{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Paradox is really good at illustrating how history happened the way it did and why through game mechanics, like in European...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/651115876570038272/", "html": "<p>Paradox is really good at illustrating how history happened the way it did and why through game mechanics, like in European contact with Asia alone there&rsquo;s &ldquo;China is basically impossible to break into when it&rsquo;s united but when it splits it&rsquo;s vulnerable&rdquo;, &ldquo;Japan is valuable for trade, dominanble by blockade but very tedious to conquer from outside, given the reward&rdquo;, &ldquo;if you have a superior navy but no ground force you can still take Sri Lanka, Macau, and the archipelagos&rdquo;, &ldquo;the Indian subcontinent is a mess but once you get dug in you could sustain a good spot on the coast&rdquo;, &ldquo;Ayutthaya is the empire that could have been&rdquo;, &ldquo;the Portuguese colonies were just a series of friendly ports to extend trade range into Asia&rdquo;, &ldquo;the British Empire held critical naval chokepoints&quot;\u2026</p>"}