Well done! The Reich is progressing nicely. 
Any way to get Austria to cough up Erfurt without a fight (at this time...)?
Any way to get Austria to cough up Erfurt without a fight (at this time...)?
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You've been quite active in updating since I last checked in. This young lad is a good general. Pity about his father.
You have to hand it to the Austrians, they are doing their best to be helpful. It's quite endearing really.
I do, actually, have one more writing-orientated comment. I suppose I should give full warning of impending tedium. Anyway, the comment is that is our current chronicler (or translator of the chronicler, I suppose, given I rather doubt the 'original' was in modern English ) really does seem to have an enthusiasm for the word 'did'. Oh, his father used to word on a fair few occasions too, but not I think so often, or if so then less noticeably. These last two updates I feel slightly like a tree that has been subject to the careful attentions of a flock of woodpeckers.
What makes me especially curious about this is that many of the occasions where it occurs it makes the phrasing more archaic. For example (from the first son-update):
"my illustrious father did pass from this earth with little amount of pain"
which of course could be entirely reasonably constructed as:
"my illustrious father passed from this earth with little amount of pain"
I wonder therefore if this has crept in by an attempt to create a more archaic feel, but might have ended up somewhat taking over (as I say, the father certainly uses the same construction on occasion, but not nearly as noticeably or, I think, as often). If so actually it raises an excellent discussion point about creating an archaic atmosphere without it being too intrusive.
Of course, I could be completely misreading the situation. If so, please correct me
I do, actually, have one more writing-orientated comment. I suppose I should give full warning of impending tedium.
Anyway, the comment is that is our current chronicler (or translator of the chronicler, I suppose, given I rather doubt the 'original' was in modern English ) really does seem to have an enthusiasm for the word 'did'. Oh, his father used to word on a fair few occasions too, but not I think so often, or if so then less noticeably. These last two updates I feel slightly like a tree that has been subject to the careful attentions of a flock of woodpeckers. What makes me especially curious about this is that many of the occasions where it occurs it makes the phrasing more archaic. For example (from the first son-update):
"my illustrious father did pass from this earth with little amount of pain"
which of course could be entirely reasonably constructed as:
"my illustrious father passed from this earth with little amount of pain"
I wonder therefore if this has crept in by an attempt to create a more archaic feel, but might have ended up somewhat taking over (as I say, the father certainly uses the same construction on occasion, but not nearly as noticeably or, I think, as often). If so actually it raises an excellent discussion point about creating an archaic atmosphere without it being too intrusive.
Of course, I could be completely misreading the situation. If so, please correct me
stnylan, I too noticed a change in style from father to son. But I read this as the author's attempt to show how language usage changes from generation to generation (for example, not too many say "swell" anymore when they mean "cool"; or look at the whole "dude" phenomenon...). I suspect, unless this was completely unintentional, that as subsequent choniclers are introduced we might see further changes.
coz1: ...That we did not take but two provinces from any of them was to our credit. And a vassal’s money is always good.
what does this leave your BB at ? ?
coz1: ...with the Emperor still attempting to provide each army with usable artillery and there was the beginning of a sixth army to spring up on our eastern border.
good show on that sixth army ! ! methinks that it will be quite useful in the not too distant future ! ! :rofl:
for some strange reason, General Georg Wilhelm von Manstein has a very nice ring to it ! !
magnificent updates ! !
what does this leave your BB at ? ?
coz1: ...with the Emperor still attempting to provide each army with usable artillery and there was the beginning of a sixth army to spring up on our eastern border.
good show on that sixth army ! !
methinks that it will be quite useful in the not too distant future ! ! :rofl: for some strange reason, General Georg Wilhelm von Manstein has a very nice ring to it ! !
magnificent updates ! !
Coz,
Well prosecuted wars! Good to see.
That was quite a boundary dispute event you got. Comes in handy, I guess!
And I'm glad to see that you were able to corral the Moron before he could fall into the hands of any other empire, who might use him for nefarious (or simply stupid) purposes.
I'm curious as to your thoughts on budgetary strategy -- I see that you are plugging all you have into Gov Tech. Is this how you've typically played? Do you find a particular advantage to this? It's been my habit (in most any game) to split the difference between various priority buget categories, but not to zero out more than one or two sliders. But that's just my habit -- not necessarily my recommendation! I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.
Rensslaer
Well prosecuted wars! Good to see.
That was quite a boundary dispute event you got. Comes in handy, I guess!
And I'm glad to see that you were able to corral the Moron before he could fall into the hands of any other empire, who might use him for nefarious (or simply stupid) purposes.
I'm curious as to your thoughts on budgetary strategy -- I see that you are plugging all you have into Gov Tech. Is this how you've typically played? Do you find a particular advantage to this? It's been my habit (in most any game) to split the difference between various priority buget categories, but not to zero out more than one or two sliders. But that's just my habit -- not necessarily my recommendation!
I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.Rensslaer
stnylan, the frequency of 'did' is entirely due to the difficulty of translation from the original archaic German.
A nice series of updates. I'm relieved you decided to continue even if it means the son holds the pen.
Brandenburg's expansion into the New World is no small matter either. You'd best begin checking your relations with England, Castile, Aragon... and France.
An alliance with Sweden is good in that they can supply strength in the North. It is a bad idea in that they will likely war with Russia and you can't really help them, there.
A nice series of updates. I'm relieved you decided to continue even if it means the son holds the pen.
Brandenburg's expansion into the New World is no small matter either. You'd best begin checking your relations with England, Castile, Aragon... and France.
An alliance with Sweden is good in that they can supply strength in the North. It is a bad idea in that they will likely war with Russia and you can't really help them, there.
Like stnylan, imade certain assumptions about Georg Wilhelm and his use of "did". I take it to mean that our new narrator is a doer of deeds and that , by using did in reference to his father's death, he was saying that his father was a doer as well. Our narrator has not given us any clues about how many siblings he has or what they are doing.
coz1's Brandenberg is concerned about Poles and Scandinavians. The Knights seem to be finishing off the Poles and an alliance with Sweden would help to partition Denmark.
A judicious royal marriage may lead to inheritance of the Kinights somewhere down the road. By then, Denmark should be well and truly gone and Russia may decide to look elsewhere.
coz1's Brandenberg is concerned about Poles and Scandinavians. The Knights seem to be finishing off the Poles and an alliance with Sweden would help to partition Denmark.
A judicious royal marriage may lead to inheritance of the Kinights somewhere down the road. By then, Denmark should be well and truly gone and Russia may decide to look elsewhere.
Fb-fb:
Lord E - Thank you, and yes, there was little hardship during those years other than trying to time the wars so my BB did not rise too quickly.
WhisperingDeath - I am afraid there is not a way to get Erfurt from Austria unless we war with them. I suppose they could sell it to me, but I don't see that happening. And as stated, if I want to form Germany, there probably should be some conflict between Brandenburg and Austria. As for the second comment, see my answer to stnylan.
pit - Thank you very much and welcome aboard. I hope I am able to keep you entertained as this is very fun for me.
J. Passepartout - To be honest, GW von Manstein is actually not too great of a general, having I think only one fire and little else (he might have had some maneuver as well). He was picked up with maybe 1% or 2% tradition and as you can imagine, I got little from that. But even a lousy leader is better than no leader in this game. And besides - he is really more useful for his name.
stnylan - A very astute observation and I admit, I did go a little overboard in the last few updates. I am trying to make the words sound a bit old fashioned, but having not read many chronicles, I am kind of making it up as I go. If it sounds right to me, I use it. In fact, in future generations, I may start to use some odd spellings like divers rather than diverse if I can figure out a way and make it sound realistic. Guess I need to go back and read some of Elizabeth I's writing and letters. But overuse can lead to the opposite effect and I think this is what you picked up on. That I can only blame on sloppiness on my part. I should have edited the work better and will try to going forward.
GhostWriter - Believe it or not, during all of that I never got over 5 in BB as I timed the wars well. I think it is best to keep your rep no worse than slightly tarnished (unless you want to do a WC, which I don't.) If anything, I was more worried about stability during this time as each DoW cost me a point being of the same religion as all three countries. I made the mistake earlier of declaring war while I still had a royal marriage and it was "stoopid" on my part when it only cost one stab to break the marriage and then one to go to war rather than something like 3 or 4 stab to DoW someone you are married to, plus the one stab hit for the DoW itself. Just sloppy play.
Renss - Yep - I love me a good old fashioned boundary dispute. There is nothing better when you need a CB. As for budgetary strategy - I learned under the wise guidance of the great Peter Ebbeson who always taught that it was much better to plug all of your research ducats into one tree rather than spreading them out. You will gain faster on that one and then you can switch. Of course, this is a bit of a holdover in thinking from EUII where you went all out on Trade and Infra. early on to get to Trade 3 and Infra 5. But doing that meant that your land and naval research would go faster once you did begin to invest having a decent sized budget from good trade and infra tech. I'm not sure it still applies, but I have picked up some nice ground on Govt., Prod. and Land by doing this. Naval is not such an issue for me given that I am mostly land based, and I am afraid I have mostly given up on trade. It is simply too frustrating.
Director - Very true as regards England, Castile and Aragon. My relations with France are not too bad and not too good. England still likes me for the most part and to be honest, I have not spent much time around Castile or Aragon. But now that we are closer neighbors, I will need to. With Sweden, you are most likely correct though Russia has not formed. Novgorod is growing however, and thus Russia may still appear. But Sweden would make a perfect partner to use against France if the time came. I can say that my overtures have not been met by much success and the alliance partner I did end up getting was a royal pain in the a$$ thanks to their constant wars.
Chief Ragusa - Well, you can't marry into a religious order, unfortunately. I had to take a different plan of attack to the TO. But I think you will like it. Look for it in a few more updates. As for Sweden - see above. But they are not being very helpful.
And to all - the daily update is ready and I will post that in just a second. Since not much is happening, I had hoped to gain a bit more ground but I need to cut it off when I do for reasons which will become apparant in the update after this one. Regardless, I have much more to discuss as I was able to play through to 1553 yesterday and hope to get more in today. I don't want to play too far ahead, but the game is as infectious as any PI game and thus, one cannot blame me for rushing forward.
Thanks to all for your great comments!
Lord E - Thank you, and yes, there was little hardship during those years other than trying to time the wars so my BB did not rise too quickly.
WhisperingDeath - I am afraid there is not a way to get Erfurt from Austria unless we war with them. I suppose they could sell it to me, but I don't see that happening. And as stated, if I want to form Germany, there probably should be some conflict between Brandenburg and Austria. As for the second comment, see my answer to stnylan.
pit - Thank you very much and welcome aboard. I hope I am able to keep you entertained as this is very fun for me.
J. Passepartout - To be honest, GW von Manstein is actually not too great of a general, having I think only one fire and little else (he might have had some maneuver as well). He was picked up with maybe 1% or 2% tradition and as you can imagine, I got little from that. But even a lousy leader is better than no leader in this game. And besides - he is really more useful for his name.
stnylan - A very astute observation and I admit, I did go a little overboard in the last few updates.
I am trying to make the words sound a bit old fashioned, but having not read many chronicles, I am kind of making it up as I go. If it sounds right to me, I use it. In fact, in future generations, I may start to use some odd spellings like divers rather than diverse if I can figure out a way and make it sound realistic. Guess I need to go back and read some of Elizabeth I's writing and letters. But overuse can lead to the opposite effect and I think this is what you picked up on. That I can only blame on sloppiness on my part. I should have edited the work better and will try to going forward.GhostWriter - Believe it or not, during all of that I never got over 5 in BB as I timed the wars well. I think it is best to keep your rep no worse than slightly tarnished (unless you want to do a WC, which I don't.) If anything, I was more worried about stability during this time as each DoW cost me a point being of the same religion as all three countries. I made the mistake earlier of declaring war while I still had a royal marriage and it was "stoopid" on my part when it only cost one stab to break the marriage and then one to go to war rather than something like 3 or 4 stab to DoW someone you are married to, plus the one stab hit for the DoW itself. Just sloppy play.
Renss - Yep - I love me a good old fashioned boundary dispute.
There is nothing better when you need a CB. As for budgetary strategy - I learned under the wise guidance of the great Peter Ebbeson who always taught that it was much better to plug all of your research ducats into one tree rather than spreading them out. You will gain faster on that one and then you can switch. Of course, this is a bit of a holdover in thinking from EUII where you went all out on Trade and Infra. early on to get to Trade 3 and Infra 5. But doing that meant that your land and naval research would go faster once you did begin to invest having a decent sized budget from good trade and infra tech. I'm not sure it still applies, but I have picked up some nice ground on Govt., Prod. and Land by doing this. Naval is not such an issue for me given that I am mostly land based, and I am afraid I have mostly given up on trade. It is simply too frustrating.Director - Very true as regards England, Castile and Aragon. My relations with France are not too bad and not too good. England still likes me for the most part and to be honest, I have not spent much time around Castile or Aragon. But now that we are closer neighbors, I will need to. With Sweden, you are most likely correct though Russia has not formed. Novgorod is growing however, and thus Russia may still appear. But Sweden would make a perfect partner to use against France if the time came. I can say that my overtures have not been met by much success and the alliance partner I did end up getting was a royal pain in the a$$ thanks to their constant wars.
Chief Ragusa - Well, you can't marry into a religious order, unfortunately. I had to take a different plan of attack to the TO. But I think you will like it. Look for it in a few more updates. As for Sweden - see above. But they are not being very helpful.
And to all - the daily update is ready and I will post that in just a second. Since not much is happening, I had hoped to gain a bit more ground but I need to cut it off when I do for reasons which will become apparant in the update after this one. Regardless, I have much more to discuss as I was able to play through to 1553 yesterday and hope to get more in today. I don't want to play too far ahead, but the game is as infectious as any PI game and thus, one cannot blame me for rushing forward.
Thanks to all for your great comments!
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And so after the great wars of the past few years, we did sit and rest for some time to pull our gains together and make sure the ship of state was on the right path. I had good knowledge that it was, having been close to Billerbeck during these years and he was certain to keep me informed of what transpired at court and elsewhere. For my men, and myself there was little to do but enjoy the beer and women in Bamburg, though I fear some of them perhaps enjoyed more than they should. I did not want to keep too tight a watch on them after their heroic acts, but one must keep order in the army.
January of 1524 brought us some great cheer as we learned that Vorpommern would forever more be tied to our realm and they thought of themselves as Imperials first, Pommeranians second. I can only give our Emperor all the credit for this as he surely did continue his father’s method of constant progress throughout our lands, but never overstaying his welcome so as to cost the host more than they owed their Lord. And Billerbeck sent a letter during that summer that stated in part that our efforts to curb inflation were going well, though the deficit we took in (losing some six ducats a month I was told) was something to get used to. It meant that only those most necessary of expenditures would be paid and all else must wait. I was of course fully prepared for this as my army’s maintenance had been cut in half soon after we had filled our ranks from the last war. Billerbeck also mentioned that there was a consorted effort to focus on production in the realm after a period of pulling the government together. Finally, he did mention that there would be further centralization in the government in a few months once the stability of the realm had returned to its usual lofty heights. The people were somewhat suspicious of such things, even when they have a great man like Johann Siegmund to lead them.
We were all also very curious when after the Emperor’s first wife passed from childbirth some years back, he finally decided to remarry and did so with a Dutch noble’s daughter. What made it most curious was that this woman claimed she came from some land called The Netherlands, and this we had not heard of before. But they had built a state in those lands of Utrecht and a marriage to an Emperor was no small thing one might consider. I do imagine it helped them gain some form of legitimacy in the eyes of Europe. And she was quite a fair woman; from the one time I did see her.
There was little else of consequence to offer our time during these post war years, and as a soldier one can imagine that I was often bored. Even the one event that might have sated my thirst for battle was denied to me, being too far south to take part. You see, In September of 1525, the merchants of Lubeck were to put a challenge to the Emperor, demanding that he lower their taxes. After having placated many peoples over the years, Emperor Johann decided that enough was enough. He sent them back a strong message stating that they had better pay what they owe to the Empire or feel Imperial steel. This was, for them, the final sting and they did rise up some 6,000 men strong to question our Emperor’s authority.
As you can imagine, the Emperor dealt with them with extreme prejudice and sent the great Emperors Army to put them down. It would require a lessoning of the inflation deficit for a time, Billerbeck confided in me, but in a matter of months, that Army did arrive and destroy any remnants of rebellion such that I doubt they will ever rise up again. A good thing as well, given the very rich nature of that city.
But there was to be little excitement for me, I must say. Though my spirits were often lifted when a letter arrived from Billerbeck, as he was always keeping me informed of my late father’s work in the colonies. We had done well to keep a constant flow of settlers going forth to Santee, having nearly 800 people living and working there by late 1526. And such was the excitement of this venture that we again turned our attention to that island in the Caribbean that many were now calling Cuba. It was a strange name, to be sure. But Billerbeck informed me that Spanish sailors and merchants had already been living there for some time, though not in any official capacity. They had influenced the region already and the language was much different from our own. To try our best and satisfy those natives such that we could build great cities all along the island, we did give in to them often as far as allowing some freedom of discussion and language. When that island is fully settled however, I predict that there might be some unrest. But I do not hope it.
I was excited to receive some maps from Billerbeck along with his latest message and I shall leave them in this chronicle so that they may educate future generations. He did include this map of the Caribbean waters drawn sometime after yet another successful group of colonists set up in Moron,
And also this one of the coast of the world we so long ago first set eyes on, but now grown large with European settlement and a great deal of knowledge now known about those strange inhabitants in the south of that region,
But the finest map in the collection was more a thing of pride than anything else as it did show a colony finally in that land called Guantanamo that my father had so long ago tried to settle. His ideas were still gaining ground long after his passage and it is a credit to my name and his that this is so,
Now we sit here in late 1528 and I do wonder if there will ever be a battle for me again. We seem to have spent more time sending gifts to the likes of Gelre and Würzburg than challenging those powers that would wish to see us fail. I do know that an alliance with Austria was denied when the Habsburg Leoplod VIII asked about such back in October of 1526, but I see no signs that we will be going to war with them or anyone else at some point in the near future. I suppose my father would be grateful for such a period of rest, but I am a military man and this time of peace seems ever so foreign to me, much like those natives in the New World. But if the Emperor does call on me, I and my men will be at the ready to do his bidding. It is my great honor to be in the service of such a revered and gracious host like Emperor Johann Siegmund I. I can only hope to do him proud.
These periods of (relative) calm are always tough on the militarily minded. Looks like the consolidation of your Empire is coming along. And the colonial growth is great! By the look of things, you will have to bring many translation dictionaries if you want to visit the New World.
From the screenshots, itwould appear that nations are not comomising the "right" bits.
Shame about the TO.
At least the warhungry ally landing you in wars you hadn't sought hasn't changed from EU2! And allies still abandon sieges for inexplicable reasons. Gone is the BWB, we mourn your passing for the blood stain that is now Austria.
The Netherlands have popped up early and will no doubt prove to be a good ally in the future.
I am disappointed that Georg has not got to play with any houfnice.
Shame about the TO.
At least the warhungry ally landing you in wars you hadn't sought hasn't changed from EU2! And allies still abandon sieges for inexplicable reasons. Gone is the BWB, we mourn your passing for the blood stain that is now Austria.
The Netherlands have popped up early and will no doubt prove to be a good ally in the future.
I am disappointed that Georg has not got to play with any houfnice.
The colonial empire is great and impressive, good to see the colonial work is going on and working well. I think he might soon get his war though, this period of peace is only one where the emperor is building up his forces I guess, so soon the Austrians will learn a lesson
The creation of Germany is a one way road now and that road leads to Vienna.
Are the Austrians allied with anybody and who is allied with you? I can see in the horizon the gathering clouds of a great storm. Good luck!
Glad to see that you'll soon have your first full blown city in the New World. Congratulations!
Can't wait for the next update...
Are the Austrians allied with anybody and who is allied with you? I can see in the horizon the gathering clouds of a great storm. Good luck!
Glad to see that you'll soon have your first full blown city in the New World. Congratulations!
Can't wait for the next update...
All in all I can see why this would be a frustrating time for our eager warrior. Peace always seems so protracted to those more orientated to the more ... ahh ... direct methods of diplomacy But this peace seems to mostly be providing situations for further conflict - especially in America. Of course, those wars will probably be fought in his son's or grandson's time, but there is nothing he can do about that.
As regards creating a more archaic atmosphere in language, in my chronicles I found it useful not so much to use individual constructions (though I did on occasion) but more one of emphasis. A mediaeval monk, for example, attributes and sees God in everything. On a related theme, both Mansteins so far seem so very level-headed and, well, reasonable. Oh they are distinct characters - the business about how his father would have preferred the period of peace is plain - but they seem to have few faults, as opposed to differing qualities, if you see what I mean. They seem a little apart from the age in which they are living. That said, this is less true of the son who is so wonderfully and completely biased towards his father.
Anyway, enough of being serious! Having ditched Austria that surely gives the Emperor greater freedom. And yes, Austria itself must be tempting, either now or in the future.
But this peace seems to mostly be providing situations for further conflict - especially in America. Of course, those wars will probably be fought in his son's or grandson's time, but there is nothing he can do about that. As regards creating a more archaic atmosphere in language, in my chronicles I found it useful not so much to use individual constructions (though I did on occasion) but more one of emphasis. A mediaeval monk, for example, attributes and sees God in everything. On a related theme, both Mansteins so far seem so very level-headed and, well, reasonable. Oh they are distinct characters - the business about how his father would have preferred the period of peace is plain - but they seem to have few faults, as opposed to differing qualities, if you see what I mean. They seem a little apart from the age in which they are living. That said, this is less true of the son who is so wonderfully and completely biased towards his father.
Anyway, enough of being serious! Having ditched Austria that surely gives the Emperor greater freedom. And yes, Austria itself must be tempting, either now or in the future.
Tell those Spaniards where they can stick it! Cuba shall now be known by an impressively long German name with lots of consonants and umlauts! The Emperor commands it!
coz1: ...I can only hope to do him proud.
aye, do him proud, and sire a son who is an even better general ! !
btw, is that Long Island i see without its rightful Brandenburg ownership ? ?
excellent update ! !
aye, do him proud, and sire a son who is an even better general ! !
btw, is that Long Island i see without its rightful Brandenburg ownership ? ?
excellent update ! !