Help understanding how to engage with the Continental System

[Spore18]

So I'm in the midst of a MP Grand Campaign playing as France and will be approaching the period of the Continental System soon. I'm reading through the event files to try to understand how the system works, and most of it makes sense, but I'm struggling to parse the key success/failure event:

Code: Select all

SelectFaction = FRA
SelectRegion = $Paris

StartEvent = evt_nam_FRA_ContinentalBlockadeSucess_Check|999|2|evt_txt_FRA_ContinentalBlockadeSucess_Check|Event-img_GBR_ContinentalBlockade|$Paris|NULL

Conditions
  MinDate = 1805/01/01
  MaxDate = 1815/12/31
  TurnIndex = 0;12;24;36
  ActorEnabled = $gmaOptionGov;FRA_ContinentalBlockade

SelectFaction = GBR
  RegInit = 1
  EvalStrucCount = $SmuggleArea_Coastal;FriendAndSelf;STRUCFAM $sfmHarbor;>=;0

SelectFaction = FRA
  RegInit = 2
  EvalStrucCount = $SmuggleArea_Coastal;FriendOnly;STRUCFAM $sfmHarbor;>=;0
  RegEval = 1;<;2
  RegDeactivate = NULL

Actions

SelectFaction = GBR

  ChgEvtOccurs = evt_nam_FRA_ContinentalBlockadeSucessesCount;ChgEventOccurs;1

SelectFaction = FRA
  ChgRgnDecisionFP = $rgdRetaliate;3
  ChangeMoneyPool = 100
  ChangeFacMorale = 1

ChangeVPCount = 480

SelectFaction = GBR
  ChangeFacMorale = -1

  ChgEvtOccurs = evt_nam_FRA_ContinentalBlockadeSuccessesCount;MaxOccurs;1

  ChgEvtOccurs = evt_nam_FRA_ContinentalBlockadeSuccessesCount;CuOccurs;1

EndEvent

The important part is this:

Code: Select all

SelectFaction = GBR
  RegInit = 1
  EvalStrucCount = $SmuggleArea_Coastal;FriendAndSelf;STRUCFAM $sfmHarbor;>=;0

SelectFaction = FRA
  RegInit = 2
  EvalStrucCount = $SmuggleArea_Coastal;FriendOnly;STRUCFAM $sfmHarbor;>=;0
  RegEval = 1;<;2
  RegDeactivate = NULL

It's counting the number of harbors within the $SmuggleArea_Coastal region for Britain + her friends and comparing it to the number of harbors in that region for France's friends, but I don't know what that region actually is. Does anyone know what $SmuggleArea_Coastal is and how it can be influenced by the French player to win the economic war?

[Nikel]

From the file Areas.ini


// Area #430
{Area}
UID = $SmuggleArea_Coastal
Name = SmuggleArea_Coastal
Hierarchy = -1
ListParams = $Lagos|$Lisboa|$Oporto|$Coruna|$Santander|$Bilbao|$San_Sebastian|$Cadiz|$Almeria|$Cartagena|$Valencia|$Taragona|$Barcelona|$Palma|$Bayonne|$Bordeaux|$Rochefort|$Nantes|$Marseille|$Toulon|$Nice|$Brest|$Lorient|$Saint_Malo|$Cherbourg|$Le_Havre|$Rouen|$Boulogne|$Genova|$Venezia|$Trieste|$Ancona|$Livorno|$Gaeta|$Napoli|$Taranto||$Brugge|$Antwerpen|$Vlissingen|$Den_Haag|$Amsterdam|$Den_Helder|$Emden|$Wesel|$Bremen|$Kiel|$Hamburg|$Luebeck|$Stralsund|$Stettin|$Kolberg|$Danzig|$Koenigsberg|$Memel|$Fredericia|$Aarhus|$Aalborg|$Fiume|$Split|$Ragusa|$Kotor|$Tirana|$Varna|$Thessaloniki|$Athina|
{/Area}

[Spore18]

Oh thanks! So it's essentially just most European port cities... My next question would then just be what counts as a "friend". Someone in the Coalition or French Alliance? Does that mean that neutral nations aren't considered in this calculation?

[Bohémond]

According to what I see on game settings, ',friend'' means having a relationship value above 25 and not being at war with.

Regards

[Spore18]

Interesting... So essentially, any European nation with above 25 relations with France and below that number with Britain can be considered to be participating in the Continental System. If the opposite is the case, they're actively flouting it. If they are above or below 25 opinion with both nations, they're effectively neutral. This applies to every nation with a coastal port on mainland Europe from Memel to Thessaloniki. The Danish islands and Sicily aren't included, so aside from Palma of the Balearic Islands, France really doesn't need any naval presence at all to fully enforce the Continental System.

Another interesting thing to note is that there are actually no Russian ports listed in the smuggle area used for calculations. As far as I can tell, that effectively puts the onus on Russia to attack France in the late game to secure objectives like Warsaw and prevent French victory, rather than on France to attack Russia and force its compliance to the Continental System. Feels like an unusual choice, but oh well.