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Aug 22, 2000
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Hello all, thought I’d write a little a AAR for my Swedish campaign which I recently started.
While it may be a bit foolish to play a Grand campaign as a first campaign, nevertheless, that is exactly what I did.
The setting is Normal/Normal and it is my first campaign in EU, not counting learning the interface with the tutorial. Things have been going rather well imo, I studied Sapura’s AAR from the Baltic campaign so I knew patience was in order. I've made several silly mistakes so far but nothing catastrophic :)

My strategy for the first 50 years was/is this:
1. Denmark is Satan and must be gotten rid of. If something is bad for Denmark, it’s good for me. Patience is a virtue though so I’m going to take them piece by piece as I don’t have a chance to conduct a long war for some time.
2. I don’t want a serious war with anyone else but Denmark. At least not until I have a fleet capable of dominating all other fleets in the Baltic. Keep the Teutons and the Hansa and Russia happy and away.
3. I need allies baby. Almost anyone will do as long as they can do some damage against the Danes.
4. Don’t do anything overly drastic until Gustav Vasa is king.
As I started out a quick glance at my foreign relations made me wince. Basically everyone in the neighborhood hates me. Denmark is allied with Pskov and (gulp) Russia. A quick Royal marriage with Russia helped the situation somewhat and also gave me some insight into what troops were marching through it. This was to prove very useful later on. I immediately started fortifying Småland, Västergötland, Nyland and Svealand and built up some forces in those areas. The next step was to increase my stability, this took some time but was well worth it. Soon I had increased my knowledge in all areas and sent out traders, mostly to Novgorod and Kurland.
I had a fit when Danish troops started marching through Västergötland but then realized that I was still Denmarks vasall and the Danes were battling the Hansa. The bastards now control Holstein, a CoT. Not good. I decided to flex some diplomatic muscle and started an alliance with Hannover and later also Saxony, the only states around that likes me. Some royal marriages were also arranged to cement the deal.
In 1500 Denmark (and Pskov) held to their alliance and sent massive (for the time and area) troops to aid Russia in its war against Kazan. I watched with grim satisfaction at the attrition they suffered as they marched all the way from Skåne to Moscow and started to plot. I strengthened my troops and got ready to strike.

Mother Fortune can be a b*tch sometimes. Apparently a high official at the Royal Court decided to create a scandal and my crappy Kings diplomatic skills plummeted. That would not do, I had to bide my time some more.

Not many Danish troops came back from that war but apparently they had been a bit succesful. Oh well. I carefully studied the time it took for the troops to march back to Norway or Skåne. Meanwhile I had not been able to repay a loan to the Treasury and I also knew that I would need a new loan as soon as I went to war. Me having a fairly large standing army and poor trading skills remained an economic backwater nation but at least no one was making threatening noises towards me. Novgorod got me good money though even if I was still unable to get a monopoly there.

Thank the gods, in february 1503 Denmark once again went to war with Kazan and their troops started the long march once again. They were keeping a huge force (33k men) at Gotland but I hoped that Kazan would force them to dispatch these as well.
In November the same year I finally got a decent king (Natt och Dag) and as the Danish army at Gotland vanished into the steppes in March 1504, Sweden declared War on Denmark.

The Freedom War
Russia and Pskov joined Denmark and I declined help from Hannover and Saxony. I wanted them for later and this was going to be a quick and dirty war. A strong Swedish army marched into Skåne and put the city under siege. I did not believe that I would be able to take it but I hoped. Immediately Pskovian armies started marching toward Finland but I felt secure that my Karelian forces could hold them off, should they try to attack.
My lack of knowledge of how troops move and Fog of War became apparent as Denmark moved forces through Bergslagen and into Svealand which was only lightly defended at the time. They were promptly thrown out but had managed to do some damage already. A similar fate befell Gästrikland as I had not realized that troops could be marched between Öster- and Västerbotten. The war was a mess.
In the spring I had been thrown out of Skåne but the Danes had paid an extremely severe price for that victory.

It was only during their fourth attack at my siege forces that I retreated and the Danish forces were so beaten that they also were forced to retreat, leaving Skåne empty and ravaged. Pskovian heavily attrited forces were swapped away like flies whenever they entered Swedish territory and I sent my navy up the Botnian gulf were it soundly thrashed a Danish fleet three or four times as large. This was during the spring of 1505 and even if my economy was shot (a new loan), the Danes were reeling. They now had to walk through Narvik to get back from Kazan, I got a separate peace with Pskov, and I besieged Jämtland and Gotland. Jämtland fell after a bloody assault. Gotland was blockaded by my heroic and glorious navy who slapped the Danish fleet around like a red-headed stepchild but I needed more artillery to take Gotland. It never got through from Småland as a new strong Danish fleet defeated my fleet in Kalmar strait.

Even if I had refused all offerings of white peace from the Danes until now I realized that I would not be able to continue this war any longer. Sadly, I was stupid enough to accept a peace which only gave me Jämtland, I should have pressed them for money as well.
Peace was established in November 1505. Now it was time to sit back and rebuild my economy. This took several years.

In 1509 I arranged a Royal marriage with England. In 1510 England joined my alliance. I sent out traders and was established in Holstein, Flandres and Novgorod. Kurland achieved a monopoly (in Kurland) so I got out of there. In 1513 the King tragically died (unhistoric event) and Sweden will now be ruled by a ”förmyndarregering” (what’s the word in English?) which is good as it has a very high diplomacy rating, even if its admin skills leave much to be desired.

In 1514 I started courting Brandenburg (since the Hansa refused to deal with me) and created a new wonderful alliance with England, Hannover, Saxony and Brandenburg. I could then cut my standing military in half and invest in trade.

In 1516 I finally achieved the ability to achieve monopoly and promptly did so in both Novgorod and Flandres. All loans were promptly repaid which saved me 3.0/month. I’m making gobs of money presently and hope to build a maritime factory soon. As soon as it is done Denmarks days in Skåne and Gotland are numbered.

I just started a little ”trade war” with Denmark in Holstein which forced them to refuse trade with me. It is now 1518 and I’ll not fall for the temptation to attack Denmark just yet. Maybe I’ll wait for a new King. Maybe I won’t ;)


Hope you enjoyed it, if so please say so and I'll continue it.

Winter


[This message has been edited by Winter (edited 28-12-2000).]
 
As a Dane I naturally resent the way you are treating my peaceloving and enlightened nation, but by all means: continue :)

Regards,

E
 
Winter,
You are the wind beneath my wings!
I have never heard anyone but me say 'i'll have to beat you like a red-headed step child!' !!!

Continue the AAR, but add more detail please.

Thanks,
Michael
 
Quite unfortunate; this Swedish traitor has a gift for the pen. Since we, the Danish people, find your tales amusing we will forgive your biased reference of the events.

Please continue ASAP; I for one hope that Denmark gives you a sound trashing... :D
 
hehe, nice work Winter! i use the word from all patriots from sweden! keep going,, ,and as i saw someone write before in another post 'keep attacking the danes, if not for conquer, just for fun!'

greetings :D

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taste Swedish Steel!
 
Hello all,

Thanks for the kind words, I'll be sure to continue this AAR during the weekend. Severe snow hindered me from getting to my puter last night so it will have to wait.
To my Danish compatriots: Please note that I personally have a great love for danes in RL and am only doing my duty ;)
Sadly, you missed the opportunity to chop some Swedish nobilitys' heads. There will be no Stockholm bloodbath ;)
Someone asked for more detail so I thought I'd provide some out of memory. Here is the state of the world as I know it in 1518:

Teutonic Order: They have massive well-trained armies standing in Ingermanland and Memel (I think). However, they have done nothing in the Baltic, I believe they have some strange alliance with countries far, far away. Their fleet looks manageable however but I don't want to mess with them just yet. Kurland (a CoT) is their vassal but Kurland is entirely devoid of troops. They must trust the Order. I wouldn't.

Denmark: Sadly, Satan seems to be doing rather well but has now gotten a rather useless king, Christian II. He has only a two point rating in warfare. They sure paid the price for their anti-Swedish alliance with Russia and Pskov. They lost around 90k soldiers in the Kazan and Swedish wars (my estimate) and that must have hurt them. That alliance is now finished and they know that if they declare war on me (I'm handing them every possible excuse, let their stability plummet this time) there is a strong possibility England will fall like a brick on their collective satanic heads.
Generally Denmark seems to lack initiative. It will be very interesting to see if they manage to join a new alliance.

The Hansa: Stands presently alone and hates both Denmark and me. They are a trading consortium without a CoT and doesn't have a monopoly anywhere I can see. I hope they rot. I will not attack the Hansa in the foreseeable future, that would mean shipping troops to the continent and having Poland as neighbour. Poland looks scary and I want to stay away from them, if I can. Also, Brandenburg is part of MY alliance so I hope that will force the Hansa to think twice before interfering with my Danish plans.

Russia: Who knows? Every five years they run off to war against Kazan. Moscow has been besieged at least twice. My relations with them are OK (-40).

Sweden also has one Conquistador standing with a small army, I would rather not send him away to an uncertain destiny in the Americas or Africa as I have yet to discover them. I could possibly use him to grab a Northern province in Norway as he can handle attrition very well.

Stay tuned,

Winter
 
Well, Winter.
Your patriotism against our beloved country
cannot be doubted!!
Lead us onto the path of glory(and kick some danish ass too!!)
We stand by your side(God I love writing this)
for all time, until the end of the world!!

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To Quote the great Duke Nukem:
'It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all outta' gum!
 
Originally posted by smurja:
when do you get a Conquistador as sweden?
I believe that that is a random event for Sweden and there is no guarantee you will get one.
I have random and historic events enabled.

Winter
 
Originally posted by Carolus Rex:
Well, Winter.
Your patriotism against our beloved country
cannot be doubted!!
Lead us onto the path of glory.
Certainly. I'll send you on marches over frozen wastes were you will die of starvation, plague or a piece of metal ripping through your abdomen. I'll have you storm city walls were they pour molten lead on your head. I'll send you on travels that will turn you to a wreck without any teeth in your mouth and with worms living in your belly. The path to glory is littered with dead bodies.

Having said that, I will now send the Danes packing. Better him than me...
;)

Winter