AAR of the Week: The Hungarian Kingdom

The Journey Towards An Empire

As 1575 begins we trudge towards peace yet again. In January Savoy accepts a Status Quo peace. On the 18th of July Venice cedes Mantua to Poland-Lithuania. France meanwhile is being torn apart. We fear that our the wars may make them into a liability rather than a help.

Over the next two years France loses Flandres to England, Dauphine to Savoy, Guyanne to Spain and Zeeland to Portugal.

November of 1577 brings hope for an elongated peace. Russia declares war on Poland, dragging attention away from us.

On the 10th of May, the war hero Zriny dies. We mourn his death, but feel that this is a sign from god that we will no longer have to fight for survival every day.

Meanwhile King Rudolf has been working with myself and our treasury advisors. Finally after many months of preparation he announces sweeping economic reforms. In May of 1581 those reforms show their true potential. Inflation in our land falls dastrically. (From 30% to -3%) Immediately thereafter due to lowered costs our investment into new naval techniques pays off as we learn how best to create transport and use Metal Cannonballs (Metal Cannonballs N4).

On the 2nd of May, 1582 Spain, not willing to accept a status quo treaty, accepts our offer of 250 ducats reparations.

We are now officially at peace. Unfortunately Spain's peace angers their allies Poland-Lithuania who demand that war be rejoined. Immediately after finishing their losing war against Russia, the Polish leaders declare war on us on January 7th, 1583. Spain, the Papal States and Savoy join against us, France and Venice.

Poland's army under Krzyszt of radziwill marches into Posen, siezing the provinces after quickly assaulting all fortifications there.

On the 4th of March Rudolf, unwilling to spend money on troops offers Poland Posen and 250 ducats to leave us in peace.

Meanwhile Russia declares war on Turkey, practically promising us peace for the next few years.

December of 1583 brings us the knowledge of a more spectacular weapon called the Pistol. (Early Pistols, L6)

Two years later we watch in horror as the Ottoman rips three large provinces away from Russia, crippling that nation.

Meanwhile after many failed attempts to create a colonial city in Gambia, our attempts in Dakar finally succeed.

In April of 1588 Austria forces the nation of Saxony to convert to Catholic.

We are still at peace, and now it seems our two main enemies are fighting, though I must admit that Austria is quickly replacing Poland as my biggest worry. Poland has declared war on the Ottoman.

In July 1590 two young ladies both of whom are DISTANTLY to the king are offered as brides, one to Austria to again strengthen our ties, and one to Venice.

October of that year brings a mistifying occurance. The Turks deny us the right to trade in their centers of trade, while that is not wholly strange of itself, the fact that we had never allowed our merchants into Turkish lands makes it strange.

November of 1590 comes and years of research pays of, we are finally able to emulate other nations and to promote city leaders to regional leaders called governors. (High Baroque, I5, Governors)

The next month we begin placing all of our income into promoting our nation's legal council to chief judges.

January 1591 brings a new center of trade, located in the dutch province of Holland.

Once again we see Poland and Russia at war, Russia's fortunes have been wanning lately and we fear for our unofficial allies to the north.

December 1591 also brings a change in leadership in our nations. Rudolf tired from constanly working to improve our nation steps down and on January 1st, 1592 Sigismund Bathory, a decorated military commander as well as next in line ascends to the throne. I myself am close to retiring, but wish to see the dawn of the 17th century.

The first half of 1592 brings Polish victories against Turkey and Crimea. Later that yearm the edict of Tolerance is put into effect. Having grown used to being Counter Reform, the next month we officialy announce that we will remain counter reform.

By January 1593 a regiment has been created for our king, and he takes command. (S. Bathory, Brigadier General, 3/2/3)

All is quiet for many a year. We have finished building a good sized city in Gambia and are now focusing on the extreme southern end of the Americas for our colonization efforts. We have finished setting up chief judges and are now moving forward better than ever.

June, 1596 brings Russian victory versus the Polish, and the last notable act of the 1500s is the election of Rudolf II of Austria as Holy Roman Emperor.

My tenure ends. My replacement will begin at the dawn of the year 1600. I have watched this grand nation come into its own and grow powerful. Though we are still held in check by our neighbors, the time is soon to come when we will rule the East and bring Christianity to the heathens in Asia.

SCREENSHOTS

Hunagry 1600 :: Normal View

Europe 1600 :: Political View

Hunagry 1600 :: Diplomatic View

Per Frog Propoganda's request I have added a colony shot and small description. Here's the link:

World 1600 :: Colonization View

The columbus cheat was used to show these areas and has not been used in regular play.

Current Wars

Turkey, The Hafsid Empire, Oman, Georgia, Algiers and Crimea versus Austria, France and Helvetia.

(This war has been fought for about 30 years and is one of the reasons for France's recent loses.)

The Hafsid Empire versus Poland-Lithuania and Prussia

Tuscany versus Poland-Lithuania and Prussia

Victory Points (April 1600)
#1 Spain 1501
#2 Russia 732
#3 Austria 718
#4 Portugal 637
#5 France 602
#6 China 540
#7 Hungary 517
#8 Turkey 501
#9 Hanseatic League 447
#10 Sweden 425
England (414), Genoa (402) and Poland-Lithuania (393) are the next three.

New CoTs
#1 Anglia (England)
#2 Holland (Netherlands)
#3 Copetonas (Southeast South America) (Spain)
#4 Buru (Spice Islands) (Portugal)

Hope these help illuminate the current conditions in my game.

Okay thanks everyone for the feedback on this AAR. I really appreciate it. Oh, Durham, it won't be long before you see just how the heathens react.

A New Colonial Power Forms

I am the third in the line of those called, the Grand Couselors. My predecessors have led Hungary from a weak nation surrounded by hostile enemies to one fit to survive and expand.

It is my job now to see that we survive the intermittant years. As few know, our nation is weaker than it seems. We have very little money, our military technology is well behind our neighbors and we cannot compete near well enough in trade. Much needs to be done for success to be a concrete promise.

In the early 1600s we are at peace, our economy is starting to grow again and we are focusing on improving our trade. Most especially we are focusing on the center of trade in Delhi. This area brings us almost one half of our total income, but is causing increasingly bad relations with the Mughal Empire.

Unfortuantely, midway through 1604 the Mughals close down our trade in their nation expelling our merchants and severly hurting our income. Unfortunately while we expected this too eventually happen, we still were not ready when it did.

King Bathory immediately cancels all plans for the invasion of Poland and no new forces are built. We focus now totally on our economy. I must say I agree with my lord's decision.

Late in the year 1605 King Bthory begins to delcine in health. On October 17, 1605 he dies of a coughing sickness. Matyas, more properly II, assumes command of our nation and is formally crowned January 1st, 1606.

Just three months into our new kings reign, war breaks out. Modena, The Knights, Austria, Genoa, Tuscany, Bavaria and Portugal declare war on France. Venice joins the war, but Matyas sends the French a letter stating that due to the recent change of power and loss of much of our trade we are not in the position to participate. Much as we expected, France forces Venice to exclude us from the alliance.

Fortunately two weeks later cooler heads have prevailed and we are allowed back into the alliance.

In April of that year, the former king Bathory's military command is finally fully dispersed.

On the 10th of September France offers Milan to Tuscany who accept the peace.

We continue to watch the war. As February 1607 begins Poland begins to make moves toward our lands. We gather up 500 ducats tribute and on the very same day that Poland does indeed declare war, we offer them the tribute. Thankfully they accept and we remain yet free of war.

Meanwhile King Matyas is working on improving the way the government founctions, removing age old corruption, thus improving our trade and infrastructure. (Good Government Policies)

On March 11th 1607, the despicable people of Savoy declare war on us. Poland, Spain and Prussia join the struggle against Us, Venice and France. This time Savoy will not accept our money.

Polish troops pour across our border, crushing our two northern armies. In two months, Podlosia falls. Our armies have regrouped under colonel Korosz who is then defeated when he tries to dislodge Poland from Podlasia. Just days later Poland siezes Krakow. Neither Poland nor Savoy will accept our offers of money for peace.

An army of reinforcements for Korosz marches north, but is ambushed in destroyed to the man on August 17th. The 12th of September sees Poland sieze Pripet and one month later Podolia falls to the Polish.

We feel the vice closing together. Winter slows the Polish push and we continue to entreaty Savoy for peace. On January 11th, 1608, Savoy, being crushed by France accepts our offer of peace. Of the 277 ducats in our treasury, they take 250.

In the year of peace that follows we improve our trade, greatly increasing our merchants chances and returns. (High Baroque, T5)

The war France has been fighting with the Turks for decades finally ends when France accepts Albania from the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish forces are now officially banished from the Balkans.

January 1610 sees the Polish turn their huge armies on Russia, leaving us alone.

Meanwhile Matyas uses the time to improve our forces. (Reformation of the Army) Those reorganizations come to fruition in October 1610 when we finally start supplying our troops with Metal Bullets (Metal Bullets L7)

July 1611 brings great news. Spain has accepted the Venitians offer to join the alliance. We immediately send a royal marriage proposal to the Spanish court, which is accepted.

During 1611 we suffer a major delimea. Mathius is a descendant of (through royal marriage) the Hapsburg throne of Austria. He had always wished he ruled that nation rather than our own, and when the King of Austria dies Mathias, who suddenly finds himself the heir apparent ascends to the Austrian throne. Our nobles are loath to allow the Austrians to control our lands, but cannot object totally. On January 1st, 1612 the duke of Pest Gabor Bethlen ascenfs to our throne. We are now unfortunately tied to the throne of Austria. They redouble there efforts to force us into their nation.

The 23rd of January sees the now Austrian King Mathias (Mathyas) elected Holy Roman Emperor. (Note:: This is done because eventually I will have to admit that my kings and Queens in the game are Kings, Queens and upper nobility of Austria.)

King Gabor brings one new idea with him. Seizing on our province of Valapraiso in the southern Americas, he decides that we will be the one to conquer the Incan Empire. We had had a small fleet of transport ships in that area to transport the Valapraiso army to disconnected colonies (It is our only fleet). King Bethlen now improves our army there. Half of which is loaded onto the five transports and moved to the sea of the coast of the Incan lands.

On the 6th of December, which srangely is reported to be a hot time of year there we declare war on the Incas, requesting no help from our allies. We begin the invasion. While one army marches north from Valparaiso our ocean bound army dissenbarks west of the Inca capitol. They force march east taking the capital quickly.

There we capture a few military commanders of the Incas these we bind in chains and force them to display to us the ways to move through their nation (The automatic clearing of undiscovered territory).

King Gabor though too far away to help in the war, takes control of one of our european armies (Gabor Bethlen, General, 5/2/3)

Within six months of declaring war our nation annexes the Incas. The gold that begins pouring in greatly increases our income. Actually the increase is greater than one third of the new total of 81 ducats a month.

With the new holdings in the Americas, the demand for slaves to work those lands increases. In March, 1614 we gain an additional 268 ducats from the slave trade in Dakar. (Some people may be upset I included this, unfortunately it happened in history, please do not complain to me that it is represented in the AAR.)

In June 1617 we renew our blood ties with Venice.

Since our change in rulers Austria has stepped up their attempts to try to annex us. Us 1618 begins they begin to threten miltary action. Venice eventually sends the Austirans notification that the alliance will step in to help us if Austria pressures us any more. Thus begins the rapidly deteriating relations between Venice and Austria. On November 24th, 1618 Venice declares war on Austria (plus The Knights, Russia, Modena, Genoa, Tuscany, Bavaria and Portugal). Us, France and Spain help Venice. Our armies move into Austria.

Jamuary brings the declaration of war by England on France. The Netherlands, Saxony, The Palatinat, Helvetia and Scotland join england and Venice, Spain and our nation join France.

The 22nd of March, 1619 sees Fersinand II is elected the Holy Roman Emperor, but that is no help to the Austrians. King Gabor's siege gives us Silesia on August 13th after which he marches into Bohemia. The 19th of October brings Moravia into our control. Corporal Pecs (the third in that great line) siezes Odenburg on February 15th, 1620 and on April 20th Korosz siezes Presburg. We met very limited Austrian forces throughout the war.

On the 2nd of July, Austria accepts our demands for Presburg and Odenburg.

Left with large amounts of money left because of underestimating our new war economy, in September we build a Fine Arts Academy in Magyar, and refineries in Pest, Banat and Maros.

On the 8th of December peace returns Holland to the Netherlands from Spain. After almost two years of fighting, the Netherlands take complete ownership of Nivernius and Cologne from France.

Meanwhile Poland and Russia are again at war. While we are technically at war, we have fought nothing but tiny scirmishes.

On the 26th of April we end our war with the Austrian coalition by accepting a status quo peace from Tuscany.

Wjile our allies are at war we remain at peace. The last twenty five years have seen several dissasters but two huge successes. For the first time we have a strong economy, though supported as it is on the universal economy weakener gold, and we have sefeated the great Hapsburgs in their hopefully final attempt to take control of our nation.

SCREENSHOTS

Hungary 1625 :: Normal View

Note :: I will be out of town tonight till late in the day tomorrow, so I know not when the next update will happen.

It is January 1625, and our nation is about to be thrown into the greatest series of challenges yet. The Austrians have been stung by us, the Turks are preparing for war. As always, the Polish just want to march their armies into someones lands. We know not what the next few years will bring. Will it be ruin or glory.

February brings the closing of Japan to the west, not that it has any result here, but it does enrage most of the trading countries of the world. That group is one of which we cannot hope to apply to.

On September 19th, 1625 Crimea pressured by the Turks declares war on us. Their allies Turkey, The Hafsid Empire, Oman and Algiers join in war against Us, Spain, Venice and France. Our eastern armies begin to move toward the Turkish and Crimean lands. With King Gabor leading his forces into Thrace.

Less than one month later though, Austria and her allies The Knights, Modena, Genoa, Tuscany, Portugal and Bavaria declare war on us, France, Spain and Venice.

The king begins an immediate assualt on the war scarred walls of Constantinople. The defenders finally cave on November 6th after which King Gabor marches into Anatolia. On January 7th, 1626 Saxony forces Spain to cede Luxembourg.

Meanwhile Austria is moving quickly into our lands. They crush our army in Odenburg. Of the 35000 troops we had stationed there only 11000 make it away from the battle. Within weeks Presburg falls to the Austrian forces. On March 11th they sieze Odenburg.

That same day we offer the province of Presburg to Austria who accept the offer. In the northeast Pecs has defeated three Crimean armies in Bessarabia all of which retreat to Podolia and reform in a large anough army to siege the cities there.

By this time Gabor has reached Anatolia and begun an assault and Szaged has reached the rebel controlled province of Smyrna and begun another assualt. On May the 15th Gabor siezes Anatolia and six days later Szeged takes control of Smyrna. Both armies begin marching out of the Truksih controlled lands toward the war in Crimea. As Gabor reaches Thrace, he demands the Turkish surrender Anatolia and Smyrna. The demand is accepted and the war in the south is over.

On the 10th of July though Crimea siezes Podolia. Nine days later Pecs takes control of Bessarabia. The way to Crimea is open. Pecs moves north into Krementjug and Gabor into Crimea. On the 16th of November Gabor defeats 26000 Crimeans in Crimea. His army loses only 3000 men while only 6000 Crimeans limps out of the province. The 9th of April, 1627 though sees the Crimeans remove King Gabor from Crimea simply by fighting for long enough that Gabor's troops lose there will to fight. The Crimeans lose almost 40000 troops while our king only lose 10000.

3rd of May, Spain is ceded Navarra from England.

From June 18th to the 29th Gabor pushed the Crimean armies from Crimea. A week later Pecs siezes Krementjug and marches on into Donetsk.

17th of September France gains Flandres from England.

On the 11th of November Gabor defeats 25000 Crimeans, but the combat forces us to retreat for reinforces shortly after the victory. By January 1628 King Gabor is back in Crimea. Meanwhile as the siege commences again, Pecs seizes Donetsk and marches south into Crimea to help the siege. After almost a year Gabor siezes Crimea. As our lord is riding victoriously into the capitol of Crimea though his guard is ambushed. An arrow shot from a hidden archer pierces King Gabor's chest and he dies instantly. His body is transported back to the capitol. Our plans to demand peace are interrupted.

On January the 1st, 1629 King Rakoczi I is crowned. An offer is immdiately send to the Crimeans for peace. They accept it, giving us control of Donetsk, Bessarabia and Krementjug. On the 7th of February we offer a status quo peace to the Hafsid Empire which is immediately accepted.

On the return of Gabor's army, King Rakoczi takes control of it. (Rakoczi I, Lt. General, 3/1/2)

By February 1630 we have amassed enough money to buy arquebuses for our armies (Arquebus, L8). On the 8th of June Algiers cedes Orania to Spain. France does not seem to like peace though and in May of 1631 drags us into war against Hessen. Luckily we do not have to actually fight in this war. We use the peace time to equip our men with Arquebuses (Arquebusiers, L9).

Unfortunately though, on June the 3rd 1632 Turkey declares war on our nation. The Hafsid Empire, Crimea, Oman and Algiers join the Turks and Spain, France and Venice join us. Colonel Korosz marches into Thrace, defeating 9000 Turks in the province and laying siege to the capitol.

On the 22nd of August, Austria joins in war against us. We send them 250 ducats and as usual they back off our borders. Meanwhile France and Venice have reinforced our army in Thrace. From the 11th of November to the 1st of December Debrecen and our allies face the Turkish in Thrace. The 43000 strong Turkish army is defeated by our 49000 coalition army. No organized forces escape.

February sees the creation of a national bank, during the month Crimea siezes Donetsk and Debrecen sizes Thrace. Before exiting for the south though, we fight three armies of a combined 112000 men, defeating them all ansd killing 48000. After the thris battle King Rakoczi reinforces Debrecen and takes command of the army. Our forces march south, retaking Smyrna and Anatolia from rebel armies and beginning troops recruitment there.

But the war is not going so well in the north. By September, Crimea has chased our northern army to Moldavia and our sieging both Krementjug and Bessarabia.

November 18th, Hessen cedes Champagne to Spain.

On March 15th, the tired armies of Crimea accept our offer for status quo peace. On the 17th of August Spain is ceded Rome by Crimea. Meanwhile Rakoczi assualts the capitol of the province of Konya, Turkey, On January 20th, 1635 Konya falls to our armies. Three months later after little else has been gained and our armies have been pushed back twice when trying to advance we offer the Turkish the terms of Konya and 145 ducats. They accept, ending the war. November brings a white peace with Hessen.

In January 1636 we discover matchlocks (L10).

August of that year brings France, us, Spain and Venice into conflict with Saxony, Wurtemburg, Thuringen and the Palatinat. The constant wars have upset our merchants because of the disruption to trade. In January 1637 the merchant class stages widespread protests. February 16th sees Ferdinand III of Austria elected Holy Roman Emperor.

Meanwhile on January 30th, 1638 Austria and her puppets declare war on us. We call on our allies and once again war is engaged. The Turkish waste little time and for once declare war on someone other than us. Their amries begin to march into the Austrian province of Bulgaria. Korosz pushes Austrian troops out of Presburg and begins sieging the cities there. We then watch as the Austrian armies march through our lands heading straight for the Turkish lands. How we celebrate being insignificant. Our army protecting Odenburg is defeated by 32000 Genoans, and retreats, but immediately heads for Carnolia.

On the 7th of November Korosz siezes Presburg. We attempt to move forward, but at every turn Austria's allies defeat us. Instead on April 2nd, 1639 we offer a status quo peace which is accepted.

Immediately after the peace, our lord Rakoczi demands we declare war on Poland. It is done so with much regret. Colonels Teglassy and Korosz march into Poland. Teglassy's siege takes Poltava and Pecs takes Ukraine. we continue to move forwars in Poland, winter slowing our advances. As the year of 1640 begins Turkey once again declares war, marching into our lands. Pecs immediately turns from Poland and marches into Crimea. September 28th sees the capture of Belgorod. We accept Poland's offer of Belgorod and Poltava.

Korosz takes command of the siege of Thrace, taking the province on January 4th, 1641. On the 28th of May, Pecs siezes Crimea and marches into Lugansk.

August 16th, France annexes Thuringen and November 2nd, Spain is ceded Baden by Saxony. By the 22nd od December, Pecs takes control of Lugansk. On February the 15th, 1642 we accept Crimea's offer of Lugansk. After our war stalls in Turkey, we offer then a status quo peace. They accept and the war ends. A few days later we offer peace to Saxony, we finally have peace.

The successes in war have helped us, we have gained land and power. The reorganization after the war, helps to stimulate the economy. By August of 1646 we have developed the technology necessary to build Galleons (Galleons, N5, Naval Equipment Manufactories).

On January 1st, 1648 Rakoczi the II ascends to the throne. He also takes control of his fathers army. (Maj. General, 4/1/3)

The next few years are peaceful and we continue to grow in strength, unfortunately relations with France become strained when they diplomatically annex Venice in March 1650. In July we can finally allow our troops to explore new territories due to increases in mapping and provision transport. (logistics, L11)

The year 1650 ends, our alliance is becomming strained and become increasingly obsolete as our wars more and more focus to the east. We begin to look for new nations to join in a more productive alliance.


SCREENSHOTS

Hungary 1651 :: Normal View

Europe 1651 :: Political View

Hungary 1651 :: Dimplomatic View

Other Info

Colonization 1651

Victory Points

#1 Spain (1995)
#2 Austria (1044)
#3 France (1036)
#4 Portugal (949)
#5 Hungary (945)
#6 Russia (878)
#7 China (866)
#8 England (679)
#9 Genoa (657)
#10 Sweden (629)
Bavaria (555), Tuscany (528) and Turkey + Modena (both 507) are next.

New CoTs

Holland (Netherlands)
Anglia (England)
Copetonas (Spain)
Nandewar (England)
Buru (Portugal)
Yanam (England)

Okay sorry for the wait, I worked almost 80 hours this week, I'll be putting up the next post shortly.

Well, I feel kind of bad, I was made AAR of the week and haven't been able to update lately. Well here comes....

Our nation has survived and even thrived for the last hundred and fifty years. We have reversed the tide of the Turkish forces and are now a stable and increasingly powerful nation. The next few years we hope will see our nation go from strong to an empire.

For four years peace reigns in our lands. We use the time to improve of economy, rebuilding war torn lands. King Rikoczi II though is beginning to get restless. He sees Poland and Turkey on the run from us and wants our armies to persue our enemies. Slowly he gathers the support of the nobles of our lands and the most important support of our great warleader, Corporal Szentes. Finally after the winter of 1654 on the 1st of April we declare ware on Poland-Lithuania. France and Spain join with us versus Poland and her allies Pommerania and Sweden.

Our troops under our lord Rikoczi and Corporal Szentes move into Poland, beginning to siege cities in the nation. Unfortunately England chooses this time to declare war on France, virtually eliminating any chance of help from France and Spain at this time. Thus I make a tough decision. While our original goal had been to remove the Polish from the World Theatre once and for all, I am forced to bring before my king an alternate proposal. The war will now take to long and the chances of a coalition using this conflict to declare war on us will grow each day. We must lessen our goals. Rikoczi will not agree. His denial is rather violent in fact.

My words prove to be prophetic. On the 2nd of June, Austria and her huge coalition declares war on us. While France and Spain help we do not see this war being won. Rikoczi apoligizes to me for his hasty decision just days later. We decide to pay tribute to Austria and go for limited gains versus Poland. In July, England pays tribute to France, but the damage is done. It will now take at least two years for any noticable allied armies to move into Poland. We send our offer of tribute to Austria and on October 1st the Austrians accept.

Just as we see our conflicts reduced in scope, for some reason Persia, who cannot even reach our lands declares war on us. Just days later the Netherlands declares war on France once again removing any hope of allied intervention.

We continue our war in Poland though, on March the 1st, 1655 Szentes siezes Mozyr. Two months later Szeged siezes Ukraine. We continue to slaughter the tiny armies Poland sends against us. Unfortuantely the Swedish armies have arrived and are smashing our forces in the east. We are hopefull though, Warsaw has almost fallen to King Rakoczi, and finally on May 30 thje city falls. Rakoczi forces marches south to relieve the Polish siege of Mozyr. On July the 3rd and 4th Vesrprem siezes Posen and Debrecen takes Chernigov.

We begin to request peace, but Poland is not ready to accept. As October ends, Rokoczi is absolutely crushed in Mozyr by the Swedish and Polish troops. Fortunately though, on the 5th of November, 1655 Poland accepts our demands for Ukraine and Chernigov. Rokczi begins his long march back to court, unfortunately at this time the lord Atur uses this time to try to wrest some land from his neighbors. The action erupts into a huge scandal, drastically reducing our diplomatic abilities for a time.

The 28th of October sozes Saxony take Champagne from Spain.

A young liutenant who distinguished himself in the war in Poland, rises quickly in the ranks. He takes control of our Smyrnian army. (Kemeny, Major General, 1/2/2)

Rokoczi sends a declaration to the capitol the messanger states that our lord is turning his armies towards Thrace and that he expects our diplomats to have informed the Turkish that we are at war by the time he reaches the Turkish lands. On April 7th, 1657 we daclare war on the Turks and their allies. This time along with Spain and France, Scotland and Helvetia also join the war as our allies. A few days later we offer Persia tribute, removing any possibility that we will end up fighting their armies and the Turkish armies in the Muslim lands. Kemeny marches into Konya, as Rikoczi moves ever closer to Constantinople. On the 20th of June, Saxony gains Alsace from France. Kemeny beats 17000 Turks in Konya, but is forced out of the province due to reduced moral just a few days later.

The 19th of August sees France pay tribute to the Netherlands. Our allies are now free to focus on our wars. On the 25th of September, resistance is finally crushed in Thrace by Rakoczi. One weak later, Crimea takes Lugansk in our undefended northern lands. Corporal Debrecen finally reaches the northern lands though, and from the 2nd of November to the 29th his 15000 strong army defeats 15000 Crimeans.

January 1st, 1658 sees Leopold I elected Holy Roman Emperor.

On the 18th of May after seeing very little success in our eastern war, we offer a status quo peace to the Turks who accept. A few months later though, ending the war will come to haunt us as the month of October sees the Turkish annex Crimea.

Rikoczi, tired of war and aging steps down from the throne. Lipot I is crowned on January 1st, 1659.

Peace continues, bur we are not the only ones using the time well. The damnable Turkish have now diplomatically annexed the Hafsid Empire. January 1660 brings a strange new business. The call it a stock exchange. I don't pretent to understand stand how this words, but it does greatly improve our nations monetary situation. The 13th of January sees the Netherlands declare war on France again. After seeing so little help from France during our wars we accept to join the war, but simply send token resistance. Worried that we may be forced into war with Austria again, Lipot demands that we tie ourselves to Austria through royal marriage.

Unfortunately this does not help us all that much. The Russians declare war on us. (we now border them) We quickly offer them 250 ducats tribute. On the 9th of June Portugal who just was forced into peace with us through the Russian alliance now declares war. We are forced to offer them 250 ducats also which they accept. Feeling extremely extorted Lipot demands that we build massive armies. The next time a nation declares war he wants them crushed. Just days later Poland declares war. Extremely pissed Lipot demands retribution. Our armies march into Poland.

The 21st of November, 1661 sees Turkey diplomatically annex Aden. The stage is quickly being set for a clash of empires.

On the 9th of December Debrecen siezes Mozyr. The Polish are crushing our amries in Hungarian lands, but for some reason they are ignoring our armies that have already made it through to the Polish lands. On the 21st of February, 1662 Kremeny dies peacefully in Smyrna. The French have taken Posen from Poland and strangely the Polish remove all sieges in our lands and rush for Posen. On the 26th of February, Korasz takes Mozovia. Seeing how obsessed the Polish are about Posen, or beating the French, (which one? We don't really know) we offer peace. The Polish accept our demands for Mozyr to us and Posen to the French.

In May our investment in technology has led to the creation of a hugely successful weapon, the musket. (Muskets, L12, Lvl 3 forts)

On the 10th of June we seal a status quo oeace with the Netherlands. While we are at peace, France and Spain continue to fight. On March 14th, 1663 Spain gains Torngat from the Netherlands. The wars though contine to wear on. The 16th of March sees France take Champagne from Saxony and days later they take control of Nivernais from the Netherlands, ending the war.

In November 1668 we improve our trade greatly. (late Baroque, T6) This allows us to focus on saving up some extra money. In January of 1670 we begin improving all our highly damaged ofrtifications with the express goal of making our cities invulnerable. By January 1672 all of our European cities have great fortifications. Unfortunately as we begin to focus on technology again, our gold convoy is lost in one of the great Atlantic storms. We also have begun to improve our relations with Austria, Russia and The Knights in preparation to switching to a more advantagous alliance.

1675 has arrived. Our nation is now virtually invulnerable. The rulers of Europe now accept us as an Empire and our decrees have weight. The next years will see us take our destiny. The Turkish heathens are about to fall and Poland barely exists.

Note:: I will get a screenshot up soon.