A Greater Netherlands - IN Brabant AAR

[Capibara]

I wasn't going to let them get into my part of Mexico, so all the fighting will be in (their) deserts

Haha, I like that, maybe then you can annex those deserts to your realms, although they are not that worthy.

[Slinky]

A war on a grand scale and it's not a simple pushover. I'm going to like this.

[Iwanow]

It is your 136 warships agains their 66 warships - you have more chances to win in naval battles.

But it is your 167 000 man against their 332, that give them much bigger chances in land. You will have problem if you want to attack their mainland... but i am almost sure that you will mostly attack them in their colonies... but it is not world war yet - in world war, whole world or most of it at least, must struggle. BUT it is Great War anyway.

[Enewald]

The world war begins... and yet more powers could join it, but they don't.

Russia and Sweden should join, so should France and Austria.

[angryclown]

Now THIS is going to be interesting.

*gets popcorn*

[Qorten]

The forces distribution looks quite scary really. I suppose you are about to hire a lot of mercenaries asap? You won't have any problems at sea though, that's fairly certain. And i good move quitting the Empire!

Go Netherlands!

[comagoosie]

Oh this is going to be good. And it does seem like you are going to be outnumbered. Let us just hope that the british don't try to do any land invasions (but I am sure they will)

[infinight]

I would use this war to take as much of GB's Asian and Indian possessions as possible, all to the benefit of the Dutch East India Company and your nation's coffers...

How developed is your South Africa colony? It looks ready to steamroll the Brits in Namibia!

I can't wait to see how this war goes, good luck to you and your wooden wall FYROM!

[asd21593]

World war in the 1600's!

Awesome!

Good luck!



asd

[rasmus40]

The current military plan is:

1) Defeat the British fleet and trap their armies in England
2) Help Portugal stabilize a defense in Iberia
3) Let my Asian minions burn down the British and Castilian colonies
4) Gain control of Africa with reinforcements from Asia
5) Continue the sweep into North and South America if necessary
6) OPERATION SEALION, Gustav Adolph style

I like your plan very much. Step 1 is absolutely essential as the completion of this will allow you to choose when and where to fight, and even to bring reinforcements where needed.

I can't wait for step 3 or even step 6

[FYROM]

Chapter 32 – The First World War (1671-1674)


Opening Salvos

In the end, the war didn’t start in the far Indies, the American frontier, or even the narrow English Channel. On Christmas Day 1670 the German town of Trier, long administered by the British Crown, rose up against its English Archbishop and declared independence as a free city of the Empire. The British Emperor attempted to send an army to quell the revolt, only to find that the Netherlands refused to permit passage down the Rhine. Stadtholder Eise Schouten issued a personal guarantee for the new German principality, arguing that the Holy Roman Emperor had no business subjugating the citizens of his empire. The already tense situation between the two countries reached the breaking point, when Emperor George V sent an ultimatum to allow British passage by February 1, or face immediate attack.

Allies join the fight

Stadtholder Schouten didn’t wait for the British to strike first. On January 23 the Army of Flanders crossed the frontier and began besieging the port of Calais, signaling the start of open conflict. Portugal and Castille quickly joined the conflict, and within a month fighting spread to all corners of the globe.

The immediate goal of the Dutch military was to find and engage the British Royal Fleet, which threatened naval operations in the Atlantic. The Stadtholder dispatched the Grand Fleet under Admiral Abraham van Brederode into the English Channel, but the Royal Fleet had already left its anchorage in Southampton and was attempting to escape. Brederode gave chase, managing to catch three lagging British warships that left Southampton late. Two of the vessels were sunk, while the battleship H.M.S. Theseus was captured intact and placed under a flag crew. However, despite these successes, the faster British ships continued to pull away from the pursuing Grand Fleet. The Royal Fleet would have made good their escape into the Atlantic if a storm hadn’t arrived as they exited the Channel, forcing the fleet to divert into the Irish Sea. The British admiral raced for the Northern Channel, hoping to reach the freedom of the open ocean.

While the Grand Fleet desperately tried to keep up with the fleeing Brits, the Dutch Northern Fleet was in the process of raiding the east coast of England and Scotland. The flotilla of ten frigates had split off from the main fleet, traveling up the coast to attack shipping at the mouths of the Thames and Tyne, as well as the harbors at Kingston, Edinburgh and Scapa Flow. Unaware of the headlong chase ahead of them, the flotilla rounded the Hebrides in preparation to strike at the Irish ports. As the Northern Fleet entered the Northern Channel, the captain of the Zuidholland was shocked to see twenty British battleships heading straight for him. With no room for either side to evade, the two sides braced for impact. Each battleship greatly outweighed and outgunned the approaching frigates, but the Dutch crews were determined to make the Brits bleed. The frigates dove into the British formation, using their superior maneuverability to strike at the battleships’ vulnerable sterns in an attempt to disable their steering. The Dutch ships took a terrible beating under the withering British cannon fire, but they were able to smash the rudders of eight ships before succumbing to the firestorm.

By that point, however, the Grand Fleet managed to catch up. The battered British fleet now faced a fresh Dutch force of eight battleships and seventeen galleons. With almost half its ships unable to maneuver, the Royal Fleet stood no chance against the newcomers. The Dutch were able to bracket the floundering battleships and pour broadside after broadside into their flanks, with four out of five shots hitting home. Those British ships that could still maneuver attempted to cover their wounded siblings as they tried to make for shore, but were unable to do more than delay the inevitable. The Battle of the Northern Channel resulted in all twenty battleships of the Royal Fleet at the bottom of the Irish Sea, with five Dutch galleons and six frigates joining them. Now Great Britain lay exposed to the triumphant Dutch fleet.

[EUROO7]

Did the battle screen not give the correct numbers?

That happens alot.

But now that the English army is trapped, a blockade of the Island is next?

[FYROM]

It is your 136 warships agains their 66 warships - you have more chances to win in naval battles.

But it is your 167 000 man against their 332, that give them much bigger chances in land. You will have problem if you want to attack their mainland... but i am almost sure that you will mostly attack them in their colonies... but it is not world war yet - in world war, whole world or most of it at least, must struggle. BUT it is Great War anyway.

It's definitely a world war - just see all the allies involved up above. Besides, the four main powers in this make up 95% of the world's colonies, and I'd guess well over 50% of the surface area.

The world war begins... and yet more powers could join it, but they don't.

Russia and Sweden should join, so should France and Austria.

Gah! They better not, this is going to be a juggling act as it is! France with 150,000 troops on my doorstep would spell the end of the Netherlands :P

The forces distribution looks quite scary really. I suppose you are about to hire a lot of mercenaries asap? You won't have any problems at sea though, that's fairly certain. And i good move quitting the Empire!

Go Netherlands!

The numbers are a little misleading in places. A lot of the British troops on the Continent are stuck in the Bourgogne Corridor, with no French passports. And Spain is using old-fashioned tercios and latin caracole cavalry against my Gustavians and Gallop lancers. But yes, I've got 5000 gold sitting in the treasury for the express purpose of hiring mercenaries. This will definitely come down to gold versus steel

Oh this is going to be good. And it does seem like you are going to be outnumbered. Let us just hope that the british don't try to do any land invasions (but I am sure they will)

Hard to do an amphibious invasion with their fleet at the bottom of the Atlantic. Maybe they'll swim the Channel to Calais

Did the battle screen not give the correct numbers?

That happens alot.

But now that the English army is trapped, a blockade of the Island is next?

Yeah, the naval battle system seems broken in IN. If a ship runs out of morale its instantly killed, but doesn't show up in the battle report.

[Enewald]

So a great naval victory?

Great!

Now let Gustav Adolf free to exterminate the locals!

[Middelkerke]

Are you going to keep the English on there island or will you attack and take london? So the Question is a long or quick war?

[comagoosie]

small Naval battles, not bad. I hope you are still giving pursuit so that next time you can destroy their navy.

[Irenicus]

This AAR has to be the most authentic play of the Netherlands yet. Beautifully done I say.

Trade, diplomacy, and colonial ventures that prefer profit to glory and land is just how the Netherlands acted. And of course bloody, victorious wars against much larger powers that underestimate the might of the Dutch military machine and the depths of her purse.

The story on the League of Darmstadt and the Swedish betrayal was plausible and dramatic, and now you even have an Anglo-Dutch war going, just on an entirely different scale!

I hope this will be one long, epic war. Why a quick raid on London when you could take the world a piece at a time?

And yes, for the story's sake France and Sweden definitely should join in. The Franco-Swedish Alliance would serve as an excellent third side of the war, plying for continental dominance while the mighty British Emperor and the ever-influential Netherlands are fighting each other all across the world -- if they don't join in, I hope at least that they'll have a few daring expansionist moves of their own to take advantage of the chaos, which will also be quite fitting. For gameplay's sake if they really attack you'll be screwed though unless you push it and blockade them to peace while holding your lines firm against hordes after hordes of Frenchmen.

small Naval battles, not bad. I hope you are still giving pursuit so that next time you can destroy their navy.

Apparently he already did and the IN engine just shows it wrong.

[Capibara]

Nice start, destroy the enemy fleet first, then everything will be easier

[asd21593]

Great update, I love the map graphic!

A great victory, now for Sealion!



asd

[Oceanus Hopkins]

Do you have any plans for territorial expansion during this war?