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Hello again! Last week I asked you all what nation youd like me to focus on today, and the two most popular answers were Ayutthaya and Majapahit. Today Ill focus on Ayutthaya, with Majapahit coming up next week.



Ayutthaya is the nation that would eventually become known to the West as Siam. It is named after its massive capital city, so large and so bustling with activity that even its canals were filled with floating markets. By 1700 it may have had 1 million inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities on the planet. In 1444 Ayutthaya is a nation on the rise. In 1378 it subjugated Sukhothai, taking its place as the dominant Thai kingdom. In 1431, Ayutthaya sacked the great city of Angkor, capital of the Khmer Empire. The devastation wrought by the Thai armies was so great that the following centuries are known as the Dark Age of Cambodia - more on that in a later dev diary. Ayutthaya also rules the vassal kingdom of Ligor on the Malay Peninsula, and would go on to launch a narrowly unsuccessful invasion of Malacca and a more successful subjugation of its smaller kingdoms like Pattani.



By 1444 Sukhothai is barely even a subject kingdom. Taking advantage of the political situation, Ayutthaya appointed Prince Trailok as King of Sukhothai. Upon the death of his father, Trailok would inherit both kingdoms and rule from Ayutthaya. This will now happen in EU4.

In 1.30 Ayutthayas national ideas are both a little on the weak side and not especially supportive of a South-East Asian playstyle. Ive made some changes to their national ideas to better reflect the flavor of the nation, focusing on vassal-play and diplomacy:

AYU_ideas = {
start = {
cavalry_power = 0.15
liberty_desire_from_subject_development = -0.2
}

bonus = {
diplomatic_annexation_cost = -0.15
}

trigger = {
tag = AYU
}
free = yes

white_elephant = {
vassal_income = 0.2
}
corvee_system = {
global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
}
trading_links = {
diplomatic_reputation = 1
}
ayu_foreign_mercenaries = {
merc_maintenance_modifier = -0.15
}
ayu_embassies = {
improve_relation_modifier = 0.3
}
phrai_luang = {
development_cost = -0.1
}
personal_executions = {
harsh_treatment_cost = -0.2
}
}

Of course it wouldn't be a South-East Asia update without new mission trees. Below is the new mission tree for Ayutthaya, which it shares with the formable nation of Siam:



Ayutthayas mission tree rewards very few permanent claims. Instead, many missions award Subjugation CBs, allowing Ayutthaya to vassalize large nations in a single war. Originally it was enough to simply have the required states owned by you or your subjects, but after some playtesting in both single player and multiplayer I judged these missions a little too powerful. So most subjugation missions additionally require reducing the liberty desire of relevant subjects. Its not enough to have vassals in name, your subjects must be truly loyal to your will. Your National Ideas have an opportunity to shine here, but it certainly doesnt hurt to complement them with Influence Ideas.

Some other interesting highlights:

• Completing the Embassy to Japan mission rewards you with the renowned Japanese adventurer Yamada Nagamasa as a general, as well as access to the Japanese Volunteers mercenary company (highly disciplined soldiers) based in Ayutthaya itself.
  
• Completing the Devaraja mission grants a new estate privilege that causes Dharmic faith provinces to have no Religious Unity penalty. Well talk about Estate Privileges in more depth in a later dev diary, probably one focussing on the Khmer Empire.
  
• Completing the Royal Absolutism mission awards the Chakravarti tier 1 government reform, which will have the (as yet unrevealed) new features of the Mandala reform without the penalties, as well as +10 Maximum Absolutism and +1 Monarch Administrative Power. It also raises your government rank to Empire. If you are playing as Ayutthaya, completing this mission is the only way to form Siam.
  
• There are several elements of the leftmost branch of the mission tree that I cant talk about yet, but the general idea is that youre using various means to develop your nation, especially your capital, and ultimately making your capital into the most glorious city on earth.
  
• The rightmost branch deals with Ayutthayas ambitions in Maritime SEA. Preparing an invasion of Malacca can severely harm Malaccas relationship with the Ming, resulting in the loss of their tributary status. Further missions grant claims only on Centers of Trade in the region and require establishing trade power in the node.
  
• The final missions of the central branch (not pictured) have you taking on East Asias only superpower - the mighty Ming dynasty - and claiming the Mandate of Heaven.