A Greater Netherlands - IN Brabant AAR

So, the (ingame) situation:

Hainaut was annexed within days, and after a few weeks of sieges Cologne gave up their city and retired to the Westfalen hinterlands (good riddance!). My troops are decimating the endless waves of French Latin Knights and Maurician Infantry wacko, but the key word for now is *endless*. Lorraine at least is safe, but the Army of Flanders got surprised by a French stack and had bad morale rolls. The main army was cut off from a fast retreat back into the Netherlands, but fortunately it was able to make it to Normandy and was evacuated by ship before another French stack could arrive. Its morale is absolutely decimated and many of its regiments are at half strength, so it will be a while before it can return to the fight. The siege groups to the north in Cambray and Picardie were suddenly exposed and lost before they could escape, so thats another few thousand that were lost. At least the Austrians are still on the far German frontiers, dealing with my vassals, and one French army has been driven off from Lorraine.

So far the following adjustments were made. First, I discovered that *Hainaut* was head of the alliance against me, when I annexed them and was suddenly at full peace. That's no fun, and doesn't even make any sense, so I went into the save and made them a minor member.

Then, I went to check the war score and found that both Austria and France were in the teens already! Some investigation showed that because I was allied with Ming and half of East Asia, their massive manpower and armies confused the AI into thinking that I was head of an unstoppable horde, even though the Asian troops were useless even if they *could* reach Europe. So, more editing, and all of my Asian allies are no longer in the war. That brought everything back to reality, as its just my German vassals and Portugal on my side.

Winner - At least I started with full manpower, and the French actually aren't that much ahead of me in that regard. I started with 58k/58k, while they had something like 70k/85k. But I'm going to have to deliver some strong blows if they're to be defeated, and then I need to deal with the Austrians

EUR007 - It's always easier to take than to give away...why give something up if it's ours now ?

Middelkerke - After vassalizing Munster in the last war, the Netherlands indirectly controlled about half of Lower Saxony, including much of the old Imperial Lower Saxon Circle. Some of those provinces had been Dutch vassals for over two hundred years, so the area was pretty well under Breda's thumb. In the Low German spoken in the area (as well as some of Friesland and Gelderland), Lower Saxony is "Neddersassen," so I figured that would be an appropriate name for the Dutch ruled region. I think its also pretty close to the Dutch term for Lower Saxony, so much the better. And no, I didn't know any of that myself, I got it from the Low German Wikipedia. For that matter, why is there a Low German Wikipedia?

Prawnstar -


I should make an Egypt AAR for EU:Rome so I can flip the map upside down, just to screw with your head :rofl:

Enewald - I wish I shared your confidence...but wait, I've already ended this war, so I know how it turns out!

asd - We'll see how well the Dutch southern defenses stand up in battle, at least they were planned to be under French attack.

Qorten - Manpower is indeed becoming a problem. I'm not too used to stand-up continental fights, since I usually try to keep wars at sea or in other people's countries, the further away the better. I'm having to husband my armies for brief offensives, much like playing a minor in HoI2.

Slinky - Or the year after that...at least, it should be over by *some* Christmas.

aldriq - Huchtenbroek wants Luxembourg and Valenciennes, as well as recognition for everything he's gained so far, but whether he gets that is another matter.

EUR007 - Connecting Lorraine is a definite must, even though it extends my lines considerably it will be worth it once all this unrest settles down.

Milites - I managed to get the rivers with the path tool and fiddling with the blending options, although I still don't get how to edits paths once they're down . The fortresses are just triangular brushes, liberally applied . I looked forever for some sort of "fort" icon, but gave up after a while.

tcnc - Here's a spoiler...I don't lose any territories in the New World. Granted, there's been no fighting there so far, but at least now you know for sure!

Notgerus - Glad to hear you've enjoyed the AAR so far. I always feel a bit nervous about readers from the Low Countries, since I don't want to butcher your language/history/culture/etc unknowingly. If I do something particularly stupid be sure to point it out.

I'm still using IN 3.0, because of the dreaded "AAR patch curse" that always seems to hit. Great AAR is in progress, a patch comes out, and it invariably corrupts the save and no more AAR. I'll have to leave 3.1/3.2 features to any future AARs I might do.

Von Uber - An excellent choice, you won't regret it .

Fortune had lost its favor for David van Huchtenbroek. The master politician was losing his war, and with it his authority. The victories at Köln and Consenvoie were quickly forgotten with the sight of van Atrecht’s defeated army sailing into Antwerpen. With even members of his own party beginning to voice their doubts, Huchtenbroek sought a way to turn around his flagging influence. Only a victory could salvage his career, a victory he expected Brandt and his generals to deliver.

Brandt needed to get van Atrecht’s army back in the field, but that would take time, money and manpower. Huchtenbroek gladly approved all of Brandt’s expenditure requests, while the prisons and poorhouses were emptied to refill the regiments. But even with the Stadtholder’s full support, the Army of Flanders was not expected to recover before the end of the campaign season. In the meantime, French armies had free rein in the south, as well as time to build up their own strength.

There was at least some good news. The Portuguese had so far been unable to provide any significant assistance to their allies, given the drain their decades-long colonial uprisings placed on their treasury. A handful of frigates from the Armada Real briefly joined the blockade of Barcelona, but were recalled when piracy off of Lisboa threatened to close the capital’s harbor. But in June the Portuguese approached the Dutch with an offer – they would hire out their regiments to the States in exchange for transferring some of Portugal’s crushing debts to the Dutch Treasury. After calling favors from the Bank of Amsterdam Huchtenbroek reached an agreement, and the first Portuguese tercios began arriving in mid-August. The mercenary regiments helped bolster the recovering Army of Flanders as it reassembled. Their presence would be crucial, as more alarming news arrived from the south.


After being repulsed at Consenvoie, the French withdrew to positions opposite the fortress of Verdun, forcing General Barhydt to keep his army in the area to guard against another crossing. The French were undeterred despite their initial failures, and knew that control of Verdun would dictate the fate of Lorraine. The citadel had been a key strongpoint since the times of Charlemagne, and even with its outdated medieval defenses it posed a difficult obstacle to overcome. Beginning in early August, French engineers began constructing three moles, or causeways, just upstream from the fortress. The construction was costly business, with Dutch artillery and skirmishers exacting a heavy toll on the laborers. At night tongues of flame lit the hills as Barhydt’s mortars pummeled the river embankment. One of the moles was abandoned after heavy damage, but the other two steadily crept towards the opposite shore.

The moles reached the far side on October 17, and under cover of darkness six hundred dragoons were sent across. The soldiers quickly dug out earthworks for their own artillery, which was man-handled across and put into position. Over the next four days French troops poured across the causeways into the “cauldron,” slowly pushing the Dutch from the river’s edge. With no room to maneuver most of the French cavalry was sent across dismounted to fight alongside the infantry in hand-to-hand combat. One by one the Dutch guns fell silent, their ammunition expended after days of constant firing. On the fifth day the French were finally reached the heights overlooking Verdun, while a detachment of French cavalry snuck across the Meuse five miles downstream during the heat of battle, flanking the Dutch positions. The imminent threat of being boxed in forced General Barhydt to order the retreat, leaving Verdun to be surrounded. Unlike the Army of Flander’s defeat at Paris, Barhydt’s forces withdrew in good order with all of its equipment and baggage train intact. Nevertheless, it was a defeated army in spirit, and Gen. Barhydt was morose in his failure. The army retired to Nancy to reorganize and wait the coming of spring while the French settled around Verdun for the winter.

The approaching chill of winter fit the mood in Amsterdam and Antwerpen as autumn drew to a close. The defeats at Paris and Verdun were only the beginning as a constant stream of bad news reached the States. A French army was besieging Atrecht, a stronghold of the Southern Lily Party. The governor of Hesse was killed in battle at Dortmund defending the city against Austrian assault. French privateers had ambushed a Dutch flotilla off the Antilles, sinking a number of galleons. Bands of Hungarian cavalry were sighted looting in the vicinity of Osnabrück and Oldenburg. German refugees from Neddersassen streamed towards the coast spreading rumors of Imperial atrocities. With leaflets and broadsheets filled with such reports, the Dutch cities were rotten with fear and discontent.

The situation was bleak. The States lacked any significant army capable of taking to the field of battle, while its enemies marched steadily closer. Almost three quarters of the State Treasury had been spent in the course of nine months, while recruiters were finding it harder and harder to find any able bodied men not already in the army or navy. The resources of the cities were reaching the breaking point as more and more refugees arrived from the east.

Things were looking grim for Huchtenbroek. Members of his party were demanding action, especially those from the beleaguered city of Atrecht. The opposition was organizing impeachment proceedings while the popular sentiment was for peace negotiations before the war got further out of hand. Hard questions were being asked about the evidence for the war, of the exorbitant costs being placed on the treasury, of the quality and caliber of the military leadership. As former friends and allies deserted him, the Stadtholder gamely struggled to keep his administration running despite his worsening health. With the steadfast Marshal Brandt at his side he would meet daily with his remaining supporters at the Staatshof to organize the defense of the Provinces.
It was from one of these meetings that he emerged late one afternoon, December 28. The worst news yet had come – Köln had opened its gates to the Austrians after less than a week of fighting, and an Imperial army was now marching on Maastricht. Wheezing with influenza, Huchtenbroek leaned on Brandt’s arm for support as he and his aides crossed the snow-covered square in front of the Staatshof to the carriage awaiting them. From the scattering of clerks and officials heading home for the evening stepped Samuel Groesbeck, a naval quartermaster from Haarlem. Approaching the Stadtholder, Groesbeck drew a pistol from under his coat and shot Huchtenbroek in the chest. With a look of bewildered surprise Huchtenbroek slid off Brandt’s arm to collapse on the cobblestones. With a cry of “For your crimes!” Groesbeck attempted to draw a dagger from his belt to finish the job, but before he could free it Brandt and several guards tackled him to the ground. Shouts of alarm spread as aides ran to get assistance, but it was too late – the Stadtholder was dead.