainly wouldnt have gotten the win against Hungary and its 4 allys without Poland.

[Psychotic Fury]

The way ive done it is i just marry them, ally brandenburg/saxony (usually brandy). Then wait, as soon as they get your dynasty, rival them and declare war.

You can ally some other nations, even if you break the alliance after.

[Colorjuice14]

After you do the usual royal marriage and claim throne thing it should ~80% of the time be possible to PU them in a war.

I just had small nations (not electors) like Bavaria help me in the war by promising them land and not giving them any. (Honestly just build about 10-15 regiments from the start and you should be good.) If you have the Cossacks DLC you can get manpower and a 40 tradition general. Just reroll if they ally somebody larger than managable.

PUing Hungary later on should be easier with a Bohemian vassal and (hopefully with strong allies too) win fairly easily. I had allied a Poland who had not PUed Lithuania help by offering land and not giving him any. I even kept him as an ally!

I struggled with this a bit myself but you should be able to do it eventually.

DL;DR: royal marriage Bohemia and claim throne, ally some nobodies living next to Bohemia, promise them land in a PU war, and then don't give them land when you win.

This guide can explain in more depth the strategy I suggest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lOqxSa-oLY

[Medicles]

Promise land only works for nations who have Bohemia as rival and this can easily end pretty bad because rng. Sometimes only two nations rival them, like Teutonic Order and Bavaria, whereas they are allied to Poland. I doubt its possible 80% of the time.