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1435-38 Years of peace in the middle of conflict

Because my state is still weak, today I will continue to keep a low profile, wait for opportunities and raise my treasury.

November 1435
Sweden accepted peace with Norway. Denmark and Novgorod by paying 172 gold. I wished they would have lost provinces because they were doing really bad.

March 1436
I reach land tech level 2.

April 1436
I reach naval tech level 2. My neigbours Serbia and Duchy of Athens have still 1/1 levels when Croatians have reached land tech 2 but not naval level. Venetians have reached both second levels. I guess we are not such backward country after all.

August 1436
Croatia, one province minor has an army of 33k. Did I already mentioned that AI cheats on maintenance costs? They probably plan to attack against Serbia, why else they would need such a huge army? But they are still in war against Mainz. How often AI declares wars when it is already having another war? I don’t remember any such case.

December 1436
Army of Brittany is besieging Mantua. Yeah, they were together with Mainz in war with Austrian alliance so I guess they have just made ships and carried their army to Adriatic Sea through Gibraltar and simply besieged Mantua. This kind of warfare is one of the AI accomplishments which I haven’t ever done.

March 1437
Georgia declares war upon Golden Horde and Ottomans dishonor their alliance.

May 1437
Ottomans join again an alliance led by Golden Horde.

July 1437
Mantua is annexed by Brittany. Well, miracles do happen. Unfortunately I don’t think I can gain anything form this.
Mainz falls. Luxemburg accepts peace with Mainz gaining Cologne and Pfalz. Hungarian alliance is now again in peace, which means that they will attack Serbia sooner or later. Austria annexes Mainz. Their war against Brittany continues.

August 1437
Heir to my crown borns.

September 1437
France annexes Auvergne. They have already before annexed Province.
Ottomans besiege Georgia.

October 1437
Although my neighbourhood is very peaceful and my country is doing well, I can’t really afford easily new wars. Problem is not only low income, my man power is on 4. So it would take really long for me to build great army.

November 1437
NIA expires.
I enter a royal marriage with Croatia. I don’t want them to use their huge army to attack me.
I join military alliance of the Knights (leader), Cypros and Venice. If I would wait any longer Venetians could attack me. Being with them in the same alliance is good. This alliance should be also able to protect me. This alliance will expire November 1438 if no new wars are declared. I prefer alliances that expire soon because it leaves more space for my tactics.

December 1437
Papal States declare war upon Toscana. Well, peaceful and united Italian peninsula seems to be history.
Toscana accepts military alliance proposed by Genoa. Papal States does same with Siena. Because Siena and Genoa are alliance leaders, war stays restricted.
Albert I is elected to be first Habsburg as an empiror.
Muscovy accepts peace with Sibir by paying 15 gold and giving them Ryazan. Their war against Golden Horde and other allies continues though.
Toscanan army besieges Ragusa.

January 1438
Hungary, Luxemburg, Siebenburg and Croatia (all land tech level two) declare war upon Orthodox Alliance (all land tech level one).

February 1438
Bohemia joined alliance of Austria, Bavaria and Milan and their stupid war with Brittany.
Croatian army besiges Krain.

April 1438
Poland joins the Hungrian alliance. Bad for Serbs, good for me.

June 1438
Romagna surreders to Toscanan army.
Croatian 5k army beats Serbian 22k army in Croatia which attempted to cross a river to Croatia.

July 1438
People of Makedonia rebel against Ottomans. War exhaustion seems to become a problem for them.
Toscanan army besieges Marche.

August 1438
Starssburg joined Austrian alliance and their war aginst Brittany.
Army of Hungarian alliance besieges Wallachia.
Genoa and Toscana declare war upon Milan, Austria, Bavaria, Bohemia and Strassburg. Interesting. It seems that Italian wars will last long. Army of Toscana leaves Marche.

September 1438
Helvetia joins alliance of Siena and Papal States.
Hungarian alliance besieges Moldova.
Bavarian 22k army besieges Mantua.
Forces of Toscana and Brittany besiege Milan.

October 1438
Georgia surrenders to Ottomans and is annexed.

November 1438
Austrian 25k army joins Bavarian siege in Mantua.
My military alliance with Venice, the Knights and Cypros expires.
The Knights join the Orthodox Alliance and their war against Hungary and allies. Probably they think that Orthodoxians can fight with them against Ottomans.
Venice joins an alliance with Brittany meaning that they join a war against Austria and allies. Well, that removes fear from me. Actually my position is now excellent. Everybody in the area are in war and I am in peace.
 
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Some analysis

It is now November 1438 and I have 249 gold. I have had peace for some years and I hope that it continues.

Ottomans are still occupied with their long war against Russian states. They are not immediate danger threatening me now. Inside Golden Horde there are some rebels and independence of Cuman is possible. If that happens Ottomans will probably have a war also against them.

Neither Serbia is a threat now. Orthodoxians are now again at war with Hungarians and allies and this time it seems that they are losing. War will keep Serbia occupied at least some time now.

Neither Venice is a threat. They are now in war against Austrian alliance which will keep them away from me.

I could join a military alliance or form my own. There are several possibilities and none of them is very good.

1. Orthodox Alliance. I would immediatedly join them in their war against Hungary and allies. They will probably lose this war so there is nothing to gain.
2. Alliance of Siena, Papal States and Helvetia (Note, I always put leaders' name first). Not too strong alliance. Papal States is also in war against Toscana and they are at least yet winning.
3. Alliance of Genoa and Toscana. They are together in war against Austrian alliance and Toscana is also in war with Papal States. They don’t have even a coast in Adrian Sea so this is even worse than option 2.
4. Alliance of Austria, Great Bavaria, Milan, Bohemia and Strassburg. They are in a war against Brittany and Venice. They are also at war against Genoa and Milan. Joining this alliance would be a declaration of war against Venice and I am not strong enough for that.
5. Iberian Alliance, alliance of Castile, Portugal, Aragon and Navarra. They are far away but still they are a very strong and promising alliance. Also their future looks good and it could be great to be allied also with Spain later. They are in peace and their alliance expires June 1441.
6. I could form my own alliance. I could try to get Cypros join me. They are just too far away. And after all, they are just a two province minor. Maybe this alliance wouldn’t be strong enough.
7. Alliance of Brittany and Venice. Yeah, I could join them in order to be in the same alliance as Venice, but they are in war with Austria which is not what I want to join.
8. I could just wait and see. There is not any real threats around so why to hurry?
 
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As you're finding out with a small country getting into an alliance is extremely important. Usually I try to ally with a neighboring country as early as I can. I think not doing this was a mistake on your part but it hasn't caused any major problems so don't worry about it. :) With your neighbors in your alliance they can give help in a war or at least provide distraction to the enemy. I would have been looking at Hungary or Venice as the early first possibilities. But every game is different so this might not be the case in your game. In your game it sounds like Hungary was in a strange alliance so Venice was a better choice. Have you spent any money trying to improve your relations with Venice or is it too expensive? And yes the AI does go to sleep. I reload at least every ten years to wake it up unless I'm in the need of a long peace. ;) You're doing great.

Joe
 
Storey said:
As you're finding out with a small country getting into an alliance is extremely important. Usually I try to ally with a neighboring country as early as I can. I think not doing this was a mistake on your part but it hasn't caused any major problems so don't worry about it. :) With your neighbors in your alliance they can give help in a war or at least provide distraction to the enemy. I would have been looking at Hungary or Venice as the early first possibilities. But every game is different so this might not be the case in your game. In your game it sounds like Hungary was in a strange alliance so Venice was a better choice. Have you spent any money trying to improve your relations with Venice or is it too expensive? And yes the AI does go to sleep. I reload at least every ten years to wake it up unless I'm in the need of a long peace. ;) You're doing great.

Joe
Now when I think about it, I could have allied with Venice immediatedly 1419. But like you said, I have still done very well.

Since my last posting I allowed game to run just a few days still and Venice immediatedly joined an alliance of Brittany and so I had to edit my previous post a little. My relations with Venice is -95. I haven't spent any money on them, but the leader of their alliance is Brittany. My relation with them is -33 so it would not be impossible to join that alliance. I am starting to think that joining of an alliance is not necessary because everybody in the area except Duchy of Athens are now in war and thus will not attack me.
 
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Olli_Juntunen said:
Well, now when I think about it, I could have allied with Venice immediatedly 1419. But like you said, I have still done very well.

Well, since my last posting I allowed game to run just a few days still and Venice immediatedly joined an alliance of Brittany and so I had to edit my previous post a little. My relations with Venice is -95. I haven't spent any money on them, but the leader of their alliance is Brittany. My relation with them is -33 so it would not be impossible to join that alliance. I am starting to think that joining of an alliance is not necessary because everybody in the area except Duchy of Athens are now in war and thus will not attack me.

The Brittany Venice alliance is a no go at this time. There are ways to get sneaky about getting Venice out of that alliance and into yours but it would probably cost too much money. While it doesn’t sound like there is a need for an alliance because of any threats to Ragusa not being in an alliance limits your chance for expansion. I like picking alliances that tend to warmonger then with a little luck I can grab a province or two in a peace agreement. However as you pointed out earlier you might find yourself in an endless war and that can really hurt. :( Good luck. ;)

Joe
 
Olli_Juntunen said:
July 1437
Mantua is annexed by Brittany. Well, miracles do happen. Unfortunately I don’t think I can gain anything form this..

Now that is strange, I have never seen Brittany do anything apart from going into Normandy, Maine or Orelans etc.
 
Years 1438-39

I selected wait and see option. I think there is not any need for me to join an alliance immediatedly.

November 1438
Ottoman army destroys rebels in Makedonia.

December 1438
Karaman declares war upon Cypros hoping to gain back Adana. Well, I did think about forming an alliance with Cypros just a minute go.
Savoy, Gelre, Kleves, Eire and Friesland declare war upon Bavaria, Milan, Bohemia and Strassburg. Austria dishonors their alliance, although it was alliance leader. It seems that Austrians are getting tired of war after 5 years. They still have two wars going on, against Brittany&Venice and Genoa&Toscana.
Sigh. There seems to be continuously more and more war and BTW this time I didn’t reload game. It is of course good for me if all idiots use their resources in warfare against each other.
Austrian-Bavarian-Bohemian 39k army destroys Venetian 5k army in Tirol.
Bavarian army leaves the siege in Mantua but Austrian army continues it.

January 1439
Time to make another change in domestic policies. I take one step towards centralization. My policies were in the middle of slider and now a little more centralized.. I will be back to maximum stability by March.
Krain surrenders to Croatian troops.
Milan surrenders to Brittany, who then accepts peace with Bavaria when Austrian alliance pays them 140 gold. This ends also war between Austria and Venice meaning that Venetians are soon again dangerous. This peace also brings another power to this area: Brittany. Haven’t seen ever before this happening.

March 1439
Toscanan 16k army besieges Marche.

April 1439
Wallachia surrenders to Hungary. Hungary may this time rise to be a great power on Balkans like they were in reality.
Austrian 25k army attacks Genoan 22k army crossing Po river and are hit back with 10k casualities. They reatreat to Lombardia, Genoan army following.

May 1439
Croatian 5k army attacks Serbian 15k army crossing Danube and manage to beat them. After more forces arrive, they start besieging Serbia.
Genoese troops beat Austrian remains in Milan and start besieging the city. Another army from Austrian alliance besieges Piemonte.
Hungary annexes Wallachia. I enter royal marriage with them to keep better contact with new Great Power. Orthodoxians are now totally beaten.

August 1439
I joined the Iberian Alliance. They are strong and their only enemy at the moment is one province Granada.

September 1439
Kalmukia declared to be an independent state of Cumans. Golden Horde and their other allies declare war upon them, but Ottoman Empire dishonors the alliance tired of continuous warfare. Kalmuk is already besieged and will be soon annexed.
People of Mantua rebel against Brittany and besiege city.

October 1439
Iberian Alliance declares war upon Granada as I feared before. I think about dishonoring the treaty but probably this war doesn’t last too long so I join them. Granada doesn’t seem to have any troops at all so Iberian forces just march there, besiege and annex them.
Enthusiasm for the army event happens. I get 5 000 more cavalry.

I haven’t now time to play and write more, so I will end this for today.
Now is October 1439 and I have 257 gold. I have now fresh troops and it could be time for another attack when all others seem to be at war. I can’t afford this great army anyway.
Brittany is now a power in Adrianus Sea, although Mantua can declare independent and be annexed by Venice if rebels are successful. Alliance of Brittany and Venice is now in peace and can attack me. My alliance is much stronger than theirs though.
Ottoman Empire must be tired of their wars in Russia. They won’t probably attack anyone at least for couple of years.
Austrian alliance is still in war with Genoa and Toscana. Italian alliance seems to manage well because Milan will soon surrender to Genoese troops. At the same time Toscanan troops are beating Papal States, Marche will surrender them soon. It would be interesting to attack Papal States by besieging Apulia. They have Siena as their ally, but my allies are stronger. It would have huge advantages if Ragusa could become a mediterranean power.
Another interesting opportunity would be to attack Serbia. Hungarian alliance has already taken Krain, and will probably keep that in peace. Serbia is now besieged and remnants of Serbian army are in Kosovo. Those troops, 7500 men, shouldn’t be a problem. Wallachia has been annexed so Moldova can’t send troops to help Serbians thru Hungarian area. If I could beat the Serbian troops, lay siege in Kososvo I could probably be able to take Kosovo in peace. After that I could ally with strong Hungary. Problem is that Kosovo is a poor and orthodoxian Balkanian province and I need more income.
 
Olli_Juntunen said:
I haven’t now time to play and write more, so I will end this for today.
Now is October 1439 and I have 257 gold. I have now fresh troops and it could be time for another attack when all others seem to be at war. I can’t afford this great army anyway.
Brittany is now a power in Adrianus Sea, although Mantua can declare independent and be annexed by Venice if rebels are successful. Alliance of Brittany and Venice is now in peace and can attack me. My alliance is much stronger than theirs though.
Ottoman Empire must be tired of their wars in Russia. They won’t probably attack anyone at least for couple of years.
Austrian alliance is still in war with Genoa and Toscana. Italian alliance seems to manage well because Milan will soon surrender to Genoese troops. At the same time Toscanan troops are beating Papal States, Marche will surrender them soon. It would be interesting to attack Papal States by besieging Apulia. They have Siena as their ally, but my allies are stronger. It would have huge advantages if Ragusa could become a mediterranean power.
Another interesting opportunity would be to attack Serbia. Hungarian alliance has already taken Krain, and will probably keep that in peace. Serbia is now besieged and remnants of Serbian army are in Kosovo. Those troops, 7500 men, shouldn’t be a problem. Wallachia has been annexed so Moldova can’t send troops to help Serbians thru Hungarian area. If I could beat the Serbian troops, lay siege in Kososvo I could probably be able to take Kosovo in peace. After that I could ally with strong Hungary. Problem is that Kosovo is a poor and orthodoxian Balkanian province and I need more income.

After sending my navy to Straits of Otranto I see that Papal States have 10k army in Apulia. My landing there probably would fail so it seems that I will rather attack Serbia.

I will leave my hometown today morning so I guess there won't be any updates for this too soon. Sorry.