Imperial Denmark (1521 - 1552)
Denmark entered it's first year as a Lutheran Kingdom, completely isolated from the rest of Catholic Europe. Revolts in Jylland and Brandenburg complicate the situation, though we soon get the situation under control. Sweden broke their vassalage when I turned Lutheran, and promptly joined the French-Polish alliance in what is beginning to look like a major threat to the Kingdom of Denmark. At least the King is a devout and holy man, who is truly committed to Lutheranism - one often sees him at Church, praying fervently for divine intervention.
Fortunately, France decides to attack first, and pick England as their target. War explodes across Europe as most of the minor German states are embroiled in the huge France + Sweden + Scotland (Poland stay out of the war, but quickly rejoin the alliance) vs England + Portugal war that erupts. This is good news for Denmark, as it allows us to concentrate on expanding our colonies in North America. Unfortunately, Spain annexes the Aztecs in June of 1521 - bad news for my neighbouring Gold colony of Jalisco. Due to the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain do not even have to declare war on me to attack my colonies; unfortunately, I am unable to reply in kind. Of course, my next royal mission becomes 'Hold Jalisco'. Great.
The war in France heats up. France looses Lyonnais to one of the german minors, while Kurpfalz (of all nations) annexes Calais. In this period of international turmoil, Frederik I rises to the throne in Denmark. Seeing that the English colony of Manhattan (neighboring ours in Delaware) has received reinforcements of no less than 36k men, Fredrik allies with the Iroquois.
The war in Europe rages on. Alliances crumble as nations drop out of the war; in March 1523, Sweden annexes two provinces from the Teutonic Order. In May 1523, Lotharingen annexes Narvernais from France. In March 1524, Koln takes Champagne. The French are totally worn out, and have so far been the big looser of the conflict - surprisingly, neither the English or the Spanish have been able to make any headway against the French. In 1524, Wurtemburg and Hessen turn protestant, improving their relations to Denmark from -200 to -150. The Danish King curses the intransigent Germans, but establishes Royal marriages with them anyway. Soon after, we finally renew our Alliance with the Russians, but this time as Alliance leader, giving us the power to choose new alliance partners. Fredrik I has set as his goal to bring Denmark out of their political isolation, and prepares an army for transportation to the new world to protect our colonies which are being steadily expanded. But the 11k troops ready to embark never get to leave the country.
In April 1524, Poland (with France and the Papacy joining in) attack Russia. As a good ally, I of course join, and being slightly mercenary, take as my Royal mission 'Conquor Danzig'. In Jan 1525, Danzig falls to the might of the Danish army. The Danish army moves to besiege West Prussia. For some strange reason, the main Russian army of 16k men joins our army in W. Prussia, and precipitate the storm and capture of the region. Cursed Russians - they take the province, and I am unable to get Poland to accede to the annexation of Danzig in a separate peace. Instead, the main Polish army of 60k men arrives in W. Prussia, and I choose to flee from the fight. The Russian army flees with mine, and we regroup in E. Pommerania. The Poles try to storm W. Prussia, and our 20k Dnaish army moves south again and routs the Poles after they have attempted to storm the province. The Poles give up and move east again, to attempt to recapture some of the provinces taken by Russia in the East. For the next 1 1/2 years, the Danish army operates in Western Poland, while the 16k Russians remain idle in E. Pommerania and the remaining Russian armies fight it out in Western Poland. Despite huge numerical superiority, the Poles are only able to retake what they have lost. They then turn west again, driving the Danish army before them in a repeat of 1525. Again they attempt to storm W. Prussia, and again the Danish army moves in and defeats the Poles. The Danish Generals rub their hands in glee - with the new reinforcements streaming to the front, the Danish army is finally strong enough to wrest a new province from the Poles. But no...
In Febuary 1527, the Russians agree to pay an indemnity to the Poles in return for peace ('They what???'). 3 years of warfare, 10s of thousands of Danish lives wasted for no good purpose; our Colonies left dangerously exposed, and what do we get to show for it? Absolutely nothing. Worst of all, we (the Russians + Poles) had taken 3 provinces from the Poles and (currently at least) had lost none, and the Danish army had just beaten the main Polish army. The King knocks his head repeatedly against the walls of his palace, while he swears at the ineptitude of his Russian allies. Most galling of all, the Russians had 16k men just lazing about in Eastern Pommerania for almost 2 years, while two small 7-9k armies marched about in East Poland trying to conquor provinces. Unfortunately, they are the only nation (apart from the Iroquis who - so far - have refused to join any war we've been engaged in), who'll join our alliance. We, of course, fail our mission of conquoring Danzig, setting us back by an additional 19 victory points.
No matter - King Fredrik I decides that what has been lost without must perforce be regained within. Our colonization program continues - we establish 2 additional new colonies (making the tally 4) and 1 trade post in North America; England still only owns Manhattan (as far as our Cartographers know). In Jan 1529, we decide to take 3 new loans (making the total 5) - but we're racking in amost 270 in yearly income, and I hope/expect that we can afford it (we will take a hit in inflation though). The loan is used to finance a Fine Arts Academy in Sjaelland which stands finished in 1531 - the first of its kind in Europe.
The war in the rest of Europe slowly grinds to a halt through sheer exhaustion. England takes the Highlands from Scotland, forcing them out of the war in June 1525. 1527-1528, see s a lot of individual wars lapsing due to 3 years of inactivity between the various parties. In November 1530, a revitalized France annexes the Highlands from England (not a good decision, as this is poison to the French-Scottish alliance). They also annex Navarra in these years, making them even more unpopular in Catholic circles. Many more states, including Sweden joins the Lutheran movement.
Close to home, the Danish Gold Fleet is lost at sea (no gold income for 12 months). In Jan 1533, Christian III rises to the throne of Denmark. Enthusiastic peasants flock to our army, and independently raise a regiment of 7200 men. In 1534, Christian III pays off the last 3 loans that we owe. The new King promptly completes his predecessors dream, and 28k are landed in Ny Skåne (the expedition started out with 32k men - we also lost 3 ships enroute). 8k of those men promptly died off attrition while the army wiped out some aggressive native types. The native's Shaman must have put a curse on our colonists, for the following 3 colonization attempts (with 60-70% chance of success) in a row all failed.
By 1540, the 20 years war finally seemed to have fizzled out. In the course of the past 10 years, Kurpfalz had succeeded in taking Picardie from France to add to their outpost at Calais. Sweden was forced to pay an indemnity to England, after their attempts to invade England had failed. Portugal had lost badly - paying an indemnity to France in 1534, and finally loosing Algarve to Sweden in 1540. The remainder of the wars lapsed into truce due to inactivity on both sides. In 1534, Russia had attacked Kazan (again), gaining an indemnity in 1537. The Spanish empire had increased, swallowing up Helvetia, Savoy and now control a significant area in North Italy/South France/Germany.
Using the money streaming into our coffers, Denmark decided to go on the diplomatic offensive with the Lutheran nations of Northern Europe. Gifts of 100d to England, Saxony, and Hessen significantly improved our relations, turning these nations from enemies into neutrals, and potential candidates for our intended Great Northern Alliance. Our aim is to unite England, Denmark and Russia in a Northern Alliance, with some German minors as extra dependents (and eventual vassals?).
In May 1540, a most curious event occured. Great enthusiasm for the Danish King caused the colony of Finmark to raise 8 new warships for the navy. Yes - a colony, not a province. What more - a level 2 colony of 238 inhabitants (only God knows how they managed to find the 240d required to pay for those ships). Even more interesting is the fact that the sea outside of the Finmark is Mare Incognita - meaning that the Fleet can not leave port until our navy has explored that sea - which we can only do in 1620 at the earliest, since Denmark does not get an explorer until then. So for the next 80 years, we will have to pay the wages for 8 useless warships.
In March 1542, Austria, Wurtemburg, and Hungary attack Bohemia, but the Bohemians fight back wondefully well, first forcing Wurtemburg out of the war, and then fighting the rest of the alliance to a standstill in November 1542. In the meantime, The English and Portuguese had gone ahead and allied with Scotland - an unusual combination, if there ever was one.
Also in March of 1542, Poland (with their allies of the Papacy and France) attack the Teutonic Order - no doubt in a bid to annex them. The Danish Kingdom is strong from 15 years of general peace (the War against Kazan hardly counts) - the coffers filled to the brim with gold (which I had actually planned on using to build a ship manufactury). But by this time, I have started to become worried about Polish expansion, so mobilizing the forces of the Kingdom, Denmark and Russia declare war on the Polish Alliance in July 1542 (in the meantime, Russia had attacked Kazan again, but... who cares?). A strong Danish army containing more than 120 cannon immediately besiege and capture Danzig in September.
In this war, we work with a new strategy - invading in Febuary/March, and withdrawing our armies to our own territories each winter. This succeeds in keeping losses from attrition somewhat down - particularly in our artillery. In January 1543, the Spanish alliance attack the Polish-French alliance - the Danish navy returns to port, secure in the knowledge that the Spanish will keep the French occuppied. In April, Kazan pays and indemnity to Russia, but even with their armies released from that conflict, the Russians are unable to make much of an impact on the Poles. In the meantime, the Danish army (less 20 cannon lost in Danzig), settle down to besiege W. Prussia. The French lose Bourgogne to Spain in December ending that war.
In July of 1544, W. Prussia falls to the Danish army (much reduced by attrition), but we are forced to take a loan to recruit more troops. A Polish counterattack is beaten off, but when a Polish army of 70k men attack, the Danish army is forced to withdraw. When the Polish attempt to storm W. Prussia, a small 5k army manages to march in and defeat the 40k man Polish army (the attack was perfectly timed).
In December, 6000 Poles return and attempt to storm W. Prussia (are they mad? The fortress has 10,000 men). I never found out whether they would succeed, as my army went in and destroyed them - but there must have been a leader with the army, since it resisted extremely well. Throughout 1545, small Polish armies led by Sigismund II of Poland attempted to take W. Prussia, but where turned away by clever Danish counterattacks. Unfortunately, further progress against the Poles seemed impossible, since a 70k man army had settled down in Posen and blocked any further incursions into Polish territory. In September, the huge army moves against W. Prussia, but once they settled down to besiege us, their fate is sealed, and 22k men march in and rout the Polish army. Our timing is not so good this time though, and we loose quite a few thousand more men than we needed to (damn). However, the Poles realize there is little to do, and offer us Danzig and W. Prussia in return for peace. We would have settled for Danzig and an indemnity, so we naturally agree to their conditions. The Russians are unhappy at not getting anything, but since they have contributed next to nothing to the war effort, the Danish King is unimpressed by their protests.
In Jan 1546, France, Poland, and the Papacy go to war with Kurpfalz and Prussia - this results in Prussia being annexed 1848. We view the establishment of this French outpost in the Baltic with alarm - especially when a French army of 40,000 men is left there to garrison it.
A native revolt in Delaware drove out our forces during the war with Poland; with the war over, we return our attention to North America and recapture the province, which has in the meantime grown into a city (the natives seem to have been incorporated into the province). We now have the ability to raise armies on the North American continent. In Feb 1549, we destroy a Spanish force containing several Conquistadors, who were coming a bit too close to our trading posts. The Spanish have been expanding like a plague, but a few choice trading posts cut off their expansion. The Spanish control all of the west coast, Mexico (except my lone colony in Jalisco), and Florida, while Denmark controls the East coast of North America up to the city of New York.
In Jun 1549, a political crisis destroys the stability of our Kingdom (-3 Stability). Despite this, we are able to get England to join our alliance in 1550, when their alliance with the Portuguese and Scots runs out. Along with Saxony (who joined in 1543), Denmark now stands at the head of a strong Northern Alliance. Our main enemies are the Polish-French alliance and the Spanish Alliance (containing a lot of minor South German and Italian states).
For the past 4 years, we have been saving to build a Ship Manufactory, but in 1551, a stroke of good fortune causes the automatic construction of one in Iceland (a level 4 colony...hmmm). The cost of producing a new one suddenly jumps by 100d, so I can not to build a second one just yet. This shouldn't have surprised me - any time in the game that I have saved money for a manufactory, something happens to reroute those funds - at least this is better than a war declaration (as has happened the last 2 times).
January 1552 sees Daniel Rantzau takes command of the Danish Army. He is an excellent leader, with +1 Siege. With the Danish coffers filled to overflowing, and the Danish Alliance at the peak of its possible strength (can't see that there are many more allies needed), the Danish King feels that the time for an -(even more) expansionistic era is perhaps nigh. We have two goals in mind - to cripple the French-Polish alliance (in other words, throw France out of Prussia and possibly take Kurland) and to annex some of the incredibly rich Spanish territory in Mexico to cut down a bit on the Spanish lead. The latter is unfortunately easier said than done - both Aztec territories of which I am aware have been fortified - however with 800 gold in the bank, we should be able to build the artillery required to besiege and capture those lands. If nothing else, we can burn a swath through the Spanish trading posts in Northern america that will put a crimp on their expansion plans for quite a while.
The only question now is - who first?
Current victory points:
Spain 1703
Denmark 804
Portugal 415
France 403
It is slightly ridiculous that - despite having outstripped the true colony nations, England and France, and having made itself a power to be reckoned with, Denmark is still incapable of coming anywhere close to the Spanish total of victory points. It is clear that in order to win the game, the Spanish empire will have to be destroyed. Hopefully, they are setting themselves up for the fall - there are a lot of nations that detest them. Will be interesting to see what happens when the nationalist movements get started.
Denmark entered it's first year as a Lutheran Kingdom, completely isolated from the rest of Catholic Europe. Revolts in Jylland and Brandenburg complicate the situation, though we soon get the situation under control. Sweden broke their vassalage when I turned Lutheran, and promptly joined the French-Polish alliance in what is beginning to look like a major threat to the Kingdom of Denmark. At least the King is a devout and holy man, who is truly committed to Lutheranism - one often sees him at Church, praying fervently for divine intervention.
Fortunately, France decides to attack first, and pick England as their target. War explodes across Europe as most of the minor German states are embroiled in the huge France + Sweden + Scotland (Poland stay out of the war, but quickly rejoin the alliance) vs England + Portugal war that erupts. This is good news for Denmark, as it allows us to concentrate on expanding our colonies in North America. Unfortunately, Spain annexes the Aztecs in June of 1521 - bad news for my neighbouring Gold colony of Jalisco. Due to the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain do not even have to declare war on me to attack my colonies; unfortunately, I am unable to reply in kind. Of course, my next royal mission becomes 'Hold Jalisco'. Great.
The war in France heats up. France looses Lyonnais to one of the german minors, while Kurpfalz (of all nations) annexes Calais. In this period of international turmoil, Frederik I rises to the throne in Denmark. Seeing that the English colony of Manhattan (neighboring ours in Delaware) has received reinforcements of no less than 36k men, Fredrik allies with the Iroquois.
The war in Europe rages on. Alliances crumble as nations drop out of the war; in March 1523, Sweden annexes two provinces from the Teutonic Order. In May 1523, Lotharingen annexes Narvernais from France. In March 1524, Koln takes Champagne. The French are totally worn out, and have so far been the big looser of the conflict - surprisingly, neither the English or the Spanish have been able to make any headway against the French. In 1524, Wurtemburg and Hessen turn protestant, improving their relations to Denmark from -200 to -150. The Danish King curses the intransigent Germans, but establishes Royal marriages with them anyway. Soon after, we finally renew our Alliance with the Russians, but this time as Alliance leader, giving us the power to choose new alliance partners. Fredrik I has set as his goal to bring Denmark out of their political isolation, and prepares an army for transportation to the new world to protect our colonies which are being steadily expanded. But the 11k troops ready to embark never get to leave the country.
In April 1524, Poland (with France and the Papacy joining in) attack Russia. As a good ally, I of course join, and being slightly mercenary, take as my Royal mission 'Conquor Danzig'. In Jan 1525, Danzig falls to the might of the Danish army. The Danish army moves to besiege West Prussia. For some strange reason, the main Russian army of 16k men joins our army in W. Prussia, and precipitate the storm and capture of the region. Cursed Russians - they take the province, and I am unable to get Poland to accede to the annexation of Danzig in a separate peace. Instead, the main Polish army of 60k men arrives in W. Prussia, and I choose to flee from the fight. The Russian army flees with mine, and we regroup in E. Pommerania. The Poles try to storm W. Prussia, and our 20k Dnaish army moves south again and routs the Poles after they have attempted to storm the province. The Poles give up and move east again, to attempt to recapture some of the provinces taken by Russia in the East. For the next 1 1/2 years, the Danish army operates in Western Poland, while the 16k Russians remain idle in E. Pommerania and the remaining Russian armies fight it out in Western Poland. Despite huge numerical superiority, the Poles are only able to retake what they have lost. They then turn west again, driving the Danish army before them in a repeat of 1525. Again they attempt to storm W. Prussia, and again the Danish army moves in and defeats the Poles. The Danish Generals rub their hands in glee - with the new reinforcements streaming to the front, the Danish army is finally strong enough to wrest a new province from the Poles. But no...
In Febuary 1527, the Russians agree to pay an indemnity to the Poles in return for peace ('They what???'). 3 years of warfare, 10s of thousands of Danish lives wasted for no good purpose; our Colonies left dangerously exposed, and what do we get to show for it? Absolutely nothing. Worst of all, we (the Russians + Poles) had taken 3 provinces from the Poles and (currently at least) had lost none, and the Danish army had just beaten the main Polish army. The King knocks his head repeatedly against the walls of his palace, while he swears at the ineptitude of his Russian allies. Most galling of all, the Russians had 16k men just lazing about in Eastern Pommerania for almost 2 years, while two small 7-9k armies marched about in East Poland trying to conquor provinces. Unfortunately, they are the only nation (apart from the Iroquis who - so far - have refused to join any war we've been engaged in), who'll join our alliance. We, of course, fail our mission of conquoring Danzig, setting us back by an additional 19 victory points.
No matter - King Fredrik I decides that what has been lost without must perforce be regained within. Our colonization program continues - we establish 2 additional new colonies (making the tally 4) and 1 trade post in North America; England still only owns Manhattan (as far as our Cartographers know). In Jan 1529, we decide to take 3 new loans (making the total 5) - but we're racking in amost 270 in yearly income, and I hope/expect that we can afford it (we will take a hit in inflation though). The loan is used to finance a Fine Arts Academy in Sjaelland which stands finished in 1531 - the first of its kind in Europe.
The war in the rest of Europe slowly grinds to a halt through sheer exhaustion. England takes the Highlands from Scotland, forcing them out of the war in June 1525. 1527-1528, see s a lot of individual wars lapsing due to 3 years of inactivity between the various parties. In November 1530, a revitalized France annexes the Highlands from England (not a good decision, as this is poison to the French-Scottish alliance). They also annex Navarra in these years, making them even more unpopular in Catholic circles. Many more states, including Sweden joins the Lutheran movement.
Close to home, the Danish Gold Fleet is lost at sea (no gold income for 12 months). In Jan 1533, Christian III rises to the throne of Denmark. Enthusiastic peasants flock to our army, and independently raise a regiment of 7200 men. In 1534, Christian III pays off the last 3 loans that we owe. The new King promptly completes his predecessors dream, and 28k are landed in Ny Skåne (the expedition started out with 32k men - we also lost 3 ships enroute). 8k of those men promptly died off attrition while the army wiped out some aggressive native types. The native's Shaman must have put a curse on our colonists, for the following 3 colonization attempts (with 60-70% chance of success) in a row all failed.
By 1540, the 20 years war finally seemed to have fizzled out. In the course of the past 10 years, Kurpfalz had succeeded in taking Picardie from France to add to their outpost at Calais. Sweden was forced to pay an indemnity to England, after their attempts to invade England had failed. Portugal had lost badly - paying an indemnity to France in 1534, and finally loosing Algarve to Sweden in 1540. The remainder of the wars lapsed into truce due to inactivity on both sides. In 1534, Russia had attacked Kazan (again), gaining an indemnity in 1537. The Spanish empire had increased, swallowing up Helvetia, Savoy and now control a significant area in North Italy/South France/Germany.
Using the money streaming into our coffers, Denmark decided to go on the diplomatic offensive with the Lutheran nations of Northern Europe. Gifts of 100d to England, Saxony, and Hessen significantly improved our relations, turning these nations from enemies into neutrals, and potential candidates for our intended Great Northern Alliance. Our aim is to unite England, Denmark and Russia in a Northern Alliance, with some German minors as extra dependents (and eventual vassals?).
In May 1540, a most curious event occured. Great enthusiasm for the Danish King caused the colony of Finmark to raise 8 new warships for the navy. Yes - a colony, not a province. What more - a level 2 colony of 238 inhabitants (only God knows how they managed to find the 240d required to pay for those ships). Even more interesting is the fact that the sea outside of the Finmark is Mare Incognita - meaning that the Fleet can not leave port until our navy has explored that sea - which we can only do in 1620 at the earliest, since Denmark does not get an explorer until then. So for the next 80 years, we will have to pay the wages for 8 useless warships.
In March 1542, Austria, Wurtemburg, and Hungary attack Bohemia, but the Bohemians fight back wondefully well, first forcing Wurtemburg out of the war, and then fighting the rest of the alliance to a standstill in November 1542. In the meantime, The English and Portuguese had gone ahead and allied with Scotland - an unusual combination, if there ever was one.
Also in March of 1542, Poland (with their allies of the Papacy and France) attack the Teutonic Order - no doubt in a bid to annex them. The Danish Kingdom is strong from 15 years of general peace (the War against Kazan hardly counts) - the coffers filled to the brim with gold (which I had actually planned on using to build a ship manufactury). But by this time, I have started to become worried about Polish expansion, so mobilizing the forces of the Kingdom, Denmark and Russia declare war on the Polish Alliance in July 1542 (in the meantime, Russia had attacked Kazan again, but... who cares?). A strong Danish army containing more than 120 cannon immediately besiege and capture Danzig in September.
In this war, we work with a new strategy - invading in Febuary/March, and withdrawing our armies to our own territories each winter. This succeeds in keeping losses from attrition somewhat down - particularly in our artillery. In January 1543, the Spanish alliance attack the Polish-French alliance - the Danish navy returns to port, secure in the knowledge that the Spanish will keep the French occuppied. In April, Kazan pays and indemnity to Russia, but even with their armies released from that conflict, the Russians are unable to make much of an impact on the Poles. In the meantime, the Danish army (less 20 cannon lost in Danzig), settle down to besiege W. Prussia. The French lose Bourgogne to Spain in December ending that war.
In July of 1544, W. Prussia falls to the Danish army (much reduced by attrition), but we are forced to take a loan to recruit more troops. A Polish counterattack is beaten off, but when a Polish army of 70k men attack, the Danish army is forced to withdraw. When the Polish attempt to storm W. Prussia, a small 5k army manages to march in and defeat the 40k man Polish army (the attack was perfectly timed).
In December, 6000 Poles return and attempt to storm W. Prussia (are they mad? The fortress has 10,000 men). I never found out whether they would succeed, as my army went in and destroyed them - but there must have been a leader with the army, since it resisted extremely well. Throughout 1545, small Polish armies led by Sigismund II of Poland attempted to take W. Prussia, but where turned away by clever Danish counterattacks. Unfortunately, further progress against the Poles seemed impossible, since a 70k man army had settled down in Posen and blocked any further incursions into Polish territory. In September, the huge army moves against W. Prussia, but once they settled down to besiege us, their fate is sealed, and 22k men march in and rout the Polish army. Our timing is not so good this time though, and we loose quite a few thousand more men than we needed to (damn). However, the Poles realize there is little to do, and offer us Danzig and W. Prussia in return for peace. We would have settled for Danzig and an indemnity, so we naturally agree to their conditions. The Russians are unhappy at not getting anything, but since they have contributed next to nothing to the war effort, the Danish King is unimpressed by their protests.
In Jan 1546, France, Poland, and the Papacy go to war with Kurpfalz and Prussia - this results in Prussia being annexed 1848. We view the establishment of this French outpost in the Baltic with alarm - especially when a French army of 40,000 men is left there to garrison it.
A native revolt in Delaware drove out our forces during the war with Poland; with the war over, we return our attention to North America and recapture the province, which has in the meantime grown into a city (the natives seem to have been incorporated into the province). We now have the ability to raise armies on the North American continent. In Feb 1549, we destroy a Spanish force containing several Conquistadors, who were coming a bit too close to our trading posts. The Spanish have been expanding like a plague, but a few choice trading posts cut off their expansion. The Spanish control all of the west coast, Mexico (except my lone colony in Jalisco), and Florida, while Denmark controls the East coast of North America up to the city of New York.
In Jun 1549, a political crisis destroys the stability of our Kingdom (-3 Stability).
Despite this, we are able to get England to join our alliance in 1550, when their alliance with the Portuguese and Scots runs out. Along with Saxony (who joined in 1543), Denmark now stands at the head of a strong Northern Alliance. Our main enemies are the Polish-French alliance and the Spanish Alliance (containing a lot of minor South German and Italian states).For the past 4 years, we have been saving to build a Ship Manufactory, but in 1551, a stroke of good fortune causes the automatic construction of one in Iceland (a level 4 colony...hmmm). The cost of producing a new one suddenly jumps by 100d, so I can not to build a second one just yet. This shouldn't have surprised me - any time in the game that I have saved money for a manufactory, something happens to reroute those funds - at least this is better than a war declaration (as has happened the last 2 times).
January 1552 sees Daniel Rantzau takes command of the Danish Army. He is an excellent leader, with +1 Siege. With the Danish coffers filled to overflowing, and the Danish Alliance at the peak of its possible strength (can't see that there are many more allies needed), the Danish King feels that the time for an -(even more) expansionistic era is perhaps nigh. We have two goals in mind - to cripple the French-Polish alliance (in other words, throw France out of Prussia and possibly take Kurland) and to annex some of the incredibly rich Spanish territory in Mexico to cut down a bit on the Spanish lead. The latter is unfortunately easier said than done - both Aztec territories of which I am aware have been fortified - however with 800 gold in the bank, we should be able to build the artillery required to besiege and capture those lands. If nothing else, we can burn a swath through the Spanish trading posts in Northern america that will put a crimp on their expansion plans for quite a while.
The only question now is - who first?
Current victory points:
Spain 1703
Denmark 804
Portugal 415
France 403
It is slightly ridiculous that - despite having outstripped the true colony nations, England and France, and having made itself a power to be reckoned with, Denmark is still incapable of coming anywhere close to the Spanish total of victory points. It is clear that in order to win the game, the Spanish empire will have to be destroyed. Hopefully, they are setting themselves up for the fall - there are a lot of nations that detest them. Will be interesting to see what happens when the nationalist movements get started.
