A Fistful of Tobacco - A Friesland AAR
Since I consider myself finished with the Kara Koyunlu/Safavid Empire SG, I had to find something new to do with EU2. The choice fell on writing a new AAR. I have for a long time wanted to play and write about Friesland. It's perhaps not the best choice of country, since another AAR about Friesland was recently started. However I don't think that will be a problem for you. This will also be my first game with the new version of AGCEEP; hopefully I will get some surprises!
Game Settings
Grand Campaign
AGCEEP 1.55
Very Hard/Weakling
Standard Victory Points
Random Events on
Missions off
Goals
- Survive
- Form the Netherlands
- Only own dutch cultured provinces and Oldenburg in Europe
- Convert to Protestant and then Reformed
- Do some serious trading
- Have some "special" Domestic Policies settings
- Have the largest navy in the world
- Get the most victory points
The title of the AAR is of course not a random one. One other goal in my mind is to at least be the leading nation in producing tobacco; preferably owning every province with the resource. It is not many of them: Roanoke, Catawba, Chesapeake, Powhatan, Delaware, Havana, Para, Tiracambu, Parnaiba, Iguato, Diamentina, Niteroi and Mindoro. Many of those provinces will be colonized by Portugal, so many wars against them should be expected.
Regarding the DP settings, I plan to go for the money making options. That is: Plutocracy, Centralization, Naval, Free Market and Free Subjects. Also, I will go for Defensive Doctrine for cheap forts and +1 siege bonus. For the two last settings, they will be Innovative and Quality. I will start going for centralization, as many of the other options could be very dangerous early in the game.
I have played Friesland before, so I know some basic strategies that will hopefully work this time too. I have managed to form the Netherlands, however, I have never played more than ~50 years with them, so I don't know what to expect later in the game. I will play as I update, so you have the opportunity to affect (some) outcomes of this AAR, unlike the Livonian Order AAR.
Friesland in 1419
Friesland starts as a vassal of Brabant. Because Brabant is in an alliance lead by Burgundy, Friesland is in no alliance. On the bright side, Friesland starts with a diplomat, so the vassalization can be broken right away. Another good thing is the 200 ducats in the coffers. They will come in handy when creating a small galley navy. As for the army, it consists of 6000 soldiers. The support limit is only 9000.
Friesland's neighbours are all in alliances already. As mentioned, Brabant and Burgundy are allied, together with Lorraine and Cleves (Münster). Since my plan is to capture Dutch cultured provinces, I won't join that alliance. More appealing is the alliance of Geldre and Berg (Kleves); even if they are small, they could support large armies. Moreover, we have the German minors to the east, but I always forget how their messed up alliances work.
So, in other words, my short term goals is to ally Geldre and Berg, and wait for an opportunity to get Dutch provinces off Brabant and Burgundy. Of course, I have to be very careful to avoid getting too much BB too fast, so I won't get into the same trouble as Scipio got in his Friesland AAR.
I hope to get the first update uploaded within 2 hours. Comments and feedback are very much appreciated!
Last edited: