Chapter 3: Ending the Sound Toll
October 20, 1399: The first three merchants from the Hansa reach Lubeck. They all wonder how the Hansa became a great trading power without trading in her own CoT...
November 1: Right on cue, England leaves the Hanseatic League. This is caused by her distance from Lubeck and proximity to Antwerp.
Later, I'll get a mission to bring her back in the league, but I need Antwerp to do that.
December 1: Our first diplomat is spent on getting Cloth rights in England. If she won't be in the league, I want something.
March 1, 1400: Stability increases to 1. Stability is nothing to small nations. Also, we add get military access with Denmark to increase relations.
May 1: New regiments are raised, and the army now has 4000 men. Quite simply, having 1000 men and more than 1 province is the equivalent of tying a steak around your neck and running through a meeting of pit bull owners.
June 1: Military access is given to Denmark.
September 1: We guarantee Brabant, in the hopes we get a free shot at Antwerpen.
September 23: Our 5th merchant arrives in Lubeck. The value is 1041.21.
October 13: Burgundy annexes Hainaut.
October 14: A really good crop of advisors - so much so, I choose to take a loan so I can get some nice advisors, send merchants, and send gifts to Denmark. Since I plan on having 20 merchants placed by the time the loan comes due, this is worth it. We get 2 TE advisors (+10 TE) and a Commandant (+10 discipline). For comparison's sake, our income is now 16.8 month.
December 1: The first gift of 12 ducats to Denmark raises relations by 31, bringing them to 128. Hopefully, I'll only need 2 more.
December 6: Teutonic Order declares war on Riga. We join the war (and take leadership), in hopes that we can nab Danzig (Base tax of 12, grain). Danzig will give us two things: a high tax German province, and later, we can enact an event to create a Grain Depot, which requires a Grain Province, National Focus, 5 magistrates, and Gov Tech 8, and gives +5% global manpower, +10% Land force limits, and -50% local trade income modifier.
Another bonus: TO has taken Samogitia from Lithuania. Samogitia the only pagan province in Europe in 1399, and if either TO or I convert it, it'll become German.
January 9: TO breaks free from our trade league.
January 23: A lone Teutonic regiment is wiped out in Danzig. We were first, so we get the siege.
April 7: Danzig falls to a Bohemian assault, ordered by Hansa generals. That's obviously why they left 10,000 men hanging around, right?
April 17: Our Statholter dies in Danzig, and we elect a new one. The diplomatic candidate turns out to be an administrative genius. We send another gift to Denmark for +23 relations.
April 23: Munster leaves the trade league, due to her proximity to Antwerpen.
June 1: TO asks for White Peace. Hah.
July 1: While chasing around small disorganized Teutonic armies, the Statholter raises war taxes. We'll need the money to pay off the loan. Another gift is sent to Denmark.
September 1: 5 merchants are sent to Genoa.
October 1: The last gift is sent to Denmark, bringing relations to exactly 190. We successfully end the Sound Toll, and now need to lock up the Polish Grain Trade...despite them being in the league. Hrm. Luckily, we have the diplomat we need, and so we secure the rights, giving us +5 trade tech investment for the rest of the game.
Our next mission: lock up the Swedish iron trade. Again - they're in the league already.
October 13: Our Commandant becomes world famous, giving us +10 more discipline for 6 years. We take the prestige, since we have nothing to spend 3 stability on right now, and are maxed.
November 17: Riga is annexed. Our poor allies. Meanwhile, Bohemia has taken Warmia.
December 6: Our army is ambushed in Ostpreussen - I was nailing one last little regiment, and then the main army snuck up before I could disengage. 2 new regiments are immediately ordered.
February 14: Iron rights are secured from Sweden.
Our new mission is to secure 5 total trade rights. At the moment, we're too busy to go forward on this...
March 26: Bohemia takes Ostpreussen, so TO asks for white peace. No.
April 30: An attempt to land in Memel and take something is repulsed.
June 16: Granada westernizes. I have NEVER seen that done by the AI before Granada gets initially wiped out.
September 1: Government 4 gives us our first idea. We take National Trade Policy for +10 TE.
October 11: Peace is reached with the Order, whereby the Order rejoins the Hanseatic League and cedes Danzig.