Europe is our dancefloor - let's waltz

Capibara said:

any update?

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Just finished the turn with Austria, I'll try to post the details tomorrow.

Lord Durham said:

France, the whipping boy of Europe.

It sounds like the number of game turns before switching countries may come down to fine tuning. Keep up the good work.

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Thanks! France takes yet another beating in the next turn but so does Hungary

Austria 1495-9

After all the annexations in the past five years Austria is starting to look like a proper power. Suddenly Burgundy looks a bit less scary.

The AI has been building up the army, stability is at its maximum and the BB is only 6, a lot less than I thought. The HRE crown is also of help shedding bad reputation. I notice I have 2 universities now, courtesy of the old Saxony lands

I start on the diplomatic front by securing marriages with Hesse and Brandenburg, northern neighbours and members of the empire that will be crucial against Burgundy. As promised I try offering Hungary an alliance but it is rejected, despite the +200 relations, no big surprise.

Instead the Hungarians prefer to attack Crimea in February (supported by the OE and Kazan), but Bohemia abandons the alliance On their own against those 3 bullies, not a pretty situation for Hungary, but this time I'm determined not to get involved in the Balkans, the AI will have to be creative to get out of its own mess.



Back to Austria, there is a temporary casus belli on Tuscany (they probably attacked an Italian minor I had guaranteed independence, Modena I think). They have a beautiful university in Pisa which makes a nice target. They are allied to Genoa, which the only other northern Italian country outside Austria's sphere of influence. It is too good an opportunity to miss, and since the reputation is not sky high I DoW Tuscany without hesitation.

Liguria is dealt with swiftly and Genoa accepts to become a vassal.

Annoyingly I don't have military access through Modena and they refuse to give it. The AI has kept on building ships all this time but there are only 2 cogs in the fleet, so find myself convoying regiments to Pisa in pairs, how sad is that? Fortunately in July Tuscany occupies Modena and the main Austrian army can then cross through, crushing the main Tuscan army on the way.



However the Tuscan provinces are hard nuts to crack, they take a long time to fall. Eventually in 1496 I get what I wanted.



After this small but convenient act of aggression I have secured control of northern Italy (and got a third university!). It's time to keep a low profile for the rest of the turn to cool down BB and act like a good emperor

_________

Some of you may have noticed that Konstanz is occupied by Bohemia in the previous screenshot, what is going on? Well, when Bohemia betrayed Hungary in 1495 they decided that they wanted a more entertaining buddy to hang around with, so they joined an alliance with France. They were not disappointed because shortly afterwards France ended up in another messy war with Portugal, Brittany and Burgundy.



I sit and watch France disappear (pass the popcorn please), but I enjoy seeing the little Bohemian success against Burgundy, even if they get nothing out of the war. France gives up some more cores on Burgundian lands and after a year is attacked by Navarra (plus Castille plus Aragon). I don't think the Bohemians even bother to send help this time.

In 1498 Leopold VIII Wilhelm dies, but his successor seems rather promising, long live Ernst II of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor.

Now I bet you'll be wondering what has happened to Hungary after these 3 years. Well, I kept on trying to form an alliance with them on another two occasions, to no avail. They managed to sign a white peace with Crimea but they are still at war with Kazan and the OE. They've managed very well so far, but at the end of 1498 it is pretty clear that Hungary is finally being overrun by the Ottoman war machine.



And so in early 1499, despite my reluctance to intervene in the Balkans again, I enter the war against the Ottomans. Being the emperor has its responsibilities as well as rewards, and keeping the OE out of the empire is definitely top of the list.

The Ottomans have lots of men in Hungarian soil, more than I thought. There are a couple of tight battles but I get to liberate three provinces.



Enough it seems, in July Hungary gets away with a white peace



I decide to continue the war hoping to weaken the OE and make this war a bit more worthwhile. Now that my Italian allies have arrived to the Balkans I think I can afford to push into Ottoman lands.



So once again I leave the AI handling the situation, a bit risky I know, but more exciting to see how it develops. Hungary enters an alliance with Poland at the end of the year, let's see if this time they stick to it.

Oh yes, France lost a few more provinces to Castille and Navarra.

Just played a couple of years with Hungary with the new patch (NA 2.1) and I must say:

- The rebels are a lot bigger - fair enough.
- Brandenburg is now crimsom-ish, Savoy is now pink-ish but Denmark is purple (why?)
- The game is a hell of a lot faster.
- Lorraine has been annexed by Portugal -OK, that has nothing to do with the patch, but I'm quite glad

Capibara said:

just let's hope AI can handle the war with OE.

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Let's hope so, I'm intrigued to see now with the new patch (and assuming the war goes well) whether Austria will demand the OE to release a vassal or nation instead of territory.

BBBD316 - Yes, getting Serbia and Cyprus liberated would be better than getting the provinces. If Austria demands land I will either release it or sell the provinces to Hungary.

tthf - Thanks! Definitely, the rebel armies are already hurting Hungary. The new rules will make land-grabbing in the empire a lot harder for Austria, a lot more diplomacy will be required. But at least Castille won't be as rich as it is now due to her colonies.

coz1 said:

Man, France is taking it on the chin. Can't say I am terribly sad for that.

And don't you hate it when your other country won't be friends with you? Nice work saving Hungary's bacon vs the Turks. I'd say Austria is in better position to leave them at war against the Ottomans that Hungary.

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Austria was in much better position to handle the Ottomans, but after the war and the new 2.1 patch Hungary is left in a pretty grim situation.


Hungary 1500-4

New turn, new century, new patch... old problems just made bigger. The war with the OE has left Hungary rather devastated economically. Still under the effects of Peasants' War (after more than 15 years!), with -2 stability and 13% inflation, the kingdom of St Stephen is one of the poorest in Europe.



The new patch has exacerbated the problems, big time. The next 5 years are basically a struggle trying to recover while putting down continuous 6 to 10 regiment peasant revolts. As you can see the peasants are not happy:



As the army recovers, the maintenance costs go up and I have to mint more and more to stay afloat, I can't afford to lower the military budget or I'd be eaten alive by the rebels.

Stability is a big issue too, apparently level -1 won't be reached until 1507 I even release Corfu to lower the costs, only to see my precious 3-star stability advisor die a couple of months afterwards, so I'm stuck at stab -2 until 1511. Anyway, I couldn't even defend Corfu from the rioters since there are only 2 cogs in the fleet (the AI has been busy building galleys but as usual no transports).

The king also dies, probably exhausted having commanded the armies against the Ottomans in the past war. Following the trend, the new king is nothing to write home about.



At least Austria seems to be doing well, I hope the break the OE. It is nice to see armies from Milan and Savoy crossing the Balkans to fight side by side with the Austrians.



In the end Austria takes the capital and even a province in Anatolia, forcing the OE to pay a high price for peace: the release of Serbia, Bulgaria and the Knights, as well as ending the vassalisation of Wallachia. A very consistent and reasonable outcome, NA has definitely made things a lot more historical in this respect.



Unfortunately the newly liberated countries hate Hungary (-175 relations) so there doesn't seem to be much scope for diplomacy for now. At least they are allied to Austria, so if the OE gets silly they will get help. Bohemia asked to form an alliance again and it was duly accepted. However the alliance with Poland was lost (I let relations slip to -5, I didn't realise then that under the new rules alliances are dropped when relations go below 0).

So all in all it was a very frustrating turn. The new patch has made life harder for expansionistic nations. Of all the changes these are the ones I think are going to have greatest impact:

Johan said:

- Non-accepted cultures now increase stability costs.
- Nationalism is now a bit more severe.
- Revolt size is now based on tax base of a province as well as manpower.

- Alliances now break if relations go below 0, and do not have a union or vassal relationship.

- Revised colonial logics slightly, you now need to be within a maximum range from an unblockaded city with a port to place a colonist.
- To colonize inland you now need to have a city adjacent.

- Overseas territory now is worth half of its current value for peace.
- It now takes 50 years to get a core on a province.

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Hopefully the next turn with Austria won't be as unpleasant.

kfijatass - Poland has more men and richer provinces, and most importantly, Lithuania as ally, so no chance I can go for them right now, much as I would like to

Minarchist - Austria must have annihilated the Ottoman army, that's for sure, but the OE has an amazing capacity to recover so I wouldn't bet on their total demise just yet. Hungary still has plenty to do in the Balkans and Austria has Burgundy and the HRE to deal with. The ideal option for Hungary would be to secure an alliance with Lithuania, but I don't see it very likely.

Capibara - Not fun at all. I just hope that by the time I get back to Hungary in 1510 the peasants' war has gone.

merrick - Yes, the only consolation in the -2 stab is that at least the AI won't be able to DoW until 1511, but I suspect this time it'll be Crimea who will DoW Hungary (they still have the core on Cherson).