The Kingdom of Georgia

[Weidt]

In 1412 King Alexander I (7-8-8 monarch) took his place upon the throne of Georgia, a small two-province nation stuck in the middle of Muslim heathens. To the north is the ruthless Golden Horde and to the south are Ak Koyunlu and Qara Koyunlu.

At the start of Alexander I's reign he focused on reorganizing his kingdom, pushing towards land military reform. On March 29, 1421 his cousin marries the prince of Trebizond, a Muslim nation to the southwest. Soon followed by a military alliance between our two kingdoms. Royal marriages follow in 1422 to the royalty of Ryazan and Muscowy in order to secure some Orthodox connection.

Trebizond-Dalkadir War: March 15, 1423 to November 14, 1423
On March 15, 1423, Trebizond declares war upon the small Dulkadir along its southern border. Looking for the chance to test his military, King Alexander I (3-2-2-0 leader) personally marches an army of 25,000 across Trebizond and into Dulkadir's sole province of Sivas. The Trebizond army was beaten back at first, but as King Alex entered Sivas, Dulkadir collapsed within months. King Alex had captured Sivas province on November 13, 1423, but to his disappointment, Trebizond accepted peace for 40 ducats and military access. Though angered, King Alex celebrated his victory and the people of Georgia sang songs of jubilation.

Georgian-Ak Koyunlu War: January 24, 1427 to November 4, 1435
King Alex promptly built up his army for conquest of the Muslim heathens to the south, the Ak Koyunlu. After 3 years of planning and saving enough money for his coming war, King Alex waged war upon Ak Koyunlu, to the southeast, on January 24, 1427. Trebizond joined the war immediately, but paid the ultimate price - on July 9, 1428 they would be annexed by Ak Koyunlu. King Alex's hunger for expansion got the best of him as his forces were battled back from Armenia repeatedly. Finally the Georgian army took Armenia on January 30, 1429, but it was short lived - the Ak Koyunlu army recaptured it within months. Ak Koyunlu was on the offensive and sieging Georgia, but King Alex refused to give in and amassed an army in Sochi that would drive Ak Koyunla from Georgian soil! [At that time marriages would be forged with more Orthodox nations: Byzantium, Moldavia, Novgorod, Ukraine, Wallachia.] King Alex marched his army back to Armenia capturing it on May 16, 1432. Trabzon, the former province of Trebizond, was taken on June 25 and the Ak Konyunlu capital province of Kurdistan followed on July 6. Almost a year later King Alex would capture Daghestan and Nayssaybin, defeating the Ak Koyunlu army and conquering it. On November 4, 1435 Ak Koyunlu agreed to peace. King Alex had succeeded in annexing Armenia and Daghestan and making the rest of Ak Koyunlu a vassal.

Following the almost decade long war with Ak Koyunlu, King Alex settled back from war and focused on improving the poor relations with Ak Koyunlu by providing some gifts for rebuilding. In Georgia the focus turned to building tax collectors and fortifying Georgia and Sochi. Missionaries were sent to Daghestan to liberate the people from their heathen religion.

It is 1440 and King Alex is paying close attention to his neighbors. The Golden Horde is suffering some revolts along Georgia's northern border that may warrant Georgian intervention. The Qara Koyunlu to the southeast is quiet, a little too quiet for King Alex. Than there is the rising power of Karaman which has annex Dulkadir and some Ottoman Empire provinces.

** That was my first AAR, what do you think? If people like it I will continue expanding on this as I play Georgia in the coming days. It is 1440 now, so see if I can survive until 1820! **

[Warspite]

Hey, i really like this. Its simple and to the point and thats my personal favorite kind. I hope you continue it. If your like me, you want to write about every game you play anyways

Enjoy!

[Weidt]

Thank You. Coming from a moderator that is extra special.

I was going to take screenshots every 10-20 years, but forgot about it. Next time I'll throw in a couple if I remember as I know everyone without EU2 wants to see them!

[The Danish King]

Is it also special if it comes from me?

Well, good AAR so far, lets hope you can keep it up.

[Weidt]

King Alex is proud of his Orthodox Kingdom, but the presence of Genoa in Kerch and Kaffa to the west are calling him. The thought of Orthodox people suffering under Catholicism enrages him and so gathers an army of 18,000 men. Out of no where on July 8, 1440, Castile declares war on us - those Catholic bastards! Within months an army of Castile lands in Sochi but King Alex slaughters them on the beach.

Fearing nothing from the distant Castile and her Italian allies, King Alex declares war upon Genoa. An army of 12,000 siege Kerch and an army of 10,000 sieges Kaffa. Genoa sends some small armies, but they are all defeated easily. In 1443 Genoa's allies accept white peaces with Georgia.

Reign of King Vakhtag IV
On January 1, 1443 King Alex is replaced by King Vakhtag IV. Kerch finally falls to the Georgian army on January 27. In February Castile accepts white peace, though Georgia is still left pondering "why did they declare war anyway?".

June 16, 1443 is a sad day for Georgia. The people mourn the loss of their former King Alexander I who has passed in his sleep. King Vakhtag IV declares the day a national holiday.

However, the war must go on and in early 1445 Kaffa falls to the Georgian army. King Vakhtag tries to gain both Kerch and Kaffa in treaty, but Genoa will not agree. Knowing it would take many more months to build up a navy and attempt to sail across to Genoa to defeat them at home, he settles for the annexation of Kerch and 150 ducats. Unfortunately for King Vakhtag, he is replaced as king within months of this victory.

Reign of Giorgi VII
On January 1, 1446 King Giorgi VII begins his reign as King of Georgia. His first duty was to increase the fortifications at Sochi, Armenia, and Dagehstan. Tax collecters were placed in Kerch and Dagehstan as well. Throughout 1447 he tried unsuccessfully to acquire a military alliance. Rejected repeatedly, King Giorgi grew to resent other Orthodox nations and decided he would make a name for himself.

In the north, the Golden Horde was suffering civil war and invasions for years. Lithuania had just annexed three provinces from them in early 1450s. Northern Goldern Horde was in anarchy and England and allies were invading. Seeing this opprotunity, King Giorgi amassed several armies between 8,000 and 18,000 men in each along the Georgia-Golden Horde border. Noticing two provinces, Azow and Kouban, were under rebel control, war was declared on November 16, 1453 and the Georgian army struck. By April 1454 Azow fell and in December Kouban fell. Tasting sweet victory, King Giorgi moved the army into Karnak taking it in August 1455, Astrakhan in July 1456, and Volgograd in August 1457.

Unfortunately the quick victories were not permenent. The Goldren Horde was able to regroup once Georgia was the only nation it was at war with and many of its rebellions had been smashed. Astrakhan would be regained in 1458, Kouban in January 1459 and Volgograd in December. If that wasn't enough, Genoa declared war on Georgiaon July 8, 1960. In August, the Georgian army once again takes Kouban, but loses it in July 1461. Repeated peace offers are rejected time and time again and King Giorgi becomes a nervous wreck, but finally the Golden Horde accept. Georgia annexes Azow and Kalmak and can focus on Kaffa, Genoa's sole province nearby. It falls in 1462 and Genoa's allies make peace immediately but Genoa holds out until 1464 when it agrees to pay 150 ducats.

Following the almost disasterious war against the Golden Horde, King Giorgi again tries to make an alliance but again is rejected. Suffering from depression brought on by Orthodox nations rejecting his leadership abilities, he runs himself through...

** Yes, a sad story isn't it? Poor diplomacy ratings suck! Anyway, I still don't know why Castile attacked me, they on other side of Mediterranian too! Also my reputation is "slightly tarnished", which I assume is for my annexing Kerch from Genoa - before that I had "honorable reputation". This BB stuff is annoying for warmongers!! **

[Weidt]

how do I take screenshots anyway? I tried the [print scrn] key, but didn't see any screenshots in the EU2 folder. There some other key to hit for it?

let me know and i can post screenshots from now on.

[Havard]

Originally posted by Weidt
how do I take screenshots anyway? I tried the [print scrn] key, but didn't see any screenshots in the EU2 folder. There some other key to hit for it?

let me know and i can post screenshots from now on.

Try F11, then look in your EU2 folder.

[Mariani]

don't forget to convert to JPG...the initial bitmaps are big fellas, I believe...

[Weidt]

Reign of King Bagrat VI: 1465 - 1478

Following the dishonorable suicide by King Giorgi, Bagrat VI takes the throne. King Bagrat cuts technology in order to acquire greater wealth for the next couple years. In 1468 he is able to make marriages with Muscowy, Nubia, Suzdal, and Ukraine.

Though things are doing well and peace appears long, 1470 brings instability. Georgia is struck with a revolt in Armenia triggered by cultural differences. In Azow (Sunni), Kalmuk (Sunni), and Sochi (newly Catholic), religious riots occur repeatedly. Too many resources were devoted to squashing the revolts that stability could not increase fast enough to safe from more.

On July 23, 1472, Muscowy declares war on the Golden Horde and King Bagrat half-heartedly joins. The weak Georgian army is able to conquer Kouban in February of 1473 and Lugansk in September. Unfortunately, revolts persist through Georgia and grow due to the present war. Feeling the internal pressures, King Bagrat must send for peace with Golden Horde leaving Muscowy to fight alone; Georgia annexs Kouban and gets 75 ducats on April 12, 1474. Soon after the revolts are crushed and calm returns for now.

In earl 1476 King Bagrat orders missionaries into Sochi to rid it of Catholicism and return it to Orthodox. This however does nothing to stop from nationalist/religious revolts in Kouban and Kalmuk.

By 1477 Georgia enters marriages with Byzantium, Moldavia, and Novgorod. However, King Bagrot VI will fade from Georgian memory as his reign ends in 1778.

Screenshots - http://geocities.com/melt17i/EU2/

** low stability and cultural/religious differences caused me some trouble during this period. most money was spent on building armies to smash the revolts, while also trying to put enough money towards increasing stability. **

[qjir]

It´s very nice AAR. I like those challenging small countries. Good luck.

[Weidt]

No more "Kingdom of Georgia" AAR. Savegame file got corrupted somehow so deleted it and starting a new GC as Huron (gotta love minors).

A question though, is there a way to view the history log outside the game? As it is I am having to view history log in-game and write down the important stuff to than write my AAR here. It'd be nicer if there was an actual text file in EU2 folder I could open that listed all that info, save me lots of writing and waste of paper.

Thanks!

[Deaghaidh]

Too bad, Georgia is one of my favorites.

[Warspite]

What a bummer, i was enjoying this one too. Hope to see more from you Weidt

[Weidt]

yea, you may very well. Paradox needs to make a seperate txt file where the history log gets stored at so don't need to either write it down from game and dig into savegame file with all the code mixed in it.

[AmericanScipio]

Really enjoyed your AAR; I wish that Georgia in my game as Byzantium was a more helpful ally (they always have a good sized army, and always agree to go to war as part of my alliance, but they somehow forget to build ships to GET THERE... argggh).

Nice effort with a small, beleaguered nation. You've inspired me to start over as Byzantium.

[Storey]

Originally posted by Weidt
No more "Kingdom of Georgia" AAR. Savegame file got corrupted somehow so deleted it and starting a new GC as Huron (gotta love minors).

A question though, is there a way to view the history log outside the game? As it is I am having to view history log in-game and write down the important stuff to than write my AAR here. It'd be nicer if there was an actual text file in EU2 folder I could open that listed all that info, save me lots of writing and waste of paper.

Thanks!

When you quit the game just open the EU II folder and you will see a "History" file. It's a text file of the game you just played. However it only keeps the latest game that you have played. The next time you start up the game it erases the file and starts over again. It's a record of everything that printed out on the bottom of your screen while you played so you will have to set the display options to get what you want. It's a lot easier doing it this way.

Joe

[PMLF]

Very good AAR. Very well written.