Late to the Dance - a Prussian HTTT AAR

[naggy]

After several people stated they wanted to see me continue my Prussia AAR, and since HTTT changes things radically, I decided to restart my Prussia AAR using HTTT. (My Bar AAR will also continue).

I will try and unite Germany starting with the ascension of Friedrich the Great on May 10, 1668.

Settings:
Difficulty: Very Hard
Luck: Random
Aggressiveness: Normal

Goals:
* Form Prussia (I start as Brandenburg, and can form Prussia as soon as I get 20 prestige)
* Connect the Prussian Lands
* Form Germany
* Become Holy Roman Emperor

Bonus goals:
* Take the Austrian provinces from Austria
* Humiliate France
* Make inroads into India

What will not happen:
* Taking land in America. The cost of doing anything in America outweighs the utility of anything I could gain there against major powers.
* Any aspirations to naval greatness. Again, cost issues.

[naggy]

Chapter 1: Where we stand
Chapter 2: The Race for Germany and Italy
Chapter 3: The Prussian Rebel Yell
Chapter 4: The Regency of Karl

Updated 4.1b patch - restart:
Prussia reloaded
Chapter 2 (again): The first Polish war
Chapter 3: Keeping Big Brother Blob busy
Chapter 4: Insults and Reverse nationalism
Chapter 5: The Prussian "liberation" of Bavaria
Chapter 6: The Prussian Reconquest of Danzig and Warmia

[naggy]

Brandenburg's situation in 1688 hasn't changed from IN. What has changed is the rules...

Friedrich III ascends the throne...


The starting tech is based on the starting year - in this case, Level 33 is 1690. Our income sucks, but we need hard cash for armies, so we're going to mint for a while.

By carthagebrujah at 2010-02-06

Our starting units: Latin Knights in 1688? Might as well be using African Clubmen too. A switch to Gustavian Infantry and Gallop Cavalry is in order. Our starting army size is...anemic. We might be able to take candy from a baby...


Our starting Generals.


Starting ideas and sliders. At this stage in the game, there are no military ideas worth having, so of course, Brandenburg has 6. Normally, I'd start by switching out ideas, since stability recharges fast, but you'll see why not in a moment.


Worse, Brandenburg starts "sliderly challenged".
Decentralization 4 - in 1688 this will not max out by the end
Aristocratic 3 - plutocratic is better late game.
Serfdom 4 - Work harder, you maggots!
Narrowminded 1 - This is one of those sliders where being in the middle is like laying down on a 16 lane highway. Again, I have too many needs, so I'm stuck with it.
Mercantilism 3 - Real useful when you don't own a CoT. Might be better if I can take Lubeck and Danzig.
Offensive 2 - Ve don't need no steenking forts!
Land 4 and Quality 3 - Our best slider positions.

Again, we don't move sliders yet.

Buildings: A 1688 start means that all available buildings (except War College/Admiralty) have been built. We have 2 shipyards, and a Naval Equipment Manufactory in Ostpreussen. Most forts are level 2 or 3.

Decisions: We're 20 prestige away from forming Prussia. We could eat 5 stability to Accept Cultural Shift to Prussian...kinda silly since forming Prussia does that anyway. Licensing of the Press isn't worth it, and we need to save the Anti-Piracy Act for when I can afford the -3 infamy limit.

Now...here is why I can't choose anything that lowers stability: all European nations get the Nationalism CB against nations holding their culture group's province, and the HRE can't get involved in this case. Germany is going to be an absolute free-for-all, and I need every inch of stability I can get to gobble up my neighbors as fast as possible. With the free Imperialism CB for everyone, I suspect that this game will resemble sharks swimming around the Titanic.


To form the German Nation, I need to take Mecklenburg, Luneburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, Dresden (Saxony), Leipzig (Saxony), Thuringen (Saxony) and Franken (Bavaria). Saxony and the other minors will be my first targets.

[Tufto]

Yay! Germany, not the Empire!

[Inner Circle]

I followed your last AAR´s and i will follow this one

Good Luck!

[Auray]

I will follow! How you can create Prussia? Is there some "button" like in CK to form it?

[Derahan]

nice AAR! ill try to follow this if i can. (since i cant buy HTTT ive changed to do mostly hearts of iron 3, but ill follow this AAR

[JDMS]

Huh, a Prussian AAR. This should be fun. Good luck!

[vitek69]

I'm most interested if you'll get some interesting PU as in you Bar AAR
@Auray: And yes there's a button to form Prussia

[naggy]

Tufto: Yes. I have to form Prussia first, though.

Inner Circle: Thank you!

Auray: It is a set of 3 national decisions, depending on your start. Brandenburg and TO are the most likely ones to take it.

Derahan: Thank you!

JDMS: Fun...yes...

vitek69: I doubt it. This AAR will feature WAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

[Enewald]

Why make Germany when Prussia looks better?

[aldriq]

Good to see you re-taking this. There are not many AARs that survive into the 18th century (apart from WCs), so the niche is there to be exploited.

[naggy]

Thank you to everyone that has subscribed so far. My Bar AAR has been a focus, mainly because I had a long session with it and had a backlog of stuff to post lest it not be relatively fresh. Tomorrow, I shall post chapter 1 and possibly 2.

[naggy]

May 10, 1688: Friedrich III kicks off his reign with a nationalistic invasion of Saxony. Saxony is the nearest large and easy target.


A quick look at France shows that Louis XIV has no legitimate heir. Thus, Friedrich arranges a royal marriage.


May 11: Our first mission: Conquer Silesia from Austria.

Race for Germany and Italy: Cologne invades Trier and Tuscany invades Modena on the 11th, Brunswick invades Luneburg on the 12th, and then Savoy invades Genoa while Hesse invades Mainz on the 13th. All these are using Nationalism CBs.

May 30: Sweden offers alliance. We accept, to keep Austria off our back.

June 28: Bavaria invades Ansbach. Austria declines to join Bavaria in this war, leaving them without allies. Friedrich sends a declaration of war to Bavaria in support of Ansbach. England joins in as the defender of the Catholic Faith.


July 3: Wurzburg declares war on Ansbach.

July 7: Once morale returns from changing army types, the Saxon army is wiped out in one fell swoop at Potsdam. In other news, Denmark offers alliance.


July 13: England embargos us, and we gain a new heir to the throne: Karl.

September 10: Wurttemburg declares war on Ansbach. Ansbach must have lost their army.

November 21: Holstein declares war on Bremen. Obviously, Brandenburg must become the peacemaker of Germany.

December 1: With Saxony's army destroyed and reinforcements wiped out, the army settles down to siege, using the original 6 regiments, and 5 new regiments raised at the start of the war. 2 new cavalry regiments and 4 regiments of artillery are raised to bolster this army for the upcoming Bavarian campaign.


December 16: Tuscany declares war on Mantua.

January 24, 1689: The first casualty of the wars in Germany is Luneburg, who is annexed by Brunswick. In domestic news, the inflation from non-stop minting forces monetary reforms (-2 stability, 4 star Master of Mint that we hire).

August 14: Wurttemburg declares war on Baden.

June 16, 1690: Saxony cedes all territory outside Dresden, pays 85 ducats, and annuls all treaties.


July 31: Wurzburg allows military access to Brandenburg, allowing access into Bavaria. However, first, the English must be tossed out of Memel.

November 9: The English expeditionary force in Memel surrenders, leaving only the ever-present blockade.


February, 1691: Stability returns to +1.

May 22: The remaining Bavarian army surrenders in Franken. The Palatinate has already occupied Ansbach.


Bavaria has only level 1 forts, so we assault with impunity. Franken falls on May 28, Oberpfalz on June 22, and Niederbayern on July 15.

June 11: The Ottomans cede Banat and Osijek to Austria.

October 26: The Palatinate forces Bavaria to cede Ansbach. The people of Ansbach prepare to change their stationary again.

December 13: Bavaria cedes Schwaben, Franken, Niederbayern and Oberpfalz, leaving them an OPM.


December 15: Slider move to Quality. We lose stability. England accepts peace in exchange for 25 ducats from Brandenburg.

A look at the French heir situation. Look familiar? (Bremen has the same situation, incidentally.)


December 18: Friedrich III declares himself King in Prussia.


Maps - Central Europe in 1688 and 1691:

[blubbat0r]

subscribed...

I just kinda lost control in my recent Brandenburg -> Prussia game. Started in 1399, just wanting to form Prussia and Germany in their historical state...

...well... damn those stupid Kings... not even one with diplo 7 in over 150 years... after 3 diplo 4 morons in a row I kinda lost my temper and ended up with almost 90% of Europe under my control by 1600

[Enewald]

Now to unite all your holdings?
Aka agaisnt Poland and Austria?

[volksmarschall]

Prussian AARs are always fun, and I can't refuse this because Austria is doing quite well (mainly because you started in 1668, but I don't care! )

Aka against Poland and Austria

Don't give him any ideas. I'm fine with the first, but not with the second! But, I don't see a problem because Austria never seems to win anything in Paradox, I guess they kept the Habsburg Empire as historically accurate as possible, they can only win if they fight the Turks!

[naggy]

blubbat0r: Heh. The 10-May-1688 start lets you form Prussia as soon as you get 20 prestige, so not hard at all.

Enewald: I need larger armies to go after either. First I think I'll shake down some German minors.

volksmarschall: Austria would probably crush me right now - I don't yet have a large enough army to ensure that I can just bleed them dry. I need to concentrate my forces to have any chance at success, which leaves me vulnerable to a morale wipeout.

[aldriq]

I guess you mean England is defender of the Protestant faith... otherwise the history files must be a bit mangled

Quite a bold start, your infamy must be racking up nicely... 18 so far?

[naggy]

I guess you mean England is defender of the Protestant faith... otherwise the history files must be a bit mangled

Quite a bold start, your infamy must be racking up nicely... 18 so far?

The title was bestowed on Henry VIII in 1521, and the British continue to use the style today. My guess is that the history files leave the Catholic DotF with England.

Brandenburg starts as Protestant, and Bavaria is Catholic.