u/SaltAdventurous4270

"Romus the Red" - How can I achieve a strong Statist economy in Rizia?

In all of my Rizia playthroughs where I ended with a strong economy instead of breaking even, or limping across the finish line with negative budget/energy per turn, I ended up being far right on the endgame political compass. Lots of privatization + generous subsidies for business.

Is there a way to go far left on economics and still get a booming economy? I suppose there are three things to consider:

  1. Rizia begins with a pretty Statist economy. Rusty Montorro may have 70% of Rizian Royal Gold and the patents to its tech, but consider all of the wealth and resources the nobles have. The Nobility is the State.

  2. Welfare decrees increase our Statist score, correct? They're mostly useful for preventing a second uprising but do some of them have direct economic benefits as well in spite of their price tags?

  3. How do the various factories, resource extraction projects (Esqiris Gas Field, etc) and Nurist sanctuaries affect our Statist-Capitalist score?

Other than that, nationalizing RRG seems like the most significant Statist move you can make. But I don't see a path to a booming endgame Statist economy, privatization brings in the money and welfare decrees are basically a hedge against Rizian Uprising 2.0/a roleplaying option. Am I wrong?

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u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 9 hours ago
▲ 257 r/suzerain

What would the hypothetical reign of King Hugo Toras be like?

Suppose that something happened to Romus which prevented him from inheriting the Crown. An accident, illness, etc. Hugo is crowned King of Rizia after Valero dies.

We have a general idea of his personality, his allegiances, his beliefs, and his preferred policies based on his dialogue and his approval/neutrality/opposition to the various royal decrees. Sometimes Hugo will even pull Romus aside to urge caution when signing certain decrees.

Do you think that he would change after being crowned King? Or would he be the same - staunchly pro-nobility, pro-Wruhecist, pro-Su Omina, somewhat pro-business, generally opposed or neutral to welfare, etc.

I'd imagine that taking on so much authority and being forced to adopt a broader perspective, that of a King rather than Grand Vizier, would change anyone.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 21 hours ago

Did Lucita arrange for this "security lapse"?

Think about it, she wants to marry Romus to place herself & House Azaro closer to the throne. Publicizing an "intimate moment" between herself and Romus will plant the idea that the two are "involved" into the public consciousness...

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 2 days ago

Since Torpor is branching away from its usual game type with TNL and Wars, I thought I'd share an idea I've had

I don't expect Torpor to take up this idea, just felt like sharing: What about a game where we played as the CEO of an international company based in Anraka?

You'd still have options to weigh in on politics like the Oligarchs in Sordland/Rizia. Lobbying (or outright bribing/blackmailing) for lower taxes and less regulation, or aligning yourself with whichever faction you think would be best for your business. Or you could be squeaky clean, no corruption, etc.

Most of it would revolve around running the business. Travelling the world to cut deals with other CEOs and political leaders, deciding which products/services you want to branch into, choosing how to treat your workforce and handle any disputes within the company and so on.

I think an Anrakan company would work best for this concept because they're known as a strong commercial nation, and they're officially neutral unlike Arcasia. It'd be a great opportunity to introduce us to countries we haven't interacted with yet and have very little, if any lore for.

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u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 6 days ago

How would you buff Su Omina? Should they be buffed?

Right now they are notoriously weak. People make fun of them by comparing them to the Young Sords in Sordland, who are a much more capable and useful paramilitary group.

We can use Su Omina to retake Zille and having their green modifier gives +1 to authority per turn. Not very promising when there are other means of retaking Zille and the authority buff is so small, not only that but many types of playthroughs aren't starved for authority at all.

But maybe that's by design? Maybe Su Omina ought to be weak, relegated to a roleplay option? Their leader is Ricardus Toras, the incompetent & politically besieged Duke of Iza. His only support is his uncle Hugo and House Toras, potentially Romus as well if we decide to be a Rizian Nationalist.

The Rizia campaign is heavily focused on foreign diplomacy and trade ties. A Radical Nationalist path in Rizia is possible, but it shuts you out from a lot of other opportunities. I think it makes sense that Su Omina is so weak in Rizia, a country that is dependent upon foreign diplomatic & trade ties.

But what does everyone else think? What else should be done with Su Omina? Maybe increase their ability to quell unrest, or if you take the Reform route give the ability to rig elections like the Young Sords can?

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u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 12 days ago

What is your favorite Government Structure Intention, and why?

And what particular kind of Absolutist/Reformist/Status Quo-ist are you? For example: Do you prefer Theocracy or Stratocracy with your Absolutism? Radical reforms that completely overthrow the noble houses, or moderate reforms that allow the nobles to retain some powers or at least keep their lands & titles?

View Poll

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u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 14 days ago

Future GRACE-Totalist alliance?

Geopolitico says Xina is becoming Totalist and Rumberg is supporting them. Rumberg & GRACE are a third-rate superpower, arguably not a superpower at all. But what if GRACE begins accepting & integrating Totalist states as members as well as Monarchies?

If that happens... and if Rumberg defeats Sordland, if Rizia remains a faithful GRACE member and Vendonesam's Monarchy wins their civil war, could GRACE become a global superpower rivalling the ATO and CSP?

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 18 days ago

Non-Aligned Movement?

As the ATO and CSP continue to gain influence around the world - potentially GRACE as well depending on how you play in Rizia, and your loaded Sordland preset - it's not surprising that unaligned countries would look for some kind of pragmatic alliance that allows them to remain mostly autonomous and preserve their political systems, control of their economies, and preserve their demographics & cultures.

I could see Rizia & Friends in an Intermerkopum playthrough becoming huge players in a global, non-ideological, Anti-Superpower Superpower. That's basically what Intermerkopum is but confined to South Merkopa.

In addition to them I could see Yarktralis and Anraka joining. Yarktralis is said to be strictly neutral & autarkic while Anraka is caught between Arcasia & United Contana, and has fought to remain independent of both but is still a strong mercantile power.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 18 days ago

Prioritizing the Air Force?

I usually don't invade Pales so I've been trying to practice the war minigame lately, I'm going to try maxxing out Air Force this time to see how it goes. Focus on AF in prologue + Build Military Academy/Top Guard Flight School. I'm not sure what adding more fighters & bombers does, I assume it further decreases the air support/bombing cooldowns but I've always heard it's not worth it.

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u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 18 days ago

My attempt at a "Sollist Rizia" playthrough! Did I make The Colonel proud? You be the judge

The premise of this playthrough was to successfully implement Sollist policies into Rizia as faithfully as possible. My ideological rigor was questionable because being totally neutral/unaligned/Autarkist just... doesn't seem viable in Rizia, along with certain other planks of Sollism. But I knew I'd have to compromise from the start.

Whether it's GRACE or Sordland or Rizia's 5 next door neighbors it looks like you have no choice but to cut deals and be close friends with someone. Rizia's circumstances are simply too different from Sordland, and even in Sordland you need to make compromises regarding Sollism, such as keeping the EPA rate at 20% or increasing it in order to truly prosper.

Not to mention my economic policies, in that regard I was basically King Rusty Montoro but with stronger welfare policies. Just look at my political compass lol. I'm not sure how viable a left-leaning statist economy would be in conjunction with my other policies. Getting that Pro-Business modifier is crucial and the privatization decrees bring in badly needed funds.

I fixed the housing & infrastructure crisis and passed the RPP's workers' rights bill. The RPP won the election and I worked with Manus Sazon to pass the reforms. I let Vina have her way, she joined the Royal Council and married her crush with a fully funded royal wedding attended by many international guests - Queen Bea, Anton Rayne & Marcel Koronti, Wiktor Smolak, Jorga Azmal & Alma Saltana.

I did well enough for the Rizian people that Adarfo Sotelato never gained any significant power. Never saw his face, only his name in my reports. What a relief.


I did the best job I could at imitating Colonel Soll's political system. Rizia became a Democracy but the King still retained legal powers, controlled the Supreme Court and gave the Noble Houses guaranteed seats on it. I balanced the democratic House of Delegates with an equally powerful House of Lords. I chose Daria de Rava, a traditionalist, for the PM position instead of Manus Sazon. These policies were meant to resemble the Old Guard's network of entrenched Sollist elites as closely as possible.

I was fairly socially conservative. I gave foreigners some rights (worker permits/residency) but didn't approve naturalization. I originally planned to support Su Omina and joined them in the prologue - a parallel of the Old Guard's secret ties to the Young Sords, but later I decided it would be necessary to go back on that.

I promoted religion, pleased all 3 religious groups and kept Wruhecism as the official state religion. I should've secularized or changed the state religion to Nurity to more closely align with Sollism but yet again I compromised, worried that such a change would cost me too much Toras/Wruhecist support.


Now onto foreign relations... I fully reunified Rizia! Zille was given back to us by Wiktor Smolak after multiple fundings of the ATA and an amicable trade deal.

Pales was conquered & annexed into Rizia. I won the war with zero units lost and chose every humanitarian option - refugee corridors, allowed journalists to freely report on the war, didn't bomb cities etc. In my victory parade through Pales' capital I chose to be merciful & respectful. I handled the fallen & tattered Palesian flag with respect, praised Duke Reinhart for his valor and service to his country, and allowed him to leave in peace instead of humiliating him further or imprisoning/killing him.

I got along very well with Wehlen/Derdia/Morella. As I mentioned before I peacefully won back Zille from Smolak, I purchased missiles & mercenaries from Derdia and mediated between them and Wehlen/Morella, and I met Morella's conditions for a 50/50 MITZ ownership split.

Later on we all formed Intermerkopum. I was already on such good terms with the other 3 member states that I didn't need to pay anything upfront to get them on board. I only promised to contribute to a collective military stockpile after the Rizia-Pales War was officially over.

I made every deal I could with Sordland because come on, the whole premise of the playthrough is "Sollist Rizia"! We have to support our Sord bros right??

Obviously, Queen Bea was not happy about any of this. To make matters worse I didn't sell Rumberg energy and I gave zero support to Vendonesam which led to their monarchy being overthrown. She booted me out of GRACE and I gave her the finger. Rizia doesn't need Rumberg anymore, anyway. We have new friends.


Thanks for reading this far, it was a long post. What do you think? Did Romus make Colonel Tarquin Soll proud, or could I have feasibly done more to emulate Sollist ideology in Rizia?

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 21 days ago

Officially signing the Treaty of Pales - The Great Unification!

The Kingdom of Rizia won this war with the utmost competence and compassion. We never lost a single unit and secured our victory in Phase 2 of the 2nd Operation of the war, Total Tranquility.

Rizia allowed journalists to freely report on the Rizian war effort, we never targeted Palesian cities with bombing runs, and we always showed mercy to war refugees no matter the cost to our own resources.

I, King Romus Toras, decided that it was best to show mercy to Duke Axel Reinhart. He was merely a pawn of his so-called 'benefactors' in Lespia. I harbor no ill will towards him or the Palesian people, but I firmly assert that the war was necessary for both Rizia and Pales.

Misled by the malicious influence of Lespia and the ATO, Pales stole ownership of the Aureus Gas Field from Rizia. I knew from the beginning that Duke Reinhart was not acting of his own accord, that Pales was being controlled, used as a pawn in a much larger geopolitical game...

But that is all behind us now. The war has been won and Justice has prevailed. The Reunited Kingdom now looks to rebuild Pales and welcome their people into our great civilization!

With the Aureus Gas Field now secured our prosperity is assured. Industry is booming! The people are thriving and joyous and free! Our Golden Kingdom enjoys a degree of order & stability it has never known before! The future has never been brighter! GLOVURIUS AXA RIZIA!

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 22 days ago

Scene: Getting booted out of GRACE for forming Intermerkopum & giving Queen Bea the finger

Bea's reaction to me remaining seated is different compared to when you preserve the Monarchy and support GRACE. Then she doesn't mention it, and if you stand she says it's unnecessary. And she calls me a cuck! What!?

I managed to win enough favor with Wehlen/Derdia/Morella that I didn't need to pay anything at the first Intermerkopum Conference, they all agreed. I promised to contribute to a collective arms stockpile but only after I'd officially conquered Pales.

The only big challenge remaining is getting my reforms passed! They're moderate reforms that allow the King to retain certain powers, and form a House of Lords comprised exclusively of nobles with equal power to the House of Delegates.

But I recently received a report about House Azaro holding a very secretive meeting. It's no secret that they're opposed to reforms and it looks like their up to something. Our impending annexation of Pales might embolden them to do something... drastic.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 22 days ago

Meeting Marcel Koronti at the wedding

Vina & Manus's wedding, that is.

I've never done a radical capitalist/reformist playthrough in Rizia before. It'd be interesting to see how far I could go with it, how much money I could make, how many of those big ticket Welfare decrees I could pass.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 22 days ago

Providing a scene: King Romus visits the front lines of the Rizia-Pales War after the success of Operation Golden Shield

Unfortunately I couldn't post the entire scene due to the 20-image limit, I had 6 more I wanted to show you...

Things are going very well. We've taken both cities according to plan, defeated nearly all enemy units aside from 3 nearby Fort Ales without losing a single division, and conducted the war as humanely as possible. We've opened refugee corridors and refrained from bombing either city.

Our next operation will spell the end Lespia's puppet state and their claims on the Aureus Gas Field! We will close in from land and sea, Rizian marines will storm their capital and Rizia will finally become whole again. Glovurius axa Rizia!

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 23 days ago

"Autonomous weaponry" from High Tech Military industry? Rizian War Robots... Rizzbots!?

I assume they mean landmines/depth charges or something. But Rizzbots are a super cool idea so I'm going to pretend they're real.

BEEP BEEP GLOVURIUS AXA RIZIA BEEP

On a more serious note, in order to get the most out of the High Tech Mil investment you need both the Support Vehicle/Tank factories, right? Or does it improve other military factories as well such as Monqiz/Fighter/Bomber? I'm still trying to figure out exactly what all the various decisions in Rizia do and what synergies there are.

I would've invested in Pharmaceuticals instead of High Tech Mil if I'd had the foresight to build the Romus Toras Hospital. My budget is/was healthy enough for it, and I had already signed the 'Invest in Pharmaceutical Industry' decree. A missed opportunity... maybe I'll go for it next playthrough.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 23 days ago
▲ 199 r/suzerain

Hubertus Toras is an under-discussed character IMO

He's very talented, intelligent and very loyal. As you see in the report he can aid in the war effort, he's an accomplished explorer, an academic, an environmentalist, and if Rizia descends into civil war he'll side with Romus and fight for the Crown.

Granted he's a side character whom we don't see very much of, but I think Hubertuth is a pretty cool guy and I'd like to know more about him.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 23 days ago

What is your favorite preparation for the Rizia-Pales War?

What are your prologue choices? Strengthen armed forces + which military branch? Romus Toras Military Academy & Pales Logistics hubs are must-haves for the extra action points.

Do you increase, maintain or abolish House levies? Which additional units do you train and how many? Which military factories do you build?

How about the decisions to form additional specialist units (mountaineer/paratrooper/marines) or form the Top Guard Flight School after the military academy is built? What about the other military-related decisions?

Feel free to post about war strategies or anything else directly related to the war. I've won before but I'm trying to shore up my knowledge. I usually go the diplomatic route with Pales.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 24 days ago

Top Guard Flight School at Romus Toras Military Academy - what does this do?

Like many decisions in Rizia we're not given specific details. Does anyone know what this does?

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 25 days ago

Roasting Reinhart for being a Lespian puppet

Time time time, time time for war time!

Time time time, time time for war time!

Pales doesn't stand a chance. We'll avenge the death of Titus's father, Lespia and the ATO can go to Hell!

While this pointless arbitration is going on I'll be building my strength...

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 25 days ago

Epilogue: Failed Wruhecist Kingdom run

This was a blind playthrough based on a roleplay theme. I did my best to be faithful to the pre-chosen roleplay theme without following a guide or save-editing, or deviating from my roleplay theme.

I enacted every pro-Wruhecist decree and chose every pro-Wruhecist decision possible. I expanded the Golden Guard, and they became Wruhec's Guardians. I did nothing for Dastnurists or Golcondists because they are heretics! Later on I passed decrees explicitly discriminating against non-Nurists and further empowering the Wruhecist faith.

I centralized the government (full admin expansion, military loyalty oath, disbanded provincial levies/police) and disempowered the Noble Houses, but that didn't stop the Azaro coup.

I tried to maintain good relations with Rumberg but my extreme Wruhecist-Theocrat policies led to Queen Beatrice rescinding Rizia's GRACE membership at High Tea Time. This in spite of me agreeing to the full energy deal with Rumberg, and fully supporting Vendonesam so their Monarchy wins the civil war.

I joined Su Omina in the prologue and fully supported them and Rico, and even got Bludish mercenaries to help in Zille from Beatrice, but the Zille Referendum was lost anyway. I took the diplomatic route with Pales, built PaleStream and married Vina to Axel, but she took the Reinhart name.

The economy was trashed by the end. I built all 3 consumer factories, had positive energy income etc, but businesses just didn't want to invest in Rizia... I'm not sure why.

u/SaltAdventurous4270 — 27 days ago